The Ringer NFL Show - Takeaways from Championship Weekend and QB Carousel

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

Cole and Ryan are joined by The Ringer’s Kaelen Jones to recap Championship Weekend and briefly look ahead to the Super Bowl (2:25). Then they play matchmaker between quarterbacks who could be on the move and teams looking for a quarterback this offseason (26:25). Hosts: Cole Wright and Ryan Shazier Guest: Kaelen Jones  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, what's up, guys? Cole Wright, alongside my guys, Ryan Chazier, and our special guest, Kaelin Jones. And we're reacting to the championship round. We're also going to take a peek at Super Bowl Sunday. And we'll start the discussion on the upcoming quarterback carousel of 2021. All that and more. Coming up next right here on this Tuesday edition of the Ringer NFL show. Well, you can set your clocks by us. The time has arrived once again. It is time for this Tuesday edition of the Ringer NFL show. I'm Cole Wright, running point guard right here. along with my partners in crime.

It's former Pittsburgh Steeler, Ryan Shazir, and staff writer at The Ringer. It's Kaelin Jones. And guys, you can always listen on Spotify and check out all the other Ringer NFL show podcast, and you can do so five times a week. And coming up next on the Ringer NFL show feed, we're going to have Warren Sharp and Chris Vernon.

They're going to give their reviews of championship weekend, and that's coming your way on Wednesday. But in the meantime, fellas, I mean, they say it's the best day in all of football. championship Sunday. And I tell you what, well, both of those games, they delighted from start to finish,

Ryan. It just really depends on who you're a fan of. Who am I a fan of? No, it just depends on, I said both, all games were good from start to finish. But if you're a Green Bay Packers fan, not good from start to finish.

And if you're a Buffalo Bills fan, I bet you're wishing you could have 60 minutes back. Yeah, if you can have 60 minutes back, you're still going to lose that damn game. It doesn't really better. No, but the cheese, the cheese are who we thought they were. They're 14, 15, 15,

and one, 14 and 1, like, they, they lost to a division foe, and they had a bad game in that game. I don't really see the Bugs beating them in. And it was a great, it was, it was great football in the AOC Championship. It just, the bills weren't good enough, you know. They have too much firepower over there. And I really feel like Patrick Mahomes right now with this core group he has around him is unstoppable.

He has too much speed, too much talent around him, you know, when somebody, the thing is that what I love about Andy Reid is he's seeing a guy on his team. that is a playmaker for his team. He had his head down, and he was like, hey, we're paying you back in here and we're going to let you make some plays. Right back, he gave the man the ball, go for like 50, come out here and score a touchdown,

you know, then give him the ball again, he just built his confidence up. A lot of teams, they don't have the ability to do that. You know, a lot of teams are like, hey, you fuck up. Hey, we're not getting you the ball to me. We need to get the ball to Stefan Diggs. You know what I'm saying? Like, they start giving the ball to hard men

a bunch of times before Tyree Kiel even touched the ball. You know what I'm saying? So it's just, I feel like they have this too much talent, too much, too much chemistry, just too much over there for Patrick Mahomes to work with. And then with the Bucs game, I'm not going to lie. When the Bucks were up 28 to 10, I think it was, man, I had called my friend. I'm like, hey, man, hit your bookie up, pay the 1,000 on the Packers because they about to come back money line.

supposed to win. I was about to win $5,000, right? Then he said the guy didn't never respondent. So I was like, he must have knew something because I'm happy as hell. I made that goddamn bit. It looked like for a second, though, that Green Bay, it looks like they had some last-minute life and they were making that final push. But, Kailen, you know, when it all boiled down, I mean, Aaron Rogers and Rex Grossman, they both had the same amount of NFC championships to their credit, man. Dang, that's brutal. you get drawn Aaron Rogers in the same bucket of Rex Grossman. I mean, you're not wrong.

You're not wrong. And it sucks for, you know, as far as like Aaron Rogers' legacy, that stinks. Drew Breeze, too, though. So we can put Drew Breeze in that same boat. They're all paddling the same direction. That's true, man. Like it's weird because, you know, like Ryan was saying, like it felt like that comeback was going to happen when they got the 2817, I thought they had a shot.

And then, you know, when they pulled within what could have been three points had, you know, Equamini, Equamania St. you know, caught the two point conversion, I really thought the Packers had a legitimate shot. And then I think it really, you know, it came down though, you know, the Bucks just having more talent, you know, at the end of the day.

I think defensively what they were able to do in terms of, you know, shutting down, you know, Green Bay's receivers, you know, everyone has been yelling, you know, to the sky about how the Packers don't have enough talent around Aaron Rogers. You know, they were able to shut down Devante Adams. I mean, he had a solid game,

but it's like, what Tampa, Bay's defense was able to do in terms to generating pressure and getting after Rogers, it just made all the difference in that game. And, you know, unfortunately for Green Bay, you know, they get to this point, yet again, what, for the fifth time in the past 10 years, and for the fourth time, they've come up short. Yeah. And Ryan, you know, I even though, you know, I was on Fanduil over the weekend.

I said, it hurts me to do this, but I'm going to pick the Green Bay Packers over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And I should slap my own face for picking against Tom Brady. Like I said, even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew that that could have been problematic from the very jump. But I mean, you look what Tampa Bay was able to do. And we know Tom Brady's the greatest of all time. That discussion has left the station a long time ago. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to win.

They did it with defense. Not only was Devin White out there at the business end of a hammer. You know, one guy that we talked about last week that was going to be a big difference maker. It's a Dominican Sioux. I mean, every time that you needed him to make a play, guess what? He was right there. He was that stopper. Yeah, no, their team is talented.

And I was telling them to show this, and that's my wife, I was telling her this when we were watching the game. And I was like, man, it's just, the Bucks, they just have so much talent on that team. They're just talent, it's talent everywhere on that team. And she was like, how are the Packers even favorite if, you know, the Bucs have more talent than them? I'm just as Aaron Rogers and the way their offense was pumping this year.

But I just felt like the Bucs right now, they're averaging, but they said, like 35 points in the seven-game win-win. street right now. Come on. When you're pumping out points like that, when you're really scoring at will, man, it's hard to stop. And then when you give him Tom Brady the ball last, come on, man, you got to trust your quarterback.

You got to treasure quarterback, fourth and goal. I really thought he could have ran on that third and goal. I know it was kind of questionable. I feel like Eric could have ran. You know, if that was, you know, Mahomes, he would have read. You know what I'm saying? Obviously, he's not as fast as in Mahomes. But I feel like in that situation, sometimes you got to, you got to, you got a

figure it out, man. And, you know, Aaron Rodgers, he's wanting the goats, man, but they, to beat the goat, you got to beat the goat, you know, and I just felt like he, I feel like the coach didn't give him the opportunity to do that, but he also, his teammates didn't either, man, they're dropping passes and, man, it's, it's too, this game is too close for you to be messing, messing up opportunities, especially in this big of a moment. Yeah, it's funny. You say that to be the goat, you have to beat the goat, and that's, exactly what this Super Bowl is going to see. It's going to see the young goat and Patrick Mahomes up against the main goat in the yard. Of course, that's Tom Brady. But when you look at what

these guys both bring to the table, Patrick Mahomes, it seems like, you know, he can make a play at any point on the field, you know, the arm slots he can throw from. It's unbelievable. Then there's Tom Brady. And, you know, Kaelan, it just seems as if, you know, Tom Brady gets every single bounce. He threw three interceptions, which, you know, most quarterbacks, you throw three picks in a championship game, you're going to lose. But Tom Brady, not only does he throw those picks at the right time, but it seems like every time they need a big play from him, whether he has to jamming in a tight window into double

triple coverage, whether that pass needs to be low and threaded, Tom Brady's just already, always ready to make it happen. It's funny because when I used to play golf with Terrell Davis, another Super Bowl champion, I'd always call him lucky and say, T.D., may you just saw him. lucky. And he would say, you know, it's funny because the more I practice, the luckier I get. And Tom Brady, whether or not he's looking lucky, he's got a lot of practice when it comes to winning these games 14 times and now his 10th Super Bowl. Yeah, no, luck definitely plays a part of it. I mean, if you want to be, you know, go trace

it all the way back to the start of Brady's career, you go back to that AFC, the vigil round game against the Raiders, the tuck rule game. I mean, how lucky is that? Then they change the rule right after that. I mean, it's, it's been so fortuitous when you taught, when you look at what Tom Brady's career has been and the types of bounces that he's gotten. But, you know, I think the saying goes that, you know, you have to create your own luck at times and put yourself in position to be that lucky and then capitalize on top of that. And I think that's what Brady has done a lot of his career and taking advantage where, you know, where other players and where other teams have failed to. You know, a part of it, you know, is, you know, kind of

the belief that he instills in players. He's not. the most talented quarterback. Back in 2017, I believe he told ESPN and Dean Connor that, you know, he really understands that he's not even more talented in Aaron Rogers. If Aaron Rogers had played in his system with, you know, the New England Patriots over the course of his career, he'd have, you know, broken all the records that Tom Brady did. But, I mean, you look at what kind of, like, mystique that he kind of carries, you know, the presence that he has in terms of, you know, helping give this temporary Buccaneers team that belief that they can

accomplish anything. You know, Devin White was supposed to by Peter King is saying, you know, with Tom Brady, all things are possible. Cole and Ryan, I don't know if y'all are religious, but, you know, typically that is a quote that says, with God, all things are possible. So that's the type of magnitude. That's the type of belief that he is instilled. Bruce Ariens even said it after, you know, the NFC championship game, you know, speaking to what kind of presence Tom Brady has for that franchise. So, I mean, lucky greatness, whatever you want to attribute it to, Tom Brady always finds a way to get it done. and like you Cole, I wish I'd stuck my guns.

You know, in the preseason I picked the Buccaneers to make the Super Bowl. I didn't when, you know, we had our predictions last week. And I'm feeling really regretful for it because I'm not surprised. You know, Ryan, as you remember, I think week, week one, somebody on this show said Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. I don't know who it was. I don't know who it was, but somebody said that. Now, when you guys used to prepare for Tom Brady,

and you hear Tom Brady say, oh, Aaron Rogers, he's more talented. Is that just Tom Brady being modest? He walks away from that interview and gets in the passenger seat as Giselle drives away and says, I just told that guy that I think that Aaron Rogers is better than me. And they just laugh and have an ice cream about it because we know we've seen Tom sitting in the passenger seat with a cone of ice cream a time or two. You know, first of all, I know we're talking about football, but, Kaila, you have to tell me what for two of this mean.

I'm sorry. It just means lucky. It means super lucky. I'm sorry, I'd never use that word in school, so I just kind of threw me off with that way. You kind of threw me off with that one. No, but, no, the thing is, Tom is telling the truth.

It's a lot of dudes in the NFL that are more talented. Like, think about it, all the receivers in the NFL right now that are balling. Martavius Bryant is probably one of the most talented dudes to come through the NFL in a while. But when it comes to just production, he didn't have it. But the thing is, Tom Brady, he understands.

It's not about just talent. It's about production and what you can put on the field and your mindset and how you think and how you make other people think how you can play. And I feel that that's why so many people have belief in him and he's proven that it doesn't matter how talented I am and I don't have to have the biggest arm. All I got to do is always put it in the right place at the right time.

And that's when it's a game. All I got to do is get us in the right play at the right time. I don't have to be the perfect football player. I don't need to be a, God. I just need to let guys know that I'm going to make sure that we're in the right play at the right time to give us the best chance of success. And I think that's what Tom Brady is doing. So he might laugh at him and Giselle, you know, they're understanding that, hey, I'm the best of all time, but I'm not the best of all time because I'm the most talented. I'm

the best of all time because I'm the most prepared and I'm the most focused and I'm the most understanding of the game of football. And I think that's why he's the best. You know, patch of my homes is the baby goat, because I'm the most focused. I'm the most focused. because he's the most talented, and he can just, he just makes stuff happen. You know what I'm saying? And today when Patrick Mahomes is 43,

you can't just make stuff happen anymore. You actually got to X's and O's, put the ball in the right place, and actually think about, obviously Patrick Mahomes does it right now, but think about, hey, what's the best play for this team, not, hey, let me just sling it

because I can't, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. And what do they say? Luck favors the well-prepared, and we've seen it across all sports, whether it's a guy like Mike Trouton, baseball, or, you know, it's on 365 days ago, we lost one of the greats, Kobe Bryant. And they say when it came to preparation, nobody prepared like Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant, of course, taking a page from Michael Jordan's book and Tom Brady. As we know, nobody outworks him.

Nobody prepares better than Tom Brady. And we've seen the results in all his success. Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's incredible to think that, you know, 10 times Tom Brady has made the Super Bowl in 19. seasons of a full-time start. What do they say? The number, I saw someone tweeted out, Tom Brady's more likely to make a Super Bowl

than Steph Curry is to hit a three. That is wild. Did Michael Jordan to hit a jumper? Like that's crazy. Unbelievable. That's wild. I think it's like 49% and Steph is like 47 or 43%. That's crazy.

That's absolutely insane. Football, like that is absurd, especially football. Yeah. And Ryan, you know, when it comes to that preparation. I mean, when you were going up against a guy like Tom Brady, what was the preparation like? What was the conversation like in the locker room? Because we just talked about it a second ago, we know that Tom Brady is probably going to get every single bounce. So, I mean,

you can't let up for a second. You definitely can't let up for a second. But the thing is, with Tom Brady is you know what he brings to the table. So you just have to always try to, it's like you're playing a game against yourself, because you're always thinking that he's thinking a step ahead. So now you have to try to think a step ahead also, but sometimes everybody on the field can't be thinking a step ahead because then that's when other guys mess up. And then the thing is, with Tom Brady, he just banks on other people messing up. I remember we played this team of high school, and you guys probably heard of them before, and they're called St. Thomas acquaintance. And the thing is about St. Thomas, they always have the best players. They always do.

That's Michael Irvin's High School, wasn't it? Yeah, that's Michael Evans High School. And LaMarcus joining with there and a bunch of other players. Yep. And the thing is, they always have the best players, but they don't beat you off as just strictly talent. They beat you off or they know you're going to make a mistake. And when you make a mistake, I'm

taking advantage of it. And that's exactly what Tom Brady does. He's like, I'm just going to play football. I'm going to play football. You think I'm going to put us in the right play. And then once you screw up, I'm finding it touchdown. I'm finding it, first down. Or I have a mismatch, and I'm just going to take advantage.

you have a 5-9 guy, Gordon Granc, or you have a 5-9 guy, Grasd and Chris Godwin, I'm going to just throw it up. You know, it's like, I'm just going to, he's always thinking about what's the best odds to win, you know, and you always, like, when you're playing, you're trying to think of that too, but somebody else is going to make a mistake.

And when that person makes the mistake, that's when he capitalize. Absolutely. And his capitalization, especially in Super Bowls, I mean, it's second to none. And so, Kaelin, I have to ask you, is this a no-brainer? Is this a Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Is this a Super Bowl W for them?

Do they have this one? Or is this, as we see Ryan over there, doing that Kansas City chop? Is this Patrick Mahomes? Is this going to be the game where we see the changing of the guard where Tom Brady passes the torch to Patrick Mahomes and says, all right, now, young blood. Now it's your turn to make a run. I'm picking the Chiefs until I see something different. Like it's going to take a lot for me to really get off that pick because we saw earlier this year when those two teams met.

It didn't matter that honestly that. Different bucks team though. Different bucks team. I know. I know it's a different bucks team. But the same guy is guarding Tyree Hill. Exactly. That's the thing.

Like I think Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy or Murphy Bunting, they're very talented defensive backs. But what Tyreek Hill is able to do, what Travis Kelsey is able to do in terms of, you know, stretching your defense. I just think it's too much stress for what Tampa Bay is able to do. Though I'm curious to see what Shackbeard and JPP are able to do, you know, with Kansas City's office line being a little bit depleted. Hey, celebrate the 55th edition of the big game with exclusive 55 to 1 odds on Fandul Sportsbook. And if you've never tried Fandil before, new users can bet on either team to get 55 to one odds when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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But, you know, before we get to that, that's going to be next week. We have to reflect on Aaron Rogers. And like I said, at the top of the show, Aaron Rogers, and Rex Grossman, they both had the same amount of NFC championships to their credit, Ryan. I mean, he sounded so, so morose, so somber in his postgame press conference, you know, he was talking in hush tones. He had his stocking cap on. He had the bandana on, his mask, his makeshift mask, looked like he was going to go rob a train somewhere,

and he just looked like he was a little down in the mouth. And when your record goes to that in NFC championship games is completely understandable, but do you think this was a little bit of song and dance? We've seen your boy, Ben Rothensberger, do it before after a tough loss. Like, I don't know if I'm going to come back and this could be it for me. And, I mean, at the end of the day, when these guys are their gamers, all they want to do is go out there and play football. And you know that Aaron Rogers, he can't go out like this.

Man, I think Aaron don't want to be there, man. I don't think Aaron was like, man, I gave you everything I had. First of all, you guys didn't believe me in the beginning of the year. Yeah. Then I gave you everything I had. And with everything I had, I'm not. not the reason we lost. So I think he's just basically like, man,

I'm about to try to figure something else out, man. He's like, y'all put too much pressure on me. First of all, I'm in Green Bay. Nobody wants to come here. It's hard to get a good free agent. Then it's like, I have Devante Adams. He's a dog, but like, I'm going against full decks. Like my hand is compared to everybody else.

I have a shitty hand compared to everybody else. Like, look at Patrick Mahomes. All right, he has Tyree Kiel. If Tyree Kiel is not feeling well, he has Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey's not feeling well. Then he has Sammy Walkers, who's not playing. Yeah. Then if he's not feeling well, then he has McColl Harmon.

Then he has McColl Hardman. And then they have four running backs. Yeah. And the one who almost won MVP at the Super Bowl last year is not even playing. Yep. You know what I'm saying? So then now you go to Tampa. You have who used to be the greatest receiver of all time.

this era on your team. He's not playing right now. Then you have Mike Evans. He has a thousand yards every single year but this year. Then you have Chris Godwin. He's the number one somewhere else. And then you have Gromk. Cambrate.

And then you have their best tight end. It's not even playing. O.J. Howard. And then you have four runnerbacks too. And one of was the best runner back like eight years ago. He doesn't even touch the field. You know, So all I'm saying is, like, I feel like he looking at everybody else team and then seeing

it's not even, like, what I'm working with is not even fair compared to what these guys have. And I, if I want to win a Super Bowl, I need something like that. And so I don't think he wants to be there. Kaelan, do you think that's the same thing that is going through Aaron Rogershead right now? Do you think that that's where he's at? Like, man, I see all these other guys who are less talented than me and they're able to do more than I'm able to do just because.

of what's around them. And that's tough. It's, it's, it's like knowing that you're, you're the smartest kid in the class, but you've only been given one book and all these other kids have access to the internet and Google and an endless library. And Aaron Rogers right now, he's just sitting here. I've got one book. That's all I can do with that. Yeah. No, that's a good comparison. And I mean, yeah, he's got to be frustrated, right? You know, especially because the last draft, it's so funny because the Packers and, you know, rest of piece of Ted Thompson, you know, like they're, they've done so well, you know, throughout Thompson's tenure and over the past few years of drafting talent that's immediately

able to contribute. And this past draft class was a complete dud, even if you like took away, you know, Jordan Love. I mean, we'll see whatever he ends up being. But the rest of that draft class was completely empty. They didn't really do enough in free agency to really help. I mean, I'd be frustrated too. Like Ryan was just mentioning, Tampa Bay is loaded, Kansas City's loaded. Even Buffalo, Josh Allen is loaded. They got Stefan Diggs, Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis. You know, there's literally five receivers there and they added Kenny Stills in the middle of the year. You know, Green Bay should have probably gone after Will Fuller. And I don't think that's like the greatest fix that they could have had. They were depleted again on their

off the line. They just weren't a good enough team. Yeah. And, you know, with that said, you know, there could be some pieces of that Green Bay puzzle that are on the move that they go elsewhere. where I know Green Bay fans don't want to hear this, but Aaron Rogers, you know, his fate right now, you know, it could be on the chopping block. Like he said, he doesn't know, but I know the brass in Green Bay, like Caitlin, you and I and Ryan spoke about earlier,

they said they'd be dumb not to bring Aaron Rogers back. You know, when you look at some of the guys that could be somewhere else next season, I mean, Deshawn Watson, obviously, he's the one guy that's right now that is the center of attention down there in Houston. But then there's Matthew Stafford. I mean, for Matt Stafford to say,

you know, Detroit, right night. I don't know about this. I think that somewhere else would be a better fit. I mean, it's crazy to know that the NFC North could look a whole lot different next season. I mean, and who knows what's going to go on in Minnesota because it could be a carousel from front to back, Kail. Yeah, and that's the thing. Like the NFC North could look different at quarterback. I mean, obviously with Stappar being gone, that's going to be definitely strange. But, I mean, really, when you look at the landscape over the course of the NFL, I mean, it's, certainly going to be interesting going into the offseason because, I mean, realistically,

there's about like at least seven or eight quarterbacks, if not more, who are going to be on the move. And I think it's going to completely change the landscape of the NFL moving forward, at least competitive landscape. And, you know, the NFL doesn't get too many opportunities to compete with the NBA in terms of free agency and trade market and stuff like that because it's just, I think there's less player mobility and less players in control of like what, they're able to do as far as movement. But this offseason is going to, you know, determine a lot moving forward for teams. Because like you mentioned, like the NFC North is going to see turnover.

I mean, the AFC East, when you look at, you know, Cam Newton, like whether or not he's going to return to New England, which is probably not. Ryan Fitzpatrick and two attack of Bailoa, what Miami's doing over there with their quarterback situation. There's just so many different quarterback situations that are uncertain heading into the off season. It's pretty exciting. Yeah, Ryan, Cam Newton.

It wasn't a success this year in New England. Could he regain that form somewhere else, maybe with a different system, maybe where he's more of the centerpiece? I mean, I'm sitting here looking for answers. I saw someone the other day just tweeted out, you know, when the Carolina Panthers were in the NFC championship game, and that team and that Cam Newton that he was so good with that squad around him. But, you know, Father Time, he's undefeated, as we know.

Me personally, I love to see a black man succeed, but I think it might be time for Cam to chalk it up. He's out of there, huh? Oh, wow. No, he's going to go to another team, but I just don't see him as a starter anywhere. Me personally, I don't feel like Cam Newton is better than half the quarterbacks we have on a list.

I don't think Cam Newton is better than James personally. Wow. Okay. Well, both of those guys are free agents coming up. James Winston, Cam Newton, Mitch Trubiskey, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dak Prescott, who more than likely will see a franchise tag coming from those Dallas Cowboys and he'll be compensated very handsomely. But when you look at some of those other guys, you know, you think Cam maybe should hang it up. But James Winston, we saw him come in, you know, was a little bit of a gadget play for the Saints. But he went out there and, you know, he threw a strike and did what he needed to do. Do you see him potentially leaving New Orleans? going somewhere else and maybe getting a few Ws under his belt, right? I can see him going to go out somewhere else, but this is how I think is going to happen for James. I feel like James would go to a team that needs a quarterback. That's not good.

That's not good. But they don't have a good draft fit. It's kind of hard to tell, but I think James is going to go somewhere that kind of like up in the air. They're not a good of a team, but he'll get an opportunity. But I still don't see him as a starter. I feel like all the guys that are free agents right now, I don't really see them in starters. Mr. Biskey is the one that's up in the air, but the rest of them are like, I don't really see

them as starters. If Mr. Bisckey say for whatever reason, we're to go somewhere else, Kaelin, would he be good enough to start on another team? Because, I mean, we saw him, you know, week three benched for Nick Foles. And, you know, eventually he got his job back, but he didn't get his job back by him being super impressive. He got his job back because Nick Foles is really not that great at playing quarterback in the National Football League, at least this year.

As a starter. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no. Mitch Trubisky, he's not a starting caliber and a full quarterback, unfortunately for him. I don't know if there's really a spot. I'm trying to think off the top of my head. Really, it's just Chicago.

That's the only opening that I could see where I'm like, okay, well, you could probably slide in and compete with Nick Bowles. That's what you have to say to me, Kaelin. That's what you have. It only plays Chicago. I'm sitting here right now in Chicago. It's dumping down snow on me, and that's how you have to pile on. That's what you all get James.

Y'all might get James. I mean, I wouldn't hate that idea. You know, James, he got the LASIC. I think those 30 interceptions, the 30 for 30 season, I think that's all behind him. You know, if he could be put in the right scheme, then maybe things could work. But I just don't know if Matt Nagy has the right scheme right now.

That's the problem. I can see someone like Cam Newton sliding in there. It just depends. I think Chicago's got a really fascinating quarterback situation because you got a small window right now because of that defense. You got a small window because of that defense. And assuming Alan Robinson is gone, you know, that it's even worse. So you're going to have Cam Newton winning, no more weapons again?

Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, how about this one, Ryan? If Cam Newton were to go to the Chicago Bears, you know, in a perfect world, would that really be a perfect world? Because it really seems as if any time the Bears get a quarterback who's worth his salt, it's always at the end of his career. Like, hey, look what this guy did in the past.

Because when he's coming here, he's not going to do any of that. We won't see any of that production we've seen in the past. I feel if Cam gets somebody that he can trust a receiver, it can help. But I just can't, like, I feel like when Cam was throwing a deep ball this whole season, it seemed like it was a struggle. Yeah, his arm strength. So I feel like it was a struggle. And then, like, if you're a receiver, you're Allen Robinson.

And they're like, hey, we got a new quarterback. It's Cam Newton. Are you staying? I don't know. Maybe I have a few of those offsets. season throwing sessions with them. And I see what he's working with as opposed to, you know, what his, his film has showed me. But, but like film doesn't lie, though, like, like they say. And from what we've seen from Cam Newton, Riley, even his last season and a half in Carolina,

I felt like every time he was trying to get that ball down field and Kaelan, I don't know if you felt the same way, but Cam Newton, I felt like he was just gritting his teeth. And there was, there was nothing easy about his throwing motion. And that's a problem, all the guys that, I mean, Patrick Mahomes, everything he does looks effortless, you know, 100% of the time. He eats his green beans 100% of the time and he 100% does not like them, Kaelan. Yeah, no, it can't, Cam's been, you know, his body's been through a lot. I think that's the thing. Like he's physically, you can see the deterioration.

And I don't think that it helped. Obviously, it did not help at all that he contracted COVID like that. Once he came back, he did not look like the same player because through the first three weeks, you know, he wasn't, I mean, he was, his stats weren't crazy. he's impressive, but he looked pretty solid within that system. They were competitive. And then once he left, once he got sick, once he returned,

he didn't look at the same player at all. So I don't know. I think maybe with a full off season, maybe he gets in the spot again with some more weapons. Again, it just depends on where he lands and, you know, that's what it comes out. If you go hang out with a dude, he's probably a cool dude and all, but like as a receiver

and I'm trying to get by, I'm like, that's not where I'm going. I'm not following. Me personally, I'm not following Cam New York. I mean, maybe Cam is cool. I don't know. I mean, he said cool. He seemed like, I met him a few times.

He seen like a cool dude, but it just like, but I'm not, but I'm not. Those outfits though, a little out there. But man's got a gang of bracelets too. But as a receiver, though, like, I'm not following that. I'm not following it. Okay. Okay. You know, maybe what we've seen from Cam Newton is.

As a receiver, I will follow Matt Stafford. Okay. No, okay. Is that way? Okay. So how about if you had Matt Stafford going to any team? If you could put him. on any team immediately to start next season.

Let's call this your dream quarterback matchup. What would your dream matchup for Matthew Stafford be, Ryan? Probably the Colts. Okay. It makes a lot of sense. Costa Saints. Coates of Saints. Ooh, okay.

That's a wild card. I haven't heard Saints yet just because obviously we know that, you know, Drew Breeze, he could be riding off into that sunset. But Matthew Stafford down there in the bayou, of course, trying to piggyback on what Drew was able to build. Canel, what do you think? Matt Saffer, where you see him going? Where would you like to see him go?

I see him going to the Colts, but I would like to see him end up in Washington. I think, you know, you look at what Washington was able to do last year in terms of their quarterback situation. They literally had four or five different guys play there. Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Duane Haskins, and Tyler Heineke.

Like the fact that they were able to still get into the playoffs was, I wouldn't call it remarkable, because the NFC East was not good this year. But, but, I mean, if you have a solid quarterback, I think that, you know, that offense looks a whole lot of difference because that defense finished third in football outsider's DVOA ratings, which is pretty damn good, but their offense was just so up and down. And there's so many weapons already in place, Terry McLaren,

Stephen Simpson, you're in there. And then you have Antonio Gibson in the backfield, as well as Logan Thomas, who broke out at Tide in this year. I think that's a really, really solid. situation that Matthew Stafford could potentially step into. Yeah, I think, Virginia Tech quarterback. I think my Matthew Stafford team will be your Matthew Stafford. So now it's comparing Matthew Stafford potential resumes up against each other.

I'm not going to go with Matthew Stafford from my dream quarterback match. Oh, no, no, no, that's not. We were just picking Stafford, TJ. We were picking Stafford. You just said we had to choose Stafford. No, no, not necessarily. I just threw that out there. You could have pivoted when I said Matthew Stafford, but...

You see a matching Stafford team. That is not my dream quarterback. Okay, so what's your dream quarterback matchup? Before I lay mine out there, before I lay mine out. All right, so nobody takes this person that's listening to this podcast. Uh-oh. All right. He's going to the Steel City, I think.

I have Aaron Rogers or Deshaun Watson going to the Steelers. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That would be the dream matchup. I mean, that's a dream matchup. That sounds pretty good. Sounds pretty good. I know that's two different people, but I feel Deshaun will be great because you have him for the next 10 years.

Okay. I feel Aaron will be great for right now. Like, our defense is right now. So it's just like, and you have nothing, and he has all the weapons he needs, and we're about to drop another runner back. So, hmm. And you already know that they're going to develop

at least three more wide receivers over the next five years because that's just what the Pittsburgh Steelers do. So that's your dream matchup. Or Deshaun. Or Deshaun. And we have the quarterback, the defense, and the weapons right now. But we'll probably have to get a runnerback in free agency or something because I don't know if James is going to be back this year. Okay.

Canaan, how about you, man? What's your dream quarterback matchup? I'm not holding you down to Matthew Stafford right now. I appreciate that. You know, we need to find a way to get Deshawn Watson into the NFC. Like my dream matchup is Deshawn. Watson going to the San Francisco 49ers because you pair him with Kyle Shanahan. And like Ryan was talking about with the Steelers defense, when San Francisco's defense is healthy,

that is a championship level caliber defense. And I mean, it makes sense to me to get the Sean Watson out of the AFC because when you look at the landscape of the AFC, over the next 10 years, you have Patrick Mahomes. And then there's so many other young talented quarterbacks in the conference, Baker Mayfield's 25, Josh Allen's 24 going on 25. Lamar Jackson's going to be 24 next year. Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow, who are 22 and 24, didn't even reach the playoffs this year. And now you're telling me that the Jets are going to probably have a quarterback and the Jaguars are going to have Trevor Loins.

That's just so many different quarterbacks that you have to compete with. And, you know, let's assume Mahomes is going to be that next, you know, potential dynasty quarterback like Tom Brady. We just why, I mean, Pete Manning only made two super, yeah, three Super Bowls over the course of his career. And a lot of it was because he was facing Ben Rothlisberger and Tom Brady were in his way. If I'm just Sean Watson, I'm going to the NFC because there are no young quarterbacks. Drew Bree is just retired. Tom Brady will probably be out the league in two to three years. Aaron Rogers is turning 38 next year.

Russell is getting older. Russell Wilson is going on 33. Dak Prescott is 28 and Kyle Murray is 24. There are no talented quarterbacks under the age of 25. Look at Ryan. I mean, never would I downgrade a professional athlete's talent or skill set. But I'll let another professional athletes do that. But when you say, Mr. Trubisky, among all those other quarterbacks and all those astute play callers,

sorry, but I don't think I lump old Mitch in there. But, you know, when it comes to my dream quarterback matchup, made a playoffs. Like I said, did the Bears make the playoffs or did they sneak in the club with a fake ID? Like you weren't supposed to be there anyways. And we saw exactly what happened. Yeah, they made it. But, I mean, it's not like they were sitting there, like, you know,

wearing those hats and those, you know, those playoff t-shirts. They weren't like, they definitely weren't trying to distribute those in the Chicagoland area. I don't think anyone was like, yeah, okay, look at wild card birth, 2020. Yeah, this is going to be the year since 1985. No one was saying that. But I do think something that could give a lot of hope here when it comes to my, my dream quarterback matchup, I think it would have to be Aaron Rogers

on the Chicago Bears. Now, for all those Chicago Bears fans that hate Aaron Rogers because he's a Green Bay Packer through and through, I say, you know what? As much as you hate him, you would take him on the Bears eight days a week.

There's no doubt in my mind. And as much as Dihard Bears fans want to say, oh, there's no way. He's a Packer. I would never cheer for Aaron Rogers. If he's out there helping your team get wins and helping the Chicago Bears potentially hoist a Vince Lombardi trophy,

then I think you would welcome Aaron Rogers with open arms. But like I said, that's a dream scenario. That's not going to happen. The Green Bay Packers, they're going to retain Aaron Rogers. They're going to try to make another run. And, you know, for his greatness, hopefully we can see Aaron Rogers get back to another Super Bowl. Because he and Rex Grossman to have the same amount of NFC championships, I don't mean to throw shade at Rex Grossman, no disrespect.

But that's pretty much where we're at right now. So let's move to that likely quarterback matchup since, you know, we have the ones that we would see in a dream scenario, Ryan. What do you think is really going to happen? Isn't Matthew Stafford to the Colts? I think my dream, me and my likely scenario is Justin Fields to the Steelers. Really? No, no, no, I'm playing.

I'm playing. I'm playing. He's over here playing with all kinds of emotions today. Man, oh man. He's got Deshawn Watson, Justin Fields. He's got the Mayflower truck right out in front of Ben Rothensburg's house right now. No, I'm playing. I'll play, I'll play it.

I love Ben. I love him. No, but I honestly see the most likely thing to happen is like Matthew Stafford and like San Fran or something. That makes a lot of sense. I just see something like that happening. But like what the only thing that makes it tough for me to make this realistic is that what does Stanford have a lot to offer for Matt Stanford? So they have 12 million in cap space. what it would probably take to get Stafford is, you know, at least Adam Schefter, like he said that, like Detroit is expecting to at least get one first round pick for him.

And the Niners have the number 12 pick in the draft. So they're probably going to miss out on those top four quarterback prospects when you talk about, you know, Lawrence, Justin Field, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance. What are them going to fall to pass 12? Ooh, that would be interesting. One of them going to fall past 12. we'll see. But here's another question. And, Cana, I'll get back to you in this in a second.

When you look at some of these quarterbacks that are coming out of the college ranks, whether it's Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields, are those highly touted guys? Are they always the ones that you really want to go after? Because we know what Justin Fields. We know what Trevor Lawrence. We've seen what they've been able to do. But when I look at a guy like a Kyle Trask out of Florida or Mac Jones out of Alabama, sometimes it's better to be one of those quarterbacks that go,

a little bit further down, maybe lower towards the first round, early in the second round, because you know that that success is going to come a little bit earlier rather than later, Ryan. It's not that many quarterbacks fall into later rounds that are doing that will. Russell Wilson, doesn't ring a bell for you? I guess that's one.

But think about all the guys, think about all the guys who have gone in the first half of the first round who end up being complete duds. I feel like it's almost better. Tom Brady, I mean, if we can go to Russell, We can go Tom Brady. He's been pretty successful, hasn't he? What I'm saying?

But, like, you name two people. All I'm saying is you can't go off of all the quarterbacks and just name two people. And the thing is, that's how our game is. Our game is based around quarterback, so do sacrifice everything to get a good one. So that's why guys that go early, they might not be that good,

but teams need a quarterback. Like, for instance, the Jags, they need a quarterback. So they're going to draft somebody. And the thing is, it's like, you're praying Trevor Lawrence is good. You're praying that Justin Fields is good. But at the day, none of these guys are probably better than the actual top guy that's actually coming out in the draft. You know, but the thing is, when it comes to quarterback, quarterbacks are so highly valued that people would sacrifice anything to get one. You know, so because at the day, like, quarterbacks are, like, if the Chiefs didn't have to Patrick Mahomes, they wouldn't be in the Super Bowl.

But the thing is, sometimes I do feel quarterbacks are overrated, too. Because the thing is, you can take Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields, put them in the next two pieces. I don't give a damn who Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields are. You can't go to the Jets right now and win a goddamn Super Bowl. That ain't happening. Like, I don't give a damn. Like, they're going to have to put some pieces around them. And that's what I'm saying.

Like, if you got a good quarterback, it's cool. But, like, people put so much on, like, I got to get the best guy. And that's why the bears end up in the situation they end up in because they want to trade up, get Mr. Biskey, and then they lost some picks. And I feel like that's why quarterbacks always, people always like, man, this guy's a bus. Like, he's not really a bus.

He is who he is. But at a day, everybody just wants the best quarterback right now, you know? So that's, but the thing is, that's why you always, that's why quarterbacks are always so high-rated. Like, I won't be surprised if all these guys had dropped in the first round. Like, I won't be surprised. Like because they

all these teams are switching quarterbacks right now. So and teams are looking and they're like all right Jared Gough look you see how he played for the Rams?

I don't know if I won that guy I'll draft Mac Jones you know what I'm saying? Like that's how teams are going to be it like look at it right now so like you just never like I feel quarterback I don't feel like

quarterbacks are overrated to an extent like once you find that one all right he's good but like everybody else behind him like once you once you're in that top 10 in behind rank, it's just like, you're just a regular football player.

Like, to me. But when you look at it, though, maybe I went a little too far by saying the back half of the first round, second round, maybe if you go in the middle of the first round, it's a whole lot better sometimes than to go at the very top. We saw Mr. Trubisky, he went at the top. We saw John Lynch on draft day. I mean, Trick Ryan Pace, he had D.B. Cooper and Sid Finch on the phone.

They were asking about a quarterback, so absolutely nobody was on the receiver. end of that line. But when you look at Patrick Mahomes, the fact that, you know, when he scored against the Bears a season to go was counting all the picks that came, you know, ahead of him, if you're Patrick Mahomes and you go to the Bears, there's no guarantee that you're going to be the same Patrick Mahomes that you are right now with the Kansas City Chiefs as you would be with the Chicago Bears. So there's no guarantee. So it's better that he went to a team like the Chiefs with Andy Reed as opposed to going to a team like the Chicago Bears with Matt Nagy. But he could, he probably could

have been good with Matt Nagy. You know what I'm saying? He would have. He would have. The only thing I'm saying is like, every football player it's about your scheme, your situation, and the people around you. It's only a few guys that can go out there and be like,

it doesn't matter where I'm at, I'm going to ball. And like Aaron Donald's one of them, you know, Khalil Max, another one. And it's normally defensive guys than offensive guys. Because like, the thing is, like,

A, B, he's baller right now. Levion, he's playing a so-so. But if you pay Levion back on the Steelers, he'll probably be Laveon Bell like he used to be. You know what I'm saying? If you put Mr. Biskke in a different scheme, he'd probably be the best, I ain't going to say the best quarterback in the NFL,

but he'll be one of the best, he'll be a really good quarterback. But if you take, like, take all that talent away from Patrick Mahomes and pin him on the Jets, he'll probably be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but then everybody's like, man, damn, this dude's getting sacked 30, 40 times a game, man.

This is really tough out here for Patrick Mahomes, man. And everybody's going to be looking at him like, that's, it's just a, situation that you end up in. Like, Sam Donald, I feel like he's a good quarterback. He's just in a terrible situation. Like, yeah, I mean, Sam Donald, once again, no disrespect. Who is he going to?

True, but Sam Darnold, what did he do in college? Turn the ball over, a lot. What does he do in the NFL? Turn the ball over, a lot. It's not like we didn't see that before, and it's out of the left field. Wow, Sam Darnel, why is he turning the ball over? It's not just the Jets fault. We've seen him do that in the past, too.

So, I mean, but he wasn't winning in college, though, but he's winning now. You know what I'm saying? So, like, that's, and it's crazy because Patrick Mahomes, not a winner in college, goes to the league, wins. His college coach, not a winner in college, he somehow made his way to the league, too. But Cliff Kingsbury, that's a whole different story for a whole other day because, you know, when I see the likely quarterback matchup, it, it kind of looks like Matthew Stafford, maybe to the Colts to fill that void left by Philip Rivers.

Kailom, what do you think that likely quarterback matchup is going to be? before we split on out of here. Yeah, no, that was my likely quarterback match, too. I'm trying to think of maybe a different one to go different from you guys. Did you say, maybe I stole it from both of you guys, but did you say Jimmy Garoppolo to the Patriots? Would that make sense from what's been going on?

I mean... A good one is Trevor Lawrence to the Jags. Yeah, yeah, that's going to happen. That's absolutely going to happen. And, I mean, it would be... I know that we discussed it. I think when Urban Meyer got the job, like whether or not, you know, Justin Fields could end up, you know, being the guy who goes number one overall.

I didn't even realize, oh, yeah, you know, Urban Meyer helped recruit Justin Meyer. He never really coached them. So, I mean, and Urban Meyer's schemes kind of varied throughout the course of his career, according to what type of quarterback he had behind centers. So I don't know if Justin Fields really have a shot there unless he has an impressive, you know, pre-draft process and without the combine, I don't think that's possible. So Lawrence, number one, duh. We'll sharply that in.

That's the way things look. You know, I could see Kyle Trask going to the Chicago Bears. I mean, you know, he seriously put some numbers out there when it came to the Heisman race. Oh, man. It wouldn't be crazy. You like Mike Jones? I like Mac Jones, but I just feel like the Alabama quarterbacks from what we've seen, Tua, changed my mind. Jalen Hertz, changed my mind.

But right now, Jaylon Hertz, you're in Oklahoma. home a quarterback. But I just feel like as if Greg McElroy, I mean, he's calling games. He's calling college games over on ESPN. So what do we really know about Alabama quarterbacks when they get to the league, Ryan? I know one thing we know about Alabama. They motherfuckerman backs can run. I'm sorry for cussing. I'm sorry for cussing like that. Dollar in the swear jar, Ryan says here. They're running basketball running down ball. I know that. No, but no, but yeah, like you said, you really don't know much about their quarterbacks.

Because, like, the thing is, Alabama, and I was talking to Michelle about this before, I was like, Nick Saban reminds me of coach this session. Like, they did so well at the beginning of getting the best guys and winning. Now it's like, you just, you always have the best guys being a coach. Obviously, he's still coaching the hell out of them guys, but being the coach is a lot easier when you have,

oh, you had two receivers, I think, last year went first round, or you have two receivers this year supposed to go first round, do your redneck went first round, and then all your old linemen go first round. It's like when you have everybody, like, when you have your team, it's easy to coach when you have teams like that. So when you have a quarterback that's throwing it to the guys like that, I think it's a lot easier. So I think, but I think Matt Jones is going to be all right.

I think he's going to be all right. Kaylon and Ryan, have you guys seen the Sandlot baseball movie? You know, I always bring everything back to a baseball reference, man. but I feel like when you go up against a team like in Alabama or those blue bloods at least or like a Duke on the basketball court, I feel like those teams are the squad on the sandlot that has all the nice uniforms, they have their own ballpark, but any given Sunday or any given Wednesday, whatever it may be, that team can be beat. And that's what we've seen. But, you know, when it comes to Alabama right now, it's like you said, all they do is reload every single season.

And it appears to be a case of the rich getting richer. So we will see how things shake out for that crimson tie quarterback as well as old Kyle Trask from the Florida Gators. And guys, our time now, it's come to a close as it always does around this time here. So that's going to bring this edition of the Tuesday Ringer NFL show to a close. So for my guys, Ryan Shazir and Kailin Jones, I'm Cole Wright. And you guys already know that we're part of the Ringer podcast network. But did you also know that you can follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your

podcast. And you can follow us on Twitter at the Ringer NFL as well. Now next up on Wednesday on the Ringer NFL show, it's Warren Sharp and Chris Vernon championship round review. And they're going to give you some insights and get you all set and ready. No Pro Bowl this year. But of course, that Super Bowl, well, it will be here immediately if not soon. And next week, we're going to give you our Super Bowl preview. So for Kalin and Ryan, I'm Cole, fellas, say goodbye. Please, please.