2023 Beautiful Mysteries

In a room full of heroes - Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler, and Patrick Claybon look ahead to the new season and discuss the beautiful mysteries that still loom over the league. Before the guys get mysterious, they get caught up on news from around the league including the end of the greatest streak in sports history (01:54), Sam Darnold getting the back up job in San Francisco (08:40), Jonathan Taylor getting a chance at a new team (13:38) and more! After the break, the guys look ahead to next season and tell you where the mysteries are with the Baltimore Ravens (33:15), the Cowboys (40:12), the Washington Commanders (50:30) and more.  

Note: Time codes approximate. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
They Around the NFL podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Whis for this stuff?

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Bro? That's right. Welcome to another edition the Around the
NFL Podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm Greg Rosenthal sitting in I'm for day hans is
today moving back on Thursday alongside a couple of heroes
in the Chris Westling podcast studio.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
It's Mark Sessler and Patrick clay Vaughn.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
What's up, guys. There's a lot of important people here today. Yeah,
and there was a crew of them. I say that
whenever people are in suits and I walk past a
bunch of people in suits and somebody was telling them like, yeah,
Mark Sessler and Greg Rosenthal and Dan Hansens do a podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Wait really, yeah?

Speaker 5 (00:42):
Is this true? I liked the order.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Yeah, that was the order. It may have been because
they walked by and that was the order.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Now he wasn't there because there were people in suits
that had no idea who they were pointing at me
while I was sitting here eating an apple by myself
in the stud But you.

Speaker 6 (00:59):
Know where we sit in the newsroom, I'm constantly I
had the most fishbowl seat possible because they bring those
tours by its school kids or its executives or fill
in the blank, and like I'm sitting there with like
two cups of coffee, like I look like a disaster,
and there's just staring at you, like be hyping mornings.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
I missed that. I can't wait for whatever dignitaries.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, I believe Troy Vincent who works in the league office,
but many other league office figures around the studio. Mark
Sanchez was just in this studio. But as much as
I want to, like, I see how you're doing, Patrick's
It's nice to see you. It's been a little uh
bit And Mark, yes.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
You are concerned about how I'm doing. I'm sure.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
It's just like we can't wait any longer. One of
the biggest stories that we've covered around the NFL have
this week.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Let let's just drop that news drop right now.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Eric.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
That was Ron Rivera in the winning locker room Commanders
take down the Ravens on Monday night, football crowd going crazy,
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
It felt big because it was big.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
John johan Dotson said after the game, I felt like
we just had the biggest preseason w in history.

Speaker 5 (02:19):
He's not wrong, He's not wrong.

Speaker 6 (02:21):
I mean, I would say because if you talk about
when they were branded as the Commanders. Okay, I'm saying
even post Washington football team like that is the This
was the biggest moment in Commander's history. What was bigger?
What was bigger like some hollow victory in Week four
a year ago.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Before that, Before this, it was the opening press conference
for Josh Harris and Magic Johnson.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Fair and there's fanfare.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
But this was actual football and people were poop pooing it.
The celebration. We heard Ron in the locker room. They
ran the end of the game celebration and they everybody's
on the field, like let the let the dudes have fun,
like a lot of those dudes may not ever play
NFL football.

Speaker 6 (02:59):
And Greg Troy called it, he said, this is the
greatest preseason game I've ever been a part of.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
It actually was great from the first half where Josh
Johnson and Sam how are going up and down the
field and it looked like football because we had a
lot of starters, especially for Washington playing and then you
get to the end and the drama and the comeback
and uh wait, who was it again? Jake from for
Washington and the excitement in Joe Buck's voice.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
On the game winning field goal was just incredible. The
crowd is on their feet. There, that's Troy.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
This good stuff. All right, here we.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
Go, Troy.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
I feel I had a little tongue in cheek for
perhaps in the game, but.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
It's still good for them to pretends the crowds a
pre season.

Speaker 7 (03:52):
Seconds left, the Commanders are on top by one.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Great job, great job by Joe of course, but also
by the ESPN cameras immediately catching the awkward high fives
for the ownership group in Washington.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
And that crowd was loud. I'm not shocked.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
The Raiders crowd, I got to admit, was very loud,
louder than any preseason game I've ever been to. On Saturday,
I can only imagine what's happening. I'm sad that Dan's
not here for this. Of course, he did the Hard
Knocks podcast on Tuesday. Everyone should check that out. But
I couldn't wait another day before we got.

Speaker 6 (04:23):
Well and Dan, you know, Dan, I I became very
enthused by this streak that the Ravens you know, concocted,
and I don't think we'll ever be touched by any
other team ever again while we're alive. But Dan offered
that he said did say he would apologize after essentially
guaranteeing a Ravens victory and that will come tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, put a pin in that we'll have to revisit it.

Speaker 7 (04:43):
And did go live on Instagram during the final like
six minutes, and you know, there was a couple of penalties,
a couple of injuries. So it got stretched out where
Dan was in his front room watching this game on
Instagram live for a cool like ten or so minutes.
Just he got he got a little hyped when it,
you know, the ball through the uprights. I kind of
had a little push to it. Yeah, he looked as
he yelled he pushed it and then over the eyes.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
It may have been ultimately dance fault.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
It was, and look, emotions were running high. You may
think we're spending a lot of time on this game.
By the way, Sam Howell showed to me why he's
going to be a fun watch this year.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
He's looking for big plays.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
He's not afraid to run the ball either, and he
looked quite good in that game. Terry McLaurin unfortunately had
a tow injury.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
He's day to day.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
That's a little concerning turf tow injury. But there were
high emotions on Washington side. There were high emotions on
Baltimore side as well. John Harbaugh was clearly not happy
after this game.

Speaker 8 (05:38):
Preseason games that people want to write about, some of
you in here want to write about and say they
don't mean anything because you never played the game. You
never were out there in a preseason game, you never
were fighting for a spot on the team, And yet
you have the audacity to say that the effort that
somebody puts into that to win and fight and win
a game like that is meaningless. Tell me I was
meaningless out there. What you just saw if you like football?

(05:58):
Is that a meaningless football game? You know, I can't
respect anybody that says that.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's gotta be tough for the guy that wrote that.

Speaker 6 (06:05):
I mean, he went there with that you never played scenario,
which is sort of like infallible against most people.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
I mean, uh, I'm kind of with him, but you
can you could tell it meant a lot because he
talked about how proud he was and they they did
not want to lose this game.

Speaker 6 (06:18):
So I don't know Baltimore like they only played a
couple starters on defense, Like I think, if you want
to rewind Earth by a day or two and say
maybe we just load that defense with all our starters
and we put we keep everyone in here.

Speaker 5 (06:29):
Like, I hate that the streak has been snapped.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
The second to last year. I was wondering, like, we're
gonna Getjeosh Jawnson back.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Right, They actually haven't played It's a misnomer. They haven't
played their starters for most of this streak. They kind
of take a pretty normal approach in terms of who's in,
who's out. But rest in peace Raven's preseason streak. My
son Walker I think was alive before this started, but
he can't remember. He was just an infant. But yeah,

(06:57):
it was Malcolm alive for.

Speaker 4 (06:58):
A welcome did not exist. He would not exist for
two more years. And like he's running around like going
into first grade.

Speaker 6 (07:04):
Like my children were alive, but they were not. They
did not remember that last victory that they had the Ravens.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
The story September third, twenty fifteen game against the Falcons,
that's where that's where this all began.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Tiny nugget I wanted to throw in just from that
game was I don't think Tyler Huntley is going to
be on this team.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
You've been on the speed.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
And I because if you in Harbaugh's been the one
that's on this beat, if you listen to his quotes
all camp, he's made it clear that for whatever reason,
this backup competition is wide open. We really like Josh Johnson.
Tyler Huntley has to go earn this spot. He's not
guaranteed anything. And you look at what they did this offseason.
They looked into Baker Mayfield, they looked into Jacobe Brissett,

(07:47):
just something. And then you listen to the ESPN broadcasters
who said point blank that the offensive coordinator now Todd Monkin,
really loves Josh Johnson. I think prefers Josh Johnson and
want another team. Come on, give up, give up a
six to seventh round pick swap or a fifth round
pick that's worth Tyler Huntley.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
He's a good backup.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
I mean, you can't have your backup making the Pro
Bowl when the starter. And that's controversial at the more.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Is that what happened? Yeah? I guess well, I mean
he was injured.

Speaker 5 (08:17):
Mar Jackson didn't make it. I'm just saying last year
in Pro Bowl.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
Quarterback Tyler Huntley, I'm okay with it because Josh Johnson
deserves this.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
That's pretty This has been.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
Something that we've been and we saw he played well
for the Broncos last preseason and it's like, oh, this
is finally it, but then he gets cut and would
I would like to see Josh Johnson finally be able
to have a full season with one team where he
can live his life because.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
He's generally look good in the regular scene. So we'll see.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
I think a lot of teams could use some backup quarterbacks.
One team that won't, though, is the San Francisco forty
nine Ers. As they're going to tape, the news broke
that Sam Darnold is going to be the backup quarterback
with San Francisco. I feel like there's more important news here,
but this is the freshest and it's pretty spicy when
you think about Trey Lance going into the season as
a number three quarterback or will he our rap sheet

(09:07):
I rapport and Tom Pelisero saying that the forty nine
ers are evaluating option with Trey Lance.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Which would mean a potential trade.

Speaker 6 (09:18):
We're gonna get into our segment later, which is you know,
outstanding still unresolved, big mysteries of the season.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
If that's the title, Greg, is it close to beautiful?

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Beautiful mysteries?

Speaker 3 (09:27):
If Dan was here, he would have laid that out
right off the top, But I just was overwhelmed by I.

Speaker 6 (09:32):
Think it's good you created a mystery for the audience.
They didn't know what would come after the news. Now
they know. The first thing I had was the fate
of Trey Lance, because he's just felt very tradable. He's
felt it just has felt like Kyle Shanahan verbally and
in practice has never really fully backed Trey Lance as
a concept. You know, Trey Lance's body is not back

(09:53):
Trey Lance as a concept too, which has been sort
of a problem. But you hear how he talks about
Sam Darnold. I felt like this was in the mail
for weeks. He's fascinated by Sam Donald.

Speaker 4 (10:03):
Yeah, if we go back, because honestly, what's the number
I got Profo ball reference with fifty six career attempts
for Trey Lance, Like that, that's really it. And so
in terms not many college ones either, no, and even
going back to high school right that, there's a limited
number of reps, and so it's an uncertain thing. But
we know what Sam Donald is. And then I think
coach Shanahan knows what Sam Donald is. The question is

(10:25):
that they can't afford necessarily to just keep waiting right
now for Trey Lance. And if somebody else wants to
come in and say, hey, we'll take this, then then
that's the way they go. But I also think it's
worth considering that they were evaluating all options with Jimmy
Garoppolo well before this time last year, and he wounds
up starting all those games, so these things were fluid.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
I would hold on to Trey Lance. If they don't
get anything better than, you know, a late round pick
offer for him, I'm with you, and I'm not sure
they will.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
They might like Brandon Allen, who is their fourth quarterback,
who is the Bengals backup and would be a big
upgrade by the way on the Bengals backup situation, and
I know Cincinnati is keeping an eye on that. Maybe
they feel like, okay, that's a third quarterback. We really
don't need Trey Lance. But just based on everything that's
happened with forty nine Ers quarterbacks over the last handful

(11:18):
of years, like, I don't know they are in their
Super Bowl window unless they just feel like it's too awkward.
I don't hate having Trey Lance as a third good option,
even if they feel that Donald is better as a
second option. I just don't think they've seen the progress
in the preseason in terms of making the right reads
and quick decisions from Lance. And that's why Donald is second.

(11:39):
And you said they know what they have in Donald,
and I'm curious to see him with the forty nine.
He'll be better with the forty nine ers than he's
probably ever been just because he's on the forty nine ers,
and every quarterback would be better with forty nine ers.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, it feels like a safe assumption and there's some
certainty there, and get some consistency because Sam seeing coaches
get fired too, he's seeing staffs turn over. Is one
hundred and two attempts career for Trey Lance. Want to
make sure I got that number right. Sam Darnald in
his four biggest attempt games has that number, Like in
four games alone has the has an equal number of

(12:10):
dropbacks as Trey Lance. And so I think while this
happens and the first thought, maybe oh Trey Lance is
a bust, it's over, we still.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Don't know, just like we didn't know. With Sam Darnald,
we don't know.

Speaker 6 (12:20):
And like I think also, if anything, there is this
element to Trey Lance that other coaches, there's gonna be
coaches out there that think that if we need a
quarterback at some point in the season, if things go
south or there's an injury, like he seems like high potential,
like he's gonna be a object of fascination to other coachings.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
But it's a red flag for everyone if they're they're
going to look at it and think, man if Shanahan
couldn't get it going, that's gonna hurt his value. And
he's in a weird spot where I think Tyler Tyler
Huntley in some ways would be more attractive to teams
looking for a backup quarterback because he's just a veteran
who knows how to be a backup. He's established kind

(12:58):
of his baseline of solid play, and Trey Lance is
more of a bet on the future. But it's not
necessarily like a secure backup. But a team like Tampa,
for instance, I was kind of looking at the teams who, hey,
throw a fourth out there or something like that. Arizona
like La Rams, I actually don't think would be a
crazy one, although I don't know if you can imagine them.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Trade like just just a lottery ticket.

Speaker 4 (13:22):
I could see Sean in that sort of weird relationship
with Kyle thing where he's like, yeah, let me take
Trey Lance into something.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Got right.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
It would have to be a team that it's more
thinking about, like, well, we're not really sure what's gonna
happen next year, and maybe our starter is not going
to stay healthy. Who knows. Let's move on to the
rest of the news. Jonathan Taylor requested a trade since
we last did a podcast, and it feels like he
didn't he already request the trade. I don't permission to
the granted permission to seek a trade, thank you. Patrick,

(13:53):
and the Dolphins were a team that Barry Jackson and
the Miami Herald throughout there as a team that could
possibly be interested in another national reporter. I believe through
that out there as well. So small movement on the
Jonathan Taylor front, but not really. The Colts, for their part,
say he still has not been cleared for practice, that
he's not medically cleared, which is dubious but also complicates

(14:16):
this trade situation.

Speaker 6 (14:17):
I mean, this story is weighing on my patients, I
move beyond whatever happens to him with the Cults to
just like where he could possibly land because he's in
a tough spot because on top of having to pay
him beyond this year, he wants a new contract that's
not gonna change. He goes to a new team, He's
not gonna simmer on that, I don't think. But then
you've got to give essentially the Colts draft picks, and

(14:38):
you know, the wording out there is that they want
to sen sort of what Christian McCaffrey got in return
from the Niners, which was I believe a second, a
third and a fifth or something a future fifth. Like,
I'm not happendent what team. I mean, it's just hard
to find teams that will do that. And my mind
goes back to the Cowboys a little bit because it
feels like kind of a Cowboys type thing to maybe

(14:59):
pull clever that.

Speaker 5 (15:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (15:01):
There's not a lot of landing spots, and it's a
tough time a year to do it. Your rosters are
mostly set.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
Yeah, I think the good news, at least for Jonathan,
you get some sort of an answer, right that's with
regards to what the market is how teams feel about
and also he gets what he wanted from the Colts.
Was just an opportunity to look into this, Like we
saw Austin Eckler go through this and the Chargers actually
wound up giving Austin a little bit more money, changed
in the structure a little bit. Maybe there's some hope

(15:26):
that he can see some sort of movement in that
aspect after this process goes through. But at least he's
going to have more answers now than he did a
few weeks ago. Which no, it was like, hey, am
I going to be a cult next year? Like can
we talk? No, we don't have to talk about this,
So no, and we could both be long gone and
nobody would care whatever.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
You know, what's weird is the team that needs a
running back is the Cults, Right, they should trade for
Jonathan Taylor.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
I feel like that would be a good move.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
I wouldn't give up all those McCaffrey picks. I mean
that was like a trade deadline trade where you got
a an elite player I think even on a level
slightly above tailor, who is healthy in the middle of
a good season, and you had multiple division you had
division rivals, the Rams and the forty nine ers both
going after him, driving the price up.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
This is before the season. He's not one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
He's coming off a weird year, like there's no chance,
and they're kind of talking out of both sides of
their mouth where they're not gonna give him the money,
and yet they want the trade value of someone that good.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
So I do not expect him to be on another team.
The one thing I.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
Would slightly disagree to markets he might just take a
trade and not look for the new money that like,
if he got onto a good team, I might just
be happy to get out of there and then try
I don't think.

Speaker 6 (16:40):
It'll be a talking point now, but I guess you
could go back and my agency. But I think, like,
in general, why are we in these situations with these
running backs, Because they've gotten on a zoom call together
and wholeheartedly agree that their value is not being valued
by other teams. And so it's like, I don't think
he's gonna go quiet about that, but not.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
Right right, And I'm just guessing because one thing Stephen Holder,
who's a good reporter of the Colts, pointed out this morning,
he's at ESPN now was at the Athletic He said,
if anyone thinks, and he's seen this written, that like
Jonathan Taylor is just doing what his agent wants him
to do. You have never spoken with Jonathan Taylor in
your life. Jonathan Taylor is the one running this show.

(17:19):
He's a strong willed individual, he's a smart guy, and
he is the one that is making this stance. It
is not about like him doing what the agent just
asks him to do.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
Yeah, he just watched Josh Jacobs lead the NFL in
rushing and see his circumstances improve.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Not at all right because.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Of that, Although I think Josh Jacobs is gonna I
hope that can open up jon Jonathan Taylor returning because
it really sounds like Jonathan Josh Jacobs is gonna come back,
and I highly suspect he's gonna get like a Saquon
Barkley raised plus to come back, like some incentives and
maybe a little more money. That's that's the buzz at
least around the Raiders, and I tend.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
To believe it.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
And if he hadn't been public about his discontent regarding
the situation, I wonder would that be happening. Yeah, ultimately,
like these guys are their options are very limited, and
Jonathan Taylor's looking at all. Right, So let's say I
give my all and do everything I can for the Colts.
If what you're telling me right now in August twenty
twenty three is none of that matters? Like why am
I smashing my body into three hundred and thirty pound people?

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (18:20):
I mean also, I mean, if you're Shane Stichen, if
you're Anthony Richardson, it's like, what are we doing here? Like,
I get the owner doesn't want to pay this running back,
but this is an owner that a year ago decided
to hire an ESPN analyst as head coach. I mean,
the Colts are a picture you'll almost forget about high
organization for a while, and it's like what is going
on here?

Speaker 3 (18:39):
And they have by far the worst running back room
in the league without Jonathan Taylor, you kind of pointed
out earlier, But that's a team that really wants to
run the ball, and like, running backs are an important
relative to other positions until you don't have one and
you want to run the ball, and it's a problem.
Let's move on to the least surprising news of the week.
We don't have to spend too much time on this,
but that Baker Mayfield is your Week one Bucks starter.

(19:02):
Todd Bowles finally announced that you were once a Baker
Mayfield believer and appreciator.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Mark.

Speaker 5 (19:09):
Yeah, he he wore me down a little bit, and
I hope here.

Speaker 6 (19:13):
I think I think there's hope because I think again
it's he has experience. He still seems to me to
be highly self confident hearing his comments about being named starter.
I think it's the big the Baker Mayfield experience has
a lot of people down on Baker Mayfield when as
a player, I think he's a B minus quarterback. He's

(19:33):
better than Kyle Trask. I think in general, this announcement
probably was triggered by our own show because Dan went
on another rant about the fact that this had you
know that Todd Bowles was just like hedging around this
absurdly obvious decision. Now we know it's one of the
least exciting quarterback battles I can remember ever in my
entire life.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
Wait, I want to get your thoughts before we hear
from Patrick Mark on the Bucks social media photo Time
to Bake. I don't know if you saw this it's
actually the pinned tweet on Buccaneers Twitter account right now.
I was like, is this a weed reference? Because it's
getting kind of wild here. Time to bake.

Speaker 5 (20:12):
I mean, that's what you make to you, it is
what are your thoughts?

Speaker 6 (20:16):
I think in general, I don't want to sound you know,
kin tankeris, but these these social media outfits need to absolutely,
you know, settle down a little bit.

Speaker 5 (20:25):
I don't hate that graph.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
I think it looks. I think it's fun.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
It's a cool graphic, and uh, there's not a lot
of pop to the bucks right now. Let's have some
fun with the quarterback announcement.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
I think we will be seeing this graphic again on
our timelines if things don't necessarily go great for the Buccaneers.
But I'm glad that we'll have another one of the
another edition of the Baker Mayfield cycle, and he's gonna
come out, he's going to address his doubters, and then
there's going to be some conversation and then you know,
there'll be reason to doubt, and then this thing will
happen again.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
You're you're reminding me of the QB one Nathan Peterman
that the Bills released.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Once one of the greatest tweets of all time that.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Got reused quite a bit.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
I am Dalton had one of those. I'm hoping, Yeah,
that's right. Dalton had a good one. Was that with
the Bears?

Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (21:12):
I think that was with the Bears.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
It was like, why did you even tweet that?

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Hard to keep track of the teams? He was on,
why did you x that?

Speaker 3 (21:18):
I am hoping for a Baker resurgence because number one,
I want Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to do well
and I just want them to be watchable. And this
story that PFT has been writing about that's in the
in the legal system right now, how he's suing for
essentially millions of dollars, maybe over tens of millions of

(21:40):
dollars of his investments. That sounds like money started going
missing and it's family members who are involved in this
investment group where over ten million dollars is gone missing.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
And he spoke about it. He was kind of emotionable.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
This has been going on for a long time now
is going public and makes you feel for him because
that that is a difficult thing to go through.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
For anyone, especially with your family.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
Chris Jones is a reply guy this week, Patrick, the
Chiefs defensive tackle, makes some news by just replying deep
into his mentions to just some random fan when they're like, well,
when is it?

Speaker 1 (22:21):
When is he going to show up?

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Like this guy's got to show up blah blah blah
blah blah. Money he's not he needs to show up soon,
And Chris Jones just replies week eight. That's when it
was actually like, oh, that's actually kind of news. He's like,
that's what I'm going to show up. And he had
another response in the same thread where he where they're like,
he's got to show up soon.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
He's losing millions of dollars and he.

Speaker 6 (22:41):
Said they do they like on Rotor World, do they
credit not that the fan? The fan asked the question,
So he's sort of reporter asking a question, do they
credit the fan?

Speaker 3 (22:49):
I think they credit Chris because Chris was the one
that made made the news.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Jack Smith twenty nineteen.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Chris said he had.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
Plenty of money, and I don't I don't doubt him.
He is going for his third contract, not his second
one here, so he's banked some money.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
You buy it.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
It's a little This one has more he and maybe
not animosity but more doubt to it than any other
holdout right now, not Nick Bosa, not Christian Wilkins.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
Yeah, he's expressed a willingness and said that he's got
plenty of money. Patrick Mahomes was at the mic, and
of course, you know, Mahomes gets these questions and he said,
you know, he supports Chris. He's gonna stay away from it,
but you know, you support people trying to to earn
fair compensation. And so I think, like reading the tea lead,
maybe there's a little bit of budget from veaching company.

(23:35):
I don't know, it doesn't there's no reason if Chris Jones,
let's say he wants to come back week three, why
not let him think about week eight, you know, just
throw that out there.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's all a negotiation.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
Yeah, he's watching, you know, Dexter, Lawrence Deron Payne, Jeffrey Simmons,
Quinn Williams all get paid. And he is as important
as anyone on the team to that defense.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
And I do buy it.

Speaker 6 (23:59):
I think he you know, you get to a point
where you could he's willing to pay the fines, willing
to you know, let certain money go because he believes
in himself. And I think if you're the Chiefs, it's
like you're in this really special, unique place where you
could win multiple super Bowls like pay him.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Yeah, his words, where I can afford it.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
The reason I wanted to mention too, because it's like
the the temper you're getting heat. You know, brought up
a little bit Andy Reid said about Chris Jones. There's
been no communication. Whatever happens happens, the game goes on.
Nick Bosa is still holding out, and yet I just
am not worried about that one.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
I just think that one's gonna happen before the season.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
I don't feel worried about any of these sitis. No,
I know what you mean, but.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
I just mean I expect Nick Bosa to be ready
in time for week one. I expect Christian Wilkins, who's
quietly having a hold in right now in Miami, to
be ready for week one. I expect Josh Jacob's back. Taylor,
we talked about Jones Jones. It wouldn't shock me if
he actually missed me.

Speaker 6 (24:55):
If you're Christian Wilkins, you gotta get a little more
pr going in this half. People don't even know he's
gonna hold out, like you gotta let it everyone.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
No, he's the holding is tricky. Yeah, people don't like
it as much.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
One last quick injury nugget before we get to eight
o'clock to light Jackson Smith and Jigba who we talked
about you talked about Mark right is a long shot
for week one. We didn't know that he heard his
wrist in that preseason game. Long shot for week one
is Ian Rappaport's reporting after risk surgery. They're pretty thinnet
wide receiver after their top three, which might be the
best top three in the league, and yet I don't

(25:25):
know who their number three is.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
It might be a man named Jake Bobo.

Speaker 6 (25:29):
Well that's exciting. I mean, yeah, we mentioned Jackson on
the last episode. It's like I thought it was someone
that from the minute the first game starts. He's an
important part of their offense, and suddenly you don't have him.
I want to root for the preseason. I want to
root for these joint practices. I want to root for
the prep for the regular season. But it just feels
like we've already lost thirty to forty important people that.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
As men, not two men. Right then McLaurin toe injury
bothers me that might be turf. To they're saying it's
Tace that.

Speaker 6 (25:57):
Can affect your whole season exactly February that it was
never himself.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
I've never Maybe Patrick can help me, Maybe you can
help me, Mark, I've never been able to express this
take I have that I've felt strongly about for ten years.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Let it out.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
And it's the it's the people that get really upset
that someone gets injured in the preseason and what a
waste that is. And that's namely me terrible, sure, but
really everyone Okay, But and there's something I think Belichick
has talked about this a little like, but that same
level of consternation, like isn't quite there for the like

(26:35):
forty injuries that come at you on Week one when
they suddenly have to play fifty or sixty snaps. And
to me, like, I don't know, I haven't been able
to express this well, I don't know if playing in
the preseason helps prevent that or not.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
I'm not even saying that.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
All I'm saying is like their job is to play football,
and injuries, I guess are gonna happen and you have
and you're suddenly gonna play fifty sixty snaps like snaps
are are needed to be played. People are going to
get hurt. It's annoying, but it's not like much more
tragic to me. If it happens in the preseason then
the regular season, it's all bad.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
It's not more bad in August. I feel like, but
I never can say it, well.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
I think you've said it, well, yeah, you've said it.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
I feel like we do kind of need to know
whether or not playing football prevents you from being hurt
playing football.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
In order to feel that way, I just I typically tend.

Speaker 4 (27:29):
To believe that, you know, it's it's done everything for us,
but in terms of your health, like playing football might
not be good for you, And so it's hard for
me to believe that in order to be more healthy
to play football in the regular.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
Season, guys need to do it in the preseason.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
I feel like there's a that's fine, but there's gonna
be like forty of these same injuries in the regular season,
and that's disappointed to know.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
What I find is all that's sort of all.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
My point is, like it's gonna happen, You're gonna have
to play football, And I hear you, someone's got to
play these games.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
You know.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
Well, so I think for me it's more of a
personal thing where we are tasked with spending five to
six months talking about rosters as if they won't be
affected by injury, in ranking you know, skill position players,
ranking quarterbacks, ranking wide receivers, running backs, and then like
eight minutes into the preseason, most of what we talked
about is reduced to rubberts.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
It's the same thing week one. We know, whatever, it's
week one.

Speaker 5 (28:22):
It's like, cool, it happened in a game that mattered,
That's yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
I just think, all right, Jackson Smith and Jigba had
so much production at Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
He was a first round pick.

Speaker 4 (28:31):
I don't necessarily think that they needed the amount of
information about jack Smith and Jigba in order to play
him in the regular season that necessitated him playing in
the preseason.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
I think that.

Speaker 4 (28:42):
Time could have gone to somebody baby who maybe needs
more time in order to earn a spot not just
on the team, but maybe in the league long term. Sure,
maybe we don't necessarily need to see guys that we
know are going to play playing in the preseason.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
That's how I that's probably I basically agree with that,
But there is there is some level where I think
there's some players that probably it is useful to play.
Maybe they're not as far along, maybe they're young quarterbacks.
I don't even know what it is. And the point
is like one week, one week, week two happens. It's
like all these injuries are happening. That that that's a
shame as well. Let's get some developing news here. We're

(29:18):
throwing in a surprise. We're spending two much.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Time on Davis. Brocod stand sick. This is a weird one.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Corey Davis has let the Jets know he's stepping away
from football.

Speaker 5 (29:35):
I feel like he did that two years ago.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
But ouch, Look, he was locked in to making over
ten million dollars for this team. He was probably gonna
be their third or fourth receiver, and it sounds like
he might be retiring. Corey Davis, so a hit to
the Jets wide receiver group. Has I know I'm springing
this on you last second.

Speaker 6 (29:57):
Nope, sixty six catches over two seasons with the Jets.
I you know, like I think it were. We started
to see this about five or six years ago, where
like the concept of retirement has become so much easier
for players you're making enough money to have generational wealth,
and uh, there's more information about the long term negative
effects of playing football, and I think it's a what

(30:18):
are you going to do next with your career, with
your life? And these retirements come from younger players at
a higher rate than ever before.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
And he's notably someone that's that struggled with his health
and did get a healthy second contract. Solways in a
position too where he can feel a little more comfortable
with that. Yeah, reading the Instagram post, now it's clear
he is planning to retire, saying he's thought about it
for for a long time.

Speaker 4 (30:44):
I wonder do they does does Joe call the Browns
back and like, hey, how do y'll feel about a
loshit more? You want to do? You want to flip
fluff this back again? I'm just because court Davis was
going to play.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
I think so.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
I mean my immediately, my immediate thought was was there
any chance did he have any feeling that he wasn't
going to make this team? Potentially because they did bring
in Mkole Hardman, you have Lazard, you have Garrett Wilson.
It'd be tough to cut Randall Cobb. Well, you can't
annoy Aaron Rodgers with that. So that's four guys right there,

(31:18):
and three of them are or two of them are
on veterans contracts, so I don't know for sure. The
talk was that they were going to keep him and
happy trails to Corey Davis had some nice moments there
with the Titans as a speedster.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
Good luck with what you do next.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
I think it's time to take a little break and
we're going to get to our exciting segment, which really
is inspired by the New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers
some of the beautiful mysteries heading into twenty twenty three.
All Right, we are back and we're going to talk
about some of the things going to this season. We've

(31:56):
kind of talked about everything, Mark, haven't we at this point.

Speaker 6 (31:59):
Today or over the It's just like the last like
three or four week I feel like we've covered a lot.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
We've hit it up.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
I would say to you too, but you haven't been
here the whole time, Patrick, I know you.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yeah, So.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
I now that we're heading into the season, we're going
to do some big predictions. We have our around the
AFC NFC shows. Next week we're hoping to lock Patrick
back into a one week contract, a one week.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
Contract for one of those shows.

Speaker 3 (32:24):
Patrick, I know we're using you this week, but I'm
hoping to reach out to your agent and get you
back for that next week and we'll do the predictions.
So I was thinking, what do we do? What do
we talk about now? How about the things we don't
know anything about? Maybe it's the things we haven't talked
about much on this show. That's sort of how I
approached it too, But it's also the things that like
that's just a mystery to me, like going into the season,

(32:47):
I just don't know how to feel about it. It
doesn't matter how we've talked about it. It's a beautiful mystery.
That's what Aaron Rodgers said about his football future. I
think that was back in April. And I think we
got to start with Mark because when I think beautiful mystery,
I think.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
Oh, thank you man.

Speaker 6 (33:04):
You know how I like came up with like eighty
two topics here, So I'm gonna just fish for one.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
I think we don't have any.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Clear go around. I'm playing in like three or three
times sure, and we can keep it pretty quick.

Speaker 6 (33:14):
I don't have any like clear evidence that Todd Monkin
is a a plus play caller, or that this Ravens
offense in general has shown really anything to suggest that
this post Greg Roman world is exactly what they needed.
It was wonderful to change from Greg Roman, I think

(33:36):
on paper, because they're kind of hit an exhaustion point
with him. That happens with Greg Roman. But you know,
Lamar Jackson, coming off two disappointing seasons, you.

Speaker 5 (33:45):
Add Odell Beckham.

Speaker 6 (33:46):
I think you've got a much better wide receiver core
than you've had in the past. I don't know, like
running the ball the way they did worked for the Ravens.

Speaker 7 (33:54):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (33:54):
If you're gonna move to a pass heavy offense or
so called you know, more balanced offense, cool, it's got
to work. I just we've seen nothing in the preseason
that suggests to me that we know it's gonna work.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
No, I don't think they're gonna show that at all.
And that was a great, beautiful mystery to get us good.
I think you're right. I heard. Uh it's Collinsworth. Actually
he was on Mina Kimes's podcast. They listened to that episode,
and he thought that the Ravens were as maybe variable
as any team in the league. Like that they it
could actually go terrible. I don't see that happening. There's

(34:27):
such a good organization, they're so talented in terms of
their coach. Really terrible, right, But just like that, he
had questions about the defense too, that or they could
win the Super Bowl. He just thought there is a
huge range of outcomes for this team.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
And I think you're right.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
For a team that doesn't have a new head coach
or a new quarterback Week one, they are maybe at
the top of my list of like, I want to
see what this is gonna because they're not going to
show it in the preseason.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
We really have no idea.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
Yeah, I think the reasons for optimism right because they
had so much success on the defensive side of the ball,
and they change a coordinator, right, and Hardball's making that decision,
and I think ultimately they feel.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
Good about him.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
It was a very specific coordinator, Greg Roman, who really
there wasn't there wasn't like a Greg Roman tree out there,
you know what I mean, Like that was the only
Greg Roman offense.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
So it's going to be different.

Speaker 4 (35:13):
Yeah, And so now it's I think the subtraction part
right where it's no longer Greg Roman there were some
issues in the passing game with the concept guys were
in the same place you had pat Ricard running digs,
and it's like, wait, like this offense needs to grow,
it needs to change. I don't think having Todd Mankin
eliminates the capacity for them to run the ball in
the way that they have.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
It's differently maybe.

Speaker 4 (35:36):
Yeah, But there is that question of in terms of
calling the plays as a play caller. You're right, it
is a mystery. But are we going to find out
how much of a detraction like late stage, Greg Roman
was right and how much was he holding the offense back.
I think we will get an answer there, and maybe
we'll get an answer on Todd Munkin. Or maybe it's

(35:57):
just you have an exceedingly talented quarterback who got hurt
in the pocket. Like it wasn't like Lamar was out
there doing Lamar stuff and he got hurt like he
got hitting in the knee in the pocket, just like
anybody can.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
And so like, long term, what is this offense going
to be?

Speaker 3 (36:12):
And I could take some time too, It could be
something where after a week five there's some grumbling and
it catches fire by the end. I think It's a
good point though, about the running game, just because they
do have a healthy you know, assuming JK. Dobbins is
fine and Gus Edwards and Lamar just makes the running
game that much better and makes it easier on the
passing game. I'm gonna throw out a beautiful mystery. Let's gious,

(36:36):
and it's a team I'm trying not to be a
downer on, but I think I am a little lower
on consensus. But it's it's more that I just don't know,
And it's the Jacksonville Jaguars, like, are we sure that
they're gonna be taking this next step? I always am
a little wary of teams that finished the year really
strong and you just assume, Okay, that's how that team

(36:56):
is now. And I look at their defense and they've
had a couple of injuries lately, fully fought to Cossi's
had a cast on his arm, and more importantly, Davon Hamilton,
who they gave a big contract to one of their
best defensive linemen, has what sounds like a serious injury
that is indefinite and might be a non football injury.
He might end up on a list like I don't
know what's going on there. I look at their defensive

(37:19):
roster and they weren't a good defense last year.

Speaker 1 (37:21):
They didn't really add to it. I look at their cornerbacks.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
After their top guy Campbell, and I look at their
pass rush depth after Josh Allen, look at is Trayvon
Walker gonna make a jump? And I'm like, is this
possibly a bottom five defense? And if it is a
bottom five defense, are I that confident that Jaguars offense
is good enough to make up for it? I'm gonna
say it's a mystery to me. It's possible that Trevor

(37:46):
just continues to ascend and Ridley and they continued to
as send. But there's big questions on the offensive line,
and there's really big questions to me on the defense.
That's a lot of questions going into the season for
your boy Trevor Lawrence to make up for Patrick.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
There's a lot of questions. But there's even more questions
elsewhere in the division.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
Sure, but it's possible for everyone to be bad in
the division, Like they can still be mediocre.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
But the things that have to happen for those other
teams to leave Fraul with the Jags, I feel like
are a little more mysterious than like, well, can Josh
Allen stay healthy? Is is trev going to be as good,
if not maybe even better than he was a season
ago they had Tank Bigsby, we get a full season
of Travis etn hopefully, Like there's just less Jags questions

(38:31):
for me if I can assuade your concerns.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
Yeah, I disagree, But because they have Trevor then they
don't have that question.

Speaker 6 (38:39):
So also, it's not like the answer last year was
a strength and it's become a non strength. It was
not a strength last year, and so that's baseline. And
I feel like the Trevor Lawrence factor is like you
could give you know, a B minus director a great script,
it will probably still be a good movie. But you
give a good director a terrible script, good luck with that.
Like you've got the quarterback. The quarterback is the good

(39:01):
script like they were.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
I think, like, what if he's the good director, he.

Speaker 6 (39:05):
Could well Doug Peterson did a pretty good job with
that last year, and I mean he just grew as
much as any quarterback in the league next to maybe
justin fields. Like I think, like there's nothing about that
that felt half baked. It felt completely tangible. And you
know DVOA wise, like their offense over the final six
to seven games of the season was terrorizing teams, and

(39:27):
so I just like that as your court. Now they're
over under I think was nine point five. To your point,
crack Up was like tempted in that one episode to
go under because I don't think you're gonna get the
last five or six weeks of the regular season last
year just all over again necessarily. But to Patrick's point,
the environment is better than if you were stuck in
the AFC East.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
I hear that.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
I just I think it could be an environment where
the division standings look similar to last year. I was
gonna make this a whole AFC South thing, and then
I decided just to make it Jaguars or it's an
NFC South from a year ago. And like, if you
told me that the Jaguars are a little bit of
a letdown and they actually win the division winning eight
games or nine games like that, that feels possible to

(40:07):
me because I just think they're counting on trev to
do a lot.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
Give me a beautiful mystery, Patrick.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Okay, I'll give you a beautiful mystery.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
It comes out of my mind and trying to change
the way I feel about something because with players, the constant,
my constant idea is, well, both of these guys could
be good.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
I don't afford that leniency to coaches.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
And we saw a change in the offensive coordinator spot
in Dallas and now Mike McCarthy's calling plays. Kellen Moore
is over here across the street, and in my mind,
one of these coaches has to be good and another
has to be bad. But could the Chargers and Cowboys
both have top ten offenses. Everybody's good, it was just not.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Meant to be a win win.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
Is that possible? I think?

Speaker 6 (40:51):
I think absolutely, because first of all, like personnel wise,
they've got the makings of two top ten offenses. Mike McCarthy,
we've got a lot of history of him doing very
well at calling plays. But Kellen Moore also, Kellen Moore
is not like he didn't get. He got there was
a bit of a power issue there and things needed
to change. I think DA's meltdown led to some of

(41:12):
that too. You know, Kellen Moore to me, has proven
that he can do it. I like the idea of
Kellen Moore or anyone with Justin Herbert doing a better
job than last year's the coordinator in Los Angeles. I
just think, like I Kellen Moore also and Justin Herbert
are like legit close friends who have a shared background,
and like they've talked all along about they want to
tail really tailor things to make Justin Herbert comfortable in

(41:34):
the offense that was not happening last year. And so
I think it's arrow up on both teams.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
Kellen Moore, Yeah, I think both could be better.

Speaker 3 (41:41):
Con I just think the Cowboys are in a better
situation health wise and depth wise, and just like the
look of their team, and Kellen Moore, I like what
I've heard in terms of their running game. A little
more of a North South running game, A good, even
an average like first and second down running game would
really help Herbert. And I don't know what Kellen Moore
is doing behind the scenes, but I mean, forget brew
his arians he's the new quarterback whisper. I mean Dak

(42:04):
was like his best buddy pretty much, and now Justin
Herbert maybe he's learned just like if you if you're
friends with these guys, you're gonna have jobs forever.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
Tender yourself to a really good quarterback, good.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Right, And it wasn't even intentional because he was you know, Dak.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
I was there the day Kellen Moore unfortunately broke his ankle,
which led to Dak Prescott becoming the number one quarterback
of the Dallas Cowboys. Let's get another beautiful mystery.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Mark.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
So we are situated about one hundred feet away from
Sofi's stadium. We've talked about the Chargers. I think it
is a true mystery. Is it a beautiful mystery?

Speaker 5 (42:40):
Tbd? But who are the Rams? What on earth are
they going to look like?

Speaker 6 (42:44):
And I guess I'd be more down on the Rams,
except Sean McVay seems more delighted and joyful than really
ever before I know that there was. He's on a
personal journey to try to maybe have less of his
darkness spread over the whole team that things start to
go south. But he seems to be more, I guess
from a coaching angle, more jazzed up than I can
recall in a long time. But then you look at

(43:05):
the Rams roster and like talking of the Chargers running game,
they destroyed Los Angeles on the ground a couple of
weeks ago, and the Rams, to me seem very sort
of beyond Aaron Donald floating on that entire side of
the ball. Then you've got Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup
on an offense. It's pretty shaky too. And it's like,
do the Rams get eight or nine weeks into the
season and say we can shop some of these parts

(43:26):
if we want to truly get into a deeper rebuild
or is this the beginning of the beginning of the rebuild?
And like these young guys on defense gel and look
more surprising than we expected. I just have no concept
of what the Rams could be. I think they probably
five or six wins. But does Sean McVay have a.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
Trick up asleep?

Speaker 3 (43:43):
I'm with you on him being in a better mood.
There was this clip of him going around calling the
Rams game, because I think in this he gives up
play calling and he joins this. The broadcast right was
Andrew Worth, Andrews Siliano, our buddy Andrew, and he calls
the pick six that the Rams had in the second quarter,

(44:03):
and I got to say, Amazon offered I think McVeigh
all that money supposedly if we could get McVeigh to
announce Rams games as they're happening. We're really onto something
I would pay. I think they should pay a lot
of money, and I think that would be a fun
way to connect fans to the game.

Speaker 4 (44:23):
He also dropped an an S bomb on that on
that pall yeah during because I was watching the broadcast
as it happened, and I think he knows you're not
supposed to.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
But he also knows that as fans, we like we
like hearing that.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
Sure, it gives us a little like, oh, you know
this guy, this guy's being real, this guy's being alternate,
and I think he knows in that part of it
is fun. It's I'm glad to see Sean having fun
and not being like remote, like morose, like yeah, this
this may be my last game. Everything is bad, So
I like that. But also it is a complete mystery.

(44:57):
I wish I could help you, Mark, but.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
Yeah, I don't think an none of them helps. I
think we just don't know.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Defensively, it's insane.

Speaker 3 (45:03):
But then there's this idea, oh, the offense will be fine,
and like maybe, but we haven't seen Stafford a while.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Their number two receiver is Van Jefferson, and.

Speaker 5 (45:11):
How did they upgrade the offensive line?

Speaker 3 (45:14):
I think it is better. They took a Villa in
the second round. They made him an immediate starter. No,
Boom's healthy now and he's a guard. The other guys
have been there. Allen's healthy, they're healthier. I think they
have three guys back.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
Well, that was a that was a disaster a year ago.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
It was.

Speaker 4 (45:29):
They've been they've been happy about to two at well,
starting to show some problems.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
That's yeah, that's a beautiful mystery. We'll see.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
I'm gonna give a beautiful mystery. That's a little more
like league wide. Okay, it's a little more taking a
bird's eye view. Birds I view and the Rams are
a little related to this because I think they helped
start the trend of these vic Fangio acolytes spreading around
the league.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
Brandon Staley was one. We see him everywhere.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
Sorry, everyone playing this too high shell and playing essentially
to prevent the big play. That the whole point of
defense right now is to prevent the big play. And
it's begging you to run, and we want you to run.
And we've seen over the last year some teams go
too far in that direction, like the Chargers giving up
five and a half yards per carry and they just

(46:20):
they can't stop a nosebleed, and it's a problem. And
I do look at the league as a whole, and
there's a lot of these coordinators out there and just wonder.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
It's a cyclical league. No one system ever stays effective
for long. You think of the Tony Dungee Tampa too,
remember when that really spread out and then there was
kind of a tipping point where it was like everyone's
just hitting eight yard passes all over the Tampa two.
I think in this case, it's some teams running the
ball a little more, whether it's with wide receivers who

(46:51):
can block well, or whether it's with two tight ends,
and whether that shift is really going to start happy.
I think we saw a little bit of it last year.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
You certainly see the Eagles making it hard on some
of those defense But just as a league, a beautiful mystery.
If we're gonna just see a little more the run
game punishing these light boxes and the real man football comes.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
Back, I think it could happen.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
I think that's what Belatzik was trying to do back
in twenty one with Cam Newton already, and I think
there's going to be a little more that the Patriots
will be one of those teams this year.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
But it's a mystery.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
Yeah, we see the cyclical nature of things all the time.
It's just a question of when it happens.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
You know.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
I was referencing Don Martindale going to the Giants. He
still brings the heat, right, And I think maybe it
got to the point where Harbald saw the rest of
the league and says, hey, maybe we need to incorporate
these things. I also think it's probably a little cheaper
financially to design the defense that approaches things that way
than the attacking defense, because you have to pay corners,

(47:50):
you have to sure at drushers, and so maybe that
but at some point somebody is going to flip the
script and do something the rest of the lea not
ready for. It's just who who takes that risk.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
And I think it's just offensively making. Defenses have to
come up with answers when you have big personnel in there,
and it doesn't always have to be two tight ends
or anything or a fullback. It could be Robert Woods
and Cooper Cup who can just block on your outside
and you teach like the I think the Dolphins are
going to be a really good running team, and they've
got two lightweight ride receivers out there, but they also

(48:23):
have just geometry problems they create with those wide receivers,
and they're going to play a lot of two tight
ends that don't catch a lot of passes. I think
the Patriots, I think the Lions, I think the Packers,
I think the Browns. I think there's a lot of
teams out there that could just start punishing these looks.
And you saw the number the numbers for rushing last
year were up. It was more effective last year to

(48:43):
run the ball that has been for many.

Speaker 5 (48:45):
I could totally see that.

Speaker 6 (48:46):
I mean, I think also we're in a time where,
you know, I think of the play caller series that
Jordan Rodrige did, where right your head coaches now are
vastly offensive minded like that that was not the case
a long time ago. And I think that the environment
of your entire organization is innovative and we're gonna do
things differently and zig when other teams act. But I
also look at like what the Ravens did with you know,

(49:07):
at the outset of Lamar's starting rain and under Harbor
that where that was I thought incredibly inventive. And open
minded to just become a nineteen seventies team that hammers
people on the ground. But you didn't get twenty two
teams to copy them. Now, like I think in general,
like it's still a quarterbacks league. It's still gonna be
you're in too many situations where the passing game is

(49:27):
too effective and needed in certain situations. So sure, I
don't know if you're gonna get eighteen or nineteen teams
that suddenly turn us back two or three decades.

Speaker 3 (49:34):
No, but if the teams that are doing it, Atlanta
being maybe foremost among them, maybe it's bald to like
if the teams that Philadelphia certainly like, if the teams
that are doing it start to be more and more effective.
I think the Patriots are gonna try. I don't know
how effective it'll be, but I think they'll try.

Speaker 6 (49:50):
Maybe they gets to try not being completely boring to
the eye on offense.

Speaker 5 (49:54):
How about that.

Speaker 4 (49:54):
Maybe the thing that does finally go about the wayside
this season is like the early era Brandon Staley Chargers
mindset where it's, hey, you know, it's really hard to
run the ball four and a half yards, Yeah, every
single every single play, And then teams came out there
and did that, and then like he's still saying that,
maybe maybe we make some changes to get rid.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
Of that mindset.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
Right, you gotta have guys up front that are if
you're only going to have six guys in there, you
better have some great run blockers among those six guys. Uh,
let's go Patrick, and then let's let's wrap with a
speed round. Let's get a third round. But we'll do
it quicker.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Okay, somebody's gonna go worse the first.

Speaker 4 (50:34):
We know that. And it's a mystery right now. If
I'm just riding the high of the greatest preseason football
game of all time, is that team to watch?

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (50:46):
This was gonna be mine. That's good. I'm glad you
took it. We can just have this convo.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
They are a beautiful mystery. There is something about that game.
And I started thinking the team of atl and I
was like, Wow, how transgressive it be after years of
I at least said that.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
I you know, I don't hate.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
Any team except for one that there was one team
out there, But the source of that hatred is with
the ownership.

Speaker 1 (51:11):
It's gone.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
I'm like the Commandos fans out there that feel like reborn.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
And then I got Sam Howell slinging.

Speaker 3 (51:17):
I gotta admit I kind of like Sam how Maybe
Eric b Enemy actually runs a really fun offense.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
He's shown some fun stuff so far.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Like you've got a nice uh coach, you like, you've
got a defensive line that you like.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
I'm kind of feeling the command.

Speaker 5 (51:31):
First that is aggressive. The Eagles won six more games
than them a year ago.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
More and more.

Speaker 6 (51:38):
The Giants also went to the playoffs, So you're you're
gonna need a lot of calamity to occur to those
other three teams.

Speaker 3 (51:44):
Another team I think that would like to run the
ball quite a bit and play defensive and h Washington
power football Washington. Yes, I just think them as a
fun entity is such a value add potentially it is.

Speaker 6 (51:56):
My mystery would be more like, wait a minute, Sam Howell,
who we've kind of giggling at the concept of them
not really going out and getting a bide. Well, no,
but just in general, Washington under Ron Rivera's like we're
just gonna get by a quarterback where the rest of
the league seeks, uh, you know, a franchise starter. Sam
Howell looks really spicy. They've been saying all along, they
believe in him. You know, I thought this one game

(52:17):
sample size from a year ago wasn't enough to completely
convince me. But even just a couple of days ago
against the Ravens, I'm like, sure, I watched Sam Howell.
It's like the kind of quarterback I like watching. So
if he's watchable and he's productive, they're already there. Already
were a lot of parts on both sides of the
ball in Washington. So eight eight and one a year ago,
they can be better than that. They could win ten
eleven games in a best case scenario.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
He is a better version or a rich man's Baker,
which is to your point, you're kind of quarterbacks some big.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
Let's not let's not drown the hope already.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
No, I just think a better version, Like if it's
got to be a better runner. Obviously he's in a
more physical guy, but I think he's got some bakerish tendencies.
But like, if you could be a Baker that processes
it makes better decisions, I think you would have something talented.
All right, let's do let's do a speed round and
get out of here.

Speaker 5 (53:06):
Okay, you want me to go?

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Sure?

Speaker 6 (53:09):
All right, I wrote this down, but I kind of
think I already know the answer. Are the Raiders a
disaster or maybe good? I think they're a mess. But
my second question to that is we where the preseason
that the off season has been so long? Because you
had that famous rant they used that on GMFB. Well,
I went through all these other AFC teams. It's like,

(53:30):
are the Raiders better than any of these? And it's
like ten AFC teams? It's like not really. But then
I do wonder, if you know, Josh McDaniels worked forever
with Tom Brady. Tom Brady had a very fascinating origin story.
What if we're on the verge of an Aiden O'Connell revolution,
where we get it Jimmy G. I think people are
two down on Jimmy G. But what if Aidan O'Connell
can actually play was a fascinating college player, and like

(53:52):
we're six or seven weeks away from a Jimmy injury
where Aidan O'Connell comes in and makes the Raiders a
totally enjoyable product.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
This is the off season so long that now I
start going against the takes I had because we've sat
with him too long.

Speaker 1 (54:07):
I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
I'm sort of now like, oh, maybe the Raiders will
be in And I've gotten the other way with the Dolphins,
which was gonna be my last beautiful mystery, I'm gonna
skip that to it.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
It's like I was so.

Speaker 3 (54:15):
High on them at the beginning of the off season.
Now I'm like, maybe that actually that they won't be
that good. Let's I'm going to finish my beautiful mystery
with a player, Justin Fields, who is a to me,
a beautiful mystery because he's one of the greatest running
quarterbacks of all time in terms of his running ability.
We that was a surprise that he was that good
as a runner. He's sort of been a little opposite

(54:36):
of his profile coming out of school, like, yes, his
d backer is he's supposed to be great. We just
haven't had a chance to see a lot of it.
I don't know what to think about Justin Fields. I
think the ceiling is so high. I think the floor
is a little lower than I would like. I'm looking
forward to watching him play, but that offense, to me,
is a beautiful mystery, and I'm not I'm not confident

(55:00):
going into the season that he's gonna be great. But
if you told me he had a Jalen Hurts type
of year where he's in the MVP, Like.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
That wouldn't shock me either.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
So to me, Fields is just a mystery, especially what
they do in terms of the passing game, how they
do the running game this year.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
I'm not sure what we're gonna get.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
I'm confident you are.

Speaker 4 (55:16):
Yeah, I think he doesn't have Jalen Hurts type pieces around.
But like when you go from Equanimita Saint Brown being
your best option at Resus, yeah, J Moore, like I
have to.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
You're probably right. It's it's partly the Gatsy thing. It's
partly the I haven't felt overly confident with the tape
piece put out there. Passing the ball not as good
as there.

Speaker 6 (55:37):
Hasn't been like great glowing reporting around Fields over the
past month plus. It's been a sort of a strange
preseason for him.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
It always but it's all there for him to know
it is right.

Speaker 6 (55:47):
It always concerns me though, when like ninety eight percent
of the people just assume he's gonna be Jalen Hurt's
growth process, Like we don't know that, Like just because
there's someone that we saw do that doesn't mean that
he can't accept at least half of his game. I
thought he got better as a passer, first of all,
if he really did, I think that's a little bit
slept on. Like doing QB Index, there was no quarterback

(56:09):
that people would reply on X and my mentions and say, like,
this guy actually stinks. You keep rising him up the
rankings and like, no, he's devastating people with his legs,
And can he grow as a passer? Like shouldn't most
quarterbacks be growing as a passer from year two, three four?

Speaker 4 (56:23):
And also he was making those scrambled decisions on passing plays,
so like that's a part of the passing game.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
So I think it's yes to include that he is
as Mike Vic like on just like a scramble. And
I know his different body types can run over a
guy like Vic caun't, but as Mike Vic like on
just a scramble when he decides to do it, as
anyone since Lamar's at that level or better, but he's
just a different sort of player.

Speaker 4 (56:48):
Yeah, My beautiful mystery is a former mystery which was
not a mystery at all before it's Michael Thomas. I
think the Saints can win a whole lot of games,
am am, I out of my mind to think Michael
Thomas could have one hundred receptions in twenty twenty three
and if.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
He stayed healthy, that's the that's the mystery.

Speaker 5 (57:07):
Sure, I don't think you're out of your mind.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
I think it's forty.

Speaker 5 (57:14):
He's done it. Well you did you do that at
that moment, but he's done it.

Speaker 6 (57:19):
But it's like I can't think of too many like
Hall of Fame type careers that went completely south because
of health, and it's like where is his body?

Speaker 3 (57:27):
It also might be tough just because I think Olave
is the one there. He's so good and Juwan Johnson's
gonna get his share. But if you if you told
me Michael Thomas plays seventeen games, I would I don't
think it over under at like eighty is wild at all.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
And that's that's that's in the ballpark.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
Caught a lot of balls.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
That that's fair. That is it. We've we've hit the
beautiful mysteries. Thank you, Eric, I am class the.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Chimes was that a was that a tuning fork on
one of them? I didn't know what that tone was.
It was like, I have no idea that it's a
beautiful mystery.

Speaker 3 (58:09):
It is a beautiful mystery. No mystery. What Thursday show
is gonna be? It's an annual favorite of the around
the NFL listeners. It's the hot butt rankings Andy heading
into this season and Dan will be back for that.
You know, he's not missing the hot butt ranking.

Speaker 6 (58:24):
You can't miss the Ravens streak ending and hot butt
would be we'd be concerned about now.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
Yeah, well he would need to like file a missing person.

Speaker 5 (58:32):
Yes, that would be a mystery.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
So we will be back on Thursday with those hot
butt red kids for for Mark Sessler, Patrick Claibone, I'm
just gonna go ahead.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
I'm gonna say goodbye right now. He the call