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Road to Gold
42 Plays4 months ago
Chris and Jarod talk about Team USA's rocky road to an undefeated exhibition period before the Paris Olympics, the rise of the international players and why Team USA shouldn't be held to the standard of the 1992 Olympic Team, talk about Davante Adams' comments on 'Receiver' on Netflix, the New York Giants on Hard Knocks and so much more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 188
00:00:01
Speaker
You know they want standpoint, you know we straight to the point Ball Chris with the sis, fast breaks like a joint square in half Ball J with the J, we throwing heat, no gas, that's a touchdown pass You know just how we coming, so it's nothing left to say Now they hard leaking garmin' like Dirk fade away You know just how we coming, so it's nothing left to say Yeah, you know just how we coming, so it's nothing left to say They want standpoint, you know we straight to the point They want standpoint, you know we straight to the point They want standpoint, you know we straight to the point. They wanna standpoint, you know, we straight to the straight to the... Keep me 76, bringing us into episode number 188 of Straight to the Point.
Olympics & Team USA - Comparison to Dream Team
00:00:37
Speaker
My name is Chris here with my guy, Jay Dove. What up, what up, what up, what up? And with so much going on in the world of sports, it's kind of having an ah international field now with the Olympics kicking off. We have to talk about all of that, Team USA, encompassing everything in the sports world because
00:00:56
Speaker
you know, we, we hold them to the standard of the 92 dream team.
Team USA Challenges & Player Roles
00:01:01
Speaker
But Jared, throughout these first five games, how have you seen team USA in their adjustment? We'll talk about that before you get into anything on that. And we're going to pivot to the NFL, talk a little bit about NFL training camp back in session, football season around the corner, as you would say, real early. It's around the corner. Around the corner, man. Around the corner. Around the corner. And but Jared, let's start with Team USA. Talk to me about what you've seen in these first five games. There's a lot of internet conversation. Let's kind of talk about what we think and how we've seen a ah lot of Team USA for us. Team USA looks...
00:01:43
Speaker
Good. I mean, they've won their games, albeit that a lot of their games are close, right? like They've had a lot of close games, these exhibition matches, but that's to be expected as they really haven't solidified starting five, except for the the main three, Steph or Brown and B, which has been fine. Those three have been fine. and be ramped, looks ramped up now. More ramped up than normal where the first couple of games were real streaky. You've been kind of finishing out better games. Again, he's not playing the high volume of minutes as one shouldn't, knowing his discourse with injuries. And also the fact that you also have two solidified backup bigs and Anthony Davis and BAM, who showcase that they're going to play dominant defense hopefully in this um Paris Olympics when it starts this upcoming Friday. Not this Friday, but the next Friday yet.
00:02:28
Speaker
And then, I like what I'm seeing from LeBron. He's clearly obviously joining to be their clutch player because he's getting the ball in the last second, right? Like, it's just been him. he's He's made sure he's dominated that. We're getting Kevin Durant back, which is something that we where we were hoping for it sooner. It's going to come later. He might not even play the first game of pairs, which we would probably would rather want because ah I think the only thing I think he's going to play. We see these pictures coming out. Everyone's talking about as we report. He just got dunked on by Andy. That was it. KD, block, you know, the dunk. um I think so. I think Katie's want to play. Yeah, I hope so, because I'm what I've seen that we've been devoid of. Is a guy that was just like besides like sometimes and there were sometimes right, but he's still young. He's a little passive. We need that guys and we'll get go get you a straight bucket.
00:03:12
Speaker
Uh, it comes from a little bit of the bench, maybe the starting end as well, but you just need that, that they're devoid of that one guy that just knows how to play or has been in the Olympics long enough to know just how to go get you a bucket at that point in time.
Impact of International Play on NBA Players
00:03:24
Speaker
Because you see a lot of wide open shots that are getting passed out because of the fact that, you know, they're all trying to play this. team basketball. They're all trying to make sure that each is getting open looks, getting their shots. But in reality, sometimes you got a hot hand, you need to feed it. And we've we've been devoid of that. We haven't seen it yet, but it's it's coming soon. I think Kevin Durant will help alleviate that, will help and well that team with that. There's the bench that is good, still a little shaky. I haven't seen Hallenberg play in a while. I don't even know if he's going to get minutes, compares.
00:03:55
Speaker
all Which is odd to me, but it's not that I know in there like how I'm bringing he's still raw as well. I think it kind of depends on a matchup because you need someone who's kind of a more facilitator first kind of guy on the floor. He has to be able to play somewhat significant play defense and Albertans you know his his calling card is not his defensive and I mean he's he's a he's a lanky guy. He can you know, put an arm up or whatever, but that's not his his bright and butter. um i think how I think there's a lot of to be said about whose games translate well to the Olympic style to the international style yeah because I feel I see a lot of the conversation around and be specifically his game I don't think his game is ready made for the Olympics like you can't just pop a microwave
00:04:46
Speaker
and have him ready to go. like He's one of these guys who's got to warm up, work the refs, work the opponent, you know get his touches. But the one thing I will and i will i will go to do is for every guy on the team, it's hard to readjust your role, yeah especially when you've been a one for so long and now you've joined a team pretty much of all ones. It's hard for some of these guys to accept that or to play well. They're trying to make sure the next guy gets theirs. And it's hard to to get your own when you're trying to be passive, trying to integrate everyone. But I've seen guys who are playing different roles, you know, Davis being more of a rim runner in the Olympics, playing in the post, but occasionally hitting the knockdown, you know, the jump shot. That's a and little bit of a change of pace for how he normally plays.
00:05:38
Speaker
Um, and be hard cut pick and roll, but pick a role where he doesn't automatically have to get the ball. He's picking the role and passing showing he's moving. Well, but he's actually moving. Like he's actually running. Like when's the last time we've seen them be consistently run in offensive You know what I'm saying? So condition this is probably the the flip side of the, he shouldn't play in the Olympics argument. Maybe he needs to keep playing. So his body isn't breaking down. Because he trains well. He does train well. I'll give him that. It's just like off-season wise, you're not playing basketball. basketball off-season. And then when I say play basketball, I mean, you're not playing in any game format as well. They're playing, yeah, pickups. They're doing one-on-ones. He trains with Jerome. They just did a podcast together. It's a very good show for those who haven't seen it.
00:06:27
Speaker
um Stuff like that isn't really ramping you up for in-game basketball shape. It's just ramping you up to make sure that you work on your skills, you're working on your craft, you're getting your shots up, and you're staying within condition of going into your preseason, and then you're really ramping your body up to be ready. He's already ramping your body up to be ready to play come the preseason NBA. Now, does he this say a guarantee to the six players always going to be playing in full season? No, I won't even want him to. I do like the fact that he is playing the Olympics to help him like get into a better shape than he's ever been in. I do like what I'm seeing where now he's playing in in a game where you know he can't foul bait. So when he goes back to the NBA, well, even if he foul baits or doesn't, for him, it shouldn't be that big of a deal anymore, which is what I think a lot of guys are learning when they play the Olympics. A lot of the NBA players, the the real
00:07:13
Speaker
OGs and the ones that are still now younger coming in. They're learning hard about what this Olympics is like, right? Like when you look at the house completely different. The goal 10 that you do. it i harder feeling You made sounds like I seen guys called for traveling. Yeah. Traveling the gold 10. That's for us as a gold 10 for them. It's ass not a good thing that's your tip that one And again, I'm not saying ah you're gonna go right to the NBA and try and do these things you're not but it helps your game when it comes to now the court is like so open for him because he's playing with all stars you're seeing How he's now can how he's looking at the floor what he's trying to pick up the him and Steph Curry screening roles phenomenal
00:07:52
Speaker
him and Lebron James pick and roll has been really good yeah i'll be in beads missed a couple way ups or bronze missed a couple shots it looks real good like be sitting great screens like screens where he's actually like. Hardly. He cares. yeah. And like here and then, they're like again, this might be the only time we'll ever see in the beats that pick and roll like this or be staff like screen and pop. It looks great. like That's free. These are the shots that that's probably like, man, I ain't been this free. Why? That's the type of screens getting set. We're going to take them off the bench. I like that. And and we're just getting his shots of Booker as a starter. I don't know if they're going to flip that soon. They're going to leave that. But I like that as well with Drew Holliday. Because Drew Holliday is that role-playing glue guy. Yeah, he's an all-star. Yeah, he's an all-defense player. But you always need those guys as well, the role players, the glue guys, the guys that pick your head up, locked in the defensive end.
00:08:40
Speaker
yeah Because every team, you need that glue. You need the guys. You realize that. The dirty work. And you see stars. And that's what I'm saying about guys who change roles, guys who normally wouldn't be asked to do that suddenly having to do that.
International Players Rising in the NBA
00:08:58
Speaker
But I think there's a bigger conversation around Team USA basketball that's getting lost in the fact that no one is really talking about how the rise of the international game has, like, I think people have this negative outlook on Team USA in the fact that it's like, oh, they shouldn't have, oh, they should be beating that the rest of the world by like a thousand. And it's like, think about this. Who are the top three players in the NBA right now? All international guys. Luka, Jokic, and B. Are you guys shy or are you honest as well? That's like five guys right now. Who's the best American player right now? Anthony Edwards? LeBron James?
00:09:40
Speaker
I mean, I mean, for NBA standards, I mean, Oh, we would love to say anything there was, but we could still probably argue with him. Okay. So like you're you're arguing with some of them, but none of those guys are in that, in your consensus top five and in the NBA, right? No. So those top five players would be concurrently called them the best players in the world. None of them are American. No. Well, one of them. I mean, yes, technically. But you get my point. Yeah. That's the other day, Chris. Oh, the TUSA play. cheing Germany. Germany.
00:10:21
Speaker
with Schroeder, where that team used to only be led by Schroeder. And now, both the Wilders or NBA players won just on the $250 million dollars extension, Franz Wagner. They're good. my guys the no off like there But I'm going to say for the little um younger brother, Franz, he's really good. like The reason why reason why the Badgers were at a brand spot where they were at is also because of what he did this season. He's really good at basketball. um I know Daniel Tyson everything they were there. NBA guys now on these Olympic teams were before the work for as many NBA players internationally the international league and the NBA than there were today. So yeah, these teams are all very good. Like I'm talking about these are teams that have at least pro bucket getters that have made flourishing careers in the league that yeah, they're just going to their
00:11:08
Speaker
original teams, let's say, it as is their original Olympic International team, because that's where they started off. Some of them, they started playing internationally, but they weren't in college, they played internationally. So that's not a switch for them. They're just going back to what they used to play. The switch is them going to the NBA, and they're realizing, oh, it might be either a little bit easier or a little bit harder, depending on how their game was conditioned and played. Yeah, it's a little bit different. Like, who came in and said, oh, yeah, this is easier. The NBA is easier for me. Why? Because foul-baiting. Um, the offense is more offensively minded. It's basically all offense. There's a really yeah hard for guys to play defense in the NBA because of the foul cause that you can draw and get like look you just look at how we, we, Chris and I ranted for almost an hour.
00:11:51
Speaker
three or four episodes ago when the Jillian Branson calls it the next we're getting. You can't really do that in the Olympics. They tried. We've seen. him o and be drive They They try. It's not happening. It's it's not happening. You fight it. You fight it through. I saw Andy Davis and Mo Agner both tackle each other within the same series. I've missed shots by their teams like that's the Olympic basketball you're getting and a lot of people say, oh, yeah I don't like it. I love it a little bit. Hey, I do. I really do. I like learning to be because we don't see him getting hurt, but man. Ro-hoops. bruops Ro-hoops. Ro-hoops. There we go. Ro-hoops. But I'm enjoying it. I think it's going to be great to see. I think USA has a really good shot at gold, like a really good shot. Oh, of course they have a shot. What? No, shot at like, OK, we should really dominate and win. Not shot as like when Kevin DeRay and Dame just played. I was nervous. Like, I was really nervous.
00:12:44
Speaker
There who's the top who's the top competition in the world to the team usa? Okay, yeah hands down You have, I mean, if you want to go up against France, who has Memenyama, go there. And they have, hey, hey, don't try to sleep on the Olympic journey to Evan Fornier. All of a sudden, he wants to know. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please do not allow me to disrespect. Don't Google me himself, Evan Fornier. Let's please put some respect in the name of this Olympic stuff. He walks in when he plays with friends. Anywhere else, he's forgotten.
00:13:22
Speaker
but This drops like throwing 30 sometimes. France might put the United States in the platoon stone. You know what I'm saying? They might drop the platoon one. That Twin Towers is nasty. But the inside game is going to be an uphill battle for the United States. Yeah. They're going to have to play, you know, they might have to play Germany again. You have legitimate and NBA players on that team. Serbia. You have legitimate NBA players on the team. So this isn't... Giannis is in the Olympics this year. Not locally, Giannis. Like, Giannis could take... Greece! Greece is in the Olympics this year. Greece! It's a different game.
00:14:03
Speaker
So you have to, you have to to stop these, stop comparing these guys to the 1992 dream
Dream Team vs Current Team USA - Competition Growth
00:14:10
Speaker
team. Okay. The situations were completely different. They were out there playing the, ah the who was the only other best player in the world at that point in 92, what Tony Kukoch? Manu. Oh, 92. Let's go. I'll tell you where I go to the redeem team. Your redeem team was Manu. Okay. Manu. We talk about the top five best players in the world right now, and four of them are playing for other than U-Team USA. yeah The top five players in the world in 1992 were the starting five of the 1992... And I didn't even mention Canada.
00:14:45
Speaker
Remember, they're in the Olympics as well. Oh, Canada. That's a whole team of just NBA all-stars. Oh, Canada. Like, you're talking about Shai, Jamal Murray, Dylan Brooks, RJ Barrett, Wiggins. Like, all those guys are there. All those four out of those five guys are legitimate NBA players. No, I won two. Two are champions. Two are legit one champions. Two of them is one-timers. But four out of those five guys are legitimate NBA type of champions. I mean, players, you can guess who the fifth person is.
00:15:15
Speaker
before i move on The point is Team USA in 1992 played nine international players in the Olympic run. The United States this year, there's 60 NBA players playing for international teams. The game has changed. The game has gotten international. Who do you think is going to be the X Factor? That was going to be my question. X Factor. Team USA. Yeah, somebody has to do it. And I'm not saying it has to be a starter. I like your idea of Durant. I do like that idea of Durant, if if it's not Durant. I mean, you got a team full of all-stars. Anybody's capable of getting hot. Yes. You could see a LeBron James Renaissance. No, no, but I'm thinking about that. You could see AD put up 20.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, that one you could you could depending on matchups. No true good. That's off the bench off the bench. You could see it. It's probably playing really good ball and be you know, and be who know who else you know, unless you play them against your kids. Yeah, that's fair. no Nobody has got the quality big man that the United States has. That's where the X factor, I think, lies with Team USA. They have to win the boards. They have to win the paint. Because when you play France, you're not going to have that luxury. So you're going to have to rely on your perimeter guys more versus match-ups. Germany has size. Germany has length. So you have to be able to play defense, like, what with a Drew Holliday. You have blue guys like Derek White. White, Tatum, and Holliday are teammates. You have that innate chemistry. LeBron and AD are teammates. You have chemistry there.
00:16:53
Speaker
so Curry and KD played together for years, you know what I'm saying? So like you have chemistry with throughout Team USA, but it's not as, I don't think, internationally they play together more off seasons and things of that nature. So it's easier for them to have that chemistry, but you know that chemistry at all times. That's why a lot of times when you have this this conversation around just throwing all stars together and not having a team, That's where it comes from because usually these guys don't play with each other except for the Olympic run. So you're kind of learning on the five. Those five games, yes. People had, okay, yeah, South Sudan. Who saw that coming? All right. like
00:17:38
Speaker
but Be for real. Be for real. No one saw that coming. And then we were down against them, too. So at that point, we kind of saw it coming. Did you see Baby KD, Marielle Shayok, the GOAT? I forgot what was out there. Did we also play Isaac Bonga? And I've only ever seen his name in 2K. I've only ever seen his name in 2K, dude. But you see guys who are like, oh, yeah, these guys. When can Gabriel come over?
00:18:10
Speaker
And then again, I think the Katie effect for me, because because you remember the regime team, nobody talks about it enough because we always, they always emphasize the Kobe LeBron factor. Right. But for me, if you think about it in hindsight, sometimes the biggest X factor was Carmelo Anthony, right? When Carmelo was coming off that bench, he was nailing almost anywhere between four to seven threes a night or a game for the Olympics. I'm like, yeah, he still at before, I think it's broken now, but he had had the Olympic record for most reason at game. with like almost eight to nine because he was just cooking off the bench and his role was completely changed. He kind
Team USA's Strategy & Gold Medal Expectations
00:18:47
Speaker
of was the mellow that we started seeing with OKC and the Rockets is the mellow that he was in the Olympics, right? Just a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter. Yea, he can still do a little post here and there, but his role had to completely switch when he was coming off that bench. I kind of think Katie's gonna be the same. Again, the ball will be in his hand, right?
00:19:05
Speaker
When it comes to that just a knockdown shooter off your bench, I think it's more KD. Everybody's saying, well, you still have Tatum or Edwards. Yeah, but we've Chris and I have gone vehemently on how Tatum is not really the greatest catching shooter as well we as what we alluded to or thought he would be. He could shoot the three, but he likes to make the tough ones. He'll miss the easy ones. He likes to shoot off the dribble. And it's not shooting a lot of threes anyway, like that's not it and it and and will hit threes. Yes, but he's not pulling a lot of them. That's not his game. That's not what he wants to do. And it's off the bench is why it's perfect for him, because his back so to say hey yeah he wants to want to go fast break. Dunkle you in the Olympics and he's taken to the basket because he's one of those offensively grinded guys. So then who's going to be your shooter off the bench? Because again, if you look at the Olympics right now, one of the six is the Olympics have been devoted up for the team. You say is the three point shooting. I think at one point we only attempted in a game before the fourth quarter seven.
00:19:55
Speaker
The game is different. So you got it. But the game is different, but not for the other Olympic teams. They're shooting almost 15 to 16 threes. We have to start picking up the volume. So we got to start getting more frequent shooting. It can't just be Steph and LeBron or Booker. It's got to be more. You guys got to take the shots. And the shots are there. Like that's different. I mean, that's one of the first ones of basketball. Like at any novel, if the shot is there, you got it. Boom. Shoot that. Come on. And then the past object of the game just but is to put the ball in the hoop. So what would you say 1 to 5 was 1 to 5? What's the USA's Olympic team's chances of gold, 1 to 5? 5 being the best, 1 being the worst. 5 being the best, 1 being the worst. Oh, 5. Yes, or 5? So I guess, what's your percentage then? Is that 100%? Like, they're going to be doing gold? Yeah, I'm showing gold. 100%. Yeah, I'm showing gold. So anything under gold is disappointing. Yeah, it's failure. Yeah, it's failure. You don't want to go.
00:20:54
Speaker
That's right. That's right. This is the Olympic standard, you know? Yeah. look you Literally for the USA, the Olympic standard. Got to uphold to the standard.
Shift to NFL Talk: Training Camps & Player Movements
00:21:03
Speaker
All right, Jared, let's transition over to the NFL training camp back in session. Some fights have already be broken out. Love that. Jared, I know you want to talk about Devontae Adams' comments on the receivers show on Netflix. So what in particular did you want to want to to address on the show about that honestly the show did a very good job of like showcasing his frustration i don't know this fact of fiction as i've also written for the readers at a time for that particular storyline his frustration when it comes to being hit so often because i've never been this hit hit this much in his life
00:21:45
Speaker
Um, how well, let's be honest, Jimmy grapple was asked. So how bad he was in general. And then just what he sees from that team perspective, I know the rumors have been squashed by his team and himself on the Shannon shark pod. But again, how squashed is it really? When you have a chance of potentially going back and playing with Aaron Rodgers, if they just do make a big all splash trade for him, because you're kind of seeing the. Assad, Reddit trade, backfire in their faces. He has a shoulder for training camp. Yeah, and I don't understand that at all for the gents.
00:22:20
Speaker
I don't, yeah, you don't make a trade unless you have a contract in place. I'm be honest with you. You don't make a trade unless the contract plays. We're talking about that. I'm not giving you a thing unless I've got a contract rating. We're not, we're not, we're not, we're going to talk about that next, but like with what the parallels of that could potentially be like, you know, now you can have a clear swap. Will it be a better swap for the Raiders? No, but you could just bolster on your D line that you love to do so much. They won the best defense in the league last year, the Raiders, their top 10. Um, the defensive line right now is very well, very well put with Christian Wilkins that they just brought in a free agency. You still have, um, hey why am I, why am I forgetting his name right at this moment in time?
00:22:59
Speaker
I'm talking about. Their defensive end. Max Crosby. Max Crosby. Yeah. So they have a good defense. The offense just needs roaring. They don't know who the starting quarterback is yet because they're having a QB battle between Ado O'Connell and Garnum and Chu. Sure. Something that is going to be in all the way up until preseason. Listen, I'm telling you, they were the most pissed that Atlanta took credit. Yes. They probably should have been. Because again, I'm not saying Ado O'Connell is bad. Ado O'Connell has some very good stats. He helped bring that team from when they were 2 and 4 to almost a 8-9 record, and they had some very stellar games. He showed they could be a quarterback in this NFL. I don't i't know if I want to say confirm starting quarterback, but I do believe he could be a quarterback in this NFL, starting quarterback. We'll see if he wins this spot as he goes into the season versus Garden of Menchu. Garden of Menchu almost did the playoffs last year with the Colts when Anthony Richardson went down. Yeah, they were a game shy of it, but he had a very good season as well, so Bowe for now competed for the starting spot.
00:23:53
Speaker
They're devoid of the running back position. Yeah, they're going to do a running back. My committee was the mere white. but their house maybe This year, there's a committee quarterback. fuck miss taylor sp It's still shaky. I love the fact that the Dante is going to be locked in. Cool. You brought in Michael Gallup. You still have to call Meyers, but let's let's be honest. I mean, I find it really well. You're talking about a quarterback to throw it to and it doesn't matter because the throw we saw. That's why I said the show really kind of alluded to what we're going to potentially see this season. The preview, the throw we saw where Devande told Jimmy, man, hit me on this route. Devande got wide open, bombed downfield from Jimmy G, overshot him.
00:24:39
Speaker
That's not what Devon Adams used to, not what he wants to be used to. And now the losing takes a toll, as always, it takes a toll. Yeah, you you talk all good in the off season about, oh, we're going to be ready right now. I've i've ah had quotes written from him where he's talked about it's Aiden O'Connell's job to lose as it should, because Aiden O'Connell was the starting QB last season. He helped that team. rise to the second and division, which again, the division was future last year, if we're being honest, like it was just the Chiefs by a mile, but they were an A-19. They showcase that they can fight and I think they're going to be second in the division again with the other two teams yet again, looking like they're going to be pretty down bad with the Chargers now going through a soft rebuild. What'd you call the soft rebuild? I think so. I would call it a soft rebuild because again, like
00:25:25
Speaker
When you think about what, unless this end of this season, they completely get rid of Joey Bosa and called Mack, which I think they will, then it's a hard rebuild. Right now it's a soft rebuild, because you can still maneuver your pieces. Quinn Johnson can be a merge. Even Jimmy Ash is the number one. We'll see. J.K. Dobbs could be that awesome at younger. You just got to stay healthy. We'll see. And then the defense-wise, you have the young pieces. You have young pieces in your defense. You also have older vets. You can get a lot of talent if they just collectively move off of Joey Bosa and cool Mac. And I'm saying a lot of time as in everything that you can get right for those two guys. I'm not saying it's like an NBA haul because let's be speak is keeping within realistic NFL term. But you can get a lot for the two of them that you then go into this offseason. The next one now for the season is already fast 2025 offseason.
00:26:15
Speaker
And boom, you could potentially be right back where you started when it comes to being a competitive team. And that's why I call it a soft review because you can, if they're GM. does exactly what you would hope any team does when they have a collection of, what, history of good, talented players, then I believe that you could do something along the same line as the Eagles did, where it was like, what, a year, year and a half gap, soft rebuild that we did, and then, boom, you're back and you're back in a competitive spot.
NFL Coaching Changes & Team Dynamics
00:26:42
Speaker
That's what I think the Chargers have the opportunity to do if they play their cards right. Again, this, they don't have the GM skills of a, hi, Roseman, though.
00:26:52
Speaker
Like I believe what their GM is with AJ Smith, I believe, or is he not there anymore. um We'll have to enter and check that, but I think the idea of the charges in a rebuild kind of throws me through a loop because why would you go out and get hard ball. If you why are planning on rebuilt, I mean, but say as a close so i though like the idea of in the charges, new GM is Joe Hortons. Okay. Ortees. I prefer to say Hortons. But anyway, it if the general manager is walking into a situation where you have Herbert who has by all accounts started the, I think he, him and Trevor Lawrence is kind of in the same conversation where it's like, all right, we think you're good.
00:27:36
Speaker
But we're not sure if you're elite yet. Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. They're both in that kind of a weird situation. i think I think Herbert has, the worm has started to turn a little bit more recently for Herbert. I think more people are starting to be like, eh, he was all right, I guess. Versus when he was, you know, two, three years ago, he was, oh my God, he's going to be a top five quarterback in a year. So will Harbaugh help with that? Maybe. Maybe getting fresh play caller. Fresh plays, you don't have Brandon Staley, you know, messing everything up. So maybe Herbert then looks better, but the team doesn't look as great, but the conversation around Herbert and the team now becomes, okay, there's only one or two reasons. So, but I don't know, but I saw the thought around that rebuild word. That's why I saw. I feel like rebuild, I mean, if you want to rebuild, you got to,
00:28:33
Speaker
Well, again, you got to think about it. Any new head coach coming in is going through essentially a rebuilt team. Any new head coach? yeah I mean, you you have to set the foundation. The Eagles went through the soft rebuild when they brought Nick Sirani. Because again, why you you just said it. They have to set the foundation. Harbaugh has to come in and set his dictate his like his his team, his style of play, his chemistry with the quarterback, his coordinators, everything within the first year. Now, yes, granted, some teams have the talent capacity right away because some coaches come into a great system, a great foundation. But for him, he joined this team not because of everything they had right away, but because of the quarterback, he wanted to coach Herbert. And when you do something like that and you see the talent pool disappear throughout the offseason, like, come on, we just watched them move their two best wide receivers in their running back, always in a free agency. that That's,
00:29:24
Speaker
one, a little baffling, but two, I think it's i think it's more so a a combination of look at what we've been dealing with for the last couple of years. The last six. Versus. OK, yeah, her about her both here cool, but I'm gonna go chase the money real quick or I need to get out. And hey and that's fine. Look, keep I went to a great spot in my opinion. I do not reject where he went. I great spot money wise for him and then you still have to be still tell enough QB to still put up your your yards, your plays and maybe maybe hopeful maybe make a run for son. Cause again, the Bears offense is going to be revamped and it's going to hopefully look good.
00:29:58
Speaker
Bears haven't had a good quarterback since Sid Luckman. It's big emphasis on all hopes to hell. All caps on that for the Bears. But for the Chargers, you don't really have nothing. When they drafted Quentin Johnson, we thought he was going to be an immediate impact. He was not. Now you go into your sophomore year, he can have the lead because now he's the guy. He has to be. You have to be the guy unless you're going to tell him he's Josh Palmer or somebody else. It should be Quentin Johnson. So with that being the case, yeah, they're going to look a little bad. The AFC is stacked. I mean, it's a stacked conference. I don't think they're going to make that huge jump right away. And if that's the case, then you know, it's no longer rebuild. They're all in. But no, it's a soft rebuild. I'll take this year, get it right with his guys. um Unfortunately, it's kind of shade towards Eagles, but it's not. Unfortunately, seen as the staff where any quarterback that previously had kell more as their office coordinator and he leaves has a better year the following year when he's he's not no longer with the organization. OK, well, let's put this in context.
00:30:57
Speaker
Kevin Moore was offensive coordinator in Dallas. They went and got Mike McCarthy, who had been a play caller and has won a Super Bowl as a coach. OK. Yeah. Chargers had Kevin Moore fired. to stay Everybody, staff got fired under Brandon Staley. Obviously. And they brought in Harbaugh, who has won a championship in college, runs his own team, play caller. And then, again, they brought in Greg Roman, which do I like. i um Like, from the game. Like, Greg Roman, they call him police. That's very true. So, and again, I'm not just, the stat was just me throwing out there to say, okay, this could be another revamp near for Herbert. are I think her roles on pace have a stellar year if he didn't get hurt twice last season under Kellamore. This doesn't make, this doesn't go to the fact that I'm also going to kind of talk about the fact that Joe Hurts said he's had like, what, 10 different corner interviews in eight years. So it's kind of, it's hard for him to get a little bit on pace with Kellamore, but he's a well in the ah offense. Well, yeah, dude, it's going to be different. You might actually have a locked in coordinator finally for the next two to three or four years, hopefully.
00:31:53
Speaker
<unk>albo play again legend Yeah, and in this we also find about the Eagles at Syrian and all the playbook last year with Syrian. We know how rough that was as Eagles fans. Chris and I know I remember. Listen, I remember that first year. Sir Yani's first year before psych into play calling over. It did kind of look like what I saw. Yes. When we spoke about it, we went in depth on it. We honestly, at this point, we need to start getting a clipboard and start drawing the playbook ourselves and say, this is the play they ran. We're going to blind rank the playbook. And oh, hey, this is the play we said they were going to run. It was bad. It was very good. It was almost to the point where I could call plays like I was calling sixer plays when your boy Doc was the coach. Bad, bad offense. Right. Terrible.
00:32:33
Speaker
Terrible. What do you have a comment? be on To finish up with my TV rant on just what I've been enjoying. Hard knocks. Love the show. Really do. The Giants hard knocks this year. Favorite part obviously is this losing and signing of Saquon Berkeley and the Free Agency. We got to witness their GM. Shit the bed. Shit the bed, yeah. Hey, man, language. Language. The right words that articulate what occurred. We got to see the phone call between him and Saquon Barkley. We know that was the last phone call they'll ever have. We got to see the phone call with the GM and Jacob Barkley's agent when they were like, oh my god, you got a deal that we didn't think you were going to get. Well, yes, sir.
Giants' Management Decisions & Team Performance
00:33:18
Speaker
Cooked. And then we got to watch the owner talk about we really can't lose Saquon.
00:33:23
Speaker
because of the stardom, the fandom, what his presence he's brought to the organization. And then they lose him to the Eagles within that same court. John Mayer walked into his office and basically said, what's up with you, boy? Like, what is you doing? He said it a little bit more eloquently than that. But you get my point. He pretty much told Shane he didn't want Saquon just walking out the door. And that's pretty much what happened. Shane, again, from what the biggest crux for me, besides the Saquon thing, we've already talked in depth about Saquon and the Eagles. We talked about it, we enjoyed it, we know what he did. What we talked about with Shane for me was his constant willingness to defend the going all in on the O-line and Daniel Jones
00:34:07
Speaker
rather than kind of say, OK, let's just put the middle and do just add in Saquon because Saquon's been one of the biggest facts for why Jones has been so good. But you can't, though, Abraham. The reason why I had to think about it and had to have that mental isolation, you cannot choose a Saquon or even help pick a Saquon over Dale Jones because it's so much money. So let me ask you this. They give Dale Jones all this money. They invest in the offensive line. They invest in, you know, so where is the line of demarcation as to who deserves this money? because we've seen Saquon in every, iter like, in a lot of iterations of the Giants. And he's been good at times. Great period, great flat, you know, flashes, but underwhelming, it seems like, right? Yeah. Is that the offensive line's fault? I think some of them has a line. Is some of that on the coaching hires that they've had? Like, is is they bowl a flash in the pan? Like, is that his...
00:35:05
Speaker
Is he a one-hit wonder? Is he a one-hit wonder? ah It could potentially be, again. is that like was this like Was that his man genie year? Because i want say yeah you like i guys who come out this Belichick tree have don't have sustained success. The guy who had the most sustained success out the Belichick tree was Billy O, Bill O'Brien. But and and in the big moments, he fell apart. They ball had low expectations. They sneak in. They beat the state. They get into the playoffs. They beat the Vikings who were cratering and everyone saw it coming. Then they got the ass kicked in Philadelphia the next
Eagles vs Cowboys Rivalry & NFC East Predictions
00:35:46
Speaker
week. So is this team really good? Is it, you know, like, who do I blame for this? Because at the end of the day, if it's, if you paid the quarterback who isn't good,
00:35:58
Speaker
and you've invested in this offensive line, it still isn't good. And Saquon leaves and he goes to Philadelphia and he has, if he has, if he has a great season, that's bad for you. Yeah. And if you are bad again this year, you going to fire a day ball? Ah, was it supposed to be a third year? It'll be a third year. You want to fire a day ball? No. So are you going to fire GM? Huh, I'm already considered you twice. Cause now if you fired GM here. Here's another thing. You bring in a new GM who has not picked his coach. Let's say Dable has another bad year. You won't find a coach. Now you've got so much toner. It's like Daniel Jones, get out the building. Cause honestly, that's the real thing you need. look over it The moment they can get up out of that contract, they will. All right. Giving him that contract I think was the,
00:36:48
Speaker
I'm surprised they ain't due to Russell Wilson. comments We'll give you all your money up front. Go home and never come back. Never come back. But um never return. Again, you're committing to hear you minutes this team being Dan Jones' team. no longer No longer the running back being the face of the franchise. Fine. You brought in in weak neighbors. Very good pick from LSU. You brought in the offensive line. You drafted in. You've also got some deficiency. Very fair, very true. Brian Burns, great move. Traded for a stud of defense. The only unfortunate is yeah your other competitions have also gotten better and besides the Cowboys, right? Like besides the Cowboys or other competitions gotten better. I think the Eagles should run away with this division. I and that's what I'm hoping for early, early offseason prediction for the NFC. I think you should division. There we go for me.
00:37:32
Speaker
That ain't nothing new from that. yeah no Nothing new from you. I beat up the old drum real quick. The gavel goes down hard when I said he was with the division. Any other team right now is a toss up for me. He was with the division. Oh, and the Chiefs went to division. Two locked-in spots for me this year. oh Going with that, though, the Saquon Barkley thing, always going to throw this, because now it's been so ah televised and and you know social media ran rampant. you're going to see how potentially badly or great this decision was as the years go by because now it's it's been highlighted right it's like this is stuff that needs to you know fall through the cracks a little bit you see these rumors or these reports only through um a first take realm or from a oh talking head right and then they can control the narrative you can't no more the giants legit let these
00:38:24
Speaker
Cameras, it's unfiltered. It's unfiltered. It's now we get to really get the broad scope of what occurred, what went down and how you might have cost your franchise. One of the best players you've had in the decade. Now, here's the thing. If it if it doesn't work out for the Eagles, you more like geniuses because you're getting your money in. Yeah. So from an Eagle standpoint, you hope that that isn't the case. However, for the Giants, I think Joe Shane's in like, okay, yeah, you build through the O-line, you know do all these things to protect your quarterback. They've already paid this guy this money. So they got to try to make it work. So they're going to do whatever they can possible to try to make this work. That includes investing in the O-line, drafting Malik neighbors, trying to bolster your defense. But if the guy can't play,
00:39:21
Speaker
It doesn't matter how good your own line is, how good your receivers are, who's your running back, or what your defense does. You've got to be able to play a little bit. Like, here's the thing with Brock Purdy. Is Brock Purdy the greatest quarterback ever? No. But is he better than Daniel Jones? Yes. Yes. Part of that is because he has the pieces around him. But he doesn't. Like, here's the thing, right? What good is a car if you can't drive? ah We don't know if Daniel Jones can drive.
Quarterback Comparisons & Expectations
00:39:53
Speaker
It seems like you you close to crashing out way too much to have, you know, this car. If he can't get the get the ball down the field effectively without turning the ball over or getting sacked a thousand times or just being inept, you got to get somebody else back there. They look exponentially better last year with Tyra at quarterback. Yeah.
00:40:19
Speaker
They did. With DeVito. They had timed DeVito out there there. Everybody was Italian for two weeks. Yeah. Tired to those air yards within a half a season were further and better than Daniel Jones. It was bad. So now it's up to Daniel Jones alone. Daniel Jones makes Bryce Young look like Peyton Manning. Oh, that's just, that was disrespectful. um Speaking of just disrespect, let's have Chris just go on a slight rant. I don't know if he's seen the reports, but there was new news today. as practices have started. I'm going on a rant. You might. First team reps have taken place in Pennsylvania, located on the side of not Philadelphia, but in Pittsburgh. First team rep forgiven. True. To Justin Fields because of a calf strain that Russell Wilson woke up into, I guess. I guess he woke up calf cooked. Justin Fields is now taking the first team reps. so We do not know the severity of the injury for Russell Wilson, but
00:41:13
Speaker
First team, Russell, Justin Fields already. but You might have to say some apologies to your close friend, Michael. I had started i have theory. OK, hear me out. Hear me out. Russell Wilson woke up. It was like, hmm, how can I get the most guaranteed money without doing anything? Let Justin Fields go out there and see what he can do. Because you really should get a barometer of like, all right, is he getting better right now? Like, he he can make this. Here's the thing I keep saying about Fields. He can do all the physical things. He can make the throw. He can make the deep throw. He can run. He can do everything. But he can't get the ball down the field consistently. right He's a bet. He's Daniel Jones, but darker with braids. That was a microaggression. That's what you do. You don't know what that is. That was microaggression.
00:42:02
Speaker
correct What? That was how? Did it seem? No, that's the, no, don't call, don't listen. Don't say it's a microaggression, okay? If they're the same person, same style of player, same ass-ness, and they're just different colors, how am I wrong for saying that it's the, it's compared between the two? How are we going to say that Justin Fields, who you are, you have a better name. The same argument I had for Daniel Jones, you can apply to Justin Fields. Real fast, can run, can he throw the ball? question mark Can he play quarterback? For real. I guess, like go like well Lamar, right?
00:42:44
Speaker
The argument I have with Lamar being a like, oh, he's just a runner, is he can actually throw the ball effectively from the pocket consistently. The other two guys cannot do that consistently. Yeah. That's the problem. is Everybody's talking about, oh, this hot light is good. This hot light is good. What's he doing on third and nine? Have you taken a terrible sack on third and nine to knock you out of field court position? That's bad quarterback play. Now you got a punt. That's bad quarterback play. Dumb quarterback play. It's bad quarterback play. And them two guys have dumb plays. Every time. Trying to do too much is sometimes a dumb play. Trying to, you know, I'm a hold on to the ball. I know this offensive line is terrible. I'm going to take a seven step drop from shotgun. Terrible. And this is why they're
00:43:35
Speaker
Both what? Working through it. Daniel Jones is still a starter. How long we going to be working through it? Well, for Fields, he got benched. We're thinking about it in hindsight. Fields got traded. Daniel Jones better pack all his stuff and be living out of boxes this year. Boxes. Well, I don't think that's the case because they're just going all in. Again, Shane, Sean, Sean. What's the? OK. Shane, Sean, Sean. He's going all in. All in, Chris. No, you can't. You're all in. It's Daniel Jones or nothing. If you don't watch Daniel Jones have a good season this year, then he's a failure. And what do you do? Let me ask you a question. You have a renovation, a project, a house, you know, whatever. You hire a contractor. You give him a little bit of money. He do piss poor slap ass work. You won't give him the rest of the money.
00:44:27
Speaker
Unfortunately, this is the NFL, so yes, you have to give him the rest of the day. I can't think right. You have to give him the rest of the day. You have to give him the rest of the day. You have to give him one order made about what I would do. In the real world, in the real world, he's gold. He's cooked. He's fired. I think about what he's back. Everything. Banks. In the NFL, there's a such thing as called guaranteed salary. Tell him hit the road. And Daniel Jones will continue to get his guaranteed money. Where's Ray Charles? That's what the. Ray Charles can probably pay quarterback better than Daniel Jones. Well, Dan Jones stinks and the reason why he stinks so bad is maybe because of the offensive line. So we'll get to see how that works, but it could just be because he's a terrible quarterback and we don't know. I think so. I know terrible. Well, he did beat the Vikings that one year.
00:45:14
Speaker
Oh, whoopee. That's the monocle that the Giants stand on. They're like, what we saw in that Vikings giant damn wild card. Everybody knew Vikings were frauds for 12 weeks. Yes. They was doing their song and dance for 12 weeks. Come on. He got the walk. Kurtko chains in full effect. Kurtko chains. And now he's in the Falcons rehabbing an injury and also noticing that he already has a backup QB that he didn't have. Phoenix is going to be starting about week eight.
00:45:44
Speaker
Maybe the Giants can go trade for cousins. so We'll pay cousins the $100 million. dollars We'll do it. We'll do it. We'll do it. They did. And then they said, we're going to drive Michael Penix in the first round. No, I meant the Giants. Oh, man. Honestly, so I would have done it. I'm not saying like um if I'm Joe Shane, I'm going hard knocks like, yo, listen, listen, listen. I got a first round pick for you, swing cousins. Nah, cuz he's a free agent. I'm not even saying that. I'm talking about cousin. Listen, if I'm the, if I'm the Giants and we ate right before the deadline, if cousin ain't ready yet, if cousin's, you know, a little shaky, but he's more burdened than your boy Dimes over there, I'm calling Atlanta. Yo, yo, you know you want to play Phoenix. You know you want to give us cousins. Give us cousins.
00:46:35
Speaker
We got every first round pick from here to hell. Give us cousins. Especially since the Falcons, what? They got caught with the tampering on cousins to then draft a quarterback behind cousins who competitively started. Who running the Falcons, Daryl Morey? Close, very close. Again, the Falcons situation is confusing. Again, it's not that confusing. Kirk is obviously going to be the starter. But when you drafted a guy like Pennings, who's pro-ready. He's already 24 years old.
00:47:09
Speaker
It begs the question, how long are you trying to keep, Kurt? I guess for the basic duration of his contract. and They got they got they can take get about two years. They get about two years. Two years and hit the road, Jack. But within those two years, we'll say the Falcons have some of the best football and best seasons that they've had since Matt Ryan. Doesn't matter. Cousins will be 38 by that time. Oh, yeah. you Never mind. Hit the road, Jack. You're cooked. um You're not going to be like Rogers. You're not winning an MVP at that age. I'm sorry. Cause you got to think, right? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We, we see people athletes play longer. But cousins is 35 right now. He'll be 36 in a couple of weeks. He'll be 38 by the, he'll be 38 and they would have already paid him his money. We'll know if cousins has a, if cousins comes into this year and has a, has a great year, right. And Atlanta makes the playoffs for big moves, whatever. They probably would give cousins a year extension and give them his third year guarantee.
00:48:04
Speaker
And then they'll they'll get rid of him. But you can't even do that, though. Penance is 24. By the time her contract ends up, he'll be 28 before he's starting retinal. I can't wait. I can't wait till 28 because he started reps. So what you going to do? i I mean, you ain't got to keep cousins. I'm saying give him another year and trade him. No, I mean, how much is he getting now? I thought he just signed his extension. So he already has. He's already had his three year deal. Was it 4? Was it 4? 4 for 180? We're from 180. 180. 100 million guarantees. 100 million guaranteed to get by the bill. And then let's say the fourth year. get right well yeah We'll give you we'll give you anotherll you another So if he lasts all three years, Kurt, if he lasts all three years, we're basically saying Michael Penn is going to see the feelings. He'll be ready. He'll be ready. and He'll be prommed and ready for the Jets to take him on. Pennics better be ready by 27, because at that point, you're you're in your prom and having me talk to the field for a second. Cousins would be 3-4ths of the way at a Brett Favre trifecta.
Ranking NFL Quarterbacks
00:49:03
Speaker
Because again, let's be for a Kirk. Kirk's not Rogers. He ain't won an MVP at 39. He's not. you have a Listen, everyone keep talking about Kyle Pitt, Drake London. you Besides Rogers, we know. We know. It ain't happening. His name is prime time Kirk for a reason. We know he's the void. How many prime time games have Nana got this year? One too many.
00:49:28
Speaker
i gotta see one i got Oh, you want to play my favorite game, the schedule game? Oh, no. man If you pull them off. I just got to see how many 9 1 PM games they got. Hold on one second. was it because of' be before now One now. You know how it is. Two. They got two back to back. Lost, lost. Two, three, four. Now they're one and two? Well, you said four, two or four. but um' I'm not going to order. I'm not going to mind ranking them right now. I'm already blind ranking the ones that losses. They got Cowboys on a one o'clock game. They might get flexed. Yeah, for sure. Especially if the Cowboys figure out what they're doing with their contract talks between Dak and CD. because they got it They got a Falcons Raiders game scheduled for 8.30. We'll see if that holds. So four or five of us.
00:50:24
Speaker
Oh, so ah four or five. If we say five, what, a column one for four or two for four in those games? Well, I didn't show you opponents, so. Sure, give me the opponent. one the last The one asset that the five made me is the Raiders, so. That's a win, OK. One. Who are the other four? ah Chiefs, Eagles. but Oh, so there were two already. if there one The Eagles Chiefs one is back to back. to So they're only two to start. imp private which yeah They're only to start in prime time. Kurt's not already on to. If that's the first couple weeks of the season, those are two straight losses they're going to collect. Like like going around, going to Monopoly, you're collecting two losses in prime time. Poor Kurt. Jared already throwing dirt ah on Kurt Coven's name. I've i've claimed that Kurt Coven is 11 to 15 quarterback in the league. That's good. Mud. That's good. what I'm trying to figure out where you're ranking him.
00:51:23
Speaker
About 11 to If he's 11 to 15, then that's good, then. That's just not a winner in the broad talk, OK? I'm sorry. I'm sorry to tell you what you consistently show me throughout my time watching football. I'm sorry. I can't argue with that. But what I can argue with you is that we're about to watch Justin Fields be great. Shut up, about me my man, Mike Foster. Please. Please.
00:51:48
Speaker
Oh, please. We're going to see Kale wins. Turn up. Bryce Young? Better year this year. Why? Because it can't get much worse. Can't get much worse than last year. We have a better year. Better year by Bryce. Well, he's going to have to have a better year by the foot. But he's going to have a better year. That's solidifying. Better year from Bryce Young. Kyle Murray, better year. I'm just going to name the short QBs right now. Kyle Murray, better year. That's why I received her in the draft, better year. You kind of did at one point. I did, but it's kind of like the principle, like, yeah, I didn't like this person, but there's other people I hate way worse, so I kind of like this person. What other short QB am I missing? I think that's it, right? The original short QB, Russell Wilson.
00:52:37
Speaker
Can't have a better year if Justin Fields can't have a better year. I'm sorry. Can't, can't, can't solidify both. What are we going to do? Like a tandem QB, like Carson Winston. Listen, Justin Fields can be the elite kick returner he was born to be. They're going to do like, they're going to do what he did with Joe Hurtson. Hey, we're going to throw. He's going to be Cordell Stewart. He's going to be an honor bit receiver. He's going to be an honor bit running bet. He might get the occasional running quarterback. He's calling him to a prior at this point. No, thank you. Well, I meant for the stealer thing. It's Cordell Stewart, but whatever. And Russell Wilson could be a glorified Tommy Maddox that we can go on about our day. And they'll draft the quarterback. And hopefully he doesn't do the things that the other legendary quarterback in Pittsburgh was alleged to have been doing. I'm just, you know.
NFL Team Strengths & Weaknesses
00:53:20
Speaker
Fair. I'm going to give you three teams. OK. Three teams. You're going to blindly rank them to who you think is going to be the best team out of the three. OK. Worst team. And then who has a fairly good shot at being an X Factor? OK. First team. All right, go ahead. First team, the Titans.
00:53:37
Speaker
Okay. Second team Packers. Okay. Thirteen dolphins.
00:53:47
Speaker
I'm, I'm Titans are three because we just don't know that they've lost a lot. They new quarter, a new coach, new running back. We just don't know as a lot of unknown, uh, in Tennessee. Is is is the receiving for any good? Is will let us any good? Well, the receiving core is very good with D'Andre Hopkins and count really when when you know first as well. When the Berks is healthy, but we don't know this consistently, right? Is my point. You have to have the. Packard, I mean. Dolphins when they were healthy and when they were gentlemen were up there as a top team in the league.
00:54:32
Speaker
We've seen the Packers have a great second half, but we don't know if that's going to be sustainable. Like, they come out the gate, they play Philadelphia, who we expect to be better this year. Now, they're on us. They, you know, Green Bay and Philadelphia, the last time we've seen these teams are going in opposite directions. Yeah. um So, we don't know how that's going to shake, but Love's holding out a practice, he might get a big new contract. Chris, what's going Huh? Chris, what's going on outside outside your house? What's going on over there?
00:55:01
Speaker
That's crazy. I could barely hear. My shoe. I'm thinking they coming for you, man. way up there dead that's Not time. They're not coming for me. But soon. Hopefully not. But you look at the you look at the the factors. They're trending upward. I apologize for any background news. But they're trending upward. But we don't know what loves going to look like. Is he going to be as consistent as he was at the end of last year? Is he going to play well? We just don't know. And I think with the dolphins, it's all dependent on health because we've seen them when they're healthy, they're, they're a very good team. They can put up points, but is their defense going to be able to stand up? Is their defense going to be able to stop anybody? Because they're, they're in track meets all the time. And if the dolphins don't, the dolphins are one of them teams. Like if they have two or three drives where they don't put up any points or they don't move the ball, it seemed like they team out of it. Like.
00:55:59
Speaker
they down, you know what I'm saying? So I think they, they need to show that they can weather the storm a little bit. Like this would be great for, you know, I got Sergio to kind of to jump in, but just for me, from my outsider's perspective, I think you still, I think I'm going to do Packers one dolphins too. Cause I think backers just that great last season, those last eight games, especially that when in in Detroit, Thanksgiving, um they went in Dallas schools without saying, and they competed for three quarters with San Francisco. So, and San Francisco was pretty much, you know, a quarter away from when it's Louisville. Yeah. So you look at Green Bay, I think their ascent is a little bit more advanced. I think they're kind of like OKC. Yeah. Like they're there way earlier than people expected, but
00:56:52
Speaker
um
00:56:55
Speaker
i think i think is I think the Dolphins are too, because they have more questions around. We know what they are, but is it good enough? I think the Dolphins losing Shaq Barrett hurt. I do. I don't know how well we'll see Jill Ramsey, right? And the Packers have a lot. On the outside, I've already told you probably, I'll say on this spot too, I think the Packers win their division. But the Titans for me, I don't hate him. That division's kinda sweet. If we're being in honest terms, that division's kinda sweet. Well, Elvis is what now? Solidified himself as the starter, which is what we needed. When you look at that team defensively, it's shaky, but it's been solid. It's getting better every year. The offense is the only thing that they needed to really put a stamp on. And now they kind of did the same thing the Giants did. They moved off of the franchise running back, the monocle of your team,
00:57:55
Speaker
the the bone, the real the real meat, right? And they're saying, we gotta now, we gotta find the new the next main course. Yeah, but if you want Giants territory, I don't, eat they they don't even need to put Tennessee in this conversation. Well, I think Tennessee should be better than the Giants. I think they should be. But they're not in the, dolph this is not, they're not in Dolphins Packers territory at all. True. True, true, true. At all. They're down there in like. Well, I'm kind of. through them as potentially fighting for a second, third in their division. Cause if you think about it, that's what a dolphins are fighting for. If we're being- Are they better than Jacksonville? Is Tennessee better than Jacksonville? They might be even, right? Is Jacksonville better than Tennessee? Yes. Are they? No, they just lost Calvin, really. And they haven't remained many major upgrades to their team. is I think they have a better coach. We don't know what Brian Calvin is. Okay. I think they have a better coach. yeah better Right now they have a better quarterback.
00:58:53
Speaker
and they bad but well that it think I think they had better weapons. Who? but eating eating at all Who? Tennessee right up there with. Actually, I don't know who the runner back is right now. Tony Pollard. Tony Pollard. That's not horrible. Tony Pollard. That's not it yeahs so about how is that. That Tony Pollard about. All right, is the game between him and ETN? That much off, though. They're real similar. The only difference is age. The gap is age. That's it. oh Running back situation is a little bit similar. they They got them cleared on running. They got them clear on quarterback. They got them clear on coach. I think Jacksonville's offensive line needs a little bit of tweaking. I think the Titans cleared them on the offensive line right now. they That's what they both did. Titans have bit a better O-line. Cleared them on wide receiver. They just took the wide receiver. They just previously had. I really came back. It wasn't the greatest year, but it was a good year. Okay. So, okay. Let me ask you this. Is Tennessee burning Indianapolis?
00:59:51
Speaker
In the end, Indianapolis has the weapons. In the end, it's shaky. Has the defense. But they don't have the quarterback. Well, they do. Does he have the health? Can he play? The same thing I say about Justin Fields and the same thing I say about Daniel Jones, I've got to say about Anthony Richardson. If you're about Anthony Richardson in a conversation with Justin Fields and Daniel Jones, I think better than both of them. I've got to be consistent because you haven't seen it consistently. You have not seen him. He has the flashes, but he just doesn't have the the duration. but you had He's had flashes, but can he do it? Can he stay healthy? like If he plays 17 games this year and he bought out, then yeah, he's better than Bump 1 and Bump 2. But for right now, you've got to be in the unknown category. You and you are unknown. I do like Shane Steichen over there with Anthony Richardson. I really do.
01:00:44
Speaker
so i mean I can't put an interest in the category of a Daniel Jones and Justin Fielder. I feel like that's just disrespectful. I think his ceiling is higher than Levis and and Jones and Fields. Do you think it's higher than law cause Lawrence? Because Lawrence, as we've seen, have we seen Trevor Lawrence's ceiling now? is that's That's the question, is I don't i don't know what his so ceiling is. Because what is Trevor Lawrence now? This is what, year four? It's kind of like him and Herbert. What's the ceiling? We think we know the ceiling, but Well, Herbert, I know Herbert's feeling. Herbert is top five key in himself. Is Trevor Lawrence closer to Kirk Cousins than we think? ah You know what I'm saying? Like, is he? Are these guys real? Are these guys closer to average than elite? Damn. That was, oof. No, i'm I'm dead serious. Because you know how ah how I feel, that there's only a handful of elite level. I know i know I've seen Herbert most of the years top five quarterback in a week. Now, is and there's a chance in the postseason, you definitely have to be seen. But he's top five quarterback. OK, top five quarterback. but then it's like
01:01:42
Speaker
You kind of get into the situation where it's like, all right, again, what good are you if we can't win? Yeah. And especially when, or not even when we can, you can't get me to the postseason. I can, like the great quarterbacks, the Mahomes is the Rogers, the Brady's, the Manning's, the whomever. Yeah. Made plays to make their team better and to win games. Yeah. Above most competition. So let's not spare me with the spare me, spare me. All right, Jerry, anything else before we wrap this up? know Right. Well, thank you all for listening to another episode of Straight to the Point. If you like what you hear, make sure you tell a friend and tell a friend to tune in. We're still a 5 star rated podcast on iTunes, unless, you know, the field taters or the field supporters, I should say, come out and ding me for not supporting their man, their guy, the kick returner. You know what's coming out? Wow, kick returner was wild.
01:02:43
Speaker
The backup. Second string down.
01:02:49
Speaker
Horrible. My god, let's pause there. Horrible. Follow straight to the point on all your favorite socials is at SDT podcast. Jared, drop your socials. Follow me at underscore JW Hughes. A new format coming soon for me at least. Check us out. Check what we're going to be dropping soon. um As always, NFL is coming soon. What that means is Chris and I will be doing our predictions again. Probably going to be talking about bet soon. I think we can start adding that. And don't, don't you forget, don't you forget about Amy 76's lock up of the week. We might start doing some parlay conversations as well into the fray. I feel like we start adding that in.
Transition from Basketball to NFL Excitement
01:03:33
Speaker
NFL season is upon us. we go ah It's time for us to revamp away from the oh the shivers of basketball and into the
01:03:41
Speaker
the glory of the ball. You see how, you see how quick Jared turned on basketball? Listen now, until, until Christmas come. You've locked me into the till Christmas come. I can't, can't, can't watch that
Anticipation for Olympic Events & USA Basketball
01:03:50
Speaker
deplorable. You're not going to watch the Olympics bright and early tomorrow? I don't know. Early this next week, man. I'm already locked in, uh, next Friday. I'll be wide awake watching, uh, I know it's this Friday. You know, it's this Friday. It's tomorrow. I'll be tuned in West Coast times. I'll be up real early. brand almost up us some next usa basketball I will be watching. They would have already got gold next week. I'll be watching Stefan LeBron. ah Hopefully go crazy. um I will also not be tuned in to the six years preseason, but game one opening night I'm there.
01:04:21
Speaker
stay at me in the CP. I hope so. high in the city I should be in the city. You're going to be at the center. I'm trying to be at, yeah, relatively now known as the center. Yes. The center. No longer.
01:04:36
Speaker
all their names by well far yeah We'll talk about some of the stadium changes. Yeah.