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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
AFC West 2026: Every Team's Ceiling, Floor & Breakout Player (Ep. 2037)
00:52:26
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A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
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What's up, y'?
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All?
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Summer's got a different tempo. Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer. Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be.
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A
It's those in between moments.
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That's where the ideas hit. Conversations stretch out. Little memories sneak up on you. And sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. That color, that chill. The new Tropical Butterfly refresher from Starbucks. Guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls. Yeah, that feels like summer before you even taste it.
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Funny how one small stop becomes the
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best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly refresher from Starbucks.
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A
Park it right here, everybody. It's time for the tailgate. It's me, Joey P. Joe P. Zappia. Derrick Brown is on vacation. So we've got the Mandalorian Grogu here today. I'll let you figure out who's who. It's Scott Bogman, it's Andrew Erickson, and me, Joey P. Talking about the AFC West. We're going to preview those teams, what we think is in store for them. Talk a little. Maybe some of the win totals too, as we get deeper. Maybe a couple wagers we want to place because this is just football talk here at Tailgate. This is what we do. It's not really fantasy, it's not really betting. It's just kind of football. And sometimes the big meta discussions are the best ones to have. But first, gentlemen, we gotta start here at the very top of the Tailgate today with a story that broke yesterday afternoon, which made me have to go back and rewrite parts of the black book, which I was not too happy about and had to redo a bunch of stuff because Josh Jacobs is in a little bit of hot water here. So let's take it one step at a time here. Give you the. The tail of the tape here in terms of what the police report will tell us. So Josh Jacobs was arrested in Wisconsin on domestic abuse charges. According to police in Hobart Lawrence Police Department. He was arrested on five charges on May 23, a complaint of domestic disturbance. He was booked in jail for battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. Of course, Jacobs and his attorneys have denied all these charges. He's been released on bail. Now we know that the NFL is going to conduct their own investigation. Domestic violence is a as a horrible thing, and the NFL takes it very seriously, as they should. Uh, this certainly is a very difficult situation for Jacobs, a difficult situation for the Packers. Andrew Erickson, obviously, first and foremost, we want the legal process to play itself out. That's the most important thing. We can talk about the football process, though, because it's a football show. So here's what we're looking at. If things start to get a little dark here and more of these, you know, allegations continue to come out here and we get more details about it, certainly, I'm sure the packers will start to look at things and the NFL will start to look at things, too. There's a good chance they could put them on the some sort of list here, putting him off to the side. If the packers decide to release him. He's got two years and 25 million remaining on his contract as a $6.2 million cap hit. So this is very early in the process here. Andrew, what's your first instinct tell you whether you think the packers are going to go from here based off of the information that we have from yesterday?
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C
Well, first of all, just horrible situation overall, these are not allegations that should be taken lightly. Horrible situation. I guess for me, from the packers standpoint, they're just going to probably let the process play out. That's kind of what every NFL team does. It just seems like they're just trying to play the waiting game, and they probably like this to be resolved sooner rather than later so they can figure out what they want to do with their current depth chart. Because, look, their next running back is Marshawn Lloyd, and he has barely played since being drafted in the NFL. Chris Brooks is another player that they resigned in free age. Daniel at Fitzy is kind of a Chris Brooks stand, but he's a limited player. No, not someone that's going to be operating on all three downs. They lost Emmanuel Wilson to the Seahawks, someone that kind of stepped up big at points last year. So do they look to free agency to add another running back? Do they? Does lafleur call his buddy in Arizona and be like, hey, you got all these running backs you drafted Jeremiah Love, like, send me an Arizona Cardinals running back.
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A
James Connor's the guy to go after. To be honest, that would.
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C
So that makes a lot of sense based on what Jacobs has kind of turned into the last couple years. Again, he's been more of the reliable, sturdy, get you the yard you need. Not really the explosive guy just in the latter portion of his career, and we saw last year him kind of fall off a little bit. He was banged up throughout the season and we know the packers want to establish the run. The other thing, the other way to look at it too is if this Jacobs thing, he gets suspended, the team moves on for him, whatever. Do they just now lean into? Well, can we just let Jordan Love cook? Right. Can we just let, can we just throw the ball more instead of trying to pound the rock again? Maybe we don't have the right running backs to do it. So why don't we lean into our quarterback that we paid all this money to. We signed Jaden Reed to an extension, we drafted Matthew Gold and we have Christian Watson. We're going to get Tucker Kraft back. Like this could be a high flying offense if they lean a little bit more into the past game. So although that's not directly, I think that actually does have a direct relationship to see how this Jacobs scenario plays out.
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A
See, I think it hurts Jordan Love a lot because I think the balance having that run game, there's a reason why Leflore runs it the way that they do. And I think it's to also keep love not just healthy, but also productive. I think there's been, there's been good and bad Jordan Love here that we've seen over the years so far. And I think he's still a quarterback that has opportunity. But he was one of my bus quarterbacks going into the season because I was a little concerned about the weapons around him. I love Tucker Kraft, but I mean the, the wide receiver grew. I mean if Watson is your number one guy, a guy that can never stay on the field, that's a big problem for me going to the season. And to Andrew's point box. Like the first thing that popped in my head is, okay, this is the team that's going to go after James Connor or maybe even Tyler Algeria if they really want to pay extra. I don't think they do. My guess is the Connor kind of running back and if not him, somebody like him. So that feels to me where the pivot point will be. They, they will bring somebody else in because the current group there with Pierre Strong, Naji Harris, Marshawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong is not what you're going to go into the season with to compete in a very competitive division in the NFC North.
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B
Yeah, Najee, Nick Chubb, still free agent Joe Mixon.
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C
I mean, in his foot.
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B
Yeah. If he hasn't literally shot himself in the foot, then maybe he's okay. So there are some free agents out there for the packers. But you guys are. They have to make a move one way or the other. You know, I think that it's probably going to be like you said, Joe, where Jacobs ends up on the exempt list until the season starts and then we'll see or until we get some resolution legally with this. So. But you know, something terrible has happened here. Either a guy is going to be in jail for a long time or he has been accused of some horrible stuff. So something terrible has happened. Either way, it's a really bad situation like Erickson said. And I think the Packers, I think you go to a free agent first. So I think if you think Najee is okay to play coming off this Achilles and all that stuff, then that's who you go with. It doesn't cost you any draft picks, you see. And then if it doesn't work, that's when you trade draft capital or you wait until the end of camp when running backs start getting cut and pick up somebody who's cut. So I think they're going to try to do this without spending any capital.
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A
Yeah, well, they're definitely going to have to bring in more help. I don't know what it's going to be. I don't think it's going to cost you a lot of capital to bring in James Connor, but it might be more than one guy too, to camp. You're going to see a couple of guys brought in here. Go ahead, Andrew.
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C
One of the, one of the players that I think under the radar I would really like to sign with the packers is Khalil Herbert. So he has a relationship with Luke Getzy who's on the staff for. He was with GCY in Chicago when we saw Herbert actually play pretty well. He bounced around a bunch of practice squad teams last year, Seahawks, Colts and Jets. He's a free agent, so he is free. You don't have to trade anything to get him. And I think that he has juice. And that's what Jacobs doesn't have at this point. I think in his career. It's that explosive home run hitting ability. Chloe Herbert, again, not a perfect running back, but he can go take it to the house.
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A
All right. It wasn't the only bit of news. We were kind of coming hot to the show today with something a little bit more fun and entertaining. But obviously the Josh Jacobs news is, is depressing and horrible and wretched. And so we're just going to turn the page from that and move on to Matthew Stafford. Now, Matthew Stafford, obviously good news. He's getting an extension which is terrific for him. He certainly, coming off an mvp, deserves it. We went from a guy who wasn't practicing at all in August and everyone was terrified his career was over, to him going to win the mvp to him then going to get an extension on top of that. So now he's signed through the 2027 season. He's going to make up to $60 million with all the playoff incentives in there. Bogs, how much does this extension magnify the stupidity of the Ty Simpson pick this year?
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B
I don't hate it as much as everybody else does. The Ty Simpson pick. Is it something I would have done? No, but it's. Stetson Bennett was behind Matthew Stafford. I don't think you can have Stetson Bennett behind Matthew Stafford. So you had to make a plan here somewhere. It does make it look worse. No doubt. Specifically this close after the draft makes it look bad, but I don't know. I think at the end of the day, if the Rams end up winning the super bowl, nobody's going to care that they took Ty Simpson in the first round. So results, results are going to make this matter more or less. And. But I. If you have a chance to keep Stafford for an extra year, keep them for an extra year, do it. So had to make this move.
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A
I don't know, there had to be some other quarterback off the scrap heap. I just hated this, Andrew, because I feel like you're in your window, like this is your shot and now it's not only your shot this year, but now you're going to say 20, 27. You might give it the old college try as well. And if you could have drafted something with a very rare top 20 pick for the Rams, okay, They're either a team that's always in the playoffs or a team that says FM picks and trades them away every year for players they've got a top 20 pick, right? They have an opportunity to go ahead and make a pick there that really could make an impact on the offense or the defense. Instead, it's a guy that's not going to see the light of day. In case of emergency, break open glass. And I'm not confident that Ty Simpson can go in there under the circumstances and continue to propel you to the playoffs. So to me, this just magnifies, just a bad decision process. And I don't know where the Rams are with things, but I'm happy for Matthew Stafford. Are you as happy as I am for him, Andrew?
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C
I mean, more money for Matthew Stafford in his pocket. Gotta love that. I do think that this is just how the Rams operate with Matthew Stafford, his contracts, adding this extra year so they can have that cost control. Because to Bog's point, and the overarching point about the Rams, if they win the super bowl this year, despite driving Ty Simpson, that pick doesn't even matter. Who cares? Like, they got the super bowl anyway. They actually have a quarterback of the future. And then if Stafford decides, you know what, I'm going to go out on top, I'm going to retire. Well, the Rams are set in 2027 with a new quarterback entering his second season after sitting his rookie year as the super bowl winners. So I get the pro again. Always talking about, like, process over results. Look, the process don't agree with the Rams, but if they win the super bowl anyway, who cares?
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B
Being the perfect pick still, the path to. The path to Simpson being the perfect pick is still open. That's what it is. Like, they win this, it's exactly what Erickson said. They win the Super Bowl, Stafford says, I don't need any more money. I'm good. I'm going to retire. And now we have Simpson, who sat here and learned the system for a year, ready to go.
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I guess we'll find out at the end of it. But we also find out who's going to win some of the free stuff we're giving away here on our new channel, the Tailgate. And we still got a couple days left where you can win the Jamar Chase signed Bengals jersey from pristineauction.com all you have to do. Subscribe to our new channel here. Tailgate NFL. Drop your comments below.
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C
That's it.
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A
That's all you got to do. And the Jamar Chase jersey can be yours again. Pristine Auction, the best place to get all your stuff when it comes to autographed helmets, jerseys and even more. And of course, this is the channel where we talk NFL all the time. So subscribe. Tell your friends about Tailgate. NFL. The best time you can have talking football with your friends. That's what we do here. All right, let's turn the page here to what we really showed up to talk about today. The AFC West, a very heated division. We got a team that's trying to remake itself. We got a team that's trying to retool with a franchise quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach. And then we got two teams at the top jockeying for position of who might win this division. But let's start with a team that's loaded, the Denver Broncos, who are indeed the favorites for this division, as we all would assume. Now, obviously they've expanded the run game a little bit, drafting Coleman and then on top of that bringing back J.K. dobbins. So it's a big fat mess in fantasy, but who cares? You're gonna have to do some depth here, which is good because J.K. dobbins is not gonna stay healthy over a full season. We got Bo Nix returning from a pretty awful injury there at the end of days here with the playoffs. Fractured right ankle, not great. Everybody says he's gonna be fine. Sean Payton was very optimistic. He expects him to be there for week one. Andrew Erickson, do you have any reservations about the health of Bo Nix entering the season?
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C
I do not. Obviously I'd like him to be at OTAs in full participation, but it seems like he is on track from what Sean Payton has told us to be ready for training camp, and that's what really matters. A lot of this stuff is voluntary anyway. And if you have any sort of injury or ailment, the team keeps you out because they know that this is voluntary. Install stuff. And as long as you can do stuff on the board, etc, learning a new system, I think that it's really not too big of a deal for B. Knicks.
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A
Yeah, for me, Boggs, Bonicks, it wasn't always pretty. In fact, sometimes the first halfs were ugly, but when the chips were down, second half, fourth quarter, bone. Knicks found a way to win games. And I, I think at the end of the day, like, you could take shots at Bonick all you want. The dude's got a little bit of that magic in him. And some quarterbacks have it, others don't. And the more you, you have, those games go your way, I think the more confidence you have that, hey, we're just going to figure things out. And it dragged into the playoffs, unfortunately, came up a game short for them. But what's your take entering this next season for Bo Nicks? What do you need to see out of him?
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B
I mean, run it back right there. Bonix ankle injury, away from going to the Super Bowl. So they tried their best to bring everything back here. They did a very good job. O line is intact, defensive line is still good. Didn't lose a lot of free agents. Still one of the best secondaries in the league. And you bring in Jalen Waddle, right? A bigger target for Bo Nick. So I think the last part of Bo Nix is surrounding him with talent. They're trying to do that at the running back position by bringing in Jonah Coleman. To kind of put some weight in here and say okay, you know, we're either going to be really fresh at running back or we're going to find one that works. So I like what they've done. I think that this is a team that is on the ascent still and Bonix is a big part of that.
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How do you think Waddle fits into this offense box? I'm curious because he has certainly not came on like gangbusters beginning of his career. Looks like a catch machine, right? It was, it's a very fun offense in Miami. At least it was at the time. Things got a lot less fun the last couple of years and then he
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had to play with scramble brains Tua and Quinn Ewers. So yeah, I think this is going to be outstanding for him.
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Okay.
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B
How can this not be better, right?
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He also has a, he also has a timeshare in the blue medical tent unfortunately which I hate so much because I think J Model's so talented.
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B
I think you might too if you played for the Dolphins.
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C
Just the guy is constantly getting banged up in, in games. So that, that is another concern. I, I didn't mean to steal the show.
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No, that was a good line. If you're gonna steal it, steal it on a good line.
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C
I was like, I just, that's something that frustrates me with him in his deployment at least in Miami.
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B
I mean personally for God's sake, not in the blue tent.
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C
I, I think he's a really good fit for, for what Denver's doing and I'm interested to see if maybe, just maybe with Davis Webb now the offensive play caller, not Sean Payton. Maybe this offense is just a little bit more fantasy friendly because it's obviously been a disaster with Sean Payton because he just likes to use 12,000 different players. He likes to rotate everybody. Nobody's the alpha, everybody eats. But what they did, trading a first round pick, this is a move that super bowl contenders make is okay, he's, we're one piece away. We were one game away from the Super Bowl. How do we get there in 2026? We go and get Jalen Waddle. They're bringing back all their same receivers they had last year and now you get Waddle added to the fold. So I, I think that that's a really good, I think that's kind of Sean Payton's way of looking at last year and recognizing we won 11 one score games. We had 12 comeback wins. They're not winning 14 games again. I know that's not where their win total Is. But I think Sean Payton has to acknowledge, like, okay, we ran pretty hot last year.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Like in a lot of spots. So that's going to regress. Especially look at Bo Nix. He was second worst in EPA per play. When leading. When they were trailing, he was third best. So it really was the tale of two halves when it came to Bo Nicks last year. So I am interested to see what the Davis Webb factor has to do with this Broncos offense.
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A
Did you see that SB Nation tweet, by the way, earlier today? I don't know if you saw this. They did a thing like building the worst NFL team. I know this is not about the Broncos, but since we were talking about the Dolphins, there was, you know, quarterback, running back, wide receiver, blah, blah, blah. Just like take the worst room for every, you know, every NFL team to make the worst NFL team. The Dolphins had three spots on the
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B
worst thing, only three.
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Worst running back. Excuse me, worst wide receiver, worst tight end and worst cornerback slash safety secondary. So. So there you go.
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B
Yeah, that's probably right.
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C
Throwing shade at Greg Dulcich.
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A
And you know what? Peyton's got an uphill battle too, because no quarterback is that. Excuse me. No head coach has ever won a Super bowl and then made it back and won a Super bowl with another franchise. Parcels made it back to a Super bowl with the Patriots after winning two with the Giants. Don Shula, you know, obviously he had lost the super bowl first, so it doesn't really count with the Colts and then one with the Dolphins, but nobody's ever won and then moved on. Even Andy Reid, right. Went to the super bowl with the Eagles, didn't win. Goes on with the Chiefs. Like it's hard to. So far, that's kind of like breaking new ground. To actually win a Super bowl as head coach, leave that franchise and then actually win one with a different franchise, you would think it would happen more, but it's never happened.
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B
Yeah, I mean, it's never happened until it happens. I mean, I know, but this is going to be broken at some point
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when you're in the Super Bowl. 50. What?
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B
I understand.
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C
I have a qu. I have a question for you guys about the Broncos. So we know that Healthy Bonix, most likely they probably beat the Patriots and AFC Championship game. They go to the Super Bowl. Maybe it's a closer game. Probably a closer game.
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B
But they still.
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C
I think they still lose.
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B
So when. Yeah, let's.
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C
So let's say they lose the super bowl last year.
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Joe.
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C
Aren't they just like the picturesque? Oh, this Is the Super bowl hangover team because of all the regression factors?
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Sure.
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C
So do you think the fact that they didn't actually get to the super bowl is kind of maybe, you know, making that fly under the radar a little bit more when this team, again, has a lot of points where they're going to lose a lot more games than they did last year, but they
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B
didn't have that three extra weeks of stuff.
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Yeah, well, look, the defense is so good, too. I mean, we just look at, you
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C
know, healthy last year, though.
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Healthy last year. You know, world, you know, they brought in Hufanga last year, too.
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B
It's not like a crazy strength of schedule either. I think it's 15th, so it's kind
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A
of rare to have in it, though. Let's talk about that. Because they have five of last year's playoff teams in the first six weeks. So if they get off to a good start and they stay healthy, they're in good shape. And then after that, it gets easier. But that, that is interesting that it is very front loaded at the beginning of the season for the Broncos.
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C
So those, the two matchups against the Chiefs.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Are going to be huge, especially week one where you're probably going to get,
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A
if you get that w. It's not going to be 100 Mahomes in week one. I think everyone's smoking crack. If you think backstage Mahomes is going to play in the first month of the season, like, I just, I'd be shocked. Shocked. I mean, and I don't think it's a good thing. I don't think it's a good thing if he does.
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B
I, I, I think most people are not.
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C
I don't want to bet against Patrick Mahomes.
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A
Well, I, I don't, I want to bet on Patrick. He's an underdog, but, like, we gotta wait for it. We got to be patient.
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C
He's an underdog right now for, for people that are fading for playing week one.
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A
Well, I guess.
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B
Why would you play him week one?
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A
It put, yeah, it's so dumb. Especially when you have an early buy in week five. It just, it makes no sense. Give him the month of September off. Let him come back healthy 100%. I mean, we've seen these guys come back from the ACLs and the Achilles and all these things don't look right.
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C
Yeah, but Mahomes also, he has that, like, Tom, like psychopath gene.
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A
You get a psychopath gene all you want. ACL is an acl. And you know, the last thing you want to do is push it too fast.
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B
He has a psychopath gene. He doesn't have the Wolverine gene.
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A
To help Adamantium. Let's talk about the odds here on bettingpros.com you can check them out right now. The best odds for the super bowl for the Broncos plus 2000. Eight takers. I like that one.
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B
Yeah, not bad.
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A
I pretty plus 2000. Pretty good. Conference winner plus 1000. I like that too. Division winner plus 225. You can get it at. I mean that's, that seems like a wonderful wager to me.
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B
I'm not doing that.
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A
You're not doing that.
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C
All right.
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B
No.
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A
All right.
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B
You're only doubling up in a little, you know, when you have the Chargers and the Chiefs in this division too.
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C
Pass. There's a team. I want the AFC west spoilers.
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A
We got a long show to go make the playoffs as -140 is a yes. Which I think we all think they're going to be a playoff team.
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C
No.
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A
Would be a disaster for them at +130. I think we're all yes on making the playoffs. Right?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Yeah.
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C
They're going to be in.
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A
All right. What would you set? I don't know if you've seen it or not. Hopefully not. What would you set this wind to for the Denver Broncos?
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B
Nine and a half.
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C
Yeah, I, I, I could see it be ten and a half too because I won 14 games last year.
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A
Nine and a half is the number. So if you want to go over that nine and a half at minus 115 under a plus 110. So it does feel like they're a 10 win team at least the Denver Broncos this year. So I would go over that one and I look, I, I still think that defense is so good. They have a home field advantage here that not a lot of other teams have. Still, you know, it is a tough place to play, especially as the offense is better too.
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B
I mean, Coleman.
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A
Yes.
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B
And the tight ends in the draft.
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A
The defense is still elite. It's still a really, you know, really good situation there for them. All right, let's turn the page to the Chargers. Mike McDaniel comes in and maybe we'll have a hardball team that isn't boring offensively. Wouldn't that be fun? That would be very exciting. So I, I'm very much abuzz about Mike McDaniel being there because when you have an offensive mind like Mike McDaniel who doesn't have to worry about all the other stuff of coaching, which I just think is not his Mo Head coach is not his mo. He's a fun personality. If ever there was somebody that's an offensive coordinator, it's Mike McDaniel. And if there's somebody who probably shouldn't be a head coach, I think it's Mike McDaniel. Right? You know, like, you know how the defensive coordinator dresses and the offensive coordinator dresses. Like, that's what I'm talking about. Okay. And Mike McDaniel getting Justin Herbert, okay, the prototypical size, arm strength quarterback in the NFL. To me, this is fascinating. And you get Omarion Hampton in here, hopefully healthy, where he could have a huge season. You, you have Trey Harris to add into this group of wide receivers with lad McConkey and what you have QJ last year and figure that out. You have now two tight ends with Gadson and Joku. You have a lot of interesting pieces on this offense. To me, it's all about that offensive line saying healthy, because last year it was not. They lost their left tackle, they lost their right tackle at times. It was really difficult for them. So, Erickson, talk to me about what this new offense of the Chargers might look like and how long you think it's going to take for it to really kind of mold into what it potentially could be.
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C
I think this office is going to be sick. I am so hyped up for the Chargers. You laid out the case all the time personnel that they're going to be getting back the new additions. You need to mention Keaton Mitchell. He's another really explosive piece to this offense. So I think that this team is going to be hitting the ground running. You look at the two first games they face. You know, they play week one Arizona Cardinals. W like, so they're going to come
- [24:07]
A
out and be like, oh, my God,
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C
this Chargers offense is so good. Mike McDaniel, how many points did he score and put up on that terrible Denver Broncos team? Oh, was it like 70?
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A
Yeah. The Hackett team, 70 to 20 was the score.
- [24:19]
C
He put up a 70 burger against the team. I think that they're going to smoke the Cardinals week one, they're going to smoke the Raiders in week two, and then we're going to be all convinced that, oh my God, this offense is historic. It won't have that type of pace. But for me, who could be the Colts from last year where, oh my God, this team is unstoppable to start the year, L.A. chargers, they look like that team, especially given I think their defense is going to take a step back. Losing Jesse Minter, I think that's going to create more shootout environments. And I think that just means more offensive goodness from Herbert from the running backs. I think Lat McConkey is definitely going to bounce back after he had a really good rookie year down year basically like everybody else in the chargers offense in 2025. So I am really hyped.
- [25:02]
A
Yeah. Tyler Biotish was brought into under center. Like as I said, the offensive line.
- [25:07]
B
Three new interior guys.
- [25:08]
A
Three new interior guys. Right. And the offensive line to me of the Chargers is like, okay, you've got healthy tackles. Healthy like that's it. Just, just have that. Because I. I want to say it was 54 sacks Herbert took last year. It was off the chart.
- [25:21]
B
Right.
- [25:21]
A
It was just like he was playing
- [25:23]
C
with a broken hand, playing with a broken.
- [25:24]
B
He got hit playing with a broken ring.
- [25:27]
A
I made the playoffs with a broken freaking neck. He was the Kurt Angle last year of the NFL and like the. The term warrior gets thrown around way too much in the NFL. Justin Herbert had a warrior kind of season because he was banged up. He was getting this crap beat out of him on a daily basis. The scrap. The scrap crap all the scrappy out of him. Right. And if you give Herbert more time, if you give him a little bit more confidence that he's not going to get murdered back there. Oh, man. Like this could be a fantastic. I mean this is a guy that I, I think never gets enough credit. And I don't know why he came on to the scene in his rookie year box and he just blew the doors off, broke the passing record. All this stuff came back the next year through for 5,000 yards and. And nobody seems to care. Nobody seems to play off success.
- [26:13]
B
Herbert, that's it.
- [26:14]
A
But they're the Chargers. Do we forget that? Who their old coach was and how miserable that situation was. That's going to change this year. Especially with the defense.
- [26:22]
B
I have. I think so too. And I think, you know, Jesse Minter is a big loss, as Erickson said.
- [26:26]
A
But you're right.
- [26:28]
B
I love them adding Macedor. Like perfect. I know he's a little bit older of a prospect, but he's exactly what they need. You put him in here. We with Tuli Tupelo to took a big step last year. I think Canard is going to take another step this year. You still have a guy like Bud Dupree who has speed on the outside. At his age. I think the pass rush gets better. They added a guy named Tennyson Smith who go after the ball in the secondary. I love the additions they made on defense. And I think the biggest part of changing the offense is getting this O line to stay healthy. You need more than one and a half Mississippi's for Herbert to be able to throw that beautiful deep ball, right? One about one Mississippi, 1/2 Mississippi is better than him just getting destroyed back there. So, yeah, the Chargers are a very good squad. They're going to give Herbert more time and I think the defense, I think they're better in personnel than they were last year. So I'm pretty excited about the Chargers team. I think they're going to be good.
- [27:25]
A
You also have Derwin James being made the highest paid safety for the second time in his career. So good on them.
- [27:32]
B
I mean, James, all he had to do was prove that he could stay on the field.
- [27:35]
A
Did that. Look, and when you have a division like this that's so competitive, right, you need a guy out there who's going to be able to, you know, read what the quarterbacks are doing. You know, a guy that can, you know, go out there, make plays. And also he's just a team leader kind of guy too. That leadership that you have is really important and that's what he brings to the table there. So look, Chargers are in a good spot. It would not shock me if, if they were to win this division. Let's see what Vegas thinks about them. To win the Super bowl plus 1600 for the Chargers. So there you have it. Conference winner plus 825. So if you think the Chargers can get to the Super Bowl. Plus 825. Any takers there? Anybody? Anybody?
- [28:15]
C
Hello? Hello, this is Malcolm Glabel from Smart talks with IBM. Today we're diving into a fascinating conversation with Stefano Pallard, head of fan development for Scuderia for rehp. Your pronunciation is.
- [28:28]
B
It's strongly American.
- [28:30]
C
It's more Scuderia. Ferrari. I'm still working on rolling my R's, but what I was able to learn from Stefano was the importance of engaging the Tifosi, the Ferrari superfans. In the digital age. Ferrari fans and super fans want to be part of something, want to belong to something. So they want to be part of a community and ultimately they want to
- [28:52]
A
be part of a winning team.
- [28:54]
C
You've got Ferrari, which has a long history, design history, and now you're interacting in a kind of digital space. I'm curious how you balance those two traditions. When it comes to fan engagement, it's really digital technology. And digital channels, are they enabled to create a deeper connection with our fans? To learn more about how Ferrari and IBM are using technology to build deeper connections with fans. Visit IBM.comferrari Happy birthday, America.
- [29:29]
A
It's time to celebrate and play your
- [29:30]
C
favorite Las Vegas casino games by American owned spinquest.com what's better than fireworks and American Pie? Hitting a blackjack in the palm of
- [29:39]
A
your hand and you won't lose your fingers.
- [29:41]
C
Over a thousand games, including slots and live dealers and $30 coin packs are on sale for 10 spinquest.com buy American players.
- [29:49]
A
For American players, Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. That sounds like a no.
- [30:02]
C
Sprinkle that.
- [30:03]
A
No.
- [30:03]
C
Well, they're not the Bengals, so.
- [30:04]
A
Yeah. Well, you gotta be careful. It can be division winner plus 190. So there you have it. You're getting worse odds right now on the Chargers are the favorite in Vegas over the Broncos, which I find.
- [30:17]
B
I'll take Denver still.
- [30:19]
C
How close?
- [30:21]
A
No. Plus 210.
- [30:25]
B
It's a coin flip. But still take Denver.
- [30:28]
A
And then to make the playoffs obviously is a big fat minus on the. Yes. Minus 165. No is plus 150. I don't want to take that. Especially in a year where, you know the. The Chiefs are in a weird transition year. All right, win total. What do you think this in wind total is there? If we know what the Broncos are at? Nine and a half.
- [30:43]
B
Nine and a half.
- [30:44]
C
It's probably also.
- [30:44]
A
You're getting nine and a half and ten and a half. The best over you can get is nine and a half. Minus 125. The best under minus 145.
- [30:52]
B
So it seems like ninth.
- [30:55]
C
So Vegas likes the Chargers more than Broncos.
- [30:57]
A
That's not how it opened. But what. It's what it looks like now. So. Because people probably bet the Chargers early.
- [31:03]
B
Sounds like the public likes them.
- [31:05]
A
Yeah.
- [31:06]
C
Does. Does Harbaugh volunteer? I don't remember when you were talking about Sean Payton with the head coaches that have been to the Super Bowl. Harbaugh. Does he qualify into that same thing? Because he lost. Because he lost Super Bowl.
- [31:19]
A
But no coach has ever won a Super bowl. Made it back and won with a different organization. That's.
- [31:23]
C
That's a coach ever lost.
- [31:25]
A
Now we have Super Bowl. Yeah, sure. Andy.
- [31:28]
C
And then went to win it.
- [31:29]
A
Yeah. Andy Reed, Don Shula. I mentioned earlier there's been a bunch. Those guys exist. So Harbaugh.
- [31:35]
C
So you're telling me it's Harbaugh.
- [31:36]
A
So would you tell me there's a chance there's no curse. So.
- [31:41]
C
Because that's what that's what I feel helps mitigate. Because the thing with the Chargers, mostly for Justin Herbert's career, to your point that you're making earlier, Joe, is usually just like, oh, it's the Chargers, right? Chargers are going to charge. They're going to do dumb things. They're the AFC version of the Falcons. But when you add Harbaugh as the head coach when he stepped in two years ago, he provided that stability. Last year, I think it was really just the injuries. But his first year, the Chargers were playoff team. 1 double digit games felt really good about them. And I think that's kind of what we'll see more of that version of
- [32:08]
A
here in top five defense last year, very quietly. I think a lot of people weren't expecting that. And, and look, I, I'm the forget my Patriots.
- [32:17]
B
Often coaches change teams before 2000, by
- [32:20]
A
the way, more than you think. Especially some of the good ones, too. You know, they, they'll, they'll move around. But like looking back on last year's playoffs, I mean, the Patriots really did have just a, a perfect storm of good fortune where they faced a Charger team that had no offensive line. They faced a Texans team in the snow and then went to the Blizzard bowl without Bo Nicks on the other side in Denver to get to a Super Bowl. I mean, it's absolutely like the easiest
- [32:47]
B
regular season schedule in the history of the game.
- [32:49]
A
And it was, it was a charm season. And look, people might ask, when are we going to do the AFC East? Well, we're waiting until June 1st because we feel like that might have an impact on how we feel about it. So we'll see. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's somewhere else. I don't know. You'll have to tune in.
- [33:04]
B
I hope he stays. It'd be so funny.
- [33:06]
C
He's not, you know, he, he, he's. He's gonna play for anyone else. About the Eagles. It may not be the Patriots, but it's not going to be on the Eagles.
- [33:15]
A
There's more wide receivers than kids at Antonio Cromartie's family cookout. Come on, man. This is crazy. How many wide receivers they got.
- [33:22]
B
You froze there for a second, Joe.
- [33:24]
A
I froze. Can you hear me now? All right.
- [33:27]
B
I can't. Maybe I froze. I don't know. But I, I just saw you not.
- [33:30]
A
You know what? When thaws out a good freeze, a nice wager at Hard Rock. Bed sponsor. Check it out right now. Go to Hard Rock BET Florida sportsbook. You got the NBA finals just days away. I Can't believe the Knicks are in it. Neither can all of my friends who are lifelong Nick fans. And of course you can go ahead and bet all the hardwood action right now at Hard Rock Bet. They got same game parlays, they got parlay boost. They got everything going on there. And if you bet 5 bucks, you get 115 bonus bets plus your winnings when that first bet hits. Only at Hard Rock Bet. So download the app today. You can go bet some of these NFL futures there at Hard Rock Bet, the sponsor of our show. Go support it. Do nice people. And bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Florida offered by the Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in other states. Must be 21 plus in physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. Play terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1833 play wise in Indiana. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem, call 1-800- gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Let's move on to the Chiefs. So Andrew, you're right to a certain extent. There is nothing better than telling Patrick Mahomes no, you can't. And we made a lot of money a couple years ago on those Patrick Mahomes road games in the playoffs when he was an underdog. And we rode that all the way to the Super Bowl. It was a beautiful time. Cash out all my 49ers bets to win the super bowl and parlayed them into Patrick Mahomes MVP in the super bowl winning Chiefs. And it's a great finish all timer, all time run there that we had. But it's a different situation now. You know, the Chiefs coming off a really down year two years ago, every single close game went their way, every single one. The margin of victory in those games are like 0.5. It was crazy. And every single one of them bounced the way of the Chiefs until they got to the super bowl and they got bounced on their head by the Eagles. And it's been really ugly ever since trying to figure this out. It's an older team, they've tried to get a little healthier. They tried to move some of these pieces right. You move McDuffie, you bring in some other guys here, you make some moves. You still got an older team though, when you look at it. I do like the draft pick they made. There's no doubt about that. I think that you're looking at Delane being a really solid corner for a long time. They had to. They had to.
- [35:49]
B
McDuffie.
- [35:51]
A
But I think the question is now, what is Patrick Mahomes coming back to? He's coming back to a team that now has Kenneth Walker, but we're still not sure if Kenneth Walker is a guy we're going to give the ball to 300 times a year and he's going to remain healthy. So talk about blue tent, right?
- [36:04]
B
I think we are sure. And he's not.
- [36:05]
A
Okay. So there you go.
- [36:06]
B
So check.
- [36:07]
A
We've already checked that box. Rushy Rice. I mean, we did. It feels like every week now on the show we got to do some sort of legal segment. We got to bring some sort of lawyer in here. So, Andrew Erickson, what is Patrick Mahomes returning to potentially here and is it going to be a feel good return story for him between Rice and Walker and an aging Travis Gilson?
- [36:30]
C
I don't think it's ideal for him. I think that we've been pretty vocal about this being a reset year for the Chiefs, just kind of based on the moves that they've made, letting players like Rice just play out the rest of their contract and then letting him walk because there's clearly no long term commitment that I can imagine they would want to make with Rashi Rice, who's currently in a prison cell right now rehabbing his knee scope.
- [36:53]
A
He's in a. He's in a prison cell not rehabbing his knee scope.
- [36:56]
C
He's doing something. I mean, what else is he going to do?
- [36:59]
A
He's sitting there, he's not rehabbing. There's no doctors coming in. There's no physical therapist coming in there to rehab him.
- [37:03]
C
He can do it on his own. He can do it on his own.
- [37:06]
A
This is not how prison works. Didn't you watch Oz? You ever watch that show?
- [37:11]
B
Accurate description.
- [37:12]
C
Don't you know how prison works?
- [37:13]
A
I don't know, man. I feel like Oz was a per. Pretty pretty. If you ever watched that show, if you haven't go watch it.
- [37:18]
C
That was like the OG A fast paced kitchen works.
- [37:21]
A
You ever seen blood in, blood out? So that's how prison works.
- [37:27]
C
I think my home is gonna play week one. So if you guys want to do a friendly. Yep. Off the show wager for that, I'm happy to do it because I'm not. I'm not betting against Mahomes as an underdog. We just talked about it and this is. People are counting them out like you're not going to come back. He's not going to play ready. I think he's going to be ready.
- [37:46]
B
Let me ask you this. If you take Rasheed Rice out of this receiving core, do you want this receiving core? Do you want the Dolphins receiving core?
- [37:55]
C
I want the Chiefs receiving core.
- [37:57]
A
I will run through your worthy Taekwond Thornton. We've got Jalen Royals, Cyrus, Nico Ramitz.
- [38:08]
B
But I thought you loved I do
- [38:10]
C
love Greg Dulcich but I actually I think I have Kelsey Dulcich back to back.
- [38:16]
A
No, why would you do that?
- [38:18]
C
Why?
- [38:19]
B
I mean of course we want Mahomes is an amazing quarterback. He makes everybody better.
- [38:23]
C
I I understand that too. And we didn't bring this up. We talked about this on the bus show that us3 did on the Fantasy pros feed about Kenneth Walker. I know Boggs isn't the biggest fan of Ken Walker but to start the year I think he is going to get loaded up with like 25 touches. Maybe that makes and I think that maybe makes him a sell high cand. Yes. When you're looking at it. Okay, draft him in fantasy. Let him work because they're going to not be dropping back Mahomes nearly as much and they're going to because I
- [38:50]
B
think this is good, by the way. Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. And you know you have Rashard Smith who's still learning the running back position he converted to running back his final year at smu and you have Emmett Johnson who's a rookie. These are the guys behind him. So I agree with you specifically with Mahomes. Coming off the knee injury, we're going to see a lot of Ken Walker early. But I'm telling you right now, I love Ken Walker. Skill is amazing. Carried the Seahawks to a Super bowl win. Sure will not last the whole year if he gets more than 250 touches. Just won't. If he gets 100 in that first month, he's going to be toast by mid season.
- [39:25]
A
I watched Andy Reid on an interview last week and I specifically watched it because I wanted to hear what his Mahomesa and they asked him, they said when do you think you're going to have Mahomes back? And instead of answering it he was talking about man, that guy is working so hard. What he is work. He is the hardest worker. Have you seen the work and how hard it is? The hardest work. Like I I'm paraphrasing but that was
- [39:49]
B
basically nobody works harder than my guy.
- [39:51]
C
But didn't he also say it's possible that you'll see him in the first game? No and he also said.
- [39:55]
A
I never said that. Not in the interview.
- [39:57]
C
Well, that's what the written interview with Rich Eisen. This was some of the Coach Speak index. Maybe you'll have a chance to see him in the first game.
- [40:03]
B
Maybe.
- [40:04]
A
My favorite, my favorite. My favorite Coach speak, though. That was the. Was the one we got yesterday, remember? From.
- [40:12]
C
Oh, my God.
- [40:14]
A
Maybe we'll see him in. At the. In the summer or the fall.
- [40:18]
B
Or the fall.
- [40:18]
A
Bucky Irving, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's like perhaps.
- [40:21]
C
So how many more weeks until Bucky Irving returns?
- [40:25]
B
How many more weeks during the long winter?
- [40:29]
A
That's the long winter. Yeah. The long winter's coming for Bucky Irving. Look, I just think that as a franchise, I think the Chiefs have to recognize and be realistic of. Yes. You want to be competitive, all you have to do is get to the playoffs. Right. September doesn't mean a lot. Chances are September is going to be a little difficult for you. Anyway, like you said, you're playing the Broncos out of the gate. Right. Probably not going to be a W. Anyhow, I think you just coast that first month of the season, hope that Justin Fields can get you one win if you split. Amazing. You get to that buy in week five, you turn things around in week six, you put Mahomes back out there and then you do your best to make that run. Because then you have to keep in mind too, the way the schedule works. They're playing on these holidays and other things like that. Like there's a lot of short weeks and weird recovery times for a guy coming off acl. Let's not get crazy in September. It's a long NFL season. It's getting longer every day. All right. So unlike prior years to the one thing about the Chiefs is all their games this year are actually not international. They're all US games, which has also been something historically that they, you know, they've gone to play in other spots. So that's also an intriguing thing there.
- [41:35]
B
So the defense we didn't talk about at all. I just want to mention the defensive line I think got better. You add guys like our Mason Thomas and Peter Woods. I think those are really good additions. But you lost Leo Chanel, so you lost some depth at linebacker. Right. And you traded Trent McDuffie, let Jalen Watson walk. Delaneyne's going to come. I think Delane's going to be great. But it's who the other two corners right now it's Cater Codu and Noel Williams. So you just don't have a lot of experience in the secondary either. I think we're just. What we're seeing with the Chiefs right now is the Patrick Mahomes contract eating up
- [42:11]
A
Williams. Those are your corners there, along with Mansour Delane right now. Those are the starters.
- [42:15]
B
It's.
- [42:16]
C
They're going to go through. They're going to go through growing things.
- [42:18]
A
Yeah, for sure.
- [42:18]
C
Because even if Delane, even if Delane is going to be the next Trent McDuffie, it's throw him in week one like there may be picking on him. I think it's going to be ups and downs, especially in spag system.
- [42:31]
A
That brings us to a team that is looking to turn their fortunes around. The Las Vegas Raiders. So they drafted Fernando Mendoza. They're bringing in Kirk Cousins. I'm gonna stick by what I said before. Since 2018, every single quarterback that was selected number one overall has been the starter week one, since 2018.
- [42:50]
B
Right.
- [42:51]
A
Last guy that wasn't was Baker Mayfield. Everybody since then has been starting week one. And I tell you right now, Fernando Mendoza is better than old Kirk Cousins. I know because I saw Kirk Cousins last year and I saw Fernando Mendoza last year. All year. I watched a ton of those Indiana games. Boggs, no one watches more college football than you. I don't think you're going to disagree with that sentiment. But do you think they hold him back for a couple of weeks anyway just because or do you just hit the ground running? I think you start on week one.
- [43:20]
B
I think you start on week one as well. I mean, thank you. I think with Kirk Cousins, you don't have to. So if you, you know, if you just really don't like what you see in the preseason, if he's just way far behind and all that, you can go to Kirk Cousins without a problem. So I'm not going to sit here and say it's definitely Fernando Mendoza, week one. I don't think anything is settled on that yet. But he's just washed. He's done. Mendoza is better than him. I like Kirk Cousins being in here for an experienced backup. You can't have Aiden o' Connell kind of the same way you can't have Stetson Bennett.
- [43:56]
C
Right.
- [43:56]
B
You had to do something, right? This backup. And who is better to be here with Mendoza? I mean, a guy that is absolutely going to be a teacher and, and quarterback that is absolutely open to taking instruction from a veteran. I love this combo of these two goofy dudes together. I love it. But Mendoza is way, way better than the ghost of Kirk Cousins.
- [44:21]
A
I agree. Andrew, I know you disagree. So this is fun. So let's have the other side of this. I again, you, you draft these guys and I understand the idea of, well, it's good for them to sit and some of this stuff, but when the guy's the number one overall pick in this modern day version of the NFL,
- [44:35]
B
it just doesn't shut up about it either.
- [44:37]
A
Well, Brady can talk all he wants, but Brady's. Brady's job is to go talk on Fox. His job is he's not there to go ahead and he's not the coach, he's not the gm. He's a. He's a partial owner. That's it. That's all he is.
- [44:50]
B
Okay, but everybody. But don't act like everyone listens when Tom Brady talks, Joe, Come on.
- [44:56]
A
As they should. Nobody's a bigger Tom Brady Stan than I am in this scenario.
- [45:02]
B
Don't you own his boxers?
- [45:03]
A
I several pair, didn't you? That's not the point.
- [45:06]
B
Or, or I mean win them at auction.
- [45:09]
A
Both. Yes. All those things are true. The point is this. It's that Tom Brady can say about all the perfect world. The Raiders don't live in a perfect world right now. It's an organization and they live in an organization here where you have a rookie head coach and the temptation will be when you watch the two of these guys play that you cannot go and start the year week one, for better or worse with Kirk Cousins because Fernando Mendoza learning on the job is going to be more beneficial to you than Kirk Cousins going out there and blowing the first three or four games of the season for you and putting you behind the eight ball again and you're wasting time. And I, I think the perfect. Go back and look at it. Rookie head coach last year Kel Moore had the Saints went out there and put Tyler Shuck in a little bit sooner. They might have been in the playoffs last year. So Erickson, go ahead, tell me why I'm wrong.
- [45:55]
C
I don't think you're wrong. I just think that you're missing the element of. Clint Kubiak also talked about wanting to start a veteran quarterback. It's not just Tom Brady.
- [46:02]
A
But is that because he doesn't want to put pressure on the kid or because he. Do you really think he believes that or is that a bunch of.
- [46:07]
C
I don't know. I don't know. He's never been a head coach and he's never had to make that decision. So again, it remains to be seen when we look, I agree with you. Like if, if it was me, Kirk Cousins William beyond the rock. I mean, he should be on the roster. Okay. I liked having the veteran mentorship there, but I think that, yeah, no brainer. You drafted first overall, get the Raiders fans hyped to go. They're going to get destroyed against the Chargers to open the year anyway in week two. But that's besides the point. So I would do that. But I don't know if Kubiak is going to see it that way. Remember we just talked about the Chiefs receiving core. How about that? Raiders 1 behind Brock Bowers. Do you want to. You, you want Mendoza out there? What if Bowers is banged up? Oh, yeah. Well, you're gonna have to succeed with Trey Tucker and Jack Bash and Jalen Naylor. Good luck. Like, oh, you're not having success. What if he struggles out of the gate? Whereas Kirk Cousin, you put him out there first. Okay. You can let the other pieces around the offense start to gel again. This is a brand new offense for all of these players involved. But you know, who knows the offense. Kirk Cousins, like he's been under Kubiak before. So that's the one kind of counterpoint to Mendoza not being the guy in week one. And I actually think it's interesting because you guys are on the opposite side. I think it's more likely to see my homes play Week 1 than Mendoza. But I, but I don't, I think that's. I think you get a lot of different answers for that.
- [47:18]
B
I think so. And, and I don't, I don't hate the argument either way if I'm honest. Right. Like, because I see everything that you're saying and the, you know, you just put way less pressure on Mendoza if he doesn't have to start week one, which is probably a good move long term. But. Hold on, Joe. Probably, but yes, but I just. The, the wider super line is bad.
- [47:43]
C
Like, yeah, the right tackle spot is shaky.
- [47:45]
B
Let Cousins take the brunt of that
- [47:47]
A
while you figure it out. What's the difference? He's going to take the brunt of it eventually anyway. Like I'm saying, it's not like it's going to get magically better in week eight than it is in week one.
- [47:56]
C
We, we collectively recording the show right now want Mendoza to start week one. Like we are handling. Like that's the decision to make.
- [48:03]
A
I, I don't know if your heart.
- [48:04]
C
But I'm just trying to live in it.
- [48:06]
A
Andrew, I'll be honest with you.
- [48:07]
C
No, I'm just looking at what the head coach said.
- [48:09]
A
Well, start believing head coaches. You're going down a very, very well
- [48:13]
C
until we have a a sample size of Kubiak which we get from the coach speak index about if he's a liar or a truth teller. They're all be able to make adjustments. Thank you.
- [48:24]
A
And as they should be. That's their job. Their job is to insulate and protect. And I definitely think that's the right thing to say is and put Fernando Mendoza situation of like yeah, look, no pressure kid. Like this is a lot transition the NFL. But I last time I checked, pressure and Fernando Mendoza are okay. Like it was a lot of pressurized situations that kid was in in situation against Ohio State that he wasn't supposed to win national championship game that people were really skeptical about. Against that defense, pressure is kind of his M.O. i feel like he performs better in it. And yeah, there's a lot of problems. Are you guys surprised? Actually, I'll just put this out there to the room that they didn't do more to help him, the wide receiver room. Because to me that's the one glaring thing when you step back and look at it and go, what were they thinking? There were definitely some guys they could have tried to acquire more.
- [49:08]
B
No, no, no, no. I don't think you realize how bad the rest of this team was. Like the wide receivers are bad, but they had to get new linebackers, new secondary. They tried to do stuff with Max Crosby and then they brought in quitty pay. They had to fix the old line which was giving nobody any Mississippi's. They weren't giving anybody any Texas's. It was terrible that O line. So they had to fix a lot this year. So to see wide receiver be put on the back burner a little bit was not shocking.
- [49:38]
A
Well, what do you think that relationship is now too with Crosby having to come back and everyone having to play nice now?
- [49:43]
B
I think you know what new coaching staff, I think they put all that it's water under the bridge. And now Crosby hates the Ravens. So I like that.
- [49:53]
A
Anyone who hates the Ravens is a friend of Scott Bogman. We know that very well. All right, let's take a look at what Vegas thinks about Vegas. How about that? That's a nice transition. The rain is super bowl conference winner. We can miss that half. Okay. Right. You're right. It's five and a half. So let's just go down to it. Forget the playoffs or get division winner. All this stuff.
- [50:14]
B
Is it five and a half really?
- [50:15]
A
The five and a half is the number. So you want to go over under boys where do you want to go?
- [50:21]
B
I'll go over five and a half.
- [50:24]
A
All right, that's minus 125 Erickson plus 126 for the under. What do you want to do?
- [50:30]
C
I think this one I want to wait on because I don't want to be betting win totals for the Raiders if Kirk Cousins is starting any games for this team. So this one I will be saying Erickson after weeks one again. I just, I think we're gonna seek your cousin. I know, I know. And I mean you did get some money for this year too. Well, they do open Fugazi after his five million dollar con. Five year, million dollar contract or whatever it is.
- [50:53]
B
Agent is the, the best. Yeah.
- [50:55]
A
Honestly, like we all need his agent. They open against the Dolphins in what is the week one pool.
- [51:00]
C
That's the Dolphins.
- [51:01]
A
Yeah. So I, I have a feeling if they should win. I mean that's the other thing. Like let Mendoza start against the Dolphins. Talk about a cushy start.
- [51:10]
B
Especially when Miami would not recruit him and he beat the Hurricanes in the
- [51:14]
A
natty and now he can beat the Dolphins in week one. Gonna be wild.
- [51:17]
B
Come on in. Allegiance already written in.
- [51:19]
C
In.
- [51:20]
A
Come on.
- [51:20]
B
The history of the NFL. Come on.
- [51:22]
A
You could tell Andrew wants to wait on it because he thinks that' wants to wait on it. You could tell they, they get the Dolphins and then after that the Chargers and the Saints. That's what happens after that. So things get sarcastic here.
- [51:35]
C
I mean again, if I have to make it preseason, I would take the over Still. I think that bringing in Kubak, what he can do with Bowers, with Ashen Genti with an offensive line that is going to be improved. The quarterback play, the thing with Kubiak, what he's done in his last spots, even Seattle in this with the Saints before Derek Carr got injured, he had offensive lines that on paper were average at best, if not below average. And when you looked at the end of the year how well those teams performed on the offensive line, a lot of that was based on his scheme. So although I do have some issues with, you know, the right tackle spot. They did make the other additions, Linderbaum being the center for Mendoza, I think that's an amazing addition. So I think I would also go
- [52:16]
B
with Miller also played three games last year.
- [52:19]
C
Yeah. And he's an, he's an all pro type of talent when he is healthy. So if they have him out there, yeah, the office of line can definitely be I think average at worst.
- [52:26]
A
All right. I think I'm gonna take the Underdog because I'm looking at the schedule and it's hard to find a lot.
- [52:33]
C
So you need. So you need Kirk Cousins then.
- [52:35]
B
Well, he needs Mendoza to start.
- [52:37]
A
No, I need Mendoza to start anyway. But. But still just looking at it like after this, like it does get a little tricky there. They have to play the Bills. You know why? Because they were also playing the AFC east this year.
- [52:49]
C
It looks like the jets, right?
- [52:51]
A
Yeah. But you also get the Bills and the Patriots too.
- [52:53]
B
You get the Dolphins and they have
- [52:54]
A
to go to New England. I mean, I know they last year. I know, I know I smell blood in the water. I'm well aware. I'm well aware. But they do close the out. Close out with the Titans and Cardinals again. And if the Chiefs are eliminated, maybe a mahomesless Chiefs in week 18, it'll be a sweat.
- [53:11]
C
Regardless. It's a sweat.
- [53:13]
A
I'll take the under on the sweat. I think five is. I think five is legit after that.
- [53:16]
C
I think I can't wait for the Week 18 watch party between the Raiders and sitting at five wins just watching
- [53:21]
B
the Raiders Christmas day. Do they play a Christmas day game
- [53:25]
A
to get to your Raiders?
- [53:26]
B
You're five and a half over.
- [53:27]
C
I don't.
- [53:28]
A
No, they don't play on Christmas day.
- [53:29]
C
I don't remember talking about the Raiders,
- [53:32]
A
the Raiders prime time game or any special things.
- [53:35]
C
God, one o'.
- [53:36]
B
Clock.
- [53:36]
A
All the same. Sixteens are playing all the holiday games. It feels like they just. They just mix them up together. It was crazy.
- [53:42]
B
I'm just glad it's not my team.
- [53:44]
C
They're just like Broncos hate your family. Bears hate your family.
- [53:46]
A
By the way, I heard you come back soccer.
- [53:48]
B
Talking about how bad the. The what is it Black Friday game is gonna be. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [53:53]
A
You.
- [53:54]
B
You defense haters talking about how bad the Black Friday game is gonna be.
- [53:58]
A
I'm not a defense hater. I love defense. Bogs, you know I love defense.
- [54:01]
B
Then act like it.
- [54:03]
A
Fair. All right.
- [54:04]
C
I just.
- [54:05]
A
I don't want to watch Aaron Rodgers on the holiday while I'm decorating my Christmas tree. That's the problem.
- [54:09]
B
Also fair.
- [54:09]
A
He sours me with his sour face. All right, everybody drop your comments below. What do you think of this division here? And make sure you subscribe to the channel, please. Very important. Subscribe. We're trying to push this. Share this everywhere. Like this video. Ring the bell till it goes ding. Remember when you subscribe and when you drop your comments below, you can win the Jamar Chase jersey. We're giving that away. Pretty soon here on the channel. So do that again. This is all NFL all the time at the tailgate with your friends talking football. But we got to get out of here. The parking lot's closing. That'll do it for us. We'll be back. Next time on the tailgate. Welcome to the tailgate. The fail safe from stale takes Erickson D bro Joe stay late, tail at
- [54:47]
C
the gate game taping, trade grades dual
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A
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C
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B
M&M's Popped Caramel Sound different?
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A
Oh, no.
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C
People are gonna be obsessed.
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A
What do you mean?
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B
People hate the sound of chewing.
- [56:51]
C
Maybe they won't like the crunch.
- [56:53]
A
Maybe we're saved.
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C
Wait a minute. Yellow. Have you been eating them this whole time?
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B
Mmm.
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A
So tasty. Hands off us. M&M's popped caramel. It's more fun together. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.