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Goal Line: Aints & Donkeys
5 Plays8 months ago
The boys talk about all the wide receiver drama around the NFL, wax poetic about the upcoming EA Sports College Football video game, and preview the 2024 Saints & Broncos
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Transcript
Pee Wee Football Excitement
00:00:14
Speaker
What is up, Goal Line listeners? We are back with another episode of the Goal Line as we creep closer and closer to football season. You can feel it in the air, man. I had to go to a board meeting for the Pee Wee Football League around here last night. It's getting close. Brett's got football camp in two weeks. We are ready to get this thing started. Jordan, what's going on with you?
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah man, June and July are the last two months before we have football. August we got football kicking off. Preseason there's college in August, like it is upon us my friend. It's summer, it's about to be hot as shit and then we'll just be ready for football, ready for football Saturdays and Sundays, ready to just sit on the couch and just
00:00:55
Speaker
just watch football and drink beer all day. So I'm excited, man, but everything's good here. Just busy as shit with work. And yeah, man, nothing's really changed since the last time we talked. We, uh, we start practice for peewee, man, the week after July 4th weekend, dude. So it's going to be here real quick, man. I'm really excited, dude. We kind of got our team cherry picked for this year and I'm going to coach defense this year. Last year I was the head coach and offensive coordinator this year. I think I'm going to be head coach and defense coordinator because
00:01:25
Speaker
It just did. I think last year coaching the offense for that, it's five and six year olds that I'm coaching, my son Brett six. And I'm pretty sure that coaching that offense last year took about, it took probably two or three years off my life, man, just the level of patience and just frustration that was required to get through that. I can't do it again. So I'm going to coach defense and just have them, we're going to be aggressive,
Justin Jefferson's Contract Implications
00:01:47
Speaker
going blitz heavy, just an attacking downhill type of defense. And hopefully that it's a little bit more enjoyable for myself this season.
00:01:54
Speaker
Yeah, man, you can't let it take years off your life coaching Pee Wee football, dude. It just kind of is what it is. I mean, half these kids are going to play football for the next two years and then just be out of it once they get to tackle. So ease up on yourself a little, dude. You're not coaching 85 bears.
00:02:11
Speaker
I mean, you know how much I love this stuff, dude? And I felt like I had a really, really sound scheme sketched out on paper, man. I come from the Kyle Shanahan school of thought with lots of play fakes, lots of counters and stuff. And I felt like we had some really good plays that would kind of build off each other, but it was still pretty simple.
00:02:30
Speaker
And yeah, it is probably on me that the boys just, I can never find a way to get them to grasp it. And it was, it was tough, man, but we had some good highlights. Brett had some really nice touchdown runs and we got some awesome pictures and videos from it. So still worthwhile, but I'm really excited to get it started this year. Um, I still believe in any other, I still think you guys should run the oop doop offense. Like just let them all stand around. What are they doing? Just standing around over there or like in little giants, but they're standing around.
00:03:00
Speaker
You know, we had a play where so, you know, it's it's flag right now, but we'll be playing tackle for the next year. So everybody's eligible. One of our goal, one of our go to plays on the goal line. We had this little boy named Watson to play quarterback force, but was also a really good runner. We would have him. I'd have him take the snap and send every player to the end zone, just spread out. And the defense, you know, at this age, they just don't have any concepts. So they see, you know, six kids going out for a pass and spreading out. They don't know whether to shit or wind their watch.
00:03:27
Speaker
and they'd usually just self-destruct and Woodson would just pick a lane and take off running a little QB draw action for a touchdown. It was kind of our go to at the goal line. We just called it, I think we called it clear out, man. That's awesome. Yeah. All right. We got anything else before we get into the football talk?
NFL Team Strategies and Player Evaluations
00:03:43
Speaker
That's it, man. No housekeeping or anything this week. All right. Let's hit it.
00:03:54
Speaker
All right, let's go ahead and start with the obvious thing. Justin Jefferson, four years, $140 million. Got the bag. The official highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL now. Absolute $35 million for a receiver is
00:04:13
Speaker
Dude, if you would have told me 10 years ago a receiver was going to be making $35 million a year after we saw Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, all these guys, $35 million for a receiver. Just, I mean, it's almost 20% of your salary cap tied up into a receiver. Now don't get me wrong, Justin Jefferson, absolute game changer. Definitely worth the money. It's just insane amount of money to me for a receiver though.
00:04:41
Speaker
Especially, I mean, dude, look at the last, you know, go back the last four Super Bowl winners, dude, they haven't had a premier receiver. You know, the chiefs went back to back after trading Tyreek Hill. The Rams best receiver was Cooper cup, who's great, but he's not, you know, I know he's been super productive, but let's just keep it real.
00:05:02
Speaker
He's not on the same level of talent as a Justin Jefferson, right? Cooper Cupp is great on the Rams. I don't mean this is disrespect to him. I think it'd be a significant downgrade if you put him in, you know, he's perfect for the Sean McBay offense. I think he would not, I think he'd just be a decent receiver if he was on another team or at least with another system. And then the Bucks won it in 2020, you know, you had a well-passes prime, Antonio Brown and Robert Gronkowski were kind of the two go-to receivers for Brady that year.
00:05:31
Speaker
Bro, I mean, he's so good. You got to hang on to him. You want him on the field But I wouldn't be shocked if we see him get traded at some point these next four years I think you want to just hang on to that asset so you could potentially trade him in the future It doesn't I don't see the Vikings knocking on the door of a Super Bowl in the next couple years
00:05:47
Speaker
I don't know, man. If you're a Vikings fan, you're happy you still got them, but I don't know, man. I feel like this is kind of like a wash overall as if it's a good move or not tying up that much of your salary cap in one player. Can we just go ahead and acknowledge the fact that you just glossed over the books like they didn't have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on that team as well? Dude, Mike Evans has got to be the most underrated star receiver of all time.
00:06:11
Speaker
All the dude does is go out there and put up a thousand yards every season since his rookie year. First player ever to do that. And we just like gloss it over like, ah, no big deal. Like he's just there.
00:06:23
Speaker
No, I mean, he's definitely really, really good, but I've never, he's, and he's been the most consistent by far, but I've never, I don't think he's ever been in the discussion for the best wide receiver in the league. No, but he's, he was probably been in the conversation for top 10, top eight, maybe a couple of times, but he is really good though. Yeah. So you're right, dude. I definitely deserve to get caught on that one. And Chris Godwin is as good of a number two receiver as anybody in the league.
00:06:46
Speaker
The good thing for the Vikings though, is they got four years of JJ McCarthy making a rookie salary. So if there was ever a time for this to work, this is probably the best time for them, honestly. Um, whether or not JJ McCarthy works out is to be determined, but for them not having to pay a high price quarterback, cause they got rid of cousins. Um, there's probably no better time for this to happen. That makes sense. Go ahead.
00:07:11
Speaker
I was just gonna say, yeah, that makes sense. You know, if you're banking on the, you know, the 49ers model, you're hoping this guy, I mean, it sounds funny. They've saying that you're hoping he can be what Mr. Irrelevant was. But yeah, I mean, if he can come in and be something akin to what Brock Purdy's been for the Niners the last couple of years, then yeah, you can kind of ball out at every other position. Yeah. Now this brings up CD lamb and Jamar Chase.
00:07:33
Speaker
Dude, if I'm those two guys, I mean, I don't think either one of them is better. If you're asking me straight up who I think the top two receivers in the league are, I'm still going to go Justin Jefferson and Tyree kill. Tyree kill just because of how much he changes the game with his speed. He's a freak. But CD and Jamar are right there.
00:07:56
Speaker
I mean, these guys are going to ask for what Justin Jefferson just got. Like, and they should because they're both top five receivers. So yeah. If I'm CD lamb, I'm saying, dude, you don't got to worry about me being off the field, dude. CD lamb, that dude straps up and comes play every single week. I think he is, you know, he does get a lot of shine. I think he's actually a little bit underrated man for how good he's been. I think he does deserve to be right in that conversation. Like you said, with, with Tyree kill, Jamar chase and Justin Jefferson, man, like CD lamb, it just,
00:08:26
Speaker
He's almost like the current version of Mike Evans, man. He gets a little bit of attention for being on the Cowboys, but I don't think he gets nearly the credit he deserves for going out there and putting up big numbers week after week. The Cowboys have got a very, very rich history and he's smashing records every single season in their team record books.
00:08:49
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's especially CDLAM is definitely getting every last cent that Justin Jefferson got. And I think Jamar Chase, if he's not right there with him, yeah, you're right, dude. He's going to be right there in that ballpark. So then it kind of brings up the thing for those two teams. They're going to both have a top paid quarterback and a top paid receiver. At that point, you're probably talking 40 to 50% of your cap.
00:09:12
Speaker
I mean, dude, at what point is it no longer worth it to have that? It's just, I don't know, dude, having almost a hundred million dollars tied up in a receiver and a quarterback. It's not quite a hundred million, 85, whatever. Still a shitload of your cap room tied up in two players.
00:09:29
Speaker
The thing about the Bengals, the Bengals got a really interesting one because T Higgins is damn good, man. T Higgins is damn good. If you can get T Higgins for 70% of what it costs to get you Jamar Chase, you could trade Jamar Chase for some assets. I'm not going to say it wouldn't hurt trading Jamar Chase. It definitely would, man. The fan base would be irate.
00:09:52
Speaker
But if you're really crunching it, if you're punching it in the analytics sheet, I don't know if it doesn't tell you, like, hey, pay T Higgins and trade Jamar Chase.
00:10:03
Speaker
I honestly think they're going to end up trading T Higgins before the season starts. I just, I do not see a way that that gets settled. It sounds like they're so far off on money that he doesn't even want to talk to him at this point. I mean, it sounds like they're low balling him to the biggest low ball there is. I mean, the last thing I read is he was getting offered more than the franchise tag per year, which is 21 million.
00:10:27
Speaker
I just, if you're T Higgins, you're not signing for that. There's just no, I mean, yeah, he might be a number two receiver, but I still think he's good enough to be a number one on half the teams. The way he just happens to be Jamar Chase's counterpart. So it takes away a bit of his shine. So
00:10:44
Speaker
I don't know, man. I agree, man. I mean, I'd love to see the Titans trade for T Higgins. That was kind of what I was hoping to see before they gave that big money to Calvin Ridley. But yeah, it's kind of come to an impasse, because like you said, T Higgins could be a solid number one on any team and deserves that kind of money. And if you're the Bengals, if you have made up your mind that we are definitely committing to Jamar Chase long term, I don't really know how much higher you can go on the price tag for a T Higgins.
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah, because then you're talking well over $100 million for three guys. And dude, when the caps 230 or whatever it is, like committing that much money to three people all on the same side of the ball. I mean, it's kind of the Falcons recipe that they did the year they went to the Super Bowl and should have won. They just loaded up on all offense and kind of hit the bargain bid for defense. And it just happened to work until it didn't. I don't know, man.
00:11:40
Speaker
Surprisingly didn't trade T Higgins on draft night, man. I really thought that we'd see him get traded.
00:11:46
Speaker
traded during the draft. I think they were really hoping that T Higgins would have a change of heart and that he would just sign and play. But I just, I don't think it's going to happen. And there's so many receiver, needy teams in the NFL. I mean, somebody's going to give at least a second, a third, probably for T Higgins. But only problem for the Bengals is they have no leverage because I mean, if he's not going to sign, he's not going to sign.
00:12:11
Speaker
If I was his agent, I would never give him this advice, but dude, I think, you guys know, I pick the Bengals to go to the Super Bowl, man. I think they're gonna have a big season. If you just go and play on that franchise tag for one year, do the Kirk Cousins method, man. Bet on yourself. You could end up cashing out. Imagine if he plays on the franchise tag, they go out and win a Super Bowl, and then he hits the market next year, because there's no way that I think they franchise tag a receiver two years in a row.
00:12:38
Speaker
Um, dude could end up, you know, passing up Justin Jefferson for biggest contract in the, uh, in the league, but it's, it definitely feels like it's going to get uglier before it gets any better there in Cincinnati with the situation. If I'm a receiver or a running back, there is no way I'm playing on a franchise. It's too risky, man. Dude, you're an Achilles or a ACL away from possible career ending. Like usually guys that tear their Achilles or their ACL are, are never the same after.
Critique of NFL Tampering Rules
00:13:04
Speaker
There's no way I'd risk my career on that, especially when you're as young as T Higgins is. Yeah. Quarterback, you got a little bit more protection and for quarterbacks, it's a, I mean, we just saw, you know, uh, Kirk cousins at, you know, mid thirties coming off a, a torn Achilles got, got a freaking bag from the Falcons. So quarterback's a little bit easier to swallow and do what Kirk cousins did all those years with the Redskins. But yeah, like you said, any, pretty much any position besides that you're a, you're definitely rolling the dice.
00:13:30
Speaker
Uh, last one I want to touch on, um, sounds like the Falcons and Eagles are both going to get hit with tampering penalties. So probably lose draft picks. This is the dumbest fucking rule in the NFL. And I'm not just saying this because the Falcons are in it.
00:13:45
Speaker
You cannot convince me that NFL teams do not talk to players when the season's over. You just cannot convince me. I say just allow it, dude. Just let tampering happen. That would level the playing field. You know what I mean? Because now you're in the situation where like, I mean, like you said, I'm pretty sure every team does it. But if you are the one team that's trying to, you know, be honest eagle, dude, and freaking follow all the rules, like you're screwing yourself, man. I say just open it up and just let it be known that it's out in the open to level the playing field. That's the only way it's going to be fair.
00:14:15
Speaker
Yeah, cause I mean, if their current teams didn't offer them contract extensions and they already know they're no longer going to be on that team, it was the worst kept secret that Saquon, Barkley, and Kirk Cousins were not going back to their respective franchises. Like, it's so stupid to me. I just, I don't get this whole thing. And granted, I get it's the rules and you got to play by the rules, but it's just dumb. Every team does it. There's no way you can convince me that they don't.
Return of the College Football Video Game
00:14:39
Speaker
So that's really it. I mean, I really didn't have much more to add to that. It's just, I think it's fucking stupid that that's a rule. Is that what you had for the news this week? That's it, man. Can we, uh, I got something I wanted to bring to the table, man. Can we talk about the, uh, the gameplay footage that we've seen of college football 25 now, dude? It's, it's not just a reskin of bad, you know, we talked about that. I mean, we had kind of come to the point where
00:15:04
Speaker
We were ready to accept it and love it anyways, even if it was just Madden with, you know, college football artwork laid over the top. But dude, it looks like they really put some serious time and care into it, man. There's new animations. Like the option looks amazing on there. Like, dude, I'm so fucking boned up for this game.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yeah. And some of the stuff I've been reading online, they do expect this game to break every record ever for video games sold. As they should expect that like, dude, people have been begging for this to come back for 11 years. I mean, 11 years is a long time to leave somebody waiting. Now granted grand theft auto six will break it soon after whenever that's released in 2098 or whatever.
00:15:44
Speaker
Um, but yeah, man, it, this game looks absolutely incredible. And yeah, last time we talked, we were both extremely concerned that this was just gonna be a college version of Madden. It is not, it's completely separate game. If the game plays completely different, I am fucking jacked beyond belief for this game. Yeah.
00:16:03
Speaker
Jordan's not even as big of a sports gamer as I am, dude. So the fact that he's this excited tells you everything you need to know. If you're at all on the fits, man, go out, get yourself a PS5 or Xbox Series X and get ready for this. It's going to be a thing, dude. I just... Oh, God, dude. I can't wait, man. I'm playing NCAA 2004 on my PS2. That's how I'm getting my college football fix. There's a whole lot of reasons, dude, but I think...
00:16:30
Speaker
at the end of the day college football just makes for a better video game than Madden dude like one you have so many different play styles right you get teams that run the spread teams that run straight up pro style teams run the option you know you got a over a hundred different uniforms to look at even something like that you know seeing the various and the uniforms all the unique stadiums um
00:16:49
Speaker
And the other thing is like for dynasty, you know, a Madden franchise, dude, like if you're playing a franchise on Madden, you can kind of just lock in for a handful of games a season in the playoffs and be good. Like college football, you got that sense of urgency every single game, because if you lose a game in week three, you might be fucking yourself for the entire season.
00:17:05
Speaker
And not to mention to the other dimension in college football that you don't have an NFL is recruiting and now you'll have an IL deals and stuff on here like dude that to me like when they did college football fourteen that was like the most dynamic recruiting thing that they had had.
00:17:21
Speaker
in college football gaming history and I love doing that. I can just imagine how much more in-depth it's going to be now and you get certain amount of points depending on which team you pick so it'll be harder for you to bring back like let's say like Idaho or Vanderbilt something like that. It'll be much harder to bring them to prominence than it was on the previous games because
00:17:41
Speaker
You could just throw your points at a five star in 2014 and get good pretty quick. But on this one, it seems like it's gonna be harder to do that. So I'm really excited to do this. Yeah, it's gonna be so much fun, man. Yeah, like he said, you just add your players were rolling through every couple of years. So you got to constantly, you know, reload, man. Like I know for me on Madden, I always get Kyler Murray as my quarterback to start my franchise. And I'm set for 10 years, dude. I'm good to go.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be fun, man. I already told Jordan, dude, it's been 11 freaking years, dude. Think about how popular the college football series was, how many good brothers we've lost in that 11 years since, dude. I kind of threw it out as a joke. I think I'm really going to do it, man. My first play, I think I'm taking a knee and observing an 11 second moment of silence for all the people that passed away in the 11 years in between thinking that the college football video game series was completely dead and gone and never coming back. It's got to be a lot of us out there, man.
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah, thankfully it's not me or you or anybody that's listening to this show right now. But yeah, I mean, it sucks thinking about it like that. But yeah, I mean, we talked about it when it went away, like EA was like pretty clear that they weren't, you know, usually corporations will give you something to hang on to, dude. There was no silver lining. They were like, yo, this thing is gone and it's probably never coming back, man. That was the that was kind of the corporate message from EA when whenever we realized that we weren't going to get a NCAA football 2015.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. All right, you're gonna get into our 2024
Speculations on Broncos and Saints Performance
00:19:12
Speaker
outlooks? Not particularly, but let's, let's get into it.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yeah, so Jordan kind of hinted at it, and I think he nailed it. This is definitely our most underwhelming, least inspired, most unlikable two teams that we've had for our prognostication so far. It's the New Orleans Saints and the Denver Broncos. The Saints, I think me and Jordan are both just hate them. They're our most universally despised team. And the Broncos are, you know, we don't like them because they got Sean Payton, but even the sides of that,
00:19:54
Speaker
They're kind of just uninspiring. Let's do the Broncos first because there's some pretty interesting things with the Saints stat stat wise that I'm looking forward to getting Jordan's reaction to. So the Broncos last year, you know, Sean Payton's first year, you still had it was year two of the Russell Wilson experience with the Broncos. They were competent, right? Like we thought they were gonna have a big bounce back. Russell Wilson did have a good season statistically.
00:20:16
Speaker
But if you kind of look at some of the deep analytics, it was more, it was mostly because they kind of took his nuts away, dude. They had him playing extremely conservatively, very rarely pushing the ball down the field. And he was basically playing with training wheels on, which is really kind of wild for a guy who's had over 10 years in the league.
00:20:32
Speaker
They ended up 19th overall and offense 30th in defense. So it was really the defense was the big anchor on them. They were 17th in point differential right in the middle of the field and they ended up five and four in a one score games. Now, what did you think overall of the 2023 Broncos, Jordan?
00:20:47
Speaker
Yeah, Sean Payton, like you said, really neutered Russell Wilson and it made watching their games really hard. I mean, they had a 70 to 20 game in week three. Like it's pretty hard to come back from that. But for the fact that they competed for a playoff spot at the end of the year is pretty incredible, honestly. I mean, it came down to the last two weeks of whether or not they would make it or not. So got to give them props for that because they did kind of hang on to it till the end.
00:21:14
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, overall, it was just kind of a, they were just there. I mean, it wasn't really anything exciting or it was just kind of there, you know.
00:21:24
Speaker
Yeah, it lets you know how much Russell Wilson really was just not a fit with Sean Payton. They benched him while they were still in the mix for a playoff spot, man. If they would have won out, they totally could have got that. But it got ugly. There's a couple instances where on national televised games, you would see Sean Payton just straight out dog-cussing Russell Wilson, which you rarely see any head coach go to quarterback like that, that publicly, much less a guy that's won Super Bowls, been an absolute superstar in the NFL like Russell Wilson, man.
00:21:54
Speaker
So it was kind of, it was almost sad in a way, seeing his, his fall from grace, man. And I'm, I'm, you know, I don't think it's going to happen, but it would be a pretty fun story if he has a big bounce back with the Steelers this year. If for nothing else, just stick it to Sean Payton. Yeah. Um, Sean Payton definitely has a huge ego. Um, some of it is,
00:22:15
Speaker
just he is an asshole. And then some of it is he thinks he's greater than he actually is. I personally think him winning only one Super Bowl with that Saints team that they had for as long as they did and having Drew Brees. I honestly, I think that was a failure by him. Um, yeah, I know they were amongst the most creative on manipulating the salary cap and stuff. Like it seemed like they were always, we were always told the saints were in cap hell, but they found a way to keep reloading year after year. And you're right. They had
00:22:42
Speaker
They had one Superbowl. And then I think one other time they even made it to the NFC championship and that was it. Yeah. It's a, he has a lot of ego for a guy that hasn't accomplished much in the NFL outside of one season. So I don't get it, man. He had Drew Brees and he won one Superbowl. So yeah, I don't, I don't know why he's on his high horse all the time. So what, how do you feel about Bo Nicks coming in as the new, uh, likely starting quarterback there? Um,
00:23:11
Speaker
I think he'll do okay. He's probably better than what they had. I don't think he's going to light the world on fire or anything. He was a great college quarterback though. He's very accurate. But NFL is a different speed as we've seen time and time again. I don't feel like the Broncos have a roster that's built to
00:23:34
Speaker
I just don't feel like their roster is good enough to win the amount of games that it's going to take to make a playoff run with Bo Nix as your quarterback. I mean, is anybody getting really excited that Cortland Sutton is your number one receiver? He's good, but I don't see him as the number one. I'd much rather have T Higgins as my receiver than I would Cortland Sutton.
00:23:54
Speaker
I don't know. I just think this roster is just kind of bleh. It's just, it's just there. And they're in a brutal division. You got the chiefs who are locked in going for a three P and then the chargers who got a, I would, I don't know if it's a lock. I think it's pretty close to lock that. I think the charger is going to be the most improved team in 20, 24. I would agree. There is one thing playing the Raiders is no like
00:24:19
Speaker
playing the Raiders is no walk in the park. Like they play tough defense. I don't think they're going to be as good as they were last year, but I mean, even still, it's still not an easy game. Those division games are tough.
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And Raiders and Broncos, that's an old school traditional library. You know, the Raiders, no matter what state the Raiders are in, they're always going to be able to get up for the Broncos. I will say, dude, if you're a Broncos fan, listen to this and you're like, man, these guys are really shitting on my team. There is one reason to have a glimmer of hope and that possibly we're going straight from no man's land to the promised land out in the Rocky Mountains.
00:24:54
Speaker
a young man by the name of Zach Wilson. Oh, my God. I signed with the Denver Broncos, dude, with a quarterback guru like Sean Payton. Maybe that's just what we need. Maybe Zach Wilson is going to go out there, dude, get that Rocky Mountain high. All right. And he could be the next John Elway, man. Who knows?
00:25:11
Speaker
Wait a minute. Are we sure that Sean Payton is a quarterback guru? Because what did he do besides have Drew Brees as his quarterback for 12 years? Like what exactly has he accomplished that fits him as a quarterback guru?
00:25:28
Speaker
I mean, he had Tony, you know, supposedly he's the reason that Tony Romo got coached up so well, those first few years when he was sitting on the bench. I bet. There's that. I bet. You gotta give him a little bit of shine for that, but nah. I'm with you, man. Nothing would have made me happy, though, than to see Zach Wilson go off. Fun fact, dude, there's just something to think about, man. Zach Wilson is only six months older than Bo Nicks. Bo Nicks was one of those guys who hung around in college forever. So there's only six months age difference between these, dude.
00:25:56
Speaker
you know, Bo Nixon, you know, he's not exactly quarterback of the future material, dude, if he's got a guy, you know, basically the same age. So I don't know, man, I still hang on to those flashes. I saw Zach Wilson in, uh, in New York, man. I think I feel like there's still something there. Do you know what's even crazier about the fact that you just said Zach Wilson is six months older than Bo Nicks? Cause I just assumed Bo Nicks was like 26. And I still think of Zach Wilson as like a little kid because of the whole mill funner thing.
00:26:21
Speaker
Like I just always picture him being like 21 or 22. So the fact that you just said that it's kind of mind blowing. Well, he looks so young too. I mean, Zach Wilson, he looks like he's 15. Yeah. Like I think that's made part of the reason why I've always had, you know, so much sympathy for him. He's just like, he's a little guy out there just trying to do his thing.
00:26:40
Speaker
Zach Wilson will forever be. Zach Wilson and Bailey Zappier sets man crushes forever. Bailey Zappier is his hometown kid. The couple of times, the couple of flashes he has had, I just love the way Zach Wilson plays. A white boy out there scrambling around making these crazy ass throws, dude. You don't see it that often, man. But that's probably for a reason, dude. Like I said, at this point, I feel like if there was anything there, the Jets would have hung on to him. Yeah, crazy ass throws because you don't know which team he's throwing.
00:27:10
Speaker
You're crazy as throws because you have no idea who's going to catch the ball, which team? Yeah, no doubt about that for sure, dude. If he fails with the Broncos, I'll officially get off of my Zach Wilson
Listener Questions and Answers
00:27:23
Speaker
high horse, man. But the Jets have been so crappy for so long that I don't think we could totally... We can't say that this wasn't all just him being a product of being on the New York Jets. Yeah, that's true.
00:27:35
Speaker
All right, so overall, I see the Broncos being slightly worse than last year, man. I'm putting them at like six or seven wins. I do think they're still going to be competent just because, you know, as much as I hate to admit it, Sean Payton is a competent coach and who have those guys ready to play. But I think that division is going to be brutal. And I think there's going to be some growing pains, whether we end up with Zach Wilson or Bo Nicks taking the majority of the snaps this year. I'll put them at six and 11, man, for final record this year and not getting close to the playoffs.
00:28:04
Speaker
I'm going to go five and 12. I just think Bo Nix is going to struggle. Um, definitely in his first season as an NFL quarterback, I'm not saying I think that's going to continue forever. I just, like I said, man, there's just not a whole lot of talent on that Broncos team offense. So when things start getting bad, like who are you going to lean on? I mean, Portland sun's good, like I said, but also injury or prone injury, prone, uh, Javante Williams, same thing. Marvin mim show flashes. I mean, I just,
00:28:33
Speaker
I don't know, man. I just, I don't think they're going to be great. Um, I did look up before we started, uh, what Vegas thinks, uh, as far as wind totals and they are sitting at five and a half for the over under. Yeah. So I probably leaned the over on that just cause the Sean Payton factor. And the other thing you got to think Denver always has a really, really good home field advantage playing up in mile high. I think that's, I think that's good enough for me to lean towards the over on that.
00:29:01
Speaker
Alright, let's go down to the Big Easy and New Orleans with the 8th. They went 9 and 8 last year. 17th in offense, 15th in defense. Couldn't be more middle of the road off those three, but two very interesting stats. So one, Jordan looked this up before we got started. Three and six and one score games. Again, we explained to you guys that one score games have a
00:29:21
Speaker
There's just a high variance man typically a one score game in the NFL you could point to a balance of the ball here or there where it could have swung the other direction. So that's something that leads you to think they got some solid room for improvement. Here's the big one though man, the Saints were seventh in point differential last season you guys know I've always been a big proponent of that stat.
00:29:38
Speaker
being the true indicator for how good a team is. These guys were seventh in point differential, man. That's taken total points scored against total points allowed. They were seventh in the league last year, dude, which if you would have just told me like before I was looking at those stats, I would have put the Saints down in like probably the early twenties, man. But the Saints were actually statistically a very strong team last season and just kind of ended up on the fringes of the playoffs, man. What do you make of those numbers, Jordan?
00:30:03
Speaker
that they have the most mid coach and the most mid quarterback in the NFL, like Dennis Allen and Derek Carr, not they're just there, dude. They're just like they're like replacement level players, dude. Like if you just if you were like starting off building a team on Madden and starting a team like they're like the players that you start with, man, like and you got to upgrade them over time. Like they're not horrible. But yeah, like you said, they're just there. Speaking of I just
00:30:31
Speaker
I always look back to the end of Derek Carr's tenure in Oakland, Las Vegas, whatever. They literally sent him home with three games to play and they didn't even want him near the team. Like, yeah, I don't know, man. Everybody talks about him like he's this great leader and
00:30:48
Speaker
Maybe he is behind the scenes. I just, I don't see it, dude. He's just, he's just an average quarterback and he had average stats all year last year. The point differential thing, it's not that surprising to me cause their defense is still good. Um, but the problem is, is they're aging really bad. Like to Mario Davis is in his mid to late thirties at this point. Um, Lattimore has a couple of good years left. I can't believe they have not traded him honestly.
00:31:13
Speaker
Um, but they are kind of retooling. I know they got a couple, uh, younger corner backs and stuff, but I don't know, dude, even when I talk to my saints friends, like they're just, they're like, we are just middling and obscurity. They, they all agree they should have flushed it after breeze and just went into full rebuild. But for some reason they just decided not to. And then they signed Derek Carr to this huge deal.
00:31:37
Speaker
I don't know, man. I just, I don't get it. It's, it's weird to me. Um, I just, I don't know. I get the one score game thing, but I think part of that is having Derek cars, your quarterback and having Dennis Allen as your coach is a big part of that. Like not winning close games is just something that both those guys are used to. So
00:31:55
Speaker
I don't know, man. I know. I hate losers, man. They find a way to lose. I know. I hate the saints. Like, so I'm not trying to make this seem like, uh, I feel bad for him because I don't, I fucking literally hope they go. Oh, and 17 next year, every year. Like it just, they're, they're just not a likable franchise. And I couldn't be happier that they have Derek Carr and Dennis Allen as their franchise leaders. It's just, it's lovely to watch.
00:32:23
Speaker
And the problem is, man, you just let one of the most charismatic QBs in the league walk out the door with James Winston going to Cleveland, man. That surprised me, honestly. I know, dude, especially with Derek Harvey and his injury pros. I mean, Jordan makes fun of me because I'm a quarterback lover at heart. I am, dude. I'm always rooting for quarterbacks to ball out, dude.
00:32:43
Speaker
I love Jamis though, man. I feel like he's such a character dude. Like if he started his own podcast, I'd be a day one subscriber, man. Like he seems like he's so funny and he just seems like such a genuine dude. And one thing about him, man, you know, you can go down swinging, dude. Derek Carr is the type to pull like a Kirk Cousins. And if it's, you know, the season's on the line and you got fourth and seven, he's going to throw a four yard check down and watch your guy get tackled for the chains, dude.
00:33:08
Speaker
Jamis he's gonna sling that thing there and they may it may go for a 35-yard touchdown or it may go for a pick six going their way But I'll take that over somebody who's just playing like a pussy out there. Yeah agreed
00:33:20
Speaker
Yeah, so I do. I got to be honest, man, looking at the stats. I think the Saints got a chance to compete in the division, man. I do assuming that it takes Kirk Cousins a little bit time to knock off the rust. I think they're going to be right in the mix, man. I think you're going to see them, the Falcons and the Bucks all kind of hanging around. I think Baker Mayfield is due for a big regression to come back down to earth a little bit and
00:33:45
Speaker
I think it's probably going to be another situation where we get to the last couple weeks of the season and it's going to be down to tiebreakers and maybe who gets the bounces in the final week to see who wins the NFC South this year. So I'll stick with the nine and eight man, but I think they're going to be right in the mix for getting a home playoff game and winning the division.
00:34:05
Speaker
I think they're worse this year, dude. I just, I don't think they improved their roster enough for me to think that they're going to be as good as they were last year. I'm going to, I think they're going seven and 10. Honestly, I just, I don't think this is good roster. I just, I don't know, dude. I think everybody else in the South has like reasons to think like, Hey, we're going to get better. We got, we got things moving in the right direction. Like, where do you point to on the saints that, Hey man, we're going to be better than we were last year.
00:34:33
Speaker
They still got Derek Carr. They got an aging Alvin Kamara. Chris Olave is really good. I will give them that. Their offensive line should be a little better, but dude, everybody else in the South improved other than them.
00:34:45
Speaker
Yeah, fair point, man. I just don't know, man. Saints always seem to be at least decent day. We haven't seen them bottom out for about two decades now. So we'll see what they do, man. Uh, do you got a little bit of listener mail? So first question, Jordan, I'll direct this one to you. Cause I am a one fantasy football league man at this point, but I've got a listener wanting to know, will there be a goal line fantasy league? I mean, we already do a chick fully league and that's, uh,
00:35:11
Speaker
That's kind of, maybe we just changed the name, dude. Maybe we just changed the name from the Chick Foley league to the, the goal line league. Dude, it is all I can do to help Mike Rivera manage that league. And I know there's at least one open spot in that league this year. So, um, yeah, we, uh, we'll talk about that as we get closer to football. There would definitely be a goal line affiliated league. Yeah. Brian, Brian V that asked the question, maybe me reach out to Mike and just look at a rebranding. We would definitely endorse a rebranding from the, uh, the Chick Foley show to the, uh,
00:35:39
Speaker
the goal line, fantasy football league. Other questions. So we saw Olympic gold medalist and former WWE wrestler Gables, Steve Stein with the bills. Do you think he can make any real impact on the NFL and has any chance at making this roster? I mean, the dude is an incredible athlete. He was an incredible wrestler. A lot of being a defensive lineman is being able to use your hands. So
00:36:02
Speaker
I'm not going to put it past him to to do anything. Honestly, I am very surprised that his wrestling run has been cut as short as it has. Like, I really thought this dude had a future in pro wrestling. But one of the biggest things is, is he can't really he's not a big talker. He just kind of goes out there and does his thing. So I don't know, man, the bill saw enough in him to sign him to at least a training camp contract. So I'm interested to see what he does.
00:36:30
Speaker
I mean, to me, dude, if Brock couldn't make it on the Vikings, I don't think this dude's gonna make it on the bills, you know? Yeah. Who do you think if you had a wrestler, if you're on an NFL team and you gotta give a roster spot to a wrestler, who you going with? I mean, dude, just imagine fucking Braun Strowman as your defensive tackle, just throwing people back into the backfield.
00:36:59
Speaker
Yeah, dude, he's a beast man. Put him at like nose tackle in the 3-4, dude. Just wreck and shot through the middle. I think I'm sticking with the bronze. I think I'm going with a broad breaker, dude, at running back, man. We just saw Christian McCaffrey. He got a contract extension from the Niners today to make him the highest paid running back in the league. Let's get another white running back in there, man. I looked up his stats before. He went to
00:37:20
Speaker
He went to Kennesaw State on a football scholarship.
Episode Wrap-up
00:37:23
Speaker
There's not a whole lot of information out there, but I'm assuming injuries got to him because his sophomore year he was starting to break out and then he didn't do anything his junior year. He did barely anything his junior year and his senior year either he quit or was just out for the season with injuries. There's like no stats you can find for a senior season. So I don't know what happened, but you see the speed he has just running around in the ring, running the ropes and stuff. It's pretty damn explosive. Yeah, he's quick.
00:37:48
Speaker
All right, that's a wrap for this episode of The Goal Line. I want to thank all you guys for subscribing. We're only a couple of weeks left before regular season. We're definitely going to get that uniform episode in the can for you guys. Probably do that maybe right as preseason start, and we should have all the uniform reveals by that time. So we will do our annual fashion show episode then. Jordan, hit us with some closing thoughts, man, and we'll get out of here. Yeah, guys, just enjoy the start of your summers, and we'll talk to you guys in a couple of weeks.
00:38:30
Speaker
I'm bound to keep on riding And I got one more silver dollar And I ain't gonna let them catch me No, I ain't gonna let them catch the midnight rider