The Kevin Sheehan Show - Training Camp Week!

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

Kevin with a ton on the Commanders as training camp nears. Some news on PUP list possibilities, Scott Turner's thoughts on Antonio Gibson, another NFL QB list ranking for Carson Wentz, and then Ron Rivera spoke to Nicki Jhabvala....Kevin weighed in on some of that. Neil in Rockville to finish up the show with thoughts on the "July 28th" testify date for Snyder and if anyone will blink this week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Chean Show. Here's Kevin. It's Monday, July 25th. Two days from now, the Washington commanders will open up their debut, their inaugural training camp, as the Washington commanders.

And it will mark the beginning of a seven-monthish kind of run of football and the football team here. being the dominant part of the conversation, certainly on this podcast. You never know. There are things that pop up. And it's pretty much the dominant part of the conversation, even when football season isn't going on because football season seems to never end. On the show today, there's some news pre-training camp about players and the Pupp list. J.P. Finley just put out some news. I'm going to get to that here momentarily.

Ben Standig had a Q&A with Scott Turner. I want to talk about that a little bit. Nikki Javala did an interview with Ron Rivera. I thought he had some interesting comments. We will get to that. There's another QB ranking out there. This one is the Athletics ranking of quarterbacks where they tier the quarterback rankings.

We'll see where Carson Wentz landed on this particular list. He was 26th in Madden Raiders. We discussed that on Friday. And one guest on the show today, Neil in Rockville, we'll jump on with us. Why? You say, well, it's July 25th. And the July 28th, 29th timeframe, which would be Thursday and Friday of this week, July 28th in particular, kind of a big date.

That was the date that Dan Snyder's attorney said, hey, we're available. We're available to testify on the 28th from Israel. So prior to the 28th, what's going to happen in the next couple of days? Will somebody blink? We shall see Neil and Rockville at the end of the podcast with some predictions on that. I do want to let everybody know that today's podcast is presented by my friends at mybookie. Go to mybooky.com or mybooky.orgie.org. They'll double your first deposit, dollar for dollar, all the way up to a thousand bucks.

There was a story this morning by Adrian Wojnerowski at ESPN that the Celtics are a possibility for Kevin Durant. Woge writes the following about Kevin Durant and Boston. Brooklyn Net Star Kevin Durant's trade request approaches a fourth week. The Boston Celtics have emerged among teams engaged in talks on a possible deal. The Celtics appear no closer to acquiring Durant than others in discussions with the Nets, but Boston's ability to include All-Star forward Jalen Brown as a centerpiece in the offer does help make the team formidable in its pursuit sources say.

Now, the three teams that have been most associated with Kevin Durant, since Durant asked for the trade right before free agency began, The Heat and Phoenix were his two preferred destinations. Phoenix really looks like a long shot, I think, at this point, after resigning D'Andre Aiton, and pretty much saying they will not give up Devin Booker. The Heat, another preferred destination, Miami just doesn't have enough. And then Toronto has been mentioned as a possibility.

The Wizards were mentioned by Sam, Miko last week as a team with some interest. What's interesting about Boston is they got swept by Boston. You know, Durant accepting a trade to the Celtics after they lost to the Celtics in a four-game sweep in the first round of the postseason. Wouldn't wreak exactly like what happened when he went to Golden State as a free agent after he couldn't beat Golden State. And in this case, it's a trade versus a free agent choice. But still, man, I think Durant and Kyrie Irving are going to end up in Brooklyn with Ben Simmons, with Joe Harris, with the other pieces, and be a team in which Kevin Durant has the best chance. You know, obviously a lot would rely on Kyrie Irving being an actual person and coming back to Earth to be.

be a normal teammate. But, you know, him with, you know, him with the combination of Jason Tatum and then the supporting pieces, including Marcus Smart defensive player of the year, Robert Williams, some of the other pieces. Boston would fly to the top of the favorites in the NBA next year to win the title. If it turned out to be a Tatum, Durant, hell of a supporting cast team in Boston, they would be the favorite. Jalen Brown is not Kevin Durant. No one really, in terms of being available via trade with years left on his contract, really has approached this unique situation of Kevin Durant being available. That's why I would be all in if I were the Wizards. Now, my bookie has posted odds on Kevin Durant's next team. And the favorite still right now is

one of the two teams that he prefers, the Miami Heat. They're at plus 225, Toronto's at plus 275, and then it's Phoenix at plus 500. The other teams mentioned, and this was last updated, it looks like before the Wojrowski news, New Orleans, Memphis, Golden State, Philadelphia, the Clippers, the Lakers, and the Knicks are all mentioned. No other team is mentioned among those that are bedable right now at MyBooky. The Wizards are not there and the Celtics are not there, although I would expect when these odds update shortly that the Celtics might be in there as well. But imagine Kevin Durant to the Celtics. Go to MyBooky. MyBooky.com. Mybooky.orgie. Don't forget Kevin D.C. is the promo code.

use and you should want to use, therefore ending up with double the amount you deposit in your account. So a couple of things. J.P. Finley, who covers the team, obviously for NBC Sports Washington, has a radio show on 1067 The Fan with Brian Mitchell, wrote this morning about, as we are pretty much on the eve of training camp, players who may start training camp on the Pupplist. And I do think that Chase Young and Logan Thomas are going to be big stories, but there were a couple of other names mentioned that we really haven't been talking about. He says that Washington's going to open up 2022 training camp with their biggest defensive star, Chase Young, on the Pup list.

So he expects, and we've been talking about this for a while, Chase Young won't be able to begin practice as training camp begins. remember it is July 26th, 25th, it will be the 26th and 27th. And at that point, we are still, we are still a month and a half away from real games, the first real game, September 11th, against Jacksonville. Now, Ron Rivera is going to have a pre-camp press conference tomorrow, I believe. He will no doubt be asked about Chase Young and his progress. and when he expects Chey Sheng to be ready. But they should keep this as a low expectation environment.

There is no reason to promise anything. None. We are way too far away from the opener. We're well short of the time in which it would become serious or at least perceived serious that he needs to start getting work. There is no reason to give away any sort of competition. competitive advantage to Jacksonville or Detroit early in the season that they're not going to have to face Chase Young. We certainly don't need an all-in for week one campaign.

You know, we've gone through that all together, courtesy of Robert Griffin III in his second season. That was a big mistake. You know, everybody knew that that was a mistake, with the exception, of course, of the owner and the quarterback. You don't need that. And so far, I think Ron Rivera and Chase Young and others have done a decent job of keeping the expectations low. You know my theory, under promise, over-deliver. I've been talking about this for 10-plus years. This has been the franchise that is over-promised and under-delivered,

maybe more than any in the history of the National Football League. The Cowboys would be a close second in recent years. But this has been Dan's MO. He's cared more about, you know, the hype and the sizzle than the substance, as we know. We've lived through it. Ron Rivera isn't really that kind of guy. And we will get to some of his comments with Nikki Javala. But I think they should continue to keep this thing super low-key and say, he's making progress.

We're encouraged. But we'll see. Now, JP and his story also wrote that he expects Logan Thomas to appear on the Pupp list. Word from Ashburn, he writes, is that while Thomas seems likely to open on the Pupp list, he's recovering quite well from his December knee injury and could even be ahead of schedule. There's real optimism there. So that is some news on Logan Thomas, who has. had that injury later in the season than Chase Young did.

You know, the injuries are not exactly the same. But that seems to be good news on Logan Thomas. He had some other news on other players as well. The interior of the offensive line, remember last year, was banged up. Chase Ruey was lost to the season. Tyler Larson went down. Ruehier broke his leg, remember? Larson tore his Achilles.

And JP writes, the Pupplist seems likely for both players, though Chase Ruey is the bigger concern. So Washington's starting center for the last few seasons, big part of that offensive line, the center whose starting quarterback will be under, will be, you know, standing over top of them. it looks like is a big concern for the team. Well, you know, that's, look, that offensive line, super well coached. We have two new guards and the center position, which I think we've been assuming would be Chase Ruiye, seems to be in a little bit of, you know, of a mystery right now. Tyler Larson, you know, the Achilles injury, it looks like he's going to start on the populace. And then you've got Keith Ishmael and John Toth on the roster.

So you got guards like Norwell, Trey Turner, and Schweitzer, and Sadiq Charles, who will be battling it out for the starting guard positions. I'd pencil in right now personally Norwell at one guard. And maybe Turner at the other, but I know they like West Schweitzer, but the center position is going to be, you know, something to keep an eye on. So Chase Young and Logan Thomas are the headlines as it relates to the Pupplest. But it looks like Logan Thomas, there's encouraging news on Thomas. And then what we will have is we'll have a closer eye on the center position with Ruey and Larson potentially both starting on the Pupplest,

but Rue being the bigger concern for long term. So there you go. That was that news. Meantime, our good friend Ben Standing, J.P.'s a good friend too. Our good friend Ben Standing had a story in the athletic where he interviewed Scott Turner. I would encourage all of you, as I have before, to subscribe to the athletic. It's totally worth it. And Ben, and everybody that covers all the local teams are great.

Ben, of course, does a phenomenal job as a reporter. And he had a sit-down Q&A with Scott Turner, the offensive coordinator. I'm not going to sit here and read through the entire story that would defeat Ben's purpose, which is to get people to subscribe. But I'm telling you, it's inexpensive and totally worth it. But there was a part or two that I wanted to read to you. And the first one I think was about Antonio Gibson, and this notion that I have that they are a little bit down on Antonio Gibson.

You know, you don't draft a running back in the third round, Brian Robinson, Jr. If you think Antonio Gibson's going to be your workhorse and you're all set at running back with Gibson and then McKissick as the change of pace and the third downback. You know, you just don't do that. They obviously liked Brian Robinson a lot, but third round running back typically means you think he's going to play for you.

And at that position, sooner rather than later. Ben asked him, you added guys like Brian Robinson. What does he bring to an offense that has two good backs already, but maybe didn't have a steady between the tackles element. And Scott Turner answered, first, Antonio, he's gotten so much better. I'm so glad to hear Scott Turner say that. Because part of me has been concerned that they are a PFF customer, a pro football focused customer, just as all 32 teams are,

and that maybe they are relying on some of the analytics that say that Antonio Gibson has left a lot of yardage on the field. It's not my feeling that that's been the case or was the case last year, especially as he got it rolling during that four-game win streak. I think Gibson in his rookie year, you could tell on zone runs in particular, outside zone runs much more in particular, that he didn't have great feel for that kind of run. He wasn't a running back in college. He was a wide receiver.

He was still getting used to the position. But I saw a guy that was getting much better. And to me, at 6-2, 225 pounds, 230 pounds with 4-3 speed, I still think Antonio Gibson has a chance to be, a star running back in the league. And I think we have seen signs of that. Now, there's only so much of the fumbling problem that you can put up with. Understood.

But Scott Turner and his answer to that question said, first, as in, let me get this, you know, out there. Antonio, he's gotten so much better. Okay, well, then why did you draft Brian Robinson, Jr.? And then he says, the more he says, the more. carries he's gotten as a between the tackles runner, he writes, he says, Ben writes, you can't run for a thousand yards in the NFL and not be that type of player. Just adding quality players to our roster, if Brian is who we think he is and continues to develop, it just takes a load off Antonio. He's not the only guy carrying the ball in those scenarios. We got a guy that's had a lot of

reps in college. Antonio coming out of college had 33 carries. Rob, that's all he's done. He adds a little bit of a physical element, but Antonio is a physical runner too, which he is, I add. He's 230 pounds, Scott Turner says. People tend to forget that at times. I don't.

And when he gets behind his pads, he's a force. He's hard to tackle. Robinson is just another guy who fits that mold and allows Antonio to do a couple of different things. Maybe takes a little mental load off him as well. And then J.D. is going to be J.D., J.D. McKissick. So maybe that is a telling quote and answer that what they really don't want Antonio to feel is all of the pressure of being the number one lead, you know, lots of

carries back. And that, you know, of course, it's always better to have two of them. And in case of injury, and Antonio hasn't been healthy all the time, to have another guy that you can put in there. Obviously, they don't feel that way about Jared Patterson or Jonathan Williams or the other backs. They've got Robinson clearly in a much higher class than that. But I did feel better about that answer, about Gibson because I was starting to get the sense that Antonio Gibson was a little bit in the doghouse. Now, he should be for the fumbling, and that's got to stop. But putting that aside, big thing to put aside, understood. I like Gibson's potential. I think Gibson was significant to their four-game win streak. And I thought the combination of Gibson and change of pace, McKissick, is a really good one.

And I love how he runs with power. I love the yards after contact. I think the vision got much better, and he is a home run hitter with 4-3 speed. And I just didn't want to think that they were giving up on him at all by drafting Brian Robinson. And I think that answer told me that they haven't, because he may. made it a point, Scott Turner did, that Antonio's gotten so much better, the more carries he's gotten as a between-the-tackles runner, you know, and really, I think you've seen it with Antonio on some of their inside zone and outside zone stuff. The stuff that requires more patience,

more feel, more vision, more pressing and cut back, I think you've seen that with him. And I know what PFF thinks of Antonio Gibson, which is not that much. I just personally disagree with that. There was one other thing that I wanted to read from what is a lengthy story with a lot of quotes from Scott Turner. He was asked by Ben, hold on for one second. Let me find it. I had it here for a second. Oh, here it is. We know your eye for has connected you to evaluating certain players, Taylor Heineke being the most obvious, and Gibson, who Scott Turner was a fan of, and Stefan Diggs in Minnesota when Scott Turner was there. I actually did not know that Scott Turner was the fan of Stefan Diggs. Many of you know that in that draft, I really wanted Washington to draft Stefan Diggs.

They got Jameson Crowder, two rounds earlier, but the guy, or a round earlier, but the guy that I really wanted was Stefan Diggs, you know, not just because he was a Maryland guy, but because I knew how explosive he could be. There were injuries, there were some concerns, which is why he fell to the fifth round. I didn't realize Scott Turner was a Stefan Diggs guy when he was there in Minnesota. But anyway, Ben asks, was there anyone in this class you gravitated toward pre-draft? And he said, no, I mean, it's a collaboration. We do our scouting. They do a great job of presenting us with guys. I feel great about all of our draft picks. I was excited about, and now I'm even more excited than I was about Jahan. Jahan Dotson. He's a dynamic route runner. He's smooth. He catches the

ball very naturally. Nothing seems to phase him. He can line up a lot in different spots, and he's going to get open and make plays. He's a guy that we and me specifically targeted pretty early in the process. We were excited that we could get him and get some other picks out of it too. It worked out perfectly with our plan and what we expected going into that draft. So there are a couple of things here. Let me just say real quickly, Scott's been a voice. I know this, been a voice or has voiced his opinions about various players. I know that two years ago he was a big fan of Sam Cosmi. He was a big fan of Diami Brown. He was a big fan of Elijah Moore, the receiver that went to the Jets. Washington, by the time Diami Brown came around. Elijah Moore was long gone. And he was a fan of Jahan Dotson this year. So there are players that he's been fond of. But, you know, he told you right there. What I told you a week ago, week and a half ago, and that is there are people. in the organization that after these off-season activities, and they haven't played a game yet,

I understand that, that will tell you that Jahan Dotson's the best receiver on the team. That's what they felt coming out of the off-season stuff. And when he said, I feel great about all of our draft picks, I was excited about, and now am even more excited than I was about Jahan. You're hearing, you know, the offensive coordinator tell you, wow, did he have a nice little off season of many camp and OTAs. And they're expecting a lot from him this year, a lot in his rookie season. And then he also told you that the plan, you know, he was a guy that we and me specifically

targeted pretty early in the process. Dotson. We were excited that we could get him and get some other picks out of it too. It worked out perfectly with our plan and what we expected going into the draft. So that was the plan all along to move down if they could and draft Jahan Dotson, who they knew wouldn't go before some of those other receivers and get them at a point maybe a little bit earlier than they could have gotten them if they traded back one more time, but they didn't want to risk it. But when he said he's a guy that we and me specifically targeted pretty early in the process,

let's just make sure we're all clear, Scott Turner, big Jahan Dotson, fan carried over, you know, I'm not saying it carried over to the Scouts or the Scouts identified him and it carried over to Scott. But they were all in on Jahan Dotson. And I think, you know, we'll see about Diami Brown and to see whether or not he, you know, was right about him because I know he liked him a lot, liked Elijah Moore a lot too. I think he would have preferred Elijah Moore, but Diommy Brown was a guy that he really liked and we didn't see that much, obviously from Diami Brown last year, but different quarterback, et cetera, this year. But when I've told you recently that they feel like they have a 12-win offense, if everything

goes well, that Jahan Dotson, according to several in the off-season, was the best receiver on the field. Now, remember, there was a receiver missing from the field, Terry McClorn. So I'm not saying that they think that Jehan Dotson is better than Terry McClearn, but I will tell you that I'm not sure I'm not saying that. I think that there are some people in that organization that think Jahan Dotson might be the best receiver on the team. And as I mentioned before the draft, Dotson was a guy that they liked. I told you that the night before the draft that Jahan Dotson is a guy that they had high on their list.

But they had him as the guy they wanted. And they executed on that by picking up other picks in the process. So Ben's story was great. There was a lot more with Scott Turner and a Q&A on and from the athletic. All right. So there's another quarterback list out. And then I wanted to get to some of the things that Nikki Javala talked to Ron Rivera about. We will save the Victor Robles, Madison Bumgarner, back and forth from over the weekend for tomorrow when Tommy's on the show.

but we'll get some more commanders talk as we are nearing the start of training camp this week, right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So yes, NFL training camps are opening up, and a week from Thursday night, the Hall of Fame game will be on. And then two weeks from Saturday, Washington will have their first preseason game of the year. At home, by the way, it'll be the day that they debut, the new fight song, hail to the commanders. Hail victory. Braves on the Warpath fight for all of us in D.C. I don't know what it's going to be,

but that will be the day in which they debut the new fight song. Or who knows, maybe they'll take a vote. Maybe it'll be another one of those, hey, we're giving you a list of songs to listen to and then you can vote on them. I have no idea how it will work. But while we are now at the true beginning of the 20th, 2022 season training camps. The truth is, a lot of this stuff, injuries aside, really don't mean anything until they start playing football games. So we are still, and we will continue to be in the season of lists. You know, everybody's got lists.

That's been going on since the draft ended and, you know, mini camps and off-season activities ended. We talked on Friday about the Madden 23 ranking. of quarterbacks where Carson Wentz was 26th. I mean, Teddy Bridgewater and Tuatung of Iloa. Both Miami quarterbacks were ranked in front of him. Last week or the week before, we talked about the Jeremy Fowler ESPN list where they pulled 50 coaches and executives and players and created a top 10 for each position group, and then there was an honorable mention. And for quarterbacks, they basically, if you got through their honorable mentions and also receiving votes, they got through 14 quarterbacks.

The athletic does it a little bit differently, and they just put their list out. Mike Sando writes the column, and Mike Sando, you know, uses 50 NFL coaches and executives for the ninth incarnation, he calls it, of his annual survey of, quarterbacks where he puts them in tiers. You know, he, by the way, spells out who was actually polled for this. Six general managers, eight head coaches, 10 evaluators, 12 coordinators, six quarterback coaches, and seven execs whose specialties include analytics, game management, and the salary cap. The remaining ballot was put together by four members of one.

team's personnel department. So they put 35 quarterbacks into one of five tiers, tier one being the best, tier five being the worst. Quarterbacks were then ranked by average vote and placed into tiers, and based on vote distribution, they began their list with Aaron Rogers, who was number one overall in tier one, which is described as a quarterback, who can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him.

He expertly handles pure passing situations. He has no real holes in his game. So in Tier 1 you had Aaron Rogers. Then at two, you had Patrick Mahomes, at three Tom Brady, at four Josh Allen, at five Justin Herbert, at six Joe Burrow. And that was it. that was the list of tier one quarterbacks. And by the way, that order of tier one quarterbacks makes sense to me.

You know, I think Aaron Rogers is number one, Mahomes 2, Brady 3, Josh Allen 4. I do think Herbert's talent and upside puts him now in that level of quarterback. Now, of course, he hasn't played in a playoff game yet in his two years. Joe Burrow is out of that group, definitely at the bottom of that list. I'd love to have Joe Burroughs as my quarterback, but I don't think he's as good as Justin Herbert or Josh Allen or Mahomes or Rogers. Still would love to have him. Now, Tier 2 starts with Matt Stafford at 7. Matt Stafford, by the way, you know, had 18 out of the 50 Tier 1 votes, and he only had four.

last year. But he remained seventh in the rankings, but he overtook Russell Wilson and Deshawn Watson from where he was a year ago. Look, you know, Matt Stafford was a big source of quarterback conversation, quarterback NFL conversation. You either thought he was really good by watching him, which I did, or you thought because he hadn't won anything. he wasn't very good. I don't do it that way. Quarterback's very dependent. It is a position which is the most influential

on the final result of a game and by extension the final results of a season. But there are lots of really good quarterbacks that we can all watch and say, I'd like to have him that haven't won much. Matt Stafford got into a much better situation and proved that he was, you know, a top 10ish kind of quarterback. Now, would I have him at number 7?

Maybe a little bit high for me, but I've always had him hovering around the top 10. You guys know that, even when he wasn't winning anything in the postseason. Russell Wilson's at 8. Deshawn Watson's at 9. You know, if you take, I mean, if we didn't have the last year and everything that he's been going through, he would still, for me, be in the top 7. but we don't know what we're going to get from Deshawn Watson. You know, all of this plays a psychological, you know, role in what he will be.

I mean, how he bounces off a total, total transformation of his reputation as a person and, you know, in some cases as a player. He came in nine on this list. Lamar Jackson came in at 10. The Fowler list, which had Prescott at 10, and, and, um, and, um, and, Jackson outside the top 10. That was the one significant change, even though I had some order differences. I didn't think Dak Prescott was a top 10 quarterback, and I thought Lamar Jackson was. They have Prescott at 11, Derek Carr at 12.

Like Matt Stafford, Derek Carr is going to get an opportunity this year, even though he's with the same team. He didn't have to move teams. But with Devante Adams there, with some of the. talent that they have, he's going to get a chance, you know, to make that Stafford jump. And there's some projection of this jump already. You know, I don't think Derek Carr is a top 12 quarterback. There are quarterbacks that I would prefer to have over Derek Carr. That's just a personal opinion.

But this year's a big year for Derek Carr, big year for Derek Carr, because he's got the best receiver in the league. he's at 12. Kyler Murray's at 13. By the way, these are the tier two quarterbacks, which started with Stafford. Kyler Murray's at 13. I'm not a big Kyler Murray guys, most of you know. Matt Ryan's at 14, and those are your tier two quarterbacks.

So there are six tier ones, eight tier twos, and now we get to tier three. Tier 3 is, by the way, Tier 2, let me read what the description was of Tier 2, because I don't think I did that. Tier 2, a quarterback can carry his team sometimes, but not consistently. He can handle pure passing situations in doses and or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier 3. He has a whole or two in his game. So then we get to Tier 3 after the top 14 quarterbacks in the league. and Tier 3 is described as a Tier 3 quarterback is a legitimate starter but needs a heavier running game and or defensive component to win. A lower volume dropback passing offense suits him best.

So the first quarterback number 15 overall in Tier 3 is Kirk Cousins. I'm not going to sit here and do a Kirk Cousin segment, but he was super close to Tier 3. or two, and there were a lot of positive comments. And by the way, some negative comments as well about his leadership and clutch play as well. Jimmy Garoppolo is 16, Ryan Tannahill is 17, Mack Jones is 18, Baker Mayfield is 19, and then tied for 20th, Jalen Hertz, and Carson once. So looking for somebody to put him a lot higher than Madden 23? Well, he's six spots higher here. And this is probably for me, you know, it's probably a spot or too low. I wouldn't have Baker Mayfield in front of them. I don't think at this point I would have Mack Jones in front of them.

I think I would have Ryan Tannahill in front of him, and I think I would have Jimmy Garoppolo in front of them. Not massive fans of either in terms of, you know, would I prefer Garapolo over Wentz? Six and one half dozen the other, by the way, with him coming off the injury, probably more on Wentz. But, you know, Garoppolo's delivered in a bunch of clutch spots. At the same time, I like Jalen Hertz.

They write about Jalen Hertz tied for 20th with Carson Went. Hertz jumped 10 spots from last season. The largest year-over-year gain of all of the quarterbacks, Burrow climb nine spots. And they write, he's a poor man's, this was an offensive coach saying, he's a poor man's Baltimore guy, meaning Lamar Jackson, but he can't run that fast. But he's so serious about his job, and he's physically and mentally tough.

He will play very, very consistent. He just won't be a good enough passer over time. to get out of the tier three area. The biggest if in the division is Jalen Hertz, in my opinion. Carson Wentz is a big if, too. But the if, you know, so-and-so becomes this kind of a player, then the team will be really good. That's Philadelphia.

That's Jalen Hertz. You could say if the Cowboys can replace some of their playmakers like Amari Cooper and Cedric Wilson, but that's not as big as if Jalen Hertz takes the next step, because the Eagles have a loaded roster around him. And I think in some ways the second biggest diff in the division is Carson Wentz. If Carson Wentz plays at the level, the highest levels that Carson Wentz has played at before, then Washington can be a playoff contender. Anyway, let me read to you what the athletic writes about Carson Wentz, who's tied for 20th on the list.

Wentz went from the Eagles to the Colts to the commanders in 13 months. His average tier vote has fallen for the fourth consecutive year, from 9th in 2018 to 20th this year. He's got two fingers on the tier three ledge, a quarterback's coach said, how many more chances can you get. He has to be praying to the football God saying, thank you again because not many people get this many opportunities to prove themselves. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on him as a five, meaning tier five, after the Jacksonville game and that interception from the end zone against the Titans in a huge game. You can't make those decisions. You can make those decisions if you've already earned a hundred million as Wentz has, and if a team like Washington is eager to hand you,

another $28 million for this season, which will be the case. This from a defensive coach about Wentz. No one thinks it's because he's a small school kid, but he was like the god at North Dakota State. Everyone told him how great he was. And then he has some successes as a rookie and they win the Super Bowl and it's like Wensylvania and the team, meaning Carson Wentz and Pennsylvania combined, and the team's like, oh, we've got it figured out. and I don't know that he had it figured out.

I don't know that he's gone through that process and understood how to be a professional to make himself better. He thought it just happened. I just don't think the kid ever looked internally and said, it's my fault, I have to do this better. I have to prepare differently. That was from a defensive coach

among the 50 pulled for this quarterback tier ranking on the athletic. You know, I don't know if this person's right, but when you hear, I don't think the kid ever looked internally and said, it's my fault, I have to do this better, I have to prepare differently, some of the stuff that came out of Philadelphia about him. Please, God, don't have this organization end up with another sort of delusional lacking in self-awareness quarterback. One voter marveled at how the Colts were willing to trade wence without having a fallback. Quote, they were telling us they would prefer anyone over him. The only reason I'm this strong against him is that my evaluation from what is that that's my evaluation from watching him play. But adding information of what the team that is, that's with him on an intimate level,

level on a daily basis by going from having Wentz to having none, zero. That tells me that my evaluation of him from afar matches the evaluation internally. If Carson Wentz was not a first round pick, would he be in the league right now? That's a pretty harsh quote from one of the 50 execs, coaches, et cetera. This was from a head coach in the league. I was high on him coming out in his rookie year, but when he didn't get along at the Colts, I just went, oh boy, that to me was the last straw.

I mean, that was Frank Reich's guy. Something isn't right there. Any quarterback who throws 27 touchdown passes against seven interceptions and has a winning record as a starter, as the case was for Wentz last season, should have a home in the league. But with Hertz rising and Wentz falling, the current and former Philadelphia quarterbacks find themselves tied,

but heading in opposite directions. One more quote here from an offensive coach about Wence. If Carson does exactly what he did last year, throws 27 touchdowns with seven interceptions, but Washington makes it as a wild card, what would that do to him the next year, sort of suggesting that maybe he would move up in the rankings? So there you go.

Carson Wentz, the ninth ranked quarterback way back in 18, the 20th ranked quarterback in the Mike Sandow tiered rankings of quarterbacks in the NFL. following Carson Wentz was Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, James Winston, and then came the tier four quarterbacks, Justin Fields. I like Justin Fields. Tua, Davis Mills, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Daniel Jones, Marcus Marriota, Sam Darnold, Mitch Trubisky, Drew Locke, and Gino Smith.

So 20th, an improvement from where we were with the Madden 23 conversation. So I wanted real quickly to read a couple of quotes from a story that Nikki Javala wrote from over the weekend in which she interviewed Ron Rivera prior to training camp. It was a story titled Ron Rivera's confident in commander's growth as third training camp nears. Nikki's story starts with this. Ron Rivera has confidence, confidence in a process and in a roster he thinks. could contend. It was only a year ago when Washington Open Training Camp in Richmond that the coach expressed a mix of hope and concern for the start of the new season. So there are some quotes in here that I want to read. Now I want to start with one that sort of dovetails with the beginning of Nikki's

story. Nikki writes, Rivera's confidence comes from the team's trials late in the 2021 season and the belief that his players can take big steps in his third year as their coach. Quote, the maturity level more so than anything else, shows that these guys are ready to accept the responsibility of it all. Last year, going into this whole thing, my big concern was maturity and having gone through what we went through. I just kind of feel like this group of guys is ready to take a step. This is an interesting quote, because Rivera,

did towards the end of training camp, and I remember specifically with me, you know, Rivera came on with me on a weekly basis, and it started before week one against the Chargers. And I remember asking them before the opener, you know, tell me what you're confident in and tell me what you are, you know, a little bit concerned with going into the season. And he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, I am concerned about the maturity of the team. And, and I'm, and I'm paraphrasing here, and I am concerned about the maturity of the team. And what he was implying was we went to the playoffs at seven and nine and we played well in a playoff game, but I don't want my guys to think that, you know, we've arrived. And he said that, and he said that before the season started. And then he repeated that many times early in the season,

his concern about the maturity of the team. And, you know, I remember thinking, you know, at least he understands that they were seven and nine, and they got lucky because they were in a terrible division. And if Dak Prescott had played in 2020, they would have been, you know, six in ten, and there would have been no optimism heading into the 2021 season. There would have been no delusion from the players as to what they were. But he was concerned with especially some of his young players, and let's be more specific, because he called them out, not by name, but we ultimately knew who he was talking about when he said things like maturity and adhering to the scheme and doing their job.

He was talking about his young defensive lineman, specifically Chase Young and Montez Sweat. So the maturity level, he thinks, after, you know, a 7 and 10 season, which, by the way, they had trials and tribulations through that season, just like they did in 2020 with COVID and all the challenges. last year. They got onto a four-game winning streak, but they had a lot of injuries, and then they had a ton of COVID sort of derail the four-game run. I don't think they were going to go to the playoffs. And Dallas handled them pretty well when they didn't have COVID issues in that first game following the win in Vegas against the Raiders. They got them to six and six, even though the final score of the Dallas game 27 to 20, and Washington actually had a chance at the end of that game, they were down 24-0 at halftime. They were down 27 to

8 with 6 minutes to go in the game. Like they got handled by the Cowboys. The score was very misleading. But he thinks that unlike last year, he thinks the maturity level has taken a step. That's good. And then he said something that I liked, but at the same time, was a bit of a

shift from where he's been. Nikki writes, Rivera claims to not feel any extra pressure going into year three. Let me read that again. Rivera claims to not feel any extra pressure going into year three. And Ron says, not after the first year and then not after what we went through last year. You think about what we went through for two seasons and you say, you know what, whatever happens, happens. But as long as we work hard, play hard and give our best. best effort, we'll see what happens, and we'll let the chips fall where they may. That's a big

difference from what he said a few months ago about his third year when he said, I feel it. This is the year that says, we're going to ascend and we should be ascending. This is far different from him saying, this is year three. This is when we began our run in Carolina. We expect a lot. Now, I've mentioned this before. I don't have much of an issue and I understand the position they're in of needing to market their team as if it's, you know, a borderline expansion team. They've got to get people interested. And so you got to sell a little bit. But like I said earlier in the show, and like I've said for over a decade now, I like the quote in Nikki's column. I like, you know what, whatever happens happens. We'll work hard, we'll play hard, we'll give it our best,

We'll see what happens. We'll let the chips fall where they may. Under promise, over-deliver. Under promise on Chase Young's availability. Under promise on Logan Thomas's availability. Don't give away any secrets. Don't tell anybody how confident you are in this team. Don't tell everybody we're ascending.

This is a big year. At the end of last year, when they got blown out by Dallas 5614, and then lost to Philadelphia and then beat the Giants to end 7 and 10, No expectations. None. Ron created an increased expectation level when the season ended. But now as we're on the eve of training camp, I think he's, you know, I think he should back off that. I think this organization has been way too much of a chest out super far with no substance to it.

And I don't think Ron Rivera is that type of guy. I think Ron Rivera would much rather sneak up on people. But they're in this bind, right, of needing customers, of needing fans, of needing tickets sold, of needing people to watch games, of needing corporate sponsors to buy in. You know, Andrew Brandt put out this note on the Green Bay Packers financials because as the only publicly held team, they have to disclose and you learn about where they are revenue-wise. It was pretty interesting. The Packers numbers, I mean, they're enormous. They reported total revenue of $579 million. $347 million of that is the national revenue.

Remember, we had Kurt Bodenhausen on last week. And he said each team got a check for, I think he said $345 million for all of the national TV and other national revenue. And then he wrote $232 is local revenue. I have no idea, and he didn't write this. And I could go try to find the filings for the Packers to see what their net profit is. But, you know, the salary cap is $182.5 million or it was. And then they've got a lot of other expenses in running a football team.

These teams are profitable. I would love to know how profitable. But I'd also love to know of where the Packers, you know, are $579 million. in total revenue. And we know 347 million of it is national. So we know Washington's at least a $347 million dollar business, but they generated $232 million in local revenue. I think Washington is way down the list on that.

Anyway, point is, I know they've got to market their team, but I liked that quote from Ron Rivera. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. hard to really in their position after what they have provided over the last 22 years to really promise anything going into a season anymore. Just show us, and it starts September 11th against Jacksonville. All right. Neil and Rockville to finish up the show right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

All right, with training camp getting ready to start as we've been talking about. Rookies reporting tomorrow, everybody else on Wednesday, and then it's underway, and it's, the countdown until the first preseason game and then the first regular season game. But we know there will be other news, not football team related. And the clock is ticking as, you know, I guess it's time for one side, either the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Congress, or Dan Snyder and his attorneys, to blink. Because we are only three days away from July 28,

July 29th, the period in which Dan Snyder's attorney said, hey, we're willing to appear by Zoom from Israel, if need be. I just was thinking about this this morning. I was talking to my good friend, Neal and Rockville, about maybe some forthcoming news this week, and I wanted to get ahead of it rather than respond to it. So Neil and Rockville, of course, Montgomery County's finest joining us on the podcast today. So July 28th, 29th, that was the period in which we've been talking about these two dates for a while. It's July 25th. There's been no news other than Neil, other than the fact that I read this story about Dan's yacht. I mean, you've got the Twitter account that's following where Dan Jod is,

but a magazine called Luxurylaunches.com mentioned that Dan's yacht, which is 192, million dollars worth of luxury on the seas has a 201 inch outdoor television and a beach club on the actual yacht. So he certainly doesn't have to go to the games. He'll be able to, with his satellite dish from that yacht, get all the games he wants from there. But in all seriousness, where are we? Don't you think a somebody's got to respond to somebody in the next day or two? You know, for one thing, I think it's interesting that we haven't heard anything, because if there's one thing that particularly this congressional subcommittee loves to do, is leak sort of responses through the media or even through their own spokespeople about how they would, you know, respond to Dan and his attorneys, because as we last left left the the saga. The letter had been sent by Dan's attorney basically saying, hey, we accept your date of July 28th or 29th. We're available to voluntarily appear and answer questions that you posed to us.

The letter also included a lot of reasons why their protestations about, oh, this has to be a subpoena, where Dan Snyder's attorney responded, no, in fact, you initially offered us the opportunity to appear voluntarily. There's no basis for having to subpoena him, even one of the other committee chairs or subchairs even said that usually you get a lot more information when somebody appears voluntarily and to answer the questions. So where we are is that the offer has been made by Dan's attorneys to appear on the 28th via Zoom, and it's now basically up to

the congressional subcommittee to either blink and I guess send the email with the Zoom link or... Right. Everybody always... What's your email? I got to send you the Zoom link.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. So either that or the committee decided They want to just sort of use it as another means and way to put out there that Dan's trying to hide things. And basically, if they actually want to have him testify in some way, shape, or form, wait until he comes back to the United States and subpoena him and then begin the legal sort of process of Dan trying to quash the subpoena. So do you expect a news item this week? Do you expect Congress to put out something this week?

Because at this point, Dan and his attorneys, and by the way, my opinion is they've spoken enough. They've made it very clear. He's willing to testify on July 28th voluntarily, not willing to do it after accepting a subpoena. So it is for the House Oversight and Reform Committee to either respond or, or we'll get no news and July 28th will come and go. What do you expect will happen? I think July 28th is going to come and go. I don't think the Congressional Committee wants to give Dan the opportunity

to voluntarily appear and answer the questions because as I've explained and as Howard has explained, you're allowed to say no to questions when you're there voluntarily. You don't have to answer all the questions. You can limit your answers in a lot more general terms. And if they continue to follow up and follow up, at some point in time, the attorney would probably step in and say, we've answered that question in the 20 different versions

in ways that you've asked that, let's please move on. And so I don't think they're going to give him that opportunity. They wanted the opportunity to allow him to appear voluntarily, but in the context of the hearing room where they could grandstand and shake their fingers at him and the like, this would sort of just be an interview of him about all the different information, you know, most of which they know the answers to already. And it's in a much more controlled scenario.

Dan's attorney isn't going to let Dan answer anything that's going to get him in any more trouble. And he can answer things, you know, relatively in general terms. And, you know, when things get probably dicedy about specifics, if they start getting into the whole what happened on the airplane, you know, I think Dan's attorney might be able to step in. on that because the one interesting discussion is Dan responded that, you know, he released everyone from their NDAs. But as I understand it, she would also have an NDA with regards to Dan. So I don't know if they got the woman on the airplane to release the NDA of Dan.

So that might limit his ability to actually answer some of their questions if they want to get into that specific incident. You know, we did have the initial offer, you know, as you described, the initial offer for Goodell and for Snyder to appear voluntarily, not under subpoena. You know, we had actually the quote from the representative Christian Authority who actually tried to describe the benefits of testifying voluntarily. Of course, they changed the offer, you know, after Goodell spoke. And the team, or Snyder and his representative, his legal representative have said, look, you've changed the rules. You offered a voluntary opportunity, and we're taking you up on it now. We just couldn't do it back on June 22nd, but we can do it now. So this is where we are.

We're at a stalemate. They want him to testify under subpoena. Snyder's willing, I think, I don't think he'd be excited about it, but he's willing to at least put it to them that he's willing to testify voluntarily. They should on July 28th, which would be Thursday of this week, they should at the end of the day send some sort of press release saying, We waited all week and all day today here in Israel. Karen Patton Seymour flew over as my attorney to be with me for this to testify, as we had said we would. And the House Oversight and Reform Committee never sent us an email with a Zoom link. That would be like I think it wouldn't be surprising.

I wouldn't recommend it. But if Karen Patton Seymour, the attorney put out something at the end of business on July 28th saying, we were here, ready to go, and Congress wasn't. Let me put it this way. It necessarily would not be inappropriate under the circumstances, basically just reaffirming that we were there ready, willing, and able, and they did not take us up on our acceptance of their previous offer. It would be interesting, though, also, if they went back and forth because I believe there's a 12-hour difference in time.

So actually, Dan is 12 hours ahead, so maybe that could be a little issue. But also, just remember, Congress and of itself, to my understanding, is not in session until actually Friday. And all this would be done through the congressional staff anyway. Additionally, you mention one thing, and people need to understand, we know how awkward Dan is in public settings and, you know, press conferences and the like. In the course of Dan's career as a businessman, he has been deposed a lot of times for multiple, multiple, you know, different issues. So it's not like he is, you know, not, you know, used to. to actually being deposed or questioned. So it's not like, you know, this would be the first time he'd ever have to be subject to questioning.

Not only has he been previously deposed, but I guarantee you, his attorneys have put him through sort of the ringer extensively over the past. Yes, yes, but I don't know if he would be able to handle the idea. that a lot of people were going to be able to see this one if it were made available to the public. I think it would be a completely different deposition, a different testifying environment if he thought literally tens of thousands of people were watching it online. Well, it's not going to be, it wouldn't be online. It wouldn't be live in any way, shape, or form. It would be a recorded interview.

Still. Still, yeah, I mean, to my knowledge, this isn't in any way a sort of a public questioning. It's not a hearing. Well, to answer this, would people eventually get to see the recorded version? Possibly. I mean, I'll equate it back. Yeah, then it would change. It would change the calculus for him.

It would change the way he handled it if he thought that was a possibility. It's different to do it in a, you know, in a small room with five people, a bunch of attorneys, grilling you and having him handle it. It's like him running a small meeting. You know, that's different than the expectation that tens of thousands of people are going to eventually be able to see this. I think it is. And I think he would know that.

But I've also been watching, you know, a number of these interviews in the January 6th hearings that have been, you know, interviews, most of them of witnesses via Zoom. and it comes across, you know, not as, certainly not as powerful as live video testimony. I mean, we saw it even with Roger Goodell sitting there, but in this situation, it would be at a table. Dan would probably be there with his attorney. I don't think it would come across as bad as certainly not as bad as live testimony for him. All right, that's it. We don't need to go much longer on this.

You and I were talking early this morning, and I just thought, well, July 28th is a key date. We know what that date has meant here in the last few press releases going back and forth. So why not at least get out in front of it and try to predict what's going to happen? Thank you for doing this, as always. Take care. Our good friend, Neil in Rockville. That is it for the show. I'll be back tomorrow with Tommy.