40s and Free Agents: Drafting The NFC's Super Bowl Winner

00:00:02
Speaker 1: We have come to the end of the road on forties and free agency. By that, I mean it's the start of the regular season and at the end of these little preseason shows we've been doing, Daniel Jeremiah, I'm Greg Rosenthal. We're going to draft the NFC teams most likely to win the Super Bowl. And you kind of gave away at the end of our last episode. Where are you going first? Like, that's that's not good showmanship. We already know what you're going to do.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it's a mystery, but I do appreciate you acquiescing and actually giving me the first pick after snatching the first pick in the AFC without any prior discussion or you know. I mean I thought we had bosses, you know, I guess we don't. Greg gets to make all the rules around here, but it's fay.

00:00:41
Speaker 3: It's totally fair. We each get the first pick in one of.

00:00:44
Speaker 2: The one of the Actually I actually would rather have I would rather have the first pick in the NFC. So I'm very comfortable and confident going with the repeat winner here in the Philadelphia Eagles with my first overall selection. And again to reiterate, if you haven't if you haven't listen to the previous episode. The criteria here is literally confetti falling winning a super Bowl. There's only going to be one winner. We've done two pods. We did the AFC, this is the NFC. It's just who can win the Super Bowl. It doesn't you get no bonus points for having more wins. You know, having more teams doesn't matter. It's one. It's just one team that can win the Super Bowl. And I'm gonna go with the team that did it last year, a team that I can make a strong argument the defense is going to be even better this year as they incorporate all these young pieces, all these young key players. They're fast, they've got depth secondary. Okay, you know, just in terms of the depth, there maybe a little bit of a concern at corner, but I think their front sevens dynamic and offensively, they've got weapons galore, and you've got talent and coaching. Greg. When you've got talent and coaching, you're in a pretty good spot.

00:01:49
Speaker 1: Howie Roseman talked about it last week, how the difference between this team and you know, when they were defending last time around, or even when you know, coming off the Super Bowl loss, like, they're just so much younger. It's crazy how young is hungry. They're just their defense has so much room to grow. It's one of the youngest defenses. To combine the playoff experience and the talent and the youth on the defense is really special. And I can't hate on that pick. You made me think though, Okay, we're only trying to get the Super Bowl winner, right, there can only be one winner. But if this is a game, you know, there needs to be something on the line. What if the winner, whoever gets the Super Bowl champion between these two drafts, gets to put their name first on the little background you know, forties and free agents right now it says with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenhalt, So you're the home team, you would just really yeah, it does. And so if I got the right super Bowl winner, then.

00:02:51
Speaker 2: It says great first, I don't know what are you looking at, by the way, look at that.

00:02:55
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the graphic that they put up on every one of our shows. And if you go to Apple podcast, it's forties and free agents and they and it says, yeah, oh actually it does saycret.

00:03:06
Speaker 2: What are you doing? What happened? Are you sober?

00:03:12
Speaker 3: Like?

00:03:12
Speaker 2: There's never been anything where I've been listed ahead of you, And because I'm a decent, humble human being, it doesn't affect me, it doesn't bother me. You've been complaining about something that never happened, never existed.

00:03:22
Speaker 1: I'm not complain I think it makes sense. Our producer Drew is laughing at me in my face. They should flip that around. I promise you if you look at the graphics that they've been using behind me when I'm in a studio and I happen to be home, it's flipped and it should be.

00:03:40
Speaker 3: You know you've earned that DJ.

00:03:42
Speaker 1: You know you turned down all those NFL teams that wanted you to work for them for a reason, to stay and be the man at NFL Network, and we're all trying to dress.

00:03:51
Speaker 2: So Anya, will I accept the bet? By the way, I accept the bet because in this scenario, if Greg wins, it's exactly as it's always been. So if I win, I get to flip and have my name on top. So there's literally a no lose situation for me in this bet that you've just concocted.

00:04:08
Speaker 1: I think it just shows how humble I am that I didn't realize my name was first this whole time. I'm so glad that you took the Eagles. They weren't my number one pick. My NFC pick to make the Super Bowl this year is the Detroit Lions. I just think they're the best roster top to bottom. Eagles are right there. I know the schedule's tougher, so it's not about the seeding. I do think in a timeline of a team building process, there are certain years you're more likely to do it. I think the Lions have been leading up to this moment. They really were last year, but the injuries were just crazy. I like the additions they've made on defense. I think the upside for their defense improving is so great.

00:04:51
Speaker 3: They already were.

00:04:52
Speaker 1: A top ten defense last year in Dvoa despite all those injuries last year, and so if you combine a really difference making defense with that offense, I'm not as worried about Ben Johnson.

00:05:02
Speaker 3: I think they win the NFC this year. It is the Detroit Lions time.

00:05:06
Speaker 2: So brain Draine, you're not buying any of that with the coordinators going both.

00:05:10
Speaker 3: Of them, you know, No.

00:05:13
Speaker 1: I think people make too big of a deal out of coordinators, not that they're not great coaches. Of course they're great coaches. But don't you think Dan Campbell's really good at picking the right coaches and developing coaches. Kelvin Shepherd's been there for a while. He knows John Morton, like, I trust Dan Campbell to have picked the right guys.

00:05:31
Speaker 2: In terms of that philosophy. I believe Mac Jones just threw something at the screen.

00:05:37
Speaker 1: But well, Bill Belichick wasn't, Okay, I like that. Comp How I'll compare it to is Dan Campbell is closer to the young Bill Belichick, who that's when they're all coming up and he's got he knows that we're.

00:05:51
Speaker 2: Talking about I'm talking. I'm not talking about head coach. I'm talking about Josh McDaniels.

00:05:55
Speaker 3: I get that.

00:05:56
Speaker 1: So what I'm saying is Dan Campbell is like the young Belichick when everyone was so worried, how could you ever replace Romeo Cornell and Charlie Weiss, you know, and and they left and the operation still kept rolling.

00:06:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, Detroit loaded. I am excited for Aiden Hudginson. I hope he stays healthy. I think people forgot how great he was before he got hurt, and we'll see if he ends up, you know, cashing in which he should provided he's he shows that he's healthy. He's one of the premier players. And a how about that draft by the way, looking back on that and everybody was when I was Aiden Hutchinson and then Trayvon Walker that so I had Hutchinson, then Walker Walker goes ahead of Hutchinson. But all of a sudden, Now it was one of those debates that was kind of just put to rest and put to bed because Aiden Hutchinson has been so awesome. But we've mentioned it on the AFC episode. Travon Walker just keeps getting better and better and better. It turns out both really really good players.

00:06:46
Speaker 1: I agree, and yet there's still no debate to me. I mean no, I mean I feel he was a good thing. If everyone would love him, Yeah, I agree with you.

00:06:57
Speaker 2: So all right, so you go Detroit there, All right. I've got a lot of interesting choices at my disposal. Matthew Stafford's health is a big factor here. Whether or not he's healthy determines whether or not I'm gonna pick him. I know Washington in the in the championship game last year, I love Tampa Bay's physical cality. You've got new quarterback in Minnesota, there's a there's a lot. I think there's a lot more intrigue here, uh, in the NFC than than in the a f C. I'm gonna bet on Stafford's health. I'm gonna go with the Rams here and uh, just because the defense, that front is so physical and so dynamic. The offensive line they can, they can. They're gonna be able to run the ball. I hope, I hope they let all these running backs get rolling. I think they have a stable of backs. Kirvin Williams has been kind of the lead guy, but I think they can. They can keep him fresh and they can roll guys through there. And the day I was at practice. We've mentioned it before. I can't get it out of my head watching DeVante Adams, uh just carve up the Dallas Cowboys in those joint practices. I think he's gonna have a monster year. I think it's a great debate if you're going to say who has a bigger year between him and Puka and Nakua. Wow. Actually, I'm actually leaning towards I think Davante could end up having a bigger year. Which is a power statement. I realized that, but I can't get it out of my head. I went to that practice and every ball was going to him and nobody could cover him. So I'm bullish on the Rams.

00:08:19
Speaker 1: I love that because, yeah, we're only a few days away from the season starting, But if you haven't drafted your fantasy league, that's a reason the draft DeVante Adams higher than he's going, because the average person would say, what are you talking about? Puka is going to have a much bigger year. He's like a first round type of fantasy pick.

00:08:36
Speaker 2: But everything Vante in the third round, and there's fourteen guys in the league. I think I had the what pick was ten? Maybe I went? I think I went Neighbor Neighbors, Brian Thomas Junior, Davante Adams. I just went three wideouts right off the shoot.

00:08:54
Speaker 1: I love that, and I do like you taking the Rams here because in terms of potential to win a Super Bowl, you obviously need every a lot of things to go right, and yet their ceiling does seem ordinarily high. Yes, I mean like it could go wrong. We all know the quarterback injury, but for this exercise, they make sense there and yet they were the wrong pick. I don't know if you know that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they would have been a better pick, just just so talented. Just sometimes an organization deserves to be rewarded for the team building process. So to me, they're very similar to Detroit in that if you're just lining up their offensive lines and now I think you look at the defensive line for the Bucks too, and I think it's going to be better than it was in previous years with Asan Reddick and the smart moves that they have made in the draft. You already see Jacob Parris, their rookie cornerback, is going to be a factor this year. I think Todd Bowles defense is going to be better just all throughout the roster. To me, there's depth, there's players built in if you have injuries. I just think Jason light has done one of the best jobs of any GM in the NFL. The question for both the Bucks and the Lines is like, can you imagine you know Baker with the confetti falling on and said, can you imagine Jared Goff? I know he's gotten close before. You don't love that you don't have one of the guys at quarterback, and yet it's a team game. We saw Jalen Hurts, you know, lead one of the best offensive performances we've ever seen in the final two rounds last year, and so I think Baker Mayfield could do that, and I love getting the bucks here.

00:10:25
Speaker 2: All right, Greg, I'm up next. Full disclosure. I already made this pick, but I'm having to make it again because I made the pick. I picked the green Bay Packers because I'm excited about the green Bay Packers. I made that pick before I would say what two hours before we ended up getting news that the green Bay Packers have a new edge rusher in Micah Parsons. So I'm still getting the same wonderful draft pick. I'm going to insert some new fresh analysis in there, because now I look even smarter forgetting him at this point in time because they pulled off the trade for Michael Parsons. And by the way, if you missed our reaction, our immediate react to that, we have a pod that we put up right afterwards where you can hear us break this thing down from both the Packers side of things and the Cowboys side of things. But this is a green Bay Packer team that realizes this is the go time they went out and spent money in free agency. They go out and get banks big time guard pay him a ton of money. That was an aggressive move. They take a wide receiver in Matthew Golden for the first time in forever. That was a bold move. And they make the trade for Micah Parsons to give them the most athletic front seven in the NFL. Another bold move. And they clearly for me pass the confetti test. What's the confetti test? I can see them on the stage, confetti falling, Jordan Love hoisten a trophy. I think that's a legit possibility.

00:11:39
Speaker 1: You know, Mad Dog Russo voice like, good job by you, DJ. But I wouldn't change anything. I think this totally makes sense. And now I agree with you. They passed that test for me.

00:11:50
Speaker 3: I can.

00:11:51
Speaker 1: I had a problem seeing that defense as a potential Super Bowl champion, but I would still take the Bucks ahead of them. I would still take the Lions ahead of them. It's really close with the Bucks. But to me, we didn't even hurt the integrity of the draft because my picks would have stayed the same year. Pick just looks looks pretty good with Mike's parsons.

00:12:11
Speaker 2: A little bit better right now, so we'll take it.

00:12:12
Speaker 3: I'm taking the Vikings next. Let's go.

00:12:16
Speaker 1: First of all, Jordan Love, he better get back to the playoffs. So the last memory of us of him in the playoffs is in him throwing one of the worst interceptions I've ever seen against the Eagles. I know it was a tough situation, but people kind of.

00:12:28
Speaker 2: Io to remember the game at Dallas previous he was, Yeah, he was good, but that was that was unfortunately that The interception that reminded me of a little bit is Brett Fav in the NFC Championship game.

00:12:41
Speaker 1: With oh No, which is so unfortunate because that was I think and the short list of the best Brett fav games of all time. Completely overmatched, no protection in front of him, all guts and they outplayed the Saints for most of that game and he was throwing dimes, but it ended with a tragic interception. Back to the Vikings, we've seen young quarterbacks without a lot of experience, you know, make it far in the playoffs before without before they're like fully formed as a great passer. Tom Brady's won, but like Jalen Hurts was, you know, the first time, and that offense was ready to win the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.

00:13:20
Speaker 3: It was a.

00:13:20
Speaker 1: Defense that let them down that day. I don't expect the offense for the Vikings to be that good. This would be closer to the one Patriots model, where you're counting on the defense. But I do think JJ McCarthy can succeed in that style of team where he builds slowly throughout the course of the season and you're getting the best, most efficient play out of JJ McCarthy late, and that the talented defense just carries them.

00:13:46
Speaker 3: I think they are that good.

00:13:47
Speaker 1: I think they combine talent and scheme in a way that maybe no other defense does in the NFL. And so that defense is good enough that I can just imagine that defense being good enough to win a bunch of playoff games and get them to the Super Bowl.

00:14:00
Speaker 2: Yep, you're not going to find a bigger fan of Kevin O'Connell than me, So I just to me, I just got to see it a little bit with JJ. I just I need to see it a concept here. So they're the six team off the board. I'm gonna go to Washington with my next pick team that was one step away from being in the super Bowl last year, obviously way ahead of schedule. In Jaden Daniel's rookie year, by all accounts, he's continued to improve and grow from what we saw last year, which is how fast he's playing, how quick he's seeing things. What they did on third downs last year with him as a rookie is ridiculous, Like that's a great sign of something that's going to be sustainable, and not to that extent with the with the percentage they were at last year, but he just he's got the ability to extend drives. He's got the ability to make plays, make things happen. Terry getting his deal done is good for them, get that all finalized and situated. They've upgraded the tackles via free agency and the draft. The secondary I think is going to be better this year. Now the question is, you know, in terms of them getting to the super Bowl, it's pretty simple defensively against a run and you know who you got to play inside that division to get where you want to go. So that's going to be the challenge. They've added some new faces in there, They've tried to get bigger, but that's My one question mark why they were still on the board here is their ability to stop the run. But I still would have to go Washington.

00:15:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been an interesting journey with them this offseason because I kind of expected them to be the team that everyone in our neck of the woods, the media, like the national media like, expects to take a big step back, and I do, and I am part of that. I do ultimately think if someone is going to it's going to be them, but that really hasn't been the case. I've seen a lot of optimism. The analytics, like the digging under the hood numbers, places like ftn 'ere football, they all love the Commanders. Vegas kind of loves the Commanders. A lot of people believe that they can take the next step. Obviously, it's a good pick value wise, this deep in the draft. I just think what they had last year was so unique and it's such a weird team build that the guys they brought in. You said you thought the Packers were kind of making a decisions as if like they're one piece away. You know, the Commanders are bringing in a lot of pieces where they feel like they are close to getting it done, and maybe that's just.

00:16:15
Speaker 2: If you had to stop gap. They've had to make so many roster moves two years in a row because they're trying to make up for all the years of poor drafting.

00:16:23
Speaker 1: So that that speaks to a depth on the roster that I'm not in love with and that I don't think is the case with what is the best bargain in this entire draft. Taking the San Francisco forty nine Ers eighth overall, I have a really hard time having a hard take, Hi, you know, a big take on the NFC West.

00:16:43
Speaker 3: I just don't know.

00:16:44
Speaker 1: It does seem a little crazy to me that the forty nine ers have the same over underwin total as Detroit in Vegas.

00:16:50
Speaker 3: It's ten and a half wins. A lot of that is schedule.

00:16:53
Speaker 1: But a lot of that is the players that have been there and the history of success that Kyle Shanna hen has that if he has a healthy quarterback or a healthy team, like they make the NFC Championship Game, and there are still great players on this team and he is still a great coach.

00:17:10
Speaker 3: So to get San Francisco.

00:17:12
Speaker 1: Here, they need a lot of things to come together on the defensive side for that all to work. Maybe Robert Salak can cook his magic. They're counting on him to make up for a lot. But to get them here, I mean, they could easily be a top five offense in the league.

00:17:25
Speaker 3: And I'm always picking with offense.

00:17:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious to see just the receiver group how that all comes together, especially missing Nayuk for a chunk here. So that's my concern. I just feel like there's there's three people. I should say, obviously the quarterback, but then if you look at Trent Williams and Nick Bosa, like, those guys have got to stay healthy. You know, McCaffrey, you could put in that mix as well. But I feel like if any one of these guys, like kind of like the old Damashek Jenga piece like it could go south. So they are going to rely on some players, some of them older, some of them with the history of injuries, staying healthy. I don't think the depth of this roster is anywhere near what it was in their run.

00:18:06
Speaker 3: I think that's fair. But that's why I like them for this exercise.

00:18:09
Speaker 1: It's all about everything is going to upside, and you mentioned the receivers just for what it's worth, you know, Kittle is essentially their number one receiver.

00:18:20
Speaker 2: Ricky Pierson, McCaffrey is going to.

00:18:22
Speaker 1: I think he can get a lot better McCaffrey's there. And then in a world where they do win the Super Bowl, like Brandon Ayuk is contributing and helping by the end of this season, certainly, and I have never believed that they're going to trade Juwan Jennings. It's been this weird standoff and then suddenly like that, that's a good group of receivers. Ultimately, if you have all those guys out there, let's take a quick break and we will come back. So in the AFC man that back eight was rough. I think it's more interesting. Still some good pieces here, I know, some interesting picks.

00:18:51
Speaker 3: Back in a minute.

00:19:00
Speaker 1: On forties and free agents for the last time before the season.

00:19:04
Speaker 3: And yet you guys are curious.

00:19:06
Speaker 1: You know, the big wigs they love this show, DJ I love doing this show. They love the numbers on this show. So we appreciate everyone that has been listening. They wanted to get as much as possible, and we got busy schedules. You're the draft guy, and we're only going to be popping in here and there during the season, we'll show up quarterly for a little catch up on where the draft is standing, some of the veterans stuff, and during the regular scene, that's where we'll be at. But we will be back doing forties and free agents earlier in the off season and earlier in the draft and free agency season than we were a year ago. And then we'll be back on a nice weekly schedule. So I'm looking forward to all that. That's a lot of mumbo jumbo to say that this is our last segment. Here we got nine picks left or eight picks left rather of teams most likely to win the Super Bowl, and you have the ninth pick.

00:19:59
Speaker 2: All right, So I'll start by phrasing this question that I did this in the AFC as well. Where is the cutoff if I were to give you the remaining eight teams the field, so to speak, versus one team, Like, where would the cutoff on the list be where you would say, Okay, I'd rather take these eight teams than this one team if you look at who we've picked so far.

00:20:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it's much different than than the AFC, where I don't feel as confident about the top of the league because I think these eight teams are interesting. I would rather have the Eagles and the Lions. I think over these teams and I think that's it for me personally.

00:20:32
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I was looking at the same thing and saying, okay, well, gosh, you know, there's so many questions with some of these other teams, and I can I can wrap my brain around some of these teams that we have left making a magical run. And I think there's two for me. I'm not going to mention the artist. Hopefully I'll end up getting both of them. That could could that could be on that list. So my next pick here, I'm going to take the Seattle Seahawks of fighting Sam Darnold's Wow. That surprised me. Yeah. So this is a team with a lot of young pieces on the defensive side of the ball. I always like to me when I look at, you know, overall teams and upside, I go, Okay, defensively, I start first of all with just speed, like, is this a fast defense? Can they really really run? Some of the best defenses every year? That's a key character trait. You look at Super Bowl defenses, they fly around and they can make the game really really fast. When you get into the postseason against the best quarterbacks. I like where they are there defensively with Seattle. I like what they've done on the offensive line with Gray's abel coming into the mix. He looks like a Pro Bowl player very early in his career what we've seen from him. And I don't care who you're playing against, you can watch a guy move around and see what he's done. He's going to be exceptional. Gonna need Sam to play at a high level. You know, we'll see. I think the scheme fits him well. You know, we'll see how they have some of these they think, oh, it's a little duplicateive of Cooper Cup and JSN, Like, how are they gonna, you know, maneuver those guys and make that whole thing work. I'm confident that they'll figure that out. Tory Horton, I think is gonna be a good rookie form. So I'm I'm a big fan. I think they're going to be fascinating to watch. I'll definitely be paying attention to them. But I'm gonna go Seattle.

00:22:10
Speaker 1: Now, you're letting your biases getting the way here. You know you did it in the AFC. You take the the Chargers too early. You pass on the Chiefs because of your loyalties, and now you're just taking this because you just want Sam Donald to make me look dumb. So you're just just wish cast.

00:22:26
Speaker 3: I have Super Bowl.

00:22:28
Speaker 2: I have a list remember in uh, what was it Billy Madison where he has like the kill list of like all the player like scratches, Billy Madison off. I have a list of players Greg Hates that I'm rooting for, you know, uh, Sam Donald, Mason Graham.

00:22:41
Speaker 3: I don't know them personally. I just haven't been a believer. Yeah that's the difference.

00:22:46
Speaker 1: Okay, DJ, We're up to the tenth pick here, and you might be a little surprised they don't have Michael Parsons anymore.

00:22:54
Speaker 3: I don't care.

00:22:55
Speaker 1: We're deep. I look at quarterbacks, I look at offense. I look I had a little bit of variance and upside with this defense too, where I think Iberflus could scheme up a perfectly solid, above average defense that this offense with Ceedee Lamb and George Pickens and Dak Prescott and a young improving offensive line Kerry and they have a lot of.

00:23:19
Speaker 3: The same players.

00:23:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, they don't have Microp Parsons anymore, that won twelve games three straight years. That's a pretty good team at twelve straight you know, twelve and three straight years. I think the Cowboys are still a perfectly fine value here.

00:23:32
Speaker 3: I feel good about it.

00:23:33
Speaker 2: DJ, you just seem to be smiling an awful lot covering your mouth. I don't play poker, but those seem to be a lot of tels that are coming out from Moster Rosenthal after this selection. I am. Here's what I am. I'm excited about this offense. I do think George Pickens is a perfect compliment to Ceedee Lamb. I don't know what George Pickens looks like four years from now with the Cowboys or how well that's going to age, but I think in a short term situation, I think he has an outstanding year. Offense is going to score points. Defensively, You've been bullish on the depth of their edge rushers. I'm a Easeraku guy down of a Zeraku come out of Boston College. I'm excited to see him as a rookie get out there. I just I can't again, I just have a hard time getting away from the practice watching the Rams. Just torch that secondary that worries me. That worries me, buddy.

00:24:21
Speaker 3: This this famous practice with the Rams.

00:24:24
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. It's just such a small taste. It's like literally going to watch a preview of a movie and then I'm listening at you know, it's like either a favorite or at least favorite based off of a preview. But I can't get out of my head.

00:24:35
Speaker 1: It's been a bummer of a training camp for the Cowboys to be overshadowed by this entire Michael Parson thing. But their fans just assumed it would have a happy ending, and it really doesn't. You have a couple of first round picks in the future to look forward to. You have Kenny Clark, who will certainly play for this team, but I don't think is a massive plus.

00:24:52
Speaker 3: Player at this stage of his career.

00:24:54
Speaker 1: But you do have Tyler Geyton, you have who am I thinking at, Cooper Bebee? Yeah, Booker, you have Tyler Smith. If you're looking for some surprise teams, a young, growing offensive line, I think is a good place to start. It's the tenth pick, so I feel good about it. What do you got next?

00:25:11
Speaker 2: I was just gonna say, I don't know why I never realized that this is the UCLA defensive tackle room. Now, Kenny Clark and Odigazua representing the Bruins there, and you know those two defensive tackles. I I'm excited to see them playing next to each other. But I'm also looking at this going is there a chance of this thing goes terribly wrong? Like? Could could they be? Could they be bad enough to be a top five pick? Is that at all on the cards? Is it possible if it could go bad? Like? Are they I'm just getting at the point. Is this they could they actually get themselves if he were to come out in arch Manning territory, Because you know Jerry Jones, that would be his coup de gras right there. Can you imagine?

00:25:50
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I am certainly hoping that because I'm predicting the opposite. I think Dak Prescott is too good. I think Brian Schottenheimer is gonna hold this team together.

00:25:59
Speaker 2: Are they a quarterback in away from being in the art sepiratory?

00:26:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, you could say that.

00:26:04
Speaker 2: You could say it. Not every team. So the next one here, again, I feel like all of these come down to two teams here. When I'm looking at the choice between this team or the other team, and it's it's it's literally a coin flip on this one for me. Between these two, I'm not going to mention who they are, but I'm gonna go with Arizona. This is my next pick.

00:26:24
Speaker 3: Would have been my pick. So you got me there.

00:26:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't like hearing that. To me, look at Kyler and his ceiling. If we're talking about winning a super Bowl again, that's the criteria. There's no you win this amount of games, that amount of games you where do you finish in the division? Do you win a playoff game? Nope, it's strictly can you win the super Bowl? And to me, Kyler Murray at his peak, at peak Kyler Murray, it's pretty special. Now can he stay there? Can he be consistent? That's been the knock. But is he capable of a three or four week run of spectacular football? I think he is, so I'll put him on there. Hopefully, Marvin Harrison, they get a better feel for how to use him this year in this system. I think the defense they've continued to build on that side of the ball. I think they're extremely well coached. Maybe one of the more underrated coaching staffs in the NFL. So I'm gonna go with Arizona.

00:27:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, the more I think about it, I don't know.

00:27:15
Speaker 1: I've been so afraid of Arizona, like making a.

00:27:18
Speaker 3: Pick on them.

00:27:19
Speaker 1: They were not part of our over unders draft, and I haven't really been sure what to think.

00:27:23
Speaker 3: You just can.

00:27:23
Speaker 2: Nobody talks about them. Nobody talks about them. They're very well coached. Those guys can coach man.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: Look, we have a daily show that we've been doing all offseason, just about daily that we've talked about everyone. We've talked about them, and I'm with you on the defensive side. And in this scenario, some of their injuries that maybe have gotten me off the scent in training camp, they'll get those guys back. Bij Ojelari was a good player for them a couple of years ago. He's not back yet, and that's a little worrisome. They lose their first round pick, Walter Nolan. He's out for the start of the season. But in this scenario, they're back and they're helping the games that it matters, all right, I'm not in on the Bears.

00:28:04
Speaker 2: The Bears. No, you're going Atlanta, are you?

00:28:08
Speaker 1: Just like Jedi mind tricking me into this. That is I was gonna go to the Bears. You want me to take Atlanta, I'll just get no.

00:28:15
Speaker 2: I I thought I thought that that was my choice. Was Arizona Atlanta. Those are the two.

00:28:20
Speaker 1: No, I'll stick with it. I won't take the Falcons just to spite you. Although, now that I think about it, in that division, man, it's the right go ahead, but go ahead, I'm taking.

00:28:30
Speaker 3: Is it too late? Do we have do we have a judge that no?

00:28:33
Speaker 2: I'm taking Atlanta understanding.

00:28:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, you just convinced me into it.

00:28:38
Speaker 1: It's partly because of that division, but yeah, the ceiling on the defense and the offensive side of the ball compared to any of the other teams left, I do think it's higher than the Bears, for instance.

00:28:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like to see him get those two rooky pass rushers going. You know, if you're going to say, again, what's the scenario how they actually win a Super Bowl? Which is lofty, you know, and that's why there are at this point in the draft. But you could say, Okay, Pennix, he can elevate. Didn't call went on a heater like he could get hot. He's got up up upside with his arm strength. They've got weapons galore, elite running back, elite receiver, so you could see them getting hot there, and then defensively they just they I don't know how they even get into this conversation without those two rookie edge dressers play major, major roles. So we'll see what that looks like.

00:29:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I haven't heard great things I think out of the preseason. To expect that they're going to come out faster than a lot of rookies, like that's totally understandable, But I don't think it's something.

00:29:31
Speaker 2: Pierce flashed a little bit just at speed, Yeah, a.

00:29:34
Speaker 1: Little bit right now, I think Walker is behind I'm so glad he did that, DJ, because I really am rooting for the Falcons to win the Super Bowl now, because if it all comes down to you talking me out of taking the Bears in that spot and we have two weeks of build up to the Super Bowl, Falcons Ravens or something, I mean, that.

00:29:58
Speaker 3: Is just going to be beautiful. How much I'm remind any.

00:30:00
Speaker 2: Of that, I cannot believe I tricked you into that I'm gonna take Chicago with my next pick here, and I really am actually Chicago Caleb Caleb Caleb Kleb. He's been kind of whatever you want to say, the punching bag, the guy who's been under the microscope. Head coach is tough, loving them up, but it's literally all on him. When you look at the pieces on the offense, there's a lot of fun weapons, creative play caller. They've upgraded the offensive line. I still get a little nervous when there's that much turnover on the offensive line. Even though you're getting better, I still think that takes a minute for all those guys to kind of get comfortable playing together. So I think maybe lower your expectations that this is going to be a top five offensive line in the NFL with all these new pieces. Let's be patient. I think they'll be better as the season goes along. And then defensively, you know they're they're better. They're better, but I don't think it's a super Bowl caliber defense by any stretch. They'd have to be by the offense.

00:31:00
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Yeah, they have a good coach I think defensively in Dennis Allen, in terms of his history as a coordinator, I think it's pretty talented on defense. The reason why you maybe did Jedi mind trick me there, and I had the Bears at least on my pre draft rankings ahead of the Falcons. Is I could see a world where there are more of a complete team than Atlanta. I can see a world where they're an above average offense and defense, which you know you're going to need to be both probably to win the Super Bowl. Whereas to me, it's harder to squint and see that about the Falcons defense.

00:31:32
Speaker 3: But I'm up next. We've only got three team.

00:31:35
Speaker 2: By the way, the only thing on the Bears is just again when you look at their run defense, and I like Montes sweat, They've got players at all three levels of their defense that are good players. I just to me, in the NFC, the NFC is the AFCs, the quarterback conference. The NFC is to me is the physical conference. So like that that to me is on the down side of the Bears is. I just want to see him be a little more physical.

00:32:00
Speaker 1: It's like the old you know, Chris Berman Swami days and the NFC.

00:32:04
Speaker 3: Norris. Yeah, they they're counting on some of their.

00:32:07
Speaker 2: Black and Blue division.

00:32:09
Speaker 1: Andrew Andrew billings Is. They're trying to, you know, stop plays in the middle. But it's a good point. Grady Jarrett, for instance, who the ad is not is not coming in to stop the run. I like getting the Giants here. I mean, it's hard to imagine Jackson Dart. I think that would be the only way they make it to the super Bowl is with a magical rookie ride with Jackson Dart. But I do think the Giants are underrated going into this season. I hate being so high on over consensus on the two New York teams going into the year, but I think they're both teams that they're over under is about five and twelve people are expecting, and I think they can both approach five hundred. This is not a team without talent, like really good defensively upfront. Certainly questioned in the back end, but I think their defensive front could be so special uh it could.

00:32:55
Speaker 3: Make up for it.

00:32:56
Speaker 1: And ultimately, Brian Dable is a good offensive code, which before Andrew Thomas got hurt last year, I think it was the best offensive line easily that they had.

00:33:06
Speaker 3: Key to me is maybe the number.

00:33:08
Speaker 1: One Jenga piece to use that damachecheck term of any of these teams. If you get an all pro level Andrew Thomas. I think there is a path here for this Giants team to be a real pain for the other teams in the NFC East and the other team.

00:33:21
Speaker 3: On their schedule.

00:33:23
Speaker 2: They're going to be a painted block man. Abdul Carter looked awesome and limited the limited exposure there in the preseason, but it was what we saw in college, so I think, you know, you add him to that front, him and Dexter Lawrence lined up next to each other, It's going to be a lot of fun for the Giants. I think they're a much improved team. Their schedule is brutal, it is absolutely brutal, so that's going to be tough for them to navigate. So now we come down to it two NFC South teams and that to me, it's not even close. I know they had the same record last year with Carolina New Orleans, but it to me feels like Carolina is a little bit on the climb, whereas New Orleans is trying to figure out where they are in this whole pross Right now, it feels like definitely a rebuild year for them, where I feel like a little bit of a build year for the Panthers. I'm excited about the young receivers. I like the fact they traded Adam Delon, that they're going to let Cocher work in the slot. You're gonna have Ted Row and McMillan on one side, Xavier Lygett on the other. Three young receivers. But a lot of talent there for Bryce Young to continue to grow and work with. And you know, so I'm excited about watching this offense and Dave Canalis this year. I'll take Carolina for me clearly over New Orleans.

00:34:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, good offensive line, fun, young receiver group. Dave Canais is from the Pete Carroll tree in terms of that, that's his mentor as a head coach, So I'm hoping he can bring kind of the the overall cohesion and team spirit for lack of a better word, and just how hard they play. I think they'll need it. The defense has a lot of questions. I really fear that they could slide back and still be drafted near the top, and I just don't want that. I'm sick of the Panthers being a bad team, and I'm root and for Bryce Young to really expand you know, draft knicks, like your mind about uh, you know, the.

00:35:07
Speaker 3: Short kings out here. The short guy's making it happen.

00:35:09
Speaker 2: The short young guy, young guys.

00:35:13
Speaker 1: You were always buying him. So yeah, I got the Saints, who are the last pick for a reason. They would be my last pick in all thirty two teams.

00:35:21
Speaker 2: It just.

00:35:23
Speaker 1: They had to rebuild at some point, and yet it's not really a rebuilding season with the moves that they made. There's a you know, they've got a couple of you know, fifteen sixteen year veterans on the team, including one we podcast with I mean, Cam Jordan can still help a team, but does you know, does he and to Mario Davis and and a lot of the players on this team, are they going to be there the next time the Saints are really competitive?

00:35:44
Speaker 3: Probably not.

00:35:45
Speaker 1: So they're just in an in between season and they're headed towards what we'll be talking about all us next time you see in the spring. Yeah, we'll be talking about all the quarterbacks. How's it looking? By the way, have you done a little well?

00:36:00
Speaker 2: You know this quarter I'm excited for college football to really get underway and get you know, a month of games under our belt here and then have a better feel for it. But for some guys, I like, I'm excited about it. I was going to say, I was going to ask you the question, but you already answered it. If we had Cleveland as the last pick in the AFC and New Orleans as the last pick in the NFC the favorite to have the number one pick in the draft, I would go to New Orleans as well.

00:36:25
Speaker 3: I would go to New Orleans.

00:36:27
Speaker 1: Man, I hope it's not Carolina in the mix at the end of the year, but that wouldn't That wouldn't totally shock me either.

00:36:33
Speaker 3: But you have Browns.

00:36:35
Speaker 1: This is all chalk. Well in the end, we're going to be wrong. That's what I love about the NFL season. It's what I love about draft season too, because I follow it as a total casual and you'll hear some things in September and October, and then by the time we actually get to draft season and the combine and everything, man, everything is completely flipped.

00:36:54
Speaker 3: I mean, show me.

00:36:54
Speaker 1: The place that had RG three going high in that draft in October of that year, or or Cam Whorton even.

00:37:01
Speaker 2: At Baker Mayfield and on and right.

00:37:04
Speaker 3: So we're we're just getting going.

00:37:05
Speaker 2: It's going on. Can I can I do one thing here, Greg before we sign off for a little bit here. The feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive on forties and free agents, and it was so much so that instead of waiting till the spring, we brought back these episodes. Would we do eight episodes or something like that and the ten ten episodes in the run up to the season, So we are going to come back. Greg mentioned it quarterly and then and then some stuff towards the end of the year. We've got some ideas we're kicking around. You know, potentially maybe once a team gets eliminated, or a batch of teams gets eliminated, we could kind of do a post mortem on what went wrong and maybe look towards the off season with them look ahead a little bit. So we got a bunch of different ideas we're kicking around for how to continue this thing, keep this thing alive. But I'm open, I'm open to the listeners and viewers giving us some ideas that they might have on how we can utilize this new little show that we've we've built here.

00:37:54
Speaker 1: Well, I thought that was awesome, wholesome setup to some shot you were going to take at me.

00:37:59
Speaker 2: That's us. No, no, we've got a night. We got a cool little community. We've taken. We're like a blended family. We've taken the Move the Sticks family. We've taken the NFL Daily family. We're like the Brady Bunch for a real relative new reference there, you know, in our little box is looking up at each other. But I thought, hey, let's open up to them. They might have better ideas than we do of how we could do this thing.

00:38:19
Speaker 3: I love that.

00:38:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't want to get the Jeremiah and their actual Rosenthal families together. That would be chaos, that'd be who knows what.

00:38:27
Speaker 2: I think the Jeremiahs could babiesit the Rosenthals. We're a little older over here.

00:38:32
Speaker 3: Yes, we will be back in a little over a bunch.

00:38:35
Speaker 1: I think that the plan is to come back with a quarterly shows, and so we will see then. But obviously please check out DJ all over NFL Network, but all over the Move the Sticks feed with Bucky Brooks and Rhett will be jumping in there throughout the season and obviously the next NFL Daily that you hear, and I'm sure the next Move the Sticks is going to be in our regular week ones schedule. Starting to look ahead to games that actually matter. I can't wait until next time. Appreciate y'all,