The Around the NFL podcast. There's a quiet storm brewing. From the Chris Wesling podcast studio. It's Around the NFL. I'm Dan Hanses. Got heroes here. I always do. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sesler. People should know. Well, speaking of behind Blue Eyes with Belichick on our last show, Mark's got the icy Blues. Sometimes there's still storm that can rage, but the nickname doesn't fit quite as well as it did five, six, seven years ago. It will continue to be your nickname on a level.

Yeah.

But the Quiet Storm is a different chapter in the Mark Sesler life on a certain level.

I mean, I'd say it bubbles to the surface less than it used to. I acknowledge that. I tried to work on some things, and especially when we have a special guest in studio, I try to keep a lid on some of my temper.

Not for me.

Wait, let me introduce our very special guest in studio.

There is no such thing as Monday Antum. He is Patrick Klava.

He has That's all the answers.

What do you think-That's great. Patrick Claibon, ladies and gentlemen. Hey. Pat, what do you think about whether or not we agree with you, or I agree with you, or the outside world agrees with you on momentum? What do you feel about the idea of momentum and its existence becoming a central tenet of your public face in a way?

I guess it's like Patrick is involved in another dumb argument this time with the planet. It happens all the time in many aspects of my life. I'm glad people are thinking about me at all. I like that. Especially when it comes to this, where if I've caused anybody, whether they believe or don't or whatever, to just think about reality and the way things work. I like this. Mission accomplished.Your reality. Yeah, your own personal reality.

Have you ever had a moment in the middle of the night where you've been like, Oh, I do believe in momentum?

No. How about this?

And this is a little meta. Have you ever thought about the idea your beliefs or lack of belief in momentum has gained momentum within your own life?

That's a problem.

No. I believe in cause and effect. This thing that comes up, even when I don't bring it up, we're talking about it now, is a result of people thinking. And that's good. And really, if we want to go before we get to that, because I'll-Just go.

This is what the podcast is.

I'll lose track of everything. I think the quiet storm is always brewing. My issue is with the way that society might force the storm to be quiet, and I don't want that. I want the storm to be out. I want Mark Sessler to be Mark Sessler 24 hours a day.Thank you.I.

Just need to get that.I'll take that to heart. I'm not sure that Dan and Greg need it 24 hours a day.

But I feel like literally the last time we were in this podcast studio, or maybe it was Wednesday last week, there was some poking of the bear in the eyes. The storm was coming out just last week.

Oh, well, maybe it's still- Like I said, it is like nature's law in America.

It gets a little stormy here in November, December, January.Right.

How the mock graph.Good.

For you. Let it also be stated that the dissipation of the quiet storm or of it moving out to sea, from my perspective, is not me even saying, Patrick, that's a good or bad thing. It's just more me being a Mark Sesler meteorologist and being like, right now, it seems like the storm is out to sea. Is it permanently out? Could it come back in as a... What do they call it? The highest level hurricane?

At most, we've got a 10-day weather forecast.Category.

5.cat.

5? Yeah. I mean, seven-day weekly forecast. We don't know what's after that week.

Where we stand on weather, by the way. We're in on the weatherman now.

We live in LA. I literally know. It bothers me that anyone in LA is ever looking at the weather on any level. We've got 82 weather ladies on all these stations telling us what's going to happen.

We had a lot of weather.

We had a run there. Yeah. Come on, dude.

I'm just saying, Oh, it's raining.

Like the old '72 and sunny all the time narrative.

It's raining, so everyone's driving 25 miles slower and acting like they've never seen the elements.

To those of us who have logged a decade now and are spoiled, rotten, that was weather to us.

In fairness, I lived on the East Coast a long time. Give me a snow day. It does not rain for four straight days at any point without stopping on the East Coast. Some crazy things are happening. Crazy things are happening.

That's it. There's been some storms. Not all the quiet.

Momentum on the weather scenario there. Things are changing.

See how it's like a Seinfeld episode. Everything's connected. All right. Today is around the AFC in 48 minutes. It feels like we just did one of these episodes.

We did almost just do it.

Maybe speaks to a lack of originality, but they are very effective in their goal, which is, and I get it.

We don't usually do a late free agency pre-trap.I didn't think so.That was an extra one.

That's why it was a little bit on my radar. However, I love these episodes, and I know the listeners love them because when you talk, for instance, we just did our winners and losers, and we get a bunch of teams in the mix, but you're going to miss teams. We will not miss a single team. We have missed a team in the past. One time. Apologies to the Buffalo Bill's fans 2018 or whatever. We promise that will never happen again. If it does, it is the producer's fault. I think that is...

Yeah, I think...

Put the blame elsewhere.

That type of accountability.

But this post-draft one, we may have done all the way back to 2014. I think we've done this every time.

This one, yeah. This one, I think it's cleared. Eric, how are you? I'm doing great. How was your wedding? My wedding? You went to a wedding. No, it It was good. It was a wife's coworker, so I was really not that invested. Had some beers, wife's pregnant, didn't have to drive home.

That's a rough listen for them.

Big Funk. I don't think they're listening. Big Funk. Exactly. Bad beat. Big Funk did a nice job, Pinch Hittingwell, ill, which is never fun.

Didn't even tell us he was ill until the end.

He will find a way to work it in, though. Although there was before the show started, he had a hot mic on while we were set up remote, and you could tell he was struggling and trying to get things going. There's a lot of stuff to do as a producer, and you could actually hear Big Funk's inner monolog going like,. Okay, I got to get this. But he made it through.

Yeah, it was a flu game for him.

I haven't seen him, though, since. I did see him.

We're neighbors, so I did see him. He's alive, but yeah, he... Flu game.

He was definitely under the weather on Saturday. Okay, good. All right, without further ado, Playvon has got it out.

Hosting Total Access, though. We check that out on NF.Oh.

Hell, yeah.

I will ditch them if it comes to it, guys. We're committed to all the teams.

If this is your first episode, that's cool. This is the show where we go around an entire conference, three minutes per team, three minutes Exactly. I knew ETP wouldn't miss this show because this is when he gets to take out a weapon and literally shoot a man in the throat, if he must, to get him to shut up after three minutes. That's part of the rules. Right I don't know why Patrick catched one in the gut there. He didn't need it, didn't deserve it. Deskpop. What is it from Deskpop?

Working on my tolerance?

Do not shoot anything into the ceilings here. The sky is already falling here at NFL Media. All right, let's get into it, starting with the Buffalo Bills and Mark Sesler.

We're not skipping the Bills this time. The Bills, a lot of needs. Ten draft picks in total. Added help, though, at safety, defensive tackle, defensive end, cornerback, two new offensive tackles, samples, a running back and a wide receiver, and Keion Coleman, who dazzled in his presser by announcing that his coat was from Macy's. Buffalo is attempting a soft rebuild from my POV. Call it a reload, if you'd like, while hoping to remain one of the AFC's white hot treats. I've talked for weeks, months that I sense a darkness filtering out of Western New York, a tightening vice, an aura of internal pressure, outside doubts. This has been one of the AFC's best stories over the past half decade. Only the deeply cynical can't see something beautiful about the existence of the Buffalo Bills. Yet, I have a hunch. They'll find a way to crumble. Am I being too tough on our beloved Bills? Oh, boy.

Yes. I push back against this whole idea that they are rebuilding, reloading, anything like that. What if I told you they have as much continuity as almost any team in the NFL? They have 20. I counted it up, somewhere between 19 and 21 starters on their team that were with the Bills last year. It's not an roster. The offensive line is in as good shape as it's ever been with Josh Allen. They get Matt Milano back. There's great continuity. I know they lost a couple of older pieces in the secondary, but the guys who are playing there, they're playing for them, and they're young last year. I actually look at a pretty strong roster. Yeah, you lost Stefan Diggs, but other than that, this offseason, they are a team that has a lot of continuity, guys that were with the program a year or two.

They lost a lot of veteran locker room leaders, and you got to make some of those moves, but it can't act like they lost no one.

I think this is-But they have veteran locker room leaders is what I would say still.

I'm sick of having this argument, too, because just because a certain type of window for this team closed doesn't mean the people that are saying it are saying they can't contend. But the Stefan Diggs, Von Miller when he was still good, Josh Allen on the rise, that version of the bills didn't get over the pump. So now they're making some adjustments and going out of a different route. I still can see them as the favorite in the AFC East, but this is a year of transition on some level despite the continuity.

Yeah, the difficulty is being better than they were at their peak, and nobody's making the case that they are, but there could be some teams that come back. Maybe the Chiefs come back. Maybe this because the Bengals went through a similar situation in the secondary last year, and they eventually got better, but it's going to be a slow start. I think it's always a process to get back to where you were. The only part that the conversation comes in is, are you doing things that might deliberately hamstrung your ability? And are you making those choices with full awareness of what the results are going to be? Nobody knows the results. But I think we can be confident in the bills. But the reason that we have these conversations is because we're not as confident as we once were because of the decisions that they made.

Maybe this is where Odile Beckham goes. We've talked about that.

The Miami Dolphins with Patrick Lebon.

I'm looking at the 2024 Miami Dolphins as I scroll back. So They came into a free agency with a lot of questions on the defensive line, and then they got even more questions as Christian Wilkins made his way to Las Vegas. The injury for Jalen Phillips was in week 12. It was a December 31st ACL tear for Bradley Chubb. And so you go into a first round where you're looking at the edges, and Dallas Turner, Leatu Latu, and Jared Verce are the productive guys, and they all go. And so now you've got a need, and you fill that need with Chopp Robinson, who is the projection guy. It's like, well, we hope that we can have Chopp grow and learn and go into this season and become a better player, maybe 2025. But I don't know that you put the traits guy in the role of the production guys. And so I have faith in the offense, but Fangio's departure, the injuries on the defensive line, I don't know if there's enough pressure to be generated to make this defense what it can be for the off. I have all the faith in Mike Mac and everything in the offense and Tua.

I just don't know that the defense is it.

They lost three of six players that had five plus sacks from a year ago, and they've got injured player, people coming off injuries. So they had a lot of needs going into it. I don't have a problem with them addressing it with where they were in the draft to do it. I look at the rest of their draft, and it's like, I think their defense is a work in progress. But someone like Jalen Wright, who averaged 7.4 yards per carry and is very fast. This is the thing you know is going to work for Mike McDaniel, and they added some stuff on offense. But you're right, I think the defense is a question mark. Like the Bills, they're a different team on some level from where they were a year ago.

They have so many guys. Someone's got to get left out there. Moster, H-An, Wright, Jeff Wilson is still on that roster. I liked what they did in the offseason in terms of adding Kendall Fuller, Jordan Poeyer, But you mentioned Chopp Robinson, a bit of a project. Probably their second round pick, Patrick Paul, was looked at as a traits-y guy that they were going to have to really coach up. A lot of changes on their defense, to your point, including that coordinator. I worry about their offensive line, specifically lost some real talent, and they're counting on guys who have been hurt a lot, and really counting on Mike McDonald to coach up the offensive line and make up for a lack of talent.

Have they, in your opinion of the group, group's opinion, some of the fade of the offense in the last couple of years, piping hot in September, not as hot by January. They didn't really address that. It feels like they see that as a narrative, and they're going to be okay there. Are we confident that that's the case?

No. I think that there is something to that, that he starts off these seasons hot and they fade.

Well, yeah. Also when they go into Kansas City and it's minus 84 degrees, they're not built that way. That's not...

They could have taken the end of last year and be like, Okay, what do we need to do to adjust it? Maybe it is the quarterback, and that would take another year to figure out. But that's a big question around this team. It will remain that way.The O-line.

I don't think it's a Kingsbury-style fade, though. None.

It's hard How did you do that.

The New England Patriot. That's such a-You deserved it because you were commenting on his comment that was about that.

I shouldn't have done it.

I put a ribbon on it or a bow, as they'd say. I don't know, one of those things.

Well, now you have a wound. So use the ribbon as a bandage. Yes, the bleeding, which is quite extensive right now. That's efficient. Just a heads up.

The New England Patriot, Greg Rosenthal. Okay, I'm going to ask the question and then quickly answer it myself, hopefully. Is this enough for Drake May? Like around Drake May?

That was the most Greg comment ever. Go ahead.

Love Jalen Polk. Seems like a Robert Woodzian type of guy that can step in fairly soon and contribute. Javan Baker was a guy people loved in a deep... He's a fourth-round pick. We'll see. The offensive line, they're going to have to coach it up. They take a third-round pick. They don't really have a left tackle right now, but it's pretty deep at receiver. Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, Jalen Polke, Juju Smith-Suster, KJ Osborn. It's a ton of third receivers, but they do have at least a bunch of them. I tend to think, if you add in Ramondre and Antonio Gibson, They have enough people around them. They have Jacobi Brisset. I'm mostly worried about the coaching. That is Alex Van Pelt and... Who else? Their quarterback's coach, and then our old friend from New York, why am I blanking right now? Who's on the staff, too? Is the coaching staff going to be good enough? Because to me, a lot of discarded pieces at wide receiver and in the coaching staff offensively that have to make this all work cohesion-wise.

I think Van Pelt is going to bring us to Fansky type offense, largely. That's not a huge wide receiver type offense.

Why was he the one guy that no one ever wanted to interview? I was thinking of Ben McAdoo, by the way.

No one wanted to interview him.

His photo on the website, he's still rocking the hair.

He didn't even call plays. That's what I mean. He's never called plays. But I think it's interesting to see what happens with these wideouts because they zigged and took five straight offensive players. I like trying around May to build them up, but Belichick drafted 21 wideouts, and only one of them, Deion Branch, ever crossed 600 yards in a season. So It's like at some point, you got a hit on one of these.

Well, Julian Edelman, but technically, he wasn't a wideout, to be fair.

Julian? Not a wideout.

When he was a draft prospect, he was a quarterback.

Yeah, comes in, quarterback. They figured it out.

A true wide receiver in the draft.

Yeah. I go back to the Chad Jackson draft, where I believe the Patriots took him 17.

Ethel Johnson was a second-round pick. Taekwan Thornton is a guy I didn't even mention. He was a second-round pick two years ago that I don't think is going to make the team.

But eventually, these things are going to even out, and the Patriots are going to hit on somebody. I don't know if it's a Belichick thing, if it's an evaluation thing, who knows? But the whole thing is a big question mark to me. Not just the coaching staff and this assembly, but it's not going to be worse than Matt Patricia offense. It's not going to be... Change is going to be good in that capacity, and I think it will give us an ability to learn. But before the season, who knows then?

It will be interesting to track, Reggie. I know you will be tracking it closely that the Pats moved back to take Jelen Polk at 37 when Lad McConkey was there. So now you're naturally going to be tracking both those guys and see who's the better pro.

There was a report they tried to trade into 32. Buffalo or Carolina chose to trade with Buffalo, and then the Patriots moved back. So Mike Reece suspects they were moving up for either Keion Coleman or Xavier Laguette, and then that guy was taken.

It's tough.

Tough. Tough We move on. The New York Jets.

Deserved it. You're just trying to be punctualated by a car. I'm going to take a time out.

There it goes.

Give me that time out. Time out. Go ahead. I just wanted to put a little bit of news onto the show.

Atm Media Insider. Greg Rosenthal. For the truth, go to the- Greg. Distasteful to take someone else's bit that they made and repurpose it, but I'll let you have it.Unoriginal. You could have come up with one on your own. It's all yours.

And Dolphins.

We got breaking media news from the podcast. What do you got? That our guy Bill Belichick will be a part of the Tom braided roast that Mark Sesler is attending this weekend. I am, for one, looking forward to Bill Belichick roasting Tom braided in a big spot at the Dias.

It's funny. I was telling someone I was telling someone, How do you have this roast without one of two people, if not both? Belichick showing up, obviously. He seems to be doing the rounds if it makes sense for him. But also, I don't know, Giselle. I throw Jazelle in there. At this point, they can co-parent. I don't think you're getting Jazelle. We're getting Belichick, and I had a feeling that was going to happen. We've got a friend who's actually working on the production from-That's why this is exclusive around the NFL news.

I always know-We're breaking here.

I mean, as an insider, people shouldn't be able to know your sources immediately. I know exactly who your source was. Sure. What does that matter? True insiders know who's getting the B from where.

Sound threatened.

Maybe, maybe not.

Ben Affleck was listed as probable. They were not totally locked in, but it sounds like a Ben Affleck.

We have good seats, too, by the way. We're not way up in the middle of nowhere.

It stands my original point that I made on Saturday night, making Belichick go through these dances. Now he's at some dopey roast.

But he's a grown man who is choosing to accept money.

He's doing what you're telling him to do.

He's choosing to accept money in exchange for having some fun or doing something. It's a job.

People are getting paid for this?

Yeah, and PS, the event that I'm going to is not dopey. That's your take.

Wait, you think they're doing it for free?I.

Have no idea.Maybe I actually… My understanding of this entire engagement, I would rather watch another 60 episodes of Blaze and the Monster Machines or PAW Patrol. I am interested in anything in the world more than a roast of Tom braided featuring Bill Belichick or the Patris documentary. I've seen enough patriots. I'm done with the patriots.

People are down on this.

It's a fair point.

People are not pleased with this event.

I was surprised because when I told Emeka this, she was like, Would you want to try to go? I was like, This feels weird. I know.

Or you guys are all too cool for this event. No.

Now that Belichick is in it, I want to watch it. I'm going to watch it, but I don't want to spend our Sunday afternoon.

I'm not too cool for anything. Again, anything I'm on the planet. I'll go to an astrological convention. I'll have a palm reader. I do not... I'm not interested.

We can arrange that.

There's going to be clips on my timeline and people are going to be like, Oh, this is so cool.

That's where I stand. I could say, at least if I'm going, I don't have to look at any of those clips ever.

Yeah, but then you have to sit in that chair for five hours because it's a TV production. There's something... Speaking of a post-quiet storm, Mark Sesler, way on my radar, not in a negative way, but you got all these weird events now. You're always going to different things. This is That's a new sess dog move as well.

This was a surprise purchase for me. I want to go, though.

Would you have gone if it wasn't purchased?

It wouldn't have occurred to me to go, I don't think.

Will you be able to give us some boots on the ground reporting next week?

I was thinking maybe from the venue. It's like the old WFA and NFL things where they report from stadiums. It's like, get the crowd noise behind us and I give you a two-minute report.

My guess is it will be brutally sanitized in the It's live. Tom braided Corp doesn't let certain things through, but they can't get past Mark Sesler, the insider.

No, they cannot.

They say it's live.

Are you going to have to sign something? Live? I think so.

I don't think so.

You have to turn in your phone.

I won't do that.

Mark Sesler arrested Saturday.

Good scoopage, Greg. You are the Tom Pelicero to my Ian Rappaport, and I think that's a fair way to look at it. Just like Ian is not at all threatened by Tom Pelicero, nor am I. All right. Time in? Nice. Have fun, Mark.

It's more like a halftime show than a time-end. Where?

Is it at the Forum?

Yes. My God. Wait, really? Yeah, never been there. That's huge.

What seats do you have?

If I recall, they weren't like nosebleeds. They were pretty good.

Free parking? Perk of working with the company here?

Yeah, I could park in our garage. It's the last remaining perk.

Up next, the New York Jets. Real talk as much as the Diehards, right here, were locked and loaded on the idea of the Jets as a legit title contender immediately upon Roger's arrival last April, Aaron Rodgers. It's fair to acknowledge now, with the benefit of hindsight, that that could have been seen as a stretch. Because exploding Achilles or no, the roster was flawed, the offensive line was bad, the skill positions, shaky. I think now the Jets have clearly benefited from the distance of the Rodgers' Seamoon period, the influx of Aaron's guys who ultimately didn't work out. Mike Williams, huge upgrade over Alan Lazard. How can third-round rookie Malekai Korely not be better than Randall Cobb? Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, first-round hook Ola Fashanu, massive steps up from the tackles last year. I can't get these green rose-tinted glasses off my face. You know that, so you're going to have to tell me, Am I nuts or did the Jets, dare I say, quietly have a great offseason?

I don't think anything about it's been quiet, but I do expect that it's going to be-I guess in relation to last year. When you get to training camp, once we finally get to the season, people are like, Actually, this is going to be the year for the Jets, and they become a trendy pick again. Because on paper, I think the roster construction is better than it was a year ago when they had all that hype, and they have some insurance policies. Alan Lazard, for instance, you mentioned, is like, he's still wide receiver four. But that's a perfect role for Alan Lazard.

Outside of Zack Wilson, Douglas has done a very nice job hitting on key draft picks. I'm out.

Back then was a disaster.

Sure.

There's been a couple of misses, but I would say that this is not a surprise.

I think the thing is I want to see, number one, how the NFL responds to the Jets overall world when the schedule comes out. I think it's going to be a little more caution than to throw them on five or six games.

I think they'll be on five or six.

I don't know, though, because something feels more like a prove it year to me. But I do think outside of maybe the fact they're going to have to monitor Brock Bowers, who they passed on, which could have been a very spicy pick for the Jets, I do think they're better. I like what they did.

They traded up for Coralie, who is very similar to me to what Christian Watson was coming out of college and what Aaron Rodgers can serve. A limited route tree, but a guy who can make plays after the catch.

That's an important part where you can do things. It's just how long is the adjustment period with Aaron to where he's wanting where Aaron wants him to run. Aaron has tried to do that by bringing in guys that he's previously played with. I think it's a nice meld now of Tyron Smith, these veteran guys who are still towards the end but can still be productive as well as young guys. It's a lot to feel great about, but it's the Aaron Rodgers as well as his hand-picked offensive coordinator. Is this going to work?

That is one thing. Nate Hackett, show us why you're in this position on any Time out. You knew that was going to happen.

Here's this. Check this out. On Friday morning, New York Jets coach Art Sal, a channel to his inner Sunny Weaver. This is a writer from Rich Semeni at esbia. Com. Does anybody know who Sunny Weaver is?

Sunny Weaver is Kevin Costner's-He has the Browns GM from Kevin Costner's character.

Everybody knows it. Using a line from the 2014 film Draft Day. Check it out if watching on YouTube. At 11:09 AM, about eight hours before the start of the second round of the draft, Sal texted a photo of Malakai Coralie to GM Joe Douglas. Underneath the photo, he wrote, No matter what. Douglas immediately replied, No matter what. My point being, first of all, congrats to my team. They wanted that guy on day two. They got him. But my bigger point is draft day. We've all talked about the movie on record, not It's not a good movie by any stretch, but I have to give it pop, Patrick. It's got legs. It has a cultural footprint. People talk about it every year around this time. It makes me wonder, what if we actually made a good movie about the draft? That would be a classic. But even in its flawed form, Draft Day has an audience, and people have obviously been coming back to the movie, and I'm a little stunned, but good job by them.

I don't know how many people are still referencing it. Are going back and rewatching it?

Yes, it seems to be a thing. A little bit of a cult classic, maybe. Around draft time, people watching. I still have yet to watch it. I need to. I keep meaning it.

You don't need to. I'll give you a tip on that.

I just feel like people talk about it every year around Draft Day, that week, and people start watching it again.

That means that Greg skipped the company event where they brought us to the Century City movie theater, and I remember West went, you went, we all went. Greg Hard Out. Another thing you're too cool for. You were too cool for that event. What year was that? 2014.

Yeah.

It sounds-We saw a sneak preview. Yeah. Well, it said the 2014 film, Draft Day, and what you read before.

Which then led to your iconic review of the film.

I will never do that again in my life. I was at my parents house, and we had just gotten there. It was like, these guys called me, and I had a couple of glasses of wine with my mom and dad, and then I'm overly glowing about Draft Day. I wrote a paragraph.

But look at it now. Now, it doesn't seem so...

What I said seems absurd.

Full of heart from start to finish.Yeah..

They took one little clipped part of it. There was some critique in there, too, but it's like, let's take the little clipped part and make Mark look at it.

I just want to know how many front offices are exchanging these texts because it wasn't quite no matter what. 32 teams had the chance to prevent them from doing it throughout round 2. And they did trade up. They were trying to trade up.

Just like Sonny Weaver.

Right. They said They were out in the second round but didn't find the right deal. And then eventually they got Corley. But maybe this is happening everywhere, but then they don't get the guys. I do want to point out, though, Steve Smith had him as his number 10 receiver in the draft, a head of Ricky Pearsall, head of Jalen Polk. And that just spoke to me because I was like, in a perfect world, maybe Mylikai Corley has a little Steve Smith to him in terms of his game. So game recognize game. It's similar styles on some level that if Steve Smith liked him that much, that's a good vote of confidence.

It's very on brand that we've had two timeouts already. We're still in the AFC East, and they've come around the Jets and the Patriots.

We got a Browns one coming up, too, I'm guessing. To that point, Malakai was also a subject our friends at Underdog. Josh Norris and Hayden Winks had a really good review of Corley. He's been compared by some to Debo Samuel, but he doesn't have nearly the explosive traits as Samuel, but he has the ability to maybe be a really good piece for them. All right, now we move on. To the AFC North. But first, we take a break. All right. Welcome back. We move to the AFC North, and Patrick Claibon is going to get us started with his Baltimore Ravens.

Yes, the Baltimore Ravens had all those departures on the offensive line, and they did ultimately take Roger Rosengarden in the second round. But to me, the plan appears to be Ben Cleveland and Andrew Voorheys to fill things out at guard, which I love is sticking with the plan. If you have that level of attrition on the offensive line, you can't just say, Hey, we're going to draft some guys, and then have a bunch of rookies playing. That never works. So you stick with the plan that they have. Then They take Nate Wiggins. I know people had expressed some size concerns with Nate Wiggins, but some of that, he was sick before the combine. I think he played closer to 180. They needed to become more athletic in the secondary. My overall question about the Ravens is this continued attrition. The addition of an extra hardball into the league has created more attrition. We've got a defensive coordinator that's a head coach in Seattle. You look around the league, there's more Ravens filtered out everywhere. At what point does it begin to accumulate and we start to see some effects.

You won't feel them as dramatically if they keep hitting on their draft picks and if Eric Dacosta keeps signing quality free agents late in the process. It does feel like the last two years, especially, it's amazing. They got the one seed in a year that I thought last Last year was a rebuilding year for them in terms of all the people that they left. Just in terms of team building cycles, I don't think they're going to be losing this many people every year. But Dacosta has needs, I would say, at wide receiver, edge, cornerback, and offensive line still. I think they will be adding more 500 Snap type veterans that are just sitting out there than most teams.

That has, during these periods of attrition, been something that Dacosta and before him, Ozie Newsom, Ozie Newsom is still there, have done every offseason, and they tend to hit on those guys at a high percentage. So it's like, I'm not out on the Ravens declining necessarily. To me, it's like, I don't like losing Mike McDonald, who I think is going to be an awesome coach in Seattle, and maximize that Ravens roster in a way that you don't get every year. And so that's a big... I don't like coordinator switches in general.

I like that they locked up in a surprising way with Rashaad Bateman for a couple of years. And I was like, why did they sign? They really are banking on Rashaad Bateman. But it turns out he wasn't eligible for his fifth-year option because he didn't report. They said he was going to be a free agent, but he's now signed for three years, and they are really counting on him. I mean, he's their two right now. Tess Walker, who drove me That's crazy watching.

Sounds like a loophole for first round pitch.

And I wondered about it.

Very Ravens-esque.

It's very difficult to utilize that loophole because immediately when I saw it, I was like, Can players utilize this? That's what I mean. But it turns out if you miss any amount of time, then your league year can't accrue, if it's a mandatory workout. I guess in theory, somebody could get stuck in traffic and lose a year of accrual on that first day of mandatory...

I don't know. But it's hard for a player to do. But Bateman's, they're two. Aguilar, they're three. I don't really trust Des Walker. I mean, he was a dart throw in the fourth round.

I trust Walker Rosenthal. No, it's totally separate conversation. Itchy trigger finger. He is an insider on the rise that Walker Rosenthal. Am I on a podcast?

About what?

The NFL?

Does he have Ian's phone number, too?

Maybe. I thought you were talking about-If he has access to Greg's phone. I was like, Is this a Roger Rosengarden joke? I do like the Rosengarden in the middle.

Rosengarden. All right, let's move on. All right, that was good. The Cincinnati Bangles. The bangles quietly took some big swings in their draft. We've talked about Amari Mims, a freakishly gifted, weekly talented tackle prospect with just eight college starts, but the potential to be an all pro, if it all clicks. It made me think of our old friend Chris Wesling. His fantasy theory, Don't settle for the sturdy floor, shoot for the limitless ceiling and live with a potential whiff. Don't tell Chris Ballard, I said this, but character concerns scared some teams away from Alabama receiver, Jermaine Burton. That's such a bull. But he's another example of a high ceiling prospect. They even took a day three swing on a tight end. Eric All, who had that knee, bad knee and spine injury in college. Bad combo there, but we'll see if he's okay. The bangles have shown skill in their acquisition of college talent. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. With Joe Burrow on the mend, a big draft could get them over the hunt.

We talked about Jermaine Burton on our draft Winners and Losers episode. I think he slides in and plays a lot. I like this draft. I think Mims, it's like they certainly have a tackle, but I think Chris Jenkins is a good player who helps with a need. They gave it the third most yards per carry on the ground that defense a year ago. Defense sneaky fell apart at times last year, and it's like they need help.

Right. They signed Sheldon Rankin's. It's wild that there's a Chris Jenkins back in the NFL, Chris Jenkins. The dad was not a highly touted... Was he a highly touted prospect coming out? But he was an absolutely ridiculous beast.

The biggest person I've ever seen in person. Stepping into the newsroom.

The thing they have to be concerned about is their secondary. They decided not to use a pick there Cam Taylor-Britt is coming off an injury, but you feel good about him. But after that, you're counting on second-year guys, DJ Turner, Jordan Battle, to really step up. Geno Stone is a bit of an unknown as a free agent pickup, and a lot of questions in the secondary.

If Geno Stone is the unknown, then I feel like Geno Stone could be a known quantity.

He could be great, but it's a guy in a new system that hasn't always started 16 games, that thing.

But I think it helps in evaluating, especially the new guys, the newer guys like Dax Hill coming in and how you're going to move everybody in the secretary. If you have somebody where it's like, We've seen him be successful in this. Now we know a little bit more with the rest of our guys. But I think they were aggressive. You could say that they were reaches. I'm with Dan. They took the aggressive route, and we'll have to see because you have to take chances in order to be successful.

Are we concerned at all about a backfield that is, in theory, led by Zack Moss? No. You got chased.

I thought we liked Zack Moss.

I liked him last year, but that's one year where I thought he did come in in relief for the Colts and looked good. But that's not been every other season for him. It's a hole. When they could batter people on the ground, that helped the passing game a ton.

There are very few guys who can handle the volume that Joe Mixon did in the run and pass game last year. Very few.

At last point, they got trashed in the trenches last year when they started 0-5. So three of their first four picks in the trenches. Up next. The Cleveland Browns with Mark Zesler.

All right, the Cleveland Browns have a two-time Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefansky.

Oh, hell, yeah.

If healthy, we will, this is a wait and see, but if healthy, they have arguably the best back in the AFC in nick Chubb. This is one of the best offensive lines in the conference. They basically kept everyone on defense, including Jim Schwartz, the play collar, after operating as the nastiest unit around a season ago. They've got a tight end in David Najoku, Dan's guy, coming off in autumn where he played like a star. There's a rash of Probo talent on this roster on both sides of the ball. And yet we don't talk about the Browns as sitting in any a Super Bowl window or even as a top five team in the AFC for the most part. Is it just because of the quarterback? Because I think that's obviously the obvious talking point. But the Browns, to me, no matter the talent, feels like they're not in the conversation to go win multiple playoff games.

This is a great win now a year for them. They won 11 games a year ago. I think you're absolutely right. It's a veteran team. There's a lot of continuity. I noticed that they might be the only team in the NFL, someone out there tell me if I'm wrong, they don't have any projected starters that were drafted in the last two years. Part of that is the Sean Watson Trade. Part of that is just how they've built their roster. It's a team of guys who have been there, who have shown they're pretty talented. They got some questions, maybe like linebacker here and there, but for the most part, you're right. They should be good if they get the quarterback help.

And the quarterback help is presumably going to be better, right?

It's a very, very low score. They've shown they can be good with average quarterback play. He doesn't even need to be that good.

Why not? Yeah, Mark's right.

You know what I think it is, Mark? I think it's the Watson tax that they're still paying on different levels because not only is Watson now in year three after two seasons that one lost the suspension, the second lost not playing at a high level, then getting hurt. You have a segment of the media and NFL fans that aren't really rooting for the Browns to be successful. Then there's the football component of you can't win and win a Super Bowl without a good quarterback. We don't have any evidence that he is that since he put on this uniform.

No, because you have these teams out there. I remember the Rams were trying to do this before they got Goff and everyone else was build a really great roster and do quarterback last. Cool. But the Browns, I think, have done that under Andrew Berry, who is one of the better GMs out there. But you went and spent more money than anyone on the thing that should have been the absolute engine that starts this thing. It's like, We're entering year three where we have nothing but increasingly alarming questions about the position.

The concern would be that Jim Schwartz's defense takes a step back. There's no reason why it should on paper, but just if you look at Jim Schwartz's career, it's had some big spikes. And a lot of defensive coordinators, it's hard to keep that going year after year, but they're good up front on both sides of the ball.

Good team. It doesn't help that the last thing we saw was them run out of NRG Stadium, 45 to 14. I think that probably is the one.

Yeah, a lot of turnovers.

Duffy. The rival of the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Stealers with Greg Rosenthal.

Everyone loved the Stealers draft. There's a thing I saw where It adds up all the grades, and so it's consensus grades. The Steelers finished first. Like, Stealers were uniformly A's across the board by investing in their offensive line with Fah Tanu, who maybe fell a little a bit. Very athletic. Zack Frazier, who looks like a star. You get two guys who can probably play right away up front. Roman Wilson is a receiver that can contribute right away as a third-round pick. Then Payton Wilson, just a really exciting, talented guy that fell because people think he's only going to have one contract in the NFL. The quarterback is a thing, but when Mike Tomlin said, Russell Wilson fields Arthur Smith on our network, these guys have all been scalded. Am I a fool to buy in When Mike Tomlin says they've all been scalded, and essentially, they got something to prove, am I a fool to buy in that like, Man, this roster, I could see it.

No, he's a leader of men, Mike Tomlin. He inspired me. Even if you are a thousand miles away, 3,000 miles away, you believe that's his thing? You ever have a fantasy draft? I think we all have, where you just feel like the gods are with you a little bit, and every time your turn comes up, there's something there that you want that's sitting there. I feel like getting a tackle with the first pick, then getting a center, and then you get the wide receiver. We know the Steelers know how to pick wide receivers in the middle rounds. Then you add with a linebacker. Yeah, I trust them, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this team. Yeah.

Daniel Jeremiah looked at the first five picks, and they were all value picks. That's what the Steelers do when they're on their game. Zack Frazier, especially, the center out of West Virginia, I keep it open. It was like, this is a Steelers type of player at the core.

They won the consensus board game. You know how you got on Howie about that? Steelers won that, too. But it makes To me, it makes sense how they're building the... If these are going to be their quarterbacks, how they're building the roster around them makes sense. And they might add another receiver, Bryant McFaddon, who used to be on the team and is in the media now, said he heard they're adding another playmaker. There were reports that they were in on the Courtland and Sutton conversation. I don't know who that would be. Maybe it's just Odell Beckham, and he could be a good role player for them. I don't know.

Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. Same quarterback room. I forgot about that. That's crazy.

I'd play them both. It's going to be wild. Game after game, just play them both. It's going to be a wild summer.

Just have them. Everybody ends up playing anyway. It's very rare that somebody's going to need a backup quarterback and the stealers are in a very good position. It's definitely better in terms of their quarterback room than they have been in a very long time.

If the men involved are comfortable with the arrangement, I wonder what the juice is going to be behind the scenes. Hard Knock Stealers would be good. Everybody would say the right thing.

I'm getting It was a projected starters ready.Oh, hell, yeah.Series. The first tough question was, Fields or Russell Wilson? My gut is Fields. I just think he's better.

They're saying Russell is the guy.I'm with you. But they're saying.

Mike T is going to make the right pick.

Yeah. I didn't want it to happen to you. That's okay. I wanted it.

You took it. I was looking at the clock.

Raison shot, by the way, too.

That NFL Network polo actually has magical power. Bouncing bullets off.

Apparently, all our shirts do.

Let's All right, I will. I'm hearing it. You got a geyser wound in the...

A little quiet storm coming in.

All right, take a break. We'll be right back with the AFC South. All right, we are back. Let's move to the AFC South. Around the AFC, we are going around the AFC in 48 minutes. Hit the clock, the Texas. No picks in the top 40, but they address both sides of the ball in the second round. Georgia cornerback Kamari Lasseter and Notre Dame offensive tackle Blake Fisher. After a draft that plugged holes, a depth chart, weaknesses, we spin forward with a team that has been widely favored to win the AFC South, make a deep playoff run. Stefan Diggs is in the building. So you add that. There was an upsetting incident around Tank Del, who was involved in a shooting, but he appears to be okay, and that's great. Anyway, we're old enough to answer this question because we all know history of this franchise goes back to 2002. Is this the deepest and best Houston Texans roster in franchise history?

I would say that it's number one, by far the best quarterback situation they've had. They're pretty deep all over the place. I think they have the best coaching staff they've had in the modern day NFL ever. You look around on both sides of the ball, there's not a lot to not like. I think some of these... They're young. They need these draft picks to come in and play a lot. But it's like, yes, this is the highest ceiling Texas team, Texan's team I've ever seen.

In fairness, we just talked about Deshaun Watson. Before the Madness, he was a high-level quarterback. So by far feel strong. But C. J. Stroud, you can't quibble with how great he was as a rookie.

I'll stick with it, though. But yeah.

I'll give the edge to the Texans team that had the 24-nothing lead over the eventual Super Bowl champ. Chiefs. On the road, that was a very good team. I can't say because you look at the nuke on that team. There was J. J. Cj, I think was JD Clowny still on that team? They had highly drafted guys that were producing in big parts of that squad, which they have on this one. I think I would be willing to make that case after this year, but they're very solid all the way through, and I just want to see-2021? Was it Texans?

No, that 2019.

They were just growing up very, very fast. I don't know where the ceiling is.

Hey, Texas fans out there thinking, Hey, how about that Matt Shobb team that went 12 and 4? That was a good team. Had JJ Watt at his absolute-You said Matt Shobb, though. Yeah. Had JJ Watt at his absolute peak.Andre Johnson.I'll do respect. Two Hall of Famers, though, at their peak with Andre Johnson and JJ Watt and Aaron Foster at his peak. It was a fun team.

Those teams used to get wiped out in the playoff.

But then they weren't. I do think you look at their offensive line and their secondary, and Texas fans are so high on this roster. I do think, look, they drafted a right tackle, Blake Fisher, that was after a big drop off at the position and hoping maybe he can play right away. I do think they got a little unlucky with a couple of defensive backs going right before Lasseter. I think the secondary and the offensive line, they're hoping to be average. I don't think they're totally all the way there. This was a team that was just building. But with C. J. Stroud, anything's possible.

I'll take it. The 2019 Texans. Nuke, as we said, Kenny Spills, Will Fuller, rookie Laramie Tuncil, I believe, or young Laramie Tuncil.Let's see.No.

Because he had come over from-That's right.

He came from Miami. Dj Reader is there, a young Reader. Jj Watt, still at a high level. Yeah, that's a very good roster.

I will take this coaching staff over what Brian was offering. For sure.

And the front office.

All right. Up next in the AFC South is the Indianapolis Colts with Greg Rosenthal.

I'm into this team. Looked around it, I I was curious, the division odds. We're not allowed to do stuff like that.

We're not? Colts. I am confused. I thought we could.

We're allowed to look.

In your private time, Colts plus 3:30 to win the division, third behind the Jaguars.

This, to me, is a team that has just been fine for a while, and they took some big swings on some real talented players in terms of AD Mitchell in Liatulatu, and then you get the extraordinarily talented Anthony Richard. Wickedly talented. It's a very talented team that was right there with Houston to end last season despite not having a quarterback. To me, they're 1A, 1B. I see them as closer than the rest of the... Than those odds would indicate. I see them ahead of the Jaguar by a decent amount. Do you guys think they're ready to win now?

Win what? Because they did this one lap. No, I think the Texans are going to find a way to win that division by at least two games.

What if now you got this quarterback back, if he turns out to be the guy that he hinted he was and everyone fell in love with, that then is the X factor that takes this team and really does make them at the level, potentially, of the Texans. They're very interesting team to track. Chris Ballard is a GM, so I like that, too.

Yeah, and so much, this was a team that almost was in. This was a team that was in it against the Texans with Garner Minchew as quarterback. And considering the growth that we saw from Richardson at the start of the season, I have every bit of reason to believe that they would have been a better team if Richardson finishes things out. It was just, you know.

I mean, he's a bit of a TBD. He was certainly fascinating. But I think that Ballard, he does not move off of what he wants to do. And I know that they've had a tough time finding the quarterback until maybe now, but they already were the fifth best pass-rush win rate team a year ago and add Latou to that. And they were... I remember I tried to make this pitch about them being an interest team to see him a year ago. People weren't buying it, but it's like, weekly, on a weekly basis, that defensive front was beating people up. So if anything, if you can get to Stroud and Trevor Lawrence and the rest of the quarterbacks in this division, you got a shot.

Pretty good line. Very intriguing defensive line, adding Latou to that mix, as you mentioned. Secondary is a concern. They're very young there, and they're hoping their second-year guys develop. But I just liked the coaching. Not so much Gus Bradley. I think he's solid. He's a good defense coordinator, but Steiken gives me confidence. This team just felt like it's average. And then now maybe you add some exciting graphics in Richardson. That's the little sprinkle on top of this. I think that's-He's being giant.

To me, they were commendable for fighting through everything last year, staying in the mix to the very end, but obviously lacking something that gave them sizzled. That's Richardson, hypothetically. Our buddy Chris Ballard, who we listened to the other day. Listen to this when the first defensive player in the draft falls to him at 14. Here's his reaction.

This video coming from colts. Com, Dan.

We had the first fucking pressure in the draft. How about that cackle? With the hair slick back.

I love this guy. I think he looks better than he's ever looked, and he's chuckling in the middle of the war room. He's comfortable.

He's swearing in newsers. I love it. More Chris Ballard.

Look at that. I'll take the dart. Now I'm looking at his hair from the side shot. This is conditioned. He's put money into this hair.

Like I said on Saturday, he looks about 12 years younger to me than he did at other points in this cult run.

You know what he's... I know, Mark. What? You I keep saying it. I know. But I'm saying now he's almost... I think maybe he's trying to crib off Les Sneed a little bit. He's cribbing off the notes of Les Sneed physically.

It's very much Tom Brady's long hair.

Take a look at this, the quaff. I don't think so. Listen, there are worse PMs.

I want to hear more of why you made that face.

I mean, that's a stretch.

I think he felt like you were comparing someone to the goat in Les Sneed.

No, I'm just saying- Too big a reach.

Less is a nine out of 10, physically. I'm not saying that.

No, and I think less puts more energy and attention, probably, into his particular look than Chris Ballard does. This looks like this is slick back hat, take off hat. I'm inside. I'm a moment.

Hard disagree.

Really? Yeah.

As a hair guy, that's not accidental.

Okay.

It does tell me significant other or a female presence at some point encouraged him to euthanize the look, not euthanize.

Euthanize his old look.

Yeah, to youth up. To youth up, right.

Well, I I believe him and his wife have five children. They do.

They got a lot of kids.

I have them separated. Him and his wife.

No.

Good. Many kids. Big family. That maybe speaks to a potential midlife crisis, but in a good way. Now he's like, look at me.

It doesn't seem like he's in a crisis. It seems like he's comfortable. He's dodged a lot of cults crises.

It's very effective. It's going to come out the other side. Very true.

All right.

That was a time out.

I don't know what... Listen, I didn't hear a dart. I didn't hear a time out. It just exists in the ether.

Eric has understandably just said, there's no consequence to anything. That wasn't very much about the team.

It was more Ballard. There it is. See? Great judgment by E. T. Trying to be less trigger-happy this episode, guys. You know what? You're maturing, you're about to become a father. Yeah. Can't be throwing darts around people for no reason.

Don't be firing guns as a new father.

Jaguars of Jacksonville with Patrick Claibon.

Thanks, guys. I'm confused.

You're welcome.

I'm I'm not really sure. I love Brian Thomas Jr. I think he gives the Jackson field stretching capability that they tried to halfway do by committee with everybody else and put Calvin Ridley in weird situations that didn't necessarily seem to suit Calvin Ridley. He's a real, true top-end speed guy that I think with a healthy Trevor Lawrence will be successful. But I'm looking at the rest of the pics, and I don't really know what necessarily Trent Balki's plan is. I know they bring in a linebacker coach from LSU. I'm blanking on his name. I think Matt House, perhaps. They ultimately take two LSU defenders who were highly recruited guys, one of them very athletic, Mason Smith as well as Jordan Jefferson. But this LSU defense never stopped anybody the entire season. Jaden Daniels and Malik Nabors and BTJ, they're running up and down the field, scoring a million points. They could not stop anybody. And so it was just a very confusing conglomeration of choices, considering their needs, right? Because they're very solid at the edge. I believe Trevon Walker is going to have the growth, but I'm not sure what the plan is. What do you guys think the Jacksonville Jaguars plan is on defense?

To amass as many guys who look great coming off the bus. That's just Trent. That's Balky Ball. That's Trent. That's what he wants.

The Bartak heads, no.

That's what he wants to do, and it hasn't worked that well. And their secondary, to me, is a huge concern. How does this team stop the Texans and other good passing teams? They drafted a guy, Jerrion Jones, in the third round that wasn't that highly thought of. They are the anti-stealers and eagles in terms of the consensus on the Kansas board. After the Bryant Thomas pick, which I thought was savvy, great trade down, loved the pick. After that, Balki's off on his own island, taking guys rounds before they're expected to go. And that's just how he rolls. That's Trent Balki.

He's the opposite of what we're talking about the Howard Rosen. Got his own world.

Yes, he does. I think they are a bit of a... From a Q rating angle, just because the south went from floating garbage to white hot in the course of a calendar year. Because a year ago, we were fascinated by the Jaguars and not really questioning the team building at that point. They'd been active in free agency on wide receivers, paid them a lot, and it worked. But I don't think you can survive in the NFL with a C minus or very big question mark cornerback One small bit of news, relatively small, not for Zay Jones, is that they released Zay Jones on Tuesday.

They're rolling with Gabe Davis. Devon Douverney is there, too, as a wide receiver.

I think it could help them a little bit, everyone dismissing them at this point. Right. And expectations The locations are very low around this team.If.

They care about that.

Everyone's falling. Let me just talk about two teams.

Second in Vegas, though. Like I said, actually, they have the cults behind them for what it's worth.

Right, but Cognicenti. What the fuck does that mean? It doesn't matter. Cognicenti, thanks. But people aren't... I got it. I understand. I deserved it, and it hurts. Okay. The Tennessee Titans with Mark Cessler. Ain't nobody pumping up the Titans, but should they be, Mark?

Well, they weren't able to grab a garage door size tackle Joe Alt, like 99% of humanity thought they were. But I do think that getting J. C. Latham out of Alabama because we trust Alabama, helps a lot. Their tackles last year had a 49.3 pass blocking grade per PFF, second worst in the NFL. They allowed 64 sacks last season, fourth most in the NFL, 160 over the past three years, third most. That's why Ryan Tannehill was on crutsches when we were in London getting carded off, and we saw him in the tunnel. Remember that? But now you've got Latham at left tackle, big old boy, Pete Skaransky at left guard. I like him a lot. Lloyd Cushenberry, three at center, and Magic Man, Bill Callahan, tutoring the group. So they got an identity, and I like that. I don't get to Andre sweat in round two because he essentially got a DUI right before him. Visiting with the Titans seems like a-That was a play. Okay. No, he just got drunk. Very much TBD on that one. But I think you've got a team that we knew a year ago had a desperate need along the offensive line and the wide receiver position.

Now you've got DeAndre Hopkins, you got Calvin Ridley, Traylon Birks is a good three. I like them in that position versus where he was having to be before. We'll see. But it's a better situation for Will of Us. But are you buying into the Brian Callahan Carnival of Love?

Is there one existing?

I've just called it that. Maybe that's why you can say you don't buy into it.

I'm buying into Lloyd Cushenberry III being his nickname.

I don't say the third. I just say three.

Lc3.

For a long time, he would always call him Roger Griffin II.

Rg II.

Or three. We'll just keep an eye on their decision to not take Romadunze there. It's funny because Adam Schefter reported or intimated that Joe Alt was going to go to the Giants if he hadn't been taken. Roma Dunzey, you pass on him to take Latham, and then you pass on the receivers that were left in the second round, and there were some intriguing ones to take Sweat. That's just something I'll keep an eye on because I'm not convinced that DeAndre Hopkins at this point in his career… You could have added another weapon. By the way, Ryan Tano is still a free agent.

Come on, Raiders. Interesting.

I just put him under the Raiders, too. I was like, That Why is he still sitting out there? Give it a try.

Is he maybe pondering some things right now about his future? I don't know.

Get this Tanne Hill sweepstance.

I love it. Got beat up a little bit.

I think you just didn't get any good offers. Maybe it might be a guy who waits the training camp. I do think he gets a job.Wait till after training camp.Not a starting job. Flacko it.

Go full flacko. It could pay off.

It can.

Anything else about the Titans? Tough one.

Not as much juice.They're very much, of all these teams, they're very much transition. There's just a lot of transition.

There's still major questions on the right side of their offensive line. The defense on paper looks good. They have another one of the Ravens assistants, Denard Wilson, coaching them up. I believe in Brian Kalian because he brought his dad there.

I'm with you.

Shout out to dads.

Hey, wait a second. Wait a second. You could take your own issues with your father or whatever's going on with the Roberts house, but you don't dart a man for speaking positively about his old It's out of bounds, Eric. It was more on Mark's comment.

I think he was aiming at me for agreeing with someone else about something at the tail end of that.

As a soon-to-be dad. Yeah, dads are awesome, guys. Come on. Patrick Laban, do we trust Alabama implicitly in all ways? I don't know if it was the university or I wasn't sure.

I was saying the football program. In the nick Saban era, these guys come out as ready as from any university.How about the state?The state?Come.

On.from Patrick.We.

Don't know. Yeah, it's 4 million people, all with hopes, dreams, and desires. I think you got a good shot, just as good a shot as anywhere else.

Couple of question marks there.

Yeah, we got some.

Where did you grow up, Patrick?

I got a Q-anon next door neighbor, so we got They're all over the place.

Where'd you go up? Wait, in LA, you do?

Absolutely. I had a weird... No. Okay, so full disclosure.

All right, let's just take a time out. Yeah, let's take a time out.

We're in a transition period of the show post the division, so we I don't need to. We're good.

There's a guy on my street who has his own newspaper, and he passes out newspapers to a select few houses, always skipping ours, mainly because I didn't necessarily want him going through our trash. But anyway, Okay. Yeah, that's another thing that he does. I go to the Breezeway.

Wait, how does he go through trash?

What is going on here? He walks down the street, he opens people's trash cans and moves them and reorganizes trash. I I have no idea why I-Reorganizes?

Yes. You told them not to.

Yeah, I'm like, Hey, man, we're good on the trash. I'll put it in the street, and then I'll take it back. We're good. I don't need you messing with our trash. A fair request. Yeah. That was four years ago. Things were still weird. But one day, One of these flyers floated into the breezeway, and I pick it up. It was like full-on Aaron Rodgers for five pages of the most inane and impossible things. I'm I'm like, What? Then I look and I see this proliferated through the street. I say that to say, You may think that you're in a place that's in a bastion of sanity and people have yard signs that say love and support, but those people are not your friends, and those people exist from sea to shining sea in this union.

It's a great point, Pat. There's a newspaper that... You know those free newspapers? You can open up and just take them, little community newspapers. There it is.

True journalism.

Santa Monica has got a couple of them. I used to take them because sometimes you see, Oh, there's Walker's friend and his soccer team won the 10 and Under Youth Championship of Southern California. Now, this is cool. Very nice. You float through it, and it's mostly pretty normal. Then every once in a while, you realize, Oh, the Santa Monica Mirror is actually a hard alt-right organization, which just throws, just sprinkles in little things every once in a while. It's everywhere.

This guy, Patrick, is it a weekly paper? It sounds like a lot of work. Is he have stringers and other correspondence?

It's not every week. I'll see if I could get some evidence. Maybe I'll tweet it out. I wanted to take one from somebody's porch, but I feel like that's a boundary cross.

Do you ever think of creating a competing independent newsletter?

A counter newspaper.

It's not subscriber-based. He's just putting it on people's property.

He's walking out and he's hand-delivering this paper to...

And Patrick Claibon is not getting a copy.

No, nor do I want one. Nor do I want one. I would like to just stay away.

I want one, curious. This feels like its own podcast, just tracking this neighborhood now.

Yeah, this weird neighborhood situation.

Bring one in so we can just assess what's going on here.

I'll try to get one for you. Okay. I'll try to get one.

Let's take a break, and we'll finish out the AFC. Full of heart from start to finish, delivers on the great tension of the NFL draft while showing how human the entire process is. Mark Sesler, nfl. Com.

You're out of your mind. Yeah, I am. Haven't I proved that already?

That would have been a sweet spot for the company just to wave goodbye to me. And they lost opportunity.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you were proven, even if you were a little more over the top than you wish you would have been. History proved that it was not a forgettable film. It is very much in the discourse, at least every spring.

For us, you know.

I'm taking the L on it.Not for the reasons.I thought it was completely-Not for the reasons that I mentioned. Well, it was a little strong. Again, but I thought it was a draft day was not only forgettable, I thought it was a huge missed opportunity. And yet, here it is, 10 years later.

Well, people can go to nfl. Com and read our... They could find it. He said, Call them, right? If it's still, who even knows. But you had some supportive words. It wasn't all F minus from you.

Read between the lines on it. You could tell what was going on.

Read between these lines.

Let's head to the AFC West with Greg Rosenthal.

What team am I?

The Denver Broncos. Okay.

Broncos.

I mean, we're all a little shaken up by the Petra Clayban neighborhood story. A lot of new narrative. Which, by the way, not for nothing, when we went to break, we got some more details that are not for air on this media group platform, but wild. It's actually even darker than you'd imagine.

All right, let's restart the clock here.

Stuff that wouldn't happen in El Segundo.

All right, let's restart the clock.

Sorry, Greg. Go ahead.

The Broncos with Greg Rosenthal. So Sean Payton improved this often from 28th to 19th in the league. He did coach them up a little bit, considering. By every metric possible, they had a top 10 offensive line and basically bring back the same group. The wide receiver group, which you've heard Sutton has may be available, is Courtland Sutton, Josh Reynolds, Troy Franklin, which is a fun dart throw, but it was a fourth-round pick, played with Bo Nicks in college, but a ton of production, and Marvin Mims. If Bo Nicks is good, does he have chance to be good with this group around him? And more importantly, have they helped him enough with the defense, which fell off a cliff with Sean Payton arriving? They were 30th in the league in terms of devu.

The only thing that has thrown me for it, because it was like, Jerry Judy was on the trade block for 42 years at one point there, and they finally made it happen, now it's Sutton, and it's like, you're down to Mims, Greg Dalsich, and it's like, of the landing spots for quarterbacks, because, A, you're Bo Nicks, and so you're not Caleb Williams to begin with. I do think he could be very productive, though. I don't dislike Bo Nicks from what I watch. But I'd say this, it's not a great landing spot except for the fact that Sean Payton, when he's at his best, levels the entire offense up because of who he is.

Sean Payton, plus a good offensive line is... That's it.

It's not the situation that happened with Bryce Young in Carolina because you have coaching that you believe in and maybe some structure and the ability to protect. But yeah, they're not going to build Rome in a day here.

No, it's going to take time. I just I wonder, I'm looking back at the Zack Wilson trade, and I know it's just $5 million, but considering the cap situation, it feels like $5 million that the Broncos really didn'tJets are going to pay, I think, a big chunk of that.

Okay, well, we never got the follow-up, but that was…It.

Did, actually. It was, I think, what was it, $8 million? I think they took on like three and a half, something like that.

Okay. Well, then three and a half makes me feel better than five, but I just don't know.

It's still seems like a lot.

Because it's a lot to live up to. It feels like, considering the way that Russ made plays in spurts, I know Sean Payton and the Broncos weren't necessarily happy with the way that it was, but how does a rookie quarterback adjust to those expectations that it feels like Sean Payton has for the offense? If it's not him, how does Zack Wilson... How is anybody going to live up to this idea of what a quarterback should be in this offense when the idea is one of the best people to ever to play the game at the position.

Right. I think having a coach this great at getting mid-level quarterback talent, which we've seen when Drew Brees wasn't playing for the Saints, and even last year, to be productive is great, plus an offensive line is great. But a defense really helps you out. I look at their defense. It was a bottom five defense in the league last year, and I don't really see a ton of reasons to believe that they're going to improve significantly.

The defending champion, Kansas City Chiefs with Mark Sesler.

I think the Chiefs did exactly what the fan base demanded, if the fan base is allowed to demand anything at this point in time. But they moved up to take the fastest wide receiver in league history in Xavier Worthey out of Texas. They grabbed a tackle, Kingsley Sawyama Taya out of B-Y-U in round 2. Those were two needs, but I really like the Worthey pick. Lance Zerline described this tackle, Kingsley, as a thick-framed gentleman with adequate length. Sounds intriguing. But now look at this off. But now look at this offense. You got Worthe's 4.21 speed. What I like about it is it takes some heat off of the concept of Hollywood Brown as being whatever he would have been. It's like, he's an added weapon along with, we'll see where she writes at some stage. And all this makes me think, after we were wondering of Travis Kelsey, who's just had his deal extended, it was like, is this guy going to retire? Does he look the same? It's a good for Travis Kelsey. Two more years. Two more years. And it's like, you got people around him that's going to make like, Wait a minute, we got to deal with Travis, Kelsey on top of all this speed.

And so I just wonder, and I feel like I ask this all the time, that is like, is the entire regular season just like a dog and pony show leading society exactly where we know will be come next February? Because I think the team got better.

I think the Chiefs, despite winning it again two times in a row, they've won the Super Bowl. I have questions answer to me on their offense and the moves that they made make sense. None of them like, I know the guy is the fastest guy in the company ever, but I'm not locking him in as a star. Hollywood Brown has never been a star. Travis Kelsey, let's not forget, he looked slower and older last year. So what version do you get of him? So are the Chiefs going to be back to their high-flying ways? I'm not convinced. I'm interested to see what they look like this year.

I think there's a lot of calls for optimism because you consider what are they replacing? What are the departures? Lejarious Need, of course, being A1. This is the guy that made plays where they probably wouldn't have been in the game in the Super Bowl, if not for Lejarius Sneed. So that's the one. But other than that, you take MVS and replace him with worthy. You've got Hollywood Brown coming in to fill what you wanted Sky more to originally do, and now you get a veteran to fill in that spot. You keep Travis Kelsey around, even though it's not really an extension. It's essentially just a raise like, Hey, thank you for being Travis as Kelsey, which is cool. Shout out to them. Do that for everybody. Yeah, they're the Kansas City Chiefs. They're inevitable.

I think worthy is a more complete player than a 4-2-1. He was a guy who has great movement skills. He's just small, but he landed in the spot to make him a star. They have more weapons. They have great continuity on defense. I counted up, I think they're going to start seven different players from the class of 2022, which is crazy. That's how you keep a dynasty going. Four in the secondary. They take this kid, Jaden Hicks, who was very high on Dane Broogler's board in the fourth round. He'll probably wind up starting that's a spag secret sauce.

They have 13 wide receivers.

To put a bow on what you said, once you get to this level, this Rarified air? Yeah, it's just about getting through the regular season when you're 12 or 13. Hopefully, the quarterback's healthy when you get to January.

Well, while we're taking darts here, I saw the report from the Chiefs as Nate Taylor on the athletic. They tried to trade up Amarius Mims. They were trying to get that tackle. So the left tackle is a big concern, Suamatea, he's like that 14th tackle off the board. The guy might be a little bit of a project. They were hoping to get Amarius Mims. It didn't happen. They wound up as worthy.

Time out.

I have a question for you. I thought that was a time.

We just took darts. We were taking darts there. I got a little game for you guys. Here you go.

All right.

Here you go. Pen. You need a pen?

Dan is giving us paper and pencils.

I don't have a pen, so I appreciate that. Okay, good.

Thank you. All right. Jim Harbaugh. I mean, he's a huge figure. He's a dominating figure. Been very busy. It's been very busy over draft week and everything else. Hit the music, Eric. He overshadows everything else. Tell me, who is the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers?

Joe Horowitz, I think it is.

Okay, you're supposed to write it on the paper. Sorry.

Mark was wrong, though.

Write it down, please. All right. Reveal your answers. Patrick?

Joe Hortiz.

Joe Horties.

Oh, dang. I had Horitz.

I had Horitz, too.

But you said Horowitz.

Horowitz, but I mean...

The correct answer is Hortiz. There we go. I think Jeopardy Rules, although you guys Never had the right name in mind. Patrick is the one that gets the credit. I think the reason I asked the question is because Jim, he's the son there, and it overpower everything. But he was the director of player personnel for the Ravens who left Jim's brother, to join the Chargers.

Who's got it better than us? Nobody.

With that said, the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz had A very busy draft week and offseason. They added nine rookies in the draft, another 20 in undrafted free agency. Per The Athletic, over the past three months, the Chargers have added 39 players to their roster who were not on the team in 2023. Joe Alt, awesome Big S, big P. Statement pick by Jim Harbaugh. A generationally talented tackle by a coach who calls these guys skill players. He views them that way. The offensive line and running back room has been rebooted. Justin Herbert loses Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, but gained Lad McConkey over the weekend. I have a sneaky promising tight-end pairing in Will Disley and Hayden Hearst. Kind of like both those guys. Now they're a tandem. My big question, okay, and you have Greg Roman's offensive coordinator. That guy loves running the football. How Harbaugh is Harbaugh going to go with the Los Angeles Harbaughs? I'm sure Justin Herbert has the same question.

See, I think there's increasing versatility here because Lad McConkey, I think, is just an awesome pick, and they spoke so highly of him and how he can help Justin Herbert. So that's through the air. Joe Alt is someone who looks to me like he came from biblical times and fought kids with slingshots. Junior Colson. I thought they were going to take a bunch of Michigan guys, but he's someone that wore the green dot for Michigan and can lead a new defense, and he knows it really well. So these are fits that I think improve. But how hard will he go? It's like, Are we going to suddenly see Justin Herbert vanish as a passer? That's what I mean.

I'm curious how they're going to do this on offense.

Just being overstated because that's an impossibility in today's NFL where you're going to suddenly take Justin Herbert and have him play a half of the position that any quarterback was playing.

Well, also, the running backs are Dobbins and Gus Edwards. If Dobbins can get healthy again is intriguing.

Raven's you.

But you're also asked, I don't love that everyone's so excited about Joe. I'm sure he's going to be great, but the first thing you do is make him play a position right tackle that he's never played before. They should be noted. They know what they're doing, obviously, more than I, but that has worked plenty of times, work with Panesu. It doesn't always work.

I think we can expect to see some interesting route combinations, some receivers in close proximity to each other, diminished numbers for Justin Herbert, and a team that... We've seen it happen before. A new coach comes in, you get a mix of the old guys as well as the new guys, and something does form that I think the chargers will be better than Herbert with literally no hands last year towards the end of the year. But I think the Harbaugh ceiling isn't going to be reached.

Coaching plus offensive line plus quarterback is more important than the weapons. For those years that Tom braided didn't have any wide receivers, we learned, you can still have a great offense if you have great coaching, great offensive line, great quarterback.

Tom braided, all-time great quarterback.

They had the worst one-blocking grade in the NFL a year ago. That's going to change.

Let's close it out with the Las Vegas and Patrick Claybone?

The Las Vegas Raiders, I believe, wanted a quarterback. They go into the draft and they see literally every quarterback go before them. They, I'm assuming, have some calls about trading up. It doesn't ultimately work out because the Falcons take their future quarterback for some reason at number 8, I think, because they liked him, too. I think they got a great pick in Brock Bowers. I think taking the best player on the board is always a very good idea, but it's going to come down to Aiden O'Neill as well as Garner Minchou, and that will be the camp battle. At what point do the Las Vegas Raiders look outside of the building to bring in somebody that keeps everything from falling apart and Devante being like, Why am I playing football still?

Yeah, I think this was like, they got left out on draft day, and I know they love Brock Bowers, and there's nothing not to like. I don't dislike that pick on any level, but it's a new coach. But this coaches fires when you think in April, May, you can roll into an NFL campaign with these two quarterbacks because it's about midway through the second half that you realize that plan's a disaster of the first game. You mentioned Ryan Tana Hill. Someone liked that. If you just want a veteran who can come in and spice things up, I think that's a good landing spot. But Minchou, we just talked about with the cults. He's a fringe starter, but that team last year with Minchou.

It's a bridge guy. Yeah. We just don't know where the bridge is going right now.

Minchou is there at Tana Hill. So I've been thinking about it. Again, they gave him $15 million guaranteed. They gave him a sneaky amount of money. They did not sign him to a Baker Mayfield in Tampa. Just let's see what happens back in. They gave him like, Hey, you're probably going to play for us. And Aiden O'Kanaugh was okay. I don't think this is going to work out. They wanted Michael Pennex Jr, our James Palmer, our guy. He reported they were one of the teams that tried to trade up for a quarterback, and it was going to be Pennex, and it didn't happen for him. And they ended up with Bowers, who The Saints Block Party podcast reported The Saints were going to take at 14. I love these path not taken, but the Raiders ended up taking Bowers.

I think one thing that's maybe slept down a little bit, I think Raiders fans, whether or not he's a high-level quarterback, are going to love Garner Minchou. He plays with a lot of luck and moxie.

Yeah, he fits there.

Got some Ken Stabler in him. I think that's going to be... They're going to have fun rooting for him. It's just, how much can he actually give you?

Antonio pierce has been very vocal saying, We're going to run the ball, and we're going to be a great defense, and I believe that's his vision. Whether that works or not, we'll see. But Bauer, to me, fits that vision. Playing two tight ends as your base set, him and there, having multiplicity, and they really think the defensive improvements they had will carry over. That's where I'm at.

You survive in your own division, though, because it's just like, you should build to beat teams in your own division first, and they don't resemble that a team to me right now.

Signed Michael Gallup on Tuesday official.

There we go.Friend.

Of the show.Is he?Best friend.

No, he was on the show.

Very nice guy.

Not an enemy of the show, but I don't recall. Yes, you're right. I forgot that we... From Cowboys Camp. In fact, everyone we sat down with at Cowboys camp was cursed as a result.Leighton Vanderesh.Leighton Vanderesh. Michael Gale.

I think even the voice of the Cowboys, didn't he miss some time? Yeah, right? Etp?

Yeah, I think he fell down to an illness.He's.

Not gone.No.

Not gone. But he did miss a game for the first time in a very long time. I remember seeing that because we played their highlights, obviously. Brad Sham, the Sham God, has missed games due to an illness.

He was forced to announce yet another playoff defeat to the Green Bay Packers. That, I'm sure, was...

Brad Sham, the Sham Sham God. I fell ill en route to the game. I was advised to get it checked out. Testing and resting, looking forward to next week. That was December first. We're very happy that Sham God is on the mend, and we're not making light of illness, and we never would, Greg. However, I'm just stating the point that everyone that sat down with us in August of '23, it didn't work out.

Connect the dots. Right. Sure.

Which leads me to my next point that we will hope to take a summer road trip this summer to visit a team, and hopefully it's not yours.

Saints are coming to Irvine spending camp in Southern California.

What does the Saints block party think about that? Us coming with the cursed medallion of ATN. They don't need it. They don't want it.

I'd keep us out of there if you were interested in the Saints or their fortunes.

You probably know this one, Mark. Remember the braided Bunch episode with the medallion when they went to Hawaii?

Yeah, two-parter.

Bad beat.

Two-part episode.

Bad beat.

And one of the rare... You don't get braided Bunch episodes that were filmed literally on location outside of a set in Studio City or something like that.

Right.

An atypical braided Bunch double two-parter.

Greg, braided Bunch was a sitcom in the 1970s. I remember it.

I remember the repeats were on. I did not check them out.It.

Was a tiki necklace.Before.

Our time.

Tough one. It really wasn't because braided Bunch was massive in the '80s in syndication.

You didn't have to watch it.

They don't have to watch it.

They didn't You have to watch it.

That's what I mean. We don't have to read the newsletter going around Patrick Claybon's neighborhood, but it's out there.I made it.It's.

In your face.Decision which I look back on as the correct one to dedicate my time to other programming.Let's hear it.It's.

A good call.

Let's hear it. Cheers, repeats, The Ricky Lake Show. Was into that.

Sally, Jesse Rafael guy? Not really, but here and there.

That's a good one, actually, for the people in our age. What were the syndicated '70s, '80s shows that you were watching that maybe weren't out when you were kids? For me, it was braided Bunch. It was Different Strokes. I watched every weekday at 5:00 PM on Fox.

These were out for me when I was a kid. Oh, that's right. My A screenwriting teacher created Different Strokes. That's why he was in.

Did you see him park his Rolls-Royce before he came into class?I.

Think he did very well, I'm sure.

A lot of MTV now. That was probably not it. Alternative Nation, Yo MTV.

I'm talking pre See that arrow.

Like nick at Night, like Bewitch, Dick Van Dyke.

Ries Company. Ries Company. Good Times.

We've made Patrick late for his...

Oh, Patrick. We apologize. That's all great. Thank you to everybody for listening. We'll be back Thursday with a special guest. This is still on, right? Yes. Jordan Rodriegue of The Athletic. He does an excellent job covering all matters of football, including Los Angeles Rams. She'll be joining us to go around the NFC, including those Rams. But thank you, Patrick.

Anything else to Yeah, momentum might not be real, but you are. No matter what anybody says, no matter what I say, you and your existence are true.

Patrick, we love you. We love you. Thanks, guys. Eric, give him the goddamn applause.

Don't applaud for Oh, the flop.

Where's that button on your- Applaus is a long word to type out. So when I search things-How about clap? Change it to clap.

Okay.

Applaus is the one that tends to give me the trouble the most. Thank you, Patrick. Be careful on your Until then, everyone, check us out Thursday for the NFC. And you know what you got to do. Do you want to tell the people today, Greg? What do they need to do? Write on your arm.

Let me just take what I'm seeing. Oh, yeah. Keep the call. Bingo. Call. Bye.