OverDrive - OverDrive - August 11, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Join Jim Tatti, Keegan Matheson and Michael DiStefano for Hour 3 on OverDrive! GriffsThePitch.com Columnist Richard Griffin joins to discuss the team's depth overview, John Schneider's coaching views and Trey Yesavage's leap to triple-A with the Bisons. NFL Network Analyst Marc Ross joins to discuss the NFL preseason headlines, the Bills' ceiling in the AFC and Shedeur Sanders' starting status with the Browns and the FanDuel Best Bets.

From managing successful careers to raising families, women today are busier than ever. Thinking about their needs, including their own financial planning, often falls by the wayside. Yet at some point in their lives, 90% of women will have sole responsibility of their finances, whether they're divorced, widowed, or single. It's never too early or too late to start planning for your future financial security. Call Calvin the Money Guy, 416-457 plan, or visit askkelvin.ca.cai. Claudia was leaving for her pickleball tournament. I've been visualizing my match all week.

She was so focused on visualizing that she didn't see the column behind her car on her backhand side. Good thing Claudia's with Intact. The insurer with the largest network of auto service centers in the country. Everything was taken care of under one roof and she was on her way in a rental car in no time.

I made it to my tournament. And lost in the first round. But you got there on time. Intact Insurance. Your auto service ace. Certain conditions. on supply. Our number three, overdrive on a sizzling Monday, Jim Taddy, Kagan, Matheson from the MLB.com group, or just say MLB.com. How's brother, Mike DiStefano, a little punchy. Sorry,

overdrive is brought to you by Fandil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Coming up in mere seconds, Richard Griffin, griff's the pitch.com is where you can find his work, or the exit philosophy podcast. In the meantime, yes guy, no guy. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, bonus, yes, guy, no guy. If you could call it that. So here's some stuff we didn't get to. Going to the CFL, the Argos would have been a winning team if Chad Kelly was at quarterback, would be a winning team if Chad Kelly had started the season at quarterback.

No guy. That's a lot of wins to make up at this point, especially with how they look right now. You'd have another winner too, but I'm a no guy on that. Well, winning club is in like just over 500 or... Yes, yes. I mean, I'm going to say, I say no guy, but it's not necessarily Chad Kelly. That defense is just horrendous.

They lost half their defense, half the starters that played in that championship game, and they have not really been able to make it up. And they're giving up points at an, like, oh, they got 48 points this weekend. 48 points. They get a 50 burger to Hamilton a few weeks back. Like, his defense is horrendous. Don't matter who's under center. I still think that this team is going to lose a lot of football games.

Well, they were the masters of compliment. football last year. Now it's the reverse. So 46-42 was the score Saturday. They're the reverse of that now. What they used to generate offensively on special teams, they're giving away. That's a major contrast. Maybe give me a four and

five with Kelly, but not a winning. So I'm going to go, no guy. Yes, Guy, no guy, supplemental, the bills will finish with the best record in the AFC the season, maybe. In the AFC. I'm going to say yes, guy.

definitely an easier division than the two teams that I think you're looking at I suppose you could throw the chiefs in there as a possibility I don't want to but it's between the bills and the Ravens for me but the Ravens is a far more difficult path to garnering the most wins in the AFC right you look at their division it's difficult very difficult so I like the Buffalo Bills I think they finish with the best record this year I think they're the only team in the NFL this year

to be favored by the sports books, by Fanduil, in every single game this season. Really? Yeah. Every single game. I'm a yes guy, but I like the Chiefs more than most. And I think Chief's exhaustion has set in. People get fed up with the years. You get tired of it, but I still see the Chiefs as a team that's going to make a massive run.

15 and 2 a year ago, I think they'll be close this year. And I think this year is a year where they really, really open up Patrick Mahomes again and open up that passing game again. how many games Rice is going to miss, we'll see. That'll be a big one, but I think they feed Kelsey in his absence. I'm a big Xavier Worther guy. I think that will help as well. Hollywood Brownback will help. I think they just completely uncork, or sorry, uncork Patrick Mahomes. Again, not quite back to those peak, peak records he's setting. But man, they've got to give the bills a run for their money, give me bills one, Chiefs two, Ravens Three. Oh, I'm going to say yes, guy to this. They will have the best record in the EFC this season, and I hope it works out finally.

Another dragon that has to be slade. Let's go out on this one. Shadurr Sanders will be the week one quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. No guy. Give me Joe Flacco, week one, somewhere in the middle, a little bit of Kenny picking at the end of the season. We're talking week 11, 12, 13.

I don't need to see no baby hands. Just a little sprinkle of Kenny Pickett. Don't need to see no baby heads, Kenny Pickett, anywhere near the Cleveland started quarterback. Only because they traded for him. Just that little wink at the camera. Why would you? You got Dilligabriel, you've got Shudor Sand,

Gabriel's the forgotten man. He is, and he's hurt right now, and that's the rate. I'm going to say no guy as well for week one. I do think Shiger Sanders becomes the starter at some point, and we'll get started to the Cleveland Browns. He looked pretty good on Friday. I'll give him that. Let's give him his flowers, right?

Tony didn't want to give flowers, but let's give flowers to Shudor Sanders. Not that he looked pretty good. But week one, I don't like they're ready to give him the keys to the kingdom just yet, but at some point this year, I do think that Sanders will be starting games for the Browns. It is the Cleveland Browns, so I'm going to say, yes, he will be the week one quarterback because they like to do things their way. They do. Yes, they do. Let's bring in Richard Griffin

now. As mentioned, griff's the pitch dot com and the exit philosophy podcast, highly anticipated and highly advertised. Griff, how are you? I'm doing well, and it's great to talk to Kagan and not be looking at him. Come on. Don't pretend you haven't

had the TV up like you missed me, Griff. It's good to hear your voice, though. And it's been a whole week. Without him, without him, I would be completely wrong. Well, we were going to put some popcorn in his beard just to make it look official, but he wouldn't have any part of that. This is about as clean as I get, Daddy. All this TV stuff is making me a little cleaner than I normally look.

Rich, we've been talking a lot about the game last night there, and the decision, I guess, to put Mason Flew Hardy out there. Like, how, what went through your mind in that situation? when you saw Flew Hardy trotting out there, game on the line, O'Tonnie in the batters box. Walk us through, it went through your brain there. Well, it's always, as a manager, it's always up to who you think is the best option at that point in time. It doesn't matter how many pitches have been thrown. It's who's the best option.

And at that point, having thrown 23 balls and 10 strikes, the best option at that point was Mason Flew Hardy, Lefty against one of the best, or against the best player in baseball. But I wasn't expecting much. I wasn't expecting that. And it would have been a completely different story because on a three-two count, Otani, of course, was being aggressive. He wanted to win the ball game. He is the best player in baseball.

And he swung at a pitch down and away. And if he had taken that pitch, it would have been balls for. The game would have been tied again. And it would have been a whole different ball game. that people would have been complaining about the move and about Mason Fleurdy being in that spot. Griff, that's another one of those moves that just seems to have worked out for the Jays.

John Schneider, it seems like, has had a lot of those. Last year, the year before, if he'd make that move, I'd bet show you, Tani, would hit one 500 feet, but it seems like everything they do lately is working out. And you have, Griff, you've covered a couple more years of baseball and a couple more managers than me, I believe, when I do the math. and being around John Schneider as much as you have. Have you noticed, like, I have kind of some change in growth in Schneider this year,

and what stood out about you and his role in this success? Yeah, I've actually, I counted it up, and I've worked with or covered 19 major league managers. And like I told Gibby one time, you're not the worst I've ever covered, and you're not the best. And that's about what I can say for Snyder. But I think I heard you earlier talking about his growth as a manager and his ability to combine all the analytics and all the suggestions from the front office with instinct and a personal feel.

And I think that's where he's improved the most. You know, when you see a guy out there like your clothes are out there and he's not throwing strikes. The numbers may say leave him in because he may find the strikes zone at any time, but the new John Schneider says, I'm going out there, I'm going to take them out and let the chips fall where they may.

He has developed since the debacle in Minnesota with Jose Burrios, there's no doubt. I think that was a starting point for his renaissance into what he's become. I think definitely, He's top three in manager of the year. And you guys suggest number one. I think if the Js hang on and are the best team in the American League

or win the division, then he would win that award. You're talking about him being more decisive, but one of the intriguing things for me, and I'd like your take on it is this roster has more flexibility than I've seen in a long time, and he's able to guide it properly. Well, the flexibility that you're talking about, Patman, is the fact that in the past, their bench has been so terrible that, you know, you could have guys that are able to play different positions, but you don't want them in any game at any time. And this bench is deeper.

This bench has more talent. You know, Miles Straw was a revelation. Nathan Lucas is a revelation. And they have guys that are able to fill in and play different. positions, which means late in the game, they can make John Schneider look like a genius with his manipulation of positions and stuff. And I think by and large, this is the best bench he's ever had. This is the best bench I can remember in years. And it's because they're spending a lot of money. They have $75.6 million on the I.L. right now. And like,

There are some years, even in the 21st century, where that is more than what the payroll was for the Blue Jays. So they are spending more money. They have more players. They have more versatility. And I'm sure it's a lot more fun in that dugout for John Schneider to manage. There's a lot of guys who are performing, as you noticed. And as you mentioned here, and there's a couple of players, Jimenez, Springer, possibly Santander, some guys who are going to come up pretty soon. there's going to have to be some sort of roster crunch.

Like, who, how difficult is that decision going to be for who gets kind of squeezed out of this lineup? Well, I think it would have been, Michael, I think it would have been more difficult prior to the Dodgers series. I think there was a certain euphoria going into Chavez Ravine that disappeared in a hurry after two games. And Kagan mentioned it earlier, the fact that these guys could push Yamamoto back and still come in with a guy, Tyler Glassnow, who's a who's a, who's a All-Star and should have won a Cy Young by now if he wasn't injured all the time. But I think that really that this team in LA proved something to both sides, those who were overly optimistic and those who were overly pessimistic. It was a necessary two out of three loss.

And I think that the negative side now realizes that you can't just go with the guys that are there now. Anytime you have Buddy Kennedy starting against the World Series champions at third base, then you know you've got to make some moves. And those are coming up. It won't be that hard. Things have a tendency to take care of themselves. And especially on the pitching side. I mean, you guys mentioned Trey Savage earlier. I compare that to David Price in his rookie year of 2008 when the Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series. And he was called up late in the season, had made his way through their minor league system, and was a key part of the bullpen pitching innings in the playoffs and ended up being a really good starter in the major

leagues. But that was his debut in the majors. It's in a role with a winning team, and maybe a savage could be that guy in September and October. Griff, I like that, the David Price example that you're mentioning. And in Toronto, I try to think back, I guess 2014 Aaron Sanchez, but he was on a pitch ending limit when he debuted in the bullpen late that year, moved into the rotation. What do you think, Griff, down the stretch here, Trey Savage. He's had an incredible year in the minor leagues, just about as good as any pitcher in this whole organization. And I said earlier that it comes down to whether he is one of the 13 best pitchers on this

team. Do you think he is? I think that they have to go to a six-man rotation. I think that Jose Burrios is the key. And when I ran it by him, he had a big smile. I said you'd get to your 32 starts, which he's done, of course, for six consecutive years. And when he heard that, his face lit up. He says, that extra rest is always good in the final two months.

And so I think that the key that you're savage coming up is you need a guy. You can't, you could have Eric Lauer go into that role and be a two or three inning guy down the stretch in September. But you want a guy, you want that six-man rotation to me because you're rewarding your six best pitchers and you're leaving them some innings to go into October because October is the ultimate goal, of course. And like, your savage could be that guy who, when you get down near the end of a game, if you're going to extra innings, you have him ready to go and he can eat up multiple innings. Plus he could pitch three middle innings like Lauer came out after three on Sunday.

He could then eat up two or three innings and be really overpowering, really, good in a short burst. And I think that the way Yassavis would come up as that extra pitcher in September that they're allowed to add when the rosters expand and if the team is going with a

six-man rotation. Griff, an hour ago, Eric Hosmer stopped by and suggested that Scher do some short work. Where are you in what his role would be? I think Scherzer deserved to respect. I think within that clubhouse. If you take Scherzer or Shane Bieber out of a starting role, you might lose a couple of

people in that clubhouse. I think that those guys need to be in the rotation. And as Keegan pointed out earlier, it's important to have a left-hander, and that would be Eric Lowen. So I think they're headed in the right direction. And, you know, you look at that Dodgers series, and I talk about the importance of the Dodgers series to what they're trying to do, I think you see Chris Bassett. You see Eric hour and these guys always are going to say just give me the ball every five days when in fact they're better off doing it every six days and i've done a a mock-up of the final 43 games and there's 28 of the 37 games if you go to a six-man that are going to be on the sixth day exactly and others that there might be a few a little longer than that but due to off days but that's a welcome

some healing for those guys who have gone through 30-some starts and, you know, close to 200 image. Griff, I knew you'd have it mapped out. You've always been my six-man rotation guy. I knew you had that math done already. Yeah, I said it to Pete and to John Schneider already. And usually when I send it to them, I hear back right away with some sarcastic comment. There's been silence this time, so I may have nailed it.

You know what? I've heard a couple of those comments over the years. This might be the year. And that'll be one of the opening scenes. We'll have the text of your message to Pete and Schneid's open in the start of the World Series documentary there. I love it. Oh, I thought they were already making a movie out of your book.

I think I kept the movie rights. But Griff, when you talk about the, and I agree with you, the Scherzer factor, along with Bassett, you're risking or you're at least dealing with a clubhouse there. And we were talking to Hosmer about that as well, the value of the clubhouse. And I always say, Gryff, that most years when I'm told about a good clubhouse or a great tight-knit group, a lot of the time it's fluff. And we hear about it a lot, every spring training. I feel like this group is the best one that I've been around

in my nine or ten years. I'm curious what your experience is around with them. And I read what you wrote on Gryftsthepitch.com about the comparison. I think the 94 Expos you had with them as well. I'm interested to hear about your impressions and that comparison that you made. Yeah, I think that a lot of times it's a mistake in, in terms of which came first, winning or the chemistry in the clubhouse. And, you know, even at the start of this year, the chemistry in the Blue Jays Clubhouse wasn't what it is now or what it has developed into. And in terms of the 94 Expos, which is, of course, today is the day that the strike hit in 1994, I remember being in the Pittsburgh Clubhouse and the Pirates clubhouse and they were giving a talk about how stay ready because this is going to be a short strike. We're coming back. We're going to win the world series. That was Felipe Alu and Kevin Malone,

the GM, and the rest is history. It didn't happen. But that clubhouse, because everyone contributed, it was a bunch of young guys and none of them were the leader on the field, but they were all leaders in the clubhouse. And that feeling is what I felt was being replicated in this clubhouse and it's good to see it's great to see it's great in that clubhouse but eric hosmer to me was the heart and soul of that kansas city clubhouse i remember covering the 2014 and 2015 world series 2014 after they lost in the lobby of the hotel up on the hill in kansas city uh he put together a group of seven or eight of his teammates and they went out on getting downtown for a couple of beers at the end of it and then of course they

won the next year. So I think that he was the leader of that clubhouse so he knows what he's talking about and I've always admired him for that. He was my favorite player in that clubhouse and I think that this one has the same feel as that and the 94 Expos. Griff, we're 11 days removed from the MLB trade deadline. What are your early impressions on the acquisitions of Varlane, Ty, France, and Sir Anthony Dominguez to this point? Well, it's, I mean, you look at, and a lot of the bullpen acquisitions, you look at the Yankees, and they had those four guys that were all listed as closures. They went in and coughed out nine runs in three and a third innings or something.

So, I mean, it doesn't always work out right away. The guy I'm worried about it, Sir Anthony Dominguez, I think that Louis Varlane can be the set-up guy if Jimmy Garcia doesn't come back. I'm concerned about the strike throwing of Brandon Little, the strike throwing of Yariol Rodriguez. There's a lot of work to be done in that bullpen, but they've added a couple of key players to that. And, of course, Shane Bieber could turn out to be the wild card.

I mean, you play roulette over blackjack because the return is so much bigger if you win, and so Shane Bieber is like roulette. You know, they can win bigger or lose quickly, and we'll only see in October. So, well, let's get to Hoffman. I mean, I don't want to sort of, I don't want to swerve here. Just what are your thoughts on Hoffman,

and how do you think this plays out? Well, you've got to stick with your closure. You're paying them for three years. He's had mostly great outings. This was an unbelievably bad outing. I don't know how anyone in history could, reason that you get two outs, walks five guys, and don't give up any runs.

I mean, that's virtually possible mathematically. And then he got, had a blown save and a win. And, like, you're going, holy mackle, this is the closer that's got to lead them. And if he's out of gas, they're in trouble because there's really no one else to step up and do that. He's had some incredible performances. He's a gamer.

He wants to go more than one inning. And that's very rare. day and age. I think they stick with him. I think that was a blip. I think what they need to do is have him throw the day before and off days so that he's not on six days rest like he was this time. And I looked it up and on four days or more of rest, his record in the last month has been terrible. So that's what you need to do. Make sure he's getting regular work. And if it's before and off day, make sure he pitches an inning. Just going to slide a stat in before Kagan I'll ask you the next question. Jeff Hoffman, first pitcher since 1901 to surrender at least five walks

and lost in an inning of work and get credited with a victory, with a win. Higin, I didn't see that one. Amazing. Griffin, when you look down the stretch here, Jeff Hoffman has thrown a ton of appearances here. He's up towards the top of the league, and Louis Varland's up near the top of the league. I think only four relievers have made more appearances than him, but there's going to come a day in September where the Blue Jays need a different closer, another closer when Hoffman's gassed?

Who do you like in that spot? Is it? Varland, do you like Jareel Rodriguez in that spot? Where do you go if you are the skipper coming out of the dugout? I was with the team, the Expos, where Mike Marshall threw 108 games and 208 innings in relief. Griff, I'm young and soft, though, you know? It's gone soft.

But asking that question, by the time you get to the playoffs, If it's not Hoffman, I go with Louis Varlane or Trey Savage because of the dynamic stuff that he is purported to have. I know you saw him at spring training, but he's only gotten better, and I think that that would be a difference maker going to the postseason or in the postseason. The Savage idea, I love. I mean, he's such a wild card for this team, but the end. upside when you compare him, because you're not comparing him to Hoffman yet, you're comparing him

to whoever the middle reliever is that you'd be replacing. And I think the upside of the savage and I'm coming around on the idea. I don't know from all the way there, but the upside is just incredible. Yeah, the other thing about the six-man rotation is who do you want hand the ball to the sixth starter

or the eighth reliever? You know, if you cut down to seven relievers, you still want that six starter. You had you had seven pitchers in the game in the Dodger game on Sunday

so I mean you really very rarely need that many pitchers and the rest and the spreading out of the starting rotation will give you more innings than your your eighth reliever is going to throw

so I think there's no downside to expanding the rotation and there's no downside to rolling the dice with a guy like you savage griff thanks very much appreciate it okay guys anytime see you tomorrow he all right griff richard griff's the pitch dot com exit philosophy podcast so 31 years ago today the strike uh which made such a mess that they went to lockouts to prevent strikes so that halfway through the season or three quarters of the season wouldn't be trashed and the expo story in that particular case was was not good pretty well finished the franchise and and that

was followed by a hockey lockout months later. Well, not months later, a month later. So when you're in the highlight business, as one of us was... You're supposed to ask what that was like. Not a lot going on those. No, that was one of those things for you. You go, yeah, life's not going to be the same after this. And it really wasn't.

It was a landscape changer. What got wedged into the shows back then to fill it? Were you a lot of dog shows? What are we doing here? What filled the hours? Well, we didn't have any NBA because the season hadn't started. So we had some CFL NFL preseason game

you know that was our lead it was tough coverage of the NFL preseason it was tough then to make it worse I was doing mid-morning radio at the same time as that so it was a long day I had a show 10 to 12 with Steam Simmons on another network

and the late John Serruti was our Major League Baseball analyst and I plugged him into my late show and realized that the conversation wasn't much different 12 hours later and that was I mean You want to talk about paint drying when you're in the highlight business and there aren't any. That was tough.

Yeah. So you just throw to your best with any updates? Nope. No. All right. We're good. Just asking again. Any more updates?

It's only so many times you could ask that in a half hour. Yeah, really. Nonetheless, coming up next, you're going to talk football with the NFL preseason rounding into shape. And, of course, injuries starting to mount up as well. Mark Ross, NFL network analyst will join us in you on Overdrive, live on YouTube, TSN-1050, TSN2. From managing successful careers to raising families, women today are busier than ever. Thinking about their needs, including their own financial planning, often falls by the wayside. Yet at some point in their lives, 90% of women will have sole responsibility of their finances,

whether they're divorced, widowed, or single. It's never too early or too late to start planning for your future financial security. Call Calvin the Money Guy, 416-457 plan, or visit ask kelvin.cai.a. Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Kagan Matheson, MLB.com, and Al's brother, Mike DeStefano, we're going to talk about the NFL with Mark Ross very shortly. We were talking about Sanders being the number one quarterback, or maybe eventually for the Browns. Adam Schaefter has them, according to the Browns, rated as number four on their list.

But far view from the Browns to follow common sense. For now, for now. We'll see. Let's bring on Mark Ross, NFL network analyst. Mark, welcome. How are you today? Oh, great. Great, great. How are you guys?

Very good. So we're speculating, obviously, it's very early in the preseason. One of our questions we had that we kicked around earlier was, could the bills finish with the best win total in the AFC? Where are you on that? Well, they'll be in the mix. I mean, you know, to me it's the big three. I haven't broken down the schedules in detail just yet, but, of course, is Baltimore, Buffalo and Kansas City. So, I mean, between the three of those, I think one of those will represent the AFC once again. There'll be other teams fighting forward and in the mix, but those three, you know, if I had to say.

So definitely it will be a part of it. It'll just come down to, you know, the matchups and, you know, injuries and things like that. But they'll definitely be in the mix. Well, there's obviously a whole other situation going on in Buffalo right now with James Cook. What did you make of the situation where he dressed for the preseason game against the Giants but refused to play when called upon the team. Like, does that reflect poorly upon him, or is that just business? What do you make this whole thing?

Yeah, you know, I've been around players long enough that, who've been a part of holdouts. And one thing, other players never hold it against them. So because they never know when it's their turn and when it's their situation and you never count another man's money. And, you know, I think for a teammates' point of view, they'll say, okay, whenever he's here, we're going to embrace him or whatever he plays.

He is there. coaches same thing where the coaches are going to support him and not let it get contentious and front office you know they have to do business and you know they have their they have their side of it they have their way of doing business and and james has his and i think when it's all settled there'll be no hard feelings it won't linger into whenever it's done to the season or have any ill effects on how the bills perform mark when you look bigger picture at the bills this year obviously a lot of bills interest up here in toronto they have been close and good and close and good for a long time now.

It feels like, what do you think is that last step for them? I know the AFC is stacked, but what is that one thing you think can help put them over the hump and get them back to the Super Bowl? Well, the one thing is a one play. And if you look at the bills the last few years, you know, it's one play. And that's generally when you come down to big games and big moments, and I've been a part of those winning two Super Bowls

and having a lot of success. and, you know, what separates them from the chiefs? You can't say, you know, the Chiefs are so much better at this, this, that. It's, you know, the Dalton Kincaid play last year, the fourth and one play. And the year before, you know, you can point to one play here and there. And, you know, even the bills against the Ravens. The Ravens are saying, well, you know, Mark Andrews drop away. And, you know, that's each year they brought in different players

and, of course, try to strengthen different positions to make that one play. You know, this year I really have emphasized how heavy they win on the defensive side of the ball. to get that one play as a pass rush or get that one stop because, you know, when I looked at it, look at them, you know, that's really generally their defenses let them down for the most part. And they've taken a lot of swings and a lot of high, a lot of high draft picks with their pass rush with the A.J. Olives and A.J. Epinesis and Greg Rousseau's and Boogie Bashams that just have not panned out to be that impact player. So once again, will this new crop of defensive players that they drafted be the different

difference. But it's just one play. Who's going to make that one play to make the difference? Mark, I want to shift over to L.A. and it's kind of a developing story, I guess, with Matthew Stafford, who was supposed to practice today. It was much, you know, highly reported all last week that he planned on suing up for the first time in camp on Monday. Monday rolled around, and he was sitting in street clothes watching practice as it unfolded. How concerning is this getting for Stafford and his kind of status going forward with the Rams. Well, you know, it's got to be of great concern. You know, been around quarterbacks and older players, not just quarterbacks, but older players.

And once he's 37, you know, the guy has been up there. And, you know, once you get old, it's, you know, you guys, I don't know how old you are, but the older you get, the harder it is to recover. Now, imagine, you know, a player, it's the same thing. And for a situation like that where it's a disc in your back, I mean, backs and necks are just, you know, a knee, ankle, all those things you can kind of figure out quickly and do the right things. But a back is just so, so you just never know there, and your trainers never know. You can do all the right things, and boom, one minute it could just flare up on you. So, yeah, I think this is serious now, with a 37-year-old player with a back that has had this serious concern.

Of course, they're going to do everything possible to make sure he's right for opening day or at least close to opening day as possible. But, yeah, this could linger. Mark, I was watching that Rams preseason game yesterday. And at this point in the year, just anything for that football fix when preseason football comes around. And I think a lot of people watch preseason football through the fantasy football lens. They want to see their receiver make that slow-motion catch in the open field that either would or wouldn't happen in a real game.

But regardless of that, for you and your background, what do you care about in a preseason NFL football game? How do you watch that? What do you actually care about? What do you value? What are you looking for? Yeah, I had to learn my very first year scouting where our first preseason game, and we got the doors blown off of us.

I was like going into a tank. And coaches the veteran coach, like, no, this is nothing. We did game playing. we didn't do anything. We, you know, at 10% of our plays. So I learned that, you know, pretty quickly that you can't look at the wins and losses and the production and who's going, what offense are going to run. It's really about the young players making the team.

You know, your veterans don't even play anymore, so you don't even have to worry about that. It's about what young players are going to step up and emerge to make the team and match with what you've seen in practice with them. So you're really looking at for that confirmation. or players to step out of the shadow. You know, Victor Cruz was famous with us with the Giants who Monday night football, had 180, whatever he had that night to establish themselves.

And the X's and O's and all that, of course, it gets people starving for football. So, of course, it's going to get overanalyzed right now because that's all there is. But you really can't read into too much of that because 90% of your good players aren't playing. It's about those young guys making the team. Mark, give us your thoughts on what Casey's. season should look like. I mean, obviously they lost the Super Bowl but had won previous two, so still plenty

of guys left in the tank. You say Casey? Yeah. They'll be right in the mix again. Yeah, they'll be in the mix. And I you know, although their division has gotten a lot, a lot stronger, you know, the Broncos made the playoffs last year. I think they've only gotten better on the defensive

side of the ball with signing the 49ers duo and drafting Jody Barron and the Chargers, I think, will be really good making the playoffs last year. And I think they'll be even better, getting O'Mary and Hanton back there in the backfield, another year of Harbaal. You know, the rainals will be better, but not a serious contender. So, but I'm still picking the Chiefs to win their division and still picking them to

be, again, once again, those, one of those three teams of the Chiefs, the Bills, and the Ravens, I'd be hard pressed to pick against saying one of those will be the representative. Mark, every year it seems like there's, you know, there's just some teams out there that you're really intrigued to see, okay, well, what does that look like? like, whether it's from a positive or a negative perspective, maybe there was a lot of overturn in the off season. Is there a team that sticks out to you where you can't wait to see once, you know,

they're ready to go come week one, what that squad looks like? Yeah, the Patriots, and I'm on tonight. I'll talk about them. But, you know, everything they've really done in the off season has kind of been positive steps to saying, okay, we're a legitimate franchise again, you know, post-Tom Brady. and, you know, that started with Mike Brable. You know, it's not guesswork of the type of coach you're hiring. You're hiring a coach who, at Tennessee, showed he could, you know,

not take the greatest roster and win playoff games and win the division. And then in free agency, you know, they crushed it with, they had a ton of money and they spent it on top three agents, not, you know, the top free agents, you know, namely Milton Williams. And then, okay, in the draft. They want, and then you got a high draft pick, get the best offense line in the draft, Will Campbell, you come back in a second round, you get a dynamic playmaker there,

and Trayvon Henderson, who showed what he could do the first time he touched the ball, returns a 100 yards for a touchdown. And then, so I think the Patriots, I'm really intrigued to see, okay, how much better are they really second year of Drake May? He should make tremendous strides and a stable coach in there. So, you know, how close they'll get to the bills? I don't know, but I'll pick them to come second in that division and make a push for the playoffs.

Yeah, I like that. Mark, I need you ask you about my Green Bay Packers. this year going into the year. I think a healthy Jordan Love is a big step. I think Matt Lafleur is a spectacular coach and they have enough receivers to fill a few teams here going forward. But they're in that good group. I don't know if they're jumping into the very good, the great group in the National Football League, but do you think that they're capable of making that next step with Jordan Love, with Lafleur and the young talent that they have this year? Yeah, when you look at the landscape of the whole NFC, you know, Philly's going to be silly

and they're going to be the mix again, but it's really wide open from there. And very good in the NFC could do it. And very good to great. If Jordan Love plays up to what he can be great and all that young talent comes together, you know, I think Green Bay will be, you know, I'm looking at everyone else. Like, yeah, they might be the second best team. They might be the third best team in the whole NFC. And, you know, the defense, Edron Cooper, watch out for him.

I've been talking about him for all offseason. I mean, he is going to be a perennial. All-Pro player. He is his dynamic, so he'll take that defense up to another level. And I think last year there was so many expectations for Green Bay just because the year before, they crushed Dallas and they went toe-to-to-toe with San Fran and, you know, was somewhat of a disappointing year, but they still made the playoffs. You know, they still had double-digit wins despite Jordan Love being hurt. And I think it got lost. Like, this was a pretty good season, you know, the big picture of it.

So I think if he stays healthy, health's always important that Green Bay will be right. in the mix, I really like their chances. Mark, along those same lines, you know, we can pick favorite teams because there's none in this market. So, while I'm a one-share owner of the Green Bay Packers, I'm a lifelong Lions fan. Which is wild. And I like the Lions, but, you know, I like gambling,

but not in a big stakes playoff game. Where do the Lions go here? Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, they were having a season for the ages last year, as you know, until everything just started falling apart and, you know, injuries every week until they just couldn't sustain it. And, you know, losing the coordinators, you know, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, it definitely will be an adjustment. It's not so easy to just say next guy up as a coordinator, you know, that's an art and a skill to being a coordinator in this league,

especially the level that those were playing at. But Aaron Glenn, he was a masterful last year with all those injuries, you know, keeping that defense together until he couldn't anymore. And, you know, I think, but once again, the division is so tough. The NFC North is just so tough. And, you know, they won't have the record they did last year. If you look at their schedule, it's extremely hard. But playoff team, they'll be in the mix, but do they have enough? Is Jared Goff good enough to get them over the hump?

Can they say help you on defense? Do they have enough pass rushers outside of Aiden Hutchinson to get it done? But they will be in the mix. To the most crowded QB rooms in the NFL is the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants. And both of them started rookie quarterbacks. this week and preseason. Both look pretty good, Chedur Sanders and Jackson Dart. Between those two, who do you think has a more likely chance

to start NFL games this year? Well, Jackson Dart, by far. And I know the Giants have tried to say, well, this is a red shirt here, but they don't mean that. And they're not doing anything with Russell Wilson. They're not going anywhere with Russell Wilson. And they're going to, they're going to, you talk about, I've talked about schedules earlier.

look at a giant schedule, you'll be hard-pressed to count two certain wins on that schedule, maybe even one, where you're saying, yep, they're going to win this game. I mean, it is brutal. So I can't see much of a long leash with Russell Wilson, and I think they'll struggle. And there's no point in having James Winston on the roster. If you trade it up and draft at a first round quarterback, there's no need to keep another veteran free agent in front of that player to keep that young guy on the bench. and especially in light of the Boe Nix's last year and Jaden Daniels

and C.J. Straves the year before where, you know, you put those guys out there, Michael Pinnock towards the end of the season, you have to see what they can do. You can see what they perform. And even if they struggle, like a Bryce Young, a couple years ago, you know, two years ago, okay, let's see what we need to do. Let's see what we need to adjust to get better to help the player and see what his strengths and weaknesses are on the field to help him. So I would think Bill Nix is going to be on the field.

at least by mid-season. And, you know, Shador, despite the other night, you know, that's, I was in the Browns camp last week, and he was fourth on the depth chart. And through injury, he's got a chance to play. But, you know, take everything in totality with the game and what they see in practice. I think the coaches will just trust Joe Flacco

and give him a longer leash. And then Kenny Pickett as well before Shador, before they turn the Shador. Well, how much should we read into those depth charts? Because they put out another one today, and he, again, came in as the fourth quarterback. Like, is that meaningful at all? Of course.

Yeah, they're not going to put out the fake depth chart. And, you know, that's, they're going to stack on the way they see them and not the way that the fans think it should be. And, you know, they see these players every day in practice. And almost practice, not almost, it's harder than a preseason game. Because in a preseason game, you're showing two coverages and you're not blitz, you're not doing much on the defensive side of the ball, but when you're in practice,

you're trying to replicate a game situation, and he's going against a Miles Garrett and practice, you know, he's not seeing that in other ways, so, you know, you really have to, the coaches have a better idea day in and day out as opposed to

a half of a pre-season game. Mark, thanks very much. Appreciate it. Sure thing. Mark Ross, NFL network analyst. It's been a year, a consultant for the NFL football operations department 11 years with the Giants, two Super Bowls five seasons, vice president

of player evaluation, and six seasons as director of college scouting. He's done it all. He might know a thing or two about the sport of football with a resume like that. Not really excited about the Lions season, the coordinator of loss. Yeah, I'm kind of with them.

And a Lions fan. Yeah, isn't that interesting? Because I bought it years ago. Yeah. While working on this station, we had the guy who was selling it. them. And I said, I want to share because my lines at that time sucked. I would have been in the same boat.

I mean, I, you know, I'm a Colts fan by trade. I would have bought a line. I would have bought, although being a Lions fan, I feel like I couldn't, I couldn't do that. If I were a Lions fan, but being a Lions fan back then was the bastion of objectivity, because your team sucked.

They were no good. There was no hope of them being good. Do you got hope this year? No, the coordinator loss is tough. I agree with you. team, it's going to take the biggest step back. It's still a team as a playoff team, but I don't think that they'll be, I don't think they're going to win the division. I still like the Vikings,

like the Packers, have a good opportunity to do some damage. The Bears, I'm not sure what to, what's, that's the team. When I asked Mark, like, is there a team you're excited to see what, what they're all about? For me, this year, it's the Bears. I think they're like a tantalizing eight and nine-ish kind of team that teases you

and looks like it has the pieces, but there's still a lot of moving pieces. And I am, you know, with, Well, you bring over Ben Johnson. You bring over Ben Johnson. Yeah. See what they could do with Caleb Williams. Yeah.

That's why you get into the NFC title game with the Niners and you gamble, you go, dude, you may not be back here. Yeah. Another team I expect to take a step back, the Niners. Doesn't sound like to have a, you either the first six weeks of the season. So, yeah. That's it. Yes, Guy.

Best Betts is next. Overdrive brought you by Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score and continuing live on YouTube, TSN 1050, and TSN2. From managing successful careers to raising families, women today are busier than ever. Thinking about their needs, including their own financial planning, often falls by the wayside. Yet at some point in their lives, 90% of women will have sole responsibility of their finances, whether they're divorced, widowed, or single. It's never too early or too late to start planning for your future financial security.

Call Calvin the Money Guy. 457 plan or visit askkelman.com.cai. Overdrive, final segment for a Monday. Jim Taddy, Kigan Matheson, and Al's brother, Mike de Stefno, with you. Today's best bets are powered by Fanduel. Make your picks and assemble the same game parley in seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook app. Doogie, what do you have? All right, fellas, we're going with the Minnesota Twins against the New York Yankees tonight.

We're rolling with the Yanks on the money line. I know it's been rough for them, but I do believe they bounce back. against the Twins team who let everybody go, and they're not winning anything right now. So Yankees on the money line. Aaron judged to hit a home run. We haven't seen it since he's returned from his injury in his six games. I believe he gets it at home tonight. And over eight and a half alternate total runs in this matchup, I'm expecting an offensive outburst in this game.

That parlay totals plus 406 on the Fanduel Sportsbook app. Today's best bets are powered by Fanduel. the first inning means as much as the ninth when you bet baseball on the Fandual Sportsbook app, please pay responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Al's brother, what do you think of it?

Well, I was just checking to see if if they were, Alan Rodin was in the lineup. He's not. He's not in the lineup for the twins, unfortunately. Unfortunately not. I do, yeah, I mean, you look at that. The twins are, they're going to lose a lot of ball games going down.

It is interesting, though. I am curious as to what the injury if that will hinder judge at the plate. And if that happened it should, right? And he can't hit, I mean, you would think your elbow is kind of important to hit and home runs, you know, for a feed jacks. If he, if he can't get healthy

and if this is a lingering issue, I think the Akees are in trouble this year. Which is hardly ever said, but. Yeah. Between that in the bullpen, they can't. These are strange days, baby. That, the bullpen, they can't, they don't know what they're doing on the base paths, intensively. They're booting it around. I don't know.

It's an odd look. Gary Cole, by the way, threw off the flat ground as he recovers from Tommy John's surgery. One step. The energy is just not right in New York right now. No. Just not right. And the Jays delivered that message, didn't they? It was the turning point. Grange days, Taddy. Take that, Mike. Okay? Take that. Yeah, that's right. It was him.

We'll depart on this note. Thanks very much, fellas. We'll do this again tomorrow. Same time, same place. Enjoy your night. This Week in Gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond. The hottest gaming news, insight and industry leaders, and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates. Even if you're a total newbie. Stream this week in gaming on the free IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.