NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 209. When Will These Bad NFL Teams Make Playoffs Next?

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers go down the new, updated 2024 draft order and tell you when each team in the Top 15 will make the playoffs next: 2024, 2025 or even 2026

This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with MultiView, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. I got it this year.

It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. In this episode, we're taking a look at the teams

that are picking in the top 15 currently for the 2024 NFL Draft, so you guys get the updated order. But we're also gonna tell you when we believe each one of those teams is going to be legitimately playoff competitive. So that could be anywhere from 2024, next year, We're also going to tell you when we believe each one of those teams is going to be legitimately playoff competitive. So that could be anywhere from 2024 next year, 2025 the year after, or maybe it's a big long

term project. Maybe we see teams with a much more long term playoff plan into 2026. I'm Trevor Sakema. With me, as always, is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. I'm Trevor Sikama. That is Connor Rogers joining you guys on a Monday edition of the show where we spent the last couple of shows being very draft centric. And even though we're going to stay draft centric here, we're going to do it more through the NFL lens instead of the prospect.

We're going to take a look at the updated 2024 NFL draft order, and we're going to look at all the teams in the top 15 and determine when they are next going to be competitive. Now, competitive doesn't just mean, oh, we're one game above 500 or even that we're going in the right direction. At what year, best case scenario, best team building into this, when do we think that these teams can actually compete? How quickly can they really turn it around? Connor, I think it's going to be a lot of fun discussions. We're talking about 15 different teams, the top 15 in the draft order. So a lot of different things at play here, some free agents, some draft outlook, all the good stuff. But I'm excited to have this conversation with you,

my friend. I think it's going to be a good one. Me too, man. I said to you before we started recording this show that some of our best episodes are, and we love the segments and the quirky stuff and like, that's a blast. But some of our best episodes are when we just turn the mics on and have conversations about team building right a big picture and blueprints and where staff stand and roster stand and assets stand and this is kind of the perfect example of that this show because you're looking at the bottom half of the league not the top half the bottom half of the league and you you can point at the whys of how they got there what they need to do now some of them might already be trending in the right direction, and they just need time. But a lot of them also need solutions and answers.

And I think that's what a lot of the show is today. Yeah, so how we're going to structure this is, like I said, you guys are going to get to hear us talk about the updated draft order, which is not 100% after Week 10 because the Bills and the Broncos still have to play, and we're recording before Monday Night Football. But as it stands before Monday Night Football, we'll give you the draft order. We'll talk a little bit about those teams and then we will determine. We will each give our answers and opinions on whether we think these teams are going to be competitive again, legitimately competitive in 2024, 2025, or even if we think these are really long-term projects with where teams stand right now to 2026. So those are the three years that we are going to have and label

these franchises and when we think they can be competitive yet again. Let's just start right at the top though. Let's get right into it. Obviously, we're not going to give it to the Bears. The Bears are currently picking at the very top, but that is because they own the draft pick the first round draft pick from the carolina panthers which are sitting here at one and eight coming off a loss on thursday night football to the chicago bears which uh yeah that's rough um strength the schedule here is five two five one two as of this moment which is actually not that far away from where the Giants are. So if Carolina ends up winning an extra game here, the Giants are closing in on potentially getting that number one pick.

But we'll get there in a second. Connor, what do you think about this one? What do you think about where Carolina is, trading up all those assets to go get Bryce Young? They got what they think is their quarterback of the future. They hopefully believe that he can still be that quarterback of the future. So with them sitting here at one and eight, as disappointing as this season has been,

when is the earliest you could see this Carolina team legitimately competing again? Man, I hate to start off with such a harsh one, but this is going to be one of the furthest ones for me. And it's, I mean, some people might say, well, duh, they're projected to pick, they're slotted number one. They don't own their own pick, as we said.

But I lean more towards 2026 on this one. And that's as far as you can go, because the NFL, we've seen turnarounds in a year. Right. We've seen, you know, I think, sure, you could argue 2025, but a few things that go right. I think why I'm so torn, Trevor, I think they have the most questions of probably any team will go through in regards to every area of the franchise. We don't know if this coaching staff is for long. We don't know if Bryce Young is going to work out. You and I like Bryce Young, and we think a lot of variables around him need to get better before you could start to answer that question.

And I think the rapid acceleration of CJ Stroud taking off has magnified bryce's struggles and to some extent but i look at the panthers and go i don't see an offseason where especially without this selection right that's like really a big part of all of this that they can fill all of these problems i don't think this offensive line is very good right now i don't think they i think they're about three playmakers short. Honestly, three. Three playmakers short. I don't know many teams that go and find three bona fide playmakers in one offseason

without having a first-round pick. The defense has questions that go beyond the talent. Is Brian Burns going to be here for the long haul? I mean, Brian Burns is one of the best edge rushers in the league. They feel like they're one foot in, one foot out with him. And he's at least getting tagged. Right. I mean, you don't let him walk for nothing.

So at the very least, he's getting tagged. But I agree with you with the sentiment of kind of like how you're talking about him. Yeah. And I know there's just a lot of questions right now with this team. They have a lot of injuries on defense. JC Horn's a great talent, but he's been hurt a lot. Right.

A lot of things have gone wrong for the Panthers that you almost feel bad about because some things have been out of their control and then some things have been, you know, some poor decisions. So I think they have a long ways to go

and they're the hardest team to talk about on this episode because I can't even say here's an avenue they could use this number one overall pick on and get it right and even if they get the roster right to the is the coaching staff right and yeah I had a lot of high hopes for this coaching staff and the development of Bryce Young and I've been really really disappointed the first three months of the season yeah I think what you said at the very top is important to remember and I know a lot of the comments that

we're going to get on some of the teams that we have longer projections about are going to be like well you know look how much you could change in the offseason look at the picture you have and you are right i agree with you completely and i'm glad you started the conversation out like this this league is so crazy every single year right we we see teams all the time be more competitive than they should right i mean like the steelers the vikings i mean those are two the Steelers, the Vikings. I mean, those are two that immediately. The Texans, obviously. Like those come to mind where it's like, dang, we did not expect them to be playing nearly as well as they did,

but it's an any given Sunday league. So we understand that everything is the realm of, okay, well, it could. But if you're realistically looking at this for the Panthers, what worries me a lot is certainly the roster. But you can change the roster. You can get better in the roster. Not having a first-round pick definitely hurts you,

but they get a decent amount of cap space. However, they got a lot of key pieces on the defensive side they got to sign over the next two years. So it's not like they have this crazy plethora of money that they could be throwing to brand new players that are coming in. The issue for me is really, it comes down to the coaching staff confidence within ownership and then Bryce Young himself. I don't think the Carolina Panthers are going to be very competitive next year. I don't think that you can completely

overhaul that offensive line in one off season. And I don't think that you can do both of overhauling the offensive line and overhauling the pass catchers, especially without having that first round pick. Having the early second round pick definitely helps, but to me, there's only so much you could do. Maybe you get a couple of players that put them on the right direction. I hope that's the case next year, but this to me is more of a 2025 best case scenario, maybe more realistic 2026, because let's say like the Carolina Panthers show progress, but what's progress compared to this year, six wins, seven wins. Do we think David Tepper is going to be cool with that and just continue to roll with Frank Reich? Cause I don't know if he's going to. So I almost bring that into play too, is like,

is Carolina so bad right now that even if frank reich survives this season is next season even going to be realistically attainable for him then you got new coaches coming in so that's my hang-up yeah it is they don't have enough assets to flip it over this offseason but then if they hold on and it doesn't work out next year after not really turning over the roster enough do they then hire a new coaching staff right and then 2025 is the first year of a new coach that's how i got to 2026 and i i know it's not what panthers fans want to hear and in a division that you think you would be able to capitalize quickly i just couldn't really sell myself on even talking myself into next year and then i got into the hurdle that you just talked about. Yeah. So to me, it's if the quarterback head coach connection

is as good as it can be in 2025, whether that's Frank Reich or whether they hit a home run with a different coach, because we've seen great first year head coaches happen, right? Again, look at what Kevin O'Connell has been able to do with the Vikings. Sometimes that can make all the difference in the world. But to me, this is a 2025 best case scenario,

2026, maybe more realistic thing for the Panthers because it's, man, for all the hype that we had for this team going into the year, it's very, very bad on offense. This is very clearly the worst offense in the NFL. It is a terrible offensive line. It's the most least talented pass catching group that you have. It's a run game that is not a difference making run game at all whatsoever. And then on

the defensive side of the ball, like I said, you've got a lot of really good players, but Brian Burns, JC Horn, Frankie Louvu, Derek Brown, all of them are pending free agents over the next two seasons. Sure. I you'd love to bring those guys back but it would have to be a perfect world for it to be the uh earlier part of the timeline i'd love that to be the case but i'm kind of with you man i think that i'll say 2025 but maybe that's just me being optimistic because I had initially written down 2026 as well. But what about the, what about the second team here? We got the New York Giants officially picking number two overall right now. They are two and eight. Like I said, their strength of schedule is even close to where Carolina's is right now. So maybe they even get that number

one pick, but with the Giants sitting here at two and eight, the future looking very bleak for future wins for this team and a team that, God, made the playoffs last year, had the coach of the year last year. What do you think about the Giants? When's the next year of legit competition for them? Giants are an interesting one because with the Giants, there is a pathway that you could actually talk yourself into 2024. And I landed ultimately on 25, but there's a pathway where I could talk myself into 2024. And that's because number one, they need to keep losing. Now, you don't ever want to be

embarrassed week after week. Like they've been, you know, like specifically like Dallas and how they kind of really somehow gave away the game to the jets inexplicably. But at the same time, they got Tommy DeVitoito out there i mean they're hamstrung they've dealt with a every team has injuries this year but it feels like the giants just if the injuries they've had have been catastrophic starting with andrew thomas so i look at the giants right and i think okay say they get a top two pick they don't have to trade up and trading up is going to be hard this year keep that in mind yes so they get a top two very hard to say the least there you go there's hard hitting facts um so they get caleb williams or drake may right one of those two guys yeah okay that's a i feel really good

about that they i can't see them and nothing should surprise you in the nfl but it feels like daniel jones is on this roster next year with the way they structured the first two years of that contract. Yeah, he kind of has to be. I don't think anybody's jumping at the chance to trade for Daniel Jones with his contract the way that it is. And a torn ACL. Right. That didn't help.

Right. So, okay, you have that variable there. Say this. Say you get Caleb Williams or Drake May. Say you start to develop Evan Neal just a little bit like he turns the corner he can maybe become an average starter somewhere along the offensive line Andrew Thomas when healthy is very very good maybe with a better quarterback under center and a little bit more pass protection you start to have a deep passing game utilizing Jalen Hyatt right you're

gonna find a way to bring Saquon Barkley back next year Wink Martindale they traded Leonard Williams which is tough but Dexter Lawrence is still one of the best defensive linemen in football yep I think I think Tay Banks is gonna be a long-term answer at starting corner Kavon's playing well Kavon is playing well this year. Those are really important benchmarks that you had to hit right there. And Wink is going to find a way to sometimes make chicken salad out of chicken. You know what? Not all the time, but he could. He's one of the guys that could do it. So when I look at that and I've seen Brian Dable lead playoff offenses before I've seen him do it with Buffalo. I've seen him do it with the Giants.

I'm like, maybe the Giants can compete for a wild card in a pretty crappy NFC in 2024 if all of those things go right. But at least I know that 2025, when you've had more time as Joe Shane to turn over the roster at key areas, then I feel really good about that. So the Giants, the big thing is, don't win a lot more games.

Yeah. Or else that's a really, really scary proposition. Yeah. I'll repeat this. Like Brian Tables' body language this year has personally really frustrated me. He's so out, man. He's so out. How you respond to the bad times really speaks about you.

And I've been extremely disappointed with that. Like it's a bad season. You've had a lot of bad luck. A lot of things have gone wrong for you that aren't your fault, but you got to keep your composure at some point of the year. And, and I think that that's something that it's not the end of the world, but I've said on this show that it bothers me.

The problem is Trevor, where I, where I land on 25. Do you think the Eagles and Cowboys are going anywhere anytime soon? I think the Commanders might have something in Sam Howell. Right. This is not a cupcake division to rebuild in. I definitely hear what you're saying.

This is kind of like why we set it up this way. It's more of, does this team legitimately compete against some of those best teams? Not necessarily like, okay, we are projecting they make the playoffs we are projecting that they could play well enough to make the playoffs you know so i agree with you i think that the division's obviously very difficult where they're at i land here's where i landed if they get a top two pick i'll say 2024. I'll say that this year. I don't think it's crazy.

I think this year was, like you said, terrible luck for them. A lot of their best players just not even playing well. I really do think that they could hit the reset button pretty hard this offseason. They've got, I think, the 13th most cap to spend this year. So they could bring some extra guys in. They could bring some new blood in. You not only would have that number one or number two overall pick, but you'd also have two second round picks now

because of the Leonard Williams trade. So you would have that as well, a very early second round pick from your own and Seahawks pick as well. So to me, if they get one of those top two picks and you get one of these quarterbacks, I will tell you 2024. If you don't,

it's like all of a sudden it gets into 2025 and then you're probably having a bad year next year as well. Daniel Jones is bad. And then what are you looking at after next offseason? Are you moving on from Dable? What's Joe Shane's situation at general manager? And so that's kind of where I'm at with that. Because the roster is fine.

Like there are things to believe in. Okay, the wide receiver room, it's not complete. That's kind of where I'm at with that because the roster is fine. Like there are things to believe in. Okay. The wide receiver room, it's not complete, but I like Wanda Robinson. I, I, I like Jalen Hyatt.

I didn't think that he was the high pick that some people thought maybe as a back end of the first round player, but I still think he's a good deep threat. If you can somehow get a, like if this, if this team signs T Higgins, all of a sudden to me, the room looks very different, right? You get Darren Waller back. You've got T Higgins, all of a sudden, to me, the room looks very different, right?

You get Darren Waller back. You've got T. Higgins in that room. You've got speed players to complement them. The offensive line plays a little bit better. You get another guy in there in free agency, probably a veteran on the interior. You hope that Evan Neal can become, like you said, an average starter. Andrew Thomas is healthy again next year.

Whether they have Saquon Barkley or not, to me, it doesn't matter nearly as much as if they have Caleb Williams or Drake May.ke may and then i think wink will figure it out on defense so to me that is me spelling it out to say i believe in 2024 for the giants i believe in a quick turnaround if you can get that quarterback if you can't i don't know man that's where it gets tough for me so i'll say 2024 for the giants uh next i think that's fair. Number three, New England Patriots. They are also sitting at 2-8. Their strength of schedule is.541, which is, I don't want to say significantly higher,

but they're not exactly threatening a tie right now for the other teams that would be 2-8, although they are ahead of Arizona, who is a little bit higher of a strength of schedule than them. But New England sitting there at 2-8, eight man we're talking about bill belichick being on his way out the end of an era in new england what do you think man i wanted you to start with this one because i can you want me to yeah i took the panthers and giants i naturally went really really long and also as somebody who i like 40 of my working life is covering the AFC East. So I'm really curious of your take as somebody that's not just like stuck in the mud of watching so much of this division. Yeah, again, to me, very simple.

You get one of these top two quarterbacks, then I would tell you that it's probably 2025 for the Patriots to legitimately become contenders you don't get one of these top quarterbacks it's 2026 and beyond man i mean like at that point if you can't get one of these top two quarterbacks and you're the patriots all right you're probably drafting olivashanu but olivashanu is going to be what you're blocking for kirk cousins best case scenario and if you whiff on cousins you're probably just getting a veteran. That's not really going to compete for you. It's going to be another mediocre year. Bill Belichick is probably going to be out.

Then all of a sudden you got to get a new head coach in there. That's trying to deal with a Bill Belichick built roster. And as we have seen from head coaches and some coordinators that have gone elsewhere outside of the Patriots tree, when you try to bring the Patriots system elsewhere without Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, it don't work. So to me, that's where things get really ugly. If the Patriots don't get one of these top two quarterbacks, all of a sudden we're getting closer to the reality that Bill's time in New England is going to be up. And when that happens, that is like a college coach taking over a college program for a head coach that basically tanked recruiting over the last two years.

Just didn't give a shit about it. I mean, you are looking at a long-term rebuild at that point. So the Patriots, to me, probably have more on the line than any other team to get one of these top two picks, because if they don't get them, things get very ugly for this team in the short term or the, or the longterm. So my answer for the Patriots is genuinely 2026. If they can't get one of those top, top quarterbacks.

We are eye to eye on this one. I wrote down 2026 for not many teams on this list. And for the Patriots, I wrote 25 25 to 26 but that 25 was the same thought process you had it was the thought process you had that it's like man if they don't and i'm not confident by the way that they are worse than the giants or panthers this year. I just, they're a, like this is a team that beat Buffalo a couple weeks ago. Okay. I know they have looked, Mac Jones has thrown some of the worst. Here's the thing.

Okay. By the way, we need to get Drake May and Caleb Williams out to Patriots Giants. I was going to say, Patriots do play the Giants this week. Two weeks. It's the hat ceremony.

It's the hat ceremony all over again. So here we are. Number one, that's a massive game. Yeah. That's a massive. This game, let's think about this. This stupid game that could be Tommy DeVito versus Bailey Zappi can decide potentially the next eight years of the Patriots or Giants franchise.

That's crazy. That's crazy. It's got to be a Thursday night football game, right? We got to flex. We got to flex. No, Sunday one o'clock. The nation needs to watch this, though. I agree.

I actually. They need to put this game on London kickoff time, but it's not overseas. I'm home that Sunday. Jets play black Friday. I, I will honestly wake up that day and like full spread. Like I'll treat this game. Like,

like people that actually like really, really good football. Cause it means something to the season. Like when the Eagles play the chiefs, I'll treat this game like that. I can't wait. Like Buffalo chicken dip. Yeah.

A hundred percent. The beer is going to be stacked to the ceiling of the fridge, the roof of the fridge. Yes, a rare Sunday I'm not working out of the studio in the city. I can really enjoy two really bad teams and one of them potentially ruining their future. Oh, man. But in all seriousness, the New England take. Yeah, that's right. I led this off by saying the Panthers have so many questions. The Patriots are right there with them because I don't think Bill Belichick.

I'm fascinated by Bill. If it's over in New England, Bill keeps going, right? Like he's going to go coach somewhere. Yeah, that man doesn't know anything but football dude i know you know part of me part of me believes that because saban and belichick are so close to the end but like not quite you know like if if alabama alabama's they did make the sec championship game so obviously like they could still make the college football playoff and compete for a national championship so it didn't go exactly the way that some people thought it would

at the beginning of the season. But with the Patriots struggling really bad and if Alabama would have been worse this year, my conspiracy theory is that Belichick and Saban are both going to retire and both go coach the same no-name high school football team in Virginia and nobody's going to bother them. It's just like a high school program that doesn't really matter. And they're just teaching young people the game and the ways of life.

And it's just the two goats who are coaching high school football. That's what I thought would happen. I thought you were going in the direction that they were going to trade jobs. Jeez, no. Nick Saban back in the nfl what could go wrong yeah bill belichick with college kids what could go wrong i but yeah you're right i mean they're just they're never gonna walk away from the sport it's they're in their blood it's in their dna yeah i don't know what happens bill but in all honesty like i don't i don't know if he gets fired from the patriots i don't i genuinely don't like does bill belichick can't be a defense coordinator right no he can't he can't function that way anymore like who does he respect enough

that he would work under no no i don't know if it's a respect thing but there's a lot of ego in this sport man and i get i'm not saying it's wrong let me make that clear i i understand where you're coming from but like i think there's plenty of coaches that bill belichick respects but for the last 20 years for you to be the general manager and the head coach with no one opposing your opinions at all whatsoever i don't even know if i don't even know if respect would be something that could get over that mindset that you've had for the last two decades. I don't even know if that's possible. He respects Nick Saban, right?

But I don't even know if he could go be Saban's DC. I don't even know if that's just in his DNA at this point. I don't think so. I think it's so fascinating when you think of two like that. He's not a guy that's just going to go take any job. And I still think it's a it's still somewhat of a long shot

that these sides move on. I could see New England. If New England finishes with a top two pick. They they probably let Bill start that new era. Yeah, I would think. But like, yeah,

here's a question for you are you confident that this franchise can develop one of the top quarterbacks better than some of the other teams at the top because i watch what's going on with this offense and it's a it's an utter disaster everything about it so i don't i don't want a fake spike on fourth down brother and then just ripped it into double coverage just absolutely like with Thanksgiving day have you seen the TikToks that have been going around where it's like me eight beers deep about to play Thanksgiving against my like that is so good no that is so good but that's like that's what Bailey Bailey Zappy thought he was eight beers deep playing

backyard Thanksgiving day football just ripping it into triple coverage. It felt like, you know, when you watch a trick play develop and the receiver gets a reverse or the running back gets a pitch and they, they court, like they wind up to throw. Right. And everyone's like,

whoa. And then they throw like the worst interception you've ever seen. That's what it felt like. You saw the fake spike, which by the way, bad fake spike form. Like didn't even like really, it was kind of like a, I can't say I paid attention. Like when you have like. You saw the fake spike, which, by the way, bad fake spike form. Like, didn't even, like, really. It was kind of like a.

I can't say I paid attention. Like, when you have, like, dog drool on your hand. It was kind of like that kind of spike. And then you're like, oh, here's a fake spike. Like, and the confidence. The confidence. You're like, dude, he's got someone 20 yards over the middle. And then it was like, ugh.

Disgusting. Hey, who's going to believe in you if you won't believe in you you know what i agree and it was that throw was a life lesson it was a life lesson connor some things are bigger than the game dude like i have watched a lot of bad quarterback management covering the jets i mean honestly the pinnacle of it the The old like, hey, we're going to throw you in for the game winning drive. It's tough. It's tough for Billy Zappy. Hey, Josh, you're starting today.

You're Josh Dobbs would have won the game. Yeah, Josh, shout out to the GOAT MVP MVP candidate, Josh Dobbs. You heard it. You heard he if NFL Stock Exchange gave out a trophy every year to a player, that's just like the player of the show, Dobbs is invited to the ceremony at a minimum. You know, an award show at the end of the regular season would actually be pretty good. It would slap.

I think we've been doing the show long enough that there are bits and things of the show that we have to do an award show. Like we'll wear suits and ties and like. Full tuxedos. Full tuxedos. I'll probably rent a tuxedo. Yeah, stepbrothers. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes. All right. Let's get away from New England. Tuxedos are kind of fucked up, actually. Oh, man. All right. Arizona Cardinals. Speaking of Josh Dobbs.

Cardinals are sitting at two and eight coming off their big win this past weekend. Kyler Murray's return. I mentioned their strength of schedule right now is 544, win this past weekend, Kyler Murray's return. I mentioned their strength of schedule right now is 5-4-4, which is very close to where New England's is, so they could swap spots with New England, but they're not really close right now to the Giants or the Panthers if the Panthers are to win a second game. So they're firmly sitting right here at number four.

What do we think? This is a team that has two first-round picks this year, although it's Houston's, and Houston's a playoff spot right now, so it's not as high as we thought it was going into the year when they were picking back to back at one or two what do you think about them at uh at number four have you seen enough to say 2024 for them or are you still 2025 what do you think I am a firm 2024 I'm excited about this team I really am and it was fun to go through these teams and actually be excited about them I think number one Arizona still has their problems, right? That's why they're up here to an extent.

But I'm a believer in Kyler Murray as the future of this team. I am. I don't think you just see the new shiny toy. And they're not picking there anyway. He's going to win them enough games. Yeah. Can I just say something on kyle murray real quick we've had so many rookie quarterbacks start this year i think i saw a stat i don't remember exactly what the number is but we've had more rookie quarterbacks start this year

than i think have ever started in a single year in nfl history it has to be we've seen a lot of bad quarterback football this year we've lived a life of it quarterback football this year. I've lived a life of it. Just as fans of the game. We talked about for weeks at the start of the season, oh, you know, move on from Kyler Murray, trade Kyler Murray. And dude, we said it on the show. We both did.

Because if you're picking at number one, we're like, okay, if you're going to pick at number one, the team's probably not even close. You move on from Kyler Murray. Murray reminded us this past weekend of what a damn good quarterback looks like I watched that guy play and I was like holy shit this guy can rip it and it's not like he was doing anything different than he had ever done before I just think we've all watched such bad quarterback play this year in the league that I almost like forgot what it was going to look like when Kyler Murray was going to come back. So I'm guilty. My hands up just like yours is with the

Kyler Murray stuff, but I didn't mean to interrupt. I just said he looked, he, he reminded us of what a franchise caliber quarterback looks like and why you do not move on from players like that. So easily spot on man. Spot on. And it gives me a lot of optimism for this team that, okay, say they do win a few more, whatever. We could even play the game of, they're not a guarantee to get Marvin Harrison Jr., but what if they get Olu Fashanu or Malik Neighbors or,

I mean, a really good pass rusher. This team is going to walk out of this draft with a blue chip player at an area of need. Uh, by the way, some flashes from BJO Jalari, the Falcons. I think he is third now in the draft class at pass rush win rate. And he's barely, he doesn't even, he has 74 pass rush snaps in the year. I think he's only behind. It it would be who are the top two in win percentage that is a that is a good question right now because i know edge rush

class always starts out slow yeah who are the top two now i gotta look it up all right you look it up and i'll keep going on arizona so with arizona right now i think all things considered gannon has done a fine job with the with the team in a tough place when they were without kyler i think that they have some promising playmakers for the future they have michael wilson they still have hollywood brown james connor is a good running back trey mcbride looks really good since earth's got hurt you walk out of this draft with another blue chip player. You make some moves in the offseason. Your coaching staff looks like they at least have a clue.

This division doesn't scare you where you're irrelevant. Seattle's a good team, okay? The Niners are a wagon. The Rams are in a rebuild. But Seattle, you could beat Seattle. And you could beat anybody on any given day, but especially this Arizona team because they have a quarterback, because they have some playmakers, and because they have draft capital,

which is really key. I keep saying they're going to walk out with a blue-chip player. Let's not forget, they have another first-round pick. And the Texans have been awesome. Do I think when all is said and done, this pick's at the end of the first round? No, that's a little rich. hi let's just like do a hypothetical say arizona walks out of this draft with malik neighbors or joe alt and jerzan newton right it's like dude you just got an absolute house for the interior defensive line you either got a freakish playmaker or another blue chip

tackle like this is going to be a talented team eventually this needs a little time top two players and passers win percentage bj ojalary will anderson and then it's a decent well no i shouldn't say that nick herbig and tully tully below two are also up there nice and then it kind of drops off a little bit but those two guys at the top ojalary and will anderson listeners of the podcast knew that those guys could get after the passer um just to piggyback off of what you were saying and why i am saying 2024 for the arizona cardinals i am saying next year for the arizona cardinals i know they have a lot of things that they need to clean up i know the secondary has got to get better i know they got needs on both trenches this is a team that a couple of weeks ago

we were looking at and saying, okay, they're still a far way away. Maybe 2024 is looking at things too optimistic. But for the way that they have played under Gannon, especially the way that they were still competitive against a handful of teams to start the year when we really didn't think that they should have been. Now they get Kyler Murray back.

Now they got a really nice win this past weekend with him getting back. You mentioned the receivers and it's not just the two first round picks that they have this year. They have two first round picks. They have a second round pick and they have three third round picks like this team, like this team's got a lot of ammo. They've got six picks in the first three rounds. Now they might move some of that to have some more in the 2025 draft. So maybe they're not picking all of those this year, but no matter how you stack it this year and next year, I think they're looking at multiple, a plethora of day two picks to build out the meat and cheese of this roster. So with them also being a top 10 team in terms of projected salary cap to spend this

upcoming off season, you've already got your your quarterback you figure it out along the trenches with those six picks that you've got i i love the combination of olivashano or joel with their first pick and then if jerzan newton is there cool you double double dip into the trenches but if not man i mean you can go get a playmaker you can go to get a corner at the back end of the first round and then you can stack out a lot more playmakers as kind of the draft goes on so uh i'm saying 2024 for the arizona cardinals i am uh i'm a believer especially from what i saw from kyla marie this past weekend before we move on to number five shout out to all the parents out there if you're a parent you've had to learn so many new different skills to provide for your family how to do copious amounts of laundry meal plan for the pickiest eaters well

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Have a decently low strength schedule. It's in the four, 4.84. So anytime they're going to be in a tiebreaker, they'll be pretty high up on that list. You know, Tyson Bateshaw coming off a big win against Carolina Thursday Night Football. I mean, Connor, I don't even know if they need a quarterback anymore. You know what I'm saying?

I think this team, you know, it's on the up. Everything's looking good. Forget 2024. We make a run to this bad boy. Okay, maybe not. Maybe that was just some very optimistic Bears fans that I feel like I saw on my timeline this past week. Okay.

They're buying in on the teabag hype machine. They're buying in. Yeah, their hopes are getting teabagged. Okay, so what are we going with here? 2024, 2025, 2026 with the Chicago Bears. This is another one, 2024 to 2025. I think that the Bears are a team that they could be picking twice in the top five.

They have traded for a good football player in montez sweat they have some wins on the offensive line dj moore is a really good player they have variety in their backfield cole komet's good at a tight end like he's a legit pass catching tight end i think the reason why the bears came with that dash to 2025 instead of just like Arizona 2024, I put confidently the Bears. I put 2024 to 2025 because I don't know if this coaching staff is any good. And yeah, I don't know if they deserve to be trusted with Caleb Williams or Drake May and another top five pick. Now, if you tell me that the Bears, this is the way that 2024 Avenue say that they finish right here, they're picking one in five, right?

You're telling me that Ben Johnson is looking at this job or somebody in that elk and his ilk is going, OK, I'll take that job because I'm going to go into my era developing one of Caleb Williams or Drake May, and he's going to be throwing to DJ Moore and Marvin Harrison Jr.

or whatever other offensive piece we need. I start to feel differently about the Bears in a division that the Lions are really good, but we don't know what the Vikings are going to look like next year. They're hot right now, but shout out to Josh Dobbs. And Kevin O'Connell's a good coach. But just pointing, you can compete what the Vikings are going to look like next year. They're hot right now, but shout out to Josh Dobbs. And Kevin O'Connell's a good coach. But just pointing, you can compete with the Vikings.

The Packers, we're going to get to in a second, so I won't give that away there. But the Bears are a team that they can be one of the quick flips because you could have two top five picks, you could have a new coaching staff. You have all of these ingredients to really, really flip this thing over quickly i said 2025 defense kind of stinks though yeah i said 2025 i'm still the trenches to me are still leaving too much to be desired i think yeah you're not wrong I like the offensive line more than like the defensive line. I think Montez sweat is fine.

Like, I think he's a good addition. I will feel better about the Montez sweat ad when the rest of the talent around him matters a ton. Cause like, I don't think he's a single player game breaker. I know that he had a good game against the Panthers, but we just talked 20 minutes ago about how the Panthers offensive line

stinks. So I think that he's a good piece that you acquired. It's an interesting piece that you acquired, especially for a early second round pick. But all that to say, like, I still think they're another season away, even if they get one of these good quarterbacks. I would tell you 2025 with this team. And it's also, I think the coaching staff goes into it. Cause I don't

know how much I believe in this coaching staff. So I would say, I would say 2020, are you, what's your official? Are you going 2024, 2025? Which one'd you go with? I'll go 25 because I still think they, I still think they need to get the back end of the defense. Right. And it's, it's hard. hard it's hard when that's and i don't want to over glorify any rookie quarterback going year one and say oh you're a playoff team now sure so i would i would lean 25 yeah that's that's all that's kind of why i'm right there too we're staying in the division green bay packers at number six they're currently three and six um their strength the schedule is low they're uh four seven five that's that's pretty is that the lowest oh god no the falcons are at a 425 oh

the falcons are gonna win every every tiebreaker possible oh no the saints are so we're not going to talk about the saints but i can just shout schedules yeah there's a joke saint schedule is so bad the saint schedule has their strength to schedule at a 39 nine four if the bucks or the falcons end up winning this division and new orleans is picking anywhere within the top 10 they are destroying any tiebreaker that they go up against with that schedule being so bad so maybe that's something to look forward to saints fans if you're looking to turn the page anyways green bay sitting here at three and six uh what do we think about this team currently where it's at? One of the most difficult ones to do on this entire exercise. And I put 2025.

They have some young players that they're really, really trying to develop. You know, it's and you're seeing it right now. It's part of the reason the offense is so chaotic. You know, that starts at Luke Musgrave, Jaden Reed. Not a good second year for Christian Watson. And it's more than just the injuries. It's it really is. It's more than that.

They still have talent on this defense. The defense is not well coached. I have no idea if Jordan Love is going to work out. I've seen more bad from Jordan Love than good. And I know there's a lot of like, listen, i get this because i have lived this way too often and i have been victim of this way too often talking yourself into a young quarterback despite the eye tests being a little problematic i've done this way too many times covering the jets i see a little bit of that with jordan love right now i don't think it's been a disaster i don't think it's been all bad i think i am much more on the pessimistic side

for his future than the optimistic side right now from what we've seen because i i don't treat jordan love trevor like bryce young and cj stroud and anthony richardson or i mean he sat a long time and there are things, mistakes being made that are year one NFL player mistakes. There's also big time throws being made by him. So why I put the Packers 2025 is I have questions about the defensive staff. I have some questions about number one this the decline of this offensive line and i don't know if i believe in the quarterback like where where are they going to be next year they're probably going to make it try to make it work with jordan love

and we don't know if that's going to work or not right but is everything else going to be that much better around him including himself that their playoff team. I'm not personally not buying into that. I would also say 2025 for the Packers. I think they're probably going to be in a situation where they're giving Jordan Love another year. I think so too. Obviously, if you have an opportunity to pick Caleb Williams, Drake May, they're going to do that.

They're going to upgrade over Jordan Love if they have that ability. But are you taking... They won't. Right. Like are you taking Bo Nix or Michael Penix or – No. Jaden Daniels is playing super well. People were talking about him.

Are you taking like any of these quarterbacks in the top 10 over what you have with Jordan Love? No, probably not. You're probably going to invest one of those picks along the offensive line because the offensive line needs to be upgraded. Now, they do have the extra second-round pick from the Jets, right? It's not going to be one of those picks along the offensive line because the offensive line needs to be upgraded. Now, they do have the extra second-round pick from the Jets, right? It's not going to be a first-round pick from the Jets because of the Aaron Rodgers trade,

but they got two second-round picks, and I think they have two third-round picks as well. So some nice ammunition there, but to me, this is already a team that is really young at receiver, really young at tight end. You got some younger defensive pieces who are figuring it out, right? Lucas Van Ness, I think he's going to be fine, but I figure that it would take a little bit for him to be a consistent contributor. It feels like Devontae Wyatt's playing a little bit better, but you've got to get a little bit more. They've got more of a youth movement right now, and that's why I think it'll look better for them next season. But unless the quarterback play is drastically better, I think this is much more

of a, hey, our real winning window, our real time to be competitive is probably in 2025. So I would agree with you there. Next team, Los Angeles Rams at number seven. They're also three and six. They've lost three in a row. Stafford's had some injuries. Their strength of schedule is pretty high, so they're not winning a ton of different tiebreakers.

But sitting here at three and six, picking a number seven overall, what year did you have for the Los Angeles Rams? This is like Arizona back to 2024 because they have Sean McVay. And it just. Oh, OK. They have Sean McVay and Cooper Cup is still really good. They found a total gem in Puka Nakua.

The offensive line is at least trending in the right way. I look at the Rams and I get it. They're not good and they have a lot of roster turnover needed, but they still have one of the best coaches in the league. They do. And or at least the guy that's at this stage, at least the top 10 coach in the league. The Rams are one of those teams that say they do find their quarterback in this draft.

Like you feel so much more confident about that player's success than a lot of other landing spots. And if you believe in the success of the new quarterback, you should believe in the success of the team. I mean, what if they take Bo Nix or Michael Penix or Jaden Daniels or J.J. McCarthy and the offense is called really well by McVeigh's throwing into Kua and Cooper Cup? I mean, they're going to be fine. I don't know. It's hard

for me to just completely write off the Rams right now. This was the rebuild year, right? And I know they didn't have really a ton of assets to do this full rebuild right now, but they're bad this year. They're going to be bad and they're going to have a high pick and they can finally get a higher end player to add to this roster. But they've had some picks like Steve Avila, Puka Nakua, even Tutu Atwell's help, Byron Young has helped. They're starting to actually get some depth. When I say depth, I mean drafting later in the draft and getting impact. So call me crazy. I think in the NFC, it's a lot easier when you have one of the best coaches. I think it's 2025 to me, no matter what, because I think that whether it's Matthew Stafford or maybe a hotshot rookie quarterback, I think they, they play fine next year. Obviously Stafford is going

to be much better than, you know, a Nixon McCarthy appendix or whoever would be next year. But I still think that even with Matthew Stafford on this team, they're probably still like right around 500. So to me, best case scenario is developing this really young roster, finally eating their vegetables or paying the bills that have come due for them with all their draft trades over the last couple of years. You've got a handful of picks this year. You've got a full array of picks next year as well. To me, 2025 is the year where if the Rams are going to continue, because I just looked at Matthew Stafford's contract, and I know we've talked about him potentially retiring. He's got the injuries and everything. He's 35 right now. They've got 106

million dead cap if they were to move on from this year. Next year, he jumps up all the way to 50, well, 49.5 cap hit. And the year after that, it's a $50.5 million cap hit. But the dead cap is pretty significant. So I wonder if Stafford's actually going to stick around for a couple of years and maybe play until he's like 36 to 37, as long as his body doesn't fully betray him. He doesn't have another major injury that he has to go through. I wonder if that's the case.

And if it is, to me, 2025 is more of the year, looking at how young this team is. Because, man, what is the, I had the age of teams are here. They are the sixth youngest team in the NFL right now at 26.2 average age. And they only have 35 players under contract going into next year. The only team that has less is the kansas city chiefs they got 35 the chiefs have 34 so they're just a really young group and if they keep stafford i think they could turn around decently quickly but i'm gonna say i'm saying

2025 instead of 2024 what about the titans tit Titans at number eight, also three and six. Lost two in a row. Not going in the right direction this year. .544 strength schedule. It's a pretty high one. Not going to win many tiebreakers. What do we think? What do we think about the Tennessee Titans?

What year are we going with? 25, and maybe that's on the optimistic side. I think that they got to rebuild the offensive line besides Skowronski. Hopkins isn't getting any younger, so they probably need to rebuild the skill group. Derrick Henry not getting any younger. So you're talking about,

even if Will Levis is a hit, you're making over an entire offense. And that is really, really tough sledding. Frabel will always have this defense humming. Even when they don't have the players, they'll compete. He's a good coach. But they just have a long ways to go personnel-wise on the offensive side of the ball.

And that's always going to kind of set your ceiling in the AFC. That is really, really tough to make the playoffs right now. So the Titans, they're undergoing a rebuild. They have a new GM. They're going to get the time to do that. And everybody just has to be patient. 2026 seems like a really far way off. So it feels kind of harsh saying 2026, but like it's somewhere between 2025, 2026 for

me. Like you've just got trench needs galore on the offensive side of things. Peter Skronski is about the only offensive lineman that I have faith in. You've got four other spots that I think you've got to find starters for. You're moving on from Ryan Tannehill. You're maybe moving on from Derrick Henry. Probably moving on from Derrick Henry because he's an upcoming free agent

this offseason. Why didn't they do any of these things? What do you mean? Why didn't they trade any of these things? What do you mean? Why didn't they trade any of these guys? Well, because Tennessee, and I don't mean this as a negative. Tennessee, to me, under Vrabel, is a very prideful franchise. They're not going to punt. They're not going to do it.

They're going to believe that they can win and and until the gm comes in and like overrules what variable might might say which it's probably a little bit of a weird dynamic anyways because you're hiring the gm after the head coach is already established and is a head coach that has surprisingly made playoff runs and won the number one seed in the afc right and so like i think there's a lot of power in what Vrabel says in that building. So it's just one of those things where I think that they're about to start their rebuild. I don't even think the Titans thought

that they were starting their rebuild this year. No, they wouldn't have signed Hopkins. I think that they thought they were going to compete this year, and they're not. So to me, this is a team that doesn't even start their rebuild until this upcoming offseason. You've got a quarterback who, okay, sure, you hope is it, but the rest of the team around him, especially on the offensive line,

isn't going to be what it needs to be for you to get the most out of him and probably compete immediately. So to me, this is early as 2025, but in all reality, the Titans could be a legitimate contender for 2026. What do you got for the Broncos here, picking at nine? New coach, do a mammoth deal. Everybody else could kind of be pushed out. Yeah.

I think there's a lot of changes in Denver, and I think there's a lot of uncertainty with Staley with the Chargers and certainly what's going on with with the raiders right now whether antonio pierce ends up keeping that job or not i feel like the broncos could be that number two team in the division and and legitimately compete for a playoff spot next year i'm gonna say 2024 i think that team is still i think that team is still really talented i do um i think sean payton was taking over a group that had the fingerprints of a lot of other people on it

and this offseason you're about to see a lot of aggressive stuff happening i think that there's going to be yeah a lot of different roster moves that happen there i don't think they're just going to give away those either of those wide receivers they're not just going to be like oh yeah like we're moving on entirely from because if they would have done that they probably would have traded them at the deadline so i think that they could build around some of the pieces that are there and i think that there's just going to be a lot of different changes that happen um obviously they're not really close to getting a quarterback but i think sean payton understood what this job was i think he understood it's like okay sure i I have Russell Wilson, but they don't really

have the flexibility to move on from him. So even if they had one of those top two picks, I mean, they probably take a quarterback, but it's just, it's so, I don't know how to make it work. It's one of those things where you read the Adam Schefter tweet and they go like, yeah, they traded Russ. And you go like, how did this happen? Like, where did, where did this come from? It's hard for me to even get my mind there. And instead I look at a Broncos team that is just very, very underachieved over the last two years compared to where I think that

their roster could be. And I believe that they could legitimately be a playoff team next year. I really do think that. I just, I, I can't get get behind it i think that the problem with the broncos is the things that are outside of their control is that the chiefs are in the division justin herbert's in the division right i don't know what to make of the raiders credit to them for you know for pierce really galvanizing that team and they've beaten the giants and jets back to back but i'm thinking long term you know they have their fair share of questions, but still it's a

tough division. And I think that Peyton is always going to want to move on from Russ. So as they reset the clock at some point with a new quarterback, that's resetting everything where I go 2025. I think next year, I'm going to be fascinated if they use this pending top 10 pick on a quarterback, and how that kind of alters their timeline of things. And I think that the defense obviously started out really, really disappointing this year. They've had free agent misses. They got to retool some of that front seven. So I think they're a little further So I think they're a little further. I think they're a little further away than where you have them right now,

especially in a division that it's really, really tough sledding for a full season. There's just a bunch of players who are like, I like on this team. I know. It makes you question it that much further. There's a lot of guys that I just don't think, man, Justin Simmons,

pastor tan, Baron Browning, Drew Sanders, like Nick Benito's in the mix there. They spent a lot of money on the defensive line. I know McGlinchey's not playing well, but he has played well before. Maybe he bounces back next year.

I think Garrett Bowles has been solid. You get a little bit better on the interior as well. I think Quinn Miners is good. Javante Williamss i like julio mclaughlin's playing well you fix the receiver room a little bit which it feels like you have flexibility to fix receiver rooms almost every single off season whether it's to the draft or free agency and if russ plays better i mean to me that's just a lot of pieces a lot of pieces that i think you come together just don't think the coach likes the quarterback and i don't believe in a team where that situation exists. If that's the case, then I think that you have a strong chance to be right there.

This podcast is brought to you by our friends over at PrizePix. PrizePix is the place where you can combine two to six entries. Combine them in a little parlay format. You can win up to 25 times your money depending on what lines you are putting some money on connor do we have a couple of prize pick lineups that we projections for next week that we like because we were all for three last week we got to redeem ourselves oh no um listen it's been a tough go in fantasy for Lamar Jackson these last couple of weeks. I know it's a tough game for the Ravens.

They blew that one, but they've been a house this year. And a lot of the time they don't need him to do a lot. Gus Edwards is the touchdown machine. They find other ways to score. Lamar doesn't need to constantly put up a ton of touchdowns. But I'm going to believe in a get right fantasy performance for him against the Bengals where his total touchdowns, so passing and rushing and receiving.

If they ran a crazy trick play and he caught one, very unlikely. Which he could. He could. He could. It's set at one and a half. I think Lamar's due for two touchdowns. I really do.

I think he's due for two touchdowns. And really do. I think he's due for two touchdowns. And then we need at least one more here, Trevor. Is there something that you want to roll with? There is the Josh Jacobs bet entry of one touchdown. Yeah, he's set at a half. One touchdown? Our guy just needs one? Did he get like 27 carries last week?

I know he didn't score, but volume, baby. But he scored the two weeks before that. He did. He did. He just needs to run, pass, or catch a touchdown. One. I think he's going to make it happen. So you're going for more than a half.

So Lamar Jackson, more than one and a half. Josh Jacobs, more than a half. Yep.ar Jackson, more than one and a half. Josh Jacobs, more than a half. Yep, there you go. With basketball season also here, you can do combo projections across both football and basketball in the special league. It's a league that's created

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Again, pricepicks.com. NFLSC, using that promo code NFLSC for your first deposit match up to $100. Number 10, everybody's favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, sitting here at 4-6. Like I mentioned, they have an extremely easy strength to schedule,.425. So if they are any tiebreakers with basically any team that is not the New Orleans Saints, they're going to win it.

So they're sitting at the back end of the top 10 right now after losing three games in a row. Connor, what do we think about the Falcons? I think they make the playoffs this year. I think they can. I'm with you. I like,

this is a funny one, right? It's, this is where we start to get a little bit more fluidity. The Falcons roster is ready to win right now. Arthur Smith woke up from his season-long nap and fed Bijan. Wow, it worked. I know they lost, but at least it worked.

Yeah, but they lost. Running back production wins. It's a real stat. Look at that. They control their destiny, right? They play the Saints twice. They play the Jets, Panthers, Colts, and Bears. Those are winnable games.

God, this schedule is so soft. What's that? This schedule is so soft. And the only other game is a division game against the Bucs. So the Falcons, theoretically theoretically completely control their destiny this year in an absolute garbage division sorry trevor and now you know it so yeah right so yeah i think they can make the playoffs this year it's i they're only one of a few teams on this exercise that you could say that yeah no i i think so as well the exercise is obviously like is it 2024 25 25 2026 um obviously this is a team that i think can make

the playoffs this year so my answer is 2024 i'm picking the closest year so i think that this team is close um i don't really believe in either taylorineke or Desmond Ritter, but I think if you have the opportunity to get a quarterback in there with a little bit of a higher ceiling, this is a team at the back end of the top 10 that if you get a Bo Nix, a Michael Penix, a JJ McCarthy, if you get a Jaden Daniels, you know, like whatever it is, I think that you can change things pretty quickly for this team. They're not totally complete on defense, you know, signed a lot of veterans, but I think the guys that they brought in really set the baseline, especially with, um especially with like Calais Campbell and Jesse Bates and those guys are doing.

So I think they're at least going in the right direction, even though the age is a little bit higher on the defensive side of the ball. So I agree with you. I think that Atlanta is a team that should compete this year, should compete next year as well. Washington Commanders, they're picking at 11. They're also 4-6,.481 strength of schedule as it stands today. They're actually tied with the Buccaneers in that regard, but the Bucs have played one less game.

So Washington's sitting here at 11. You hinted that you kind of like what you're seeing from Sam Howell so far. So what do you think about Washington, though? We've talked about that regime maybe being on the way out. Does that affect what year you're going to say here? What are you going with? Yeah, I go 2025 because I think they're going to have a new staff. You know, something that we talked about on Fantasy Happy Hour today

that makes you wonder if they hire a defensive guy, like say they hired Mike McDonald or something like, do they keep Eric Biennemi? Because this pass happy offense isn't the worst thing in the world for Sam Howell right now. So I'm assuming they're going to have a lot of turnover on this staff. They do have some needs on the offensive line. They do now have some needs at edge rusher.

They need to get their secondary picks. They just use premium capital on up to speed next year. But this is a competitive team right now. They're taking good teams down to the wire. The only reason I go 25 is because I think the turnover on the staff can't be understated. And I think that's really in a hard division, right? A really hard division where the Cowboys and the Eagles are a big problem. But Washington, they're far from being one of the big problems on this list we go through today.

I agree with you. I think that they, again, I think they're going to make a change with the current regime. So I think that's going to push back their winning window a year. And even like if, I don't mean to say if they kept Ron Rivera, I would say for sure that this is a 2024 team. When you fire sale, you're starting to edge rushers at the deadline. Like you're clearly, you don't believe you're exactly there yet. So I think that this team even knows that they're probably two off seasons away from truly timing it out well to maybe the Eagles are taking a little bit of a dip at that point. Maybe the Cowboys are as well. That's really when you strike. So even though I like what I've seen from Sam Howell and they have

some nice pieces around the rest of the roster, I am expecting a regime change for them there, especially with the new ownership in Washington, probably wanting to get their guys established in the front office and in the coaching staff. So I will also say 2025 for the Washington commanders. Buccaneers sitting here at number 12. Connor, what do you think? They're sitting here at four and five.

They got a, I mentioned their strength of schedule,.481. Their win this past weekend put them four spots higher? Five spots higher? Four spots higher. They were picking at number eight. Now they're picking at number 12. So what do we think? They can make the playoffs this year.

The reason why it's actually harder for 24 is- No, I don't have to. You were about to say you got to factor that in. i don't have to factor that in you don't make me do it you don't have to make me do it this is if they make the playoffs it is the most fool's gold playoff appearance that i know but put aside your put aside your disgust and you know they can do it this it's i can't say that about the um falcons and not say it about the bucks now yeah so that could they get washed by the niners this weekend sure but they're gonna be they're gonna be competitive against the rest of the skit the colts the panthers the falcons the packers jacksonville

they'll be competitive the saints and panthers i trevor the problem is why it's hard to say 24 it's easier to say this you're like who the hell is playing quarterback for this team next year yeah I don't know that so there's one side of me that goes they got a shot to make the playoffs this year not a good one but they have a shot they do and then the other side of me is like 25 I think I don't I think it's 25 I don't like them next year no I mean I don't know what they are and then and then you start getting into dangerous territory because in you know 2025 is levante david still on the team you're getting older is mike evans still on the team yeah you got a lot of veterans that have been there i mean like tristan worse than anton winfield jr aren't going anywhere they're going to start those guys

but you know what's the cornerback room look like in 2025? Is Carlton Davis still going to be there? Is Jamel Dean still going to be there? Are they totally moving on from those guys? And of course, I don't ultimately think that Todd Bowles is going to survive the next two seasons with this team. I don't think the roster is where it is. So then if you're going through a coaching change, not this

offseason, but the next offseason, I still think it's probably going to be this offseason. But if you're kicking the can down the road, then all of a sudden, at what point are you just totally hitting the refresh button? I will ultimately say 2025. Obviously, they can still make the playoffs this year. I don't think they're going to. I think they're going to make a change within the coaching staff this offseason.

It's going to accelerate things a little bit. I think they'll hold on to a lot of their veterans for as long as they possibly can. Not ignorantly, but like Levante David and Mike Evans are still good. So, I mean, if there were negative assets for them, you move on, but they're still good football players for you. So you're still figuring out the offensive line. Your offensive line's got to get a lot better. I think they've got to get another running back in there

to really help out with Rashad White. So they've got their wide receivers locked down. A lot of other stuff i think there's a i think elijah can't see and vita bear are solid on the interior players what are you doing with devin white is devin white going to be out of there he very well could um they need edge rushers badly still so i'm gonna say 2025 i agree with you i think that this team's just got kind of the makeup of 2025 being the year where you really can attack the playoffs. Now we get to switch spots because as this NFL draft podcast can only do, and it's funny in an ironic way,

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets are picking back-to-back in the order right now at 12 and 13. Jets are sitting here at four and five. They have a strength of schedule of.506, you know it's not you know it's not the worst you lose some tiebreakers and win some tiebreakers what do you think about the jets connor i mean they just disgust me but but if you the the funny thing is is that when i say funny i mean like obviously you're going through hell live on sny so that's kind of what the funny part is to me if you gave me the three best zach wilson throws from last night you'd be like this dude's a franchise quarterback i know

the jump the jump no look the hail mary the hail mary was sick running for your life from max crosby and just firing a perfect hail mary 50 yards down the field if caleb williams did that people would be like oh that's why it's caleb williams baby and it's zach wilson he takes off the scooby-doo mask and it's like it's zach wilson it's so true the crazy thing is if and is there hail mary so like it's not his fault doesn't matter if tyler conklin doesn't accidentally bat down the pass garrett wilson is is jumping over two to like it's going right in his hands and they don't deserve to win like it would have been like one of those like wow that

was sick but like this team does not deserve to win just like they didn't deserve to win against the giants how often do you think teams practice hail mary's like legitimately no and i'm not talking i'm not talking about the setup because you can talk about the setup all you want. You can say like, hey, we're going to go three by one here. You're all going to kind of like veer to the left. You're going to be in the left side of the end zone. Quarterback's going to roll out to his left and he's going to throw it to where most of you are. I'm talking about how often do you think in OTAs and training camp, do you play games of 500 with your number one receivers and your number one corners,

and you say, go get the football, our quarterback's going to chuck it 70 yards? Because I've never seen that happen in practice. Yeah, I was going to say, you've actually been, like you've covered a team where you're at practice every day. I'll ask the guys next game day because I'm curious, but I would say in this era it's even less likely because you're so scared of injuries sure I yeah and I I get it I mean obviously like that is but that's why you don't do a ton of goal line work anymore right because you're not just going heads up

against somebody but I but I want you know like it it just makes me it makes me laugh when I see stuff like that and um Tampa against Buffalo had hail mary opportunity a couple of weeks ago where like that one was if chris godwin just like turns around the other way and i know like hail marys are so like bang bang plays and everything but it's just i'm sitting here wondering dude are they doing this for the first time you think like are they like running these like for the first time in years essentially so i So I don't know. I just wondered. The Tampa one was the only one I've ever seen just hit the ground. Yeah, nobody there.

No one there. For the ball to hit the ground, it makes me think you're not practicing this shit. No, it was a great throw from Baker. Great throw. So anyways, back to Zach Wilson. I mean mean the answer of course for the jets is 24 because aaron rogers is back i agree completely but and unfortunately all of you people have to are like me you watch this team because they're on prime time all the time so you know i'm talking about time next year too so you better get used to it yeah i know it's like i this is where i was

this morning because i was we got off the air at like one and then i gotta get home from the city i woke up and wore like the gel pads under my eyes oh really yeah that like that like wake up your eyes that's the state we are in because i gotta get up and get to work and barely slept so thanks jets raiders but anyway seriously this team has a really good defense that's here next year like they're all there next year it's all young guys and the guys that aren't young young are extended quinn and williams dj reeds dj mosley quincy williams they're all extended everyone else on rookie deals so the defense isn't going anywhere i'll say this like if they don't take backup quarterback seriously next year, though, then they deserve.

I mean, they they made their bed here with this situation and they need depth on the offensive line to protect Rogers or he will get hurt again and they'll be back to this situation. But the Jets have a roster that is literally built to win now. See, you have to say 2024. Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you completely. This is an easy 2024. The defense is unreal. I hate to say it because I'm sure that you've had this conversation a million times,

so we don't have to dive into it. But I hope the Jets play really, really well next year, if nothing else, because I don't want Jets fans to have to look back at 2023 as one of the biggest what-if years in franchise history. And that would really suck. It would really suck. And that's also why I'm terrified when Roger says, I'm going to come back in the middle of December.

Right. My mind immediately goes to Friday Night Lights and Boobie Miles. There is a difference between you being out there and being able to move around and then you moving around at NFL speed and having defensive players flying at you completely like i i almost wish that the new york jets owner would just step in and be like you are not playing this year we are saving you to win a super bowl next season yeah and they might not be they might be out of it by the time he can come back like that's the reality right now and it's it's it stinks to say that but

anyways they might save him from himself by losing yeah it's a weird one it's definitely a weird one so 14 chargers yep i mean it's maddening that we even have to have the conversation with this team because yes they can make the playoffs next year. They have Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen. Now, there are things with them. Austin Eckler is a free agent after this year. The defense is really bad. It's really, really bad.

And it's it's really bad in a sense that it's coached poorly. But I also think it's these guys play really bad. Like, I don't watch this team and I'm just like, I'm not playing well., these guys play really bad. Like I don't watch this team and I'm just like, they're not playing well. They don't play well. No, they don't play well. They under, they're a group of underachievers. Honestly, they are a group of underachievers. And like, this is, this is harsh, but like, yes, Joey Bosa had that dominant game two weeks ago against Billy Turner, probably the worst offensive lineman in football. The Jets were down to like their 15th offensive lineman and good for Bosa for winning his matchup. But then you see

the Chargers against a competent offense and they get clowned. So yes, the Chargers are a team that can make the playoffs in 2024. They have a stud quarterback. They have a stud wide receiver. They have pieces. They should be better than this, but it's wild how little confidence I have still with that state. Like I should be way more confident in this team. I'm 2025. Good for you, honestly. Honestly. I'm glad somebody wore their meat fabric on the show.

I'm 2030, actually. Somebody showed up with their meat fabric on for the show thank god somebody did because i'm sitting here just talking myself in a pretzel it's it's hard it's hard to watch justin herbert play football um especially at his best and think that this team can't compete for a playoff spot and that's not to say that i don't think the chargers will be it's not like i'm saying that they're going to be a horrible team next season, but in the spirit of what we had this podcast about, when are you a legitimate contender? I think Staley gets fired this year. So I think it's new coaches coming in. Now they will have an extremely attractive chess piece in the coaching search game with Justin

Herbert under contract and how well he is playing. So maybe you get the best coach, but it still might take some time. You mentioned, I think defense has got to get a lot better on this team. Joey Bosa does not look like the same Bosa that we saw in the early parts of his career. Khalil Mack's about to be 33, 34 years old next year, and he'll be a free agent after that. So will Keenan Allen. So you're going to have to find guys that will replace a lot of that production.

I think this is a 2025 legitimate competition team. Like even if the Chargers were to make the playoffs this year, even if they were to make it next year, I wonder how legitimate that stuff is. And, and I would say that this team could be a juggernaut contender with Justin Herbert in 2025, but there's no doubt about it. I think they can compete for playoff spots because of the DNA of this team. But in full confidence, I would say with a new head coach coming in, if they don't really hit the ground running, it's an easy 2025 for me, especially given the fact that a lot of their star players are getting older and are free agents.

That's a good point. We got one more team left before we get to that. It not a bird it's not a plane it is the most revolutionary ball trimmer that you guys have ever seen gentlemen friends over at manscaped been working night and day to bring you a below the waist grooming experience like none other with their brand new lawnmower 5.0 ultra we're talking about a next generation trimmer with interchangeable blade heads for whatever shave your mind can imagine. AI is pretty cool, but I think this might be

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Last team that we got, number 15, it's the Indianapolis Colts. Sitting here at 5-5. They have beaten out the Las Vegas Raiders for the tiebreaker in this 15th spot. Number 15 is the Indianapolis Colts. Sitting here at 5-5. They have beaten out the Las Vegas Raiders for the tiebreaker in this 15th spot. Connor, what do we think? Got Anthony Richardson coming back next year after being on IR this year. Looking nice to start the season. What do we think?

What year? Next year. I mean, not a scary division. I like the coach a lot. I really do. I like Shane Steichen. You can tell. I like the coach a lot. I really do. I like Shane Steichen. I think you can tell where I gravitate on this exercise. If I like the coach and think he's in an organization that gives him a shot,

you could get things right pretty quickly. I mean, we're high on Anthony Richardson, obviously. So I think that really helps here. And I think that the Colts have pieces in place. You see it on defense, but more importantly, you see it on offense. Josh Downs is a player. Michael Pittman's a player. They got two good running backs.

The offensive line has played better this year. I think that they are absolutely going to be there already. They're a 500 team right now, right? And that's what all the injuries they've dealt with, especially at a key spot like Richardson's. The Colts will be fine next year. That that division quietly is kind of a bloodbath next year. You have a Jacksonville team that there's high expectations for. You have Stroud's Texans.

You have the Colts with Richardson returning. And Vrabel's always a thorn in everyone's side, no matter how bad the Titans look like that division can kind of tear each other apart. So I, the Titans, the Colts, I'm absolutely thinking 2024.

I also wrote down 2024. I really did. And, um, you know, again, this wasn't necessarily an exercise where we're sitting here doing the math. Um,

because I also think the Texans are going in a great direction. Like you said, I think the Jags are obviously right there. They can win the division this year. So the division is highly competitive, but I think Colts are one of those teams that are going to make it competitive. I really do. You get another stud receiver in there. The offensive line is playing a little bit better this year than it was last year. Richardson, obviously, I think looked very promising for the first part of the season when he was able to play. I, as well, like where Shane Steichen has his team going. I think it's a good group. It's not a complete group, but I think another offseason for the Indianapolis Colts.

More reps for Anthony Richardson, and we're going to see this team compete for a playoff spot next year. So I agree with you. Let us know what you guys think. Those are 15 teams. We talked about all of their playoff chances over the next couple of years. We know you got takes on it. Let's hear it. Best way to do that, youtube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange.

It's in the comment section. Anytime you comment on the video, anytime you get your voices heard, not only do you invite the rest of the community to um get to converse with that you get people to see your opinions and everything like that we're trying to build obviously the best nfl draft community we possibly can here but when you comment like the video it also really helps us out especially as we were getting into draft season so anytime you guys can do that we would be very very appreciative if you are audio only you can hit us up on Twitter. Sorry, X. Still getting used to it. I don't think I'll ever get used to it, actually.

I can't do it. I'm not trying. I stopped trying. It's Twitter. I'm sorry. It's Twitter. It's Twitter. What a stupid name.

It's not even a name. It's just a letter. It's a letter. It's, you know, people have said this. It really does when you have the tail open. It looks like a porn site logo. It does. It's just like. Not that I would know what that looks like.

No, I know. That's a good point. I actually guessed that completely. Well, if I knew what that was like, I would say that that's a good guess. If, of course I knew without. Thank you. But yeah, on Twitter, you had it. Hit us up at Tampa Bay.

Trey at Connor J. Rogers is the best way to do that. Connor is out for the second episode of the week. He's taking a much needed break there. I will actually be joined by my colleague over at PFF, Brad Spielberger. And we're going to go over updated team needs heading into the off season. So the trade deadline is passed. A lot of moves have been made.

Brad is truly one of the best in the business when it comes to keeping tabs on team salary cap situations, upcoming free agents. I mean, the dude is an absolute wizard at all that kind of stuff. So brains to the show. We're going to take a look at the rosters. We're going to take a look at upcoming free agents. And then Brad also told me he's like, dude, I've been able to watch a lot more college prospects this year than I have in years past. So you're going to get some draft takes early draft takes from Brad as well. So make sure that you don't miss that.

Connor, you got anything else before we get out of here, my friend? No, I'm sad. I'm missing the midweek show, but I will be back. Of course,

full schedule after that for what I plan on the rest of the year, all the way through the, at least the draft. So the show goes on, buddy. The show indeed goes on. And it'll be, you know, this is, this is like, at least the draft. So the show goes on, buddy. The show indeed goes on. And it'll be, you know, this is like NFL revisit week.

Like I said, I felt like the last couple of shows, like we had the mock draft, we had the top prospects, we had the things that we've changed about the mock. We had a bunch of like prospect-centric episodes. And this week we are refreshing kind of how we think the draft is going to look, how we think teams are going to operate. And I think you guys are really going to enjoy the team needs conversation because that's going to be a fun one.

And that'll help you guys or start a conversation when it comes to the mock drafts that you do on the mock draft simulator at pff.com. And it'll just be good. So I'm looking forward to it. As always, I'm Trevor Sikama. That's Connor Rogers. Thank you guys so much for listening and watching the NFL soccer stage podcast. It'll just be good. So I'm looking forward to it. As always, I'm Trevor Sycamore. That is Connor Rogers.

Thank you guys so much for listening and watching the NFL Soccer Change Podcast. We'll see you guys on Wednesday. Thank you.