They Around the NFL podcast.
Wins in the Trenches. Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. We are remote because California had some scary weather over the weekend and we were told to bunker up. Even though it's sunny out right now, we are bunkered in.
It was a wild weekend. You know. We had a little hurricane, little tropical storm, little earthquake. I was out in the garage and felt everything swaying there for a second. That was kind of fun. Walker was out here, and I have a live studio audience here for the show, so you know, I'm gonna keep my mouth cleaner than the Raiders fans who are sitting behind me at the Rams Raiders preseason game on Saturday.
I gotta say, though this storm, now, look, I didn't scan the whole city. I don't know if other places were more affected than where I am. But you know, watch some local news yesterday to find out what Hillary was up to, and they're asked, they're acting like al Qaeda is coming to the takeover Los Angeles, and I thought. The storm sort of came and went, and it was like, I don't know, have you ever lived in another part of the country where like that rainstorm would have gotten
zero pop and it was, you know, rough day. Rough day depends where you were.
If you were in the mountains, you got ten inches and you got crazy flooding. We had flooding here, but it wasn't any I think it La is so massive. It's almost silly to call La like one city. It feels like it's a state. It's like where I'm so silly, it's ridiculous.
It's funny. You should mention that about the game you were at, because my weekend was annoying. I drove down to San Diego with my boys on Saturday morning and the hurricane obviously was bearing down on San Diego, so good timing on that. There was like four bros, like thirty one year old bros sitting right behind us, all just like and one guy just like going nuts with the F bomb, and just like, do I have to do the thing? Do I have to do the thing? Do I have to turn around and do the thing
to this guy? And I didn't because his buddy next to him had the good sense to be like, dude, you can't be saying that. You can't be just screaming out f bombs. There's just so many idiots in the world. And then I was in San Diego. I was at the Padres game, and I can only imagine so Daniel Jeremiah, you know, move the sticks, longtime enemy of the show.
He and what can only to me seem like an effort to pin every unsolved murder in greater San Diego on the old Zeusser offers up three tickets, beautiful seats to this Padres game to me two sons, like can you can you get a load of this guy? And like whatever he's trying to do, I'm back in La deal with it. You didn't get me. I get a hotel to stay the night. I get back from the game in the gas Lamp district, and all the news is telling me, if you don't leave, now you're gonna die.
And now I have to decide, as the dad, am I gonna risk my two sons lives because I don't want to take a bad beat at the Marguerita Aville hotel that I checked into. What am I gonna stay the night and leave in the morning because I don't want to get banged on that three point fifty that I paid for this hotel room. So I left in the middle of the night, and I got banged in a big spot. And then you're in the weird spot of like you kind of want the storm to hit hard.
So it makes sense that you you didn't leave the hotel for nothing. So just very conflicting when it was just a very uh, you know, it was a size rainstorm in the end.
Ultimately, you're pulled in many directions there, Dan, But I think that you know, your your kids see the effort you put in a big effort to get to the game. Hillary said, no, Hillary got in the way of some of your plans, And you know, I don't know. I don't know how they come up with the names for these storms. But I just thought the most hilarious thing was that we're like concerned about Hilary, like descending upon our berg.
A lot of people were concerned about Hillary. That's how we ended up with that other guy. But what was Jeremiah up to? By the way, I don't know.
It feels like psychological warfare on a deeper level than I could comprehend.
Well he is, you know, the wholesome mesass, a god fearing man too. Maybe he has connections with the higher powers here that he set up the whole weather event to get. But yeah I did. I did not turn around at the Raiders fans either. These these were not gentlemen. I think that you would have wanted to. One did apologize when he spilled an entire nacho cheese cup on my daughter's sweatshirt. But other than that, they were freely
saying whatever they wanted. And after the game, the kids were just like, I like it much better when we go to the games against the Chargers. Their fans are much nicer.
They don't exist all right. So last week, coming out of the first round full round of preseasons game games, we had who Popped and Who flopped? And Mark, bless his heart, always behind the scenes saying how could we come up with names and things that make take the show to the next level. He came up with a banger. So an honor of Mark Sessler, Today's rundown of preseason week two is who Popped and Who pooped? Congratulations Mark, and thank you for your help.
Yeah. I like to contribute, you know, in multiple ways. To the show, and that was something that came to me while driving to work to SOFI when you suggested the initial title we had from a week ago. Thought, I'm just gonna make a little little, uh little adjustment to that and bring the maturity level of the show back to where it needs to be.
It's good eleven years in that we're not just coasting, We're not just resting on our lures. We're always trying to push, push it further, push the envelope.
GC GC, all right, So what we're gonna do is, uh, we all even with all the distractions of Tropical Storm Hillary, whatever Daniel Jeremiah was up to behind the scenes, and the fact that we couldn't go into the office today because the sunlight was too glaring on our windshields, we did study the games that were played this week, not because the games matter, because, let me remind you, they do not. And almost impossibly, the games were worse this week than last week. I shudder to think how bad
the last week of the preseason could be. I'm almost looking forward to it to see how much I hate it. I know I'm not allowed to say this, but I can't hold it in anymore. I need some real football my life. We're gonna talk about this because this is what we do, but I can't do it too much longer. At the end of my robe Sessler, this is.
The exact week you say that every year. Everyone feels that way. It is the week where it's like, okay, yeah, let's let's move along here.
Well, it used to be like such a sort of a code to what teams did week to week in the preseason. I think what we're seeing now is that you like, you know, the Colts put no starters out there, while the other team has, you know, on both sides the ball dotted with first stringers. It's just like, I guess these coaches are gonna go and take their own personal philosophy. So it makes the games really even whackier.
There isn't even that typical Week three where all the quarterback battles like come to a head.
No, you need to go into those joint practice reports winners and losers right up. So that's all we got.
That's the new thing or the newish thing. So and so didn't play because there was a double joint practice and that was deemed to be enough in terms of what was needed to be seen for a player such as Anthony Richardson who gets named starter after the first preseason game, very raw and talented rookie, and then he doesn't play in the second preseason game because of the joint practice explanation, which just drives me crazy because you feel like that guy more than any other QB just
about entering the league as a starter in week one, should be on the field and getting reps all three of these weeks, and yet he doesn't because the games don't matter. The coaches and teams are telling us that. I'll say no more, let's talk about it. Let's get into it. Greg, give me some enthusiasm, give me some pop.
Yeah. I like these because you're right, it's try. We'll try to hit as many as we can. I got. I still scraped out eighty eight nuggets on this week's preseason. I mean a lot of them aren't from the preseason. They're from news, they're from the week and whatnot. But let's start with a double banger in Denver, just because I thought it was interesting to see Gavonte Williams back on the field coming off of torn Aco MCL everything.
He's out there. He got seven touches in a brief amount of wars didn't see like a ton of pop. The guy who stood out to be more was probably Russell Wilson. That like Sean Payton was saying, it was fifteen pounds maybe more than he and he did move quicker. So that is something where you get eyes on a guy in the preseason, and you saw that seventeen year
at Scamper that Russell Williams had, Russell Wilson had. But when watching Devonte Williams, I just think for fantasy and just for life, like I don't necessarily expect him to be the lead back early in the season. It might be some a JP Ryan who in that game looked better and it would make total sense if he's better than Javonteo.
This is no longer a trope alert with Russell Wilson because now we really see it. The man who's called the sack of Potatoes in December, he looks lighter, he looks like it's twenty thirteen. Not saying he's gonna be that guy again, but on that scramble you could just see his body types a little different and he if anybody in the league was more humbled and is coming
into the season with more to prove. It's Wilson, and you know Mark, He's a maniac in terms of how he sees himself, how he preps, the way he his life revolves around ball. Like, are we kind of maybe is it time to start buying into the Russell Wilson renaissance season.
I don't need to buy into it at all yet, but I will say this like quiet and husher tones on his demise, just because I think that the addition of Sean Payton is massive. You know. I think when you come back from the summer and you see that these players' bodies have been transformed, I think running backs, you can see it. You're right up on that. On that scramble with Wilson, he just looked out of it
last year and so arrow up. But I mean, I feel like there's a long way to go before we get too excited, because I think what we saw last year was an absolute collapse of an athlete, and I don't really trust the rebound situation in those situations. Some I also, like I thought brock Purty looked pretty good, like Trey Lance dug himself out of some trouble in that game, I don't even know if Trey Lance even as an argument to be the number two quarterback on
that team because Sam Darnold is a better fit. It seems like in a Shanahan offense, and I thought look pretty good for the second game in a row.
Relatedly, circling back to bodies, is there any head coach out there that came back looking trim, doing the old fit in July, not so fit come November?
Aren't there so many more fit coaches in general? Like you've got more Kyle Shanahan's than you do, you know Rex Ryan's Circle twenty eleven.
Yeah, Yeah, Shannan's a thin guy, though, I mean he's in good shape. He's no sala you know. Lafleur looked like he might have packed on some muscle. I mean, he's always been a trim guy, but might be bigger than every I'm still not convinced about us, by the way. Yeah, they ran an RPO for him though, like, which is like, Wow, they're believing in the athleticism, But the rest of it's been pretty uneven, I would say through two weeks in
terms of like trying to drop back to pass. But the announcers in that game noted which I was shocked to realize. Russell Wilson, as I think, has more rushing yards than any quarterback in history other than Cam Newton and Michael Vick. He's like, wow, he's played football long time.
I'll throw out two pops related to the running back depth charts of two teams. Is this the year that Mike Brabel asks for just a little bit less from Derreck Henry? There's so much hand ringing about is it finally time to fade the big dog, you know, entering an age thirty campaign or twenty nine right on the on those there, and is he going to keep it up? Well? Remember TYJ Spears third round pick out of Greg.
Too Lane, poor mute on because Walker was having a sneezing fit that job.
Anyway, he gets, he gets some run this weekend and looked really good. He had a thirty three yard touchdown run. He hit over twenty miles per hour on that run. Fifty seven yards on seven carries. That's saucy, and that does mean that I'm saying Derek Henry is going to start losing serious work ers is going to be a
fifty to fifty split. But it just makes sense. If Rabel does have a young dog that he feels good about, the big dog could still be the guy, and Spears can take that touch count down from four hundred to three fifty and then maybe everybody wins. And then the other one is in Jacksonville, where we keep hearing about Tank Bigsby and it looks like it might be a
thing here another third round pick. He ran well over five yards to carry one hundred and twenty two yards on twenty two carries in six quarters in these two games, and Greg, you and I differ a little bit. I think Travis Atien is somebody who could still take his game the next level, but again, different leadership from when he came on to the team. They obviously like Tank to bring him into the building, and he's played well
now through the summer. That could be something different, could be a more closer to a fifty to fifty split, potentially depending on how Tank looks early in the season.
Yeah, I like him, and I always keep in mind, like who brought these players in. That makes a huge difference to me, Not that they don't like Etn, but they brought in Bigsby, they didn't bring in Etn. I am a little worried about the Jaguars in general. There their offensive line might not be opening up like big holes for these guys. They have the suspension to start the season. They're right tackle Anton Harrison, who was a first round pick, has had this shoulder injury that isn't
going away. So I feel like and there's a few other injury things where I feel like there's some warning signs with the Jaguars early.
They're really deep at running back because I think people forget about Dearanis Johnson, who in a spots start for the Browns, came in on Thursday night and looked like Nick Chubb or was as effective as a starter in a big win for them, and everywhere he goes, he produces. And I thought even in the even in these games, like there's these little moments that I'm like, I think Dearanis Johnson will be a starter someday or certainly can
be a guy that gets much more committee work. And so that's one aspect of offense, Like they're suddenly very deep and very interesting at running back.
Uh, somebody who pooped Mark Well.
I actually wanted to mention a pop if I.
Could, Oh you could absolutely, Mark, Yes.
I've been waiting to see the felt No, I didn't. I just there's plenty there listened list with like seven thousand things on it. We'll get to it. But I've been waiting to see the Falcons. And you know, right away Bjeon Robinson had had that run that went viral. You just see him a sort of like cross sectioning through a bunch of defenders, and I think that was like a fifteen play drive. They didn't score because it ended in an interception, but Drake London got involved.
Uh.
B Jeon Robinson had a one handed catch, then Kyle Pitts had a one handed catch, and it kind of just went up and down the field. And I thought also that, you know, we've been waiting to see if the floor falls out with desmon Rador. I thought it looked pretty good. You know, the interception was not entirely his fault, and he made some good He had good chemistry Drake Lonnon like he did at the end of last year too. So I don't know. I think Arthur
Smith is onto something here. They just seem like, if they stay healthy, they have so many different types of weapons and can play different styles of football. I don't know. There's no NFC team I'm more interested in right now.
M Yeah. I didn't need to see Bejon break four tackles and four carries to think that he was criminally underrated at the bottom of the first round in fantasy. But I saw it, and one of the reasons because I think he's underrated as a receiver. They just didn't use him that way in college that much because they were so talented. They have, you know, great backup for him two Roshon Johnson. But man, he caught a one hander like I'm in and Kyle pets all systems go,
which is a good sign. Nothing's bad has happened with Kyle Pitts. They've rammed him up slowly, but he was out there. He's now healthy enough to play in a preseason game, so he's all systems to go for the season, which is good.
I missed out on Bijon by one pick in my fantasy draft last night. One almost made it back to the back end of the second round. That's insane.
Suremiah, Well, that's on.
Well, I guess you had the top pick then, so you know I'm not gonna kill you.
I did.
That was three I would take him in the top five.
That see that seems a little rich for me. But if he was, if he was there for me, I was gonna grab him up. So that that one hurt. That one hurt. But yeah, that's it's gonna be fun to watch him. I don't know about the people are waiting for the Florida to drop out in Desmond Ridder mark, I just like there is no floor even yet. It's he's just kind of like a total unknown and and
we'll see if he can play the guitar. It's the entire season kind of hinges on his ability to at least be a game manager, which I.
Think it's fair. I don't think people are, like, you know, suggesting total doom. But he's sort of like he is the reason they might win four less games than they would with Ryan Tannehill or someone in some people's minds. And I I don't know. I don't hate. I don't hate what I see at the end of last year and this year, if.
They come out in week one, who do they have Week one?
Is that the Saint's Week one Panthers.
Panthers in Week one, and Desmond Ridder plays very well and all these other guys are looking good. Yeah, they have a shot here. That's gonna be fun. If I'm a Falcons fan and I get a good Desmond Ritter Week one performance, I am flying thinking I'm winning this division? Like exciting times. How about Greg pop poop? What do you got?
I hate to put poop on?
Uh.
These great young quarterbacks I believe are gonna be great.
C J.
Stroud and Bryce Young because it certainly wasn't all on them, but we're talking preseason. What are we talking about? It really matters. It's rookie quarterbacks. It's it's rookies. And I've I've been underwhelmed not just by the quarterbacks but by the teams around these top two picks, partly because, like both games, the coaches were so positive and the local
media was so positive. They were like, oh, progress from last week, like things looked much better, and I'm just thinking, I don't know.
C J.
Stroud's played I think five drives and they have They've had three points and the only three points came because there was a roughing the passer penalty, and he did make two really beautiful throws that reminded you of why he was taken second overall, but the first drive of the game he has a delay a game that was totally on him at the goal line. That was a huge sort of rookie mistake, and then the airmails a
touchdown pass. It's just been uneven. The offensive lines for both teams haven't been great, and Bryce Young just felt a little hesitant to get rid of the ball. I know the numbers didn't look that bad. And his left tackle for the second straight week. I kan wu who opens up against the Falcons, by the way, it's like correction the Panthers Falcons week one he hasn't looked good either, So I just you didn't come out of this preseason.
And they both might play in Week three of the preseason, but so far it hasn't been great.
I feel like we have such a small viewable sample size of Bryce Young. He barely played last week, and it just it wasn't I don't yeah, I don't think you can over pump it up as like what a return effort.
I know CJ.
Stroud though, because the one thing watching some of his tape coming out of college is just the way he throws. It's just it's something beauty full to watch, and I thought that the fourteen yarder to Noah Brown, it kind of put it on display. And I get with some of these guys, I just want to see what you can do. And I mean a lot of it, A lot of it is just happening in a weird situation. You've got weird guys out there, your lines all over the place,
you don't know who's on defense. But when I see him make that throw, I'm like, I know we can do that at this level, and it's just like that's exciting to me.
Yeah, small sample size on Bryce Young is right, but that's two weeks in a row where I've watched him. He's kind of getting his ass kicked and taking big hits in preseason games, games that don't matter, before opposing defensive coordinators or even like putting in any real scheme or you know, diagnosing ways to attack the opposing offense in any real way. Like, you know, we don't need to dwell on his size and all that, but if this offensive line doesn't figure things out, then I just
worry about him. Stroud We'll see, and I think he has a little bit more around him. I really worry about Bryce Young being in a tough situation and this season because he doesn't really have any anything proven around him in terms of weapons. And then an offensive line that's a work in progress. It's it's so far not so good, but it's preseason. Same thing with I just said about defense. You got to give the offense the benefit of the doubt that they're going to be showing
up differently come week one. But there are some red flags here for sure.
It's a little hesitant just holding the ball, just like, not not reacting quick yet.
Looks like a rookie in the second preseason game.
That's what happens.
Let's see. Let's go with oh my favorite, the most preseason summary thing I've ever read in the in the follow up to one of these games, let's talk about the Miami Dolphins who played the Texans. This is from Marcel Luis Jacquez of ESPN. I'll read it in full.
Perhaps perhaps the biggest relief for fans and coaches came when Tongue of Iloa took a hit from Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankings after an incomplete pass, possibly tapping into his off season jiu jitsu training, Tago taga Iloa rotated his body on the way to the ground to avoid hitting his head on the turf. It's been a big where yet week one.
I can't imagine why that's tiresome to you.
This has been all month. There was like a practice where he did like a roll off of a sack, like he sort of went into like a flip or something, and people were going nuts about the h the jiu jitsu. Hey, whatever, keeps to a healthy I'm happy.
I'm just I'm just saying the speed of the game is probably gonna overwhelm this. Uh trading camp notebook lead. That's all. That's all I'm gonna say. I'm my concern there is that this probably in real speed games won't matter. So I guess I would say that I'm pooping on that is something to worry about.
I'll uh, I'll put three a pick on his very first throw, so like, uh, this season last year ended on a pick and then you know, bad one.
Mark, I'll tee you up on this one. The Steelers popped again on offense. We can get juiced up about this if we choose. It's against the Bills, who, by the way, saw their ten game preseason winning streak snapped. Nailed it, so you have Kenny Pickett looking good with the first team offense, Jalen Warren looking hot, and you know Nase Harris is officially I think I noticed another guy who I think is going to be in some danger of losing substantial touches, another former first round pick.
Keep an eye on that situation, because the Steelers seem like they're ready to really rotate in and and make that a different situation. So Picket's still looking good, the backfield looking good, Pittsburgh's offense two weeks in a row looking good. Not a real defense, not real scheming, not a real game, but it's worth noting well.
I will say this though, I mean I like it when a team has these like glowing practice reports, and specifically Kenny Pickett. That's been the case since back to OTA's and it's like, do you really see Kenny Pickett as a quarterback that like physically a physical specimen is gonna make this giant leap And it was like, I
don't know. That sort of sounded like he probably is who he is, but there's these like symbols and signs that suggest he is and he has grown, and like it went from practices to two very clean games, and the Bills had their starters in them defense for a big chunk of that first half, and Pittsburgh just dominated them. At one point, Tom was just like, let's get the
starters out of here. That's two weeks in a row where they're making my multiple, you know, double digit, potentially twelve win prediction for this season look more and more solidified.
I feel like they're August champs. I don't think anyone's gotten more offseason slash preseason hype than Pick and then for him to realize it, and in people who are usually a little crusty the Steelers beat writers and stuff who usually don't want to I don't feel like they're cheerleaders there. If anything, they're kind of hard on them. And they've just been saying since the first day of camp, like he has been incredible, and then he does in
the preseason. I'm falling for it a little bit, and I do like me some Jalen Warren as a as a third down back. Like his numbers, he was an undrafted guy a year ago, but his like numbers, some of his advanced metrics says when he was on the field, he was one of the most effective third down guys in the league. You've learned some things from the Steelers this preseason, like they're not starting progerc Jones their first
round pick, and then this kid, it happened again. Someone let the Steelers get like a great edge rusher in the middle rounds if this always freaking happens. Nick Herbig, he's in my mix for Defensive Player of the Year for the preseason. He's got to be in the mix. Two and a half sacks and Forrest Fumble. It's a big honor. But Nick Herbig has been lighting it up and he's gonna be it. They have, like Kim Highsmith, they have what, they got a lot. They're just good upfront, Mark, what do you got?
You got some poop?
I Well, I would say that the Arizona Cardinals represent a giant pile of excrement after what we saw this week. I'm not surprised. I get it's the Cardinals, but I really my takeaway though, was that the Chiefs. I think Andy Reid has been trying to find a way and you know, this is just what he's you know, this is an annual thing. But to kind of flip the switch on saying goodbye to last year coming in and
having everyone just kind of dial into their intensity. And I'm just watching this like they other starters in for a bunch of time, and their offensive line is utterly dominated Arizona. They're just so dominant. And they had eighteen different players caught a pass in this game. Rashi Rice, their rookie who they traded up into round two to get, had eight catches for ninety six yards. Mahomes completed a
pass to nine different teammates. And it's like, I'm not trying to break news here, but like Shane, it may be a better backup than blaying Gabbert. Like I mean, this is like, this is sort of what we'd expect from the Chiefs ro at a little bit, but to see how dominant they are and how organized they are, and it just seems like there's an intensity level that suggests to me that it's like there's gonna be no
hangover from the Super Bowl. I think that Reid has found a way to get to the heart of this club and they just looked utterly, insanely, wildly better than the Cardinals.
Just like you seg the poop right back into a pop.
Yeah, it's a verse. You know you can't have one without the other.
Here much about the Cardinals there, And if the takeaway is the Chiefs are better than the Cardinals.
Well no, I think the Chiefs are better than every anyone and the Cardinal like it's confirmation that the Cardinals looked to me about as floating as law and lost. I mean, as you could have expected.
You came up with this the segment name when your first poop comes and we just say, oh, the Cardinals suck. But how about the Chiefs. People want it, People want some real excrement from the mark I give time around.
Well, I do think they got caught. I somehow sometimes see in the preseason, like if one team is a disappointment one week, especially a good team like the Chiefs, they always come out the next week, especially if their starters play when we used to play starters in the preseason, then they come out extra fired up the next week. I think the Cardinals were in a tough spot there, but they lost Dennis Gardock, who's one of the few
decent air rushers. They lost Marco Wilson, who's supposedly their number one cornerback in this game injury wise, and Colt McCoy, who I guess is the starter had three drives and I think only one of them had a first down. I don't they didn't score any points. And listening to the people there in the Cardinals website like Clayton Tune, our guy, the fifth round rookie, I wouldn't say he's lit it up in the preseason. He's just like, okay, some of these late round rookies have looked great, but
he's looked okay. He's ran for a little bit. He scored some points and McCoy didn't. It seems like they haven't even given the job to Colt McCoy yet. They're kind of leaving that open still. That Clayton Tune could be a Week one starter against the Commandos.
Colt McCoy's gonna get you too many wins, and you're trying to get the first overall picks, so he's too dangerous to put in there.
Let's take a break right here and come back with more pops and poops. All right, we are bad, Greg, Where do you want to go? Where? What directs you want to go? Positive? Negative? Do it?
Buddy, Let's go positive.
Let's go with kind of a ballroom or the bathroom.
Where are we going.
We're making it positive. Lots of positive things happen there. Okay, it's important this one. You guys could take it and run with it too, because it's more than just one story. But it's it's the backup quarterback situations going on, but especially these late round rookies. But I'm just going to combine them all together because it's kind of weird. Aid and O'Connell. I watched them in person pitch a perfect game.
It was eight o' O'Connell versus Stetson Bennett. That was you know, a ko in the third round by Aidan O'Connell. He is your preseason MVP through two weeks. Tanner mc key, he's got the radio station's buzzing in Philadelphia, looking way better than Marcus Mariota. That's a six round pick. Doria Thompson Robinson, We've talked about him. He's been good. Malik Willis appears to have beat out Uh he's not a rookie, but he appears to beat out a rookie. Will Levis.
We got this kid from Shepherd University, Dan that's a D two school. His name is Tyson Badgin and he's been lighting it up in the preseason. All these these rookie late round rookies have been the story of the preseason. I don't know what it means. They're playing against third stringers, they're playing with third stringers, but they might be winning these backup jobs against some veterans. I think Brian Hoyer's
career might end because of Aidan O'Connell. I think Mariota might be the third stringer if Hurts actually got hurt. I don't think they'll cut him. But like, these are things happening, and it's kind of fun to watch.
The Malik Willis thing is interesting just because he was he was so bad and limited play last year that they were bringing a guy off the street late in the season with everything on the line for Tennessee last January, will Levis did injure himself in the joint practices leading into that game, which led to Malik getting all that playing time. But obviously it's setting up well for him to be the number two. And you know, whenever you're backing up a guy, it's getting up there in age
and it's a bad offensive line. Potentially in Tennessee, we might see these guys or if the season doesn't go well, and like Zeuser hits on that under which I'm not feeling good about from Thursday's episode, You're probably gonna want to get these guys in the lineup in the second half of the season to get a look at what you have. So I think that's a backup quarterback situation that's more intriguing to me than others. You were at the Rams game, Greg, you said, so I got we're
gonna head to the bathroom the Rams defense. I know, Aaron Donald's not in the mix, but over two hundred yards on the ground by the Chargers week and then Jimmy g and the Raiders roll over them early in this game. They put up thirty four points. You know, it's a reminder that Donald and this team have little hope unless some of these guys become guys. Did you see anybody that kind of jumped out at you for the Rams?
I mean, I like this kid, Trey Tomlinson because he's Ladanian Tomlinson's nephew, and he's wearing a number six, and my son Walker's got a number six Rams jersey too. But when we're talking about like sixth round, you know, five seven cornerbacks that are popping. It's not great, and they were playing a lot of guys who will contribute for them. They are a mystery. But on defense they are as underpowered other than Donald as any team in the league.
I mean, and I was at the Chargers Rams game, and I mean that was the first test for this defense, this Rams defense, and they up like two hundred yards rushing and had no answers for what was coming at them. So it's like, it's a really nice story to have all these young players, but in you know, in real life, the variance is massive because it's very possible that eight or nine of them are like a year away from being serviceable defenders.
And since since I mentioned him, I'll go with a pop. I feel like expectations are so low for Jimmy Garoppolo that maybe he'll end up surprising people and the Raiders will be more proficient, at least on offense. Also, Josh McDaniels, I feel like his stock is pretty low in general entering this league, so there's just a general idea that it's not going to work, and certainly that's within the range of outcomes here. But a Garoppolo did look good in the Driva he was in and if he stays healthy,
remember he does have DeVante Adams. The idea is that Josh Jacobs is going to report at some point, even if it's sitting out the entire preseason in training camp, and be back on the field. Uh, Michael Mayer, they go and get that tight end, so maybe he contributes in year one. Are Jacobe Meyers who you know a lot of Patriots fans which was still up in New England.
He's there now? Is it possible? And again not reading too much into this game, but it did look nice while they were all together that we're sleeping on the Raiders being proficient and maybe even frisky on offense.
Well, okay, because I think I think I get annoyed when I see these lists. Were like Jimmy G is just sort of casually shoved down as like the thirtieth best quarterback in the league.
Like the veras Jimmy What. Let me just say, I just did that fantasy draft in a two quarterback league and a ten team league, and Jimmy G doesn't even get drafted in my league. Just to back up your point, go on there, people are just like out on.
Him come up as a third. Don't you want another quarterback on your bench?
Or you can't do that three max three max.
I think part of it is, you know, it's like, oh, you're in Shanahan's system, so anything that you do is going to get downgraded.
Uh.
You know, he's one playoff, he's been to a Super Bowl. Like when he's good, he's really good. I thought he looked sharp in that opening drive. So I'm with you in the sense that, like the I I write off the Raiders as a team with with severe confidence, But I don't. I think that, like Jimmy g is not the reason, and that is that does peak my annoyance
when I hear that. I'll I'll tell you something though, because like I think one thing about this preseason, it's like I want to see I wanted to see more of Jordan Love and like, uh, I'm kind of impressed with with what he's done over two weeks. You know, there are some moments where he's kind of like I think of anything, he's had some tough moments where he's had to like work his way out of it and put together a good drive, and he did that. He
did it against New England. I know that game was, you know, canceled early because of the situation with the Isaiah Bolden. He's out of the hospital. That's great to know. But Jordan Love had a couple of lasers in that game. And I just look at this whole offense because it's like, we don't know what the Packers are gonna look like this year. It could go south and maybe these players are too young, but like Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs, Jayden
Reely looks good to me. Luke Musgrave is already essentially a starter at tight end and Love has had these moments where I'm like, I think sitting for a while like he did, did have some positive impact on him. Now he's got to play, and it's like I kind of could just see this offense growing more formidable as the year goes along. And I mean, I don't have a problem with the idea of Green Bay winning ten games. If Love can play the guitars, you'd say, yeah.
I agree, I'm with you. I don't have strong takes on Jordan Love yet, Yeah, but I would say, what would Lee how would we rank? Like, what grade would we give Jordan Love? Greg based on camp reports and what we've seen on the field so far. B. Yeah, that sounds right. That's why I feel I almost feel muted in how to feel because you're kind of seeing both sides reporting in both ends, and it's like one of those guys I really want to see when he's the man Capital T Capitol LM week one.
But no, I don't have a problem with that. I think I'm sort of saying that the overall Green Bay offense, and there's a lot of young players here, but I kind of just excited more than I've been about the Packers on a long They were the same thing for so long, and it's like, this is interesting.
To get rid of the whole fire to Rogers dynasty. I always annoyed you. Yes, I'm with you though, because their preseason. Think I would give their offense though, like an A minus or A for this preseason in camp because you don't really know if Musgrave and Jadeen Reed Jdane Reed is a rookie who's gonna be their starting slot receiver. You don't really know how they're gonna look in their first camp in preseason, they went out and
earned those jobs and they've looked quite good. So they're rookies, so we don't know how it's gonna translate. In the preseason. Dobbs is making plays love. We've seen him in a bunch of preseasons. He makes really bad plays and he makes awesome throws. To me, he's gonna be a very entertaining player. Like his big time throw rate will be through the roof. His turnover worthy play rate, I have a feeling will be through the roof. And so it's
gonna just be like huge ups and downs. But I think they've had a nice, a nice little month Unlike like, let's say, like I do kind of pay attention to who's getting hyping out, Like I kind of expected justin fields to have more hype this preseason. I'm not giving them a pooped or anything, but it's just like second year and in this offense, they built all this stuff around them, and that the vibe you get from the
Bears is incremental growth. If that it hasn't been a Kenny Pickett big big jump at least in terms of camp.
Pipe cycling back raiders six and a half over under. Hmmm, that's in a good spot.
You know What's interesting? Throughout camp, they've been saying their defense has really been a surprise, like surprisingly good. They really think the defense is better. It's been kind of beating up the offense. And then when they went to have those joint practices with the Rams, that continued. They beat up the Rams offense, but the offense was starting to get better. Maybe the Rams just stink, but it was a good week I think for the rout.
Just like I would do anything to pivot out of my Titans under. I just I wish I could go back and and change time Packers at seven and a half. Hmm, Well, I want to be banging the over there.
I want to get my fifth choice into the show. I know that after the fact you guys beeped it out. I just want to let you guys know all the all the greg heads out there who really want this for the money, you know that they could potentially get into in our season preview episode, we could circle back because we can tell you what we what we really like a team that we like. Just see just see.
Sure that seems it seems fair unfair? Was you trying to cram in another over under?
You asked, I didn't say anything. I left the time, and you were like you got more time to fill. You got more time to fill.
I didn't say to give another over under. I just said, if you wanted to have anything else to say, not, I mean, just you kind of get take it to Planet Greg and we're not gonna We're not getting on the spaceship and going to Planet Greg with you every time, Gregy.
I I have regrets. I wish I had made that my my fourth pick too. I'm gonna go poop. Let's send some some poop. What are we doing here with the poop? I don't know.
Let's uh take it to the Sessler department. I like it, Mark, not the sanitis.
I like it. I just don't know how to phrase it or introduce it. I'm gonna give this for Todd Bowles's press conferences talking about these quarterback battles. It's over. He picked Baker Mayfield, but he won't say it. Thank you.
I was. I have this written down, Todd Earth to Todd. We don't need to be you know, we don't need to be tricky about this one. It's not as if this idea that Todd Bowles can go and not play Baker Mayfield in this game this weekend, even after the third string quarterback hurts his neck, and then after the game, all the reporters want is just general confirmation, and you can't give us that. We don't have any more time for these games.
Todd, just just be real about it. Do you really think, Todd that the Vikings are on the edges of their seats worried about how they're gonna prepare for two qbs ahead of week one because they can't discern where Todd is gonna go on this enough.
Also, wasn't Kyle Trass played twenty one for forty one in this game? You don't see that too often. Obviously it's Baker.
Garnet, Arder.
I don't know what. I don't even Understan. It's like a nineteen ninety six, you know, dueling with the media. I'm with you, it's tiresome. Fast forward fourteen days, please earth.
Yeah, they made their choice, and Trass played like pretty well in that game. But yeah, when Wolford went out and they and he even said, he's like, I didn't want to risk Baker behind the second string offensive life.
We didn't mind risking Kyle Trast. There was one other nugget there that I put in the in the article that I think has been under the raider, Like, I don't know if Ryan Jensen, who was an All Pro a few years ago Pro Bowl with Brady, Like I don't know if he's I know he's not gonna play Week one. I I'm wondering if he's gonna play football again. He like rushed back to play in that Brady playoff game.
He tore his ACL MCL and dislocated his knee, then rushed back to play eighty snaps in that doomed playoff game. And now just the vibes, the vibes coming out, like it wouldn't surprise me if you hear this announcement that he's retiring or he's missing half the season, and they've got a lot of offensive line issues. They move Tristan Wurf's to the left side, that's supposedly not going great.
They've got rookies, so it's a tough situation there. We talked about Russell Gage, like I feel, you know, out for the season.
I think I hope you're wrong about that, because if that's a failure of the team, if he somehow aggravated or put himself in a worse spot by playing and again a terrible Bucks team that wasn't even over five hundred in the playoffs, and credit to him as a warrior that wanted to protect Brady and what looked it was his final game. But I hope he didn't further hurt himself or a mess himself up. He's thirty two
years old. I know these guys age in different ways on the line, but you know he should have good football ahead of him. But yeah, that's scary.
I've got two quick pops happened in the same game. The more I see from Jackson Smith and Jigba, just like, Okay, this guy's going to be extremely productive. From the first quarter of the first game, he looks the part. He just looks. You don't like a rookie to be completely comfortable. And you know they played the Cowboys and Jalen Tolbert has been getting tons of buzz at camp from Mike McCarthy on down.
Uh.
You know they they were short at wide receiver a year ago, and like someone like this could be a big help, A like he just he's an exciting player. So I think the two of the best like offensive skill position teams in the league, like Seattle looks for real to me and Dallas, I'm I struggled to I'm not putting in the NFC title game ever in my life. But it's hard to figure out who they're like, who has more talent than them right now?
The JSN, he was an interesting one. You know, we just did the fantasy extravaganza last week because he does look like he's for real. But Pete Carroll loves to run the football. He's got a lot of guys to do it. He's got a very locked and loaded one to two at wide receiver. I think JSN can have an impact in a team way, but will he get enough touches to be really kind of jumping off the
page in year one? That would be my only hesitation from a fantasy standpoint, or even like in a bullish on JSN standpoint.
Right, and you mentioned Tolbert. We saw him catch a nice pass. I remember on Stefan Gilmour Well contested that day we were at camp. And he's kind of someone who the preseason's for in training camps for a very disappointing rookie season from him, but has come out and looked like a different player. And now watching him when on the outside, You think, Okay, the Cowboys have at
least three or four wide receivers. He might end up taking some time from Michael Gallup if he can't play on the outside, but they're pretty loaded there at that position.
I should have I should have connected this one boys when we were talking about the Cardinals. But I read that Isaiah Simmons, former first round pick who came into the league with did he did you bring him up? Gregory no came into the league with just a ton of buzz. I remember Cynthia coming on our show and pumping them up. And it was always a little weird because it was like, oh, yeah, he's a linebacker. I don't know, maybe he's on the edge, Maybe maybe he's this,
maybe he's that. And then true to form, like Isaiah Simmons has never really found a home and now they're trying to make him a safety in Arizona and they're trying to find a way to make this work. And this is not something I was studying closely personally, but a report from ESPN that he really struggled against Kansas City in that role. So it's just like, for this is such a transition role, transition year for Arizona, they're trying to find this might be the last gasp of
trying to make the Isaiah Simmons situation work. Could he be somebody that you know, I'm sure he'll make the team, obviously, but could he Is there another team that if this safety thing doesn't work, would they trade him for a low draft pick? I don't know, We'll see.
Doesn't it feel like the kind of story where like he does end up on another team and tells essentially the horror story that's occurred here over the past couple of years in Arizona, Because like you'll talk about negligence with like a Ryan Jensen, He's had how many coaches Simmons and how many times have they moved him around and tried different things with Part of it is like
he's not he hasn't been dominant editing those things. But it's like he was always drafted as someone that's the right coach would need to find the right way to use him. And now it just feels desperate. And I could see him going somewhere else and going right back to linebacker with a better coaching staff and some consistency, and maybe we get a different version of him.
And this one is neither a pop nor a poop. So whatever is in the middle, it's like in the hallway between the ballroom and the bathroom. McKay Beckton has finally entered the starting lineup conversation for the Jets. He saw some significant snaps against the Bucks in the preseason game. He got out of it, okay, twenty five snaps in his debut at right tackle, and it looks like he's
gonna get some first team reps. I mean, it's just it's alarming that a team in the Jets that really is unsettled at offensive line, that we're this deep into training camp in the preseason and Beckden is only now being kind of introduced to the possibility of being a starter. I think it tells a story. I also wonder, why do I keep on reading about Beckton like he'll be able to play a full round of snaps and with the first team when his body is right. I mean,
at what point does the body get right? He hasn't played in two years and had the surgery before last season really even got going. But he is gonna, I think, in a best case scenario, play really well the rest of the summer and he will be there right tackle, and then you cross your fingers that Dwayne Brown gets healthy on the left side for a Jets offensive line that is by far the biggest question mark for this team. And read into it, It's okay to read into it.
Aaron Rodgers does not play in the preseason. He's open that it doesn't matter. He's with a zeuser on that one, and yet he will be seeing snaps against the Giants next week. Why that's the Jets telling you they're noivous about this line. They feel like they need to get some live reps ahead of Week one, So hopefully Rogers gets out of that safe and sound. But the fact that he's playing, I think has everything to do with not him throwing the football around, but feeling comfortable in
the offensive line getting more reps together. Is they try to square this away before a very tough beginning of the season.
I mean, I can't imagine if you're Joe Douglas and you've gone this far and acquired to all these players that you aren't on the phone line NonStop looking around the league for proven tackles. I just I can see a trade going down at some point. They need depth, no matter what I want to bring up one other tackle who is a bit of a surprise. His name is Big Thanos. He's six foot eight, three hundred and seventy five pounds. A fourth round pick of the Cleveland Browns.
He's been on the field for one hundred and eleven pass blocking snaps and not allowed a sack and has been pretty eye poppingly effective. I don't know you draft that player thinking that's a project. The size was there, and like he looks like he can play, and I kind of think that, you know, they get into a jam. He could start games for him down the stretch, Like that's the count. Get a fourth gat nickname. That's a great nickname. Yeah, Big Fanos.
Circularly back on Rogers Cook, I did just want to throw a quote out from Rogers last week something and then he was talking about the offensive line. Some things are out of my control. Some things I have input on who's playing left and right tackle. I don't have imput input on At this point, I don't get concerned about things I don't have a huge draw on. Now that might change. At some point I might say I need the five who are going to be in there to be in there. With me for a solid week,
which I think are reasonable things all to say. I feel like if in a previous generation or if he was in Green Bay and said those things, it actually might have gotten some heat of like, oh, there is Aaron Rodgers trying to say he should be making the personnel decisions, and like, I actually applaud the New York media for not blowing those out. But I think I think it makes sense, like there hasn't been progress there and at some point he's gonna be like, look, guys,
pick pick the guys. Let's go pick the guys. This might be the week.
I think I hear you. Who else got something?
Uh, let's let's just say some news to me. This is a pop because I've been on the Jdavian Clowney bandwagon for too long. He's on the Ravens. It's where, It's where he should be. That's all. It's they needed and he needed them. They're very thinn at cornerback. They're very thin in terms of their edge rusher production, you know, and just some young players and they'll probably squeeze a good season out of him because that's what they do with like mid thirties.
Watch him finally get that ten sex season for the Ravens at age thirty one or whatever.
I mean, you basically quit on last team.
Yeah, that was not a great not a great look. But hopefully if you're the Ravens they could use him. It would be him a job oh away, Now that's maybe that's that's an okay group.
All right.
I'm gonna throw in one one where I guess the pop here would be Juwan Johnson, who's looked great. The Saints tit and a lot of hype dominated joint practices reportedly look good in the preseason. But that brings up the tight end position there, which it was just a strange story. It was hard to wrap your mind around
this one, but we should note it. It's newsworthy, which is that Jimmy Graham was was seen acting erradically at the resort they were staying at, and the police recalled and he was initially arrested, and then he was taken to the hospital, and the Saints released the statement that he had a medical condition, a Caesar seizure. And I believe that was known about Graham a little bit before that. He had had some issues with seizures and and they didn't really fill in the blanks of how this was
all connected. Uh, but it's not great, and they're not saying anything about his football future. He obviously didn't play in the preseason game. But I don't know. You wish you wish the best for Jimmy Graham, and you're you're a little anxious if he was playing football.
I think we were all like kind of stunned or at least surprised when Jimmy Graham resurfaced as a football player, back with a team where he really became a star. But yeah, I would imagine, just from a pure football standpoint, he's not going to be on this team and maybe we're going to get some update on that in the next few days. And I hope he's okay, because that that sounds like, at least over the weekend he was very not okay. You know what else is not okay?
Can we can you pull that up? Eric Roberts, how's the thumb? By the way, Eric Roberts, Before we get to that, check out his life little health his thumb now after a week yeah, one week later, after nearly or not even nearly, chopping off the tip of his thumb while cutting damn potatoes. It's okay yet, I'm are we doing? Does it hurt?
It doesn't hurt that much anymore now, it's just kind of living with less of a thumb, so it no, I mean, the pain's pretty much subsided.
You know.
It's walking around without a bandage on it now. So that's fun to see. I see people kind of like catch a glimpse of it, and then I see their eyes following my hand around and let's try to have a nub over here. But it's all right.
So that doctor told you that, you know, the thumb would grow back, which was sort of news to us from a ground level. What what is the growth? What is the what direction does it seem to be going in?
It's a little this is the this is the decent side of it. This is not too gross to see the other sides.
And then can you hold up your other thumb just so people can see what it looks like a normal thumb?
Check it out on YouTube. You can subscribe to the around the NFL.
The other sides a little little little gooey and more heally, but this is just like you know a little gumby look to it, you know, gum be the I think some.
People would say, just spin it in a positive way to pop more than poop. It looks kind of metal, like it looks like you're kind of a bad dude, and they don't need to know the story, the backstory. You could give your own backstory and I'll and I'll spend it even further more pop more, ballroom less bathroom. A guy like Brian Baldinger turned his wonky ass finger into a part of his personality and like a hook,
like there's something here. I think Eric, if you, if you from a creative standpoint in terms of whether it's a thumbs up you give in every photo, or there's a way to take this and and and take these lemons and makes the wall.
I have started sending out emojis instead of the actual thumbs up e mooji. I've created my own little screenshot of one with half of a thumb missing. So I have kind of cycling in a joke, a Rea cream joke that I don't know. We'll see how long goes.
You're you're a masterful self brander. And I think all this happened for a reason.
Yeah, you know, our previous producer, Grave Digger, sometimes his cell branding would get on Sessler's radar. Where are you okay with this mark where Eric is trying to diversify his portfolio.
I'm I'm over any tension I felt over what Justin was aiming to do back then, and I don't feel that tension with Eric. I think that, you know, if anything, if you were to pick ten people out of a lineup to have their their thumbs half chopped off, there'd be a freak out level with a big chunk of those people. I thought Eric kind of took it in stride and was back at work the next day, and it's like, sort of is a heroic, you know, turn of events for Eric.
I'll take that.
Not annoying.
I mean, miss two days, but like we're not counting.
You know, I was half sentenced and whatever.
Hey can you can you throw it up? It's great Eric that you're going on. I can't wait to see how that thing grows back. I want a science fiction film. All right, go ahead, Eric, let's see flash it up there. This pooped. This is poop. This is way worse than I even thought it would be. Gosh darn Teddy Bridgewater the Forever Number five. He played his first game is number fifty and it couldn't look any worse. It actually was worse than I thought.
Look at this.
Check out the YouTube show Greg get the plug in. He looks insane wearing number fifty as a quarterback. He took a snap from center and it looked like a fan had won a contest to play a snap in the NFL.
I am horrified. But with the Lions have done here because a running back on the roster has his number five. It should have never gotten to this point. Teddy Bridgewater should never wear number fifty again. It should already be over, and yet it's not. The nightmare continued.
I love it. I mean Teddy in that Honolulu blue with the two gloves in Honolulu blue and the fifty. We've never seen anything like it. Don't now, don't don't worry about his performance.
The field not too hot.
It's the preseason. It's the preseason.
I did notice we did not discuss what Teddy actually did as a football player, which was now well, thankfully your hype from last week up.
If if he was worried about Nate Sudfield, Nate Stutfeld, I think is thrown like four interceptions and like sixteen passes in the preseason, so.
Sety five of eleven, thirty four yards in the first quarter. Fumble. Huh no, biggie. Okay, guys, you guys want to throw out a couple more, I'll let you. I'll let you get it out. Go ahead, anything else in your little notebooks.
The one that I wanted to get make sure we got in there was was a poop because I think most people, uh most teams have gotten through this month pretty unscathed. I think the Dolphins have had maybe one of the worst months, maybe the worst month of any team. Jalen Ramsey is what started it. I know that was technically July. Toront Armstead. It's like, Okay, he doesn't have a serious injury, but we're back on this cycle of is he going to play this week? Is he not
entering another season like that? We don't know if he'll be ready for Week one. Devin Atching look has looked great in the preseason, suffered a shoulder injury. Don't know if that's serious. And then I saw an interesting report on si dot com that Ogba Manuel Agba, who they gave a lot of money, who just has not look comfortable standing up in vic Fangio's scheme in that maybe they might even look around if someone wanted to give a trade a draft pick for a Manuagua, which would
be surprising. He's very highly paid pick. I just feel like it's been has been a great month.
But did you see the jiu jitsu stuff?
Yeah, that's true too. A lot of a lot of injuries in the secondary. I think they've signed five defensive backs this month, and they might have to sign a six just because they've had so many injuries.
What's that Dolphins over under at Eric?
I think it's nine and a half.
Yeah, it's nine and a half.
It's like a skyscraper looking up at a skyscraper.
I mean, you're loving, You're loving any drama attached to that team. We understand that. I love you, Dolphins fans. Let's have some fun this year. Let's get the rivalry back Jets Dolphins. Let's make it count, Let's make it matter.
Wait, can I get one more? Can I give one more? Pop?
Day?
Almost forgot this is a big one. It's our friend Henry Hodson. He's popping. He's the father of the International Player Program. He's the only person you know he He's out in Africa, he's in Nigeria, he's all over Europe picking out these players. It's all because of Henry Hodson, you remember.
Seasonally scouting them. I love it.
I mean sometimes he goes to these things. Actually, oc Uman, you are truly does that, which is pretty crazy, but okay. Cjoy made national news last week. The guy on the Chargers who got a sack in his first ever football game had never even played a football game before. Nigerian defensive end David Agoha, who just started playing football a year ago, recorded a sack on Saturday, and then Texans defensive end Outadeo Oda Lee, also an IPP player, has
two sacks this pre season. Out of the eight players selected this year, six are from Nigeria. A lot of them are pass rushers, defensive linemen, and they're they're starting to pop. And these are guys who didn't even play football last year. Nice little job by the IPP in the preseason.
It was always very American that we just assumed that only people from our country could play football, when like the span of the human body and what it looks like all over the world suggests that there would be football players as there are in other sports. Beyond American borders.
It's good.
I don't like that take.
Why.
I don't know, it's just like pointing to it as American hubris. I don't get the vibe that we never thought anyone could play football anywhere. Oh whenever practice it it was like a sport that was being played. I mean, so that's what Henry does. That's what we do with our UK reach and the surrounding territories, even beyond, in places like Germany and Australia and Ireland, which is not part of the UK. We're just doing We're doing the job. We're carrying that water mark.
I think we're a little late to the to the to the whole effort. I mean, we could have started this a while ago. I'm not trying to I'm not trying to go anti American with my take. I just think it's like we comfortably shrouded the sport for so long until people like Henry came around, until our show can him around, until television changed. Yeah, I can do that song and dance just like Greg. You know, props someone up from across the company will do a favor
for me at some point later. I get how it works.
It's dark friend, what's wrong with you?
The best thing, Greg is I wouldn't say I came at Mark there, but I just disagree with his take. But then you get you get the knife right in the spinal column.
I know, whenever Mark gets a little annoyed, it comes out how much he clearly does not like me.
It's not true at all.
Damn what was that, Jeff Albrick, Damn, that is not true. I have that undred dark Mark does like you. Greg.
I just lash out, and you know, everyone gets a little bit of a helping.
I know, but when we're not talking about some like VP in a quarter office that we're talking about Henry and we're talking about football, you know, come on.
I love Henry. But that wasn't in question. He already knows I love him.
He thought there is a sense Mark, and I don't totally disagree that you're doing a little back scratching here for Henry to get. I think maybe an extra, maybe a suite when it's time for us to go to London again. Maybe Oh weird, Greg got the upgrade at the hotel.
Henry helps us out, as you guys know, regardless of what we say. I think these are cool stories regardless as well.
Yes, the International Pathway Program. If you are an overseas listener, this is right up your alley and is a huge part of the NFL's attempts to grow the game. Do some research, check it out, look it up. It's cool, all right, that's it. Mark anything else.
But the only thing I'd say is that I think it's the Giants were swatted down in the over under contest we did. I think in general, people look at what they did a year ago is slightly fraudulent, beyond like a great coaching job, and they're expecting them to come crashing back down to earth. They looked great on offense. Daniel Jones was totally on. Darren Waller was used over and over. I just think that the Darren Waller story has gone about as positively as you could.
Hope.
We'll see, you know, TVD on his health. But that would be a big upgrade for that offense. And they got about eight hundred wide receivers are sifting through. It reminds me just a little bit of when they you know, in Buffalo, the way they built that offense up quickly, that the Giants have attacked all resources and if you get, you know, the better version of Daniel Jones. I'm tired of everyone, you know, just talking about one New York team.
There's another New York team that actually went to the playoffs a year ago.
I think that's fair, and I think I kind of had it in my notes and was going to sit on it. And maybe that's part of the problem here, Sessler, because Daniel Jones signs that huge contract, and you know, it was met with some sideways glances and light mocking in general. And I think the general assumption here is that the Giants will I don't want to general assumption, but I think there's more than a few people that follow the sport closely that think the Giants may live
to regret giving Jones that type of investment. But he did take a big leap under dable in one year in year one. Is if he does it in year two, it wouldn't be out of this realm. I don't think a lot of you don't hear a lot of people saying, yeah, Jones is gonna become a star this year. The Giants certainly think that's possible based on how they paid him, and maybe we should give him a little bit more of a chance to continue to progress will be if I'm a Giants fan, I'm I'm excited. I'm feeling good
about it. I'm feeling the Darren Waller thing. As far as the summer has gone, it couldn't have gone better. Like the worst case scenarios, you trade for this guy who's been hurt constantly for two years and he pulls his hamstring in the first week of training camp and it becomes one of those waiting games. No, he's healthy, he's been effective. Okay, bring some juice to the g man. I like it. Who even? I have one other thing this year, that's the big announcement horn. But it's a
big announcement tease coming up later this week. We're gonna share our plans around the NFL, expanding our universe into the NFL plus realm. Okay, it's gonna be fun. It's exciting. We're pumped about doing it. We successfully had conversations with shadowy League figures about giving us runway and man hours to make this fun and exciting, this new chapter for our show, and we're gonna tell you all about it on Thursday's show. How about that.
It's a professional tease. We weren't doing that in year one. A veteran caster.
Now, my final thought on preseason football. Tonight, the Washington DC area landover the Baltimore Ravens. They attempt to extend their godlike preseason winning streak to a god damn quarter hundred games. If they beat the Commanders twenty five consecutive wins in the preseason. It is no surprise that the game is on ESPN nationally televised, because it's that big. It matters. I just spent an hour telling you how the preseason doesn't matter. This matters. This is the Magio
fifty six. This is the type of record that people will talk about in one hundred years. Can they get to twenty five? That's a big number, GREGI, it's.
You know what I'm thinking about all day today. By the time people hear this, maybe they'll the result. Maybe we'll have an emergency pod if down goes Frasier, you know, if it happened, down goes Tyson. I guess in this case would be a better example. You know, if the upset happens, you guys gotta be ready. If the Commanders pull off the unthinkable.
They won't lose the Ravens. If I'm them, though, I take this so seriously because look at Buffalo has already been asked the next second closest competitor. They're starting from scratch all over again. I start Lamar Jackson and every first stringer for four quarters and devastate break Washington's conscious.
Just wait, I've got another streak that's almost as crazy their consciousness. You know when the last time the Minnesota Vikings have won a preseason game, Guys, I'll give you a hint. It wasn't this decade. They've lost eleven straight. You throw in the pandemic year. They have not won a preseason game this decade. That's a travesty. Let's get it going, Minnesota Vikings.
That's a poop. I get that. But you can lose. It's easy to lose games essentially on purpose in the preseason. To win twenty four straight without really trying, that is remarkable. And I agree. The fact that it's on ESPN, the fact that it's so stupid, it's so dumb, and yet John Harbaugh does care, and it's a big round number twenty five. There is zero chance. I mean, I won't say anything else. If you want to those desert folk. There is zero chance that the Ravens lose this game.
And don't lay any wood. You lay out, they will chop that wood. The Ravens are gonna roll over the Commanders, and if they don't on Wednesday, I will apologize to you, but Raven's gonna chop wood. I'll leave it at that. Indeed, let's get out of here. Oh shout out to El Segundo Little League. They are in the Little League World Series for the first time in town history. Little the Elsegundo is on fire about this and they are playing again today Monday. Hopefully they continue to roll. They beat
you know who they beat up. They beat Ohio, those chumps where the Westling Brothers hail from.
Well, and we were, you know, we're on a tech thread with the Westling brothers, and you know, you know, Nick Westling especially has taken shots left it right at California Culture and just described the whole thing as like a probably a bunch of soft kids that have never even seen, you know, a cloudy day. And then they go, well, what are you doing, Ohio? You just got taken out by Elsa Gundos Gundo.
Yeah, and you should know that Ohio got sent home. Their next game, they're out. They go owned double elimination. So uh, maybe the Westlings can watch the working class El Segundo little League grind their way and then to stick it to Rosenthal in company to take out Mother Japan in the finals. Let's do it. Let's show the world.
I mean, I'm rooting El Segundo. There, I'm with you. I mean, you know, Walker's in like an adjacent little league, like let's go Soko. I'm a Socao guy after eleven years.
There you go. I could guess who your wife's rooting for in such a game as well.
I mean probably not. Elsegundo is Japan even they don't get a bye to the finals. They got to make it there too, but that would be good if something.
Tells me they will. They're very good at baseball Japanese. That's it. Good show, good up, good talk. We'll be back Wednesday as a group Tuesday Hard Knocks podcast with me and Colleen Wolf recapping episode three, So be there for that and until then, eat the call.