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NFL 2025 | Conference Championship Round "Tent Talk" | Updates, News & Injuries | Banter with the Boys - Gridiron Updates · Banter with the Boys

• 0:00
  get laced up let's go it's time for banter with
• 0:04
  the boys what it is old bristles um this is gridiron
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  updates tent talk right here on banter with the
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  boys we got Smeltzy Roberto, Justin, and Jake
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  here, as well as Kev behind the camera getting
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  everything done, as always. Anyway, let's start
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  with our injuries right out of the gate. Bo Nix,
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  his ankle is broke. He's done for the season.
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  Are you sure that's real? Yeah. Yep. Sorry, Broncos
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  fan. It is real. Sucks. It doesn't get any better
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  for the Broncos as receivers. Pat Bryant has
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  a concussion, and Troy Franklin is suffering
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  a little bit from a hamstring. So it just shuffles
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  the receiver rotation around a little bit. Is
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  that like Bryant's second or third concussion
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  this year? It's definitely at least a second.
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  Injury prone? Not idea. You know who else is
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  injury prone? J .K. Dobbins, and he could be
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  returning for Denver this weekend. That's exciting
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  news. So you may lose Bo Nix, but you could get
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  J .K. Dobbins back. Yes, you'd probably rather
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  have Bo Nix, but just another option for Stidham.
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  You know, another little bolt of confidence that
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  you could probably hand it off to that guy, or
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  at least get it in his hands. He's a playmaker.
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  Zach Charbonnet, we did mention in our previous
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  episode, but he has torn his ACL and is done
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  for this playoff push. And probably, you would
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  think, maybe the start of next season, potentially,
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  but TBD. Yeah, initial reports were... that it
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  would be the entirety of 2026. I was like, that
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  seems like a bit much with how quickly players
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  have been coming back from those. October, November.
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  Yeah, probably see him in the second half of
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  the season. Yeah, I don't think the whole season,
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  but it would be wild. I wonder if Seattle will
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  pick up a different running back than to sit
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  behind Walker all year. Interesting. or if they
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  just roll with who they have already. Carlton
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  Davis also has a head injury currently. That's
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  a whole TBD situation. So curious to see if he's
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  able to return for this weekend or not. Those
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  were the big injury news, bigger injury news
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  that I've seen. Did you guys see anything else
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  that I've missed? For this weekend? No. No. Okay.
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  Plenty of news, especially in the coaching department.
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  Literally, I don't know if it was hours after
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  we dropped our episode last week or the day after,
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  whatever, Harbaugh signed with the Giants. Yep.
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  How do we feel about that? I mean, it's a good,
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  decent situation, right? Everybody throws Scadaboo
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  in there and like, yeah, he's all right, but
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  like just... pump the brakes a little bit. He's
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  the savior of the world for them. He's exciting.
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  I think that's what it is. High energy guy. He
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  is, 100%. Let's calm the F down. Harbaugh, I'm
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  excited because the Giants, big brand, like he
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  said, all this. A little disappointed now seeing
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  what happened with the Bills and having an opportunity
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  to coach Josh Allen and that squad. I've wondered
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  about that, about the other coaches we'll mention
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  here in a minute, too, because it is curious
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  as to now that the Bills' job is over. It's like,
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  damn. That instantly is the best job available,
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  right, above the Ravens and the Steelers? Yeah.
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  I was just thinking, like, head coaches are going
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  to have, like, regretting their decisions right
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  now. It's like, oh, man. Signing so early. Yeah,
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  if I waited another week. What about ownership
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  regretting their decision? They fired the wrong
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  guy in Buffalo. Especially when your coach, the
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  guy you fired, is the first guy signed at the
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  lesson a week. Did you see? I mean, that's got
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  to hurt a little, right? No. It just ran its
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  course. Yeah, and that's what Bashadi said. He's
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  like, yeah, it ran its course. Who were you going
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  to say there, Coach? Well, it's about McDermott.
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  We'll get to it. Another coach, Stefanski, signs
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  with Atlanta. That was an early interesting signing
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  to me, too. It's a great signing for them, I
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  think. I don't hate the mix. I don't hate the
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  pairing, but it just... The word on the street
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  is because Stefanski and Matt Ryan are buddy
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  -buddies, so it was just a quick, easy, you know
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  what I mean? But I don't know. I mean, that's
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  how the world spins a lot of times. Yeah, it's
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  not what you know, it's who you know. The best
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  thing about the situation is Baker Mayfield coming
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  out and saying he can't wait to see Stefanski
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  twice a year. You think they actually have bad
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  blood? Oh, yeah. I feel like he has bad blood
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  with everyone part of a few of these organizations.
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  Yeah, he has bad blood with the entire Browns
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  organization. Yeah, them and the Panthers. And
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  the Jets through some of these other connections.
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  I think it's just a few of these burnt bridges.
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  Yeah, burnt bridges. And he holds grudges, which
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  I love. I like it. shoulder i think stefanski
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  should feel good about this like actually having
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  pretty like you have a quarterback now Or two.
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  And weapons. I mean, you kind of have to figure
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  that out. You've got a quarterback controversy,
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  but at least you have competent quarterbacks
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  versus I have no idea what I've got at this point.
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  It was a mess over there. True, true. It's definitely
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  a better situation in Cleveland, I'd say. But
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  he is also probably kicking himself where it's
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  like, well, could be interviewing for the Bills
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  job and coaching Josh Allen. I think that's the
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  big white whale right now that everybody wants.
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  Big white whale. I'm interested in it. Yeah,
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  Josh Allen is a nice piece. but what's the rest
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  of the team in the salary cap look like? And
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  they're old, so there's a bunch of retooling.
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  And that's the thing I wanted to bring up about
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  McDermott. I guess him and the GM and the owner
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  had a meeting recently, and McDermott allegedly
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  voiced his opinion saying... that there just
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  wasn't enough talent on the team surrounding
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  Josh Allen and they did not agree with him. So
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  I don't know if that has now stumbled into this
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  situation where they're just like, if he doesn't
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  win a Super Bowl no matter what, he's gone type
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  of deal. Or I don't know when that conversation
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  happened. You know, very limited source on that.
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  Sources. It's so difficult to see Josh Allen
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  not being with the Bills, but you're going to
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  start to get in that territory if they don't
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  figure some things out here. Next couple years,
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  I don't know where he's at on his contract. I
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  mean, if there's more Lamar Jackson rumors right
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  now than I've heard in recent years, then eventually
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  that's going to be Josh Allen, too, to your point,
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  100%. And we'll touch on the Lamar Jackson rumors
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  here in a bit. Robert. Yeah, buddy. He went to
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  the Titans. Oh, congratulations. You're welcome.
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  I will no longer be on the show because I don't
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  need the income from this anymore. You're getting
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  income? You're not? Yeah, I get you two confused
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  pretty often. In Ansala? Yeah. Let's see. The
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  Dolphins hire Packers offensive coordinator Jeff
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  Halfley. Defensive. Defensive, sorry. Is he the
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  one from Boston College? Yeah, he was the head
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  coach at Boston College. He only did one year
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  with you guys, right? Two. Oh, two. He did two
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  with Green Bay and LeFleur in his most recent.
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  made it sound like he was fully anticipating
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  that Halfley would get one of these. I think
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  everyone... assumed it was going to be this one
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  because the Dolphins had just hired the Packers
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  VP of player personnel to be their new GM. So
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  new GM, Halfley, and now the rumor is Malik Willis.
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  So it sounds like they might bring in Malik Willis
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  at quarterback. Oh, interesting. So you know
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  what you got. They both really like Willis. Don't
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  blame them. I'm excited to see the dude get paid.
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  I think he earned that this year in a few games.
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  Quick card market. Does Malik Willis? cards.
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  I'm holding onto a few of them. We'll see what
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  happens. Is it a buyer's market this offseason
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  for Malik Williams? Absolutely. Should I be looking
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  for trades this Saturday? You should. Insider
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  information on Ted. Talk. Anyway. What were we
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  talking about? Robert Sala. I don't know. If
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  I'm Robert Sala, I'm curious what he was thinking
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  about. agreeing to the titans because the titans
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  organization has has been a little i don't know
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  if you want to kind of dysfunctional unorganized
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  whatever like you don't well why don't i don't
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  leave right he got canned he was fired he was
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  like yeah we're going a different direction and
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  then sala experienced the the jets organization
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  crumminess so why What does he see in Tennessee
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  that he's going to have a different experience
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  or better results? He sees something. Broadway?
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  Maybe he's into the country music? The reports
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  coming out is that they impressed each other
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  through his interview. So there's something he
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  heard that made him think he should have confidence
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  here. I don't know. He's got Simmons in the middle,
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  so that's a good corner space for a defensive
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  -minded coach. I'm on the defensive side. And
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  then rolling the dice at Cam Ward is going to
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  turn out to be something. I mean, he should flashes
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  of being better towards the end of the season.
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  I'm definitely rolling Cam another season at
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  least. For sure. And I feel like Tennessee's
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  always kind of been okay to decent. just looking
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  at the course of history. And if there's anyone
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  that can get the most out of who's there now
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  and build, I think it's him. There are pieces
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  of it that make sense, but I agree. It's an interesting
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  decision for sure. But would you really, I mean,
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  stay that 49ers another year and with that young
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  defense and expecting to like repeat the level
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  of play they played and then. lose a little bit.
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  You know, like when an NBA player or a college
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  player plays really good in the March Madness,
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  they better come out that year because that's
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  the highest their stock is going to be. You know
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  what I mean? Absolutely. So, like, coming off
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  a good year, maybe. For Robert? For Robert, yeah.
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  Interesting. Okay. I can't hate that. A little
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  chip in the chair opportunity, you know? Because
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  if they fail next year, maybe he's out of the
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  loop and then maybe never get back into that
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  loop. I mean, I'd take a job. For any coach,
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  I think that taking that head coach job would
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  be. Yeah, if that's your goal, it's tough to
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  say, oh, I don't want to do that. Like, if you
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  can be responsible for turning a franchise around,
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  that's huge. And you already have the young first
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  -run draft pick quarterback to work with when
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  you get there. And how long was he in the Jets?
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  Five? No, three? No, three years. Three years?
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  So he probably has that itch still. He didn't
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  really get an opportunity to finish what he started.
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  I'm excited for him. Good for him. Curious to
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  see what comes of it. This one I'm a little disappointed
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  about. Tell me more. Eric Biennemi. What about
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  him? Back to Kansas City. That sucked. Is that
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  official? I think that sucks for the league.
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  Just partnering back up with Patrick Mahomes
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  again. We'll see. It didn't go well in Washington,
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  I think, is where he just was, wasn't it? No,
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  he was in Chicago. He was the running backs coach.
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  Before that, he was in Washington. Short stint.
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  Because he was a short list head coach opportunity
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  for a minute there. And then he made a lateral
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  move, I think, is what he did, just straight
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  to Washington. Isn't that what it was? And then
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  they did really bad for a while. Was that Jay?
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  That was before Jay. I think it was the year
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  right before. It was the year before. So not
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  excited about that. Curious to see what comes
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  of that. Former Arizona Cardinal offensive coordinator,
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  Drew Petzing. Makes a lateral move over to be
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  the Lions' new offensive coordinator. Just fresh
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  blood. Does Arizona have a coach right now? No.
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  So, I mean, that's probably because Gannon's
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  gone. Right. Arizona is probably, and that's
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  what I was just going to touch on, actually.
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  So, Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Steelers, Browns,
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  Cardinals are still looking for a head coach
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  currently. Obviously, Bills are fresh to the
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  list. But I would imagine out of those teams,
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  I mean, the Cardinals might be last. Maybe the
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  Raiders, but as far as destinations, if you're
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  a head coaching candidate right now, how do you
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  rank them? Cardinals was probably six out of
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  six on that list. Yeah, because Raiders, you
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  at least get the first -round draft pick. And
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  you're kind of handcuffed by Kyler Mendoza. Yeah,
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  unless you want to play Call of Duty. I mean,
• 12:52
  you might jump that a little bit. Hold on. You
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  got Jacoby Brissett. Yeah. Or you just trade
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  him like you're doing Madden. Just get rid of
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  them right away. Take over the franchise. Gone.
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  Who does that? This guy. I did the same thing
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  to two of them. I know. Wonder why. Anyway, so
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  out of those teams, who's the next one to get
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  their head coach solidified, do you think, out
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  of those six? Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Steelers,
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  Browns, Cardinals? I feel like the Steelers.
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  And do you feel like it's going to be Brian Flores?
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  Yep. Damn it. I hate that. Brian Flores would
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  be such a good fit for them. He should go to
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  the Ravens or the Steelers. He would. That was
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  my thought. Like where I'd want to see him be
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  just based on the teams and the structure and
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  how they run things would be the Steelers or
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  the Ravens I think would be excellent fits. And
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  the Ravens definitely would be the cream of the
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  crop of the two. Is there anybody you see right
• 13:44
  now that you're hoping and wishing for? Because
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  they interviewed a lot of people right away.
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  And they're still going through second interviews.
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  Are they going to interview Sean McDermott? No.
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  So they interviewed Joe Brady, OC for Buffalo.
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  What? Oh, man. Chris Shula. Both the Rams offensive
• 14:12
  and defensive coordinators. Would you like one
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  of them to step up and take over HC? Yeah, who's
• 14:17
  the one you want? Or do you want fresh blood?
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  I mean, you've seen Harbaugh in here for almost
• 14:21
  your whole life. Let's get a predicament out
• 14:22
  of you so we can make fun of you later on. Good
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  chunk of your life. Oh, man, you guys are crazy.
• 14:27
  I don't want Nagy or Cliff Kingsbury or Jim Strachan.
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  Magic Mike. Oh, my gosh. You guys are the worst.
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  Hey, we're just trying to help, man. I don't
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  know who I want because I want somebody that
• 14:45
  really hasn't made a name for themselves too
• 14:48
  much yet. Would you take a Brian Flores? I would
• 14:49
  take a Brian Flores. I would not say no to that.
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  Maybe. Who's a no? Who's a hard no? Well, that's
• 14:56
  what we were just naming. Oh, who are the hard
• 14:58
  no's? Good chunk, but he doesn't want Nagy there.
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  No Nagy. Eberflus is available. Yeah. Elite defensive
• 15:04
  play calling. Just like some of the older head
• 15:07
  coaches that are out there, Schwartz, Nagy. Cliff
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  Kingsbury isn't that old, but I'm not interested
• 15:13
  in Cliff Kingsbury. Clint Kubiak could be interesting.
• 15:17
  And then what's funny about Kubiak was like,
• 15:22
  so Kubiak being the OC for Seattle has been working
• 15:24
  with. with McDonald, and then all of a sudden
• 15:28
  he's now coming back to some of the back -and
• 15:31
  -forth relationships between teams like that.
• 15:34
  Yeah, I'm curious if they're slowing down because
• 15:35
  there's someone in the final four that they want,
• 15:37
  that they really want, and they're kind of being
• 15:39
  patient right now is what it seems like. I'm
• 15:41
  hearing Kubiak out of your voices right now as
• 15:43
  your top winner. I think that that's... Him or
• 15:46
  Shula, I feel like. Yeah, I think I would prefer
• 15:50
  Kubiak because he's still going to have that
• 15:56
  run -first mentality, which has always been a
• 15:59
  Ravens mantra. It's like, we're going to run
• 16:02
  the ball and we're going to play defense. And
• 16:05
  you're getting an offensive -minded head coach,
• 16:07
  which I think will be beneficial for Lamar. Well,
• 16:11
  OK, so while we're here. How do you feel about
• 16:14
  the Lamar rumors starting to circulate more and
• 16:17
  more? What rumors? There's rumors going to Vegas.
• 16:21
  I heard it here first. Vegas Steelers have been
• 16:25
  out there. How do you feel about the possibility
• 16:29
  of that? Could you be okay with some young quarterback
• 16:34
  coming in and still at least having the opportunity
• 16:36
  to hand off to Derrick Henry, still have a couple
• 16:39
  options in the passing game? Not many need help
• 16:44
  there, but, you know. Just rip him down while
• 16:46
  he's down. The quarterback market is just so
• 16:51
  tough because it doesn't really feel that strong.
• 16:58
  Maybe you've got a couple of individuals that
• 17:00
  you could get a mid -level contract for, like
• 17:04
  Malik Willis or Mac Jones or something like that,
• 17:06
  to see if they develop into something more. what
• 17:11
  they've picked up from their previous destinations.
• 17:14
  But that's kind of like maybe taking one step
• 17:19
  back to try and go forward more steps. I don't
• 17:23
  know. Take one step back to maybe go back forward
• 17:26
  like one and a half. It almost seems like more
• 17:28
  than even one step to the analogy because of
• 17:30
  what Lamar has meant to the team. Right. Because
• 17:33
  a team would have to be willing to give up a
• 17:38
  gang of draft picks. or other assets yeah you're
• 17:42
  talking about an mvp you're talking about a big
• 17:44
  time impact player so i don't think i don't know
• 17:48
  i don't know if tom brady's willing to give up
• 17:50
  like three or four first round picks or a combination
• 17:52
  of like first and seconds for three years i feel
• 17:55
  like they already know who they want i feel like
• 17:57
  they're watching them on no for sure yeah for
• 18:00
  sure All right. Fair enough. Davis was there
• 18:03
  in the end, though. Yeah, just staring at him.
• 18:05
  I'm like, dude, I'm uncomfortable watching you
• 18:07
  watch him. What are you doing, dude? You already
• 18:09
  look creepy. He wakes up creepy. Well, that's
• 18:13
  it. That's all I had for news. You guys hear
• 18:16
  anything else that we have not to discuss? No.
• 18:20
  I'm ready. No. No. Oh, no. All right. Sorry.
• 18:24
  I'm tripping out there. Okay, Davis. Well, thanks
• 18:28
  for being here, gentlemen. Justin was here, our
• 18:30
  Packer fan. Appreciate it. Of course. Jake, a
• 18:33
  Raven fan and co -host of the Gridiron Update.
• 18:35
  Thanks for having me. Of course. Thank you as
• 18:38
  our coach. Okay. Yep. Kev, behind the, you know.
• 18:44
  Behind the new desk. Does everything. Yeah, behind
• 18:47
  his new desk that we can see everything. The
• 18:48
  hemness. Yes, yes. Yeah, the Ikea whatevers.
• 18:53
  And I'm Smelty. Yep. That's going to be it here
• 18:56
  for our tent talk. Don't forget to like, comment,
• 19:00
  subscribe, or you listen to the banter. You know
• 19:03
  how ridiculous that must sound on Spotify. You
• 19:06
  know, you don't know what's going on. Whoa! Anyway,
• 19:10
  whether it's YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
• 19:12
  or iHeartRadio, and we'll see you in our next
• 19:15
  episode, which will be the conference championship
• 19:17
  preview and picks. And yes, I actually put the
• 19:19
  picks together this week. They are available,
• 19:21
  and it's a lot closer race than you think. So
• 19:24
  tune in, and that's it. This is for you, Eric.
• 19:27
  Yeah, bye. Don't forget to follow, like, and
• 19:32
  subscribe. Tune in next time for more banter
• 19:37
  with the boys.