The Ringer NFL Show - ‘GM Street’ — Blue Chips: Offensive Position Rankings (Ep. 126)

Episode Date: August 17, 2017

The Ringer's Mike Lombardi and Tate Frazier continue Lombardi's tradition of identifying the blue-chip players at each offensive position, including quarterbacks (04:00), running backs (09:30), tight ends (16:15) and offensive linemen, heading into the 2017 NFL season (20:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I am Tate Frazier and sitting across from me today. Mr. Michael Lombardi, Lombardi, how you doing? I am great, Tate. I'm doing great. We have a lot to do. Football season is right around the corner. It's basically the middle of August now, because you didn't know and had to check your calendar.

And we have football the 1st of September. It's right there. We can see it staring us in the face. Preseason's happening. Hard knocks is happening. Football is just taking the top. You're watching Hard Knocks? I am.

Is it good? It's been great. My son's always watch it. I never would watch it. I just kind of never thought it really was very good. But you like it. Yeah, this season they're playing the hits, you know? So people that remember Hard Knocks, it used to be the fun times with like Ochosenko

and the Cincinnati Bengals. And they went away from that a little bit. And now they're like, okay, we have Deshawn Jackson. We have James Winston. Right. Let's just show these guys. Let's make it entertaining. Mike Evans.

And those are the people that people want to watch. And now they're actually showing it. So congrats to you, HBO. This is not a plug. This is not a sponsor. earth. This is just hard knocks. It's been good this year. That's good. It's good to hear. Yeah. Just check it out. Today we have what we like to call the blue chippers.

Lombardi, you wrote a column on this, right, for the NFL.com for quite a few years. Well, actually, Bill Simmons made it popular because we wrote right the column about like who I thought were blue chippers in the league and get everybody pissed off because they didn't agree with me. And he kind of, because we would talk about it on the BS report about the podcast. We would talk about the players, some guys I left off, some I left on. And the consensus was this. Back, and this is just, take, this is five, six years ago and how much things

have changed. So we felt like, I always felt like if you had seven players that were Blue Chip or Red Chip, which is top 10 in the league, Red Chip is top 10 in the league, blue chip is top five in the league. If you had seven of the offensive or defensive linemen, five offensive linemen, five defensive

linemen, four in a rusher, that were in the red or blue chip categories, you should make the final four of the playoffs, which is the conference championship game. Yep. that I think has changed a little bit because the way quarterbacks get the ball of their hands so quickly, the way the offensive line doesn't have to always protect

as well, I think it's lowered a little bit but it's still critical to have them in the defensive line. But this year what we have is we're going to start with offense, the offense of the whole league, and Blue Chip are the top five players of the position. And when people hear blue chips, I think they automatically go to

Nignulty, Shaq. I'm just kidding. That's not where they do. Well, some people do like me. But otherwise, I think a good formula. So basically we're going to go through each position on offense. We're going to label the position, obviously, and then we're going to list the guys that you have as your top five or your blue chipper guys. Right. And remember, when, you know, this is the most important thing for fans. Okay. What a guy did in the past doesn't matter. It's how he played last year, how he performed last year. It really matters more than anything. You don't come in with credentials to earn your blue chip

grade again. You have to re-earn it every single season. What have you done for me lately is what you're saying? Exactly. It perfectly put out. Well, well put. And now we're going to start with the quarterbacks, probably the most primo and primetime position in all of the sport. First, number one, on the list of quarterbacks, blue chippers. Who do you have? I've got, here's my top five. I've got Matt Ryan one. Wow. No, really not hard one, because Matt Ryan's numbers were so remarkably out of sync from everybody else's numbers in the league. I mean, Kyle Shanahan did a remarkable job with Matt Ryan.

And everything he did is outside the norm. Yep. Everything he did. He's way above his average. And if Steve Sarkisian can do that again this year, then my hat's off to them. It ain't going to happen. I mean, if you take him in fantasy

and you expect Matt Ryan to duplicate those numbers again, I think you're making a huge mistake. Ryan's one. I have Brady 2, Aaron Rogers 3, car 4, and then the fifth spot for me was a little bit of a debate. I went back and forth. And I put Prescott as the fifth quarterback. I gave him a blue chipper because I think when you just look at him

and you rewatch all the games and how he played, I think he played more effectively than Drew Brees. I think you're pandering to the Cowboys fans, but I'll let you get away with it. No, they're mad at me lately. They've been mad at Elliot and I just rip on Jason Garrett endlessly about his clapping, and they always give me crap about that. They love when Jason Garrett claps. I mean, there should be a montage of Jason Garrett clapping.

Really, there should be. I want to know what he does. Do you think he talks or claps more? He claps way more than he talks. That's good. Maybe that's his way of communication. Let's talk about some of the guys that are now on that list. Drew Brees, not on that list.

You know, I thought Drew Brees paid a price for an offensive line that kind of fell apart on him last year a little bit. I think he made a lot more mistakes than typically. Their defense puts him behind a lot in games. He's still a red chip player, but I didn't think he could get over the edge in terms of, I thought Prescott, just watching those two players play through the season, I thought he played better. And LA's finest quarterback, Philip Rivers? I love Philip, but he had a down year this year. I mean, look, there were some times in the fourth quarter of games, so he made some horrendous mistakes. And no one loves Philip Rivers more than I do. I'm not sure Phillips

Phillips Rivers was a red last year. He was definitely not a blue. Early in the season, I thought he was a blue, but he started to slip. And I think a lot of it was because of the offensive line. Hopefully they repaired that line this year. Because I think Rivers, when he has time to throw the football, I think he's one of the best in the league.

I think he is in the top five, but he's not in the top five this year. It's hard to be a blue chipper and a gunslinger. It really is. You have to make too many mistakes. I mean, like, it's funny when you go through this list, Tate, you leave a lot of guys off. I mean, Eli's not even remotely close to this list.

Do you hear Eli's going to play three more years? He just let him know. I mean, I know, but I mean, he's not even remotely close to this list. Like, there's other guys. Like, we didn't talk about Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson, injuries kept him out of being in the top five this year. But Russell Wilson's not in the top. I mean, Eli's having a hard time.

And then, which is eventually going to be the highest paid quarterback in the league, Matthew Stafford. He's not on this list. And if you look at Matthew Stafford's numbers, they look closer to Andy Dalton's numbers, then they look to Matt Ryan's numbers. Another guy, 2015 MVP, Cam Newton. We haven't even mentioned him yet. He didn't mention him either. Of course, a lot of it plays injuries.

So he didn't play as well. The injuries come into play. But the top five quarterbacks, to me, those are the guys. But I would caution, because part of being a blue chip player is this is not that I want to get involved in fantasy sports, but is to think a guy can have the same kind of year that he had last year. And I just don't see Matt Ryan doing that. And that's why I would temper that a little bit.

I think Tom Brady will have a duplicate season. He's going to get four more games than he did last year. I think Aaron Rogers will have a better season than he did. Do I think Dak Prescott will? I don't think so because of the Elliott suspension. And do we see those two guys car and Prescott, could they easily be replaced if Philip Rivers gets back into his original form? Or even to Ben Rathesberger, who is, you know,

some people think he may retire after the season. What if Big Ben has one of those, you know, 2010, 2007-type seasons? He's up in that class and you can jump up there easily. Yeah, and, you know, you've been watching Hard Knocks, so how about James Winston? How about if he has a great season? I mean, we didn't talk about him. We didn't talk about Mariotta.

Those two players, they could. And we didn't talk about the maybe the NFL's, next $100 million a year player. Mitchell-Jubisky? No, Kirk Cousins. Oh, oh, oh. Because, you know, cousins' numbers, he's not in there. This is what I'm talking about.

I mean, we talk about the bad quarterback play in the NFL, and there is a lot of it, but there's a lot of guys that are kind of in that packed together and that didn't make the cut. And, you know, I mean, Mariotta could take a jump. And if he does, Tennessee will take a jump. Winston, I think, will take a jump. And he may be replacing one of those guys, whether he replaces his car, whether he replaces Prescott, who may be.

he may replace, he's going to, you have to take somebody out. What is Blake Bortles? Is he like a blue face chipper? Like, he's just like running out of air every single year. Did you see the video on Twitter? Unbelievable. Did you see it? Yeah. When he calls me, he's like, keep the damn ball and bounce. I mean, this happens every single day. Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure who I'm going to hate more this year. Jared Gough or Bortles. I think it's a competition because I, I, like, I'm tired of arguing with people about Bortals. I'm just tired of it. Now I'm moved on to Gough. If anybody thinks golf is going to be a player, he played eight plays in the first preseason game. He

needs reps more than any human being on planet earth. Okay, he played eight reps. Okay, people say, well, Lombardi, you're picking on him. No, he needs reps. He needs to play. First play of the game was spacing. That's a play. Tate, if you and I went in the backyard, we would learn spacing.

That's the first play they teach you in the West Coast offense. It's the quick offense on Madden. Is it like, run spacing real quick. Let's run space. He threw it in the dirt. He threw it in the dirt. It's the best. Is Tavon Austin the best quarterback on the Rams?

You'll find out this season. All right, Lombardi, let's move. on to the next position. Running backs, obviously. A lot of people believe that it's maybe not as valued as it once was in the NFL. But there are still some guys like Levyon Bell that really stand out. When you look at your top five running backs in the NFL, your blue chippers, what's that list look like? I think it's a really good list of the top five.

But then there starts to be a lot of guys that you have to, when you evaluate a running back, you have to see scheme and the production. Obviously, there's some teams that can run the ball. Kyle Shanahan's always going to have a back that runs well. But Freeman's are really good back. So my top five backs are Bell, Elliott, LaShaul McCoy is still an effective player. Freeman from Atlanta, I have them as a blue chip player. They just rewarded them.

Even that it was the right scheme, it was the right scheme, it was the right situation for him. And then Johnson from Arizona, to me, those are the top five. David Johnson, those are the top five backs. I didn't put Howard from Chicago in there. I think DeMarco Murray played really well last year, but he's, to me, he's more of a red player than he's a blue chip player. And Melvin Gordon was three yards short of a thousand-yard season. I didn't think he was a blue chip player. I like the five that I have in there.

Jay Ajai. I thought he had a great coming out. But I think a lot of it was their offense that was effective. And I think he did a great job running the ball. I think he's a red chipper. I don't think he's quite a blue chipper yet. And what about a guy like Todd Gurley? Everyone, after Todd Gurley's rookie season, he looks amazing.

Everyone's like they're making the move to L.A. He's going to have this weather. He's going to have this celebrity. He gets a Carl's Jr. commercial. We see him all over the place. And then last year, unfortunately for him, I went to a couple of Rams games. I mean, by the time he got the ball from golf,

for whoever was handing it off to him, I mean, he had three or four people in the back field because they knew where it was going. Could he make the leap this year, if the offensive line, if the offense looks somewhat, you know. I think the problem with Gurley is going to have, unless he gets better in pass protection,

when he's in the game, people are going to run blitz them. Yep. I think you're going to see that happen in Philadelphia, too. We'll give Doug Peterson a secret here. I think if he plays blunt in the backfield, as much as he had last week, people run blitz you. And if you can't pass protect,

what happens, Tate? You run blitzing on. on the back that can't protect. You fall into the plate. You stop the run automatically because you're blitzing to stop the run. But if it happens to be a play action pass, you're in the perfect defense

because he can't block anybody. And so you're going to put pressure on the quarterback. I think Gurley to become to take the next step, I think Gurley's going to have to really improve his pass protection. And the Rams got to improve their offensive line. The Rams' offensive line is not very good. Are there any guys, working guys, like a Christian McCaffrey or a Dalvin Cook that you see that maybe they have the talent to be

one of the guys in the blue chip category. I think Cook and McCaffrey definitely could do it. Fornett could do it. I think he's going to get a lot of cars. Oh, it's easy. Yeah, it's no piece of cake. And now he's hurt this week. It's so easy.

He missed a... I think Cook specifically could be somebody special because I think Minnesota is going to be a really good defensive team. And I think that McCaffery can do things with the ability to play in the slot and move around. He'll be more of a multi-dimensional play. Like Darren Sproles isn't on my list. He's because he kind of does a lot of things, although he's a blue nickel running back.

And I think that's really where McCaffrey would end up being. Absolutely. Let's move on. Let's go to the wide receivers. Hardest group to do, Tate. Yeah, there are so many good wide receivers in the NFL, so many guys that make impact in different ways. You have to deal with slot guys.

You have to do with guys that are big guys on the outside running post patterns, whatever it is. Wire receivers are, you know, they all comes in different safety sizes, of course. But when you're looking at your top five guys, when you nail it down a guy, say if we were going to do a draft or we're going to draft our wide receivers, who are your top five blue chippers to take? Well, I mean, look, you know, my number one receiver is Julio Jones,

and people say, well, O'Dell Beckham should be the highest paid player in the league. He's not the best receiver in the football. The second best receiver that I have is Antonio Brown. Okay. Now, you might think Beckham's better than Brown. I don't. Okay, AJ Green's my third best receiver. And then I went with Mike Evans and Beckham.

I think those guys and Amari Cooper. I mean, you're talking about there's six players I just gave you. And I tied Evans and Cooper for the fifth spot because I wanted both of those players in there. But I left off Tyreek Hill, who I thought had a blue chip season last year. Nobody can cover this guy. He's uncoverable. I didn't put him on the list. I didn't put Des Bryant's not on the list.

You're going to be hearing from Des Bryant for sure. All the Cowboy fans are going to come after me like crazy. But when you break it down, it's hard. I mean, look, Michael Thomas had a tremendous season with the Saints last year. He's at least a red chip player. He's really good. T.Y. Hilton has injuries, but he's still a guy that when you line up against him, he becomes a problem.

And I think that that's those, I think it was a really hard list to do. What struck me was, how do you make Beckham the highest paid player when he's not the best receiver in football? I don't know how you. Who's arguing that with me? OBJ's,

agent, OBJ's fan group, OBJs, all the giant fans in New York, all of them, they're going to be arguing this. Right. And I mean, look, NFC's take down on Lombardi if this comes out. I think the touchdowns make a difference. But look, AJ Green,

but the ball in the end zone. I mean, Antonio Brown gets the ball in the end zone. I mean, Julio Jones. can get the ball in the end zone. I mean, those guys make place, and here's the thing that I always believe in. This is why I think Terrell Owens not being in the Hall of Fame is a complete injustice.

I think these guys, and I think Beckham's one of these players too. When you're driving to the stadium on Sunday, you're worried about double teaming them. On Tuesday, these are what I call Tuesday players. Tuesdays in meetings. You're worried about defending Beckham. You've got to run the coverage to him. You have to roll the coverage to him.

You got to make sure AJ Green gets all the rolled coverage to him. So John Ross, their first round pick this year from the Bengals, he's going to get single coverage at it for two speed, he should be able to take the top off the defense because there's no way you're going to roll the coverage away from AJ Green. So that's where I think, you know, when you're playing against these players,

and that's why you make the list. To me, I made the list based on who did I not want to play against, and that's where Mike Evans, I think Mike Evans will score 15 touchdowns next year. I think he's going to be a great player. He is a great player. But how do you cut the list off? It was hard. I think one guy that we haven't mentioned

that I really think is one of those guys, is DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, no, I mean, he got brocked out last year. Instead of boxed out, he got brocked out. And a lot of people, you know, forgot about him. But he's an unbelievable receiver. He compares himself to Jerry Rice all the time. Speaking of Hard Knocks, he did that the entire season.

He runs routes like that. I think if he has a competent quarterback and Deshawn went to a school, Clemson, I think they can figure something out there. Yeah, I mean, look, Bill O'Brien's talking about how he has two good quarterbacks. And I think, you know, the way Savage played the first preseason game, that was impressive. I think Deshawn showed some things.

I mean, Hopkins belongs. on the list. There's no doubt. Is he a red player? Could he be a blue with the right quarterback? Say he was in New England. We didn't talk about Brandon Cooks. Yeah. And Brandon Cooks didn't make the list. And he's tremendous production. They gave up a first round pick for him. You would think that would be entitled to at least a blue grade or a red grade. But it's hard. There's a lot of good receivers in a league that throws the ball as much as it is. It's hard to just say that this guy is the best at the position. I think there's a lot of guys clustered together. But I think Tyreek Hill is the sleeper of all sleepers. I think he's going to be a guy that will next year be on the

list. I like it. Let's move on to tight ends. Obviously, this is a position that a lot of people have thought that has maybe become more and more important in this league. When you look at the top five guys of the tight end position, what's your list and who's your number one right now? I think it's the hardest thing to evaluate because most tight ends in the league, you've got to be able to do some form of blocking. You just can't go out there and not be a blocker. You just can't go out there and say, because then you're just a big receiver. You're Ancon Bolden. You're an inside slot receiver. You know, so you've got to be able to block. Obviously, Gronk missed a bunch of games last year, but to me, he's such a weapon that on Tuesday,

you're worried like crazy about playing against Gronk. I think Grok, I think Olson from Carolina really played well. I think Jordan Reed is a really, really good player. I think Jordan Reed has quickness. He's got great hands. The concussions worry you and the ability to stay healthy with his foot. He's got a new orthotic that he put in his shoe, whether he can stay healthy. I have him.

Kelsey, I think, from Kansas City is a really good player. I thought Jimmy Graham played better. I didn't put Eifford on there from Cincinnati. I didn't put Martellus Bennett on there. even though he played well, nor did I put Jared Cook, who's going to have a big season, I think, with the Raiders. I think all those guys will produce numbers. Cameron Brate, and I think Tampa Bay was really good last year.

I don't think he's a blue chipper. I think he's more of a red. And then you add O.J. Howard, the rookie they drafted. Yep. I think those guys can make a huge impact. If you're fantasy-wise, I think Cameron Bray will make a huge bit. We'll get a lot of catches. So, O.J. Howard.

Another guy, Delaney Walker. I didn't take Delany Walker. But they're more reds than they are blues. To me, blues changed the game for you. And I think when you play against a guy like Gronk or Olson or Reed, you go in the game saying we've got to make sure we can handle this. I mean, when you break down the – when you look at the Redskins team, they've got some really good players, especially in the skill positions.

Absolutely, absolutely. Jameson Crowder is a guy that could even be a red chipper. Maybe not a blue chipper, but a definitely red chipper guy. In a role, I think the problem is that it's hard to have so many – like we should almost have a slot receiver position on the team. And I think that's really where – you know, because those guys, the Cole Beasley's, the Julian Edelman kind of get lost a little bit in the shuffle because they're getting compared to Julio Joneses and AJ Greens when their role is so much different. It's almost like a different position altogether.

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The offensive tackles, especially, and what they're doing. Who's protecting the blind sides? Who's really doing a good job here? These are six foot six monsters, and they really handle business. Yeah, and I think to me, we always talked about left tackles and right tackles. You got to have a left. But the way people open formations that you have to have good blockers on the edges. So whether you're a right tackle or a left tackle, you've got to be able to pass protect.

If you have a liability on one side of the line, they're going to put you. your best rush. I mean, Von Miller's not always going to line up against your left tackle. He's going to find your worst tackle. And that's why it becomes you have to have two really good tackles. I think Trent Williams, another Redskins guy. I mean, the Redskins have talent. He's on the list. He's a blue chip player. I think Tevin Smith at Dallas is a blue chip player. I think Whitworth, who the Rams side for Cincinnati last year was a blue chip player. Joe Thomas at Cleveland has always been a blue chip player. Armstead from New Orleans. He's hurt again this year. But when he plays, I think he's a blue chip player. Lane Johnson, the

right tackle from Philadelphia. I think he's a candidate to be there. Marcus Cannon and from the Patriots, I thought he played his best he's ever played his career. And even Donald Penn, right? He's another guy that could. Donald Penn, I think always plays good. Donald Penn's not a great run blocker all the time.

He tends to get lazy, but I think for the most part, but I think they're more red chippers than they are blue chippers. I always feel bad for Joe Thomas. I feel like every single year we talk about how amazing he is, and then he's just stuck in Cleveland with no quarterback really to protect. Yeah, I mean, and he comes out and he plays well. I mean, look, he's played really well. The Browns are going to have more.

with him as a blue chipper. We have Kevin Zitler's going to be a blue chipper at guard. You know, they had Alec Mac at center. So I think their team in the offensive line has got some blue chip players, which is how you build a team. So maybe Deshaun Kaiser has some hope there on the offensive line there in Cleveland. You know, just a little nugget. I think Deshaun Kaiser is definitely, you know, just based on the preseason games, first week going through all the tape and watching them.

I think Deshaun Kaiser. So I'm watching preseason tape, Brock Osweiler. Yeah. It was as bad as I've ever seen. The heist. The heist was as bad as I had ever seen. So for me, and then Cody Kessler comes in, and he's not much better. And then I think that the reality of it is is that by elimination, Kaiser is going to be the job.

I don't think Kaiser was great. I thought he was good, but he's way better than the other two guys. I think he'll be the starter. Yeah, even Mary Kay Cabot that we all know, the great Cleveland reporter that we always need. She came out today and said that Kaiser was taking first team reps. He's got to. I mean, it was so obvious. I mean, there's no way Osweiler was, he was worse.

Imagine this, Tate. He was worse than he was in the championship in the playoff game against the Patriots. In the first preseason game. Think about that. Yeah, and those are against the third and four string guys and not the defending champs. Let's move on to the offensive guards.

That's a group that obviously maybe doesn't get the credit that they deserve. There's a lot of guys that you may not even know their names, but there are some real, real blue chippers that are up there. And I think it's an unsung group of people because to keep a quarterback, the best way to attack a quarterback is attack them through the pocket, through pushing the guards back.

And you've got to have, you know, people say, well, you can always find guards. No, you need really two good guards to protect the quarterback. Marshall Yonda, he's played tackle, he's played guard. He does a, to me, he's a pro ball player. Zach Martin's a pro ball player. Brandon Brooks from the Eagles, who they signed from the Texans. I thought he had a really good season for the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Osomeli from the Raiders.

And then Kevin Zitler from Cincinnati. I think those five are the best. I left off. I think Shaq Mason at the Patriots played really well last year. I think he has pro bowl ability. T.J. Lang, De Castro and Richie Incognito. I think those four guys, I think they deserve to be at least red-type players.

But it's hard to find, it's hard to see the other guys that are better than these five guards I gave you. And if you're a nose tackle and you're Vince Wolf Fork and you're going against those guards, that's tough. Back in the day, not anymore, you know. Vince is at the barbecue pit now. And then the final group, Tate, with your moment you've waited for all podcast, is the centers. Did you want, I was going to let you say it. Yeah, and when we're looking at the position, and when we're looking at the position, of Center and who these guys are.

I mean, a lot of people, these are the guy, these are the Jeff Saturdays of the world. The guys. Self-made players. Yeah. Self-made player. But I think, you know, Travis Frederick's really, Alec Mac is really a good player. Rodney Hudson, who was at the Chiefs and went to the Raiders. I mean, look, the Raiders have a lot of good.

They have, that's why they're winning. They have a blue-chip quarterback, and they have two blue-chip players in the offensive line. So whatever you want to say about the Raiders, that's where they are. And Matthew, and Pouncey from Miami has been hurt. both pouncies have not been able to stay healthy. They would be on the list if they could stay healthy. And J.C. Trotter is a good player.

And then you look at Brandon Linner at the Jacksonville Jaguars, who they just paid a boatload of money can play center or guard. I think those are the candidates that you look for there. You need, you know, the problem with centers are, they have to have versatile. They've got to be able to play at least the other positions because unless you're dominant, like Mac is and like Frederick is, it's hard to just carry a guy as a backup or as a starting center

that can't swing around. And what about a guy like Ryan Khalil and Carolina? I didn't think he played as well this year last year. I think a lot of the players on that team didn't play as well. I think that was the problem. So I think that, you know, when you look at this list, Tate, I think you can see the Raiders really a good team. They've got Cooper.

They've got the quarterback. They've got Cooper, the receiver. They got an offensive tackle that's at least a red player. They've got an offensive guard who's a blue chip player. They got a center who's a blue chip player. You wonder why they're moving the football? Because they got a lot of blue chippers. Yeah.

Now, let's just say Marshan. Lynch comes in and plays to a blue chip level. Yep. I mean, you've got to think that it's going to be hard. And then they add Martellis Bennett, who played as a red player last, and they added Jared, I'm sorry, strike that, Jim. They add Jared Cook, and they might add him as a red chip player. I mean, now you're talking about a lot of weapons. We didn't even talk about Crabtree. Yep. You know, Crabtree's still there. So they've got a lot of talented players, plus add Cordell Patterson into the mix as a returner. Just total speed guy.

I mean, they've got a lot of blue players. Yeah, absolutely. You can just see it here when you look at it. Just like you can see the you can see the Cowboys. They've got a running back. They've got a quarterback. They've got two offensive linemen. They've got three offensive linemen. You wonder why they move the football?

Because they got a loud blue chippers. That's going to be my new quote, my new tagline every time that we talk about something. Because they got a little blue chippers. Because we can see it here. I mean, the proofs of the pudding. I mean, it's funny, though, the Patriots have a blue chip quarterback and they have a blue chip tight ed. And then everybody else kind of falls in line. Well, and those guys just don't get the credit because, you know, Tom Brady's taking all their glory.

He won't let anyone else shine. Right. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Tom. And they go by committee with running back. So anyway, that's my group of blue chips. I can't wait to hear everybody call me an idiot. Tell me I blew this guy. This guy's a better player. You know, should be on the list. This is not a fantasy football.

This is based on how they played last year. I know one guy that's going to be upset. Who? Andy Dalton. Andy, you know, Andy and I get along well. We both, I call Andy the 2020 player. You know what that is? He's good inside the 20s.

But once he gets in the red zone, which is weird because he has red hair, you think he would identify with the red zone? It's very strange. But I mean, they should really just run the ball. I mean, Brian Hoare is a little bit like that too. Brian Hoare moves the ball effectively. And I think as a play caller, you need to call plays knowing that your quarterback's a 2020 player. Some guys aren't good in tight windows.

No, they aren't. All right. So also, any, you know, now is the season date for trades. Yeah. So a lot of people, you know, the Eagles trying to trade Michael Kendricks. You know, if I were a team and I have T.Y. Hilton on this list, if I were a team looking for wide receiver. I'd call the Colts and see if they would trade Philip Dorset. And I bet they would. Is that like throw it out there, GM Street exclusive? Or is that just an idea?

That's a GM Street exclusive. I'm going to throw it out to you. I think they would try to trade him. I think he's available. I think for the right price, they would move him. I think that they realize they have to get bigger receivers to help Andrew Luck. You can't have these little guys that can't block, especially in the run game when you're in spread formations all the time. I would think Philip Dorset would be available for the right. I'm not saying they're going to give him away, but for the right price. Maybe the Rams should have thought about maybe getting him for a cheaper price than Sammy.

Now we're back on the Rams again. I'm sorry. This is actually going to be a Los Angeles Rams podcast by the end of it. That's our whole goal is just to get in. We're going to bring in those 14 fans and really lock them in this podcast. Oh, they got more than 14 fans now. $1,400? I get ripped on Twitter by a bunch of them all the time.

It's great. They love it. They have no facts, but they just rip you. It's the best. I can't wait until we go to watch the Chargers play at Carson Stadium. It's where it's where the L.A. Galaxy play for people that aren't familiar. So it's a very small stadium. So a lot of football fans and a soccer stadium, maybe drinking a little, a few beverages. Can you imagine a Raider game

there? Oh, it's going to be amazing. Philip Rivers. Oh, it's going to be amazing. Philips in prime time, got fans around him. That's the problem. Philip Rivers thrives in environments when he has fans yelling at him and heckling him. Oh, he's what he's about. Yeah, no, he's great at that. And I mean, I think that'll be a really big home field advantage for him. I really think they'll gain that if they can keep their team healthy and they can keep their team, you know, their offensive line, he's better than they did. Most importantly, if they keep their team healthy. I like the charges this year.

I like him. He's one of my sleeper teams. Keenan Allen could be a blue chipper if he stays healthy. Hard to get on this list. Hard to get on this list. Hard to get on that receiver list. It's really hard. I mean, it really is.

It's hard to get on that list. I mean, Jarvis Landry, we didn't even mention him. Oh, yeah, that's right. Basically, OBJ is like, you know, doppel ganger. Yeah, absolutely. For next week, we'll do the, we'll do the defensive players for the blue chip players. Then the week after that, we're going to talk about all the players we may have left off.

we'll have the reaction and then we'll break down the teams on how many blue chips and red chips they have. And that's it. Thanks for listening to GM Street on the Ringer podcast network, Lombardi. Thank you very much. Thanks, Tate. And we'll be back next week. Thanks again to Hotel Tonight for sponsoring today's GM Street. Things change or weather changes.

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