Latest / The So-Called Sports Analysts / Will Kirk Cousins be the savior for the Falcons? Plus more NFL Free agency recap & NBA power rankings!

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Will Kirk Cousins be the savior for the Falcons? Plus more NFL Free agency recap & NBA power rankings! · The So-Called Sports Analysts

0:03
Welcome, Welcome, welcome, Welcome back to another episode of the so called
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Sports Tanna List, Episode number thirty seven. Josh, how you doing doing?
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Good man? We're about to get into why I'm feeling a little bit
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better. Chris Jones is signed, so that what that means today is we're
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gonna have a joint pod where we're gonna talk about both the NFL and NBA
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because you know, the off season free agency, Monck drafts, the combine
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just happened, and then plus a little bit of NBA today, So it's
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gonna I don't know, we don't know how long we're gonna go on this
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one, but we're gonna get you as much information as we can. Yeah,
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sir, we can. We're multi talented. That that's just what we
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do, right, But all right before my special Okay, we're not even
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the po but all right, no, I'm not gonna say that one.
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Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yea yeah. Let's at least get it
0:56
the pud. You guys can follow us on Twitter at Flying Garcia one hundred
1:00
and Underscure off Ons is zero three whatever you're listening to it on it,
1:04
spreaker, Spotify, ir radio, or any other platform. We appreciate and
1:08
make sure you share it to anybody who likes sports. But like Josh mentioned,
1:11
we're gonna talk about NFL first and then and then we're going to talk
1:18
about NBA last. So for our NFL fans or NBA fans, just know
1:23
NBA's last and then NFL's first. All right, let's go ahead and get
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into it. So over this week it's been NFL free agency. It officially
1:34
started. And Josh, just biggest takeaway so far from this free agency?
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What's your biggest hon besides Chris Jones being signed? Because that's my biggest takeaway
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for sure. But I'm gonna go the running backs are getting paid this offseason
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because last offseason there was that whole big old deal where they gone on the
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FaceTime zoom call whatever they did, and we're saying, let's hold out,
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let's hold out for these contracts, and well, I guess it paid off
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because this year they all got paid. Let's leak. I'm a list a
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couple and we can talk about them a little bit more like where we think
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they're. Saquon Barkley did the Eagles three years, thirty seven points seventy five
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million dollars. Josh Jacobs to the Green Bay Packers. I didn't expect this
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one. I really thought he was gonna say, four years forty eight mil.
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Derreck Henry to the Baltimore Ravens two years sixteen million. That's a little
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scary if he's healthy. And then Tony Poller taking the DeMarco Murray route signing
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with the Tennessee Titans three years twenty four million dollars. Austin Eckler to the
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Washington Commanders two years eleven mil, DeAndre Swift Chicago Bears three years twenty four
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million. JK. Dobbins has yet to sign. Devin Singletary to the Giants
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three years sixteen and a half, Gus Edwards to the Chargers two years six
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and a half, and then Joe pretty good go to the type running back
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agency class. Oh yeah, and Joe Mixon gets traded to the Texans.
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This is a pretty good free agency class, like for running backs, if
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honestly like from the from like the top to bottom, where you can get
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a number two, you can get a one. But yeah, now,
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what's your biggest takeaway from the running back position. It's it's pretty crazy and
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also mentioned Aaron Jones goes to a rival after getting released to the Vikings.
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That's a big one too, and it, like you said, it's crazy
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to me, but I think it's more just based off of what we saw
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in the Super Bowl. You saw Christian McCaffrey and then Isaiah Pacheco. As
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much as we have this cheese fan over here who hypes him up, He's
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not a top five, but he is up there. He's one of the
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better running backs. So teams are finally starting to realize again that hey,
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we need a run game. We need a run game next to our quarterback,
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no matter if it's Patrick Mahomes or Rock Party. We need a running
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back that's more than capable enough. And now what's proven. But I think
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that obviously Aaron Jones, that's a good signing. Tony Potter, that's kind
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of iffy. But the three main ones I want to focus on here is
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Josh Jacobs, say, Kwon Barkley, and Derrick Henry. Out of those
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three right there, which one do you think is going to be the most
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impactful Because they're all playoff level teams. So which one do you think I
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think with the Okay, I'm gonna talk about each one individually. Ok Yeah,
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go ahead with my thoughts on them. Okay. So with Josh Jacobs,
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I feel like it's more of a sideway step. I think it was
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more bet on that he has a healthier history than Aaron Jones over the last
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two seasons at least, So I think the sideway step is just insurance more.
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I feel like, and then Aaron Jones is getting a little bit up
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there in age. Josh Jacobs is still only twenty six. I believe he's
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a young running back still because he came into the NFL pretty young. So
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and I think it's going to help out Jordan Love and his progression having a
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guy like Josh Jacobs in the backfield who's a workhorse you can get the ball
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to at twenty four times a game and not see him break a sweat.
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I mean we saw it last year. I went two seasons a go where
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he let the league touches. Yeah, so he's a very capable back.
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To the Gay Packers, I like that signing for them a lot, just
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didn't expect it and that Derrick Henry won. I feel like we kind of
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guessed the Ravens and that little thing that we did during the season where someone
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asked us who we where we thought he was getting up. I think it
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was Ravens, Texans and Cowboys for us, and he ended up going with
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the Ravens and having Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the backfield is going to
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be pretty scary to see because what I tell people is that sure, sure
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the Ravens they have good running backs by committee, but they don't have that
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one guy that just strikes fear into your heart next to Lamar Jackson. And
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then Dereck Henry is that guy. Derek Henry is gonna bring the ground and
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pound a big playability and he's become a very serviceful receiving back over the last
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two seasons due to dude just having to become one. And so I think
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it's gonna it's gonna be pretty good for for the for the Ravens in that
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in that aspect, and it could have put them over the hump to maybe
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losing to the Chiefs again in the AFC Conference Championship, but I like their
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chances at doing that. And then we're gonna talk about the biggest one.
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I think it's Saquon Barkley to the Eagles. This is the first time in
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his career where Saquon Barkley is not going to be the main not be the
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main guy on the team and have Well, he could still be the main
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focal point of the Eagles, but I mean where he has this all this
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pressure, if it's no Saquon is nothing at all. And in this in
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this offense, with with AJ Brown, with Davonta Smith and Jalen Hurts,
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it's really gonna open up things for him. And I think we're gonna see
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the best Saquon Barkley we've ever seen, especially behind that offensive line. I
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get they had their struggles to the end of the year, the whole team
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did, but they they're moving Cam Jurgens to center and they still have those
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guys up front, and I think it's gonna be a pretty scary thing to
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see. Yeah, No, it definitely is. And that's the one that
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scares me as a Cowboys fan because everything you mentioned the biggest thing for him.
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He was dominant with the Giants when you had no offensive line and he
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was the number one focal point. But now AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith,
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like you mentioned, you can't stack the box, you can't just the biggest
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thing for him is can he stay healthy. If he stays healthy, I
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believe that the Eagles they could make another Super Bowl run. I really think
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they can not because I don't think Jalen Hurts he's gonna get up there to
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where he was two years ago. But just because Sakwon Barkley, he's that
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damn good. And not even to mention the Eagles, they had a couple
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of the signings too. I know they resigned CJ. Gardner Johnson and they
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got Bryce huff and then they got a couple other pieces Parker. I think
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that's a good sleeper sign for them, signing Devonte Parker, Yeah, exactly.
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Then you get Landon Dickerson. Yeah, so so you bring back pieces
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in. It's looking really nice and talking about another NFC East team here.
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As far as the Giants here, the ones who lost a Kwon Barkley,
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but they did kind of make a big move with Brian Burns, which they
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signed him if I'm not mistaken, five year, one hundred and fifty million
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dollars. So that's a big time contract. So we're gonna kind of talk
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about drafting a little bit. But with Saquon Barkley now being out, of
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the picture. You signed some offensive lineman in this free agency, do you
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think that it's officially time for them to move on to a different quarterback?
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Just restart. The thing is, what made Daniel Jones great is having Saquon
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Barkley on the field. I feel like a lot and you take him away
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and replace him with Devin Singletary. David Singletary, cool RB two, cool
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RB two in the NFL. I'm happy if he's my RB two on my
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team, But as an RB one, where he's your workhorse and you have
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to rely on him to help you out, I don't. I just don't
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think he's that guy as compared to say Qua Barkley. And that's gonna hurt
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Daniel Jones. And now we're starting to hear the rumbles a little bit where
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people are already in that organization already giving up on Daniel Jones. And rightfully
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so. I mean, the contract was kind of absurd. You pay the
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guy that that had one good year instead of paying the guy who's carried your
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franchise for four years, three years literally on his back, and it comes
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back to bite you, I think, And you're stuck with this contract because
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no one's gonna trade for Daniel Jones on the like you take a seventh round
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draft pick and just let hopefully them think you know, yeah, yeah,
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I don't think because the contracts is way too big for a guy like him,
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and I think they're gonna go towards quarterback in the draft. And I
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think, honestly, having with the Brian Burns signing, that's a big one
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for their defense, because their defense isn't bad. The Giants don't have a
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bad defense, it's just they had young corners last year, and then they
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have Kevon Thibodeau who came on long, came on strong. So adding Brian
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Burns to the other side of the other side of the line is really gonna
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help them out quite a bit, I hope. So he gets he's getting
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paid over thirty mili years. So yeah, I'm telling you, you WI
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walk into this stuff. I don't say nothing. Okay, you're just a
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dirty minded dude. I'm I'm just gonna skip over. I'm just gonna gonna
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skip over that. But all right, I just kind of wanted to get
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your opinion on this right here. So just the last team from the NFC
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East here, the Cowboys. They didn't make no moves. They re signed
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their long snapper and after apparently going all in, which Jerry Jones he said,
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you lost Dring, Armstrong, Titler, Baddish and pending other free agents.
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Do you think this is a mistake right here for the Cowboys because they
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still haven't re signed Dak or CD or Micah Parsons. So do you think
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this is a mistake here or do you think they know what they're doing?
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Let me see something, let me see something real quick. Yeah, no,
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because I already know how I feel. I just want to get your
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opinion here. The thing is, this isn't new, Like, this isn't
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something new that we've seen from the Dallas Cowboys. They usually don't make a
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lot of off season moves, and if they do, it's like a one
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trade, like getting Amari Cooper in the middle of the season or getting Brandon
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Cooks last season and hoping those guys pan out. And then I believe they're
11:18
shopping around Michael Gallup right now. So I don't I don't know what to
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think of them. They don't have a running back at this moment, so
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they're kind of missing out on some that are flying by. Unless you're hoping
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you can draft Trey Benson and hope he turns out to be a different guy
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or sign Yeah, like you're already missing out on some of these top guys.
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And then I think another big need for them is linebacker. You lose
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Leighton vander Esk, you're stuck. Damaron Overstown is coming back from injury,
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but we have yet to see Damarian Overshown back from injury, so we don't
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know really who he's gonna be. And you have guys still that you passed.
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There was guys like Patrick Queen going by Frank Blue with Levonte David even
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signed back to a one year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And he's
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still a service serviceable player in the NFL. As he's outshot. He's not
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a big name, but he's he's a good linebacker in the NFL. Whibb
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Wagner's still out there, Devin White still out there. You could have had
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to go Willie Gabe, but y'all just didn't all sit on those ass and
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didn't sign him. But I don't know, they need to make some moves
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because and and plus they need safety. I do think they need better safeties
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like there's needs that they need to feel, but they have yet to do
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it. In the offensive line, I don't know if it's getting better.
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There's Tyler's Tyrone Smith and then that center that you'll have. I don't like
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his last name, so I don't say it. And then yeah, so
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they don't have no more. Yeah, yeah, no. I agree with
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you, and I think just just get ready for UH to set back up
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for failure because with no moves being made and just going through the draft,
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everything's going to be put on Dak to put on a superhero cape and when
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we lose in the playoffs again, it's going to be blamed on Dak.
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And like you said, it's a rent and repeat process. It's just something
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I'm just trying to tell the I'm trying to tell the people right now as
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a Cowboys fan, We're gonna have another good year anywhere from nine to twelve
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wins, and we're gonna lose in the second round, maybe even the first
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round again. Because this NFC it's getting talented now, it's getting pretty talented,
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and kind of with that, I kind of want to transition into I
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feel like one of the biggest moves in free agency and I feel like nobody
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expected this right here, Kirk Cousins going to the Atlanta Falcons four years,
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one hundred and eighty million, one hundred million guaranteed. This dude just knows
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how to get paid. But as far as with that, do you think
13:45
this makes some real title contenders now? I think it makes them a lot
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better than they were last year because you have a guy that you can trust
13:52
and to not turn the ball over and can move your team down in the
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field better than a lot better than Desmie Rider can, even though he's my
14:00
that and go. But Kirk Cousins, Kirk Cousins, I think he knows
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how to get paid and he's gonna put the ball where it needs to be,
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especially into the hands of Drake Lindon Kyle Pitts, because there's one thing
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that that Kirk Cousins does, and that speed his stars, and he's gonna
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keep doing that when he goes to the Falcons. And then I think a
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sleeper signing that helps his team out a lot too is Darnell Mooney. I
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understand the thirty nine mil is a little is a little much. The twenty
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six million fully guaranteed, only because he hasn't had over five hundred yards of
14:26
the last two seasons, but kind of due to circumstance, and it's kind
14:30
of also due to injury. So but Darnell Mooney, when he as a
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number two, I feel like he's he's gonna be really good behind Drake Lindon,
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And if they add a couple other pieces in the draft, it's gonna
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be pretty pretty good for this team. Does does it make them title contenders?
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I don't know. They're still Niners, Lions, Eagles, and I'm
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still put the Cowboys up there until further notice because they're sitting on their hands
14:56
right now and waiting and watching everything pass by. But but I think it
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puts them up there. It puts them in the fight. And the Buccaneers
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just brought back people they didn't really lose much. I think so well,
15:07
they just trade Carlton Davis. I don't know. That's something to talking about
15:09
in a minute too, I guess. But yeah, but the Falcons,
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the Falcons, I think it's putting. They're putting themselves in good positions to
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succeed next season. I mean, they almost succeeded this season. It's just
15:20
I think a lot of it came down to quarterback play, and they signed
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a good quarterback. So yeah, the biggest thing was turnovers and Kirk Cousins
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before that injury, before the Achilles tear, he was up there. He
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would have probably finished top three in every statistical category. And they have the
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offensive line, they have Jon Robinson, the weapons, and I think this
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more shows to Raheem Morris as far as a head coach. He's like,
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I don't want to have to deal with the rookie quarterback. I don't want
15:46
to have to deal with Desmond Ritter. I want an experienced season, veteran
15:50
quarterback who when we get to the playoffs, he knows how to win.
15:56
At the end of the day, he may not have Super Bowl or a
15:58
deep playoff from success, but he knows how to win in the regular season
16:03
and that's what keeps you your job. So let's just kind of stay in
16:07
this division, in this division here, which you kind of brought up as
16:10
far as with the Tama Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield, he got re signed
16:14
three year, one hundred million dollars thirty million, fully guaranteed, and it
16:18
goes up to max as far as one hundred and fifteen million total resigned,
16:22
Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield's on the franchise tag Leavonte Davids back like you said,
16:30
I mean, I mean had dropped my mic here, But how do
16:34
you feel about this? I know we're both big Bake Show fans, So
16:38
how do you feel about this? Right here? Let's just do it.
16:41
Let's do a collapse in the chat for Baker Mayfield voice. Let's step it
16:45
up right there, stop it up for Baker. Stap it up. The
16:48
real comeback player of the year, real comeback player of the year, right
16:51
there, Heisman Trophy winner. You know, he played his way back into
16:53
a contract after all our ridicule from the Panthers, he has him love from
16:59
the Rams. People really thought that this Tampa Bay Buccaneers was just playing for
17:02
a draft pick and a quarterback. And he said, hold up, she'll
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forget who I was. Shall forget who I am. Baker just showed up,
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yeh. And then Baker showed up and got paid. Baker got paid.
17:14
I'm happy for him. You know, he deserves it, especially what
17:18
he has been through. He showed up this year and really let this this
17:21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers team and they they showed, they showed out great versus versus
17:26
both teams. I think they played well against the Lions, just came down
17:30
to the end, and then they played what they destroyed the Eagles. So
17:33
he had these teams, he had this team in really in a really great
17:36
position, and he got rewarded for it, and I'm happy for him.
17:38
I think any team would have loved to had that needed quarterback, would have
17:41
loved to have Baker Mayfield. But he just stayed, stayed right where he
17:44
needed to be. And I think that's why Mike Evans also stayed too,
17:47
because if Baker's staying, I think Mike Evans stays. But if Baker leaves,
17:49
Mike Evans leaves. Yeah, yeah, I agree with you, and
17:53
it's it's something I think Mike Evans now with him resigning, I feel like
17:59
he's gonna end up. I know, this kind of off topic here.
18:00
He can have been the next Larry Fits. As far as all these accolades,
18:04
all these yards and staying with one team, I think he's on a
18:08
trajectory for a Hall of Fame level. When just like you said, congrats
18:12
to Baker, I don't know how far it's gonna get them now now with
18:17
Kirk Cousins being in the division, but they're definitely going to be complete competing
18:22
for a playoff spot. And I kind of want to talk about as far
18:27
as with the Panthers here because we both kind of had criticisms of Bryce Young
18:33
and as far as you need an offensive line, you need some more pieces
18:37
around him, and so they got too offensive guards and then they yeah,
18:42
they definitely did, and then they got Deontay Johnson. So do you think
18:47
this is the right move right here by helping Bryce because they're raising the tray
18:52
Smith market and it's pissing me off. So when tray Smith's extinctionion comes,
18:56
that's gonna be crazy. Yeah. So I don't know. We will see
19:02
on that, but honestly, I believe it when I see it. I
19:06
believe the offensive line play when I see it. If it can get better,
19:08
because I hope it gets better. That's really the main thing, because
19:11
I don't think Bryce Young really got a fair show of what he can do
19:15
last season. He was running around. If you watch the games, he's
19:18
running around trying to hit people and he's just really making a lot of throws
19:22
on the run. And they bring in Deontay Johnson, who I think may
19:25
help him out on the outside, along with Jonathan Mingo. I don't know
19:30
is Adam Thielin going to return to the That hasn't been clarified yet, so
19:36
he's still Oh no, he got paid last year. Remember it was a
19:38
three year deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so so he
19:41
has some weapons on the outside, and it's just a matter of matter if
19:47
they can protect him. And these contracts they got paid to protect him pretty
19:51
well, pretty pretty handsomely. So I hope they do that in Robert Hunt
19:55
and Damian Lewis. Yeah, and then you have your left tackle that don't
20:00
Butcher's name of keem Acambo. Who's there? Your left tackle that you drafted
20:04
the year before, So you're the building them fell off a little bit last
20:08
year. Yeah, he kind of did. That's also it could be it
20:12
could be everyone else around you is kind of not making it easy for exactly.
20:17
So we'll wait and see. Yeah, and I think they definitely did
20:22
do the right thing here, but who knows. It's all going to depend
20:26
These signings are all going to depend on how well Bryce Young does because if
20:30
Bryce Young, he has a great second year. And even if these guards
20:33
are not as good. You're gonna say, hey, these free agents they
20:37
paid off because Bryce Young looked great. But if not, then all right.
20:41
But now that we kind of talked about the NFC South or did you
20:45
want to kind of mention anything about the Saints or not? Really? Let
20:52
me see, I mean they didn't. They just made Davis Tyron Matthew and
20:59
they signed go. You know, you can't get any better than Willie Gaye
21:02
junior in the NFL and you got them one year, five million dollars.
21:06
Yeahs addam, more Super bowls to yas team. So that's all I can
21:08
really say on the Saints. You know, Yeah, nothing much to say
21:12
about the Saints here. But let's go to the NFC, NFC West here
21:18
and West West. Yeah, we're gonna go to the NFC West here,
21:22
and first we're gonna start off with the Rams here, which they kind of
21:26
did the same thing as far as with the Panthers. Uh, one of
21:30
them was signing one of the Lions guard Jonah Jackson three year fifty one million,
21:34
big yeah, and re signing Kevin Dotson three year forty eight million.
21:41
So do you think that the Rams now after last year, after their big
21:45
success. Do you think that they're gonna be at the top of this division
21:49
or competing at the top of this division. I do, And I think
21:53
they're gonna feed the hell out of Cairon Williams again next season. If they
21:57
have these two boys playing offensive guard, they're gonna run it up the middle
22:00
like crazy. And they can because Kyrie Williams is a workhorse and behind this
22:04
offensive line, it's gonna be pretty good. And Jonah Jackson, I don't
22:10
know, the Lions kind of let them let him go a little bit.
22:11
So yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be cool to see see what they
22:15
can do. And then they did re sign DeMarcus Robinson's Super Bowl champion to
22:19
a Kansas City chief, to the to the Los Angeles Rams, you know.
22:25
And then they signed a good ty, a good okay tight end Kobe
22:30
Parkinson to a three year, twenty two and a half million dollar deal that
22:33
stirs up a little bit on the line that can help you out in a
22:34
run game. And plus he's a serviceable receiver. So they made some smart
22:38
signings they need, they feel their needs. I just wish they kind of
22:41
would address the linebacker position a little bit because it was a little bit of
22:47
weak spot in the middle of the field for them last season. They're their
22:49
defensive line played really well and then their DB's were pretty much rookies last season.
22:55
So there they they they're only gonna learn and get hopefully go up from
22:59
there. And I'm excited to see where this Rams team can go. They're
23:02
still in the same division as forty nine ers, but they made some pretty
23:06
good moves for them. For the team itself. Yeah, No, it
23:08
definitely is exciting because always seeing the Rams, Sean McVay, Matt Stafford,
23:14
seeing them always in the mix, and they're not in a bad situation.
23:18
They have their first round pick this year or they have draft picks this year,
23:22
so they're not gonna be in a situation where we have to depend on
23:25
free agency or trades. They're doing it a little bit more methodical standard way
23:30
as far as building up your team. And I wouldn't be surprised if the
23:33
Rams they made a run out of the run out of Super Bowl this year,
23:37
because, like you mentioned, Kyen Williams, Phukunukua, Cooper Cup,
23:41
they're all there another year back. So it I really like these moves right
23:45
here and just resigning Darius Williams too, he's a solid cornerback. Three years
23:49
thirty million. That's pretty nice. But let's go on to the Niners right
23:55
here, in which there wasn't really that many signings. They got Leonard Floyd
24:00
to year twenty million and you're there grow to Gross Models to year eighteen million,
24:07
So not much signings here. Do you think that they should have done
24:11
more after their Super Bowl loss or try to sign more people? No,
24:18
I think they're really looking at the brand aw Yuk situation and figure out what
24:22
they're gonna do with him, if they're gonna extend or if they're gonna they're
24:26
gonna trade. But also, they always fill up their defensive line every offseason.
24:30
It's all these new players coming in and out and out out of there.
24:33
And plus I believe Chase Young is a free agent still right now,
24:37
so I think they just brought in Leonard Floyd to kind of replace that production
24:41
right there. And Leonard Floyd's has always been a good player in the NFL
24:44
year and then you're out. He's consistent every single year like he does his
24:47
job. So it's a good signing. Especially across from home. Nick Bosa
24:51
is gonna help out a lot. I think my biggest thing is what are
24:55
they gonna do at the linebacker position. I understand they have Fred Warner,
24:59
but you lose dra Green on the Super Bowl and he's probably going to be
25:00
out for majority he's the next season. I just wonder how they're going to
25:04
address that. And Brandon Allen looks like he's about a he's about to take
25:10
a rock party's job. But other than that, you know's start with that.
25:15
We'll see that's that with that, but yeah, I know. And
25:19
then these other two teams, the Seahawks and the Cardinals, they really didn't
25:23
make many moves. The Seahawks they re signed Leonard Williams and Noah fan Back,
25:29
so not much movement. And then with the Cardinals here DJ Dallas they
25:36
got him three year, eight point two million, a backup running back,
25:40
Mac Wilson, Justin Jones, Tristan Colon re signed, So there really wasn't
25:45
much movement here. But as far as these two teams, who are you
25:51
more positive or more certain about having more success the Cardinals or the Seahawks here?
25:56
Because the Seahawks they did have the better season last year, but the
26:00
Cardinals, we were not even gonna argue that definitely do have the better quarterback
26:03
here. I think for sure immediately next season, I'm gonna say the Seahawks.
26:10
This is waiting to see how the Cardinals doing the draft. But the
26:12
Seahawks still have the foundation. They still have Kenneth Walker, Zach Scharberney,
26:18
DK Metcalf, Jackson Smith, and Jigba and they re signed Tyler Lockett,
26:22
and so they're they're adding They're still great on They're still a good service,
26:27
a good team on offense. But on the defensive side, they re signed
26:32
Letter Williams, which is really big shure up the interior of your defense.
26:36
And then you have Devon Devin Witherspoon, hopefully Tree Willen can kind of get
26:40
back to his rookie form. And then they still I believe they still have
26:42
Kobe Bryant as another cornerback on their team. So they have they but they
26:48
their safety position is going to be a whole completely brand new with Jamal Adams
26:51
and Quandrey Days both without the mix. But they still have the better foundation,
26:56
I believe compared to the Cardinals. Is just I want to see what
27:00
the Cardinals do next season as a as a growing, because I'm pretty sure
27:03
they're going to draft of Marvin Harrison junior and see what they can do with
27:08
that going into out of next season. Yeah, we'll definitely see and we'll
27:14
talk about the draft in the second as far as what they can do.
27:17
But let's move into this last NFC division right here, in which it's the
27:22
NFC North. And one of the teams that made the most movement here was
27:26
the Chicago Bears, in which the most money. Yeah, they have the
27:30
most money, so they definitely did spend it. They got DeAndre Swift three
27:33
year, twenty four million, like you mentioned, Jerald Everett, Jalen Johnson
27:38
who was an All Pro. Re signed him four year, seventy six million,
27:41
Kevin Byern they signed him, Jonathan Owens and another aspect. As far
27:48
as a part of this, Justin Field still hasn't been traded yet and it's
27:53
been the whole talk as far as the off season. So where do you
27:59
think they really go here? Because I feel like the trademarkt for Justin Fields
28:03
has gone down a lot. I mean, I'm I mean with Justin Fields,
28:10
I think you should keep Justin Fields and trade the number one overall pick.
28:12
If I was just Cogo Bears. Uh, Justin fill struggles has been
28:15
a product I would I would do that what I would do with the ship
28:19
as the Cogo Bears. I would trade this number one pick back to the
28:22
commanders or back to the the Patriots. Get what I can, draft Marvin
28:27
Harrison Junr. Then draft offensive tackle with my ninth overall pick, and then
28:32
build around Justin Fields because Justin Fields has only been a product of what y'all
28:36
have put around him. You put Chase Claypool there, Darniel Mooney hasn't been
28:40
healthy. I'm sure DJ Moore was there last year and when they were connecting,
28:42
they were connecting. But then also, like the offensive line has been
28:47
subpar, you put them with okay running backs like Deonta Foreman. Then you
28:52
have what's just freaking I'm freaking tripping supposed to can't they can't stay healthy.
29:00
And then you get let David Montgomery go and he has a big year in
29:03
Detroit, you know, So it's kind of it's kind of like what y'all
29:07
have done to him. I don't think he has that. He's a I
29:08
think he has made his fair share of mistakes, but I also believe the
29:12
opportunity hasn't been as fair to him to be looked at as a guy that
29:18
should be moved on from three years into his career because y'all can't seem to
29:22
put a team around him. And so I think what they should do,
29:25
trade that number one overall pick, bring in what they can for because they're
29:27
gonna pay a ransom for Kaleb Williams. They're gonna pay a ransom for kayleb
29:32
Williams, and the build around justin fields. You draft, you draft Marvin
29:37
Harrison Junior, then you draft Joe Walt, and you put you you move
29:41
on, call it a day for the first round, and build again for
29:44
the next couple of rounds. So that's my opinion. As far as their
29:47
other signings, I like the DeAndre Swift signing. It gives them a dynamic
29:49
player in the backfield also to go along with Roshawn Johnson, and I believe
29:55
and I believe Killer Herbert is still going to be there, so it gives
29:57
him a good, a good, a good back feel to rely upon,
30:00
especially with all three of them. And I think Jani Schip is a Number
30:03
one in the NFL. He just needs some help because he is a smaller
30:06
back. Yeah, and then bringing back Jalen Johnson is really big for that
30:10
defense. Yeah, No, it definitely is. But I still can't agree
30:14
with that. As far as the whole Justin Fields and Caleb Williams and Caleb
30:18
Williams he's a generational talent and that's just something you cannot pass up on.
30:23
I don't care how good Justin Fields did look towards the end of the year.
30:27
It's just Caleb Williams. He's that damn good and you can't make a
30:32
mistake as far as passing up on that quarterback. You at least want to
30:36
take your chance with it as far as okay, well he panned out,
30:40
Okay, great, But if not, then okay, it happens. So
30:44
you just have to And I know you're not gonna get a first round pick
30:48
for Justin Fields no more, which I didn't even think was most likely the
30:52
case. It's looking more like a second or third round pick now. But
30:57
you're just gonna have to take your losses here. You're just gonna have to
31:00
another question. M it's it might be too early to talk about it,
31:06
because we might talk about a minute. Justin fielder Jaden Daniels right now,
31:11
Jaden Daniels, I'm taking justice. Well, you know I'm high on Jayden
31:18
Daniels. You know this, so but yeah, yeah, No, We'll
31:22
get into that in a second. We'll get into that in a second.
31:26
But let's move on to some of this other part of the division here in
31:32
which the Vikings, who I feel like they have one of the biggest losses
31:36
here on losing Kirk Cousins. But you signed Sam Darnold to one year,
31:40
ten minutes dal and then you got Aaron Jones, Brandon Powell, you got
31:45
Jonathan Grenard, four year, seventy six million, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake
31:49
cash Man, So you showed up your defense a little bit more so,
31:55
do you think that the Vikings there is going to be their rebuilding year?
32:00
You still have Justin Jefferson, So I don't know how much you could really
32:04
rebuild with Justin Jefferson there who wants to win? So do you think they
32:07
should trade Justin Jefferson or they should still compete or try to compete to win?
32:15
Think what they're viewing as at the end of the day, Justin Fields
32:19
is only a receiver, but he's the best receiver in the NFL. So
32:22
I don't agree with looking at him as just a receiver, you know.
32:25
So let's talk about the some of the defensive signings before I get into the
32:30
offense. Jonathan Greener and Andrew Van Ginkle are pretty good signings for them.
32:35
It shows up that defensive line just a little bit. I'm not saying it
32:37
makes them great, but it makes them good and that's okay, you know.
32:42
And then on the other side, you have I think they're gonna draft
32:46
a quarterback. I think they're gonna find a way to trade up and draft
32:49
a quarterback. I don't I don't know who it's gonna be. But you
32:52
know, just don't roll into the season with Sam Darnold with players like players
32:55
like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jordan Addison, Brandon Powell, kjo all
33:00
on your team. Yeah, who are all good receivers. These are all
33:04
good receivers in the NFL, not a single one of them. If k
33:07
kJ Osborn's a free agent right now, yeah kJ Osborne is a free agent.
33:12
Yeah yeah, But they still have Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson. That's
33:15
one of the best one to two punches in the entire NFL. And you're
33:19
gonna roll in there with Sam Donald. I just don't see that as the
33:21
case. And you signed Aaron Jones, and Aaron Jones is a major upgrade.
33:24
I believe went healthy compared to an Alexander Madison or a Canisters that they
33:29
were rolling with last year. So I really do think they're gonna go for
33:34
a quarterback in the draft. I don't don't. I just don't see them
33:36
rolling into the season put in their bed, their chips all on Sam Donald,
33:39
because they they still have a good football team with seld them last year,
33:43
they were still in games towards the end of the season, towards the
33:45
end of the season with Nick Mullens fighting for a playoff spot with Kirk Cousins,
33:50
they were going on a run before he got injured. So they have
33:52
the weapons, they have the pieces. It just matter can that quarterback position
33:55
stay healthy. Yeah, But even if do draft a rookie quarterback, I
34:00
think Sam Donald he's gonna get his shot here, because yeah, I think
34:07
at bare minimum, Sam Donald's gonna get anywhere from six to eight games here.
34:12
And I honestly think I know we're gonna talk about it later, but
34:15
I think JJ McCarthy's gonna end up being a Minnesota Viking, which we'll get
34:21
into a little bit later, but I think it's kind of the right thing
34:24
to do, kind of just retool reset for just a little bit and just
34:30
convinced Justin Jefferson, Hey, I know this is kind of a down year,
34:35
but we got ourselves a rookie quarterback. He's gonna sit a year.
34:38
Then it's smart because you draft a rookie quarterback, you could pay Justin Jefferson
34:44
thirty thirty five million how much how much he wants. You don't have to
34:47
get that QB contract, which you would have to paid Kirk Cousins what forty
34:52
five million dollars, So it's smart. It leans towards Hey, we're gonna
34:58
resign you, and we're just gonna go for there. But let's get into
35:01
this other team in the division, and which it was the Detroit Lions,
35:06
one of your favorite teams here, Josh In which Graham Glass Now he signs
35:12
a three year, twenty million filling in for Jonah Jackson Marcus Davenport. They
35:16
got Carlton Davis, Emmanuel Moseley, a Meek Roberson and resigned their kicker.
35:22
So they really took an effort here to shore up the defense. So do
35:29
you think this is enough here to show up that defense to make another deep
35:32
playoff run. I do think it is. They were great stopping the run.
35:40
They were number two in the NFL is stopping the run, which is
35:43
really surprising to both me and Fonso when we found the stat last season.
35:46
But bringing a guy like Carlton Davis, who consistent in his career, went
35:51
healthy, has guarded number ones throughout the throughout the majority of his career is
35:55
a really good pickup for them because that really shows that they're making a push
35:59
to to to be part of that contending class in which they are. Emanuel
36:04
mose Moley is a good depth piece and Amie Robertson the thing is, I
36:09
don't like it they lost CJ. Gardner Johnson back to the Eagles. So
36:13
was that something we didn't talk about earlier because that just happened today. But
36:15
they lost them back to the Seagon back to the Eagles, and that's a
36:19
big loss to your to your safety room, especially him when when he was
36:22
healthy, he was he was balling for them. So I do like the
36:25
effort that they're making to make this defense better to match the offense's energy,
36:30
because I feel like at some point the offense was in too many shootouts where
36:32
the defense couldn't stop some couldn't stop other teams from scoring. Yeah, no,
36:37
they it's it's definitely better than just having Aiden Hutchinson there. It's we're
36:43
going to see. It may not pan out, but at least they're making
36:45
that effort there to saying, hey, what we're trying and we're going to
36:50
see In the draft. These past two three years, they've been really good
36:53
as far as drafting, getting three four players who make impacts right away.
36:59
So bring Brian Branch and Jack Jack Campbell did a lot for them. Yeah,
37:04
no question, Let's see what they can. If they can do that
37:07
same energy this year, it's gonna be pretty big for the short lines.
37:09
Yeah, no question. And you had Jamier Gibbs and Sam Laporta, so
37:14
four guys made impacts. So if you could have that same thing again,
37:19
you're gonna talk about a team that's gonna be competing for championship multiple years,
37:23
multiple years. But again we'll see. And then this last team right here,
37:30
which is the Packers. Obviously, we talked about Josh Jacobs and then
37:36
one of their or their other big signing was Xavier McKenny from the Giants.
37:39
Four years, sixty eight million dollars twenty five million in the first year.
37:45
That's crazy right there. But so again, Aaron Jones out, Josh Jacobs
37:52
in, you kind of touched out in a little bit. Do you think
37:55
just these two moves right here, it's enough to get them in real consideration
38:00
now as far as pushing the Lions to the brink here, I think it
38:06
does because they were close last year. And what I like about the Packers
38:10
they have a young receiving core, Christian Watch and January bow Melton. They
38:15
have guys that can make Romeo Dobbs. I'm forgetting Romeo dobs but they have
38:20
a good core of receivers. And then they you could to go along with
38:23
Luke mus Graves, who's gonna be going into a second season, who had
38:25
a good rookie year. It's just a matter of injury that kind of set
38:29
them back a little bit, but he did have a really good rookie year
38:30
for a Titan. It's gonna be overlooked because Sam Laporta went berserk his rookie
38:36
year. Yea, but yeah, he had a really good rookie year and
38:38
then and then the signing of Xavier McKinney is pretty big for them, especially
38:43
having someone to help out JayR Alexander over the Top and a couple of other
38:46
guys that they have. So I really do think this Packers team is going
38:50
to be really good next year, and they're gonna how the line is usually
38:53
are my sleeper? This might be a sleeper next year. Well, well,
39:00
we'll see because we're not gonna make predictions yet, but it's definitely gonna
39:04
be interesting. But let's let's move on to the AFC here, and let's
39:07
move on to your division here, the AFC West, in which we're gonna
39:14
talk about the Kansas City Chiefs here first, the Super Bowl champs, So
39:19
not much signings outside, but they resigned Chris Jones on a massive deal,
39:23
five year, one hundred and fifty eight million dollars, one hundred and one
39:27
guaranteed, basically the full contract. Drew trank Will got re signed, le
39:30
Jerry Sneed got franchise tagged. So do you think, well, don't forget
39:36
the punk god. Don't forget the punk god, Matt Ariza. Okay,
39:39
they got the punt god. Okay, but do you think this is enough
39:45
to make or to have another shot at three or at three pet in the
39:49
first team of three p Yeah, uh, okay, I'm not gonna say
39:54
enough because three P is hard, which we will do. But you know,
40:01
you bring in your most important you bring back the most important piece on
40:05
your defense in Chris Jones, because if you get to the quarterback, it
40:07
don't matter what corners you have. If you're getting to that guy, he
40:10
don't got time. It don't matter what corners you have. If he can't
40:13
get the ball out, he can't get the ball out. But Chris Jones
40:16
is a great signing. Everyone knows what he brings to the table. It's
40:20
a it's a big contract, a really big contract, second most second biggest
40:24
defensive contract in NFL history, I think. And so yeah, so he's
40:30
gonna have I believe. I don't know where. It's to be seen how
40:34
his career progresses because he is on the older side. But the re signing
40:38
of Drew Tranquill is big, especially signing him to a three year It's not
40:43
like, hey, we're gonna give you another one year, another two year.
40:45
No, they're committing to duwe Trinkle for another three years because of what
40:49
he showed last year. And it's the smart thing to do because you basically
40:52
have a quarterback another quarterback plane, but on your defensive side, controlling what
40:57
everything happens. And he was great last year. He really, I really
41:00
thought he was going to get more money going from another team, and I
41:02
think he probably could have, but I think he took the discount to stay
41:06
in Kansas City, and you know what, thank you, Drew Tranquill,
41:08
Thank you for that. You know. So, I think that that it
41:13
should be enough. I just want to see what we do with our cornerback
41:15
position, which I'm not too worried about. We have a great history of
41:19
drafting cornerbacks from recent time, especially not even recent time, like we've had
41:23
good to various Ward, Marcus Peters, Trim McDuffie, Lagarious Need, it
41:28
goes on and on and watching Joshua Williams. So I'm not worried about that.
41:30
I just want to see what we do do with the lagarious needs situation.
41:35
Mm hmm. Yeah, that's that's the only thing that's really pinning from
41:37
Oh and then today, Patrick Mahone's restructures and frees up twenty two million dollars
41:44
in cap space. So is Hollywood Brown coming or I don't know, we'll
41:46
see. Well, I don't want to talk about the draft yet, but
41:51
potentially getting another wide receiver. They're double dipping, so I feel like their
41:54
only need here is receiver, which obviously wasn't that big tackle. You won
42:00
a Super Bowl, I think, And we do need offense left tackle.
42:02
We need left tackle, which Tyrone Smith or waiting brother or ing or rating
42:07
for you to come to the real team. Honestly, I talked about this
42:10
the other day when I was at work. I'd rather see Tyron Smith.
42:14
So if he doesn't go, if he doesn't resign back with the Cowboys,
42:16
which most likely it's looking not, I wouldn't mind him going to the Chiefs
42:22
and competing for a Super Bowl because that's one guy that deserves the Super Bowl.
42:25
He's been a Hall of Fame left tackle. If he retires here,
42:29
that's the only thing missing from his resume, honestly. So yeah, that's
42:34
the only other place I would like to see him go. But now that
42:37
we talked about the Chiefs, the only other team that really made movement here
42:40
was the Las Vegas Raiders. In which they signed Christian Wilkins from the Dolphins
42:46
four year, one hundred and ten million dollar contract to pair alongside Max Crosby,
42:51
And then which we thought they were going to be quarterback heavy or try
42:55
to be a quarterback aggressive, they signed Gardner Minshew two year, twenty five
43:00
million dollars fifteen million guaranteed. So those two big moves right there. What
43:06
does it say about the Raiders' future here, Well, it seems like they're
43:12
trying to get to Patrick Mahomes, which they have a hard time of doing.
43:14
Oh, I mean, they did get to him. They'd played pretty
43:16
good against us at the end of the season last year. But signing Christian
43:20
Wilkins really helps them. Is really it's really gonna help out their defensive line,
43:23
especially with Mark Max Crosby, take a lot of pressure off of him
43:27
because there's times where Max Crosby never comes off the field, and I think
43:30
I probably he's probably still won't come off the field, but it's still gonna
43:32
take a lot of pressure off of him. Bringing in Christian Wilkins, which
43:35
is good for them and the Gardner Minshew Mardi minshrw played really well last year
43:39
for what he was asked to do, and I commend him. He got
43:44
paid a little bit two years, twenty five million dollars fifteen MILI guaranteed,
43:46
and I really do think this is just a he's gonna be a well how
43:52
can I say on the Sam Darnell level, where he's gonna mentor a rookie
43:54
quarterback that's about to come in. I don't know if it's this year,
43:55
if they do take the chance to write it out with him one year and
43:59
then draft one, but they're for sure gonna They're for sure gonna have them
44:01
being a bridge quarterback I see for the Las Vegas Raiders. Yeah, I
44:07
definitely see that too. And I don't want to get into predictions here,
44:12
but I think that Gardner Minshew. I feel like he's kind of a little
44:16
bit overvalued because you're with Shane steichen In, one of the smartest offensive coaches
44:22
in the league. So we'll see. But again, it's not like you're
44:25
banking your whole future on him. He like you said, he's a bridge
44:29
quarterback. But I really like the Raiders defense towards the end of the year
44:32
and signing Christian Wilkins. That's that's gonna be big that's gonna be big.
44:38
And again I don't think it's enough to compete with the Chiefs, but potentially
44:44
being a set or a six to seven seed in this AFC which is very
44:49
crowded. So and as far as with these two teams here, the Broncos
44:53
and Chargers, they really didn't make much moves. The Chargers Edwards lost,
44:59
yeah, they they lost a lot. But the Chargers Gus Edwards, will
45:04
Disley and then excuse me for butchering his name, Alo he Gilman, he
45:08
resigns. So not much moving. But let's let's talk about what you talked
45:13
about. As far as the Broncos, so not much resigning here, but
45:16
they definitely did lose a bunch of pieces trade away Jerry Judy let go of
45:21
Justin Simmons and let go a few other pieces. And then obviously Russell Wilson
45:25
he has gone. So second year under Sean Payton. What does it look
45:31
like to you? Don't look good at all to me, and don't look
45:37
it looks like they're probably gonna take an off year then come back in because
45:42
you get rid of it. Russell Wilson put yourself eighty five million dollars in
45:45
dead cap NFL record, and that's more than the last two highest dead cap
45:49
salaries combined. So yeah, it's that's that's tough for the denveron Broncos.
45:54
Then they trade Jerry Judy for a fifth and the sixth round pick, so
45:59
that didn't work out. Then you cut Justin Simmons, who has been the
46:01
focal point of your defense for for quite a while now, and you haven't
46:07
really done nothing to replace him. So I don't know where they're going at.
46:10
I don't know if they're playing for draft position for next year. Also,
46:14
but I don't know what quarterback are in the draft at their position.
46:16
That flips the script like this, like, yeah, I don't, I
46:20
don't. I just know about the list some of the guys that they're yeah
46:23
that I'm not a big believer in some of the guys that that's gonna be
46:27
where they're picking. So I don't know, Like I just I don't know
46:32
what they're playing for at this moment. I don't know what Sean Payne is
46:36
thinking. It's kind of I think at this point it's a legacy thing because
46:38
you came back as like this guru guy and you couldn't get it done.
46:40
Russell Wilson. And what's to say you don't get it done with this next
46:45
guy? Yeah, exactly, But let's go ahead and move on to this
46:50
AFC South here in which a couple or we're gonna just go over quit geez,
46:58
I can't speak right now. Quickly, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee
47:02
tight Ends. With the tight Ends got Tony Pollard, got some self center,
47:07
Lloyd Cushion, Barry Kenneth, Murray Toadobi a woozy a but still Will
47:12
Levis. He's a young quarterback and new head coach. So where do you
47:16
think they're Where do you think their direction is here? Do they trade up
47:22
potentially to get another quarterback? Or do they stick it out with Will Levis
47:24
another year? I stick it out with Will Levis's That's that's what I'm doing.
47:30
He played well last year. I don't think he showed anything for you
47:32
to doubt what he could do because he has some great games, he has
47:37
some rough moments. He was a rookie quarterback. He's still a gunslinger when
47:39
you watch him play, but he's dynamic dude. I like Will Levis a
47:45
lot. After watching him play last season, I wasn't a big believer in
47:47
Will Levis going in. I was a big hater of Will Levis going in.
47:52
Yeah, he proved me wrong. So I think I think you gotta
47:54
you gotta write it out with him. You got to give him another shot,
47:57
even another year, another two years, because he's still young. Like,
48:00
you need to let people build, and that's what I hate seeing sometimes
48:01
they don't let guys build. They're in a rush to have it now,
48:05
especially not even building teams around them. Bringing in Tony Pollard, it's like
48:09
such a sideways type of running back that you're gonna take right now. You
48:13
go from the power, you go from the power of Derrick Henry, and
48:16
then you just signed Tony Pollark. Might as well just run it with Taj
48:21
Spears if you're gonna and not risk paying this money, because Toaj Spears is
48:24
a good running back in his own right. I think the signing doesn't make
48:29
any sense. I don't. I don't like that signing by them. It
48:32
doesn't it doesn't fit the style. I don't know what kind of offense they're
48:35
gonna run with Mike Rabel gone, so it might change completely and I might
48:39
be eating my words, But at this moment, I don't see how it
48:42
works. I don't I don't like it. And as far as Lloyd cushion
48:45
Berry, it helps up the offensive line who struggled a lot last year,
48:47
and then Kenneth Murray is a great signing at the linebacker position. I think,
48:52
yeah, those are great signings. But like like you mentioned, there
48:55
are sideways moves and as far as the new culture, it's going to be
49:00
in place, so you really don't know where it's going to go. But
49:04
as far as from this Jacksonville Jaguars team, a team that kind of went
49:08
downwards last year after having a good start. They signed Gabe Davis to a
49:13
three or thirty nine million dollars deal, which means Calvin really is most likely
49:15
not going to come back, and they tried to shore up the offensive line
49:20
getting Blake Hants, they extended him, Ezra Cleveland, and then Mitch Morris
49:24
and then obviously Josh Allen he got the franchise tag, and then Reese Or
49:30
got Darnell Savage to shore up the back end. So none of these moves
49:36
were eye popping or game changing. So where do you think the Jags?
49:42
Do you think I'm trying to put this right way. So do you think
49:46
that the Jags are going to take it up a level and just hope that
49:49
Trevor Lawrence he bounces back from his somewhat rough yer. I hope they take
49:57
it up a level because last year was this pointing to say the most like
50:01
it's to say I'm not even gonna say the least like like to say that
50:04
like, it was just disappointing all the way around, especially the performance they
50:07
put on the season before in the playoffs and the way they ended the season
50:10
the year before to go out last year and basically lay a whole goose egg
50:15
for the second half of the season when you start, I believe I think
50:16
they started like six and two, yeah, yeah, yeah, seven and
50:22
two, and then they just fall off the face of the planet. That's
50:23
just it doesn't make any sense to me. So I hope they do upgrade.
50:28
But I don't see the upgrade. I don't. I'm not I I
50:30
do not like Gave Davis as a football player. I believe Gave Davis is
50:32
a once every five game type of player where he shows up and then I
50:37
don't think I think going letting, I get letting Calvin Ridley walk gives you
50:42
a second pick, second round pick instead of a third round pick. I
50:45
believe, Yeah, but you can replace them in the draft. But I'm
50:49
just not a big believer in Gave Davis. I've never been. And then
50:52
as far as bringing in mac Jones, the backup Trevor Lawrence, that was
50:57
like the weirdest thing I've seen. Yeah, yeah, that yeah, but
51:01
you know it's cool you get a premium backup quarterback in the NFL. I
51:05
guess that's still figuring things out. But you know, so Otto, their
51:13
move makes no sense to me. Darnold Savage is good. That's a good
51:16
that's a good pick up from the position. Put him next to Andre Cisco,
51:21
so that's a good that's a good little tandem right there. Yeah,
51:23
But nothing much, nothing much from this Jaguars free agency that's been pretty good.
51:31
But as far as from the Texans, it's pretty much the opposite here
51:36
in which you trade for Joe Mixed, you get a workhorse running back.
51:39
What have they done? Then Dalton Schultz, they got it, they got
51:45
it. Tied ed or or re signed him three year, thirty six million,
51:49
the Neil Hunter, they got him. Then Denico Autry, Aziz al
51:53
sha Here Mike Ford, Lonnie Johnson, Desmond King, Jeff Okuda, Eric
51:58
Murray. Those are all D defensive signings right here. Obviously a plus.
52:04
Yeah. Okay, So so do you think now the Texans they're legit contenders
52:08
now after these moves? Yeah, they can lose to the Chiefs. I
52:14
believe they can. So. Yeah, they are concenters this they're what they
52:20
have done this offseason has been great. As he's shy here. I said
52:24
that he was a good earlier. I said that he's a good sleeper in
52:28
the NFL. People don't know much about him. Desmond King, you resign
52:30
him, Jeff Akudo, you bring in who I'm still a believer in Jeff
52:32
Acuda. I have no idea why I'm a believer and Jeff I just know
52:37
I've seen him play when healthy, and when he plays when healthy, he's
52:40
a pretty good player in the NFL. The thing is he's just never healthy,
52:44
so everyone thinks I'm wrong, which I am not. And then Daniel
52:52
Danielle Hunter putting alongside why am I going for? Yeah, Will Anderson,
52:59
I was gonna say Will McDonald. I don't know why I was gonna say
53:01
McDonald. But the tied end from the Steelers. Crap. Nah, Will
53:07
McDonald's from Iowa. I think he plays for the Jets right now. He
53:13
was heard in the first round last year too. Yeah, from Iowa state.
53:16
I'm thinking searched up right now. Yeah I am. Yeah he is,
53:22
Yeah he is. But I know there's another Will McDonald here. You
53:27
go on with your speech. I'm gonna I'm gonna try to find it.
53:29
Go ahead, you're good, all right? So yeah, I like I
53:32
like what they have done. Younk Autry is a pretty good to ship up
53:37
the interior. They they are too. I believe in already good defense.
53:40
You just made it even better already. And then you're bringing Donald Schultz,
53:45
who I think played him pretty pretty well for them last season. And then
53:49
the biggest thing is bringing in Joe Mixon. I don't know what happened to
53:52
Damian Pierce last season, but bringing in Joe Mixon is gonna help this team
53:55
out a lot. He's a lot more consistent of a player. He's not
53:58
gonna wow you with his that's every game. But what he does is he's
54:01
he just gets the ball in bunches and he's able to take the workload on
54:06
and that takes a lot of pressure off C. J. Stroud, which
54:07
I think is gonna be big for them next year. McDonald. So update,
54:13
I was thinking of Vance McDonald tight end who played for the Yeah and
54:21
and formal forty nine er. Yeah, I don't know, just random stuff
54:23
that I remember, but all right, random player of the day guys,
54:28
Vance McDonald. Vance McDonald, shout out to him. But let's let's move
54:34
on to this AFC North. Yeah, AFC North, in which there there
54:42
was some moves here in which first we'll talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers in which
54:45
they got Russell Wilson and Patrick Queen and then they received Dante Jackson from trading
54:51
away Deontay Johnson. So as far as with Russell Wilson here, they've it
54:55
seems like they've been a quarterback away the entire time. Is Russell Wilson the
55:00
answer to this team? I don't know. I don't know if he's the
55:09
answer, And we will find out if he's the answer, because that is
55:15
I don't know. I don't know if he's the answer, because what he
55:17
showed in Denver was just it's just slow, methodical, like fundamental football,
55:25
not not turning the ball over, just moving it down the field and then
55:30
on the Stillers, George Pickens gets mad when you do that, so I
55:32
don't know, I don't know where we're gonna go. And then you trade
55:36
Deontay Johnson away, so you have Calvin Austen and George Pickens as your receivers
55:42
at this very moment, which I don't know if that's a good thing.
55:45
And then you have then you have Patrick Queen who's recent who's signing, which
55:49
is a really big signing for the defense. Defense. The defense is good,
55:52
so and they bring in Dante Jackson, a good depth piece for the
55:55
cornerback room. But Patrick Queen is gonna get a chance to be the star,
56:00
a next next to Alex Heighsmith who plays on the line and and in
56:04
coverage. So it's a good pickup for them. Kind of weird that the
56:07
I get the Ravens have other moves to make and they let him go,
56:09
but Patrick Queen gets a good deal for him to be on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
56:13
I just don't know about Russell Wilson. I can't give you off my
56:15
prediction. I just don't know. So I think that well, okay,
56:20
even last year I was I was higher on Russell Wilson. Then, majority
56:23
of the people, I'm not gonna say Russell Wilson he leads them to the
56:29
super Bowl here, but I think that it's gonna be a significant push as
56:34
far as making them to the playoffs, maybe winning a playoff game or so,
56:38
sous Russell Wilson again, for this team, like you mentioned Josh,
56:45
you need him to just be a nice, slow, methodical pace type of
56:47
quarterback. With that stack defense, you have TJ. A. Watt,
56:51
Alex Heismith, Joey Porter Junior, and now Patrick Queen. So this defense,
56:57
it's gonna keep you in a bunch of ball games here. So Russell
57:00
Wilson, all that he has to do more and more likely it looks like
57:06
he has to just score between seventeen and twenty four points. And he's a
57:09
veteran. He can definitely do that, scoring anywhere from seventeen to twenty four
57:15
points for a quarterback like that, I'm not saying it's easy, but he
57:19
knows how to get the job done. That's one thing. Russell Wilson knows
57:22
how to get the job done, and he knows what it takes to win.
57:27
But yeah, got them stop it, Stop it but all right,
57:32
let's move on to the Browns here, or the Browns and Bengals will count
57:37
kind of tie these two teams in here together. First we'll talk about the
57:40
Browns. They got Jamis Winston as a backup quarterback, They got June in
57:45
trade and re signsa Darius Smith. And then the Bengals here they got Zack
57:52
Moss basically trade or got him as a replacement for Joe Mixon, franchise tag
57:58
t Higgins, Mike Gaseki, and Drew Sample. Then picked up an offensive
58:02
lineman, oh no, re signed him Cody Ford. So not really much
58:07
movement, just more re signing here. So do you think out of these
58:13
two teams, both of these teams they had injury riddle quarterbacks here? So
58:20
do you think that both of these teams could make playoff pushes here with their
58:24
quarterbacks coming about? Yeah, famous Jamis is going to be the starting quarterbacks
58:29
of Cleveland Browns by week three. You'all heard it here. I guarantee it,
58:32
so guarantee you'll heard it here first. You'll heard it here on the
58:37
soul called Sports Alans. Jameis Winston will start Week three versus whoever they're playing
58:40
all right, and then but I like to pick up four of the Cleveland
58:45
Browns in Jerry in Jerry Judy, I believe it adds their makes their wide
58:51
receiver room pretty formidable with Amari Cooper, Jerry Judy, Elijah Moore, and
58:55
then plus Cedric Tillman came on strong towards the end of the season and it
59:00
like helped, it helped their offense out, especially get moving with Joe Flacco.
59:05
I don't know if it was more of Joe Flacco spreading the ball around
59:07
like he does, but but it helped. I think this is a really
59:13
deep wide receiver room for them, and especially along with David Joku. So
59:15
the receiving weapons are there. So whichever quarterback, which is probably gonna be
59:20
Jameis Winston leads this team, they're gonna have weapons at their disposal. As
59:24
far as the as the Cincinnati Bengals, They're just they're just getting worse,
59:29
and I love it. I just I don't I don't care like they could.
59:32
You know, T Higgins don't want to be there no more, Tyler
59:35
Boyd don't want to be there no more. Joe Burrows about to put his
59:39
team in contract binding stuff, you know, Zach Moss whatever, you know,
59:44
it's cool. I don't care like they didn't do much to make themselves
59:49
better. Mike Geseki's cool. I like him. Gritty. Nah. I
59:55
think I think Cincinnati they're gonna be fine. You have Joe Burrow Chase.
1:00:02
Believe that. I truly do believe it, just because you're hating over there
1:00:07
because old Burrowhead, or you're just lucky that he got hurt last year and
1:00:14
and they or they weren't able to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs. But
1:00:17
yeah, no, I think the Bangles are going to be fine. As
1:00:21
far as with the Browns, uh, they have a stack team and it
1:00:30
never, it never fails during the pod that your mic, that your mic
1:00:34
stops. It never, it never fails. You could always tell what your
1:00:43
face. It's just like a oh ship face no but but no, yeah,
1:00:50
no, the Bangals are going to be fine. The Browns are going
1:00:52
to be fine. But nothing too crazy here. And as far as with
1:00:55
this last team here in the North, the Ravens. Obviously we talked about
1:01:00
Derrick Henry here, but the other big signing was justin Mattabk. They re
1:01:04
signed him four year, ninety eight million dollar contract seventy five million guaranteed,
1:01:09
So do you think there really wasn't other than those two signings that was pretty
1:01:16
much it. Do you think they're gonna make another deep playoff run? Because
1:01:22
they did lose Patrick Queen, they lost Geno Stone, and they lost Us
1:01:27
Edwards. So do you think they're gonna make another deep playoff run? Or
1:01:30
was at it last year? I think they still can't make a deep playoff
1:01:37
run. They still have Kyle Hamilton, they bring him back man a bouquet
1:01:39
and then they and then on the offensive side, I don't know. Actually,
1:01:45
their receivers are kind of depleted at the moment. Zay Flowers is the
1:01:49
only one that I think there that is respectable, you know, So are
1:01:53
they gonna drap another receiver? That's to be seen? Yea. Mark Andrews
1:01:58
is gonna come back from is going to come back? Well he did come
1:02:00
back, but he's going to be healthy next season. So I think they
1:02:06
still have what it takes to be in the playoffs, but to make a
1:02:07
deep run, I just need to see a little bit more holes get filled
1:02:10
for this team. Yeah wait, what what? Josh? What? Okay,
1:02:24
let's go to the a FC East Yeah, see what they have done.
1:02:29
Yeah, let's go to the a f C. East. Oh.
1:02:35
I'm telling you, guys, I'm telling you guys, it's it's not it's
1:02:39
not me. It's not me. That that just proves my point right there.
1:02:45
I don't even have to say nothing. It's it's all him winning the
1:02:47
holes to be filled and ship but makes the money, you know what I'm
1:02:53
saying. That's crazy, That is so crazy. But as far as the
1:03:00
Buffalo bill bills here, uh, they let go of a bunch of people
1:03:05
here and they they mostly re signed people here. So it's really gonna be
1:03:12
a Josh Allen dependent team here. So do you think do you think that's
1:03:16
gonna get them far in the playoffs? Or do you think it's gonna be
1:03:20
more of the same. No, it's more of the same. They're trash.
1:03:24
I'm just kidding. I'll give a little Yeah, I don't know.
1:03:30
I just don't these signings. Just don't scream. I'm getting better to me.
1:03:32
They lost, especially losing Gave Davis. I don't like Gave Davis,
1:03:37
but they still lost a serviceable wide receiver two for the time being. And
1:03:42
I don't know. We'll just see what they do in the in the draft.
1:03:45
Yeah, yeah, no, we'll see. And then another team that
1:03:47
lost a lot here was the Miami Dolphins, but they signed a couple of
1:03:52
pieces. They got Jordan Brooks, Anthony Walker, two linebackers, got Shaq
1:03:57
Barrett, they got John new Smith, and then they got Jordan Poyer.
1:04:01
So a couple of additions here. But it all depends on to it here.
1:04:09
So do you do you think that this well, I know I keep
1:04:14
saying this with different teams, but it seems like this team right here is
1:04:18
really the team. The past two years have has just been trying to get
1:04:21
over the hump as far as quarterback play. But do you think this this
1:04:27
year there's a chance for it it could finally happen. No, did you
1:04:31
see that noodle arm in Kansas City in the playoffs. I don't think it's
1:04:34
gonna I don't think it's gonna happen. I've just done a big two of
1:04:38
believer, product of product of the players around him, much like Brock Purty.
1:04:43
So these guys noddle arms. They just can't get the job done,
1:04:46
especially when the times get rough, when it gets cold, when you got
1:04:49
out throw the best quarterback in the NFL. You just can't do it.
1:04:51
So I don't think it gets them over the home, you know. So,
1:04:57
uh, they they didn't lose a lot. I like the John new
1:05:00
Smith signing. He's a good tight in the NFL. I like John Smith
1:05:03
a lot. Zach Shaq Barrett is cool, he's on and off. Jordan
1:05:08
Brooks is good. I just Jordan Poyer is a sleeper. I just want
1:05:13
to see what he can do going into next season. That's gonna be a
1:05:15
pretty goodb room. If he's at full at full strength, if he's able
1:05:18
to do a little bit of what he usually does, then they're that's gonna
1:05:21
be a good dB room. But as far as that, I just they
1:05:27
didn't get over the hump a little bit, especially all the big moves that
1:05:29
they that they do make. It's about time that they do something. Yeah,
1:05:33
yeah, it definitely is. And these last two teams right here,
1:05:39
it's Patriots and the Jets right here, which the Patriots freaking did it.
1:05:44
Yeah, got a whole new team. The Patriots did a lot. So
1:05:46
I'm gonna just go and list all the players. Jacoby Brissett, Nathan Royke,
1:05:49
Antonio Gibson, Kendrick Bourn Jalen Rager, Hunter, Henry Austin Hooper,
1:05:55
Tyron Wheatley Jr. I'm gonna just say, oh, Rockafour, I'm not
1:06:00
gonna butcher his first name, Mike Mike Anwu, Josh Ucci, Christian Ellis,
1:06:08
Sony Taki Taki, Kyle Duggar. So it's mostly just re signings here
1:06:13
and yeah, yeah, pretty much with cool names. So there's honestly no
1:06:23
disrespect any Patriots fans here. But these these signings they're not really they're not
1:06:28
really anything crazy here. They're not. I'm sorry, I'm kind of disappointed
1:06:32
that Kendrick Born resigned. I was hoping he would come to the Chiefs.
1:06:35
That was a big guy that I wanted with Kendrick Bourne. Yeah, he's
1:06:39
a good player. I think it's just whatever he wants to lose is cool.
1:06:44
Patriot Way and the Jets here, they got Tyrod Taylor as a backup
1:06:48
quarterback, Zach Wilson of still requesting the trade, got John Simpson, Isaiah
1:06:54
Oliver, and re signed Greg Zerline. So they they got one offensiveeman here
1:07:00
and then you got a serviceable backup in Tyrod Taylor who can win you ball
1:07:05
games. So even if Aaron Rodgers does go down, you'll still have a
1:07:10
chance to win ball games. So how do you feel about the Jets this
1:07:13
year so far? Pending draft, pending draft. I feel like they're broke,
1:07:19
so they can't pay no one for there. They're just going into what
1:07:25
they have next season. I do think they need to address wide receiver,
1:07:28
the wide receiver position a little bit, and offensive line defense is perfectly fine,
1:07:31
but receiver an offensive line is what they need. A target in the
1:07:35
draft. Yeah, I agree, And before we get onto draft, I'm
1:07:40
gonna just list a few people that are still available. So Calvin Ridley,
1:07:45
Devin White, Kendall full With, Marcis Brown, Bobby Wagner, Tyron Smith,
1:07:48
Stefan Gilmour, Chase Young, Eric Arms said, Justin Simmons to Daveon
1:07:54
Clowney. That's just a couple of names out of out of a lot left.
1:07:59
So there's definitely still more free agents that are available. But that's just
1:08:04
as of it right now. We We could get into that another day,
1:08:06
but let's go in and get into NFL draft. As far as what we
1:08:12
saw from the combine here, so there was there was plenty that happened here,
1:08:16
a lot that happened actually, and a couple of big names is like
1:08:20
xavier' Worthy breaking the forty yard dash, him potentially moving up in the combine.
1:08:26
But other than that, what stood out the most to you here,
1:08:30
Josh hmm. I'm the name I'm gonna give. I'm gonna give Keon Coleman
1:08:44
is props. I was. I'm not a big believer in ke Coleman for
1:08:46
specific reasons that I cannot say on this podcast, but he but he kind
1:08:54
of proved me. He kind of proved to me that I kind of want
1:08:57
him as a chief a little bit based off what he did in them.
1:09:00
Understand, his forty yard time is not gonna blow people away, but it's
1:09:02
pretty good for a guy that's six foot four, right, six foot four,
1:09:05
six foot three, pretty good. And then when you watch his what's
1:09:11
the drill that they do when it's the straight line drill? Are just gonna
1:09:14
call it that where they throw the ball not yeah, we're just gonna be
1:09:16
waiver. Yeah he didn't. He didn't waiver off his line at all.
1:09:21
He ran, his strong hands kept running. They didn't. There you can
1:09:26
see players like Troy Frentlin who are bobbing and weaving through the line. Now
1:09:29
he was he was catching him hands a stone and moving through it and going
1:09:32
at twenty miles prior at that almost as fast as his actual forty times.
1:09:36
So he plays, he plays how fast he is, how fast he is
1:09:42
is, how he plays so and plus his catch radius is insane, so
1:09:45
he's kind of moving up. And then Laddi McConkie, for specific reasons why
1:09:49
I cannot say on this pot, I did not think he was gonna be
1:09:51
that fast, and he ran a four to four zero. And I'm a
1:09:55
big believer in Laddi mcconkee now because he is one of the best route runners
1:09:58
in the draft. And if he can and if he can fall his way
1:10:00
to thirty two, I'm here for it if they if we get him too.
1:10:04
But we're gonna we're gonna talk about Xavier Worthy a little bit. The
1:10:09
speed. The speed is there, we know that, and I understand people
1:10:12
are gonna move him up entirely high into the draft because of that speed alone.
1:10:16
And we've seen that happen before and it has not turned out good one
1:10:19
time, not one time, has it. Henry Roy is an exception.
1:10:25
Due to circumstances, we could not talk about on this pod. But everyone
1:10:28
else they they they were just not good. Anyone that who has ran that
1:10:33
fast forty has not been that good in the NFL. So it's just up
1:10:38
to see if zayer Worthy can because also he is a smaller receiver, like
1:10:43
he has the height, but he's only maybe one fifty nine sixty two if
1:10:46
he needs to add on some weight to be good. And the only player
1:10:50
that we've seen actually be really good in the NFL at that size is DeVonta
1:10:54
Smith. And that's just that's DeVonta Smith, Heisman Trophy winner right here.
1:10:58
So you got to be a different breed to be able to make an NFL
1:11:00
at that size. Man, there's a lot of stuff that we can't talk
1:11:04
about on this pod. No, but yeah, as far as Xavier Worthy,
1:11:11
yeah, as far as all this hype that he's getting, now,
1:11:15
I just hate that forty yard dashes. Like I texted you, Josh,
1:11:18
there's no real chance in the NFL that you're going to just be able to
1:11:24
run forty yards straight, straight speed because as a wide receiver, you're having
1:11:29
to get off the line, you're having to go left, change of direction,
1:11:31
stuff like that. I'm not saying that being fast, that's a liability,
1:11:35
but again small frame, and not to mention, you're next to Donnie
1:11:42
Mitchell, who I think is a better receiver out of these two. So
1:11:45
it definitely does help. And I think that is draft stock. It's gonna
1:11:49
go from being a second round pick where he should go, to being a
1:11:55
top fifteen pick, where now there's more expectations on them. So it's more
1:12:00
that it's not that Okay, I think Exavier Worthy he can be a good
1:12:04
receiver, but if he's dropped drafted as a top fifteen, he's gonna be
1:12:09
expected to be a great number one receiver out of the gate. So I
1:12:14
just don't think that's possible. But as far as a question here that I
1:12:18
wanted to ask you, so JJ McCarthy, he's really moved up the draft
1:12:24
boards. Oh my gosh. And I know you're not a JJ McCarthy fan,
1:12:28
but it's really looking like he's going to be a top ten pick now.
1:12:32
So how do you feel about that? JJ McCarthy, Go ahead.
1:12:38
I was watching First Draft and mel Kiper and Philyates both agree that they had
1:12:42
JJ McCarthy possibly going above Drake May. That is insane. You're gonna take
1:12:46
a guy who let Blake Cormer on the ball thirty two straight times. Does
1:12:50
Penn State go above Drake May and hot take? Drake May's gonna better than
1:12:56
Kile Williams hot take, hot take. I'm putting it right there, put
1:12:59
laying it on the table. I will say that right here, right now,
1:13:02
you know, so, yeah, I said that. And then JJ
1:13:08
McCarthy, I don't know, Like I just sure you can line up in
1:13:11
the combine and throw a ball when no one's rushing at you and no one's
1:13:15
you know, if he could, if you could really throw the ball back
1:13:19
and if you look up, I want someone to search up JJ McCarthy highlights
1:13:23
on YouTube after this podcast or right now, if you can posit, go
1:13:27
look at some JJ McCarthy highlights and watch how many out routes and bubble screens
1:13:31
and slants and drags he's throwing and throws that are not down the field.
1:13:36
It's just not there. Especially some of the throws he made versus Alabama.
1:13:40
They were tip balls that landed in the receiver's arms. Who took it to
1:13:43
the touchdown, took it to the twenty yards down the field or for a
1:13:45
touchdown, it wasn't him hitting them. So I am not a JJ McCarthy
1:13:49
believer. If you draft him, you're losing a lot of draft capital because
1:13:56
you're gonna look back and think, dang, I'm really dumb as a GM.
1:14:00
I shouldn't have this job if I draft JJ McCarthy. That's how low
1:14:01
I am on JJ McCarthy. Well, okay, I'm not that low on
1:14:06
him. I just set low. Yeah, I could tell you just just
1:14:12
his interviews, bro, like they just irk me. Bro, Like they're
1:14:15
so political and freaking scripted and like he had media training, like get out
1:14:21
of here, bro, show me some emotions, show me, like like
1:14:26
say something racist, dude, Like say something like like, dude, I
1:14:30
want to hear something. I want to hear something different. At least Caleb
1:14:32
Williams gets people talking. Caleb Williams people hate him now because how cocky is
1:14:36
Like I want to hear something that just gets me, like likes that guy
1:14:41
or like hell yeah, or like no, like I don't feel any emotion
1:14:45
towards JJ McCarthy. It's just like it's just really like you're a loser,
1:14:48
Like you don't know if you're just you're just everything about you scripted. I
1:14:53
don't know. I don't believe in him. Well, okay, so turn
1:14:58
out to be like the greatest quarterback of all time. And I just bashed
1:15:00
him on the first on the podcast. That would be so funny. Okay,
1:15:06
to defend JJ McCarthy here, he does have some athleticism and going twenty
1:15:14
seven and one, you still have to make prospect and forty four touchdowns to
1:15:18
nine interceptions the past two seasons. That is pretty good when you throw bubble
1:15:24
screens and out routes the whole time. So so again, he can make
1:15:30
those tight window throws. But it's all it's it's all good at depend.
1:15:35
It's all good at depend on the situation here. If he goes to Minnesota,
1:15:42
I feel really confident as far as with Kevin O'Connell. I believe that's
1:15:45
his name right there, the head coach. Yes, he can make JJ
1:15:50
McCarthy look better than what he actually is. He can and that's gonna be
1:15:56
a system where he thrives with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ. Hockinson.
1:16:00
That's the only spot that I really see that's that's really likely where it's
1:16:03
like, okay, this will work here. But anything other than that,
1:16:08
I'm not really sure. I'm being honest here. So potentially Minnesota. Potentially
1:16:15
Minnesota here they have they have the eleventh pick. Denver. I'm not really
1:16:20
high on Denver as far as getting them. They don't have the weapons around
1:16:25
them compared to Minnesota. I'm just saying he ends up going what what pick
1:16:30
does Denver have right now? Oh? Wait, they don't have their first
1:16:35
round pick. They would have to trade up. No, they have picked
1:16:38
twelve. I'll pick twelve. Okay, Yeah, potentially I feel like teams
1:16:44
are gonna have to trade into the top five for JJ McCarthy, I think.
1:16:47
Okay, let's just do okay, let's just do a mock draft one
1:16:54
through eight right here, just just really quick. Okay, So Chicago Bears,
1:17:00
wait, what to Tavi on Sanders was kidding? Yeah, I agree,
1:17:11
They're gonna They're gonna trade the pick and then they're gonna keep Justin Fields
1:17:14
and then the Washington comes Kid, they're gonna take kaya Williams. Yeah,
1:17:17
no, they're taking Caleb all right, Commanders here, Drake may Okay,
1:17:23
this is where I have Jayden Daniels here, the number three of the Patriots.
1:17:28
Jay and Daniels. So this is where I think a trade could happen.
1:17:33
Right here. I could see Oakland potentially going up for Drake May.
1:17:36
I still see Drake May either way. Number four okay, number five the
1:17:45
Chargers mileage neighbors. So again the the three and five spots. I really,
1:17:55
I really see trades happening here. But yeah again, I I like
1:18:00
Molik neighbors here because Quentin Johnson after last year, that's not that good of
1:18:05
a move. Okay. Number six New York Giants. See, I don't
1:18:14
know if they go Romo Dunza or they go Joel quarterback. Oh yeah,
1:18:25
JJ McCarthy, JJ McCarthy being a giant. Wow. So I say to
1:18:31
that media, see how that media training gets you there. But so I
1:18:36
see I see joll going here. I don't think they take a quarterback.
1:18:41
I think that's more realistic. I'm gonna go Joel. Also, so number
1:18:45
number seven here tennessee time Romo duns I see for Shano here ol Shan here
1:18:54
from Penn State. The number eight the last pick right here, which it
1:18:58
would be Atlanta. Okay eight Atlanta, Oh, mob trade from Atlanta.
1:19:08
I'm tripping, oh Atlanta. Number eight it's a tough situation. Mm hmmm.
1:19:16
They don't really have needs. Like I look at them, I don't
1:19:18
think they have needs. They're a good team all around. They just brought
1:19:26
in Kirk Cousins four years. They're not drafting a quarterback. So nope,
1:19:31
it's a tough spot. Mitchell. Oh wait, the D the d T
1:19:41
or the dB, the dB, the dB. Okay, okay, okay,
1:19:45
okay, I'm thinking of the right one. I I want to say
1:19:48
Romeo Dnze, but they just got They just got Darnel Mooney. I was
1:19:53
gonna say Brock Bowers and just have Brock Bowers and Kyle Pitts on the same
1:19:56
team with that would be sa That would be nasty. But I'm gonna have
1:20:01
to say Dallas Turner. Here the edge. I can see them going edge.
1:20:05
They are getting older. Yeah, that's a good one, Dallas Turner.
1:20:11
I should see that right there. Okay, So out of so far
1:20:16
again, uh stocks they always rise and fall throughout the entire time until the
1:20:23
draft starts. We really don't know. But are there any surprises as far
1:20:28
as somebody who's risen up the draft boards after this combine? For you?
1:20:35
Let me look real quick let me see if there's anyone on this list that
1:20:39
really pops out to me. Uh No, but we were talking about Brandon
1:20:47
Fisk from Florida State. Braidon Fisk, he's rising insanely, insanely. He
1:20:55
was he like a fourth fifth round projection, and then after his combine he
1:20:58
rose to the second round. That's a pretty big jump from a guy that
1:21:00
was that was pretty not even game thought about going that high, and then
1:21:04
what he did in the combine really set him apart. The thing that that
1:21:09
kind of does like kind of wayver me. He is like on the smaller
1:21:12
side for a defitive tackle in the NFL, but he does have the speed,
1:21:15
so I can see him playing along a playing a part along all parts
1:21:18
of the off defensive line in the NFL based off his speed alone. Yeah,
1:21:24
so obviously JJ McCarthy, that's the biggest one right there. But that's
1:21:28
the biggest one. Yeah, that's that's the biggest one. But I think
1:21:30
one for me is it's not really uh someone who's risen, but somebody who's
1:21:36
kind of fell down the draft boards. It's Brock Bowers. Yeah, it's
1:21:41
not necessarily his fault, it's just other players they've risen up so much.
1:21:46
And I think if Xavier Worthy he goes, he goes in the top fifteen
1:21:50
range. I can see brock Bowers dropping down to the twenties. And it's
1:21:56
not necessarily Yeah, no, no, definitely not. No, it would
1:22:00
be nice. No, Now if if the Chiefs gip rock Powers, No,
1:22:08
I'm not watching football. I'm not watching football. I just know I
1:22:12
get there's a need. There's needs at other premium positions. But if you
1:22:15
notice, most teams that are good have that premium position. Yeah, their
1:22:19
tight end is probably the best player on offense. Like if you if you
1:22:24
look at if you not probably like he, there's other good players, but
1:22:28
look at Mark Andrews, Travis Kelsey, Sam Laporta, George Chaks. These
1:22:32
are all teams that were in the conference championship and they have there. They
1:22:36
have arguably the top four of the top five tight ends in the NFL.
1:22:41
So that's the secret get a tight end? Yeah, it is it really
1:22:44
because it's a game changer, you know, so, like you can't really
1:22:46
game plan for a great tight end in the NFL. And I think a
1:22:49
lot of teams are gonna have to realize that, Like a team like the
1:22:53
Bengals, and I hate to say it, if they they could probably trade
1:22:56
up if they don't go if they don't want to go tackle, which they
1:22:59
probably should, but they want to and shure up a little bit. They
1:23:02
could go after a brock Bauers to really make the offense click and possibly let
1:23:06
T Higgins go. Oh or maybe you could just run it back for one
1:23:13
more year and lose. Yeah, that would be interesting. But now that
1:23:18
we kind of we covered NFL pretty much a lot here, so he do
1:23:24
you think that another player? Do you think the combine hurt him? I
1:23:30
think it did because there was a chance that he was going to go into
1:23:33
the top ten here at least the best at one point, like considered like
1:23:40
he was up there with Dallas Turner. But I think he may even drop
1:23:44
down to the twenties because now I'm really seeing projections as far as him even
1:23:47
making it to the Cowboys, which we have twenty four if I'm not mistaken,
1:23:53
which I would love to see that. But again, I feel like
1:23:56
it's kind of a Vanderer situation because I believe he does he does have a
1:24:00
neck injury or did have a neck injury. So it's a matter of health
1:24:05
and then the combine heard him. But he's still a first round pick,
1:24:10
so I wouldn't be surprised if he goes anywhere from the eight range to another
1:24:15
player Xavier leget that guy. That guy is gonna be a dog. I
1:24:20
don't know where he's gonna go, but whatever whoever gets that receiver, he's
1:24:26
gonna be like. He killed the combine, like he was jumping out of
1:24:29
the gym. He ran a fast forty and he was he looked good throughout
1:24:32
the drill. So I feel like that's it. That's someone that's gonna be
1:24:35
rising quite a bit come draft season, especially on his pro day. I
1:24:39
think he's gonna show up prety good. Mmm. I honestly, I think
1:24:45
and somebody who who I've been high on throughout this entire time as Brian Thompson
1:24:50
junior. Honestly, I know. I know that Malik Neighbors heels next to
1:24:57
him, and he he had a alright combine. He had an all right
1:25:00
combine, and he's more of a speedster. But I think that whoever gets
1:25:06
him, who's gonna be in the He's gonna be in the twenty ish range.
1:25:11
I feel like this is gonna be really scary for any team here.
1:25:14
I feel like this could be a better version of Gabe Davis here. So
1:25:18
that's just one guy I've been really high on. But is there anybody that
1:25:26
or not anybody? Is there anything else that you want to talk about before
1:25:30
we get into basketball here draft? As far as the draft, I think
1:25:38
another another person to watch for is Max Melton. Bow Melton's brother, the
1:25:43
cornerback. I think he's gonna rise up quite a bit. He has a
1:25:45
lot of speed and he was on a he was on a lower level team,
1:25:50
so I think I think he's gonna rise quite a bit going into the
1:25:55
draft. I think that's the name to watch, Max Melton, cornerback,
1:25:58
future chief you know so well. See also shout out to Trey Benton Man
1:26:03
having a four three ninety. Shout out to him is small, dude,
1:26:09
he is. Well those measurements like five eight. Yeah, but I don't
1:26:14
that's pretty tall. It wasn't I thought it was short. Oh yeah,
1:26:18
yeah it is tall. That's pretty tall. Yeah, that's think. That's
1:26:23
a pretty tall guy. I'm five to seven, so I'm almost there.
1:26:27
Hey, hey, I'm not gonna mention my height here. They just do
1:26:30
our voices and faces. I don't get to mention six ft five, six
1:26:38
foot five, two hundred and fifty pounds, you know, yeah no,
1:26:42
but but all right, I was gonna say something crazy, move on to
1:26:45
it. Yeah, yeah, no, let's not do that. Let's move
1:26:49
on to basketball here, in which we're gonna go over the standings here first,
1:26:56
to start off like we always do so in the Eastern Conference, were
1:27:00
the Boston Celtics still won, the Milwaukee Bucks, two Calves, three Knicks,
1:27:04
four Magic, five Pacers six, six or seven, Miami Heat,
1:27:10
eight, Chicago Bulls, nine Hawks ten, somewhat the same than the Western
1:27:15
Conference the Thunder they're officially the one seed now denvers to Minnesota drops to three
1:27:19
Clippers, four Pelicans, five Sons six Sacramento seven MAVs, eight Lakers,
1:27:27
nine Warriors ten. So any surprising movement for you here, And also I
1:27:35
just want to mention that the Celtics, they're the first team the clinch a
1:27:40
postseason birth and the Wizards. I know we don't talk about the Wizards here,
1:27:45
but they got eliminated from the playoffs, and your Spurs they got eliminated
1:27:48
from the playoffs here, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Any surprises
1:27:54
here. No, honestly, I think it's falling exactly where it should be
1:28:01
projected to be right now. I think, yeah, no, there's no
1:28:05
really no surprises in the East for me right now. M hmm. I
1:28:10
mean the Magic But we talked about them last week and it's not a surprise
1:28:14
no more. Yeah, yeah, no question. So how do you feel
1:28:17
about the Timberwolves them falling down all the way from the one seed to three
1:28:21
seed here? And the Clippers are only three only three games back here,
1:28:27
so they could potentially fall even further here, So how do you feel about
1:28:30
that? And I know there's been some go ahead. Yeah, once Kat
1:28:35
goes down, I expected them to kind of fall off quite a bit.
1:28:39
That's a big offensive weapon that they're gonna lose and a little bit defensively.
1:28:42
So losing a guy like that, it's hard to replace, especially a guy
1:28:45
that's consistently an All Star conversation, is an All Star and has been consistently
1:28:50
good in his career. So it's that's that's tough to that's a tough break
1:28:55
for the timber Wolves who had showed a lot of promise this year. I
1:28:58
honestly think this hurts that her third chances completely to win the championship. Yeah,
1:29:02
because he's gonna be out at least to the playoffs, to the first
1:29:05
round. So and even at that if he does return, how good is
1:29:11
he gonna be? You know what I mean, You're gonna go all the
1:29:14
way from no basketball to playoff intensity basketball. So it's gonna be real tough.
1:29:18
But let's go go ahead and get him to the first game that we
1:29:21
want to talk about. So this week we're only doing four to five games
1:29:27
right here due to everything that happened in the NFL. But the first game
1:29:30
right here, it's the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Minnesota Timberwolves. And what's
1:29:35
the Lakers? They won one twenty to one on nine here, So again,
1:29:41
I know the Timberwolves they didn't have Karl Anthony Towns here, but still
1:29:45
they were the ones heed at the time. So anything that stood out to
1:29:50
you from this game, my freaking computer me, Oh, your computers?
1:29:57
Okay, No, it's good. Of what stood out to me, I'm
1:30:08
gonna have to go with what stood out the most is Anthony Davis going scorch
1:30:14
Earth. I'm not scorched earth, but take I don't know, just the
1:30:18
Glass twenty five freaking rebounds is in saying the twenty seven points, he almost
1:30:23
had more rebounds than he did point. So that's the biggest takeaway. When
1:30:26
you have a player that control the boards like that, you're oftentimes gonna win
1:30:29
the basketball game because he's being pretty dominant that day. Yeah, yeah,
1:30:34
definitely, five assists, seven stills, three blocks, plus fifteen plus minus.
1:30:41
So that dude, he was just really dominant. And and that's been
1:30:45
the biggest thing as far as the past two years. Can Anthony Davis,
1:30:48
can he stay aggressive throughout a big stretch of a series or the season,
1:30:57
and if he can be like this, this is a different Lakers team.
1:31:00
This is a Lakers team that you don't want to face in a seven game
1:31:03
series because, again, Lebron, he's gonna do Lebron things. Twenty nine
1:31:09
points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and two for four from the three
1:31:13
point line and shooting forty one percent from three. I know I brought this
1:31:17
up to you, Josh before we started the pod, but the Lakers are
1:31:21
third since January as far as in three point percentage, So the Lakers are
1:31:27
actually knocking down three pointers now. So it's it's something that if they can
1:31:35
continue I don't know how much they could continue this for because they're not known
1:31:40
as a three point shooting deadly team here, but if they can't continue this
1:31:44
somehow into the playoffs, then you could potentially see a run happening here.
1:31:49
So now that I kind of brought that up, now, can you see
1:31:54
the Lakers doing what they did last year being in the play in and then
1:31:58
sneaking into the playoffs and taking a deep run. No, I for sure
1:32:03
think they can. They have Anthony Davis and Lebron James and the way that
1:32:06
the Angel Russell has been playing over the last couple of games is it's a
1:32:10
lot. It's pretty exciting to see for this team. It's just what we
1:32:14
talked about last week. Also, there's a team that they have yet to
1:32:16
beat eight times over the last eight games that they have played, and that's
1:32:19
the Denver Nuggets. Can you beat the Denver Nuggets. That's the one team
1:32:23
that you need to beat to get over the hump. And I think the
1:32:25
Timberwolves losing Corinthony Towns is gonna make it a little bit easier on the Los
1:32:30
Angeles Lakers. Also, so you know, I'm the youngness of the Oklahoma
1:32:34
City Thunder compared to Lebron and Anthony Davis, who have been here numerous times
1:32:40
before. I think it's gonna help them out tremendously. It's just can you
1:32:43
get over that hump up to Denver Nuggets and I'll believe in you. Yeah,
1:32:46
And I think that's an X factor, Like you mentioned Deanzelo Russell.
1:32:50
If he can do that, then this is a very scary team because it's
1:32:55
not a coincidence that d'anzel Russell forty five percent from three. They beat the
1:33:00
Thunder, who are the number one seed right now, then shoots seventy five
1:33:03
percent from three, beat the Milwaukee Bucks, then shoots forty percent from three
1:33:09
against tim Wolves, who are all good teams, who are teams that that's
1:33:14
that are expected to make playoff runs. If he can do that, be
1:33:17
that third option, that third score, then there's really gonna be something cooking
1:33:21
here. And you have Jared Vanderbilt coming back, you have Gabe Vincent coming
1:33:27
back, so it's something that it it's gonna be scary. Again, I'm
1:33:33
not completely bought into the Lakers yet, but it's gonna be scary. And
1:33:38
let's get into this next game here, which it was the Oklahoma City Thunder
1:33:42
versus in Miami Miami Heat, and what's the Thunder? They won one oh
1:33:46
seven to one hundred here, So did did anything stand out to you here?
1:33:53
I know the Heat they've been better as of late, but the Thunder
1:33:56
they just continue to be dominant. So what stood out? I don't think
1:34:00
anything necessarily stands out for me. I just think Shay is just showing why
1:34:05
he's probably getting one of the favorites to win, why he is one of
1:34:09
the favorites to win MVP. He goes thirty for twenty five. The three
1:34:14
point shooting was a little off for him this night, still went for two
1:34:15
for seven, but the thirty seven points and plus seventeen plus or minus is
1:34:19
always going to get the job done for your team as the point guard,
1:34:21
because that means you're not making mistakes. He only had one turnover in this
1:34:26
game. And if you're if your point if your point guard who is the
1:34:29
majority ball handler, is only having one turnover per game, you're probably gonna
1:34:31
win this basketball game, and especially one that was close like this one hundred
1:34:35
to one oh seven. So that's good to see for them. And then
1:34:39
I think what's cool to see for the Heat. On the other side is
1:34:41
Hima Hawkiz Junior scoring twenty five points off the bench, and but he did
1:34:45
play for thirty one minutes. I understand that, but seeing that from your
1:34:48
rookie has to be pretty good to see, it has to be has to
1:34:50
feel pretty good. Yeah, definitely, And I think this game right here
1:34:58
because like like we mentioned when we're doing side stories last week, the Miami
1:35:02
Heat, they've been one of the better defenses in the league. And it
1:35:08
just gives another reason why for me to buy into the Thunder. So they
1:35:12
were down, they were down to the Heat in the or to start the
1:35:16
second half. Then they came back. Shaye just took over. And when
1:35:21
tough baskets need to be made shake, Gilgis Alexander just knows exactly how to
1:35:26
do that. So there's just everything there. And they just keep beating these
1:35:32
tough teams. So I know there's no experience, but they're playing like they
1:35:36
have plenty of experience here. And Jalen Williams here, I feel like Jalen
1:35:43
Williams, if he can keep doing this, he could keep being the number
1:35:46
two option. Then I really see no problem here. For the thunder because
1:35:50
anywhere from fifteen to twenty points a game, and he's really developed a mid
1:35:55
range shot, then good luck, good luck to the league. Maybe not
1:36:00
this year, but the next year it's gonna be very scary. But let's
1:36:05
go in and get into this next game here, which this is potentially a
1:36:10
finals or was a finals matchup here, which it was between the Boston Celtics
1:36:15
and Denver Nuggets, in which the Nuggets they kind of had to lead the
1:36:19
entire time. Celtics tried to storm back, but Nuggets ended up winning one
1:36:24
fifteen to one on nine. So do you think this proves more about the
1:36:29
Nuggets here how dominant they are, or about the Celtics and them not being
1:36:33
championship material, championship ready. I think this proves more about the Celtics not
1:36:41
being ready, because they're owing two to the Nuggets this season, and a
1:36:45
lot of it has been because Nicola Jovis just takes over on the interior,
1:36:48
like he just he draws the fouls, goes ten for ten from the free
1:36:51
throw line, and he lived in for nineteen from the free goal, thirty
1:36:55
two points. You live in an assists in twelve rebounds. He just does
1:36:58
what he does, and that just really no one can handle them down low
1:37:01
in the paint when where it matters, and he's gonna get his no matter
1:37:05
what, no matter who you put against them when you're the Boston Celtics,
1:37:09
and that's the reason why they have lost two games to the Nuggets this season.
1:37:12
And then also everyone else is kind of kind of picking up a little
1:37:15
bit more slack on the other Aaron Gordon shooting a little bit better, of
1:37:18
Jamal Murray's getting healthier. He only had nineteen. But but they're doing their
1:37:25
jobs to get the wins, and especially a tough Boston Celtics team, they're
1:37:29
they're establishing there, they're establishing their dominance against them before the playoffs even start,
1:37:33
before they even gets to the championship. Yeah, and so Jason Tatum
1:37:40
and or what is averaging this You're twenty seven points, eight rebounds, five
1:37:45
assists, and the games at the Boston Celtics lose, which it's thirteen if
1:37:51
I'm correct, or fourteen now he only averages eighteen points a game, three
1:37:58
assists and five rebounds. Jason Tatum, He's the main reason why these team
1:38:03
or the Celtics lose these games here because he just doesn't show up and is
1:38:08
not aggressive enough. And I think I agree with you here as far as
1:38:14
this shows that the Celtics are not ready, because people will say, Okay,
1:38:17
well, Jason Tatum had an off night. If he was good,
1:38:21
then they would have won this game. But Jalen Brown, he had forty
1:38:25
one points. You expect your dude to have anywhere from fifty to sixty points
1:38:30
in a ballgame when you shoot twenty nine shots. That kind of brings me
1:38:35
into the whole Jordan debate that that I was gonna get into with my dad
1:38:40
earlier. I'm telling you I had an AMMO. I had am already,
1:38:43
but he didn't want this anyways. That's that's off topic. That's off topic.
1:38:47
But they had fifty six combined points, so that's plenty more than enough.
1:38:54
And again people will say, oh, well, the Celtics shot twenty
1:38:57
nine percent from three only made eleven threes. But Josh, don't you think
1:39:00
it's a coincidence that every time the Celtics they struggle to shoot threes, it's
1:39:05
against playoff teams and teams that bring physicality, and that's exactly what it is.
1:39:11
In the playoffs. It's not a coincidence. And the regular season that
1:39:15
can fly, because let's be real, they're not going to game plan as
1:39:20
much. They're gonna say, Okay, well this game, it's a little
1:39:26
bit. They're playing back to backs, and yeah, take the exact night
1:39:29
off and then go and play a game. And another stat that I want
1:39:33
to give you is that the Boston Celtics against the Western Conference is fifteen and
1:39:40
seven, so they're a little bit above five hundred type of team. So
1:39:45
they really don't have or they really struggle against the West compared to the Eastern
1:39:51
Conference, the bottom tier teams, they're not that good, so you can
1:39:56
stack up the easy wins, so their records more more inflated than what it
1:40:00
actually should be. So again, I'm gonna keep saying this till the end.
1:40:06
The Denver Nuggets, they should be championship favorites to proven otherwise. And
1:40:13
it's the safest bet to go on because Nicola Jokic, Jamal Murray, they're
1:40:17
dominant and it it's been proven so far that nobody can stop them. So
1:40:26
anything else you want to take away from this game, now, let's get
1:40:30
onto the next one, brother, all right, and then this next one
1:40:32
we have. It was a Milwaukee Bucks versus the Los Angeles Clippers in which
1:40:39
the Bucks they won one twenty four to one seventeen. Josh, what's stood
1:40:43
out to you from this game? You bring in Damian Lillard to be clutched,
1:40:46
You bringing Daylor Damian Lillard to help steal the deal, and he scored
1:40:49
sixteen in the fourth quarter to take the win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
1:40:53
That's what I take away the most from this game is that Damian Lillard knows
1:40:57
his role and he knows when he needs to step up, and he's done
1:41:00
that in a couple of games so far in the second half of the season,
1:41:02
and the Bucks are looking a lot better because of it. Yeah.
1:41:05
And then he had eleven assists, so he's petitioned the ball out and seven
1:41:10
rebounds. So thirty five points, assists, seven rebounds from Damian Lillard.
1:41:14
That's going to be more than enough. Yeah, And this is what I
1:41:18
like to see from the Milwaukee Bucks now that this one to two punch is
1:41:24
finally to get or getting going. This arguably one of the best duos in
1:41:30
the league by far in the Eastern Conference. So I think this is just
1:41:36
signs to come and I think I don't want to get into our power rankings,
1:41:41
but they're definitely up there with the Celtics. They definitely are as far
1:41:45
as Eastern Conference, potentially being even better. But yeah, no, and
1:41:49
the Clippers again, they're continuing to continuing to struggle. I know they didn't
1:41:54
have Paul George or Kawhi in this one, but they keep they keep sliding
1:41:59
down. They were the three seas and now they're potentially fall into the five
1:42:00
seed. So do you think they could they could turn this around? I
1:42:05
know I asked you this last week, but it seems like they keep falling
1:42:09
even further and further down the standings. So do you think they could turn
1:42:13
this around? I do think they can based off who they have, but
1:42:16
if who they have isn't on the court, then there's no there's no way
1:42:19
they can turn it around. You're asking a lot of role players to do
1:42:23
more than what they possibly can, and James Harden's over here probably probably playing
1:42:28
conservative because he feels like he has to get everyone in the ball because that's
1:42:30
the role he's been kind of not diminished, but he's taking on. And
1:42:33
so when you have the other stars off the court. He needs to go
1:42:36
back to having that dog and not having Russell Westbrook on your bench. It's
1:42:41
not helped. It's not really helping when it comes to the aggressiveness of the
1:42:44
team. So unless Kawhi Leonar and Paul George are on the team, are
1:42:47
playing, or one of them is playing, I don't really see this team
1:42:54
getting to where they're supposed to be unless they're on the court. Yeah,
1:42:58
yeah, no, I agree with you. And this last game right here
1:43:01
that we're gonna talk about, it's between the Lakers again, which it seems
1:43:06
like we always bring the Lakers up every episode, but there's always something interesting
1:43:11
about him and the Milwaukee Bucks in which Lebron James. He did not play
1:43:15
in the Lakers. They still won one twenty three to one to twenty two.
1:43:19
Josh, what shoot out to you in this one? TAngelo or Russell
1:43:25
Baby stood out to me? In this game? Is the only reason I
1:43:28
really want to talk about this game because this was like, Hey, I'm
1:43:32
a ball today. In thirty eight minutes, he had forty four points,
1:43:36
seventeen to twenty five from the field goal, nine to twelve from three,
1:43:40
and then he had nine assists in this game. And six rebounds. He
1:43:43
filled it up, no matter and to filled up the stat sheet. It's
1:43:46
like as much as he could. Dude, you're I knew you were gonna
1:43:49
look up, bro, I'm just looking at it. But he let this,
1:43:56
Oh you good, Okay, Now he let this team on a night
1:43:59
where on and then eighty was even kind of struggling in this game. I
1:44:01
feel like so Dangel the rustill really helped his team get over the top.
1:44:05
And it came down to really almost to really the end of the game.
1:44:10
Yeah, that big defensive stop right there from Spencer Dinwiddie. And again it
1:44:15
it's just for some reason the Lakers. So the Lakers, as as far
1:44:19
as their record at home, if I'm not mistaken, they're twenty four,
1:44:25
They're twenty four and ten at home, so they're one or twenty four and
1:44:28
eleven at home. So they're one of the best home teams. That's the
1:44:30
third best in the entire league. So if they play at home, it
1:44:34
looks like most likely they're going to win with Lebron or not. And again,
1:44:40
the biggest thing is that they have been able to shoot the three ball
1:44:44
as of late, and that's what's really keeping them in the ballgames. And
1:44:47
again, if this three ball keeps going, then good luck beating a team
1:44:54
with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, who are two of the most unsolvable players
1:44:58
as far as getting to the paint. So just just good luck to them.
1:45:03
But let's go ahead and get into our power rankings here for the NBA.
1:45:10
So this is kind of a little bit projecting but also basing off of
1:45:15
what has happened so far. So we'll start from ten to one. So,
1:45:20
Josh, who's your tenth rated team in the power rankings NBA Power Rankings.
1:45:27
My my tenth rated team is gonna be the maver because they did have
1:45:29
a one in five stretch, but they have won two straight games in a
1:45:31
row. But I think a lot of it is due to them having kind
1:45:35
of a tougher, tougher little bit stretch of the of this season. But
1:45:42
yeah, I really think if Don Luca and Kyrie are on, they're gonna
1:45:45
they're gonna win some games, and I think they can get it done in
1:45:49
the playoffs. Will come offensively, it's just a matter. It's just a
1:45:55
matter of them kind of getting it together a little bit defensively, and I
1:46:00
think They need a lot from Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford and on the interior
1:46:03
for this team to really but I do think they have what it takes to
1:46:06
be a contender and for the for the championship when it comes to playoff time,
1:46:11
and right now, as of right now, they just need to get
1:46:13
a little bit better just so they can have have so they could know what
1:46:15
to do. Yeah, so the MAVs, they just barely missed my cut
1:46:20
here. But number ten, I'm gonna have to have the Phoenix Suns.
1:46:25
And the main reason for that is Kevin Durant. He's been on the heater
1:46:28
as of late, ever since the Thunders Thunder game. This dude, he's
1:46:31
just been dominant and he's been unguardable. He's had over thirty points in never
1:46:35
single one of those games, forty in a couple of those games. They
1:46:40
beat the Nuggets, they almost beat the Celtics, beat the Cavaliers. So
1:46:45
you're finally getting Devin Booker back, Bradley Bill. He's finally starting to get
1:46:47
in the rhythm. And if Kevin Durant keeps playing like this, this trio,
1:46:51
they could overcome a lot. I know there's bench issues but if you
1:46:57
have the trio of them, then they could definitely be one of the best
1:47:00
teams in the West. And that's why they're ten for me. Who's nine
1:47:03
for you, Josh? Number nine for me is gonna be the Lakers.
1:47:08
They're on a foreign over the last two weeks, they'd be in the Clippers,
1:47:12
thunder Bucks, and Timberwolves, four of the top teams in the NBA,
1:47:15
and all of it has really came down to consistent play from Lebron when
1:47:19
he is on the court, and then D'Angelo russ are really really stepping up
1:47:24
and showing out in a big way for this team, so they can they
1:47:27
can keep the projector trajectory of going into the playoffs and being a championship continuing
1:47:31
team. And if they can keep doing this, they're gonna rise in my
1:47:34
rankings part a bit. So yeah, again, the Lakers. They missed
1:47:40
my cut. I just need I just need to see a little bit more
1:47:44
from the Lakers, because they're a team that you could definitely argue right if
1:47:48
you if you argue right, you could argue them being a top five team.
1:47:51
But that's something I'm not ready. Give me a week or two then
1:47:56
maybe I'll start arguing that. But for number nine right now, it has
1:48:00
to be the Pelicans, in which the Pelicans I gave the statue again before
1:48:04
the pod they've been the number one rated defense in the past fifteen games with
1:48:09
the one oh one rating, which it's ridiculous. I know they don't have
1:48:14
any and have an interior defender, but the perimeter defense there it's lockdown.
1:48:19
You have Brandon Ingram, you have Herb Jones and just that two foundational pieces
1:48:26
right there. That's great. And then Zion blocking shots left and right.
1:48:30
But beating the Sixers and then beating the Hawks, beating the Raptors, beating
1:48:34
the Pacers on a four game win streak. Here we'll see how they do
1:48:39
against the Cavaliers see if this defense is really legit. But as of right
1:48:44
now, they are the ninth rated team for me. Who's eight for you?
1:48:46
Number eight for me is going to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have
1:48:49
wins over Boston and Minnesota over most recently. But the thing is that why
1:48:56
I don't have them a little bit higher is due to injury. Evan Mumbley
1:49:00
has missed the last three games, Donovan Mitchell the last six games, and
1:49:04
it's and Danner's Garland jer Allen have missed the last three and then Max Druce
1:49:09
has missed the last four, so it's kind of they're they're they're going through
1:49:13
it right now. If they if once they get healthy, you know they're
1:49:16
gonna rise quite a bit. But due to that, I just can't have
1:49:20
them any higher than this because the the what's the word I'm looking for,
1:49:26
the the worry of them just not getting getting healthy is just kind of outweighing
1:49:30
out waivering what I know they can do as a whole. Yeah, and
1:49:35
a team that's finally starting to get healthy for me, who's ready to eight
1:49:39
is the New York Knicks. They finally got o Jan andob Be back,
1:49:43
Jalen Brunton, he's finally starting to look like himself, and the defensive past
1:49:47
three games, it's finally started or it's starting to crank up a notch.
1:49:50
So against the Magic they allowed him to seventy four points, against the Sixers
1:49:56
only seventy nine points, and against the Sixers against the Night seventy nine points.
1:50:00
So they're they're finally starting to get healthy. So now we could finally
1:50:04
judge this next team they're getting that full strength here, so we'll see how
1:50:10
they are. They're eight for me. I could see them rising up even
1:50:14
further next week or in two weeks the next time we do this rankings.
1:50:17
But yeah, the Knicks, they're up there, and they're finally getting healthy.
1:50:20
That's why they're eight for me. For a number seven for me,
1:50:28
I'm gonna go with the New Orleans Pelicans. They're on being in the month
1:50:30
of March as of right now, and they're winning by an average of twenty
1:50:33
two point three points per game, so they're they're they're being pretty dominant.
1:50:38
And then plus they have them league's number one defense since they all start breaks,
1:50:42
so they're really coming into their own as a whole as a team,
1:50:45
as a unit with Zion Jonas, Valen Unis, Brandon Ingram, Jose Alvarado,
1:50:49
all the boys, Herbert Jones, they have a good squad and we
1:50:53
will Everyone's known the Pelicans have had a good squad over the last couple of
1:50:56
years. Just a matter of who. We never know when someone's gonna win,
1:50:59
certain people who are gonna play on this team, we never know from
1:51:01
brandon Ingram's gonna show up for show or not. So if they can keep
1:51:05
this up. But they can keep putting it together and keep playing consistent basketball
1:51:10
like this, then they're gonna be a pretty scary team come playoff time.
1:51:13
And as of right now, they're my number sevent team, so number seven
1:51:16
for me, you had them rated at eight. It's a Cleveland Cavaliers,
1:51:20
And I think the biggest things that stand out for me is the wins against
1:51:24
the Celtics and Timberwolves in which bad players hurt. I know they have a
1:51:29
bunch of injuries, but they keep on winning games against tough teams. And
1:51:33
this game against the Suns, if it wasn't for Kevin Durant having forty five
1:51:38
points in there were no thirty seven points, then they would have walked away
1:51:42
with another another victory against a tough team here. So I think just whenever
1:51:47
Donovan Mitchell he's finally healthy. As far as Evan Mobley, I'm not sure,
1:51:53
but having that another offensive engine there, then I'm not saying there's gonna
1:51:58
be playoff noise, but they would have beaten the rest of these teams here.
1:52:02
And we're going to see a good test with the Pelicans coming up next
1:52:05
to see how they really do. And they have some tough games coming up,
1:52:10
and so we're really going to see how good this team is without some
1:52:13
of their key players. So that's why they're seven for me. Number six
1:52:17
for me is gonna be the Minnesota Timberwolves. I mean they're dropping quite a
1:52:20
bit for me. I had them second when we look back at it before
1:52:25
the Towns of winning the championship, but now I just don't. I don't
1:52:28
have any helpe in them winning without Coron Anthony Towns and he's likely out for
1:52:30
the rest of the season and they're one or they're one and two so far
1:52:34
over the last over their last over their six game trips. So I think
1:52:40
the loss of Coronthony Towns is hurting them and that's why they're dropping for me.
1:52:45
So I had the Timberwolves here, but after tonight's game, I'm gonna
1:52:50
have to put the Clippers here. So the Clippers, they were up twenty
1:52:54
two points against the Timberwolves and they end up losing by eighteen and they were
1:52:59
fully so I was swapping mine. So yeah, I'm have the Clippers here.
1:53:08
And that's two losses in a row against the Bucks and then against the
1:53:13
Bulls where they had no business being in that game. So the Clippers,
1:53:16
they're not going in the right direction here, and even though they have all
1:53:19
the pieces here, they're just not they're just not gelling. I guess Russell
1:53:24
Westbrook he is a bigger loss and what people anticipated. So, yeah,
1:53:28
they're six just based off of pure talent, but the way they've been playing,
1:53:31
they shouldn't even be in the top ten as of late. But yeah,
1:53:34
no, they're number six for me. Yeah, so I'm swapping mine,
1:53:42
Okay, swept swapping like that. I didn't know that they got beat
1:53:45
like that, but the Clippers were five for me. They have they have
1:53:49
what it takes to win is just health. And then the thing is,
1:53:53
over the last six games against five hundred teams above five hundred teams, they're
1:53:57
won and five. So, like like you were saying, they might not
1:54:00
even be able to be in this conversation, but I think it's more of
1:54:02
like a nostalgia, more of knowing who they have and trusting in those players
1:54:06
to get it done. But the thing is they haven't got it done.
1:54:10
So we might be a little too generous with our ranking with them, but
1:54:13
they're still up there in rankings in the standing, so you kind of have
1:54:16
to show your respect there also. Yeah, So number five right here,
1:54:20
I have the Timberwolves, who you had, and honestly, it's just been
1:54:26
because of Anthony Edwards and how he's been stepping up as of late. And
1:54:30
against Indiana after dropping forty four, having the game still and block, and
1:54:36
against Cleveland against Cleveland the Lakers, those two games right there where they lost,
1:54:43
those were two close games right there, so they could arguably be even
1:54:46
higher. So they could be on a four to no stretch here if it
1:54:49
wasn't for a few whistles or a few plays here. So the Timberwolves,
1:54:55
they do have a bunch of injuries, but they still are a top five
1:54:58
team in my opinion. So who's four for you? The Boston Celtics are
1:55:02
number four for me and my power rankings. They had the eleven game one
1:55:06
streak, that's cool, but they have lost two of the last games.
1:55:11
They lost to a Cavaliers team without Donovan Mitchell and then they lost another game
1:55:14
to the Denver Nuggets, and a lot of it has to do with their
1:55:16
interior and they're live and die by the three. What did I was they
1:55:20
shoot fifty one their shots from a three point range yeah, and that's what
1:55:25
happens. You just can't play like that. You need to be able to
1:55:27
create shots for yourself in the mid range, get to the basket, and
1:55:30
that's just things that they're not doing too consistently. For me. I understand
1:55:34
they're the only team to clinch a playoff spot as of right now, but
1:55:39
for me, I have them at number four just because I just don't trust
1:55:41
this team entirely. Yeah, so we actually agree here. So I have
1:55:46
the Celtics here at four. Well, and I thought I was gonna go
1:55:49
crazy. No, No, I agree with you here. And yeah,
1:55:54
like you say, as far as as of late, they definitely have been
1:55:59
making an to get to the paint more, which that's something I like to
1:56:02
see and something if they could can continue this, then all right, that'll
1:56:06
be good. And the emergence of Jaylen Brown as of late, how he's
1:56:11
been really aggressive, that's good. But I just honestly, it just all
1:56:15
depends on Jason Tatum here. If Jason Tatum he could play up to the
1:56:19
top ten level the MVP conversations, which people claim he should be in.
1:56:25
If he plays up to that level, then they would have beaten the Denver
1:56:29
Nuggets. They would have beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers and they wouldn't. And again
1:56:34
against Phoenix, I know they won that game, but there was no business
1:56:38
in that game being that close. So yeah, Celtics. There four for
1:56:42
me. Who's three for you, Josh. Number three for me is gonna
1:56:46
be the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have Shay, they have Jalen Williams coming
1:56:50
on strong, who's a great defender. His offensive game is starting to fill
1:56:55
out. Check plays his role very good because he has a role player.
1:56:59
And then you have Yeah. So they're they're because they're being They're one of
1:57:05
the most consistent teams in the NBA. I understand they've had a couple of
1:57:11
rough losses and but they've also had some pretty good wins. So I'm gonna
1:57:14
keep them here at three. They play consistent basketball and there's no reason to
1:57:17
move them from this spot. So number three right here, I have the
1:57:23
Milwaukee Bucks, and I know they kind of struggled in this California trip right
1:57:28
here that they had, but I just really like what I'm seeing from Damian
1:57:31
Lilo Degiannis, because if this can continue, then there you can't stop this
1:57:38
in the playoffs. You you can't. And their defense it has been better
1:57:42
underneath Doc Rivers. So just the biggest thing is perimeter defense here, perimeter
1:57:47
defense and the defense has gotten better. But you're gonna be playing guys in
1:57:53
the Eastern Conference. You're gonna be playing against the Tyree Smacksia Jalen Brunson at
1:57:58
Jason Tatum. Who's gonna be on the pre Can you guard those people?
1:58:01
We'll see, But it definitely has gotten better, and that's why they're number
1:58:05
three. They've risen up a lot as of late. Number two for me
1:58:11
is gonna be the Milwaukee Bucks and a lot of the same reasons that you
1:58:13
just named Damian Lillard. If they're both on, if they're both playing like
1:58:17
the players we know they are, then they're gonna be a tough team to
1:58:20
be And I think they're the team that matches well. The match is the
1:58:24
best against the Denver Nuggets if it comes down to it, because they do
1:58:29
have interior with Brook Lopez and be honest, and they have a guard who
1:58:32
can match Jamal Murray. So I'm gonna go with the Milwaukee Bucks at number
1:58:38
two for me, and I really do think they're they're on upwards trajectory,
1:58:41
not a downwards Yeah. So number two here, I'm gonna keep them here
1:58:46
from the last time, the Oklahoma City Thunder. So again the Thunder,
1:58:50
they just keep they just keep on winning these crucial games here where it's like,
1:58:56
all right, well, this is a playoff type environment or playoff type
1:58:59
situation. Can you prevail? And against the Heat they did exactly that.
1:59:02
So we'll see against some MAVs on Thursday. That's definitely gonna be a tough
1:59:06
test there. But again, the Thunder, they they've just been responding to
1:59:12
all the things that they needed to respond to. And again they they've been
1:59:17
the only team that's been successful with the team that we're about to rank up
1:59:20
here. So this is pretty consensus here. Who we have number one?
1:59:26
Give your reasons why they're number one. The Denver Nuggets. I think they
1:59:32
should be on everyone. They should be number one on almost everyone in the
1:59:35
world's list. I don't think they have done anything to prove any different.
1:59:40
They're too and zero against the team with the best record, which is the
1:59:43
Boston Celtics. They beating the Lakers, who have who have come, who
1:59:46
have played strong over the last couple couple of weeks, so there, and
1:59:53
then the only team that really has beaten them considered is the Oklahoma City Thunder,
1:59:58
but it's also Jamal Murray's been in and out of health. Then Nikolaiovitch's
2:00:03
has had to do a lot, and they've had some shooting struggles. But
2:00:06
I do believe they're starting to get all that figured out and his Denver Nuggets
2:00:10
team's gonna be ready for another run. Yeah. So the Denver Nuggets in
2:00:15
their past ten games are nine to one, in which they lost to the
2:00:17
Suns where Kevin Durant was balling out and Grace Allen had the game of his
2:00:24
life went a for twelve from three, which we'll probably never see. So
2:00:29
the only way to beat the Denver Nuggets is if Nicola Jokic has a bad
2:00:32
game, which we're not gonna see that often, maybe every twenty to thirty
2:00:36
games, and that just happened. They could easily be ten and zero in
2:00:41
this strait. So yeah, no, it's just clear cut that they're the
2:00:44
favorites here and no doubt about it in my mind, no doubt about it.
2:00:48
So number one, I had the Nuggets and Thunder than Bucks, Celtics,
2:00:56
Timberwolves, Clippers, Calves, Nicks, Pelicans, Sons, with the
2:01:00
Lakers just on the brink, So who was your top ten? Just to
2:01:03
list them again? Nuggets, Celtics, Bucks, Thunder, Clippers, Timberwolves,
2:01:10
Pelicans, Calves, Lakers, and MAVs. And then with the with
2:01:15
the Phoenix Suns just on the cusp, but making it for me mm hmm.
2:01:19
And the Kings and the Kings. Yeah, the Kings, they're always
2:01:24
just a sneaky team. But yeah, before we before we get out of
2:01:28
here, like we always do every single week, we have our soul called
2:01:32
MVPs. So, Josh, do you have your so called MVP ready yet?
2:01:38
I'm gonna give it to the Angelo Russell scoring forty four points, showing
2:01:42
up big when Lebron isn't on the court, and proving the haters wrong because
2:01:45
we believe in you on this podcast, the Angelo Russell, So keep balling,
2:01:49
man. So I'm gonna have to give this right here to Nicola Jokis.
2:01:56
Nicola Joki is just what he's been doing. It's just something that's that's
2:02:00
always overlooked for him. I'm gonna give his stats from these past few games
2:02:06
thirty five points, six steals, two blocks, twelve assists, seventeen rebounds,
2:02:11
twenty six points, eight assist, six rebounds. Then against the Celtics
2:02:15
thirty two points, eleven assists, twelve rebounds. This dude, he's just
2:02:19
been on a tear and somehow getting even better and better. It makes no
2:02:24
sense, but an honorable mention is Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, he has
2:02:28
been balling. But anything else you want to say before we get out of
2:02:31
this pod, Hollywood Brown, please come to the chiefs and then. Yeah,
2:02:43
that's that's all. That's all I'm saying. Well, hopefully the Cowboys
2:02:48
they signed somebody please. Oh and y'all be safe on spring break. Don't
2:02:54
do nothing crazy, Yes, of course, safe out there. Yes,
2:02:59
of course, everybody be safe on their spring break. Well, we probably
2:03:02
have some grown folks listening to this, so they probably don't have spring break
2:03:08
anymore. So yeah, so yeah, but before we get out of here,
2:03:14
you guys can follow us on Twitter at Flying Garcia one hundred and underscore
2:03:17
o fons of zero three. Whatever you listen to it on, if you
2:03:20
made it this far, whether it was on sprink or Spotify, our radio
2:03:24
or any other platform, we appreciate it and share it to anybody who likes
2:03:28
NFL, NBA, Josh any last words. No, all right, you
2:03:38
guys, take care and we will see you guys next week.