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00:00So which NFL team are you buying low on this year?
00:03I mean, I'm going to take the Jacksonville Jaguars here.
00:06There's a couple of teams I could go with here, but the Jaguars are the team.
00:09And again, it comes back to some of the stuff we've already said about Liam Cohen and how
00:13he did in Tampa Bay last year.
00:14That offense, first of all, the roster as a whole, they were picking fifth last year,
00:18right?
00:18In the 2025 NFL draft.
00:20They are not the fifth worst team in the NFL last year.
00:22They just weren't.
00:23And obviously there were so many injuries, Trevor Lawrence, chief among them, but there's
00:27they've been so disjointed as a franchise that they haven't had enough stability to maximize
00:34the talent that they've had.
00:35There are some dudes on that defense, man.
00:38I mean, they've got a damn good pass rush, two of the better edge guys in the league in
00:42Josh Hines-Allen and Trayvon Walker.
00:45They got one of the better sets of linebackers in the league.
00:47They have got playmakers on the defensive sides of the ball.
00:50If the offensive line can even be decent, you've got an offense with an extremely deep
00:55backfield with Travis Etienne.
00:57You've got Tank Bigsby.
00:58They've added two rookies in Basial Tootin and LaQuint Allen, a late round pick out of
01:03Syracuse.
01:04And I think that backfield is going to be just fine in a bunch of different roles they
01:07can play, a bunch of different guys with different skill sets.
01:10And you've got Brian Thomas Jr. coming off an incredible rookie season.
01:13And oh, by the way, you just added Travis Hunter to the mix on both sides of the ball.
01:17So I'm just, I never thought they were as bad as they looked last year at times.
01:21And I think Liam Cohen, what he's going to bring to the offense, I have no idea what
01:25he brings as a head coach.
01:26That's my biggest concern for the Jaguars is that he has very quickly worked his way
01:31up the coaching ladder a year or two at a time.
01:33He's had like four or five jobs in four years, Liam Cohen has, and now he's in the big
01:37chair.
01:38And so now it's going to be a matter of, okay, you've been a great offensive mind.
01:42You've been great, you know, with the X's and O's part of running an offense.
01:46How are you going to do in the CEO role?
01:48How are you going to do managing the things from a game management, game day perspective,
01:53a whole, you know, organizational standpoint as a head coach?
01:56That's the stuff we don't know yet, but I just think he's going to transform this offense.
02:00I think if he can do anywhere close to what he did with Baker Mayfield last year with Trevor
02:04Lawrence, who has obviously all the talent and physical tools in the world, and if they
02:08can stay healthy, that offensive line just has to hold up a little bit.
02:11And I think the Jaguars are going to remind people that they shouldn't have been picking
02:14top five last year.
02:15They're not that bad of a football team.
02:16And I think they're in a very winnable division.
02:18Two quick things about the Jaguars offense.
02:19Number one, by Shul Tootin, is this year's Bucky Irving, if you can hold on to the damn
02:22ball.
02:23Secondly, from weeks 13 through 18, Brian Thomas Jr.
02:27was, had the third most catches and the third most receptions in the NFL and was top
02:31five in touchdowns.
02:33And his quarterback was Mack Jones.
02:35That guy is utterly ridiculous.
02:38He is a mutant.
02:39We all talk about Malik neighbors.
02:41I think Thomas had a better season.
02:42I thought he was the best rookie receiver.
02:44He put up better numbers with Mack Jones than he did with Trevor Lawrence.
02:48That's ridiculous.
02:49So they've got some dudes.
02:51They've got some dudes.
02:51Mack Jones is better than Trevor Lawrence, I think.
02:54100%.
02:54It means their scheme needs a little bit of a tweak.
02:56Well, there's your poll quote.
02:57Just a general question about the Jaguars.
03:02Do you think Travis Hunter plays more snaps on offense or defense this year?
03:05He should play more snaps on defense.
03:06I don't know what he'll do.
03:07He should play more snaps on defense, and I think it will be more on defense, at least
03:11right away.
03:12I think he'll be heavily involved in specific things on the offense, but I think it's going
03:16to be easier to plug him in on defense and leave him there more often.
03:19And it'll be very intentional on offense until they find wherever that tipping point is
03:24in terms of his workload.
03:25They don't have anyone else who can do what he can do on defense.
03:28They don't have cornerbacks like that.
03:29They have receivers who are good enough.
03:31I mean, this is why you trade up, to me.
03:34And like Luke mentioned, they have a good pass rush coming in next year with Trayvon Walker
03:38and Josh Hines-Allen.
03:40That and having a really good defensive back go hand-in-hand, so I kind of agree that Travis
03:44Hunter should be used more at cornerback next year.
03:47And it's so much harder to find an elite shutdown corner than it is to find a really, really,
03:53really good wide receiver.
03:54And they already have one.
03:55They already have Brian Thomas Jr.
03:56They don't need a number one receiver.
03:59They need that shutdown corner to be there.
04:01And I think he'll be much more valuable to them on that side.
04:03Especially a young shutdown corner, because that's a position where you hit 27-28, you
04:07start falling off a cliff very, very, very quickly.
04:10And you get really expensive before then.
04:12Yeah.
04:12You get expensive, then you get hurt, then you're gone.
04:15All right, Doug.
04:15What team are you buying low on?
04:17I'm going with the Chicago Bears.
04:18And it's not because of Caleb Williams, per se, although I thought Caleb Williams looked
04:21really good this preseason.
04:23It's the interior offensive line with Drew Dahlman and Joe Tooney and Jonah Jackson.
04:28But really, and we are sleeping on this, guys, their defense is going to be an entirely different
04:32beast.
04:32You got Dennis Allen with all his pressure looks up front, all the tight man coverage.
04:37They've got the guys to do it.
04:39And they brought in some people who I thought were very underrated last season.
04:44They had Javon Dexter, Sr., who I thought really kind of made his claim to being a starter
04:50last season.
04:52They've still got Montez Sweat.
04:53They brought in Grady Jarrett.
04:55They brought Deo Obenyo in from the Colts, who was one of the most underrated edge rushers
04:58over the last two seasons that I've seen.
05:00You've got Jalen Johnson, who's got an injury issue, but is one of the best cornerbacks
05:04in the NFL.
05:04Kevin Byer and Jaquan Brisker in the safety rotation.
05:08You've got TJ Edwards and Tremaine Edmonds.
05:10I thought, I mean, their defensive coordinator, I think, resigned week three.
05:15So Matt Iberfuss had to take over.
05:17That's never going to give you the best sort of situation for your personnel.
05:21They were much better on defense than they, much better with personnel than they were with
05:27result.
05:28I think that will really flip.
05:30And I think the Bears could be a playoff team in what is a brutal division.
05:34But, you know, in every division, things turn from year to year.
05:38And I'm on the Bears more for their defense than for their offense.
05:42When I'm buying low, I'm looking at a team that is their win, their over under for wins
05:46is six and a half.
05:46I'm going with the Raiders.
05:47You got Geno Smith.
05:48You got Brock Bowers year two.
05:50They have a lot going for them.
05:51Great guys on defense.
05:52Perhaps a defensive player of the year candidate in Max Crosby.
05:56So six and a half wins for that team.
05:57I think that's probably baked in because they're in such a tough division in the AFC West.
06:01But I think the Raiders are, I'm going nine wins and that's two and a half more than that
06:06win over under for their wins.
06:07So I'm buying low on the Las Vegas Raiders.
06:11If the division wasn't such a bloodbath, I would agree with you.
06:13But that's, I mean, it's a gauntlet.
06:15I keep wanting to think that the Broncos regressed, but I remember how good of an offseason they
06:19had building that defense.
06:21And Sean Payton's a great coach.
06:22Like, yeah, yeah, it wasn't as spooky as it kind of seemed.
06:26Yeah.
06:26Because like Bowdoin next year two, you could say, make the argument, oh, maybe the offense
06:29isn't the same as it was, but that defense is going to be unreal.
06:34Very well-rounded team.
06:35They got good receivers.
06:36They're good at everything.
06:37In terms of teams that you are a little more skeptical on, which teams are you selling high
06:42on this year?
06:43Doug, we'll start with you.
06:44I'm going with the Minnesota Vikings, and it's one obvious reason.
06:47I don't know what J.J.
06:48McCarthy is or is not.
06:50I thought he looked okay in the preseason.
06:52I thought Kevin O'Connell schemed him up pretty well.
06:54And that is Kevin O'Connell's the best offensive coach in the league.
06:57I've been saying that for a couple of years.
06:59He is out McVay.
07:01He's out Shanahan, Shanahan.
07:03He's the man.
07:04So whatever J.J.
07:06McCarthy is capable of, I think you'll see it.
07:10I just don't know how much of that there is.
07:11I gave him a low second to high third round grade based on his college tape.
07:16And that was another situation where he was set up about as well as he could have been.
07:20You know, I'm not going to claim to know one 100th as much about offensive football as
07:26Kevin O'Connell does.
07:27But it kind of feels like he talked himself into McCarthy when he probably should have stuck
07:32with Darnold and maybe seen where that went.
07:35You know, the Vikings do have everything else.
07:37They have a great defense with Brian Flores.
07:39They've got the run game.
07:41They've got the receivers.
07:42The offensive line is OK, which is another reason McCarthy might struggle.
07:47But I just I go back to the quarterback and I don't know.
07:50And I wasn't it wasn't a situation where I don't know, but at least I was high on his
07:54college tape.
07:55It's more I don't know.
07:56And I've never really seen what I would want to see from a quarterback that you're asking
08:00to take over a franchise that has Super Bowl expectations.
08:05I'm not there with him.
08:06I don't know that I ever will.
08:07I don't believe in J.J. McCarthy.
08:09He just doesn't look the part to me.
08:10But you know what?
08:11Brock Purdy didn't either.
08:12However, he was the last pick in the draft and he's kind of just.
08:15Purdy came in with an unnatural ability to read defenses and throw guys open.
08:20And it was all the little things you couldn't really tell until Brian Greasy got a hold
08:25of him after they took him with that last pick in the draft.
08:28And then they went, oh, my God, he's like he's fifth year NFL veteran above the neck.
08:33A lot of times you don't really know that until you get a guy.
08:37O'Connell's had McCarthy for over a year.
08:40So we'll see.
08:41Yeah, I'm with you, Doug, on McCarthy.
08:43I think we're going to he's going to have to be somebody for the Vikings that we never
08:48saw him be at Michigan.
08:49And that concerns me.
08:51I don't necessarily think he can't do it because I think the physical tools are there.
08:56But when you're when you're asking a guy to jump to the NFL and now be a more a bigger
09:02part of the engine that drives the offense and drives the team success than he was, than
09:06he had to be in college.
09:07I think that's that's risky business.
09:09Not that, again, I don't think he's got the playmakers around him.
09:11I think the defense is there.
09:12They've quarterback proofed that team probably as best as they could this offseason.
09:16But he's just such a wild card.
09:18I don't I don't see it.
09:19The team for me is the Dallas Cowboys.
09:21And I just I don't know how much I need to say other than that for three decades, the
09:26team, the expectations of that team's success or or or standing in terms of how good they
09:34are relative to the rest of the league has never met reality ever.
09:38And so I think that, again, the way Jerry Jones operates and the way he speaks about his
09:44franchise, like he's he's a brilliant businessman who's created a very like valuable thing in
09:51his franchise.
09:52But if it's about winning games and winning championships, it's not he's not gotten the
09:57job done and it's not changing anytime soon because we're seeing the way he operates with
10:01the whole Mike Parsons thing, even just waiting till the 11th hour for extensions on DAC and
10:06CD Lamp.
10:06Like it's just an organizational thing that I think that the expectations for that team
10:12are always going to far outweigh the product we get on the field.
10:16And it starts at the top.
10:18I think it's going to take the complete structural overhaul to get an actual general manager who
10:24can actually build a roster and not have a locker room culture that looks at what's happening
10:29with Micah Parsons and goes, if that guy can't get paid on time, what are any of us doing
10:35here like and so we can get into the nitty gritty about the fact that they don't have
10:39really have a running game and they're trying to rebuild the offense and now they bring in
10:43George Pickens and how is that going to impact the chemistry of things?
10:46Is he going to be able to finally maximize his talent without, you know, ending up fighting
10:52blockers 18 yards out of bounds?
10:54And can the defense stay healthy?
10:56They've had some serious injuries on that side of the ball.
10:58I think they're going to miss Tank Lawrence a lot, especially as a run defender.
11:02There's just so much with that team that they're like, oh, they're the Cowboys.
11:07They've got Dak.
11:08They've got a shot.
11:09I just think they're going to continue to over to underwhelm every single year.
11:13And that includes 2025.
11:16If Jerry's such a brilliant businessman, why does he keep waiting too long and having to
11:19overpay all his best players and still polluting the lot?
11:22It takes a special kind of genius, I guess, to overpay all these guys and still pollute the
11:28environment in the process.
11:29It's yeah, I mean, he's George Steinbrenner and but Steinbrenner at least knew when to
11:35give someone else like he was a media asshole, but he still won, you know, Steinbrenner still
11:41had wherewithal to like Jimmy Johnson the brains for a while.
11:46He gave Bill Parcells the reins for a while, but it never lasts because eventually, oh, we're
11:51good again.
11:52Well, now it's me.
11:53Well, and when when Jerry was talking about it was whatever that fan event or whatever
11:57when he was talking about Micah Parsons and started to bring up like, oh, he was injured
12:01and maybe we don't do that like Jerry Jones talks about his team like they are a perennial
12:06Super Bowl contender still.
12:08And my favorite stat about the Dallas Cowboys is that the last time they won a Super Bowl
12:12was the same year that Sheryl Crow beat Green Day and Counting Crows for best new artist
12:19at the Grammy Awards.
12:22So like he he just he thinks his franchise is something that it's not.
12:27They haven't won a damn thing since that was the reality we lived in.
12:32And he operates as if they are in the conversation every year.
12:35And they're just not.
12:36They're just not that good of a football team.
12:38Not quite Jethro Toliver Metallica for best metal, but that's pretty close.
12:41I'm going to go with the Seattle Seahawks.
12:43Honestly, I didn't even know that I was selling high on them until I saw your guys predictions.
12:48But I mean, I'm not a Sam Darnold guy.
12:50He's not as good as Geno Smith.
12:51They lost DK Metcalf.
12:53Cooper Cubs getting old.
12:54You know, I just don't think Seattle has it.
12:56To see them as a division winner to me is absolutely crazy.
12:59So I'm definitely selling high on the Seattle Seahawks.
13:02Yeah, they got a good backfield.
13:03I think they've improved the offensive line.
13:04The defense is going to be good.
13:07Always going to be good with Mike McDonald.
13:08Yeah, I think it says a lot more about the Seahawks.
13:11The defense and a lot more about the rest of that division, which I just don't think
13:14is going to be very good, especially if Matthew Stafford can't stay healthy.
13:17I think they'll win it by default and with really good defense.
13:21I'm also not a big Sam Darnold guy.
13:23And I don't understand how they approach this offseason at all with the moves that they
13:28made, particularly on offense.
13:29It's very confusing to me, too, Steve.
13:31I really do just think that I think the 49ers continue to regress.
13:35I think the Cardinals are still not a very good football team.
13:38And I think the Rams, if Stafford isn't around for any sort of time, I think they've got a
13:43great young defense, but I just don't believe in the rest of that offense.
13:46So I think they win it by default.
13:47I think when you look at what John Schneider tends to want, who's been their GM since 2010,
13:52and now he's more in charge, obviously, with Pete Carroll gone, he wanted Andy Dalton
13:57bad.
13:58He wanted Ryan Tannehill bad.
13:59He signed Matt Flynn to a mega deal and then kind of backed into Russell Wilson for the
14:06last decade.
14:07This is kind of the quarterback he wants.
14:08He wants a guy who doesn't cost a lot.
14:11He already had that guy.
14:12He was Gino.
14:14And won't win you games and is kind of in this unspectacular middle.
14:19I think he saw Gino as a quarterback with too much variance.
14:24I'm not arguing for.
14:26I know.
14:26I know you're team Gino.
14:27I'm saying this is the basis of it.
14:29I mean, Darnold couldn't solve that Rams defense.
14:32I mean, that's the last thing I'll say so we can move on, but that Rams defense absolutely
14:35crushed him in the playoffs.
14:36So bad taste in my mouth.
14:39Yeah.
14:40He sees ghosts.
14:42Yes.
14:42Ghosts.
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