2025 NFL Awards Predictions with Nick Wesseling

19:24Jourdan Rodrigue:That's my favorite one. Because I looked at the odds for these. You know, we're not sponsored, so I'm not even going to say where or who. But, you know, just for context, like where people were ranked and stuff, I was curious about the odds. But assistant coach of the year is the one that they don't list anything for. So it's like they – I don't know if they just don't care or they don't recognize it, but they do give out an award, NFL Honors. Your MVP for 2025 is? Patrick Mahomes. First of all, because I don't think this, like, little micro slump that he's in lasts much longer. Something's got to break.

19:57Jourdan Rodrigue:I really believe in some of the moves they've made along their offensive line. We'll talk about Josh Simmons here in a couple more. But I just think he can't sustain in this cage that he's been in, right, in terms of his passing and all of that and on the run so often. And I just think he just goes sicko mode this year in some cases. Now, I don't know that the Chiefs are going to be that Super Bowl team or that deep playoff run team, but I do believe that Patrick Mahomes, something in him will snap. Travis Kelsey kind of being slimmer, being back into like kind of his, maybe this is his swan song, you know, got a nice little life waiting for him at the end of all of that.

20:36Jourdan Rodrigue:I just think there's something about this that feels like that he's going to break back out this year as the quarterback we know him to be. We did it separately and we ended up on the exact same page. And I know people are a little sick of Patrick Mahomes. Now, he is only the fourth favorite to win MVP, but they're all pretty close. Lamar, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow are just ahead of him. Lamar is like a slight favorite. I just think there's just a vibe. I shouldn't let the preseason matter, but I had it already. The offensive line is better. I think the weapons are better, but I just think he is ready to remind everyone who he is.

21:15Stop being not an efficient, effective player, but an exciting player, like one of the best players that we've ever seen. And I just think this is the year that'll happen. Now you mentioned, you're not sure if they're going to win the Superbowl or go far. Well, they have to have a great record for him to win the MVP. Almost every MVP is from a one or a two seed. And it's almost always a quarterback.

21:35Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm not burying by any means. I just mean like a lot of times it comes down to who has, what team has the best record. Now it didn't happen last year. Obviously the, the chiefs and the lions were at the very top and they, They weren't in the MVP mix, but you basically have to have like a top two or three seed to get there. If I was looking at dark horses and yeah, like when you look at Aaron Rogers career, by the way, and Tom Brady, these guys who have won it four or five times, which I think can happen in it. Brady only won it three times, but I think that can happen. It's like, yeah, it doesn't happen every year.

22:09Like you have to go in these little dips and then you pop back up. And I think the narrative of my homes this year becoming exciting again, becoming a big playmaker. And it just makes sense to me that people will be ready. to vote for him. If you were looking for some longer shots, plus 2 ,000 right now, only seventh on the list, but Jalen Hurts is a pretty strong one. If you're looking for a team that would have a good record, he was very close to winning MVP just a couple of years ago. And then Dak Prescott is buried around like 14th, 15th among players, plus 4 ,000. You know, last healthy season, he was right in the MVP mix, literally came in second.

22:45So I think he would be another one if you were like looking for value and looking for someone maybe not as obvious yeah

22:52Jourdan Rodrigue:but you're talking about team record in the same breath as like my homes and all that stuff i assume that's why he's being buried is because people are really skeptical about the cowboys overall right yeah they would have to surprise you would need like a 12 and 5 season in dak prescott just having crazy numbers but i think there'll be a pass first offense i don't think it's crazy i do think they will get a big award though i'm going michael parsons defensive player of the year. And this is part of my strategy is I've picked him defensive player of the year every year for the last three years, basically since his rookie year.

23:21And I just think he will win one and I will be right eventually. He, how did he, he ended up finishing in the thirties of the top 101, top 100 players on NFL network.

23:32Jourdan Rodrigue:That was crazy to me. I could not actually underrated. People don't like him. I think maybe that's it. It's like his colleagues. That's who's voting on those awards in these locker rooms. That was kind of crazy to me because the football players know football, obviously. So there's something, there's some other, maybe they wanted to give other veteran players more priority or whatever. The Micah thing is interesting to me. I like this pick, but I have to say, because this is still unresolved, because he hasn't practiced, because of all this, I have no reason to believe that he won't need a little bit of a ramp up period.

24:05Jourdan Rodrigue:Now he could be playing dominant football by any metric by the time voters are having this fresh in their heads. So that's why I think it's a it's a solid pick. And he probably has pretty good odds. He did miss four games last year. And you never know when these ballots go out. So maybe it was like Jerry Jones said, maybe it was like a lot of ballots were out like while he was out. And then those people, they just don't vote for him there. He finished second as a rookie in defensive player of the year, which is crazy. So when he won rookie was a first team opera was second in defensive player of the year as a second year player.

24:35So I was, you know, I've been close and he was third in his third year. Last year was the one time, you know, he really didn't get consideration. But I've said it before on this show, I'll say it again. The best pure pass rusher to come in the league, I believe this century, like of the last 20 plus years. I think Von Miller would be another one that pops to my mind, but just pure pass rusher. So I think we'll get it eventually, no matter what team he's on. I'm willing to entertain. It's on another team. Who do you got?

25:03Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I was torn because I wanted to pick Micah Parsons, but all of this still being in flux to mean unresolved. I just I went another direction, riding the wave of his defensive rookie of the year award. I think Jared Verse has a real shot. Whoa, defensive player of the year. When you watch his tape game over game and you see the amount of pressure he got, but the number of sacks that he left on the board and knowing his personality, knowing the group around him as well, that is quite literally built to set him up for success. I just think that this guy is going to have another dominant season and he's going to be in the conversation.

25:40Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't know what his odds are, but I know that he's going to be in the conversation. Shockingly high. I would not have expected this because you, to me, I heard that. I think that's, that's wild. He's actually the sixth favorite. Now it's still pretty long shot plus 1500. Micah is the favorite. So I didn't know that either. Aiden Hutchinson, TJ Watt, Miles Garrett. A lot of times it is a passer. I think Aiden Hutchinson has a shot at this too. Honestly, I think, but, but you know, we rightfully so are not doing the dumb award comeback player of the year that nobody can seem to agree on because a guy literally returned from death and still did not win the award a couple of years ago.

26:21Jourdan Rodrigue:But Aiden Hutchinson is probably going to win that award. And now did they even define that? It's just coming back from injury. We're not going to bother with comeback player of the year. I just find it weird because it's like a weird sliding scale of like who was the best, but how hard was the injury? It's stupid. Jared verse. That's interesting. Looking at some longer shots. I don't know if you like anyone. Jalen Carter is ninth on the list. If you were looking, it's pretty hard for a defensive tackle to win the award. That's some good respect though. Unless you're, unless you're Aaron Donald.

26:49Jourdan Rodrigue:We were right. We were riding the table for Dexter Lawrence for a little bit last year because his production, despite being on a terrible team, was absolutely in the conversation early on, especially for Defensive Player of the Year. You know, I think Max Crosby is a guy who, you know, he's listed as eighth, basically tied with verse plus 1600. Isn't that crazy? And then we'll get to Abdul Carter. But if you wanted to go crazy, if you were picking a position where a rookie can come in and possibly win an award like this, Michael Parsons almost did it. We have seen, you know, Von Miller was outstanding as a rookie.

27:24We have seen pass rushers come in. he's all the way down at plus 5 ,000. Tied with Kirby Joseph. I mean, that's crazy. Like 15, 20 players down the list. He would be an interesting one. But we'll put a bit in that. Let's do Offensive Player of the Year. An award that I used to refuse to answer on NFL.com when we have to submit all of our picks. By the way, you'll be checking them out on NFL.com soon. I did answer those questions this year. But now I'm back in because it's basically the non-quarterback award. I just don't like it when they give it to the second best quarterback, which is what happens a lot of times too.

28:00Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, but it's turned out to be really handy, especially when you have a season like Saquon Barkley had last year. I think it's unfortunate for my pick to win it this year that he happened to win the triple crown last season, the same year Saquon Barkley quite literally made history as a running back. Jamar Chase, I think, is my offensive player of the year pick this year. I think that sometimes we see voters sort of correct things in advance. I'm not saying it was incorrect that Saquon won it, but I know that Jamar was frustrated he didn't get more votes. That was sort of a headline a few months ago.

28:35Jourdan Rodrigue:And I do think that he is someone who is deserving and should be on pace to have another incredible season. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, like winning a triple crown doesn't get any better than that. I know. The odds of him doing that again are very small. I know. And it's one of the best. it's like in history so few people have actually done that but Steve Smith and then it was Cooper Cup in 2021 and then Jamar Chase and it's just crazy to me that um these receivers are able to do this first of all and I don't want to hear about the oh there's an extra game oh my god like I don't want to hear about that and that doesn't affect the triple crown because you're just it's all production it's all even and it's production it's production based and so that's where I'm like okay, I think that Saquon was so deserving of that award last year, 100%.

29:22Jourdan Rodrigue:I know that even some people were arguing that he should be the MVP, especially because what he did for the entire Eagles as an organization, and certainly as an offense. But it's hard when you are up your Jamar Chase and you have literally an historic, like one of only a few people have ever achieved what you achieved in history and you finished second and offensive. You finished third. Lamar Jackson went ahead of him. Oh, right. You finished third. That's right. That's why I don't like this award. That's right. That's why when I was looking at the odds, if I was looking for some of the longer shots to do it, like I would love a Jalen Hurts for offensive player of the year because he could end up being that like second quarterback gets it.

30:04Josh Allen is like plus 6 ,000. And, you know, Patrick Mahomes is way down there below, like, Ladd McConkie or Jackson Smith and Jigba and Jonathan Taylor. And, like, I could easily see them coming in second. At the top, it's the guys from last year, Saquon and Jamar Chase. I'm going to take the third favorite to win it as my pick, which is Jameer Gibbs. I just feel like he's gotten better at football every single season. And the situation is not as good in front of him overall. So that's a little bit of a concern. but I just think in terms of his skill set this is to me the year in a running back's career that I can just see it all coming together in him having a 24, 2500 yards from scrimmage type of bananas season.

30:43That's lofty

30:45Jourdan Rodrigue:but maybe even 21 yards from scrimmage. That would do it. So yeah, if you were looking for a really deep sleeper Travis Hunter is way down there. Just saying. People like voting for that. Alright, let's let's do coach of the year. This is giving away maybe a team that you think is going to be good, but it's time to do that. It's the week before the season. Yes. And this award, I want to be clear, usually goes to coaches who outperform expectations. I think we can agree that like the Andy Reeds of the world should win this award every single season. But that's just not how the voters think about this.

31:20Jourdan Rodrigue:And so I'm going with Mike Vrabel here, not only because he does have plenty of friends in the media, but also, I like this angle, But also because I believe that he, as the head coach of the Patriots, will lead that team to vastly outperforming, if not at least extremely outperforming the expectations entering the season, especially relative to the disaster that it was last year, the absolute destruction that the roster was in that he inherited, and the fact that they have to rebuild basically three draft classes. and so you're going to have to out coach and outperform the talent that you have and the depth, especially the lack of depth that they have.

32:00Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think if Mike Vrabel can do that, I'm not saying that this is a playoff team per se, but I think that if he can do that, if they got to be, they got to be a playoff team for him to make any chance to win this. I'm just saying, I think that if they look, if they look good, if they lose close games and they, and they win enough of them, I think he is a front runner for coach of the year. Their expectations though are sneaky high. Like they're over unders eight and a half. If everyone's predicting them to make the playoffs, I'm a little anxious when I see that. I've seen some of the predictions coming out this week.

32:26I think on average, they are probably going to get picked to make the playoffs where they're like a consensus six or seven seed. If some team had to. Obviously, a lot of people disagree. But I'm seeing them get there. And Vegas is there with them too. And they have on paper one of, if not the easiest schedules in the entire league. So to me, for him to win this award, they'd have to win at least 10 or 11 games. maybe more and that would be the only way to vastly exceed expectations the expectations locally and nationally are like nine and eight at worst you know i'm really not talking about

33:01Jourdan Rodrigue:the expectations that like vegas is placing on them or the the consensus odd i'm really not talking i mean the people though like that how people think the voters you know i'm talking about what this team will look like relative to what it looked like last year i don't think he has to win 10 or 11 games to be a front runner for this job i i do because i just think the expectations from the voters are going to be so high that the people think that they're a playoff team or at least a borderline playoff team. I went for a more under the radar guy in terms of the odds, but not much more. Rabel is the second favorite.

33:32Aaron Glenn is the fourth favorite.

33:34Jourdan Rodrigue:I could see it. He's someone where if they just won nine games would have a chance at this award. Call it the Dick Geron memorial of just a guy who like, what? The Bears won that many games? Actually, he won a ton of games. He might have won like 13 when he won coach of the year. But just totally exceeds expectations because the Jets are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. And when I'm saying the Vegas odds and using that as a framework, I think it is useful because it's ultimately just a reflection of the average person and how they're seeing it as well. And ultimately how the media is seeing it as well.

34:09And everyone has the Jets buried. And so I think if they come out and they're just competitive and you can see the fighting spirit that they have and they just look so different from from a offensive perspective and then just play hard on defense and they win nine games. I could see him winning.

34:25Jourdan Rodrigue:It's funny. Cause that's literally what I just said about the page, except the market is so different. And the, the, I agree. I think they should be the same. I am with you that I think they should be closer. I just think it's funny. That's that tells you exactly how different the expectations in the markets are relatively. Part of it was the Patriots spent a ton of money in free agency and the Jets didn't. And people just pay attention to that. but I think they don't realize how much they had to overcome. Ben Johnson is the favorite right now for coach of the year. Liam Cohen is up there. It is often a guy in the first year of his new spot.

34:58Pete Carroll is up there as well. Like Canales, Mike McDonald, we can be the change though. I want that freaking AP vote. Give me the vote. I voted Andy Reid last year to end the season. I thought he was my coach of the year. Cause I did not think that was like a great chiefs team. And the way they got through that regular season was like an absolutely incredible coaching job. Let's do offensive rookie of the year and defensive rookie of the year.

35:23Jourdan Rodrigue:You might be surprised by mine. Actually, this is a volume pick. I think that this player is going to be needed and utilized so immediately that his volume of catches, of snaps, of carries is going to be so significant that he'll just stay in the collective conscious for the entire season and become a true weapon for this team. It's Travion Henderson. Wow. I think that the Patriots rookie running back, Travion Henderson, could be the offensive rookie of the year. And that's because, in part, he will be so urgently needed that there is no choice but for him to have to produce. Ramondre Stevenson's out there and is like, hey, I'm one of the highest paid running backs in the league.

36:06Jourdan Rodrigue:In every phase. I think this guy's going to be on the field way more than maybe people expected when he got drafted. I think that's right. And I think he's a great value, too. I'm surprised he's sixth on the list. He's plus 1400 if you're curious. Gentry with the Raiders, Ashton Gentry and Cam Ward are way ahead of the pack as potential favorites, which makes me way happier to pick Travis Hunter, who's fourth on the list. I wanted to pick him so bad because I believe so much in him and I wanted to pick him so bad, but I thought about volume and I thought about how much all of this is going to maybe be in Travion Henderson's favor in terms of having to produce.

36:49And that's why I need the season to start because I just keep making the same points where like I don't buy that long term, but that is the logical assumption. Like he's not getting that many snaps. They're going to work him in slowly. That all makes sense to me. I believe in his talent enough that like by week three or four, which is basically the whole season, he can be getting that volume that he's a better prospect than Brian Thomas Jr. was a year ago. Like he can have a better season. he can be better than Brian Thomas Jr. is right now. So I am not only taking him for Offensive Rookie of the Year, I'm having him pull the daily double.

37:21Let's go Defensive Rookie of the Year. He wins in both. He blows absolutely everyone's mind. He's a much longer shot to win Defensive Rookie of the Year

37:31Jourdan Rodrigue:because he won't be playing all the defensive snaps and he won't be rushing the passer. Right. It's going to be very tough, but it is a narrative award sometime. And if he goes out there and he gets four or five interceptions and he's a baller and people just get swept up in the magic of the baseball, Shohei Otani, he's actually only fifth in terms of the odds of defensive rookie of the year, way behind the favorite Abdul Carter, but he's plus 1300. So it's not that crazy. I'm doing the Travis Hunter daily double. I love it. I want this to happen. I really want badly for this to happen. Khalid.

38:10Jourdan Rodrigue:I still picked Abdul Carter to win defensive rookie of the year. But the story that you're painting, Greg, I want... I partially didn't pick him just because I figured you were picking him and he is the most logical pick. Probably the right pick. But I like what you did. It didn't feel as fun. And on a real level, if I was just looking at value or whatever, Abdul Carter is favored to win defensive rookie of the year more than anyone is favored to win any award, which it does make sense to me. But that's not as fun. And if you're into these sort of things, and I know you're not, you know, there's less of a return there.

38:50Yeah. And I'm obviously not. But we are allowed to pick games and pick guys like this. You know, we have a whole show, Game Day View, where we pick games and pick scores every week. The list at Defensive Rookie of the Year is crazy. Jalen Walker is second at plus 950. He's like fourth on their edge group. So that's terrible. Mike L. Williams just doesn't seem like a guy that is going to put up numbers. His third. Mike Green of the Ravens, I guess, he's a pass rusher, is fourth. Like, Jihad Campbell would maybe be the other one other than Hunter.

39:19Jourdan Rodrigue:That would be my sleeper. Yes. Because there's some magical potential of Jihad Campbell in this Eagles defense. He's plus 1 ,500 and he's sixth on the list. And yeah, these awards usually go to pass rushers and linebackers. Yes. So Jihad Campbell could absolutely get that. quickly on assistant coach because we've got Nick Wessel ready to go. I'm going Jesse Minter on assistant coach of the year because I think he's going to take this Chargers defense and from out coaching maybe a little bit of a talent dearth and getting them to produce to a second year of the system doing things a little bit differently than others in that coaching tree do.

39:55Jourdan Rodrigue:And he's getting a lot of buzz already in these sort of circles that talk about who might be head coaching, you know, on the head coaching radar in the 2026 cycle. So I do think that Jesse Minter would be a top choice of mine for assistant coach of the year. I think that any of these, like, chip on their shoulder, coming back to try to, you know, show what they learned, defensive coordinators who are helping first-time offensive head coaches might be candidates for this. And then I also think our sleeper is, you know, King Grizzard down in Tampa Bay. Oh, what is his actual name? Josh Grisard. Josh Grisard.

40:37I love that. You know what's shocking? I'm looking this up while you're talking. Like Jesse Minner did not even come in the top five last year for assistant coach of the year.

40:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Which is crazy. What group exceeded expectations? Look, I love Ben Johnson and I love Brian Flores. But if we're talking about exceeding expectations, doing a lot with a little, those were the top two. And then you had Aaron Glenn and Vic Fangio and Joe Brady. Oh, great. Of course. Well, yeah. I mean, I love Vic Fangio. I think Jesse Minner would have been a better pick for all them last year even. Yeah. And I think, again, we talk about markets and eyeballs on teams and coverage of teams and all that stuff. And so I think that's part of it. And I also think some of it is, you know, even players like Dianne Henley, who he really maximized out into being one of the better linebackers in the NFL right now.

41:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Like the way he was moving. Derwin James had like a renaissance last year. All of that kind of flew under the radar. Just saying. So I do think it's time to give those guys a little bit more love. And in light of being the change we want to see, my pick is going to be Titans offensive line coach, Bill Callahan. Because everyone is eligible for this award and they only vote for coordinators. I know. So let's get it going. That's a good offensive line. Maybe Cam Ward has a surprising season. But if Jeff Stoutland didn't even come in the top five for voting last year for the Eagles, it's probably never going to happen.

41:58And finally, speaking of offensive linemen, the protector of the year award. Tough to really handicap this ahead, but we'll try anyways. I know Tristan Wirfs is hurt to start the season, but I'm going to say he's going to come back and he's going to look so good by the end of the year and their offense in Grizzard is going to cook so much that he wins it because I think he might just be the best offensive lineman in football.

42:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I really debated between him. The injury factor took him out of consideration for me. I was looking at Panay Sewell. I really think that because of Panay Sewell's like body of work that he's built up to this point, maybe the first one that they give is like to somebody who's deserved it for a little while. I also want to know Joe Alt moving over to left tackle. If he plays well out of position, that's somebody to look at for here. And my like sleeper pick is if Patrick Mahomes has a MVP season, we have to talk about Josh Simmons at left tackle for the potential of like surprising everybody and getting this award.

42:56Jourdan Rodrigue:because if Patrick Mahomes is protected the way that he should be protected, that would mean Josh Simmons as a rookie is doing his job at the top level. And that would mean that he should be in the conversation here. That would be wild. And I wonder what his odds are for offensive rookie of the year because he's probably not even on there right now. Like nobody's talking about this guy. Nobody ever votes for offensive linemen for rookies of the year. So it would be tough to pull off. But yeah, I can't even find him there. Like he's literally not listed anywhere. I love that they called it Protector of the Year.

43:31Jourdan Rodrigue:That's just good branding right there, honestly. I would love him winning that award. I don't think it's going to happen. You know what else I love? The entire Wesseling family. We've got Nick Wesseling ready to join the show. I don't know if he's had to listen to us honk about the awards. We're just going to roll right into it. The drop. Yes, he is a member of the Cincinnati Zoo, which is all the Wesleyan brothers. So if I sometimes forget about new listeners, Nick, but I do want to just bring up who you are as we get here. How are you doing, Nick, by the way? Doing wonderful. Outstanding. Spent a couple of weeks out of town on the West Coast a few weeks ago, feeling relaxed and ready to rock and roll for this football season.

44:22You look relaxed. You got the Cincinnati FC. I know you're a big soccer guy, the shirt on. But yes, we are in the Chris Wesseling podcast studio. That is Nick's brother. And it hit me today coming in that we're coming on five years, this Super Bowl when Chris died. And we love having the connection with all the Wesleyan brothers, but Nick is the loudest of all of them. The one who just kind of is a self-appointed spokesman, maybe to the annoyance of all the other brothers, but it's been extremely effective, Nick. I think it even got you to the best man status at Chris's wedding. I got it. I got to give it up to you for that.

45:09And so we love to have you on to talk a little football and just have a little more wrestling in our life. Well, some people say loudest. Some people say best. Either way, I'll take it. I was the middle child, three older, three younger. So I didn't get paid attention to unless I yelled and screamed. They taught me at a young age to go ahead and be heard. No, you kept it all together. Although I, to me, not best. I love you all. And I think Phil's probably the only one that's actually going to listen to this. And it's also the week that we do our Fantasy League. My kids do a Fantasy League, which his son Mackie is in.

45:50And love Phil. Love Mackie. So no favorites here. But I know you have the hottest of takes, Nick. So let's get into some football. I gave you some prompts going into the year. I want to nick some Nick Wessling predictions. I have no idea where you're going to go with this. But we just did a bunch of awards. Do you have like an awards prediction for this season? This is going to sound like a homer take, but Joe Burrow will win the MVP this year with this awful defense that the Bengals look like they're trotting out there. They're going to have to put up 50 every game, and I think they have the ability to do that.

46:27So I think it's his best year yet. I think the people get a little tired of voting for Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, And even if they have similar years, I think Joe Burrow's numbers out through all of them. And he's your MVP for this year.

46:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Nick, what is your take on like the internal rage that Joe Burrow seems to be managing at all times when he's on the sideline watching this defense? I know you are locked into this as a storyline. What is your take on just his, I would say, rage management would be how I would I would call that. I tell you what I think that's the reason people like him so much yeah is because he keeps it cool even though you can tell he's furious I think it was about midway through last season when he was given post press conferences and people were asking him questions and he's just like yeah yeah yeah that's terrible yeah we got to do better and you're just thinking like man he wants to punch the guy who asked that question obviously he's not going to do that um and I he's always been the class act.

47:31This Bengals offseason has, I don't know what the right word is, tumultuous might be a good word for it. They seem to, at the last second, get it together and realize that they needed Trey Hendrickson. You know, even the Shamar Stewart saga earlier, people have forgotten about that because the Trey Hendrickson went all the way through the preseason that, they just didn't seem to have their stuff together. What do you think Wes would think about where they're at? Because on one hand, this is the best era. They're back in a winning era for the first time since you guys were kids. And they found the quarterback.

48:14I mean, he's going to be, if not already, the best quarterback in the history of the franchise. And yet, they seem very Bengals-y. Where do you think he would be at? Where are you guys that it's such a weird complicated relationship the wesseling family has with the bengals yeah it's it's i mean i so i'm more similar to chris i think he was more vested and hated them i was more indifferent i don't know hate hate's probably the wrong word no i think i think hate was accurate for a long time but i always felt like that was the flip side of love right you know he cared right yeah yeah if you want to go down that street yeah they their indifference would be more what I was for 20 years.

48:56Obviously him working for the NFL. And then even though the Andy Dalton years were frustrating, at least they were competitive for most of that time, even the Carson Palmer years. So it was easy. It was very easy to get invested again with this team because they're a lovable team. They got, you know, the receivers, they have Joe Burrow. You know, even the coaching staff is a little vanilla, but they seem to put their best players in position to win. And so they were an easy team to root for. But then the organization does things like they did this offseason and even last offseason, not signing Higgins and Chase when clearly they wanted to do it all along.

49:33And they just had to pay an extra$50 million to sign the two of them. It seems counterproductive to me, but obviously I'm not running the franchise. So I don't really get a say in that. By the way, Jordan, congratulations on the new gig. I love listening to you and love reading your work.

49:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, no, I'm going to cry.

49:51Jourdan Rodrigue:when I heard your voice I was trying not to cry you sound so much like Chris you sound and look a lot like Chris yeah and um let me go ahead and say Chris would be really proud too he liked you he he really wouldn't he was and he was a fan of Jordan's writing big time and it is one of those things you think about like you know the takes that were missing from him and I it is interested because Burrow got hurt in that rookie year. And that rookie year was the last year that Chris was with us. And then, of course, that first year where Burrow is starting, we finish it, Nick, you and all the brothers at SoFi Stadium.

50:29And you're watching it with Keisha. Keisha's got the jersey that she made special for the day that was half Rams, half Bengals. And unfortunately, it felt fitting that the Bengals came up short, but it was a crazy day. I am I'm curious about your reflections of that day. I'm also curious how you think this team's going to be this year, but let's think about that day for now. Well, we'll do the Super Bowl. It still seems a little surreal. That year was a wild ride, obviously. They seemed just like an average team until the last few weeks of the regular season, and then they turned it on, and that defense kept making play after play after play.

51:10unfortunately Joe Burrow was had me, you, Jordan and the production team blocking in front of him that year so there wasn't much chance of him putting up some of the numbers he's been putting up the last couple of years yeah that was a rough if you ever want to be entertained go back and look at that the starting five offensive linemen in that Super Bowl and you'll see three guys that never played again and another guy that barely played again and then one who had a decent career. The second half of that game is brutal to rewatch because the Bengals' defense dominated Matthew Stafford and the Rams for so long and they just...

51:52Jourdan Rodrigue:And oh yeah, you're lining those guys up against Von Miller and Aaron Donald. You know, like, yeah, what could go wrong? They decided on the most important play of the game to just go ahead and let Aaron Donald go and destroy Joe Burrow, you know, a half a second before Jamar Chase is wide open. I got to say that we got drinks like afterwards at your, at your Airbnb that you had nearby and the Wesleyan brothers were in, in plenty of good spirits afterwards. It was, we were feeling a lot, obviously that entire year and we still do in that night, especially, but you guys, you guys were like enjoying, you were, you were living in the moment.

52:29I'm curious what, okay. If you have Joe Burrow winning MVP, what do you think this team's going to do this year? So we'll know after week two, I think if they're not two and O, they're at the Browns and then Jaguars at home before they go I'm going to have to look at my cheat sheet here my notes here but they have the next five games are absolutely brutal I think they have who was it at Vikings then Broncos at home Lions at home, I'm sorry Broncos on the road Lions at home, Packers on the road Steelers at home before they on October 26th Fine.

53:06Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, that might be. You're the Bengals. They're all looking at your schedule and saying, oh, no, we got the Bengals that week. Well, oh, no, we've got the Bengals offense that week. Yeah, there you go. There you go. But if they're not 2-0, I can't take them serious this year. I think if they're somewhere 5-4 going into the end of October, early November, I think they're a legitimate contender for the Super Bowl. I just think that Joe Burrow is that good and his offense is that good that they can carry him. You saw it at the end of last year. They almost snuck in somehow. I think when they win five straight games at the end, they make it interesting.

53:44It gets frustrating watching this team and watching the organization, but I can't take my eyes off of them. It's a crime if they are five and four even, or if they don't make the playoff. Like the heat needs to be on Zach Taylor. It's an organizational failure, the way Joe Burrow is playing, to not be winning like 12 games a year. I don't know how I feel about it. Like on paper, the defense is not going to be good, but defenses are more unpredictable. Nick Wesseling, are you going to text your brothers and brag about this appearance, or how are you going to handle it? No, we're going to find out which ones are still listening to you.

54:23I know Phil does regularly. I mean, you guys were the only two that ever did in the first place. Who else? I don't think anyone. No, no. Tim was an avid listener and loved listening to the old show. And I know he occasionally listens now. And so does Mike. Eddie was Eddie was listening, by the way. I don't know. This is public. It's all out there. But Eddie, my oldest brother, Ed had a battle with cancer and he's doing very, very well. He's in remission. Everything's going well. He's gaining his weight back. So he looks good, looking strong. So if he's listening, we love you. and good to see you healthy again.

55:01Yeah, love Eddie. I always remember meeting Eddie at Chris's wedding down in Tybee and being like, wait, this is a Wesleyan brother? Because he's just different than the rest of them. Just a little different. Love you, Nick. Love having you on. And yeah, the season wouldn't have felt right to start with a little Wesleyan on the show and hope to get you back for one of those Bengals primetime game recaps maybe down the line. Anytime, Greg. All right. That's it. We're done for today. We're not done for this week. But Nick, by the way, you made Jordan's day.

55:41Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I'm like, I'm blotchy because I was trying not to cry. Nick, it is such an honor. Thank you so much for joining the show when I am on the show. So I listen, I've heard your voice and all of that. And man, you sound so much like Chris. And I just, it's an honor. Thank you so much. Nick, it was a pleasure. It was definitely not an honor to have you on. Don't listen to Greg. Don't listen to Greg. I mean, that's a little, that's a little much, but it was, it was a pleasure. It was an absolute pleasure. It's an honor to be on with Jordan, such a fantastic writer and analyst. And well, it's always good to be you too, Greg.

56:21Jourdan Rodrigue:I guess. That was Nick Wesseling. Hit the music. Let's get out of here. We will be back on Thursday. One of my favorite annual shows of the year. I mean, imagine if Nick Wesseling picked the right over-unders in a draft for four straight years. Undefeated. He would never freaking stop talking about it. That's what I've done for the last four years. Can I make it five? Nick Wright on Thursday. We'll see you.

56:53This is an iHeart Podcast.

56:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Guaranteed human.