Latest / 3 Guys, 6 Balls NFL Podcast / 2024 Playoff Teams Who Won't Make The 2025 Playoffs / Non Playoff Teams Who Will & Raiders Talk With Drew Code Sports Talk

Transcript

2024 Playoff Teams Who Won't Make The 2025 Playoffs / Non Playoff Teams Who Will & Raiders Talk With Drew Code Sports Talk · 3 Guys, 6 Balls NFL Podcast

• 0:00
  3 lifelong friends, 6 trusty balls and endless NFL takes.
• 0:05
  Welcome to Three guys 6 Balls NFL Podcast.
• 0:08
  Welcome to episode 11 of Three guys 6 Balls NFL Podcast.
• 0:11
  Today we are completing our cycle of AFC West guests on the
• 0:15
  show. We started off with Tim from
• 0:17
  Answer the Call at Coll who is a Chargers fan.
• 0:21
  Then we had our friend Lincoln who is a Chiefs fan on the show.
• 0:24
  And then last week, due to Avery's fire that didn't
• 0:27
  apparently burn down his house, we had Corey from show VIX
• 0:32
  Sports on the show who is a Broncos fan.
• 0:34
  And today we have Cody who is the Co host of Drew Code Sports
• 0:39
  talk on the show who is a Raiders fan.
• 0:41
  So we're completing the AFC West cycle today.
• 0:44
  Cody, thanks for coming on. Why don't you get us started
• 0:46
  just by introducing yourself. Let us know about a little bit
• 0:50
  about yourself, your podcast, and how you became a Raiders
• 0:53
  fan. Sure.
• 0:54
  So I'm Cody. I'm 1/2 of Drew Code sports
• 0:57
  talk. My best friend Drew, who is the
• 1:00
  front of the name, he is the one that had the brainchild of
• 1:03
  having a podcast. And I've been the guy that's
• 1:05
  kind of been running it behind the scenes because now that he's
• 1:08
  super busy with his career and he he actually coaches high
• 1:11
  school sports. So I have been doing it all
• 1:14
  behind the scenes and hoping that it's his favorite podcast
• 1:16
  is kind of like my favorite slogan.
• 1:17
  But I've been a Raiders fan as long as I can remember.
• 1:20
  I mean, I remember having Jeff George is our quarterback.
• 1:23
  I remember the year where we went to the Super Bowl and lost
• 1:26
  and having my heart broke in there and then the 20 years of
• 1:29
  obscurity as where we are today. And you know, I'm just excited
• 1:33
  that you guys invited me on and hopefully I put on a good show
• 1:36
  for you guys and I'm looking forward to talking ball with you
• 1:38
  all. Sweet.
• 1:39
  Hey, at least you can remember a Super Bowl.
• 1:42
  Oh. Yeah, I'm sorry, bud.
• 1:45
  Will and I are both Cowboys fans and the last time they won was
• 1:48
  when we were what, like 2-2? 95, yeah.
• 1:51
  Well, hopefully the hopefully the fortunes will train will
• 1:54
  turn around real soon. But yeah, well, you know, I've
• 2:00
  been saying that since as as a Raider fan, like hopefully we'll
• 2:02
  get back there and at least the Cowboys have gotten close like
• 2:05
  in the playoffs and at least my Raiders have only gotten
• 2:08
  playoffs 2 years in that 25 year span.
• 2:11
  So at least you guys have been knocking on the door in the NFC
• 2:13
  and been relevant. The Raiders have barely had
• 2:16
  success and are still figuring it out.
• 2:18
  So you know, I would say you guys have a close poster shot
• 2:22
  than we do. We'll see.
• 2:23
  I don't. I don't know.
• 2:26
  I appreciate. I tried.
• 2:27
  I'm sorry guys, I tried. I really tried to.
• 2:29
  Help. We appreciate it.
• 2:30
  We appreciate it. All right, Well, today, since
• 2:33
  Cody is on the show and he's a Raiders fan, we're going to be
• 2:35
  talking a lot about the Raiders. But first, before we do that,
• 2:38
  we're going to get into a little activity that we want to do.
• 2:42
  We're going to talk about some playoff teams from last year.
• 2:44
  So what we're going to do is talk about the playoff teams
• 2:47
  from both the AFC and the NFC. And Avery's going to do the AFC,
• 2:51
  Will's going to do the NFC, and then Cody is going to do the AFC
• 2:55
  and NFC. And they're each going to pick
• 2:57
  one team from each conference that made the playoffs that
• 3:00
  won't make it this season. And then they're going to pick a
• 3:02
  non playoff team from last year that will make it this season to
• 3:06
  replace the team that they're taking out.
• 3:08
  So Cody, since you are a guest, why don't you get us started?
• 3:12
  And we'll leave it up to you if you pick the AFC or NFC to
• 3:14
  start. Let's go with dramatic flair.
• 3:16
  Let's go with the NFC. So for me in the NFC, do you
• 3:20
  want me to pick a non playoff team going to be a playoff or
• 3:22
  playoff team going non playoff? Give us your playoff team from
• 3:27
  last year that's not going to make it, and then give us your
• 3:29
  replacement. Got it.
• 3:31
  All right. So in the NFCA playoff team that
• 3:33
  I was looking at that, I don't think it's going to duplicate
• 3:35
  success into this upcoming year for me is going to be the
• 3:39
  Minnesota Vikings and starting off at 14 and three.
• 3:43
  Of course, JJ McCarthy is essentially going in as a rookie
• 3:46
  quarterback and Sam Darnold's success to me is completely on
• 3:51
  their head coach. And him going to Seattle, I
• 3:53
  don't know if that was the best move for him.
• 3:55
  I feel like he should have stayed in Minnesota with Kevin
• 3:58
  O'Connell, but that's another discussion for another day.
• 4:00
  But ultimately, I think Minnesota, my Co host would
• 4:03
  normally say once they'll once there's film on you, teams will
• 4:06
  figure you out. And I feel like with JJ
• 4:08
  McCarthy, even though he's coming in as somewhat of a
• 4:10
  rookie, I think NFL defenses will really put a real strong
• 4:14
  hold on him. I don't know how much of that
• 4:16
  offense he's really going to have a command over and that
• 4:19
  defense, I mean, I know that they've added a couple of pieces
• 4:21
  on the defensive side. Will they duplicate the same
• 4:24
  success in this upcoming year? I'm not 100% sure.
• 4:27
  So an NFC team for me that I don't know will get back into
• 4:30
  the playoffs, definitely the Minnesota Vikings.
• 4:33
  Yeah, I think you have a good point there.
• 4:35
  One thing I jotted down with the Vikings is last year their
• 4:38
  offense was 19th in rushing yards.
• 4:40
  They were sixth in passing yards.
• 4:43
  But now with JJ McCarthy, if your offense isn't good at
• 4:46
  running, you're going to have to rely on your passing again.
• 4:49
  And I don't know if JJ McCarthy is ready for that.
• 4:51
  Right. Well, they don't even have an
• 4:53
  additional option, right? You're back up Sam Howell and
• 4:57
  behind that you have Brett Ripon.
• 4:58
  So if JJ McCarthy doesn't work out, you're scrambling for best
• 5:02
  available. And so you are really putting
• 5:05
  yourself out there and you're putting a lot of eggs and the
• 5:07
  and the broken knee Junior McCarthy basket and just hoping.
• 5:11
  And when they drafted him, I talked to multiple Vikings fans,
• 5:13
  which for some reason there's a lot here, Oregon, and they all
• 5:17
  said, Oh yeah, I'm so glad we have a handoff specialist.
• 5:19
  I'm so glad we have a guy who just hand the ball off and move
• 5:21
  on. But then we have good running
• 5:23
  backs to go with it. And so there was a general
• 5:26
  unexcitement behind it. And it's just not, I don't think
• 5:29
  it's going to go well for him. That team's really good.
• 5:31
  They've got Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson,
• 5:34
  they've got Aaron Jones. I mean, they have they have a
• 5:37
  good offense. They just have an unproven
• 5:40
  unshown quarterback. And we've seen time and time
• 5:43
  again that when your quarterback sucks, your team sucks.
• 5:45
  Doesn't matter how good you are. So I'm not a fan of this Vikings
• 5:49
  team this year. I don't know what their over
• 5:51
  under is and wins, but it's the under for me.
• 5:54
  Whatever it is, it's the other. Yeah, I feel like the Vikings is
• 5:57
  probably the choice for most people who would be doing this.
• 6:00
  I haven't really heard a lot of optimism when it comes to the
• 6:03
  Vikings, so I would tend to agree with you.
• 6:05
  Cody, give us your non playoff team from last year.
• 6:09
  Who is going to replace the Vikings?
• 6:11
  I feel like this one's a little tougher.
• 6:12
  I feel like the NFC kind of is playing itself out.
• 6:16
  And the low hanging fruit could have been the San Francisco
• 6:18
  49ers, which maybe, but if I'm being honest, I don't know if
• 6:21
  San Francisco has done enough on their team to really fill some,
• 6:24
  fill their offensive needs or their defensive needs.
• 6:27
  And obviously they just finished paying Brock Purdy, so who knows
• 6:32
  what kind of a starter he's going to be with the weapons
• 6:34
  that they have. You know, they've obviously got
• 6:37
  some expensive contracts and if they don't really have a team
• 6:40
  that's going to go out in the field and I don't know if
• 6:42
  they're going to be an NFC favorite, but that's low hanging
• 6:45
  fruit to me, though, the far stretch that I will say is I
• 6:48
  think the Atlanta Falcons are a team that a lot of people would
• 6:52
  assume like or maybe in the realm of like they're kind of OK
• 6:57
  with Michael Pennix junior. And I think they're a team in a
• 6:59
  weak division that actually might surprise some people.
• 7:01
  And in perspective, like, you know, Tampa only won the
• 7:05
  division with 10 games and Atlanta had eight wins.
• 7:08
  And I do feel like that if they have Michael Pinnix now with a
• 7:11
  full offseason coming in there healthy with some of the
• 7:13
  offensive pieces. And I think with Raheem Morris
• 7:16
  and that defense, I feel like it's improved enough to where
• 7:18
  they can at least fight to either win the division or at
• 7:21
  least get into one of the three wild cards.
• 7:23
  So to me, like a sleeper team in the NFC to get in the playoffs,
• 7:27
  that wasn't before, in my opinion, would be the Atlanta
• 7:29
  Falcons. I would say if they're going to
• 7:31
  make it, I think they're going to make it as a wild card.
• 7:33
  I don't think they're going to make it as a division winner
• 7:35
  because I still see the Bucks winning that division.
• 7:37
  But the trend is in 2022 they won it with eight wins, 23, they
• 7:42
  won it with nine wins. Last year they won it with ten
• 7:44
  wins. So maybe this year they'll win
• 7:46
  it with eleven wins. We'll see.
• 7:48
  We're on in the way up as as the draft would show.
• 7:51
  The Falcons beat the Bucks twice last year.
• 7:54
  They've been twice. They've been at home and at and
• 7:57
  in Tampa Bay. That's where they play.
• 7:59
  And the only reason, the only reason that the Bucks made the
• 8:02
  playoffs over the Falcons is because the Falcons had two
• 8:05
  overtime losses to end the season.
• 8:07
  If you remember, that's when Michael Pennix came, came in and
• 8:10
  took over as a rookie. So he went one and three and it
• 8:13
  starts. They beat the Giants, but
• 8:15
  everybody beat the Giants last year and then they lost in
• 8:18
  overtime to the Commanders 30 to 24.
• 8:20
  And then they lost to the Panthers.
• 8:22
  Everybody beat the Panthers except for except for the
• 8:26
  Raiders. They lost in overtime 44 to 38.
• 8:30
  And so I think you're exactly right.
• 8:31
  Cody was an offseason under their belt with Michael Panics.
• 8:36
  If they want him to be the guy with a full offseason of their
• 8:38
  belt, he's the guy. And if not, you still have
• 8:42
  somehow on your team, Kirk Cousins.
• 8:45
  You may not like him, you may not want him to be the guy.
• 8:48
  But guess what? He did pretty good for you last
• 8:50
  year. He can take you.
• 8:52
  He can take you there. I say higher.
• 8:54
  I actually have both of the things you said were my 1A and
• 8:59
  1B on my list here. So I'm glad you, I'm glad
• 9:02
  somebody said it. I actually have the Falcons
• 9:04
  winning the South. I know you said they're not
• 9:06
  going to drill, but I accept them beating the bucks out in
• 9:08
  the South this year. The Falcons have the 4th easiest
• 9:11
  schedule coming into the year now.
• 9:13
  I put next to 0 stock in strength of schedule in the
• 9:18
  offseason. It is absolute garbage.
• 9:21
  The 49ers have the easiest schedule and if you look at the
• 9:23
  chart it is significantly easier apparently.
• 9:27
  But it can be as easy as you want.
• 9:29
  If you can't execute, it's all it matters.
• 9:30
  The Falcons of the 4th. Easiest straight to schedule and
• 9:33
  once that I think they're going to ride it all the way, all the
• 9:35
  way to the South wing. I agree with Will.
• 9:37
  I think I think they're they're making it in Tampa to me, Tampa
• 9:42
  to me was just like, Oh yeah, we have to include at least one
• 9:46
  team from this division, only 110 seven.
• 9:49
  But it's one of those where it's like, thank goodness this isn't
• 9:52
  soccer. You know, they, that whole
• 9:53
  division would be relegated down to, you know, college where they
• 9:58
  would where they would stomp. Not lying, yeah.
• 10:01
  But yeah, I, I think I think the Falcons are in the best
• 10:04
  position. Also, personally, I think the
• 10:06
  Panthers are going to do marginally better this season.
• 10:10
  I'm not even going to say significantly, but I think it's
• 10:12
  kind of A, to me, that division for the past couple years has
• 10:17
  always just seemed like a dogfight where it's just like,
• 10:20
  OK, you know, you guys are all trash and you're all trashed
• 10:24
  together. So like, let's find out who's
• 10:26
  going to make it out of this and then maybe win a game, you know,
• 10:29
  in the playoffs. But I think the Falcons are
• 10:31
  probably in the best position to do that.
• 10:33
  I just think Baker Mayfield in and that kick book are going to
• 10:35
  light it up this season. And McMillan, who's on that
• 10:37
  team, he he showed a lot of resilience in that offense as
• 10:41
  well with Godwin being out and obviously opposite of Mike
• 10:45
  Evans. So we'll see.
• 10:46
  But you know, I think the Panthers to Avery's point, I
• 10:49
  think might surprise some people.
• 10:50
  It just depends on the kind of Bryce Young the season we'll
• 10:52
  start with. Is it going to be the first half
• 10:54
  of the season or is it going to be the last half of the season?
• 10:56
  Because if it's Bryce Young who finished the season, Panthers
• 11:00
  might be a wild card team too, just because of the weapons and
• 11:02
  all that around them. But, you know, I, I think what
• 11:05
  is interesting about this division is all those teams
• 11:08
  should be competitive enough to to win the division, but yet
• 11:12
  their teams just for some reason can't compete with the upper
• 11:14
  echelon. So it's kind of like, you know,
• 11:17
  almost a losing record will get you in as long as you just are
• 11:20
  the number one in the worst division.
• 11:22
  Which arguments could be made that it's NFC South so.
• 11:26
  I agree and the, and the one thing the Falcons did this year
• 11:28
  in the draft is in the first round they drafted 2 defensive
• 11:32
  players, 2 stout defensive players to come in and to to
• 11:36
  fill some holes that they had. And so I, I just, I love to
• 11:39
  pick. One thing I will say with the
• 11:41
  Falcons 2 first round draft picks, I didn't love that trade
• 11:46
  because they gave up a first rounder next year I didn't love
• 11:48
  the trade but I do like the players they got so hopefully it
• 11:52
  works out for them because they're going to need it to work
• 11:55
  out because they get did give up a first round pick.
• 11:58
  So that's all I'm surprised. I'm, I'm surprised that you
• 12:01
  found that trade shocking because it's the same team that
• 12:03
  signed Kirk Cousins to a deal guaranteed and then drafted his
• 12:07
  then predecessor within the 1st 10 picks of the previous draft.
• 12:10
  So I mean, it's kind of. Par for the course.
• 12:12
  That's true. You have a good point.
• 12:14
  Yeah, you have a good point. I didn't think about that.
• 12:17
  But yeah, they're going to need that trade to work out.
• 12:20
  The Vikings will get desperate enough when judging McCarthy
• 12:23
  doesn't work out. The Vikings will try to first
• 12:25
  try to work out Cousins. I think the Steelers are still
• 12:28
  on the market for a quarterback, so maybe.
• 12:30
  You watch your will Howard have an ass, all right?
• 12:36
  They're not going to ride with Rudy.
• 12:41
  Who? Oh.
• 12:41
  That joke, Rudy, they're not going to ride with Rudy.
• 12:44
  Rudy who? He's lucky to be on the team, to
• 12:46
  be honest. Sorry, I always call, I always
• 12:48
  call him Rudy because my father-in-law is a Steelers fan
• 12:50
  and he always calls him Rudy. How funny.
• 12:53
  So Mason Rudolph. Yeah, I just now got that.
• 12:57
  I OK he. Went to Notre Dame back in like
• 13:01
  the 50s or 60s, whenever it was. He's still, he's still playing.
• 13:05
  Come on, Will still doing it. That was the only Rudy I could
• 13:08
  think of all. Right.
• 13:11
  Well, since we're on the NFC, teams will give us your playoff
• 13:14
  team from last year that's not going to make the playoffs this
• 13:16
  year. Sure.
• 13:17
  I kind of already talked about it touched on a little bit.
• 13:19
  I don't think the Buccaneers are going to make it at all this
• 13:20
  year. I don't even think they're going
• 13:21
  to sneak into a wild card team, a wild card slot.
• 13:24
  Wow. I think we're going to see
• 13:26
  similar performances from two teams in NFC East and we're
• 13:31
  going to see similar performances from two teams in
• 13:34
  the North. I think the third wild card
• 13:36
  spot's going to go to the South, right?
• 13:38
  We just talked about how bad the South is now.
• 13:40
  It is the most gettable division, but I don't think that
• 13:42
  we see two teams from the NFC South.
• 13:45
  So I think that the the Buccaneers are first team out.
• 13:49
  Looking at this from last year. Packers have a team that looks
• 13:53
  like they can make it again. Commanders, they can make it
• 13:55
  again. Like if we talked about probably
• 13:57
  not making it again. It's a team, the structure and
• 14:00
  so you fill one slot there, but the the Niners have a wild card
• 14:04
  chance team. I don't think the Buccaneers
• 14:06
  make it all next year, actually, not just make it out of the
• 14:09
  South, but make it all, which is too bad because we just talked
• 14:11
  about that team is is good. They have a good team.
• 14:14
  But when you're comparing it against the NFC South, good is
• 14:18
  relative coming into this season.
• 14:19
  I think a team that didn't make it last year, that has a high
• 14:23
  probability in my opinion of making it this year is the
• 14:26
  Arizona Cardinals. I like what they're doing.
• 14:28
  I like what they got going on. I'm not a huge Kyler Murray fan,
• 14:32
  but I don't have to be. He seems to be doing good
• 14:35
  enough. I think the NFC West is also
• 14:38
  very gettable. The Niners are in a do it right
• 14:41
  now or it's never going to happen scenario with just
• 14:44
  signing Black Bernie. They just resigned Fred Warner.
• 14:47
  They've got to sign these guys to big contracts, which either a
• 14:50
  right now or it's never going to happen.
• 14:52
  And they were not close last year.
• 14:54
  They were not closer. And and with the pieces they
• 14:58
  lost, I'm actually on this our own podcast.
• 15:00
  I've said that that they've lost the way to live out there.
• 15:03
  They lost half that damn team and they're not they didn't get
• 15:07
  better in the offseason and they're paying all sorts of
• 15:09
  money. So much guaranteed no trade
• 15:11
  laws. You are going full on marriage
• 15:15
  with Brock Purdy with no way out.
• 15:17
  At least no easy financial way out.
• 15:20
  And so you are, you're really handicapping your team there.
• 15:22
  And so I think the Arizona Cardinals have a chance to slip
• 15:25
  in over the offseason. They've added so many pieces.
• 15:28
  We talked about them as as a draft winner, I believe, I think
• 15:32
  there's a Ford offseason winner. They signed Josh Schwett, they
• 15:35
  signed Clarence Campbell, they signed Alvin Tom Tomlinson, they
• 15:39
  drafted Will Johnson in the second round.
• 15:41
  Their entire starting offense is remaining the same.
• 15:45
  The core 11 guys did not change from year to year.
• 15:49
  And so they're coming in with the same coach, same
• 15:51
  quarterback, same receivers, same offensive line.
• 15:54
  Everybody's healthy. Hopefully that's always the
• 15:56
  hope. We don't guys work and they're
• 15:57
  pushing the off through the offseason.
• 15:59
  Anything can happen. And all they didn't during the
• 16:01
  offseason was bolster their defense hugely.
• 16:05
  And so I think they're going to. I don't think they're just going
• 16:07
  to sneak into the playoffs. I think they win the West now.
• 16:11
  I've called two different NFC winners here, sorry, but I, I
• 16:16
  think the Cardinals end up winning the West.
• 16:17
  I don't think the Rams do it. I don't think the Niners do it.
• 16:21
  The Seahawks, I don't think they're closer than they were
• 16:23
  last year losing Gino and you know that team.
• 16:27
  So hey, the Cardinals. Yeah, I really like what the
• 16:30
  Cardinals are doing on offense. Last year they ranked 11th in
• 16:33
  total yards and they were 12th in points.
• 16:35
  So they were just outside the top ten.
• 16:37
  And then their defense was 15th in points allowed, but they
• 16:41
  drafted with they used six of their seven draft picks on
• 16:44
  defensive players. So I think they they had that
• 16:47
  big focus and again, will, like you said, they they got Josh
• 16:50
  sweat. So they had a big defensive
• 16:51
  focus, which I think is going to help them going into the season.
• 16:55
  And Speaking of the Rams, they had net points of -19 last year.
• 17:01
  So they allowed nineteen more points than they scored.
• 17:04
  And so eventually if you do that, that's not a pattern for
• 17:08
  success right there. So I think the Rams could
• 17:10
  potentially be out. I know you didn't say them
• 17:13
  specifically will, but I think the Rams could be out of the
• 17:15
  playoffs this year. Is that not what I said?
• 17:18
  He told me that earlier. Buccaneers.
• 17:20
  I said the Buccaneers. That's right.
• 17:21
  I said the Buccaneers, the Rams were my other team was not going
• 17:24
  to make the playoffs. But yeah, I I agree with that.
• 17:27
  The Rams are not in a winning position.
• 17:30
  They're losing key pieces and everybody's getting older.
• 17:32
  And it's just not the oh, what is their coach's name?
• 17:37
  Sean McVay. Thank you.
• 17:38
  Sean McVay. Sean McVay.
• 17:39
  Experience is coming to an end out there.
• 17:41
  I just don't think it's going to last a whole lot longer.
• 17:45
  But if he could turn that around with the trajectory going down,
• 17:49
  because most of the time you just look at a coach, you know,
• 17:51
  if they, you know, win a lot of games one season, it's like, oh,
• 17:53
  this guy's, this guy's, you know, top snot.
• 17:56
  But you know, if you can turn it around while it's sinking, yeah,
• 18:00
  that's impressive. That's huge.
• 18:01
  That might be more of AGM thing than a coach thing.
• 18:03
  That's. Whatever that's what every
• 18:04
  business wants is that that as a business is sinking, you hire
• 18:07
  the right guy, you turn the whole thing around, or the guys
• 18:10
  you already have turn around, you have to make new hires.
• 18:13
  If you can do it without rehiring, like cleaning house,
• 18:15
  starting over, that's that's a culture statement.
• 18:19
  If you can do that rather than just hey, win or you all lose
• 18:23
  your jobs, if you can have a a team in there that is like kept
• 18:27
  it going, that's impressive. Plus it's LA.
• 18:30
  That'd be an awesome free agent destination if you could do
• 18:33
  that. Well, one of those two has to
• 18:34
  be. And it's not going to be the
• 18:36
  Chargers. Sorry, Tim.
• 18:39
  Sorry, Tim. I love the shade.
• 18:41
  I'm. I'm actually surprised that most
• 18:43
  of you guys are saying that the Rams aren't going to make it.
• 18:45
  I actually think that they are in a position where with you
• 18:48
  know, again, they did add Devante Adams, they have Puku
• 18:51
  Nukua that's coming in. They've got a young offensive
• 18:54
  line that's only going to get better with that was injured
• 18:56
  majority of last season. Their defense was almost able to
• 18:58
  keep up with the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs.
• 19:01
  I feel like with this extra season that they have improved a
• 19:05
  little bit. So I'm actually curious.
• 19:06
  I'm actually a lot higher on the Rams.
• 19:08
  I guess. I mean, I think the NFC West is
• 19:10
  not going to be like this big like arms race of like 11 to 12
• 19:15
  wins. I think it's going to be
• 19:16
  relatively like 10 wins will probably win the division
• 19:18
  because again, they're all kind of in this middle of the pack of
• 19:21
  like 8 between a rebuild and pushing for a playoff spot.
• 19:25
  But no one's really going the extra step to be a legit like
• 19:29
  threat in the NFC, so to speak. But I think the Rams still would
• 19:33
  win the division. But you know, the Cardinals.
• 19:35
  What I'm concerned with would be Kyler Murray.
• 19:37
  I don't, I mean, he's a good quarterback in terms of like
• 19:40
  stats, but I don't know if he's the guy that really puts the
• 19:43
  team on his back and turns it around as a winner.
• 19:46
  I think that's what I'm concerned with is, you know, for
• 19:48
  where he was drafted number one overall.
• 19:50
  It still feels like we're waiting for Kyler Murray to turn
• 19:52
  into, you know, the guy that was supposed to save this franchise
• 19:55
  and granted, he dealt with some injuries, I think in his third
• 19:58
  season. So I mean, giving a little grace
• 20:00
  in that. But at the same time, I feel
• 20:01
  like Kyler Murray is just kind of like in a prove it year.
• 20:04
  And I just don't know if the Cardinals are in position, but
• 20:07
  we'll see. I mean, with Marvin Harrison
• 20:09
  Junior and Kyler Murray, maybe they get on the same page
• 20:12
  because clearly it didn't look like they were last season.
• 20:14
  So I don't know. We'll see.
• 20:16
  I said it last week, when your quarterback can't see you,
• 20:20
  you're going to look a little bit inconsistent.
• 20:22
  Yeah. So hopefully Calamari grew a
• 20:24
  couple inches, you know, probably not, but hopefully.
• 20:27
  I actually don't think the Rams get better as a team trading
• 20:32
  Cooper Cup. Not no, not physically trading,
• 20:35
  not business trading. But like swapping out Cooper Cup
• 20:37
  for Devonte Adams, Sure. I don't think that's a better
• 20:41
  team fit. And as a Raiders fan, you saw
• 20:44
  Devonte on the Raiders, Devonte and The Jets, Devonte and the
• 20:47
  Packers. I don't think Devonte has turned
• 20:51
  into as later in his career we go on, he hasn't turned into a
• 20:55
  team guy. He hasn't turned into into a
• 20:59
  locker room guy. He's not he's not the
• 21:02
  personality you're looking to as a, hey, we're going to rally the
• 21:05
  troops around that guy. And they have that already.
• 21:08
  And Matt Stafford, he is that guy for the Rams specifically.
• 21:12
  But they lost their second piece in Cooper Cup and I just don't
• 21:15
  think they get better overall with him being gone.
• 21:19
  Yeah, I I get it. I think with what was left in
• 21:22
  terms of wide receivers, and I really think that Sean McVeigh
• 21:25
  bringing in Devonte Adams was because it fits his offensive
• 21:28
  scheme. He really wants a guy that can
• 21:29
  go in the slot and just, you know, carve up a DB there and
• 21:33
  just have a plethora of routes that he can choose from.
• 21:36
  And obviously Devonte Adams is one of the best that's ever gone
• 21:39
  on the football field to do it. And I do agree with you in some
• 21:41
  respect. Devonte Adams isn't necessarily
• 21:43
  the guy that's going to come in and, you know, OK, I will take
• 21:46
  over the the team. I'm the locker room guy.
• 21:48
  He's definitely going out for either the fact that he can stay
• 21:51
  in California because that's where he's from, or, you know,
• 21:54
  in some respects maybe he's ring chasing.
• 21:55
  But I would even argue the Rams were probably the third best
• 21:58
  team that he could have signed with.
• 22:00
  He could have gone to Buffalo. He could have gone to Baltimore,
• 22:03
  which probably would have been more poised to be Super Bowl
• 22:06
  ready with him on the team than the Rams.
• 22:08
  I think the Rams just more or less it's a system fit.
• 22:11
  And also he gets to stay in California.
• 22:12
  Sean McVeigh still can, in my opinion.
• 22:15
  He's a really good coach to where he's going to get the best
• 22:17
  out of you offensively. And Matthew Stafford arguably is
• 22:20
  the second best or maybe even the best quarterback that
• 22:23
  Devante will have playing with outside of Aaron Rodgers.
• 22:26
  And I think it's going to prolong both of their careers,
• 22:29
  at least for a season or two. But I do think that they'll
• 22:31
  remain relatively competitive with Sean Mcveigh's offense and
• 22:35
  Kyron, Kyron Williams, of course, who's been a beast in
• 22:38
  their running back room. So I really feel like the Rams
• 22:42
  offensively are going to surprise people.
• 22:43
  They're not going to look as old as people realize.
• 22:46
  I think they need to get out to a faster start.
• 22:48
  I feel like the last couple of years they've gotten off to a
• 22:50
  slow start and then they've kind of had to fight that last part
• 22:53
  of the season to make the playoffs, which isn't
• 22:55
  necessarily a bad thing because I feel like that makes you like
• 22:58
  more ready for the playoffs. But I just feel like they need
• 23:01
  to get off to a faster start this year.
• 23:03
  Yeah, I agree. I think Karen Williams have also
• 23:06
  got Blake Horn back there. Those guys are great so long as
• 23:09
  they stay healthy. And we've seen, we've seen it
• 23:12
  already. The Rams when they can't run the
• 23:13
  ball, they're not they're not good.
• 23:16
  And so they need to run the ball.
• 23:17
  Matt Stafford had in his whole career has needed to hand the
• 23:21
  ball off to create the every creeping forward that we can
• 23:24
  throw it over the top. He he's a he and Dak Presser are
• 23:26
  very similar in that way. You have got to have a good
• 23:29
  running game to support this style of quarterback and I just
• 23:32
  don't, I just don't see it being consistent this year form.
• 23:36
  All right, well, with that, let's get on to the AFC.
• 23:39
  So we'll start with Avery on this one.
• 23:40
  Give us your playoff team from last year who is not going to
• 23:44
  make it this year. I have my two teams, but I want
• 23:47
  to put an honorable mention out to the the AFC West, which I
• 23:51
  know we'll talk about. I think that is going to be a
• 23:54
  fun, fun division to watch. I think having three teams in, I
• 23:58
  would love to know. This might be something Joel
• 24:00
  could find for next week. But what are the odds that a
• 24:05
  division with three teams that make the playoffs make the
• 24:08
  playoffs with three teams again the next year?
• 24:11
  I don't know that. I don't know that, but I do know
• 24:14
  that there's never been four teams from a division in, yeah.
• 24:17
  OK, having said that, I got I think there could be some shaky
• 24:21
  ground there, but the two teams I'm looking at that will just
• 24:24
  swap is the Steelers and the Bengals.
• 24:28
  I think the Steelers are out mainly because I need to double
• 24:31
  down on my prediction that Will Howard is garbage.
• 24:33
  I don't remember what exactly how I qualified that like if
• 24:38
  he's going to lose or be out of the NFL or just not win rookie
• 24:42
  the something like that. I just I think he's going to
• 24:44
  lose. I think Mike Tomlin's finally
• 24:46
  going to get his first losing record and not make the
• 24:48
  playoffs. And I just, I think from
• 24:53
  everything I've seen, I think the Bengals just had a down year
• 24:55
  last year. I know that there's been some
• 24:57
  other stuff in there, but I think they overtake them and I
• 25:00
  think they look a lot, a lot better this next year.
• 25:04
  Not just make the playoffs, but I think the Bengals just play a
• 25:08
  lot better. And I think the Steelers end up
• 25:10
  just kind of crashing and burning.
• 25:11
  I know Joel's a Steelers fan now and I I pity him and Ioffer
• 25:17
  support, which is like men. A second, yeah.
• 25:20
  But Dallas isn't much better, pal.
• 25:21
  Come on. Yeah, he loves his wife and I
• 25:24
  understand, I understand, but. Can we just put the Steelers
• 25:28
  defense on Dallas? Then we'll be set.
• 25:32
  Just move the Steelers defense over to Dallas.
• 25:35
  We'll make the. I, I really, I do want to say
• 25:38
  that on one hand I would like it like to see Aaron Rodgers go to
• 25:41
  the Steelers, but also I want to see Will Howard go out there and
• 25:45
  get Mason Rudolphed by Miles Garrett.
• 25:48
  That's what I want to see. I want to see him get thrown
• 25:52
  around. And part of it might be a little
• 25:53
  bit for revenge for Oregon, but I, I think I've got a bet on the
• 25:58
  line for Will Howard. So anyways, I think they're out.
• 26:01
  I think the Bengals are in and I would love to know what y'all
• 26:04
  think about that. Say what you will about the
• 26:07
  Bengals defense, but there was 15 teams that had a positive
• 26:11
  turnover differential last year, and only two of those 15 teams
• 26:16
  did not make the playoffs. One of those teams was the
• 26:18
  Bengals. So despite how bad everybody
• 26:21
  says their defense was, they created enough turnovers that
• 26:25
  they had a positive turnover differential.
• 26:27
  So I think their new defensive coordinator, who I think is Al,
• 26:32
  Al Golden, is that right? Yes.
• 26:34
  Al Golden, he was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator last year.
• 26:38
  They hired him. Notre Dame was 11th in total
• 26:41
  yards allowed. They were fourth in points per
• 26:43
  game allowed with only 15.5 allowed.
• 26:46
  And they were fourth best against the pass, which is where
• 26:48
  the Bengals were not very good. So hopefully Al Golden can come
• 26:53
  in and I know he's going from college to the pros, so there is
• 26:56
  a difference there. But this is a proven defensive
• 26:59
  coordinator at the college level who's had success specifically
• 27:02
  in the secondary, and I think he can really help the Bengals to
• 27:06
  get better. And that that's sad.
• 27:08
  That turnover differential was just something that jumped out
• 27:11
  to me when I was kind of looking at the Bengals because I
• 27:13
  actually had them as one of my teams that would be in the
• 27:15
  playoffs as well. Yeah, so I agree with Avery
• 27:19
  about the Steelers. I don't think they're making the
• 27:21
  playoffs again. They their roster is arguably
• 27:24
  the worst that Mike Tallman's ever had to deal with.
• 27:26
  And and not to say that getting rid of George Pickens was a bad
• 27:29
  idea, because I I agree. Like if he's going to be someone
• 27:32
  that's going to be a cancer to your locker room, best thing to
• 27:34
  do is just find a team that are willing to take My condolences
• 27:37
  to the Cowboys for accepting the trade.
• 27:39
  But I do think, I do think that the Steelers and unfortunately
• 27:43
  Mike Tomlin's record of having winning seasons, it's probably
• 27:47
  going to come to an end this year just because of the
• 27:50
  schedule that they're going to have the team that's going out
• 27:52
  there, regardless if it's Will Howard or Mason Rudolph, there's
• 27:55
  no legit quarterback that is going to win them games or
• 27:58
  really keep them into it. And even though you have DK
• 28:01
  Metcalf, that's not nearly enough to compete.
• 28:04
  And sure, they have Calvin Austin the 3rd and I think they
• 28:07
  have Van Jefferson, if I'm not mistaken.
• 28:08
  But those are all maybe OK wide receivers, but they're not
• 28:12
  nearly enough to put together an offensive juggernaut.
• 28:15
  And that offensive line is it's OK, it's not great.
• 28:19
  And if you don't have a quarterback that can throw the
• 28:21
  ball down the field, then drafting Caleb Johnson out of
• 28:24
  Iowa kind of as a waste of a pick because now you can just
• 28:27
  turn this Pittsburgh Steelers team 1 dimensional.
• 28:30
  And sure, you can rely on this defense to save you, but they
• 28:33
  can't do it week after week. There's just not enough that
• 28:37
  they have to withstand that. And this offense needs to get
• 28:39
  better. So the Steelers are my pick.
• 28:41
  And I'm not going to say the Bengals because I don't know if
• 28:44
  their defense is improved enough.
• 28:46
  Even with a new coordinator, they lost some of these games
• 28:49
  with a lead to teams that they should have beaten because
• 28:52
  they're often scored more points.
• 28:53
  I don't know if the Bengals can duplicate that, and I don't know
• 28:57
  how much better that defense is, but I don't know if it's enough
• 28:59
  to win the division. But yeah, I but ultimately
• 29:03
  though, I agree with Avery though, the Steelers aren't
• 29:05
  making the playoffs again. All right, Cody, so you gave us
• 29:08
  your team that's out. Who's your team that's going to
• 29:10
  be in? All right, guys.
• 29:12
  So of course AFC we're we've got to lead right into it.
• 29:16
  It's my Las Vegas Raiders. We had the best draft.
• 29:19
  We've had a really good free agency signing having Geno
• 29:21
  Smith. We are obviously adding Genti,
• 29:24
  like I mentioned in the draft, Pete Carroll, we're poised to
• 29:27
  make the playoffs. It's only 10 wins.
• 29:29
  Granted we only had four last season.
• 29:31
  So we need to double and 1/2 that.
• 29:33
  Let's not get bogged down the numbers though.
• 29:35
  I think the Raiders, though, in a competitive division and I
• 29:38
  think with how the schedule is, I really, and this is genuine
• 29:42
  and we'll talk more about this later on in the show.
• 29:43
  But I genuine feel like that this team is in a position where
• 29:46
  they'll actually be able to compete and have some of these
• 29:49
  games go back and forth with within the division to where
• 29:52
  they can maybe take at least half the wins and go three and
• 29:55
  three in the division. A couple of games here and a
• 29:57
  couple of games there where they need to just take care of
• 29:59
  business and hold the lead and rely on our defense to bend and
• 30:02
  don't break. And I actually, I I do find
• 30:05
  encouragement with what the Raiders have done to where I
• 30:07
  will put them in the ring and put this in the spreadsheet.
• 30:10
  Joel, I guess you guys have one run in here where I'll I'll
• 30:13
  predict that the AFC, the Raiders will make the wild card.
• 30:15
  I don't think they're winning the vision.
• 30:17
  I'm not going to say that much, but I think that they will be a
• 30:19
  team that gets in the playoffs. That's still a big prediction.
• 30:23
  If it's a big one, that's a big one.
• 30:25
  Trust me, I'm not trying to sell you guys snake oil, or maybe I
• 30:27
  am, but I do. Feel and he's not been biased.
• 30:30
  No. No, I like it.
• 30:33
  When the countdowns went on before the recording started,
• 30:37
  that is what I meant when I said to Avery, I have changed my
• 30:40
  entire tune in the Raiders just in the time it took us to say
• 30:44
  hello before we hit record, I told Avery, I hope Cody said
• 30:48
  comes in and says the Raiders are to make the playoffs and
• 30:50
  it's just not going to be there's no way.
• 30:52
  And in the time it took for me to send it to Avery to we hit
• 30:56
  record, it was a oh, Raiders are making the playoffs for sure.
• 31:01
  They they have changed quite literally everything about that
• 31:06
  team from last year. Everything is different.
• 31:08
  New coach, new coaching staff, often corner, different
• 31:12
  quarterback. I mean, you can just run down
• 31:14
  the entire list. It's a new person, new
• 31:16
  quarterback, new running back, new nearly everything.
• 31:21
  And Pete Carroll, like him or not, he'll be chewing gum on the
• 31:26
  sideline guaranteed. And he, he's proven to be a
• 31:30
  winner. He has a Super Bowl victory.
• 31:31
  He shouldn't have two. We need to talk about that.
• 31:34
  Growing up in Oregon, we know a lot of Seahawks fans and they
• 31:37
  had to see Pete Carroll's dumb face.
• 31:39
  Not that he is dumb. I just don't like seeing it on
• 31:42
  the TV regularly and watching him win game after game.
• 31:47
  And I developed a burning hatred for Pete Carroll and for the
• 31:50
  Seahawks just because of all the fanboys around here.
• 31:53
  And so it really has nothing to do with the Seahawks, but but I,
• 31:58
  I just think that that this team has taken so many steps in the
• 32:02
  correct direction from last year.
• 32:04
  And I don't even know if they were necessarily that bad last
• 32:08
  year or they just didn't have the right people in the right
• 32:11
  spot. They didn't have a quarterback
• 32:12
  last year. That's where you start.
• 32:13
  And, and Gino's proven to be a winner.
• 32:15
  The, the team is, I don't think it's just one step ahead.
• 32:18
  I think it's 2 steps ahead, if not more than they were last
• 32:21
  year. I am.
• 32:22
  I am a fan of this Raiders team this year.
• 32:25
  The only mistake they made was not drafting the Marion Hampton
• 32:29
  over Ashton Genti, right? Cody?
• 32:33
  I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm just giving you a hard.
• 32:35
  Time I appreciate it You must have saw that clip because I
• 32:37
  almost I almost fell out of my chair when that happened and and
• 32:42
  then what was more frustrating so behind the scenes I I helped
• 32:45
  edit the one of the reels and I sent it to Tim but when I was
• 32:49
  editing it it made me like let me look up some stats and see
• 32:51
  like if I was even right or wrong and I got more upset
• 32:54
  because like the stats even say it's not even close it's gentie
• 32:58
  over Hampton by a mile and then I was more fired up and I was
• 33:02
  like oh Tim get over here we got to talk about this man but.
• 33:06
  Yeah, I saw that. That was a crazy take that no
• 33:09
  overall all around bigger running back is Hampton.
• 33:12
  He's better at pass probably he's better.
• 33:13
  He's better just like there's that is wild take, pal.
• 33:17
  No one's no. One's a bigger fan.
• 33:19
  No one's a bigger fan of Hampton than I am.
• 33:21
  And I have to say that, yeah, that's gentie's better.
• 33:25
  Like that's, that's insane. Any other?
• 33:28
  Any other running back I'll? Fight you.
• 33:29
  But like, Gentie, I'm like, yeah, like.
• 33:32
  I. I would say like, well, you
• 33:34
  know, Genti's playing in the what, Mountain West?
• 33:36
  And I'm like Hampton's playing in the ACC, like Florida State.
• 33:40
  Yeah. And then when I was looking up,
• 33:42
  when I was looking up the stats, Genti almost had 1000 more
• 33:45
  rushing yards only almost in only rushing yards than Hampton.
• 33:49
  And I'm not saying Hampton's not a really good player.
• 33:52
  And I even said like I think Hampton's going to be phenomenal
• 33:54
  for the Chargers really good offensive piece.
• 33:56
  But Genti's just on another level and even statistically,
• 34:00
  like I know college sometimes can be inflated, but I mean, you
• 34:04
  can't. It's not like you just luck up
• 34:06
  and get 2600 yards just strictly rushing in 30 touchdowns.
• 34:10
  Like you don't just get lucky by a weak defenses.
• 34:13
  No, that's that's some really good talent right there.
• 34:15
  That's that's going to translate in the NFL.
• 34:18
  And a lot of people are saying the same thing.
• 34:20
  So that's why it was kind of like what Hampton over Gente
• 34:24
  what? Wait a second.
• 34:25
  So. Yeah, especially since I mean,
• 34:27
  you, you play Boise State, you know exactly what they're doing.
• 34:30
  You know exactly who you have to stop.
• 34:32
  And if it's, if it's a running back, it's like, dude, that's if
• 34:35
  it's just the running back, dude.
• 34:38
  And he's still putting these numbers up on you.
• 34:40
  In Oregon, he put up like 250 yards and like two or three
• 34:44
  touchdowns. And in Heisman consideration,
• 34:46
  so, and no offense to Marion Hampton, he wasn't so.
• 34:51
  That's true. I'm really glad they didn't not
• 34:53
  they didn't put a Carolina player on the hiking list that
• 34:56
  would have. That have been some anarchy.
• 34:59
  Yeah. Going back to the Raiders here
• 35:02
  to be the best or to beat the best.
• 35:03
  You know we say right last year looking at that and pardon me,
• 35:08
  call you abysmal Raiders team. I don't even know what else to
• 35:10
  call it. Yeah, fair.
• 35:12
  You guys lost to the Chiefs 2 times.
• 35:14
  So sorry you have bad memories. Let me put a good spin on it.
• 35:17
  You lost by a, by a total of nine points over those two
• 35:22
  games, 9 total points. You lost by two and you lost by
• 35:25
  7:00. So I mean the team that's
• 35:27
  supposed to be the old world beaters, but well, Sugar won the
• 35:30
  Super Bowl and got housed. But this, this old World Team
• 35:33
  that's been, oh, dynasty, dynasty Taylor Swift, she's
• 35:36
  going to win the whole game for it.
• 35:37
  She's great. You barely, not barely, the loss
• 35:40
  is a loss. But over 2 games, you lost by a
• 35:43
  total of nine points. That to me was the right team in
• 35:46
  the right spot. That's two wins and and the we
• 35:51
  had Lincoln on here 2 weeks ago now.
• 35:53
  And he said that well the, the Chiefs don't care about the
• 35:56
  regular season, they only care about the playoffs.
• 35:58
  But the problem with that is you have to win in the regular
• 36:01
  season to make the playoffs. And he also said that the first
• 36:05
  round buy matters because it's a free playoff win.
• 36:08
  But the way the Chiefs are trending, they're one win or
• 36:12
  single possession game wins. The luck is going to start
• 36:17
  running out here soon. And as as the rest of the league
• 36:19
  gets better and to build teams to stop the one team, I think
• 36:24
  the Raiders are making some real good strikes.
• 36:26
  I hate to bring this up, but if there was any game against the
• 36:30
  Chiefs that was rigged, I would have to say it was the Raiders
• 36:34
  game. I think it was the second time
• 36:36
  where I forget who the quarterback was, but the Raiders
• 36:39
  were either winning or they were about to win.
• 36:41
  They were driving down the field and about to win.
• 36:43
  The quarterback looks over and the center snaps the ball, just
• 36:47
  happens to snap the ball when the quarterback is looking this
• 36:50
  way and then the Chiefs recover the fumble.
• 36:53
  Like I think there was any game that was rigged, it had to be
• 36:56
  that one. There's.
• 36:58
  No. Way that just happened by
• 37:01
  chance? That's definitely the.
• 37:02
  Propaganda from the center. He's like it's.
• 37:05
  Rigged man, that wasn't me. It was the rigging.
• 37:08
  I think that was with Desmond Ritter if I'm not mistaken as
• 37:11
  the QB. But if anything that's OK Ain't
• 37:15
  no Connell. If anything that's a perfect
• 37:16
  illustration of the two different teams where one team
• 37:20
  the Chiefs well coached. And again, I heard everyone
• 37:23
  saying the refs bail him out in. In some respects, sure, calls
• 37:26
  favored them. I think it's the NFL.
• 37:28
  Do they do they tip the balance a little bit?
• 37:30
  I'm I would imagine so. I mean, they're trying to make a
• 37:33
  product on the field that's good and attractive to other people
• 37:36
  because nothing better than love is hate for another team.
• 37:39
  But at the same time, you look at the Raiders, we had a first
• 37:42
  time head coach in Antonio Pierce that, you know, was
• 37:44
  literally week to week coaching for his job and having to
• 37:47
  answer, you're going to be back. And I thought that was a silly
• 37:49
  question at the time. And of course, like the Raiders
• 37:52
  just being able to keep up with the Chiefs.
• 37:54
  It's something that that rivalry really sparks and even last
• 37:57
  season, not this season, of course, of the season previous
• 38:00
  when we beat them on Christmas Day, which by the way, when I
• 38:03
  listen to your guys episode with Lincoln, he brought that up is I
• 38:06
  mean, that was a defensive thing.
• 38:07
  And it wasn't necessarily like, you know, we were supposed to
• 38:11
  win that game. And maybe it's complacency on
• 38:13
  the Chiefs side. But again, the two different
• 38:15
  teams at the time is undisciplined team against a
• 38:18
  team that was ready to capitalize on an opportunity
• 38:21
  that fell to them and can't fault the Chiefs for it.
• 38:23
  Can only be mad at ourselves. But I'm fortunate to say as
• 38:26
  Raider fans, anytime we go up against Patrick Mahomes and the
• 38:29
  Chiefs, Max Crosby is always ready to go.
• 38:31
  When we had Derek Carr, that was one of his favorite matchups.
• 38:34
  Even though he didn't always play his best, he still like
• 38:36
  look forward to that matchup. And even when we had Jon Gruden,
• 38:39
  I think one of the Monday Night Football games where we went
• 38:42
  against the Chiefs. This is before Henry Ruggs got
• 38:45
  into that DDY accident where he unfortunately killed somebody.
• 38:49
  He clearly looked like he was the best player on the field
• 38:51
  where we could have kept up offensively with the Chiefs.
• 38:54
  And now we know what how that story ended up where, you know,
• 38:57
  obviously his career isn't going to work out how we hoped for.
• 38:59
  But you know, the Raiders have always been a team that when the
• 39:02
  rivalry happens, we like to rise to the occasion, especially the
• 39:06
  Chiefs. And I think what NFL teams when
• 39:08
  they play the Chiefs is the Chiefs are always going to get
• 39:11
  that team's best because they want to be the team that said we
• 39:14
  beat the best team in the world. We beat the best team in the
• 39:16
  world. So each week the Chiefs are
• 39:19
  going against that respective teams absolute best because
• 39:23
  every team that's competitive wants to beat the very best.
• 39:26
  And at the time, especially last season, the Chiefs were the
• 39:29
  Super Bowl champions. They were going to get
• 39:31
  everyone's God forsaken best so. Statistically, across the board,
• 39:36
  talking about that game last year, the only difference in
• 39:39
  that game is that one turnover. Stat for stat, the Raiders were
• 39:43
  better than the Chiefs. Aiden O'Connell out slung
• 39:46
  Patrick Mahomes. The running game is better.
• 39:49
  I mean, when the Raiders are on, they're on the full team.
• 39:52
  The full team goes together. That is, that is one thing about
• 39:55
  the Raiders. They will win or lose as a team
• 39:58
  and they are all on or they're all off.
• 40:01
  And I think you brought him up. Max Crosby.
• 40:04
  We talked about this the opposite way with Devonte Adams.
• 40:06
  Max Crosby is the ultimate locker room guy.
• 40:08
  Seems like he's the guy that's in there picking everybody's
• 40:12
  heads up. Oh, we're this, we're we're
• 40:13
  forward, whatever. Who gives a RIP?
• 40:16
  Guys, let's keep playing. We're here to play football.
• 40:19
  We get to do we have to play a game that we thought was just
• 40:22
  going to be for fun for our whole lives.
• 40:24
  Now we need to be that guy. George kills another one of
• 40:27
  those guys, but we don't like the Niners.
• 40:29
  So, but Max Crosby is like a a real vibe guy in the locker room
• 40:34
  and he he's there, he's a real raid, he's a real Raider, like a
• 40:39
  like. A.
• 40:40
  He looks like 1. He's the epitome of a Raider.
• 40:45
  Yeah. Oh.
• 40:45
  Yeah, and so I I'm excited to see what Pete Carroll does in
• 40:49
  there with that, you fan. I think it should be a good
• 40:52
  season for the Raiders. All right, so Cody, since you
• 40:55
  said the Raiders are going to make the playoffs, give us a
• 40:59
  floor and a ceiling record prediction for the Raiders.
• 41:04
  So I think a reasonable floor for the Raiders, it would be
• 41:08
  somewhere in the ballpark between 7:00 and 10:00 and 8:00
• 41:10
  and 9:00. I think this football team at
• 41:12
  its base level could be that good of a team.
• 41:15
  And again, a lot of it is to everyone's point here with
• 41:19
  adding certain pieces to draft. Again, Pete Carroll I think is
• 41:23
  going to make a huge difference in being obviously a more a
• 41:26
  coach that has a lot more pedigree, Super Bowl experience
• 41:30
  and a guy that's knows how to lead A-Team.
• 41:32
  And even when he was hired to be the Seattle Seahawks coach and
• 41:35
  not to, you know, not to relive anything that you don't want to
• 41:38
  talk about. Will as as the Seahawks had Pete
• 41:42
  Carroll. He was just that team just
• 41:43
  seemed better than originally originally assumed.
• 41:47
  And it was a lot of it was because the energy that Pete
• 41:49
  brought that defense and all the others.
• 41:52
  And I really feel like that Pete Carroll will bring that same
• 41:54
  energy and it won't be a quick hot higher fix where it was a
• 41:59
  Josh McDaniels or an Antonio Pierce.
• 42:01
  This is a coach with a real pedigree and a guy that knows
• 42:05
  how to build a culture. And I think just having that new
• 42:08
  perspective for the Raiders in the building and the new drafts
• 42:12
  draft class that is being brought in.
• 42:14
  I think at bare minimum the floor is like A7 to 10/8 and 9
• 42:17
  and I'm actually really strong on that 8:00 and 9:00.
• 42:19
  Like I really think that that's how the season will end.
• 42:22
  If it is a losing season, it's going to be around there because
• 42:26
  the Raiders will be a hard out where any team that plays them,
• 42:29
  they're going to get their best and it's going to be maybe a
• 42:31
  shootout. The days of like the Raiders
• 42:33
  getting blown out by 30. I don't know how many of those
• 42:35
  are going to happen this season, but I doubt very few from what
• 42:39
  happened last year. What's your your ceiling?
• 42:43
  Well, ceiling would be ten and seven record or 11:00 and 6:00.
• 42:47
  I think that's a little bit more overzealous.
• 42:49
  I would I would firmly say like a 10 and seven last year.
• 42:52
  That's what helped the Denver Broncos and the Steelers get
• 42:55
  into the playoffs. So I would say the Raiders at
• 42:57
  A10 and 7:10 and 7:00 record could sneak into a wild card.
• 43:01
  Now, to your point, Joel, there's never been a divisional
• 43:05
  team or division that has gotten all four teams in the playoffs.
• 43:09
  So that means someone in our division is going to have to
• 43:11
  fall back. Some part of me thinks that
• 43:13
  might be a little bit of the Broncos only because I don't
• 43:15
  know if they have enough offensively.
• 43:17
  But regardless though, I don't want to get in the minutiae that
• 43:20
  because that's another debate that could go on forever.
• 43:23
  I just ultimately think that the Raiders getting ten wins could
• 43:25
  find the way to get into the wild card and at least have a
• 43:28
  shot. Will they go far?
• 43:30
  I don't know, but at least a 10 and seven record I think is the
• 43:33
  is the ceiling and the way they get in the playoffs.
• 43:37
  I think the rigors have a pretty favorable schedule this year.
• 43:40
  You're on the road at Philadelphia in December and
• 43:43
  that's not great. But besides that, you've got
• 43:46
  your home and homes with the AFC West.
• 43:48
  You had Texas in December, you go to Denver, but that's a home
• 43:52
  and home, right. So most of your games are going
• 43:55
  to be pretty favorable. You go to New England in
• 43:58
  September, so that should be fine.
• 44:00
  I, I don't disagree with your, with your, your ceiling section.
• 44:04
  And I think that's that's pretty accurate, honestly.
• 44:07
  Thanks man. Yeah, I know.
• 44:09
  We said we don't put a whole lot of stock into the strength of
• 44:12
  schedule, but they're 16th in strength of schedule.
• 44:15
  So they also traveled the 18th least miles, if that matters at
• 44:21
  all to anybody. But Chargers travel the most.
• 44:25
  So I don't know if that makes any difference or not.
• 44:26
  They need to keep traveling. That one they could have an
• 44:31
  early, early trip to Cabo. They're used to flying, so it's
• 44:34
  fine. There you go.
• 44:35
  There you go. There you go.
• 44:37
  Is that a prediction, Will? No.
• 44:38
  OK. OK.
• 44:42
  All right. So, Cody, I want to ask you a
• 44:43
  little bit of a fantasy football question here.
• 44:46
  OK. So last year, rookie tight end
• 44:49
  Brock Bowers, he broke several records.
• 44:52
  He broke the record for most receptions by rookie tight end.
• 44:55
  He broke the the record for most receptions by rookie, and he
• 45:00
  broke the record for most receiving yards by a rookie
• 45:02
  tight end. Given everything that the
• 45:06
  Raiders have done this offseason with Geno Smith and Ashton
• 45:09
  Gente, everything they've done, do you see Brock Bowers being
• 45:13
  better or worse statistically this year?
• 45:18
  OK. That's a good one.
• 45:19
  I think statistically, like in terms of fantasy scoring, you're
• 45:23
  going to see more from Brock Purdy or Brock Purdy, Brock
• 45:27
  Bauer, excuse me, but it's not going to be in the sense of like
• 45:30
  more receptions. I see it more in like yards and
• 45:32
  more touchdowns because you only have 5 touchdowns all of last
• 45:34
  season. So I see him maybe being more of
• 45:37
  a focal point in the red zone, maybe especially kind of like
• 45:40
  he's a very good route runner. And if anything, like I can see
• 45:43
  him getting in situations like ironically with how Travis
• 45:46
  Kelsey is in the red zone where he's very elusive and he sits in
• 45:48
  his own. So I can see Brock Bauer's being
• 45:51
  along those lines. But again, and with a lot of the
• 45:53
  additions and especially having Genti, Jack Besh, we still have
• 45:57
  Jacoby Myers. We have a better quarterback in
• 45:59
  Geno Smith who's a lot more accurate than the previous
• 46:02
  quarterbacks that we've had. Like I would say Brock Bowers is
• 46:05
  poised to have a better statistical in terms of yards
• 46:08
  and touchdowns. 112 receptions is very hard to duplicate at any
• 46:11
  position. So I would just taper
• 46:13
  expectations and that and it it's a tight end.
• 46:15
  So I don't want anyone to think that anything under 100
• 46:18
  receptions is a failure. Like that's unprecedented on a
• 46:21
  lot of levels. But I think Brock is going to be
• 46:24
  an offensive juggernaut because if the Raiders get their run
• 46:28
  game involved, which it's much improved, that play actions
• 46:30
  going to work. And it normally works in the
• 46:33
  tight ends benefit. And it's especially with a
• 46:35
  quarterback like Geno Smith, if he is having to go out on the
• 46:38
  run and have a security blanket like Brock Bowers, he's going to
• 46:41
  be a beneficiary to a lot of those throws down the field in
• 46:44
  the zone or in the red zone. I really feel like fantasy wise
• 46:48
  is going to be someone that, you know, just UPS it a little bit,
• 46:51
  but it's going to come in like yards and touchdowns, not
• 46:55
  touchdown receptions or not receive receptions.
• 46:58
  Gosh, OK, let me slow down. Not in receptions, because
• 47:01
  that's just 112 is very hard to duplicate.
• 47:04
  I got a question for you. This has been off to, I don't
• 47:07
  know, I'm not a left field here, but so you guys, the Raiders
• 47:11
  have 12345678 receivers right now that are new to the team.
• 47:17
  Whether they're under search for free agents or that you picked
• 47:21
  them up from undesignated draft picks or whether you drafted
• 47:24
  them. 8 is quite a bit. You only got 4 people that were
• 47:28
  on the team last year and you received in court which Kobe
• 47:30
  Myers, Troy Tucker, Chedrick Jackson, and Alec Alex Bachman.
• 47:36
  Who of any of the current available free agent wide
• 47:39
  receivers do you think would be the best fit for your team and
• 47:42
  why? Well, I think there's only one
• 47:45
  that I would love to have back on the team, and he's a former
• 47:48
  Raider and Amari Cooper. And, and maybe this is my fandom
• 47:52
  for Amari Cooper. I don't know why people just
• 47:54
  don't like Amari Cooper. If anything, he is the perfect
• 47:57
  receiver to have in your locker room.
• 48:00
  He's quiet, he doesn't demand the ball, he knows every single
• 48:03
  route and he's just extremely smart in terms of football
• 48:06
  knowledge. When he was on the Raiders in
• 48:09
  his second and his third year, he was an over 1000 yard rusher
• 48:12
  or receiver, excuse me. And he was Derek Carr's like
• 48:16
  number one guy scored a lot of touchdowns in Dallas.
• 48:18
  He was nothing but productivity on the field and I really feel
• 48:22
  like I don't know what happened in in Buffalo to where he just
• 48:26
  wasn't seen as a guy to throw the ball to.
• 48:28
  Maybe it was offense, maybe it was just game plan or whatever
• 48:31
  the case may be. But I really feel like Amari
• 48:33
  Cooper is a receiver, regardless of the team that he can be on,
• 48:38
  would be extremely productive. And he doesn't have to be the
• 48:40
  number one guy, but just teams have to respect how good of a
• 48:43
  route runner he is, how good of a pass catcher he is.
• 48:46
  And if anything, like if we were to keep a select few receivers,
• 48:50
  I would love to have a guy like Amari Cooper back on the team
• 48:53
  because he is such a good team first guy.
• 48:56
  And I really think locker rooms need that.
• 48:58
  And again, I'm not asking for Amari Cooper to go 1500 yards
• 49:02
  again. But could he, like in
• 49:04
  situations, be like a rotational #2 wide receiver when it comes
• 49:08
  to certain play calls? Yeah, I'd love that because he
• 49:10
  knows every route and he could get open.
• 49:13
  And even in the, I think one of the final years he was with
• 49:16
  Cleveland, he was still 1000 yard receiver in that offense
• 49:20
  with like 3 different quarterbacks.
• 49:22
  So Amari Cooper, in my opinion, is a as a guy that a lot of
• 49:25
  teams are just sleeping on. And I don't know, maybe he needs
• 49:28
  to be more like of a diva, but I just don't know why he just
• 49:32
  doesn't get a little respect, at least for what he can do on the
• 49:34
  field. He's too vanilla, right?
• 49:38
  He he's very I'm going to be good quietly silent assassin
• 49:43
  type. And so that that truly is why
• 49:44
  you're right. He doesn't have the diva aspect.
• 49:47
  I actually sitting right over here having Amari Cooper Dallas
• 49:50
  Cowboys jersey. I was certain they were keeping
• 49:53
  him and man that they did not. But I, I, I love Murray Cooper.
• 49:59
  I think he's great. Yeah, same.
• 50:01
  I think we need more receivers like Murray Cooper in the
• 50:03
  league. Honestly, I'm tired of these
• 50:05
  guys that they they do really well on their rookie contract
• 50:08
  and then they get paid and then they suck.
• 50:10
  Well, like Brandon Cooks is another player that like
• 50:13
  everywhere he goes, he's 1000 yard receiver.
• 50:16
  He doesn't do anything wrong. And yet he just seemed to be
• 50:19
  always a trade piece or signs a one year deal with somebody.
• 50:22
  But he always seems to be productive.
• 50:24
  But he doesn't he's not loud, he's not boisterous.
• 50:26
  He's just a guy that does his job.
• 50:28
  And for some reason, the NFL, or at least NFL teams, they want a
• 50:31
  guy that's going to be defiant until it gets too much.
• 50:35
  And then they're going to then put a story out that this guy's
• 50:38
  a locker room problem, even though, like, he's not a locker
• 50:41
  room problem. He's just a guy that's
• 50:42
  confident. And like, Amari Cooper and
• 50:44
  Brandon Cooks are almost similar in that respect of like, they
• 50:47
  just do their jobs. And, you know, they don't need
• 50:49
  to be loud to be very productive.
• 50:51
  And for some reasons, teams, the louder you are, the more money
• 50:54
  teams will throw at you. But yet they're going to also
• 50:56
  complain about you the most, about how loud you are.
• 50:58
  So it's very interesting how the NFL kind of operates in that
• 51:01
  manner. Since we're on the topic of
• 51:03
  former Dallas Cowboys, let's talk a little bit about
• 51:07
  linebacker Jalen Smith. So the Raiders signed him and I
• 51:11
  just kind of want to get some of your thoughts.
• 51:13
  He didn't play in 2024. He last played with the Raiders
• 51:17
  actually in 2023. But I think he only played like
• 51:20
  one game and he's only 29 in five seasons in Dallas, he had
• 51:25
  516 total tackles in 68 games. But then in The Four Seasons
• 51:30
  he's played since then, he's played 20 total games.
• 51:32
  He's had 110 tackles, 88 came in one of those seasons where he
• 51:37
  played thirteen games and he played those four different
• 51:40
  seasons for three different teams.
• 51:42
  So kind of give us some of your thoughts on Jalen Smith and why
• 51:45
  the Raiders signed in and kind of how he fits into your
• 51:48
  defense. Well, I think the same reason
• 51:50
  why the Raiders sign, you know, Devin White, who is a guy that
• 51:54
  is trying to prove himself if he can still play.
• 51:56
  He's also kind of a younger linebacker that had early
• 51:59
  success with the Buccaneers. But with Jalen Smith, I mean, he
• 52:02
  was coached by Patrick Graham on two different occasions.
• 52:05
  Obviously it what you just said in 2023 with the Raiders and
• 52:08
  then also a stint with the New York Giants when Jalen Smith was
• 52:12
  there. But if I'm being honest, this
• 52:14
  isn't a guy that I think is going to be the, you know, the
• 52:17
  anchor of the defense. It's probably just a guy to
• 52:19
  bring in to see does he have anything left.
• 52:22
  And to be honest, like the one of the things, and I think
• 52:24
  that's a question that's going to come up pretty soon.
• 52:26
  One of the things about the Raiders that I really wish that
• 52:29
  they would have addressed more in the draft was their
• 52:30
  linebacking core. We have a very weak linebacking
• 52:33
  core. And at this point, we're just
• 52:34
  trying to bring guys in that we think would help us be
• 52:37
  competitive in that front because that's honestly like
• 52:40
  outside of some other positions I can probably name linebacker
• 52:43
  is probably the one where we are the most susceptible to defenses
• 52:47
  that we really don't have a guy that is, you know, Fred Warner
• 52:51
  type or a guy that's like a Rokon Smith.
• 52:54
  Like we really just need guys that are can compete.
• 52:57
  Who's going to emerge? Do they have anything left in
• 52:59
  the tank? And again, like, if Jalen Smith
• 53:01
  makes a locker room, I'm not to think that he's going to get 10
• 53:04
  sacks in a season. He might be a guy that just
• 53:06
  might be able to bring in some of the young players and give
• 53:09
  confidence and be a locker room guy because again, with
• 53:11
  relationships with Patrick Graham and Pete Carroll, but
• 53:15
  that's all I see this as. I don't think he's going to do
• 53:17
  anything more than just be a guy competing.
• 53:20
  And if he makes a day one roster, I'll be really happy.
• 53:22
  But you know, we haven't even gone through a training camp
• 53:25
  yet, so we'll even see if he makes a 53 man roster.
• 53:28
  Yeah, like Will with Amari Cooper, I unfortunately have a
• 53:32
  Jalen Smith Cowboys jersey. He had a fantastic season.
• 53:36
  I forget which season it was, but he was great for one season.
• 53:39
  I got his jersey and then he sucked after that.
• 53:42
  I think it was 2920192018 I think, I don't remember.
• 53:47
  I think it was around there 'cause.
• 53:48
  I think it was his second year in the league.
• 53:50
  OK. Whatever that was, it was his
• 53:52
  second year. He had a really great season and
• 53:54
  then I got his jersey and then right after that happened, he
• 53:57
  was just bad. Yeah, it always happens.
• 54:00
  Yeah, a little bit different than the Marty Cooper, but
• 54:04
  still. Yeah, sad that I have his
• 54:06
  jersey. Supposed to be a sign trading
• 54:07
  sign and they traded and never signed.
• 54:10
  All right, So Cody, since you brought up one of the weaknesses
• 54:12
  for the Raiders, are there any other weaknesses that you see
• 54:15
  and are there, what are the strengths for this team?
• 54:19
  So outside of the linebacker position being a weakness, I
• 54:22
  think our safety position is pretty weak as well.
• 54:24
  And this is where some of the things in the draft I, I like,
• 54:28
  like, I like some of the interior lineman that we got.
• 54:30
  I like the offensive line that we drafted in the in the fourth
• 54:33
  round. But I really wish the Raiders
• 54:34
  were prioritized getting a safety.
• 54:37
  I did write down to safeties for the show as like, you know,
• 54:39
  players that I see still available.
• 54:41
  And one of them is Justin Simmons, former Denver Bronco,
• 54:43
  former Atlanta Falcon. I feel like he would at least be
• 54:45
  a guy that can get on the roster and at least be, you know,
• 54:49
  somebody that could compete or at least be in the rotation.
• 54:51
  And then another guy's, Marcus Williams from Baltimore.
• 54:54
  He's still out there in free agency.
• 54:56
  He would probably be an interesting player to add and if
• 54:58
  anything, just to see if he can just be like a spot starter or a
• 55:03
  guy that can be in rotation. Because our safety position, in
• 55:06
  my opinion, took a little bit of a step back when we did not re
• 55:08
  sign Morig and he left us for the Panthers.
• 55:11
  I feel like that's a pretty big hole.
• 55:13
  And as far as our cornerbacks, like I feel like they're going
• 55:15
  to be OK, but we really needed safety help.
• 55:17
  And so, you know, safety and linebacker, in my opinion, are
• 55:19
  the two positions I feel like the Raiders are going to feel
• 55:23
  the most pain because those are our weakest positions,
• 55:26
  respectively. What would you say is their
• 55:28
  biggest strength right now? I think the biggest strength
• 55:32
  right now would probably be their offense have gotten a lot
• 55:34
  better and I'll I'll stick to like their passing offense has
• 55:37
  increased a lot with just acquiring Geno Smith.
• 55:40
  Brock Bowers is where we were talking about them.
• 55:43
  You know, again, as what we've said throughout the shows,
• 55:46
  drafting Ashton Gente, the number one running back out of
• 55:49
  the draft class and not Amari and Hampton, and then having a
• 55:52
  plethora of other weapons that Geno Smith could help and, you
• 55:55
  know, find an open guy and having Chip Kelly, a really
• 55:59
  focused offensive mind to really not only have a spread style
• 56:02
  offense, but really could help Geno thrive.
• 56:04
  It was with quick decisions and and how the game plan could go.
• 56:08
  So I think the offense, ironically enough, is kind of
• 56:11
  the strong suit to the Raiders. Their offensive line gives me a
• 56:14
  little worries, but I feel like there's enough parts around them
• 56:16
  to where they can put points up in bunches, which will help
• 56:19
  because last season we just weren't a team that was a that
• 56:22
  was going to be, you know, an air it out and have a high
• 56:25
  scoring game. But I feel like the Raiders this
• 56:27
  season could be a team that can keep up with some high-powered
• 56:30
  offenses. I would like to print asterisks
• 56:33
  on that. I agree with everything you
• 56:35
  said. I should take a bigger straight
• 56:36
  for them and you touched on it multiple times is specifically
• 56:39
  their coaching staff. I think they've hired a lot of
• 56:42
  really good pieces and Pete Carroll has crafted his own team
• 56:46
  to be right there with him. I think this coaching staff with
• 56:50
  the right execution on the players right because coaches
• 56:52
  don't play the game. They just kind of manage the
• 56:54
  game right excuse from the players.
• 56:56
  This coaching staff has the probability to take them far.
• 57:00
  They've got a genius offensive mind and what's his name Chip
• 57:04
  Kelly. Pete Carroll brought a lot of
• 57:06
  people who we had with him in Seattle over.
• 57:08
  They've got a bunch of just wonderful offensive minds out
• 57:10
  there. Additionally, they have a bunch
• 57:12
  of deeply experienced defensive coaches in that team to keep
• 57:15
  them going. Everything Raiders have drafted
• 57:18
  speed for a long time and how it's time that somebody puts
• 57:20
  that speed into into use. Yeah, I agree.
• 57:24
  I have a question. As far as Pete Carroll goes, I
• 57:26
  kind of see him as like the Coach Calipari of Football A.
• 57:31
  Little here, yeah. He's at he's at a he's at a long
• 57:34
  past and you know some, you know, shaky instances, you know,
• 57:38
  particularly maybe like USC considering he's the oldest
• 57:42
  coach in the NFL right now. And just, you know, he's he's
• 57:47
  his personality, like the legend of him is kind of gone beyond,
• 57:50
  you know, him is maybe necessarily a coach.
• 57:53
  Do you have any, even if they're well hidden, reservations on him
• 57:58
  or potentially just something where you could see like this
• 58:01
  might leave us high and dry? Yeah, actually.
• 58:06
  So as a Raiders fan, of course, it seems like every offseason
• 58:10
  where we make a move, in our opinion, that's a splash or we
• 58:13
  get a coach that we think is a good one.
• 58:15
  And I'll and I'll, I won't point to Antonio Pierce.
• 58:17
  I won't point to Josh McDaniels. I'll revert to Jon Gruden.
• 58:21
  When we hired him the second time, there was all this hype
• 58:24
  around it. And you know, the first couple
• 58:26
  of seasons, same John Gruden and then all of a sudden year three
• 58:30
  starting to take off, emails happen and then come to find out
• 58:33
  it just didn't work. And very similar to what Pete
• 58:36
  Carroll is not that he's going to have hidden emails.
• 58:38
  But in the same respect of like we have a Pete Carroll guy
• 58:41
  that's a former Super Bowl champion, been to the Super Bowl
• 58:44
  and lost. Has been able to go toe to toe
• 58:46
  with like a Sean Payton in the NFC has been able to go toe to
• 58:50
  toe with Jim Harbaugh when he was with the Niners and a guy
• 58:53
  that we know can change a culture.
• 58:55
  But at the same time, like, what if that doesn't happen?
• 58:58
  What if we still see the same Raider products?
• 59:00
  If you know, I'd be lying if I said that's not in the back of
• 59:02
  my mind to assume that the same old Raiders are going to be on
• 59:05
  the field. Because maybe, you know, you can
• 59:08
  do everything you can to dress up and put the lipstick and the
• 59:10
  dress on the pig. But at the end of the day, it's
• 59:12
  still a pig and you you're really not going to change it.
• 59:14
  Exactly what it is. I would be lying to you if I
• 59:17
  said that wasn't any concern of mine of like, what if all this
• 59:21
  high flying and college attitude that Pete Carroll's bringing is
• 59:24
  not going to to do a a damn thing?
• 59:26
  And what is that going to look like on the NFL field?
• 59:28
  So as much optimism as I feeling and as much like vibrato, I'm
• 59:32
  trying to project as far as I want my Raiders to do well, I
• 59:35
  also do want to know like in week 1 when we go to the New
• 59:38
  England to face Patriots, where do we stand with the Patriots?
• 59:42
  You know, when we go head to head with the Chargers or the
• 59:44
  Chiefs, how good have we gotten or are we worse or where we at?
• 59:48
  I'd be lying if I said I didn't have reservations as far as
• 59:51
  like, is Pete Carroll maybe too old for the game of football?
• 59:55
  You know, and and that's the I'll be honest, that's some
• 59:57
  reservations. But at the same time, to Will's
• 59:59
  credit about the the coaches that he's brought in, the
• 1:00:02
  players that he's brought in. And again, just changing the
• 1:00:05
  mindset of how the organization has been might be just a world
• 1:00:09
  of difference. And I think that is the optimism
• 1:00:12
  I lean in. But you know, to not think that
• 1:00:15
  there is going to be some catastrophic drop off for all
• 1:00:17
  this hype is definitely on the forefront for sure.
• 1:00:20
  Well, the reason I bring it up is slightly projection.
• 1:00:23
  I'm a Carolina fan and Bill Belichick's about to start his
• 1:00:28
  regime, you mean? His girlfriend's going to start
• 1:00:31
  her regime, is that what you're saying?
• 1:00:32
  About and and and that's and that's where I get to the
• 1:00:35
  reservations. And so I just wonder, you know,
• 1:00:38
  like, regardless of how much, you know, storied history he
• 1:00:41
  has, I mean, obviously Pete's not playing that game right now,
• 1:00:45
  but just as far as, you know, whether it's just, hey, I'm
• 1:00:49
  retiring, I'm out, or if it's just something like, hey, I
• 1:00:52
  don't know. I, I just with, with guys this
• 1:00:55
  big, it always gives me pause. It's the same thing in the NBA.
• 1:01:00
  I got to throw out the NBA or basketball every time.
• 1:01:02
  But when you put together a super team, it rarely turns out
• 1:01:06
  the way you think it will not No one saying that the Raiders, you
• 1:01:09
  know, that this is, you know, becomes a super team, but just
• 1:01:12
  the hype behind it. I I that's why I got to ask.
• 1:01:15
  Yeah, And also there's a real, you know, apprehension about
• 1:01:19
  like these older coaches, can they get through to the younger
• 1:01:23
  block of players that just aren't coached the same way?
• 1:01:26
  Like we hear it all the time about some NFL coaches that like
• 1:01:29
  these guys just don't take, you know, advice or criticism the
• 1:01:33
  same way. Like they, you know, you have to
• 1:01:35
  deliver it in a certain way. That's why why some coaches that
• 1:01:38
  are like a Nick Siriani or Cliff Kingsbury in in the Commanders
• 1:01:44
  is working out so well because he's speaking to younger guys in
• 1:01:47
  a certain way. That's not like what maybe a
• 1:01:50
  Bill Parcells would do where he's going to break you down but
• 1:01:53
  lift you up in a way. You just have to get through the
• 1:01:55
  breakdown, you know, and I'm not saying that Pete Carroll is
• 1:01:57
  anything like that guy because he's more of a positive guy.
• 1:02:00
  But Bill Belichick, to kind of continue your point is an older
• 1:02:04
  guy that he's going to be talking to a younger generation.
• 1:02:06
  Can you get through to them in the way that he does it without
• 1:02:08
  having guys walk out the door because they've never been
• 1:02:10
  talking, Talk to you like that. Is he too old for the game?
• 1:02:13
  And I think there is some respect to like Pete Carroll in
• 1:02:16
  the same question. Has the game passed him up?
• 1:02:18
  Has he, you know, even though it's been a season, can he still
• 1:02:21
  duplicate what he did in Seattle at a high level or has NFL just
• 1:02:25
  moved on so. Yeah.
• 1:02:27
  That's the thing I mean with with Bill Belichick.
• 1:02:30
  I see it as like, look, anyone that's at Carolina this next
• 1:02:33
  year is there for Bill. Yeah, like, they're at that
• 1:02:36
  point. I mean, dude, you've got the
• 1:02:37
  legend as your coach in College in the ACC.
• 1:02:42
  Yeah. Also, I'm putting a prediction.
• 1:02:44
  Joel, write this down. I'm thinking, I'm thinking
• 1:02:47
  Bill's girlfriend's going to end up sleeping with one of the
• 1:02:50
  players at some point. See, I think Bill, I like it.
• 1:02:53
  I think Bill and his girlfriend are going to break up before the
• 1:02:55
  end of the season. Oh, I think they will I but I
• 1:02:57
  think that will be the reason. That would be something that
• 1:03:00
  would be some controversy, all right.
• 1:03:02
  That's going on this spreadsheet for sure, 20. 4 year old brought
• 1:03:05
  here on college? Absolutely.
• 1:03:10
  All right, Cody. So I got one more question for
• 1:03:13
  you. We're going to kind of start
• 1:03:15
  closing out the show. We're running out of time, but I
• 1:03:17
  got one more question for you. And then before we end, I'm
• 1:03:20
  going to hand the floor over to Will to talk about something
• 1:03:23
  that we have to talk about because we're talking about the
• 1:03:25
  Raiders. Actually, may I first?
• 1:03:27
  Actually it isn't the same thing.
• 1:03:29
  I'm so sorry it isn't the same thing.
• 1:03:30
  OK, go, go. Ahead So Bill Belichick, his
• 1:03:34
  girlfriend, is 24 years old. And we've seen Bill change his
• 1:03:39
  dress and his pattern a little bit because he's now in college
• 1:03:43
  and he's got this young, arguably a beautiful girlfriend.
• 1:03:46
  And Mark Davis being 69 years old with his 26 year old, again
• 1:03:52
  arguably a beautiful girlfriend, has not changed a damn thing.
• 1:03:56
  What's up with that haircut? You know what I love?
• 1:04:01
  I was actually waiting for you guys to ask me this question
• 1:04:03
  because if I'm being honest, I have no idea.
• 1:04:05
  I don't know why he keeps that haircut.
• 1:04:07
  It's not for luck, that's for sure.
• 1:04:10
  It's not my favorite haircut. And actually my buddy Drew, who
• 1:04:13
  I do the show with, I was joking with him that maybe for
• 1:04:16
  Halloween I should be, I should be Mark Davis for Halloween and
• 1:04:19
  have the hair and all that because it is it is such a
• 1:04:22
  costume that maybe I'll have to do it.
• 1:04:24
  So it's funny that you bring that out, but I have no idea why
• 1:04:28
  I hate the haircut. You just.
• 1:04:30
  But also at the same time, it's kind of like his moniker.
• 1:04:33
  Like if he lost the hair, how could anyone recognize him in
• 1:04:36
  the streets? I don't know.
• 1:04:37
  Well, maybe that's what you should go for then.
• 1:04:40
  He should trademark it. He'd make a lot of money.
• 1:04:42
  Off the hair. Hey, if you decide to actually
• 1:04:46
  do that, please let me know because you're going to come on
• 1:04:47
  our Halloween. Episode.
• 1:04:48
  That'd be sick. All right, I'll I'll let you
• 1:04:50
  guys know. I guess I'd have to shave this
• 1:04:51
  because you don't really have a beard, huh?
• 1:04:52
  No. Oh, it's it would be a massive,
• 1:04:55
  drastic change just for the bit. The closest one.
• 1:04:58
  Closest one. To my wife might divorce me if
• 1:05:00
  she saw me like that, so I don't know.
• 1:05:01
  I might. I'll let you know.
• 1:05:04
  The closest one to him is Avery with the hair color so I feel.
• 1:05:07
  Like I could do it if I if I if I cared more about if it was my
• 1:05:11
  bit that I was doing. I could probably do Al Davis
• 1:05:15
  better than Mark Davis, but you know who?
• 1:05:18
  Who knows? I got to find a slick white
• 1:05:21
  Raider jacket, get in all white, got to look like I just rolled
• 1:05:23
  out of the 1970s with how Mark Davis dresses sometimes.
• 1:05:27
  So we'll see. Dude I I could probably do Brock
• 1:05:29
  Bowers honestly at this point. All right, Joe loses the man
• 1:05:36
  start to derail us, but no, no, he was very.
• 1:05:38
  Good. That was that was the next thing
• 1:05:40
  I wanted to get to. Anyway, I know, I know.
• 1:05:42
  You're OK. It's not dead away.
• 1:05:43
  All right, so we'll end with this question, Cody.
• 1:05:48
  So you didn't bring this up as one of the weaknesses?
• 1:05:51
  For the Raiders. But a lot of people I feel like
• 1:05:53
  see this as a weakness is their pass rush.
• 1:05:57
  And the reason for that is because I, I know Max Crosby was
• 1:06:00
  hurt. He only played twelve games.
• 1:06:01
  He had 7 1/2 sacks, but last year the Raiders as a defense
• 1:06:04
  had 38 sacks, which ranked in the bottom half of the league.
• 1:06:07
  So with everything the Raiders have done this offseason, do you
• 1:06:10
  feel like that they have done enough to have a good pass rush
• 1:06:16
  this year? I think that they have done
• 1:06:19
  enough to where it's going to improve now in terms of like is
• 1:06:22
  it going to be bottom of the pack defense in the in the
• 1:06:25
  bottom 10? I don't think so.
• 1:06:26
  I think the Raiders defense when it's healthy, I think it can be
• 1:06:29
  jockeying for about ranked 15th, maybe even getting close to the
• 1:06:33
  top 10 because even in 2023 when we had a healthy ish defense, we
• 1:06:39
  were pretty much ranked 9th. I think overall we slipped a
• 1:06:42
  little bit and 15th, obviously we didn't get to the quarterback
• 1:06:46
  as much as you pointed out, Max Cross, but also we didn't have
• 1:06:48
  Michael Koontz or Mikel, excuse me, Malcolm Koontz for all of
• 1:06:53
  last season who accounted for 8 sacks in 2023.
• 1:06:57
  That's a lot of production we missed.
• 1:06:59
  Also, Tyree Wilson has kind of been like a hit and miss on our
• 1:07:02
  first round pick. He was coming back from an
• 1:07:04
  injury in 2023. He looked a little bit better
• 1:07:07
  but had the same production. So this is going to be a prove
• 1:07:09
  it year for him whether or not he's going to get an extension
• 1:07:11
  or maybe going to get paid by another team.
• 1:07:13
  So I imagine he's going to want to do really well.
• 1:07:16
  And we didn't have Christian Wilkes for, you know, a large
• 1:07:19
  portion of the season. He was only available for five
• 1:07:22
  games and he had two sacks by himself within the five games.
• 1:07:25
  And you can tell within the first game he was a real menace
• 1:07:28
  in the middle and really clogging up the lanes when it
• 1:07:31
  came to the run game and getting after the quarterback.
• 1:07:33
  So having a full season with him healthy next to Adam Butler,
• 1:07:37
  that's going to be a lot different.
• 1:07:38
  So I think that when the Raiders are healthy, having Malcolm
• 1:07:41
  Koontz, Max Crosby, Tyree Wilson, of course, not including
• 1:07:45
  the other guys that they've drafted in the in this upcoming
• 1:07:47
  draft class, Christian Wilkins. I think the Raiders past defense
• 1:07:51
  is going to be a lot better than people realize.
• 1:07:53
  And I'm not saying that they're going to be top 10, but I think
• 1:07:55
  that they would be on the outside like maybe top 12 kind
• 1:07:58
  of a defense to where that pressure defense is really going
• 1:08:01
  to change a lot of game plans for some teams.
• 1:08:03
  And even like in the divisional games when the Raiders seem to
• 1:08:06
  play, you know, some really good football, I really feel like
• 1:08:09
  that defense is going to answer the bell.
• 1:08:11
  And especially Max Crosby playing with a rejuvenated
• 1:08:14
  feeling with being with Patrick Graham again and also Pete
• 1:08:17
  Carroll. I feel like maybe we're going to
• 1:08:18
  see a comeback player of the game type of season with Max
• 1:08:22
  Crosby, in my opinion. So I I think the Raiders defense
• 1:08:25
  will do much better in 2025. Yeah, for what is worth, take
• 1:08:30
  this role. You will.
• 1:08:31
  But the Raiders had a pass rush win rate of 43% last year, which
• 1:08:36
  was 10th in the league. So that's pretty good.
• 1:08:39
  And I think if those injuries didn't happen, I think that
• 1:08:41
  would have been higher as well as their sack total.
• 1:08:43
  So, right, I really like what you said.
• 1:08:44
  I think their pass rush is going to be better just depending on
• 1:08:47
  how healthy their defensive line is, Right?
• 1:08:50
  Agreed. All right, well, that's all we
• 1:08:53
  have for today's episode. Again, we want to thank Cody for
• 1:08:56
  coming on with us. I don't remember if we did this
• 1:08:58
  at the beginning or not, but Cody, go ahead and let everybody
• 1:09:01
  know where they can find you on social media.
• 1:09:03
  Sure. So it's just at Drewcode Sports
• 1:09:05
  Talk. You can find us on Instagram,
• 1:09:08
  Tiktok, Facebook X, pretty much wherever the social media
• 1:09:12
  Drewcode is AT. And then you can also find us on
• 1:09:14
  YouTube, just Drewcode Sports Talk.
• 1:09:17
  You can put that in YouTube and subscribe to the channel as
• 1:09:19
  well. All right, well, thanks again,
• 1:09:20
  Cody for coming on. That's all we have for today.
• 1:09:22
  Stay tuned for more NFL talk next week.
• 1:09:25
  And as always, don't forget to keep your balls played with.
• 1:09:29
  We'll see you next time. Appreciate it fellas.