00:00So, this is going to be part of a bigger conversation, because I heard what Ben Solak had said,
00:04but I do want to get something from Mary Kay first.
00:08Browns are 4-2.
00:10Have a chance to go 5-2 this weekend.
00:12You're playing Tennessee.
00:13Tennessee and a very good football team.
00:16However, one step at a time.
00:18And Mary Kay, saying how the team can go on a run in December, etc., etc.
00:25I don't think this is as much of a Khalil Mack discussion,
00:28as this is a bigger picture discussion.
00:30So, I'm going to take you on an odyssey here.
00:32Here is Mary Kay yesterday expressing an interest in the Browns obtaining Khalil Mack.
00:38I will say this, talking about the trade deadline,
00:41if it were me, I would be trying to trade for Khalil Mack.
00:44I really don't think the Chargers need him right now, and I think the Browns do.
00:49I think that would also bring out the best in Jared Burst,
00:52to have somebody over there that can take a little bit of that heat off of him.
00:55I would be looking for somebody like that, or Khalil Mack himself.
00:59What's the price for a 35-year-old Hall of Fame pass rusher?
01:02I've got to know that first.
01:04Because if it's like day three, then there's no argument I'll get Khalil Mack.
01:08They'd probably ask at this part of the season.
01:11They're probably asking for a two.
01:13A second rounder?
01:14Yeah, and then going from there.
01:16Oh, and are you in agreement with that?
01:16To see if anybody would budge.
01:18Are you in agreement with that?
01:19He's already got three sacks.
01:20He's got a slew of pressures.
01:21Or is he still – he's looking like the ageless wonder.
01:25I just want to get like –
01:26Sure, it's not something I've put a huge amount of thought into.
01:29I think maybe – yeah, probably a third, really, honestly.
01:33All right, second or third.
01:34Would you give up a second or third for Khalil Mack?
01:36No, I'm not giving it up right now.
01:37Okay.
01:38So you're with me on this.
01:39Let's kind of see how the season goes.
01:42What I don't want to do is commit the faux pas that –
01:47and this just – you know, everybody analyzed this over the last 24 hours
01:51after Ballard got fired.
01:52What you don't want to do is give up a first-round pick
01:56or something like that for what the Colts did last year
02:00because they got off to a good start.
02:02That's the one thing you want to protect against.
02:04I'm glad you – see, this is – we're on the same place.
02:07Like, if Sauce Gardner wasn't called Sauce and it was just Ahmad Gardner,
02:11you're not giving up a first-round pick for – well, you may be still,
02:14but he wouldn't be – you would give up a first-round pick,
02:16but he isn't the type of player that people think he is.
02:19Like, I would argue the last couple years, I still thought Denzel Ward was better,
02:24but that's – I know that's a hot take to some around the area, so fine.
02:28This is part of the bigger point of things.
02:31We are competitive.
02:32I'm excited.
02:33You're 4-2.
02:34You have a chance to go 5-2, all right?
02:36But this goes with, like, Ben Solak said this about the Browns,
02:40and I – this is what I've warned about.
02:42Like, competitive versus competitive, and there is a difference.
02:46Here's Ben Solak.
02:47He says the Browns are a quarterback away.
02:49I really, truly believe the Browns are a quarterback away from being a good team.
02:53At halftime in this game, Deshaun Watson had two completions, okay?
02:57Like, anybody who – the best game Deshaun Watson has played this year
03:00was the primetime game against the Steelers, without question.
03:02And a lot of people see 4-2 Browns and watch that one game
03:06and are saying, wow, Deshaun is playing well.
03:08The last two games he's played, the loss to the Jets
03:10and this win over the Ravens, have been horrible, horrible football.
03:13Deshaun is not playing good quarterbacking.
03:14He's one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league.
03:17Audio courtesy, Ben Solak, ESPN.
03:20So, I've heard this, and it's like, well, you're a quarterback away.
03:24And I think you're a competitive football team right now,
03:27and I think you're a quarterback away where everybody's a quarterback away.
03:30What are you a quarterback away from?
03:31You're a quarterback away from feeling confident going into every single game.
03:35That's where you're at.
03:37But I think there's 26 teams right now.
03:39Oddly enough, I don't have confidence to term,
03:43but I'm not sitting there going into games like I was even last year
03:48thinking, oh, boy, how are we going to do it this week?
03:51So, I am kind of confident each and every week, and right now.
03:54And that's while we're not getting elite quarterback play.
03:58Good quarterback play, there have been stretches of good,
04:00which I'd argue right now in the NFL is good quarterback play
04:03because the play is so down across the league.
04:06Well, that's what I'm saying.
04:08Think about the matchups that we've had each every week.
04:10We've seen Aaron Rodgers.
04:12We've seen Bryce Young.
04:14We've seen Tyler Huntley.
04:15Okay, whatever.
04:16Who else have we seen this year?
04:18We've seen Baker Mayfield.
04:19Yeah, Trevor Lawrence.
04:21Okay, Trevor was outstanding in that game.
04:23That was good quarterback play from start to finish.
04:25And that score showed it.
04:25Yeah.
04:26What else has been a good quarterback play that we've seen this year?
04:29The Browns.
04:30Against the Browns?
04:31Yeah.
04:31Well, not terribly much.
04:32I don't think that they were.
04:34That's five games outside of the Trevor Lawrence game.
04:37This week, we got Cam Ward.
04:39We've got Aaron Rodgers again.
04:40We got Tyler Shook.
04:42So, guys, that's right now, that's a third of the league.
04:45Well, it depends on what Aaron Rodgers you see.
04:47Where's the good quarterback play?
04:48But I think that that's the point I'm trying to make here,
04:50is that when you say you're a quarterback away, quarterback away from what?
04:54Because I did not go into the Ravens game very confidently.
04:57In the first half, I'm going, man, this is going exactly how I thought they were going to go.
05:01So, I was elated that they did what they did in the second half and they won.
05:06Surprise wins are a lot of fun.
05:08And it was a surprise win for me.
05:10There's not a lot of teams on this schedule this year that I go into going,
05:15oh, man, I don't know what we're going to do on Sunday.
05:17I really don't think there are that many.
05:20It is a weaker schedule.
05:23So, do we have to reevaluate what's considered good quarterback play?
05:26Or are we going based on what we've thought for 20 years?
05:28Yes.
05:29No, yes.
05:29But there's still guys that are in this league that are based on the last 20 years.
05:34There's just fewer of them.
05:35There's like four, if that.
05:36And so, you have those guys.
05:38So, I think that if you have four, there's 27, 28 teams that are looking for quarterbacks
05:42that there are, quote, a quarterback away.
05:45Quarterback away from where?
05:46Being a deep playoff team?
05:47Okay.
05:48Are you a quarterback away from going to a Super Bowl?
05:50See, I don't think you're just a quarterback away from going to the Super Bowl.
05:53Like, I still think that there's places on this team.
05:55No, not with this line, not with this running back.
05:56Exactly.
05:57So, that's what I'm saying.
05:58When we say a quarterback away, it gets our hopes up.
06:01I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
06:03Hold on.
06:04And that's where I get to the Khalil Mack conversation.
06:07Khalil Mack's 35 years old.
06:09Khalil Mack is like the rest of this year.
06:12And then, we don't know.
06:14We don't know what his future holds.
06:17And so, you can trade for Khalil Mack, or I can keep the second and third rounder, and
06:21I can still be where I was before.
06:24Guys, I got 11 different guys on this team, on this defense that have sacked so far this
06:29year.
06:29None of them are named Jared Verse.
06:31The defense has done very well.
06:34The defense has created more pressure as a team.
06:37I think eventually, Jared Verse will get there and start to get home and get some sacks.
06:42I'm not as worried, and part of it is because the rest of the defense has done well.
06:47I lost Alex Wright before the season.
06:49Isaiah McGuire has filled in and been very nice.
06:51You've had guys step in.
06:53I was very worried after Mason Graham and Mike Hall went down.
06:56These guys have stepped up and played well.
06:58Credit to Mike Rutenberg where it's deserved.
07:00They've done a good job.
07:02But I'm not at the point right now at 4-2 where I'm going after guys who might be one
07:07year, end of their career, chase Super Bowl rentals because I think we're in a competitive
07:14place.
07:14I think we're in a really good place.
07:15I think that this year can be a building block to success.
07:19This year shows that there can be confidence in Andrew Barry.
07:22There can be confidence in these young guys.
07:24More and more of it over on.
07:26We're no longer kind of just going through the motions the way I sadly say we kind of were
07:30at the end with Kevin Stefanski.
07:31There is a energy here, but I don't, I think it when you're at 4-2 and you start to
07:39hear
07:39about trade rumors and you start to hear the quote, quarterback away, it makes us want
07:45to skip steps.
07:47And I don't think we're in a step, skip, and spot.
07:49I mean, you look.
07:50This would not be the year to skip a step.
07:52Exactly.
07:52That's what I'm saying.
07:53Look at the starting offensive line.
07:55Do I, I have, I have confidence in Spencer Fano.
07:59I have confidence in Austin Barber.
08:02I think they're both, I think they're both wonderful.
08:05Zion Johnson, I think has done a good job.
08:07I don't think you have to go guy by guy.
08:08I think you just have to say they're not, they're just not gelled to the level.
08:11I do because there's five.
08:12So I got three out of five guys and really two and a half who I'm feeling really good
08:17about.
08:17I mean, I like Zion Johnson.
08:18So I'm going to say three out of five.
08:19I got three out of five guys.
08:21That's, that's a big miss.
08:22I still need two guys.
08:23Yeah.
08:23And they're overall, they are, they are playing games.
08:26Defenses are playing games with our offensive line that, and our quarterback, let's, let's
08:30be fair.
08:30It's, it's everybody involved in our offensive staff that they're still confusing our lines
08:34so much throughout the course of a game.
08:36I mean, look at the Jets game.
08:37And, and Zach's right.
08:38Is I like Blake Whitehart's a tough kid.
08:40He plays as hard as he can.
08:42He's living a dream in the NFL.
08:44You have one and a half tight ends.
08:46I'll give Blake Whitehart that credit.
08:48Like we can go down the list and go, I need more complete.
08:50Our tight end play has been a huge negative this year for the Browns.
08:53I'm surprised because obviously I thought Harold Fannin was going to be a big plus, but overall,
08:59you'd have to say the tight end room has been a big negative.
09:01It's not about being, and I'm not trying to be negative, and I know you're not trying to
09:04be negative either.
09:05I'm looking at something that's been overwhelmingly positive.
09:08And I go, wait, let's, let's try to build something sustainable here.
09:13Not something where I'm trying to just jump in there and I don't really believe it's going
09:18to work in the end.
09:19And I love Khalil Mack.
09:21Everybody loves Khalil Mack.
09:22You're 35 years old.
09:24Are we really a team?
09:26Like we were struggling going into last week thinking whether or not like Daryl and Nick
09:31and everybody wanted me to stop saying the word playoffs last week.
09:34That was one week ago.
09:36You're four and two.
09:38So we're, we're kind of wrestling with the competitive level of the Cleveland Browns.
09:42I want to know from everybody else.
09:43Do you think the Browns are a quarterback away?
09:44Do you think they're a Khalil Mack away?
09:462-1-6-4-7-4-00-92.
09:48Ken Carman, Anthony Lima.
09:49Take us with you to work on the free Odyssey.
