Power Rankings Podcast (with Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler)

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal and Colleen Wolfe bring you all the latest news from around the league, starting with Cam Newton throwing at Auburn's Pro Day (5:36). Trade talks surrounding DeAndre Hopkins are heating up (9:39), Lamar Jackson has a non-NFLPA certified representative (14:06), Roger Goodell is expected to sign an extension (17:14), the Texans have made some more moves (19:58), Dont'a Hightower announced his retirement (22:58), and we finish up the news with some Odds and Ends (27:05). Then, the show is transformed into the Power Rankings Podcast for an update on where teams stand in direct comparison to each other (30:56).

Note: timecodes approximate.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
They around the NFL podcast. I am annoyed now from
the Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's around the NFL. I
am Dan Hansis. I got heroes all over Mark Sessler.
Let's try something different, Mark Sessler. And then the person

(00:20):
says something very quickly, Mark Sessler, happy to be here
always every day, but something truthful? Right? That wasn't quick enough, ye,
Colleen Wolf, I'm always annoyed. Now the song's over. I
mean it's got to end before the song. Well, yeah,
i'd workshop my response if I knew that was coming.

(00:41):
We're gonna try it again in exactly two months, okay,
with no warning, So just have something in the can ready.
Now we're on season eleven of like a sitcom where
now they just said the writer's room is like, they
don't know what to do, so they just start throwing
stuff against the wall just to keep themselves entertained. I
think we arrived there long before today. Connie. This is

(01:02):
the summer of Connie. I know it's confusing to people.
It is southern California and really the West Coast in
general getting battered by rainfall and storms repeatedly. I'm freezing.
Does that cut into the Summer of Connie. Does that
affect it in any way? Yes, this has been a
really bad launch to the Summer of Connie. If I'm
being I mean, you're here every week. That's a problem too.

(01:24):
I'm asking you guys if I could come on the
show because I am just sitting at my house watching
the rain come down, so I'm availables. What about the
old wisdom that April showers bring May flowers. Why it's
March twenty second right now my lawn has slugs in
it and it was like dead, just like a couple
months ago. It was just hey, and now from the

(01:47):
rain there's actually slugs. But all that dog yearn will
take care of that. Though in time it will offset,
it will offset it. Just think when I introduced you, Mark,
you could have simply said April showers bring May flowers
and the place would have went off off the roof
of the time when you need to lean on the
wisdom of a nursery rhyme or whatever, that would be
that type of text truth truth, truth, All right, Thursday Show,

(02:11):
we've lost I could just stopped talking at some point
Wednesdays Wednesday, congratulations, you're wearing your Tokyo Swallows jersey first
time in the Sadden in the closet, it was like,
I've I've never worn this. This is the day. Did
you uncover it in the move Japan the WBC shoots

(02:33):
you figured it out, Colleen. I threw out a lot
of clothes and I was like, no, this is cool.
Actually I'm going to keep this, And now's the time
because my guy Murakami, who is on the Swallows big hitter.
So you are like the Japanese team. You are cemented
as one of the biggest fair Weather fans of all time.
You literally had the jersey housed inside your closet and
you're wearing it now that the World champions. Wow, this

(02:54):
is technically the team in Tokyo that Amico was a
season ticket holder too, as a kidneys every year to
their games. I can't say I'm an everyday fan. I've
watched a great fan, watched six innings of baseball this year,
and I'm yeah, I'm just a die hard fan now.
And did you when you were laying out the shirts

(03:16):
this morning, were you concerned it all about the cultural
disconnect of wearing the jersey that just giant block letters,
says swallows across them. Now, I think everyone could handle that.
We know, we know where the swallows come from. The
it's a boyd. Right, it's a bird. Yeah, it's a
boy They travel north to That's actually how my grandfather

(03:37):
spoke a bus driver from the Bronx. Yeah it was
not a bird, it was a boyd. Yeah. Um, all right,
we got a good show coming up. Baba, rest in peace.
We are going to Hey, Connie. Remember remember baba also
the Japanese word for grandmother. So there's a lot of
this is unbelievable. Stop staring at I'm going cut my

(04:01):
shirt back. Iron No, don't make himself conscious? No no, no,
don't do it great, don't love it. Stand up your song, Colleen.
You and I did a little thing called Power Rankings
podcast during the season. Um, the Power Rankings returned this
week on NFL dot com. How about that. I didn't

(04:21):
get a call to do a show though, what either? Okay? Cool?
And I didn't check in. I didn't check in with
the Powers to Be either. I was like, okay, how
they love how'd it feel? Dipping back in a little weird?
It's tough, Just like when we did Winners and Losers,
a free agency with Bill Barnwell, it's like, man, how
certain do I feel about any of these teams right now?
But the machine needs content it does so I did

(04:43):
my best, and I did go through them again after
I finished writing him, after I you know, went out
live and you know, I did the NFL now Siciliano
and I didn't check in to see if we even
had to do a podcast. I went through it again
this morning and I was like, Okay, what jumped out
to me during the rece church and writing process, and
we'll go through it and you guys can push back
and say what I blew, because I actually think and

(05:04):
this happens all the time. I blew a few right
off the bat. I was like, why why is that
team there? Who wrote this? And it was literally two
days ago. Well, it's a tricky time of year because
now are you spinning forward to who's going to be
good in twenty twenty three? Us like who played well?
As exactly? I love it. I love the debrief the regrets,
all right, but first let's do some Newstis randoms. That

(05:36):
is the voice of Cam Newton. I want to know
who the randoms are. Uh. I think we could guess.
I think basically almost every backup that got a job
in the past week in free agency probably the target
of his probably fuse like Taylor Heineke that way, it
feels a little No, he's not a random. He's he's
a lot of things, but he's not a random. I

(05:58):
think it's Nickier stid up Here's I mean the thing
about it is And you remember West famously had a
term for Cam Newton. He called him do you remember
Mark Stege? I believe And Cam's interesting because I was

(06:18):
never a big fan of him, and then when he
later in his career, he felt more like it was
maybe a little humbled a little bit, and he didn't
quite have the tools anymore, and he was just kind
of grinding through that Patriot season and then that forgettable
final five starts with the Panthers, and then you hear
that drop and it's like, oh, that's the old, that's
the old Cam. Um a little bit of a disconnect though,

(06:40):
because he's kind of a random now. I mean, he's
not a random. You can talk ability. He is a
term of ability influence and sort of his career path.
He's kind of iconic, like he's a player people will
remember forever. At this point though, he's he's a right,
one of the best college football seasons of all time,

(07:02):
but he's I don't recognize. I don't think he's getting
a job. He's thirty four now, and I think that
Carolina season was probably his last one, right, I guess
I meant, you know, more, it's a fraternity of the QBS,
and he's obviously a far away off from twenty fifteen
at this point. You know, well, he's getting older and
the players again younger. But I'd say also that like
even there still during that humble era that you mentioned,

(07:24):
he still was coming to you know, the podium in
like a grandmother's cardigan and the fedora. So it was
like it wasn't a total mind. Would I trust Cam
Newton for one game over Drew Locke, who got four
million dollars from the Seahawks somehow that was a sneaky,
terrible contract in free agency? Yes, I would. I would, okay,
agree to disagree, but I don't think either you would

(07:47):
be in a good position with either player. But we'll
see if anything comes to that. He did throw at
the Auburn Pro Day through to his brother. In fact,
how did the brother do. That's what I want to know.
I think he caught some football. Okay, the media afterwards,
there's always the other Cam Newton in our league that
whenever you try to, like say there was a disaster

(08:08):
like a guard or something, the other Lamar Jackson's like reporters,
here's a public service announcement. Stopped doing the Lamar Jackson joke.
It keeps happening. It's like Lamar Jackson just went on
waivers and nobody claimed them to stop. Terrible tweet. Um,
let me hear just a little more Cam J. Hottis
randoms chickens though obviously I can't wait. Oh, I love

(08:38):
You can't tell me that he would, No, that's love
him in a lock around. He's a showman. Is you
can't tell me you put him next to Terry Bradshaw
and Fox on Sundays. I just feel like he would
fit in that. The just feel like heians closet and
he pulls out the cardigans. I don't know why we

(09:00):
still need Terry Branshaw on that that equation, but Terry's
just collecting those paychecks. Maybe Terry will come up in
our conversation on NFL Media with Andrew Marshawn to The
New York Post tomorrow. Probably not, but he could. And
one last cam note. I had completely forgotten about that.
He had he invented his own font. Remember that. Oh yeah,
it showed up and this announced and I was like, Bro,
you're still doing that. Thinks dedication to create a language.

(09:24):
Let's get to Let's get to the news, Starting with
a report from our friend Ian Rappaport, who reported on
Tuesday regarding DeAndre Hopkins. I'll read the tweet as the
status of Cardinal star DeAndre Hopkins comes into focus, Talks
are ramping up among the interested team. Sources say, similar

(09:47):
to Brandon Cooks, a trade would likely mean an altered contract.
All right, Greg, we know you're in a quiet war
with agents right now. Now, even though you have an agent.
I'm just I'm just try kind of, you know, present
the little guy's side. It's agents and the big media
versus everyone that's always been your stock and trade to

(10:08):
code this tweet because obviously this is in in contact
with his sources, possibly and probably agents. Right well, I
think it's DeAndre Hopkins and his agent sort of trying
to get it back out there that Hey, Okay, first
wave free agency happened. They have been having these talks obviously,
you know, I don't think rap sheet in the agent

(10:29):
are making this up and like trying to put it
back front and center as like we wanted this to
happen this week. Put your best offers on the table.
I'm sick of sitting around when I see Brandon Cooks
and some of these other deals happen. It's about it, Like,
let's get it back into the conversation now, this is
a good, nice, quiet weekend. Yeah, that was kind of
my my thought on it. Connie, Like I saw the report,

(10:49):
I saw it get aggregated everywhere, and then I looked
at the report again, I looked at the tweet again.
I was like, what does this actually mean? Too? Is
maybe he's willing to take a pay cut, is what
I read into that. And then I also saw the
Browns are not interested in him. There was a lot
of people that were talking about maybe some type of
reunion with Deshaun Watson. But if there was going to

(11:13):
be a possible deal, the Panthers would be really interesting
to have him and Adam Feelin there with I mean,
who knows who the quarterbacks but yeah, that would be nice,
but that's also that's a thirty year old new than
a thirty three year old Dealers, If I want to
put DeAndre Hopkins into a scenario where you don't know
who the quarterback is going to be, it could be

(11:34):
a rookie. You could have to play Andy Dalton for
a while. Andy Dalton and DeAndre Hopkins don't feel like
a complete marriage to me. I think DeAndre Hopkins has
to go. There's probably a smaller list of teams, and
we're getting closer to the draft where I think if
you're him in his camp, you don't want some of
these teams feeling good about their wide receiver room because
they drafted Guy A b or Ce, even though it's
not a great draft for that, the Patriots reportedly have

(11:57):
been sniffing around. They seem like the most logical. I
think he talks about Belichick's like adoration of Hopkins. There's
something that goes a long way there. I think they're
in a similar spot to the Packers with Aaron Rodgers,
but you know, have less leverage, which is just like
the Cardinals aren't in a particular hurry. What do they
care about being in a hurry. If they have to
wait till April to feel like they're going to get

(12:18):
the best draft pick possible, then they'll wait till April,
and they're probably not getting a second round offer. I
believe if there was any team out there that was
going to give up a second round pick, I think
they would just say the same thing happens every year.
Like six weeks ago, two months ago, we did a
segment and we were floating trade ideas and it was like, yeah,
nuke for a first, that makes sense, a late first,

(12:38):
and then all of a sudden, you get to this
time of year and it's like, maybe he gets a second,
maybe a third. The veterans in the trade market seem
to fetch less than you think. Brandon Cooks got a
fifth and a sixth. And I'm not saying that the
same player, but Brandon Cooks isn't is I would say,
maybe I take them over Deanna Hopkins and the way
we as fans and would not. But I hear you,

(12:59):
I'm depends what team. It's debatable, but a third, you know,
I know he's turning thirty one and that that's a
little bit of a concern. A PD suspension followed by
a bit of an injury plague up and you know,
up and down season. There's things that I love you man,
he said, I love you man. It's years ago. But
like the Broncos are sandy want, there's the Jerry Judy
is going to command like a first or a second.
Give me a break. How would you ever, Jerry Judy?

(13:22):
I could see it more because at least at least
he's young. I think Jerry Judy would have higher value
and you don't have him for much money, whereas Hopkins
costs a lot of money and is older. For the record,
mark that Nuke Belichick sound was from this past season.
When did I say years ago? Well that was last year.
I felt like years ago. Multiple it was the Monday

(13:42):
Night Football Classic. Uh, Cardinals Patriots. I don't have my
arguments idea of what was happening literally one year ago today,
or who I was, or who the Giants were. So
that's a weird ten. The Giants getting the drop um
all right? In other New Years, Lamar Jackson, Oh, the saga,
the saga continues. Your old boss Florio greg is hot

(14:06):
on this story. He's into it. And here's a report
from Pro Football talk that Lamar Jackson. Per multiple sources,
a representative for the quarterback has contacted more than one
team and an effort to this is Florio's writing spark
negotiations had aimed at a possible offer sheet. The rep
is not certified by the NFL Players Association. As the

(14:30):
source explained it, the person has said that Jackson does
not want to fully guaranteed contract. Some regard this, continuing
to read Mike Florio's writing this as a possible exercise
in semantics, with Jackson still wanting a very significant, significant
amount of fully guaranteed money with one or more non
guaranteed years on the back end. Mark Sessler, is this

(14:52):
our guy? Is this our dude? Is it the Saint?
I don't know, but I hope it is. If you
were to line up a list of suspects, I mean,
st Omni's got to be on that list, if not
the top of the list. Love this. The one little
thing is we talked about how Saint Omni helped Laramie
Tunsel in that stame like PFT reporting, Laramie Tunsel tweeted
about Saint Omni in quotes he was with me every

(15:14):
step of the way. That's an agent, and like basically
the agents are going nuts because it's like you're not certified.
Um you like certified agents have to buy like malpractice
insurance and go to all these union meetings and all
this other stuff, and Saint Omni is just floating in
on a spaceship and sealing the deal. I kind of
love it, but I don't see why they don't love it, right.
I think it's in violation of the CBA though, And

(15:36):
then the end of you mean the CBA that's negotiated
between the union and the NFL. Yes, and in the
union that's working with Lamar Jackson to get a deal done.
But if Greg is all over this agent thing, like
Greg's mentor Mike Florio is like doubly all over it,
where like he is writing the NFL asking why is
no one doing anything about Saint Omni and they aren't

(15:57):
responding to him. He's on the other side of it.
He's on the pro agent side. Uh. It's also, though,
the same place where we were reporting all the agents saying, look,
if Lamar had an agent, we'd be tampering the hell
out of this. We'd be breaking all the rules that
now we care about. They're just mad that he skipped
all the Zoom meetings. It's like Satan Obley doesn't have
to go to the compliance plan, Like, well, it's definitely

(16:18):
like you're not in our group and you're doing all
this lags. Wait, he wasn't at the town hall, right exactly,
he doesn't get to get the benefits. Um, I mean
nothing about this. They were mad about Lamar for not
sort of selling himself around and the appairs. It appears
someone is doing it now, and the semantics of whether
like it's illegal or not, I don't think are going

(16:40):
to matter in the end. It's more matters like is
someone going to do something about it? Colts someone? Yeah,
it is. It's moving so slow. I don't know if
this means that he is in a situation where he's
like not panicking, but I mean now he's reaching out
to other options to try and get things moving. He
knows that he needs to. But I guess the longer

(17:01):
he waits, the more leverage he kind of has. Right
in other news, speaking of leverage, speaking of guaranteed dollars,
our boss on some level, Roger Goodell on a very
concrete level, right, I love that Roger Goodell and NFL

(17:24):
owners are expected to finalize a multi year contract extension
for the commissioner at next week's owners meetings in Phoenix. UM.
This is Roger Goodell's fourth extension or it will be
UM since becoming commissioner, taking over for Paul Tagliabu in
September of two thousand and six. UM Greg Goodell obviously

(17:46):
has the faith of ownership across the league to continue
to get these extensions and the big paycheck that goes
with it. Hey, Roger, that was about you know, that's
February nineteenth birthday. Boys have to stick together, me and
Rog and I'm hoping for a similar type extension at

(18:07):
a similar level. There was reports years ago that this
was going to be his last contract, and I think
we've heard the reports. Always happened, It's happened a couple
of times. And then you get to the end and
they're like, you know what, Roger Goodell has been really
great at making us a ton of money, and they
all want to keep him, and it's tough for him,

(18:27):
like like many players when they get towards the end
of their career and they think maybe they're going to retire,
and then they get offered a great amount of money
to keep it rolling. So next stop, Roger Goodell, Let's
figure out what's going on with the old NFL media. Yeah,
I mean that would be the next bullet point, I guess.
I mean, this isn't a secret thing. He's talked about
it that they've you know, had these you know, putting

(18:48):
it out there, trying to get a partner, and so
I'm just curious what's gonna happen. It's weird because he's
always seemed we are invested in that outcome. Yes, he
seemed younger than me, but he'll be older if he
if he goes through the end of this extension, which
he be sixty eight, that's five years older than Pete
Roselle was and three older than Paul Taglibu, who both
Taglibo always seemed older than me than you know Goodell.
By the assignm in Arizona outside of the coffee shop,

(19:10):
as I was walking Watanabe's son, who is by the way,
a huge tokyo swallows fan Uther sat Taglibu walking by
what a large man he works out he does not
look young now, um exactly? Yeah, Yeah, I think that
he can have this job basically as long as his

(19:31):
if he continues on this course, if he gets in.
There's a new report from ESPN about one of the bidders,
Canadian businessman uh for the Washington Commandity. I mean, if
he gets Snyder out the paint and gets a big
stadium and billionaire owner there, I think that's one of
the best moments of Goodell's career. It feels like he's
he's helping that long time coming. All right, let's take
a break and we'll be right back. All right, we're back.

(19:54):
In other news, the Houston Texans continue to build up
their roster ahead of the very likely new quarterback to
come with the second overall pick. They signed running back
Devin Singletary, formerly of the Bills, one year, three point
seven five million. He will join a backfield with Damian Pierce,
who looked very good in his rookie season. They also

(20:17):
I like this move. They signed tight end Dalton Schultz,
formerly of the Cowboys, one year, nine million dollars. So
there you go. This is a team that Yes, justin
just moments ago, as you were teeming that up, the
Texans signed former Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman to a one
year contract as well. As Variants twenty twenty one, very

(20:41):
active time for Houston. Your thoughts, Mark, Well, I think it's,
you know, you want to create an environment where the
rookie quarterback you bring in who is you know you've
got Case Keen and who could start the season. But
build a good environment. And it's been a terrible environment
for a long time, and you just move Brandon Cooks
and so your light on wide receivers. But I liked
their backfield, Dalton Schultz, Laramy Tunsil across from Titus Howard,

(21:04):
a tackle with Shack Mason at guard. Their offensive line
was a disaster for a long time, Like they are
starting to build the semblance of an infrastructure to put
a rookie quarterback in there. And I do think that
the difference is you don't have another one of these
one and done coaches that are propped up as total
fall guys. You got Damiko Ryan's who the players already love. Yeah,
And Dalton Schultz He's going to be perfect for whoever

(21:26):
they bring in there at quarterback as a security blanket.
I mean, he did great things with Dak Prescott and
I'm kind of surprised because Dak loved throwing him. He
was one of his best targets or most reliable targets.
So I think that this is going to be. This
is a nice little, nice little sign in here for
you want you asked me like a month ago, nice job,

(21:48):
Like I what do I consider a win for this
top one O one list? Like you could look at
the Dalton Schultz the lack of a market as an
owl because I had him super high up and I
was really surprised by that. I was shocked how why
by that he didn't get more money because he got
the whole up to nine million dollars. I don't know

(22:08):
what's up with the up to this year everything has
turned to up too, which is just a way to
not say their real salary, which I think based on
reports we haven't gotten the details. It's gonna be like
Mike Kasecki, which is about half of nine million dollars
and with a bunch of incentives. I'm shocked at Schultz
and Gasecki didn't really get much money, didn't get a
lot of interest. They misread their market and like hayden

(22:30):
Hurst got way more than both of them. I like
these moves through the Texans. They're like real live NFL
offensive starters. So the tight end class this year is
really deep and really talented, So that actually makes sense.
I think teams are waiting for that. And like Schultz
is a great snack, she needed a comeback take and

(22:50):
she got it. Um all right. And before we hit
odds and ends and hold on to your butts for that,
let's listen to one of the forgotten important plays in
recent Super Bowl history. Out of the shotgun, Ryan gets hit,
Paul is out. This is a fumble. Do anyone hasn't

(23:13):
high Tower knocked it out? And Prance recovers for the Patriots.
That was Donta High Tower of the New England Patriots
in Super Bowl fifty three, the twenty eight three game.
It was twenty eight twelve at that moment with eight
minutes to play in the fourth quarter of the Patriots.
Then it's to play this third and one? They should
call at the twenty eight to twelve and eight minutes

(23:33):
to go on a third and one game. I know
that's not as good as it's even more remarkable than
just how about this, Greggy. I thought we were teeing
up a different highlight because he donta High Tower linebacker
retired yesterday officially. He made the tackle on Marshawn Lynch
at the one yard line before the Russell Wilson interception

(23:57):
by Malcolm Butler, And we were sitting in that stadium
high up, and when Marshawn got that ball, it looked
like he was going in and that would have put
New England behind in that game with less than a
minutes player about a minute to play. That to me
was like v play but another great Patriot. The man

(24:17):
was called Mister February by no Leston Bill Belichick, and
that play, those two plays actually kind of summarized Dante
High Tower well because he was a big guy who
could blitz. He was the only linebacker on the field
in that Rams game where they held him to three points,
six guys up front, one linebacker, because he could do
it all blitz, run, stop, And that play where he
stopped Lynch, like he has the center on him and

(24:41):
he disengages from that block and tackles one of the
toughest guys to tackle in the league, Marshawn Lynch, just
a yard before, and like they literally don't win those
two Super Bowls without Dante Hyde. I think like the
performance against the Rams is undersold because of those two
other games he dominated Jared Goff. The Rams didn't get
past New England's twenty six yard line, and it had

(25:03):
a lot to do with how tigeh Tower, how he
was dispatched. He missed the Eagles Super Bowl with a
torn pectoral. You have to wonder looking at that game
with the fact that you're right. Belichick called to mister February,
what happens in that insane back and forth contest if
you have high Tower in there, because he's simply he
delivered every Super Bowl there was the same result happened. No,
I don't not at all. You get High Tower in

(25:28):
folks face. You know, Greggy, the Patriots may not be
special anymore, but you're all the kind of various homecoming
anniversary halftime that's part of having this great run like
they had for twenty years. Um, those are gonna be
They're always gonna be lit. Bro, You're gonna have so
many big time guys that you get to roll out

(25:49):
as a Yankee fan with old timer's day you have.
You have the same thing, especially like from the fifties
and sixties, those runs. So it would be like Brady
is DiMaggio man in general, like all the other guys
like Devin mccordy retired also, and he was another vital
cog in the Patriots machine. He will be coming out
of that tunnel. You guys will always have that and

(26:10):
I believe it's later is back. He's you know, their
core special teamer. But mccordy and high Tower retiring this
offseason does feel like kind of okay, this is really
the end of the last embers of the players that
were there for the titles. Do they still have the
like the old Yankees? Am I misremembering this as a kid?

(26:31):
Like the old Yankees would come out and play like
a squad verse squad game. Yes, slightly depressed, but they
still is that they shelved that at this point or
do they still bring like forty nine fifty five year
old sixty two year old players out actual gray beards.
They do. Yeah, they bring them out and they play
like three innings. But you can do that in baseball,
that's a nice thing. You can't nice. Try doing that
in football pads Like, Yeah, the less said about that,

(26:52):
the better that would be. All right. From one depressing,
scary situation and to odds and ends. Connie. Oh god, okay,
different kids. I don't know if I have another key,
you have another key. It's any of the time. All right,
let's go high three. Okay, I don't think I can
go ends. Everybody tell your friends. Ends. Oh it was

(27:18):
very good. But where was the when it's Colleen? Though?
It really hasn't here. It's not ominous. It was really funny.
It's happy. It's happy, as Greg said, I thought, because
Colleen's here, it's like it's a little more pleasant. What
is What are these conversations that I'm missing? There were
now conversations. There was a synth there. You just didn't

(27:43):
quite catch it. No, Dan's gonna have to talk to
you after the show. Breakdown in communication. Uh, justin Graver,
please report to the principal office. Doctor Hanzas will see you.
I did send you a bunch of options and you

(28:04):
never got back. It's good that that will be struck
from the record though. All right, odds and ends here
we go. Okay, do we do eight o'clock de light
with odds and ends? Yeah? Yes, all right, hit it? Please.

(28:26):
The Bills make a move, adding Damien Harris to their
backfield former Patriot. Great move. A lot of juice. It
was terrific two years ago. More on the Bills in
a moment. Yeah, don't let it stop you from getting
Derrick Henry Dante Fowler returns to the Cowboys, Connie, Oh,
oh my gosh. Yeah, he did a great job last year.

(28:47):
I think that he is going to be able to
do a good one. Mark Michael Parsons to Marcus Lawrence,
come on, let's go. Ronald Jones also there. I guess
he replaces Zeke. Ben Roethlisberger claims the forty nineties contacted
him last year. Mark, I mean they went after Jimmy Gee.
They would asked about Tom Brady, they asked about Aaron
Rodgers in years past, they pulled a trade for trade

(29:07):
for Trey Lance. I think they probably don't know why
the claimed it. We just assume that Ben Roths is
lying on the radio about this. I think it a
weird thing. You know why why because Greg wrote that, Yeah,
I know from early was Ben Roths proclaims the FOURT
like why would you just come on? Aaron believes not

(29:30):
that high octane of a thing to say, Like, so
we're assuming you're coming from the place you think he's lyned.
I think as journalists you want to have Devil two.
Maybe if it's if it's a choice between Cam and Ben.
The Pats bring back Jalen Mills eighty Goldman unretired to
join the Falcons, Andrew van Ginkl returns to the Dolphins.
Isaiah McKenny McKenzie joins Colts David Blau back with Cardinals.

(29:53):
The blowhards us a chance to start I think week one.
I don't know if Colt mcquib will be there. M
I don't think he has a chance to start a
week one. I mean, I hope not. Geez, you're right,
Tyler Murray, who's not going to play for a month
plus and you've just signed another quarterback a chance? Okay,
that's fair. I guess I'm just trying to think week one.

(30:15):
That is a tough sitch. Yeah, unless you're trying to
go unless you're doing the old desert tank job. What
is it? And what is the old? Uh? You learned
it in journalism class, Greg going muck raker. They would
put out like actual newspapers of like you know, yellow journalists,
yellow journalists. All right, are you ready, let's take a break,

(30:39):
get some power Rankings. All right, well come back, you're ready, ready,
let's go. I've never been more. Let's let's let's rush
and doll this bit. All right? Go? What hey? Welcome
to NFL Power rank Is presented by Energizer. Is that

(31:01):
what we're doing? Yeah? Well, I don't know if we
needed the presenting sponsor, but sure batteries with Colleen Wolf
and two very special guests today, Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler.
What's up. It's a pleasure to be here on your
guys weekly periodic pod about the Power Rankings recreg Yeah,
what took so long to ask us? I think it's

(31:24):
important to set boundaries. You know, I didn't think you
guys would want to be coming in for a Tuesday
Power Ranking stamping and then do what Connie and I did,
which is a turnaround and drill a Tuesday around the
NFL taping by that take at all, But we'll proceed
forward with the today's show. Also, I've heard Mike Flame

(31:45):
mister F might be available for an offseason sponsorship. He
let me know personally. He's an expert in escra hester.
We've always wondered about mister F and what his true
background is, where he gained immens wealth and traveling the
world still in the Hague. He is literally a math

(32:08):
genius from Hague, the Netherlands, so knowing Escrow wouldn't be
that far out of bounds. He's now in Maine. It's true.
It's all math to him, so he's in exactly, it
put him on retainer, so he's an Escrow math genius.
I mean, I know he'sn't genius enough to be teaching,
you know, hungry high school students about economics and math

(32:28):
and mathematical. He's laughing at this because he's like, Escrow's
not complicated, and of our listeners are like, who's mister
f Go back to season by all right? Power Rankings. Yes,
there's a new power rankings up written by me on
NFL dot com. You can find at NFL dot com

(32:50):
slash power Rankings or NFL dot com slash hands us.
And yes it's a an assignment. Did you ever get
assigned by the way Mark the QB index post free
agency post free agency? Yeah, I have not, and I
would rather you not bring that up, as you have
to say though, because I was thinking about why why not?

(33:12):
Like I don't think it makes as much sense for
QB index scenes changed, like what why why are we
putting like Ryan Tannehill in terms of its own personal
performance since it did it four weeks. If I could
let me just say, like if Ali he's not going
to these teams, these players, the quarterbacks that have switched teams,

(33:32):
they change schemes, UH playmakers around them, I think maybe
a pretty thorough deep dive about their new UM arrangements,
how it could change where they fit UM in the
league as as a whole. I think it's worth it
well right because QB Index isn't just a ranking, and
it's like a culture, it's a way of life. And
in the off season sometimes when you don't do the rankings,

(33:54):
you can still have interesting looks at the QB market.
There's a lot of time about I don't entirely disagree
with the concept. I don't know why the two of
you are trying to take us, you know, a week
day of mine and completely wash it aside. Like where
did Patrick Mahomes finish number one? Okay, no left tackle?
Right now? You lose Juju Smith Schuster. I mean I

(34:16):
would assume he's probably still number one, but let's discuss it.
Let's break it down nine. All right, let's get into it,
because I did have to do this assignment and which
makes entirely more sense. Yes, it does, it really does.
Such it feel more urgency on that front then, So
let's kind of go through it already. It's not me

(34:38):
from today. If you're trapped in your car, if I
hope you're not trapped in your car right now, I
call the authority, yeah, to help you get you if
you could reach to the on star button if you're
in danger, if you still have that is that still exists.
Here's the top ten and kind of connected again to
Mark's QB index. I have the Chiefs at one, Eagles

(35:00):
they stay there. I got the Bengals still at three,
the Bills at four, the Niners at five. They swapped spots.
I don't know why. The Cowboys six, Jaguars, seven Chargers, eight,
board Jets, nine Dolphins. Ten. So there's the top ten,
and I'm gonna you guys can jump in whenever. I
kind of went through it, and I just wanted to

(35:20):
share some thoughts, and I'll start with the Bills because
we hit it quickly there in eight o'clock to light,
and I think I knew your answer, Mark, But I
like Damien Harris. I've always liked Damien Harris, and so
I think he's an upgrade over Devin Singletary. But Connie,
do you think that they still need to do more
to help that quarterback or would you be okay with

(35:43):
them rolling forward with this and some draft adjustments. I
kind of kept them where they were basically because I
feel okay about it. But at the same time, it
did seem to me like this is gonna be a
missed opportunities to such a pivotal year for Buffalo. Yeah,
I don't love what they've done so far in free
agency because they haven't done a lot here. I think

(36:06):
that they do need to help out Josh Allen. Obviously,
that offensive line was an issue at the end of
the year too, so that's something that you know needs
to needs to be figured out. But you know, I
like the fact that they kept Jordan Poyer. Losing Edmonds though,
is such a big one for them, and I think
that's going to come back to bite them, like I'd struggle.

(36:26):
And I know, first of all, I know when you're
doing the list, it's like this stuff gets into a
different place and it's not because you're using some deepest
mathematical formult But they were, they were five in they're
now four and like the Niners lost some guys, but
they didn't tangibly change to me, and so my thing
is more not about where they're ranked. But it's like
you mentioned DeAndre Hopkins, I think would be that's a

(36:48):
good fit for Buffalo. It's like, go get him now,
he's got a couple of seasons left. You've got one
of the best quarterbacks in the league. You can pair
him with the rest of that offense. Austin Ekeler you mentioned,
that's a great idea, like someone or if you want
to go Derek Henry. It's like if you're the Bills
and you've been this quiet and you're not going all
in and you're saying the roster we had last year
is good enough, when again, like this is a team

(37:08):
that's not suffered the devastating injuries that other teams have.
They've relatively had on defense, maybe at on offense, that
offense has been relatively healthy. And is this the best
team in the AFC like we presumed a year ago.
I don't think so at all. But I think they
deserve to stay in the top five because they've earned it.
They have continuity on defense. I think they're gonna miss
Leslie Frasier. That was a sneaky, big loss to suddenly

(37:31):
that McDermott maybe is calling plays again. They have more
needs than they've had in previous years. I expect them
to get creative and do more. It doesn't surprise me
that they're kind of second wave of free agency team
because they didn't have a ton of cap space. But
to answer your question, Dan, no, they haven't done enough.
They got issues at receiver, they got issues on their

(37:51):
offensive line. Now they got to replace Edmonds. Keeping Poyer
was nice, But I think they're going into this part
of the season with a little more obvious knee than
usual that they're gonna have to address creatively or in
the draft. They signed Connor recovering on the offensive line,
but like, I think they still need more help beyond that. Yeah,
I just are they going in the right direction. Like
I said, they gotta get they gotta get over the

(38:13):
hump this year and you know we'll see um. Yeah
with San Francisco Mark, that's just more like my kind
of takeaway. I was thinking about, like, do we feel
better or worse or about the same with our quarterback
situation this year. I love that, you know, I was.
I didn't mention them as a winner with Barnwell the
other day, but like you know, fortifying that defensive line again,
which has been such a big part of what they

(38:34):
do m was very important. So they did that in
free agency. But we shall see. I want to go
to some tough ones. Tough ones the Chargers at eight,
and I was thinking, like, should the Chargers be dropped
out of the top ten? I don't know, Like I
think there's some of that twenty seven zilch stink from

(38:55):
the playoffs that that I'm dealing with personally. And Austin
Eckler came out and said he's still wants to be
a Charger if they could get a deal done. So
maybe that's not over at this point. But they's just
I don't know, maybe it's just a bad vibe situation.
When la do you guys see them as a top
time I think it's a bad vibe thing right now,
Like it's they need they need more speed at the

(39:17):
wide receiver position, for sure. I know that they need
some help on the edge too, but it just feels like,
no matter what happens with the Chargers, they still can't
get it done. And then when you have Austin Eckler
who's trying to get paid and he's such a good
player and that whole situation, I just like don't feel
great about the Chargers. Yeah, I feel like it's two
years in a row where you're left like the Brandon

(39:38):
Still experience, had these early high moments where he was
lord of seen as a genius, that a great communicator,
and then like that Raiders lost two years ago was
ugly from a coaching angle, and last year to lose
the way they did is just like his whole selling
point when he came in his early Q and A's
was like, I don't even understand what it means to Charger.
This is not that culture, and it's like, but you

(39:58):
just it's not just you, but the whole team collectively
did the biggest version of that ever and they haven't
had a lot of ability to do much in this offseason,
so they've stayed put outside of the Austin Ekeler news.
For me, when I see the Jaguars at seven and
Chargers to date, it just tells me how quickly the
league drops off from teams that you could trust to
make an AFC or NFC title game to absolute middle

(40:20):
of the pack everyone else. Right, I think, I think
you have the right top five, and the Cowboys make
sense as six. I think they've had a solid offseason
so far and they've just got so much talent. And
then after that, like you could pick almost any team,
the Jaguars were the ones that stuck out to me
the most. Is like, wow, seventh best team in the league.
A lot went right for them a year ago. They

(40:41):
do have Trevor Lawrence, but I guess I'm not ready
to put Trevor Lawrence with Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow
and those quarterbacks just yeah, because I just want to
see it like a little bit more, And I guess
I'm not just assuming that they are a house on
fire that starts right where they were a year ago.
It's nice they're in that division. They couldn't do as

(41:01):
much spending obviously this year because what they did last offseason,
but the Ridley trade. When you add Ridley to the
rest of the guys that are there, kurg z A Jones,
Evan Ingram, Travis Etienne and Lawrence in year three? Who
now has mojo right? He's he would be a buzzy MVP.
I don't have a logical candidate for who then even
would be ahead of them at seven. You can make
a million cases like the Ravens to me are low

(41:23):
at thirteen, but that's because they're the Ravens in Lowa.
Marthing confuses everything I might I might put those Detroit
lines up at seven, Why why drop them two spots? Like?
I love what they did adding to the secondary. Yeah,
I bumped and this Connie. You'll remember with the AFC
West last year, they were the darlings. They opened Week

(41:43):
one three teams in AFC West in the top ten,
and two of them UM flatlined more or less. And
so it's this year it's the Jets and Dolphins, who
I just think UM have a lot of upside this
year and there's a lot of you know, positive buzz
right now, and that's what I'm writing in and I
just it makes sense to me that they have top
ten team upside, and I guess it comes at the

(42:05):
expense of the Lions, But I mean I have them
from nine to eleven. I still I love the lines.
I love what they've done in the secondary with Sutton
Mosley and Cegju. That is a big upgrade, and I
guess they still need to get a little better in
the in the front seven. Is the defense? Can you
trust the defense at this point beyond Aidan Hutchinson. They

(42:27):
they thought they had great depth last year and it
didn't quite work out that way. They played better as
the season went along. But I like that the aggressively
addressed one issue. The offense is in good shape. But
you're kind of just picking your favorite teams here. I
probably would have put the Jets, the Dolphins, and I
would put the Lions all those guys ahead of the
Jags and Chargers for now. I would have maybe bumped

(42:49):
up the Saints a little higher. I kind of Barrett
twenty two, and then you have the Browns at twenty one,
the Rams at twenty the Rams there, Um, okay, so
let's let's start with the Saints then, because that was
one of the teams. Kind of you're on the right track, Hey,

(43:10):
that was one of the teams. When I was going
through it again, I was like, you know what, I
think I like the Saints more than I'm giving them
credit in these rankings because UM. Their defense obviously was
not the issue last year. UM. In fact, the Saints
defense were eighth and total dvo A last year they
were third and waited dvoa UM. And then you look
at the offense and like, the offense has got a

(43:32):
chance here, So you got Derek Carr. Michael Thomas is
such a huge piece here and a part of the
mystery around this offense. But Alava and Thomas on the
surface is one of the better pairings of wide receivers
in the league. Jawan Johnson could be a Pro Bowl
type player. Jamal Williams now is there and he's better
than mark Ingram at the stage, and he also gives

(43:52):
them cover if Albun kamaram. This is a bunch of
time with this off off the field issue. So I
think they're going to score points and I think the
defense should be Maybe does the defense take a step back?
Is that the concern because this does seem like a
team that can win ten games. I agree, but they're
asking Dennis Allen to cook some magic in that defensive line.
It's basically Cam Jordan in a lot of like who

(44:15):
They did lose some players including Marcus Davenport, David on
Yamada and brought in guys Kaylin Saunders and Nathan Shephard.
We haven't talked about these movies, but these were guys
that were like three hundred, four hundred, okay snaps for
other teams that the Saints are going to ask to
do a little bit more. Twenty two feels low though.
They feel very much like a middle of the road,
closer to sixteen type of team. I mean, I'm struggling

(44:37):
with a couple things like come get my ass. I
spent we spent all this time listening to each other talk.
And you've been off Atlanta Falcons for two years and
I've always thought that, like, if anything, Arthur Smith, Arthur
Smith has gotten into a better record than they should
have had. They were seven and ten a year ago. Imperfect,

(44:58):
but he found a way to coach around some of
their weaknesses. Is they're not the twenty seventh team in
the NFL to me right now, after what they they've
they've at least gone for it. I mean, if if
you're gonna take the Jets without even having Aaron Rodgers
yet and propel them up seven spots, I see what
you're doing. They're like, it's well set, but like, I
don't understand the Jets as the seventh best or the
ninth best team in football and the Falcons at twenty seven.

(45:20):
Jets have to do with the Falcons though, because I
don't see a that disparity there, like that difference. I
just think that there's I think, Okay, I Dan, I
know you're not gonna want I don't see the Jets
as the ninth best team yet I want to see
the back because I thought we we breeze past that
a little. But it's like that wasn't all Tell me audacious,
and I'm totally down to hear it. Tell me um.

(45:43):
And maybe it's as simple as you don't think Gan
Rodgers can play anymore? But what makes the Jets not
a team that is least? In that conversation, I think
number one, I would flip the Dolphins and Jets to start.
We have the Jets at ten, I can look at that.
I'd flip them with the Lions though, and put them
down at eleven. And we're talking about a giant team
that just made the playoffs that I think is really
well coached. I think the Jets are well coached too.

(46:04):
I think you are hoping and presuming that you're probably
gonna get one year where Aaron Rodgers, that you get
a plugged in, much better version, right. But with the Ravens,
they're getting dropped because they don't have Lamar Jackson right now,
and we don't know what's going to happen there, right
amongst other things. I mean, the Ravens to me, like,
I think we're assuming we know what's going to happen
with Aaron Rodgers, right, but I don't know. I just

(46:26):
feel to me, I guess as a as a stung
Browns fan, this offseason reminds me of the offseason where
they traded for Odell Beckham and they were being talked
about as this thing that's just going to develop and happen,
and there are a lot of X factors that can
get in the way of that. And it has not
appeared to me to be a put in. Aaron Rodgers

(46:48):
about to turn forty in a new city, in a
new like it won't be a new offense, but with
all new teammates, we don't know how long this is
going to go on. If he's going to actually miss
the entire offseason, plug him in, and they're essentially the
fourth best team in the AFC for you, as my friend,
I hope that I don't see that right now. I
need to see more path of that of that. Dude.
Everything you're saying makes sense, Mark, Everything you're saying makes sense.

(47:11):
There there is two ways this can go. I don't
think there's a middle. I think they can be very
competitive and be a major player in the AFC, or
things can go very poorly with Aaron Rodgers. I think
the reason I have them here is there is a
lot of upside here and at this portion of the rankings,
and also when you look at the other AFC contenders,

(47:34):
I think they're they have the potential to be better
than any of those teams. And I, you know, pointedly
have them beneath the Jaguars and Chargers, but they're right there.
I just think when you look at Rogers, and this
is what a lot of this is about. Their defense
is ready to go. We know that that that's going
to be that's going to be a strength of this team.
And I think they have in Garrett Wilson, Alan Lazard

(47:56):
and Elijah More a really good trio. I think Elijah
More with a actual core back, there's still a big
time player there potentially, Okay. I think Breece Hall comes
back from that injury. If he comes back, okay, And
again these are ifs. He could be a star running back.
The offensive line is going to be better, They're gonna
use their draft to build it better, They're gonna get healthier.
And I think you put those things together, there's just

(48:17):
a lot pointing to this being a good team. And
I guess my pushback to you on that mark would be,
where would you have the Jets in this exercise? Who
else in the AFC, for instance, should be Well? I said,
I would put them first of all, I besides the Dolphins,
all right, So I'd flip them with the Dolphins. I'd
flip them with the Lions, so they'd be down at eleven.
I might have them above the Giants. But I still

(48:39):
I look at the Seahawks at fourteen and say, I
think the Seahawks, after what they achieved a year ago,
that feels low to me. I think the Seahawks have
showed me more than the Jets right now. The Jets
do have all these things, but like last year, they
had a lot of those things too. They had terrible
quarterback play, but they complete, that's what it's about. But
they completely crumble down the stretch. That's part of your
DNA as a team. Were the Seahawks who a year ago,

(49:01):
I don't know where they were in these power rankings,
but we were laughing at the idea of Geno Smith
and Drew Locke and fill in the blank doing anything
and they make the playoffs because because that because of
that organization. So it's the Jets are selling us a
massive organizational see change. That's cool now, but it's like,
you know is better than anyone. It's like when we
hit when we get to October November, it could look

(49:23):
completely different. So it's just you feel to me last week,
were you when I was talking about how I understand
there could be reasons to be negative and the history
is tortured. None of that actually matters. Like what matters
when the games kick off on the field. I think
there's an organizational trust, especially from ownership, that things that

(49:43):
when things go wrong and there's always gonna be some
adversity during the season, that they are they an organization
that's going to handle it. While like you hope it's
different with this coach and GM and everything and they're
more important than ownership. But there is something in me
that like looks at Ravens and looks at Jet and like,
if they're close, I'd probably just give the edge of
the Ravens. And they're the Ravens. And I'm not pitching

(50:04):
this disastrous scenario either. You had them at sixteen at
the end of the season. The Rodgers thing is nice.
All I'm saying is I Seahawks, Lions, Dolphins above the
Jets for me, right now, they're sitting down around thirteen fourteen.
There's promise and we'll let's go. Or you would have
them at thirteen and fourteen maybe okay, so not that

(50:25):
far off. It's not that far off. But to vault
the Jets into the top ten in this kind of
exercise is a headline grabbing move, Colleen. These guys once
hosted the Debate Club together. We're sitting here, as you
don't say, bystanders. I just want to say this because
the one thing that does annoy me is when people
twist this stuff. No one knows this has a chance

(50:49):
to go terribly more than I do. Do not think.
I think this means I'm certain the Jets are going
to be great. This is a projection of what they
could be. And if if Aaron Rodgers is there unhealthy,
you want to their potentially never you're not like this one,
students say, I am. I'm out here saying there's no
way the Jets aren't going to be awesome this year
the exercize they're ranked ninth. So that's why we're discussing

(51:11):
it now. It makes sense to me there's a borderline
playoff team or like sort of lower and plaything, which
which sounds about right to me. I'd probably have him
eleventh or something, but that sounds their tent. But that
sounds about right that one of the teams in the middle.
That shocked me the first of all. I might have
the Vikings not in the top twenty two or something.
Oh you know what's funny before we go to your thing,
because that in terms of on social media, after I

(51:33):
posted this on Twitter, the heat I was getting over
Vikings fans that were annoyed with me that I have
them at sixteen. Vikings fans not annoyed with you. Well,
they do the same with Kirk Cousins. They want them
rank fit QB. Now I'm ready to reset. They just
feel like a rebuilding type of team. I think they're
gonna there's a decent chance. They saw on Mock Draft
Live back on NFL Network hosted by for Tuesday, DJ

(51:56):
put Hendon Hooker, the twenty five year old quarterback prospect
who's coming off an injury with Minnesota in the first round.
So I think they could be like using a quarterback
on the first round pick. It just feels like a transition.
Carolina at eighteen was as surprising as almost any team
months entire list. I mean, I know they have some
players on their defense, and they do have the number

(52:18):
one pick coming, but I just feel like they're like
a bottom five or six team in the in the
NFL at this point. They lost their receiver Djork Like
it's just a bad it's not a great group. I
know their offensive line played pretty well. I like Frank
Reich in general, but just feels like they're kind of
a team that's that's starting from scratch. We'll see how
the number one pick plays. Maybe he'll be awesome right

(52:39):
off the bat, but it's a lot too expeact. No
that and that's not part of my projection is not
about the number one pick really, but going back to
the Falcons. Now, Yeah, you could definitely make a case
they shouldn't be separated by ten spots. I just like
I see the Panthers of a team that's going for it,
and they're being aggressive this offseason, and they're making a

(53:00):
bunch of moves and they're going for the quarterback they've
they've wanted and they're going to get the guy they
own the draft right now. And I see the Falcons
as a team that's just you know, we talk about
the Saints or they're okay with going nine and eight,
Like what are the Falcons trying to do? Like they're
just gonna in year three of Arthur Smith. They're just
gonna turn it over to Desmond Ritter and Taylor Heineke,
And I'm supposed to get excited about that. I just

(53:20):
their ranking is about me, And you know, I write
it so like maybe it's not the most analytical breakdown,
but it's like what team is more kind of lost
in the midst than than the Falcons? To me? I
mean not many you could from the quarterback angle. They
believe in Desmond Ritter if they stick with him, way
more than you do, and way more than a lot
of people do. That's fair, but they've been as aggressive

(53:42):
as any team out there to try to improve both
sides of the roster. Bringing Jesse Bates was good, but
I just don't feel like the Falcons have a ton
of Jews. Also, I want to know, like, what are
some of these other regrets that you have with Let's
let's go through that because the whole episode once we
should remember we regrets. I have the Commanders too low,

(54:03):
and I think that's like, if the Giants are twelve,
the Commanders can't be twenty nine. I was annoyed about that,
but also I think some of that is like I
feel like the organization is just trapped in purgatory until
they figure out this ownership thing. So I'm just kind
of don't you feel like when you're doing this lists too,
it's like, crap, what someone's got to be between there's
very little separating like twelve, wow, that's also to them

(54:24):
down on the Giants, but very little separating twelve you know,
to fifteen and like some of the mid twenties teams,
but like the Giants is to cycle back to them.
Like the reason why I have the Jets above the
Giants is a lot of this, especially this timing of
power rankings is like kind of a projection. I just
think the Jets have a higher ceiling than the Giants
right now. So that's why I have them ahead, and

(54:45):
I guess they if I could do it again, maybe
the Giants are down a couple spots in then the
Washington Commanders are up about three or four or five spots.
But that was probably the big one that stuck out
to me. Go ahead, Greg, I'm been surprised that the
Packers are still I just have a feeling this is
gonna be one, you know, my one of my takes
that we end up repeating for five months because ways

(55:06):
to go. But I think the Packers were incredibly unlucky
last year in terms of the close games that they lost,
some of the injuries that they had. Certainly I think
I'm giving Lafleur some credit and their front office some
credit for winning thirteen games three straight years. I'm taking
into account Aaron Rodgers wasn't peak Aaron Rodgers last year,

(55:26):
and I'm taking layer evaluation of Jordan Love into account,
and I'm thinking, like, if I look as a Lions fan,
now that's what we all are, like, who are the
Who's the team I'm worried about. In the NFC North,
it's still the Packers. Like if you told me the
Packers come out this year and they go eleven and
six and they've still got a lot of good players
on the roster, that wouldn't shock me at all. And
that's the organization of the coming down right now in

(55:48):
the NFC North. It's so early, But my guests would
be Detroit would be a slight favorite over Green Bay
and Minnesota. How about that? Vikings fans are gonna come
after you now. I think I think the Packers they
haven't done anything, which is very annoying. Like if I'm
a Packers fan, why aren't you signing Dalton Saults? Like
you have no one it right? Tight end? Like you

(56:08):
haven't you? Just I know they'll do something eventually. But
there's some there's some pieces there that you like a
lot in terms of both sides of the ball. Really
and you know the Ravens at number thirteen, which Connie is,
we know number thirteen? What is number thirteen? It's like
the twilight Zone. Yeah, it's like the team that I
don't know what to do with them. They kind of

(56:29):
confuse me. It's hard to figure it out because so
I kind of just slap them at thirteen and move
on with my life. And like the Ravens, the reason
why they're they're perfect thirteen and why they're they're outside
the top ten is because, yeah, maybe Lamar's back, maybe
is not. It's probably still leaning more towards that he's
not back, But I don't know. This may be one
of the rare times where they think they belong at thirteen.

(56:50):
They don't know what great what's going on. But because
of the Lamar thing, and maybe not because of some
of their moves in recent years, I just feel like
the whole organization is is fro because remember even when
Lamar was there last year, and I know they changed
the play caller and all that, but like the offense
wasn't so hot after the first couple of weeks, and
they it was very clear like we need to like

(57:12):
build around this quarterback. We need to add some more weapons,
give him a chance to develop it as a pastor
Is that happening right now? They haven't able to do anything.
Where is the forward momentum of the Baltimore Ravens. And
that's why I couldn't. I couldn't have him in the
top ten. That's why I have him behind the Dolphins
and the Jets and the Charges and the Jaguars because
I can't. Usually I would just plug that that's a
top ten team in this exercise last in recent years,

(57:34):
this time of year. But I can't do it right
now because I don't know what they're doing. I say,
one of the thing for them that is this sort
of raging X factors. You went out and got Todd
Munkin as your offensive coordinator, and they're actually like probably
having him go look at quarterbacks you like in the
draft that we can get somewhere, because this is a
guy that right now you're in the deep shadows trying
to figure out a completely new offense. You're moving away

(57:54):
from Greg Roman, away from Lamar Jackson Central potentially, Like
that's not a good set up because it seems like
we're a billion ways years away from the season, not
in this not with this kind of stuff where you're like,
what do the Ravens even look like on offense? To
our parts, to our players even fit the drafts, Like
four weeks away, they lost Bend Powers, they cut Klas Campbell,
who is visiting with the Falcons. They just had those

(58:17):
those veterans that Okay, it makes sense, you're not going
to keep them forever. We'll see if any of them
come back. But they were kind of key pieces for
their team last year, justin Houston, Marcus Peters, even a
JPP who came in late. Like, I'm not worried about that,
but they just feel like they have a lot more
moves to go. And when Devin Duvernet is still your
number two, it is a little concerning. They seem to

(58:37):
me like the most likely Hopkins. They haven't made any
feel like they feel that feels right right, just because
I mean, and I guess I don't know, does he
have a no trade clause or anything? Like why would
Hopkins want to go there right now? I don't see what.
Oh no, that might be part of it too, that
it's like what offense are we going to build? We

(58:57):
have to find out who our quarterback is too. There's
got to be like we talk about like they talk
about like, um here, what are the Jets gonna do
if Aaron Rodgers doesn't go there? Like what are the
Ravens gonna do if Lamar Jackson's there. What is their
backup plan right now? What is their plan if he's
not there? Yeah, like the first round picks and you

(59:19):
can like tr the quarterback, have a little McCorkle jones,
let's go, let's go, let's give it to you, and
that from the Tokyo Swallows. All right, there you go.
Any other I think we covered it pretty well there.
Just a mccorkill for Lamar straight up, you know, challenge
trade that's suppressing. All right, good stuff, great job anything else,

(59:47):
anything else anyone wants to share. Talking into a microphone
being opportunity for all everyone in the room right now,
justin you as well. Thanks Dan. I have nothing night
right now, but I need to have bigger heads up
to think of things to say. God bless you. All right,
let's go, I mean unless somebody had something. Oh we're

(01:00:10):
going out with the outra. I don't hate this song.
It's a good song. You know, it's a banger. Gets
me ready for more power rankings. All right, we're gonna
be back with one more show this week. Connie, Thank you,
you said it all of course, anytime until next time.

(01:00:31):
Heed the call.