Grant and Danny
Full Show- Wednesday, September 4th, 2024
Good Wednesday afternoon and welcome into Grant and Danny. It's September 4th, 2024. And we are one day away from the NFL season kicking off. We've got a great show planned for you today, including former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, who gets us ready for the NFL season at three. And one of our favorite football guests, our guy, booger McFarland and the VSPN who stops by the show at five. So much to get into. Thanks for making this program part of your afternoon. Daniel, how are you? I'm very well, my friend. The last night, huge. Thank you. First of all, to all the folks that posted at Highline. Thanks to Highline RX are in Crystal City last night. Just so much fun. One of those really cool nights where you just reminded how neat this whole thing is, how unique this whole gig is, right? Where these folks that are tick time out of their days to listen to us, consume our content and don't hate our guts. We want to post and hang out with us and draft a fantasy football team. It was awesome, man. Just a really, really cool evening. So huge. Thank you to everybody that came. Thanks again to Highline and everybody that made that possible. Really cool 14 team. Grant and Danny listener league that we drafted last night. I posted a couple of pictures on Instagram. You want to go check them out at grandage Paulson because a listener named John came who is a photographer, brought his camera and hung out with us and did skits and bits all night. So that was really, really cool of him. But yeah, the venue itself, Highline R&R was awesome. So thanks to them and our buddy Christian works with the station here on the sales staff set all up. How hospitable were they though to hook us with food? Just the greatest little buffet style opportunity to eat whatever we wanted all night long. And food was delicious. And then the dozen listeners that are in the league, including the defending champion, John, who was toting the trophy around. Good luck to all of them. I believe only one failing score on drafts from Yahoo. Chris and Hyatt's Phil Yahoo gave him an F minus, which I didn't even know was possible. I've never seen that. He told us at one point he was doing two drafts at once and he drafted like it. I think there were times where he thought he would be like five rounds later than we were. He's like, oh, it's the second round. Are there any backup tight ends of fail? He's like, I need a second tight end is like, yeah, you do. But we'll see. I mean, bold strategy cotton. Maybe he knows something that we don't. But overall, just a really, really fun time and props to dearest for setting the whole thing up. He got us the old school boards and the stickers to the ticket like it was 1995 with the fantasy draft. So really, really a cool event. How incredible is that trophy? By the way, that trophy is phenomenal. Shout out to a dance centers yacht tracker, the yacht tracker, Lil Yachty actually got that trophy. He tracks yachts. That's one thing he does. The second thing he does is provides enormous and excellent fantasy football trophies. We should probably have given him money for doing that. Just one day. He's like, Hey, I made a trophy for the league. We're like, like, okay, that was really nice. Yeah, nice art project, buddy. Then we saw it and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this thing is incredible. And I was like, he must have won the league. Let me look it up. No, he didn't even win the league. No, he just put someone else's name on the trophy. So that was very, very nice of him and very cool. But yeah, awesome night. Nat's were on TV getting a win all over the bar. And we were yelling at each other's picks. You and I shared a team. Yes. First time you and I have ever shared a team. We really leaned into the no running back strategy. Didn't I mean, didn't start that way. I wouldn't end up that way, didn't we never had a plan? Yeah, we didn't meet or anything. So I don't know if we can't say it wasn't our plan when we didn't have a plan. But yeah, there were no running backs for us until like round sevens. And somehow there was a team, Kristen's team, actually drafted a running back after we did. She was also doing the no running back. Which is incredible. So I mean, we, so we had picked three and, you know, okay, went up with Tyree Kilk. Great. No problem. That's awesome. Everybody's happy with that. Well, with the 14 team draft, you're sitting there going, all right, let me look at my watch. 20 some odd picks later before it gets back to us. If you've ever received a hand off in the NFL, you were selected. Here we go. Here we go. You're running backs. Let's dance. Let's see what happens. I was stunned by the volume of RBS that came off the board early in the G and D listener league, but to the entire crew that came out and the listeners even that stopped by and said hello, that we're not in the league. We thank you very much. It means a lot. It is awesome to spend the evening with you guys every now and then. Let's get to the commanders news of the day. Sam Cosme got a four year extension from Washington's front office. The former second round pick out of Texas before your extension gets tacked on to the final year of his rookie deal entering the fourth year of as a second rounder, year four of four. So that means five more seasons through 2028 for Cosme who has kicked inside from tackle the guard and really found a home. Danny last year. He was the sixth highest graded guard. According to PFF and football, he had the number seven grade in the run game according to pro football focus and he played the 12th most snaps in the entire NFL at the guard position because for the first time he proved really durable played in all 17 games, played at a high level and a 25 going into his prime. He got paid. Love that. This is one of those things where you look back and I will still say on the hole in the balance sheet, the Marty party and Ron Rivera were terrible at player acquisition, evaluation, contracts, drafting, et cetera. This is one of their wins. Now they drafted him as a tackle. So it's downgraded slightly, but still you identify a core player whose arrow was on the rise. As you rightly said, and he's in his mid twenties. He's playing better than he did two years ago at this point. He's playing better than he was a year ago at this point. This is now a really, really good asset that you have. You keep guys like that around. Even if it even if it wasn't your guy, you quickly figure out this is a guy that you want to build around. So good for them. Right call. We were sort of wondering that in a critical way, but kind of wondering, Hey, is this coming? This seems pretty reasonable. Seems like you want to do that. And before week one, you kind of get that business attended to and get it done and lock him up. Really good player. And I'm happy for the dude. Yeah. I mean, from a playing standpoint and on the field, he's their best offensive lineman. And I don't know that it's particularly close at this point. And you can make the case. He's one of the best players on the team. You know, for a few years, that's been John Allen, Deron Payne. And there's a conversation thereafter. I think Sam Cosmey's really closed the gap in that area and with Terry McLaurin, those are the core guys in the offensive huddle at this point. But as you said, personally, just for the person that we've had on the show, and I've talked to out there a few times, really, really entertaining interview and just an honest guy and very candid. He's 25. He's going into his prime. He's married now. He's kind of growing up in front of our eyes in DC. He's got a baby girl. So his wife Blair and the nine month old baby, I believe Clara, you're not going anywhere. You're setting up shop. You are digging in in the DMV and you're now a Texas guy who's going to call this place home at least half of the year for the next several years. So I like that. And this is what you want to do. We've seen a lot of teams this offseason prioritize signing their own guys, both the good teams that have done this for a long time. And then some bad teams that are trying to get good, like the New England Patriots, who have extended, I don't know, seven or eight of their own players. Washington over the years has not done a good enough job at this, mostly because they haven't drafted enough guys that they want to keep around. They haven't hit in the draft frequently enough. So I think now you can say, well, that's a win for Ron Rivera and his staff. They drafted him as a tackle. He ended up at guard. So there's an asterisk there because they thought he would be their long term right tackle. But I don't think we need to get cute and look for style points, especially with the Rivera era that went. You got a good player and a good dude. Exactly. You do it. I say this about Brandon Sheriff all the time. Like people talk about him because remember at number five, I think that was McLuhan's first pick in his first draft. He was taken as a tackle out of Iowa and about an hour into his first practice at training camp ever. He was moved to guard because Morgan Moses showed up after having a whale of an off season, going into his second year with the organization. And they realized our best line right now is Moses at right tackle and sheriff as a plus guard. And so they just made the move. And a lot of people have suggested since then that that was not a slam dunk pick or the value wasn't good at number five. And I don't really play that game. I'm in the business of getting good football players, period. And so with Sam Cosby, I don't care if he drafted him as a tackle or a guard. You've got a pro bowler hasn't made that yet, but he will and maybe eventually an all pro, which they don't have around here. I'm not going to ask any question. Right. Yeah, it's the the road wasn't, you know, paved and straight. We had a a few twists and turns there. But you're right. We got to the point where there's a good player, a good core guy that's going to be here. So I'm a fan. I mean, he's in that company with guys like Quentin Nelson, you know, landed Dickerson in Philadelphia. There's a whole bunch of guys in that 2526 age range who are making a pretty good chunk of change as, you know, kind of litchpin guards there on on rosters that are either improving or already pretty good. And he gets the point where eventually you don't love the idea of like, I'd rather pay a tackle over paying a guard, or rather pay a wide receiver over paying a guard, you know, a quarterback, a quarterback, a few different positions. But you're not in a spot where you can just sort of letting guys go and and having their talent, a talented replacement, you know, waiting in the wings. So at this stage, it makes a lot of sense to me to retain him because again, he's done everything has ever been asked of him. He's performed well and the arrow is still trending up. But a guy that, you know, was at one point learning a position. Now he's learned it. Now he's one of the better players in the league at that spot. 74 million, 74 million over four years, 18 and a half per or Sam Cosmey as one of the best young guards in football. So let's make this quick list than Danny. How many players right now on the commanders? Would you say are better than Sam Cosmey? I think it's a very, very short list. But if you're just ranking their roster one to 53, how high up could Cosme show up? So start the list. So you don't like the answer. He's my number one. I think he's their best player. I think he's better at his position than anybody else is at theirs. I think if you're forecasting out with potential and growth opportunities, I could see that based on back of the football card, I would still say John Allen was made pro bowls. Doron Payne, Terry McLaurin, just because they've actually played in pro bowl games, right kind of gotten that acclaim. But if you looked at it a different way, which I think is really intuitive. Where does each guy rank at their own position right now in the NFL? At some point, John Allen was fringe top five at the tackle. I don't think he is right now. Doron Payne coming off of his 11 plus sacks was in that conversation, fell off with some of the counting stats as a pass rusher last year, probably would slide down the board a little bit, right? I would say the same thing about McLaurin who last year yards per catch some of the explosivity metrics dropped off some still very good. But in that 15 to 20 range at wide receiver, maybe in the NFL. And there are great players at that position. It's probably more competitive than the spot that Cosme plays, but in a position where there are 64 starters, because there's two guards on every team, Sam Cosme is a top 10 garden football. And that's, and that's kind of my point. So for the, the, the toughest debate to me is not again, I love Terry McLaurin, but you start going down the list of Jefferson Adams, Lamb, Saint Brown, I you DJ more, uh, AJ Brown, Tyree kill Jalen wattle. You get a goal while before you get the term of corn. Again, really good player. Gladys here. He's my dude, but there are a whole bunch of folks that would go ahead of him. If people were being objective, you know, sort of look around, lead wide. The tougher sell is the one you mentioned is defensive tackle. And at points, you've seen both of those guys talking Allen and pain be in that top 10 type range. We drawn pain had a top 10 season. A couple years ago, they got him paid. John Allen, uh, did that before, but right now this minute coming into the year, I don't know that either one of those guys is top 10. Again, not not a bad player by any stretch and there's good at tandem as you're going to find, but maybe they're both sort of in the teens. And my point is this may be a little bit bullish, but I put Cosme in that top 10 guard group. I mean, it's hard. I'm not breaking down offensive line play from, uh, you know, the interior offensive line play from every single squad at this stage, but that's kind of my sense of it at this point. So that, that's how I come to that conclusion. Dan Quinn, just at his daily press conference out in Ashburn, as the commanders are getting ready for the bucks today at their team facility. This is what DQ had to say about the new extension for his guard, Sam Cosme. That's, uh, it's cool day for him for, uh, for his wife, Blair, his daughter, Claire, who were here. And so for, um, Adam and his staff to get that done prior to the season, that's a big deal. And, uh, this guy's a commander, you know, through and through. He's tough. He plays square. He's strong and we're really, you know, fortunate that he'll be an anchor inside, you know, for years to come. This is a big deal. This is something you and I talked a lot about all off season that needed to get done. I hadn't given up on it. I just kind of moved on and forgotten about it. Honestly, because about a week ago, I turned the page into regular season mode, but them getting this out of the way was a no brainer. And there's just no reason not to do this. I remember back in 1999, when champ Bailey was drafted out of Georgia. And at that time, there was this culture going into year one of the old owner in 2000, when they spent a hundred million dollars where they took care of other people's guys, but not their own. And so four years later, when it was time for champ to get paid, he had watched the on Sanders and Mark Carrier and one guy after another coming here in the secondary to get their money and he had become one of the best players in the league at his position on his way to what would eventually be all of him career. And he went to the team and he said, let's go. It's time to pay me. And they dragged their feet and it became so difficult. The relationship became so bad between he and the club that they ended up trading him for Clinton Portis with a draft pick, obviously. And I bring that up just to say, you want to be the organization where everybody knows if you deliver on the promise, if you deliver the goods after being taken, you will be rewarded. That's what the healthy organizations do. That's what I don't just mean in football, right? But I bring you in. I give you these goals. Here's what we're trying to accomplish. You go out and get it done. You get your raise. You get to grow. That's what everybody's looking for in life in some ways. What's next? How do I become the best version of myself? And to reward Sam Cosby was a no brainer. But the fact that they did it just tells you that they had their priorities in order and they get it. Yeah, I think it's well said. Now you can't, as Ryan Zimmerman famously told us, you can't pay everybody. So there are going to be some times where, you know, a good player has, you have to let him walk at the expense of maybe somebody else. But when you're in this position, right, when you're in the building phase, what better building block than, as you said, the guy that's, we said, Hey, please turn in a work. And he's here. Here's my homework. I did it. I turned in the A work. Then you reward that guy. That makes sense. They have two things going for them. One, they have a shortage of really good football players. He's one of them. So you pay him. Two, they have a lot of money. Yeah. And they have very little on the books moving forward. So this was easy. There was just no reason not to do it. Next on Grant and Danny. Let's dive in on the commander's roster. Four days out from the opener. We want a player that you think is being slept on in a player that's being overhyped. Who's going to have a better season than people are expecting? Who's going to have a worse season than DC is so far predicting for players on the commanders? We'll get into that next. We've got Rick Spillman, the former GM at three o'clock. Hooker McFarland today at five. It's a football week on Grant and Danny. Thanks for watching. [BLANK_AUDIO] Tomorrow night, the NFL season kicks off. We cannot wait here at Grant and Danny. You are locked in to the fan. Chiefs hosting the Ravens tomorrow. Kansas City aiming to become the first team to three P. Only three teams ever have been to three consecutive Super Bowls. The Patriots, this past decade, the Bills back in the 90s and the Dolphins in the 70s. That's the list of teams who have gotten the three straight Super Bowls. Nobody has ever won three consecutive. Chiefs will try to do that this year. This is also Danny the first time in week one. It will have a game that features two former two time MVPs playing against each other with Patrick Mahomes leading Kansas City and Lamar Jackson under center for the Baltimore Ravens. And in fact, that's just a week one stat that we've never had the two multi time MVPs going head to head. Never before in any week in the history of the league have two multi time MVPs that are under 30 years old played against each other in a game until this one. So for them to have gotten already, the two MVP nods and to have become as good as they are at their ages is unprecedented special to take each other on. This is obviously a rematch of the AFC title game last year, most notably from that game that I remember. There were some crazy plays that led to Kansas City taking control of the game, saying flowers diving at the end zone, all coming out on a fumble right as he was trying to cross the goal line. But Travis Kelsey went ham sandwich in that game. Eleven catches 116 yards in a touchdown, moved ahead of Jerry Rice on the all time, playoffs catch list in that contest. So now we're going to run it back with the chiefs in the Ravens. Yeah, this is a great matchup. People have forgotten how dominant Baltimore was until that game, right? They didn't play well. Jackson didn't play well. I thought Todd Duncan. I don't know what they were trying to prove that was bad. And still, as you mentioned, there was a flowers fumble away from being tied deep in that game. But remember, in December, they beat Miami by 40 points, 56 19. They went on the road to San Francisco on, I think it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and beat him by multiple touchdowns. That wasn't even that close. That Baltimore team was awesome last year. Now it's been a negative and off season, including our defensive coordinator, several, you know, members of personnel. I think they've taken a step back in that regard, but they're still pretty damn formidable. And if you're going to get Kansas City, I think now's the time to play them that September, October window as they're kind of, you know, going through the motions of regular season to get ready for postseason time. Sort of Allah, one of those like Boston Celtics, big three kind of teams, because you know, listen, you already mentioned the pedigree is there, but this is a great, great, great early season matchup. And it's as good a game as you could probably ask for to start us off. We'll open up the MGM National Harbor listener lines for you right now for the first time today to call in and join us at 800-636-1067. On the table for you is a conversation on commanders that are over and under hyped going into the year. So let's both give a couple of names for each category. Let's start with guys that are being slept on. They're going to have bigger years than is currently anticipated. Who do you got? Dorn Armstrong, people have forgotten. This was a part-time Peter that put together over the last two years as many sacks as Chase Young did his entire time here. And then some, this is a guy that hadn't played 50% of snaps all but one year. Again, it's a part-time third down kind of pass rushing, dude. He's now a starter here. He's going to get pass rushing reps. This is a good pass rusher. And people, no one's talking about him. No one's mentioned him. It's just sort of, yeah, he's a guy. He's fine. I think this is an opportunity for him to kind of step up. Not exactly like a son Redick did as a hired gun that went to Philadelphia and had 16 sacks and not predicting that. But people are going to say, Dorn Armstrong a little bit more as the season progresses. So I think that's a great answer because he's been in the league for six years. He's never had more than eight and a half sacks. And in fact, until the last couple years, he'd never had more than five sacks. But to your point, a lot of that has to do with usage. Like if you're not rushing the quarterback and getting snaps and getting reps on the field, how are you going to put up decent numbers, right? Eight and a half and seven and a half sacks. The last two seasons, and he's about to play more than he ever has before, tends not out of the question. That would be a huge win. I'm hoping he's in the eight, nine, ten range this year. It would be a big, big deal for this defense. If that's the case, he's only 27 years old. These are the prime years at that position. Big guy, strong guy, six, four, two, fifty five, played his college ball at Kansas. I'll go to the other side of the ball with my first answer here. The commander that I think is not getting enough attention is Zach Earth's. Now, this is almost exclusively reliant upon health. And I don't think he's going to stay healthy because there's just not a good track record of that here recently. He has played one full season since 2018. And in fact, two years ago, he missed seven games last year. He missed 10 games. So you're talking about about half of the action over the last couple of years he was unavailable for. And you couple that with the fact that he's going to be 34 years old in November. And I understand the logic that says he's probably not going to make it through the entire year. They may not go out and draft then send it as early as they did if they were confident that he could. But here's why I like Earth's as being unheralded right now and being an unsung hero early in the year. When he's on the field, he's going to get volume touches. Cliff Kingsbury likes throw into the tight end. And I think Jaden Daniels, we saw the quick game in the preseason, is going to be told get the ball out. Ball out as quick as possible often benefits the tight end, shorter routes, the running back leaking out of the backfield and less longer developing things to the receivers on the outside. The safety blankets for quarterback, right? I don't think it would be a surprise at all. Like if you told me right now against the bucks, Earth's goes seven for 63 or something, not surprising to me. If he had eight catches for 71 yards, that would make perfect sense. I think when he's playing and not banged up, Zach Earth's is going to be a huge part of their offense and is going to get a ton of looks. In fact, I think he might lead them in catches in September if he plays in every game and he stays healthy. I think he's going to be that involved in the early going. He right now is not getting enough ink. So my answer is very similar. And you'll see why in a second Ben Senate, because I don't trust Zach Earth to do any of those things on paper. Yes, I co-sign it, but I don't think he stays healthy. I think he doesn't have much left in the tank. I think he's more veteran communicative presence. I think he's more, you know, almost like a coach on the field, good in the meeting room. I just don't know how much he's got left in terms of the burst, the juice, all of those things that you would need from your tight end to make some of those things happen. Hope I'm wrong, by the way, because it would be an amazing signing for next to nothing for peanuts for him to come over and be a great difference maker for Jayden Daniels. So I think the opportunity is going to be there for Ben Senate. It's hard to adjust. A lot of got a lot of rookie tight ends, especially coming from where he came from. It's not like he was at Michigan or one of the power five schools. But that adjustment is really hard. That tight end spot sometimes take a while. But I do think the opportunity is going to be there because I don't trust her to say terribly healthy. Defensively, I've got to give you a guy now who I think is being slept on for the commanders. And I'm going to go with Jeremy Chin because I don't think anybody's talked about him in months. I mean, shows like this, we break the team down by every angle. He comes up from time to time. But you don't, you just don't hear a lot about him. This was a guy who scored a couple of touchdowns in a game in his rookie year who had some huge game strung together. And in fact, was the only rookie in the chase young season that really pushed him in any way for defensive rookie of the year. As time went on, and he kind of fell out of favor in Carolina for whatever reason, he just became a dude in the secondary. But I think that this group led by Quinn and Joe Witt, who are excellent at getting the most out of defensive backs and thrive when it comes to scheming up the secondary. I think Jeremy Chin who's a bit of a Swiss Army knife, we could do a little bit of everything. We'll be used at safety. We'll be used down in the box. We'll play some center field. There's some time where he's going to be running around with tight ends and maybe even blitzing. I think they're going to get more out of him than people are expecting. I'd go with Frankie Luevoo, who you know, I have a man crush on. But I kind of think everyone talks about Luevoo and knows that he's a dude at this point. So Chin would be the guy for me who's undervalued. And that is the question for you guys at 800-636-1067. We'll get to the guys that are being over talked about and maybe are expected to do more than you and I see them doing in just a moment. But let's go to Drew who's on the eastern shore listening on the Odyssey app on Grant and Danny. What's up, Drew? Hey guys. Hey, I love to show and can't wait to get down to Tampa this week. But I think that pain and Alan, and you guys mentioned it earlier, they've had some subpar seasons and I think a lot of that was based on Jack Del Rio and I expect those guys to shine. Oh, interesting. With a better front 7 all around and more creativity and what's going on. So I'm thinking those guys are both going to get hot. This is going to be a hell of a year for both of them. On the unfortunate side, I think that I don't think Diami Brown has ever demonstrated that he's really the kind of caliber or wide receiver we need. And I'd love to see him do well, but I think that that's going to be a whiff, unfortunately. Drew, before you go, you said you're flying out to Tampa? Yeah, Friday. Good for you, man. That's awesome. You get to road games every year. Is this rare? I tried. I think this year, I'm hitting five of them, but one of them's Baltimore. So that counts for New York and Philly. I'll count that as a road. That's on the road. You're in a road stadium. We were actually at the Orioles game on Labor Day. Me and the wife took the kids. It was a beautiful day. That's perfect. So perfect. It's one of those days I'm sitting there watching baseball where I grew up going with my parents and my kids are running around. You're trying not to be annoyed as they're like picking things up off the ground and I'm like, this is the good stuff. You know what I mean? The weather was just immaculate. But I say that to tell you that we're driving back and we're driving by the Raven Stadium there, the bank. And my wife's like, I should go to this game this year, right? Like it's an opportunity to see my team in a stadium that isn't awful, you know, with an atmosphere that isn't bad. I should definitely go to that, right? I'm like, yeah, totally. Why wouldn't you? It's great getting it's it's so it's the thing that I want when it comes to a stadium, right? Correctly placed walkways friendly to pedestrians, friendly to parkers, friendly to public transport or just welcoming right off the highway. They want you to be there and they make it very clear. There's no obstruction. There's no, you got to go that way or whatever. So easy. Food is way cheaper. You get in and out real quick 10 out of 10 experience. His answer, pain and Allen, I've not thought about it that way. But I but it makes sense to me, right? Like if you go, if the thought is, we might be better thinking about last year with these two first round defensive ends, they're the stars of our pass rush. You guys hold the point of attack. You guys do some of those things where you occupy an extra blocker, hold the point of attack versus you're our two best pass rushers now. Even if you leave something free, get up that field, engage in disruption. You've seen both of those guys at different times do that to a good degree. That's not a crazy idea. History says that he's going to be right on Diami Brown as being overhyped because we've done this before. I was guilty of it a year ago, where you go out to camp, you watch him, he shines, you watch in the preseason, he lights it up and everyone says this is the year and then it's not the year. Maybe this time is different, but I'm going to be in wait and see mode. I have basically, you know, I've a few times over now, touch the pot and it's burned me, so I'm just going to stay away. But I think he could be on to something if history repeats itself. The question for you guys at 800-636-1067, which commander's player is getting too little and too much hype? Who do you think over and underachieves based on expectations this season? We'll get to that next. Plus, what would have been the perfect way for the NFL to open the year or as Ravens chiefs as good as we could have done? You're listening to Grant and Danny Rick Spielman, former GM of the Vikings on the program in 20 minutes on the fan. G&D, taking you up to Nat's baseball in Miami tonight, the Nationals will look for a second straight win over the Marlins. Rick Spielman's on the show at three, Booger McFarland at five. We're taking you all the way through six-ten this evening on the fan. Right now, we're talking commanders players getting too much or too little love. We just gave you the guys that we think are being undervalued. I went with Zach Eartz on offense and Jeremy Chin on defense. They'll have bigger years than expected. Dorn's arm strong on defense and Ben City on offense. Now, I hope I'm wrong about that one because it means Zach Eartz is healthy in doing what you predict them to do. Let's go to the other side of the spectrum here. And this one's less fun for commanders fans to hear. But these are the guys being overvalued that are getting a little too much hype going into the season. You already discussed the name to me. Diami Brown screams this. One more catch in his career in an extra year than Malcolm Kelly had before he was out of football entirely. I have done this dance before. I have read about how good he looks and shorts in a t-shirt. I have seen best shape of his life, hired a private chef, took ballet in the off season, whatever the hell it is. He is not a thing. He is a deep threat that doesn't get open deep. I just don't see it. I don't see what they see. Maybe they like his physicality and he'll be good for blocking. Maybe he's a Josh Morgan 2.0 from from 2012. But there's a reason they went and got Noah Brown. I'd have killed super seat him and supplant him in some of those two receiver sets. I think it's a lot more Zacchaeus. I just don't see much much production. It'll be more than his 12 catches. His gaudy 12 of last year, but it's not a thing where now we have a bona fide number to receiver internally. So it's really, really hard to find a guy on offense other than Deami Brown, if I'm being honest, which speaks to the fact that there's not a lot of expectation around the board. That's good point. Yeah. I went with Jameson Crowder and it's not like everyone says he's going to have a great year, but we talk about him as in the mix to play a lot. And I just think by the end of the year, he's going to be kind of on the outside looking in, whether he's not on the team or he's deactivated or he's on the bench or what have you. I think it'll be more Zacchaeus, more Noah Brown, more Luke McCaffrey, maybe even more Byron Pringle. If that's not good enough, if you're saying, well, there's not really a lot of expectation for him, I guess I would go with the Lamadez Zacchaeus who I actually like fine, but kind of the same deal you did with Deami Brown, which is to say he got 10 balls last year in a good offense. Maybe he gets a lot of work early, but I think as the season goes on, ideally, maybe phasing him out too strong, but I'd like a little more Luke McCaffrey, a little more Noah Brown in the equation. How about on the defensive side of the ball? I don't like saying this one. I feel bad because I feel bad for the kid, but I just don't see it with the manual forbs. I think we've talked ourselves into like, this is the perfect recipe. You got Dan Quinn, he was legit a boom, you see, and Joe Whit turned Ron Bland into a superstar, Trevon Diggs before him. The manual forbs, it's going to happen for real. Nope, I just don't think so. I hope so. It would be nice. It'd be cool, but I think we've talked ourselves into this as a fan base. They're going to give him a shot. I think he's got a shot because he's a first round draft pick who's under contract, no matter what you do, and you could cut him and get rid of him, but you'd have dead cap money for multiple years and there's not much to it. So you might as well just go out and see if he can play in a year that you're rebuilding, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where you were worst in the league last year and any improvement is good. I just don't think we've got one of these diamonds in the rough that all took was a better, a little bit better coaching. I don't think we have it. So, but you get the sense there's a lot of hype for Forbs being good because he's hated on social media by the fan base. Yeah, but I think the other side of that is this, this magic bullet recipe that wits here and so is Dan Quinn and they're pedigree and they've coached secondaries and you just watch, they'll find something. I just, I don't see it. I hope I'm wrong. I don't love this answer, but I had a hard time coming up with a good one. So I'll say Bobby Wagner, he's 34. I mean, at some point you would think, just inevitably you've got to slow down. It did not happen last year. He made 183 tackles to lead the NFL for the third time in his career. It was, by the way, a career high. tackles are not the end all deal at his position, but pretty close. And he was a second team all pro. He has been no worse than a second team all pro every single year of his career dating back to 2013. Think about that. From 2014 through 2023, a 10 season run, he has been either one of the top linebackers in the league or the second version, like the top two basically inside linebackers and football as voted at years end. I don't think that'll be the case this year. I'll say it's 140 some tackles, 150 tackles, whatever, but he's not in the top two and all pro falls off a little bit. And maybe because of that, a little bit of overvaluing the fact that while he'll be good, he's not going to be as great as he was last season. And it just, what happens around here, like you sign a guy at 34, you pay him after he's been really good for 13 years and he's starting to think about what's next in his career and following around the commissioner for a day in the off season. And generally it's just not the same. The motivation isn't quite the same. Yeah, for every London Fletcher, there's like seven Jason Taylor's, you know what I mean, who are the same spot in their excellent careers. Let's go to Bobby and love it's Phil on GND. What do you got Bobby? Hey, what do you say, boys? Great show as always. Appreciate Bob. So I think, yep, absolutely. So my, the player, I think, is underrated is Jamie Davis. I think that he's going to come out this year and be used in a totally different way. And I think he's going to thrive under this, this new defense. So I'm very excited about that. The person that I think is overrated because he's listed as a starter is Andrew Wiley. I am so tired of Andrew Wiley. I could not believe they even kept him. So many of them need to tell me needs to face the opposite direction, like towards your end zone or, you know, with that you're going towards not the other way, like a turn style. Okay. So those are my two boys. Keep it great. Thanks. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. I would have bet against Wiley remaining as the starter at the beginning of the off season. And then when I should say being on the team. And then when he was still on the team at the start of training camp, I would have bet against him emerging as the starter, but they just didn't really address tackle extensively. I mean, they barely are past Cornelius Lucas starting on the left side. And that's just kind of hoping and praying a bit that Brandon Coleman's ready to go, who didn't play in the preseason. So they barely replaced their left tackle. They didn't get to the right tackle yet. But my point that I've made is if Coleman starts on the left side, kicked Lucas over to right and sit wily, that's definitely a possibility as the year goes on. Yeah, to me, this is another one where you go, you know, it'd be an eight million dollar dead cap hit you move on from from Andrew Wiley, right? So he's on the roster pretty much at that point, right? So there's nothing you could do. So we'll just try to get away with it or we'll get by. We'll have a good player to his left. We'll have a tight end on that side and off a lot, you know, to run that way, whether it's a strong side, weak side or whatever, we'll make him better with play fakes. Like he like a right tackle is a lot better if he's got a block down onto the outside shoulder of a defensive tackle and you leave the defensive end unblocked because that guy now has to worry about what the quarterback's going to do. You know, I mean, you leave that guy alone. So you're not taking on the superstar. You're not taking on old Demarcus Ware from back in the day, like Washington had to do in 2012. You're leaving him alone, leaving him for the quarterback to deal with it. Maybe that's the strategy. I'm just, I'm trying to come up with something as to why they go, no, that's fine at tackle, not fine to me. I'm with the caller. Jamie Davis's growth and his attempt now to play on the edge is the maybe the biggest story on the defensive side of the ball. But one of the biggest stories for this team this year, I think that's a fun answer. If he were to become a legitimate pass rusher, who they wanted to keep around and pay moving forward, that would be a massive development and just a gigantic win for this regime. Rick Spielman has run a team. He's told some players to change positions in the past. I'm sure the longtime former executive and NFL general manager joins us next on Grant and Danny. It is an NFL game week finally on the fan. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] We're Grant and Danny. This is the fan. The show is sponsored. The law firm Condorian Murad make it possible to guide you and your family in the right direction to help you to draft a well set up a trust and create a health care power of attorney. Schedule a free consultation with their estate planning attorneys at kmloyers.com. Be sure to tell you a album that we sent you. G&D sent you, that means a discount, so let them know we sent you kmloyers.com. I had a lunchable for the first time in probably 23 years during the break. Darris walked back into the studio. Somehow he got two on accident when he meant to get one. He double scanned a lunchable, so in effect he purchased two, right? So he went and picked up a second lunchable. He was like, I have a second lunchable. Who wants it? Therefore, I was winning off the field as opposed to walk back in with an extra lunchable and that meant I had a cracker and a piece of ham and a piece of cheese. Put them all together for a lunchable situation. Pretty good. Yeah, he's, uh, these young elementary school whippers, whippersnappers have it pretty good. I'll say it's next not bad. Let's get to the bet QL guest hotline. Bet smarter to beat the book, download the bet QL out. Visit bet QL.com. Rick Spielman, the former NFL GM did a great job of the national football league as an executive for so many years. Now works at CBS and Sirius XM NFL, among other places, joins us on Grant and Danny to discuss the 2024 NFL season ahead. And first of all, Rick, so far, so good. You were involved in helping to hire Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, part of the search firm with Josh Harris. And I got to say, all systems go here as we get ready for week one. The early returns are excellent. So congratulations and job well done. And thank you. Yeah, I'm more worried about the lunchable fill you up or did you need to? Oh, I need to have it intriguing. I just didn't know if one lunchable can fill you up. The answer is no to that. I would need about 11 of them. So the one container of lunchable comes with what I believe was like maybe 10 crackers. Uh-huh. But I made little cracker sandwiches. So I did one piece of cheese, one piece of ham and then the two crackers. So now is cracker to ham and cheese ratios all off for the last part of it. Correct. It was a excuse. So I have three little mini cracker sandwiches. And no, I'm not close to filled up. Okay. Yeah, no, I was concerned about it going forward. And if you had enough energy to get through the rest of the show today, I don't. And about four or 45 or so right before we talk to booger McFarland, I'll need a nap. Well, yeah, no, thanks for having me on. And no, I'm excited with the queue and Adam have done so far just starting back in the off season. What they were able to accomplish in the draft and just, you know, changing that culture up there and DQ is a culture changer. You know, impressed with the vets that they brought in, as far as those guys being leaders and establishing, you know, that locker room on what DQ once down there. And I thought Adam and his crew did a great job in the draft. Looks like they got their franchise quarterback. So still got some work to do. You know, it doesn't happen overnight, but they, for their first year working together, I thought right now it looks like great returns, but we could be saying something different. Who knows a week from now, because it's like everybody, if you lose, then okay, the whole thing is just horrible. Yeah, everything is a disaster, right? Yeah. But half patients, these guys are going to do a great job. Rick, in your long experience, atop the NFL, if there was one way to do this, there was an exact formula. Everyone that didn't follow it would be ridiculed, you know, rightfully so. But nobody's got the silver bolt or the perfect way to develop a young quarterback. What is your view? Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, no, I think that they're doing a great job. I had an opportunity to go down and watch Jaden and the combined practices in Miami when they were down there, then they actually moved the two-minute drill because it was so hot outside into the indoor. But I was thoroughly impressed with Cliff Kingsbury has done and just understanding how to bring a young quarterback along. And everybody has different ways of doing it. You know, when I got an opportunity to talk to Bobby Sloah at this offseason and how they handled CJ Stroud was totally different than how Carolina handled Bryce Young. CJ Stroud, they kind of spoon fed him and then the more he got comfortable, the more they kept layering on the offense, which paid dividends for the Houston Texans and they had a great year. He ended up becoming offensive rookie of the year where it looked like when you watched Bryce Young, understanding they didn't have the same talent level, but it looked like he was drinking out of a fire hose the whole season just by looking like they just put too much on his plate. But just when I had the observation to watch during the preseason and what I saw watching the practices down there, I think that everybody should be very excited about Jake Daniels. Well, and that's kind of what I wanted to ask you about, Rick, in your time and your, you know, over the years of being an executive, what was your best practice in terms of saying, okay, we got a young quarterback here where he's here because we weren't great in previous years, right? This is a 413 team that he's taken over, has been a lot of personnel changes. What's the best way to ensure his success? What's kind of, what was your governing philosophy over the years as an exec? I would just throw the balls of the coach. We have him now. It's up to you to figure out, because I'm not sitting in the meetings with him every day, right? You know, so you know where that kid is, how he's handling, you know, the protections, how he's handling the meetings and it's gained the very mature young quarterback and has a lot of playing experience. And that showed up in the preseason. In fact, just to be honest with you, when I watched all of these rookie quarterbacks, the first six, you know, and I understand J.J. McCarthy only played in the first one before he got hurt. Michael Pennix had a really nice opener against Tampa. And then they sat in the rest, but I was thoroughly impressed with these guys coming in and how they were. And I know it's, you know, cover one, man coverage or some kind of cover two, cover three on the back end, a couple of blitzes here and there, but it's going to be different when you actually game plan and adversities out there. But I thought you can see their experiences that they've had through college. And when you look at Jane Daniels and his adversities that he's overcome, just like Jalen Hurst over came adversity from getting sat at Alabama, to going to Oklahoma, to going on and being the quarterback. He is, you know, Jane came from Arizona State and no one, you know, everybody thought it was a third day pick going into last season. And then he ended up being the number overall to number two overall pick, well deserved because of what he was able to accomplish. So I'm sure they got a game plan in place, but coaches get paid a lot of money to to figure out what they have to do to make sure this quarterback successful. Rick Spielman, former GM in the NFL on Gratton, Daniel, when I go back to you mentioning the free agency that Washington had and how busy they were, going as veteran heavy as they did. And as one year deal heavy as they were able to, you would think works against a rebuild in some way. I think they have the fourth most, excuse me, the most players in the league with four or more years experience or something like that that they added this year. What do you make of that? What do you think they're trying to accomplish getting as older as they did this off season? One, most of the guys that they brought in had some familiarity with Adam or with the DQ or with some of the coaches. Two, every one of those guys are not only still good football players, but high character, high quality people. And I think when you're starting from scratch, like both Adam and DQ are that you want to bring in guys that you know are going to do everything the right way to set the tone for the younger guys. And I think, you know, I think they're going to win four games and people think they're going to be, you know, it depends. The offensive line holds up, you know, they traded Dachshund to Philly, which was kind of an interesting move, but they were able to pick up Noah Brown. So, but a lot of the guys that they brought in, they had some kind of relationship with or some kind that knew when they brought them in that it was going to establish the culture that they went going forward and they did a great job not overpaying. I mean, they gave a lot of short-term deals to these guys and who knows where it goes, if they play well, maybe they get extensions. But for the first year, it's just getting everything going in the right direction in the way that both of those Adam and DQ see how they want this franchise to go forward. But they did it was not like a total rebuild. Like you said, they brought in some quality bets. I think they're going to help them win some games. And I believe they're going to surprise some people this year. Long time NFL exec Rick Spillman with this here on GND. You mentioned that dots and trade Rick from outside looking in. What did you make of that? Well, sometimes when you have make a move like that, it sometimes is just not the right fit. Doesn't mean he was not a good player or it's just something that, hey, this isn't going to work out. And I don't know behind the scenes what was going on or why it was. But if they felt that it wasn't the right thing for them to go forward with, then great, get what you can for them. And I think Adam did a great job with that. But I know Luke McCaffrey, I know he's going to surprise some people as a rookie, and then bringing in the Noah Browns of the world and guys like that. And the key is also I had a really good pre-season. So they felt that they had the ability to move on from dots and especially if he wasn't buying in. And I don't know that for a fact or not. But they felt that that was the best move for them to go forward. Rick Spillman on Grant and Danny here on the fan, let's extrapolate the conversation out to the rest of the NFL. We'll start. If I if I'm going to do these, we're going to stay to two maybe three words syllables, but you're you're you're you're that's a bunch of balls kicking in right now. I feel it. You got you got me right after the launchable. So you're getting the best of me right now an hour from now. You would have missed out. The NFC East Cowboys Eagles seem like the two teams. Everyone's kind of trying to figure out who's going to wear the pants. Who do you like better of those two? I thought, you know, the Eagles and Howie is always aggressive going out and trying to improve that roster. They have two new offensive defensive coordinator and Kellamourne and and bringing in Vic Fangio on the defensive side of the ball. You know, they were aggressive and how he's always aggressive trying to address all the needs on his team, whether it's free agency, but they're in that Super Bowl window right now. And then Dallas, you know, that's kind of been a mystery to everybody when the owner says all in, but they didn't really make any significant moves. You know, they had a pretty solid draft. I like the guidance the the tackle. I think he's going to have bright future ahead of him, but he's going to have some growing pain. So they were able to get CD lamb done, which I thought was critical, but how they're handling the quarterback. You know, I don't know. But I would I lean towards Philly right now, just based off everything through the preseason. It is a GM. I want to get a perspective on some of the holdouts and hold ins. I think the only guy we still have now is a son Redick who's not reported yet to the Jets. There's still some weirdness with Jamar Chase kind of holding in with the Bengals, but it does seem like this is becoming more prevalent, even though with the new CBA, because of the fines, it seems like players shouldn't be able to to the extent that they used to. What did you make of the various situations this off season and and just where we're at kind of big picture with some of the holdouts in the league. Yeah, well, the son Redick situation, do you think he even got a Jets t-shirt to work out in? He was only there for the press conference. Not yet. He doesn't have any team that he is. Yeah, not yet. So that that's a that's an interesting scenario because every major deal that I was in, like I go back to when we traded for Jared Allen and worked with Carl Peterson on that trade when we got him from Kansas City. But it's always you get the draft compensation in place, but it's always can we go ahead and talk with the agents so we know if we're going to be able to get an extension done or not. And after we had the draft compensation kind of worked out, then we talked to Jared Allen's agent and you know knew that we were going to be able to get an extension done. And it's the same thing when we moved Sifan Diggs to Buffalo, you know, I said Brandon, you're more welcome. Once we had the draft deal in place, go ahead and call his agent, see what you have to do, contract wives or whatever. And then usually the two GMs will, you know, talk back. Hey, we're good to go on this and let him come in past the physical. This one is I don't know what was said when he came in when they made the trade. But it seems like both sides are digging in their heels where the Jets are going to move unless he's in there and he's not coming in unless he gets what he thinks he's worth. So I don't know once that draft compensation was figured out why or you wouldn't have an idea as you're going to be able to get a deal done or not. Rick, how do you see your old stomping rounds NFC North shaken out? You know, Detroit's the king right now. And I got to be a little biased because my brother's up there. But, you know, I think Green Bay's going to give him a pretty significant run for the money with all the young talent to have up there with the receivers with the draft that Brian good at his has put together. Jordan Love looked like a totally different quarterback second half of the season. It seemed like him and Matt before figured out what he does best and that showed up and showed up in a playoff game when they went down and trounced Dallas and they gave San Francisco run for the money as well. So I think that they're a young football team that's only going to get better and now bringing in Jeff Hackley as their defensive coordinator. You speed ahead coach up of Boston College will be they're more athletic on defense. I think they're going to do a lot more things. They were an odd front team now they're going to an even front. So I'm anxious to see what that defense looks like, but they do have a lot of athletes on the defensive side of the ball. So I think it's going to come down between Detroit and Green Bay. I think that'll be the one who stays the healthiest will probably end up winning that division. How much of a chance do you give the Chiefs to three Pete? It's never happened before. Felt like last year in the regular season they were taking on some water and then they kind of flipped a switch in the playoffs, but they've got plenty of challengers in the AFC with Burrow back healthy in Cincinnati. The AFC North loaded up. What do you think of Kansas City? Yeah, well, you know, Patrick Mahomes, you know, with even though there's defense end up, in my opinion, winning the Super Bowl for him and Mahomes, there's no one better right now and maybe one of the best to ever play the game by the time it's said and done. And the combination of him and Andy Reed are tough to beat, but that is a a tall task to say that you're going to, you know, set history coming up. Do they address their needs? Yeah, they address all the receiver needs. I was surprised for she rice didn't get suspended yet. I don't know that it'll come later or they'll just keep going through the process until they figure out if he's going to get suspended or not. So in Xavier Worthy, the intriguing trade with Buffalo, you know, Buffalo moving back and giving Kansas City worthy. So they're going to be fast. I definitely and I think they're going to be much improved on the offensive side of the ball and coach Spaggs is probably the best defensive coordinator in the league right now the way he develops and plays all that talent. But I didn't have them. Some people had to do some predictions. I didn't have them making it to the Super Bowl this year. I got I've had them getting beat by Cincinnati in the AFC Championship game. Well, let's go there. That AFC North to me is just a buzz saw at the top to bottom. I don't think there's a bad team. There's some questions certainly about maybe a couple of them. But so it seems like you got Cincinnati doing really well on that division. How do you think it checks out? I think it's Cincinnati's division to lose if they stay healthy because of Joe Burrow. And hopefully they figure out this little situation with Jamar Chase. I know I got an opportunity to sit down and interview Jamar a couple years ago. And he knew that I drafted Justin Jefferson. So I said who's really better is it? Justin or you? And he had no question in his mind that it was him. And so I imagine in this contract, you're going to see something just a hair above what you said it's more than Jefferson. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. It's just for a pride factor. If anything else that I know these two are very close with their very competitive with each other as well. But I think like it says, as long as Joe Burrow stays healthy, they'll be better on the defense. You know, everybody knows that Cleveland Brown situation. They got a championship caliber defense. They got playmakers on the offense. But does the Sean Watson actually finally performed the what they traded for in the compensation they gave him in the contract? And he doesn't maybe have to play to that. But could he play well enough for them to compete? You know, so I think it all comes down to how the shot if he stays healthy and if he plays. You know, Pittsburgh will be interesting to see with Arthur Smith coming in. I think they're going to be a more physical offense. They're always going to be great on a defensive side of the ball. And the only concern I've had with Baltimore was I believe they're going to have three new starters up front on the offensive line. And if you look at their coaching staff, okay, they lost Michael Donald as a head coach to Seattle. You know, Anthony Weaver is down as a defensive coordinator now in Miami. And Wilson, the Nard Wilson is now the defensive coordinator in Tennessee. So they lost three pretty critical coaches on the defensive side of the ball and or is going to be the new defensive coordinator, former player. Harbaugh does a great job not only developing players, but developing coaches as well. So I think there'll be some question. Everybody's going to see it or is any drop off, especially with all the coaches that they lost on the defensive side of the ball. And is that offensive line can come together with the losses they had up front? Rick, it's always excellent to have you on the show. Can't wait to watch all your content throughout the season. Thanks for the time and enjoy week one. Yeah, no, I'm going to get lunchable right now. I'm going to make sure Derek gets your address. I'm going to ship you a lunchable, right? Hey, can I get at least we're going to show a lunchable? Anything? That's what we give our guests actually. You're in luck. Now we can't promise that it's still good that the use by date, you know, it's still going to be fresh when it gets to the house, but it'll be there. It'll be there. Okay, but can you put the instructions in and the go cracker, cheese ham, cracker or the cracker ham, cheese cracker? This is build your own. You get to get cute, get creative. Yeah, as the chief executive of that lunchable, it's your call. The final say is yours, man. You're the one picks up the phone. You got to go pass the bill. You're going to pick your ham for need or you're going best available? Yeah, I'm going first thing that pops into my mouth, whatever the first thing I see it's going in. Thanks, Rick. We appreciate you as always. Be good. All right. Thanks, guys. Rick Spielman, former GM with us on Grant and Danny. Someone explained to me coming back. We'll do that next. We've not done this segment in a while, something that doesn't quite make sense to us NFL version right here on G and D that's next on the fan. At three forty five our double play. What's going on in our lives? Nothing to do with sports. Next hour looks like the Harris ownership group and this newly built business staff is going to have a fire to put out. We'll see how they handle their first big controversy as an organization. Welcome back. Grant and Danny on the fan. Thank you for making the show part of your day. We appreciate you. Darris to airman Ryan Clary on the production. Danny, someone explained to me is a segment we've been doing off and on over the last few years. Sometimes it's non sports, just things that don't make sense. Sometimes we very specifically drill down on a team in town. I figured we could go NFL style. Someone explained to me as we close it on week one. So let's do this thing. Somebody, if you're out there and you have a second, somebody explained to me why we are so 100% sure that the Buffalo Bills are just going to kick walk in the AFC East and win that division again. The Jets are the odds on favorites. Now part of that is because there's New York and there's a bias and everybody wants to believe that it's somebody else. But Buffalo has gotten a little bit worse each year. They're still good. I still think they're going to make the postseason. But how sure are we with two legitimate contenders in that division? Miami, they do play games before it gets cold. So they might have a shot in some of those things. And the Jets who on paper have one of the best rosters, if not the best roster in the NFL. Now with at least some steady quarterback play on paper, Buffalo's got a tough road to how sure we that the Buffalo Bills are going to win that division. Someone explained to me why the Cleveland Browns aren't being talked about as a Super Bowl contender. Excellent defensively. Good weapons on offense. They've got everything but the quarterback situation ironed out and the reports out of Cleveland are that they're very confident that Deshawn Watson will return to form this season. I'm not and maybe that's the explanation. But someone explained to me if Deshawn Watson plays pretty good football, why the Browns can't be one of the last teams standing in the AFC elite defensively led by DPOY Miles Garrett. Awesome secondary. Greg Newsom, Martin Emerson, Grant Delpit, Denzel Ward. And as far as offensive weaponry goes, Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, Jerry Judy, Jamari Thrash, Jerome Ford, Shub coming back in week five or so is a reinforcement. What are they missing if Watson is going to play well? And you guys all screamed at me that Washington should go get him and he's the man and he's the top five quarterback, right? Where three years removed from him being out of the league. So at some point, you want to be a star? You better give me a star effort. He can't tell me Deshawn Watson's a good quarterback and that they're not a Super Bowl contender with everything they got around him. Someone explained to me that is a good one. And I was dead wrong about that thing that you just mentioned. Someone explained to me how the Chargers won't be a lot better under Jim Harbaugh. Now that guy's annoying. He's a lot to deal with, but you know what he does? He rolls up and the team gets a lot better. That's what's happened. It happened at San Diego, happened at Stanford, it happened at Michigan, happened in San Francisco and it's going to happen this year. He's going to make everyone pull their hair out and be super annoyed with them and probably drive every good employee out of that building because it's the Jim Harbaugh show. But I'm telling you that dude can run himself a program. He's really, really good at this. I anticipate the Chargers to be massively improved from the bottom Peter they were last year. Someone explained to me why that's not the case. Someone explained to me why anybody would spend a one cent betting on a rookie to win Rookie of the Year other than Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams is about to have an awesome first season in the NFL. It is my contention that he is better supported and insulated than any quarterback has ever been in league history. I don't think there's a better one, two, three punch of trio of wide receivers anywhere, let alone with a rookie quarterback, but anywhere than more Alan Adunze in Chicago. They've got an awesome starting tight end in Cole commit and his backup can get open in Gerald Everett. They're going to be able to run the ball with DeAndre Swift and Khalil Herbert and a past catching back out of the backfield and Rashawn Johnson. They've got a pretty good offensive line. They had a top 10 defense in the second half of last year. I don't know if they're a playoff team, even though they look like one on paper, but Caleb Williams will be the first Bears quarterback to ever throw for 4,000 yards. And he's going to do it this year as a rookie as he wins the Rookie of the Year award. Someone explained to me why anybody would assume any other player would win the award. He just got too much around him. It's too well built for him. Someone explained to me what the path is for the Carolina Panthers to be good again. I don't know the answer. Long ago were the days of Ron Rivera, Cam Newton, and Luke Kekely and company thumping people's skulls and like nine different running backs all running down your throat and Steve Smith at 5.9 going up into traffic in the secondary and catching a huge third down passes to move the chains. They have one of the worst rollsters in the National Football League. They scored the fewest points and gave up by I think the third or fourth most in the NFL last year. Huzzah. I like their first round draft pick this year in terms of adding some wide receiver talent, but it ain't enough. I don't know where they go. I think their owner is a tire fire. I'm very familiar with how that goes. I have empathy for the Carolina Panthers faithful, but good heavens. I don't see a way out for them. Someone explained to me while the why the commanders can't be frisky in the NFC East. I think the Eagles come back a little bit. They were 11 and six last year. They're actually a lot better than that and collapsed at the end of the season. Dallas will not be 12 and five again. They're probably more of a 10 win team. The Giants aren't good. Why can't Washington be four or five wins better than they were a year ago? There's nothing about last year's team that is relevant to this year's team. New ownership, new front office. Every piece of the decision making has changed. New coaching staff from top to bottom. New starting quarterback. The most important position on the field. Dramatically upgraded. New roster. No team having turned over more players over 70% from a year ago than Washington. So I don't care that they went for in 13. I don't really care about recent history. They got a lot of veterans on short deals coming in here with something to prove. Why can't they be frisky? If Jaden Daniels is electric and makes plays with his feet and is explosive in a difference maker, they're going to be in the conversation in December for a wild guard spot. Why can't Washington in a pedestrian to slightly above average division in the NFC East make some noise and hang around into the winter? Someone explained to me on that very subject. Why Washington can't beat the New York Giants? Why can't they beat the Giants? Nobody's got more losing seasons over the last decade plus than the Giants with the exception. Honestly, the Jets actually just looked that up. It's a worn sharp stat for you, but the Giants have been horrific. The Giants outside of Washington are like a 333 winning percentage team against Washington. They are eight, three and one over their last 12, including a two, five and one stretch for Washington here. They swept them talking to Washington versus New York and I believe 2021. Other than that, it's a lot of own twos. There was a tie in there. Let us not forget. That's as good as it's been. Why can't they beat the Giants? If you just do that, look at the Nationals. I know we're talking a full point, but give me one second. The Washington Nationals aren't particularly good this year, but you know what they are? Eight no against the Marlins. You have a terrible team. You know what you do? Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. You're James Winston style. You eat it all. You smack them around. You bully the team that sucks objectively. The Giants suck and have sucked. And dare I say, we'll continue to suck. Please defeat them. Please just beat them. Let's start there and we can talk about everything else. Losing seasons in the last 10 years of football, to your point, the Jets have nine the most in the league. The Giants, Browns and Panthers have eight in the last 10 years tied for second worst. Then the Jaguars Raiders, Washington, the Bears, the Falcons and the Broncos have seven tied for third worst. And then the Bucks have six. By the way, the Chiefs and Steelers don't have a single losing season. In the last 10 years, Seattle has only one and Buffalo. Surprisingly, enough Dallas and Baltimore have only two about it. So those are the winning teams that you're in and you're out. Find ways to be on the right side of 500. Someone explained to me on Grant and Danny here on the fan, someone explained to me why there is not more skepticism about Aaron Rogers having a great year for the Jets. He is old. He's 40. He will be 41 years old during this football season. He's coming off of a Achilles injury, very serious injury. He was not playing at the same level. The last year he played in Green Bay as he had been earlier in his career either. So we saw in 2022, pretty good year, 26 touchdowns, 12 picks, nothing wrong with it, through for 3,600 yards and 17 games, run heavy team. But I would say a regression, maybe a slowing down, like a start of a walk down the staircase for Rogers. Then last year he played four snaps and got hurt. Now he comes back. We just had Rick Spillman on. There are other analysts in the country saying, you know, this is going to be a Super Bowl caliber team potentially that the Jets could win it all. Where is the skepticism on a quarterback coming off of a serious injury in his 40s? So I'm going to explain to me how you can pick the Jets to win the title and think that Aaron Rogers is going to go play 20 plus games. Somebody explained to me why CD lamb can't go for 2000 yards this year. They don't have any other options. Who is their number two receiver? It's a quiz for you in your car right now. You're driving around. Who do you think Dallas is second best receiver right now this minute is? You may be going, could be Brandon cooks or Jalen Tolbert. I'm sure pick them both out of a lineup. It's CD lamb or bust. And the answer probably a lot of times is bust. He is going to eat. That dude is going to have so many catches and so many yards. Therefore progress will be dependent on Dak Prescott throwing the wall to CD lamb. He's got a shot at 2K. Do we get Daniel Lunchable? He's mentioned eating a couple times. I did say that. Someone explained to me. I think James Winston was eating a double. Yeah, because I was trying to say like that's what you do. You take advantage and eat it up. Like I drink your milkshake. Get you a Lunchable here. I would love a Lunchable. Double play is next. What's going on in our lives? Nothing to do with sports. Four o'clock hour. We've got the Beltway Blitz. We'll go over under six and a half wins for the commanders. Also a fire to put out for this new ownership group in terms of controversy brewing today that came out of Ashburn. You're listening to the fan. [BLANK_AUDIO] With Danny, I'm Grant. This is the fan booger McFarland of ESPN. We'll join us coming up at five an hour and 15 minutes from right now as we get ready for the kickoff of the NFL season tomorrow. Ravens at the Chiefs and then Friday from Brazil, the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles. And then we got to wait until Sunday for everyone else to inaugurate their campaigns. It is time though for our double play. What's going on in our lives? Nothing to do with sports. The double play driven you by your local Washington area Honda dealers. Stopping for a great deal on the rugged and capable Honda pilot. Contact your local Washington area Honda dealers today. James, I had a doctor's appointment this morning and directly, I don't know, maybe the 75 yards from the front door of the doctor's office, there is a place called the Kalata Shop, which is something you would never do. But it's a sort of Cuban coffee shop that's got short order sandwiches and pastries. But the Cafe Cubana was kind of like the calling card there. I realized how much I love a little Cuban coffee situation. I love coffee so much as it is. It's kind of the whole reason. If you want to get me something, get me coffee. Like that's what I want for my birthday. It's what I want for Christmas. I want to try the coffee. I want to experience it. I want to have a nice time with it. I want to sit calmly and drink my coffee. It's my number one thing that I want to do. I want it to be quiet. I want no one to bother me. I want to maybe scroll on my phone, maybe read a book. I don't know, but I want to sit there and enjoy the coffee. At coffee, Danny. I rarely get to, but it's why I get out of bed, right? There's like, oh, your responsibility is your kids. Nope. It's that cup of coffee. It's the whole point. I love it. I love it so much. I had to become such a coffee mark. It's 24. So I used to make fun of my father. Both my parents by my extension, but really was my dad, who was his or was and has been an early riser based on his time in the Air Force. He just always got up early. That's what he did. So when you'd see him in the morning, he would do that shuffle, that pre-coffee shuffle where his feet didn't leave the ground, but he was moving forward to go to get to that place where the coffee was, right? And I used to make so much fun of him. I'm out of bed. I'm like, look at me. I'm ready to go. I don't manage. Even as a teenager, I could hop right out of bed and start living my life without any kind of stimulant. Even through college, I was able to do it. Pulling all nighters, going out drinking the night before getting up for a 6 a.m. practice or some kind of nonsense. I did it all, like everyone else did. And it started in my mid-20s when I was going to work. And one of the things everyone did at work was they would do this 10, 30 a.m. coffee break. It was just part of the culture of where the office was. And we were encouraged actually to do that. It's like team building and camaraderie and all the buzzwords that people like to use. So I didn't know. I see people getting their coffee. I'll have some of that. How do you take it? Oh, with a lot of sugar in it and some milk. Sure. I'll do that too. And before you knew it, I couldn't live without it. I loved it. Hey, and I was like, I just did this all the time. This is great. And then I became beyond dependent on it. Like it's the source of my happiness. The point of the dude's story is, oh, what are the colada shop today? I had an iced Cuban coffee to go, but I had that little cubano roasted espresso that sweetened a little bit with a little bit of their like sweet milk and a little bit of the sugar in there. Not great for you. But my God, is it delicious? Delicious. That's what I had for you. Not even that great of a story. I had it and reminded myself how much I love it. Daris just informed me as I was getting ready to walk into the studio that he is going to be tested again for allergies coming up in September on September 19th. He's booked an appointment. This is a big moment for a lot of reasons, but specifically because we've got a stretch that's gone on for almost our entire existence as a program that there has always been one producer of our shows allergic to peanuts for some reason. Daris currently is that guy. So I think the way it's going to work is if we find out he's not allergic, then Cleary is automatically allergic to peanuts. That's how we know that. There's at least one, yeah. But in addition to being allergic to all things, peanuts, more importantly, I'd say, Daris is allergic to shellfish and seafood and has allergies to these things. Maybe we ask him about it and he's like, Oh, one time this happened many, many years ago. And it's like, yeah, but you could grow out of that. So we're about to find out we're going to know, is he the father? But also we're about to find out. Is Daris still allergic? I wasn't ready to shellfish. So here's my idea. Sorry, I know you're doing something else, but I that totally caught me. I don't know why I totally caught me. Daris Dameron, you are the father. You are the father. Thanks, Dad. Let me know. Love you, Dad. Okay, so where was I? I think we were at the point where here's what I want to do. I do real this story. If Daris is no longer allergic to shellfish, shellfish, I think we have to do some type of like Hanks oyster bar blowout. Yeah, we got to do a like crab cakes and football kind of day. What do you think? I 100% agree with that. Welcome him back to the sea, as it were. It's funny because Ryan actually just talked me into scheduling his appointment because when we went to our last commercial break, I heard the junkies promo where they're promoting that they're doing their fourth annual crab feast. I'm like, Oh, great. The whole studio is going to smell like seafood tomorrow. That's awesome. Ryan's like, what are you going to get tested to see, like, are you still there? You got tested based on your guy, Claire. Yeah, Claire, just put it back in my head. I was like, all right. Yeah, you know what? I'm going to schedule my appointment right now and I'm hoping Daris live his best life. I know. And kind of like all I do, because of course, as I walk past Daris a little bit earlier on, I had trail mix and Daris like, Oh, you're trying to kill me because there's peanuts in there. And I unfortunately peanuts nearly every day. There's a lot of allergies over there. A lot of allergies. We're just going on living online. I've got a peanut covered crab. You want some? Yeah. So I was like, Daris, like, you should just get tested again. And he's like, you know what? I'm making appointment right now. And he got on the phone and made an appointment. First of all, that's so silly. That's a great way to do it. The, I will tell you this in no exaggeration. I did it at Capitol Breathe Free, where I got my, all my sinus procedures and different stuff like the 30 lines on you with markers and all that. Yeah. They didn't make, they didn't do a nose job. I was like, well, you're in there. You want to rearrange some of this? Make a little nicer? I mean, that's how they like the allergy test. They like draw on you like markers. But so I had it all done there. And I take drops every morning to build up like a small immunity to all that stuff. It has changed my life. So I'm hoping for something similar, my friend. You'll find out like I'm allergic to something called like Cypress Ragweed. Oh, good. We didn't grow around here. But if I ever encounter it, I'll break out. Look, weird stuff you'll never know. But it is a game changer because then you could do something about it. That's what's so awesome. I just hope for you that we don't find out like, no, you're still very allergic to peanuts and to seafood, but also you're also allergic to ham and you have celiacs disease. You know, now you just can't eat anything. Like it could really backfire. That would be, that would be absolutely tragic. Yeah, that would. And thought of that. Outcome. Because I'm, I'm thinking of the quiz comes back. Awesome. If they're like, you have to be a vegan and you're only allowed to eat peas. They know what you can't have is gluten, man. And just for the rest of his life, he has to eat nothing but peas. That'll be miserable. Wow. Then we could all tell Ryan, you're not a life coach. Yeah, that's true. That part is true. But either way, I feel like we could do like some big production where it's like we plug it on like this day, the double play we reveal. Oh, that's true. If there is allergic or not and we just, we have like, I mean, because here's the thing. I think we just do seafood either way that day. Oh, that's good. Rubbing this thing. So I roll it with a giant salt line carryout order. Yeah, we've like seen the butter and jellies and Reese's cups as well. And like, there's can either eat it or you can't. I love this idea. So we get four giant crab cakes from Hanks Oyster Bar or whatever. Yeah. And then the question is, do we split up the fourth one three ways or does Dares get to eat it? Does Dares get to eat it? And then Dares says, hand it on over. It's mine. We all just go crazy. I love this. Or or keep it away. I'll die. And then we go crazy also, because we get to eat more crap. True. We still actually were happier for that result. Exactly. Sorry, Dares. This is so tasty. Respectfully, Dares. Well, I'm excited. I'm excited. I hope I hope it turns out positively for me. We're working for negative. Well, yeah, we have a goes well with a there it is allergy. That's it. Correct. Yes. Yes. I hope it works out. Let's eat some seafood. The belt wavelets is next on Grant and Danny. And then six and a half wins is the over under set for the commanders, which side of the ledger are we on? You're listening to the fan. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] The exclusive sponsor of Grant and Danny is the law firm Condorian Murad. Our buddies will guide you and your family in the right direction by helping you to draft a well set up a trust or creative health care power of attorney. There are guys schedule a free consultation with their estate planning attorneys at AM lawyers.com. Like my parents did, be sure to tell them we sent you, you'll get a discount. K M lawyers dot com. Beltway Blitz coming your way on the nationals, the NFL and the commander speaking of the nats they played tonight pregame at six 10 first pitch at six 40 in Miami. James Wood, Dylan Cruz, both that hits last night. They're both in the lineup. If you'd upgrade your gear, I'm on the one oh six seven the fan YouTube page today wearing my Cruz Wood 24 t shirt. Those are available for you. We've also got we've got wood hoodies for the fall and Cruz missile tees for the fall coming up as well. Get yours now at one oh six seven the fan shop dot com. Let's get to the Beltway Blitz. And Andrew Golden covers the nationals for the Washington Post joins us now. Andrew, I don't know we've talked to you about this. I actually want to go back a couple of weeks off the beaten path here. What did you make of the timing of all of the coaches being announced that they were coming back and Davey just kind of you know in the middle of the still the stretch run saying that that was the case. Yeah, I was a little bit surprised. I think especially when it came to the the the hitting staff, right? I mean, obviously, you look at the nationals as a whole. I think you could definitely argue that they have they don't have the talent to really have the big numbers. But I definitely think they struggle offensively. They're on page one of their worst years of franchise history offensively. I was a little bit surprised. They made the decision that early. The pitching staff, I don't have a problem with that, right? The big step is improved. I've been fine with the progress and the work that Jim AP and Sean Doolittle have done, but definitely surprised what the hitting coach that I definitely think there could have been some more decisions there on potentially playing some little guys though. I think I was a little bit shocked for sure. Well, in terms of hitting Andrew, CJ Abrams, the streakiness is a thing for him. He's had two unbelievable months where he's pretty much built up most of his counting stats. And then now working on, I'd say three months where he's I don't say a negative player, but has not been near as good as those two kind of banner months. If he's able to find some consistency dot dot dot, where are we at in terms of that for him? And you know, how aware of it is everybody? Are we just sort of saying, hey, he's a streaky player. And that's that. Yeah, I think they're definitely aware of it. That's why he moved. He moved down the order because he's really chasing off the pitches and really not chasing his pitch. Whenever you ask these days, he does not want to say a ton of the awesome and you ask him, like, when is he at his best? He's like, I'm just staying on my pitch. And so he's not staying on his pitch. I think he's going to be pressing a little bit at the break, trying to be due too much. I think that's why you're seeing him struggle. And so definitely streaky. I just think I just think he has to stay for a full season. But I think honestly, I've kind of story of the whole team as a whole, right? Like they showed flashes for, you know, a couple months three months in the time now for a full years. I think it's kind of the story of the whole team at all. CJ Abrams, by the way, CJ Abrams hitting 184 with a 242 on base over his last 30 games. A Dylan Cruz has now played seven games. He's got two homers and two steals already. What have you made of Cruz so far? I think he just looks like he fits in, right? Like he's playing a really good right field and armically throwing there. And then the plate, he doesn't really look over fast. And I think one of the things I was thinking especially compared to spring training, and spring training is really late on a ton of fastballs against major league competition. If I was really interested to see how he's adjusted, we did a really good job of staying on the fast ball, staying on, you know, I think it's personal. I don't say cutter or a fast ball. I think he's a really good job of preparing for that and adjusting for all speed and breaking balls. So I'm really impressed. And so I'm interested to see kind of how he can see that in the next couple of weeks. Luis Garcia has been kind of an unhelded story here, Andrew. He's been really, really good. And you know, for a while it was, you know, he's going to sit against lefties, but I guess now hopefully that's over with. I mean, is this sort of now, is he bona fide at this stage putting together a pretty good major league campaign here just outside of 20 homers north of 20 steals, played a pretty decent second base, not necessarily an all world player who's going to walk a ton, but there's a lot of good with this Luis Garcia year. And it started with people wanting Trey Lipscomb at second base every day instead. So pretty big accomplishment. Yeah, I think I want to go on the record and say that like, I really think Luis Garcia shouldn't be playing against lefties every day. Like he has been one of the better hitters. Like, I don't want to steal tomorrow. I mean, I always like to own tomorrow, I get to be playing time, but like, you want to see what your young guys can do against lefties. And it might be an individual's opportunity, but I get like, Chris Sale, like, I get that, right? But I think generally against lefties, Luis would be still playing. I think he's one of the better hitters this year. I think it's a great story. And I think in terms of whether this is something you can continue, I think like you want to see, can he face, you know, left you to be every day player? And so I think he can be. I think he has the potential to be that for sure. I just wish you play him honestly every day. I think they kind of have more recently. I think he's really impressive. And obviously, I think one of the things that we forget about is that I know Luis has been the big leagues for like almost four years now, but he's also like 23, 24. So he's still really young. I think we kind of forgot that process just because he's kind of the first prospect to really get there. But I think he's kind of talent. I just think maybe we're seeing him produce the high level just because he's more experienced now. Andrew, we appreciate you as always, buddy. Thanks so much. It's got to take care of a good one. She got it. Nat's Marlin, six forty first pitch right here on the fan tonight. Mackenzie Gore, eight and 11 with the four four five ERA on the mound for Washington. All of our baseball coverage on the fan is presented by T mobile, switched to T mobile and you can get tons of benefits and still save on every plan against AT&T and Verizon. Use their savings calculator to find out how at tmobile.com/switch. Let's talk football. Everybody, Nate Davis, USA Today joins us to do just that. Nate, I want to get your thoughts on the Jets and Aaron Rodgers. I mentioned something earlier and it's led to a conversation on my Twitter account. I don't know where the confidence in Rodgers having a great season comes from. He's in his 40s coming off a serious injury. I get why people would be hopeful, but I am curious, like, are you confident that the Jets are going to be really good and Rodgers is just going to look like Rodgers? I mean, I picked him to win the Super Bowl. So you would say confident? All right. So where does the confidence come from? I mean, I don't know. It's just a serious injury and he's an old guy. It is a serious injury. You know, he was, you know, obviously very well down the road to recovery to the point where he nearly played last season, maybe, but I mean, he was out of practice, which is in typical. But, you know, it's not like we're asking him to be Lamar Jackson. You know, he looked, he looked very good in mobile at campus here, but, you know, to me, the main thing about this is, you know, the Jets have won 14 games over the past few years, have the second ranked defense in the league over the past few years, basically playing 10 guys in offense. I don't think you're asking Aaron Rodgers to go out there and win a fifth MVP award. But I mean, I think you're asking him to go out there and be a pro-ball of a quarterback would be great. But I mean, even if he's not quite that, I mean, this team is completely loaded on both sides of the ball just about everywhere else. You look, you know, I don't know how Breeze Hall was second in the league in yards from scrimmage last year, and everybody knew he was the only guy in the offense because Garrett Wilson was, you know, handcuffed by the quarterback issues as well. I think you put a decent quarterback back there. I don't know where else this team has an issue, person always. Nate, which division did you have the toughest time predicting a winner for? I mean, the AFC North is tough because obviously all the teams are good. They also all have, like, an issue in my mind. So that's not necessarily easy. I think maybe to me, in some ways, the most interesting is the AFC South because I think they've got three really pretty good teams in there, and I think people forget, you know, with all the focus that the youth Texans have understandably garnered this offseason. I think people forget the Texans, the JAGs, the Colts, all went into week 18 last year with the scenario to win the division. And to me, the JAGs and the Colts were both very hamstrung by personnel issues and injuries, and things kind of played out pretty well for the Texans. Not that I've taken anything away from them. But I mean, a year ago at this time, we thought the JAGs were going to run this division for the next four or five years, you know, enter CJ about entering Anthony Richardson. But, but I think that that's going to be, you know, nobody gets usually too stirred up about the AFC South, you know, kind of serious, but I think that's going to be a very one to see how it plays out. Nate Davis, USA, today with us on Grant and Danny here on our Beltway Blitz. How about the Seahawks in the NFC West? That's a team that I just don't hear a lot about. I know San Francisco, the LA Rams are pretty good, but as you know, Smith can have finished the season. Do they turn things over to Sam Howell at some point? Like, where are they at at this point in their build? Yeah, they're there to me, one of the hardest teams in the league to read. You know, I feel like they have like a lot of square pegs and round holes going on there. Like, I'm not sure Mike Donald's really going to be able to run the defense, you know, the way he wants the players he has as he did in Baltimore. I mean, he has said that he really wants to run the ball, which is a good way to help your defense and what he's used to coming from Baltimore. Then they go out and hire Ryan Grubb, who's never been an NFL coach and like to run, you know, five wide receivers at the University of Washington in the Seahawks kind of built through the ball and not run it, particularly with some other offensive line issues. So they could be very interesting. I just I just don't know what direction they're going to go, what they're going to look like if this officer is actually going to work. I mean, it's your point. Yeah, maybe Sam Howell gets in there, you know, maybe Geno Smith kind of reversed the 2022 form. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Ryan Grubb, the OC has said, he's trying to tailor the offense to Geno strength and what he does well. Again, he likes to throw the ball and they have three really what should be three really good receivers on that side of the ball. But I just kind of wonder if it's not really going to it seems like a lot of a lot of misaligned parts to me. And I mean, I'm guessing they're like a six-win team that maybe the scores are closer than that. But it's hard for me to get too excited about it. I don't know. Barring injury, because you know, we go back a couple years talking about Dallas here Nate, where Dak Prescott was injured. They were I think six and 10 or something like that with any adult in the quarterback. But barring a significant injury to one of their a few key guys, give me kind of the best case for Dallas and the worst case for Dallas. I mean, I think I think best cases is it's another 12-win season. And to me, that's the best case. Like, I don't see them coming out of the NFC, you know, breaking in about three decades, Super Bowls route. I think that I think the best case is kind of what we've seen in the last couple of years with Mike McCarthy. You know, the worst case, obviously, is the bottom falls out. I think it's probably, I mean, I've got some winning eight games. I think that, you know, it's great. They've got CD-LIMP back. It's great that Dak Prescott hasn't got anywhere yet. For all that out, I mean, to me, they're a diminished version of what they were last year, giving all the losses they had on free agency. You know, how's the defensive switch going to go? From Dan Quinn's philosophy to Mike Zimmer's, you know, Duran Bland is going to miss the first part of the season. They're all corner. Like, I just can't find a whole lot of reasons to get too excited about this team. I mean, the running back situation is complete mystery. I don't know. I mean, you guys know, the NSC turns over every year for the last 20 years. So I think it's the Eagles. And then personally, I think the commanders have a great shot over take the Cowboys this year, but we'll see how it goes. Wow. I love that. Nate, thank you, buddy. Good catching up. All right, fellas. Thank you, bro. Let's localize the combo. Our pal Kevin Chien of the Kevin Chien show over on the team 980 Kevin, why don't we start with what you're most excited to see when you turn that TV on at 425 on Sunday afternoon. Cliff Kingsbury and Jaden Daniels and what the offense looks like. I think that's the biggest mystery going in. I mean, you've got an established defensive coach and established defensive coordinator, you know, probably nine new pieces on defense. So there's mystery there, but you know, most of the players they brought in are veteran players. I'm just really curious to see what that offense looks like. Is it, you know, a quarterback and pistol with dual threat? You know, is he, you know, running zone read 30% of the time? How does that benefit, you know, Brian Robinson, junior, the play action game? You know, do they go under center and run, you know, some bootleg and play action? I'm just really interested to see what that looks like. Because I think Kingsbury's good. I think he's focused on one job versus being the head coach the last time he was in the league. So I'm excited to see that Sunday. Kevin, I'm with you. That to me is the question right coming into the season. Obviously, big picture, Jaden Daniels, what he is and what he's going to be. But secondarily and related to that is what this offense looks like. Gun to your head. What's your best guess? Is it just what we saw in Arizona, as you said, a lot of shotgun, a lot of, you know, everything kind of out of that look with Terry McCornum left side? Or do you think there's, hey, you know, Kingsbury's bounced around now a little bit. He's got some new tricks, obviously, if it's like the 2.0 version of that, or do you think it's more of what we saw in Arizona? I mean, my hunch, Danny, is that it's like a responsible approach. Rookie quarterbacks need a running game. They need quick game. They need a big tight end that they can throw to and that they leverage all that. In addition to a lot of the stuff you see with dual thread quarterbacks, you know, going back to 2012, what we saw with Robert and what you see with Lamar and Justin Fields and a lot in Jalen Hurts. I think we'll have a lot of that mixed in as well. But I think Brian Robinson, Jr. is in for a big year. Like, plenty of carries. James Connor, a level carries that Kingsbury gave him in 2021 in Arizona. And he'll benefit from a lot of the, you know, the Shanahan 11 on 11 in the run game where the quarterbacks involved and there's an advantage there. I think that's what we're going to see. But I think there will be a lot of responsible play calling where they do emphasize, you know, not balanced for balanced sake, but because they've got a quarterback, it can be involved in the run game as well. And then a lot of the quick game stuff that even we saw in preseason, it won't be identical. But getting the ball out of his hands quickly into, you know, playmaker's hands. I think we'll see backs catch the ball a lot. I think we'll see Zach Hertz be a big part of what they do. Kevin, what do you think of the Sam Cosme extension four years, 74 mill? Well, I mean, I'm sure you guys have been talking about it as well. I think that the first of all, it's the first one. And it's an indication of kind of how this ownership in front office will handle some of these situations. So to get a player like Cosme signed before the season to an extension to completely nullify, you know, the potential for him making it to unrestricted free agency was smart. He's definitely a good player, if not an excellent player. And he's really good in terms of, I think, the intangibles that will fit with the culture they're trying to build. So I thought it was coming all along. I thought it made sense for them to get it done before the season started. So I'm glad to see it. Kevin, I haven't heard you specifically weigh in on this. I just want to sort of two part of here. If you're more big picture, maybe this year and kind of beyond where wins are almost secondary to you, obviously rather win than lose. But so I'd love your answer to that. But then two, in terms of win totals or the like about this year, what would disappoint you? Like what level would they have to get to where you go? Man, that's kind of a bummer. Or you'd maybe lose lose a little confidence. Well, I think if you go back and look at just the last five years, like any team that wins five or less games had pretty bad quarterbacking. You know, some of those examples are, you know, good quarterbacks got hurt. So they were playing backups. But you know, if you win five or less, it's a pretty good bet that your quarterbacking was bad. So that would be disappointing because I think at the end of the day, what we all want to feel after 17 games is there's a strong indication that they got it right with Jayden Daniels. With that said, like I think they're in that group of 25 teams where, you know, you stay healthy, the ball bounces your way, catch a couple of good teams on days in which they have some key players out, you know, seven and ten to ten and seven is the range. And I kind of view them that way this year. It's a completely different team to kind of look at it in the context of last year, different coaching staff and 30 new players, 17 of whom will be on the field a lot, we think, you know, from Sunday on. So, and a lot of those players are veteran players. So I think they're in that group of teams we see every year take four or five from the top out of the equation, two or three out of the bottom out of the equation where, you know, seven and 10 to 10 and seven is possible. Kevin, always great. Thank you, buddy. And enjoy week one. All right, boys. See you. Kevin Sheehan. Check him out. His work daily Kevin Sheehan show. We're granting Danny, you are listening to the fan, the Harris ownership group has their first off field fire to put out. We'll get into that plus six and a half wins as Washington's total on the betting market. Are we going over or under that next on the fan? Yeah. Great. And Danny on the fan. It is football week in the nation's cap. It all the commanders open with the bucks on Sunday. The NFL season kicks off tomorrow. So lots to get into still on our docket, including want to go over or under with the six and a half win total for the commanders and take some of your calls on that. This story dropped before we went on the air today. You and I saw this and have not addressed it. Haven't really talked about it. I don't know exactly what we should do with it, but I do think we should at least bring it up so that people know that it happened. And that was that the commanders have suspended vice president of content, rail and team who is on his fourth year now with the club was hired presumably when they made a lot of the changes in the Jason Wright era coinciding with that. But the fourth year running content, so all things, things, honestly, they do really well like the commander's log show on YouTube and their social media accounts and some of the fun stuff that they do is under his purview, I would imagine. I don't know this person at all. I never met him. And honestly, I've never heard his name before today. But he was on camera saying a bunch of things that the commanders have come out and put out a statement to say does not in any way reflect their values. Some of the comments, as you can imagine, have made national headlines. He said things like some players in the league are dumb as hell was quoted as saying, I don't think the commissioner of the NFL hates gay people, hates black people. Jerry Jones, who really runs the NFL. I think he hates those two groups. It's really gross. And it's awful. And the commanders have made a statement. They've suspended him already. And that's kind of that for me. I think it should also be noted, Danny, that this content was gathered by the O'Keefe media group, who I'm not familiar with, but it looks like a date with a hidden camera at a bar or at a table in a bar where this rail and teen met a woman on social media on the app hinge. They went on two dates at a local restaurant. And then one of those dates, presumably, is when this video was recorded without him knowing. And she's basically sounds like a reporter, like asking him questions. I'm assuming it was over in a date like setting. And he thought he wasn't being recorded, if I had to guess. But regardless, said a lot of things that are inappropriate at best and downright egregious at worst. I know fans are upset for a lot of different reasons, including some of the comments that I just read, but he also called fans mouth breathers said that most of the fans of the NFL are high school educated alcoholics. And it's some really, really like vile stuff here. So I don't know what your thoughts are on it, but I did want to at least address it and say, yes, we've seen the story. It's a guy. I know a lot about the team and I'm super plugged in. I'd never heard of this person, which is probably good, by the way. It's not like a member of the coaching staff or a player. So I'm not really sure what we should do other than tell you that it's not a good look. The team has already suspended this person. And that's that. So I'm concerned. Yes, several points, if I may, a lot of fans are upset, mostly, I think, because of the part where there's a disdain and looking down on the fans in these comments, again, high school educated alcoholics or mouth breathers or, you know, looking down on people, there's kind of that an attitude in this video. So I'll put a pin in that kind of come back to it. There is absolutely a place in our society for investigative journalism, right? Whether it's hidden camera footage or otherwise, trying to catch bad actors behaving badly, fraudsters, people that take advantage of folks, people with faulty business practices, illegal activity, local news has done stuff like that before national news has there is a place for that exposing wrongdoing. I don't know what we're exposing here. What criminal act has taken place? What nefarious thing has gone on here? Why are we doing this? Why are we tricking a team employee into revealing his attitude about his customer base or his views on the NFL on a hidden camera? I don't understand that. That's the part to me. I can't get past. I know everybody wants to talk about the comments, but I got to hit that first. Okay, you got him. You ruined this dude's life, probably. Now, again, he's responsible for his viewpoints and things he says, but that leaves me with my second point. Great. You could hate my guts. And there are some days I bet you do. Some days, you're probably super node with me. There are some days probably where if Dares came in with a hidden camera on me, I've said some things about, you know, our parent company or somebody else, and I've, you know, put my foot in my mouth in such a way where if people saw that, they would think differently of me, and I would challenge everybody else out there to, you know, to be able to say you're Scott free of those sorts of things, having kind of private conversations. But beyond that, I don't care what people think of me in that way. How do you treat me? If he's awful to people that are his customers and he works with, that's a different story. What you do to me is far more important than your attitude or what you think. Like the guy that got me my iced coffee today could think I'm just the worst person of all time overweight gas bag that needs a lot of attention just to get through his day. He could think anything he wants. He said, thank you. He said, you're welcome. And he asked me if there's anything else I needed. You know what I mean? Like he treated me well. So we move about our day and move about our life. How did he treat folks? I have no idea. We're going to judge somebody based on a very short hidden camera thing that again, I don't know why we were doing that in the first place. So now the third part, tough to see those comments, man, tough to see him delivering those sorts of things. And I, you know, it's the kind of thing where you go, I don't have a ton of sympathy on that front for this, for this part of it. Because again, looking down on your customer is looking down on your fans. And the one to me that really got me or is front would be frustrating is he referenced specifically the leaky pipe situation where he said, no, no, it wasn't sewage. We had to tell him it was rainwater. That state media, he basically admitted that they lied about that. That to me would be frustrating as a fan, right? As somebody that's a paying customer or somebody that had kind of opted into this part of it, where you're going, if I can't believe that, then what else am I supposed to believe from you guys? So it kind of hurts the mission, it hurts the overall experience. But I'm with you. And it's in the sense that this is not really they play football this Sunday. We're a sports show. We care about that far more. I know fans are irritated about this and I get that and we know that's kind of where I'm at. I'll say this, we cover a lot of things that aren't sports that are tangentially related. This would be under that purview. And if this was Dan Quinn or Adam Peters or Josh Harris on this video and not a guy, again, I don't want to make belittle the point here, but I've never heard of this person. I'm at that facility a lot. I don't keep up with who runs their content. I'm sorry. Did anyone heard of this guy before this? I mean, 99% of our listeners, I would say have not. They have suspended him as well, by the way, my guess is he will never work for them again. They probably have fired him and we don't know it at this point. Next, I mean, he did a thing that was bad. They've acted. I am curious to see just because it's the first I keep saying a fire for them to put out. It's the first big controversy. It's a it's a bad PR thing. What I'm not going to do, though, is I think the easy reaction, the layup line layup drill here is my team's always in the news for things that aren't football. I'm so tired of it. Same old team. This is not that. You know, this is not the DEA rating you're building because you're training staff, led by Ryan Vermillion was doing something wrong or your owner having a toxic workplace or sexual harassment allegations. This is a guy, a single dude who was on a dating app who met a girl that he went on a date with on a second day, yeah, who on a second date recorded him without him knowing it and asked a bunch of questions for his thoughts about things and, you know, his take on Jerry Jones and the commissioner and all this stuff. That is not the same as some of the other things of the Snyder era, in my opinion. The team put out this statement. The language used in the video runs counter to our values at the commander's organization. A team spokesperson said in a statement, we have suspended the employee pending an investigation and will reserve further comment at this time. So we'll see what happens. I mean, if he gets fired or if he doesn't, we can react again at that time. The comments are bad. Yeah. So if you're looking for me to condemn them, I do making fun of speaking down at players, at fans, obviously pretty abhorrent. I also, and this is not going to be the takeaway, probably in a lot of places. You've alluded to this, but I can't get past this is supposedly journalism. Like that, that also matters to me a little bit too, right, was that there was this line in the ESPN story where they referenced the reporter as an undercover reporter. No, that's not that this is a date where someone's recording you. I'm not I don't know that that's that's the same thing. Like if I think I'm on a date with someone and they're asking me questions about my job and you're really just working for a group where you're recording me and I don't know it, which by the way, how's that even legal? I guess you're in a public place. So maybe you're allowed to record whatever you want. But I know in some states, there are laws where you can't record a conversation with Danny and play it without his consent. So I don't know the specifics of that. I just think that sounds scummy and awful. I don't know anything about this media group, but it sounds like a horrendous way to make a living. Having said that, the comments were bad. The teams already suspended them. So that's kind of what I got. Yeah, I mean, again, if if this was an investigation, uncover some of the terrible things that happened during the Snyder era, by all means, let's let's get the camera in there. Let's let's find out. Is the juice work to squeeze? Are you taking down the bad actors who have done bad things? There are there's no crime here as far as I can tell. So what is the takeaway or the big story is that this guy who no one knew before today said that some NFL players are dumb and that you know, he was the that comments bad, I agree, or that fans or mouth breathers. That comment is bad. I agree. But this guy's opinion is the takeaway that this employee said this. Okay. So fire him and what's next? I mean, good job. You caught him. You caught this guy right with your hidden camera. And that's kind of my point is I keep going back to is there is absolutely a place at the table for when nothing is happening and everyone know what not everyone knows, but we suspect wrongdoing, like actual wrongdoing, crime occurring or defrauding people or taking advantage of of of vulnerable folks or something. People not getting their season ticket money back. Yeah, sexual harassment. You're you got a hidden camera on that bad boy. Let's go. Let's let's catch the people right hand. Let's do it to catch a predator. I'm not even being flipping about it. You're finding someone that's doing something wrong. A guy's opinion. It sucks. I mean, it's not cool to hear that I'm that I'm a mouth breathing high school, educated alcoholic or whatever, that I'm then that I'm supposed to be insulted because I'm, you know, beneath him. But it's just it sounds like a cynical guy trying to impress a girl, you know, talking tough, trying to say a bunch of things to impress her. Again, I don't endorse the comments. I don't agree with them. I think that's wrong. But I don't know, man, it's like, I guess you got your fish like way to go. Like you you you you reeled it in. I don't know. We should reserve that for some for some more serious matters in my humble opinion. But that's where I'm at. My main interest will be how does the Harris group handle it? Because this is their first opportunity to do so. But I don't get the sense with most of the fan base that this is a huge ordeal today. I think most people that are adults hearing someone say fans are mouth breathing alcohol, it's whatever the term is. Here's what I do when I hear that I'm a fan, by the way, he's talking about me. Oh, he said that. Yeah. Oh, I mean, there are going to be people that are aggrieved and can't go on with their day and how dare you insult me. I have three kids in a mortgage. I have two car payments. I have a life. I'm a grown up. I don't care if some if that was his comment in private to a woman he's trying to impress and get a laugh out of about football fans. I'm sorry. I just don't. Now there are things he said that are bad. And if you take offense to them, you're allowed to. I'm sorry that that anybody got offended. And he's in trouble, by the way, you know, that's the other thing is sometimes we're like screaming as if something needs to be done. He's already lost his job, probably. What else do you want them to do for his opinions that you don't like on a hidden camera and how how and why him, by the way, I've never heard of this person. I know more people in that building by face than 99% of the public. I know this guy's on the website. So if you're big into their content game, you probably know him. If you would have said to me an hour before that came out, who has I have to look up his name again to say is it rail and teen sounds right. Who is that? I would say I never heard of that. I have no idea. I don't know. So they work for the commanders. What does he do? I would have gone. I don't know. I was in the R&D department. I have no idea. So I just you'll have to forgive me on the Wednesday of week one. And if you're saying I'm I'm focusing on the wrong thing, then I'll wear that criticism. I'm on the Tampa Bay. Yeah. You know, I'm sorry. And I wonder if fans, you know, sort of want to extrapolate something larger as if that's the attitude of, you know, all those that are holdovers from from this era. You know, if you want to sort of also somehow make it about Jason Wright or something like that, I've seen some of that sentiment. I just again, I don't know. I don't I'm not willing to do anything other than say this group went out of their way to try to catch this guy doing this, which I think is a fool's errand and and a big waste of time. I feel bad. People, by the way, not go on dates, like we need to not normalize whatever this area of journalism. I'm not even going to call journalism because it's not or reporting. It's also not that like whatever this is should not be okay. And I would hate for this conversation to be had around the country today where we're just talking about what the guy said, which is important without saying the other part, which is he was literally on a date and a hidden camera caught him talking that is unacceptable in every way in my opinion, unacceptable. And everyone should think that even if you're bothered by the comments, that's okay too. We we're big boys and girls. We can have two conversations, but to sit at a table on a second date with someone you're trying to get to know who's asking you for your opinion about your job and candidly your answering and and they're poking and prodding and trying to get more info and then they record that and they give it to someone the post on social media to get you fired. I don't know what reason. The whole thing is weird and creepy and shouldn't even be an industry as far as I'm concerned. But let's get back to football next. Six and a half wins is the projected total for the commanders. Are we over under that? Booker McFarland joins us at the top of the hour. He will know that he's on the air when he joins us right at five on Grant and Danny. [BLANK_AUDIO] Booker McFarland at the top of the hour on Grant and Danny. I want to kick our six and a half wind topic to next hour because we don't have enough time really to get into it in great detail. So we will do that at five twenty five try to see if people are over under that wind total with their predictions for the commanders this season. Do you see Jamar Chase returned to Bengals practice today? Now, did he like return to practice to watch or did he return to practice in like football gear? Bengals received the most positive sign they could get on Wednesday. Wider super Jamar Chase participated in the first official practice of game week ahead of the teams season opener against the Patriots on Sunday. That is according to ESPN.com. So I would think that means Jamar Chase is going to play this weekend. This is day one of what is truly the install and the practices that matter. So the NFL week for those of you that aren't overly plugged in on how it goes. You play Sunday. Monday is normally a rest and recovery day, treatment day. There's a lot of film watched in the building. Some guys are in and out of the building getting any kind of work they need done on their bodies. Tuesday is the league mandated off day very rarely, but occasionally teams can flip that up. Like some coaches will have I think a couple of years ago, Rivera did it where the Monday was the off day and then Tuesday guys were in the building for different treatment and film and stuff. But normally Tuesday is a mandated off day. You're supposed to go do some charity work be around the family whatever Wednesday is the key day of the practice week. That is when you put in your longest most grueling practice theoretically of the week. Thursday is kind of right there with it. Friday is more of a jog through a lot of time for teams. A lot less work gets done on Friday a little quicker off the field. And then Saturday is a walk through. And if you're on the road, you jump on a flight. If you were at home, you head to the team hotel for some meetings and things the night before the game. And you just have the quick walkthrough in the morning. So I say all that to say that this week, right now, if you're Jamar Chase, today's the day you got to show up, you're going to play on Sunday starting now. And he did. So that tells me he plans on playing football and in a game of chicken, the Bengals won. Yeah, there's something about deadlines and action and spurring up. I'll think of it. But yeah, I mean, that's what it seems like, right? It's there's there's so much posturing that can be done. And really, you're skipping out on all the pain in the butt stuff, all the hard stuff. Now it's the fun part, right? You got enough pelts on the wall if you're Jamar Chase, where, you know, Trent Williams style, maybe you don't need all the grueling two a days. I know nobody does that anymore, but maybe you don't need the August practice in the in the humidity. Maybe though, once it's time that you want to earn all your money, you want to have a really good season, I'll show up. I'm in shape. I've been running sprints, but now let's do game plan type stuff. And let's have a good football season. Because I sort of lost it to your point. So I don't think he's going to be paid before Sunday. I think a lot of people either suggested he would recently that that that was maybe going to happen. It doesn't sound like it. And if he showed up, I don't know now why the team would cave because you got what you wanted anyway. But eventually he's going to get his money. They're not going to let that guy walk. They're not going to play the tag game. He'll get more than Jefferson got probably because he'll be the next guy to get paid and they'll move on. But in the meantime, him T Higgins, Joe Burrow, that's that's the trio. Everyone else is kind of playing second fiddle. That is a Super Bowl caliber team with that quarterback. They have a chance to dethrone the Chiefs this year and make sure they don't get to a third straight, but you're not doing it without your March ace with all apologies to Burrow and Higgins in their running game. There's just no way. You need that explosiveness. You need that playmaker. He is a strike up the band weapon. He is a chunk yardage guy in a big play league and having him back completely changes my outlook on the Bengals. They'd have beat the Patriots with her without them, frankly, because I think New England is going to stink. I do too. But the eye line with Chase in their first seven, eight games is probably in a half season, like two wins. Instead of being five and three, maybe you would have been three and five, something like that. I mean, it's that different for me with just the easy button he provides. So I can't point to every example, and I apologize for that, but I will say there is a perception out there that the Bengals are like, they're known very much for being cheap for not paying players. Now they obviously paid Joe Burrow, but maybe that's kind of the exception. They kind of have this rep as a team that doesn't do the highest bid, that doesn't do the guaranteed money to the same degree. Well, that's deserved or otherwise. That's the rep that's out there and certainly very much online as people type in all caps and yell about this kind of situation. So I haven't ruled out them doing the tag game. It's a long way for me to say that, that they maybe just out of defiance or some sort of temper tantrum will avoid giving him the market value long term contract that maybe that he seeks just just so they say that they didn't necessarily do that. Again, I have no idea. I'm steamed up to talk to our guy booger McFarland next. Remember the booger mobile on the sideline on Monday night football? I do. When he used to sit like way up high and they'd wheel him back and forth. People were mad because it was this big, it was based on a crane, but it was like this big setup with a desk. He'd be in front of the fans. I love booger McFarland. He joins us next right here on Grant and Danny. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] As the exclusive sponsor for our show, the law firm Condori and Murad will guide you and your family in the right direction, help you draft a will, set up a trust and create a health care power of attorney. Schedule a free consultation where they're estate planning attorneys at kmloyers.com and be sure to tell them we sent you so that you can get a discount. That's kmloyers.com. Thanks much for making the show. Part of your afternoon, we're taking you up to Nat's pregame at 610. They play tonight at 640 in Miami looking for a second straight win against the Marlins. Right now on the Beck QL guest hotline, we are thrilled to talk to booger McFarland of ESPN, one of our favorite football guests to have on over the course of the football season. Booger, you're back on in DC with Grant and Danny, man. Thanks for the time. How you been? Doing well, guys. How are we doing? Pretty doing good, man. We're fired up to talk to you. Actually, there's a ton of different places we can go to start here, but I want to begin with locally Washington, Jaden Daniels and the commanders and your expectations for them this year, Booger. Well, obviously, anytime you start a rookie quarterback, they're going to be ups and downs. I think of all the rookie quarterbacks. I think he is in not maybe not the best position, but I think he'll play the best. I think his demeanor, his poise, his maturity, he's got some decent weapons up there. As you guys know, led by Terry McLaurin, but overall, I think he's going to bring a different dynamic to that team, and from everything that I can hear, the leadership, how guys are already following him, I truly think the commanders are going to be pretty good. I want to see how those defensive tackles play though. That's my position. When you got Allen and Payne and Johnny Newton, those three guys have got to be dominant because of where they were picked and how much money they're making. Those three guys have got to be dominant for that defense, but overall, I think there's a reason for optimism in DC. What's your view on the Cliff Kingsbury and Jane Daniels marriage? Is that a good fit in your opinion? Well, the fit is really simple. If you're an officer coordinator, your job is to find out what your guy does best and put him in positions to do it. If that's what Cliff does, then the marriage will be fine. It's no different than any relationship. I don't know if you guys are married or not, but it's the same thing. When you go home and your wife wants to eat sushi and you bring home Popeyes, things not going to work too good. Things is not going to be right. You got to find out what she wants, and then you got to cater to it. It's no different with Kingsbury and Jane Daniels, and based on what I saw in the preseason, I think they're going to do that. The key for me will be when when Jayden goes through a little bit of a growing spell, what does Cliff do to kind of get him out of it quickly? What's going to be their go-to bread and butter? Every team develops an identity. What's going to be the identity? I think they got a major in empty formation or spread because Jayden needs to be able to see the feel and it's easier to see the feel when it's spread out. Also, that gives him running lanes, whatever he needs to get out of the pocket. There's a difference because you still got to be able to run the football and be physical. How does Cliff marry the two? Being able to be physical while also having the feel open enough where his young quarterback can see the feel and get out and use his legs, I think that'll be key. Booker McFarland with us on Grant and Danny. Like Jayden Daniels, Baton Rouge LSU guy with ties to that program. I'm curious. I mean, you must know Jayden a little bit I would think or if cross paths with him at some point, if not, I'm sure you watched him closer than just about anybody. How much do you think he should and will run early on in his career? Well, here's a little fun fact. Like, he doesn't really look to run. His eyes are always down the field. He's looking through the football. It just so happens that he probably runs four or three when he takes off. And so, you know, he's got to be smart because this is not college football. And he doesn't want to get hit. And you got to play this game for the next 10, 12 years at a high level. So he's got to be smart, but he's also got to use what guy gave him. I think there's a fine line between running and making plays and being reckless. He's got to learn the difference. And yeah, I've followed him closely. And I'll tell you this, guys, his first game at LSU was against Florida State. That was what, three years ago, two years ago, however, my mouth is working. And when I saw him play, I was like, I don't know. But to see where he went from that game until the end of his career was as much improvement as I've seen from anybody. And I think this guy's a limit because he's starting to understand how to play the position. That position has really little to do with how fast you are or how far you can throw a ball. That position is all about the guy that controls the football, his demeanor, his decision-making, his accuracy. That's what that position is about. Like I can name 10 guys that have been bigger, faster, can throw at 90 yards, but they all fail because that position is not about that. It's good to have it, but that's not what that position is about. Follow our guest at ESPN, Booger, Booger, McFarland joins us here on GND. Let's stay in the division with the Eagles. That swoon last year was something. We all saw it, right? That collapsed. I think there were 11 and one or so to start, maybe 10 and one to start the season. And they just fell apart. A lot of turnover, a lot of change in now. How are you viewing the Eagles this year? I think it's the most important opener of any team in the National Football League based on what you guys have said. They were 10 and one. They lost six out of our last seven. The offensive coordinator is gone. The defensive coordinator is gone. There's a riff allegedly between the head coach and the quarterback. Now you bring in new personnel. You bring in St. Juan Barkley, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator. And you open up in Sao Paulo, Brazil against a team that a lot of people think is up and coming. They're the youngest football team, maybe in the National Football League, the Green Bay Packers. They got a quarterback that just got the bag. And here come the Eagles with all the questions that they have. I think it's the most important opener of the weekend because they could go one or two ways. If they don't start, you know, two and one, three and old, then we're going to start back and we're going to talk about last year. And I think if you're an Eagle friend, you want to forget about last year as quick as you can. Booker, on the flip side of that matchup, you mentioned Jordan love getting paid for Green Bay. Can they push Detroit in the north? Does the do you think the Bears ultimately have anything to say about that with Caleb Williams in his debut season? How do you see Green Bay figuring into a division? Everybody seems to be handing to the Lions. Well, I think it's going to be Detroit and Green Bay. I think it would be unfair to Caleb Williams to put him in a position to do something that not a lot of people have done in the history of the game. And that's a rookie quarterback leading a team to the playoffs. Like it just doesn't happen a lot. So I think it'd be really unfair to ask that of him. And so I think we turn our attention into Detroit. Green Bay. And I think those two teams based on how they finished, based on their trajectory, based on their roster. I think those two teams are going to be looked at as probably the favorites in that division. I would lean toward Detroit just because I just like their makeup. But if you told me at the end of the season that Green Bay won the division and was the number one seed, I wouldn't say that I would be really shocked. I think they're young. I think but they're really, really close to being ready. I know you spent a lot of time in that NFC South as a player. How do you see that division going this year? I talked to myself into a different team pretty much every day. Well, it's a two team division. It's Tampa and Atlanta. I think in the end, I don't know if New Orleans will have enough. They're offensive line. I don't know if it's good enough. And so I think it's ultimately going to come down to Tampa and Atlanta. And does Atlanta have enough defense? I don't know. They got to show me. I would lean toward Tampa based on the makeup of their team. Baker Mayfield had a really good season last year. That defense led by Todd Bowles is really, really good year and a year out. And if you just look at kind of where they've been, like for Baker to come in and follow Tom Brady and for that team to go to the postseason, I think this I think this guy's the limit for them from from the standpoint of winning the winning the division, getting into the postseason, hosting a playoff game. And once you get into the dance, then it's about matchups. Booker McFarland of ESPN with us on Grant and Danny love talking ball with one of the great football analysts in the country. Booker, what about tomorrow's game? We kick off the season with a classic rematch of the AFC Championship game with the Chiefs and the Ravens. Kansas City's trying to do something unprecedented and in three peat. In fact, only two other teams ever. I three, I guess it is. I have ever been to three straight Super Bowls and none of the other ones, one, all three. And then you got Baltimore with a two time MVP and Lamar Jackson, who are one of the top teams in the AFC. Otherwise, how do you like their chances this year? Both of those two teams in that conference? Yeah, regardless of what happens tomorrow night, I think these are two of the best teams, not only in AFC, but in entire league. I think both of them are going to be right there when it ends. Tomorrow night is not going to be, I don't think a microcosm of where they're going to be when the season is over. I think it's a good matchup. I think this matchup tomorrow night could draw 30 to 40 million viewers because of everything that's going to be going on. You got the Kansas City side, Mahomes and Kelsey and Xavier Worthy, also Taylor Swift. And what she's going to bring, you got Baltimore, Derek Henry's going to be there. Like tomorrow is going to be a star studded affair. And so it wouldn't surprise me if it breaks records for an opening game in a national football league. It's a standalone game. It's the only game on. It's what you get when the championship is in your building and you raise a banner. It's going to be a fun night. And with that being said, I think the pressure is on Kansas City because do they really want to lose two openers at home two years, two years in a row? I don't think they want to do that. And so I think the pressure is on them because if you're Baltimore, you got to look at it this way. Baltimore had a death on the coaching staff. They got a new new defensive coordinator. They got some chains that front incorporate Derek Henry into the offense. It's going to take some time for those things to take effect. But if you're Kansas City, same team, except you added Xavier Worthy. Okay, you got your Juice Smith, Schuster, you got Travis Kelsey, you got that big offensive line. You got Chris Jones and you got McDuffie and you got all the things that they have. So Kansas City really brings in more answers to the questions tomorrow night than Baltimore does, but it still should be a really good game. So if we agree that Kansas City's, and they should be, the favorite in the AFC West, who finishes second in that division, Bug? Second in the West, wow, counterwise, you would say the charges, but I'm not really sure the Raiders and if you don't have a quarterback, eventually that's going to catch up with you. Denver is intriguing. I'm not a bold Knicks fan. I got to see it on this level. Sean Payton loves him, but we'll see probably the charges. Before I hit on college with you, just the transition of that level, we've talked about Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams. You just mentioned maybe not being as high on Knicks. I don't know where you're at on Drake May. You might play this year as well. What's your take on what we should expect from this rookie quarterback class in general? Well, I think Drake May is, he's probably got the farthest to go. Caleb is going to start. Seems like he's ready to go, but he's still going to go through growing pains. Drake May is just not ready yet, nor is the offensive line. So there's really no need to put him out there. JJ McCarthy, he's going to miss the entire season with the knee, Michael Pinnix. If we see Michael Pinnix, that probably means something is drastically wrong with either the Falcons offense or Kirk Cousins, because they gave him 100 million to play. I don't think they're going to set a guy that's making 100 million guaranteed on the bench. Those are the guys that you're probably looking forward to seeing. Both Knicks, again, the jury's still out. I know everybody says he's a bigger version of Drew Breeze, but I'm not going to. I'm not going to disrespect Drew Breeze and compare him to a guy who spent five years in college and through the ball, you know, zero to 15 yards down the field a lot. I'm not going to compare Drew Breeze to that just yet. A bug before we let you go. I want to hop down to college for a second because you do a great job covering that level for ESPN as well. You tweeted something while I was watching that Florida State Shabingus the other night that was so good. You asked about a quarterback at Florida State DJ Oyongalele. You said if you were a head coach and you hand pick a portal quarterback and he struggles this bad, what do you do? And your point was you don't really have equity with your team or what teammates know of his to just let him keep playing. But then also that it's complicated because you just paid a guy a lot of money. What's the answer to that question? Because I view it almost like Florida State gave a contract out in free agency and it's already a terrible contract. You were just referencing like what you paid cousins. You got to play him. This is kind of what we're talking about with NIL and a guy like DJU, isn't it? Yeah, it's very similar, man. And if you're if you're might know, you got to figure it out, man, because to the point about equity, you know, when you've been through the fire with teammates, those teammates will know like they know you got to bounce out of it. They know, you know, you got their bag. They got your bag. But when you have a guy who just showed up on campus six months ago, like you don't really know him. Like he's a hard hand. And he's proven through the first couple of games that he's not it right now. And he may get better. But I think DJU is who he is and who he is. It's not very good. And I think if you're Florida State, you got to figure out what's next. I think Mike owes it to the team and it's no different than the NFL. Sometimes you, you know, pass out a bad contract. Remember Seattle gave Matt Flynn three years and 45 million, but they started Russell Wilson. Sometimes you sometimes it happens. And in those rare cases, you got to bite the bullet and tell the GM, I made a mistake. In this case, if you're a Florida state, you got to go to the collective and say, Hey, I know we're paying DJ, whatever the number is, five, 600,000. But I'm going to put him on the bench. We made a mistake. And that's where we are in college football. But it's a tough predicament to be in, especially when you bring the money because the GM going to look at you like, well, you told me he was X. And that's kind of where Mike Norville and Florida State are. Is Cam Ward, the quarterback at Miami as good as he played this weekend, he blew me away. And or are there any other college quarterbacks on the short list that you would say also had kind of elite outings this weekend? Cam Ward is as good. Nico Iamaviella at Tennessee is the real deal. Those two really stood out to me because they they not only put up big numbers, but they played the game at a high level. Cam Ward went in the swamp amongst 90,000 and played like he was, you know, over there outside of the old FedEx stadium in the play in the parking lot just throwing it around. Like he just really looked cool, calm, and collected. And Nico, you know, Nico is handpicked by Josh Eiffel. They paid him a lot of money and so far so good. So those were the two that really stood out to me. Just wanted to get your thoughts in general, though, a book real quick about the Lansing up college football. He referenced it a little bit. I'm happy for individual players, obviously, get what you can get. I mean, the market says, get it, go get it. No, no, no, you know, quibble there. But with all the conference realignment, with sort of the depth maybe of some of these rivalries and kind of this wild, wild west, you know, no CBA, you know, just sort of, I don't recall crazy this, but I have a better word for it. Where is college football at right now to you? And how can it get better if it needs to? I think college football is more and more like the NFL from the standpoint of money and general managers and rosters and performance and the length of the season. We're, you know, we're going to get better. I think the one thing that you've got to do right now is there are two transfer windows, one in the spring. I think there only needs to be one. And most likely, it probably needs to be at the end of the spring. You know, don't let a guy transfer as soon as the season is over and he's super emotional. I think, you know, there's got to be one window. And if you say that one window's in the fall, okay, then fine. I just think there's the only needs to be one. Right now, having two windows to transfer is not very good. Look, tell me you're doing a prime time again with Berman. Yeah, Sunday night, baby. I'm telling you, this is not an exaggeration. I got ESPN plus a few years ago, a couple of years back for that show. I grew up watching TJ and boom, do that. And I still think it's just as good a football show as there is. You and him are so good. And I would tell all of our listeners to check it out. So you're going to do it every Sunday night. Sunday night, every on ESPN plus, baby. Love it. So good. Well, we appreciate you, man. It's awesome having you on the show. Always thrilled to talk to you and we'll catch up soon. All right. Later. Have a good one, fellow. Thanks for got it. There's bugger McFarland of ESPN on Grant and Danny talks about both the pro and the college game. You know what show I'm talking about prime time. Oh, yeah. So it was prime time. Right. The old show with him and TJ, Tom Jackson, obviously Jackson's down his mid 70s, but he doesn't do it anymore. But him and booger do it. And they go around every single game and it's the Berman delivery of in Buffalo, the bells and. And it's caught at the five, you know, and it's just it's the there it is. But that breakdown was my entire child fandom of football. You guys, you, Tony point of Graham Paulson, you, Daris Dameron and you, friend, was sitting in the room. He's not all sleep on the fact that you didn't know who won the earlier games until you saw that on NFL prime time. You're sitting there and mister. Did the cold ticker did the not really what that I'm telling you, that score bug became more uniform later. You had to wait for the most part. You saw a highlighter too. You got a feel for how the how that Cardinals, Euler's game was going. You didn't know. Let me get a little bit of that there. So it's like Chief's Ravens breakdown. They're like, here comes Baltimore, Lamar Jackson from global, you know, he's got a yellow, blah, blah, finds his man. It's Dennis Pina. I don't know why he's back. Isn't that a wise back downfield, rumbling, stumbling, tumbling, he could go. Oh, I love prime time. The best. And now booger right there with my guy, Berman. Let's go. That show was perfect. It was perfect. It is the highlight is, by the way. Yeah, but tell me it's ESPN. I know it's a staple for me on Sunday night. Well, now it's, it's especially because it's that window between the final four o'clock game whistle and then the actual, yeah, you know, last Sunday night game post Sunday night. That's one of my first stops. Before I jump on game pass and start watching some condensed games, I'm going to watch boom and booger, break it down. Very, very fun. All right. Six and a half wins is the projected total for the odds makers on the commanders. Are we going over or under that's next on Grant and Danny? Yeah. CBS just put out a quarterback power ranking going into week one of the top 10 QBs and football. They have Brock Purdy sixth. I'm not mad about that. I don't agree with it. But I also think Brock Purdy is one of the most complicated quarterbacks to talk about, to discuss and to rank in my time as someone covering the NFL because he's got so much help. His job is made so much easier in every situation by every level of support for a quarterback from coaching to play calling to offensive line and tackle play to weaponry at receiver and at tight end in the running game and your past catching running back. He's got it easier than any quarterback in league history probably has ever had it. But yet he also makes the occasional incredible off schedule play. He does things better than some of the guys that they've had there like Jimmy Garoppolo have done. But the fact that Garoppolo got to a Super Bowl got to a couple NFC championship games, I think tells you all you need to know. Brock Purdy is eventually going to get paid. We know that he's going to make $60 million a year and it's going to feel insane. And it's just how it works when you win to the extent that San Francisco has with him under center and you put up some of the gaudy, ostentatious type numbers that he's been able to. But having him sixth in a top 10, that's just tough for me. But there is a wide open conversation really after the big four. No, it always feels like we've got like that Mount Rushmore. It used to be Manning Breeze, Brady Rogers. Now it's my home's Alan Burrow. I think most people would throw Lamar in there as a two time MVP. But after that, it kind of opens wide up, doesn't it? It does. And it's, you know, that week or, you know, that season, good fortune bad, everything is on a heater who isn't. Yeah. So just to your your party point, everybody wants, it reminds me of the Miller Lite commercials, the taste great less filling type deal. Here's the deal. I like those commercials as a young boy. Yeah. And they brought him back with Luke Wilson now yelling at everybody that it's both. Here's the thing. Brock Purdy is a system quarterback and everybody gets very upset one way or the other. But here's my point. Nick Mullen's also ran that system. Nick Mullen stinks, put up terrible numbers. Jimmy Garoppolo ran that system nowhere near as effective as Brock Purdy. It can be both things. He fits that thing really well. A lot of guys would thrive there. A lot of guys who've been there and played there. It's not like Sam Donald at the world on fire. It's not like, again, I mentioned Nick Mullen. Jimmy Garoppolo 2012 his way to Super Bowls and NFC title games, right? Checking it down, handing it off, doing nothing spectacular. And how great that front office is, the personnel carried them an awful long way. And he got to ride the coattails by not turning it over, but not really doing anything spectacular. Purdy has put up better numbers than any of those guys in Kyle Shanahan system. So that matter that matters to me. It's also if you dropped him on the name that pedestrian offense, I don't know, wherever you think the most middle of the pack, middling boring offenses, what do you do? 38 touchdowns and seven picks again? Probably not. That's not who he is. So to me, both can be true. Would you rather have him or Jordan Love? Him, I'd rather have Jordan Love. Would you rather have him or Jalen Hertz? Hertz. That one's closer because Hertz last year was so bad. And I wonder a little bit about how good Hertz is now, but I'll say Hertz, I guess, by a hair. Would you rather have him or Matt Stafford? Not Matt in Stafford, the caller? Oh, thank you. Because I love Matt in Stafford. I should say this. Matthew Stafford. Uh, pretty because of health, I feel like Stafford stays hurt. When he's healthy, he's really, really good. Him or Dak Prescott? Pretty. I guess my point is like at that group, that tier of six through 12 or whatever is jumbled up a little bit. So I'm not going to spend any time being upset. It's just whenever I see pretty ranked that high, it's just a reminder. Man, he's fascinating. Yeah. It's polarized right there for the internet to break because he's going to get 60 mill, probably this coming off. And people are going to lose their minds. Uh, the projected total for the commanders is a six and a half wind season from odds makers. The future bet you can make on the commanders is to either go over or under that total. So let's proverbially walk up to the window here, Danny. I want you to pick a side and we'll open up the phones for you guys right now. It should be fun. I want to take the temperature of our listening audience on this via you guys at 800 636 1067 800 636 1067. Would you bet on the commanders to go over or under six and a half wind? It's over, but slight for me. I, I've got them right at seven. I think this is probably the range they should be in, which again, is why, uh, as our, our buddy Chris Russell says, the boys in Vegas just sits a group of three or four people in Vegas. Just these boys getting, got them around deciding, uh, these types of odds. I was sitting next to Russell at Josh Harris's press conference last weekend, uh, over at the X and Harris said at one point, like, you know, I remember he goes, I, I'll leave that to the, to the guys in Vegas. Exactly. It's like, I'll leave that to the folks out in Vegas or whatever. And I literally, as Josh Harris is talking in the second row, turn around to Russell who's right behind me and I go, the boys in Vegas. The boys in Vegas. Yeah. But that's, that's right where they belong, I think, um, both in terms of turning over the roster in terms of new regime, new quarterback, all these types of things. There is not a ton of precedent for a team that just jump up and win nine or 10 games. Our eyeline is ruined because of what CJ Stroud, the remarkable turnaround that he used to endure last year, but what's far more typical is incremental improvement. Plus, uh, I forget the exact number. I don't have it in front of me. I was trying to look it up real quick from a, we're more in sharp. They have one of the more difficult schedules in the NFL. Um, and as you start to, you know, tally it up here, you're not in terms of the gimmes, in terms of how dominant they're going to be. I think they'll be competitive in every game, but it feels like that six or seven win plateau to me. So I'd probably say seven. The other nugget I would offer is, uh, from, uh, the folks at the SPN, uh, who did that very, like nerdy statistical breakdown, Mike Clane company, they have a win probability of north of 50% and only one game. And that's a team that they haven't beat very much at all over the last handful of seasons in the Giants. So it doesn't mean that you, you lose every one of those games where you're a 34% favored or a 48% favored, et cetera, but it just means just on paper. So when you add it all up, I don't see the banner season. A lot of folks are talking in terms of nine or 10 wins. I'm okay with that, by the way. I've got them right in that seven win range. So I would take the over with some hesitation. 12 easiest schedule in the NFL via sharp analytics. Obviously there are other metrics you can find. Most places have them somewhere between fifth and six easiest to about 10th. I think sharp actually is one of the least favorable toward Washington schedule. And he's got them still top 12. So schedule should not be an issue at all. You know how I do my strength of schedule bit. I don't do it the way a lot of people do where they look at the teams based on last year. The way I look at strength of schedule is quarterbacks that are on your schedule. You know, what QBs do you actually play? That's what I care about. Now that can change to with injuries and generally it only gets easier. It doesn't get a lot harder because it's not like teams are going out and adding at the quarterback position. But if you look at their early season schedule, I think they've got to start pretty quickly. You know, they play the bucks and the Giants in weeks one and two. I think both of those games are winnable. And I could actually see them being two and O going to Cincinnati from Monday night football. But I know that if they're going to be over six and a half, they probably have to have one of those two. I don't like the idea of Owen to go into the Bengals for a prime time game on the road. That's going to be a difficult place to play. You then play the Cardinals through four games. You should be two and two. You know, if you're not at least one and three, you're in big, big trouble. But the Giants and Cardinals games are going to be toss up type games. I know the Cardinals is on the road, but you could very easily be 500 through four games. Then you've got the Panthers, the Bears and the Giants in a stretch right around Halloween. You get one of those at least maybe two of those. But if you just run through it, I mean, it's the quarterback schedule includes Will Levis, Derek Carr, Daniel Jones twice hurts. The way he played last year is is no insurmountable task. They almost be Philly twice. Deshawn Watson has not been good. They have Kyler Murray of Arizona, Baker Mayfield of Tampa Bay, which is, it's not a arduous schedule in that regard. So I'm going over as well, Danny. I'm a little more bullish maybe in the over than you are too. Seven sounds about right, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're able to win eight or if Jayden Daniels is really, really good if they got to nine. But we're in lock step in saying over six and a half, which is a little scary. Yeah, I mean, they're in the range among the bottom five or six, maybe even seven teams in the NFL in terms of win totals, right? Like there's a couple that are four and a half. I think there's a couple that are five and a half and a couple other that around six, six and a half depends on your sports book and depends on where you're looking. But so the world isn't, isn't terribly bullish. And I totally get your, you know, quarterback approach like looking at it that way. That's as good a way to do it as any because, as you said, I don't know any. Well, as Joseph said, rightly, we're basing a lot of it in the last year. I'm trying to also put in what I think a team is going to be. But again, that's the beauty of this league is you think you've got somebody figured out and then they're totally different. How many people thought Houston tenants at tenants heaven last year with rookie of the year division winner? How many people, you know, were 100% sure that, you know, Detroit would be within a point or two away of one of the NFC title or, you know, the green baby will go on the run that they did. There's a million different things that we try to predict and we can't the Philadelphia would start 10 and one and fall apart. You don't know when you play a team, the old Chan had axiom. But to me on paper, if they're explosive and high ceiling enough to win some of these games that, you know, just if it got high scoring at times in the last couple of seasons, they had no chance for the most part, right? Except maybe with the exception of one of those Philly games or the Bronco is going back and forth. But if you're like playing in one of those high level NFL games, it was like, okay, you're going to leave this team in a distant review. If they've got the wherewithal, maybe to win a couple of those games because to your point, Daniels is doing something explosive and you steal one against, I don't know, Philadelphia on the road there, then you can kind of start to creep up that total a little bit to me. I mean, I just, you don't have to play my homes, you know, that they do have to deal with Jackson and Burrow. But no, Alan Herbert Stafford. Last year, you played the Jets didn't have to deal with Rogers, but would have, it's probably a middle of the pack quarterback schedule if you do it that way. Let's get to the calls next 800 636 10067. We want to hear from you guys. The MGM National Harbor listener lines are wide open. Six and a half wins is the projection in Vegas. Oddsmakers say that's how good the commanders are. You going over under that total next on Grant and Danny. It's kind of just, you know, glad they're just playing football. Obviously, you know, embrace the moment, take it in. You know, officially in my first NFL game. But once that ball kicked out, none of that matters. So, you know, got to focus on, you know, try to execute at a high level and go out there and try to help the team win. Four days from Jaden Daniels making his NFL debut. That was Daniels with the media today. Welcome back GND on the fan. Six and a half wins is the over under projection for the commanders. Are you going over or under that total? Let's go to Andrew and Damascus. Who's been waiting? What's up, buddy? Hey, guys, cough twice if you're under duress or I don't know where all your confidence is coming from. I mean, I got him at six wins and I'm crossing my fingers. I just don't know who's going to score. I don't think the receiving score. I don't know who's going to get that many touchdowns. Same with the running back. It's a nice Jaden Daniels score like 25 touchdowns. I don't think we're going to score enough points. And I'm not sure the defense is strong enough to really start winning his games. I don't see a huge improvement. I don't know, but yeah, I'm happy for you guys. I said seven wins. Is that like I'm doing like a 10 11 win bit. Let's have a parade. That's a good thing. And by the way, I get the cynicism on some of the position groups that you highlighted. I'll just kind of answer some of your questions though. You said basically, how could you be so confident in the offense? Well, number one, I think there's a chance Jaden Daniels has a spectacular rookie season. All signs are pointing to him being very comfortable. And I think if Cliff Kingsbury is worth his weight, Jaden Daniels will operate an offense that's designed to make him look really good. Now people will say, wait a second, you weren't huge on him coming out. And that's true. I think the initial production is not the same as a career. And initially, with a lot of these guys, dual threat types who are great with their arm and their feet, I watched it in 2012 to an unbelievable extent with Kyle Shanahan, you can hit the ground sprinting and then the league adjusts and you've got to adjust. So that part's going to be the question for me. But I think if Cliff Kingsbury is good, then their offense is actually going to be pretty explosive because to that point in 2012, you could have called up and said, well, who's going to be catch involved? Pierre Garsohn got hurt. It was like Josh Morgan and 33 year old Santana Moss or something. They didn't have weapons on that offense. They had a sixth round running back who went for 1600 yards. And the reason was teams had to go out 11 and 11 and defend them, which makes Brian Robinson good, which makes Austin Echler better. McClorn is legit weapon. You need one other guy kind of to step forward at receiver, whether it's Noah Brown or Luke McCaffrey or Deami or Alamo Dezakias. But I do think a healthy Zach urch is a decent player at tight end. I like Senate a little bit as a secondary tight end Benson. It's a decent player and as a rookie, it will be better than that long term. And I think their passing in is going to go kind of through the tight end or running back room with McClorn leading the way. So the lack of receivers while problematic doesn't scare me to the same extent because I think it's going to be a quick game offense. They get the ball out fast. Yeah, I'm I'm with you in the sense that I don't think it's a high ceiling offense. I think they've done that to themselves. I think it's kind of an unforced error to your point about the person else, especially on the outside. I think you've lowered the ceiling there precipitously. And you're going to have some low hanging fruit where the Daniels will be able to run and you might have some games where it works. But if you go back to 2012, there's a lot of 12 points against the Steelers and you know, 10 points here. The explosion games were unbelievable and so awesome and Joyfield, they could Thanksgiving, they could open their doors in the NFL in yards per play, which is kind of what I'm talking about. No, I understand. There's going to be games where the points maybe aren't there, but I think they're going to move the football. And that's well, what I would say is I think sometimes they won't, right? With when you when you do with a rookie quarterback and well, yeah, but also when your offense is if it's got, we got to do it that way. If you don't have that incredible quarterback to lift you every week or you've got offensive diversity, I think they've taken that away by not doing more at the receiver spot. So I don't think this is going to be a top five offense or number one in yards per play or anything and that kind of stuff. I think it would be better than it's been, which is a dubious honor. Yeah, I don't think it'll be top five either. I wasn't suggesting that that's the case at all. I'm just saying in 2012 where you were saying, look at all these games where they didn't score, they were the best offense in the league lining up and running plays. Nobody got more yards per play attempt than they did. They were number one in the national football league. This group won't be that. But I mean, Lamar Jackson in his first season in the league ran for 700 yards. I think Jayden Daniels could do something like that. To me, that's the great equalizers. I'm not rolling out the possibility that he runs for like 650 700 yards, something like that as a rookie. Let's go to Alex and Aspen Hill on GND. What's up, Alex? Alex, you there? Alex. Alex. You think that seriously? Alex, that's you kiss your mother with that mouth. Gross. Disrespectful. Call up here and say something like that. Unbelievable. The nerve of Alex on a Wednesday. There's football games tomorrow, dude. You're going to bring that noise? A family program. Alex, what's up? Hey, Alex. Hello. Hey, Ben. Yeah. So I think Vegas has a number kind of close, you know, just over, hopefully just over so we can build for the future. Not good for the 10 and 11 and 6 predictors. But I do have another prop that's very relevant going back to what you were saying about Terry earlier, Grant? Yeah. He's never gone under 900 yards in his career. Vegas has them at 900.5 for the overunder. That number scares me, to be honest. I agree with you. And we actually talked about this when I saw that a couple of weeks back, appreciate the call, ominous in some way. I could see this being a tough year for McClellan. If number one, last year's lack of explosiveness wasn't just dealing with the footed problem that lingered, but rather maybe a sign of something else. But also they don't have other guys at wide receivers. We were just talking about to take the pressure off of him. Yeah. I know how I defend this group. If you're a defensive coordinator, where's my secondary attention going? Make sure Terry McClellan doesn't go seven for a buck 10. Pretty simple, right? I mean, you try to get them into a passing down. I guess that's a lot of the league, but and you know where the ball's going to, they're going to try to target. Let's hit the headlines from the day that was next and gets you ready for Nat's baseball. In the fast paced world of attacking, speed is everything. And that's where the fear on seven plus shines, engineered for accuracy and precision at a rapid pace. It's you're a secret weapon on the pitch, experience, overall comfort and precise striking, even in the game's fastest moments. The nylon outsole with his V-shaped stud configuration is designed for firm ground, giving you the grip you need to outmaneuver your opponents. 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