The Ringer NFL Show - Preparing For The Super Bowl With Evan Washburn Plus: Offseason Mailbag and 5 Burning Draft Questions

Episode Date: January 28, 2021

Kevin is joined by CBS Sports’ Evan Washburn to talk about Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes and what’s different about the two teams' preparation for this Super Bowl (3:12). Then The Ringer’s Nora Princiotti, Danny Kelly, and Rodger Sherman join Kevin to answer some mailbag questions about the offseason and look ahead to next season (31:43). After that, Kevin and Danny discuss The Ringer’s 2021 Draft Guide and answer five burning draft questions (1:16:20). Lastly, we share an interview with Leonard Fournette from 'R2C2' with CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco in which Fournette discusses playing against Mahomes and his teammate Brady’s competitiveness (1:35:03). Host: Kevin Clark Guests: Evan Washburn, Nora Princiotti, Danny Kelly, and Rodger Sherman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is the ringer NFL show, part of the Ringer podcast Network. I'm Kevin Carr. Great show today. Jam-packed show. Evan Washburn from CBS joins me to talk about the Chiefs, the AFC title game, Tom Brady. Obviously, only one team is traveling this year, but the entire travel schedule, the entire practice schedule is disrupted. So we're going to talk a little bit about what to expect from the next two weeks of Super Bowl preparation. And then Norprinciotti, Roger Sherman, Danny Kelly, join me for a special mailbag edition of the roundtable.

Very simple topic. What are the biggest questions for 2021? That means draft for agency next season, all of that stuff. We tackle at all. And then an interview with Leonard Fournette from the R2C2 podcast, a great podcast, C-C-Sabathia and Ryan Rucco do. Fournett touches on playing against Patrick Mahomes, playing with Tom Brady.

It's a really good interview. And we're happy to have it on this show. So let's get started. All right, Evan Washburn, one of my favorite guys, CBS Sports. What's going on, buddy? Not much. Just enjoying this, this, by week, I guess, is how I'm best experiencing it right now.

I'm starting to prep for the Super Bowl, but knowing I don't have a game on Sunday, I'll be home for the longest stretch here, probably since, I don't know, before week one. So I'm feeling pretty good, rested. Yeah, no, it's going to be an interesting stretch here for sure. I want to start, first of all, Peter Schraker tweeted about this two weeks ago, and it's a very important thing to mention. You're not wearing a hat in the cold weather. You didn't do it for the Browns game. You didn't do it for the Bill's Chiefs. game. I anticipate, even though it's very cold and most people would wear a hat, it's to show off

your hair. As someone who loves showing off their hair, this is very important to me. I applaud your bravery. Well, I appreciate it. Yeah, it's good to have somebody in the good lettuce, as I like to describe it. Brethren here with you, Kevin. Weather, mostly, obviously cold weather is not going to affect it at all. I mean, there's really a few times I can remember ever putting a hat on over the course of seven or eight years on the sideline. Now, rain, on the other hand, could put us towards a hat. And we're going to Tampa. A hood situation.

And that's obviously tropical climate there. So fingers crossed that in front of 100 million people, I won't have to either put a hood on or a hat on. So obviously you're going to help with the Super Bowl coverage for CBS. How does this year change? So the teams are coming in within 48 hours of the game. This is not a normal Super Bowl week. I mean, you're talking about Monday night is media night in most weeks,

just so everybody knows. the teams are there a week in advance or six days in advance. They're going to a hotel every single day to me with the media. They're going to a neutral site to practice. It is totally regimented. None of that's going to happen now. The teams are just going to do their own thing until they travel. Just from a preparation standpoint or reporting standpoint, how do things change for you, Evan,

and how do you feel like the teams are addressing to it? Well, I would say similarly, it's different for us and I can speak to myself. I mean, normally I'd get down there this Sunday and be there for eight days. Sunday through the game, fly back Monday. As it stands right now, I'll fly down Thursday afternoon into early evening. We're still waiting to get final times on when our Zoom production meetings with the teams will be. So I might adjust that.

So I'm not in a car on a plane, obviously, when we're supposed to be doing those things. But honestly, from a team standpoint, I think it, and I know Bruce Ariens lend voice to this, like, it's a benefit for the teams. They don't have to do any of the distraction. And I do, I was thinking about today, actually, like, I feel like for some of the guys that haven't been there before, I am bum for him. Because the word distraction always gets this negative connotation. I think part of being in the Super Bowl is experiencing all of those things, being a part of media night, being a part of just what is a wacky few days. And then they do a nice job as I've been there in years past, the teams that is where they lock it down Friday.

I mean, they're basically stowed away. So this idea that there's all this distraction that's going to take away from the game, I don't think it's really true. So those guys don't get that experience, but it does help them keep this thing as normal as possible for a game that by no means is normal and has so many stakes attached to it. I will say one thing, and you've probably heard this too, but one thing that's come up to me in the past, especially when it's a young team, was making the Super Bowl for the first time, is a lot of young guys aren't ready for the reaction within their circle of family or friends or whatever that comes with making the Super Bowl. talking about like they don't even know that they're going to hear from a thousand people they haven't talked to in 10 years saying, I want tickets to the game. Or how do you distribute those tickets? You know, I mean, it's so important. I remember a coach years ago, tell a few years ago telling me that like the number one thing you told the young players was have a mom or a dad or a wife

or a brother be in charge of just funneling, you know, text messages and tickets and all that stuff because you're not going to, you're going to waste 12 hours, 24 hours of preparation if you have deal with the people in your life. So I just think that's always been funny. And so now obviously that's not going to happen. There's just so many little things, I guess you could say, with the Super Bowl and the trip that people don't think about that won't be happening this year. All right.

Let's talk about the Chiefs right now because you were obviously on the sidelines for that game on Sunday. The big meme, I guess, or the big narrative now is that the Chiefs flipped a switch. And having seen the Chiefs in the regular season and having seen them on Sunday, do you think that's true or do you think that they just know how to play play a play out football or both? saw, how would you sort of diagnose the fact they look unstoppable now? And obviously, they were incredible in the regular season, but they were, they were, you know, playing a little bit closer.

I think all the components that we saw Sunday existed throughout the season. I think this team just wore the burden of having to get back here and wanting to get back here and knowing they were capable of getting back here. But a week 12 game just doesn't have the stakes attached to it to get you to a place mentally, where your intensity level is going to be where it needs to be to blow out a team like we expected them to do over the course of the season. And Travis Kelsey made that point to us in the days leading up to the AFC championship game that it felt like they just wanted to get back to this point. It's almost been a hurry to run through the regular season. And you just can't do that

and expect to look your best at every point along the way. And being on the sideline for their one loss, a whole. Obviously, week 17 kind of stands alone against Las Vegas and just seeing how almost that game was like a sire league. It's like, okay, well, at least we can, you know, have a loss on a record and move forward here and just play some football and play some ball. So whether that's flipping a switch or not, I look at it like all the things we saw when Kansas City was at their best against Buffalo has been there all season long. And now they're just where they've wanted to be basically since they left Miami a year ago. being on the sidelines and saying it up close,

we now have three years of this. And so we have a sample size here. What does playoff Mahomes like? Because you hear some quarterbacks, and Bill Walsh wrote this in a book 30 years ago, where he said there's no such thing as rising to the moment in clutch situations. It's doing exactly what you always do while everybody else loses their head, right? And, you know, Mahomes obviously has another level we can go to in the playoffs,

but he's also just a calm, collected dude. I mean, I talked to him the week before his first playoff game ever, and he seemed like he was about to go take batting practice. What is playoff Mahomes like when you see it up close? Well, I think it's a lot of that, Kevin. I mean, it's the absolute comfort in the moment. The bigger the stage, he seems to be that much more comfortable and just kind of viewing his discussion in leadership style on the sideline,

when things do go south in these big games as they have, at least the last couple of years here, even when McColl Harmon drops that ball, and along with Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes is the first guy to go up to him, be like, hey, man, we're good. You know, we're going to make a play. We're going to make plays.

And so there's that stuff that matters. I mean, it's not just lifted. He truly believes it, and he backs it up with his play. But I think it's largely where I find my attention rooted is the way he's just incredibly comfortable in the biggest moment and the biggest downs of these biggest games. I mean, that's where he makes that throw to Travis

when he's got whatever defender draped all over him. And look, those are plays he makes in the regular season as well. But when you've got to have it in those moments, he seems to always rise to the occasion. And I've just been more and more impressed with his decision making and his decisiveness to know, I'm just going to make a play with my legs. Like in these big games, whether it was the tight, his game last year when he has that breaks off that long run or the plays he made out of the

pocket on Sunday. Those are the things where, again, I just think he's got complete command of his craft at this point. Is there, I mean, obviously none of us are doctors, but was that in Mahomes, it was 100%? Because to me, if he wasn't 100%, that's, that's as scary as anything, right, for the rest of the league. If he was 75% or 80%, but obviously the rush to get healthy, especially with that toe, which obviously once he passed concussion protocol became the most important thing just on the field as far as physical limitations. Obviously, the concussion is much more important in the grand scheme of things. But was his foot all that? Was that totally healthy, you think? I can't imagine it was. I mean, he admitted to us that he was, you know, in pain in the Monday

after the Brown's game. And as Tracy reported, she was kind of covering that sideline intensely. he had one shoe that was a half a size bigger and he was wearing a special orthotic. So none of that screams 100%. But right there with the comfort and the leadership and obviously all the physical gifts, his toughness is right near the top, if not at the top, because he doesn't allow these things to let other aspects of his game and drop. And we saw that Sunday and how mobile he still was despite what's going to be an injury that, yeah, I'm sure he's going to nag him through this game in a couple weeks.

You've spent time with Bill Belichick. You have the lacrosse connection. And then, of course, you have the Patriots connection as well. I didn't think there was anything that could change the Brady Belichick legacy this year. I thought that that was written. And anything this year was just kind of, it wasn't trivia, but it was just, it was not affecting the last 20 years of Patriots football, right? The conversation to me is changing because I think what Tom Brady is accomplishing this

year, even though we did not play a perfect game on Sunday, um, is so remarkable at age 43 that I, I start to think that maybe, uh, Belichick in some way, you know, Nick Wright, who I love was on our show, so on a Tuesday yesterday. And he said, he thinks Belichick has to, has to make a Super Bowl now. And I don't necessarily know if it's that, but I do think there has to be sort of a second act of, of, of Bill Belichick in the next few years, uh, once the, the salary cap sort of, uh, reveals itself. And obviously they have, they have some flexibility this year. Um, knowing what you know about Bill Belichick, knowing what you know about the Patriots, um, where does that you know, um, Where do you think they go from here?

And do you think that he is, listen, Belichick is not going to be 100% reactive to anything. But do you think that he feels a little bit of, I guess, pressure you would say to enhance his legacy? Tom Brady's father came out today and said he's, you know,

bills on a little bit of a hot seat or whatever. I don't believe that. But I do believe that the legacy conversation will change a bit and that Belichick will have to do something. Well, it's going to be part of the story. I think that part's fair. I'm not ready to go there with any of really any of the other stuff at this point. Just because the way I view it in the moment right now, Kevin,

is that Tom has done something incredible that I don't think many of us saw coming way back in August and really way back to the last time they played the Chiefs. I mean, watching that game back today. Just, I mean, how far this team's coming in a short period of time. But Tom had the freedom to do a lot of things that Bill did not have to do once these two, parted weights. I mean, Bill was under the restriction of obviously what they could do with their roster, what they had to do when it came to building this team out and under the pandemic protocols and all the players that left. So I just kind of, I'm not going to go to the who's

who's responsible for the 2001 Super Bowl. Whatever, whatever it might be. But to your basic question, I think they're both the ultimate competitors. So, yeah, I would think that anything that happened this year, whether it be probably most notably what happened in New England, is going to drive how he and that organization works towards 2021 and beyond. So I'm excited to see how they utilize and manipulate this offseason. Because one of the things, you know, and I think you, I credit you was staying this a lot of the times is,

that no team works better in the margins. No team better finds ways to take advantage of what appear to be deficiencies. So we find ourselves, and as you mentioned, an offseason that's going to be completely different, whether it be due to the salary cap, due to what a draft and pre-draft, all those things. This to me, with now 12 months of experience with it, it's going to be exciting to see how Bill and New England manages it. also the conversation in general is kind of funny to me even though i brought it up but you know obviously bill bellichick what is built was bill bellichick planning on losing next year until tom brady started

winning games like no he was obviously going to build the best team he could i think the availability of a bunch of different quarterbacks this year makes it really interesting and does he take a big swing on some of these veterans who are pricey who will be available i think it's one of the most fascinating storylines to watch is is what direction that they go in to jump in there just because having to talk at times. And as much as you joke about the lacrosse connection, like Bill's been great to me, the Patriots has been hospitable.

But it's not like I'm getting extra info. I mean, anybody who covers them knows that. But one of the things that, you know, you think about is just this is the first time in a long time that that group and specific to Bill and that staff, that coaching staff and Josh McDaniels, are going to have so much more time. I mean, they're playing through,

February, and then it's a mad dash to the draft. And look, their draft spot is not, you know, top 10 at this point. But for so many years, I don't know, I guess 18 years, they've been drafted the bottom of the first. So all those things make this a really intriguing spot for New England. And one that I think is, will be fair to evaluate with a really critical eye, which everybody's going to want to do. Yeah, I totally agree. All right. Let's talk about the team who seven, you were on on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills, because I think. that they had one of the best stories of the season, just as far as how quickly that team came together. The Ascension of Josh Allen is obviously amazing. I beg all over my face and I enjoy,

you know, someone who's retweeting. We got old takes exposed last week because the ringer did a video after the Josh Allen pick where all three of the folks in the video basically said this was, this was not the pick. And you know what? That's great. I like that part of the industry. Is it like fan bases get to have the revenge when we have an opinion? That's part of it. I enjoy it. Brandon Bean came out today and said obviously there's going to be a tough off season with the salary cap and just the fact that they, you know, one of their breads and butters that they've told me about

before in the past is, you know, they like those mid-tier veterans, seven, eight, nine, $10 million guys who are able to help with the culture, who are able to know can quickly come up to speed and sort of no offense or the defensive part of it. Obviously those guys, that middle class, tend

to go by the wayside if there's a salary cap crunch. Where do the bills go from here and do you sort of see having spent some time with them this year? Is this, do you feel like this is sort of the beginning of something in Buffalo? I do. And I'll start with just Sunday. And we saw Stefan Diggs on the field after the game, watching the Chiefs receive, you know, the Mar-Hun trophy.

And Sean McDermott. And this was, you know, talking about oddities of 2020. I mean, I have to do the loser interview right after in the, minutes and usually there's a cool down period but since i can't go back to their locker room Sean actually just walked from shaking any reed's hand to the corner of the tunnel and did one of those wacky interviews where he's at a podium mic and i'm up in the moat and i mean literally just as he's walking off the field after losing the biggest game of his coaching career and uh to his credit and one i appreciate him doing it uh i mean he was open and honest about like we're coming back

here. And you can tell he, he wanted his players to soak in that moment. And it had me thinking, Kevin, about Kansas City a few years prior when they lose that game to New England and overtime and being on the sideline for that one as well. And I mean, it's as athletes, especially at that level, like those things do fuel them. So that's the sort of non-tangible aspect to this season. I think has laid the foundation for Buffalo. The points you bring up are good ones. And one's what the roster looks like. I don't have all of their guys in front of me and who's in, who's out, who they're going to have to let go due to some of those cap casualties. But what they do have is they have the culture built. And I think they have now a confidence in Josh Allen, despite

him not being at his best in that game, that he can be the guy that can leave them. And they're going to need to make some tweaks and find a way to get on Kansas City's level. And I think they can do that. I think they have the potential to do that. So I don't think it requires much of an overhaul or, you know, some serious moves in the offseason. I think it's more just kind of sitting in where they find themselves, which at this point is a bit of disappointment. And then allowing that to really fuel their offseason and their attention to exactly what they need to do. Obviously, you were around the Browns two weeks ago, kind of a, you know, a low-grade version of the bills and so much they didn't get as far, but just the one year turnaround as opposed to, you know,

Sean McDurray made the playoffs in 2017. It's a separate deal. But Kevin Stefansky, his coaching job was amazing. And I wish I had the opportunity to be around that team more. Obviously, I talked to Andrew Barry in preseason, and I've talked to a few of those guys in that team. But you just, you know, with the lack of travel and in-person games and all and stuff, I just haven't been around it.

What's something we don't know about that Bill's turnaround or the Bill's vibe or anything going on in Cleveland right now? And you can point to and say, okay, this is why, it was different in Cleveland this year. Well, Kevin, I'm a big believer in. Look, each team's got their own personality, identity, and players themselves are going to have their personal sort of approach to things. And Baker's got his and Jarvis has his and Miles, I mean, the guys that the leaders of that team.

But they adopted Kevin Stefansky's approach to football and that staff's approach to football, both when it came to how they wanted to execute things on the field, but also just how they wanted to manage all the things that come, with being a team in this league. And that to me is, you know, number one, what I thought was most important kind of moving through this season and watching them develop, having them week one and seeing them get blown out against Baltimore.

And the fact that they acknowledged that they, they didn't want to be the same old grounds and it wasn't about talking their way through it. It was about action. And so then to see it kind of find itself in week 17 when they got to win it there against Pittsburgh. So what I guess I would say is that that group, it's not just lips for it. They actually buy into the fact that despite having stars on their team.

And it'll be interesting to see how Odell works his way back into this because for better or worse, they did kind of capture something while he was away that they have the necessary, identity and now it's about just executing and at a higher level because I don't have them right now with Buffalo and Kansas City despite the fact that they found themselves

in that game with the Chiefs down the stretch but man I couldn't agree with him more Stephansky did an unbelievable job as so many variables as all these teams did but for whatever reason it just felt like they had a little bit more Are you allowed to make a prediction because you're working the game? I don't even know the rules with that, to be honest with you.

So I'll avoid it if there is some unwritten rule at this point. As you well know, as somebody who's talking on air multiple times a week, the rules are always changing on so many fronts. But I guess I should probably avoid a prediction other than the fact that I would say just kind of watching these games back in terms of whether it was what Kansas City has done in recent weeks and what Tampa's done. And then as I mentioned, watching back their game from, I guess it was week 12. I just feel like Tampa's a much different team than they were the first time around. But the only thing that's got me a bit hesitant in terms of that being a defining factor,

I thought the same thing with Buffalo, man. I agree with that. to week six. And I was like, man, there's so much different. And Kansas City is not that much different. But they're just such a buzz saw. So I don't know. I just hope it's a close game.

I hope it's an exciting game. Look, our last Super Bowl, it was close. I know football, real, you know, purest love Rams, Patriots. But I don't think it captured the casual viewer. So I'll take the Eagles Patriots. 4-51. Yeah, exactly. Last thing to follow up with that,

because you talked about them being a better. team as a season goes along. You know, you're next to these teams. You talk to these guys. You're in these production meetings, all that stuff. What are the challenges we don't know about as far as teams getting better and how long it takes to click? I mean, are there things where coaches are saying, hey, it's actually, it's actually taken 18 weeks for this to click or we didn't have this until, you know, December. We normally have it in September, which is as far as chemistry or plate calling or insulation. Is there something you can point to with the COVID season where you say this is rearing its head now? No, I'm glad you brought that up because it was another thing that

kind of came up in my early days here of prep for this game. I think that the fact that New England got a week 13 by was huge, not just because it gives you a chance to rest and get fresh physically for that stretch run, but they had so much data that they'd compiled and tape that they compiled over the course of the first 12 weeks. And they were in that that lull where they'd lost two or three or whatever it was that I think that the fact that they could attack that by week with really an approach that you couldn't have in week four or week five just because you're still figuring out who you are. They've kind of developed a style and it wasn't working in an identity and it wasn't working. So I think one, that biweek was critical in terms of where it was because they could really

be calculated in their approach to trying to fix some of the problems. And part of that too goes hand in hand with what you mentioned. I know at this point it seems redundant to say this has been a challenging season when it comes to the lack of face-to-face time, the lack of times in the meeting room. But it's real, man. The fact that these coaches, and they admit it to us over the course of the year, like, they don't know if their guys got it until they really get into live action because everybody's been on enough Zooms at this point. If there's more than four people on it, you're not going to jump in and be like, hey, guys, I don't get it. Or a coach can't look at a guy in the be like, okay, I know that 22-year-old, while he's saying I got it, I know he's got it.

So all that got lost. And so much was figuring it out on the fly, whether it be on a Sunday, and then the limited time on the field. So all that's to say, I think Kansas City had the luxury of kind of knowing exactly who they are, and especially when it comes to the anchors on both sides of the ball. And so while I'm sure the COVID season and the protocols affected them, I don't think it stood in the way. of them being at their best. Well, Tampa, I'm sure it, and I know it did for the first probably 12 weeks of the season

until they got to that buy. And I'm excited to spend more time with this team over the next 10 days here to get to know truly what happened there and what they feel like they discovered. Because look, man, you just look at the results, not just the record, but the way they're playing. And they captured something. Plus, you're going to have, we're going to have 10 days of Bruce Ariens,

which is a gift for the football content. God's. And that's the other thing, just sort of behind the scenes aspects to this. Like in my position, especially this season where I'm doing conversations with coaches on the phone at half time, and, you know, you're talking through a mask at the edge of the tunnel and there is noise and the PA's blaring. Like all the coaches, look, I appreciate the fact that they just are willing to go through the process with me at times. But when you get a gem like Bruce, you know, like no matter the logistical challenges, he's going to have something interesting to say that can hopefully brighten up the broadcast.

So when I got the assignment, because Tracy was going to stick with Kansas City through if they'd won an ASC championship game, I was like, well, I got to learn. I got to do a lot more homework because I only had the bucks once this year. But man, yeah, I'm excited to not just have the press conference Bruce here over the next 10 days, but then once you get him behind the scenes. And he's a former CBS employee, so hopefully he's really going to take care of it. Perfect.

Evan Washburn, CBS Sports. Can't wait to watch these next two weeks. Appreciate the time, buddy. Kevin, always good to be with you, man. Be well. All right, joining me now. Nora Prince, Idi, Danny Kelly, Roger Sherman.

It's mailbag time. Danny, what's going on? What's up? How's it going? I'm fired up, Roger? This is Super Bowl. The Super Bowl happening. Did you know that?

100% fact. Nora Prince Yati. Have you pot it with Roger before? Yeah, we've potter, right? I don't know who she is. Oh, wow. When did you? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. All right. This is quite a group. This is quite a group. And this, uh, I don't think so. Okay, Gwyneth Paltrow said it, but that's not important. Moving on.

When did she say it? I'm going to Google it. Um, she said it when she was, being interviewed for a New York Times magazine piece, and the cut has published several articles about how Goop is phony. And Guinezalda, who definitely knows what the cut is, said, I don't know what the cut is. And then the cut put it on T-shirts. Wow.

Okay. Well, that's an I did not know that about that particular feud. Well, so I said that because I have nothing going on. So I had nothing to answer your what's going on question. but Danny Kelly just published an incredible draft guide. I feel like we're doing a whole segment on this. We're doing a whole segment on this. We have five burning draft questions.

We're kicking you guys off because you guys know nothing about the draft. Roger Sherman is a college football officiantado who just, you know, Danny Kelly just dunking on this. Just terrible draft takes. We can't wait. We're trying to rush Roger off this pod so we can actually have a draft discussion. No, we're joking. Roger Sherman is a valuable member of the draft team.

I trust Roger's. football analysis like implicitly the guy knows college football I me too me too the one funny about Rogers every year he's like you know I watch a lot of college football and I would draft this guy and it's always like to Sean Watson yeah it's the best players later he's like I'm actually retiring from this role because of Josh Allen you can get one wrong I was so wrong about Josh Allen that I've decided to never say which quarterbacks are going to be good again for the rest of my life Like, that's it for you.

I can't be that wrong again. I think we have a question about that on this pod. If you were, okay, yeah, we have, we have a male bad question about that. So I don't want to, are you going to just not answer that question? I, I'm exempting myself from any and all Josh Allen future predictions. Okay. We'll come around to it. All right.

Let's start it off. Brett asks, what offseason maneuver would be the biggest agent of chaos other than Aaron Rogers to the Patriots. So I just saw a friend texting me that Pro Football Focus predicted or pegged Ryan Fitzpatrick to the Patriots as well, which is basically, Ryan Fitzpatrick to the Patriots is basically like, will Aaron Rogers be traded for sickos, right? Like that is, that is just the absolute pinnacle of transactions in the NFL that would just lead to just full chaos. But other than that, guys, we'll start with you, Nora Princiotti. What move would just send shockwaves and just destabilize the entire offseason.

If the Texans have so much trouble, if they are pushed to come up with just some ridiculous way of getting a head coach and they find a way to trade for Bill Belichick. Wow. Wow. Okay. There's a lot there. Okay. That was that, okay.

By the definition of this question, that is a great agent of chaos. What would a return be, Nora, for a Bill Belichick? So they don't have a lot of draft picks. No. But here's the argument. Deshawn? Deshawn for Bill Belichick? Yes.

Would you do that if you were doing one? So he might not do it if you're Bill Belichick. But. Yeah, why would Bill Belichick do this? Because he wants to be with his friends. Well, no, wait. Okay. If it's not Bill Belichick for Deshaun and it's just like a couple picks or something,

I could see. It would have to be a lot of picks. But if Bill could be convinced if, because, okay, they have to come up with a way to make Deshaun Watson happy. And what better way than you can partner with this coach who would require a lot of power and is probably the only way that they could sell, not the only way, but one of very few ways at this point that they could sell to their fan base that things aren't a disaster and that there's going to be an adult in the room.

And partner them with a roster that's still pretty good. And then just give all of the picks that you have, every single pick that you have. And maybe Bill threatens to retire if ownership in New England doesn't sign off on it. Okay. Bill Belichick and Deshawn Watson, partner in Houston with a pretty good roster, and all of a sudden, the landscape has changed. Agent of Chaos. It has. It definitely has changed in that scenario.

I would say it'd be very funny for Nick Casario to be like, oh, I finally have power. Oh, sorry, the guy who took away my power. It would be hysterical. He's back. He's back. Like, Nick Cacero is so smart and worked so hard and absolutely. deserves this chance, even though, like, he has just stepped into such an enormous cluster, but it would be hysterical if that happened.

Does Bill Belichick like Jack Easterby? Yeah, that one of you liked him as a character coach. Yeah. Okay. There we go. He did want to be a general manager. And no, he was not, I mean, there was a point at which Jack Easterby would have liked to have this type of role in New England.

That was made very clear to him it was not going to happen. it's always funny to me when someone is hired because of how close they are to Bill Belichick and then someone asked Bill Belichick about that person later and he's like, I wasn't really that close with that person. I wasn't really friends. Bill Belichick said point blank. Jack Easterby is not a personnel person earlier this year, which I think told you pretty much all you need to know about that.

He threw him under the bus as far as what Easterby was trying to. accomplish. By the way, I think this is just as likely as Aaron Rogers to the Patriots, not just because I don't think Aaron Rogers is getting traded, but any of these guys that has some leverage in what happens to them, they don't want to go to the Patriots. Because there is a dated set of assumptions about who the Patriots are, all of these quarterbacks, it's always like, oh, what if they go to New England? They don't want to go play with that roster. They just don't. Like, I still believe that Belichick is a poll. If you are Aaron Rogers, you don't want any part of that.

Like, Jacoby Myers just is not doing it for you. I agree with that. All right, Roger Sherman. What's your agent of chaos transaction? I think the New Orleans Saints could win the Super Bowl if they had a quarterback who isn't Drew Brees or Taysam Hill. And I also think the New Orleans Saints are $112 billion over the salary cap for next year. Is that right?

Something like that, yeah. I saw around 90. Depends what the cap is. We don't know. Right. Right. If they decided that we are going to try to win the Super Bowl with a quarterback, sign a quarterback, one of the many who was available this year, and just, I think they would have to go bankrupt after that.

Do you have a quarterback? Like, someone would be able to repo. They get like Matthew Stafford and then they have to get like one of these, like the build out, like the hedge funds that tried to short game stuff. Yeah, or like someone now can like buy them at an auction or something like that. I don't know really how the salary cap works if it's real. But I set up a lemonade stand. I just assume if you go over $150 million over the cap, they just shut you down after that. So yeah.

The stands going out of business would be quite an ancient of chaos. Yeah. But it would also possibly result of them winning the super. Super Bowl. I agree with that. Danny, if you were to put any quarterback that's realistic on the Saints, where would you go? Or would you roll the dice with James and Ortaysson? Oh, I mean, if they have the opportunity to bring Stafford in, I think they absolutely should do that.

Again, I just, this is like the ultimate litmus test for this, the cap is fake. If they can bring in Stafford, then we just need to. And listen, they were capped out last year at the point they couldn't sign Clownie, but they have an entire offseason to figure this out. If they can do this, then we should just retire the salary cap. This is a retirement match for two. That's, this is a retirement match for the salary cap. If a salary cap can't put a stop to this, it has to retire.

So my agent of chaos is similar to what Roger is saying. And I, but I have Stafford going to a couple of, like, let's assume Deshaun Watson doesn't go anywhere. I think Deshaun Watson going to any competitive team is going to be the biggest agent of chaos in the soft season, but I want to take a like step down. to Stafford, who is legitimately going to be playing for a new team this next season. And so I think the biggest, the teams that I think that would make it like the most, like turn the NFL on its on its back or whatever is the Steelers.

I think him pass into all those really like high level receivers in Pittsburgh would be really fun. The 49ers who have a championship roster other than like, you know, they got. 30 guys on the IR last year. If they can get those guys healthy and have just a normal injury season, I think they still have a Super Bowl contending roster. I don't think Jimmy G is it. And I think Stafford is better than him.

I think it would be really fun to see him in a shantian offense. And then the Colts. And so I think all three of those teams are set up to like get a guy like Stafford and all of a sudden be one of the top teams in the NFL. And I mean, the Steelers already were before they kind of fell apart

in the second half the year. But I think those could be like really high impact moves. Totally agree. I will say, I was joking with the Fitzpatrick thing. Deshawn Watson going anywhere is the agent of chaos because you're talking about a huge haul. You're talking about, you know, if they go to, if he goes to a team with the team that already

has a young quarterback and I'm making this up because the dolphins have committed to Tua. But if it's Tchaun and then the dolphin throwing a bunch of picks, I mean, that's the kind of thing that sets off a huge chain reaction throughout the league. So Deshawn is the biggest domino and we'll just see what happens. All right. second question is from Richard, which Super Bowl teams open in the 2021 season and which teams close after the 2021 season? Danny Kelly, we will start with you. So that's a really good segue because I think the most clear team whose Super Bowl window opens in 2021 is the Dolphins.

And it goes with, you know, their defense has been really, really good, dynamic ascending. And then obviously they have a lot of, you know, cap. in this draft, they can really add to that. They can add in free agency. I think they can get a lot better. And even if they have, too, who I still have a believer in two, I think, you know, even with two at quarterback, I think they can be a Super Bowl contender next season. A couple of other teams come to mind.

And you could tell me maybe these windows already open, but like the Browns to me were always kind of a year away from being a legit Super Bowl contender. Now, I think in 2021 they can be. I think you could make the argument. and I know that we've been doing this for like a 10 years straight now, but the Chargers have a championship style roster. Get a quarterback on the Broncos. I think they're a Super Bowl team.

And then if you really, really want to stretch in terms of how big the window is, in terms of your Super Bowl window, I think the Bengals and the Jags, because they have, well, I'm assuming Trevor Lawrence is going to be on Jags, because they have young, good ascending quarterbacks and a lot of space and good talent. like their window starts to open if that makes any sense. Danny Kelly's got a 2021, Bengals, Jags.

They're teared. They're teared. They're teared. Go ahead. Dolphins Brown's Chargers for me. And then like, you know, you can make the argument for the other ones. Nora? Can you name more than seven teams?

I did not. I did not. You did. The only one. Every team that didn't make the playoffs this year. The only team I would. The only team I would maybe make an argument for that Danny did not mention is the Cardinals just as a team that got overhyped, didn't live up to those expectations. We've seen this movie before, right?

They can go fix some of their issues in the offseason. And then all of a sudden, boom. Okay, actually, maybe the time is closer to being now. This is not so much an answer to the Super Bowl window question. but I really want to be on record with it before everybody else does. The Carolina Panthers are going to be the hipster hype team of 2021. Like I have never been more sure of anything else in my entire life. And we don't know the reason that they're not in this category, right, is one,

roster still has some real holes. But sure also the quarterback question there is kind of disqualifying. However, they lost eight one score games in the fourth quarter. They are absolutely the team that there will be so many TV segments devoted to being like, the Panthers, you don't know how good the Panthers are. The Panthers, they're on the rise and they will be overhyped and it will be too early. And I just want to say that before somebody else does. Sounds to me like they're not clutch.

No clutch, no clutch, Gene. No clutch gene. No clutch gene. Nor Princiotti, window closing. if they don't trade for Matthew Stappard Saints I would say regardless of

of the quality of roster The Eagles I don't think I don't think this is a little bit I think that their window I think they may have had one of those windows of some painted shut They put bars on that window

I could have caution tape all over here. There's not, that window is, is not operational. But I feel like the periods through which we answer this question is off season to off season, right? And I don't think that people would have said the window is shut at this time last year. Am I completely wrong in that? Their quarterback didn't, wasn't just totally broken and they didn't fire their coach and then hire Nick. I don't know if Nick Sariana is going to be a very good coat. I've, I didn't close their window and I'm closing it now.

It's closed. I'm just saying that there's so many question marks right now. How did we feel at this time last year about the Eagles? I honestly can't remember. I mean, I had the Eagles and the Cowboys on similar planes, and then it turned out I was correct in that. It was just the wrong plane.

I thought they'd both be pretty good, but then when the Eagles had their injuries with Brandon Brooks and those guys, I didn't pick them to win the division anymore. Can we throw the Patriots into this category? Or is that? For which one? Closing? For the, it's closing, yeah.

I mean, if you'd like to. I don't know how open it is right now. Didn't their window close last year? I think a lot of people were very nervous to close that window because of Belichick and because they, well, you know, especially early on in the season, like they signed Cam Newton, things were looking good, really good for a while there. And then it kind of all fell apart. But I know it took a lot for people to finally be like, okay,

this isn't the Patriots Division anymore. This isn't the Patriots conference anymore. And so I would say that, you know, for the people that still believe the Patriots were Super Bowl contenders coming into this last season, it doesn't feel like going into 2021. Anyone's going to really think this is a Super Bowl team. I'm like still expecting the Patriots to show up in Tampa. Yeah. It's hard to get through that. Yeah.

Like the Buccaneers are going to rip off their jerseys and it's going to be the Patriots. Um, there's all this. I disagree with the entire premise of the question because I believe that only the Kansas city chiefs are good. There's only one window in this house and it's open. It's a huge, the chiefs have a huge stained glass window. It's just massive. They live in a literal like one of those, like all the houses in black mirror just made of

glass for some reason. And that's what the chiefs live in. Huge windows. I just think there, the thing is Patrick Behobes is still going to be playing football next year. I agree. I don't want to do a Danny Kelly seven teams thing, but I will say that a lot of the teams that the Danny Kelly named are probably in the mix there. I would say, I mean,

like I have fundamental. I love what the Cleveland Browns have done. But to say that their window for the Super Bowl opens or closes or whatever, like I just kind of feel like they just don't have. I really like what Baker Mayfield has done, um, taking strides from year over the next. But I just don't think that he's ever going to get to sort of the,

the Patrick Mahomes level. I mean, we just saw what happened with Josh Allen, who has made incredible strides. We just saw what happens when he goes against playoff Mahomes. So I think that there's probably, you know, the dolphins with Tua have real questions over. I'm with you on the Cardinals because I still feel like Kyler can make the leap. Maybe that opens next year. But I'm a little, I'm actually trending a little more towards Roger's point, which is that we've seen what the chiefs are. And it's going to take a Tom Brady.

I will say that after who's going to close after 2021? one, the answer is probably going to be the bucks because I really, I don't want, again, I don't want a short Tom Brady, but at some point he's going to be 45 years old playing football. Yeah. This does have to end at some point, right? Does it? Everyone's too afraid. Everyone's too afraid. Everyone's too afraid to even address, will this ever end? Let's move on to the next question. All right. This is from Ricky. Should the Colts, I love this question. Should the Colts keep getting old quarterbacks for a few years at a time?

Stafford this year. Stafford's not that old. He's 32. Wilson in three years just keep them coming. So this is an interesting strategy. I'll start with you, Roger Sherman. Is this what the Colt should just do forever? Just find the available 30-something quarterback. I mean, the thing is about drafting young quarterbacks is they're cheap. And, you know, you can build around them.

But there's like a really high chance that even someone who looked great in college turns out to be terrible. And we like older quarterbacks are proving commodity. and if you have a roster of that level and you're pretty convinced that someone like Philip Rivers or Matt Stafford might come open every couple of years and you can get them to Indianapolis. Yeah, it feels like the smartest way to go. The thing is, even Trevor Lawrence might turn out to be bad.

It's possible. Okay, so 10 minutes ago, you were like, I'm never talking about quarterbacks again, and I've unleashed a Trevor Lawrence might be bad take. No, no, no, no, no. Josh Allen has ruined my entire perspective on everything. when Josh Allen turned out to be good it made

it just made me impossible to trust in anything besides Philip Rivers and Matt Stafford seems like something to work out with a therapist I have a lot of issues I have a lot of issues related to Josh Allen oh boy

yeah no no no let that hang for a second here let that breathe Roger Sherman has a complex about Josh Allen now I have a lot of I mean, I haven't even gotten to the Josh Allen question yet. Nora, Colts quarterbacks. Should we just keep trading a man?

The real answer is they should do both. Just do both. Just get these guys, trade them, sign them when they're free agents, whatever. Like, keep doing it. And also, I'm not saying use your first round pick every year. They don't have one this year. But take a guy in a mid to later round, maybe take two. just keep throwing darts at the dartboard and try to capitalize on the fact that

there's still a good roster with someone like Stafford right now. Like, like I know, you know, Roger said some other things that were probably more a potent statement in that little monologue. But you're right. The draft is a crapshoot. So acknowledge that. Get a bunch of guys. It is the most important position on the field.

I think it's worth it until you have the guy, nothing else. really matters in a lot of cases. So just keep pumping resources into that position. So I say yes, but I say why not do both? Danny Kelly. That was the perfect answer. I have nothing else to add. Yeah, I think absolutely.

No, no. Yeah, keep drafting, and then sign a guy to, because they're a roster that is set up to win now. They're set up, they're set up to have a veteran, to drop a veteran into that roster and be ready to go. You know, maybe add a receiver or two to get a little more explosive on offense. But yeah, I mean, um, the, the fence sitting answer is the correct one to both. All right. This is from Ike, I think. I can't really decipher where, what, where the name

start here. Um, I think it's like, how do you handle Baker Mayfield this season? Do you pick up the fifth year option versus offering an extension? Do the wence and golf contracts affect your thinking about how you might approach it? Um, I think this is an interesting point because I think there's a lot of bad quarterback contracts right now, and I think that that's going to be sort of top of mind. I will say, talk to Andrew Barry about this earlier this season, and he basically said he de-rejects the premise that you can't win with an expensive quarterback. He thinks there's a million ways to win in football and does not think that paying your quarterback precludes you from having a stacked roster. I will start with Nora Princeziati. What do you do about a Baker-Mayfield?

I think they pick up the fifth year option, try to smooth feelings there if necessary by tying it to COVID essentially and saying, look, we got to do this and we're going to give you another year in the system and see. And I absolutely think that the gop and one steals. I don't think that you say that necessarily when you're talking to Baker Mayfield or to his reps. Like, hey, you could suck BTWs. that's probably not a great thing to to put out there. But I think that's absolutely got to be like you said, top of mind

and definitely influencing the decision making there. So I would say that they would pick up the fifth year option, especially just because it's influenced by the cap, so they'll save a little bit there and they can feel good about that and probably just use the excuse of the timing and the salary cap

and everything. One thing about the golf and Wendstiels, I would say, is that everybody it's really easy to obviously have the hindsight. I'm not going to get into that. But what I will say is that I remember talking to Kevin Demoff at the Super Bowl. And he was talking about how Jared Goff was eligible for an extension as a three weeks prior, right? Like after week 17, I think it was New Year's Eve.

He was eligible for an extension. And so you're negotiating with the quarterback who's literally playing in the Super Bowl. And I just think that the idea that they should have moved on from golf or even whence after he was having some success in his career. I just, that's easier said than done in an NFL building. And I think that they, for as much as we say the media should matter or the fan base should matter or whatever, I think that they know, because no one's ever done it, there would be a media and fan revolt if something like that happened. And beggar is a different deal, um, because he obviously is not playing in a super bowl, but he has had success this year. I will just say that there are teams are a little

more, are a little more cognizant of public perception than, uh, than we probably think. And, and it's, it's going to be a bold team. It will be a bold team with just ownership who has, like Bill Belichick would do it, right? Bill Belichick would have the, the total job security and all that stuff that would be required to say after four years, I'm getting rid of this pretty good young quarterback. I think maybe 30 other GM's owners, whatever, would say, no. Danny Kelly, what do what you do with Baker, Matthew? Yeah, I think it's stuff. Do you guys think that the fact he was the overall top pick has,

has any sway on this situation, too? Not just to mention the fact that he's played well. And that's, I think if you, I think that they would have, you know, I think that the only other team to give an offer to Cam Newton, by the way,

was the Brownerways call rather. They called Cam Newton. I think that if he was a second or third round pick or the 20 pick in the draft or whatever. You may have seen more competition along the way for Baker-Mayfield, something like that. But I think because he's the first overall pick, the franchise went all in as soon as they could. Yeah. And I think we're seeing a little bit of this, you know, the reticence or some people are talking

about how the Jets might stick with Darnold, even though they have the second pick. It's just, I feel like there's a lot of gravity, inertia to having that top pick designation or whatever you want to call. Sam was the second pick, I guess. But, yeah, I just think, I think they'll end up probably giving him an extension. because if he gets, if he plays on the 50-year option, it's something around $30 million is what I was reading. And that's a pretty big cap hit in a year where it's strapped.

Am I wrong on that, Nora? I think it's a little less than that. Low-lar, because the cap's going down. Yeah, I think it might be closer to 20. Either way, it's not, it's no longer cheap young rookie quarterback. Right. I mean, it's, yeah, that's kind of what, that's the crux of the situation is you're still going to be paying

ton of money for this guy, whether it's long term or short term. I really don't know what they're going to do. He played so well in the second half of the season and down the stretch, you know, he was a big part of this, I guess, culture shift where the Browns were, you know, just a loser team for so long. And now there's people, they're turning that around. They're believing. It'd be a interesting choice for them to go away from that.

And so ultimately, I do think that they'll, they'll commit to them long term, whether that's this year or next, I don't know, but I lean towards them giving him a extension. I think they will, just to be clear, I think they'll eventually extend him. Right. I just think they'll wait. The thing about the fifth year option is the risk is that you mildly piss the guy off, right? Yeah. For not doing.

And if there's anyone ever who could turn something like that into a career defining insult, it's Baker Mayfield, who eight years later is still. mad at Cliff Kingsbury for slightly delaying his scholarship promotion from walk-on status at Texas Tech. Like, it's been like seven or eight years, and this still drives him to this day. I think you still do it because it's risky to put that much money into him. And like, what's going to happen is he going to, I don't think he's going to leave Cleveland. But like, if there's one guy who it could backfire with, it is our tiny grudge holding king Baker Bayfield

I meant tiny grudges but I also meant smaller than a lot of quarterbacks tiny relative to an NFL quarterback okay interesting point let's let's move on here because we're otherwise we're gonna the next question might take an hour

or Roger's going to be so scared he it takes two minutes it's from Tommy does Josh Allen get even better next year or did we watch peak Allen? We will start with Roger Sherman. Well, I mean, on the one hand, how can anybody be better at quarterback than Josh Allen was this year? He was incredible. He was perfect in every way.

He was. So can Josh Allen improve on this? Is he powerful enough to become even better than one of the best quarterbacks? seasons. He was, how many quarterbacks were better than Josh Allen this year? Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes, Rogers.

Rogers. Probably just those too. And even then, it's kind of, even then, like, maybe Allen had the better year than Mahomes did. Like, Mahomes wasn't as good as he was in past years this year. It was like, it was, he was incredible.

I don't, I can't, I couldn't imagine. I just don't know how it. Josh Allen became this good. And I don't know what the seal he is. I'm mystified by his existence. I have started to believe in him, and I think it might turn against me someday. It scares me.

And like I said, a lot of issues here. It's caused me to reconsider everything I think about football at any point. Because now every time I'm like, oh, this team should win this game. I'm like, Roger, you thought Josh Allen was going to suck. And instead he's a godman. My favorite bit anywhere is just like any Jets fan who's like, well, we can stick with Darnold because Josh Allen improved or like any, it's just given cover to the idea that any quarterback can improve like this.

And I just don't, I don't think that's very healthy for other quarterbacks and other fan bases. That's all. I think the question with Josh Allen is whether he's the one quarterback who's going to improve this much or whether it's something we can eventually readily expect from quarterback prospects who have accuracy issues. What do you think is the answer? I'm scared. I think Chris Sims is on this podcast last week

and he said something I thought was interesting is that we have thought that accuracy can't improve because most of the guys we're talking about actually are not very good. Right? Like Tim Tebow's accuracy never improved because Tim Tebow was just bad. Right? Like it wasn't about the fact that he was, Josh Allen had talent and he just needed the infrastructure and the receivers and all that stuff.

I think that that's, I think the conversation gets muddied if you're talking about a subset of quarterbacks we shouldn't be talking about. So it's, listen, it's deep and philosophical and it's also unknowable because if the next 10 quarterbacks we think are the next Josh Allen don't develop like that, then I don't maybe, I, listen, it's just so hard to figure that out. And God bless Brandon Bean and that whole Bill's team figuring out how to do it. Danny Kelly, have we reached peak, peak Joshi? I think, I mean, I think there's always the chance that he kind of regresses a little bit towards his career mean next season. But I don't think that it would be that strange to see him improve. I mean, Brian Dayball is coming back. So they get that continuity.

That's so big. Yeah, that's huge for him. It's huge for the bills. You know, not having to learn another offense, not learning, having. to learn new language that comes with that offense, new plays, all that stuff. They can build on everything that they had this year. I think, you know, it's not the most crucial thing, but if they had a little bit better run game, probably take a little bit of stress off him to do everything.

I'm looking at his like touchdown rate from this last year, 6.5. That's not out, that's not like out of this world or unheard of. I was just like Aaron Rogers has had six seasons where he's had better than that. He could get more efficient. He could throw more touchdowns. It would not surprise me. So I'll put it that way. I think if you're looking at history, this might end up being his outlier career season,

and he might end up regressing a little bit towards like his first two seasons where he was much more erratic, much less accurate. But at the same time, I think I'm done doubting him. And I think that, you know, with all the continuity that you're getting some, you know, Gabriel Davis might improve next year, bring that, you know, elevate that part of the offense a little bit. I think that there's a chance that he'll be better and more efficient even after how efficient he was this year. Norprinciotti, you spent a lot of time reporting on Josh and the constellation around him. Is this the peak or does he get better? So I think it's fairly safe to say that he's not going to have another huge leap because he's playing so well. There's not that much room left before you hit the ceiling.

He's also in a really, really, really good situation. I think keeping table around is huge because, they also don't have a particularly scary, potentially departing free agent class. So that continuity is going to still be in place there. I think maybe this is the safe answer, but I think that he is a fundamentally different quarterback than he was in his first couple of seasons. I think that this much more accurate thrower and this different player is what we can expect

from Josh Allen. And like Danny said, there's little air. areas like the touchdown rate where he could improve his efficiency numbers a little bit. He also could just get sort of savier, you know, that's hard to quantify, but a little bit more experience those sort of blackout Josh Allen goes crazy moments might, um, become a little bit fewer and further between. But essentially, I think that we can expect Josh Allen to be a really good quarterback going forward. I think the, uh, and this is actually, I think the best thing for the bills, right?

Is that the wild departures are hopefully done for him. And I would expect them to be. But if he plateaus at this point, that is, the bills will absolutely take that. That is a really good thing for Buffalo. And I think that's probably the safest assumption. Right. If he, if he plateaus Mrs. Josh Allen, that's a very good thing.

It's not a good thing for Roger. Who's having a existential crisis over there. Yeah, Roger, are you okay? I think that Josh Allen is going to show up to training camp next year, seven foot six 400 pounds and faster than tire he's going

to the bills are going to go 19 and oh I will say do you want to talk do we need to use the chat function on the Zoom and just work it all out for you I think I just have to figure out what purpose I have in media

going forward like it's just I just have to existentially think about what my career is if if I was this wrong about Josh Allen. Like, do I have to get good at singing or something? We can try that. We could do a video. Brandi of me and I press conference today and basically said that,

obviously with the cap, they're going to hover around 175, which is what the cap probably is expected to be, which means it's going to be tough to resign Matt Milano, John Feliciano, Darry Williams. Those are obviously the names. He didn't mention those specifically. But then also, he's not,

he said he's not going to have. the big splashy high profile move obviously they did that last year with bigs the year before they've just been able to augment the roster with with middle class veterans so to speak and so it'll just be a different type of off season for them than the one they've expected it'll just be interesting to see how that develops all right draft question is from ross can you see any of the 2021 quarterbacks being better than lawrence similar to how herbert has been better than burrowed this is a great question we will start with our draft guru. And by the way,

stick around for an entire draft segment and go from there. Danny Kelly. Yo, yeah, I do think it's possible. I think I'm really big on Justin Fields. I mean, I think we saw his upside when they played Clemson. He had six touchdowns in that game. He just was really dialed in.

He has the physical skill set. You know, he might have the best physical skill set in this whole class, like really strong arm, accurate, can run like Cam Newton. You know, he's tough. All that stuff. He's good leader. So I do think he could give. have Lawrence a run for his money as the better quarterback in this draft.

Zach Wilson is someone that a lot of people think has like just insane upside. His arm talent is really good. You know, he makes all these off, off platform, sidearm throws, like across his body. He's got that playmaker mentality. He's really sort of like a loose, you know, exciting quarterback type. Just his playmaking style is really exciting and loose. So he, I think, is a guy that a lot of people, people really, you know, think could challenge for that title. And then Trey Lance, to me,

is the other guy who's just sort of the wild card in this whole thing. You know, his skill set is pretty similar to Justin Fields, I'd say, like really strong arm, really mobile, you know, good decision maker. He didn't throw a pick in 2019. He had like 27 or 28 touchdowns and no picks. Obviously, he's coming from a lower level of football, only one season as a starter. But his skill set is just absurd. So I think all three of those guys are in the discussion. And it really wouldn't surprise me greatly. I mean, obviously, I think Lawrence is the easy favorite to be like the superstar of this class. But it really wouldn't surprise me if any of those guys end up being better in the pros.

Roger, Sherman is ready to get hurt again. Roger, quarterback prediction. You did the same thing that you did with the playoff teams or you just named all of them. Oh, sorry. Was they only supposed to name one? I don't know. If I had to name one, I didn't know that was the parameters of the question. And Roger is...

Oh, okay. The one I'm... If I had to pick one, which I thought I might have to do, I would go with... I think Trey Lance is such an unknown because not only has he only played the one season, not only was at a different level,

but, you know, it was his redshirt freshman season? Right. Was it his true freshman season? He's 20 right now? I think it was his redshirt freshman. I think it was his redshirt. I'll double check that, but I believe it was a redshirt freshman season

and... He played the one game this year against Central Arkansas because North Dakota State did not have a season. They moved their season. He haven't really, yeah, his future is, his skill set is incredible, his physical capabilities. And we haven't really seen his progression. He could be an incredible hidden gem. My comp for him and the draft guide is Josh Allen, mini Josh Allen. I think there's a lot of similarities because it's like he has this.

elite arm strength. He's actually way more... He doesn't want anything to do with this podcast right now. I'm just talking about tools and unknowns about like the playing, like the level of competition, all that stuff. I think there's big questions about that

for Josh Allen coming in. So yeah. Three Super Bowls for Trey Lanes. Five for Josh, three for Trey. Patrick Boll's retirement. Nor. No more Princeati.

Any quarterback Inter interest here? Just a little distracted by the fact that we're potting with a broken person. Just clearly. I'm going to let Danny's answer pretty much stand because I think he did a really good job of covering it. But I would pinpoint Zach Wilson. I feel like has that upside.

Essentially, it's just he's had one season of top level production. So that's going to give a lot of teams pause just given how small the sample size is. and it makes projecting him a little bit more variable. But if it's the top end of that, the combination of he's really accurate and the playmaking ability, he could be super special.

So, and also, I'm never surprised when, like, I just assume everybody's wrong all the time. Yeah. With drafting quarterback, so it would not surprise me at all.

And in general, that's the new normal. Everyone's just constantly wrong. Yeah. That's the mistake I made. Myself certainly included. My mistake was that I believed that I was right about something.

Yeah. So. And that broke me. So just quickly, um, answer the question, unless Roger wants to expand on that. It's possible. Yeah. Someone can be better than Trevor lines. All right.

So I think that if, if the order was different, like it, if Urban Meyer wasn't picking first, like, maybe it would be okay. He drafts Justin Fields or whatever and they have instant success. And again, this question is interesting. me because because Herbert was better than Borough this year does not guarantee that Burroughs not going to be better in five years. So it's a little bit more about instant success than it is about success in the next 10 years. But I could have seen a scenario in which Urban Myers schemes it up with Justin Fields or Zach Wilson, somebody really quickly and has instant success.

And especially if the Jets were going to get Trevor Lawrence, if the order was different. But I actually think that Lawrence with Urban Meyer is going to have some immediate success. I think people are I think that scheme and his ability to tailor it for the NFL really quickly. I think you're going to see some early success from Trevor Lawrence. This is my take. All right. Last question is from Danny Hyfitz, who is our dear friend. And he asked, would you rather have stock in Patrick Mahomes or GameStop?

This is a great question. We will start with Nora Princiotti. I guess this is about just the play of Patrick. Patrick Mahomes and not the $500 million contract. So I guess it's more of an abstract question, but we'll start with you, Nora. So I have no idea. I don't, I understand that the GameStop thing is a thing that is happening. I got to say, I don't understand it at all.

I know that it somehow involves the Mets. Yeah. And it's possible that Reddit now is a controlling owner in the Mets is what it seems to be. A couple of people on Reddit got together and decided. decided to drive up the price of a stock that hedge funds were shorting. It's called a short squeeze. It's a very long, complicated process. It's a bunch of great explainers on the internet.

But the payoff here is that a bunch of hedge funds are in deep, deep trouble because Reddit got together and cost them money. Okay. That is actually what I thought had happened. That's fantastic. I would rather have Patrick Mahomes, I think, because this whole thing seems weird and sketchy. I agree. That's what I was going to say. Roger, would you rather have GameStop for Josh Allen?

The thing is, I, I, it's sort of similar because I used to think that Josh Allen had no potential future value. Yeah. And look at how high his stock is right now. You've got to buy low. And, uh, right now Patrick Mahomes is as high as he can possibly go. How can Patrick Mahomes? I will say, you know, I will say, as far as far as. I think everyone in the media is shorted Josh Allen.

And I do think Bill's Mafia kind of squeezed our short. I will say this because they were betting on Josh Allen the entire time. I would say the more analogous thing is Josh Allen is the game stop because I was betting against Josh Allen a whole time. And now Bill's Mafia gets to take their victory lap and they own me. And the same way that the Mets are now owned by someone else. I am now owned by the Bill's Mafia. And now I am, we're worthless. I'm worthless.

I have no value. Danny Kelly. Any game step thoughts? I'm going to go. I'm going to say that Mahomes stock can go higher. How about that? I agree with that. I feel like Michael,

I'm 25 years old. 10 days away from that. Yeah. I'm going to take Mahomes because he's real and he hasn't been manipulated by a bunch of internet trolls. GameStop is real.

GameStop is real. Have you never bought a copy of NCAA football when you're in high school? All right. This was great. Danny Kelly's sticking around for Norprinciotti and Roger, get some sleep or something.

Work out this Josh Allen thing. Nora, I will see you on the next podcast we do. Raj, we can go have a chat. We'll talk it out. Nora's going back on Monday. Tell us what you guys have going on. You're definitely, yeah, that's the biggest question mark going on. Nora, what pieces are you doing?

What can we find out the next couple days from you? Let's see. I just recorded an episode of Bachelor Party with Julia Lippman before doing this. So everybody who loves The Bachelor should check that out. And then next week, I'm going to have a piece on tight ends, sort of loosely tried, tied to Rob Gruncowski and Travis Kelsey that I'm actually super pumped about. Yes. So catch that and some other great Super Bowl stuff. Don't want to give everything away, but very much looking forward to it.

Roger, what do you got going on, buddy? I'm also writing about The Bachelor because, you know, I've got to explore new avenues. Any football? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm writing about how more people should try throwing the ball on Fourth Gown and about how if you could have 31 NFL teams host the Super Bowl, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that they were the home team, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a giant pirate ship in their stadium.

So you're going to be able to tell that it's they're putting a home game. fantastic. I cannot wait for all of those pieces of content. We'll see you guys soon. All right. D.K. The Dark Night. He's our draft guru. The draft guide is out. It's on the ringer.com. It is one of the best things we do. And the guy who is responsible for it joins us for another segment. What's going on, buddy? Not much, man. Really excited to get this up. I've been anxious to get it going. I've been kind of had it all locked locked in for the last week and a half or so. So I'm really excited to get this up. I've been anxious to get it going. I've been kind of had it all locked locked in for the last week and a half or so. I'm really excited. to have my top 32 out right now. I'm going to expand it as we go along here, 50 to 75 to 100 and mock drafts. We're going to have team needs going in at some point.

We're going to have other stuff like videos and whatnot as we as we go along this process. So yeah, I'm excited. Phenomenal. All right. So it's basically draft season for 30 teams. The senior bowl kicked that off this week. Obviously kind of a weird modified senior bowl. I am not there.

Danny is not there. You were there last year. I was there two years ago. You were there two years ago, too. Yeah, I've got twice. Remember that? We ran into each other. You didn't know I was there.

Yeah. I drove over after the Saints played in the NFC championship game. Yeah. Someone told me that you were there and I was like, what? Yeah. I drove over just for one day to just take the sea of land. All right. So you put together your five burning questions.

You're coming from your first pass through evaluation and we'll get to those. We will start with the biggest question. I think everybody has. How will the Rooker. quarterback class shake out how will the where will the top quarterbacks land you have the floor yeah so i don't know like obviously there's a lot of different things a lot of different dominoes that have to fall between now and the draft before this happens but i think you know the biggest the teams that are most closely linked to these top quarterbacks obviously the jaguars

are going to get trevor lawrence i think it's almost set in stone at this point there's a small small chance that's not going to happen but highly doubt that the jets at number two i think are a big team to look out for. And then, you know, as you go along, the Falcons, I think are a team that could take a quarterback. I had them taking Zach Wilson in my first mock draft. I had the Jets taking Justin Fields. The lions are now in the market, obviously, for a quarterback with the Matt Stafford news,

which is pretty, you know, potentially pretty earthshaking in terms of the league. So that's going to be a very interesting one. And then, you know, there's five other teams, six, seven other teams. Didn't Adam Schaefter come out and say there's like 18 teams? this off season that potentially could change quarterback. So the way that that shakes out is going to be very, very fascinating to watch. I think here's a list of the teams I think could could take a quarterback. Jets, dolphins, falcons, lions, panthers, broncos, Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Washington, Bears, Colts. And then there's probably a few other teams in there that could take a quarterback in the draft. So it's going to be draft night is going to be wild because there's just a million different very very.

variations to how this could go. We got a reader question. It was like over under 10 teams changing quarterbacks next year. And I even want to put it in there. I'm happy to ask the question, but it was like, that's low, man. Like we might just see wholesale changes at the quarterback position this year.

It's going to be fascinating to watch. Is there one sort of storyline you're looking at that maybe seems like we're not taking it seriously or a team that might draft a quarterback who, you know, I mean, I think this time last year, everybody sort of started talking about planning for the future if you have a 37, 38 year old quarterback, and we didn't necessarily see it last year, except oddly enough in Green Bay, is there a team where you're saying, okay, maybe this team doesn't feel like they're ready to draft a quarterback, but they will. Are the rate, would you put the Raiders in that group? I think the Raiders to me are,

I mean, John Gruden is ready to, John Gruden has been ready to look at new quarterbacks every year that he's ever coached at any level. I don't know. To me, yeah, they're a dark horse. I believe that Derek Carr's cap hits going forward are pretty manageable if they do end up cutting bay on him.

The other teams, I think that could be surprised quarterback pickers, I guess, is the 49ers. Could you see the Vikings doing it? I don't know actually what the exact state of Kirk Cousins' his contract is. I mean,

he signed his second deal, but they definitely could. I mean, There's a reason Kirk Cousins is on three-year deals, and he likes that flexibility. And that's something I've written about before. But I think if you're trying to transition away from that, yeah, it's totally within reason they would do that. The other one that would be earth-shaking, I think, especially if they do win the Super Bowl or the Buccaneers. But, I mean, it's like Tom Brady is 43.

You don't know how long it's going to, like how long he's going to keep going. I think he only has one year left on his deal. So that would be sort of in the same vein as the Packers picking. gig Jordan Love last year where you're just trying to alienate your your quarterback, but I don't know, like, maybe the team feels it's more important. You're not feeling the slightly different succession, Blaine Gabbert succession. So yeah, those are the teams to me that are just kind of like the dark horse potential shake things up type teams. Excellent. All right. Next question. Which veteran players will get traded for high end draft capital the next few months? Really good

question. Danny Kelly take us through it. Yeah. So obviously, you know, this is a question that has potential to completely change what we talk about about the top part of the first, first round. Obviously, if Deshawn Watson goes to the Jets or the Dolphins, it changes the entire complexion of the rest of the first round, because these are like top three picks. So those two are the top ones for me. You know, Matt Stafford, where he ends up, I think, could change a lot of things. If Sam Darnold gets traded before the draft, I think that's obviously a big deal. And then, you know, I don't think these guys are necessarily going to get traded for a first-run pick, but if they did, it could change things.

Julio Jones is getting older. The Falcons are starting to be in that situation where they need to reset, rebuild, you know, now is the time to move on from your veterans and kind of like just reset everything. Evan Ingram, Odell Beckham, JJ Y. These are just guys I jot it down as potential trade targets. Adam Thiel and Stefan Gilmore. So really, like, it's just a big, high-level. thing is how is the trade market going to affect the first round because things that we're

talking about right now could be completely thrown out the window if these big trades happen. I think some, I think a few of these will happen. I agree. Give me a marriage between a team and a high-profile veteran like this that you think is particularly intriguing. So we didn't talk about this in the earlier segment when we were, you know, talking about Matt Stafford, but I really want Stafford to go to the Broncos. I think that him going to Denver landing in that offense with those, the, the, the,

tools that they've built, the, you know, the skill position group that they've built there with Judy, Fant, KJ Hamler, who's, you know, obviously he was a rookie last year, but coming up, they have a lot of speed. They have a lot of talent on offense. I think him landing in that with the defense that they already have, you know, that's a little bit of a foundation for them. I think they could be a team that really takes it to the next level. So that's the team I'm rooting for. And that's also hugely influenced by my fantasy football, you know, like mind or whatever, because I think he could help unlock a lot of those guys, too. So I really rooting for that one.

Your third burning question, will the NFL finally start to embrace analytics in round one? So I'm curious how you define this, Danny, because it's obviously a broad question. And there are teams that have made, quote, unquote, analytics picks, and how they, how they define that is always interesting. Remember when the bills drafted E.J. Manuel, they said it was an analytics pick because E.J. Manuel had big hands. and their analytics showed

that in cold weather they needed a player like EJ. Manny. Who can grip the football, yeah. That was not, that was not a good pick. That was not a good analytics pick, okay? Yeah.

But it's funny because I think that analytics can sort of be defined however you want. When you're defining analytics and looking at what might be possible and wrong with the quote unquote analytics pick, you go where? Yeah, so obviously,

there's no yes and no answer to this question. Will the NFL adopt analytics? because obviously NFL teams already are. But the big things that stick out to me are teams are still taking running backs in the first round. We've seen how we've seen running backs have shorter careers. You know, they wear down more quickly. Do you really want to be taking a guy like that in the first round?

He's not really probably going to be around for a second contract or if he is, you're probably overpaying for him. So like that value there is questionable, especially in the early part of the first round. So will that happen? Is a guy like Najee Harris going to be taken in the first 15 picks? I doubt it, but you never really know with these teams. The other thing I think that's a big question is, will teams be trading back more?

Because I think, you know, when you look at the, when you look at the draft, it's always a crapshoot for anybody, any team, you know. And like boosting your odds by just making more picks is a really smart way that a lot of teams have kind of just said, you know, we're going to volume draft because we know that we're not the smartest guy. We know we're not necessarily way smarter than everybody else. Like these are human beings.

You can't see the future. You don't know how they're going to develop, all that stuff. We're just going to try and increase our odds by taking more players and hoping that a few of those guys will hit and be the foundations of our team. And I think a lot of teams have had success with that. So will we see more tradebacks? And conversely, will we see fewer trade ups, especially for non-quarterbacks?

Because I think the analytical, model would say that trading up is never really the smartest thing, especially not for a non-quarterback, because it's the opposite of what I just said. You're lessening your odds and hoping that you're putting all your ducks, you're putting all your eggs in one basket, essentially. It's saying we have 100% faith this guy is going to work out for us. And if he doesn't, we're screwed. We're losing our jobs. So I guess, you know, are we going to see fewer tradeups for non-quarterbacks? We've seen it happen a few times here and there. People trade up for,

teams trade up for a defensive end. The Saints did a couple of years back. And, you know, I'll be curious to see if that happens. But overall, you know, just will teams be following the general rules of, you know, being the most efficient in the first round?

And that means, you know, don't take off all linebackers in the top 10. Don't take safeties in, you know, the first round or the top 20 picks or whatever. Like, will they follow positional value as I think a lot of people,

maybe it's just people on Twitter or whatever, but as people have laid out, I think as we've seen over the years, like these are more efficient ways to draft. So your fourth-burning question, I found fascinating because it's how well opt-outs and a lack of combine all for the draft. I talked to a couple people of this season,

Kevin Colbert, the Steelers, Gem being one of them who said at the beginning of the season, if you play, that's the tiebreaker over if you didn't play. And mostly what you meant in that situation was the Big Ten needs to play for them for all their players to have, you know, more tape and a fair shake and all that stuff. Same with the Pac-12, who at the time we talked, both of those conferences were not playing. Obviously, that changed as the fall went on.

And then there were the high-profile opt-outs. You know, I look at a team like the University of Miami Hurricanes where Greg Russoe opts out, and then that means that Jalen Phillips gets to be the star pass-rrrrrrrisher. And you think about how that changed. Would Jalen Phillips have gotten the credit if he was on the other side of Greg Rousseau? I mean, there's just so many different questions. Yeah. That changed so much about just that front seven in general.

Okay, so big picture the opt-outs change what? I think the combination of the opt-outs and the common, combined with the lack of a combine this year, a real combine, there's going to be these pro-day circuit and all that. But the big thing that I think is going to be apparent is more, I think there's going to be more like quote-unquote wild picks from teams, like teams picking a guy that,

no one thought was going to be a first rounder. You know what I mean? And that doesn't mean it's a bad pick. I just think it's going to be, there's going to be more wild narrative swings and really interesting storylines in this first round than maybe ever before just because the lack of group think and the lack of a consensus might actually be a big factor as we go into this draft.

Because I do think, you know, teams obviously follow their boards. They're doing their own grades. But I think there is an element of like teams are looking at the bus. on players and being like, okay, well, we got to grab this guy in the first round because he's never going to make it to us in the second round, blah, blah, blah. So it affects the market. It affects, it's like this GameStop thing. Actually, it's not at all.

I don't really know how the game stop works. But it does affect the markets. Like the buzz on players, the group think on players is a little bit of a manipulating factor. And so if that is not a real thing, or at least it's less in this off season or this draft season, I think it's going to be interesting to see kind of, you know, know, where you have this someone that everyone thought was going to be a third round or goes in the first round or vice versa. And so I think that, you know, from a media point of view, that's going to be very interesting.

I'm just trying to see how many different things over the course of this podcast we can compare to the GameStop thing. Because I think we're four or five right now. I forced that one a little a time much from this podcast. No, no, that was true. There is manipulation in the in the draft market. I will say, you know, Daniel Jeremiah was in this podcast a couple of weeks ago. And he said, with the limited knowledge with some players, whether that's Trey Lance or whomever, this is the first baseball draft and football. And I love that phrasing of it, where it's just, you know what, we think this guy can do this. We don't have eight games of tape on it.

We're just going to see what happens. And I think that that's, you know, even you think about a guy, if somebody was injured and missed a month this year, that's a huge chunk of the season relative to other seasons. And so I think that there's just a lot of unknowable questions right now about how it affects I think it will be more or less the same, but I do think that you're going to see teams who prioritize different things. You know, I remember earlier this season, the Steelers being one of these teams and the Vikings did it as well.

They altered their draft approach. So the Vikings took more seventh round draft picks and six-nine draft picks because they wanted to not go into college for agency because they thought it would be such a crapshoot this year with, you know, no rookie mini-camps and all that stuff. And the Steelers said the opposite thing, which is they signed a bunch of XFL guys because they said, we know what that looks like. And we've seen them play professional football. So we're going to do that instead of waiting into college for agencies.

So you just wonder if there's just going to be different strategies that you see and two days after the draft we find out about it. I guarantee you teams are thinking about it in a different way. All right. Last burning question from Danny Kelly, which teams are a good draft away from taking a leap? Yeah. So this is essentially, this is similar to what we were talking about last year with, or last segment with the Super Bowl windows is, you know, which team could really go in and completely change the trajectory of their franchise with a really good draft. I think obviously having a ton of draft capital is going to be the key here.

And the Jaguars are the first team that come to mind just because they have the first pick. But the Dolphins are another team. They have two first round picks. The Jags also have two first round picks. So, you know, those two teams really have just a lot more in their arsenal than most other teams. And then, you know, I guess the Bengals are another one that come to mind because if they do what a lot of people are thinking they're going to do, which is take Penny Sewell with the left tackle from Oregon and get their offensive line figured out, that could have, you know, really like a domino effect with their offense, like give Burrow a little bit more time.

That could really open up their deep passing game, which was a huge problem. for them as a rookie. You know, Burrow was good. He was impressive, but his deep passing was atrocious. And so they really need to unlock that part of his game. And I know that he has it. He was really good at LSU. That was a huge part of their offense was just taking shots.

They had a lot of good receivers. I think, you know, just like those little marginal improvements on the offensive line could pay dividends for this Bengals team. So that's those are the three teams kind of that come to mind first. But I think, you know, it's one of those things where, like I was saying, you're going to have less group think. You're going to have, I think this draft, we won't know this for a few years, but I think this draft is going to produce more like late round gems because there's guys like

Burrow last year. Burrow last year took this huge leap as, you know, in his last season at LSU and all of a sudden became the top pick. But whoever, how many ever guys didn't have that opportunity to do that, do that this year and are really good. and I just need to be able to prove it. I think that's going to be very interesting. So I think there's going to be a lot of quote-unquote gems that emerge from this draft

and could change the trajectories of their teams. And so I'm really looking forward to seeing kind of like who those guys are and how it can affect the NFL in 2021. NFLDraft.Theringer.com. It is, again, one of the best things we do. Danny Kelly, what else can we expect from you the next couple days and weeks? well you can check out the ringer fantasy football show we are still doing two two shows a week until the end of the Super Bowl and then we switch over to one show a week but

yeah we got that and for now that's the other thing I got some well it's not you know we can talk about this so next week we've got some notable people coming on the ringer NFL show current players and Danny Kelly will be helping out especially if the if those players haven't been drafted yet maybe they maybe DK and I tag team in an interviewer too. So we'll see what happens. But it'll be really fascinating. Check out the draft guide going forward.

Again, NFL. org, the ringer.com. Danny Kelly, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the NFL show. We're going to leave you with a segment from the R2C2 podcast. It's a great podcast that sees him about

the Ryan Ruko do. Leonard Fournette joined the show. He touched on playing against Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady, his teammates, competitiveness. Here's a listen. How about going up against Patrick Mahomes, Leonard.

Yeah, I played against Pat. I played against Pat. We actually played each other in college, too. And Texas, I guess, is like some type of boy in Texas. You know what I mean? Just seeing where he's come from and the play he's turned out to be, he always had it. You know what I mean?

But now it's like, he's going to be one of the greats. And I can't wait to see him out there. Do you think knowing Tom the way that, you know, you've gotten to know him this year. Like, is there any part of him that you think is motivated to remind Patrick Mahomes, who's that next dude, that, hey, like, I'm still Tom Brady. I'm the goat. You may get there, but you're not there yet.

This is still, I'm still doing this. Yeah, he's definitely a competitor. You know, just know that it's in him. I don't care what he is. He's going to compete. And my biggest thing, you know, when I, sometimes I bad practice, you know, I'm one of I'm just looking at him. And I was like, well, damn, how can somebody like,

all you always on the internet people always say they hate Tom Brady, but how can you hate somebody you don't know? Like, I don't understand that. You know, I'm getting wrong, like, when he beat us, you know, I'm like, you know what, fuck time. You cheated. You cheated. I'm like, you cheated.

I'm like, you cheated. I was saying all the type of shit. Like, he cheated, whatever. But when you're on a team with him and you see the work he puts in, you see he wakes up. We have meetings at 745. He's up at 5.30 every morning.

You see why he does the things he does, the accomplishments he has, the championship he has. And his resume is good how it is because he puts him to work. Nobody knows that. So instead of you hating on somebody, like you saying you hate, like hate is a strong word. You might can learn something from that guy. And I've been learning, I'm watching them.

I've learned a lot from him. You know what I mean? Throughout my time here and tamper. with him. You know what I mean? And understand his work ethic. You know, as soon as we get on the bus, he's watching film. Listen, I might be

dead in the sleep. Here come tabby. Like, Lina, you made a bad cut. I'm like, I'm like, what? He's like, you made a bad cut. I'm like, bad. I'm like, I'm going to shop, I'm going to fix it. I'm going to fix it. You know what I mean? So that's the type of guy you need around you. I ain't going to say

need, you will want around you. Because his, I'm not, man, his, everything he has, it just rubs off on you. You know, you want to be that great. You want to have those ethics he has. He's like, to me, you know, some people compare him like LeBron or whatever. He's like, he's the, he's the Colby of football to me. I'm not going to lie to you. That's just what it is.

And he competes, man. And I don't know what I'd say by that guy. You know what's crazy, Rooka? I ain't ever met Tom Brady a day in my life. But I guarantee you. I guarantee you he wants to kick fucking Mahomes' ass on coming two weeks ago. He want to let everybody, he want to, he want to, we all know that he's the goat. You know what I'm saying?

But he want to make sure Patrick the Holmes know that he's the fucking goat, bro. And like, I mean, everything he just said, I mean, you know, him being the first one up, you know, studying film, like, that's what I imagine him to be. Like, I mean, it's hard for me, I mean, it's hard for me to root against that guy. I can never root against that guy just because when he came into the league, you know, he wasn't the highly touted. He sat behind Drew Hinton at Michigan. Like, he sat behind Drew Bledsoe. You know what I'm saying?

Like, and when he got his opportunity, he handed the ball off and let the defense play. But then he turned into this great, you know, the greatest quarterback of all time because of work ethic. So you can't hate on that guy. I mean, that dude is unbelievable. It's just fun to sit back and watch him do his thing. And hopefully y'all get that W in two weeks so he can, just let my homes know one more time.

I love Pat Mahomes too, but I'm a huge Tom Brady fan, because I appreciate that. Appreciate that. You know what? Let's also say this. His TB12 vanilla protein powder is outstanding. I mean, it is. It is fantastic.

Leonard, I want you to. You might be the only one trying that shit, Ruth? No, no. I've never had it. No, Leonard, I want you to, you tell Tom tomorrow, So please tell him the R2C2 podcast thanks him for his wonderful protein powder. Every morning I have the TB12 protein powder. It is the best protein powder I've ever had in my life.

Fantastic. I will let Tommy Boy know early in the morning.