2026 Team Draft with Mike Golic Jr.

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So excited to be back. This is one of my favorite yearly rituals. A good chance to take stock of the league. And in this case, come in basking in the glow of Florida yet again. All right. So let's just start here. Okay. So for those who have not listened, we do this every year. We've been doing it forever. Very long time. We draft teams. We take turns drafting teams. It's back and forth based on the number of wins we get. But also whether we think they're going to make it to the playoffs, whether they think they're going to make the soup or et cetera, et cetera. There's a point system, which I will get to in a second. Sam Hoppin, friend of the show, always tabulates the results for us, which is very nice because I just were too lazy to do it. And there's no easy to say, we easy way for me to say this. Mike whooped me last year. And went back to back as Sam put it is a dynasty building. Many are wondering and asking the Kansas City Chiefs of the Meena kind of show featuring Lenny have rolled into town, baby. So just to revisit the results. You killed me so badly that by the time we get the Super Bowl, it was already over before. In part, because you know, almost entirely because you had not only both teams that were in the Super Bowl, you drafted both. I have their picks in front of me, the Patriots and the sea ox, which were incredibly pick incredible picks, by the way, because neither of them went in the top 10 of our draft last year. Wild. You also had the Broncos and so the way the system worked, worked is you got a huge bump for making it to the conference championship and the Super Bowl. So much so that you were ahead by like 40 something points by the time the Super Bowl went around. So look. I upon revisiting these results and thinking through some past ones in the spirit of trying to create more competitive parity. I do feel I that there's a little too many points for it's a little bit too backloaded because I feel like I just want to ensure and this is just pure unbiased neutral commissioner of the fancy draft speaking or the teams draft rather. I want the regular season to matter OK, I want it to matter that you're picking teams that get wins you get one point for each win the regular season. So my suggestion here is that instead of going we went 10 10 for 10 for the championship 10 for the Super Bowl. It's one point for every win still and then five points for playoffs five points for making division around five points for the championship five points to Super Bowl five points for winning the Super Bowl. Just to make it a little more exciting up till the very end to create some stakes. How do you feel about this buddy listen. Whatever you need to stay in the fight. I'm willing to support I understand it's my fault we were too good over here at team or to and you know quite honestly I'm used to this people that have been around to your point for the duration. The long time that we've been doing this are very familiar with the minute things goes good for my team mean of coming in with a rule change or a points tweak. It's we're starting with the blank slate this year this could backfire for me I could pick the teams in the Super Bowl and then I'll have egg on my face at the end. I just want to point that out there is no inherent advantage that this gives to either of us I'm just trying to make it more equitable with that and said I did have pick one last year. You have pick one this year we change it every year. What a year to have pick one we're talking about fantasy football before and I was saying I think it's like an incredibly year to have pick one in the fantasy drafts. So Mike with those new revised rules in mind. Thinking about wins playoff wins Super Bowl prospects who is going to be your first pick in the twenty twenty six mean it comes teams draft. Listen, blessed honor to have the first pick very excited for it to line up and I feel like I'm doing you a favor in this because I'm going to pick the Los Angeles Rams too big to fail every like I'm not reinventing the wheel on this one. But you know we're recording this well after we've gotten the announcement Aaron Donalds coming back all that good stuff it just this is this summer's it grown the NFL and they are going to be a part of team goal again help me win this thing. We don't have to get into it too much it's kind of the easy the obvious pick. I mean the expectations are just extraordinary for this team though I will say right like if they if they I mean so I'll do next week I'll do my obviously my first annual fell preview of the week. And if they drop week one to San Francisco which by the way I probably won't pick San Francisco outright but it's entirely possible given. Who's everything you know the Niners are still very good team they're getting them at the beginning of the year before the entry to know that right now space a couch and hands there's anyone who can figure out how to potentially scheme against his defense it's him. The reactions that would result if they lose that week one game are going to be it would be insane. It's the best for us the work in this job and I just love that we also have now like the styles make fights in terms of travel plans for these two teams that everyone's going to debate the 49ers left today. For Australia and the Rams don't leave till next week it's insane so yeah no it would be wild to watch ultimately in consequential but it's getting to the point now we're going into this I knew I was going to pick the Rams but I genuinely have started to wonder. Are we getting too big to fail like are we all just so drunk off that the answer is probably no I think that's still going to be an awesome team probably know I think you know there's. A cost to the super team approach which is a lack of depth right there's a few positions on the Rams not defensive line they're extraordinarily deep there is actually also all offense I talked about this incessantly you know we don't need to get into it we're still at this point waiting to see what happens with their left tackle there Jackson offensive line receiver. You know there's there it's not like this you can. Whatever anyways I actually would argue that's the bigger costs than the money in the long term because the way their cap is structured they're actually not that. They're going to have to make some tough choices with contracts in the future obviously Nuku some other players Kobe Turner Byron Young etc there are costs guys but all right we don't need to talk about too much so here's the thing I've got picked you. In some ways the see hocks are actually a risky pick because they play in the same division as the number one team which makes it less likely one there's a wins cost to that obviously they have to go ahead to head with them or wins risk but also it makes it harder for them to advance in the playoffs etc but I'm going to go see out all here. For two reasons one of which is the aFC to me is just so much murkier there's a few really good teams but there's more of a cluster whereas I view the NFC is like a big two right. And then the other thing is I just distinct the see us are a damn good team with a defense that might actually be able to. And handle this we'll see we're playing week 16 weeks 18 which actually is good for the see us by the way because that defense I think seeming better at the end of the air due to some injuries. And a defensive court or coach rather who might be the best defense player on the NFL I talked about if there's anyone on offense who can. Figure this out shanty hand defense is Mike McDonald so I feel good about Seattle here I think I feel good about both sides of the ball I feel good about special teams. Looking at the FTN fantasy projections for DBOA and they've got Seattle projected special teams at second the Rams at 26 we talked a lot about how that was a factor last year. Yeah they've got Seattle projected this I thought was really interesting as the number one defense that's not part six in offense which I think was really interesting because the Seattle offense was kind of a little bit up and down last year so I'm going Seattle for my number one pick. I think plus they get to play the nobody believes in this card which no super champs ever get to all right now it gets interesting victory. Yes and this is where I'm fascinated to see where this all goes but in the interest of not over thinking it like I made a spreadsheet this year I'm doing way too much for this considering my recent success. Whether it's the spread sheet. whether it's the vibes, I'm going to take the bills here still. Okay. I think this is a team that we've talked off season very clearly identified Sean McDermott as like the lone problem with what was keeping them going based on the changes they've made. So Joe Brady ascends, Jim Leonard comes over on defense, the inexact fit of some of the personnel there for a roster that's certainly interesting DJ Moore. Can he be the answer to your prayers at wide receiver? I just think the baseline for them of an offensive line that even without David Edwards who now is part of the New Orleans saying to will get to later. This is still going to be one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. Josh Allen still lives here. And I do think, you know, in the wake of Sean McDermott who helped lift them through so much kind of like a very nixie and feel to this. Jim Leonard's always been someone who everyone's kind of looked at as one of those future darlings did a great job. Obviously with the secondary with the Broncos last year. So I have enough confidence in them to say, Hey, even in the AFC East where you got the defending Super Bowl representatives that they can get it done. I am so interested in seeing this Jim Leonard defense on the field. The bill's offense that he knows can be sick. I just say I like Joe Brady going to head coach that you could be some issues there. We'll see if DJ Moore is the man coverage solution that they've been desperately looking for, etc, etc. But the floor of this offense was already so high. It's like, all right, your receiver group got better. I think maybe like offensive line health. That could be a thing because they've just been fortunate in many sense, but you know, I'm not worried about them. The defense is another story. Like I truly have not quite figured out how I feel about this unit. I think it was a little slept on how awful and run defense. They were last year whenever we talk about Josh Allen the pressure and it's like Josh Allen and the A gap. So I don't know. Everybody loves Jim Leonard. Obviously, like you said, so respected in college, last with a very successful Denver defense. But I think this is one where, you know, it's funny, Mike, like we might not know week, like week one, they have the Texans, which is an unbelievable game. And it's like, we get to see a top three offense against a top three defense. Are you really higher for both? But like, I don't know how much we're going to learn about the bill's run defense against Houston, per se. Well, I guess we will if Houston can run on them. Yes. Although again, there's a lot of interesting there. The Houston offensive line, but I'm with you. That's a good litmus test very early on for have you helped anything. I was just looking and getting ready for this and didn't realize and obviously he's a crowd favorite in this podcast. Greg Gaines signed after the cut downs by them. So the more you know more of a gap shooter, I like, I just don't know if they have the right pieces on this defensive line, necessarily. Anyways, I think though it's a good pick. They'll be awesome. All right. I'm up next. I'm deciding between two teams. I'm going to take the Broncos here. They were the next up on my list as well. I mean, the team is just so stacked. Even, you know, I talked about the Jonathan Cooper suspension or it's not suspended, but being missing games. But it was it was interesting to like, they're so stacked that losing their second best pass rusher doesn't freak you out because of how good the rest of the defense is. I think it's an offense that is going to be better with Jalen Waddle. They're it's interesting. Projections are a little bit lower on them than you might think, but like a lot of projections. And I think there's just some belief that there'll be regression and turnovers and maybe both next skepticism. I just think this is an extremely deep, extremely well coached team. I would be surprised if they don't win a zillion games. Yeah. This is, I mean, our buddy Dominique Foxworth, man after my own hard always talks about like, hey, just start in the trenches when you're doing preview work. And for the Broncos on the OND line to be as stacked as they are and as proven as they are for all of that to be continuity that you can count on to me just sets such a great baseline for your team in a division too. Like we always talk about that factor in this where all right, hey, we're all really high in the chargers who are already having the offensive line. House of horror stuff happen. The Kansas City chiefs are trying to kind of negotiate the next version of this after not changing a ton on offense outside of Ken Walker. So it also does seem like a division that still lines up for them to walk in on the most solid footing. All right, who you got next? All right. Again, not trying to play too much division math. I know who you're going to take, I think. I have a very strong suspicion. And I'm okay. I'm going to I'm going to put in my mind. Oh wow. All right. Now I'm very interested in this. I'm going to go with the Ravens here. That's what I thought you're going to take. Yeah. That was my next team. Are we just doing Lucy with the football here with the Ravens? Pick them to win the AFC North. Yeah. I'm very enthusiastic about this defense. I think the offense is going to be fine. Even there's a lot of changes there. Is it like are we I guess like is it are we being too optimistic given that it's like new head coach so many new coaches and I don't know. It's a question marks. I guess so like I choose. I choose. Yeah. I choose some of that fear of like Jesse Minner's guidance, good institution on knowledge there. And kind of like we talked about like another one of those guys that's just such a proven commodity at this point that the Ravens defense that had taken such a step back since Mike McDonald left town seems ready to burst through the door on the other side in a way that I'm really excited for both big Kyle Hamilton fans. Like watching the role he's going to play in this defense like having a lot of their core parts healthy in that front seven here in the way they beat up on the commanders and camp that's giving them existential dread like it all helps with them offensively to like it sounds like Lamar is in a good head space. I've talked before on with you. I think one of the pods we did Dwayne led for the O line coach that's come over is a guy that I love. Vengeuana. It was one of my favorite picks in the draft trying to rebuild the house in front of Lamar. So I just think him healthy and in the right place combined with a defense that's going to I think ascend quickly back into the ranks that we were used to has me pretty bullish still. The Ravens have the 28th hardest schedule so there's also that current FTM fantasy thanks to you know missing the playoffs and they have seen north in general. They all have breathed but yeah missing the playoffs last year certainly helped. Yeah I I am very high on this team and it's kind of one of those things where I'm trying to heatcheck myself here. Yeah. I really am very curious. I cannot wait to see how Lamar Jackson is moving out there. Folks were posting clips of him from just two years ago or no no three years it was it clips of him escaping Aaron Donald. Did you see any of those that started going around with the air level on retirement news and it's so I mean there's just some insane plays but it's so wild to watch how Lamar was moving in 2023 and think through last year and how he was just not escaping. So I think he was hurt last year and he seems by all counts healthy this season and it's just such a differentiating factor not from a rushing standpoint alone but just the pocket mobility that he used to have and the escape ability which and I think last year too like he took a zillion sacks right I think there's it's really hard if you're a guy is accustomed to moving a certain way to deal with a new normal right and I think that was a big part of why he took so many sacks like Lamar Jackson I can get out of the grass here like I can buy another two seconds and it was like actually you can't last year but this year should be different and that affects everyone too in the offense it affects how you protect it affects the guys in the receiver room that are used to being able to stay available for that so yes totally with you on that. All right so we had my big five here that you've taken everyone who I had at my five I've took in my first two I am deciding between two teams and I going to go with a team it's so funny because this is my second team that's in a division you've taken I'm going Patriots. Little higher maybe than some obviously the schedule is harder this year but I've been saying this all off season I just think this Patriots team is better than the team that went to the Super Bowl last year and I know everyone's down on them because of the schedule and maybe because of what we saw from Drake May in the postseason and maybe because of Mike Raible's you know disastrous offseason I don't know what the word I was looking for um but like I just take a step back and looking at this team in the offense in particular it's really good I do worry a little bit about the lack of edge depth but I think and obviously the Christian Gonzalez contract stuff's kind of looming but I just think they're too talented and we've already seen such a baseline of quarterback play that I'm kind of surprised there's such negative sentiment around them. I feel like this is one where the nerds have won to an extent because we all are so versed in regression talk now and everyone sees the signs for New England the schedule was such a topic of conversation and to the Drake May point we also had the bad press up front for the offensive line and for Will Campbell that I think got exacerbated based on honey like we love to talk about injuries and then forget them completely see Baker Mayfield and pretty much every time he winds up in a contract year but with Will Campbell on that now this group that added more depth with the Caleb Lomo pick you know uh move Jared Wilson to the position he's better at in center like I get asking Elijah Vera Tucker to stay healthy as a tall order but in general like I think they're better there than they got credit for for on that run where their rookies got stress test by some of the best defenses in the NFL. And I'm with you. You add on top of that, yeah, now you've got AJ Brown that lives there too, I'm with you. I think we're overcooking this one a bit, this off season. - I don't love that you have the Rams and Bills and I have the Seahawks and Patriots. We're not even able to do it there a bit. I will, yeah, this is like, oh, no about that. You're up next, who do you got? - All right, I am going to go, again, I'm looking at my division winners here, this. - Yeah, I mean, there is definitely an advantage to picking the team that wins the division. - I am going to go, I'll go with the Texans here. - Okay. - A lot of that is rooted in, obviously, the defense is the easiest cell known to man, especially in a division where we're kind of looking at what everyone's identity is going to be, can Liam Cohen and the Jags hold success in year two? What do the Colts look like with all the injuries to the offensive battery and relying on Daniel Jones coming off that? It's like, all right, I know I can trust this Texans defense at Will Anderson Jr. to go out here and saw a heads off. And I don't want to get too high in the preseason 'cause it's a liar, but I do like some of the moves that Houston's made up front in protecting CJ Stroud, a lot better. Now, the receiver injuries, unfortunately, reared its head already. Taint Del still coming back, the Higgin stuff. Like, it's not a great sign for them there, but like, the Keelan Rutledge ad and what it signals about the direction of this team and the attitude he seemed to have brought to that group that desperately needs it has me a bit excited on what they can do. - Why didn't I take the Texans? (laughing) - We like reps, no luck, we shouldn't eat it over me! - Oh, I don't know why, I had them on my list and like my eyes just completely glazed over them for some reason and went to the Patriots. - We thank you for this gift over here at Team Goal Lake. - I hate this draft, I hate it already. - Don't worry about changing the scores and the scoring system. - How wild it was it that Nick Kiserio was like, yeah, Keelan Rutledge is our best offensive lineman. - It's-- - That's a wild thing for a GM to say. - It's really like, it makes you think about like, lowline scouting for years, I've said posts like 2011 CBA 'cause you don't get a lot of practice, you need guys that are a little bit more ready to go. But as much as anything, if you're scouting interior linemen, I want like the most boring guy possible who seems like he might have a screw loose. And once I read reports that he was trying to fight everyone on that Texans defensive front during camp, I said, oh, they knew exactly the kind of sicko they were getting in this. Like, played for an online coach in college at Georgia Tech, always looked like he was bleeding out of his face. That's exactly what you want from an interior guy who's gonna anchor your group for a decade. - Really interested in what we talked about Texans bills. Watching this Texans run game, 'cause it's a relatively soft start for them with all due respect to the bills, you know, they were awful and run defense last year. We'll see if they even prove. It's kind of like, Texans run game versus bills run defense is a who still sucks, that's ya. - Stopped with a force meets musical object. - Yeah, no, I think about it. I feel like Cacereo has been so good at everything except for offensive line where he's been kind of fairly disastrous. I feel like he's like, I got one, I got one, guys. (laughing) - No, you guys, you don't understand. This one's different. (laughing) - Okay, well, man, I hate, oh, I'm already, it's such a unique feeling in fantasy football people know when you already know like three rounds in that your draft sucks, that's how I feel. Um, okay, oh god, I am up next. And I am going to go with the, I just feel like being crazy now. - Ooh, come on, I'm gonna say, if you're there, you might as well already go. - Effet, give me the Dallas Cowboys. - Ooh, there she goes. - I just feel like I need some high variance picks. - I love it. - I need a team that can hypothetically go deep into the playoffs, so I pick the Dallas Cowboys. - Well, when you say it out loud, it sounds really scary, but. - What am I doing? - All right, no, you know what I'm doing? It's a top five offense. This is gonna be one of the most deproved defenses in football, and I'll say it, I'm worried about Philadelphia. Am I crazy picking the Cowboys over the Eagles? - No, I think this is one I've wrestled with a lot because I think on both sides, right? You have a lot of narrative energy that clouds the picture for these teams. The Jalenhurt's Nick Seriani conversation, the throwing over the middle of the field and Sean Manion's offense, versus the Cowboys notable history of postseason and aptitude, and a defense that like, you know, Christian Parker's got his work cut out for him coming in this year. But to your point, like, I think the, for me, the Cowboys and the Bengals are in the same bucket where it's like, hey, just get the defense to average and the offense is gonna be so good that things are gonna be a lot of fun for you. So, I don't hate this pick. Like, I think watching how complete Bryan Shot and Heimers offense looked, and seeing how much, like, I think for them, and you tell me, dodging any sort of George Pickens Rapinoe so far in the offseason for a guy you tag who seems to be going about it, balling out in camp, playing on the franchise tag, to me wasn't on the Bingo card. - All right, you're building it back up. You're next. - Do you want any better? - No, I hate my team. - Give me these. - It's fine, you know what? You won, oh, you got there, you're gonna take these. - All right, all right, take them, fine. Whatever, after you said all that. - I just, you know, I gotta have some insurance in the east and the big fan duo's defense still looks like it could be pretty good, so. - You worried about the offense after this offseason? - Well, a little bit, I will still, you know. - Yeah, I just, I feel like the, to me, as long as the offensive lines healthy and last year, it was just a group that was so gnarled for so much of the year in key spots, like having Landon Dickerson and Lane, who listen, could still very much be in the cards for that this year. I mean, when you have two guys flirting with retirement reportedly for that long in the offseason, it's not usually a great sign. Stoutland U is gone, so there's a lot of change there, but you know, listening to Jordan Milove talk about, like how invigorated it sounds like this group is, I think we're probably underrating some of that. And, you know, the Jalen part, we'll see. Okay, and again, betting on him, still pretty good, even if I don't think he's gonna be one of the top, you know, 10-8 guys on a week and week out basis. - I'm up next. I actually, now I like this pick. I'm taking the Detroit Lions here. I like to speak, yeah. Schedules just start here, you know, it's just awful. I mean, have you looked at the Lions, I talked about this when I was in the NFC North, like take a second and look at their schedule, like pull it up and, like, because I really want you to see, it's one of those things where we can look at the FTN projections and it's like, wow, that's the 30s schedule football, but it's really something to read me some of the teams. - Oh, all right, here we go. Week one, you're home against New Orleans, you're on the road at Buffalo in week two, but then home versus the Jets at Carolina, at Arizona, home versus the Packers and the Vikings, at Miami versus New England, then you get the Buccaneers, the Bears at Atlanta, Tennessee, Minnesota, New York, Chicago and Green Bay, like outside of the division by God. - I'm just racking up W's. Yeah, the division's impossible to pick, but holy mackerel. I think the Lions offense is gonna be awesome defense. You know, Lions fans have been a little bit prickly 'cause I've just been saying every NFC North defense outside of Minnesota is trash. No, trash is, sorry, too strong, it has problems. And they have correctly pointed out that it's a defense, Robert Mays pointed this out too, that, like, despite all the injuries, like was actually statistically not horrible last year, I just really struggle with that depth chart, but I think the offense is good enough to compensate for it. I think the offense plus schedule, I think they're gonna, I've been consistently picking them to win the division, so I'm gonna go to trade. - Woof, all right. That's, honestly, probably my pick to win the division at that point, I know we'll have a conversation about the Packers here potentially soon. And how bullish everyone is, because it seems like there's the least amount of change there, but man, that schedule is really a really good pick for you there. All right, I'm back here. - Let's talk about it. Let's, who do I have next on the team? - Yeah, so we're 10 teams in, by the way, right now. 10 teams. - All right. 10 teams in, do I want to head division, or do I want to start to try and. - I know, this is where, yeah, 'cause we're really trying to pick division winners early on. Now you're thinking about who could be the wild car, the, you know, that's kind of my team, so far as all the pack guards. - Fine, it's fine, I don't care, I like it. You're next. - You know what, I can see you're wrestling. - I will go the Packers next, just so I have some, some NFC North insurance there, 'cause I'm with you, like, especially with the Kyler Murray Wild Card in Minnesota, like the Bears and other regression candidate, like that defense just seems like, that could be a real rough time. I'll bet on some stability in Green Bay, even, you know, obviously the Josh Jacobs suspension or whatever that's going to be in the Commissioner's Exemplest. We'll make things interesting at least to start, but I mean, everyone else seems excited. Like maybe just Jordan love throwing the ball around more the way people want. So I'll go them. Yeah, I think the Packers are a good pick because even if they don't win the division, they could make a playoff run. It's kind of how I regard them, which is to say it's going to be a tale of two seasons pre and post-Mica Parsons returning from injury. So the Packer's defense is likely to look a lot better at the end of the year than the beginning. And then there are also, I think, somewhat of a high, I wouldn't say high variance because I think the offense will always be good. But if Christian, I've been saying this a lot, if Christian and Watson Tucker Christian Washington Tucker craft are out there, this is the top five offense. If either of them are injured, it's not. So like if you hit the playoffs and Michael looks healthy and he's back to being Mike, Christian Watson and Tucker craft are out there at this team could win the Super Bowl. Like I genuinely believe that, even with the offensive line questions, however they could also, that's like a lot of big ifs, I said, you know, so it is. I'm weirdly bullish on their offensive line this year. Tell me about talk about it. I just, for whatever reason, seeing a lot of them in preseason here and some of the stuff out of camp, like the fact that like you get a quality depth piece, Yeager Burton was one of the stories of camp, like I turned on some of the Packers games and just started watching. That guys Pancake and Zach Allen in their game against the Broncos looks like he developed a lot in camp. And like you just look along the lines of scrimmage. I thought they drafted. Well, you got him in the fifth, Chris McClellan who seems like he's going to be a strong factor on the defensive front was a third round pick for them. And so I just think to be able to kind of bolster in their to your point. The defense was a totally different unit without Micah. But offensively, their offensive line is one I'm keeping my eye on. I feel like that group has a chance to take a decent step forward this year, especially if they can stay healthy. I'm optimistic about Jordan Morgan after watching him to last season, you know. And I think, look, this Packer's offense, I feel like we questions about the offensive line every year. And then they just kind of make it work. So we'll see. All right. I'm up next. I'm going to take another bit of a swing here and kind of hedge one of your division picks. I'm going to take the Jacksonville Jaguars who are, I'm going to, I've been talking big game about how I'm Jags in Jags enthusiast, how I'm do vol adjacent. And I feel like I got to walk the walk here and take my my Jaguars who I think have one of the more balanced teams in the entire NFL, right? Like so many quite teams where it's like, oh, can the Texans offense be average? Can the Cowboys defense be average? I already know the Jags potentially top 10 in both units, really believe that very good head coach, who's a play collar, brought back the defensive play collar, who was excellent as well. You know, Trevor Lawrence, I know it makes some people nervous. Can you put together over the course of a season? But I am pretty optimistic this season about Jacksonville. It would be pretty wild. I'm like, again, how you measure that be it. But again, we were searching for wins in this. We went back and looked it up when we were doing team previews on our show. You know, in the last time the Jags won back to back game or back to back seasons with double digit wins. Was it the Bordel's 2017 or was it? It was, and I'm going back to double check now, just be sure, 1998, 1999 season was the last time the Jags won double digit games in back to back years. So Liam Collin is intending what has not happened in the 21st century for Jacksonville this year. What would concern you the most for this team? Because I do think that division's one that despite me peaking the Texans, I think is pretty open, especially with Jacksonville and the foundation they have. Where's the Achilles heel for you? If I had to rank concerns, one would be the offensive line to, and whether or not, the run game can be better than what was in second half last season. You would be the loss of Devon Lloyd affecting the linebackers and the run defense, which was exceptional last season. And then I guess three would be just trapper, you know, again, I really like him, but he's just got it putting together an entire season, I think of really high level play. So I think that would be the order in which I would rank them as well. But like that's not that those concerns, like compared to some of the other ones, you know, if you'd ask me same question are actually pretty small, like love the coaching staff, like a lot of the players, they're kind of the, they're kind of like the team of very good, right? Like they have a lot of very good players instead of like outright superstars. But maybe Travis Hunter becomes a superstar, maybe Brian Thomas Jr. returns to form. So I don't know. I feel good about them. All right. You're next. Starting to like my team again. All right. There we go. We got me a confidence overflowing in the middle of this draft here. All right, I need to find not picked yet. I've got AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, NFC West, NFC North, we've got the, oh, okay. We've hit every division about what I relief, but but one and still, I think this is where I'm going to take the cheese. Damn, which I think this is the cheese. In the history of the time we've done this is this, I mean, far and away, the lowest the cheese. Yeah. I think you're doing a cheese with the first overall pick last year, if I believe, and you still want, which dripping with venom in that said, oh, I really wanted the chiefs. I did. But yeah, I think again, getting to buy low on a team with the core level of experience that these guys do, and early in the season, we'll see like it seems like by all accounts everyone expects with Eric the enemy back in the fold with the homes coming off the injury with Kenneth Walker coming in there and the strength of your team, hopefully being still along that interior offensive line, like heavy doses to run on the menu. And then can the young guy step up on defense at enough time to kind of get the cavalry home because that was the one thing that surprisingly felt stale towards the end of last year was just the defense and all the haymaker answers you used to have were all the sudden punches that were getting stopped by everyone else. The cheese you never want to read too much into the preseason, but the draft class is looking pretty nice. And that matters because they're going to need them, especially in defense. Armass and Thomas. Looks good, man, with Mansur Jalaine looks as advertised. So yeah, I think the cheese offense, it's just so funny because even as much as we hated it last year and crapped on it, it was still statistically mostly fine, that's another one where week one, I really want to see how Patrick Mahomes is moving. And I want to see, I want to see their offensive approach, like are they really committed to running the ball with Kenneth Walker from under center? Are they going to play action off of that? Who's going to be the primary? I mean, who is Xavier Worthy going to have finally have a bigger role that I'm interested in seeing it? But yeah, I wanted the chiefs just because even though I don't think the chiefs are going to win the division, they're a team where if they're there in January, it's like, you know, it's Patrick Mahomes. All right, I'm up. Here's where I will take the San Francisco 49ers. Oh, okay. Look, a lot of bad vibes right now with all the injuries and ongoing. You know what? I just realized, I almost said Dejon love, like that was an actual thing. I was wondering if that was happening there. You've internalized it so much. You've internalized it as an actual factor on the team. Here's the thing, it's Kyle Shanahan. He can put together a top eight defense in his sleep off of, you know, two hours of sleep in Australia while the Rams come in rested or what I will see how that works out. There's enough here, especially, like, yes, I understand socks that we're keeping here. So it sucks that Mike Evans is still like a little bit banged up. But you tell me they have McCaffrey, Kittle, Stribbling, honestly, the way he looks. It's Kyle Shanahan, man. Brock Perty is a good quarterback. It's enough. Offensive line is fine. You know, I'll be interested in seeing, it's a little risky because of like what do Warner and Postal look like coming off of the injury. We just don't, you know, I really want to see that. But this was a team that won the Civilian Games last year with half of the damn team out. So it's always obviously risky because of the NSE West as well. But like, I just feel that there's enough of a floor here to where if they somehow do miraculously get better health, the ceiling is as high as most of the, like, almost every team in the NFL outside of the top three. Yeah, I think I mean, they kind of proved last year, right? The rest of the house can burn down and as long as Christian McCaffrey is there in the offensive line is at least somewhat intact. You can kind of proceed moving forward. So yeah, I, I'm with you this, I mean, this team last year in their form going toe-to-toe with what we knew of the NSE West last year had no reason to be happening and yet did. So I'm with you Kyle Shanahan will always have a defender in me. All right, we got one more pick in the first half who you got. Uh, I am going to take, uh, I'm going to go the Bengals here. Damn it. - Ah! - Easiest schedule in football, guarding the FDN. Ah, I wanted to, I feel like you're just right, you're a step ahead of me every, every pick. You're just like right before I want to take these teams. All right, sorry, the bangles. - The AFC Cowboys. - The AFC Cowboys. Did you catch the bangles offensive line discourses week? - Oh man, I thankfully managed to like, stay far enough away to not get too overwhelmed by it, but where do you fall on this? I mean, they've been the easy punching bag for so long, but yes, like they're trining back out the same group that I think the reputation has not caught up to reality at all for. - I mean, they're fine. They've got some mims as like legit a stud. Fair trial look good. Harris's competent center. Brown Jr's probably the one I'm a little worried about, but that's not like compared to we look around the league. There's so many worse, like so many worse lines than the bangles at this point. - How long do you think they actually stay committed to this idea of trying to live under center more and do some of that before Joe just says when he'd get me back in gun? - Actually, the schedule is something that I think could, well, it's funny, right? 'Cause I think I remember having, I was thinking about this and then I looked at their week one opponent and it was the tamp with the box. And I remember thinking, eh, that's team where I'd spread it out against them. So I think it might just be a game, game, like a situational thing. But they do need, if they're committed to it, you need to, it needs to be like a philosophy, right? 'Cause you wanna make the run the past look like each other. We want the offensive line to have comfort there. So I feel like we'll start to see it early on and I think they're pretty committed to sticking with it. I don't know. I'm really interested in seeing if these two linebackers are improved. That's kind of the biggest living factor for me. But yeah, I wanted the bangles. You got the, oh god, you're team. - So good, I hate it. - All right, now I gotta pivot. Deciding between two teams and you know what? This is where I shall take the box. - Yeah. - I've been, I've been biting my time trying to see if I was gonna get them super low. So in this case, I feel the ace. You stole this one of the exact right time. Which I was curious about because I know you're very bullish on the Saints. - Tyson injury just broke me. - Awful. - It's like a rookie receiver. And I'm saying it's like, that's, oh wow, the Saints' toll season is gonna look entirely different. But like, for me, the premise of the Saints was the defense kind of holding the serve with what we saw last year. And then the offense taking a leap forward with more weapons for Tyler Shock. And you know, this really super fun well-matched one-two punch with Elave and Tyson. Now, Tyson's for those who don't know. They put him on the pop list, right? Or he's getting-- - He's on pop, yeah. All right, no, I think he's-- - I think it's pop, I think it's four games. But you know, it's the Hammy and he's got the Hammy history. And I like got myself really excited about it. I don't know, I just get-- I still, I'm still optimistic about the offense. I still think the arrows pointing out for Tyler Shock. But the other thing about the bucks put sets, Ruben Bane Jr. coming out and that we talked about them as a preseason winner week two. It was just a reminder, like, this is-- I had them as a top 10 defense on my defense's pod. And I'm feeling pretty good about that right now. So feel good about bucks. - Yeah, Ruben Bane, another one. Like, don't over think stuff like that. Like, that was the Kyle Hamilton conversation coming out of college all over again where it's like, there's a measurable deficiency that you want to point to for a player that all he does is ball. And again, along the lines of scrimmage, the Keel and Rutledge principle. Get the defensive end that plays like he's foaming at the mouth all the time. It seems to genuinely hate his opponent. - That should be like a combine. Just, like, measure people's anger and show them things and see if, like, rage flares up, you know, upon looking at certain images. All right, let's take a break, break, break. Come back and do the second half of the team's draft. The greats don't shy away from change. They attack it head on with confidence, preparation, and a clear strategy. KPMG, LLP, and their transformation professionals work with organizations across industries using advanced AI to help them move faster, work smarter, and adapt with purpose. 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So the window into my process that had a spreadsheet would complete the wire. - Many such cases, we've all been there drafting. That was me earlier taking, forgetting that the Texans existed, taking the Cowboys so early. - But this is the part of the draft that makes the entire thing. Like to your point last year, so many of my wins came outside of those top ones. So now I'm starting to get nervous that this is where you've been biting your time for and they're going to come in and swoop them. Like we don't have to spend any time in the Saints, we just talked about them. All your concerns there are the ones that were valid for me. The David Edward Signing at Guard is a nice one that could be a capstone. Like I do like the young offensive tackles they've drafted in the last couple of years. - You just need guys to stay healthy on the interior and let's see what we can make happen. - Give me the bears. I don't have a piece of the NFC when I had the Lions. Crap. (laughing) Wait, I'm pivoting, I'm taking it back. - All right, there we go. - Sorry, it's fine. I get to take it back, give me the chargers. - Ooh, okay. - Yeah. So chargers are very difficult schedule. Wow, projections of the defense are not good. The schedule's a little bit scary, but I do think this is like top eight offense potential even with the interior offensive line injuries. It's a defense that literally like rubs into my face every year. Every year, I'm like this isn't gonna be amazing and then they finish the top 10 unit. New defense coordinator, a little bit concerning, but I think the offense will be good enough to cover up for any defensive aggression. I think this offense is gonna be awesome, man. Like I, let's talk about that for a second. Like how much do the interior offensive line worries, injuries worry you? Given everything else that's going on with the chargers offense, the mic Daniel effect, all of the other big bodies they've added as blockers, do you think McDaniel can cover up for it? - I think he can help some. Like I do believe his style of offense and just how much he can present to posing defenses, how much of it is predicated on stuff that moves the quarterback and the launch point can smooth edges for the interior. At the same time, he had the bet, one of the best centers in Pro Football last year. Like it was not like the Dolphin's O'Line was some slouch and you got a great tackle situation. You got a rookie plan center now in Jake Slaughter, which is mildly concerning. And then the guard situation, like we'll see, hearing Jim Harball come out and talk about platooning guards, didn't film me with the warm fuzzies, like trade pipkins and a competition at the left guard or it just, none of it felt really good to me. So I think that you can overcome it, but it automatically, kind of the same way the Jordan Tyson injury gave you back to you off the saints a little bit. Once I saw the beatish injury, that was where all the sudden I started to go, all right, I have to remember that I've been hurt before by this same situation. Yeah, I think the other thing I should just mention is like of all of their remaining teams. This is the only one. and I believe with a top 10 quarterback. - Yeah. - That alone gets you a certain number of wins probably. So I feel good about this. Even if I kind of tip my hand a little bit, maybe you're gonna go in the direction that I initially did. You're next. - It's bad, it's bad TV/podcasting, but yeah, I'm gonna take the bears next. Which I already have the Packers in that division. So it's a little bit of insurance. Like obviously we know the defense is, it looks like it's really gonna be in trouble with that turnover regression man coming for payment. But offensively it's another one. Like that's a group where the bears have been crying out for a 4,000 yard pass or Ben Johnson said he wants the best offense in NFL history. And like at the very least they're gonna have to be fun on that side 'cause I just don't think the defense is gonna be able to stop anyone. - Yeah, it's, it is one of those like can the defense even be like top 20 kind of situations, but the offense I think we all agree is top 10 and could be higher. Ben Johnson I think is kind of earned the benefit of the doubt as well. Not just as a offensive play caller, but also as a just game manager. I think he's really good at this. So you know when we do this, like you talk about like betting on the trenches, I really like to just bet on coaches too. And I think in my coaching rankings, he's already like fifth or something, like it's just absurd. Like he's, that was kind of something I think you do with the Jags, like I just already feel like Liam Cohen has kind of established and Johnson's even higher than him. So I think that alone gives you a pretty good floor. All right, I'm up next. This is where things get a little bit freaky deaky. So screw it, I'll take the Vikings. All right, I was wondering when they were gonna come off the board here. Is this as simple as like if Kyler's great, this team could actually way out perform performance? - If Kyler's above average, this team could outperform, right? Like this is, I call them the Scooby Doo team. You have three teams in the FC North with awesome offenses and potentially awful defenses. And then you have one team that might be the only ballots team in the division. Now, a lot of questions, defense has even some questions as well, but just feel like if you tell me at the end of the season that Kyler Murray was 14th, let's say 14th in QBR, Picky Core Backstatt, where would you put this team? - I mean, certainly in the mix for this division, especially with all of the like change in volatility elsewhere that we've talked about. So yeah, I think they could certainly be a contender for like an NFC wildcard spot for sure. - I think if he's the 14th best quarterback in football, then this team could be winning the division for sure. All right, you're next. - Yeah, we're getting ready to take our medicine here on some of these teams soon. I will go with the, I'll go with the Colts here. - Okay, yeah, that was there in my next year as well. - Yeah, I mean, starting to get in the range now flawed, but if everything breaks right and you've got the offense that comes back and looks even half as good as it did at the beginning of the last season before the injuries took hold, then you got a group that can go be competitive in the South and win some games there. Maybe the Texans offense, this is a little bit of a hedge if they just come back out and look dead dog average again. - The Colts to me, they're definitely a good pick for here are, we've talked about this a lot, so contingent on Jones's health, which we need to see Pierce's health. We'd still don't know if he's playing week one, but he should be available for, it's not like a serious injury, like even if he's not there week one or if he's not a hundred percent, he should be fine over the course of the season. And the truth is like, even if Jones isn't what he was during those like miraculous six weeks, it's still probably a pretty good offense, right? Like Shane Stuykin's really good at this, really fun group of skill players. Some questions on the offensive lines from Change There, but you've got your stalwarts. Do you think so? They were so average last year, but pool season of sauce gardener don't tirely love the past rush. You're very dependent on young players. CJ Allen, not sure what you're gonna get out of him based on the preseason. So the ceiling is, I struggle to see, find the ceiling with this team, but I think the floor might be decent with them. - Yep, exactly. And looking now, 23rd ranked schedule. So not a gauntlet by a match, which is a product of playing in the south, but I'm looking at schedules right now and thinking through. And along those lines, two teams that I'm looking at very closely, I will go with the Steelers here. - That was next up on my list, that's. - Easy schedule. 24th. I said this when I did my AFC North Preview, but I felt like upon revisiting the Steelers defense, I should have had them in my top 10. Now I did Joy Perginier contract situations looming over this a little bit, but they're just really talented, and kind of surprisingly deep at a certain few areas. I think offensively, I'm obviously not optimistic about the ceiling, but I think adding Pitman Jr. and we'll see what happens at Y2C3, lift at the floor. I think this should still be a pretty good run game. They, the offensive line, should be pretty good. - You know, I talked about this a bit, but you're kicking Troy Fout new to the left side. I see how you could say his name I read different every podcast. - I've heard it differently. I always go, I go Fautanu, but I think it all. - Fautanu, Fautanu, Fautanu. That's what I said, and then I heard Fautanu, and I was like, "Have I been singing around the whole time?" All right, the interior is awesome. Right side, we'll see who starts there. It's kind of an interesting plot line. Traded Brother Jones. I didn't get to talk about that. - Yeah, it was time. - So yeah, I think I could see this team finishing with the 10th best defense, or 11th best defense, and like the 18th best offense, even with the Aero Rodgers trajectory. - And for Steelers fans, that's your nightmare, right? - And very, I know, right. - That's your worst. - Well, 'cause everything is special teams, by the way, very good special teams. - But everything you just described there, especially like we always talk about how you want to build the foundation for your quarterback of the future, and knowing this one's over, like they were one of the teams that kept four on the roster, right? Or at least on the initial run of the roster. - Yeah, they did. - And so it's like, the Vikings cut Max Browser, or he's on the brighter squad, so. - Yeah, but like, yeah, you kept four, but like you're thinking about the future, and like everything you just described about some of the skill players, especially the talent up front, like having an online that seems already a salad with young talent, and then if Max Ahonic were touches any of the potential that we've seen for him, both coming out through the early run of the preseason, like that's a fun group to picture a young quarterback coming into the league with, and it just seems like based on what we know about Mike McCarthy, the Steelers as a franchise, and what you just said there about the projections for this team, they could once again kind of be in that purgatory that's gonna have them reaching to try and figure out what to do there. - All right, you're next. - All right, I am gonna go. - I know who I want, I know who I want here. - Give me the commies, I'll do the commanders. - Okay. - Again, it's not a been a preseason that's inspired any sort of confidence like the Laramie tonsil injuries, brutal, the story we referenced before, the stories coming out of Raven's joint practice about how badly that offensive line got beat, which those guys sound like they're taken very personally, is tough there. We'll see too, I was looking as we were getting ready for this, and I want to double check right now. Concerns about the, I think the edge guys for them, Adafoe and Kalayevon Cheson, both status for week one sounds like it's kind of up in the air, which like, not great Bob for a defense that's certainly trying to make a big jump back there, you already lost Newton with the peck injury, so it's been kind of like the 49ers of the East Coast, but again, maybe you catch lightning, right, and Jaden Daniel starts to look like the guy again with David Blow. - I couldn't hear what you said there, it's already at the end, could you? - You were so unconfident that you started backing away from the microphone mid-term. - I was, I almost didn't want people to hear it, that maybe you strike lightning in a bottle and Jaden Daniels looks like the guy again with David Blow and a new voice in his ear and offense. - Yeah, to be clear, all of our commander skepticism is not Jaden Daniels wrong, it's everything you referenced. All right, I'm taking the Giants then, screw it, right? One thing that the commanders have, both commanders of Giants have kind of like sneaky, difficult schedules, so I don't feel super great about either because of that, but the Giants have things that do make me think, maybe there's an optimistic case, obviously not that optimistic word here. But I do think this front seven is gonna be really, I think the defense could be improved. We talked about how what a beast Arville Reese's looked like, but I think I've said this before, I think Abdo Carter becomes just massive household name this season. And then offensively, I think this offensive line is going to be decent and improved. I think this is going to be like a very ground and pound game. I will say I have no idea what this giant's offense is going to look like. It's Matt Nagy calling the plays, then Greg Roman is like involved in the run game. That doesn't make sense together. So I don't know, like, are they going to be a very 21 personnel heavy Patrick card, ground and pound or Matt Nagy coming from Kansas City, we're going to spread things out. RPI, I just don't quite have a feel for it. We haven't seen Jackson Dart much, you know, so don't know, but I think there's enough young talent here to at least get excited about an upside case. There's nothing worse than waking up sick. In this time of year with the kids back in school surrounded by hundreds of others, yours may bring home a whole new world of viruses and bacteria your family may have no immunity to no kids viruses are still everywhere and one ugly strain just showed up. Now it's two a.m. your throat feels like strep and your fever is spiking urgent care. Get dressed and wait in a room full of sick people, your doctor, good luck, or open your medicine cabinet and smile because you have a fully stocked medical emergency kit from the wellness company. 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As you know, managing maintenance repair and operations is never easy, but for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER. Click Granger.com or just stop by. All right, giants off the board, give me. Don't take him, don't take him, I'll take that panthers. Damn it. That's the team I won here. Yeah. I mean after that, it gets bleak, but yeah, easy schedule for them. I went back and looked and I'm sure you've talked about it at some point in the pod, but I was just like everyone's talked about, you know, regression candidates for like schedule stuff and turnover stuff. Well, I think of the panthers. I just think of the four down, fourth down ride, the lightning all last year and how successful they were, they were second in the league and fourth down attempts with 40 and converted at the fourth highest percentage and trailed at the sixth highest rate in the NFL. So it was just mashing turbo in the second half of games for them to try and get out of dodge. So, you know, a 10 million couldn't have gone better last year like what a win for them for whatever the quarterback situation is if Bryce can go and stack a decent year on top of things, defensively taking some big swings with the guys that they brought over getting Jalen, getting Jalen Phillips down there, getting Devon Lloyd from the Jags who we talked about before as a loss for them. You know, Monroe Freeling is a cool high upside draft pick for them at offensive tackle. They're a really interesting team in a league where you've got a trend of a lot of tight ends on the field. They kept five on the 53 man roster, including signing Darren Waller. So I'm curious how they kind of deploy that group for a team that was also a really high 11 personnel use last year. Darren Waller was kind of good last year. A little bit. I like the idea of surrounding Bryce Young with gigantic skill players. It's like the splinter meme, you know, you had talked about Tommy Trembl because I sent you a clip of Monroe Freeling and him and Tommy Trembl combining on like a big run play from the preseason. Looked pretty good. Hey, man. Panthers fans, you guys were early on this like boon on tight on blocking tight ends, getting drafted and stashed everywhere. You got one of the best ones in the league and you got him a while ago. So congrats to you for the foresight. Panthers, Steve, that should be good. Yeah. I know I kind of wish. Like, why? I've seen you sign between them and the Giants, but like I was flirting with putting them in my top 10. They finished just outside of it, but this, that's like a big making the leap unit. Yep. They, I've heard the Jalen Phillips Devon Lloyd preview and the preseason, I wrote somewhere. You got what you paid for, man. They look sick. Well, and like, if you get a jump, like going and watch it because when you sent me that, I kind of went down the Panthers rabbit hole and it's like, all right, if you can get some of these other young guys like Princeiumon, Princeiumon, me Owens, one that Panthers fans are like, I, I Jalen Phillips say he's probably the best pure pass rusher on our team, just in terms of ability, Patrick Jones, one of the guys out of pit that's always running like his hair is on fire, like they had a couple early party at the quarterback preseason moments where, all right, if Jalen Phillips also gives you the boost of veteran to help young guys make the leap in that room, all of a sudden you got some pass rushing depth that looks kind of scary of weaponized, right? I think you just took the last team that could actually win their division. I'm not saying they won't. I think, but it wouldn't be insane for that to happen. By the way, shout out to JJ Janssen, 19th year in the league at Long Snapper, career earnings $18 million, the guy is just incredible. Good for him. So there's one team in this next group that I think is like clearly a better team. The problem is the division in the schedule. You know who I'm thinking of. I'm sure. Like they're obviously, like the offense has the potential to actually be decent and fun. They're just in a nightmare situation, but screw it, I'll take the Cardinals here who have the hardest schedule. Is that he thought I was going to say? Uh, yes, yes, we'll discuss it. I kind of, some of that started leaking in a different direction, but so what has you most excited about that? Well, yeah, right. Maybe I was a little bit too, the offense could be fun. I was a little bit, maybe, but they could. It's like Matt LaFurr, new play caller, offensive line, they've invested in that. I think people really, it was a little bit slept on how bad and how injured and how like the nightmare situation that the offensive line was last year, which by the way is also a point in kind of Murray's favor. But like Tremick Bride, Marvin Harris and Junior, Michael Wilson, Jeremiah Love, Slash Algear, Slash Connors, like this should be like a pretty decent offense. Like if they were not in the NFC West, I do not think this team would be talked of as a seller dweller the way they are. I think if the offensive line can hold up, stay solid, and you have a couple of guys like take the next step in their development. Like the biggest one is obviously Paris Johnson. Like if you get that guy to make a big leap in this year, then that's a group or, yeah, like Jacobi Brissette's a good enough veteran point guard where the sky is the limit. You know, obviously get Jeremiah Love back healthy. That was the least fun part of the preseason, but I'd say the O'Line and of Marvin Harris and goes out and plays with the confidence of a guy with his ability, then yeah, this could be an offense that seeks up on some people. We got seven teams left, one, let me check, wait, one, two, three, four, yeah, seven teams left. This is where it gets really difficult. This is where, I wouldn't say this is where fortunes are made because I think the middle of the draft is where that's where you won last year with the Patriots and the Seahawks, both of whom I overdrafted this year, classic overreaction, but there's been years, I think, where a final seven or eight team has gone far and vaulted one of us to success. So who's it going to be? Who you got next? I took the Cardinals. Cardinals off the board. I don't feel good about any of this right now, but in the interest of combining, scheduling some other factors. I'll take the games left, not seven teams, because you took the seats. Yes. Wild. I'll take the jets. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's about all you could say is, yeah, the jets, I mean, Geno Smith lives here, we've talked for years, like, I think there are one of the few groups that started the, the same entire starting offensive line, like obviously there's some changes this year, but they've drafted young dudes there, Garrett Wilson, all that stuff. We know the drill at this point, I don't expect them to be very good, but maybe just maybe the Justin Fields experiment last year really kind of slowed things down enough. And who knows, maybe Geno's got a little, one more letter to write back to people. - Do you think there's a world in which the Jets have an average offense? - I think you can squint and see it, but I'm not super confident. - I really think like the bigger ex, I mean, Geno's obviously the big sex character, like Frank Reich, like I've talked about this. Like this is kind of both of their opportunities to prove that it's not completely over. Geno and Frank Reich, like show me something, right? I think I forgot who I had on, talk about the Geno drive. We'll always have the 7th for 7 Geno preseason drive we do. But it was also like a good drive for Frank Reich. Like, you know, guys wide open, he was doing some stuff. So I just think like, let's see, Frank Reich, you, this is it, you got anything left in the tank. Same with Geno, both of you. All right, I'm gonna take the Raiders here, who just announced that Kirk Cousins is going to be the week one starter. The clock starts on that. Wouldn't be surprised if he looks decent week one against team that has yet to be picked, because that defense is going to be very bad than Miami Dolphins. But also the Raiders defense kind of like should all, was quietly like quietly above average last year. And added some pieces. So I think like this is, the Raiders, this division is really challenging. But like, they're not a bad team. They have decent, like they're compared to some of the other teams here, both sides of the ball. There's enough. - When you were talking about the Cardinals before, I almost thought you were talking about the Raiders. Like there's a little me that looks at this, because again, you got the best tight end in the NFL when he's healthy. I thought the run game overall, like obviously again, I'm not gonna get too high off the preseason supply in terms of like the online moving people, but Clint Kubiak with what we know about the way his offense operate, it seemed to be having some of the desired effect for this group being able to give these guys a chance, like you know, might Washington during the preseason with Ash and Gen T not getting reps, look like an awesome second pitch there. So I think offensively it has a chance to be a kind of fun group. And then yeah, defensively it should be much improved, especially trying to, you know, portal in a linebacker group that can help you with some of the run issues. - Yeah, I feel good about this pick. I feel good about like looking at the bottom. I did want the Panthers and you took them, but I feel good about the Cardinals and the Raiders. All right, just a few teams left. We can take. - Oh man. I guess I'll take the Titans. - Yeah. - In just hoping that the Rob Salah precedent of turning around defense is pretty quickly. Like having Jeffrey Simmons there helps a lot with that, but like brought in some of the guys that he's used to, like the familiarity with some of the, you know, Jermaine Johnson's, John Franklin Myers of the world. And then, you know, offensively I know it looked clunky and everyone's super down on cam ward after the preseason. I'm just hoping that after enough time, him and Dave will kind of find the middle ground with certain things. Like it sounds like they had a little bit of found gold through training camp. You know, you and I were both concerned about some of the interior offensive line situation. And it seems like was it Fernando Carmona? Was there a rookie fifth round pick who sounds like he's going to be the starter at right guard now? Thought J.C. Latham looked pretty good last year. They extended Skronsky. Like there's some stuff there defensively, a latte Taylor you brought into. So if the defense has the usual solid effect and cam wardened Abel can get anywhere closed on the same page, you and I both talked. I think he flashed a bunch of really interesting stuff in a situation last year that was nightmarish. Yeah, the preseason is weighing heavily here on this. And maybe that's an overreaction. Maybe it was just a couple bad outings. War, I didn't talk about word second preseason game. It wasn't like encouraging, but I will say there were some drops. And like if if I think it was Gunner Helm gets his feed in, word made this out of structure play, I feel like there's like a little bit of a different vibe around this team. There was another drop I can't remember which player was, but I just, and then in the third game, Carl Tay played and he did get open down. There was an opportunity for a big play. It was just a great play by I think was Dylan Theanum and actually in the Bears who made a nice recovery there. So I do think there's an upside case here, which is why I would have taken them as well if I was you. The defense is a good point too, with the Robert Sal that turn around. And there's something in a good talent in the front seven. Obviously. So I don't dislike this pick here. I feel a bust during a little, because we're down to the three remaining. It's all bad down here. I am going to take the Atlanta Falcons here. Speaking of pre-season's really making you feel bad about team. Okay, spin zone. What if it's actually good that you saw in the pre-season that two at Tengabalala should not start more than like a game or two? So instead of writing it out, because it seems like they are desperate to name Michael Pennex Jr. QB1. Yes. And they're going to drag it out because he hasn't played at all. We'll see how he looks. But I feel like at least there's enough, there's a case there that he could give them some juice. We'll see what he looks like coming off of the injury. I think for me, like the defense and everything that's happened with the past rush is just what's so concerning because this was a defense that took a big leap last year. And now you're like, I think everyone's expecting them to take a step back. But we're down to the final three. I got to pick a team. Honestly, of the three that were left makes perfect sense. And I didn't think about that, but I am going to probably repackage that for a take at some point on radio. Sometimes it is just as important to know what not to do. And the Falcons may have found out through the pre-season what not to do at quarterback. So, no, you've talked me into it. I'll take the Browns here, just because the schedule difference between them and Miami is so short. - Oh, Scott is also an easy schedule. I want to mention that too. Yeah. - Yeah, sorry. - So yeah, right after them, according to FTN, the Browns. And, you know, again, completely new offensive line for the most part, the Dishon Watson situation. But like, you know, the young pass catchers on that team, we've all talked about are really fun and guys I'd be excited about for the future. I like Spencer Fano a lot, as a pick there up front of the offensive line. Defensively, like you obviously lose the reigning defensive player of the year, but there's still a bunch of great players in that unit. - There should be a top 12 defense. Right, like top 12, 13, we'll see what the step back is. But yeah, like they're still incredibly talented at all three levels. Yeah, it's just, you know, when you don't have to game plan for the best defensive player of the world, it does, it's going to change life for all of them in ways that they haven't figured out yet. So that's the only concern, but have fun with the dolphins. - That leaves me with the dolphins who have the fifth hardest schedule. So that's this offense could be funky and interesting, very interesting to see. I'm very curious to see what Bobby Slowick does. Like if he can get weird. I got Chris Bell in Dynasty. That's another player I'm interested in seeing. You know, a lot of young receivers, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, we'll see what they got with them. I think we all expect this run game to be kind of like nasty and fun, not physically nasty, but like nasty and like what is happening on my TV kind of way. But the defense is just so lacking in talent at so many spots. It's going to be a real rebuilding. Let's see who we've got kind of year for them on that side of the ball. So it's just hard to get there with wins. I think, yeah, I, Malik Willis, God be with you, my guy, like we'll see, you know. - Just count the money, man. Just make sure you're there watching the bank account when that direct deposit hits every week. - All right, that's it, all 32 teams. So I'm going to read your team, and then I'm going to read mine. Mike took the Rams, Bills, Ravens, Texans, Eagles, Packers, Chiefs, Bangles, Saints, Bears, Colts, Commanders, Panthers, Jets, Titans, Browns. I took the Seahawks, Broncos, Patriots, Cowboys, Lions, Jaguars, Niners, Bucks, Chargers, Viking, Steelers, Giants, Cardinals, Raiders, Falcons, and Dolphins. My first takeaway is I think you won the front of the draft, and I won the middle of the draft. How do you feel? - I would agree, and that's, that honestly is what had me nervous. I was brimming with confidence for the three-peat after our first ten or so, and then after that, because I mean, we've seen every year that's usually where it flips. Is one of those teams in the bottom half is going to wind up as a double-digit win team, and I think you've got more of those potentially than I do. - Of all of your picks, which one are you the happiest with? The happiest with probably. getting the chiefs and the bangles both as low as I did just because of the potential upside there that felt like getting to buy low on the chiefs just felt strange and wonderful. Texans at four to is I would you know I would that was the one that killed me because I was just I just literally forgot to take them I intended to yeah I'm pretty happy with the Jags nighters books chargers Vikings turn as I alluded to I would say the chargers feel good too from a value perspective you taking the Saints before the chargers was a moment where in my draft room we did a little celebration. How you felt about the Texans pick for me was the polar like exactly how my brain felt after realizing what I'd done with the Saints. I would I blame being an avid mean a kind show featuring Lenny listener and listening to you and Greg Rosenthal talk about the NFC South getting me high enough on the Saints supply to do something crazy. I'm still a Saints enthusiast like I said I'm just pulling back a little bit. I have to tie signature. All right Mike. You're back at it. Have you been back on my show since you're back at ESPN. I can't remember. No first me the time show for they can download the new show and listen to it and all of that. Yes the goalics me and dad back on ESPN 10 a.m. to noon Eastern Monday through Friday on ESPN radio. You can watch us on the app as well and we have the goalics wherever you get your podcasts as well. So plenty of places to find us and excited to be back in the family with you. So definitely check it out. I think I'll be joining a lot of Fridays. It sounds like. So tune in for that. Thank you as always to Mike for joining. You can check out this pod of course wherever you get your pods YouTube as well. You can check out my TV podcast there with David Dennis Jr. We're covering lanterns which is a show. Super obsessed with right now. So go check that out. It's called viewer discretion. Thank you as always to the fine folks at Omaha productions who make this pod. Kyrgyz Zubecki, Owen Sayler, Jack Foster, and Tartushan. That next week. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. No two football players are exactly alike and the same is true off the field. That's why State Farm gifts to know you so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.