The fellas are back and it's week 3 of the divisional breakdowns with the boys getting into the AFC South. Staley tackles the Titans and the Colts and Stoner covers the Jags and the Texans! Sit back and enjoy!
SUPERFANS with Staley & Stoner
SUPERFANS with Staley and Stoner / Episode 216
(upbeat music) - What is up, everybody? - Hello. - Fans, Staley, Stoney, Staley, Stoney. - That's a super fun one. - Oh yeah. - Episode 216, we back, we doing things. Good to be back, I got the man. The myth, the legend, as always, wouldn't have it in another way. Mr. Staley, what up bro, what are you doing? - Oh, I am doing fantastic, oh man. It is good to be back. How are you, my good sir? - Great buddy, great. We are itching so close. - Oh my God. - Football's a week away. - I can taste it. - It's official, training camp. It's in full swing, I think, just what everybody's reporting. - There might be one or two teams that have them, but yeah, just about everyone that's reporting. - They will be right behind, yeah, getting things going. Man, already we're-- - Week out from Hall of Fame game. - That's right, that's right, it's official man. We are, we are so close, so we can taste it. And boy, does it taste good. - Whew, does it. - So we're gonna dive in, as we do, this is week three of the Division of Breakdowns. We are covering, C-A-F-C, so. And we're gonna get into it, bait time. You know where to find it though, find it out, find it out, find it out. High team, that's Google Play, that's our radio. We on Spotify, we're there, we're doing things. And of course, on the socials, Insta, and the Facebook. - Tick tock, tick tock, I mean, it's a little thing. Might happen maybe. - Maybe, maybe. This is the year. - By the time the tick tock-- - It's not today. - By the time the tick tock not around anymore, we'll be-- - Yeah, exactly. - We're in to go. - When the next thing hits. - Then we'll have a tick. - Yeah. - And that won't be too late, so. - We'll be talking a bit again. - It is, it is what it is. So yeah, why not just dive head first, into those waters, into the land of the Texans, the Jags, the Colts, the Titans, Mikey's gonna kick us off. - Yeah, let's do it. - He's gonna kick us off with, what do you want? You want the Colts, you want the Titans, you want the Colts? - Let's go Colts, man. - Let's go. Let's do it. - Let's go to Indianapolis. - Yeah. - Take me to Indiana, bro. - Shane Syk, I'm going into year two as the head coach. Did a pretty good job last year, all things considered, you know. Lost your rookie starting quarterback. What was that, like week four, I think? - Maybe week four. - Yeah, I was playing really good. He was looking pretty, pretty good. - Still ended up with a nine-mate record. That is very respectable as a rookie head coach, and you're down to your backup. Albeit Gardner Minshu, who is, as far as backup to go, he's elite. I would argue that, you know, he's an elite backup quarterback and a kind of meddling starter, which is a good thing to have as a backup, but he's not there anymore. - Nope, he's on the Raiders. - He is on the Raiders. - That's the last one. - But what did they do? What did they do? Well, they saw what happened in Cleveland last year, and they said, "Hey, let's go get old Grandpa Joe and see if he can recapture the magic." - Grandpa Joe. - Just in case. So I do like that addition because here is the-- - Is this team 28 or 29 that he's played on? I feel like since his-- - Since his Raven's Day? - His 30-year career, yeah. - Yeah. - Feels like it. Feel like we're getting there. - So here's the deal. I like that addition because this team is going to go with one Anthony Richardson. Now, like you said, in the first three games or four games, whatever we saw him in, there was a lot to like, some pretty impressive stuff. You know, he was still rookie, and he's gonna be coming into year two, you know, maybe a little bit more knowledgeable, but as far as, you know, gameplay goes, he's still gonna be a rookie. He's only three or four games into his career. His style of play does lend itself to injury, and we obviously saw that in year one. So knock on wood that that doesn't happen again, but that has to be in the back of their minds, and that's why it was a good signing to go out and get old Grandpa Joe. Yeah, this team is, I think they are going to be a run dominant team, and that's how they're going to have to play because weapons-wise, look, we'll see what they get out of, at nine Mitchell, the rookie out of Texas, who they drafted in the second round. Michael Pittman Jr. has had some splashes. Is he a true number one? I don't know. Yeah, I'm still on the thing. Year two of Josh Downs wasn't that impressive as a rookie, Alec Pierce, Moali Cox, Jolaney Woods had some good times as a tight end last year. But ultimately, this team does not scare you on the perimeter. What scares you is this offensive line, which they're returning all five starters. They finished last year as the ninth-rate offensive line, so a solid group, top 10, bringing back all five starters. And then you got Jonathan Taylor, who is a win-healthy and all-pro running back. Although it feels like he's years removed from that. It does. It feels like a lifetime ago. He's still only 25. I don't understand, 'cause he's been in the league for like 18 years. Yeah, we were the Benjamin Button of football. Yeah, depth at running back, a little bit of a concern. They got Trey Sermon, kind of already a journeyman. Evan Hall, not really anything there. So this offense is completely contingent upon Anthony Richardson's health and Jonathan Taylor's health. And if they are healthy, it's going to be a scary run game behind that offensive line. And I think that's what they are going to have to do because they want to slow down the game. 'Cause on the defensive side, and this is where I did not like what the Colts did this offseason. Defensively, let's talk about it here. Well, first of all, Shaq Leonard, their team captain on defense. He retired. How did they look last year? Well, not great. 24th ranked defense overall, 28 scoring defense, and 24th ranked rushing defense. So bottom of the league in just about every statistical category in the defense. So what did they do? Well, they stood Pat basically. They drafted Laotou, Laotou, with their first round pick, a edge rusher out of UCLA. But as of right now, he is slotted to be Quitty-Pays backup at left edge rush. And they brought in Rayquan Davis from the Dolphins. Well, he's also slotted to be a backup to one Grover Stewart. Outside of that, everyone on their starting defense was on the team last year. So they had a bottom tier defense last year and did little to improve it. You got your first round pick as an edge rusher. I like that. That's good. But, you know, okay, great. That's one player. If he pops, maybe he makes a difference. Outside of that, I just don't understand how you can stand Pat with that bat of a defense. Now, if Anthony-- and again, this is all-- It always is. It always is. If Anthony Richardson were to go down, a lot of what Joe Flacco did last year with the Browns was via the fact that the Browns were-- for the first half of the season, they were historically great, like, best defense ever. And then they kind of came back down to Earth, but they still ended up being a top three defense in the league last year. So Joe made a lot of mistakes, but they were kind of, you know, the sins were cleansed away by the defense last year. He's not going to get that this year. But again, that's if Anthony Richardson gets hurt. So they need to slow the game down. How do they do that with the run game? Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor out of the backfield. They're going to be run heavy offense. I really do like Shane Steichen. We saw the difference he made with Philadelphia. You know, obviously, going to the Super Bowl there as their offensive coordinator. And then the year he leaves after the offense was not the same. They have a fairly easy schedule. It's bottom tier. Jim Bob Kooter is the OC-- Jim Bob. Best name in football. Kooter is still doing things. Guy who's been around literally for 30-plus years in the NFL. I don't want to answer. Yeah, he's been everywhere. Staff loves Kooter. I love that Kooter. Listen, they have a tough start to the season. But I think things will pick up towards the end. They start off Texans, at-packers, Bears, Steelers, at-jags, at-titans and dolphins, and then back at the Texans. So there's a couple wins in there, I think. But I think they get off to a slow start. But towards the end of the year, they get at-patriots, then they get there by at-brancos, versus the titans at-giants, and they close out with the Jaguars at home, which is a divisional game at home. Anything goes. I think they can close out the season 5 and 0. The problem is, is I think they're going to dig themselves too deep into a hole. There's so much unknown with this team because of Anthony Richardson's small sample size. So because of that, they went 9 and 8 last year. I could see them sticking around that same area. I've actually got them taken one step back. I'm going to give them an 8 and 9 record. I just-- I don't love them. I don't hate them. The weapons on offense scare me. The defense scares me. Not in a good way. I'm not saying they scare me like, oh, what are we going to do? I'm saying they scare me as like, I don't think they're scaring anyone else. If that made any sense, follow my logic there. But yeah, to me, this team is two players. It's-- well, OK, the offensive line. And then Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor. This team is going to live and die with that combo right there. And I don't know if that's good enough to carry you to a ton of wins. So 8 and 9 is my record for them. Yeah, we're pretty much dead nuts on that record prediction my brother. Yeah, I can agree more. I'm right there with the same record at 8 and 9. I'll say this first. I would say Anthony Richardson. I really do like this dude's game. I like what he was able to do in four games. His just kind of ability to extend plays. And I mean, in four games, he was pretty damn solid. I mean, he had almost 600 yards through four games. He threw three touchdowns, only one reception. So you like that. He also was able to rush the ball. He had, I mean, not a lot of carries, 25, but 136 yards and got four rushing touchdowns as well. So this dude clearly is that dynamic playmaker. What I'm kind of like, I'm going to liken him to Jayden Daniels, what I think we're both, we can both going to agree, is what he will be able to do for the commanders. The injury was really, really unfortunate because he was on a trajectory for a really solid, solid rookie year. Yeah. So the injury was devastating, really. Jonathan Taylor, through, I mean, this will be his fifth year, I mean, back-to-back, damn near 2,000 yards rushing, well, not 2,000, sorry. I mean, second year, I mean, he had 1,800, but his first year was a rookie, 1,100. But in the last two years, he's dropped off fairly dramatically in only 860 yards rushing and then 741. So he's definitely on a bit of a decline there. Hasn't been had. Injuries have not helped at all, for sure. But, like we say, when healthy, Jonathan Taylor, I would liken him to a Saquan Barkley in terms of game-changing ability as a running back. Stout, strong as fuck, breaks tackles for days, can take you to the house, he's got deceptive speed as well. So, like you said, if these guys are on the field, if they're healthy, then this is a team that can be, just between the two of them, fairly dynamic. I wouldn't even necessarily feel like they need to have strong receivers. And I don't think they really do, aside from Michael Pibben, who is kind of like a lesser man's version of a Mike Evans, I kind of feel like. - Yeah, much lesser. - Yeah, I mean, he's only in his third year, right? So, we'll see. Now, could his trajectory get there? We'll see. But yeah, as it stands, much lesser, 2.0 of Mike Evans. All that to say, I think it's a team that, just with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor, can, you know, absolutely squeak their way into a damn near 500 season. And that's why I have them just like you at eight and nine. - All right, man, talk to me about those defending AFC South champs, the Houston Texans. - Dude, I really, really like the Texans team. I really, really do. They didn't have a first round draft pick. Doesn't really matter. I don't feel like they really even needed it. Because already, they were pretty fucking stacked, especially in offense. This is a team that has weapons galore. And that's before a certain somebody that they, well, actually two players that they brought in, and free agency, and I'll get there in a second. Before those two players, you already had a tank dial who in 11 games played before his injury, only had 47 receptions, but had 700 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. SMU, is that right? Was he not SMU? I feel like it was SMU. Nowhere'sville, college, and yet just killed. And then came into the league and did the same. He killed. Nico Collins out of Michigan, man. I did not see this with this dude when he played for Michigan. I did not see him coming into the league and being pretty much a number one, almost immediately. Well, that's what he was for the Texans. That dude had 80 receptions, 1200 yards receiving, and eight touchdowns. Dude is a fucking monster. Dalton Schultz, I think we both can agree. After the Cowboys let him go, it was just gonna be a just easy, seamless transition. And he would kill, had a very, very solid year for the Texans. 59 receptions, 635 yards and five touchdowns. So there you go. And then you got guys like John Metche, who are still kind of waiting to see what's gonna happen. Noah Brown played pretty good for them, too. So those two are solid. Man, it's crazy with Metche, too, because there was so much hype on him. But he got drafted with the ACL and then had the cancer thing. And it's like, we don't know what this guy is. What if he turns out to be the guy we all thought he was during the draft? Just add another word to happen. Add another ridiculous weapon to this. Wow, well, jury is out still there with John Metche, but they made arguably probably the biggest splash signing with getting Stefan Diggs from the Bills, who is arguably a top three for sure receiver in the league. So he joins the squad. Last year, Stefan had 1,100 yards receiving an eight touchdowns per usual. So that's a big mouth defeat and he will get fed. But I like this one probably even more because Joe Mixin has quietly been one of the better running backs in the league for kind of his whole career. And he's only been in the league, what, five, six years for the Bengals? Well, they lose Devin Singletary. I don't really care about that 'cause dude only had like 800 yards rushing for them and was just used kind of like sporadically. But you bring in Joe Mixin who once again, like he did pretty much, I feel like almost every season except for a year, maybe we got hurt a little bit. Oh, Lordy, Lordy, I have 1,000 yards rushing, nine touchdowns. Oh, and then you just throw in 376 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Yeah. I love, love that signing for them. And don't forget, Damian Pierce, the backup now running back, who in his rookie year almost had 1,000 yards rushing. So you got him behind Joe Mixin. That is a fucking fire backfield. I don't care what anybody says. That is scary. Who's the third running back? You're gonna have to remind me. They signed Cam Acres. Oh my God, Cam Acres is on the team team. Yes, he's the third running back. He's three-headed monster. God, so 18 receivers and three-headed monster in the backfield. Two pair up with a rookie. Well, second year now, quarterback who in CJ Stroud just did everything and more that you could ask for really. Numbers don't like fly off the page. The 4,100 yards passing does. But 23 touchdowns of five interceptions. I mean, you love the ratio there. Yeah, it's a great ratio. You love the ratio. Didn't turn the ball over. It was very consistent. Definitely a game manager. But just his moxie and confidence man was like really kind of second to none. And it's kind of funny because I'm just thinking about Bryce Young and how dog water his season was. And I'll granted those a vastly inferior team, the Panthers. We'll get to them. And I don't know when. A couple weeks. Next week. Oh, there you go. You can have the Panthers, I don't know. But man, God, I mean, just talk about being like gifted into the right situation. CJ Stroud, I just love the dude. Love his makeup. Offense last year was 12th in yards, 342 yards a game. Only 22 points a game. But I see that coming up dramatically. What's funny is actually, you know, that team that won the Super Bowl, the Chiefs? They actually averaged less points a game in like 21. Well, that's what's frustrating about that team because they were not good all year long. And then just turned it on in the playoffs. I see considering the fact just the additions on top of who they already had on the team with digs and mix in. I see that average room to 25 to 26 at the minimum. This offense is going to be explosive. Didn't even talk with a defense. I mean, I'll just quickly say that Will Anderson was a beast as a rookie on the edge. Well, guess what he gets to now be paired up with? They had the Neil Hunter from the Vikings. Arguably, one of the, I would say, best signings on the defensive side of the ball. Yeah. So huge. And then you add, I would say, one of the best secondaries in the league with Derek Stingley Jr. Jalen Petrie from Baylor, who I fucking love at safety. And then Jimmy Ward and Desmond King from the 49ers are there. Their pick, their first pick in the second round was Lasseter from Georgia. This loved that pick too for them. Just think-- and he's actually slotted to start too. So I mean, I just-- and he should, because Georgia Pedigree's secondary, we know this. Those guys pretty much can come in the league and play day one. Why I love this team to improve so much is just because of how-- not just the additions, especially the additions, but just, I feel like, Demico, too, as the head coach, being a defensive coach, but just also-- I feel like he's also a players coach, liking to my team, my Lions, Dan Campbell. I feel like he just kind of came in and immediately kind of just got the heartbeat of the team and is coaching that team the right way. I feel like players have immediately bought in. And this is just a team I feel like is absolutely on the up and up. So despite their loss in the playoffs, where they got, you know, just totally just steamrolled, really, 34 to 10 of the Ravens, right? That was a three. Stingly-- or sorry, Devin Singletari, I think, ran for 22 yards. So they couldn't rush the ball worth a damn, I think, straddling through for like 175 yards. It was just a difficult game. It was a really shit matchup, you know, for them, unfortunately. All that to say, though, I think this team is a team that's going to only improve and grow and it's kind of just that young confidence, you know, that is going to be a scene every week. And I mean, I'm a Texans fan. I mean, I'm a Lions dealer's Texas fan, so let's fucking go. Yeah, this is a team that finished 10 and 7 last year. I've got them improving by one game. I got them finishing 11 and 6. Yeah, man, couldn't agree more. If you had to ask me, who's the team in the AFC that's going to finally knock the Chiefs off without hesitation this year, I think it's the Texans. They are just built right in every way. And this is the joy of hitting on a quarterback in the first round. You get him on his rookie deal. He's good. And that means you get to pay so many other players. And you talked about all the guys that they brought in, obviously, most notably, they traded for Stefan Diggs. Yeah, bringing in Joe Nixon and Cam Acres and bringing in Daniel Hunter from the Vikings. Just absolute difference makers in addition to difference makers that they already had. Bobby Sloa, because offensive coordinator, he will be a head coach after this season. There's already some talk after last year that he was going to be moving on to be a head coach, but he decided to stick around for one more year. We've talked so positively about them and obviously for good reason. If I had to say anything negative about them, let's talk about the offensive line. I talked about how the Colts had a really good offensive line and they're bringing back all five starters. Well, the Texans do not have a good offensive line. And they are also bringing back all five starters, including Kenyon Green at left guard, who was-- I've watched this dude. He was a Steelers cast off. We drafted him third round out at Illinois. He couldn't cut his alignment. Last off season, actually last training camp. We were given him snaps at full back to see if maybe he could do something there and then we ended up trading him to the Texans. And he started last year. It wasn't great. You know, Shaq, Mason-- What position is he saw? Is he already set or tackled? He's a left guard. He was center for-- He played center as rookie year. His last year, Ben's last year. Yeah, so outside of Laramie Tunsell, who's been there for so long at left tackle, the rest of the line is a little suspect, don't like that. Like I said, they were ranked 24th as an offensive unit last year, but both their offense and defense were just right around, you know, slightly above average. You talked about the offense being ranked 12th. The defense was ranked 14th. I think both the offense and the defense take a huge step up this year. Man, I looked at their schedule. I just-- I don't see a lot of L's on it, honestly. So you know, you had them win in 11 games. I've got them competing for the number one seed in the AFC. I got to go on 13 and 4. Wow, let's go. Wow, that's going to be a fun team to watch this season, man, and I'm here for you. All right, talk to me about the-- Talk to me about the Tennessee Titans. All right, this is a weird team because-- They've been weird for a while, dude. Well, OK, obviously, you know, you move on from a long time head coach, and you bring in a relatively unknown offensive coordinator, Brian Callahan, from the Bengals. You know, and what's weird about that is his rumors out of Cincinnati was he was the offensive coordinator only by title, but like-- Zack Taylor was the-- Zack Taylor called the plays and everything. Interesting. So for him to get the head coaching job, pretty interesting. Also really unknown, offensive and defensive coordinators and Nick Holtson, Denard Wilson, don't-- I don't know if I like it or don't like it because I just don't know anything about these guys. You know, the quarterback situation is what really gives me pause with this team. Will Levis is slotted to be the starter. They bring over my boy Mason Rudolph as the backup. I do think at some point he will be playing this year. And then Ole Malik Willis is still on the team, too. Poor Malik. But here's the deal with this team. If not for the quarterback position, they've actually put together a decent little roster here. I mean, you bring over Tony Pollard as a running back. Tajai Spears had a really good rookie year. Now they signed Calvin Ridley at wide receiver and Tyler Boyd at wide receiver. In addition to DeAndre Hopkins, that's not a bad little trio right there at wide receiver. It's not a paper, no, no, no, it's not. You still have Trey Lumbergs. You still have Nick Westbrook, Akim. And then the offensive line, which they actually addressed, they were a 25th ranked offensive line. But they only bring him back one starter. Peter Skoronsky, who was their first round pick last year, is their starter at Lev's guard. Obviously, the first round pick this year was J.C. Latham out of Alabama at left tackle. He's going to be starting there. They trade for Lloyd Cushionberry from the Broncos. They bring in Shadyk Charles at right guard from the commanders. And then Nicholas Petite Freer, who was on the team last year and not a starter, is now the starting right tackle. So four of their five offensive linemen are new starters, which is a step in the right direction. But it's also the hardest kind of group on the field for offense or defense to get cohesion. And it's the unit that needs the most time to work together. So having four out of five new starters, it looks good because you're addressing a weakness, but also it might take some time. And then defensively, they made a couple signing Sebastian Joseph Day. They brought in Kenneth Murray from the Chargers, Chidobia Wuzier. Obviously, the big off-season addition was Lajeria Sneed at corner from the Chiefs. And then under the radar, which I don't expect much out of this, it looks good on paper. He's a three-time all-pro. Dude just can't stay healthy. But just a couple of days ago, Jamal Adams strong safety from the Seahawks is now with the Titans. In addition to a Monty Hooker and Roger McCreary in that backfield, there's a lot to like. And then there's second round pick. Devandre, Sweat, nose tackle out of Texas. And Jeffrey Simmons has been holding down that defensive line for a very long time. So there's really a lot to like about this team. Obviously, you lose Tana Hill, OK, whatever. He was consistent, but he was consistently just mediocre. Derek Henry, that's going to be the hardest shoes to fill because going from Derek Henry to Tony Pollard, I mean, I don't know if you can get opposite ends of the spectrum more than that. Because Tony Pollard is not a bruising running back. He's not looking for contact. He is an outside runner. And he's going to kind of deconduck and move around. And he's a good running back. And I would say he may be a little bit more threat in the passing game than Derek Henry was. But Derek Henry on a screen man is scary. Tony Pollard, while he's shifty, not going to scare anyone. So like I said, this team has all the pieces in place. It's just the quarterback position that is why I'm so down on them. If you gave them-- man, if you gave this team even like-- who are we just talking about? Minshew, Gardner Minshew. I might have them with a winning record with this roster. Yeah, I might have one too. But ultimately, I'm sorry. I can't go there because of the quarterback position. Like I said, I don't know what I'm going to get out of Will Levis. He had a couple games last year. Obviously his first start where he threw for four touchdowns at everyone was like, here we go. Here's the next star. And then he sucked the rest of the year. Mine is a handful of games where he looked-- he looked competent. Mason Rudolph, I don't know what you're getting out of him. Obviously, as a Steelers fan, he's been with us for six years. I've seen the highs and lows with him. He's coming off of a high, obviously. Being inserted late in the year, going on a four-game win streak to get us into the playoffs. And then even the playoff lost to the Bills. It wasn't his fault. We lost that game. We had three fumbles that we lost in that game, none of which were his. And we ended up losing by a touchdown. He looks good in that game. So he's coming off of four-- excuse me, five straight starts for the Steelers. We went four and one. And he looked good in all of them. Had a great QBR, great passer rating. Didn't turn the ball over. So that all said, if he can continue that play, I don't think Will Levis is going to stand a chance to be the starter for the entire year. Now, obviously, the Titans have more invested in him because they drafted him. It's top of the second round last year. So it's in their best interest to see what they have there and develop him. So I think he's going to get every opportunity. But at the end of the day, if it's just not cutting it by week six or seven, I think Mason's going to get an opportunity at some point this year. But I just-- I don't see a lot of wins for them strictly because of the quarterback play. So they weren't good last year. And I think they are going to stand pat. They were six and 11 last year. I got them six and 11 this year. What's generous? Yeah, I don't know. I don't got much on the Titans. I just feel like this is a team that's kind of in disarray and just a ways away from still kind of getting back to relevancy. Maybe they need to go back to the Oilers' jerseys and just bring those back full time. Because they really haven't been worth a damn ever since they changed the jerseys. I mean, Steve McNair, Rest in Peace was the last time I feel like they were quite, quite good. And then Andy George. They had some random years. But overall, this isn't a team that really kind of scares you in any way. You've got a new cut coach. I still can't believe Mike Rebel was let go. I still feel like he's one of the better coaches in the league. He'll be a head coach next year. He's still not hired. No, he's with the Browns. Oh, he is. In an advisory role. Yeah, that's-- He's not a coach. He's a advisor. He's an advisor. I don't know what that even means. But yeah, I just feel this team that still is just more question marks than answers. And a lot of youth, a lot of plug and play guys, quarterback especially, just so on the fence with Will Davis. And just need to see so much more before I can just be like, oh, yeah, this guy's got it. So I'm actually going to drop it down to what do you say? Six wins. Yeah. I'm going to say four wins. I got them four and 13. All right. Let's close it out here with the team that was supposed to run this division for the next 15 years. And it lasted all of one year. Jacksonville Jaguars, man. What are we getting out of the Prince that was promised? I'll get Tim in a second, man. I'll get to Sunshine in a second. I'll say this, though. Their first round draft pick, Brian Thomas Jr. at LSU, kind of had to do it because they lost their number one receiver in Calvin Ridley, who was everything really in that offense, aside from Travis Etienne. We'll get to in a second as well. But losing Ridley was a big loss. And so what Brian Thomas offers, I think, is he's just a big, fast LSU pedigree receiver, who is 6'3, 209, ran a 4'3, 40. One of the fastest 40s in the combine. His numbers for LSU are kind of startling. Like, they're just fucking impressive. I mean, the dude had 68 receptions. It's not that many. But 1,100 yards in 17 touchdowns. And he did that as a wide receiver, too. Correct. Two Malik neighbors, who had only 21 more catches. Now, granted he had 1,500 yards. Malik did. But he had three less touchdowns. Yeah. He had 14. So Brian Thomas is no fucking slouch. This dude is a monster, especially in the red zone. But again, that's speed, 4'3 speed. This guy is legit. They brought in Gabe Davis because they lost Ridley as well. So Gabe Davis has been kind of-- he was on the bills. And then where did he go last? He went sideways with the bills. OK. Thank you. I thought he did, like, a year or somewhere else. Talk about highs and lows, man. Yeah, big time, big time. When he's good, he's solid. Christian Kirk also, one good, solid. So you got that three. Those three, like it-- no, Travis Etienne in the backfield. Back-to-back 1,000 yards, rushing, 11 touchdowns last year, and he played the full season. He didn't get hurt, so that was huge. The symmetry, the chemistry being former teammates with Trevor is, I think, definitely something. So they know how to use him. And he's one of those back-second, rush the ball well, but they can also come out of the backfield and catch and get receptions. So defense is definitely impressive. I've always loved Josh Allen. Ever since coming out in the draft, whatever that was, four or five years ago, I wanted him badly. Excuse you. Josh Allen Hines. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you for watching me. That's right. It is now Josh Allen Hines. Not to be confused with Josh-- No, I'm sorry. I just got it wrong. It's Josh Hines Allen. That's right. There we go. It's a Hines is the middle name. Hines Allen. Correct. Trevan Walker, now, year three. Those two on the edges love that. They signed Eric Armstead from the 49ers. I think this is just massive. I really like Devin Lloyd, the linebacker from Utah. I think he's in year two or three. Really like to see him make a big jump. They got one of the better corners in the league, as well, and Tyson Campbell, who just got paid. And then along with guys like Cisco at safety, they brought in Darby from the Ravens, as well as Darnell Savage from the Packers. So on paper, that is a pretty sexy defense. And as far as the defense is concerned last year, only allowed 21 points a game. I could see that being even a tiny bit lower with those additions that they got in free agency. But as you mentioned, Sunshine, he's a savior, or was supposed to be. So when we look at Trevor Lawrence's stats, he's been the lead for three years. This is his fourth year. His best year was, let's see, second year, he threw-- actually, no, yeah, it was the second year. He threw for 4,100 yards, 25 touchdowns to only eight interceptions. So very solid. Neers kind of CJ Stroud's numbers from last year. Now, Trevor, last year, you would have liked to have seen a bigger jump, especially because he just got paid, correct? Only 21 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, so interceptions doubled. So this is a guy that-- He did not as many games because he missed, I think, the last four or five games of the year with injury. Correct. So this is a player that I feel like has all the talent in the world, the whole, the physical makeup. Everything is there as your bonafide, prototypical, stud quarterback, right? That just should be able to do it. Can he make that jump? Is the biggest question mark. I'm unsure. But what you'd like to see is him to make that jump ahead of quarterbacks, like, say, Daniel Jones, Ryan Tannehill, a Derek Carr, maybe even a Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, should even Baker or Sam Howell, who, by the way, Sam Howell, threw for only 100 yards less than Trevor Lawrence last year. Sam Howell, boys and girls, Sam Howell. Who's now no longer, by the way, on the commanders. Yeah, he's Seattle's guy. He's now on Seattle back up to Chino Smith. Team on paper is solid, OK? But I feel like this is a team that can never be just better than good, right? Good, 500 good, maybe a game or two, maybe over 500 or drop that down to sub 500. This has been their story ever since Trevor was drafted. So can that change? Would it change? I don't know. And here's why I'm on the fence and leaning towards it and not getting any better. They could very well, very possibly start 0-1-4. And that could be interesting because they start with at Miami, home against the Browns, and then at the Bills, and then at the Texans. Yeah. Those are very, very difficult games. Three road games. And you start 0-1-4. I mean, that's a tough road to come back from, yeah? Yeah. Who's the Jags back up? Do we know? I actually don't know. The Jags back up? Yeah. Yeah. Who is it? C.J. Bithard? It's Mac and Cheese. Oh, it's Mac's fucking John. God help him. Wow, wow, wow. They're there and that could get real interesting. They traded a six-round pick for him. Wow. That didn't cost much. But yeah, this is a team that I just still-- I have yet to feel any semblance of confidence in their overall roster despite liking the defense more than the offense. Again, really like that Brian Thomas Jr. I think he's going to have to come in immediately and be a game changer in that offense. But still, man, I don't know. They finished 9-8 last year. I actually have a couple games back. I got them finished in seven at a time. OK. It sounds to me like on every team this week, we have been spot on and this one is no different. Everything about this team to me just screams average. And I will pick up on the Trevor Lawrence conversation. I don't know if you remember this. And I don't remember exactly what it was. Maybe it was this rookie year or second year. And it was kind of a storyline, but not really. And it's always stuck in the back of my mind because people keep waiting. And there's so many people, especially these national pundits who are still like Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Lawrence. I still see QB lists all the time. And he's in the top 10 every single time. And I'm like, you're putting him in the top 10 off of what the expectations were and what the potential is for him. But if you're basing it off of what he is done in the league, there's no way he's a top 10 quarterback. And I remember him talking about, I don't need football. I don't love the game like I love. He's very religious. He talked about how much he loves God and how that comes first. And he goes, I like spending time with my family more than I do, you know, watching film. And he talked about how he talked about, he goes, you know, I love football, but I don't need it. It's not something that, you know, like I have a hunger for like I do for God and for my family and everything. And while all of that is perfectly fine and good and, you know, in any normal job that would absolutely be what you would expect and want to hear out of a person is, is, you know, yeah, you know. - Family first, God first. - I'm a really good accountant, but I don't sleep and breathe numbers. Like I really enjoy spending time with my family and stuff. But the NFL is a different animal. In order to be successful in the NFL, you have to sacrifice certain things. - He just asked Tom Brady about that. The most successful quarterback of all time. It just cost him two wives and his entire family, you know. - Yeah, petty is to some change. - So there's that. So people keep talking about Trevor Lawrence. Like, like he is, when he was coming out of out of Clemson, everyone was saying like, oh, it's John Elway, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, and now Trevor Lawrence. Like the, these are the four quarterbacks who were 110% sure can't miss. And it has not translated yet. He's had some really good moments. He has all the physical traits, dude, six, six, two, 30, whatever he is. Like he looks like an NFL quarterback. I just don't know if I really think that he is capable of doing it. And if you look at the numbers from last year, I talked about how average this team is, but the numbers speak to it. I mean, offensively, they ranked 13th, slightly above average, but average. Defense, 22nd ranked defense, slightly below average, but close to average. All their advanced analytic numbers, scoring offense, 14th, rushing offense, 24th. Now, where they're not average and they're terrible, was their offensive line. And I know I keep harping on it, but you're having a quarterback who had multiple injuries last year and couldn't finish the season, because he was so beat up. They had the 30th ranked offensive line last year. And other than bringing in Mitch Morris at center from the Bills, they didn't do anything on the exterior. Left and right tackles and guards are both, they're all four of those guys are coming back. So they just changed the center. So it's still going to be an offensive line that needs improvement, needs help. Some of them are young, obviously he had Anton Harrison, who was a rookie out of Oklahoma last year. Right tackle, he's going into his second year. But there's like a lot of names on this roster that you look at and you're like, oh, I like that guy. Oh, that guy's good, that guy's good. Why isn't it translating? And obviously, I think they're living off the, Doug Peterson coming in and taking over this team. And he led them to the playoffs. They won the division and they had the terrible start of the year. I think they had started one in six and they ended up finishing with 10 wins and going to the playoffs. And then they had the massive playoff come back where Trevor Lawrence threw four interceptions in the first half and they were down 30 to nothing to the Chargers and they ended up winning. And that's been the peak, they lost the next week. And then last year, it was all disappointment. And I have a, like I don't like this team, but I do root for them because they're an offensive coordinator press tailor, a root for that guy. Shout out, he's married to someone I went to high school with. - Murtis Shawn. - But, you know, so I root for him to have a good offense, but yeah, you talked about the schedule. It is rough at the start. I've got them going one in three and I feel like that was, you know, I was like, no way they started owning four. They'll find a way to win one of those games. - You have to, you talk. - So yeah, I gave them the Browns game 'cause it was the home game. The other three, yeah, I've got them losing on the road. And then the rest of the season, it's just like, okay, a couple wins here, a couple losses here, a couple wins, a couple losses. And it's just meddling and it's middle of the road. Brian Thomas Jr, I do, I like that pick. I think he's gonna be a good addition. But there, you know, the rest of it, I just don't know what this team, they went nine and eight last year and that was with Trevor missing a couple of games. The problem is they didn't really look much different once he was out. They, you know, they, what was the game? It was against the Bengals. It was the first game after Joe Burrow had the season ending injury and Jake Browning was in for the Bengals. And the Bengals ended up winning that game in overtime and that was with Trevor Lawrence. Like, you can't let that kind of stuff happen. - Correct, correct. - You are, if you are, you know, the expectations are, this is a team that's going to definitely compete to win this division. And if not, win the division, get into the playoffs with the wild card spot. They didn't do either last year. They had an epic collapse at the end of the year. Nine and eight last year, what did you have? At seven wins? - Seven and 10. - I'll take them a step back from last year. I got them going eight and nine. - Well, there it is. All right, let's quickly hit. What do we think a player or what do we do in draft pick? Who's going to make the most impact? - If I'm being a hundred percent honest, there is no one in this division that like really pops out to me. - Same. - So, like, I was looking, man, you know, J.C. Latham as a tackle. - Yeah. - Sure, that's not, it's harder to quantify a tackle than you. - Correct, correct, yeah, yeah. - Because it's like not really numbers on it. - It's really just pressures allowed. - Yeah, so, J.C. Latham, you know, Liatu, Liatu, I will see what he does, but like I said, he's not slated to be a starter right now. So, honestly, if I had to go with someone, I'd probably go with Brian Thomas Jr. - Yep. - Because they are in a past happy offense and even with the injuries last year, you know, Trevor's going to put up some gaudy numbers from time to time and his season ending stats, even if the team isn't great, will still look pretty good. I expect him to throw around 4,000 yards. - So, I think Brian Thomas could have a rookie season where he gets, you know, seven, eight, nine, hundred yards, maybe seven touchdown, something like that. So, I mean, like I said, there's not really anyone in this division of the rookies that I'm like, that's the guy. - Correct. - So, Brian Thomas, I guess. - Yeah, it's just easy to pick, just because of what he can be and will need to be in that offense. - Yeah. - And with, you know, Christian Kirk, who always kind of, you know, hovers around six to 800 yards, whatever. Gabe Davis, you know, hasn't been in the offense yet. Brian Thomas Jr. hasn't either, but still, like, just his play-making ability and just what he was able to do in that LSU offense. If it was some other, like, smaller, you know, college, I would be a little bit more hesitant to be like, oh, it's immediate, like, yeah, this dude can do it. But because of, you know, the defense, he was playing against, you know, in the SEC, I'm going to just go Brian Thomas Jr. and just, you know, bank on his ability to produce for sure in that offense. So, where do we sit? - All right. - We're pretty close. - Yeah, we are. So we both got the Texans winning. I had them at 13 and four. - Yep. - I've got them 11 and six. - 11 and six. You have the Colts in second place. - At eight and nine. - At eight and nine. I have the Jaguars in second place at eight and nine, but I also have the Colts at eight and nine, but I have them finishing third. So we basically got the same thing there, just flip flop 'em 'cause what did you have the Jags at, seven and 10? - Correct. - Okay. And then yeah, Titans in the center. - Bring up the rear end. - I got them. Listen, you could be absolutely right about the four and 13. I looked at that roster and I was like, this is a pretty good roster. They'll find a way to win some games. It's just the quarterback position, which obviously is the most important, it's the most weighted position. - That's a question mark. - So I mean, six and 11, where I have them, is a bad year, but I still just think that this roster is too talented not to find a way to win a handful of games that they shouldn't, but you could absolutely be right as far as the four and 13 goes 'cause I could also see that happening. - Well, that's going to do it. - Episode 216 is in the books. Thank y'all for listening. Appreciate you. And, you know, next week, it's going to be another heavy breakdown. What'd you say we got? - We're staying in the south, going in the sea south. - There it is, I don't see south. - Is going down, down, baby. - Uh-huh, uh-huh. So get ready for that, but until then, we're forward to hearing our lovely voices, you know, in just a few days. - Yeah, we will see you guys later. - Adios. ♪ Yeah, we could spend the night ♪ ♪ We could spend the night ♪ ♪ We could spend our whole night ♪ ♪ And talk about what we had then ♪ ♪ Try to get it back again ♪