Latest / The So-Called Sports Analysts / Episode 10 - AFC North & potential G.O.A.T. candidate playing in the NBA right now

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Episode 10 - AFC North & potential G.O.A.T. candidate playing in the NBA right now · The So-Called Sports Analysts

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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the so called Sports Analyst. I am your
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host off Arms with Bortill. This is episode number ten. It's crazy to
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think about it's already episode number ten. I felt like I just started last
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week. But we're gonna go ahead and get straight into it. So,
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like I said last week, we're gonna talk about the AFC North Division,
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which have the Browns, Ravens, Sitters, and Bengals in this division.
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And there's been a bunch of stuff that's been happening in this division. It
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just happens we're gonna be going over this division today, so let's go ahead
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and get straight into it. So I think all of these teams they have
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a good future and they could repeat as being one of the best divisions in
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football. And the first team that we're going to talk about is the Cleveland
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Browns. So the Cleveland Browns, they're negative fourteen million in cat space.
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They have about eight draft picks, but their first pick that they have this
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year is of forty second overall pick in the second round after trading away for
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Deshaun Watson. So they really don't have much room to improve in free agency
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or the draft. They really have to hit well in the draft in order
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to improve. But this team, it's a very solid team, and the
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biggest concern that I see for them is retaining their free agents. Because the
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free agents that they have their key starters, and majority of them is on
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their defense. So you have Dion Jones, somebody they traded for mid season
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this year. He was their starting linebacker. Jadeveon Clowney, defensive end,
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Anthony Walker, he was their starting linebacker until they get hurt. Greedy Williams,
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he was a cornerback. He got or he played fifteen games of the
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season, I believe. Then you have Ronnie Harrison, who is the safety.
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So you have those guys right there. You have five starters on the
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team that need to get paid, and you're negative fourteen million in cap space.
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I know you could make some moves. I know the cap is going
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to change, so I know teams are going to be getting around five to
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ten million dollars in cap I'm not exactly sure how much it is, but
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they're not going to be able to retain all of these so they're gonna have
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to be able to hit on these draft picks right here, and there is
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going to be plenty of defensive lineman in this draft this year, so they
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won't have to worry about resigning Jadeveon Clowney. But the biggest concern for me
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is that, like I talked about in previous episodes, that there's not going
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to be that many dbs and this year's draft it's gonna be a really top
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heavy dB draft, so they're gonna have to either find a way to trade
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up or maybe you just roll with the ones you got. But they still
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have a good cornerback in Greedy Williams, and you still do have John Johnson
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there as your safety, so you have pieces around that that are nice.
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And obviously you have Myles Garrett who's there, so you have good pieces everywhere
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you go across that defense. And honestly, the defense, it isn't even
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the problem for this team because the defense there were a bend, don't break
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defense, and like I said, they have star players on each level of
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the field. You have Miles Garrett, who's arguably the best lineman defensive lineman
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in the NFL. Then have j Ok. I'm only saying his initials because
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I do not know how to pronounce his name, but you guys can try
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to pronounce it yourself. Then, like I said, you have Denzel Award,
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so you have wherever you go, you have some pieces. But the
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biggest concern, and I believe everybody they know this, it's Deshaun Watson.
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How good will Deshaun Watson play in a second year coming back? Or he
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played about half a season with the football and Deshaun Watson, he's gonna be
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making fifty four million dollars this year and that's gonna be on the cap.
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So they're gonna have to rely on Deshaun Watson even more this year and he's
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gonna be having to make those plays. And let's just keep it a book.
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Last year he was just flat out terrible. He was. And it's
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not like he didn't have any weapons around him. Surrounding him. You have
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a Mark Cooper who's arguably a top ten receiver, Donophan's People's Jones who is
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a good receiver. You have David and Joke who top five Titan Nick Chubb,
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and then you have Kareem Hunt. So you have pieces around there that
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are really good. And then plus you have a top ten offensive line and
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Kevin Sefanski who can call plays at a very high level. So there's no
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excuse for Deshaun Watson be playing this bad. And maybe it was just rust
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or being off for a year and a half, like I said, but
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he is going to have to improve or Else's contract is going to be looking
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worse and worse every single year. Because I believe it was a five year
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contract, two hundred and fifty million. I believe in all of that's guaranteed.
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So yeah, he is going to have to step it up from last
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year. And I don't even think he has to play at a top five
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quarterback level. I just believe he has to play better than what he did
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last year. Maybe I say the way this team is constructed and they could
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run the ball so effectively, he just needs to be a top twelve quarterback,
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which isn't saying much. I'm not saying you have to outdo Mahomes justin
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Herbert, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, because when you try to do that,
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you're most likely gonna lose. If you could get back to that level
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like what he was with the Texans, that's even better. But he just
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needs to play at a top twelve quarterback level in order for this team to
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compete because everybody else on this team they're good enough to make the players elsewhere.
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And with that being said, I think Deshaun Watson he will play better
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than what he did last year. I think it's just a matter of him
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just getting the rhythm for it again, because especially being a quarterback nowadays,
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it's really about timing and precision and accuracy, and those are things you have
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to be on the field, especially if you're playing professional football, in order
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to get the field for it. And towards the end of the year,
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he had some moments where he'd look good. I'm not saying he looked like
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a great quarterback, but he did have moments where he looked good. So
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I think this team, they could go from being the team that was a
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worse than the division which is seven to ten, which is not a bad
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record at all, to being a potentially wild card team winning a playoff game
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or two. But if Deshaun Watson here's a big if factor right here,
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If Deshaun Watson is able to be a top five quarterback again, they will
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really be able to make a Super Bowl a Super Bowl run because you have
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that team constructed around him, then you have Deshaun Watson playing at the level
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that he once did, then there's nobody that's gonna be able to stop him.
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There would be I would say the they'd be similar to Philadelphia Deshaun Watson.
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He isn't as mobile or as aggressive running the ball as Jalen Hurts,
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but it would be an aspect like that, were they able to run the
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ball and they have pieces on the outside, and then you have a good
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defense. But the next team that I'm going to talk about is a Pittsburgh
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Steelers. They're nine and eight. They did actually have good momentum going into
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the late part of the season. They almost made a playoff push. I
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believe they needed the Dolphins to lose. I believe that's what it was,
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and they didn't weren't able to get that, but they look very good at
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the end of the season. They have negative four million in cap space right
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now, so that's going to convert maybe to I think it's about four either
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between four to ten million dollars in cap space. It's a little bit different
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for everybody because there's gonna be some restructuring on some contracts. So obviously this
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isn't official yet as far as what these teams have in cap space before free
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agency, because I know free agency it's about to start soon. I believe
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it's Monday. But that's the estimate right there, around four to ten million
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dollars in cap space. Then they have nine draft picks. They have the
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seventeenth overall pick, and then they have it's technically not considered a first round
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pick, but they have the thirty second overall pick for trading away Chase Claypool.
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And it wasn't a first round pick that the Bears traded away. It's
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a second round pick. But what would happen or with what happened with Miami
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with the whole tampering thing, they lost their first round pick, so obviously
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the first first second round pick, it moves up to the last pick in
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the draft. So you have two first round picks and they have plenty of
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room to be getting talent. And the biggest thing that the Pittsburgh Stills need
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is offensive line, offensive linemen, offensive lineman, and then also offensive lineman.
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That's the only real weakness I could see from looking at this team from
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top to bottom, because everywhere else you look at them, you have running
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backs, you have Naji Harris, Benny Snell, so you have good pieces
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around them right there. And then I can't think of his first name,
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but his last name's Warren. So you have three good running backs and Naji
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Harris. He's supposed to be a top ten running back and towards the end
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of the year he did look like that. Then you have your wide receivers.
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You have George Pitkins, who looks to be getting even better than you
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have Deontay Johnson. Then you have Friar Muth. And then the defense,
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we don't even have to talk about them, but we're gonna go ahead and
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do that. You have t J. Watt, who is in my opinion,
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the best defensive end in the National Football League behind Michael Parsons of course.
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But then they have a good linebacking corps. Then they have good secondary
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players, and they really don't have that many free agents this year that are
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very big for them. You could say potentially Devin Bush, but he hasn't
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lived up to what he's been. You have Cameron Sutton who's been a good,
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reliable cornerback. But like I said, you have draft picks right there,
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so you can possibly draft in the quarterback cornerback. Then you have Terrell
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Edmunds, a safety who's been a good safety. But know in Pittsburgh they
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could draft safeties and quarterbacks in the later rounds and still find them producing.
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But in the draft, I think what they need to do is just focus
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in on drafting offensive alignment. And they have plenty of opportunities to do this.
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So what I think they could do so Peter scu I think that's his
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name. I'm pretty sure that's how you pronounce it. And then maybe you
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go get a Paris Johnson from Ohio State. You get two tackles and Peter
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Scronick you could actually play guard two. So that'll be able to solidify the
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offensive line right there. That would be, in my opinion, the smart
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choice. But knowing the Pittsburgh Steelers, they like to draft defense a lot,
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so they will probably draft one offensive lineman. But even if they do
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draft offensive line, it's gonna come down to how good will Kenny Pickett play
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as year two in the system of Matt Canada. Matt Canada, he he
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has a bad reputation with Steelers fans, and I get it. He's basically
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the Kevin Moore for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So every once in a while he
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could drop some of these or some of these amazing plays, then other times
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they're very terrible. But I believe that's not the problem. Right there.
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You still went seven and down the stretch with this same offensive coordinator, so
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that shouldn't be the problem. And one thing that I saw from Kenny Pickett
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last year is that he did make those strides late in the season to look
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like he could be a top fifteen quarterback. And I just think it's so
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hard to be a top ten quar quarterback or in this day and age,
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because you have so much talent across the board. You could actually go back
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to two episodes, episode eight, I broke down quarterbacks and who's my top
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ten? But anyways, I think he could be a top fifteen quarterback and
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he could lead this team to the playoffs. But it's gonna depend how he
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progresses, because you could even go to last year against the Raiders late scoring
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touchdown drive. Against the Raiders, he had a late scoring touchdown drive.
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I think I said Ravens Raiders, then the Colts laying the game touch down
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drive. So he looked very clutch at the end of the year, and
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he's showing that he can perform when the lights are the brightest, but it's
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just how much of a step can you take Because he is a smaller quarterback,
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he does have some zip zip on the ball is accurate, but I
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don't think the deep ball it's as good as it should be. He can
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improve on it, but not where it could be leaps and bounds and be
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up there with the Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, somebody like
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that. But all they just need, can you pick it to do,
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is be a top fifteen quarterback and you let the defense and then those skill
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players on the outside do the rest. But if you did have to talk
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about the defense as far as what they do need to improve on, I
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would say defensive tackle. And the only reason I say that is because Cameron
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Heyward he is getting older. He is getting up there in age so and
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he is making fifteen million dollars this year in cap or in the cap money.
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So maybe they trade him away, get somebody younger. I know he
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still is performing at a top tier level, but maybe you do get younger,
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save money goal somewhere else, and they do need to capitalize before Kenny
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Pickett, because say if he does end up becoming a top ten quarterback,
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the way these topped or the way these top ten quarterbacks are getting paid now,
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it's ridiculous. By the time Kenny Pickett gets paid, if he does
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get paid and pans out, it's going to be anywhere from fifty to sixty
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million dollars. So I believe that's the biggest thing that they need to do.
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And like I said, with the Cleveland Browns, it's all gonna depend
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on whether their quarterback, which is Kenny Pickett, can deliver and make those
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progressions from your two and they could have I wouldn't say the aspirations that the
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Browns do have if DeShawn Watson does pan out, but I believe they can
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make it to the playoffs, and depending on their matchup, they can win
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a playoff game. But it's a very limited seiling. And the only reason
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I'm saying it's a limited seiling is because I think Kenney Pickett he will make
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a progression, but not the progression of being a top ten quarterback, because
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you, in my opinion, you have to be a top ten quarterback in
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order to make the conference championship or something, or even considering the AFC with
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how many talented quarterbacks are in there to even make the divisional round, because
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look at the divisional round you have this year. You have Trevor Lawrence,
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top ten quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, no question, he's number one. Then
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you have Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. So you have potentially right there the
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top six quarterbacks in the league right there. Maybe a few in the in
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the NFC, it would be something different, but yeah, they do need
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to capitalize before he ends up getting another contract. And speaking of the team
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that is in contract negotiations with their quarterback, the Baltimore Ravens, and I
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don't even understand in my opinion, I don't understand what the Baltimore Ravens are
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doing if you did not hear Lamar Jackson has been put on an exclusive tag.
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I believe it was Tuesday before the deadline, and he is a top
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three quarterback in the league. He needs to be paid his money, no
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matter how much it is, because there's only one Lamar Jackson. And in
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order for you to compete, like I said, even get out of the
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divisional round or get to there, you have to have a top ten quarterback
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and he is exactly that. And let's not forget how good Lamar Jackson was
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playing before he got hurt. And yes, I know people they may consider,
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oh, he gets hurt a lot, or this and this and that,
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but it's because they use them in the offense with Greg Roman who is
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no longer there, and now they got a new offensive coordinator. I believe
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he was from Georgia, so maybe it's going to be more of a past
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centric offense, which it should have been, because in order to compete in
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the NFL nowadays, you need to having a passing first offense. Well not
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necessarily passing first, but you should have the skill players on the outside and
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the scheme to be able to pass the ball. You can't do what the
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Ravens have done, just be quick screens or dump it off to the tight
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end and just little stuff like that that it's not gonna work in the NFL,
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especially with these defensive coordinators. They're getting smarter and smarter nowadays. And
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yes, I know they did have one of the best running running attacks in
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the league, but there's only so far you can go with having running attack.
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Even if you want to say, look at the San Francisco forty nine
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ers. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Look who they have on the outside.
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For the Eagles, you have a j Brown, Devanta Smith, Dallas
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Goddard. You have three skill position players who are arguably top ten in their
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position. Then you have the Niners who have Deebo, Samuel, Brandon Iyuk,
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George Kittle, and then you have Christian McCaffrey, like I said,
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who are arguably other than Brandon Ayuk top ten in their position. So the
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biggest need should be if you want to be a run first offense with Lamar
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Jackson, you need to have some skill position players on the outside. And
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yes, I know you have Mark Andrews, who I think is the second
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best title in the league, but you need to have more people on the
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outside. You can depend on Rashod Bateman, DeMarcus Robinson, and I believe
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his name was Sims. I can't even remember what exactly his name was.
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No respect to him, but that just shows to how much of a despair
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already they have as far as on the outside and even just simple simple football
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one on one, if you want to lighten up the box, you need
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to have a receiver on the outside that could have a safety learning bout them
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over the top. That's what makes the San Francisco forty nine ers and the
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Philadelphia was so good because you can't just stack the box with eight then you'll
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have one on one coverage. And Lamar Jackson still with this offensive scheme of
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being a run first offense when no real players on the outside other than Mark
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Andrews who is a tight end and stayed in the box most of the time.
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They were aiding four and leading the division. So that just shows to
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what Lamar Jackson was doing with this roster. And yes, I know the
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defense they did turn it on towards the end of the season, but they
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were not this good at the beginning of the season. Did you guys forget
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when I believe they were up twenty one points going into the fourth quarter against
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the Dolphins and they came back and Lamar Jackson steell score thirty eight points.
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So yeah, let's not forget that right there. So they could have potentially
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had a better record if their defense played even better. And they have nine
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million dollars, it's gonna convert into maybe about fourteen to twenty million dollars in
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cap space, so they'll have some money to potentially get some players, but
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there is not really any true wide receivers in the market. I believe the
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best wide receiver on the market right now is Juju Smith Schuster, which is
20:37
not saying much. So they're gonna have to depend on the draft, and
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they have five draft picks. Their first pick is going to be the twenty
20:45
second overall pick. Potentially you could go get somebody with that twenty second overall
20:51
pick. I don't know how many receivers are gonna go that far, because
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what I've been noticing as far as the trend lately is at their quarterbacks,
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they rise up the board obviously, which is no question, They're the most
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important position in the league. And then you have wide receivers who have been
21:10
moving up the draft board. So I believe there is what you have Jackson's
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Methley, Jebba Quinn, and Johnson's A Flowers. Then you have I'm missing
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one more wide receiver, but you have four wide receivers that are first round
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overall talents, and I don't think they'll last to the twenty second overall pick.
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Maybe they'll trade up, but I don't see them trading up. They
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only have five draft picks. So maybe you do trade somebody else to get
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a wide receiver, but you do need a more or somebody who's going to
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be a physical receiver in order to play that run game too, or unless
21:52
you change up your whole scheme, because they did go with the smaller receiver
21:55
in Rashott Bateman, and look what happened to him in that run first offense.
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He got hurt very quick, and when he is on the field he
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does look great, but it's just in that running offense, you're gonna just
22:07
kill those smaller receivers, so that already takes out some of the other receivers.
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So potentially Quinn Johnson that would be the one because he is a big,
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bigger and physical receiver about six two sixty three, a deep threat guy.
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But you already do have a deep thread n Rashot Bateman, so there's
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no point in getting two of the same thing. I believe they need more
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of a receiver that could play the slot and he could play outside the numbers
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and just be able to make a play because like I said, you could
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just double Mark Andrews and you could keep Aid in the box and you don't
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have to worry about that. You just depend on Lamark Jackson making him play,
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and he still finds a way to make plays for him. So I
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don't think I don't think that the Baltimore Ravens understand what they're doing. And
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obviously, yes, I know I'm not a general manager. If I was
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a general manager, I wouldn't be recording this podcast right here. But they
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have a top three quarterback in their hands right now, and they're letting him
23:11
slip out of their hands or ruin any type of relationship they have left in
23:19
order to prove a point that they want less money on a contract. There's
23:22
been rumors about them or about him testing the market seeing what he could get
23:30
back, So the Ravens they could offer that exact price right there. But
23:33
even doing that, that's somewhat disrespectful right there, because being at the top
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or being one of the top people in your respect to position, and then
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you get disrespected like that, no matter who you are, it's gonna ruin
23:49
some type of relationship that you have with that company or the owner or the
23:53
general manager or whoever you're dealing with. So it's it's not a good look.
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And another factor that people they're not noticing is that some of the free
24:06
agents that possibly wanted to play with Lamar Jackson, maybe they're not gonna go
24:11
to Baltimore anymore because they see the way they treated their their number one priority
24:15
or there should be number one priority in Lamar Jackson. So it's like,
24:19
well, if he gets treated like that, just imagine how I'll be treated.
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And that's a factor that's not being taken into consideration right there. And
24:29
plus free agents are probably not going to go there, especially this offseason.
24:33
If he does not get paid this offseason, people they're not going to go
24:38
there and sign for a long term contract or even a one year deal because
24:42
Lamar Jackson may even hold out. So this future it's gonna just depend on
24:51
Lamar Jackson. It's solely on Lamar Jackson, no matter how good the defense
24:56
played towards end of the year and played like a top three defense, because
25:00
there's only so much your defense can do them. Look at the Chicago Bears
25:04
about three or four years ago when they had a top three defense. Having
25:08
a quarterback that is limited is only going to get you eight nine wins potentially
25:17
a wild card, but even at that you'll lose, So you won't get
25:19
that far. So you have a talented defense, and you still have a
25:26
good run game and one of the better offensive lines in the league, but
25:32
do you need that quarterback? So I think that's pretty obvious right there,
25:37
that pa Lamar Jackson problems, they will be solved and get him some skilled
25:41
position players on the outside. But the last thing that we're going to talk
25:48
about is the Cincinnati Bengals, who in twelve and four. This year they
25:52
lost in the ASC Championship game, and they have plenty of questions that they
25:56
need to answer this offseason. So they have their four million dollars in cap
26:00
space, which is going to convert to about forty million, and then they
26:06
have seven draft picks a twenty eighth overall picked this year. But don't be
26:11
or don't don't be confused with that forty million dollars in cap space, because
26:17
that forty million dollars in cap space, it's going to be going to some
26:19
other people just still gonna need to pay te Higgins and Joe Burrow and t
26:26
Higgins is arguably a top ten receiver right now. And we just saw what
26:30
Christian Kirk got paid last year, and twenty one million dollars a year So
26:34
just imagine what t Higgins is going to be getting paid. Anywhere from twenty
26:38
five to thirty million dollars, which sounds ridiculous, but still he deserves that
26:44
money and has played up to that level for these past two to three years.
26:48
Then you have Joe Burrow, who is the second best quarterback in the
26:52
league. I really don't think that's a debate right there, but he's gonna
26:56
be wanting to get paid around fifty to sixty million dollars. So there's not
27:03
gonna be much room to resign some of these players that they have going into
27:07
free agency. Because you have Jesse Bates, He's a top three safety in
27:12
the league. He's gonna be wanting to get paid, and the safety market
27:15
looks like around fifteen to twenty million dollars a year, and like I said,
27:19
you're not going to be able to afford that. And then you have
27:22
Von Bell, who is their other starting safety, so you could potentially lose
27:27
two of your safeties in just one offseason. Then you have Hayden Hurst,
27:33
who's their starting tight end, who is a good tight end. I'm not
27:37
gonna say he is a great tight end, but he is a good tight
27:40
end. And he's gonna probably want anywhere from five to ten million dollars a
27:42
year. And those four key players right there, they made some contributions for
27:48
this team or three players, I'm sorry, those three players. They made
27:53
contributions to this team, and some other teams are going to offer them money,
27:57
so they're not going to be able to afford them. Then you also
28:00
have sneaky players. You have like saman J p Ryan. Then you have
28:06
Jermaine Prett, who yes, I know he did cost costing the game.
28:11
Oh no, it was Joseph Osai. Well, both of those guys they're
28:14
free agencies year too. So you have some linebackers who were their starting linebackers
28:21
and contributed to them late in the season that are gonna want to be getting
28:26
paid and not saying they're gonna be getting five to ten million dollars a year,
28:30
but that little stuff matters right there. Then you're then you're gonna have
28:36
to worry about Joe Mixon. There's been rumors, I don't know if it's
28:38
exactly true, but about Joe Mixon potentially getting cut to save some money.
28:45
So you could potentially go from having all those skill position players from having Jamar
28:51
Chase, te Higgins, Hayden Hurst, Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon, Sma
28:55
J P. Ryan to just having Jamar Chasing, Tyler Boyd just still a
29:00
good supporting cast for Joe Burrow. But it's not the same players that he
29:07
had last year, and that's why they needed to capitalize and win. Well.
29:15
I wouldn't say win a Super Bowl, but get back to another Super
29:18
Bowl. But obviously that didn't happen right there. But do I still think
29:25
they're gonna be a Super Bowl contender? Yes, no question. You have
29:27
Joe Burrow there, and you have Jamar Chase there, and the defense,
29:32
it's a very underrated defense. You have Trey Hendrickson. Then you still have
29:36
to Jadobi a Woozier there, who are two good pieces. And then you
29:40
have Logan Wilson. So you have sneaky pieces who maybe they don't get the
29:45
credit that they should, but they're still making the place. And they held
29:52
the Kansas City Chiefs to twenty three points, So that is pretty good right
29:57
there. Only a few teams can hold the Chiefs to twenty three points.
30:00
Look at the Eagles, who had the best defense in my opinion, and
30:07
the Chiefs, they dropped thirty seven thirty eight points on them. I believe,
30:10
I'm not exactly sure. So yeah, they have a good defense.
30:15
It's just gonna be a matter of fact of what do you do with the
30:19
cap space. Do you pay Joe Burrow already or do you take that gamble
30:23
until next year of potentially having Lamar Jackson be getting paid five years, two
30:30
hundred and fifty million guaranteed, and then Joe Burrows saying all right, well
30:34
I want sixty million for five years, fully guaranteed. So I think the
30:40
best situation for them would be to resign Te Higgins and Joe Burrow and then
30:48
worry about everything else from there, because you do have a twenty eighth overall
30:52
pick, and you do have seven draft picks, so you'll be able to
30:56
replace some of those players. Not saying they'll be able to make that contribution
31:00
right away as those other players did, but as long as you have Joe
31:06
Burrow, t Higgins and Jamaar Chase, you'll be able to compete any year
31:10
against any team. So now that we talked about the AFC North, I
31:19
think they have plenty of Sorry, I had to cut it off real quick.
31:26
I had some technical issues happen. But the AFC North, they have
31:30
plenty of potential and I think all four of these teams they can make the
31:33
playoffs or should be the first time in NFL history that all four teams can
31:37
make the playoffs in the same division. So it just all depends on well
31:45
three of them. They depend on how good their quarterbacks do, and if
31:49
their quarterback gets paid this offseason, then the other quarterback, which is Joe
31:53
Burrow. And the Bengals they should be there, but they have some problems
31:59
too with that fars who to pay and who to give the money to and
32:02
how good would their draft him be. But I've been wanting to talk about
32:07
this topic for a while. So the NBA playoffs, it's coming up,
32:14
and there's plenty of storylines and as far as who will win, who do
32:17
you think is the favorite is? But I want to go in a different
32:22
direction. So Jannisaneta Kumpo, he is twenty eight years old and he potentially
32:29
has a chance to win another championship and they are considered the favorites to win
32:34
the championship. And I believe if he does win the championship right here,
32:43
he should be discussed as far as potentially one of the greatest of all time.
32:51
And yes, you heard me right. It sounds crazy, but let's
32:58
just let's just play hype with that cool here and say Jannis and the Bucks
33:02
do win a championship. So compare to Lebron and MJ. Jannis would be
33:10
two and in the finals, two MVPs, two finals MVPs, five time
33:16
All NBA or five time First Team All NBA, Defensive Player of the Year,
33:22
five time First First Team All Defense, Most Improved Player, seven time
33:28
All Star, compared to MJ at twenty eight years old. So we're saying,
33:32
everybody, at twenty eight years old, MJI was a seven time All
33:37
Star. Want to know in the finals, two time MVP, a Finals
33:42
MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, five time first Team All NBA,
33:45
four time First Team All Defense, then Rookie of the Year. And that
33:52
resume from Jannis to MJ. I favors Yannis because Jannis he would have one
33:57
more championship, even if you don't have that championship. Right there, he
34:00
matches up exactly with MJ. He has all the same accolades except the scoring
34:07
champ, which we know. We know if Yanna has played back then he
34:12
would be competing for the scoring champ every single year alongside MJ. And now
34:16
compared to Lebron, Lebron was a nine time All Star, two and two
34:21
in the finals, four time MVP, two time Finals MVP, seven time
34:27
First Team All NBA, five time First Team All Defense, then Rookie of
34:30
the Year. So he matches up with both of these players in all time
34:37
and then at the age of twenty eight years old, which is crazy,
34:40
and nobody is talking about Janna is potentially he's already being discussed just if he
34:50
has the same trajectory, not even saying if he wins another championship that he
34:54
is going to be a top ten player of all time because he could play
34:59
on bolt ends of the floor and his only real weakness is his jump shooting.
35:05
And even at that, he is a most dominant force since Shack and
35:14
even before then. I don't think there's anybody else who's been as dominant as
35:19
a force as Shack and Jannis. I'm not gonna consider MJ in that debate
35:27
right there, because MJ he was a little bit smaller, I mean as
35:30
far as a physical presence and as far as not being able to stop them
35:34
getting into the rack and obviously you could throw Lebron in that discussion too,
35:37
obviously, no question. But Yannis he has all the tools, all the
35:43
accolades, and if he gets it done this year, he is going to
35:47
be up there. And if Yannis he wins a championship this year, he
35:54
should be considered a top ten player of all time already is if you just
36:00
compare him to a Kim two MVPs two finals MVPs, a Defensive Player of
36:06
the Year, and then two and oh in the finals, then he's going
36:09
to rack up the All Stars, rack up the first team All NBA's,
36:13
the first team defense. He'll be exactly like him. And there's no question
36:17
that Hakim Hakim elij One, if you guys don't know what I'm talking about,
36:22
the center for the Rockets, who played in the nineties, is considered
36:25
a top ten player. So so should Jannis. As far as who it
36:29
kicks out, that's up to you guys to decide. And I will be
36:34
dropping, well, it would be a little bit later on in the year
36:38
after after the whole NBA playoffs ends, I will be dropping my top ten
36:46
players of all time in the NBA. But that's a long time coming.
36:50
We still have two or three months from now before we even get into that.
36:54
But we need to realize that Jannis he is taking the throne because I
37:00
know Lebron he is getting older and there's somebody that had to take that throne.
37:04
And yes, I know people that are talking about Luca, John Morant,
37:07
Zion, Jason Tatum, Joel Embiide those players being the face of the
37:14
league, but in reality, it's Jannis and people they need to start realizing
37:22
that. And the scariest thing about is that if last year Chris Middleton doesn't
37:28
get hurt, which he took the Boston Celtics, who almost won the championship
37:32
to a seven game series, he could have possibly been two and oh in
37:37
the finals already and been a step ahead of Lebron James and Michael Jordan.
37:44
And yes, I know, well even Lebron James, he was in I
37:49
wouldn't say a weaker Eastern Conference, but it just wasn't as talented as the
37:54
West, not the disparity that everybody makes it seem. But Yannis he is
37:59
in a ease like it is or like it was back then for Michael Jordan.
38:05
So you can't make that argument right there, so and I think he's
38:10
gonna only rack up MVPs. So I believe Michael Jordan finished with four or
38:16
five MVPs. Lebron James has five MVPs, so he's gonna be able to
38:22
rack up that. And even if he does gets a three and oh or
38:28
four and oh in the finals, I believe that will be as good enough
38:30
as Michael Jordan being six and oh on the finals, because you have that
38:36
undefeated mark right there, and you could use that argument against Lebron James right
38:42
there, which I don't agree with, but I'm just saying you could argue
38:45
both sides of the spectrum right there, and playing in a tougher conference,
38:51
so it would be the perfect storyline, perfect narrative, And I'm kind of
38:54
hoping it happens because it's gonna really spark the goat debates again, and I'm
39:00
here for it and I don't mind talking about it. But speaking of the
39:06
goat, who is Lebron James? No question, we shouldn't even be having
39:09
that discussion. But the Los Angeles Lakers, they're now the ninth seed and
39:16
as of right now, would be in the play in tournament right now and
39:22
be playing the New Orleans Pelicans for the eight seed. For the eight seed,
39:28
then play the Timberwolves or Mavericks to have that seven or seven or eight
39:32
seed, no matter what it is. But the potential that this LA Lakers
39:39
team has is very scary because the Los Angeles Lakers, ever since the trade
39:49
deadline, are six and two and have the second best defense in the NBA.
39:57
And not to mention, Anthony Davis is playing even better than what he
40:02
did in the twenty nineteen twenty twenty season when they did win the championship in
40:07
the bubble, and in my opinion, the way he's playing right now,
40:14
he's playing as a top three player right now. Debate whoever you want,
40:19
but he is playing as a top three level right now. He's just the
40:22
other day against Memphis, he had thirty points and twenty two rebounds against the
40:28
Grizzlies. Yes, I know they still or they didn't have John Morat,
40:31
which we're not going to talk about, but he dominated that team from every
40:39
side or from both sides of the floor on defense, offense. He was
40:44
just a presence. Then, not to mention everybody else that's starting to get
40:49
healthy for this team. D'Angelo Russell, he's starting to get starting to get
40:52
healthy again, and he's going to be playing. I believe I'm recording this
40:58
Friday, so he's gonna be playing today against the Raptors. Then Lebron James
41:02
is eventually going to be coming back. Who if he does come back healthy,
41:08
which I believe is going to be a week and a half two depending
41:12
on some reports, because all the reports are they've been conflicting, and when
41:19
he was playing, he was playing at a top ten level, potentially top
41:22
five depending on any given night. You could have two players who are playing
41:29
at a top five level, top ten level. They can beat anybody in
41:32
the Western Conference. I don't care if it's the Denver Nuggets with Yokis,
41:37
who is about to be a three time MVP, or the Phoenix Suns who
41:42
have Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Iden. You have
41:45
those two players right there who were seeing work in the bubble. If they
41:51
have a good supporting cast and teams that could hit the three or players around
41:54
him that could hit the three, they can go very far and dominate.
42:00
So it's gonna be very scary for the rest of the league, the Western
42:06
Conference, and even the Eastern Conference. I'm pretty sure they're worried and they're
42:12
looking forward to seeing As far as what Lebron James his MRI or I don't
42:17
think it's an MRI. I believe it's just a checkup. If it's checkup
42:22
comes back clean with five to teen games left in the season, so Lebron
42:27
James can't get the rust off of him, it's gonna be very scary.
42:31
And I think if Lebron James gets back Anthony Davis, I don't see them
42:37
losing the first two rounds, just the way they're playing because Lebron James,
42:44
he adds a different element to this team. And we saw how good they
42:47
looked against the Dallas Mavericks when both of them were playing at a top level
42:52
and those players around them were playing very good. They came back against the
42:58
Dallas Mavericks, who are a good team with Luca don Chich and Kyrie Irving.
43:02
They locked him down in the second half and came back from a twenty
43:07
seven I believe it was twenty seven twenty eight point deficit. So there is
43:10
potential for this team even if you get Even if you get up on this
43:16
team, they could come back, or if you get down on this team,
43:19
good luck scoring on their defense. And they're only gonna be getting better
43:22
with Lebron James back, because I'm not saying he is the same defender he
43:27
once was, but he is a smart defender, so he knows where everybody
43:30
should be. So good luck to everybody going to be facing them down the
43:37
stretch, and let alone when Lebron James comes back. That's gonna go ahead
43:43
and wrap it up today. I appreciate you guys tuning in, and next
43:47
week we're gonna be talking about the NFC South, the MVP favorites or the
43:53
Accolade favorites. Who's the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie
43:57
of the Year. I'll give you guys my prediction, then the playoff phrase,
44:01
how it's shaping up, who's gonna be playing, who, who's on
44:05
the rise, who's falling down? You guys can follow me on Twitter at
44:08
Alfonso zero three or Instagram underscore Alfonso zero three. That's a l f O
44:16
Nso, once again, I appreciate you guys tuning in and I will see
44:21
you guys next week. Take care