Episode 218 is here and it's week 5 of the divisional breakdowns with the guys getting into the AFC West; Staley tackles the super bowl champs Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, and Stoner covers the Las Vegas Raiders as well as the Los Angeles Chargers with Jimmy Harbaugh now running the show! Enjoy :)
SUPERFANS with Staley & Stoner
SUPERFANS with Staley and Stoner/ Episode 218
*Intro plays* What up? Y'all! ELLIE! R. Bizak! It's episode 2, 1, 8. Yes, that's correct. Hundi, in 18. Just keeping this thing rolling. Super fans, daily and stoner. It is good to be back. My guy is in the house. As always, my good say, what up, bro? What are we doing? What's going on, man? I'm doing good. Just enjoying this little preview of fall we're having. Man. I went for a walk on Wednesday with a hoodie on and it was comfortable. Game changer. We had that storm in the end. Game changer. It was like 67 degrees. Oh, beautiful. Yeah, it was something special. Gonna hit the links this weekend. Damn right. Supposed to be as high as 70. Yeah. So, I mean, you know-- It was much better than that. No, I like it's gonna be-- Don't know what to do. It's gonna be in the mid 60s when we're on the golf course. Beautiful. It's gonna be in the hoodies. Yeah. I mean, I won't because I saw a good, like a big. It will be comfortable. Yeah. And I am here for it. I am also here for my Lions. Let's fucking go. It is preseason. Officially, starting off this week, it's happening. Lions play tonight against the New York Giants. God, there were a lot of fights last week. Yeah. It was chippy and that is putting it lightly. They don't like each other. So, we'll see how that plays out tonight in the actual game. Most of the fights were the starters. I was gonna say most of the fights were the starters. Yeah. I don't know how much we-- But still, you know, I mean-- It can carry over. It can carry over with other players, you know, if the stars are talking, like chipped down. Chirping their younger guns. Yeah. Backups like, "Hey, go for something to do that." Yeah, there you go. Go a little extra. We shall see. I can't wait for it, man. It is here. We are so close to actual kickoff of the regular season, but until then, we have football. Man, we were just talking about the abundance of games all day Saturday. Your Steelers play tomorrow night, correct? Our night got the Houston Texans coming to town. But until then, until we kick this thing off, you know where to find it. Everywhere on Facebook, Instagram. Soon to be on the old X. We're gonna make a Twitter soon. That's happening. We have to because there are people out there that need to hear about superfans, the Staling Stoner. So that's in the works, but all the listening platforms are as follows. I Heart Radio, who will play iTunes as well as Spotify and Radio Radio. So we everywhere. Check us out. Check us out. And listen. Take friends. Play friends. Play your mom. Yeah. Let's jump in, bro. Are you ready? Let's do. We got the AFC West. Buddy, that means we are down to, after tonight, three, three. Yeah. Which means two after next week, which is R to divisions before kickoff happens. Can't fucking wait. We're gonna jump in. So AFC West, that means the Chiefs, the Broncos, the Chargers, and the Raiders. You're gonna kick us off, buddy. You wanna go with those Super Bowl freakin' champs? Let's go back to back to ending champs. Alright, get it over with. Talking about the Chiefs. Weird year last year, obviously. That's not news. They looked completely ordinary all season. Could argue had some of the worst receiving core in the entire league. And then, you know, when the playoffs came around, they turned it on and turned back into the Chiefs. And that is why, you know, a lot of teams, or a lot of people were doubting this team last year. And through a certain point, I was. But then after the first playoff game, I was like, no, I'm not. I have. Until I see it, I'm not betting against. I can't remember how many times I ask you. So what are you gonna take the opposing team? You're like, I'm not betting against Patrick. It also paid off great because the Chiefs were an underdog in every playoff game that they played this year. Which is also stupid. Yeah, that's fucking stupid. I was getting plus money on those guys too. But yeah. I mean, Andy Reed, you know, now that Bill of Chex retired, you know, he's arguably the best coach in the NFL. You know, they've got, you know, continuity with Matt Nagy and Steve Spagnola coming back at the OCM DC. Not a lot of changes for the roster except for the position that struggled the most last year, which was the wide receiver in course. So you bring back Rishi Rice, who's probably hasn't been announced yet. He's gonna be suspended, whether it's four or six games. We'll see what that comes down to. Yep. But they bring in Hollywood Brown, who has had his moments in the league. He's never really lived up to the billing of what he was supposed to be when he came into the league, but he is fast. He is shifty. He doesn't drop the ball like Caderias Tony does. So, you know, there's that. And then boy, talk about speed. They drafted with their first pick. See worthy. One Xavier worthy out of Texas, the guy who broke the record at the combine for the fastest 40 time for two. In history is four to one. The previous record was four to two. I believe it was Chris Johnson had that. Oh, Tennessee Titans. Yeah. Shout out. So he will, especially in the early part of the year, it's going to be heavy him and Hollywood Brown, because like I said, we are under the assumption that Rishi Rice will at some point be suspended for his off-season shenanigans. But when they come come back, I'm not saying that that's a, you know, oh man, look out. That's one of the best trios in the league. But if Xavier worthy can be what we think he can, and you know, it's kind of a throwback to the Tyree kill days where you got your receivers who work underneath and then you got your speedster burner that nobody can keep up with going deep. And my homes hasn't had that since Tyree kill left. Not like it's really mattered because all they've done since Tyree kill was traded was win Super Bowls. They are literally a hundred percent without him. So interesting moves there. They still have guys like Justin Watson, Skye Moore. His Tony is still on the roster right now, but I don't expect that. He didn't get the touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. Yeah. I don't expect him to make that. Interesting to see what will happen this year with Travis Kelsey, who again, much like the team, he did not look right all year long. He looked like he lost a step. He looked older. He kind of looked mentally checked out. Obviously, there's the off the field stuff with him and Taylor Swift and his personal life, which is different from most players having a personal life off the field because it's not in the limelight and every move that you make is followed by the world media. But that's what he was living with. And, you know, he was on podcast openly talking about he thinks about retirement constantly. And it looked last year like he was kind of checked out. Like, I think I'm ready to call it. I've got other stuff going on. And then, like the Chiefs, he also turned it on. The playoffs and became who we know him to be, Travis Kelsey. So do we get a repeat of last year where this team doesn't really find their footing? Interestingly, with this team throughout the Mahomes era, they've kind of always gotten off to slow starts. In their three Super Bowl years, I think they've started something like two and two or three and two every year. They never come out of the gate super hot. And I look at their schedule this year and it's a pretty tough opening, you know, seven weeks. You open with the Ravens and Bengals. Both of those games are at home. And then you go on the road to the Falcons and Chargers. We'll see. Obviously, we'll talk Chargers here in a little bit. I don't really know what's going on with Justin Herbert. That could be, you know, an easy dub if he's not on the field. But then, you know, Saints by and then at 49ers. So I see two, possibly three losses there and you're talking about a three and three start. Correct. Yep, I'm with you. Here's the problem. The rest of their schedule looks like I'm seeing a lot of W's for them. This team, they were so flipped from what they had been all of Mahomes era. They've been aired out high octane offense, scored 35 points a game. And, you know, middle of the road to kind of below average defense. But it didn't matter because your offense could just outscore anyone they played. Last year was very different. They're the ninth ranked total offense, which wasn't bad. But if you dig into the numbers, they were middle of the road and scoring. They only scored 21 points a game. That was 15th. They were the 19th ranked rushing offense. And their offensive line, while it had some pieces, namely at center. But, you know, with Creed Humphrey, 11th ranked offensive line last year. What was different about this team and why I think they ultimately did win the Super Bowl is Mahomes has never had a defense. Second ranked overall defense, second ranked scoring defense, fourth ranked passing defense. Struggled against the run a little bit, but they were even there. They were middle of the road at 18. So, if this defense comes back like they did last year, I expect even better performances out of this team. Now, they did lose some key pieces. Lajeria Sneed, obviously now with the Titans. A sneaky piece that no one really ever talks about, but he was always a good linebacker for them. Willie Gay Jr. now with the Saints. So, two pieces on defense that they, you know, will have to fill in and we'll see how they do. My only concern when I look at this team is specifically with the offensive line. Like I said, they were middle of the road last year. They brought in Juwan Taylor, gave him a big contract from Jacksonville last year. He just did not look great. And then here's the biggest concern for me. And that is left tackle. They are starting their second round rookie, Kingsley's some... Some a tie out of BYU. He has slotted to be the starting left tackle. Interesting. And if your offensive line isn't great, obviously we know Creed Humphrey, one of the best, if not the best center in the league. Joe Tooney at left guard, still great. But the rest of the offensive line, you know, Juwan Taylor, does he rebound? I don't know. Like I said, a rookie starting at left tackle. Do you remember the Buccaneers Super Bowl that the Chiefs played in and they got worked? Do you remember why they got worked? It was because the starting tackles right and left were injured for the Super Bowl and they had back up. They had subpar offensive line play. And Mahomes, as great as he is, could not get anything going in that game because his line didn't give him the time. So that is a concern going into the season is what kind of player are you getting out of your tackles, specifically your left tackle, who is a rookie and protects the blind side. Ultimately, I have little concern for this team for obvious reasons. You know, I've seen a lot of people try and every year to say like, "Oh, this is the year, you know, the Chargers are the Broncos." One of these teams is going to...no, no. If this is their division, it will continue to be their division. And so, like I said, I went through the first six games, they have a buy in there. I have them starting three and three. My final record for them is 13 and four. Wow, okay. So they definitely get it together after three and four. I mean, yeah, if you go down the list, I mean, it's a lot of, you know, divisional games against Broncos and Raiders. So there's four games. They get Panthers, you know, they, I mean, I think the Chargers are going to be better this year, but they still own them. You know, I don't think my Steelers can play with them, they get them. They have to go to Cleveland in December. That was the one loss I gave them, just because that defense is really good. But I don't know what I'm getting with the Browns offense. So, but yeah, 13 and four, they'll be fine and in, you know, in play for the one seat at the end of the year. Yeah, look, there's no, there's no question. This is the Chiefs division to win, win or lose, but for sure win and win handedly. My, my other, I mean, you mentioned the offensive line being your biggest question mark. Mine's actually the running back position because Isaiah Pacheco, I love, I love this dude. I mean, he is a ferocious running back and can do all the things you ask. He's the three down running back to. I mean, and he runs with power. I love, I love Isaiah. But behind him, dude, I was just looking at their depth chart and it's, it's Danaric Prince, who's actually slotted as their number two. In front of, who's only, yeah, in front of Clyde Edwards there, who's still there. I thought Clyde Edwards had actually been shipped off. I feel like it's been seven years they've been talking about getting rid of him. Yeah, but he's, he's actually the, the number three. So, this Danaric Prince has played in, I mean, he barely played last year. He's only had one year of experience, so he's slotted as the backup. So, I mean, you know, anything happens to Isaiah Pacheco. I mean, that rushing attack dramatically falters, I would say. Well, and then, and then Patrick has to make up for it. Let me address the running back situation because I'm meant to bring this up. It's kind of a bad news, good news situation. Bad news is they didn't bring Derek McKinnon back, who I thought was an excellent number two. It's an excellent, definitely. And he is a lethal receiver out of the backfield. The good news is, is he is still on the free agent market. No one has signed. Mmm. Two toys from him back. So, you know, much like they did last year with me, Cole Hardman. You know, he, he left one to the Jets for 10 games. And you're like, all right, come on back. And he scored the game winning touchdown and over done in the Super Bowl. So, I could definitely see him coming back, which would provide a little bit more stability in the running back room. For sure. And there's, there's familiar, yeah. Tremendous familiarity there too, so it'd be an easy plug and play, dude. You have 13 wins, right? I do. I'm going to, I'm going to keep it the same as last year. I feel like with an aging Kelsey, an injury away from being not nearly as dynamic, whether it's Rishi Rice or Isaiah Bacheco, but there's still, there's enough incredible, incredible, excuse me, I'm on the talent still, as well as Cheeseburger Reed, who is damn near the best coaching league. You, you, you just overcome those situations because of how much experience there is on that squad. So I'm keeping them the same as last year. I'm going 11 and 6. They run away with the division, easy peasy. You know, that wouldn't surprise me either because you remember back in the Warriors dynasty area, we always talked about how the Warriors were so annoying because like they were just so bored with the regular season because they knew every year that they were going to be in the NBA finals, and so going through 82 games of regular season, like they just, you know, it was kind of meandering, like, like, yeah, plawed their way through. Yeah. So could I see the Chiefs much like last year, just showing up to a Sunday one o'clock game against like the Saints or, you know, or a divisional game or the chargers or the Raiders or whoever and catching an L that they have no business catching. Totally. Absolutely. And that very well could happen. Do it effect or the trajectory of their actual season and getting into the playoffs? Fuck no. No, they are the new Warriors dynasty. I think they have like the regular season is born to them. I will say this the week one though against the ratings. That was exciting. That one is very exciting. That will be a fun one. Yeah. So there it is. So 11 and 6 for you. All right. So let's talk about the Chargers. Yep. Big, big, big changes here. Phew. Phew. Absolutely outside of the quarterback, everyone is new. I mean, they got rid of all their skill position players, got rid of Brandon Staley, my old brother-in-law. Yep. And then how's he doing, by the way? Is he okay? You know, he's driving. He's living a life. He didn't make a bunch of monies. There's nothing. The greatest job in the world is a fired NFL coach. Facts on facts. You get paid for nothing. Correct. They bring in your boy national champion, Jim Harbaugh. So obviously everywhere he's gone. It's worked out. And maybe not a championship, but he has vastly improved the team. They were 5 and 12 last year. What do you see this year? Yeah, definitely improvement has to be not a ton, but enough. We'll get there. So yeah. So first pick, Joe Alt, could have gone offense a weapon, say, or I don't know, a receiver for God's sakes. They didn't do that. They want to shore up the offensive line. But with that said, Joe Alt is a freaking motherfudger as a tackle, mauler for sure. You could argue maybe not this year, but in a year or two, with Rashawn Slater at the other side, this could be one of the best, if not the best tackle duo in the league. Yeah. Easy. So we'll see. I'm going to give as many positives, which aren't that many, to start. And then we'll finish it out. Jim Harbaugh, yes. Okay. Second stint as an unfilled coach. His record as an unfilled coach, 49, 22, and one, that's pretty fucking good. Yeah. What's also really good is three straight NFC championship games, as well as a Super Bowl appearance. Yeah. Pretty, pretty solid. I would say that's a pretty solid pedigree. Now, can he repeat that success? Doesn't have a column Kaepernick under center. That could be a problem. I could argue Justin, or it's a little bit better. I do think he is. But no, but can he repeat that success? Is it just, is it transitional? Is it picking up right where he left off coaching at Michigan and his last three or four years only improving, improving, improving upon the season and winning a national championship? So does that translate after fuck, man? I mean, 10 years post coaching NFL, you know, it's a different game now. So we shall see Justin Herbert, another positive, I would say, I mean, the dude is, I would say, a very underrated quarterback in terms of his skill set numbers wise to, I mean, his first three seasons, 4,300 yards, 5,000 yards, 4,700 yards. Yeah. Dude, considering it can put up the numbers, very accurate. His second year was his best year, 38 touchdowns, only 15 interceptions. Sadly, last year was his worst year, he missed the few, was it, he missed the last couple games? I think he missed 13. I think he missed, yeah, he missed the end of the season. So that definitely affected his stats, he only had 3,100 yards, 20 touchdowns, 7 interceptions. So now we're entering his fifth season. Can he take that jump? Can he do it with all the pieces he's lost? This will be a incredible challenge, kind of one more positive, I would say on the defensive side is that there are pieces for sure that are very, you know, very likable and exciting and bonafide stars. I mean, Joey Bosa, he's not Nick, he's not his brother, but he's still a damn good defensive lineman. Yeah. Cleo Mack, I still feel like, still has a lot of good years ahead of him. I feel like he's kind of slipped off since, since being a raider, but still I really think- He actually had a really solid year last year. Yeah, he was very good for them. Yeah. He had like what, at least 10 sacks, I think. Oh, he had more than, I think he had like 14 or 15. Is that right? Well, he had one game where he went off, I think he had a four or five sack game. Okay. Which accounted for like a third of his total season. It's Denzel Perryman, linebacker, really like him. You've got, they brought in Ford, Punta, Punta, Punta, Punta, Punta, Punta, Punta. Thank you. Punta Ford from the Bills. He's a monster in the middle. And then in the secondary, I mean, Asante Samuel Jr., Durman James, still one of the best safeties in the league. And then they brought in Christian Fulton from the Titans corner, really like that too. So on paper, it's a fairly, fairly decent, I mean, defense really, but let's be real. Let's be real real. When you know, on offense, concerns abound. When you lose, Kenan Allen, John, Mike Williams, John, Austin Neckler, gone. You could argue those three players were their best players on offense. And they were. Who was their fourth? Because Gerald Everett. Oh, that's right. Tieden. I forgot about him. He gone. So they kind of only threw the ball or ran the ball with said four players. So it's kind of hard to, I don't know, get better when you lose your best players. So we'll get there. So now let's just flip the script and let's talk about who's who's who's who's in town. Now what we got, we got a DJ shark. We got a Josh Palmer who by the way, his career best was 72 catches for 700 yards and three touchdowns. Oh, but a guess who's guess who slither to start at number three wide receiver, rookie lad, McConkie, white boy from Georgia. I like him. I do too. But you know, he ain't he ain't the number one receiver from Georgia who who was he again. This past year. Yeah, this past draft. Georges. What was the name? I can't think. I can't think of it. Regardless. Rock Bowers. I'll get to him with the Raiders later. But a McConkie last year as a senior, 30 receptions, 478 yards, two touchdowns, me. Okay. Um, maybe we'll do better at the running back position after we lost Austin Echler who was arguably the heartbeat off on the offense, considering he ran and caught the ball for days. Well, we got the cast off from the Ravens, Josh Edwards and JK, I love to get hurt every year. Dobbins. Both those guys. Not just get hurt. I like to have my season ended. Yeah, both those guys are good for four games a year. At least. They're filling in for Mike Williams. So that's our running back duo super. I don't see how this team can, you know, uh, stomach, those significant losses, um, with uh, Justin Herbert to who's, we had his best when he has guys that are reliable and proven. Okay. Right. I wouldn't say G.J. Sharker, Josh Palmer are proven by any means definitely at Lemma Conkey's not. And then handing the ball off, uh, when the, or, or throwing, checking it down to guys that gas that were JK Dobbins, I love to put my hamstring or tear my other ACL for the third time. Uh, I don't see that working out very well. With that said though, I do feel like, um, be, okay, so here's, here's the reality. They finished five and 12 last year. That was, that was a bad season. I do feel like they have a very favorable schedule. I do have them improving, especially based solely on the play of Justin Herbert. I feel like he can win games for them. I feel like Jim Harbaugh's experience will be able to kind of help them navigate, you know, difficult in game moments. Um, uh, so with all that said, uh, it's a team that's still going to struggle, um, but we'll win. I have them winning four more games. I haven't finished eight and nine. Yeah. Yeah, so one thing to remember is they went five and 12, but they lost their last four games that Justin Fields wasn't out there. So not, not, or yet, sorry, Justin Herbert, not that they were lighting it up by any means, but they were, uh, five and eight and then he went out and they went five and 12. Would they have made the playoffs? Probably not. But could they have finished, you know, eight, nine, nine and eight somewhere like that. And then their season doesn't like they've finished of around 500 there, you know, middle of the road team. Um, yeah, you, you talked about the, the draft pick, um, you know, retrospect, I think we were all a little bit surprised that they didn't go with Malik neighbors. But then if you're like, Oh, who just took over head? Oh, Jim Harbaugh, what does he love to do? Run the ball. Round and pound. Oh, that's not surprising at all. And Joe Alt is presumed to be a generational talent at tackle and you, you said it. Now you've got Slater and Alt at your tackle spots. And if you kept them there for the next 10 years, you're talking about one of the most dominant, uh, tackle duos in the NFL, um, you know, Zion Johnson still there who, uh, from Boston college, who's, who's played pretty well, uh, Trey Pippkins moves over from right tackle to right guard and then they bring in Bradley Bozeman at center from the, the Panthers. Uh, the running back is a concern though, because I, I looked at that and I was like, Oh boy, uh, this is Jim Harbaugh we're talking about. He loves to ground in pound and my God, you bring in Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins who when healthy, I mean, they're good running backs. But the problem is, is they get like I said, I wasn't joking. They're, they're, you know, give you four or five games a year and that's about it. Um, sneaky draft pick later in the round that I, I did like Brendan Rice, Jerry Rice is son, Ricky at a USC. I think he, I think he's going to step in, uh, and then not good news for one Quentin Johnson because he was their first overall pick last year, Mike Williams leaves, Keenan Allen leaves, and he slides down the depth chart to the fourth wide receiver instead of going to their number one. And it's not like they have a proven number one, right. That's a lot. That says a lot about him and he was a first round draft pick up two years ago. Um, although they lost year old Everett at tight end, I think they actually improved their overall tight end room. Donald Parham Jr. still there. He was, he actually had some really good games for them last year was, did they bring him a little disley? They brought him a little disley from the Seahawks and they actually come like, well, Hayden Hurst from the Panthers. Two. That's, that's pretty solid. That's a pretty solid trio of tight end and you know, Jim's going to, you know, ground and pound and middle of the field, yeah, tight end stuff. So I think they're going to be all right. Um, and when I say all right, I mean, like they'll be, okay, they'll be all right. Um, yeah, the schedule is very favorable. They have the 27th ranked hardest schedule. Uh, there's, although he's new to the Chargers, obviously. So the fifth easiest. Yeah. Um, they, uh, although he's new to the Chargers, he obviously has a long working career with Jim Harbaugh, Jesse Minters, the new, uh, DC, um, and then Greg Romans, the new O.C. Who was, uh, another Michigan guy, he was with Michigan, but he was with the law for all those years in Baltimore. Um, so he brought in some proven veteran guys, although mentor, I think is more proven at the college level. See if he can do it in the NFL, um, but yeah, I mean, my God, the, the pieces they lost, I just, this is a team that every year we've been waiting to take that next step and they've been like kind of every preseason, like, watch out for the Chargers. They could, they could make a run for the Super Bowlers here. And they just haven't lived up to that expectation, mostly because of coaching and because of injuries. Uh, this year, I think they're going to be a more, um, disciplined team. Uh, I think they're going to be more detailed with Jim Harbaugh than they were with, uh, Brandon Staley. I think Justin Herbert is, you know, it's his team now. Um, I think Jim's probably going to, I'm not going to say he's going to turn him into JJ McCarthy. We're like, oh, he didn't throw a pass in the second half. Uh, but I think he's going to take a little bit of pressure off of him, get a little bit more creative, uh, using, uh, run game, using, uh, pulling guards, pulling tackles, maybe some, uh, end-around reverse type stuff, misdirection. Uh, I think he's going to try to take a little bit of pressure off of Justin because he knows the weapons aren't what he has had for the majority of his career. Uh, you got him going eight and nine. I'll go one better. I got him going nine and eight. Okay. Yeah, that feels about right. That number feels just about right. It's either hovering right below or just about 500. Yeah. All right, buddy. Take me to, uh, the mile high stadium. Let's talk about the Denver freaking Broncos. I had to re look and remind myself who's the quarterback. Yeah. I knew like Jared said it was the little thing there, but then I remembered, oh, that's where they drafted Bonex, who is actually currently slated as the starter. Talk to me. I want to know what's going on in this Broncos team. What do we got? Well, actually the first depth chart he just released yesterday has Bonex as the third string quarterback. However, really, I was on our lads today and I think most coaches do that. They put their rookies on the first official depth chart. Okay. I mean, unless you're like a Caleb Williams or like where you just come in unquestioned, like, yeah, there's no one else we could possibly do for sure. So yeah, Bonex, I think will end up maybe not week one, but he will be the starter for the majority of the year, uh, Jared's did him and let's not forget. They traded for one Zach Wilson. So that is quite the QB room there. Yeah. Um, Bonex, man, I don't know what to do with this guy. I mean, he's had the longest literally the longest college football career. He played 62 games. That's the most games ever played in college football. He was at Auburn for five years. He was at Oregon for two years. The guy's like 36. He's got grandkids on the way. I like, I don't, um, you know, are you getting the, the Auburn bow or are you getting the Oregon bow? Obviously Oregon, he had more success and that's more recently, um, but if you look, and this is just a trend of, you know, I'm not saying that it can't be broken. But over the last few years specifically because of COVID and all the extra, uh, eligibility that guys have had where they could stay and get those extra years, we've seen a lot of, uh, 23, 24, 25 year old quarterbacks coming out who were in college for like six, some of them, seven years in his case, uh, boy, none of them have done anything in the league. Uh, it is not translated well. And then you see these guys who come in who are one in two year starters in college and they are translating. So we'll see. That's, that's just a trend I've noticed. I'm not saying that, you know, it's a, an indictment that bonyx will for sure fail because he was in college for seven years, but I would say I wasn't like nine or 10. I mean, the dude was like 30 when he graduated. Yeah. I mean, I feel like, uh, I heard some, I can't remember who it was. There was some crazy fact of like who he, when he was at Auburn, some of the guys he played against at Alabama have been in the league for like five years. Like that is crazy. Like he's just, he's been around forever. Um, all right. So he's a chat, honey, chat, every NFL team and in finished news, like 52, I'll start negative here and then try to finish, finish positive, uh, defense atrocious, uh, they were the 29th ranked defense 27th, uh, against the, uh, scoring 22nd against passing and 30th against rushing. So there is no saving grace there, like a lot of these teams, you'll see like, oh, they were 25th ranked, 24th ranked, 8th ranked against this, it was pretty good. This team, no, they were in the bottom fourth in every single category on defense. Uh, and you know, they lost Justin Simmons, who is a top three, uh, free agent, uh, not free agent. He is a free agent, uh, top three free safety, uh, currently, uh, I think he visited the Saints yesterday, but I haven't heard if they signed him or not. Um, so you, you lose, uh, you, one of your two best defensive players, your other being Patrick's or tan, um, who is, uh, top three corners. So isn't he still just sitting out there, like waiting to be, he, like I said, he visited the Saints yesterday. Okay. But he hasn't signed. So, um, man, they, and you know, in, in their defense, the Broncos, they, they recognize, hey, our defense was horrible last year, let's not stand pat and they didn't because they are only bringing back one, two, three, four starters from last year. Everyone else is new. Um, so they, they have completely overhauled that defense, but I don't know that it's going to make a difference because when I look at this defense outside of Patrick's or tan, this is just a bunch of no names. I mean, Zach Allen, DJ Jones, Barron Browning, uh, you know, Riley Moss, PJ Locke, Brandon Jones, most of the average, the average football fan has never heard of any of these people. Um, so I don't know that the defense is going to be vastly improved. Um, but I do think that Sean Payton, say what you will about him, you know, they, uh, he's an offensive coach, albeit the success he had was with the Hall of Fame quarterback. So let's see if he can, um, you know, flip the switch here. Uh, offense though, I think they have all their eggs in the Bonix basket and if that doesn't work out, cause I'm sorry, Jared Stidham, he's unproven. I actually, another former Auburn product, by the way, yeah, I actually, a couple, uh, years ago, uh, not last year, but two years ago, he was with the Raiders. And towards the end of the season, the Raiders were out of it and they had played terrible all year. And he played back to back weeks against the Chiefs and the 49ers and he lit both of them up and they beat the 49ers and they lost to the Chiefs in overtime. He had over 300 yards in both games. Uh, I think he's through for like two touchdowns and one and three in the other. He looked really good, uh, with the Raiders, but that's a two game sample size from two years ago. I can't, I can't hang my hat on that. He's been a backup in the league for a reason for four years now. He's not like nobody, you know, recognizes like, oh, he's going to quickly become the new next girl. I mean, she was something. Yeah. So, and then Zach Wilson, whatever, he's, he's a career third string right now. Um, he's working for about his next milf day. Yeah. Wide receiver room. I'm not in love with, uh, I like Cortland Sutton, uh, he was really good. Him and Ross had a lot of good connections last year, um, and he kind of took over. He was at the start of the year. He was the number two receiver to Jerry Judy and very quickly by the end of the year, he was definitely number one over Jerry Judy, who's no longer in the building. So who's surrounding Cortland Sutton? Well, you got your boy Josh Reynolds coming over from the lions, uh, second year man out of Oklahoma, Marvin Mims, Tim Patrick is still there. So it, uh, not loving the wide receiver room, not loving the tight end room, Greg Dulcich, Adam Troutman. Okay. Uh, how about the running backs? Well, Givente Williams, uh, he has, you know, he had that one really good year that feels like a hundred years ago, um, he's been injured. He hasn't played well when he's been, you know, yeah, he was a thousand yard back as a rookie. Even on North Carolina, right? Uh, yeah. Him and Michael Carter came out that same year, um, behind him, I can't believe Samaj P. Ryan is still in the league, but he is another guy that feels like he's been in the league for 12 years. Yeah. Jaleel McLaughlin. So I don't love the running back room. The one thing I will say about this team that is positive is the offensive line is stacked. They finished last year PFF ranked them as the seventh best offensive line in the league. Uh, and they return everyone except for their, uh, center, the new center is Luke Wattenberg, uh, who was on the team last year. He just steps up, uh, but Quinn miners, Mike McGlitchy on the, on the right side and Ben Powers and Garrett Foles on the left side. That is a very serviceable, uh, offensive line. They're going to protect young quarterbacks, which is, you love to see. And you know, that's where, uh, Jim Harbaugh talking about him, like I think that's where he, his mind went was, you know, we have a proven franchise quarterback, but he's been injured and we can't protect him. Let's protect him. Well, now you draft a first round rookie and bonix. This is what you want, man. Uh, if everything else is weak, if they're running backs, tight ends, receivers are weak. At the very least, we're not going to get our quarterback killed because we have the, the pieces to protect him. I respect Sean Payton as, uh, you know, a proven winning coach in this league. And I think he can do some things with the offense. Um, they have a fairly easy schedule too. It's under 500, uh, 20, a thrinked, uh, schedule there. Um, their schedule is very up and down. It's, it, I don't see any long streaks of losses or wins, uh, except for at the very end, uh, Browns, Colts, Chargers, Bengals, Chiefs, I only see one win in there. Um, so they were eight and nine last year. I'm going to take them a step back, but I, I don't think it's going to be like that big of a difference, uh, in their performance. I think they're going to be very similar to what they were last year. And that's a slightly below average team. So eight and nine last year, I got them seven and 10 this year. Yeah, bro. I don't got a lot here. I just, I, I will say this. I feel like seven wins is, is generous. Um, I just, I don't trust many players, uh, on this team, especially, um, I'm out on the quarterbacks. Uh, I don't, I don't see, um, them being able to eke their way, uh, into, a few more wins, like last year with a much, much better quarterback and Russell Wilson, which one could argue the last half of the season is why they were able to finish eight and nine. Um, I don't see that happening with this, um, this trio of quarterbacks, where are the fuckers under center? So that's why I actually haven't do, I haven't, uh, finished you four games, uh, worse. Ooh, I got them finishing four and 13 man, it's going to be rough. You're for the Broncos. Wow. All right. Well, uh, we will get your, uh, your pick here. You said four and 13. Correct. Okay. So are they in the basement or are the Las Vegas Raiders in the basement? Um, I'll just, uh, well, we'll get there. All right. So the last Vegas Raiders, uh, so, you know, it's interesting what they did in the draft. You know, I mean, when you draft Michael Meyer, mayor, mayor, mayor, mayor, mayor, last year from, uh, Nordame, the best tied into that class, you know, why not just follow it up and do the same thing next year. Right? Why not go for two, two for two, right? Yeah. Why not get Brock powers? Just because he's sitting there and, you know, it's like you have, you know, bazillion other holes that are probably more important. Nah, we're not going to fill those holes. Let's just get the best tied and fair enough with Michael Meyer. So that's what they did in Brock powers. Um, I actually liked the second round pick better and the fact that Jackson powers Johnson fell to them. That's crazy man. I loved Jackson powers. I did too. Uh, from Oregon, that was, it was a fucking mauler center. But he can slide, um, down the line to you could easily play interior and go guard. But man, did they get lucky with Epic? Uh, listen, this is just a team of questions everywhere, just, just facts on facts. Pierce, uh, it's going to be his first full year coaching. You know, when he, when he took over last year, he finished five and four. Okay. That's fine. I do like, um, the energy and passion, uh, uh, the fire he brought. I think that locker room desperately needed that because, um, it wouldn't, it wouldn't be hard to improve on Josh McDaniel's, um, that's for sure. Um, and that's what Antonio Pierce brings is, is at least a lot of passion for sure a players coach too. So I know the players love playing for a coach like that still it's, uh, we'll see what happens with his first actual full year coaching quarterback play. Um, so we're gonna mint you, uh, 21 touchdowns, 3300 yards. That's like his, his, his best, uh, record is 22 and 27. He did an O'Connell, uh, 12 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 2,200 yards. His record is five and six. So in case he didn't catch that, both sub 500 records as a starting quarterback. Not great. So which one's going to play? Which one's going to like, you know, take this team, you know, and really kind of carry it. I mean, who fucking knows who really cares because I don't see either really as a dynamic true bonafide starter and then I felt there. The gardener for sure is a solid backup. Can plug and play when needed, but can he play a full season and be the guy that's going to take the Raiders to the playoffs? I don't think so. He does look good in George though. Yeah. That is facts. Uh, another question. Big one. Big one is Devonta happy. Uh, if you guys watched the receiver show on Netflix, um, yeah, it didn't, didn't, didn't really get vibes that he was very happy and in fact there were, there was even, uh, you know, moments when he was, oh, I don't know, doing a actual press conference and talking about how all he really gave a fuck about was, uh, his, what was the Mikey, his own stats, didn't really care about the wins and the losses. He said, yeah, this was after they won a game. They, they won the game and in his press conference, he said, I'm not judged by wins and losses. I'm judged by my numbers. I don't really care about that other stuff. That other stuff is in winning. There you go. Well, I mean, I will say this, I do understand it based on the fact that he was playing for a dog water team and the Raiders new wins weren't really going to come. So maybe don't say it after a win though. Yeah. It was a really shit. Look, uh, will he stay or will he go now? Will he stay, will he go now? We will see behind him. Um, you know, we've got guys like, oh, I don't know what Jacoby Myers, um, we've got a tray tucker. We've got a Tristan, uh, Wilkerson. Yikes. Yeah. So there's that running back room. Okay. So, you know, you were, you were totally content and losing your best, um, running back. You're arguably your best player on offense. Just just beneath Devonta Adams and Josh Jacobs, who only rushed for a thousand yards every season. Um, in your run with Samir White, who's been in the league for two years. Okay. 31 games played 521 total yards. One touchdown. All right. Good luck with that. You do have a two headed monster. As we've already discussed, uh, at tight end, cool, you know, mayor and rock bars. Cool. See how that works out. Defense, you know, you got one of the best defensive ends of the league. Max Crosby, fucking love the dude 14 and a half sacks last year, sixth in the league. Very impressive. They bring interest, uh, Christian Wilkins from the, from the Miami Dolphins plug in the middle nose tackle. He is a monster. Love that. It's about it. That is about it. Raiders fans. Raiders nation. Um, look, I'm sorry, but here's, here's just like facts on facts. This is a tough division. It's an even tougher conference. Um, so few players, I feel like you can trust and get excited about, uh, they stumbled their way into an eight and nine record last year. I still don't know how they did that. Here's what's here. So it's really shitty for the Raiders. They legitimately could start one in nine and I'm not fucking around one in nine. Here's why. It is a brutal, brutal schedule. And I will say also this real quick. If, if it's one in five or one in six, what have you, Adams is absolutely demanding in trade. He will not, he will not suffer through. It'll be in New York. You think the giants or the jets? Yeah. Yeah. Fuck the choice here. GM Aaron will go get a brutal schedule as a, as I mentioned, here it is. Here's the first, I think nine or 10 weeks. You got the chargers, Ravens, Panthers, me, Browns, Broncos, Steelers, Rams, Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins, I believe those Rams, Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins, three or those four are on the road. Yes. That is, that is easily a one in nine start, maybe two and eight. Um, this is, this is gonna be a rough year for the Raiders. I'm just, I mean, I just don't see a lot of wins on the schedule. I really don't. And that is why I have them finishing four and 13 and that might be generous, which means they will tie the Broncos, but I will give the Raiders the edge. So we're asking, don't ask me how, don't ask me how, but someone I'm just gonna give the Raiders probably just cause I like their jerseys more. Yeah. Um, I love that black and silver. Here's what's great. Uh, when you look at the strength of schedule, so typically how the scheduling is supposed to work is, is like, you know, if you finish in first place in your division, you face a first place schedule. And if you finish the last in years, you place, face the last place schedule. The chiefs have like the 26th easiest or hardest schedule. So like one of the easiest schedules and they finished first, the Raiders have the eighth hardest schedule in the NFL. And boy, yeah, you talked about it. Right. I mean, it's fucked. I'm honest, you said the, the Raiders could start one on nine. That's exactly what I have them started is one on nine with the win coming against the Panthers. There you go. Um, this coaching staff, man, I just, listen, Antonio Pierce is a guy who stepped in and we see this all the time where like, it's a toxic locker room because of the coach is just not working and nobody wants to play for him. And the interim steps in and the guys rally around him and they love him. Yeah. And they, they win this game. Complete change of culture. They win some games at the end of the year. But there's a reason that up until this Antonio Pierce thing, most of those guys who are interim coaches and have success at the end of the year next year, they're not the head coach of that team because owners and GMs are smart enough to know like that's, that's a mirage. That's not real. Sure. They, that's not a full season. That's an emotional response to, yeah, a dramatic change. Yeah. And, and this is our guy and we, we, we rallied around him and we played for him. So, and they did it so much that Max Crosby came out and said, if you don't bring him back as the head coach, I will request a trade and I won't play here. And so like they, these guys love them. But as a head coach, I don't know what I'm getting honestly. And then the coordinators, Luke gets, he is the offensive coordinator. And then Patrick Graham, I've literally never heard of him. He's the defensive coordinator. But yeah, aside from that, I think Gardner Mitchell will start just because I think he fits the personality of this team a little bit more. We talked about it. Like this is kind of a, a quirky locker room and it starts with Antonio Pearson. They're more of like a, they're not a buttoned up franchise. They're more of like a, a raw, raw let's go get him type like real rowdy locker room. And that's Gardner. Like Gardner is not a detailed quarterback. He's going to be, he's a, he's a poor man's, a very poor man's Brett Favre, just, he's out there just going ham, making plays, having fun. And it's fun to watch. I don't know how that translates to success, but I think he is more the personality of this team. I actually think Aidan O'Connell might give them a better chance to win, especially because he's now been there. He's, this is. Second. He was working last year. Second, yeah. I couldn't remember if he was a rookie last year or two years ago, but he's now been there for a full season. He was the starter for the majority of the year last year because I think they pulled the plug on Jimmy G in like week four. Yeah. He was five and four. Yeah. Um, so, you know, he, he has a little bit of, uh, you know, chemistry with, with Devontae. Um, yeah, it's Devontae's boy. He's cute. Yeah, Devontae didn't, uh, in fact, on that receiver show, like it showed them like after the game, like with their families, like wives and kids and everything. Those two were hanging out. Like their buddies. So, you know, maybe that goes a long way and maybe Aidan gets a job. I don't know. Whoever starts, I think, I think this will be a back and forth. I think both guys play multiple times this year. Um, yeah, the, the line, obviously Jackson powers Johnson, who we both loved coming out of college, but he's unproven. He's thought it to be the left guard outside of that. I don't like their line. I don't like their running back room. They brought over Alexander Madison from the Vikings. Yippee. Um, tight ends is the only thing that gets me excited about this team. Yeah. And then yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm just repeating what you said. Max Crosby is a stud on defense. Christian Wilkins is stud. Tyree Wilson did not look good as a, as a rookie. Um, a guy that I love, he's a former stealer, but he also like, he's just very easy to love. Robert Spillane, he's never going to make a pro bowl. He's not a splashy player. But this dude plays so hard at middle linebacker. Um, and even I remember watching last year Antonio Pierce talking about Robert Spillane. He said this in front of the entire team. He said, this guy right here is the heart of our defense, not Max Crosby. So, and, and it is true in a way of like, he's just a, he's an undersized. He came from Western Michigan, uh, you know, undersized Mac, middle linebacker, who has undrafted, worked his way up and he's just, uh, you know, he, he's really one of those players, but outside of that, I'm sorry, you know, shout out Broncos. I actually forgot that. Explain when to, yeah, uh, tribe on more rig. Okay. Nate Hobbs. All right. Um, yeah, I just, and, and they lost Hunter Renfrow too, who's still a free agent. Um, this team was, you know, just bad on offense last year. Um, and average or so at, on defense, 15th ranked defense. And most of that's with, uh, you know, Max Crosby carrying the way I can't get past the start of the schedule. And what that does when that, the hard part of your schedule is front loaded. It can take the wind out of your sails, even though there's more easy games coming in the second half. Once you start off with that, just onslaught of, of games, they can just deplete, uh. I'll just, you'll gut you. Yeah. And, and so then you get to the second half of your team and you already know the season's over. You're one in nine. Like, even if you win out, you're eight and nine in the AFC, that's not getting into the playoffs. Yep. So I, they'll win a few more games in the second half of the season. Um, a lot more winnable games there, uh, but not much. I got them going five and 12. I saw that coming a mile away. All right. Well, we got our records now, uh, call out the player who's, who's our guy, who's our dude, who's our rookie with the most impact on these four squads who got, um, I mean it's. Okay. This plays, it's easy to pick the quarterback so he'd be the obvious one, um, but I don't know for sure that he is going to play. So I, I think I'll stay away from him. I think I'll go Joe Alt. I mean, I just think that he is going to, uh, be a massive part in protecting, uh, in protecting Herbert and helping the run game and those running backs are going to need help because, uh, they, they, they can't get hit hard. So that's the line. No, God forbid. God forbid. Yeah. So I'll go to all. Okay. I'm going to go Brock Bower is simply because you could pretty much easily pencil him and as the number two, um, you know, pseudo wide receiver soon to be number one. Yeah. Just because of, I mean how much, how, how drastic the drop off is in the wide receiver room. And Michael Mayer is a bigger body, more almost like a blocking first, then can still run out and do some routes and catch. But Brock proved at Georgia that he is while still a big fucking bodied tight end, um, is, is very capable of running, you know, some pretty impressive routes and just great hands. And when the ball gets in his hands, he's able to shed blocks and then, you know, you know, I pick up extra yards. So, uh, he's just tough to bring down. So I'm going to go Brock Bowers because of what's going to be asked of him and needed to be, uh, for that offense. He was my second choice. All right, guys, that is a wrap for two 18. Man, what a, what a time, what it's starting to be a lot, baby. We are, we are so we got three divisions left left and then, you know, after that, um, something like, uh, I don't know, the regular season of football starts. Yeah, it's covered. We'll see if we're interested in that. We might may or may not cover that, um, maybe we'll see. We'll let you guys know the Olympics, the Olympics still go on, so we're, we're gonna have to get back. How we've missed the boat on that day. Yeah. Shout out the NBA team though. Our NBA team, the men's basketball team. They fucked around and barely beat Serbia, so that's gold in the gold medal match. Well, they're also the Warriors because in the Olympics, they're like, this is boring. Exactly. All right, guys, until next week, thank you for listening when we will see you later. Go Lions, baby. Let's get that dubbed a night preseason. Dance in. (upbeat music)