Talking Browns Position Groups - Cleveland Browns Daily - 6.17.25

On this Tuesday episode of CBD, ESPN's Jake Trotter joins the show (20:56), the guys take a deep dive into the Browns position groups (54:18), and hear from Browns CB Denzel Ward (1:24:18).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Coming to you live from the Cross Country Mortgage Campus
in Barrea, Ohio. This is Cleveland Browns Daily, presented by
Bally Batt, an official sports betting partner of your Cleveland
Browns on eight fifty ESPN Cleveland. Here are your hosts,
Bo Bishop and Nathan Zegura.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Let's live on a Tuesday edition of Cleveland Brown's Daily.
I am merely Bo, give me to my left and
the proud Papa is here. You were you got the
call to the bullpen? Thank god I did.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I didn't.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
I thought you were. I thought you were on the turnpike.
So I wanted to help out. Give a nice pose.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Right there and love it.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
I can.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm watching you guys. It just popped up on my
gosh Twitter, so I see you as I'm talking to.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
So yeah, well, I'll say by Travail's for a little later.
How are we doing? How's I mean? We know, I know,
we know, but I mean, like for the audience. Here
we are week two with the young champion.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
He's he's unbelievable. He really is unbelievable. Right now Nana
is feeding.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Him behind me right now as miss k is getting
having a little a little lunch and no Boots is
here and we're all just having baby great time. He's
been honestly goodness, Like the first night was we're like,
what have we done? And since then he's had five
nights in a row of perfect. He's slept great. He
went last night, I think he went eleven to two

(02:09):
thirty and then two thirty to six. Like that's that's doable.
We can live with that. So he's been, he's been great.
He's eating a ton, he's no surprise, he's definitely as
a girl. He's eating a ton. But he's been he's amazing. Like, honestly,
you know, everybody's biased for their own baby. He feels
like the perfect baby. He's just so dang cute and
good and happy and smiling, and it's it's awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
It's been awesome.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Can he take down a whole chicken breast in two
bites like his dad? Yet?

Speaker 4 (02:37):
So I you know, on Saturday, in lieu of for
we weren't able to have like a big Father's Day
because Mikala's dad was out of town and then Jack
k was leaving town, and so we did we on
Saturday night, had I made the first prime rib of
Luca's career, and.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
I really was upset. I got a lot of pushback.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
I wanted to give him some like blended prime rib
in a zoo in a bottle, and people were totally
against it, right, They're like, you you can't even have water,
and I'm like, well, this isn't water, said, so that
doesn't seem like a problem. This is azu. These are beef,
you know, beef juices, juicues. Jesus, it's a juve. He's
drinking out of a bottle. What's the difference.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
What's the difference that's for you to do that though?
Like when you when he gets to that point, that's
you remember those those are gonna be good ones, buddy.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Oh for sure, for sure, I'm all about it. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
I was just watching some I think it was like
an Instagram reel or something, and I showed to Miss
kay of somebody said it was there six months old
birthday and they made him like a giant ribbi and
he was just like gnawing on it and I don't
think he could eat it, but he was just kind
of like, you know, and I'm like, we.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Gotta do that.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
I was like that that do that? Yeah, Yeah, what
how did he enjoy the US Open?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Had a great time with it.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
He was, I gotta tell you, he was kind of like,
you know, down the stretch, it was a bit underwhelming.
You know, everybody was just kind of choking or are
really doing what he was doing, you know, pooping in
their pants and that's what he does eight times a day.
But then when JJ Spahd made that putt the drive
on seventeen and then the plot, he was just like that,
that's just such a classy finish, and I agreed those

(04:13):
classy finished. We had a great weekend, so we watched
US Open, We watched Hulkgan and the Rock from WrestleMania eighteen,
which is an important way to start one's wrestling fandom.
And then this morning I got up with him and
he was really alert. I got up to do the
six am feeding and he was really alert and hanging
out with me, and so we sat down and I
got him started on his new favorite TV series, which

(04:34):
was one of my favorites as a young man, The
Gummy Bears on Disney. Puss was bouncing here and there
and everywhere. I adventure that's beyond compare. So we we
were doing some of that sort.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
It's been. It's really been.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, he's great, and you know you were.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
I was always a little nervous, and so far it's been,
like I said, amazing and all that.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
But like it's so cool.

Speaker 4 (04:55):
And we've had Arden and Bryce here the whole time,
and so they've gotten to really bond with him, and
it's just been so ushal and it's taking me kind
of down like memory lane with what Arden and Bryce
were like when they were babies. It's just been it's
been really really really cool.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
It's awesome. Uh, I'm gonna We're gonna let you get
back to your family and all right and and be
with your family and and you got you got Now
you can't you have to a week? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (05:21):
I was like sure, I was compete. I was like,
if Bo can't be there, I'll help you out. On
the first segment. You did it.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
He volunteered.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
I did.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
He's not even acknowledged to look at him.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
He un believable job, Thank you, unbelievable job.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
All Right. I love you guys, I miss you.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
I miss you too. We'll see you soon, buddy, Okay,
I'll see you buddy. That is fantastic.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Am I still here?

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, you're still here? So we did.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Real fast.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
We got dis tracks coming out is one of the
highlights of the summer for me.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
I disjoy. I'm really enjoyed.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Where where we're at as Cleveland Browns fans, we are
ready for this season.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
It's we're ready to go, baby. Yeah. Distracts win, distracts win.
The ability to zipper merge does not win.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
No, that doesn't win loss. Well you know how I
feel about. That's all that you era aggrievances together.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, hill of you guys. Yeah, right, there you go.
It's the great, the great z joining there on the
hot line, the twisted tea hard iced tea hotline. There
you go, get that in for the kids. So I
see it pop up on the I put the name.
Obviously I know the route, but the reason that I
put the nab in is it's intuitive. So it'll say

(06:38):
go this way over this way. Yeah, because there's something
we see here that's a problem.

Speaker 5 (06:42):
There is a backup of some kind.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah. So like it's green lights, it's a green line
everywhere when it's smooth sailing, and then if it's not,
you'll get a yellower you'll get a red. So just
like the stop line makes a lot of sense. So
I crossed seventy seven on eighty heading westbound and down,
and it was all green, and then all of a
sudden there's those there's like a rest area there, just

(07:06):
passed like in the North Royal Ish area, and and
all of a sudden it popped red. And I went, oh, man,
so what was supposed to be getting here by twelve
forty eight became one oh five, And I'm like, okay,
so this is clear. This is when I texted you
could be running a little bit late. So I'm thinking
to myself, okay. Accident and then initial and obviously I think,

(07:27):
oh my god, I hope it's not bad. Hope, but
I don't hope. No one's hurt, like none of those
type of things. So they are doing some construction in
a port and a part of the turnpike and they
go from two lanes to one, I'm sorry, three lanes
to two to one over the course of what feels
like about three miles those that's a long time to go.

(07:49):
That's a it's a it's a they did it. It's
not their problem. They did a very good job. Giving
you warning that in the next two miles, two lanes
you're gonna go from three lanes.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
They're gonna need to get over to the left.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yes, now, I ought this would be my one piece
of advice for whoever's running the turnpike. I think that
there should be a giant billboard, like a billboard the
size of Texas, on the side of the road that
illustrates a zipper merge and how it is supposed to work,

(08:23):
because we can't figure it out. So this happens a
couple of times a year. Whenever there's construction, this happens.
There are gatekeepers in the left lane that won't let
the right lane people over. Then sometimes this happened today
there was a truck in the right lane who just
stop letting people go past him. So he had a
log jam of cars behind that he was keeping at

(08:46):
a lower speed. So that I guess trying to push
people over to the left lane. It's anarchy. It's pushing
it over to himself. Like I guess what apparently what
people must think is in a situation where they say
you have two miles to get over to the left, left,
they want you. I'm guessing the majority of people want
people over to the left right away, like they want
all three lanes going to the left all at once,

(09:07):
which by the way, doesn't work.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
No, it creates a bigger it's it.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Even bigger problem. And it is in fact proven, as
we've discussed many times on this program, that a true
zipper merge is the play true you go, I go,
you go, I go, you go, I go, you go,
I go, and we just everybody keeps moving, and we
didn't have it. So I get all the way to
the point, this long stretch of like bright red like
do not pass, We're backed up, you're gonna be late. Yeah,

(09:35):
there's not an accident, there's nothing. This is just an
inability to merge, that's all it is. So then I
find myself for a split second it didn't last long, like, well, god,
there should have been an accident. Then you go, well, god,
you don't want accidents. I mean, nobody wants that. But
at the same time, like something to justify this. This
is simply merging, that's all it is. And it set
me back fifteen minutes. Just put merging construction like it's

(09:58):
a construction zone. It's a construction zone, and just show
people a giant billboard. You go left right, left right,
left right, left right left right go?

Speaker 5 (10:08):
Can you can you create a construction sign that's basically
like a zipper. That's that's hard, you know because like
they normally just have the merge.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah they do.

Speaker 5 (10:17):
They don't explain the merger.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
They don't explain it. It's got to go. You go,
I go, you go, I go.

Speaker 5 (10:21):
Yeah, So does that have to happen? Because if you
think that we're dumb as a society for this, you
should drive in Rome or it's way worse. They make
New York City look like driving in the middle of Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
What what do they struggle with? Or do they just
know what they're doing and you didn't.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
They're like, we're going, good luck fitting in, get in,
or you're gonna die. And then there's a million vespas
that you have to deal with. I also own the
road because I have a vespa, so I can go.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Where those things are kind of borderline, like.

Speaker 5 (11:02):
They go between the cars. They just pull up right
as you're getting ready to go. They just zip right
in front of you.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, it's lawless. Yeah, that's that part's tough. There almost
should be like a vespa in there. Well they're not
enough room, but that it should almost be like a
bike lane to where that like it's its own separate thing.

Speaker 5 (11:19):
One would think.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, I always get nervous around that every once. You
don't see as much anymore. I don't feel like people
ride motorcycles the way that they used to. It feels
like when we were kids that they were much much
more popular. I don't know if that was all like
off of Easy Rider and all of that stuff, but yeah,
I don't see as many. I haven't.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
I have a couple of friends they got rid of motorcycles.
They're like, because of the idiots on the road here
that just do not care ride a motorcycle.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Well that like, we've.

Speaker 5 (11:43):
Watched a lot of our friends get hit, like people
just get mowed down, and they're like, I'm not doing this,
It's not worth it.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
That is absolutely true. That happens. I've also been and
I remember this vividly. This was just this spring when
we were down in Stark County for lacrosse or basketball,
I can't remember, and there was like four of them
going about one hundred and sixty miles an hour on
seventy one North, just weaving in and out of traffic, like, yeah,
that's not twice the speed, and you just go like,
I don't even know how you police this. Like they

(12:11):
actually drove pot They drove past an Ohio Highway patrol
drove past him going like one hundred and fifty. I mean,
they were going twice as fast as the legal limit,
and the police officer, the highway patrolman just sat because
I'm sure they're just like, what good's it gonna do?
I can't catch it. I'm not catching I'm not catching that.
They're going to be in Akron by the time I
get there.

Speaker 6 (12:28):
You know.

Speaker 5 (12:28):
And it's one of those things where it's like if
anything impedes that motorcycle, oh that person's dead cooked.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah you're done, man, Yeah, yeah, you're done.

Speaker 5 (12:37):
I don't I don't you know, you're not rooting for that,
you know, I don't want anything like that. But that's
if you're doing that. If something happens, it's gonna be overquick.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yes, for sure.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
Well I'm glad you got here.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
So I got here, you worked out, okay.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
You know Broco was asking, he goes, does this happen
a lot with with bod you know, does this happen frequently,
like go not frequently, and usually he walked right like right.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
It's usually right on it. I usually give enough time
for a fifteen minute delay is usually what I try
to make. I mean, I don't have any more time
to give like it is what it is, correct, finite
amount of time to get over.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
Well, are summer blitz going out to day? Also, I
was a little like, all of a sudden, tell you
what I think. J Max was like, we should have
told them about the parking situation, and.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Well, I bad, here's what we did. So young Brock,
you're gonna have to you may have to go down
and talk to you to mister Jay downstairs. There there's
obviously no parking over there because we have some a
party of some sort.

Speaker 5 (13:30):
Of summer blitz. It's our volunteer of volunteering here. Some
summer blitz is going on across the street. So I
didn't have time to like go find so I just
parked in one of the reserved ones that are here.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
To the left. It seems like about where Z's parking
spot is. It's in the vicinity. There's like ten open.

Speaker 7 (13:47):
Of course, I'm.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
Getting it's been here a long time. So I I
don't think it's going to be a problem, but I
think I'm in two fifteen. So just so security, if
they're listening, knows that that I'm there. So if two
fifteen person comes and they show up, there's eight more spots,
it's like right there, it's about halfway. It's two fifteen.

(14:08):
My hunch is that I think it's either it's either
Z spot or his is two sixteen. But it's got
to be right in there. Okay, Just so, just so
I don't in case someone's outraged. I know it's not
a big Luminaries because they're in a different spot. So
I think we should be okay there.

Speaker 5 (14:23):
Our boss boss is over there, but I don't think
you're in his spot.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
There's a bunch of empties.

Speaker 5 (14:28):
There's Yeah, there's a lot of people out this week. Yeah,
vacations have started. Well yeah, I mean how the football's gone, like, yesh,
get your time in now. Did you watch the NBA
last night? Not a whole lot of it. I fell asleep.
I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I was.

Speaker 5 (14:46):
I was running around doing some stuff, cleaning up still
from Sunday's a little festivus, and doing some other things.
Trying to get some stuff done because I'm going out
of town later this week, and I caught some of it,
like started the fourth quarter occasionally and then I fell asleep.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, I had it kind of dual screen, so I
was kind of keep paying attention to it. And a
lot's been made of you know, the ratings for this
it's around nine a little less than nine million is
what it's averaging. And people say, oh, what's wrong with
the NBA, what's this? Look they've been in this road
before seven as the finals, you know very well, that
was right around nine million. For Cavs Spurs it was

(15:25):
around nine million. It was way down. There was one
and O three, which was Spurs Nets that was right
around nine million. Remember that that was very low. It
turns out my theory on this is that I think
there's a couple a bunch of factors lead to this.
But number one, I know it's not. This isn't the
one to like, oh, point all the fingers at it.

(15:45):
It's actually fine in comparison to everything else that's happened.
In the fact that you know, seventeen years ago, twenty
years ago, they were doing about the same, So really,
what it amounts to to me is the NFL is
the only sport, maybe in the world, where parody really works.

(16:06):
It really works. It really doesn't matter if you're in
Kansas City or Dallas or Cleveland, or New York or
Los Angeles or Green Bay. It doesn't matter you play
once a week. Every game is an event no matter
where your game is played. Because of fantasy football and gambling,
everybody watches. It's a thing to do. It is every
other instance of it, though, if you're going to use

(16:26):
ratings as the driving factor, and ratings are what make
these entities pay for the networks or pay for the
leagues to show their games, and so forth and so on.
Almost every other instance of parody though, and the rest
of sports have kind of tried to reverse engineer parody.
It doesn't work. If you go look at at NBA
ratings over the last thirty years, you know what makes
ratings pop. The Lakers, Michael Jordan, Lebron and Steph Stars

(16:53):
in the Celtics way back, Yes, stars, stars, It doesn't.
LA seems to be the one that kind of doesn't,
but they've always had stars, so it's hard to even
judge them.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
They're like the NBA's version of the Cowboys.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, well they're even more than that. They're more like
Real Madrid because they win too, so like they they
win and they're the most glamorous and they've had all
the stars. So that's that's kind of the one outlier
because even last year Celtics and MAVs wasn't some bonanza. Sure,
and same I think is true of Major League Baseball.
I think it's true of the NHL, which is really drifting.
I mean, you're talking less than three million people are

(17:24):
watching the Stanley Cup Finals and maybe you are missing out.
They've been great. They've been great. They got huge game
six tonight. But yeah, it's just football. The NFL is
the only one. And what's what's really interesting about it
is the second most popular sport in this country is
college football. And college football is a complete It has
thrived on have and have not. It has been a

(17:47):
handful of teams that have won over and over and
over again. And there's a warm blanket of seeing Ohio
State and Notre Dame in Texas and Alabama and LSU,
these monster Michigan, these monster brands Oregon that that are
in the mix all the time. There's a familiarity that
comes with it. In the NFL, I think is about
the only thing that is immune to it. And I
think the NBA, they're gonna be You're staring down the

(18:08):
barrel of like probably Oklahoma City for a decade in
the mix. They better start start setting the agenda of
how good Shake guil Just Alexander is to sell it
to their audience and spend less time talking about all
of this other nonsense. I mean they're still talking about
Durant and Lebron and all this stuff they have got
to prop up.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
Because that's a trade.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, but he's not. It's not him going anywhere, is
not changing anything. No, they need to do a better
job of building up Anthony Edwards, shake guil Just Alexander,
these younger guys on a bigger stage, because otherwise they're
gonna they're gonna be in this spot eight nine million people.
I don't really have a rooting interest. I don't really
care who wins in it. I'm happy for a guy

(18:49):
Jake who's going to join us momentarily. But other than that,
it's it doesn't it does. It's not resonating with me
at all.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
No, I mean I've talked about it. These guys watch it,
but I'm I don't have an interest.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
I just don't.

Speaker 5 (19:03):
And there's nothing else on except for the Stanley Cup finals,
so it's not like it's there's all this, all these options. Yeah,
you know, I mean the Guardians are on the West Coast.
I mean that's a ten ten PM. I'm out.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yeah, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 5 (19:18):
Yeah, I'm good right now.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah. O Tany threw one hundred miles an hour last night.

Speaker 5 (19:22):
Yeah, he did twenty one months removed from elbow arm whatever.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
He did a rehab assignment in the bigs. Yeah, while
also hitting leadoff. I got this. Okay, crazy crazy crazy crazy.
All right. We're gonna be joined by our good buddy,
Jake Trotter. He was at the game last night in OKC,
so we will we will talk about him. He actually
he shared this with me, and well I'll have him
share it with with all of you here. Coming up

(19:49):
next in terms of now that they're on the precipice
of a championship, how this all came about, and why
it came about, how Oklahoma City landed the Seattle Sonics,
and how all of these things happen. So we'll we'll
have a little bit of on with that with Jay
coming up next, Listen to Cleveland Browns Daily. It's presented
by Bally bet official sports winning partner Your Cleveland Browns
on eight fifty ESPN, Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Cleveland Browns Daily presented by Bally back an official sports
betting partner of Your Cleveland Browns on eight to fifty
esp and Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
All Right, Welcome back in Clevel The Browns Daily. It's
presented by Bally beneficial sports wedding partner of Your Cleveland Browns.
I should have mentioned that that previous segment was the
Hot Topics of the Day, presented by University Hospital, official
healthcare partner of Your Cleveland Browns. And now we head
out on the Twisted te Heart Iced Tea Hotline, official
sponsor of your Clear the Brown's Keep It Twisted, Cleveland.
He was at Game five of the NBA Finals last night.

(21:06):
He is a great friend of the program and a
great friend indeed. ESPN's Jake Trotter, senior college football writer
formerly of the Browns Beat, joins on the Twisted Tea Hotline.
Was this the first one of these you've seen? Because
I know you were down there for the Women's College
World Series two.

Speaker 7 (21:20):
Yeah, that was my first game of this finals. I'm
actually back in Cleveland already, bo I left it. My
flight was at five am, landed at eleven. I think
I got home, you know, I don't think I went
to bed until we may or may not have had

(21:42):
a victory cigar back at the house. So I went
to bed at like one forty five to two, and
I had to set my alarm for three to get
to the airport. I think I slept forty five minutes
last night. Tops.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
I'm just curious, where does that is that Chicago connect?
What is that Dallas?

Speaker 7 (22:02):
Do you have to law?

Speaker 1 (22:03):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Dallas, Dallas and then up? Okay, okay, yeah.

Speaker 7 (22:06):
It depends on the airline. Like if you take Southwest,
it's it's Saint Louis. If you take you know, American,
it's it's Dallas.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
I was.

Speaker 7 (22:13):
I was on the American flight. But man, that was
an early wake up call today, but it was it
was worth it. So I've been to two Finals games
in my life. I went to Game one in twenty
twelve against the Miami Heat. Lebron James Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade,

(22:34):
the Thunder won that game with Kevin Duranton Company to
go up one oer in the series, and they did
not win another finals game that year. It got beat
Gentlemen sweep for to one. And yeah, I was back
back in the arena last night Thunder two and oh
lifetime in the finals when I'm in the house, well,

(22:54):
and I.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Guess if there is a game seven, you'll be back.
It feels like that's the way that no, what is
the give me, give it paint a little picture for
us of because this feels like a fad of complete
at this point. I mean, Haliburton's hurt, like it's they're
the best team all year anyway. And then the other
thing that's kind of crazy about this, Jake is like

(23:15):
the way they're built and with the picks. Now, I
don't think anyone's gonna go there in free agency. I
think it's I know Paul George did, but I don't
think that's gonna happen much anymore. We dealt with that
here in Cleveland, like it's just probably not gonna be
a free agent destination. But they can circumvent that with
all of those picks. So it does kind of from
my vantage point feel like that they're gonna win it,
whether it's in game six or seven, one of the

(23:35):
way they're gonna win it. I don't there's no way
Indiana's went.

Speaker 7 (23:37):
To in a row.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
And then beyond that, this feels like the first of many,
like they're gonna have it bats at this for like
the next half decade.

Speaker 7 (23:45):
It looks like, well listen, let I mean, I I
am not riding off Indiana just yet. They have a
voodoo about them where they're a zombie team. You think
they're done. I mean last night, like you know, I
was in the arena, so I wasn't as aware of
like what was going on with Halliburt. Like I knew

(24:06):
he was hurt, but I didn't like see on TV
that he was limping out of the locker room. You know,
it was clear that he wasn't the same. And yet
it's a two point game. Because this guy named TJ McConnell.
You know, I was talking about the NBA thirteen years ago.
It was like a JJ Berea. I don't know if
you remember him. I do five foot six point guard

(24:27):
from the Mavericks who absolutely killed the Thunder in the
Western Conference Finals in twenty eleven was a big part
of their championship that year with the dirt team. TJ
McConnell comes in and can't miss, and all of a sudden,
it's a two point game. And I'm like, you could
feel the anks rise up in the arena because you know,
Game one, the Thunder had that locked up, and and

(24:50):
then Halliburton hits a three at the end, and somehow
Indiana wins that game. And you know, living in Cleveland,
it's like a double whandie because I watched all those
Cavs games, were like, how in the world did India
You know that was a miss free throw? I can't
was that game? Wan ORed game two when Halliburton missed
the free throw, catches it and dribbles out to the

(25:11):
top of the game, thinks the three to win. I
think that was. I think that was Game one, but
I can't. I can't remember now. But I you know, listen,
if Halliburton is not one hundred percent, then it has
to be very difficult for Indiana went to win. I agree,
especially two games. But if you're the Pacers just got
to figure out a way to send it to game seven,

(25:32):
and I think that they are capable of doing that.
You know, this has been a pretty even series until
last night throughout. Uh but but you're a bigger quiet.
Let's assume they do win. You know, they're gonna have
Shay on the Supermax. They're gonna have Chet and Jalen
Williams on the Max. Is like that is the core
of the team. And I think, you know, the way
Jalen Williams has played this series, it's you know, it

(25:55):
is pretty scary I think for the rest of the
league because he has really emerged into like a legit
number two, probably a number one on a lot of teams,
the NBA perfect sidekick to Shay. And you know, Chet,
even though I think he struggled offensively, is still just
an absolute menace, blocking shots, protecting them them and they have,

(26:18):
you know, a bunch of guys under contract. I think
this will pretty much be the same team next year,
with the exception of the lottery pick they had last
year basically red shirted Nicolo Topic, who was gonna be
a top five pick last summer, tore his knee up
and was there at twelve for the Thunder to get
so he red shirted. You know, is maybe the top

(26:42):
top guard out of Europe since since Luca. I'm not
saying he's Luca, but you know he was a pretty
prolific European point guard. So we'll see if he gets
in the rotation. And yeah, they just have picks upon
picks to you know, to replenish the roster if guys
get too expensive, or you know, to adjust if they

(27:03):
feel like they need to. So it is it's crazy
that not only do they have this team, you know,
one of the youngest to ever win potentially an NBA title,
but they have more assets than anybody in the NBA
or at least as many as anyone in the NBA
going for it. I don't know that we've ever seen

(27:26):
a situation like this and maybe all of professional sports.
So it's a it's an exciting time to be a
fan of the team, and you know they have a
chance to really do something pretty special in the coming years,
not just this season, but beyond Trotter.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
It's Gibbs welcome back question for you. What how does
that city? How is that city when it comes to
being a basketball town, like, is it win lose no
matter what supporting or is it a is it a
fair weather town or you know, how does this how

(28:05):
does that city embrace that team that obviously used to
be the Seattle Sonics way back way.

Speaker 7 (28:11):
Yeah yeah, I mean I you know, Thunder have lived
a charmed life in their brief existence. I mean they
a little bit. You know, they moved in two thousand
and eight. They were in the finals four years later.
They have basically been competitive, like playoff competitive pretty much
like eighty percent of the time. You know, you see

(28:33):
some NBA teams they haven't made the playoffs, and you know,
Sacramento makes it one year and then you know, now
they're in disarray again. You know, Charlotte, you know, they
can't do anything no matter what they do, so they
they you know, it's been a charmed existence. They've had

(28:54):
four MVPs play there. They've had players like Chris Paul,
you know, come through there, and you know, after the
Paul George Russ Ron ran its course. You know, they
were basically you know, they had the one year with
Chris Paul where they made the playoffs, Shay's first season
with the Thunder. After the Paul George trade, they were

(29:15):
bad for two years and then they were back in
the playing playing game. So it's it's been pretty incredible
that they have you know, been as consistently good as
they have been basically, you know, since they moved there
seventeen years ago. And you know you combine that with

(29:35):
you know, the success that the college programs, particularly oh
you football, have had. I mean, let's just say it's
not a jaded fan base. You know, they have not
had to deal with the adversity that you know, Brown's
fans have had to deal with. Put it that way,
it's kind of the inverse of you know, Brown's leave
and then it's been really tough since and you know,

(29:57):
with the Thunder, they get this team and they've just
been pretty much awesome most years with a bunch of
absolute superstar players coming through. So yeah, I mean, like
you you walk through town, it's it's, uh, you know,
you can imagine kind of what it's like. You know,
when the Browns were in the playoffs. You know, it
was kind of weird when they were in it during

(30:20):
the COVID year, but you know, the Flacco fever uh season,
I mean, it's it's thunder flags everywhere, Like all the buildings,
you know, are lit up with Thunder logos. I Mean,
everybody's wearing Thunder stuff around town. You know, everybody's all
in and uh, it's it's a lot of fun to
be in Oklahoma City right now.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yeah, they're the Ravens. Yeah, Thunder unfair, that's what it is.

Speaker 7 (30:44):
Not an unfair comp And we have Lamar right now
right yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
And before that you had ray Lewis like you you know,
like yeah, I mean it's that's really what they that
it is. I mean that's from a move standpoint, it's
it's about as painful as it gets from the other side.
It much like it was for us here from the
Seattle side of it. It's that way, just like it
would be I'm sure Minnesota when they took the North
starts to Dallas and then they won the Cup and
it's like, wait, what where the yeah, where where this

(31:11):
is supposed to happen? Not in Dallas. So I think
that's the part that's but look, that's of no fault
of anybody down there, and they've been What I'm curious
about is like Sooner football, the Sooners win the national title,
or Oklahoma City wins the National champion or the NBA title,
which one is more important?

Speaker 7 (31:31):
I think the Thunder winning an NBA title would be
more important because the Sooners have done it. Yeah, you know,
they have seven national championships. And not everybody in Oklahoma
is a Sooner fan. Now everybody in Oklahoma's a thunder fan. Basically,
you know that there's still thirty thirty five percent Oklahoma
state fans, so you know, it's a little bit of

(31:54):
a divat bedlam divide there, but that you know, everybody's
a Thunder fan and the fact that it's never happened
and it's professional sports, all right, this would be I mean,
you could make the cases would be the biggest sports
moment in the history of the state. I don't think
that that's hyperb believe.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, yeah, I mean when you think of it from
that person, it's a little bit like Columbus with the
Blue Jackets. How you know, like not everybody in Columbus
loves the Buckeyes. There are people who move in from
other places who don't. And this is something that is
unequivocally theirs. You and I talked a couple of weeks
ago about how how this all came, about, how they
how the thunder happened, and Clay Bennett and all of
that stuff and what they were trying to do by

(32:35):
building an arena before a team came. When you think
about all of the years that have passed since all
of this happened, and you think about the mission that
was set out all those years ago after the tragic bombing,
it's it's all worked. Where they were right about all
of it, weren't they?

Speaker 7 (32:53):
You know, one way that I noticed it. You know,
I grew up in Oklahoma City obviously, and I just
remember what a this was before the bombing. You know,
just what a you know, desolate wasteland downtown was, and
like if you wanted to go out and eat in
Oklahoma City in the eighties, you're basically going to like

(33:14):
red Lobster or like there was like no restaurants at all.
There's like a couple. If you went to downtown, there
were basically two things to do. There was a conted
house it was in like an old warehouse in the
Bricktown district. And then there was the spaghetti warehouse. That
was it. It was the only two things to do that

(33:35):
I can remember. Yeah, and now, like you go down,
I mean I don't if you asked me, Hey, I'm
in Okama City, where do I go like, I don't
even know what to tell you, because there are like
a thousand new restaurants I never heard of. The whole
downtown area is like there's the Scissor Tell Park next

(33:55):
to the arena, which is incredible. You know there we
went to a rooftop up you know bar before the game,
just across the street from the arena that wasn't there
when I lived there. I mean, there is just so
much new in the city. Uh, you know, really is vibrant.
And it all kind of goes back to getting the

(34:16):
NBA team, like none of us. I think it's possible
without the thunder, you know, drawing everybody downtown. I mean,
downtown is like it's hard for me to explain how
different Downtown is now then than it was when I
was growing up. I mean it was, you know, it
was crazy. I mean imagine, you know, imagine the the

(34:40):
the area around the lakefront, around the Brown Stadium, and
then take away the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
the Science Center, and the actual stadium. That's kind of
like what Downtown was, you know, like I you wouldn't
I wouldn't even know where to tell you to go.
And now it's just uh it was. It was incredible

(35:01):
to be back down there, you know last night, and
uh yeah, I mean, I I uh, it's it's it's
hard to believe that they're they're on the verge of
winning a championship and now, like you said, like they
ain't going anywhere. And I think it's gonna be fascinating
to see what happens in the NBA, like really curious

(35:21):
to see what the Calves do, because I mean, the
Calves were the other team right there with the Thunder
that were just completely dominant during the regular season. And
you know that the Calves ran into this Pacers team
that was just red hot, and it has not been
easy for Oklahoma City to deal with Indiana, Like this
has been a real series. And you go back to

(35:42):
Game four when it went Friday night, when it looked
like Indiana was gonna win, to go up three to one,
and I think the difference between the two series was is, uh,
you know, Shay was able to just take over the
game late and wild the Thunder to this incredible comeback,
and no one on the Calves was able to do

(36:02):
that in any particular game and they got you know,
they got blown out in that game. Four. Remember that
Game four where you know that they had won in
Indiana in Game three and it looked like, okay, you know,
they're they're about to reclaim the series, and they just
know showed and the Thunder, you know, they didn't no show,
but they were out played. They were kind of never

(36:24):
in control, but they were able to hang around. And
because they were able to hang around, they gave their
superstar chance to win the game. That's exactly what happened.
And that's kind of the difference between the two series.
And so if you're the Calves, you gotta figure out okay,
because the East is still wide open. That's why Orlando
made the trade for Desmond Bane. But at least in

(36:45):
the East there is no Oklahoma City. But in the West,
which by the way, is loaded otherwise with guys like
you know, wimpin Yama and you know Luca the Lakers,
I mean, there's Denver is not going anywhere. But yeah,
I mean, I think the standard is going to be
the Thunder going forward because their big three are going
to be there for a long time, and they're all young,

(37:05):
and they're all getting better, and they have a tremendous
bench and role players and lou Dort is just unreal
guarding the team's best opposing team's best player. So it's
I mean, the NBA is gonna be really fun, I
think for Cleveland and certainly Oklahoma City in the coming future.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
You know, Lona has been made night. We were kind
of talking about this about ratings for all of this,
and this doesn't affect the fans of Oklahoma City or
Indianapolis or anything else. But they've been a little bit down,
but they've been down before. They were down in O
seven when it was Calves and Spurs. They were down
in O three when it was Spurs and Nets too.
And one thing that I'm thinking about listening to you
talking as a native Oklahoma City, and you think about

(37:44):
it from this perspective. If you're our age, if you're
a man in your forty or even your thirties, whatever, like,
you probably have some memories of the Sonics and you
probably remember thinking to yourself why it was Oklahoma City
getting a team, Like it's so crazy the team would
move from Seattle to Oklahoma City. But here's the thing,
my kids, you know what they associate Oklahoma City with
winning in basketball. That's what they do. What we have

(38:07):
a shaeguilace Alexander Jersey. My thirteen year olds got to
sea shakeguilla Alexander Jersey because he loves Kentucky and has
it like, that's what they is. That's what they is.
That's what the power of sport is, Jake. And we've
seen this, you know, boots on the ground in India
with the Colts in that stadium, and in Columbus you're
down there like what that Blue Jackets when you put
stadium's cruse Stadium, what that does? That's that's what sports do.

(38:28):
Is it up? That's what it does. It uplifts a
whole city and changes the perspective of it for another generation.

Speaker 7 (38:35):
I'm telling you, I you know, I traveled overseas. Uh uh.
You know after after ninety five, and you know, you're
you're you know, you're different places in the country. I
went to school to college in Virginia, and after ninety five,
if you were from Oklahoma City, people found out like they, oh,

(38:56):
were you there for the bombing?

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yep?

Speaker 7 (38:58):
Like internationally, Uh, when you thought of Oklahoma City, you
thought of the bombing. That's like what the identity of
the city was. Now it's the thunder and and that's
like you said, I when you were saying that about
you know, your kids and Shay and Thunder like that,
that is what the city of Oklahoma City is I
identified as. And and that's that's pretty cool that that

(39:20):
they were able and we were able to, you know,
change the perception of you know, what it meant to
be from Oklahma City. Uh. And you know the first
thing you thought of, because you know, I was at
oklaham City when the bombing happened. I wasn't that far
from downtown. It was a crazy event to be in
the middle of, especially as a kid. And uh And

(39:41):
and you know, I think a lot of what where
Oklahoma City is now is tied to that and how
the city responded to it. But you know, it is
also cool to like I was wearing my thundershirt at
the airport in Cleveland and I had like multiple people
like say something to me about the game.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah. Yeah, And man, it's great having you on to
reflect on it and enjoy the ride. I have a
feeling it's just beginning for your boys.

Speaker 5 (40:05):
Get some sleep, Get some sleep, Threads. They're not going
away for you.

Speaker 7 (40:10):
They're not letting me sleep. But you know hopefully, you know,
hopefully Brown stands well, you know, we'll get to a
point where they can feel what I'm feeling now, because
it's pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
It really is good talking to you, buddy. As always,
I have a feeling we'll do it again.

Speaker 7 (40:23):
The marrow, all right, Yeah, I'll talk to you in Columbus, SA, buddy.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Jake Shotter joining us on the Twisted Tea Hotline. Yeah,
I mean, that's that is the thing is, sometimes it
takes a generation for there to be a different perception
of things, like as we get older, there there's a
history that we have with cities and franchises and all
of that. And like my kids, that's all they watch
a lot of basketball, and that's how they view Oklahoma City.

(40:48):
They must be a great basketball town. All they've done
is win their whole life. It's all they know.

Speaker 5 (40:52):
But you also, and we've had this conversation on the air,
We've had the conversation off the air. From an NBA standpoint,
I don't know if it's necessarily an NFL deal or not.
Maybe we can debate that, but it's more about the
name on the back than the name on the front
that people are fans of especially the younger.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
That started younger ut that started with David Stern. So
David Stern in the eighties pushed Magic and Bird. It
helped that it was Lakers Celtics, but it was really
Magic and Bird, and it kind of had all of
it right. You had kind of this blue collar they
I mean, like Bird from the they both came from
blue collar background, sure, but the racial part of it

(41:33):
was certainly a part of those two cities. The flash
and all the stuff that came in Los Angeles, more
of a blue collar attitude in Boston, even though it's
one of the most it's probably the most educated city
maybe in the world. It's certainly in America. And you
had this thing that they pushed, this narrative. And then
when those two were done and they saved the NBA,
they saved it. And then Jordan came along, and then

(41:54):
after that there was who's got next, Well, it's Kobe
and Shaq and those guys came along, and then some
kid from Akron came Alat They've always had the guy
who's next ready to go, but they have pushed those stars.
Steph coming along at the right time as a foil
for Lebron after Kobe petered out, like all of those
things were happening, and I don't know what's next for
that league because their best players are foreign players and

(42:18):
they just are. And so you're and I mean, Shake
Gildes Alexander when the MVPs from Canada, like it's now
he played a Kentucky Like what's the difference? Maybe I'll
save that joke, but but the the point is is
that like they are in this spot of they've sold
stars and star power for our whole life and now

(42:42):
what it looks like in terms of where it's heading,
and like Shake guil just Alexander is a star, Donovan
Mitchell is a star. Do they transcend? Probably not in
the way that those other guys did. They were here
because we're in town. But is they I I don't know.
I mean, I think it's probably Yannis and it's probably

(43:03):
still Stephan Lebron and those guys. The one way of
always knowing is looking to see who they put on
the Christmas Day games. Sure, that's the best way of knowing.
That's who they think is the face of the league
or those games. So but yeah, that's not okay, C's fault,
that's not Indy's fault. It's just a product of where
that league is right now. And they they're television partners,
their media partners or social media partners. They really need

(43:24):
to prop up. They need to talk about shake Gil
just Alexander, they need to talk about Anthony Edwards. Need
to talk about and build those guys up so that
so that next year when you're in this thing, because
it's going to be Oklahoma City again next year, barring injury,
when they're there again, people are ready for them and
they're familiar.

Speaker 5 (43:38):
So I'm going to take in it. It's like the WWE. Yeah,
when all the big names, when when the Rock was
done and when Sina started to go make movies. Yeah,
and you're like, who's the face?

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Who is it?

Speaker 5 (43:51):
Who's the face? Like there's a lot of good, there's
even some great, yeah, but is it the face?

Speaker 8 (43:57):
Well?

Speaker 2 (43:57):
And is it interesting?

Speaker 8 (43:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Is it interesting? Because right now I don't know that
Shay Gildis Alexander is interesting. He's great. You just want
the MVP. But I don't know if if people outside
of people who watch a lot of hoop have any
idea who he is. That's that's the spot that they're
in a little bit right now, at least here Stateside.

Speaker 5 (44:16):
My buddy, the Commissioner, Christian Cooper. FA Yeah, he's in
your next face.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Well, it'd be nice. He's got to be great.

Speaker 5 (44:25):
He's got to be great.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
He's got to be great. And he's nineteen eighteen. He
can't drink no. I yeah, I know. None of these guys.
I mean, that's like the Williams guy for Oklahoma City.
He's at he's he played three years at Santa Clara.
That's how hard this is to try to understand. He
was the twelfth pick in the draft. Like, you never
know with these guys anymore CORECT. You don't know how
they're going to grow or how they're going to develop.

(44:47):
So yeah, I think all those factors are there. But yeah,
the beginning, very very beginning for Okay, see all right,
our buddy Greg Noose was on Good Morning Football. We'll
have some of that for you coming up Nextural c
to Cleveland Browns Daily is presented by Valley Bet, official
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Speaker 1 (45:09):
Cleveland Browns Daily presented by bally Bet, an official sports
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Speaker 2 (45:24):
Add more fun than you random. With the bally Bet
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Bally Bet official sports betting partner of your Cleveland Browns
O buddy Greg Noose was on Good Morning Football this morning,
a wide ranging discussion. Let's have a listen.

Speaker 9 (45:40):
All right, man, dude, we have the ash you been.
Do you know all the QB situation? You guys have
had cameras all over the place. You guys have about
seventeen qbs.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
On the depth chart.

Speaker 9 (45:47):
We need to know from the defensive perspective, give us
an idea of how you have perceived all these guys
to be different. Right, you got Flacco, you got Picket,
you got Gabriel.

Speaker 6 (45:56):
You got Sanders.

Speaker 9 (45:57):
What have you seen from these guys from then the
tired debt chart from a defensive side.

Speaker 6 (46:01):
Of the ball.

Speaker 10 (46:01):
Yeah, like you said, I think they're all different. You've
got Flecco, who's a season bet, still has an incredible arm,
can make pretty much any throw.

Speaker 6 (46:12):
I mean, You've got Kenny Pickett.

Speaker 10 (46:13):
Who's a who's a proven guy, who's one games in
this league, a guy who's not going to make too
many mistakes. They got the two young bulls and Dylan,
Gabriel and Shador, which has been fun to watch them, bro,
and they all do something a little bit different.

Speaker 6 (46:27):
So it's been amazing just to watch.

Speaker 10 (46:30):
And we're super excited because I feel like with competition,
you're going to bring the best out of everybody.

Speaker 11 (46:34):
Greg, shout out one of them who's looked really good?
Who if you liked you're watching these guys who looks sharp?

Speaker 10 (46:39):
Yeah, I like, obviously I haven't went against your door
too much, but you know, just watching the film and everything, he's.

Speaker 6 (46:46):
Been doing an amazing, amazing job.

Speaker 10 (46:49):
And then the rets Dylan has been getting against us
and Shoe and really everybody been doing a pretty good job.
But I think everybody commands the offense in different ways.
So it's been super fun to watch.

Speaker 6 (46:59):
The Yeah, I bet it has.

Speaker 11 (47:02):
You know, Shador, it is this thing where he he
might be the most famous fifth round pick and you
as a corner, like his dad is Dion, and he's
just he's this culture personality and he's everywhere. What is
he like just as a guy, as a teammate, what's
it been.

Speaker 10 (47:17):
Like, yeah, no, he's been amazing a sponge, I would say,
it's just crazy that guy is young with this much
notoriety can just handle media and things like that. I
think his dad has really taught him how, you know,
to be that guy in the spotlight and understand that
what comes with it. And I think he's been doing

(47:37):
an incredible job of just learning and getting better each day.

Speaker 12 (47:41):
Hey, also on the defensive side, right, you guys just
signed Miles Garrett of course to a monster deal. Like
what type of type of teammate has he been in
locker room lately?

Speaker 6 (47:49):
Yeah, he's a monster.

Speaker 10 (47:52):
He brings a lot of energy to his locker room
where people don't see behind the scenes, like just always
playing with everybody. He's a guy he's reachable to everybody
on the on the team, not just the defense. He's
not just a guy that says to himself. He's a
guy that brings the energy and is a He's a
huge leader for us out.

Speaker 6 (48:10):
There on the field. All Right, I have to ask
you this question, man.

Speaker 9 (48:12):
You the game of football, right, we visualize a lot, right,
we man to kind of manifest us making plays, and
now all of a sudden, you know your division rival
goes out there and science Aaron Rodgers, a k A
a ron a john Wick. And have you visualized yourself
picking off Aaron Rodgers And if so, give us a
rundown of how that how that kind of played out.

Speaker 6 (48:32):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 10 (48:33):
You know it's the Steelers, you know, that's that's our
that's our arch nemesis. So definitely see that happening both
in Cleveland and in Pittsburgh. So you know it can
happen in the multitude of ways. A tip passed by
some of the great d linemen. We got just a
great play, you know against a guy like DK Metcalf

(48:54):
and Friar moved. So I think there's a lot of
different ways. But I'm super excited because I think, you know,
this is the best division in football, so adding a
guy like him, she's gonna make it even tougher.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (49:05):
So I grew up in Cleveland, so I hated the Browns.
My favorite team was the Steelers, as crazy as that sounds.
But so again, now you have Rogers in the conference,
I have Burrow and Lamar of course, so rank them
from three to one, which one would you most want.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
To get a pick off of?

Speaker 12 (49:24):
And any of these, like you know, like a ball
that you would get signed take home or anything like that.

Speaker 6 (49:28):
Yeah, for sure. Well since I got Lamar.

Speaker 3 (49:31):
I got him.

Speaker 6 (49:32):
Okay, well we'll take him down a little bit.

Speaker 10 (49:34):
Yeah, but you know, I'm gonna go Joe Burrow first
just because we played in Week one, so you know,
I'm trying to I'm trying to get off to a
great start. Yeah, he's a guy that I love going
against my entire career and it's been super fun.

Speaker 6 (49:47):
And then honestly A rides right there up there with him.

Speaker 10 (49:50):
That's a guy that's, you know, one of the top
five greatest quarterbacks ever. Lace him up so that that'll
be super amazing too.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
Really good stuff with Greg Good Morning Football this morning.

Speaker 5 (50:05):
Loves going up against the best. Well, congratulations, you're going
to go up against the best this year and in
the quarterbacks in our division.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
Yeah, that's an interesting one. If Rogers plays at let's
say he plays how he played his last year in
Green Bay. Where does this group? What was probably the
best the quarterback position was ever ever represented in this division?

Speaker 3 (50:38):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (50:38):
Moon kozar asiasin Mark alone?

Speaker 5 (50:44):
Like that was trash.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
It was great because that's what I watched wins, right,
So then the way back would have been like Bradshaw,
Sipeh and Kenny Anderson, and then who would have been
in Who would have been in Houston at that time?
Is that like when they're running through like like arch

(51:10):
Archie Manning and like the like kind of the end
of that who's quarterbacking Houston like in nineteen in the
late seventies early eighties. I yeah, And then in the
contemporary times there wouldn't be there wouldn't be anything in
contemporary times it would be better than what it is
right now. It is Palmer Roethlisberger. No, oh, well, Palmer Roethlisberger, Flacco.

(51:34):
How often? How much did that cross over? Not much?

Speaker 5 (51:40):
But what about I mean when you had Baker, Burrow, Lamar,
and Ben, I think was still there.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
End of Ben, beginning of Baker, beginning of Joe, end
of Ben, beginning of Lamar middle, yeah, kind of early
parts of Lamar. I think this might. Yeah, you have
two MVP top five MVP candidates and Burrow and Lamar.
Burrow probably wins the MVP last year if they just

(52:12):
win two more games, he probably wins it. So you
have two legit MVP candidates. You have one of the
most decorated individual players. Now this is all needing him
to come along, is the thing, And then we just
have uncertainty at our spot. It's probably it's probably it's
probably asiasin Cozar Moon and the Mark Malone, Bubby Britster

(52:36):
Pittsburgh spot. That's probably the apex of it. But this
is pretty close the one you just mentioned. Pretty close.
I don't know how many seasons Palmer, Roethlisberger, Flacco, but
then we were running ad guy out every year at
that time, so we wouldn't have much to contribute there. No,
it's pretty good, though, I mean.

Speaker 8 (52:59):
Was it?

Speaker 5 (53:00):
Would you say Aaron Rodgers was one of the fifteen
best quarterbacks in the NFL a year ago twenty nine
TDS ten picks?

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yeah, I mean I yeah, fifteen best. Yeah, he was
top half of the league. Yeah, So I think if
you're there, if he's top twelve of the league, then
the other two were top five. Yeah, so and then
whatever happens with our situation. So yeah, it's an interesting one.
It's it's very very healthy, which isn't necessarily good news

(53:30):
for us, although Greg will be chomping at the bit
from it for sure. All right, we're gonna rank some
position rooms. Have a little fun here in the second
hour of the program it listen to Cleveland Rounds Daily
presented by bally Bet, official sportspinning partner, Cleveland Browns on
eight fifty ESPN.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Cleveland Cleveland Browns Daily presented by bally Bet, an official
sports betting partner. If your Cleveland Browns on eight to
fifty esp and Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Browns fancy Well gave tickets on sale now secure your
seats today for the top matchups Huntington Bankfield during the
twenty five season. Don't wait, head to Browns dot com
slash tickets now. All right, our tasks this segment rank
every position room on our roster one to eleven based
on the well you have the most confidence into the
one with the most questions. So in this instance, one

(54:31):
higher least all the confidence in the world. We're good
to go, correct, Lois would be eleven.

Speaker 5 (54:38):
A lot of questions, A lot of questions, concern possibly
of questions.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
I have a tough time. I don't know what you.

Speaker 5 (54:44):
Exclude one big position.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
Yeah, I see. Quarterbacks are not on this list.

Speaker 5 (54:48):
Not a lot, because right now they would that be
number eleven on your list?

Speaker 2 (54:53):
No, because I think it's I don't It wouldn't be
eleven on the list for me.

Speaker 5 (54:57):
Really, No, Okay, Wall would you put it?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
I would have it somewhere in the back half. But
I mean there's a million questions around it. But I
also think it'll be just fine. Whatever happens at quarterback
this year. It's going to be better than what we
had last year. We took a step in the right
direction in the room, and so I think, no matter what,
you're going to be better off at quarterback than you
were a year ago. So I whether it's Flacco or

(55:22):
Pickett or one of the two young guys, I think
the offensive system will be better suited for their skill
set as well. So I while I am curious and
there are questions of who it's going to be, whoever
it is, and whatever the plan is, I think will
be better than the situation we're in last year, all right,
So I would not have at eleven. The one that
I have a tough time with here is specialist. I

(55:44):
don't really know what to do with that. But Jorkez
is great. Hopkins obviously was really really good year one
A little bit down last year. I don't really know
what we're doing at punt return, kick return. You know,
I know the names that are out there, but in
terms of what that looks like, I don't know. So
that's kind of a b yorkea Hopkins. How do I feel?
And I feel great confidence in both of those guys,
So that's kind of a tricky one to rate. Basically,

(56:07):
with special teams, you just don't want to be noticed exactly.

Speaker 5 (56:12):
I put them right in the middle. They're kind of
right in the middle. Yeah, I put them right in
the middle. The biggest question I don't think is the returners.
I need to know the de Hop's going to recover. Yeah,
and I love them and I want him to recover.
I want him to be good. But like, I got
to know that I've got plenty of trust if when
push comes to shove in the late in the fourth quarter,

(56:35):
everybody's coming in looking like a drowned rat.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
Well, guess what it's raining again? Kids? Yeah, by the way,
utter nonsense that it's gray all day today. We just
utter nonsense. Yeah, June it thunderstorm, fine, but then move on,
ye all right? Most do you want to do? Most
questions or least questions to start, uh I, I do

(57:00):
you want to start from the one or to start
from eleven?

Speaker 5 (57:02):
I would start one.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Okay, well this is this is to me I have
I think this room is I think this room is
as good as any in the league. I think it's
no quote, it's been a big point of emphasis. There's
been a great investment in it. To me, it's very
clearly corner is number one strength on this football team. Okay,
I think you've got three dudes. I think beyond it,
it's good. You got one of the I think you

(57:24):
have the best mirror corner in the league in Denzel Zenzel.
I think MJ bounces back big this year. I think
Newsom is gonna be great again. I think that's the
strongest top to bottom unit on the Ross.

Speaker 5 (57:35):
So we disagree. I have defensive end. I think that
there's seven or eight guys in that defensive end room. Obviously,
you've got a defensive player of the year in Miles.
I think Isaiah McGuire, Alex Right, yeah, Obo, you got

(57:55):
Joe Tryon Shyenko who we went out and got there.
I'm missing a name. Well, you got most of Themara.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
You got Akuara in there. I think you've got them all.
I have it too, I have I have defensive end
number two. The only reason I don't have it, the
only reason I don't have it higher than corner is
I think the corner room is more proven whereas it's
I mean, Miles is Miles is probably a better overall
player than Denzel. I mean, he's a defensive Player of
the Year, is one of the five best players in

(58:25):
the whole league. But Denzel's in the vicinity. But then
the next two corners, MJ and Newsom. I've seen their
high end a little more than I've seen the high
end of the other d ns. But I have d
N two. I have number two on the fens. Yeah,
so we're pretty aligned there.

Speaker 5 (58:38):
I don't have corner at number two. I have interior
offensive line.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
Okay, I have that three. So with the guards in
the center. The only thing here is just health. It's
it's agent health. But I think it's the strongest for sure,
the strongest unit on the offense. And I do think
Zen will bounce back after a little bit of a
tough year. They loved Whippler before the injury. So the
guys behind the guys are pretty good. That's the future

(59:06):
planning when healthy postic Potonio Teller is the best interior group,
but it's they're aging and they've got to stay healthy.
But yeah, I have that three gotcha, So I'm with
you on that. At three, I head corner so we
have the same same combinations. We're all thinking the same thing.

Speaker 5 (59:24):
Number four, who do you have?

Speaker 2 (59:26):
What were your questions with corner?

Speaker 6 (59:29):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (59:29):
I need to know that the guys behind Greg Newsom's
in a contract here.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
Yeah, MJSON cantrol those guys.

Speaker 5 (59:35):
Yeah, like we've taken a corner every year for the
last couple of years in row. You know, on day three,
I need to see what those guys can do. I
got you, you know, and I want to see those
guys take a step forward because we got three good corners,
but all three of them have had injuries. Yes, I
mean Denzel gets hurt. Denzel's gonna miss four to four

(59:57):
to five weeks, Yeah, potentially, you know. I mean Newsom
has missed some significant time. MJ has missed some time,
but he's also played through injuries. But when he's playing
through injuries sometimes it's pretty tough.

Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (01:00:11):
So I need to know what that depth is because
with a seventeen game schedule, you need all the corners
you can get.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
Yes, I'm proud of that, all right, Number four, number
four for you. Number four, I had defensive tackle, okay,
Mason Graham, Malie Collins, Shelby Harris. I think Juwan Briggs
showed some things. Mike Hall is still recovering. He wasn't
out at mini camp last week, but I think he'll

(01:00:39):
be back sooner rather than later. And I think for
what you want to do in that room, let's see,
let's see what Mason grahams brings to that table. I
have a number four the tight ends, Chief at the
top of that, fannin underneath. I think Fannon is going
to be an absolute stud behind that. I do think

(01:01:00):
they'd like to add maybe one more. I want. I'm
very curious, you know, when we get into training camp,
they add another one if there's something this summer. But
I have tight end number four. I think I think
Chief and Fan and Are are pretty much lights out,
and I think those guys will both have very very
big years. So you went D tackle, I went I
went D tackle at five. Okay, So this is where
I have d tackle the only thing, it's just my call.

(01:01:26):
Put it all together, baby, because it's all there for you.
And then I just we haven't seen Mason Graham at
this level yet, and that's the only reason because otherwise,
like the depth is good, Shelby, the leak they get,
it's it's a really good room. But I just we
have not seen Mason Graham play NFL football yet. And
I realize we haven't seen fan and play NFL football yet.
But I think Chief right now is more established than

(01:01:47):
the veterans on the defensive tackle. So that's the reason
I have tight ends ahead of that. But I did
have D tackle five. Who'd you have at five? At five?

Speaker 5 (01:01:53):
I know we haven't seen them play in NFL games yet,
but my confidence level could not be higher in the
running back room. I mean, that's I think from from
that standpoint, Jerome Ford, you know what you get Pierre Strong,
that's another guy that you gotta stay healthy. It starts there.
But with Judkins and Samson, I'm excited by it. I

(01:02:16):
think that could be the focal point of your offense
in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Needs to be. We're gonna win. It needs to be.
So you had those guys at five, Yes, okay, I
have them at six. So we view this pretty similarly.
And again it's just I'm like you, I'm Missouri, I'm
the show me state. I just need to see the
two backs go. They look great in rookie mini camp,
they looked awesome and mandatory mini camp, but we as deuced.
Daley was quick to point out to them, we're not

(01:02:42):
in pads, so we'll see who's a grown man by
the time you get in pads. But those guys all
look good. Samson's a stud, Jenkins is a stud. Let's
not forget about Jerome Ford pier Strong when healthy's very good.
I like that he's got to see on the field.
But I mean he's the fourth guy here, which gives
you an idea of that of the kind of the
talent that's there.

Speaker 5 (01:02:59):
Who did you have at six? I had a linebacker actually, okay,
I like the linebacker room. I know there's no j
Okay and that's a tremendous loss. I think Swesssinger can
fill that void. I think Hicks is solid. Baker, I'm interested,
Although Baker, I think it was with more the threes
and fours in mandatory Mini camp, So I'm not sure

(01:03:21):
what that reads to me, but Diabate and Reid are
solid players. Devin Bush we like Devin Bush like. There's
a lot of depth there at linebacker, and I think
to make the team, it's not necessarily your play at linebacker.
It's going to be on special teams for that room.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
Yeah, I have that, So you have him six, I
have them seven, so I have linebacker seven. So we
see this kind of similarly as well. Probably our biggest
discrepancy is wherever you land on tight end. That seems
to be the biggest one because I think this linebacker
room is really good too. I think they need Sweashinger
in order to be this high on this roster. They
need Sweassinger to be what he looks to be. He folks,

(01:04:01):
he looks like a stud. His sideline to sideline stuff,
his ability to turn and run and get deep and
cover two. He's such a tremendous athlete. He's way bigger
than you realize. He plays big. He's rangy. But they
need him to be that because the loss of j
Oka is a massive loss. It's massive, So Sweessiger has
to be great in year one for this room to
be ranked this high, but my hunch as he will be.

Speaker 5 (01:04:23):
So it's interesting because I saw him in the cafe
today and I'm like, God, he looks bigger. He's our
strength and conditioning people have gotten their hands on him
since the draft. Yeah, and I mean that was end
of April, first week in May when they were here
in the building. He's been here since. And yes, he's
already balked up and it's pretty impressive already.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
We have to remember too, like all those guys shed
weight so they can run fast, and now they're.

Speaker 5 (01:04:48):
Because they're doing stuff that you know we're running. Yeah,
exactly that you're not going to do in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
No, Uh, did we get your seven? I had the
specialist at seven. You have specialists seven?

Speaker 5 (01:05:00):
Okay, just I'm like, Hopkins is the only question?

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Yeah, that I have them eight. So again we're pretty similar.
So our biggest difference is definitely tight ends. I'm much
higher on the tight end room than you are, which
is crazy as a as a BG guy that you're
doing BG crime. You hate to see it. I know,
I hate to see that out of you. I have
specialists eight. I would like for us to be dangerous
in the return game. At some point that would be nice.
Maybe Carter could be kind of the key to that

(01:05:24):
be Orc has a stud and Hopkins has been. It
was a weird thing last year. I have faith he'll
bounce back.

Speaker 5 (01:05:28):
Yeah, I need him to. And last week there were
just a couple of moments again where I'm watching him
kick and I'm like, why why is it going left? It?

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
Yeah? But I don't like that.

Speaker 5 (01:05:40):
Yeah, like, come on, let's go. We got to get
it together on that. I have the safeties at number eight. Okay,
I know it way down on tight ends. Yeah, you
way down Hickman and Dealt. But I know what I get.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
I think do you think that you know what? I
think Hickman needs year? He I think he needs it.
I mean he had, he's it's been good. It's an
undrafted guy, yes, but like so he's played above that.
But now to be like a dude you got yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:06:12):
Okay, I can. I can make that argument. I love
how they went out and got CAZy and Jenkins. I
think that puts some of my fears to rest a
little bit.

Speaker 7 (01:06:23):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (01:06:23):
Uh you know Coach Bonda was in here a few
weeks ago. Loves Chris Edmonds kind of excited that or
Donovan McMillan. Young guys with this, with this room for
the first two. Got to stay healthy, got to delp
needs to be healthy and be what he's been when
he's been healthy.

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
We're at nine. I'm I'm that was your nine with safety. No,
it was safety. So nine for me is oh tackle
is nine for me, And it's got nothing to do
with talent. It's just availability. You just have to be
healthy and so Dewan has to stay healthy, Jack has
to stay healthy. Behind them, it's new faces too, which
is you know, we've kind of had the similar backups

(01:07:05):
for a while, but now it's Corney Lucas and Jackson
Barton behind But this really comes down to if Dewan
Jones and Jack Conklin can stay healthy, it's you can
put it up there with any tackle group in the league.
If they get if they get nicked, and both have
been injury prone, then that's a problem. So that's that's
the only hesitation because when healthy, it's it would be
way higher.

Speaker 5 (01:07:25):
So at the tackle position, I'm surprised and this is
from our friends at our lads, because we don't have
an official depth chart. No NFL team does R lads
has kind of a makeshift one. I feel like Tevin
Jenkins can play tackle, right, Yeah, I feel like he
should be in the mix in that room.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Yeah, I'm sure he could be. Maybe he'll maybe be
like the swing guy who bounces from tackle to garden fine,
kind of the swing tackle sniff. So yeah, he could
be in the mix too.

Speaker 5 (01:07:51):
I like the depth. But again, like you said, I
need Conkland to stay healthy. I need Dewan Jones to
stay healthy, you know, and and Big Danos knows it.
He knows.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
Yeah, that's what he's here every day. I mean, we've
seen every single day at number nine, the tight end room. Finally,
this is our biggest difference. I had him at four overall,
you have him at nine.

Speaker 5 (01:08:10):
I didn't see a lot. And Nadjoku struggled at times
last year.

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
Was that a product of I don't know, And that's
part our offensive situation last year was such a tough spot.

Speaker 5 (01:08:24):
Yeah, I you know, I need Najoku. He's in a
contract year. I need him to revert back to that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
Pro Bowl form. Yeah, they need him.

Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
I mean next we talked about the running back room
being important. I know what I'm gonna get from Jerry
Judy Nidjoku has to be one of the dudes on offense. Yep,
he's got to be a dude. There's no if ands
or butts about it.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
Yeah, and I just.

Speaker 5 (01:08:51):
Whiteheart's fine Fannin. I love Harold Fannon. I think Harold
Fannon's going to be fine. But that's it's a young
room by Hei Najoku.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
That's why when I I think he'll bounce back much quicker,
I think I think Chief's gonna have a big year.
I think Fan is going to be a stud. But
I do think I think it's fair to say beyond that.
And that's why I mentioned that when I had him
at four. It's basically based on the high end of it,
but also the reality that and I mentioned this, I

(01:09:21):
do think we wouldn't be surprised if we had another one.
I think we're gonna play a lot of too tight end,
so I think you probably want to add one more
kind of in that mix.

Speaker 5 (01:09:29):
Yeah, and that's I think it's a numbers game as well. Yeah,
So who did you have at number nine?

Speaker 2 (01:09:36):
I had o Tack ten. This is where I have
safety safety at ten. Love obviously, love Delpit and and
I think Ronnie's been really good and I bond it
was so excited about the guys behind, So that gives
you a little bit of hope. But we haven't really
invested very bigly in that room now and so and
again I think that they're fine. I just I need

(01:09:58):
to see it. I'm show me State guys, so I
need some of these guys in our uniforms running around.
I need to see a little bit of a bounce
back from Ronnie.

Speaker 5 (01:10:04):
I tackle at number ten.

Speaker 2 (01:10:06):
Probably for the same reasons that I had. I mean
it's yep. And then wide receiver.

Speaker 5 (01:10:12):
Right now, your wide receivers are Jerry Judy, Cedric Tillman,
Deontay Johnson, Jamari Thrash, Michael Woods, David Bell, and a
host of others. Yeah, yeah, DeAndre Carter, who's a returner
you know, more so in special teams. Yeah, you need it,

(01:10:34):
as other guys have flashed here and there during Mini
camp and OTA, but.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
You need This is the one room I think you'd
need to add. I think you need to add.

Speaker 5 (01:10:45):
Would you have any interest in one of the three
top one hundred free agents that are still out there?

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
Do you have the list?

Speaker 5 (01:10:51):
Give me Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, and Gabe Davis of
the remaining well top one hundred free agent.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
I don't know. I still don't know what happened to
Amari in Buffalo, and it was so strange. And I
mean he struggled here last year too, at the beginning
of the year. Yes, but he was electric with Flacco,
electric and he was largely a good citizen here. I mean,
he's a great citizen here. So you know, I what,
I like to kick the tires, But I don't know everything.

(01:11:20):
You know, who who knows what led to all of that?
And I don't know, Like I am the greatest and
they don't know. No, we were like, God, he's going
to be the best receiver for the Bills. I mean,
he was a fantasy football picked up for everybody. And
so I would probably rate those Amari, Gabe Davis, Keenan
Allen in that order would be by the way that

(01:11:42):
I would do that, and hopefully the familiarity with with
Flacco would help for help for Amari going forward. Speaking
of our receivers, we'll take a look at the position
groups around the league and where the Browns rank on
that list. The good news the bad news is love
or third, the good news is there's someone in our

(01:12:03):
division who they say is actually worse. We will get
to that coming up next to Cleveland Browns Daily presented
by bally Bet, official sports benning partner, Your Cleveland Browns
on a fifty ESP and Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
Cleveland Browns Daily presented by bally Bett, an official sports
betting partner of Your Cleveland Browns on eight fifty ESP
and Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (01:12:37):
And we head to London this October. You could be
part of the action through the Browns Takeovers powered by
True Fan Travel. If you head to Browns dot Com
Slash Takeovers to book today, you will see a five
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(01:12:59):
to learn more, and we'll see you across the pond.
Time for a little higher or lower. Hello, gibbe, Hi,
look at this?

Speaker 7 (01:13:10):
Look?

Speaker 5 (01:13:10):
I mean, is it's getting wide open? I think everybody,
by the way, everybody got to go home if you
were outside.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
The next level is we've they're all gone.

Speaker 5 (01:13:24):
I mean, I get the footballs off, the lights are
everybody else got to go. I literally just watched everybody
else leave.

Speaker 2 (01:13:30):
Yeah, they're gone, man, lights are out, game over. That's it.

Speaker 5 (01:13:36):
Great?

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
All right, that's where you stand by stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:13:39):
Circle the wagons, j Mac, We're out.

Speaker 8 (01:13:43):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:13:44):
You know we talked about this guy, Johnny Tuma the
other day.

Speaker 2 (01:13:46):
Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's ranks his position.

Speaker 5 (01:13:49):
I'm like, let's have some fun. The one that drew
my attention to him to begin with was this one.
The wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (01:13:56):
He ranked them all.

Speaker 5 (01:13:57):
All right, okay, do you want to start at number one?
You want to start at the back, you want to
start where we're ring?

Speaker 2 (01:14:03):
Well, I mean this is let me this, this is
what I'm gonna do. This is how I'll do what
I would do. Because this gets a little silly at
the bottom, because you're you know, what is really the
difference between some of these. If I were to give you,
I think the best wide receiver group in football is Cincinnati.

Speaker 5 (01:14:27):
That would be my number one. My number two, well
that's his number one, So great minds think a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:14:35):
I don't know. Well, we'll see, we'll see if we're
great minds give it, we'll see. I think my number
two would be Minnesota. I think I got a Minnesota
number two. I think I would have Philly. Three. I
think four. I would put the Rams, okay, and five.

Speaker 5 (01:15:01):
And you have not looked at this. He's not looked
at this.

Speaker 2 (01:15:03):
No, I, in fact, you were riding on it upside down. Five, five, five.
I think on five I might go, boy, Tampa Bay
could be we had a mecha Buca to that group

(01:15:25):
that might be a little too rich for their blood.
Chicago at five, Detroit, Jamison Williams, Saint Brown. That's pretty good.
Who did Dallas pick somebody up with CD?

Speaker 7 (01:15:40):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:15:40):
Yeah, Pickens? Pickens is with CD. There is Tyreek Hill
still a dolphin? Is that known?

Speaker 7 (01:15:48):
All right?

Speaker 5 (01:15:48):
So I'm gonna go Miami five.

Speaker 2 (01:15:50):
Okay, assuming he bounced back, that'd be my top five.
All right? How did I do?

Speaker 5 (01:15:55):
You got a couple?

Speaker 8 (01:15:56):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (01:15:57):
Number one? You got right the Bengals. According to this guy,
I'm talking.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
To Ben Baby of ESPN this morning, and he said
he's great. Dude, said Jermaine Burton had a hell of
a month and that A big thing that happened was
t Higgins seven a charity basketball game in his hometown.
And Jermaine Burton is going. And so what that suggests
is buy in from him. If they get him, remember
he was a stud at Bama. If they get him

(01:16:22):
to get him elevate and you have Higgins and chasing him,
then that's second's eighth. If they get all that to.

Speaker 5 (01:16:29):
Happen, great, yeah, wonderful. Uh at number two, Okay, he's
got the Rams, Okay, So I mean DeVante Adams pooka two.

Speaker 2 (01:16:40):
Two at well, Okay, I have them four okay.

Speaker 5 (01:16:43):
Cup, So like I said, you had two in.

Speaker 2 (01:16:45):
There, Okay, Oh well wait these are teams I talked to.

Speaker 5 (01:16:47):
Yeah, yeah you did. Tampa Bay at number three. You
forget they got Abuka.

Speaker 2 (01:16:53):
What I think he's forgetting is that Godwin had a
big time injury. Yeah, and I think he's forgetting that
part of it.

Speaker 5 (01:17:00):
And Evan god is one thousand yards but literally needed
every throw at the end.

Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
I think Godwin's injury is why I didn't have them
in my top five.

Speaker 5 (01:17:10):
But I can understand. I can understand that. I get
that I would not have this team in my top five.
He's got Chicago in there.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
So this is the one I talked about. These guys,
So here's what you Here are your knowns. DJ Moore, Stud, Roma,
Dunz stud. Luther Burden was the number one receiver in
the country out of high school. He went to Missouri.
He's a theft and they got him either top of
the second or in the first round. He's going to
be a nice player for them. So that's why I

(01:17:38):
was talking about them potentially being in the mix of
my top five. Is is that's a nice group. That's
a nice group. I think he's got Minnesota too.

Speaker 7 (01:17:46):
Low.

Speaker 2 (01:17:46):
I had Minnesota two and he's got him five.

Speaker 5 (01:17:49):
Addison's a heck of a talent. I didn't realize they
had Rondelle Moore in their room.

Speaker 2 (01:17:53):
He just keeps getting bounced around. He had those moments
with Arizona, but nothing. Yeah, nothing consistent.

Speaker 5 (01:17:59):
Houston. He's got number six with Nico Collins and Christian Kirk.
But it wasn't Nico.

Speaker 7 (01:18:03):
They got hurt.

Speaker 5 (01:18:04):
He was Yeah, he had a big injury.

Speaker 2 (01:18:06):
There's no scenario where Houston's receiving room is better than
AJ Brown and DeVante Smith. There just isn't I mean Philly,
that's not right. It's not right. Philly should be Philly's
top five for sure, they should be ahead of Dallas. Yeah,
Dallas is seventh, Philly's eighth. Yeah, Philly's Philly. Take Philly

(01:18:27):
and put them where Chicago is.

Speaker 5 (01:18:30):
I get putting Jacksonville ninth, but I don't know how
many snaps Travis Hunter is going to take it wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (01:18:36):
I was thinking about him in regard to what o'tani
is doing doing like a rehab start in the major
leagues and also dhing and leading off. The only thing
that the only way he what he would have to
do to do what o'tani is doing is he would
have to be an all pro both ways, or be
an all Pro corner and a Pro Bowl receiver. That's

(01:18:57):
what he would have to do to do what o'tani
is doing. I Photony can do it well healthy, but yeah,
I'm with you on that. So he's got I had
the Dolphins five. That was kind of I think this.
I think I may be overvalued them. I can admit
perhaps being wrong on that. One'll formidable, they are, but
he'll really fell off a cliff last year. He's got
all sorts of stuff going on. I maybe overvalued them

(01:19:21):
a little.

Speaker 5 (01:19:21):
Maybe the Lions should be a little higher. I like
the Lions a lot. Yeaheah. Uh, he's got the forty
nine Ers twelve. I'm not sure that I'm totally buying
in on that. Yeah, based on what Ricky piersaw, Juwan Jennings,
Brandon ayuk.

Speaker 2 (01:19:39):
Ayuxi stud but yeah, I mean you need that's weight.
I think that's too high for them.

Speaker 5 (01:19:44):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:19:46):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:19:47):
The Chargers are thirteen, led by Lad McConkey and Trey Harris.
They brought Mike Williams back.

Speaker 2 (01:19:56):
Again.

Speaker 5 (01:19:57):
The Chargers need more weapons. The Chiefs are fourteen with Rashi, Rice,
Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Juju.

Speaker 1 (01:20:06):
Smith, Schuster.

Speaker 5 (01:20:09):
Okay, this is they need some guys do something there.

Speaker 2 (01:20:13):
Yeah, I mean just in this fifteen to twenty range.
Baltimore is better than that with Flowers and Bateman. I
think Seattle's better than that.

Speaker 8 (01:20:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:20:22):
They got Cooper Cup Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (01:20:23):
Mean I think he's healthy. I think that'll be pretty good.
Green Bay's got a thousand receivers. They do, they have
a thousand. Yeah, they decided to draft them. They got
so many receivers Washington at fifteen, that might be a
little generous for them. Mclaurin's really good, but Deebo doesn't
look like he's in great shape. And beyond that, I
don't know exactly what that will look like. So it

(01:20:44):
seems a little bit overvalued for them.

Speaker 5 (01:20:48):
So the back half on the back half, what stands out.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
Well, I mean, I think the Giants are better than
they're showing here at twenty two. As is a top
flight stud and they've got some guys Whoper were big
time producers in college. They just need to go a
little bit. Wandale Robinson, Jalen Hyatt just kind of need
them to go a little bit. They still have Darius
Slayton there as well. I'd probably have them a little higher. Boy,
it gets pretty thin, man. Honestly though, after that, like

(01:21:20):
the Bills at twenty six, tells you a little bit
about how Josh Allen has so much consideration for MVP
all the time because it's Khalios, Sha ke On Coleman,
Josh Palmer.

Speaker 5 (01:21:31):
No, the Bills GM got all up tight when the
radio station was asking questions. I don't think this rating's
far off at twenty six.

Speaker 2 (01:21:40):
No, I don't either.

Speaker 5 (01:21:41):
Now what doesn't make sense to me? I mean the
Browns are twenty eighth and probably show me state.

Speaker 2 (01:21:47):
Yeah, that's where we're at.

Speaker 5 (01:21:51):
How about Pittspuke at thirty with DK Metcalf, Now there's
not a whole lot behind him, Scotty Miller BG alone.

Speaker 2 (01:21:59):
Yeah, I would assume. I assume that I think Roman
Wilson could be good for them there. I assume that
they're going to add to this room a little bit though,
I do.

Speaker 5 (01:22:11):
Yeah, I mean the Jets thirty one with Garrett Wilson.
I mean, I tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:22:17):
How far they fell. I mean you remember how they
were viewed a couple of years ago. Rogers first got there,
like they had him and they they were kind of
ready to go, and the New England at the bottom
makes all the sense in the world.

Speaker 5 (01:22:26):
So who would you have before we go? Who would
you have ranked higher? The Jets led by Wilson or
the Saints led by a Lave.

Speaker 2 (01:22:35):
Jets, because I think Wilson is slightly better than a Lave.
I mean the Saints have Donovan People's Jones. I mean,
he's more than capable. These Brandon Cook's. Actually, that room's
not terrible. The Saints room isn't terrible. I don't know,
that's a good question. Lizard seems like he's cooked to me.
Maybe the Saints are slightly better. That might be fair.

(01:22:56):
The Patriots. I think these are the right teams. I
think these the right teams, you know, kind of here
and he's got the right teams kind of in this
spot on this I think.

Speaker 5 (01:23:05):
The Raiders were too high. I mean outside Jacoby Myers,
where does he have them twenty four?

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
Yeah, that's might know anybody else on that room. No,
that's yeah, that's too high for them. They shouldn't They
wouldn't even be a final page. Yeah, they they should
be for shoot because they don't even have they don't
even have the top end like mart Wilson or DK exactly.
So at least there's one guy, one weapon who that
you can be feared on those on those type of rosters.

(01:23:32):
All right, coming up next, Denzel Ward from the podium.
You're listened to Cleveland Browns Daily a fifty ESP and.

Speaker 1 (01:23:37):
Cleveland Cleveland Browns Daily presented by bally Bett, an official
sports betting partner of your Cleveland Browns on eight to
fifty ESP and Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (01:24:11):
Hell can help serious lawyer serious injuries. Called one it
under elk Ohio for a free Kelly case or you
elcon Elks proud partner of your Cleveland Browns. We head
to the podium now presented by Vivid Seats purchased special
Fan Experience Package Day for the Ultimate Game Day, here
is cornerback Denzel Ward.

Speaker 4 (01:24:25):
Feel like you've grown him as a leader and in
all forms of leadership over the last couple of years.

Speaker 13 (01:24:33):
Man, I think I've grown as a leader tremendously and
I take a lot of pride in it. Just definitely
how I came in, I was looking to come in
and be a leader for this team.

Speaker 8 (01:24:42):
But I mean as a rookie.

Speaker 13 (01:24:44):
When I came in, I was just trying to find
my way and everything and probably wasn't as outspoken and
and but I feel I just grown just definitely more
vocal leader and uh but I felt I always showed
I was a leader by my actions and the way
I carried myself around a building and on a field.

Speaker 8 (01:25:00):
But I'm continuing to grow though.

Speaker 13 (01:25:02):
Just I'm just trying to uh be positive with everyone
I come in contact with and help this team win
and any way I can.

Speaker 7 (01:25:08):
You had the.

Speaker 2 (01:25:09):
Perfect attendant's last spring that should do that again?

Speaker 8 (01:25:12):
Yes, yes, vers important.

Speaker 13 (01:25:14):
Uh, it's just a set an example that's a part
of being a great leader and certain example, uh for
these guys. And I mean we're trying to build something special.
A lot of people count us out, but you know
the this is where it starts right here. So we
gotta believe in ourselves first and just continue to come
out here and work and be with the guys, with
the coaches and everything, and uh, just get better each day.

Speaker 6 (01:25:33):
What makes you think this good?

Speaker 8 (01:25:35):
Okay? Do you think that leadership.

Speaker 14 (01:25:37):
Is even more important to you now?

Speaker 4 (01:25:39):
Knowing?

Speaker 1 (01:25:39):
Okay?

Speaker 14 (01:25:39):
QB, it's an open competition for you guys. Obviously Nick
Chubb signs with you, ston Yestery leader is such a
big leader. Does it become more important just knowing like
the state you guys are in everything?

Speaker 13 (01:25:50):
Yeah, definitely. I mean leadership is is huge. You see
it all across sports and and schools and their everything.
Like you need leader, uh, great leadership on teams to
be to be a great team ultimately, and just trying
to play my role in that.

Speaker 8 (01:26:04):
You think this year is gonna be better than last year? Then,
So that's for.

Speaker 13 (01:26:07):
Your team, really, I mean we take it. We're gonna
take it a day at a time, game at a time,
week at a time. So, I mean, we'll see at
the end of the year how things play out. But
as long as we continue to work and get better
each day, I think we'll have positive results at the
end of the year.

Speaker 6 (01:26:21):
Was last year your best year in your opinion?

Speaker 8 (01:26:24):
I do think your last year probably was my best year. Yeah,
I had. I had some pretty good numbers, pretty good numbers,
felt good.

Speaker 6 (01:26:30):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 7 (01:26:31):
Jim Schwortz last week said difference between probo the autro
has turned into.

Speaker 8 (01:26:35):
Some of those PBUs and interceptions. How much is he
stressed that?

Speaker 7 (01:26:38):
How much do you think about that?

Speaker 2 (01:26:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 13 (01:26:41):
I think about it a lot, Jim. He challenges me
a lot, and I appreciate that. I'm trying to be great,
greater than great, and he's pushing me every day to
Like you said, pbu's are good, but those interceptions help
helped change the game tremendously and helped the team win.
So I got my hands on on a lot of
balls last year, but being able to take that ball
away and help was even more. Uh, it's just getting

(01:27:03):
reps on task. So coming out here and and really
just shifted my mindset. Like I know a lot of
times I I just try to go for the dire disruption,
like my man's not gonna catch the ball, but just
getting focusing, getting two hands on the ball and going
and taking away and then practicing on the drugs catches
and uh, just keep it in my mind.

Speaker 14 (01:27:19):
You had a breath, bro, See to this QB competition
so far? Just what have you seen from going against
these guys?

Speaker 8 (01:27:27):
Yeah, all those guys look good.

Speaker 13 (01:27:28):
You know, I'm looking forward to picking them all off
in practice, and uh, they all looking good competing. So
I'm looking forward to see how it continues to play out.
And best guy's gonna be out there against.

Speaker 2 (01:27:38):
Kenny and go ahead.

Speaker 8 (01:27:40):
So when you look at your phisition ball friends, what
did you say, do you just got this year?

Speaker 2 (01:27:44):
Or who you happen to one together?

Speaker 13 (01:27:48):
And uh, yeah, just the camaraderie, like we all know
each other and we all get along and and and
love playing with one another, and uh, just all of
our competitive mindset, like we all want to win, we
all want to be great. Uh, we come out here,
we put each other every day and we're just looking
to be the best, to be the best corner group
defensive group in the NFL, and that's our main goal
and that's what we work towards.

Speaker 7 (01:28:09):
How do you think the two new veterans Sainty's fit
in their back end?

Speaker 3 (01:28:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:28:13):
Good.

Speaker 13 (01:28:13):
I mean we're still coming out here working, so guys
are still learning the playbook and learning everything. So I
think they gotta get more reps and everything. But looking
good so far competing.

Speaker 10 (01:28:22):
I feel like Jim's still gonna go with as many
three safety packages as he had in the pass.

Speaker 8 (01:28:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 13 (01:28:28):
Maybe maybe that that's something that I don't let them
put put Whoever out there, who's ever out there I
know is gonna be ready to go.

Speaker 14 (01:28:33):
I know that room looks different, the safety room in
particularly like working with those guys.

Speaker 8 (01:28:37):
Seeing Ronnie step into a larger role.

Speaker 2 (01:28:40):
Here, it's like, what does that.

Speaker 8 (01:28:41):
Bee like so much?

Speaker 7 (01:28:42):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (01:28:42):
Yeah, Ronnie, he's a Buck guy, so you know he's
gonna come in here ready.

Speaker 8 (01:28:46):
You know, we need more Buck guys on the team.

Speaker 13 (01:28:47):
But now Rockets, he's been good since he came on,
just coming in, learning the playbooks, fast, being out there
making plays, always thinking about his interception he had against
the Jets for the playoffs and everything. But man, he's
gonna be a good player for us, and he's gonna
be good just with.

Speaker 14 (01:29:03):
The Ohio state connection with you guys, I mean, how
cool is it to see his journey and going undrafted
being potentially started out.

Speaker 8 (01:29:11):
Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 13 (01:29:12):
I mean that's just credit to the work that he's
put in and uh, the Ohio state where he came from,
and and and you know, his grind and mentality coming in.
Regardless whether you get drafted or undrafted, Uh, you can
still find a way to make a scene.

Speaker 2 (01:29:24):
You haven't predated feel much with John says with giving
what are your observations about him?

Speaker 13 (01:29:30):
And you're defending man, Yeah, he's a good quarterback. Like
I said, I'm looking forward to picking him off as well.
And but he throws a good ball, you know they
all do. And uh yeah, just looking forward to continue
to get more reps with those guys.

Speaker 6 (01:29:42):
In terms of you.

Speaker 9 (01:29:43):
Talk about's break up to NEI reception you.

Speaker 8 (01:29:46):
Go for the table last year and figure.

Speaker 14 (01:29:48):
Out how many of theirs can be.

Speaker 13 (01:29:51):
Uh yeah, a lot of them were contested, but you
know I'm good enough RockA. I could come and take
those balls away, but just find a way to get
two hands on the ball and finish the play. I said,
got a lot of uh hands on the ball, but
just I gotta finish, you know, that's the biggest thing.
And i'm' that's gonna be my focus this year. And i'm'
i'm'a take it away. I'm'a get it away this year.

Speaker 2 (01:30:09):
Anything that's sure that you're worked on in terms of
getting both hands or finish.

Speaker 13 (01:30:13):
Uh, just drugs catching the ball and uh, I mean
our coaches they do a good job of of setting
up drill as far as the practice, getting interceptions and
working through that contact.

Speaker 8 (01:30:23):
Uh, that's that you're gonna fill in the game and
uh catching the ball in.

Speaker 6 (01:30:26):
That one Jose.

Speaker 2 (01:30:29):
Wod you start down percentage for you guys. I guess
how important.

Speaker 6 (01:30:34):
Is half to for you come in here?

Speaker 8 (01:30:36):
Just how much of you?

Speaker 13 (01:30:38):
Yeah, we focus on it every day. I mean third
down is huge.

Speaker 8 (01:30:42):
Uh.

Speaker 13 (01:30:42):
We gotta be able to get off the field. Uh
come third down and uh that's our main focus. If
we get off the field, got our offense back on there, Uh,
we're gonna put ourselves in a good spot during the game.

Speaker 10 (01:30:51):
You wanna ask the specific nment that you want this pass.

Speaker 8 (01:30:54):
Say it again, killing hope that you.

Speaker 6 (01:30:57):
Do this pasts.

Speaker 2 (01:31:00):
Best organisode, good recommend.

Speaker 8 (01:31:04):
I sure, hope.

Speaker 13 (01:31:04):
So they said this the it's the best helmet and
top helmet, so h yeah, I'm gonna be in that
one and I'll yeah, I.

Speaker 8 (01:31:11):
Go out there and play.

Speaker 2 (01:31:13):
All right. There you go denzil Ward for Mandatory Mini
Camp from the Podium presented by Vivid Seats Perch Official
Fan Experience Pack SHAFE The Ultimate Game Day. That music
means we are done. The next level is coming up. Kids,
We are back tomorrow. Thanks for listening. Cleveland Browns Daily
presented by bally Bet Official Sportsmaning party of your Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 1 (01:31:30):
You've been listening to Cleveland Browns Daily, a production of
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