Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
The NFL discussion that never stops.It is still raging on. We're in
the thick of it in the MajorLeague Baseball season, NHL, NBA playoffs,
and all the headlines I can seeall day football. So of course
we gotta talk to football with Mark. Every junior who would talk NFL year
(00:24):
round. Apparently Sean Brace not afan of that. I guess what I'm
gonna do it anyway, It's myshow. Tune into the line change Fox
Sports the Gambler joining right now onthe Gambler Hotline, Mark every junior you
can follow. Add to Mark HenryJr. Underscore on Twitter, Mark,
I won't start off with the NFLfirst. I want to get baseball out
of the way. And he playsany bets for tonight. Yeah, I
(00:49):
love the board tonight. Actually,in terms of a quantity standpoint, there's
nothing that I love like above allelse. I do have an overgoing right
now in Cardinals red at nine anda half, But in terms of games
that haven't started, I'm definitely focusingon Dodgers Braves. I like the over
at nine there. The Dodgers arethrowing a spot starter and Gavin Stone He's
(01:11):
only thrown He's only had one startersagainst us. We roughed him up.
He only had one strikeout in fourinnings, and then on the other on
the other side, Charlie Morton ison the bump for the Braves. He's
done pretty well this year. Issurprisingly at two eighty five R. Lately,
he's been a fast starter and kindof regress down the stretch. But
(01:32):
the Dodgers have a lot of historyagainst Charlie Morton and Nazaroster. They bat
three hundred, and you look atsome of their best players such as Mookie
Bets and Freddie Freeman, they reallyreally excel against Charlie Morton, and honestly,
both of those guys you can putthem in a category with Bryce Harper
in terms of Mookie Bets and FreddieFreeman, where if they're plus money to
(01:52):
score a run and they don't havenegative experience against the starter on the mound,
then you should probably go ahead andbet it because they're more likely to
score a run in the game thannot on a regular basis. When it
comes to guys like Bryce Harper,Mookie Bets, and Freddie Freeman, who
I have bets on all three ofthose guys to score runs tonight. All
(02:13):
right, now, let's just getover straight into the NFL. Ot is
going on year two. I've I'vebeen seeing a lot and highlighting a lot
of year two of Doug Peterson andJacksonville. They seem to be getting a
lot of hype. How much hypedo you have for Jacksonville so far as
do we get ready for the twentytwenty three season A lot. I think
(02:35):
that you can argument that the JacksonvilleJaguyers are the most are the biggest lock
in the NFL to win their divisions. Wow, when you take a look
at the division that they have,it's the Houston Texans, who obviously were
very bad last year. They hiredDamiko Ryans, they drafted CV Shroud,
they drafted Will Anderson. I actuallythink they're the second best team in the
(03:00):
division, to be quite honest.You have the Tennessee Titans, who I
think are going to bottom out thisyear. It seems like as an organization
they made some decisions to prioritize thefuture over the present, and I don't
think that that's a very good roster. Verybels a really good coach, but
I think last year was the lasttime you'll kind of see them squeeze lemonade
(03:20):
out of the lemon that doesn't havea lot of lemonade left in it.
There. I don't think the Titanscan really continue to compete with their roster,
and then you have the Indianapolis Colts. To Anthony Richardson is not the
type of guy who i'd teg as, you know, come right in and
win ten games. I think itwill probably take a little bit to figure
out the best way to build aroundhim, and well, I think it's
(03:43):
the perfect situation for him to landin. I don't expect them to be
competitive on a Jacksonville Jaguars level withTrevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson. So I
just think that it's extremely, extremelylikely that they win that division, and
for that reason, I kind ofput them in that tier with the Bend
and the Bills right out. Ithink the Chiefs belong in their own tier
because when you have Patrick Mahomes,you have about a fifty percent chance to
(04:06):
get to the Super Bowl. We'veseen statistically over his career so far.
If not more than that, i'dhave to actually go look because he's made
three and he missed Wall two.So I guess it's actually a sixty percent
chance to make the Super Bowl ifyou have Patrick Mahomes. So they're in
a tier of it with themselves.But outside of that, I think the
Bills, Bengals, and Jags arein that next tier as true super Bowl
(04:30):
contenders. But you know, canyou get past Kansas City? Yeah,
Kansas City is gonna be the toughone. And that's for obviously a lot
of teams in the AFC, includingCincinnati and Buffalo, but also another team
that's in that discussion potentially, andthe Ravens Lamar Jackson. He's not an
OTAs he apparently is going to reportlater according to some reports. But Lamar
(04:55):
Jackson gets his contract, Lamar Jacksongets a first round wide receiver talent,
and Lamar Jackson gets a new offensivecoach. Is it enough to get Lamar
Jackson into the playoffs and hopefully healthy? Well yeah, I mean if Lamar
Jackson had been healthy the last coupleof years, they'd be in the playoffs.
I mean, they made the playoffslast year with them going I forget
(05:15):
what but something like two and six, two and five when when he was
out then he couldn't come back forthe playoffs. And then they obviously lost
there, so I think if he'shealthy, you can probably expect them to
make the playoffs. The funny thingis about the Ravens. I probably feel
better about their roster right now thanI ever have during the Lamar Jackson era.
(05:39):
The problem is, the AFC isas good and as deep as a
conference as I can ever remember lookingat in the preseason. I mean there
is, I'm just looking at itprobably and probably ten to twelve teams that
expect to make the playoffs, andI think Baltimore is absolutely one of those.
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And currently, I mean just inmy early early prediction era here,
I have them as the seventh teamin the AFC, so have them getting
the last wild card, and maybethat's a bit of a cop out,
but with Lamar Jackson's injury issues,I do at this point struggle to put
them on the same level as Sinceor Buffalo or Jacksonville. They're in a
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tier with a whole bunch of teamsto me, and a tier with the
Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, theMiami Dolphins, the LA Chargers, the
New England Patriots. I think allof those teams are kind of in the
same tier. And a couple ofthem will get in and a couple of
them won't. Yeah, you didput a list out there of four teams
(06:43):
on Twitter that you said, whatare the teams that have the best chance
I think of making the playoffs?And it was the Jets, it was
Miami, and it was a coupleof other teams. Yeah, it was
the Jets, Carolina, Detroit,Seattle much of those fourteen. That's so
you did it with the a Cand NCY. Okay, so is the
AFC, the Jets, Ravens,Chargers, Dolphins. What team do you
(07:05):
feel most confident about of those four? So I actually leaned towards the Jets
out of those four teams, andwho has the best roster and you look
at how they played with such incrediblypoor quarterback performance last year. It feels
like Aaron Rodgers just has to playpassable tenth to twelveth best quarterback level in
(07:29):
the NFL, and that should bea ten plus win team as long as
he stays upright and consistent. Thatdefense is just so deep. I think
Sauce Gardner probably players in the NFL. I think he's the best player at
his position. And to say thatabout someone as young as Sauce is pretty
unbelievable. I didn't love their offseason in terms of adding to the roster.
(07:54):
I didn't love their draft. Butthey have a really solid offensive line.
On Aaron Rodgers, they went outand had I mean, they already
had some weapons. They added somemore in there with Alan Lazard and Nicole
Hartman and some other guys. Theyjust they have a lot of pieces.
They have a really, really deeproster. So I leaned towards the Jets,
(08:15):
and I was pretty impressed by RobertSala's coaching last year. So I
think that the Jets are ready totake another step. And I actually put
them right above those teams, andI think it's above Baltimore, Miami and
the Chargers. So one big thingthat has been going on now DeAndre Hopkins
(08:35):
wanting to move on from the Cardinals, it seems like, and it's been
talking about situations that he wants tobe in. Where do you think would
be a good fit for DeAndre Hopkinsin the most impactful spot? Kansas City.
It feels like it feels like ithas to be Kansas City. I
don't really know why Kansas City hasn'tdone it yet. Or Arizona hasn't treated
(08:56):
him yet. Buffalo makes some senseas well, But in terms of the
contenders, it seems like most ofthe other teams, how are pretty deep
at wide receiver. I'm not quiteas high on DeAndre Hopkins at this point.
I feel like some people are stilltalking about him like he's a top
five to ten guy, and Idon't know if you're getting that if you're
trading for DeAndre Hopkins, I don'tquite know what he is at this point.
(09:18):
I think he's definitely still good,definitely still productive, But I don't
know about being an elite number onewide receiver or anything like that. But
if you're Buffalo up you're Kansas City, that's not really what you need.
You just need another guy, andI think he would absolutely excel in those
offenses with elite quarterbacks. And whenhe was listing his top five quarterbacks that
he wanted to play with, JoshAllen and Patrick Mahomes were on that list
(09:39):
today, So I think those arethe two places that make the most sense.
There was a rumor he was goingto get traded to one of those
two places on Draft night, andI continue to think that that those are
really the two spots that makes sense. Talking with Mark Henry Junior, You
can follow him at Mark Henry JuniorUnderscore on Twitter. One of the other
news items making the in the NFLtoday Ben Roethlisberger admitting that he didn't want
(10:03):
Kenny Pickett to succeed, which iskind of an odd thing to say,
but Kenny Pickett ended up having soso decent rookie year and start to his
career in Pittsburgh. What are youwhat is your outlook for Pittsburgh this season
though? Are we expecting a bigjump from Pickett? Did you see enough
from Pickett? Obviously Pittsburgh as areally good foundation in place with coach and
(10:26):
obviously in front office they do extremelywell. But is it good enough of
a situation at this point for Pittsburghto make some noise in their division in
the playoffs? Just what do yousee Pittsburgh as right now? Yeah,
I'm really high on the Steelers interms of their roster, and I think
they're an extension last in the division. They went nine and eight last year
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with a half a season Mitchel Subiskyplaying terrible and then a half of a
season of Kenny Pickett as a rookielearning on the job. So I just
don't see how the scene's going tobe worse, especially when you build in
the fact they were eight and twowhen t J. Watt played last year,
which means they went one in sixin games that he missed. As
(11:09):
long as t J Watt's healthy,this should be an eleven plus win team
in my opinion, as long ast J Watt is healthy, and as
long as Kenny Pickett is at leastas good as he was last year,
which isn't saying a lot. Ithink he literally just has to be above
average, if not even slightly belowaverage. And this team, with that
defense as loaded as it is andas loads as they always are at weapon
(11:33):
and now that their offensive line hasit's seeming they made they made a couple
moves. They brought in Isaac Sayamaloofrom the Eagles. They drafted Roger Jones.
I think they made another shining Ithink they have three fifths of a
new offensive line. They also draftedDarnell Washington from Georgia, who I don't
he's raw as a receiver, butthey referred to him as the sixth offensive
(11:54):
lineman. At Georgia, Pat Fryarmoves, he's inside and du can block
as well. I think that theSteelers have a lot of pieces to improve
the running game. Nazi Harris tooka step back last year. I expect
him to take a step forward arounda much more functional offense, and I
think all of that helps Penny Tickettbecome the game manager that he needs to
be for this team to get backto winning eleven games. I mean,
(12:16):
I just can't emphasize the fact Iand eight last year with probably bottom five
overall quarterback play. But then youfactor in the Trubisky games that he started,
and then you off have to factorin TJ. Watt only played ten
games and they want eight of them. So I think when t J.
Watt plays, the Steelers are areally really really really really good team.
That It's not to dumb it down, but that's where I'm at with it.
(12:41):
I think he's the most valuable nonquarterback at the NFL. Well,
just real quick when to update onthe Phillies games. Zach Wheeler getting rocked
already in the second inning three runs, has not recorded an out in the
second inning. Are we hitting?Look the paddock button on Trede Turner it's
going to take a while from hitthat one, because again it's just first
(13:01):
year player with a new team.It always ends up not working out too
well the first year. But Wheeler, I'm I think I'm hitting the panic
button. Well, it's just beenso up and down, and it seems
like the velocity had come back.So I was going into this game expecting
him to continue along that line wherehim and Nola seemed to be getting right.
(13:22):
I think Nola has fully gotten right. Yeah, I think so.
I think so. I've seen enough. Yeah, I'm not worried about Nola
anymore. I think Thailan Walker,Yeah, he's been up and down.
I think will probably be better onthe hole than he has been so far.
And you have seen flashes where heshows that he can eat innings.
So I think Taiwan Walker will befine in their Ranger. I trust Ranger.
(13:45):
I think I know you would youdo as well. Obviously, two
starts in two it doesn't look greatback from his injury, but I trust
him long term. That guy isthat guy's got ice water in his vein.
I have no I'm believing he'll beback in better than ever, So
I'm not that concerned it, butobviously that's all built upon Zach Wheeler being
(14:07):
the ace we need him to be. So um, I'm not pushing the
pantic foot but anything yet. Iactually feel pretty good. Still hit a
lot of the tray turner in collegeor free out is a little free at
the tour. And if you lookat us forwards numbers right now where they
were last year, they actually hadthe same OULBP pretty much and the exact
(14:28):
same amount of home runs in RBIshe just had a whole lot more singles,
basically, like five or six moresingles, So his batting average was
a two ten instead of a oneseventy four. And yeah, look either
way, it's bad. I mean, he's want you obviously don't want him
batting one seventy four. I'm notexcusing that. But when he looks at
VP, he's walked i think ninetimes in the last five games, and
(14:52):
that's opposed to twenty two walks afterin his first sporty games. So it
seems like he has found a littlebit of a rhythm at and his approach.
It seems like he's seeing the balla little bit better, and he
obviously been powering, powering shot onSaturday. So I don't know how this
turned into me talking about Kyl Shorbert, but yeah, I'm not freaking out
about the Phillies in general. Istill feel pretty good. Yeah, I
(15:13):
do as well. I think eventuallythings are going to click and be fine.
But Wheeler is the only one thatI'm starting to have some concern over.
It's long enough now that his stuffhasn't looked great, his sweepers getting
hit hard. He just gave hima home run with the sweeper today,
So I I'm starting to get concernedabout Aaron Nola, not Aeronola, Zach
(15:35):
Wheeler. No, though I'm feelinggreat about as you just said. All
right, back to NFL with Markver Junior is here joining us on the
Gambler hotline at Mark and Very Juniorunderscore. Just taking a look at MVP
odds. I just wanted to gaugeyour interest in that market and any particular
players that you have your eye onfor that award this season. I haven't
really good to look. I feellike I'm starting to think the NFL MVP
(16:00):
it's sort of like the AL MVP. It's a do not bet award because
Patrick Mahomes and Shoheo Tani go intothe year with such a large percentage chance
to win it if they stay healthy. But if I was looking outside of
Mahomes, I mean the obvious names, Burrow, Alan Hurtz. Going outside
(16:22):
of the obvious names, I guessI'll throw I mean, I'll throw Trevor
Lawrence at you. I mean,that's the name you want to hear.
That's seising for Johnny Jaggs. SoI wasn't fishing for one. I was
leaving that open for you. Butseventeen to one for Lawrence does sound good.
Yeah. Yeah, it feels likeif I'm going outside of the Big
(16:42):
five, I would or the Bigfour, whatever that number is, I
would say it's Trevor Lawrence. Iwould say that he's the guy who can
kind of take the leap. Andthey added Calvin Ridley, Evan Ingraham another
year in that offense with Doug Petersontoo, Travis Etn another year, try
to they didn't use him to hisfullest in the passing game. I think
(17:07):
that's something that they did a lotat Clemson, and I'd like to see
them do it a little bit more. And Doug Peterson used as running backs
in the past the game in thepast, so I don't think it's a
system fit issue. I wonder whatthat is. So I would love to
see them use him more often,and I think they will. So I
think Jacksonville is going to be very, very good when twelve plus games,
And that puts Chrevor Lawrence in theconversation. As long as Mahomes doesn't you
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know Mahomes. Yeah, as longas Mahomes stops being the greatest quarterback that
I've ever seen. So we've talkedabout a lot of teams good. What
teams you think you're gonna make theplayoffs? With teams they think can make
jumps in obviously, So with Jacksonvillea lock to win their division, what's
a team after this entire process though, and now as OTA's Canby and rosters
are basically said, What's team arebe feeling down on more than you were
(17:56):
heading into the offseason. Um,I guess I would go with the New
Orleans Saints, which I guess youcould always say that I'm always down on
New Orleans Saints. Yeah, yeah, but I'm seeing that their win total
set at nine and a half here, Um, I guess I guess it's
(18:18):
not good. Yeah, it's aterrible division, and I understand why people
are just pegging them to win thedivision. But the issues with the Saints
were not really Andy Dalton. Youlook at Andy Dalton's numbers, they actually
weren't that bad. He was actuallyplaying serviceable. The issues were Dennis Allen's
a terrible head coach and a secondtime around when we knew that his first
time around, and that the Saintsjust don't have a lot of young talent
(18:42):
on this team. Like a littleshout out, I do a podcast,
Chalk Talk with Shane Half and we'redoing a you know, it's the it's
the heat of the off season,so we're doing a fun little at time.
We're doing expansion Draft, and we'regoing through and protecting players for each
team. So we're protecting four playerson offense and defense for each team in
(19:03):
the NFL, and then we're gonnadraft from the remaining guys the New Orleans
Saints. It's an interesting conversation tofigure out who you're protecting because you're either
going with young, unproven guys oryou're going with really old guys like Cam
Jordan or Damario O'Davis or Tyrn Mathewlike you're talking about guys who I don't
know if they have more than oneor two years left. So the Saints
(19:26):
just have a really weird mix.They don't have a lot of guys in
that that twenty five to twenty ninerange. I also, I just don't
think Derek Carr is the sixth all. Derek Carr's the guy I've defended for
a long time. He was notvery good last year, and I don't
think that it was a bad situation. I know Josh McDaniels and I'm not
a big fan of his. Therewas a lot of weapons there for Derek
(19:48):
Carr, and I felt like hedidn't take any chance at all. I
didn't like what I saw from himwhatsoever. So I actually think he will
be probably about the same level ofquarterback they had last year. I would
towards Carolina and Atlanta as teams witha higher upside than New Orleans. Maybe
New Orleans has a more Maybe Carolina. Carolina is interesting, lower floor Carolina
(20:11):
is interesting to me. Yeah,defense is loaded, and you know,
I always thought they they times lookedpromising last year with Wilks, So I
I don't know. I don't thinkthe roster is that bad And it's just
all dependent on Bryce Young obviously,and how quickly this new coaching staff kind
of catches on. But yeah,I find them to be to be interesting
(20:32):
for sure. That would be theteam I have winning the division. I
feel pretty good about it. Ithink Bryce Young is going to be a
Sensagian year one. I know allthe something out about how small he looks.
He looks little out there. Ithink they have an especially big offensive
line too, This makes him lookdefinitely even smaller. But he's gonna be
(20:56):
really good. I know that theydon't have a lot of weapons, but
they have a lot of decent receivers, like they drafted Jonathan Mingo, who
a lot of people like. Theyhave DJ Chark and Adam Feelin who are
absolutely professional receivers. Terris Marshall isa guy that people like. I think
they drafted someone else in the laterrounds as well. Um there's a lot
of guys that I think will stepup into roles. They also have a
(21:19):
couple of tight ends that they've draftedover the last couple of years. They
signed Miles Sanders. They have enoughguys around dunk the offense to be passable,
but Man, their defense is really, really, really look especially in
the secondary. They they made alot of moves over the last couple of
years in the drafted in free agencyto beef up their secondary. And that's
(21:41):
before you even get to the frontwhere you have Derek Brown and Brian Burns.
Um. They have a lot ofpieces to play with on that defense.
So I think Carolina is definitely hasthe best roster in the in that
division. It'll just come down toBryce Young. Any objection to the league
approving the emergency third quarterback, No, it's so much ado about nothing like
(22:06):
really it's never gonna be put inthe practice it. I mean maybe on
the very very rare occasion, butI just don't see it happening. Yeah,
it's like less than one percent ofgames that it'll be at all even
a talking point. Yeah, Idon't think it's a big deal. All
right, Last question for you,Mark Henry Jr. I know basketball,
you're completely dome with it, You'rechecked out. But it looks like it's
(22:26):
gonna be Miami and Denver. Whowould you have in an NBA finals?
I ll just because oh I haveno idea, quite honest. In Miami,
(22:47):
heat keeps Yeah, the heat.The heat have been surprising, and
it's surprising to see it from guyslike Gabe Vincent, and yeah, it's
it's pretty wild, all right,Mark, every junior at Mark Henry Junior
underscore is where he could follow him, and of course he joins us all
the time here on the line changealmost every Monday, to be exact,
(23:08):
Mark, you thank you for joiningme. Good luck with your bets tonight.
And I know you've mentioned you hada lot of baseball bets and enjoy
not watching the Denver Lakers game tonight. Yeah, I guess we're doing Philly
Country. Let's ride now, notgreat doubt, No, yeah, sure
we'll do that. That's Mark,every junior at Mark, every junior underscore
(23:30):
that doesn't even feel right with thePhillies not doing very well down three nothing
right now. Coming up next wewill get into more basketball with our next
guest. It is Sean Bernard andnot only of course, we have game
four tonight to Denvers a chance toclose out, and then Game four tomorrow
Miami will have a chance to closeout. But there was a name that
was brought up and apparently coming toPhilly for I guess a visit for the
(23:55):
head coaching job. I'll let youknow who that name is and I'll ask
our guest Sean Bernard, whether ornot that would be a good hire for
the Sixers. All that coming upnext year on the line change
The NFL discussion that never stops.It is still raging on. We're in
the thick of it in the MajorLeague Baseball season, NHL, NBA playoffs,
and all the headlines I can seeall day football. So of course
we gotta talk to football with Mark. Every junior who would talk NFL year
(00:24):
round. Apparently Sean Brace not afan of that. I guess what I'm
gonna do it anyway, It's myshow. Tune into the line change Fox
Sports the Gambler joining right now onthe Gambler Hotline, Mark every junior you
can follow. Add to Mark HenryJr. Underscore on Twitter, Mark,
I won't start off with the NFLfirst. I want to get baseball out
of the way. And he playsany bets for tonight. Yeah, I
(00:49):
love the board tonight. Actually,in terms of a quantity standpoint, there's
nothing that I love like above allelse. I do have an overgoing right
now in Cardinals red at nine anda half, But in terms of games
that haven't started, I'm definitely focusingon Dodgers Braves. I like the over
at nine there. The Dodgers arethrowing a spot starter and Gavin Stone He's
(01:11):
only thrown He's only had one startersagainst us. We roughed him up.
He only had one strikeout in fourinnings, and then on the other on
the other side, Charlie Morton ison the bump for the Braves. He's
done pretty well this year. Issurprisingly at two eighty five R. Lately,
he's been a fast starter and kindof regress down the stretch. But
(01:32):
the Dodgers have a lot of historyagainst Charlie Morton and Nazaroster. They bat
three hundred, and you look atsome of their best players such as Mookie
Bets and Freddie Freeman, they reallyreally excel against Charlie Morton, and honestly,
both of those guys you can putthem in a category with Bryce Harper
in terms of Mookie Bets and FreddieFreeman, where if they're plus money to
(01:52):
score a run and they don't havenegative experience against the starter on the mound,
then you should probably go ahead andbet it because they're more likely to
score a run in the game thannot on a regular basis. When it
comes to guys like Bryce Harper,Mookie Bets, and Freddie Freeman, who
I have bets on all three ofthose guys to score runs tonight. All
(02:13):
right, now, let's just getover straight into the NFL. Ot is
going on year two. I've I'vebeen seeing a lot and highlighting a lot
of year two of Doug Peterson andJacksonville. They seem to be getting a
lot of hype. How much hypedo you have for Jacksonville so far as
do we get ready for the twentytwenty three season A lot. I think
(02:35):
that you can argument that the JacksonvilleJaguyers are the most are the biggest lock
in the NFL to win their divisions. Wow, when you take a look
at the division that they have,it's the Houston Texans, who obviously were
very bad last year. They hiredDamiko Ryans, they drafted CV Shroud,
they drafted Will Anderson. I actuallythink they're the second best team in the
(03:00):
division, to be quite honest.You have the Tennessee Titans, who I
think are going to bottom out thisyear. It seems like as an organization
they made some decisions to prioritize thefuture over the present, and I don't
think that that's a very good roster. Verybels a really good coach, but
I think last year was the lasttime you'll kind of see them squeeze lemonade
(03:20):
out of the lemon that doesn't havea lot of lemonade left in it.
There. I don't think the Titanscan really continue to compete with their roster,
and then you have the Indianapolis Colts. To Anthony Richardson is not the
type of guy who i'd teg as, you know, come right in and
win ten games. I think itwill probably take a little bit to figure
out the best way to build aroundhim, and well, I think it's
(03:43):
the perfect situation for him to landin. I don't expect them to be
competitive on a Jacksonville Jaguars level withTrevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson. So I
just think that it's extremely, extremelylikely that they win that division, and
for that reason, I kind ofput them in that tier with the Bend
and the Bills right out. Ithink the Chiefs belong in their own tier
because when you have Patrick Mahomes,you have about a fifty percent chance to
(04:06):
get to the Super Bowl. We'veseen statistically over his career so far.
If not more than that, i'dhave to actually go look because he's made
three and he missed Wall two.So I guess it's actually a sixty percent
chance to make the Super Bowl ifyou have Patrick Mahomes. So they're in
a tier of it with themselves.But outside of that, I think the
Bills, Bengals, and Jags arein that next tier as true super Bowl
(04:30):
contenders. But you know, canyou get past Kansas City? Yeah,
Kansas City is gonna be the toughone. And that's for obviously a lot
of teams in the AFC, includingCincinnati and Buffalo, but also another team
that's in that discussion potentially, andthe Ravens Lamar Jackson. He's not an
OTAs he apparently is going to reportlater according to some reports. But Lamar
(04:55):
Jackson gets his contract, Lamar Jacksongets a first round wide receiver talent,
and Lamar Jackson gets a new offensivecoach. Is it enough to get Lamar
Jackson into the playoffs and hopefully healthy? Well yeah, I mean if Lamar
Jackson had been healthy the last coupleof years, they'd be in the playoffs.
I mean, they made the playoffslast year with them going I forget
(05:15):
what but something like two and six, two and five when when he was
out then he couldn't come back forthe playoffs. And then they obviously lost
there, so I think if he'shealthy, you can probably expect them to
make the playoffs. The funny thingis about the Ravens. I probably feel
better about their roster right now thanI ever have during the Lamar Jackson era.
(05:39):
The problem is, the AFC isas good and as deep as a
conference as I can ever remember lookingat in the preseason. I mean there
is, I'm just looking at itprobably and probably ten to twelve teams that
expect to make the playoffs, andI think Baltimore is absolutely one of those.
(05:59):
And currently, I mean just inmy early early prediction era here,
I have them as the seventh teamin the AFC, so have them getting
the last wild card, and maybethat's a bit of a cop out,
but with Lamar Jackson's injury issues,I do at this point struggle to put
them on the same level as Sinceor Buffalo or Jacksonville. They're in a
(06:23):
tier with a whole bunch of teamsto me, and a tier with the
Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, theMiami Dolphins, the LA Chargers, the
New England Patriots. I think allof those teams are kind of in the
same tier. And a couple ofthem will get in and a couple of
them won't. Yeah, you didput a list out there of four teams
(06:43):
on Twitter that you said, whatare the teams that have the best chance
I think of making the playoffs?And it was the Jets, it was
Miami, and it was a coupleof other teams. Yeah, it was
the Jets, Carolina, Detroit,Seattle much of those fourteen. That's so
you did it with the a Cand NCY. Okay, so is the
AFC, the Jets, Ravens,Chargers, Dolphins. What team do you
(07:05):
feel most confident about of those four? So I actually leaned towards the Jets
out of those four teams, andwho has the best roster and you look
at how they played with such incrediblypoor quarterback performance last year. It feels
like Aaron Rodgers just has to playpassable tenth to twelveth best quarterback level in
(07:29):
the NFL, and that should bea ten plus win team as long as
he stays upright and consistent. Thatdefense is just so deep. I think
Sauce Gardner probably players in the NFL. I think he's the best player at
his position. And to say thatabout someone as young as Sauce is pretty
unbelievable. I didn't love their offseason in terms of adding to the roster.
(07:54):
I didn't love their draft. Butthey have a really solid offensive line.
On Aaron Rodgers, they went outand had I mean, they already
had some weapons. They added somemore in there with Alan Lazard and Nicole
Hartman and some other guys. Theyjust they have a lot of pieces.
They have a really, really deeproster. So I leaned towards the Jets,
(08:15):
and I was pretty impressed by RobertSala's coaching last year. So I
think that the Jets are ready totake another step. And I actually put
them right above those teams, andI think it's above Baltimore, Miami and
the Chargers. So one big thingthat has been going on now DeAndre Hopkins
(08:35):
wanting to move on from the Cardinals, it seems like, and it's been
talking about situations that he wants tobe in. Where do you think would
be a good fit for DeAndre Hopkinsin the most impactful spot? Kansas City.
It feels like it feels like ithas to be Kansas City. I
don't really know why Kansas City hasn'tdone it yet. Or Arizona hasn't treated
(08:56):
him yet. Buffalo makes some senseas well, But in terms of the
contenders, it seems like most ofthe other teams, how are pretty deep
at wide receiver. I'm not quiteas high on DeAndre Hopkins at this point.
I feel like some people are stilltalking about him like he's a top
five to ten guy, and Idon't know if you're getting that if you're
trading for DeAndre Hopkins, I don'tquite know what he is at this point.
(09:18):
I think he's definitely still good,definitely still productive, But I don't
know about being an elite number onewide receiver or anything like that. But
if you're Buffalo up you're Kansas City, that's not really what you need.
You just need another guy, andI think he would absolutely excel in those
offenses with elite quarterbacks. And whenhe was listing his top five quarterbacks that
he wanted to play with, JoshAllen and Patrick Mahomes were on that list
(09:39):
today, So I think those arethe two places that make the most sense.
There was a rumor he was goingto get traded to one of those
two places on Draft night, andI continue to think that that those are
really the two spots that makes sense. Talking with Mark Henry Junior, You
can follow him at Mark Henry JuniorUnderscore on Twitter. One of the other
news items making the in the NFLtoday Ben Roethlisberger admitting that he didn't want
(10:03):
Kenny Pickett to succeed, which iskind of an odd thing to say,
but Kenny Pickett ended up having soso decent rookie year and start to his
career in Pittsburgh. What are youwhat is your outlook for Pittsburgh this season
though? Are we expecting a bigjump from Pickett? Did you see enough
from Pickett? Obviously Pittsburgh as areally good foundation in place with coach and
(10:26):
obviously in front office they do extremelywell. But is it good enough of
a situation at this point for Pittsburghto make some noise in their division in
the playoffs? Just what do yousee Pittsburgh as right now? Yeah,
I'm really high on the Steelers interms of their roster, and I think
they're an extension last in the division. They went nine and eight last year
(10:48):
with a half a season Mitchel Subiskyplaying terrible and then a half of a
season of Kenny Pickett as a rookielearning on the job. So I just
don't see how the scene's going tobe worse, especially when you build in
the fact they were eight and twowhen t J. Watt played last year,
which means they went one in sixin games that he missed. As
(11:09):
long as t J Watt's healthy,this should be an eleven plus win team
in my opinion, as long ast J Watt is healthy, and as
long as Kenny Pickett is at leastas good as he was last year,
which isn't saying a lot. Ithink he literally just has to be above
average, if not even slightly belowaverage. And this team, with that
defense as loaded as it is andas loads as they always are at weapon
(11:33):
and now that their offensive line hasit's seeming they made they made a couple
moves. They brought in Isaac Sayamaloofrom the Eagles. They drafted Roger Jones.
I think they made another shining Ithink they have three fifths of a
new offensive line. They also draftedDarnell Washington from Georgia, who I don't
he's raw as a receiver, butthey referred to him as the sixth offensive
(11:54):
lineman. At Georgia, Pat Fryarmoves, he's inside and du can block
as well. I think that theSteelers have a lot of pieces to improve
the running game. Nazi Harris tooka step back last year. I expect
him to take a step forward arounda much more functional offense, and I
think all of that helps Penny Tickettbecome the game manager that he needs to
be for this team to get backto winning eleven games. I mean,
(12:16):
I just can't emphasize the fact Iand eight last year with probably bottom five
overall quarterback play. But then youfactor in the Trubisky games that he started,
and then you off have to factorin TJ. Watt only played ten
games and they want eight of them. So I think when t J.
Watt plays, the Steelers are areally really really really really good team.
That It's not to dumb it down, but that's where I'm at with it.
(12:41):
I think he's the most valuable nonquarterback at the NFL. Well,
just real quick when to update onthe Phillies games. Zach Wheeler getting rocked
already in the second inning three runs, has not recorded an out in the
second inning. Are we hitting?Look the paddock button on Trede Turner it's
going to take a while from hitthat one, because again it's just first
(13:01):
year player with a new team.It always ends up not working out too
well the first year. But Wheeler, I'm I think I'm hitting the panic
button. Well, it's just beenso up and down, and it seems
like the velocity had come back.So I was going into this game expecting
him to continue along that line wherehim and Nola seemed to be getting right.
(13:22):
I think Nola has fully gotten right. Yeah, I think so.
I think so. I've seen enough. Yeah, I'm not worried about Nola
anymore. I think Thailan Walker,Yeah, he's been up and down.
I think will probably be better onthe hole than he has been so far.
And you have seen flashes where heshows that he can eat innings.
So I think Taiwan Walker will befine in their Ranger. I trust Ranger.
(13:45):
I think I know you would youdo as well. Obviously, two
starts in two it doesn't look greatback from his injury, but I trust
him long term. That guy isthat guy's got ice water in his vein.
I have no I'm believing he'll beback in better than ever, So
I'm not that concerned it, butobviously that's all built upon Zach Wheeler being
(14:07):
the ace we need him to be. So um, I'm not pushing the
pantic foot but anything yet. Iactually feel pretty good. Still hit a
lot of the tray turner in collegeor free out is a little free at
the tour. And if you lookat us forwards numbers right now where they
were last year, they actually hadthe same OULBP pretty much and the exact
(14:28):
same amount of home runs in RBIshe just had a whole lot more singles,
basically, like five or six moresingles, So his batting average was
a two ten instead of a oneseventy four. And yeah, look either
way, it's bad. I mean, he's want you obviously don't want him
batting one seventy four. I'm notexcusing that. But when he looks at
VP, he's walked i think ninetimes in the last five games, and
(14:52):
that's opposed to twenty two walks afterin his first sporty games. So it
seems like he has found a littlebit of a rhythm at and his approach.
It seems like he's seeing the balla little bit better, and he
obviously been powering, powering shot onSaturday. So I don't know how this
turned into me talking about Kyl Shorbert, but yeah, I'm not freaking out
about the Phillies in general. Istill feel pretty good. Yeah, I
(15:13):
do as well. I think eventuallythings are going to click and be fine.
But Wheeler is the only one thatI'm starting to have some concern over.
It's long enough now that his stuffhasn't looked great, his sweepers getting
hit hard. He just gave hima home run with the sweeper today,
So I I'm starting to get concernedabout Aaron Nola, not Aeronola, Zach
(15:35):
Wheeler. No, though I'm feelinggreat about as you just said. All
right, back to NFL with Markver Junior is here joining us on the
Gambler hotline at Mark and Very Juniorunderscore. Just taking a look at MVP
odds. I just wanted to gaugeyour interest in that market and any particular
players that you have your eye onfor that award this season. I haven't
really good to look. I feellike I'm starting to think the NFL MVP
(16:00):
it's sort of like the AL MVP. It's a do not bet award because
Patrick Mahomes and Shoheo Tani go intothe year with such a large percentage chance
to win it if they stay healthy. But if I was looking outside of
Mahomes, I mean the obvious names, Burrow, Alan Hurtz. Going outside
(16:22):
of the obvious names, I guessI'll throw I mean, I'll throw Trevor
Lawrence at you. I mean,that's the name you want to hear.
That's seising for Johnny Jaggs. SoI wasn't fishing for one. I was
leaving that open for you. Butseventeen to one for Lawrence does sound good.
Yeah. Yeah, it feels likeif I'm going outside of the Big
(16:42):
five, I would or the Bigfour, whatever that number is, I
would say it's Trevor Lawrence. Iwould say that he's the guy who can
kind of take the leap. Andthey added Calvin Ridley, Evan Ingraham another
year in that offense with Doug Petersontoo, Travis Etn another year, try
to they didn't use him to hisfullest in the passing game. I think
(17:07):
that's something that they did a lotat Clemson, and I'd like to see
them do it a little bit more. And Doug Peterson used as running backs
in the past the game in thepast, so I don't think it's a
system fit issue. I wonder whatthat is. So I would love to
see them use him more often,and I think they will. So I
think Jacksonville is going to be very, very good when twelve plus games,
And that puts Chrevor Lawrence in theconversation. As long as Mahomes doesn't you
(17:32):
know Mahomes. Yeah, as longas Mahomes stops being the greatest quarterback that
I've ever seen. So we've talkedabout a lot of teams good. What
teams you think you're gonna make theplayoffs? With teams they think can make
jumps in obviously, So with Jacksonvillea lock to win their division, what's
a team after this entire process though, and now as OTA's Canby and rosters
are basically said, What's team arebe feeling down on more than you were
(17:56):
heading into the offseason. Um,I guess I would go with the New
Orleans Saints, which I guess youcould always say that I'm always down on
New Orleans Saints. Yeah, yeah, but I'm seeing that their win total
set at nine and a half here, Um, I guess I guess it's
(18:18):
not good. Yeah, it's aterrible division, and I understand why people
are just pegging them to win thedivision. But the issues with the Saints
were not really Andy Dalton. Youlook at Andy Dalton's numbers, they actually
weren't that bad. He was actuallyplaying serviceable. The issues were Dennis Allen's
a terrible head coach and a secondtime around when we knew that his first
time around, and that the Saintsjust don't have a lot of young talent
(18:42):
on this team. Like a littleshout out, I do a podcast,
Chalk Talk with Shane Half and we'redoing a you know, it's the it's
the heat of the off season,so we're doing a fun little at time.
We're doing expansion Draft, and we'regoing through and protecting players for each
team. So we're protecting four playerson offense and defense for each team in
(19:03):
the NFL, and then we're gonnadraft from the remaining guys the New Orleans
Saints. It's an interesting conversation tofigure out who you're protecting because you're either
going with young, unproven guys oryou're going with really old guys like Cam
Jordan or Damario O'Davis or Tyrn Mathewlike you're talking about guys who I don't
know if they have more than oneor two years left. So the Saints
(19:26):
just have a really weird mix.They don't have a lot of guys in
that that twenty five to twenty ninerange. I also, I just don't
think Derek Carr is the sixth all. Derek Carr's the guy I've defended for
a long time. He was notvery good last year, and I don't
think that it was a bad situation. I know Josh McDaniels and I'm not
a big fan of his. Therewas a lot of weapons there for Derek
(19:48):
Carr, and I felt like hedidn't take any chance at all. I
didn't like what I saw from himwhatsoever. So I actually think he will
be probably about the same level ofquarterback they had last year. I would
towards Carolina and Atlanta as teams witha higher upside than New Orleans. Maybe
New Orleans has a more Maybe Carolina. Carolina is interesting, lower floor Carolina
(20:11):
is interesting to me. Yeah,defense is loaded, and you know,
I always thought they they times lookedpromising last year with Wilks, So I
I don't know. I don't thinkthe roster is that bad And it's just
all dependent on Bryce Young obviously,and how quickly this new coaching staff kind
of catches on. But yeah,I find them to be to be interesting
(20:32):
for sure. That would be theteam I have winning the division. I
feel pretty good about it. Ithink Bryce Young is going to be a
Sensagian year one. I know allthe something out about how small he looks.
He looks little out there. Ithink they have an especially big offensive
line too, This makes him lookdefinitely even smaller. But he's gonna be
(20:56):
really good. I know that theydon't have a lot of weapons, but
they have a lot of decent receivers, like they drafted Jonathan Mingo, who
a lot of people like. Theyhave DJ Chark and Adam Feelin who are
absolutely professional receivers. Terris Marshall isa guy that people like. I think
they drafted someone else in the laterrounds as well. Um there's a lot
of guys that I think will stepup into roles. They also have a
(21:19):
couple of tight ends that they've draftedover the last couple of years. They
signed Miles Sanders. They have enoughguys around dunk the offense to be passable,
but Man, their defense is really, really, really look especially in
the secondary. They they made alot of moves over the last couple of
years in the drafted in free agencyto beef up their secondary. And that's
(21:41):
before you even get to the frontwhere you have Derek Brown and Brian Burns.
Um. They have a lot ofpieces to play with on that defense.
So I think Carolina is definitely hasthe best roster in the in that
division. It'll just come down toBryce Young. Any objection to the league
approving the emergency third quarterback, No, it's so much ado about nothing like
(22:06):
really it's never gonna be put inthe practice it. I mean maybe on
the very very rare occasion, butI just don't see it happening. Yeah,
it's like less than one percent ofgames that it'll be at all even
a talking point. Yeah, Idon't think it's a big deal. All
right, Last question for you,Mark Henry Jr. I know basketball,
you're completely dome with it, You'rechecked out. But it looks like it's
(22:26):
gonna be Miami and Denver. Whowould you have in an NBA finals?
I ll just because oh I haveno idea, quite honest. In Miami,
(22:47):
heat keeps Yeah, the heat.The heat have been surprising, and
it's surprising to see it from guyslike Gabe Vincent, and yeah, it's
it's pretty wild, all right,Mark, every junior at Mark Henry Junior
underscore is where he could follow him, and of course he joins us all
the time here on the line changealmost every Monday, to be exact,
(23:08):
Mark, you thank you for joiningme. Good luck with your bets tonight.
And I know you've mentioned you hada lot of baseball bets and enjoy
not watching the Denver Lakers game tonight. Yeah, I guess we're doing Philly
Country. Let's ride now, notgreat doubt, No, yeah, sure
we'll do that. That's Mark,every junior at Mark, every junior underscore
(23:30):
that doesn't even feel right with thePhillies not doing very well down three nothing
right now. Coming up next wewill get into more basketball with our next
guest. It is Sean Bernard andnot only of course, we have game
four tonight to Denvers a chance toclose out, and then Game four tomorrow
Miami will have a chance to closeout. But there was a name that
was brought up and apparently coming toPhilly for I guess a visit for the
(23:55):
head coaching job. I'll let youknow who that name is and I'll ask
our guest Sean Bernard, whether ornot that would be a good hire for
the Sixers. All that coming upnext year on the line change
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