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The Insiders Podcast: State of the AFC North and Kayvon Thibodeaux Live in Studio · NFL Game Previews

0:07
Speaker 1: Welcome inside with the Insiders. I am Tom Pelicero. We've
0:12
Speaker 1: got a jam packed Friday show for you. One might
0:15
Speaker 1: even call it a giant show because we got kvon Thibodeau,
0:19
Speaker 1: the Giants pass Rusher. He is going to join us.
0:22
Speaker 1: How does New York bounce back in twenty twenty four?
0:24
Speaker 1: What kind of tips has he been getting from Lawrence Taylor?
0:27
Speaker 1: KT's got answers for us in just a little bit. Also,
0:30
Speaker 1: Eli Manning going one on one with our guy rht
0:32
Speaker 1: lewis down at the Manning Passing Academy. And Adam Rank
0:36
Speaker 1: is going to be here one of our fantasy gurus.
0:39
Speaker 2: He's got.
0:40
Speaker 1: I am told some names that potentially should be the
0:43
Speaker 1: number one overall picking your fantasy draft.
0:46
Speaker 2: They're gonna blow your mind.
0:48
Speaker 1: I am ready to have my mind blown, and I
0:50
Speaker 1: better be, because football is closer than you think. Sixty
0:55
Speaker 1: nine days from tonight. It's those guys, the Chiefs, the Rave,
1:00
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes coming off of a second consecutive Super Bowl
1:04
Speaker 1: trying to kick off a three peat. And Lamar Jackson,
1:07
Speaker 1: the raining NFL MVP, hoping the Ravens can break through
1:12
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. But first he's got to get
1:15
Speaker 1: through a rough and tumble AFC North Division.
1:18
Speaker 2: Where are that guy's ready to throw some haymakers.
1:20
Speaker 1: It's Russell Wilson, literally in the ring getting himself back.
1:25
Speaker 1: He said to some of the things that he did
1:27
Speaker 1: when he had his best seasons in his Seattle days.
1:30
Speaker 2: You know what.
1:30
Speaker 1: It's Russell Wilson, and it's this time of year. Every
1:33
Speaker 1: move he makes, every breath he takes, We'll be watching
1:37
Speaker 1: him on his social media. I know our guy Adam
1:39
Speaker 1: Rake certainly is keeping an eye on Russ, keeping an
1:42
Speaker 1: eye on the entire NFL. You can read his team
1:46
Speaker 1: by team, state of the team breakdowns, nfl dot Com,
1:50
Speaker 1: slash rank and rank you tackled over the past several days.
1:53
Speaker 1: Here the AFC North, I think it is one of
1:56
Speaker 1: the most fascinating divisions. If you tell me top to
1:59
Speaker 1: a bout of which division does every matchup have some intrigue?
2:03
Speaker 1: I'd put the AFC North certainly among the top divisions overall.
2:07
Speaker 1: But tell me about the Steelers. We know Russ says
2:10
Speaker 1: that he has revived in every way. What does it
2:13
Speaker 1: mean to you, especially knowing that that quarterback you cheer
2:16
Speaker 1: for with your Bears for the past several years.
2:18
Speaker 2: Is out there now too.
2:20
Speaker 3: Well, that's Yeahustin Field is there. But I think this
2:22
Speaker 3: is all about Russell Wilson now currently. He comes into
2:25
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh as the number one guy, and I think this
2:27
Speaker 3: is a huge opportunity for him.
2:29
Speaker 2: What you want to do is let him cook.
2:31
Speaker 3: That's the saying, right, But it's like the last two
2:33
Speaker 3: coaches they weren't letting them cook. It's like if you
2:36
Speaker 3: hired Gordon Ramsey and he doesn't get the yell at
2:38
Speaker 3: people like.
2:39
Speaker 2: No, you're not doing things correctly.
2:41
Speaker 3: But with Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh, they're going to have
2:43
Speaker 3: a strong defense, much like his days in Seattle, will
2:47
Speaker 3: probably run a lot of play action. Arthur Smith, who's
2:49
Speaker 3: now the offensive coordinator fore the Pittsburgh Steelers, ran a
2:52
Speaker 3: lot of play action when he was the offensive coordinator
2:54
Speaker 3: for the Tennessee Titans.
2:56
Speaker 2: We expect Russell Wilson to get back to that.
2:59
Speaker 3: He has a passer over one hundred when it comes
3:02
Speaker 3: to play action, and I think that's what they're going
3:04
Speaker 3: to be using.
3:05
Speaker 2: And here's the thing too.
3:07
Speaker 3: Last season, as bad as he thought as it was
3:09
Speaker 3: for Russell Wilson, he had twenty six touchdown passes. The
3:12
Speaker 3: Steelers as a team have not had more than twenty
3:16
Speaker 3: five since twenty twenty two. So this is the big
3:18
Speaker 3: thing for the Steelers. But I think it's also big
3:20
Speaker 3: for Mike Tomlin. You know, we hear about this all
3:23
Speaker 3: the time. Mike Tomlin never had a losing season, which
3:26
Speaker 3: is fine, but this is Pittsburgh. This is not some
3:29
Speaker 3: this isn't Carolina. This is Pittsburgh. You gotta go out
3:32
Speaker 3: there and win championships.
3:33
Speaker 2: And it reminds me.
3:34
Speaker 3: Now, Tom, I know you're a young man, but there
3:36
Speaker 3: was a guy in Dallas by the name of Tom Landry.
3:38
Speaker 3: I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but
3:40
Speaker 3: he used to go on TV all the time and
3:41
Speaker 3: they'd be like, oh, Tom Landry, the only coach of
3:43
Speaker 3: the Dallas Cowboys hasn't.
3:44
Speaker 2: Had to lose, And you're like, that's great.
3:46
Speaker 3: He doesn't win super Bowls and Mike Tomlin's got to
3:48
Speaker 3: get back to winning super Bowls the Steelers and as
3:51
Speaker 3: a matter of fact, haven't won a playoff game since
3:54
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen. You know what momentous thing happened in twenty sixteen.
3:58
Speaker 3: We are just talking about it. Him I'm going to
4:00
Speaker 3: go Matt Schema replaced Tom DeLong in two that that's
4:03
Speaker 3: how long ago it was that said Steelers won.
4:05
Speaker 1: A playoff game. That does feel like a long time ago.
4:10
Speaker 1: Now Tom Delong's back, they're on tour again, obviously even
4:13
Speaker 1: so far Stadium in a couple of weeks here. So
4:15
Speaker 1: quarterback intrigue, certainly in Pittsburgh, it's about the revival of
4:18
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, what the role is, if any for Justin Fields.
4:21
Speaker 1: In Cleveland, it's about what Deshaun Watson are we going
4:25
Speaker 1: to get? Because the Browns, everybody knows, gave up all
4:28
Speaker 1: those draft picks to get him in. They gave him
4:30
Speaker 1: the five year, two or thirty million dollar fully guaranteed
4:33
Speaker 1: contract year one. They knew he was going to be suspended,
4:36
Speaker 1: miss a good chunk of the season last year, plays
4:39
Speaker 1: the best game he'd played in the Browns uniform against
4:41
Speaker 1: the Ravens, busts up his shoulder, misses the rest.
4:44
Speaker 2: Of the year.
4:44
Speaker 1: What Deshaun Watson are we going to get? And how
4:47
Speaker 1: does that impact the team that, somehow, with four different
4:49
Speaker 1: quarterbacks made the playoffs in twenty twenty three.
4:52
Speaker 3: Rank that's the big thing because Joe Flacco played so
4:55
Speaker 3: well down the stretch and a lot of people thought, hey,
4:57
Speaker 3: maybe we should just stick with Joe Flacco. They've found
4:59
Speaker 3: a formula here with him, because as you said about
5:01
Speaker 3: Deshaun Watson, he has not played more than six games
5:04
Speaker 3: in a season for the Cleveland Browns. His passer rating
5:07
Speaker 3: has been well below the one hundred mark which he
5:10
Speaker 3: had with the Houston Texans. So there's a lot of
5:12
Speaker 3: concerns about him. And it's so much so that even
5:15
Speaker 3: though Joe Flacco ended up in Indianapolis, they went and
5:17
Speaker 3: signed Jameis Winston to back him up. But here's the
5:20
Speaker 3: one thing that I think is important to note here.
5:22
Speaker 3: Deshaun Watson was five and one as a started for
5:25
Speaker 3: the Cleveland Browns. As great of a story as it
5:27
Speaker 3: was for Joe Flacco to come out here, like Shane
5:30
Speaker 3: Falco out of nowhere. They pulled him off, They pulled
5:33
Speaker 3: him out of the boat and said get into the lineup.
5:35
Speaker 2: And he played well.
5:36
Speaker 3: But Deshaun Watson was playing very well, and to me,
5:39
Speaker 3: that is a big thing for them, and I think
5:41
Speaker 3: they got to get to it and they did the right
5:42
Speaker 3: thing too. They went out there and they traded for
5:44
Speaker 3: Jerry Judy. Hopefully they can get everything settled with Amari Cooper.
5:49
Speaker 3: You got Nick Chubb coming back from his injury. But
5:51
Speaker 3: Jerome Ford played really well and their defense is great.
5:54
Speaker 3: So I think for the Cleveland Browns, the biggest key
5:56
Speaker 3: for them is to prove to everybody that it wasn't
5:59
Speaker 3: a one year one like this.
6:00
Speaker 2: Is actually a good team.
6:01
Speaker 3: And thankfully David and Joko and I have squashed our
6:04
Speaker 3: beef and I will give them the respect.
6:05
Speaker 2: I think that's a good team.
6:07
Speaker 3: I think they're going to prove it, and I think
6:08
Speaker 3: they will get back to the playoffs. But the key
6:10
Speaker 3: this year they got to win some playoff games.
6:14
Speaker 1: It's pretty wild when you think back, because remember Deshaun
6:16
Speaker 1: Watson didn't play at all in twenty twenty one. Over
6:19
Speaker 1: the past three seasons, combined twelve starts fourteen touchdown passes.
6:24
Speaker 1: It's hard to fully get that rhythm back when you're
6:27
Speaker 1: not on the field. Browns are hopeful that's going to
6:29
Speaker 1: happen this year. Lamar Jackson has been able to stay
6:32
Speaker 1: on the field here. It certainly did over the course
6:34
Speaker 1: of last season. He wins the NFL MVP, then once
6:37
Speaker 1: again this has kind of been the story. They get
6:40
Speaker 1: into the playoffs and there's a power outage on offense.
6:43
Speaker 1: They add Derrick Henry. Lamar is back, those young receivers
6:46
Speaker 1: another year older. How is this all going to play
6:48
Speaker 1: in Baltimore?
6:49
Speaker 4: Rank?
6:50
Speaker 3: I think Derrick Henry was the most inevitable piece in
6:53
Speaker 3: the offseason, the most transparent free agent move you can may.
6:57
Speaker 3: It reminds me of when Shaq joined the Lakers. He
7:00
Speaker 3: knew what was going to happen, and what happened was
7:02
Speaker 3: the Shackos and the Lakers they win three titles. I'm
7:04
Speaker 3: not sure that Derek Henry delivers three titles for the
7:07
Speaker 3: Baltimore Ravens, but they do have to find a way
7:09
Speaker 3: to get Bass to the Kansas City Chiefs. It's great,
7:12
Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson near unanimous MVP. The accolades are there. You
7:16
Speaker 3: had a home playoff game. As a matter of fact,
7:18
Speaker 3: you've had a home playoff game for the last couple
7:19
Speaker 3: of seasons. It hasn't quite worked out, so they have
7:22
Speaker 3: to Breck Henry has to.
7:24
Speaker 2: Be the missing piece.
7:26
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, the Bengals also have at times played without their
7:29
Speaker 1: starting quarterback Joe Burrow. He's had a bunch of just
7:32
Speaker 1: weird things happened to him over the past couple of years.
7:35
Speaker 1: Here with a healthy Joe Burrow and assuming that things
7:38
Speaker 1: work out with some wide receiver situations, will be monitoring
7:41
Speaker 1: leading up to the start of camp. What are the Bengals?
7:43
Speaker 1: What do they have to do rank to be in
7:45
Speaker 1: this mix? Well, I believe they're still in the super
7:48
Speaker 1: Bowl window.
7:48
Speaker 3: I think that Joe Burrow has shown that he can
7:51
Speaker 3: best the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, it might not have
7:53
Speaker 3: been a great idea to dub that stadium Burrowhead, perhaps
7:57
Speaker 3: the most questionable decision since Dave went after Taylor Swift,
8:01
Speaker 3: but still the Bengals have shown the moxie and even
8:04
Speaker 3: though lou Ana Roumo has not had a top fifteen
8:07
Speaker 3: deepense during his time in Cincinnati, they always seem to
8:11
Speaker 3: find a way to beat them. So for me, I
8:13
Speaker 3: still think the Bengals are in the super Bowl mix,
8:15
Speaker 3: and I think it's fair to say that it's Super
8:17
Speaker 3: Bowl or bust for them.
8:20
Speaker 1: Much like Dave Grohld, the Bengals just seem to stick around.
8:23
Speaker 2: Rank.
8:23
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere you stick around too, because you're gonna
8:26
Speaker 1: tell us in just a short period of time here
8:28
Speaker 1: some of the surprise names you think should be in
8:31
Speaker 1: consideration for the number one pick in fantasy drafts?
8:34
Speaker 2: Could it be a total shocker? Like, oh, I don't know.
8:36
Speaker 1: The new quarterback of the Washington Commanders, Jade Daniels. He's
8:40
Speaker 1: got his contract done. He was on the field throughout
8:42
Speaker 1: the spring. Austin Eckler was right here on the Insiders
8:45
Speaker 1: a couple of nights ago was actually shooting me down saying, no,
8:49
Speaker 1: don't just talk about Justin Herbert.
8:50
Speaker 2: I was on a Tella TM.
8:52
Speaker 1: He goes, We've got an absolute stud in Jane Daniels.
8:56
Speaker 1: Is that enough for the Commanders to be a surprise
8:59
Speaker 1: in a division that has been ruled in the past
9:01
Speaker 1: couple of years by the Eagles and the Cowboys. For
9:04
Speaker 1: more on that, we go to Dallas and our friend
9:06
Speaker 1: Jane Slater did There's a lot of things that are
9:09
Speaker 1: rare about the situation in Dallas, the quarterback and the
9:12
Speaker 1: head coach both being in contract. Here's another piece of
9:15
Speaker 1: it is how often do you have a head coach
9:18
Speaker 1: in the division who just came for your team like
9:21
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn now going to Washington, what are your expectations
9:25
Speaker 1: and how does this all fit into the broader tapestry
9:28
Speaker 1: of how the nfc S plays out in twenty twenty four.
9:33
Speaker 5: It's going to be such a fascinating division to keep
9:35
Speaker 5: an eye on this year. Things I think are heating up,
9:38
Speaker 5: not dissimilar from the four hundred and forty degree curling
9:42
Speaker 5: iron that I used earlier today. So let's address the
9:44
Speaker 5: rah in the room. But let's talk a little bit
9:46
Speaker 5: about the commanders. You know Dan Quinn. I'm sure there
9:50
Speaker 5: are some people in Dallas who wish that he had
9:52
Speaker 5: gotten that Denver job that he was up to. He
9:54
Speaker 5: was a highly sought after candidate, and both with the
9:57
Speaker 5: Broncos and Seattle, ultimately decides to stay in the vision
10:00
Speaker 5: and a head to the commanders. I'll say this about
10:03
Speaker 5: covering dan Quinn in Dallas. The Cowboys made that very
10:06
Speaker 5: interesting move in Mike McCarthy's first year, moving on from
10:10
Speaker 5: Mike Nolan bringing Dan Quinn, and there was an immediate impact.
10:13
Speaker 5: This is now a head coach that's going to your
10:16
Speaker 5: division who has an intimate knowledge not only.
10:18
Speaker 2: Of this offense.
10:19
Speaker 5: Dak often spoke about his personal conversations with Dan and
10:23
Speaker 5: how that was very rare but also such an intimate
10:26
Speaker 5: knowledge of this defense. I mean, Micah Parsons is one
10:29
Speaker 5: of the secret weapons that Dallas has on that side
10:32
Speaker 5: of the ball, and he's the one responsible for getting
10:35
Speaker 5: this guy to play all over the place. Add to
10:37
Speaker 5: the fact that they went out and they got four
10:39
Speaker 5: Dallas players who were available in the off season, this
10:44
Speaker 5: is going to be really really interesting. Definitely, look at
10:47
Speaker 5: that Tyler Baudish at center. He's there to help Jade
10:50
Speaker 5: and Daniels. He was great in Dallas, Jorance Armstrong, Dante
10:54
Speaker 5: Fowler and Noah there. So that is going to be
10:57
Speaker 5: a team to watch. Granted, they've got a rookie quarter,
11:00
Speaker 5: They've got a lot of moving pieces, but dan Quinn
11:03
Speaker 5: certainly makes this thing very interesting.
11:06
Speaker 1: There's also a little bit of NFC East revenge flavor
11:09
Speaker 1: in Philly, not just Saquon coming from the Giants to
11:11
Speaker 1: the Eagles, but also Kellen Moore, a year removed from
11:14
Speaker 1: being Dallas's OC now going to be going and trying
11:17
Speaker 1: to get the best of a Cowboys defense that for
11:20
Speaker 1: the first time in a few years, is going to.
11:21
Speaker 4: Have a different coordinator.
11:24
Speaker 5: And an Eagles team was something to prove. I mean,
11:27
Speaker 5: who can forget the epic collapse that the Eagles had
11:29
Speaker 5: at the end of the year, Tom going one in
11:32
Speaker 5: six in that final stretch of games. And if you
11:34
Speaker 5: look at their schedule, it does start off a little tricky,
11:37
Speaker 5: right They've got to go to Brazil to play the Packers,
11:40
Speaker 5: and I think they've got Atlanta, they got New Orleans,
11:42
Speaker 5: and they get a week five by the end of
11:44
Speaker 5: their schedule that looks a little bit easier with Carolina,
11:48
Speaker 5: Washington and New York. But to your point, Kellen Moore,
11:51
Speaker 5: this is a guy who obviously knows a lot about
11:54
Speaker 5: the Dallas Cowboys. I mean he was in the quarterbacks
11:57
Speaker 5: room with Dak Prescott starting his rookie season.
12:01
Speaker 2: This is also a.
12:02
Speaker 5: Kellen Moore gets an offense that includes Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown,
12:06
Speaker 5: Dallas Goddard, and then Saquon Barkley and then oh add
12:09
Speaker 5: to the mix that defensively, they've got weapons like Cooper
12:13
Speaker 5: dejen Quinnyon Mitchell. Howie keeps delivering the ingredients to Nick Sirianni,
12:18
Speaker 5: and I think as much as we talk about Mike
12:20
Speaker 5: McCarthy being in the hot seat, Nick Sirianni might want
12:23
Speaker 5: to do something with this. I mean, I think a
12:25
Speaker 5: lot of people in Philadelphia would say, look, we've got
12:27
Speaker 5: the ingredients here, let's not overcook them.
12:31
Speaker 1: Jane, thank you very much. Look forward to chatting with
12:34
Speaker 1: you again soon. Let's stay in the NFC East. In
12:37
Speaker 1: the next segment, we got Kevon Thibodeau. Giants pass Rush
12:40
Speaker 1: are coming up a little bit later. But after this,
12:42
Speaker 1: how about Giants legend Eli Manning joining our Rett Lewis
12:46
Speaker 1: live for the Manning Passing Academy. They go one on
12:50
Speaker 1: one talking about some of the bright young future stars
12:53
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Maybe Eli's outlook on those giants as well.
12:57
Speaker 2: That's next on the Insiders.
13:09
Speaker 1: The Manning family, Archie, Peyton, and Eli out at Nichols
13:13
Speaker 1: State in Louisiana this week holding the annual Manning Passing
13:16
Speaker 1: Academy for some of the country's top high school football players.
13:20
Speaker 1: Our guy Rent lewis also in the house. He's there
13:23
Speaker 1: caught up with Eli for.
13:24
Speaker 2: One on one.
13:26
Speaker 6: Are you twenty eighth Manning Passing Academy here? But I
13:28
Speaker 6: do want to first things first. I really want to
13:30
Speaker 6: think make sure we thank Peyton for allowing us to use.
13:33
Speaker 2: His selfie stick.
13:34
Speaker 6: As you know, he's always taken preparation to the next level,
13:37
Speaker 6: and this is is really tine.
13:39
Speaker 7: I don't know how we do this interview without using
13:41
Speaker 7: Peyton Selvy stick.
13:42
Speaker 8: So thank you Peyton.
13:44
Speaker 7: You know you have so many assortments of them that
13:46
Speaker 7: you gave us your best one too, truly.
13:48
Speaker 6: As you can see here with this quality. But on
13:51
Speaker 6: a more serious note, like you know, you and I
13:53
Speaker 6: have had the opportunity to kind of be a part
13:55
Speaker 6: of this camp since it started, as you know Camper
13:58
Speaker 6: as a college counselor.
14:01
Speaker 2: You went on to win to super Bowls.
14:03
Speaker 6: You know, I've covered at least fifteen, which you know
14:05
Speaker 6: we don't have to get into stats and numbers too much,
14:07
Speaker 6: but you had the opportunity to see it from so
14:09
Speaker 6: many different lenses now and the further you get from
14:11
Speaker 6: actually you know, playing, do you when you come back
14:15
Speaker 6: here and you get back in this environment or there
14:16
Speaker 6: are things that remind you of some of.
14:18
Speaker 2: Those stages that you've been through.
14:19
Speaker 7: Yeah, no doubt. And now I have a nephew that's
14:22
Speaker 7: a that's a Camper. I have a nephew that's a counselor,
14:25
Speaker 7: a college counselor, and so you know, just getting to
14:28
Speaker 7: talk to them has been fun and just reliving what
14:32
Speaker 7: happened in the dorms last night. Any pranks I get
14:34
Speaker 7: to get my thirteen year old nephew some ideas, you know,
14:38
Speaker 7: throwing some shampoo and the door knobs and had a
14:41
Speaker 7: short sheet of bed like these are these are quality
14:43
Speaker 7: things that every quarterback should know for a camp and
14:47
Speaker 7: you know, get to follow Arch or he's here or
14:48
Speaker 7: some of the other college guys and you know, get
14:51
Speaker 7: to watch him throw. So it's just great memories all
14:55
Speaker 7: the way through the last twenty eight years of being here,
14:57
Speaker 7: from a from a camper, from a counselor college council
15:00
Speaker 7: here to whatever position I hold now americis.
15:05
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's getting I get.
15:05
Speaker 7: Demoted every year more and more so hopefully, But I
15:09
Speaker 7: love being out here and there's all these high school
15:11
Speaker 7: kids and getting to.
15:12
Speaker 6: Teach them a little football, right, not just quarterback skills
15:14
Speaker 6: that are getting passed down, but the most important part
15:17
Speaker 6: of Eli's repertoire the pranks.
15:18
Speaker 8: Right of course.
15:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, but we also do get a chance to see,
15:22
Speaker 6: you know, some of the best and brightest in college
15:23
Speaker 6: football and then you eventually will see them playing on
15:27
Speaker 6: Monday Night football. In your role in the MANU cast
15:29
Speaker 6: now like could you you feel like when you're watching
15:31
Speaker 6: some of these guys when they're working out, I know
15:33
Speaker 6: you get a chance to spend some time with them too,
15:35
Speaker 6: Like do you see stuff from an evaluation standpoint now
15:38
Speaker 6: from from your role like this, I'm gonna I'm gonna
15:40
Speaker 6: see this guy in a year or two.
15:41
Speaker 8: Yeah, you definitely.
15:42
Speaker 7: It's actually it's hard to almost pick out which ones
15:46
Speaker 7: are gonna you think are gonna make it or definitely
15:48
Speaker 7: make it, because they all look good. I remember, you know,
15:51
Speaker 7: when we were in college and we were here, there
15:53
Speaker 7: was always kind of a guy, a college player, and
15:55
Speaker 7: you're like, yeah, maybe that guy should be back in
15:57
Speaker 7: the camp, like hey, David Deloiol, does they deserve to
16:01
Speaker 7: be here as a counselor right now?
16:04
Speaker 8: Like now there's none of those guys.
16:06
Speaker 7: And whether you're at Colgate or whether you're the starting
16:09
Speaker 7: quarterback of cal or you're the starting quarterback George, they
16:12
Speaker 7: all throw it well, they all move well, their feet
16:14
Speaker 7: are unbelievable. So it's really you almost have to get
16:17
Speaker 7: the game film. You got to get the you know,
16:20
Speaker 7: get them in pads to tell because they all throw
16:22
Speaker 7: it well. They all ask great questions. You can tell
16:24
Speaker 7: they're great leaders. So it's really impressive to see them
16:26
Speaker 7: all coming here and work out.
16:27
Speaker 6: But the landscape of college football, as you know now
16:30
Speaker 6: watching you know your nephew, you know, arch has changed
16:33
Speaker 6: so much and are there things though that you you know,
16:37
Speaker 6: look back on from your collegiate career. You're like, man,
16:39
Speaker 6: I hope these guys are still taking and loving this
16:41
Speaker 6: piece of the game, you know what I mean?
16:43
Speaker 7: Yeah, And I think that's that's what I get worried
16:45
Speaker 7: a little bit about about college football is just the
16:47
Speaker 7: niel that maybe these guys aren't going to college based
16:52
Speaker 7: on the fact that they're not picking their college. Basically
16:54
Speaker 7: the fact if I never played down of football, would
16:56
Speaker 7: I be happy at this school?
16:58
Speaker 8: Right?
16:58
Speaker 7: And I think that that was a big part of
17:00
Speaker 7: my decision making going to college, just because I think
17:02
Speaker 7: I had an older brother, Cooper, who went to play
17:05
Speaker 7: college football and got injured, never played it down, and
17:07
Speaker 7: that came into consideration. I think Archie, you know, that
17:11
Speaker 7: came into consideration with him when he was picking Texas, and.
17:13
Speaker 8: That's why he's not leaving and he's not.
17:15
Speaker 2: Right.
17:15
Speaker 7: Hey, I like it here. I picked this school for
17:17
Speaker 7: a reason. They're going to make me a better player.
17:19
Speaker 7: It's a great culture and he wants to stay there.
17:22
Speaker 7: And so I think that's a you know thing that
17:25
Speaker 7: maybe you get worried about. Are you enjoying college football?
17:28
Speaker 7: You're enjoying the college life and the environment all that
17:31
Speaker 7: that surrounds being in college and everything that comes with it.
17:35
Speaker 6: Aside from getting a blood pressure check on Peyton during
17:37
Speaker 6: Monday nights this fall, I mean.
17:39
Speaker 2: We should outfit him with like a cough just to
17:40
Speaker 2: make sure. I think he gets pretty intense about that.
17:43
Speaker 7: What's the vein and start out and starts, you know,
17:46
Speaker 7: kind of throbbing.
17:47
Speaker 8: That's when I get worried.
17:48
Speaker 6: We'll get you excited about watching the league now from
17:51
Speaker 6: from your perspective, you' especially going into this year.
17:53
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think just the young talent. And there's obviously
17:55
Speaker 7: the guys who've been around, the Patrick Mahomes and the
17:57
Speaker 7: Josh Allens. But each year there's a new crop quarterbacks,
18:01
Speaker 7: you know, new receivers that are that.
18:02
Speaker 8: Are coming out.
18:03
Speaker 7: Who's gonna be the next Justin Jefferson and Odell Beckham
18:06
Speaker 7: and who's gonna be the next Patrick Mahomes That's coming
18:08
Speaker 7: through some of these young quarterbacks. So I think I
18:11
Speaker 7: think the league is healthy with the amount of talent
18:13
Speaker 7: and the players, the coaches and so uh just saying, hey,
18:17
Speaker 7: who's going to be a surprise team this Year's step
18:19
Speaker 7: up and make a little run through the playoffs.
18:21
Speaker 6: And then lastly, on your old squad with the Giants,
18:26
Speaker 6: what as you have fired up about what Brian da
18:28
Speaker 6: Bole has in store here going into year three.
18:29
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm excited about the new rookie receiver and neighbors excited.
18:33
Speaker 7: You know, Daniel Jones is back healthy and beck healthy
18:35
Speaker 7: and he'd you know, been been with him. He's determined
18:38
Speaker 7: to uh, you know, get back out there and have
18:42
Speaker 7: kind of the year that he had two years ago.
18:43
Speaker 8: And and so I think they can. You know, they
18:46
Speaker 8: were they were not a great team last year. They
18:48
Speaker 8: could have won more games and and and I.
18:50
Speaker 7: Think they'll they'll be a better team to people think.
18:52
Speaker 6: I'd tell you the thing that I'm most excited about
18:54
Speaker 6: is that you made it through your night with LT.
18:56
Speaker 6: I did celebration here, which is I mean here, I
18:59
Speaker 6: don't that was a given.
19:00
Speaker 2: So I'm happy for you.
19:02
Speaker 7: I know, I know it was it was tough, but
19:04
Speaker 7: you know, I had to do it. I mean, I
19:06
Speaker 7: think I was excited at any fan there.
19:08
Speaker 8: To get the clt in the flesh.
19:11
Speaker 2: That's right, look at this guy. All right, there we go.
19:13
Speaker 8: That's it.
19:13
Speaker 2: That's us a selfie interview. I want thanks, thank you.
19:16
Speaker 1: Read best selfie stick interview we've ever had on The
19:20
Speaker 1: Insiders also the only one, but who's counting That guy
19:23
Speaker 1: has me the selfie stick. He's had cameras everywhere. What
19:25
Speaker 1: do we expect on Hard Knocks? Well lost Cavon Thibodeau
19:28
Speaker 1: next on The Insiders, Tom Pellicero joined by a guy
19:39
Speaker 1: I am certain is going to be one of the
19:41
Speaker 1: stars of that new edition of the Hard Knocks franchise
19:44
Speaker 1: on HBO. Cavon Thibodeau is with us. Kat, thanks lot
19:48
Speaker 1: for being here. Tell me what are we going to see?
19:50
Speaker 1: They've already shot this through the course of the off season.
19:52
Speaker 1: What are we going to get starting July second?
19:54
Speaker 9: Tom, first of all, thanks for having me. But when
19:56
Speaker 9: I tell you, I have no clue. Like those cam
20:00
Speaker 9: we're hidden. I know they probably knew in the back
20:02
Speaker 9: office what was being recorded, but as far as the
20:05
Speaker 9: players and the team, we had no clue. So I'm
20:07
Speaker 9: excited to see it, just as everyone else.
20:10
Speaker 1: I'll be really interested to see how certain personalities play
20:13
Speaker 1: on that show. And besides you, obviously you're you're a
20:17
Speaker 1: bright flower. You're going to brighten all our lives here.
20:19
Speaker 1: I want to see if we get any different side
20:21
Speaker 1: of Daniel Jones, because I've seen Daniel joneses got the beard.
20:25
Speaker 1: Now he's maybe been a slightly more edgy for him
20:28
Speaker 1: and his press coaches. Are we are we getting a
20:30
Speaker 1: little bit different Daniel Jones, not just on this show,
20:32
Speaker 1: but maybe heading into twenty twenty four.
20:34
Speaker 4: Probably not. He cut the beard off. He had a
20:36
Speaker 4: for a while, He had a for a while, he
20:38
Speaker 4: was on the edge.
20:39
Speaker 9: But yeah, he cut it back off. And I think
20:41
Speaker 9: he's still going to be, you know, the stand up
20:43
Speaker 9: man that he is. He's been leading this he's been
20:45
Speaker 9: a little more vocal, but I don't know if he'll
20:48
Speaker 9: do it for TV. I think he's more, you know,
20:50
Speaker 9: of a locker room guy.
20:52
Speaker 1: So you're out there in LA right now for the
20:54
Speaker 1: NFL's Social and Branding Workshop. Just tell me about this program.
20:58
Speaker 1: You've been hyper involved in this stuff since going back
21:01
Speaker 1: to college, but what sort of stuff are you doing
21:02
Speaker 1: and learning out there?
21:03
Speaker 9: First of all, the NFL does a great job, you know,
21:06
Speaker 9: obviously from where it used to be to now and
21:09
Speaker 9: you know, giving guys tools and giving them resources to
21:12
Speaker 9: build their life outside of sports.
21:14
Speaker 4: So it's been great being here. They brought in.
21:16
Speaker 9: A lot of CEOs, They brought in a lot of
21:18
Speaker 9: people from different companies that are just helping us and
21:21
Speaker 9: giving us resources to just continue to you know, build
21:24
Speaker 9: our resumes off the field. It's been great so far,
21:27
Speaker 9: you know, just connecting with the different brands and the
21:29
Speaker 9: different companies that have been here.
21:33
Speaker 1: It feels like yesterday you and I did a zoom
21:35
Speaker 1: before the draft, just kind of talking about what to expect,
21:38
Speaker 1: the process that was ahead, the media components of things.
21:42
Speaker 1: If you think back to that guy coming into the
21:44
Speaker 1: NFL a couple of years ago, what have you learned
21:47
Speaker 1: as a person and a player that.
21:49
Speaker 2: Have kind of made you into one yard right now?
21:52
Speaker 9: Definitely a lot more mature than I was before. You know,
21:54
Speaker 9: it takes time. You know, you don't know what you
21:55
Speaker 9: don't know right So being in the league, it's been great.
21:59
Speaker 9: A few learning curves, which is always great, but things
22:02
Speaker 9: have been going in the right direction. You know, I'm
22:04
Speaker 9: excited for this season and I know that as I
22:07
Speaker 9: continue to go through my career, I'm just going to
22:08
Speaker 9: get smarter and I'm just going to, you know, learn
22:10
Speaker 9: how to apply those smarts even more.
22:14
Speaker 2: I love that your pass rusher for the Giants, which
22:16
Speaker 2: has this amazing history of pass rushers. You were around
22:21
Speaker 2: some of those guys at the recent Giants Legends event.
22:24
Speaker 2: I think you talked to Lawrence Taylor there. What kind
22:26
Speaker 2: of knowledge advice is a guy like that, the greatest
22:29
Speaker 2: defensive player of all time impartying on you?
22:32
Speaker 4: You know what? I think it's funny.
22:33
Speaker 9: You know, you go into these conversations and you're always
22:35
Speaker 9: looking for something, right, if they're a legend, You're like,
22:37
Speaker 9: what did you do?
22:39
Speaker 4: What was the secret sauce? And I think it was funny.
22:42
Speaker 9: Lt He looked at me crazy when I said, I said,
22:45
Speaker 9: what's the secret sauce? And he's like, now you know,
22:47
Speaker 9: damn well, there ain't no secret sauce. And it's just
22:50
Speaker 9: funny thinking that, like, when you make it to this level,
22:53
Speaker 9: you make it on the same things that you're taught
22:54
Speaker 9: as a kid. You know, hard work, integrity, dedication, and
22:59
Speaker 9: there's nothing you know. All his difference is you got
23:02
Speaker 9: to be a little bit more dedicated and work a
23:04
Speaker 9: little bit harder. But other than that, we have the tools,
23:07
Speaker 9: you know, as athletes, you just got to continue to
23:09
Speaker 9: apply him and do your best.
23:11
Speaker 1: Have you ever gone back and dug into LT tape
23:14
Speaker 1: number one? Half the stuff he's doing, half the tackles
23:16
Speaker 1: and sacks you can't do anymore.
23:18
Speaker 2: You can't hit quarterbacks like that.
23:20
Speaker 1: I'm always struck though, when I see replays LE games
23:22
Speaker 1: like on an NFL network, the violence and speed with
23:26
Speaker 1: which he seemed to play on every single snap, It's
23:29
Speaker 1: just it's unbelievable.
23:30
Speaker 9: And I think that's the only real thing that surprises
23:34
Speaker 9: or I could say excites legends. Right, they never really
23:37
Speaker 9: care about your goals, They never really care about your stats.
23:39
Speaker 9: It's all about how you play the game. And I
23:41
Speaker 9: think that's where you know, the respect for the game
23:44
Speaker 9: comes in. Right, So when you talk to a dude
23:45
Speaker 9: like LT, all he wants to know is are you
23:48
Speaker 9: going to give it you all one hundred percent of
23:49
Speaker 9: the time? And even for me, I think that's the
23:52
Speaker 9: maturity level where you take that next step in your
23:54
Speaker 9: career where you know you play like an LT like
23:57
Speaker 9: Michael Strahan, like you know, many legends out of before me.
24:01
Speaker 2: You said, do you want to go after straight hand Sackrucker.
24:05
Speaker 1: That's a whole lot of sacks. You got to get
24:06
Speaker 1: to do that in a single season. How do you
24:08
Speaker 1: put together that type of year twenty twenty four? How
24:11
Speaker 1: do you put yourself in that mindset to be able
24:14
Speaker 1: to go out and produce at that type of level effort.
24:17
Speaker 9: You know, there's a video of LT he said, we
24:19
Speaker 9: got to go out there and play like some crazy dogs.
24:21
Speaker 9: So I think that's the journey, and I think can
24:23
Speaker 9: you do it every play for seventeen weeks?
24:25
Speaker 4: And that's the mission.
24:28
Speaker 1: You saw in that Hard Knocks preview the phone calls
24:31
Speaker 1: led to the Brian burnstrade. When you know a guy
24:34
Speaker 1: like that is coming in to tag team it with you,
24:36
Speaker 1: up from what was your reaction to what's it been like.
24:38
Speaker 2: Here just in this early portion of the offseason.
24:40
Speaker 9: It's exciting, man, it's exciting. Me and Brian we have
24:43
Speaker 9: a similar body type, we got a similar style of play,
24:46
Speaker 9: but he's a little bit different. You know, He's faster,
24:48
Speaker 9: he's quicker, he's obviously farther in his career than I am.
24:52
Speaker 9: So there's a lot of gems he's been giving me,
24:54
Speaker 9: and he's been able to help up my game a
24:56
Speaker 9: little bit, and I've been, you know, competing with him,
24:58
Speaker 9: giving him a few things that I know. It's been
25:00
Speaker 9: great so far. So I'm excited to see, you know,
25:02
Speaker 9: what's all to come from that.
25:05
Speaker 2: I'm not a hot take guy, Cavon.
25:07
Speaker 1: I'm not big on giving crazy opinions on TV or
25:10
Speaker 1: on social media, but I gave one probably the most
25:12
Speaker 1: controversial thing I've tweeted in a long time. It's when
25:15
Speaker 1: the new Century Red throwback uniforms were announced. I said,
25:19
Speaker 1: these are one of the best uniforms that I've seen,
25:23
Speaker 1: the throwback alternate jerseys this offseason, and I got slaughtered
25:27
Speaker 1: on social media unlike anything I've ever seen. When you
25:30
Speaker 1: first got to look at them, they're different. Now I'm
25:33
Speaker 1: a big tan pants guy, but you looked at that
25:35
Speaker 1: Montreal Canadians type jersey and everything.
25:37
Speaker 2: What was your reaction to these unis?
25:39
Speaker 9: So I'll be honest, no uniforms look good on media day,
25:42
Speaker 9: right because we're not actually fully you know, suited. We
25:44
Speaker 9: don't have the tape, we don't have you know, the braces,
25:47
Speaker 9: we don't have all the good stuff.
25:48
Speaker 4: That goes with it.
25:49
Speaker 9: So I wasn't as excited as I am now, you know,
25:52
Speaker 9: after seeing people have been putting edits and people have
25:54
Speaker 9: been putting, you know, different things on it on social
25:56
Speaker 9: media with how it.
25:57
Speaker 4: Will look once we plan it. But I'm excited.
26:00
Speaker 9: Think it's gonna look good. I think it's gonna look
26:01
Speaker 9: good on TV. And I think that hopefully that they
26:04
Speaker 9: sell those jerseys. I think they are, but I think
26:06
Speaker 9: it's gonna be really exciting for the fans.
26:08
Speaker 1: That's a great point. I'd never thought about that. In
26:11
Speaker 1: those photos. There's zero swag on anybody. There's not a
26:14
Speaker 1: risk Dan, there's not a piece of tape. You can't
26:17
Speaker 1: do that you can't like, oh hey, I need to
26:19
Speaker 1: get the full garb going.
26:20
Speaker 2: Listen.
26:20
Speaker 9: I think some people have shorts under their pants, like
26:22
Speaker 9: I don't even know, you know, if you look close,
26:24
Speaker 9: like we got on sneakers, you know, some.
26:26
Speaker 4: People don't even have the right socks on underneath.
26:28
Speaker 9: Like it's crazy, But I think it's gonna look good.
26:33
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones looks like he could wear that Tibet Like
26:35
Speaker 1: those look like pajamas right there.
26:36
Speaker 2: There is not a pad anywhere insight. You're also wearing
26:40
Speaker 2: a shirt.
26:40
Speaker 1: You're wearing a shirt for the Dream Foundation, which I
26:43
Speaker 1: know you founded last year. Tell me about the work
26:45
Speaker 1: that you're doing there.
26:45
Speaker 9: So now we're on our third year in a Dream Foundation.
26:48
Speaker 9: It's been great.
26:49
Speaker 4: You know.
26:49
Speaker 9: We focus on education and serving under underserved youth. So
26:54
Speaker 9: basically we give resources to children in inner cities. Started
26:57
Speaker 9: with Los Angeles and now we're out in New Jersey,
27:00
Speaker 9: in New York and we're basically just giving the resources,
27:02
Speaker 9: helping the mentors, given the education, and we're creating a
27:07
Speaker 9: movement right, the movement and giving back to our children
27:10
Speaker 9: because there's the future right when you look at what
27:12
Speaker 9: happened with COVID. We took a lot of our kids
27:15
Speaker 9: out of school and they fell behind. So now in
27:17
Speaker 9: the public schools and in the inner cities, kids are
27:20
Speaker 9: struggling to catch up and meet their you know great
27:23
Speaker 9: or their curriculum. So we've stepped in and we've helped
27:26
Speaker 9: mitigate that with bringing in tutoring programs and having you
27:29
Speaker 9: know great partners come in and teach financial health and
27:33
Speaker 9: this being the full house of using sports as the
27:36
Speaker 9: carrot on the stick for the kids, but then also
27:38
Speaker 9: helping the parents be better mentors and help them understand
27:42
Speaker 9: how their kids need to be mentored. And also you know,
27:45
Speaker 9: working with the different schools and helping them, you know,
27:47
Speaker 9: teach the curriculum that they are.
27:50
Speaker 2: That's awesome stuff.
27:51
Speaker 1: I had to get that plug in for you there, Katie,
27:53
Speaker 1: spending for you before before we let you go. Last
27:56
Speaker 1: season went sideways for a whole bunch of reasons, injuries
28:01
Speaker 1: and otherwise. This is going to be a different Giants
28:03
Speaker 1: team in twenty twenty four, Week one at home against
28:07
Speaker 1: the Vikings.
28:08
Speaker 2: You know that stadium is going to be rocking.
28:10
Speaker 1: What kind of statement do you hope this Giants team
28:13
Speaker 1: can make out.
28:14
Speaker 9: Of the gate resiliency, physicality, speed. I mean, we're going
28:18
Speaker 9: to play with all the things that we played in
28:19
Speaker 9: and back in the day. This is the one hundredth
28:21
Speaker 9: year anniversary of the Giants, so hopefully we can let
28:24
Speaker 9: those superpowers from our ancestors come and take over.
28:30
Speaker 1: You're the best, Katie. You hope you get a little
28:32
Speaker 1: bit of a break here in the coming weeks. I'll
28:34
Speaker 1: see out there in East Ruthford. Not too long, no breaks.
28:36
Speaker 1: It's time to work, Tom. I appreciate you. Sixty nine
28:42
Speaker 1: days until kickoff of the NFL season, sixty eight days
28:45
Speaker 1: to conduct your fantasy draft.
28:47
Speaker 2: Christian McCaffer will probably go number one, but should he?
28:51
Speaker 2: Adam Rick at some other ideas.
28:52
Speaker 10: Next to the.
29:00
Speaker 2: Left is just dropping back onto the maybe and throws
29:02
Speaker 2: a farst our cupoll My Covene touchdown, Tampa Bay. Farda
29:06
Speaker 2: Cannons Bucks take a nine to nothing least first down
29:09
Speaker 2: from the twenty two. Maybe you'll post on the ends.
29:11
Speaker 2: I don't cop pop My Covins touchdown, Tampa Bay. Heavens
29:15
Speaker 2: has two today every Christmas, Michael.
29:21
Speaker 1: That connection was a big role in Tampa's success last year.
29:24
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pillar. Sara joined now
29:27
Speaker 1: by Sarah Walsh down there in Florida.
29:29
Speaker 4: Sarah.
29:30
Speaker 1: Quite the journey for Baker Mayfield from Cleveland to Carolina
29:34
Speaker 1: to La to Tampa has that big year. He gets
29:37
Speaker 1: his three year, one hundred million dollars contract extension. What's
29:41
Speaker 1: next and how does he continue the momentum that finally
29:44
Speaker 1: he was able to build in twenty twenty three.
29:46
Speaker 11: Well, sort of exactly what you just said there, Tom
29:48
Speaker 11: is how Baker is looking at things this year.
29:51
Speaker 2: There mantra is what can.
29:54
Speaker 11: We do to sustain that success that you just saw
29:57
Speaker 11: a season ago, and he said, so much of this
29:59
Speaker 11: offseason has been for him about getting on the same
30:02
Speaker 11: page with their new offensive coordinator, Liam Cohen. Cohen is
30:05
Speaker 11: expected to place a lot more responsibility on Baker's shoulders.
30:09
Speaker 11: He's now very secure in Tampa as a starter now
30:12
Speaker 11: with the big new contract you just mentioned. He said,
30:15
Speaker 11: some of that means for Baker when you talk about
30:17
Speaker 11: the next step, it's flipping protections, it's putting his guys
30:21
Speaker 11: in the right position, and so much of that what
30:25
Speaker 11: they're trying to implement, he says, is made easier by
30:27
Speaker 11: the fact that the defense that this Buccaneers team goes
30:30
Speaker 11: against in practice.
30:31
Speaker 2: Cohen told me, you go against a group like Vitaveya.
30:34
Speaker 2: This Buccaneers offense, he.
30:35
Speaker 11: Says, never see stationary and he believes that that's going
30:38
Speaker 11: to help Baker come next season. Some of the other
30:40
Speaker 11: little things that they're working on, he said, there will
30:42
Speaker 11: be an emphasis on the fifteen scripted plays to start games,
30:46
Speaker 11: because they know that this Buccaneers team wants to start
30:48
Speaker 11: games a lot faster than they did as season ago,
30:50
Speaker 11: because while they often had results they like, the game's
30:53
Speaker 11: never really started the way they wanted to. So it's
30:55
Speaker 11: fine tuning some of those little things and it's all
30:57
Speaker 11: just really about now at this point with the contracted place,
31:00
Speaker 11: the next step for Baker and this.
31:01
Speaker 2: Offense tom.
31:04
Speaker 1: Tons of coaching changes and other changes around the NFC
31:08
Speaker 1: South in glinding course, Dave Canalis now going to Carolina
31:11
Speaker 1: as the head coach. If Tampa's going to repeat as
31:14
Speaker 1: Division champs, what is an X factor or who potentially
31:18
Speaker 1: could be an X factor in that success.
31:21
Speaker 11: Yeah, let me give you a guy on the offense
31:22
Speaker 11: at least. This is what Liam Cohen said to me.
31:24
Speaker 11: He said, quote jmack has flashed so far. Jmack being
31:28
Speaker 11: Jalen McMillan, the third round pick the Bucks took out
31:31
Speaker 11: of Washington.
31:32
Speaker 2: Said he's a true route runner.
31:34
Speaker 11: And this is really important for the Buccaneers because they've
31:36
Speaker 11: had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and
31:39
Speaker 11: then not a lot else. They really have struggled with
31:42
Speaker 11: depth Todd Bowles at that position in particular. Todd Bowles
31:46
Speaker 11: has said that they love McMillan's versatility, and Baker has
31:49
Speaker 11: talked about the fact that he's got really strong hands,
31:51
Speaker 11: he says, when he goes up to get the ball
31:54
Speaker 11: out of the air the point of the attack, he
31:55
Speaker 11: has just a really natural tendency which could and should
31:59
Speaker 11: be huge for the Buccaneers. And Millan said he's used
32:02
Speaker 11: to living up to expectations. When asked if he's ready
32:05
Speaker 11: to jump into a pretty significant role right away, and
32:08
Speaker 11: he said he cannot wait to show everyone next ball
32:10
Speaker 11: what he can do.
32:13
Speaker 1: Sarah, thank you very much, look forward to talking to
32:15
Speaker 1: you again soon. Just sixty nine days now to kick
32:18
Speaker 1: off of the NFL season. Jeez, I got sixty eight
32:21
Speaker 1: days to get your fantasy draft in. Here's the top
32:23
Speaker 1: five fantasy football player projections for twenty twenty four according
32:28
Speaker 1: to NFL dot com.
32:30
Speaker 2: And you can sign up right now.
32:31
Speaker 1: I checked earlier today Fantasy dot NFL dot com to
32:34
Speaker 1: get in a league right now.
32:37
Speaker 2: Let's welcome in.
32:38
Speaker 1: Now are fantasy expert and experts of many things. Adam
32:41
Speaker 1: Rank here, okay, Adam, I think that usually going in
32:44
Speaker 1: right there's the consensus one, maybe two players who is
32:48
Speaker 1: going to go at the top of every fantasy draft.
32:50
Speaker 2: In your mind, how many players can.
32:52
Speaker 1: You make a reasonable case this guy maybe should go
32:56
Speaker 1: number one overall? In fantasy I would say one, but
32:59
Speaker 1: they on this let me say CMC and then go
33:01
Speaker 1: to the Angels game. They're going to make me sit
33:03
Speaker 1: here and talk about a couple more guys, which is fair.
33:05
Speaker 1: But I think CMC is the consensus number one.
33:08
Speaker 3: But let me give you a couple other names of
33:10
Speaker 3: guys who could be considered the top pick if you
33:12
Speaker 3: don't want to go with the consensus. And one of
33:14
Speaker 3: the guys was on the screen right there, Tyreek Hill
33:17
Speaker 3: last year, the wide receiver two in fantasy football, had
33:21
Speaker 3: a lot of games. He had what, nine games with
33:23
Speaker 3: at least twenty five fantasy points, which was the most
33:25
Speaker 3: in the NFL. He had five games with at least
33:28
Speaker 3: thirty fantasy points, rock solid option. Of course, wide receivers
33:33
Speaker 3: perceived to be a little bit more safer, safer so
33:37
Speaker 3: to speak, except anybody who said justin Jefferson last year
33:40
Speaker 3: might argue, But how about with John Robinson. Now A
33:43
Speaker 3: lot of people are looking at this because the Falcons
33:46
Speaker 3: have been talking about using him in the same way
33:49
Speaker 3: that the forty nine ers use CMC, which then starts
33:52
Speaker 3: leading me down the wormhole of the Peter Griffin of like, listen,
33:55
Speaker 3: we could get a boat or get a mystery box,
33:57
Speaker 3: which could be a boat. I guess, like, why wouldn't
34:00
Speaker 3: you just take CMC. But Robinson is gonna be in
34:03
Speaker 3: a very good offensive. Obviously, they added Kirk Cousins this offseason,
34:07
Speaker 3: so he's a good pick. Bryce Hall was amazing last year.
34:11
Speaker 3: He scored close to three hundred Fantasy points.
34:14
Speaker 2: He was the RB two. The thing is he had
34:17
Speaker 2: one goal line rush. He did all of that with
34:19
Speaker 2: getting no opportunities near the goal line.
34:21
Speaker 3: So if he gets a chance in New York and
34:24
Speaker 3: with Aaron Rodgers, they should be much better. I really
34:26
Speaker 3: like Bryce Hall. And finally, you know what, I'm gonna
34:29
Speaker 3: go with Saquon Barkley. I think Saquon Barkley like he
34:32
Speaker 3: bounces back and what's the big knock? Everybody's gonna be
34:34
Speaker 3: like he gets hurt all the time, That's exactly what
34:36
Speaker 3: you said about CMC back in the day, and then
34:39
Speaker 3: he goes to San Francisco never gets injured. I think
34:41
Speaker 3: that once these guys leave these like bottom dweller franchises
34:46
Speaker 3: and get up to like Philadelphia or places like that,
34:48
Speaker 3: they're like, oh, I'm not as hurt as I used
34:50
Speaker 3: to be and you know what, they can't do the
34:52
Speaker 3: brotherly shove all the time.
34:53
Speaker 2: So I love Saquon Barkley.
34:54
Speaker 4: This year.
34:56
Speaker 1: You could have given me twenty guesses rank on who
34:59
Speaker 1: is RB in Fantasy. Last year, I would not have
35:02
Speaker 1: gotten to Breshall.
35:03
Speaker 2: There's no way now. Part of that's because the.
35:05
Speaker 1: Jets were largely unwatchable on offense for good chunks of
35:09
Speaker 1: that season. Do large to their quarterback play Aaron Rodgers back.
35:12
Speaker 1: You might think where they're going to throw the football
35:14
Speaker 1: a lot more. Maybe they're going to run the heck
35:15
Speaker 1: out of the ball, because now teams will actually be
35:17
Speaker 1: respecting the passing game.
35:19
Speaker 2: Rank.
35:19
Speaker 1: You're the best man. Great chatting with you. Talk to
35:22
Speaker 1: you again shortly here. Coming up after this, though, let's
35:26
Speaker 1: talk about the NFL and flag football continuing to bring
35:30
Speaker 1: communities together. We'll discuss the latest venture of the Buffalo
35:33
Speaker 1: Bills when The Insiders returns. The Bills recently announced a
35:48
Speaker 1: sponsorship in support of the National Gay Flag Football League,
35:53
Speaker 1: as they are launching a league in Buffalo, joining twenty
35:56
Speaker 1: seven other cities that host the NGF. Hell, welcome back
36:01
Speaker 1: to the Insiders. Please be joined right now by the
36:03
Speaker 1: commissioner of that league. Joel Horton making his debut on
36:07
Speaker 1: the show. Joel, I'm fascinated by this entire project. I
36:11
Speaker 1: know you started back in two thousand and two. There
36:13
Speaker 1: are now thousands of participants in this league. Just tell
36:17
Speaker 1: me more about what you're doing and how it's grown.
36:21
Speaker 12: Thanks well, thanks Tom for having me. It's a pleasure
36:23
Speaker 12: to be here and talk about the NJFFL. We as
36:26
Speaker 12: you said, we've got twenty seven leagues across the country
36:29
Speaker 12: and in Canada and Toronto.
36:32
Speaker 10: We are welcoming Buffalo as our newest member.
36:35
Speaker 12: And you know, it really started off as a grassroots organization,
36:38
Speaker 12: a bunch of guys just throwing around the football, and
36:41
Speaker 12: we've grown to, as you know, over four thousand members.
36:47
Speaker 10: We've got both you.
36:49
Speaker 12: Know, we we've got I think one of our greatest
36:51
Speaker 12: strengths is the diversity of our league. You know, we've
36:54
Speaker 12: got women and trands, and then we've got our straight
36:56
Speaker 12: allies who join us and it really makes it a
36:59
Speaker 12: lot of fun.
36:59
Speaker 10: For us, all of us.
37:02
Speaker 2: So tell me about the NFL's involvement, the way that
37:05
Speaker 2: they've supported the n g f f L, and specifically
37:08
Speaker 2: with the bills. What does that partnership mean to you.
37:12
Speaker 10: Well, it means everything quite frankly.
37:15
Speaker 12: A lot of the franchises where we do have our
37:17
Speaker 12: leagues have established over the years partnerships and relationships with
37:22
Speaker 12: our member leagues, which is you know, it's been a
37:24
Speaker 12: huge help. I mean some of the most prominent relationships
37:28
Speaker 12: are with the Patriots and and mister Bob Craft himself,
37:33
Speaker 12: the Commanders the Cardinals. But with the Bears, excuse me,
37:38
Speaker 12: with the Bills. What is different is that we don't
37:42
Speaker 12: have a league yet in Buffalo, and so the Bills, uh,
37:45
Speaker 12: you know, we've we're gonna walk hand in hand to
37:48
Speaker 12: build a league together and and and so that's that's
37:51
Speaker 12: really what makes this particular partnership very special for us.
37:56
Speaker 1: So you mentioned not just the gay and trans community
37:58
Speaker 1: represented in terms of the play, but you have allies too.
38:01
Speaker 2: Who all is in this How do you get involved?
38:04
Speaker 2: Where do you find that you have to be in
38:05
Speaker 2: this league?
38:06
Speaker 6: Oh?
38:07
Speaker 12: Absolutely well, And I'll tell you some of our straight
38:09
Speaker 12: allies are some of our best. I mean, there are
38:10
Speaker 12: some of our coaches, they some of the you know,
38:13
Speaker 12: they teach the talent, the skills that that football you
38:17
Speaker 12: know that you need to be to be great at
38:19
Speaker 12: football and then become our friends. You know, a lot
38:22
Speaker 12: of them grew up playing football, whereas a lot of
38:25
Speaker 12: us did not. You know, we've come we've come to
38:27
Speaker 12: it in our adult years looking for a way to
38:30
Speaker 12: connect with others, to to you know, find that joy
38:34
Speaker 12: in competition through flag football and so our straight allies
38:39
Speaker 12: and I would you know, there's probably at least a
38:42
Speaker 12: good ten to fifteen percent throughout the JFFL, maybe even
38:46
Speaker 12: more have been some of our best contributors.
38:50
Speaker 1: So this is Chicago Pride Weekend at the tail end
38:53
Speaker 1: of Pride Month, and you've got the Pride Bowl happening
38:57
Speaker 1: in concert with that in Chicago.
38:59
Speaker 2: With an event like that, where do you put it on?
39:01
Speaker 2: What does the event look like?
39:03
Speaker 10: So the event is thanks for asking, because the event
39:06
Speaker 10: is underway as we speak. It's that.
39:09
Speaker 12: If you're in Chicago, it's at Montrose Park, which is
39:11
Speaker 12: right on the lake, So please come out and join.
39:14
Speaker 12: We've got I believe, over forty teams from again all
39:20
Speaker 12: over the country competing for it's our second largest tournament
39:26
Speaker 12: of the year outside of our largest tournament.
39:28
Speaker 10: Which is what we call Gable but and that happens
39:32
Speaker 10: in the fall but.
39:33
Speaker 12: This particular tournament that's hosted by our Chicago League has
39:37
Speaker 12: become one of our best.
39:40
Speaker 2: Gable has to be intense.
39:42
Speaker 1: I would imagine if that's if that's the biggest one
39:45
Speaker 1: and the most important one, the competition's got to be
39:47
Speaker 1: off the charge.
39:49
Speaker 2: It's incredible.
39:50
Speaker 12: We've We've done a lot of work to grow the league,
39:52
Speaker 12: to grow the tournament, and what I mean by that
39:55
Speaker 12: is we want as many people in our community and
39:59
Speaker 12: our supporters possible to kind of experience what it's like
40:03
Speaker 12: to compete at that level. So we've you know, we've
40:06
Speaker 12: created divisions, so teams can you know, we've got elite teams.
40:09
Speaker 12: We do have elite level athletes, athletes who've been Division one,
40:13
Speaker 12: Division two college level players. There are a few who've
40:17
Speaker 12: been on professional teams, and so we want to have
40:20
Speaker 12: space for them to compete. We also want space for
40:22
Speaker 12: people who might have just taken the game up, you know,
40:26
Speaker 12: in their recent pass and so who might not have
40:29
Speaker 12: the entire skill set, but but they're on their way.
40:32
Speaker 12: So we want to kind of make space for everybody.
40:34
Speaker 12: And in that the tournament has grown this past year.
40:38
Speaker 12: In the fall of twenty twenty three, which was our
40:40
Speaker 12: most recent tournament, we had over fifteen hundred athletes in
40:44
Speaker 12: over eighty teams, and we expect to surpass that this
40:47
Speaker 12: year this fall in our next Gaatebole, which will be
40:50
Speaker 12: in Austin, Texas. So we're really looking forward to that.
40:53
Speaker 1: Joel, congrats on everything to your building is it's a
40:55
Speaker 1: fantastic initiative. Come back to the show, look forward to
40:57
Speaker 1: Avenue on again.
40:59
Speaker 10: I would thank you, Tom. It's really a pleasure to
41:01
Speaker 10: be here.
41:02
Speaker 2: Thank you. This episode not done yet. More insiders after this.
41:14
Speaker 1: Happy sixty fourth birthday to an ageless NFL legend, John
41:20
Speaker 1: Elway turning sixty fourth today.
41:23
Speaker 2: It's all the rage.
41:24
Speaker 1: Now when you celebrate a birthday, you hit any type
41:26
Speaker 1: of milestone, we get the side by sides.
41:28
Speaker 2: How about John then and now? That is way back.
41:31
Speaker 1: I believe that was when he was drafted one of
41:33
Speaker 1: those two times that he was back in the early
41:36
Speaker 1: days in the NFL.
41:37
Speaker 2: Chiefs did something earlier this week.
41:40
Speaker 1: But Travis Kelcey as well, Kelsey somehow he's got a
41:44
Speaker 1: baby face for sure.
41:45
Speaker 2: The beard hasn't changed. I don't think. Wow, a whole
41:48
Speaker 2: lot here hasn't changed at all. Still be all right? Oh, no,
41:54
Speaker 2: oh my god, it's rake with hair and a flare caller?
41:58
Speaker 2: Is that nineteen? That's the rage? I sort of looked
42:02
Speaker 2: like the fat chandler itselves. Look at me?
42:06
Speaker 1: What was I doing back in two thousand and eight
42:08
Speaker 1: Hosan NFL network in uh? I think that's a seven
42:12
Speaker 1: button suit right there with uh some out fabric?
42:17
Speaker 2: And how about this too? What do we what would
42:20
Speaker 2: I look like?
42:21
Speaker 4: What do you thought?
42:23
Speaker 2: I think it's you kidding me. You've had hair transplants,
42:26
Speaker 2: enjoy it? Goodbye?
42:29
Speaker 4: What is good