Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #1: Cowboys rising after defensive makeover; Bears drop out of top 10

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#1: Cowboys rising after defensive makeover; Bears drop out of top 10 · NFL Power Rankings

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  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeart Radio.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, we could not be more excited to bring you
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  Speaker 2: episode number one of Power Rankings. We are presented by Energizer,
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  Speaker 2: along with Nick Shook, Mikey, I'm with you. Live in
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  Speaker 2: the flesh, the man who is supposed to make all
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  Speaker 2: 32 fan bases absolutely smile every single week when.
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  Speaker 3: We do this show.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and hopefully, you know, not get too many angry
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  Speaker 4: comments in the Twitter mentions and social media and everything else.
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  Speaker 4: It's going to happen. It's the nature of power rankings.
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  Speaker 4: But we've got to sort all this out, and we're
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  Speaker 4: going to start right now.
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  Speaker 2: It is a thankless job that we ask you to
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  Speaker 2: accomplish every single week. And even before the season starts,
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  Speaker 2: I would argue not even the easiest of weeks to
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  Speaker 2: do it, because we don't.
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  Speaker 3: Even have a sample size right now.
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  Speaker 2: I was going through your rankings last night. I would
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  Speaker 2: say there was a couple of selections where I went, ooh,
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  Speaker 2: Nick likes them this high. Let's show you exactly how
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  Speaker 2: it looks. One through eight, the Los Angeles Rams sitting
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  Speaker 2: in that top spot. The Denver Broncos follow them.
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  Speaker 3: The champs are here at number three. Buffalo at number four.
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  Speaker 3: We got the Eagles at five.
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  Speaker 2: That one gave me a little bit of pause as well.
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  Speaker 2: The Ravens with the new head coach, like the Buffalo Bills,
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  Speaker 2: I should say. The Ravens sitting at number six. Cincinnati,
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  Speaker 2: you are very high on this squad. Checking in at
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  Speaker 2: number seven, we'll talk about them, not to mention the
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  Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys next.
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  Speaker 3: At number eight. All right, the Rams at number one.
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  Speaker 3: I would make an argument.
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  Speaker 2: This is probably the least surprising thing on the entire
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  Speaker 2: list considering some of the additions that they had. But
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  Speaker 2: sell me on this team because the reality is I
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  Speaker 2: don't even know what the identity is because they're so
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  Speaker 2: darn good on offense, so darn good on defense. I,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if there's a weakness.
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  Speaker 4: Right. And if we go back to last year, what
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  Speaker 4: was their weakness? It was their secondary. And they immediately
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  Speaker 4: went and upgraded it. They got Trey McDuffie. They got
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  Speaker 4: Jalen Watson. That alone was like, OK, they fixed their problems.
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  Speaker 4: They should be right back in the seat where they
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  Speaker 4: were last year on the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 4: But then things changed when they acquired Miles Garrett, which
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  Speaker 4: then Lord Aaron Donald out of retirement. They have an
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  Speaker 4: embarrassment of riches now. And the only question is, can
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  Speaker 4: they deliver on it? Because the pressure that mounts with
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  Speaker 4: them being the favorites among everybody in the NFL, it
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  Speaker 4: starts to build right now. And if you look at
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  Speaker 4: them on paper, obviously we haven't played any games. But
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  Speaker 4: as it stands right now with what we've seen in
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  Speaker 4: a regular preseason, feeling pretty good about their chances so far.
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  Speaker 4: There's obviously 18 weeks plus playoffs to go.
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  Speaker 2: Just because of some of the additions that you made
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  Speaker 2: reference to, are they even deep enough at this point?
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  Speaker 2: Would you make the arguments even whether a storm of
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  Speaker 2: injury in a particular spot or two.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say on the defensive line they are
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  Speaker 4: because of the addition of Garrett, because of the return
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  Speaker 4: of Aaron Donald. There are still questions because when you
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  Speaker 4: rebuild your secondary, that looks great on paper, but you
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  Speaker 4: still need to see how it comes together on the field.
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  Speaker 4: So we've got to give that time to really figure
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  Speaker 4: it out. But I do think that they're probably deep
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  Speaker 4: enough to weather it. My big question is at receiver.
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  Speaker 4: Because when you go trade for Tutu Atwell just before cuts,
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  Speaker 4: that kind of tells me, you know, you're trying to
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  Speaker 4: add a depth guy, a familiar guy. That makes me
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  Speaker 4: a little concerned about that group, but we know what
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  Speaker 4: they have at the top of Pukunukuwa. and with Devontae Adams.
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  Speaker 4: So you still feel really good. You've got the reigning
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  Speaker 4: MVP at quarterback at Matthew Stafford. All of that looks
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  Speaker 4: great right now so far. It's just a matter of
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  Speaker 4: we've got to let it play out. They've got to
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  Speaker 4: hope that they stay healthy.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you had the Seahawks. You had the Super
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  Speaker 2: Bowl champs checking in at number three. They're inside this
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  Speaker 2: division as well. Is it as simple as, because I've
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  Speaker 2: been fortunate enough to do this show the last couple seasons,
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  Speaker 2: where I almost feel like, hey, we just automatically slot
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  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl champs into that top spot.
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  Speaker 3: Do we not do it, is it because of Kubiak?
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  Speaker 2: Is that enough to drop them a couple spots?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, that's fair. We did see what happened to
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  Speaker 4: the Lions last year without Ben Johnson when he took
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  Speaker 4: the job in Chicago. Of course, offensive line issues contributed
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  Speaker 4: to that as well. When it comes to that, I
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  Speaker 4: have some other concerns with personnel changes. Not major ones,
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  Speaker 4: but minor personnel changes. And what I really don't like
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  Speaker 4: to do is put the champ at number one. Because
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  Speaker 4: you put the champ at number one, we know how
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  Speaker 4: hard it is to repeat in this league. And so
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  Speaker 4: as it stands right now, who has a better offseason?
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  Speaker 4: It's got to be the Rams over the Seahawks.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's only happened nine times in NFL history where
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  Speaker 2: you're talking about back-to-back champs. Most recently, 22-23 with the
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  Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs. That Mahomes magic will typically do that
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  Speaker 2: to you. But what is the biggest concern? Because you
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  Speaker 2: talk about some of the personnel there. Is there something
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  Speaker 2: else that you would point to to this team that
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  Speaker 2: makes you hedge a little bit and not put them
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  Speaker 2: in that top spot?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the departure of Kenneth Walker is a
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  Speaker 4: big part. We saw what he did in the Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 4: That wasn't the strongest Super Bowl MVP we've ever seen
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  Speaker 4: handed out, but he was a big part of this offense.
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  Speaker 4: They also lost Zach Charbonnet in the playoffs to an ACL,
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  Speaker 4: and he's still on his road back. So the question is,
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  Speaker 4: can Jadarian Price, the rookie out of Notre Dame, can
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  Speaker 4: he fill that role? That's a pretty big role for them. Defensively,
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  Speaker 4: it's more minor. It's Rick Woolen leaving. It's Boye Imathi leaving.
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  Speaker 4: But it's such a good unit overall that I think
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  Speaker 4: they'll be fine there. I just need to see, can
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  Speaker 4: their offense maintain enough balance and strength with a rookie
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  Speaker 4: at running back as they did last year and be
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  Speaker 4: able to be this good.
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  Speaker 2: You know, on NFL.com, you can check out not only
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  Speaker 2: just power rankings, but just great content. And then the preseason,
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  Speaker 2: which we, I guess, technically are still in, we were
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  Speaker 2: supposed to give our preseason picks to get to the
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  Speaker 2: Super Bowl, who's going to win the divisions, the whole thing.
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  Speaker 2: I actually had the Buffalo Bills sitting as the AFC
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  Speaker 2: East winner. There was a part of me, I had
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  Speaker 2: them going to the Super Bowl and losing to the Rams.
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  Speaker 2: There's a part of me that almost regrets doing it.
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  Speaker 2: Like I was trying to talk myself out of it.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned some of the unknowns regarding Seattle. I think
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  Speaker 2: you can make kind of the same case with this
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  Speaker 2: Buffalo squad, but you like them enough to slot them
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  Speaker 2: in at number four.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I understand that hesitance because the Bills have
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  Speaker 4: been in this conversation for so long, and they have
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  Speaker 4: not gotten over the hump. And I don't mean to
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  Speaker 4: rub it in, Bills fans. I'm sorry, but it is true.
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  Speaker 4: The unknown now with them is you have a new
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  Speaker 4: head coach. You promote your offensive coordinator in Joe Brady
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  Speaker 4: to head coach. You think, okay, will that make us stronger?
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  Speaker 4: We were already pretty strong offensively. Sometimes our weaknesses were
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  Speaker 4: on the defensive side of the ball. You go on
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  Speaker 4: from Sean McDermott, who was a defensive-minded coach but wasn't
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  Speaker 4: getting much out of that defense. What does that look like?
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  Speaker 4: The reason that I have them here is because they
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  Speaker 4: made a good move at receiver acquiring D.J. Moore. Not
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  Speaker 4: like the A.J. Brown acquisition type, but a guy that
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  Speaker 4: is a veteran who can work well with Josh Allen.
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  Speaker 4: and really, I think, find a good place in this offense.
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  Speaker 4: I'm expecting a bit of like a honeymoon season from
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  Speaker 4: those two. I love what you have in Josh Allen already.
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  Speaker 4: He's my MVP pick for this season. And you have
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  Speaker 4: James Cook as, you know, an elite rusher. You have
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  Speaker 4: an offensive line that's very experienced. The question is, what
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  Speaker 4: does that defense look like? What does that front seven
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  Speaker 4: look like? Jim Leonard is the defensive coordinator. He comes
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  Speaker 4: over from Denver. He has experience in the AFC East.
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  Speaker 4: So I like what they have on paper, but I
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  Speaker 4: just kind of, again, and that's this point in the
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  Speaker 4: season where before week one we haven't really seen anything.
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  Speaker 4: I need to see it kind of come together first.
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  Speaker 4: Hopefully they get off to a fast start, and DJ
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  Speaker 4: Moore is a big part of that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, DJ Moore, by the way, the familiarity with him
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  Speaker 2: and Joe Brady at his time in Carolina is another
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  Speaker 2: factor that is there. I also do wonder, just a
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  Speaker 2: different voice, and maybe that's what this team really does need.
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  Speaker 2: That phrase has been thrown out there a whole lot,
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  Speaker 2: but I understand it because they have been knocking on
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  Speaker 2: the door. Speaking of a new voice, I can't believe
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about Harbaugh not being in Baltimore with this
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  Speaker 2: Ravens team. We'll talk about the Giants coming up a
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  Speaker 2: little bit later here. on power rankings jesse mentor i
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  Speaker 2: you know the other day last week on nfl report
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  Speaker 2: which by the way you can catch monday through friday
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  Speaker 2: on any of those connected devices and if i'm not
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  Speaker 2: mistaken you're double dipping um or triple dipping doing that
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  Speaker 2: show a little bit later but on the nfl report
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  Speaker 2: we had some comments from lamar jackson lamar was like
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  Speaker 2: hey i think there's another level to this team's offense
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  Speaker 2: part of the reason why i like him for mvp
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  Speaker 2: this year but take me through the rationale to have
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  Speaker 2: the ravens coming.
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  Speaker 3: Off a tough season where they didn't make the playoffs
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  Speaker 3: sitting at number six.
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  Speaker 4: Well, the number one thing that you have to cross
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  Speaker 4: off the checklist is Lamar Jackson healthy. Because he wasn't
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  Speaker 4: healthy for a portion last year, that really tanked their offense.
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  Speaker 4: He lost Nnamdi Matabike to a neck injury. That really
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  Speaker 4: hurt their defense. They couldn't stop the run. It was
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  Speaker 4: basically Kyle Hamilton save us to make us competitive. Lamar
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  Speaker 4: comes back, they get hot late, but it's not enough
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  Speaker 4: before the season runs out of time. So now you
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  Speaker 4: come back, you have a new head coach in Jesse
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  Speaker 4: Minner who has history with the Ravens, under the Harbaugh tree,
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  Speaker 4: that sort of thing. So the culture shouldn't change that much,
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  Speaker 4: although there's been a lot of positive feedback energy coming
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  Speaker 4: out of their camp that they just feel like they're
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  Speaker 4: in a better place. And the younger coach, maybe that
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  Speaker 4: does that. What I really need to know is what
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  Speaker 4: does Declan Doyle's offense look like with this group? This
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  Speaker 4: is another new offensive coordinator for Lamar Jackson. He had
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  Speaker 4: Greg Roman. He had Todd Munkin. Now he's got Declan Doyle.
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  Speaker 4: He comes from the Ben Johnson tree, and you think
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  Speaker 4: that year one bump that you saw in Chicago, maybe
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  Speaker 4: that happens here. You have a super athletic quarterback in
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  Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson that can take advantage of it. You still
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  Speaker 4: got Derrick Henry. I love the pick of Jacobi Lane.
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  Speaker 4: I paired him with the Ravens before the season started,
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  Speaker 4: or actually before the draft even arrived. So when they
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  Speaker 4: took him, I was like, yes, and he's turned a
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  Speaker 4: ton of heads in training camp. So all that comes together,
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  Speaker 4: and you think, all right, they should be better. Trey
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  Speaker 4: Hendrickson is on this defense. Matabike is close to returning.
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  Speaker 4: Everything should work out. I'm worried about their center situation
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  Speaker 4: for loser Tyler Linderbaum. Javon Gwynn was named the starter yesterday.
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  Speaker 4: There are still some questions, but if everything comes together
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  Speaker 4: on paper, another team that looks strong enough to be
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  Speaker 4: in the top five.
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  Speaker 2: I'm glad you bring up offensive line with Linderbaum. Pinch
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  Speaker 2: was supposed to be that guy. Lose him because of
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  Speaker 2: the ACL. So the depth clearly going to be a
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  Speaker 2: factor that is there. We are not done talking about
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  Speaker 2: the Ravens because you know there's going to be a
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  Speaker 2: lot of love for that Baltimore squad based off of
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  Speaker 2: what the expectation is at number seven. And I think
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of fans that are going, you like
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  Speaker 2: Cincinnati at seven?
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  Speaker 4: Why? Okay, so we know what the Bengals are. We
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  Speaker 4: know that they've had offensively for years. They haven't had
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  Speaker 4: a defense. They couldn't stop a nosebleed over the last
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  Speaker 4: few years. It was so bad that Joe Burrow began
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  Speaker 4: openly wondering about his football future, which kind of suggested
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  Speaker 4: that maybe I want to be somewhere else. Well, they
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  Speaker 4: took that as a clear sign that they needed to
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  Speaker 4: aggressively invest in their defense, and they did. We know
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  Speaker 4: what they did getting Dexter Lawrence. We know all the
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  Speaker 4: other changes that they made. the sentiment coming out of
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  Speaker 4: their camp has been, look, this group is way better.
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  Speaker 4: They're giving our offense trouble. And if you're giving the
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  Speaker 4: Bengals offense, which is very explosive trouble, then it sounds
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  Speaker 4: like you're going to be a better group. Now, again,
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  Speaker 4: another team that we don't know anything about because we're
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  Speaker 4: going into week one. But if that defense can come
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  Speaker 4: together and live up to the expectation that they've already
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  Speaker 4: set for themselves in training camp in the preseason... then
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  Speaker 4: this is a really strong team. This isn't just a
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  Speaker 4: team that I think is going to be back in
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  Speaker 4: the playoffs. This is a team that I think could
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  Speaker 4: go all the way to the Super Bowl. Like Lamar Jackson,
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  Speaker 4: Joe Burrow's got to stay healthy. He's notoriously a slow starter,
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  Speaker 4: and we're going to have to kind of overcome that.
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  Speaker 4: But more than anything, he's got to stay on the field.
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  Speaker 4: If he can with all those weapons he's got around him,
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  Speaker 4: I think they're in a great spot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be remarkable to see because, to
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  Speaker 2: your point, the defense has been a little bit of
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  Speaker 2: a sticking point the last couple seasons for this squad.
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  Speaker 2: But for as much as that's been an issue— They
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  Speaker 2: can make the argument. If Joe Burrow is not out there,
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  Speaker 2: there are some problems for this team as well. So
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  Speaker 2: I think you can point the finger both ways. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 2: I do look at the Dallas Cowboys. And speaking of
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  Speaker 2: defensive issues that this team has had, there have been
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  Speaker 2: massive problems. across the board for this squad. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: if you look at some of these rankings here, you
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: talk about notable additions. The rankings this season go towards
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  Speaker 2: the bottom of the NFL in multiple categories. Caleb Downs,
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  Speaker 2: Kobe Durant, Sean Gary, Malachi Lawrence, Von Miller, and a
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  Speaker 2: new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker. There's reasons for optimism.
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  Speaker 2: Time for Power Moves presented by Energizer. Sell me on
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  Speaker 2: this Dallas Cowboys.
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  Speaker 4: It's kind of similar to what I just said about
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  Speaker 4: Cincinnati because we know their offense is very explosive. Number
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  Speaker 4: two offense in the NFL last year. People did not
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: give Dak Prescott enough respect for what he did at quarterback.
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  Speaker 4: And I hear that all the time with QB Index,
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  Speaker 4: trust me. But he is one of the best quarterbacks
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  Speaker 4: in the NFL. He had two 1,000-yard receivers last year.
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  Speaker 3: In C.D.
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  Speaker 4: Lamb and George Pickens. They're both back. Pickens playing on
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  Speaker 4: a franchise tag year, so he's got tons to prove.
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  Speaker 4: But what I love about this team is how this
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  Speaker 4: defense has come together personnel-wise. They started last year with
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  Speaker 4: getting Quinn and Williams. Then you talk about all the
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  Speaker 4: guys you just listed. Lawrence, Downs, Gary. You know who
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  Speaker 4: else I really like? Rookie Ja'Sean Barham. A linebacker out
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  Speaker 4: of Michigan who really flashed in the preseason, who I
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  Speaker 4: think is going to end up playing a big part
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  Speaker 4: in this defense. They added Jalen Thompson at safety as
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  Speaker 4: some more back-end help. If you look at this group
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  Speaker 4: at where it stands right now, just personnel-wise, it is
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  Speaker 4: so much better than it was last year. Christian Parker
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  Speaker 4: comes over from the Vic Fangio School in Philly. You think, okay,
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  Speaker 4: all of this could coalesce. It could all come together
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  Speaker 4: if this defense is fixed, if it's average or better.
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  Speaker 4: This offense is so good that they will finish above 500.
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  Speaker 4: They'll finish well above 500. They'll make a deep run
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  Speaker 4: in the playoffs. And I feel very good. I could
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  Speaker 4: be terribly wrong about this team because it is the Cowboys.
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  Speaker 4: They do generate that type of buzz. But as it
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  Speaker 4: stands right now, they're one of my favorite teams to
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  Speaker 4: surprise people and make a big jump this year.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I was going to ask you this question
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  Speaker 2: because I think you're leading me right to it.
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  Speaker 3: And it makes a whole lot of sense. Your team's
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  Speaker 3: in the top eight.
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  Speaker 2: And by the way, I know the answer is for you, Cincinnati,
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  Speaker 2: because on NFL.com, you had them as a Super Bowl team.
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  Speaker 2: But can't you make the argument outside of them? The
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  Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys may be, by the end of the season,
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  Speaker 2: a team that we might be talking about one or two.
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  Speaker 4: In the power rankings. Yeah, absolutely. I think there's going
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  Speaker 4: to be a ton of movement because of all these
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  Speaker 4: changes with some of these teams, and Dallas is a
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  Speaker 4: great candidate for that. It's just that the path to
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  Speaker 4: the Super Bowl and the NFC, I think, is tougher.
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  Speaker 4: than it is in the AFC, and especially for a
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  Speaker 4: team like Dallas, who has to get past Philly in
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  Speaker 4: their own division before they can even think about what
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  Speaker 4: they're going to face out of the NFC West, who's
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  Speaker 4: going to win the NFC North. It's all very wide open.
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  Speaker 4: So it's going to be tougher for them to get there,
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  Speaker 4: but I like how they're standing right now.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll tell you this. I actually think Dallas wins
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  Speaker 2: the NFC East, and it is hard for me to
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  Speaker 2: say because I am a Giants fan.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: So trust me when I tell you it stings.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Caleb Danzer is a part of me that wanted him
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: on that roster so badly. All right, still to come,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Caleb Williams and the Bears. Boy, they were one of
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: the biggest surprises a season ago. trying to crack the
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: top 10, according to Nick. Will they actually sit there? Plus,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Mahomes and the Chiefs, are we sleeping on that squad?
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: We're back on Power.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Rankings, all with Nick Schuch. Mikey, I'm with you. And
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Nick's rankings, 9 through 16. The Jags sitting inside that
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: top 10, checking in at number 9. The Houston Texans,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: a lot of questions about C.J.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Stroud.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Which we will discuss momentarily. They are 10. The Bears
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: at 11. The Packers at 12.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: The New England Patriots, they were in the Super Bowl.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Knicks got them sitting at 13. I'll have to explain why.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: The Kansas City Chiefs, it's.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Just weird to talk about them being ranked 14th, but
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I get it based off of last season. The Lions,
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the darlings of the NFL the last couple seasons at 15.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: And the Chargers. At 16.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: The Texans, I think, on NFL.com are one of the
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: more polarizing teams. When we were asked to do our picks,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: you got some people like, hey, that defense is going
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: to lead into a Super Bowl. Got other people like
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: me who said, I don't know if I can slot
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: them in because of how concerned I am about their offense.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: You obviously like them enough to have them as a
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: top 10 team.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the division is sneaky tough, too, with Indianapolis and
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: Jacksonville as well. What really it comes down to is C.J. Stroud.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: We've known this since last year's playoff disaster in New England.
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: And it's really been the case for the last couple
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: of years. Can CJ Stroud actually be the guy he
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: was as the offensive rookie of the year back in 2023?
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: Can he start to progress forward? If you watch them
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: on a game-by-game basis, you think, okay, he's not bad.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: But what it is is the offense just wasn't consistent.
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: I don't blame that so much on him. I blame
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: it on the fact that they lost Joe Mixon last year.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: Now they have a replacement, David Montgomery, that makes me
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: feel a lot better about them than I did last year.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: Woody Marks was a surprise last year. I think he'll
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: be a good spell back in this offense and also
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: the offensive line granted it was a very small sample
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: size in the preseason but they looked really good when
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: they had that full unit out there they ran the
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: ball with authority with montgomery and marks marks really being
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: an authoritative runner in that group now the question is
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: outside of cj stroud they lost jayden higgins tank dell
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: still working his way back i think he could be
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: a big part of unlocking this offense but we don't
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: really know where he is right now So the question
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: is like, okay, Keyshawn Booty, you make a trade for him.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: How does he fit in? Can he be productive like
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: he was in New England last year? And ultimately, Stroud
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: still has to answer that question more for himself than anybody.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Because if he doesn't succeed this year, the Texans might
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: have to alter their long-term plans. And if that's the case,
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: then it'd be like you, Texans, missing the playoffs. I
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: still think they'll get there. The defense is elite. And
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: we know what we can expect from them. It's just
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: that offense has to come together.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a part of me that said, hey,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: if I had to swap one of those teams, the
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Patriots would be the team that I have on the
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: outside looking in. We'll talk about New England here in
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: just a moment, the Chicago Bears. I know everyone talks
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: about Caleb Williams, and I get that. I heard Ben
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Johnson the other day in a press conference, and he
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: talked about just his defense getting some stops and how
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: critical that was going to be.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: Do you like this team enough to get back to
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: the playoffs based off of what we saw last year?
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: I do because I'm a big believer in Ben Johnson.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: I'm a big believer in Caleb Williams. The guy didn't
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: land on the Madden cover for no reason, right? The Iceman,
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: everything that comes with that, or as they wanted to
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: name him, Permafrost in their marketing campaign. You love him,
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: and I think he'll take the next step in the
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: next season with Ben Johnson. But the sneaky part about
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: this team last year that maybe we overlooked was that
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: they finished 29th in yards per game allowed last year,
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: and they may have gotten worse personnel-wise. They were ravaged
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: by injuries. Near the start of camp in the secondary,
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: suddenly you're looking at a guy that you selected in
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: Dylan Thienemann who might have to play a big part
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: in that back end. They've tried to patch it together
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: to make sure that it's workable, but it's a huge
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: question mark for this team. I still have a lot
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: of faith in Caleb, and I do need to see
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: him work well with this young receiving core because you
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: lost EJ Moore, you moved on from him. And you've
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: got the likes of Roma Dunze and Luther Burden. And
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: you do have those two tight ends who I really love.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: But that's a young group that's really got to put
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: it all together because I think they're going to have
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: to outscore a lot of these teams this year.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Who scares you more, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Mr. Freeze? Sub-Zero
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: or Mortal Kombat? or Caleb Williams, permafrost.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: Mr. Freeze was like almost robotic. So I would go with,
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's Arnold, you know, Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding champion.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a part of me that still leans towards
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Sub-Zero Mortal Kombat.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: I'm just drawing that out there.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: Great finisher.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: Finish him.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: The Patriots at 13. I'm concerned about the schedule. Because
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: we saw it even last year. Look, I know they
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: got to the Super Bowl, but Drake wasn't Drake in
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: the regular season when the playoffs came around.
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, when things ramped up and he faced some elite defenses,
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: it became a lot more difficult for him. We all
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: remember how the season ended and how he kind of
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: looked lost and very overwhelmed by the dark side defense
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: of the Seahawks. I don't want to hold that against him,
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: but I do think the schedule plays a part in this.
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: It was pretty soft last year, and they got some
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: advantageous breaks, even talking about the AFC Championship game. The
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: Broncos go in there without Bo Nix. The snowstorm happens.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: They end up getting out of there with a narrow
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: victory and get to the Super Bowl. They also lost
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: some guys defensively. Veteran contributors like Caleb Onshason, who had
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: a career year, he's gone. Kyrus Tonga, lower level guy,
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: but a guy that played pretty well for them, especially
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: early in the season. So I think they're in line
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: for some regression. And if you track them through the preseason, granted,
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: a lot of your starters are not playing, but Mike
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: Vrabel was very upset. with how his defense played for
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: most of the preseason, so I think there's going to
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: be some regression on that side. The offense will be better.
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: I mean, when you acquire A.J. Brown, it can't not
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: be better. I think he's going to be what Booty
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: was to May early in the season last year, which
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: was the deep threat guy, and much, much more. Romeo
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: Dobbs is also in that receiving core. It got so
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: jam-packed with talent that they had to trade Booty to
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: the Texans, so it should be very explosive. It's just
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: a matter of can this team be balanced enough to
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: repeat what they did last year, and I have a
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: feeling that they're just going to take a step back.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: By the way, just some context on their schedule. Last year,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: New England faced three teams with a winning record. They'll
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: do more of that in the first four weeks of
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: the season. So context does matter, at least in this case.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: And I'm not trying to say, hey, the Patriots didn't
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: belong in that Super Bowl game, but they got smashed.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: And I think part of where you're coming from, slotting
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: them at 13, does make some sense. Kansas City, you
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: have them 15th. It's still the Chiefs. It's still 1-5
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: that's out there. And I know he's coming off of
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: the ACL. You're giving me the look here. It doesn't
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: sound like you're too scared of this team, then.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: I have the utmost respect for Patrick Mahomes. He's ranked
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: very high in the QB index, and he's earned that.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: But we've never seen him come off an ACL. And
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: everything's very close to the vest in the preseason with
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: his path back to the field. Where is he in progression?
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: I think at this point in this week, they still
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: haven't even named him the starter yet. But, I mean,
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: we all expect that to happen. He's been on track
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: and everything else. But it's a big question mark. And
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: we need to see that kind of be proven to
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: us before we feel good about this group. I also
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: still don't love the receiving core. You've got Rasheed Rice.
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: You've got Xavier Worthy. They still haven't really given themselves
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: another option outside of those two. They've dealt with injuries.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: I think Kenneth Walker is going to help this offense
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: a lot because they did not have much of a
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: running game last year, really even the year before. They
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: were still kind of reeling from it. Clyde Edwards-Alaire never
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: becoming the guy that they thought to. And they have
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: a lot of changes on defense. I mean, they've basically
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: redone their secondary. They lost two guys, one via trade,
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: one via free agency, Jalen Watson and Trent McDuffie being
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: the trade. But I trust Steve Spagnuolo to get the
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: most out of it. They're putting a lot on Mansour Delane,
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: first-round pick, cornerback. I think he's a very good player.
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: But it's one of those teams that's going to have
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: to kind of come together in the first month or
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: so of the season. And that starts with Mahomes for
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: me to start to believe in them, and then they
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: can climb these rankings.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Against the Denver Broncos team because that's who they open
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: up on a Monday night game where that D-line just
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: rolls out of the bed and they're getting sacks like
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: every single game. So it's going to be tough for Mahomes,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: who also said that. he needs to be more mindful.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: Like I use that term magic Mahomes. He's going to
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: have to be mindful of how he's moving. He said, hey,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: like I Even just planting his foot, he's like, I'm
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: thinking through some of this stuff.
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: And that was the thing with this team over the
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: last couple of years is Mahomes wasn't putting up the
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: numbers that he used to, but he was finding ways
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: to convert and get them moving down the field that
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: people didn't really appreciate. Can he still do that now?
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: The Walker addition, though, you've got to imagine is just
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: going to be mammoth for this team. I mean, they've
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: relied so much, even without some of the explosive wide
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: receivers on that roster, they've relied on Mahomes making some
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: of those big Big-time timely plays for them.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Can Walker help offload some of that? All right, still
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: to come.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Look, we've unveiled the first 16 teams, which means the Niners,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: we've got to call their name at some point on
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: this list. We'll see exactly where Nick has them slotted.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: That's still to come here on Power Rankings. Back here
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: on Power Rankings, and I'm thinking about teams 17 through 24.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Nick has got the Niners slotted at 17. We'll talk
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: about them in just a moment. At 18, it's the Bucs. Minnesota,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: you know, they're going to be ushering the Kyler Murray
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: era at number 19.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: The Colts at 20.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: I think they could be a fast-rising team by the
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: time the middle of the season comes around.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: The Steelers at 21.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: The Saints at 22. They finished the season red hot.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: The Carolina Panthers, who won that division, at 23. And
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: the Tennessee Titans at number four. Time for Sean, a
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: spotlight presented by Verizon. All right, let's focus in on
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: number 17, the Niners. I actually don't have a huge
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: problem with this just based off of all the injuries
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: they have coming into the season.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Do you look at this as a team.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: That could be sitting maybe top 12, 13 in a
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: couple weeks?
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, entirely possible because they overcame so many injuries last
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: year and still got to the divisional round. They won
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: that game on the road in Philly. A team that
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: most of us thought, yeah, they'll be in the playoffs,
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: but they don't really have much because of how much
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: they lost. Well, this year they've lost a lot, too, already.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: Ricky Pearsall down for the year. Mike Evans missed a
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: lot of camp. Nick Bosa's been dealing with a knee.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: Christian McCaffrey, some questions about that. I'm not as concerned.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: When will George Kittle... be ready to come back and
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: fully roll. He may or may not play this week,
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: but when's he really going to be himself again? But
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: if there's any team that can overcome that, it is
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: these 49ers. And the bright side is Fred Warner's healthy,
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: Brock Purdy's healthy, and they have a demonstrated history of
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: success as long as they can get good quarterback play.
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: So I still feel strong about them. It's just that
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: they're here right now because of the injuries they've dealt
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: with so far.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: By the way, I saw some video of George Kittle
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: in Australia punting the football.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: I mean, just anybody would do it.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: It would be him. I just I pause for a moment.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: I'm like coming off the Achilles.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Can I just take a little bit of a break
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: on on that one?
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: And certainly that was not the case.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: By the way, they were like baby punts that were
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: out there.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: So it wasn't like he was like launching them.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the Tampa Bay Bucs that have consistently
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: been a force inside that division.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: That didn't happen yesterday. a season ago.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: I feel like you and I were talking about this off-air.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Vibe check time, it wasn't great this off-season for them.
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and they moved the most among all these power
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: rankings because I feel like I probably had to correct
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: a little bit of where they started with them, which
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: is I think down at 22 or something like that.
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: And the reason is the training camp started so poorly.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: You had Baker Mayfield with a contract dispute. He's cutting
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: off his contract negotiations and promising that he's going to
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: cost a lot more. You had Vita Vea sitting out
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: and trying to get an extension, which he has since gotten.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: So everything's gotten a little bit better. They're also a
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: team quarterbacked by Mayfield, who's very good in week one.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: So I feel better about where they are going into
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: the season than I did before. They avoided disastrous injury
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: as well. So they're going to be in a better spot.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: But that division's probably the worst in football, so they
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: have a good chance of winning it.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the bottom of your power rankings, and
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: it is an opportunity to really flex and talk about
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: teams 25 through 32.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: The Cardinals.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: Checking in at 25. The Giants at 26.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: The Falcons, oh, two is going to be their guy, 27.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: The Jets and the youth movement at 28. The Raiders
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: at 29. You got the Browns, Commanders, and Dolphins closing
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: things up. I sound like I am super biased when
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I talk about the Giants here to close out this show, but.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: I actually feel relatively optimistic heading into the season.
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: Is it because of the coaching change? Because that would
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: help a lot. Their history has not been good, but
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: they do have Jackson Dart, Cam Scadaboo coming back from injury.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: Odell Beckham's back on this team. They've invested heavily in
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: their defense over the last few years. It's just a
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: matter of does the coaching change finally bring that together?
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: Can Jackson's Dart stay healthy and out of the blue
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: medical tent? If all that happens, they can climb as
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: well because there's a ton of young talent on this
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: team just as it stands right now. They start here.
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: Kind of like the Patriots last year, plenty of room
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: to climb.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you've been around the sport for a really long
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: period of time. The respect that Harbaugh's got, I think,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: is top shelf. And you mentioned some of the talent
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: on that roster. I think that defense is going to
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: be remarkably better. Cannot wait to see Reese wreak some havoc.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: By the way, all 32 teams, they love what you
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: did on these power rankings.
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: Good start.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: We're going to do it again next week.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:46
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• 24:50
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