The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - NFL offseason roster reset with Nate Tice

Episode Date: June 10, 2022

What team has improved their roster the most this spring? Which offseason plan is still difficult to figure out? What units on contending teams need the most work heading into camp? Robert Mays and Nate Tice answer these questions and more in this offseason roster reset episode.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. Welcome. The athletic football show. Today's Friday, June 10th. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today. That's my good friend Nate Tyson. Nate, how you doing, buddy?

I'm doing well. I am unshowered, bearded. Just feel like a writer right now. I feel like a writer. It's also June. You're now an NFL writer in June. Even saying June 10th, I'm like, oh, boy, we are in it right now. I know mini camps are going on and all that kind of stuff.

And in reality, it starts to die down when teams leave. There are a couple coaches I was talking to. Like, yeah, after I'm, after midi camp, I'm gone for a little while. It's like, all right. I respect that. It is your time. And I completely understand that as you try to get the last things in before everyone goes on break. I think Jordan Roderick jokes about that.

Like the Rams are trying to sign all their contracts before everyone goes away for summer vacation, which I respect. I totally understand that. It's always Father's Day too. It's always like, right? Lead in the Father's Day. That is like, that is the, it's a special holiday in the football world, the NFL world. To celebrate that dead time, we are doing something, we're doing a show today that I feel like is really good for just the middle of the off season. We're going to do a roster reset of sorts.

When all the moves are happening in March, April, we talk about all of them, but it's in one ear and out the other with some of it. You go back through, it's like, I don't even remember that happened. So I think it's really important after the dust settles to just take stock of where all of these. rosters are. So we're going to go through a bunch of different categories today. Things we liked, things we didn't like, where teams sit, where certain positions sit, things that confounded us, things that we're still a little bit worried about. We've got a whole host of categories that we're going to chew on, and I'm very excited to get into it. So let's do this. Yeah. All right. Who do you think has the most improved roster in the NFL from where they were

at the end of last season to the point they are right now? I feel like I'm going to like steal your answer here, but I'm going to say the Chargers. And I, I, that is not my answer. Okay. But you can, I would like to hear your reasoning. Yeah. And, you know, feel a little. This like a.

My answer is kind of cheating. But the chargers are on my short list. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, that makes me feel better, especially since I, uh, spent to this answer. So, uh, I say with the chargers, Kalil Mack, first off, first of foremost, just getting help on the front seven is already like, okay. Okay. Okay. You, you went from a true weakness to a, like, big strength or really just a big,

boost there as far as adding to their offensive line. I like the guy they added in the draft. I liked kind of just what they have done. The receiving court with Mike Williams, Keen and out, they still have stayed there, but also the DB core. Adding J.C. Jackson, I love that. I really think that's a nice, complete DB core.

And I just kind of just, I felt like they took all the weaknesses that they did have and they went from, okay, we're not even to be average at those. We're going to be good at those spots. So I did, that's why I think with the charges and already what they have set there. I just really liked all those. I will still say, we'll still say this. I wish maybe a different tight end than Gerald Everett. And maybe we're going to get to the remaining Chargers holes near the show. Okay. And then maybe there are a couple other categories where they are up in blinking lights to me. Yeah. And if it weren't, if it weren't the Chargers, the other one would have been

with was with the bills. And that's adding Von Miller and Eam in the draft. And those are just two simpleish moves or like those like, but those were like two of the holes that they had. So I do like that improvement to their roster. I'm curious what you said here. I think it's the Broncos, but I think that's cheating, right? I mean, the Broncos is because of Russell Wilson. It's a quarterback important. It's just so going from Drewlock or a combination of Teddy Bridgewater and

Drewlock, which they had last year. And Teddy Bridgewater was pretty good last year if you look at the numbers, all things considered. But going from forgettable quarterback play to even die at Russell Wilson. Yeah. Even if Russell Wilson is not the guy we saw for the first half of the 2020 season. Even if he's the guy who's been the lesser version of himself over the last couple years of post-finger injury or what we saw for the first half of last season, all that stuff. That is still a massive improvement on what they've had a quarterback over the last couple years.

That jump is a massive, massive jump. No one else added, I mean, the Browns did, but that's an entirely different thing. He may have to play this year. So I don't know. That's not going to throw them in the same category. No one else outside of Cleveland and the Broncos added a quarterback in the top upper echelon of the league. Nobody. So that's the biggest improvement, the biggest jump you can possibly make.

Think about what the Rams did last year going to Matthew Stafford and how important that was for their offense, going from middle of the road to being one of the most, the most efficient passing offense in the league. I don't know if the Broncos will be that. Let's say they're the seventh best offense in the league. Let's say they're right around in a lot of the advanced metrics where the Seahawks have finished over the last. last couple years as far as passing efficiency. That's incredible. That's a massive jump for this team compared to where they've been the last couple of years.

And it opens up matchups for them as tough, like we're pulling a strain, get a bucket and all that. But as stuff gets harder, like even if it's like the season long numbers improve, but then also when it gets to the nitty gritty, that's what that improvement like opens up. It's like all of a sudden you're a viable like contender or a viable, you know, every week that you go into the playoffs or week 16, week 17, week 18, as a. the season gets really honed in, okay, now you have a quarterback that you can lean on to get you out of those tough times. That's what also opens up for you. It ties the room together. It's the rug from

the Big Lobowski. That's what it does. And think about what Cooper Cup looks like with Matthew Stafford. I don't know if that'll happen with Cortland Sutton and Jerry Judy and even Tim Patrick, but I think those guys will look the best they've ever looked. Yeah. And their running backs are good. Their offensive line is a solid unit. I just think we'll look at the offense in a different way than we used to. and that's why you make that trade. And that's not the only move they made. I mean, their defense, they went out and got Randy Gregory. They got DJ Jones.

This is a pretty solid team. I mean, I don't know if they're a contender, but I think they can win 10 games. They go 10 and 7. They could be right there in the mix in the AFC. And that's a pretty big jump to me. The other ones I had on my short list here, the Eagles. And so these are teams, most of them. I don't think these teams necessarily made the best move.

because there's a lot of value out of whack with some of this stuff. But it's much, much easier to project improvement when you go out and add veterans than it is when you're a team like the Jets. The Jets may be in this conversation if all of those first round picks hit. But the veteran players that the Broncos added and that the Eagles added with A.J. Brown and James Bradbury and Son Reddick. That combination, I think, is a lot easier to predict than some of the other teams that had a lot of draft capital. The Eagles turn one of their first round picks into

AJ Brown. Yeah. So that's a lot easier for me to understand. So the Raiders are on this list for me because of that, like going to get Devante Adams and Chandler Jones, even if those moves in a vacuum maybe aren't good value right now, the Raiders are better than they were at the end of last season. And the same goes for the Dolphins. The Tyree Kill trade is a lot to give up, but Tyree Kill is still a pretty damn good player. Tyree Kill, Tehran Armstead, even going to get guys like Connor Williams. who is not great, but having a functional human being as a member of your offensive line is an improvement for them at some of these spots. Melvin Ingram, the dolphins are a better team,

a much better team now than they were at the end of last season, but their quarterback is the same. And that's why I still give the Broncos the nod here just because going to Russell Wilson from what they've had to me is the biggest jump any teammate. Dolphins got a boost in their backup quarterback and Teddy. So they improved the roster that way as well. So the Broncos went from the Dolphins backup quarterback to even this version of Russell Wilson. That's a pretty significant improvement. It really is.

It really is. No, those are all great answers. I really like the Eagles one. I mean, it's just, they're such a, like, interesting team. Just like an, I'm really curious to watch the Eagles in 2022. It's not only just the jail and hurt stuff, but they just have so many fun players that I like that. Even Jordan Davis. I mean, they've met it so many pieces.

I don't know if it's going to work out. But we talked about. Howie Roseman in our GM ranking show. Everything did it's like, I can get on board with this. I get on board with this. I can get behind this. I don't know if it's going to work out, but I totally understand why you're doing it this way. And I'm excited to see what the final product ends up looking at. Every decision these teams make is almost like a debate school answer where it's like, okay,

you get two sides. How do you debate it? When you get the, when they make a move, that's like, oh, that's the easy side to debate. Like, yeah. And you just keep doing that. Like, that's what you want a team to do. It's like every, no, there's no perfect move. But when you're having the ones that are easy.

easy to argue for. That's always a good sign. All right. We're calling this one the offseason you still can't figure out. And my, I had a kind of an AKA for this. Is this team better than it was in December? Okay. And because there are, so my, all of mine fell into that category. There are a lot of teams that didn't get a lot better this year, but they're teams that aren't trying to get better. Teams like the Falcons and the Giants, even the Bears, aren't in this for me. So a lot of teams that probably have playoff aspirations. And I'm looking at and saying are they better than they were six months ago? I'm not sure there are.

Those are my, I have a few teams in that category. Yeah. I mean, the one, like you said, you're like, oh,

the Falcons stuff. Like the Panthers are always just law because you just don't know what the hell they're doing. But for me, my answer was the saints. Okay. I can understand that. What the hell?

It's, I just can't figure out this path that they're on. And then, but there's going to be another answer. I totally understand the path that they're on. I don't think I support it. There we go. But I totally understand the path that they're on.

And that's what's funny, actually. Now when you say that, like you understand it because, or not understand it, like get their argument. Like where we say, it's debate class. So you're trying to figure out which one you would argue for. There's some other answers I have involving them. So I'm maybe like, argue for that. So like I can understand maybe their line of thinking. But yeah, I, I, does James Winston have some qualities?

Yes, he does. I have zero idea. Like they, I feel like they really think they're on the cusp. And it's one of those as an. outsider. It's really hard to see. Winston started last year. He looked okay, but then he got hurt and the season was a weird season in New Orleans. Sean Peyton's gone. It seemed like a... Andy Dalton's a lot better than what they had a quarterback last year at times, though.

I mean, that's not a bad signing. And when they took a deep breath this off season or when I thought they would take a deep breath, moving to Dennis Allen, I thought that was actually a great move for an internal hire. I really do think Dennis Allen has done a nice job as a defense coordinator there. I thought they would take a deep breath as a franchise. Maybe, okay, what are this new path we're going to go on? And it seemed like they just reloaded. And so, yeah, I don't know if I can't figure it out.

I just can't figure out if that's the right call. I think maybe that's the best way I can answer this. So, yeah, the Saints are my answer for this question. I want to talk about the Saints and the Rams, because when I look at the reaction to what the Rams have done over the last couple weeks with the Donald contract and the Cooper Cup contract, and it's like, how can they do this? How can they spend all this money? And people have been saying that about the Saints too.

And I think it's important to distinguish between the different types of all-in moves that you can make and what these moves really are with some of these franchises. The Saints doing all this camp bullshit where they keep pushing it into future years. That is fine. Because I think for the most part you can outrun a lot of that if you're willing to spend it. And ultimately, you're trying to pry open your window and you understand what's probably going to come down the road, but you're getting the most that you can out of your realm.

If owners want to keep throwing around all this money, like the way that the Rams are, that's fine. You're trying to make the dance every year. Yeah, that's whatever. The cap is going to continue going up, and maybe you get bitten, maybe you don't. So I'm okay with that on a general level. That is a different sort of all-in move

than trading up multiple times in the first round and trading away future first-round picks to go get college prospects that at best, are speculative ads. Even if you feel really good about Chris Olavay and Trevor Penning, those are risky, risky decisions. Trading two first round picks from Matthew Stafford is not the same as trading up in the draft and trading away future first for college players

that have never played in the NFL. Trading for Jaylon Ramsey is way... That's not the same. Way different. Already a pro bowl quarter. Bonified pro bowl quarter of your trading for certainty. And that you're trading for certainty. Are you paying a premium for it?

100%. Yeah. But you're paying for certainty. I'm fine with trying to do a little funny accounting to maintain the roster that you have because that's you're paying for certainty with that. Paying for uncertainty with some of these guys and moving up in the draft, that is a different sort of bet to me and a bet that is harder for me to get behind than some of the other shenanigans that the saints have pulled over the years

and that the Rams are pulling right now. Yeah, you're trying to get more bang for your buck. I get it, but it's also you're paying more to get that. It's, I don't know, it's a bigger risk for a bigger reward, I guess, or maybe even the sameish reward, unless you think you can nail those two guys. But I mean, that's also, yeah, that's included with it. It's, it's so aggressive. It's so like a cherry on top type of move for a franchise that we had question marks about

for the last few months. So that's why it's just curious what they're doing down there. I guess, yeah, I guess they think they have that window. And maybe, maybe they just love James. Maybe they, maybe they're like, well, wait till you see what we got for. 17 or 17 games of Jamis. So who knows. But it is a different style than like you just said than with the Rams of Don King,

proven players as opposed to moving up for unknown commodities as opposed to a proven asset. Let's look right now at cash spending in the NFL in 2022. Number one in the league, the Buffalo Bills, the Von Miller contracts, Josh Allen's extension kicking in. What are the Buffalo bills on the cusp of a Super Bowl? They're trying to pry this thing open as much as they're. They are the Super Bowl favorite. Yep. The Saints are number two.

Saints are number two. The Browns are number three. DeShon Watson contract. I understand that. The Jags are number four, which is a whole different conversation. The Rams are number five. The Jets are number six, which they've spent a lot in free agency. The Packers are number seven.

The bucks are number eight. So you have these teams that are trying to spend cash over cap because they're trying to pry open their window. And I understand that. That to me is okay in some circumstances. and if you have an owner willing to do it, more power to you. That is a different thing than the Rams aren't trading away future first round picks to move up in the draft. The bills are moving up in the draft two spots to go get Kyrie or I will. It's a different sort of bet.

And it's harder to get behind the ones that the Saints have made. All right. I have three answers and they all fit into, like I said, a similar category. How are the Cardinals appreciably better now than they were at end last season? Can you answer that? No. Why are the, why is the Cardinals roster better today that it was the end of last season? It's not. And it's, it's as I'm writing about Caler Murray right now and having to watch a lot of 2021 Cardinals offense and just looking at their roster and what they're trying to build for 2022, it's left me with a lot of a, are you sure that's the answer? Are you sure that's the path you want to go down? Because that doesn't seem like it can be very rewarding for you.

I'm genuinely asking you this. Okay. Do you think Hollywood Brown makes the Cardinals a better football team appreciably than Christian Kirk did in the same sort of role last year? Nope. I do not. I test and stats. I can attest to that. Okay. So that's one move that they made. That was their big move. That was their big move. That was their big move. And who was her first draft pick in the second round? A redundant tight end to pair of Zacherts. Because they re-sign Zacherts and they re-sign James Connor. The Cardinals looked at the little money they had. And they said, you know what we're going to do? We're bringing the band back together that got wiped off the field in the playoffs

against the ramps. That's what we're going to do. Their offensive line was dinged up at the end of last season. Maybe you can talk yourself into that. But it's not a good group when it's healthy. It's an acceptable group at best when healthy. They went out and signed Will Hernandez. That's the big move they made to bolster their offensive line.

So hopefully they get Justin Pugh back. But now you're looking at a starting guard due of Justin Pugh and Will Hernandez and Kelvin, Kelvin Beecham is still their right tackle. Oh, man. I just don't understand how you can look at the resources you had at the beginning of the offseason in your roster and say, we can roll with this again. And watching shoot seven games that I just did in the past couple of weeks, it's just watching what happened to their right tackle week after week and down after

down, didn't matter who was starting there. And watching Kyler, not by necessity. At first I was like, oh, man, he's a little too early to get out of the pocket. But then watching it and going, oh, man, the offense, line is just a leaky every single snap. And Rodney Hudson, of course, is Rodney Hudson. And DJ Humphreys is a fine left tackle. I would say he's a pretty good left tackle.

That's where I put him at. But other than that, and they didn't really revamp it. I thought in the second round, they were sitting prime to maybe take a guy there that could really help out their offensive line. But it seems like they just continue to want to play fantasy football. And then that's not even including when you go on when you look at their defense. And, you know, you're still paying JJ Watt. I mean, he's still J.J. Watt, but he's been injured.

lot lately. They didn't add any players to the defense. No, their DBs. Last year, going into last year, I mean, I can't even tell you who was playing corner for them right now. Jeff Gladney passed away, and I think that's very important to point out. They signed Jeff Cladney and that one spot, I think they made it. They took a gamble on Jeff Cladney. Other than that, they didn't add anyone to their defense. It's the same defense they had last year. And Kyle Murray is only making 11 million bucks this year. And this is the team. Yeah. It's a bad team. It's rough, man.

It is. It's rough. It just to not use this final year of his rookie contract and just get the most out of it. And to have those be the additions you made to go re-signs Zach, or resigns at Kurtz and resign James Connors. Those are the big moves they made. Yeah. And it's really tough.

34-year-old AJ Green as opposed to maybe like taking a chance on a younger guy or mid-level guy or bring, you know, I understand why Christian Kirk, they probably couldn't give enough money to bring him back. So I understand that one. Yeah, it's it's rough. It's really, really rough. And how they want to play on offense, at first I thought Hollywood Brown would maybe slide in. And, you know, he'll probably play the left side for them while Hopkins is out with his suspension.

We forget about that. He's out for six weeks. And then he'll slide ever into the slot when Hopkins comes back. It wasn't like Hollywood Brown was, you know, lighting the world out fire. And Hollywood Brown is sliding back into the slot. What the hell has happened to the guy that you drafted into the second round? round last year. Right.

I don't. Nobody does anything. I mean, they get the line back. Oh, yeah. It's a rough, rough situation there.

And when you deep dive into it, it's, you don't realize how rough. Like, we can make jokes all you want. Oh, Cliff this. Oh,

Steve Kime, this. Oh, Kyler's angry, all this. But then when you actually look at the roster and what, you look at what they're, their paths.

We always talk about paths and like ways that they can get better or ways that they can win games and everything. You look at their roster. And you're like, really, This is it. This is it. This is the offensive line. Who is that? I couldn't even tell you a couple of the guys. So it's, yeah, it's really, really a rough situation there in Arizona. So that one I don't really get because they had a little bit of money and they used it to bring the band back together in a band that wasn't that good by the end of it. The other two teams I had here, I can understand why they didn't get better, but they didn't get better. Patriots, definitely.

The Patriots are not a better football team than they were at the end of last season. And that's tough because you have, a rookie quarterback who can, who's pretty good. Right now he is pretty good. He gives you something based on the play he has now. This might be whatever it's going to be or close to it, but he gives you something right now and they didn't get much better. You can understand why that happened though. They have less than $2 million in cap space right now.

It's a lowest number in the entire league. They have $70 million tied up in their 2020 free agent class. And when we watched it happen and we watched them give out those contracts and sat there afterwards and said, are any of these guys needle movers? As any single one of these guys, Henner-Henner is a nice player. John Hsu-Smith's a nice player.

The Nelson-A-Lar contract was a mistake in the moment. It still is now. They're paying Nelson Aguilar, and they had to draft a skinny second-round guy that has speed because they don't have a vertical threat on their offense. And they had to trade for Devante Parker. That was a big move.

Their big move was to trade for Devante Parker this off-season. They had to trade Shag Mason to save some money. They put themselves in such a balance. Still one of the most bonkers moves of this off season. It has to be financial. I don't understand any other reason than it being totally financial. And they swapped out J.C. Jackson for Malcolm Butler, who didn't play last year. They're just not better.

They don't have an offense coordinator. They don't have an offensive coordinator. So even beyond the roster, you understand how they got here. They didn't have the resources, but they put themselves in that position with the way that they spent last year. This is the reaping and sewing me. They were my second answer, by the way. Oh, good, good, good. I saved them from another answer to talk about all this.

So I'm just going to splurge it right here. So yeah, no, I agree with this one right now. They're the reaping and sewing me. Yeah, that's exactly what's going on right now. It's like sewing like, fuck yeah. Look at me and reaping. It's like, oh, this sucks. That's exactly where the patriots are.

It's the reaping and sewing from their 2020 free agent class. Pulling out Aguilar, like he's a carrot. That sucks. And the other team I had, and you can kind of understand how they got to this point, are the Cowboys better than they were at the end of last season? No. No. No. And you have, I understand having to save some money in places because of the Z contract, because of the DAC contract, other moves they've made. Do you think they needed to franchise Dalton Schultz? Yeah, that that one's getting more and more curious as like every week passes by. Like, because when franchise tags, the day one of free agency is always just chaotic or the wean up to it. And then you're like, you don't know what the market's going to break out. I mean, obviously none of us do. but you saw you the franchise tagged them.

You're like, okay, because they're going to do something else. They have other stuff. And then it's kind of just they have it. It just, they just did it. And yeah. We like Dalton Schultz. Oh,

I do. But I don't, I don't, if you're strapped for money paying him that. Yeah. Is that, I mean, what else were you going to do at tight end?

I guess I can understand it. But I, not all of their moves or moves. I feel like they had to make. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It felt like just doing stuff.

Yeah. They're like, oh, we got to keep one guy. So we got to use this tag on somebody. And then that's who they ended up with. So they had to trade a Mari Cooper. So now they have Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, and C.D. Lamb.

They keep Dalton Schultz. I think if you lose Connor Williams and Lyle Collins and bring in Tyler Smith, even if the starters and the quality of Connor Williams play, all that stuff we can debate, I don't think their offense line is better today than it was to end the 2021 season. Yeah. And they swapped out Sam Williams for Randy Gregory. that's not better. So they're, again,

I don't think their roster right now is better than it wasn't in the last year. You know little things. Like J-Rone Kirste being a million dollar player last year having that nice little role. Oh, nice, that was great. Now he's back for five. And that's just what happens.

He played well. He deserved to get rewarded. But that's what happens. And I think it's really important to zero in on how much they struck lightning last year. Lightning, how much they caught lighting in a bottle with that defense last year with some of the moves they made.

how unlikely that is to happen again. If DAC is healthier, I still think they could be a really good team. But just roster health-wise, they're not better than they were at the end of last year. Yeah. They're, that basically everything you said is going to be my answer for another question. So this is, this is perfect. All right. Yeah, I'll save it for that answer.

So, but just to continue that thought. Sneaky good spring. Maybe a team, it's not at the top, but it seems like, as you, as I look back on it, it's like, oh, okay. I can get behind this. Yeah, that, well, not at the top. If we're, because, so my answer for this isn't it great because it was like, it's one of, it's a contending team. It's the freaking bucks.

So it's like, that's okay, though. Okay, okay. Because I'm talking about not teams that made the splashiest. Okay. Yep. And I think there are, that's actually a really good answer and one that I wouldn't think about because they're a contender. That's what it was. But lay out your reasoning.

I can totally get on board with this. I think we've kind of taken them, like, it's like the bucks. Okay. they brought back Tom Brady, but then that and what has happened with other contenders, especially the Packers and Chiefs and, you know, Broncos trading for some, trading for Russell Wilson. All those moves have kind of like really been at the forefront of this season, which is so funny because the Bucks just kind of how their season ended with the injuries and maybe kind of

ending with a whimper. I think they kind of just have gone off the radar a little bit. I mean, it's understandable. It's how it is. It's just, it just goes the ebbs and flows of everything. What are you going to say? This is why we do this. I totally forgot they signed Akeem Hicks.

Akeem Hicks. Traded for Jack Mason. They traded for Jack Mason. Godwin coming back. They signed Russell Gage, who I think will be a fantastic receiver three for him. They got Carlton Davis back. I love their draft. It was a good offseason for them.

I thought this was the best possible pad they could have gone on. Also helps when Tom Brady, you know, takes his month sabbatical and comes back. Like that, that will really boost your offseason. But I think just all these other moves, really nice moves. And I just think there's still. still going to be a top top team. And it was a good offseason for them, especially I keep reiterating if I really did like their draft and it just made sense for where they're at as a team.

So I really liked it. Yeah, the check Mason trade is a great example. Even going to get, let's say Grong doesn't come back. And now they have Kate Otten and Cambrate. And can they survive with that? You like Kate Otten. I'm going to get Lucidecki in the second round because they just need a little bit more depth than potentially throwing him in the mix to compete for their left guard spot.

Nothing crazy. Logan Ryan, just defensive back depth, losing a couple of the safeties that they did in free agency. I guess just one. I guess it was just Jordan Whitehead. But losing the guys they did. It's like, well, you know, can we piece this together with somebody who's a little bit cheaper and a veteran that can play multiple positions? Again, another team that every move, it's like, okay, I can get on board with that. I understand it.

The Akeemix that I think happened when I was on vacation. So that's why I just totally forgot that they signed him. But your brain's in a jar in Mexico City. What that happens? By the way, Akeem Hicks and Vitavaya in the middle of a defense is a lot of humanity. Yes. It's a lot of humanity. Yes.

I can play Red Rover against them. That's a very good answer. I had a couple, and they're not as good as that. That's probably the best answer. I had the Colts. Yeah. Going from Wentz to Matt Ryan is, I think, really important. Even if Matt Ryan's diminished, I think that's a really important move.

I mean, it's just as big as I'm proving from going Drew Lodge. to Russell Wilson in my estimation? I think that's strong. I think that's strong. Wentz was not horrendous for most of last season. He was maddening. The individual, there were three plays a game that makes you want to walk off a bridge. Yeah.

But play in and play out, I don't think he was that terrible. I would feel so much better sleeping at night if I were Frank Greik, knowing that Matt Ryan is in that building than Carson Wentz. I think that is an upgrade, but I don't think it's the upgrade that we're Russell Wilson over Drew Locke slash Tray Bridgewater is. Not on a play to play basis. Even if the stability there is enviable that the Colts now have from a personality standpoint, from a play standpoint, all of those things. I still think the Broncos is bigger.

But that is a good move and they're better. And they got an extra third round pick in that calculus, which I think is important to remember, going to get Stefan Gilmore. Trading Rocky Sin, a player they probably weren't committed to and getting Yanukkah in the process. Just little tiny moves. I think the Colts are better than they were at the end of last season. I think they are.

We have so many of these other teams we talk about that aren't. I think the Colts are appreciably better. The Bengals, I also think should be in here. Another team, so many of the moves just nodding along as they made them. Upgrading the offensive line at three spots, a huge upgrade potentially at right tackle. A huge upgrade bringing in Lyle Collins. Even if you think his game has flaws, what they had at the end of the last season, when they're trotting out Isaiah Prince and after Riley Reef got hurt,

they are much, much better at that spot than they were. And I love what they did on the defense. We talked about this after the season when we were projecting with the Bengals offseason might look like. I'm just saying, I don't want them to stand pat on defense. I don't want them to say, oh, we were so good last year. We want to bring the same group back. Just that little injection and infusion of young, versatile talent on the back end.

We need another corner and we need a guy that can play a couple different positions in Daxil. I think that's exactly what I would have done positionally if I were duked open to that defensive staff. So I really like what they did. A team that I can't figure out where to put them because I don't think they necessarily fit in all these categories. The Jets. I don't think the Jets offseason was sneaky. They had three first-round picks. They spend a ton of money.

I also don't think they're the most improved team because so many of those guys are rookies. But I just want to acknowledge that I think the Jets are a much better football team right now than they were. were to end last year. Yeah. I don't know if it's sneaky because also your Jets fans will make sure, make sure that to tell you how much. Why do you think I'm mentioning it? So I don't know how sneaky it is.

I don't know if you know this too, as New Yorkers are pretty loud. So so maybe, maybe that's why. No, they did improve. I mean, they have one of the best most improved rosters of any team in the league. I mean, throughout this whole offseason. So no, no, both, both, both good answers, I think, especially that colds one. And again, they might come up to you. for another answer of mine.

All right. Most improved position group in the NFL, in your opinion. Bengals offensive line. Mine's it. First one on my list. First one. Bullet right next to it. And then you've already brought it up.

I mean, it's, is it a whole bunch of studs? No, but it's massively improved. It's, we've talked about many of times going from shit to not shit. It's a huge improvement. It doesn't have to be good, just not shit. And I mean, but these are solid, tangible starters that they, and they're, I mean, three different spots that they're really. improving at it's it's just going to really really help especially they already have the weapons in

place it's more just keeping their lows not as low i think that's the bangles have the highest highs of any offense just because of their talent at the skill positions and with joe burrow so just making sure the offense align keeps it more steady and more consistent as a team so just love that also another one if i if i might throw another one here is have to mention the dolphins running backs going from that's a good one that's a good quiet one whatever names you want to throw out there to just, I mean, now they have like seven guys, it seems like, back there. But Dolphins Runnersbacks is another one. And I can throw some other ones in there, but I want to hear what your answers are.

I think we're talking about dolphins receiving courts, adding Tyree Kill. You can say the same thing about the Raiders past catching group. We're going to get to both of those units, I think, a little bit later on, but just worth mentioning. The Jets secondary is in there for me. Some projection. We don't know what sauce is going to be. Love Whitehead for them, though.

Just guys like that. Whitehead is perfect for them. So they lost May for half the year. and the Marcus Joyner missed most of the year. Who do you think the Jets starting safeties were last year? The two Jets players at safety who played the most snaps for them in 2021. Was Ash and Davis or whatever his name is? Ashen Davis was number one.

Okay. That's the only one I can name. That's just because I don't from college. Elijah Riley was second. Elijah Riley played 386 snaps. Marcus May was third. Again, he missed half the season. Marcus May did.

Other guys who played more than 200 snaps. Sharad Niezman Jason Tinak Jarad Wilson played 176 snaps for them The point is the Jets are better at safety now Yeah than they used to be And they're much better at the corner So I think the Jets secondary is a really important

One to throw out there The Jets Corners last year Who played more than 500 snaps Michael Carter the second and Brandon Eccles Yeah And Bryce Halls And Bryce Hall is the third one Those are the three Jets corners

That played more than 500 snaps last season. So now you have DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner as part of this, which I think is a pretty damn big upgrade, even if some projection is necessary for Sauce Gardner. But yeah, I mean, but if you just even think he's average. Yes, that's what I'm saying. If he's just okay, that's a big one, if he's good, it's a massive jump for that. That one definitely was high on my list. I think the Panthers offensive line, similar. Yeah. Yeah. So itchy projection. But if he's a decent left tackle from the start, and now you have Austin Corbett there, Bradley Bozeman

there, two functional starters with potentially a huge upgrade in a top six pick, the same way the Jets have. I think that's another good one. The Ravens safeties. If Kyle Hamilton is good. You bring Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton. I mean, they

had Chuck Clark there last year. Brandon Stevens was actually okay for them, who's a young player. He said all of them, by the way. He goes, the Ravens coaches. They said of like a week ago or whatever during when a mini camp started they were like oh yeah we're playing all those safeties which is going to be awesome to watch i know so i'm very excited to see how that unfolds just that change from this corner heavy team to this group of safeties they have californ now we

didn't play it well last year but they're trying to figure out their cornerback spots still what their defense ends up looking like we'll talk about this a ton between now and september is one of the more fascinating things about the entire league to me yeah other one i had stylistic shift yeah exactly exactly which is always so cool to watch it's so cool So the last one I had, you alluded to this when you're talking about the most improved teams, the Chargers defensive fraud. Yeah. I mean, even Kyle Van Nuoy, bringing in a guy like Kyle Van Nuoy or a Morgan Fox, those are the guys they didn't have last year. They didn't have those sorts of guys.

Rotational guys. Two million bucks a year. But just somebody that you can bring in and get some quality snaps from, I think they've done a lot to add talent to that position group. Yeah. Shit to not shit. That's another one. That's another one. They're no longer both set in the bow sets.

That's a huge improvement for them. All right. Let's tone it down here a little bit. Let's change the tone. The worst unit in your mind on a contender or potential playoff team. I've got a lot of options. Okay. I got two.

All right. My number one. Has anyone looked at the 49ers office a line room recently? I have this later. I have this later. Dude. Yeah, that's a good one. Dude.

It's not good. It's not good one. That might, oh, the Trey Lance is starting. He's going to be running around. They better move that pocket. So, still got Brunskills starting to right guard.

Jake Brindle at center right now, I believe is projected at center. So I got Trim Williams. I love that. And then whatever you think of Mike, McGlensie is, yeah, he was average,

I think, as a right tackle. But, you know, we'll see how he comes back. So, yeah, that was my number one.

I think that one was very, very curious to look. I thought they added someone. And I realized they did not. They did not add to anybody. So yeah, that was an interesting one. And then my other one is the Packers receiving room. That was going to be on my list.

Yes. And then you, you know the names, but it's also like once you realize what the roles are going to be. What year it is. What year it is. Great receiving room in 2014 when Christian Watson was like 12. So,

but yeah, that one is another one that's kind of like, it's kind of glaring which you start breaking it down. The Packers, pass catchers were number one for me. I think that's just the most obvious one. They planned on having Devonce Adams back. They don't have him anymore. They had to go get Christian Watson.

Had to. And that's not the best answer to come up. Have you heard Aaron Rogers' quotes already? He said, I want production, not projection in the receiver room after the first couple days with Christian Watson. Hello, Julio. So might be a vet coming in, another vet coming in. So I have them for another category with this exact thinking in mind.

So let's table that for a second. The Ravens wide receivers are also in this conversation. That's another one. I mean, we got Rashad Bateman and Devin DuVernay. I feel like a veteran is coming probably for both of those teams, which we will talk about. I think we flop these because they're my answer for another one. Probably had some overlap in our categories. I got a little overzealous with the amount.

That was great. All right. The Raiders' offensive line is not good. If they're a potential playoff team, the Raiders' offensive line is not good. We talked about this a little bit with Sheel. A lot of question marks for what that group ends up looking like. They got a left tackle and a lot of concerns and questions after that. We mentioned this before.

The Cardinals cornerbacks are, it's rough. Yeah. Yeah. It's the same as last year. I mean, we talked about Jeff Glydeny, and we alluded to that. The Cardinals cornerbacks are in this conversation to me. the last one I had here pretty specific the eagle's safeties they added james bradbury dari slays obviously very good player vante maddox in this lot but safety is still yeah i don't

you know but the safeties are kind of vogue right now so maybe not in philly eagles are when everyone else is zagging baby yeah right right but i we do love the other editions they had though i think this eagles are going to be a fun team i can't wait to watch them but the safeties i i i'm sure Ben Solac is just sitting there in a cold sweat eating his cheese at 2 a.m. every single day, concerned about who's going to play those spots for them. All right. It's Parmesan. Did you say what kind of cheese?

No, it's always a rotating cast of cheese. It's a rotating. Smorgasbord. Poor man. Somebody needs some melatonin. All right. Best skill position group after this off season. I have too many on my list again, but I just, I'm trying to be excited about everyone.

I'm trying to do it down to. two. Okay. I have six. So they're tiered. They're tiered. They're tiered. They're, okay. They're ones that I got, we have to mention, but they're, I have to mention the bangles. The bangles are number one for me. Okay. I think they have the best one. I do too. That was my number one. Okay. Three receivers. I love them. Love the synergy with them. The pieces all fit together. They're so good. They're young. They can get even better than they were last year. The only thing that would be a ding to them is that their tight end situation is not great. but the other guys are so good that I think that you can look past that.

I know how I look back is because they just don't because they have the other guys. They don't need to use it. It's more of the three pass catchers rule as opposed to. Yeah, but they just do it with the three receivers traditionally. So yeah, I like that. My other one, I really like the synergy with the Raiders. They were my top two. Those are my top too as well.

So sweet. I love that. I mean, it's ideal. You got a true ex, Devante Adams. You can move around, Hunter Renfro, who is one of the best. lots in the game and Darren Waller. I mean, that's a sweet trio right there, little triplets. And I love their synergy.

So those are my top two. And then my honorable mention was the Bucks. Just as I love their three receivers. The tight end is a question mark. But I do like the running back room now. I really am a fan of Rashad White, not just because I took them in two different dynasty leagues, but also because you're doing dynasty drafts already?

Yeah. Oh, man. That's fun. Yeah. But also just because I think he is going to end up being a very valuable player for them. So yeah, they're my other one. if we're just doing skill position once.

I'm curious who you're other, what? You have seven more, no, four more that you might have out there. All right. I have, I think, three more. So I had those three. Okay. The bucks, I didn't consciously tier them. The Bengals and Raiders are the first two that came to mind.

I think the bucks are maybe better than the Raiders are. I wish, sleeping on it because it's boring now because we're so used to it. Yeah. But having Russell Gage is your number three receiver is bonkers. Yes. That's a really good group. And even if they don't have grown, Camp Raid is a good player. Yes, yes.

And Gage is perfect with Godwin, like a slot Z's. Like they can go back. Oh, yeah. No, I really like that fit. That's a really good group. Yeah. The Rams are still pretty good. Yeah.

Yeah. There is a step down to me just because, but the tight ends are fine. The tight end they have is fine. And Ellen Robinson and Cooper Cup. Yes. I like that. I mean, that's a pretty good group. It's the crafty.

a pretty good version of Alan Robinson. So that, I feel like we have to mention them. I think the Eagles are worth mentioning now. You have Dallas Goddert, you have Devante Smith, and you have A.J. Brown. Quese Watkins is a little... It's knocking guys down a notch. Yeah, you're going to have A.J. Brown potentially is your slot receiver in some of those sets. Quis Wackens plays less snaps.

He can fit into his natural role. All of that kind of stuff. So I think that group is good. And the last one I have was the Dolphins. Tyree Kill, Jalen Waddle, Mike Isicki, a lot of speed. A lot of speed. They've set their quarterback up pretty well, which brings us to our next category here.

Whose situation at quarterback do you think has improved the most from the end of last season to right now? You could go a few different ways with this answer, because you can get creative here, by the way. I have a couple of creative answers. Okay, okay. Because I kind of went Matt Ryan going from. Matt Ryan's on my list.

That, you know, that Falcons roster to the Colts roster. that's probably going to be fun. Joe Burrow with the improvement of his offensive line is going to have a nice. I did not have him, but that's a good one. Okay. And then the obvious answer for me would have been not, I shouldn't say obvious answer, but the one that kind of was my default for this would have been Zach Wilson, just because of the help with Lincoln Tomlinson, the addition of Garrett Wilson,

also with Brise Hall, the running back, also just another year in that system. I just think that's also like the area around him improved. And there's another quarterback that you mentioned that I traded. might be one of your answers. That's Russell Wilson. His improvement just switched and changed a little bit. Russell Wilson's is very good. He was not on my initial group, but that's a good one. I had two at number one.

Tyree killed, Ron Armstead, another starting offensive linemen, a couple running backs, and a system that I think could work for him. Obviously, that offense was specifically tailored to him last year, and it made sense for them to do it that way, and I think he was comfortable. So he's not going from a disaster to this final. tuned machine. But that offensive system and the way that the Niners passing game works where it's all yak all the time, middle of the field throws, getting the ball out quick.

They're going to make it easy for him. Yeah. I do think they're going to make it easy for him. So he's number one to me. A sneaky one to me is Daniel Jones. Dude, I can't believe you said that I erased that because I actually, that's a great one. I love it. I want to hear it.

Even if their team isn't better, they did draft tackle in the top 10. So that is, that's nice. Jason Garrett is a great improvement. Going from Jason Garrett to a combination of Mike Kafka and Brian Dable is a pretty big improvement. So even if most of the players are the same, I think the upgrade in one tackle spot and the offensive system and situation for Daniel Jones puts him in here. Matt Ryan was part of mine and then Trevor Lawrence. Oh, yeah. I just can't give Balky a new credit.

Oh, it's not even about the players. It's about having Doug Peterson in there instead of what they had last year. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know. just not a complete shit show around him where he has to be the adult. I wish I would have put Zach Wilson in there. Zach Wilson's a really good one. That's a very, very good one.

And I can throw Justin Fields in there? You see the home run? He hit it Rickley today. Oh, he just hit a bomb during batting practice. Well, he was like a all-world baseball player. He was a really good baseball player in high school.

Shortstop. That's why I love him. He was six four and playing shortstop. Like, yeah, I want a guy like that. I'm just grasping for anything I can get. Just anything I can get. You see that home run? Just anything I can get.

All right. the unit we take for granted, but we shouldn't. I think it's important to do this every offseason. I like this one. Because there are some teams and some position groups where like, oh, they're just good. Like, for whatever reason, we just kind of tally it into the known quantity column, and that's it. And we just assume they're going to be good because they've been good in the past. But I think it's important to step back and reconsider where some of these individual position groups and even whole sides of the ball are after an offseason, after some time when things have started to erode a little bit.

Yeah, I, this one for me was more of, like, we got to appreciate. And this is going to go back to my very, or maybe the second answer that we had about what the hell the Saints are doing. I'm going to go to the whole Saints defense. This is a unit that maybe we is underrated in a sense. And maybe that's why they're so keen on maybe taking the chance this year or keeping that window pride open. Up front, they still have their ass kickers. Now they have depth with some of the guys that they've taken over the past few years. They have a great linebacker pairing and DeMario Davis.

and Pete Warner. I really like them. And, you know, D.Bs aren't perfect. I'm excited to watch Tyrone Matthew with Dennis Allen, letting them roam and all that. And, you know, I got a Lammore still at corner. This is just a unit, I think, as a whole, sometimes kind of gets lost in the void because we think of the Saints as offense, offense, offense. Oh, so, okay, you went a different direction than that. Yeah, I went kind of like we took the grade.

I should have laid out the parameters of the agreement a little bit more. Yeah, how you explained it was a little different how I answered it. It was just more like we take it for like we, I don't know, maybe underrated as how I took this answer. All right. That was the good one. So what I did was a unit we just assume will be good and we shouldn't assume they'll be good. Got it. So that's, those are my answer. Because your face, when I answered, you're like, hmm. I think the Saints defense is probably going to be okay. That's why that's that's I was a little bit confused. I think more, more is my mind that they're underrated that maybe we should go like, no, they're actually good. Gotcha. Okay. So we'll do something a little bit different.

The unit that you think is a little bit underrated and shouldn't be. The Saints defense. and who else did you have there? Another one was the Packers DB room. And if we're just going position group, I think they're on the post. for Best D.Bs and just as a whole. I love it. Savage and Amos. I love their pairing. I think they have a great skill set and how they use them because they're going to be in a lot. I mean, that's all they run. It's like too high. It's like every freaking snap. And then they rotate someone down. But how they use that's great. Jire Alexander going to be healthy. Eric Stokes, I think is going to be a great corner as well. And then Russell Douglas, who had a great year last year, of course, they resigned. I think just again, underrated. And it's one of those that maybe the perception of that hasn't caught up to where they're. actually at. And I think that's going to be a real highlight for that Packers team this year. So that's, I had them for a different one. It's for our next category here. So the units that I think, when I said this, it's the units maybe were good last year. Got it. Things like that. So my first one was the Rams

offensive line. The Rams offensive line was excellent last year. They were really, really good. All that empty. They put them in situations where they had to be where that unit had a lot put on their plates. And now it's not like they're bad, but you go. from, even if Joe Noopum is good, going from Andrew Whitworth to him, that's a slight downgrade most likely. Austin Corbett left in free agency. Potentially Logan Bruss, the guy they drafted in the third round, is going to be starting for them.

They deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to figuring out that position group. They've done a very good job with it over the last couple years. But I don't think we should just take for granted that the Rams offensive line is going to be one of the best units in the league again like it was last year. And Whitworth has, he was older. and he has a name to him. But he was great last year. Unbelievably good.

Yes. It's not where he just got some, you know, pedigree with him. And everyone's like, oh, you know, it's Andrew Whitworth. He's a good start. He was legitimately a very good left tackle last year. So that's, you know, that's hard to replace. It doesn't matter if you do trust Joe Newboom, like you said. The other one I had very similar, the Saints offensive line.

We should not just assume the Saints offensive line is going to be good again. Correct. They switch out to Ron Armstead for a. rookie that I think is a lot more of a projection that most people think. So the Saints offensive line is in there for me. The Patriots defense in general. Their linebackers are all gone. We talked about the DBs that they switched out.

We just should not assume the Patriots defense is even going to be an above average unit. I mean, again, Belichick needs to deserve a ton of benefit of the doubt. But even penciling them in as like a top 12 group to me is probably a little bit generous. Yep. And if their offense isn't going to take a leap, what does that? Where does that? What are they? Just again, let's take stock of where things are at.

The other one, I can understand being optimistic about it because the quarterback is so good because they've been so good. There's a chance this experiment with the chief's receivers doesn't work. MVS got a lot of money. He's been a role player for most of his career. Skymore is a rookie that we're projecting. Who knows what we're going to get out of juju? They still have Travis Kelsey. But there's a chance where that group we're sitting there in week eight be like, man, that just, they just don't.

have a guy. They just don't have a guy when they need one right now. And you're getting frustrated when it's a four-yard completion with no yak after. And it's just, yeah, and those just add up time or time. This is actually two where the Cowboys' O'Line might get slotted into. So this is my next, so this is our next one here. Okay. Those are ones we shouldn't take for granted. The next thing I have, the units we completely have to rewire our brain about, where for years it was a strength and now it might not even be a strength. And then the other way, too, for years it was a weakness. And now it might might actually be a definitive strength. My first one here, you're talking about the Packers' DPs?

I have the Packers' defense. Yeah. We had, for so long, we thought the Packers' defense was this detriment. We were worried about them. We just have these images burned into our brain. Oh, God, yeah. Think about that N.S.C. championship game where Rahim Mosterts just running for 70-yard touchdowns on third and eight.

They might be the best defense in the league this year. They have a chance. And it's like, I don't think people ever realize how good with this team. They have good players, like everywhere. They have depth. Yeah, no, I'm with you on that one. I concur, as they would say. They might be the best defense in the league.

And I think that is so far away from what the perception of them has been. That's why it's a little bit different to me than taking it for granted. The other one I had on the other side of this, the bear's defense. For years, we've just assumed the bear's defense is good. That wasn't true for the last couple years. This year, they could be really bad. And you get cold water dumped up. Nadia.

Really, really bad. Yeah. I mean, they just don't have very many good players. And that's the state of the roster. And I understand how we arrived at this moment, but they just don't have any good players. They really, really don't. Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith. And if you're excited about J-1 Johnson, maybe.

But I think that even if they play hard and they're well coached, which I wouldn't be surprised with, with Maddie Rufus, I still think that it's time to recalibrate what we think of this team overall. Yeah. I think people got to realize how bad the bear is going to be. It's, yeah. I'm ready. Yeah, I know you are, but it's, you want to be optimistic about some of the things they do. I think Getsi can do a decent job and like just knowing what I think he's trying to do there.

But yeah, it's, it might be a rough, rough 2022 season. Thank goodness you still have the first rounder this year. That would be the one thing. Do you have any others? The other one I had was the Titans offensive line. Okay. For the last few years, we just assumed the Titans' offensive line was good. Now it might be a real weakness.

Yeah. At last year, they had a couple spots. We're like, ah, man, but Quisenberry, I think they hit him a little bit. But in past protection, they weren't very good last year. And now you're swapping out. I think it's going to be some kind of like Aaron Brewer is going to play where Roger Saffold was. And I believe right now, based on what I was reading, that the right tackle battle might be between Petit Ferrer and Dylan Radun's didn't play for them last year.

So I just, there could be some real concerns with that group where a couple years ago, we were talking about them as maybe the best offensive line in the league. They are far away from that now, in my opinion. Man, that's what happens when your first rounder of the future, the right tackle of the future. It just never plays it down. So many different reasons that they got to this place. But those are the three that I had. I like that.

A lot of mine are kind of continuations of other answers we had. I had the chiefs receivers and that was just a stylistic shift. Yep. I have no idea if this experiment's going to work. I understand what I think I understand what they're trying to do. I'm just curious to watch it. But it's a totally stylistic shift from speed, speed, speed, speed, speed, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, to, you know, 3 and D guys, vertical and bullies.

Like, that's what they're, that's what they're going for. And I'm very curious to watch how that unfolds. I have the, and this is another continuation of our answers. I just have the Cowboys offense in general and not just the offense align, but the rearranging of the receivers. CD. CD and Amari Cooper kind of had some sameness that started to happen. Coup isn't really that CD is a good blocker.

He's best out of the slot where he's the power slot. That's again, again, why I loved him coming out. And where Coop, they were trying to have start doing some of that, you know, and he bought in. He was doing some of the fill in the block stuff. But then they, I think they realized how redundant their skill sets were. So they bring in Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Tollbert's best on intermediate and deep routes. That's what he was best at South Island.

Alabama. So is that offense going to be more vertical? Like I, that's what are they going to be more too tight? And like I'm very curious what they're going to do. And we've already talked about the offense align being totally reconfigured and who knows how how they look. Still love DAC though. And then I also, so I went from a unit to or a position group to a unit. I'm going to do a whole team here. The Colts in general, Gus Bradley, Bradley on the defense coordinator, total stylistic shift from what they, from Iverfluous to him. That, I mean, you couldn't go any more drastic. And then on offense, Matt Ryan there at QB, still wearing number two, but it is going to be a little different. And just, I want to see what this offense looks like. I really like, I,

I think Reich is one of the best offensive minds in the league. I really do. I think I love his play calling. I love how he's adapted to his personnel. And it's really cool. Like one of the side effects of switching quarterback every single year is you get to see how the play caller changes and how the, how they attack the field. So I'm very curious going from Mesh City with Philip Rivers and corner routes to the Carson Kents chaos to Matt Ryan, probably throwing a whole bunch of seam benders. And I'm curious. I'm really excited to see that stylistic shift.

But that's just a whole team. I just have to rewire how they've looked the last couple of seasons. That's a really good answer. It's a very, very good answer. All right. The way too early position battle that you're watching closely. Okay. Falcon's quarterback job.

That's a really good one. I mean, that's a personal, that's a personal viewing that I can't wait to watch between Marcus Marriota and Desmond Ritter. Just not that it has any probably ramifications on the 2022 NFL season, but more I just want to see how it unfolds. I also want to see how the Packers receiver hierarchy finishes out. I want to see who starting where, who fills what targets, what what's going on there. And then also just kind of this is my last one is just the, the Steelers between Pickett and Trubisky. I'm sure Pick will probably be the day one starter, but I'm just curious.

Does he just take it run with it? Or is it more of like they're going into the last preseason game? They still haven't announced it. So I want to see how that unfolds in August. I had some weird ones. Yeah, I want to hear of tackle. I want to know if Bernard Brayman is going to win that job.

I love that. He ends up being good. That could be a ridiculous steal in the third round if he ends up being a good player for them. Who's going to play the Niners other safety spot? The Chukwaski Tart was there for a couple of years. They didn't really make any big moves. to replace him.

So they got a couple in-house guys, how that ends up shaking out. Because the Naird's defense was really good last year. Yeah. So if... One of the most fun watches in the league. If you're figuring out, if that's a big hole and you don't know who's going to play that spot,

what do we expect from that defense overall? The other one, we haven't talked about the Browns football-wise at all, justifiably. But I feel like there are position groups and things associated with that roster that interests me, who's going to play corner for them? Yeah. And not that they don't have any,

but how do the roll shake out? four of them because they traded away Troy Hill and now they have Emerson that they brought in as a rookie. So who ends up playing in the slot? Do they use some of the three safety looks with Johnson and Delpit and Harrison? How did they end up shaking out those snaps? Yeah. They have a lot of players. I think the Brown's defense is a chance to be very good, like very good. And so what that on the back end ultimately ends up looking like just something that I know I'm going to be watching.

Yeah. And also you got guys like JOK there. And so it's like how how they use him. I know you're saying corners, but just how they use him will be interesting to watch too. Yeah, no, they, they've, it's one of those where you want to see what the finished product that ends up looking like because there is,

there's a lot of different ways they can use them. So it's like it's how creative they get with those kind of guys. That's, it's always fun to watch. All right. We talked about a couple of these in other categories, but this is a little bit different to me because it's not a whole unit. To me, it's like one, one spot. What is a flaw on a good team that's just keeping you up at night,

right now. Yeah, I don't know if they're a good team, but I have two here. But one is Matt Patricia possibly calling offensive plays for the Patriots that has kept me up. Just the fact that it's Matt Patricia and Joe Judge potentially being offensive coordinators in the NFL is like is, yeah, that's kind of kept me up. That's cut me up for weeks. The team that's capped out with a quarterback that they drafted in the first round last year. In the second year. It's like, it's so important. It's tough, man. I know. I know. Did you see Belichick snapping? I heard about it.

It was awesome. He's like, he, I'm convinced that he is taking this opportunity to finally coach quarterbacks and he's so excited. I've seen him giving plays to Mac Jones, given to the huddle. He was at the running backs and he was the quarterback,

you do individual drills. It was quarterback's running backs and he was the center snapping to the quarterbacks and lining everybody up. And two bad snaps in a row, by the way. Low into the left. Come on, Bill. And so, but watching that, I could, he's geeked up for it.

it's pretty funny. But my more serious answer is what the hell is going on with the Packers Offitz a line? Is Bakhti are playing? Like, what is like what is going on there? I are who's healthy. Who is not, who's starting at what spots? Like that is kind of,

it's, I'm not ready to start kind of like, I'm beating the drum a little bit for it now. Just like slowly, slowly beating it because I want to see how camp unfolds when week one starts. Because that's, that could be more of a. topic of discussion as kind of August unfolds because, I mean,

Bakhtiari's still not practicing. He got hurt 18 months ago on an ECL. And so who's starting at left tackle for him? It's a really good one. Yeah, that's one I'm very, very curious what's going on. Mine are all offensive line related. Love it. I'm genuinely concerned about the Chargers right tackle battle.

I'm afraid for my guy. They'll just break and say and throw it. This idea that it's going to be a. Joker break in the pool's queue situation, which Storm Norton and Trey Pipkins concerns me. We're having tryouts. We are having tryouts, and I'm a little bit worried about it. So that's my number one. Oh, man.

I'm looking at that that chart right now. We'll see. It seems like they don't want to move Matt Filer and they want to keep him at guard, which I understand. He played there last year. That left side is really, really good. I get that. But that right tackle spot. I lose sleepover.

Man, because it could be so good other than that. I mean, the other four, that's a... It could be the one thing that holds them back. And I would just... That's why I'm losing sleepover. I was laying awake at night. It's the meme of the girlfriend. What's he thinking about?

The Chargers Right Tackle situation. Just terrifying. All right. Planning your wedding. We're talking about the rehearsal dinner today. I'm just sitting there and be like, God, Storm Norton. I can't do it. Can't do Storm.

You're not going to provide chip help for him. You mentioned the night. Niners, the Niners interior offensive line is now that Alex Mack is gone, I sit there in a cold sweat thinking about it. I thought they took somebody. Like in my brain, like in my brain, I thought they drafted somebody. They just drafted the center in the second round or the guard the end of my brain. That was last year. It was Aaron Banks. He didn't play. So now he's also in the mix there. Yep. That's one. This one, not as immediately concerning, but dangling by a string maybe. the bill's interior offensive line

Roger Saffold is a nice player Roger Saffold is a road grader or was last year who has struggled in past protection recently and now you're just dropping him as a starter even if I like it as an injection of physicality he's older he's been in the league for a long time but the bills run the ball as much as the Titans do

that's it's a very it's very very different what he's going to be asked to do so that's one of them and I know the Bears fan base I was talking about Ryan Bates, like he was some combination of John Hanna, Quentin Nelson, and Marshall Yonda. But Ryan Bates is somebody that just played a few games at the end of the last season,

and they gave a pretty decent contract to, and now he was just penciled in as a starter. So that little area of the bill's offensive line, well, I think it could be totally fine. Yeah. I think it's more tenuous than it might seem more than people are thinking about right now. There might be some matchups where it's ugly. You know when Brandon Thorne does the O line deal,

match where it's like, oh, wow, they're losing this one again. They're losing this one again. Yeah. So, no, I, I 100% agree with that one because that was another kind of in the back of my mind for this answer. So very quickly, our last two here, the one, another one I had was the whole you're worried about now, but could be fixed. We alluded to both of them.

To me, it's the Packers and Ravens wide receivers. I just think that a veteran could be, could come in for those groups. And it seems like a concern right now, but maybe not. And Roger's saying that, I think makes me feel even better about my answer here. Oh, yeah. No, he's already like going. He's already throwing his hands. He's already throwing a fit, which is hilarious.

It's OTAs. We're in June. He's already throwing a fit, which I think is just, it's going to be a monthly tradition now. All right. Ravens was my answer. That's a good one. I think those are perfect because they're still going to guys out there. Julio's out there.

Will Fuller is out there. Odell is out there. There are some guys. So I feel like that one's an easy one for me. All right. That's all we got. That was very fun and very useful for me. It was.

I think it's important in May, June. I'm like, all right, press and pause, looking through the depth charts, where are we at right now? And hopefully you guys also get something out of that. The 49ers did not draft a cider in the second round. That's what you know. Akeem Hicks signed with the bucks. These are things that we learn. And it's important, it's good to do that.

All right, that's all we got. We'll be back next week doing a mailbag on Monday with Ted Nguin. So please send in your questions for me and Ted. It's athletic football show at gmail.com. would love to get your questions. I highly encourage you guys to send those to us. Please rate and review the podcast on your podcast platform or choice. Now that it's the off-season, not as many shows.

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