JSN Scores Big and 20 Players Suddenly Important at Work

18:13Patrick Claybon:Turf got Gronk. Oh, yeah.

18:15Nick Shook:He actually turf artificial turf barrier around the grass field and Gronk slipped on it trying to get up and pull the hammy. He scored. As men of his age typically do. They were up 8-0, and it was all looking okay. He scored. But, like, OBJ was involved. He says he wants back in the NFL, by the way. He was not in the NFL last year. He was coming off an injury, but then no one signed him. He was there. But I actually thought it was lucky that Jaden Daniels, Joe Burrow, like, they were playing hard for what it was. And there was a lot of contact on a Joe Burrow play. There were a couple times, like, the guys like Jaden Daniels went down, and you're just watching this and thinking, man, And the worst case scenario is not worth it for what this was, which was to begin with and pretty clear, like a sports washing Ponzi scheme effort by fanatics and Tom Brady to just enrich themselves.

19:03Right. I mean, it was just nonsense. And then because there's a war going on, they can't actually play it there. I don't know if they still got paid the same amount of money, but they were still out there out there playing. I think keep the NFL teams away from the flag in the Olympics. Maybe like one player.

19:19Patrick Claybon:At least in this capacity that we have. As you pointed out, Greg, and all the things that you literally just said, flag football can do a little better than what we had. Right. And if they were going to do it, take it seriously and don't have the YouTubers and stuff out there. All right. Let's fire through the rest of these news items pretty quickly. I thought it was interesting. Multiple reports shook that the Cowboys were looking to trade for a linebacker. And one of them was from ESPN, another from a local reporter. and they named the same linebackers, Aziz Alshair and Jordan Brooks. I don't know.

19:51The Cowboys are trying to get it out there that they want to trade for a linebacker. Patrick Queen is maybe another name that could be out there, but I always find it interesting when the same presumably Cowboys sources are putting this out. Like, I don't know if they're just trying to stay in the news or that they're just like, hey, will you guys give us Aziz Alshair? I have seen no reason why the Texans would want to do that, but we need a linebacker because our linebackers don't look too good on paper.

20:15Nick Shook:I think they probably have a higher chance of maybe trying to get Jordan Brooks and Aziz Alshair, but they are going for an archetype. That's for sure. And they need a starting linebacker opposite DeMarvin over shown. So it makes a lot of sense, but it is funny when they trickle it out. It's like, Oh, this person is giving it to this source and that source increase the pressure, heat up the trade talks that are apparently non-existent because they're in the market and they would like it. If their

20:35Patrick Claybon:phone rang, Dan Quinn has been the head coach of the commanders now for, we're going to go into season three. This was a need that they had on Dan Quinn's defense. When he was the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. This has been a whole thing for a very long time. And I love Overshown, but yeah, one man does not make an entire unit. He's had some injury trouble. So we'll see. Patrick Queen was supposedly being dangled out there, but he's still on the Steelers. Christian Wilkins is a name that did not make our top 101 because it was uncertain if he was healthy or what his situation was.

21:04His agent has let Adam Schefter, but probably some other people know too, that his client intends to play football in 2026. and that 26 teams have showed interest. I want the list of the six. Well, you can presume the Raiders are on it. I want the six teams who just aren't trying and haven't called up about Christian Bookins. Did they not know? Is that why you had to reach out to Shefty? I guess so. But he's not healthy yet. And so the plan is once he's healthy, then he will be playing football again. A guy who earned a$100 million contract. 26 teams?

21:38Nick Shook:Is there a whiteboard in this agent's office in which he's just keeping tallies of every team that calls? Is this Greg Williams saying that he's got eight head coaching offers just on standby when he was a defensive coordinator back in the day? Like, this sounds a little inflated. And what does expressed interest? Right. Well, I think what that means is, one, they're just having this conversation with the agent over maybe all of his clients or a variety of things. They're like, hey, is Christian Wilkins going to ever play? Like, what's up with him? That would probably be qualifying as interest.

22:04I don't know if it's more than that. So maybe the other six, they didn't immediately ask,

22:08Patrick Claybon:and so he had to tell them that? and then asking if they... I think the other six are... We got to find who they are. They're not trying. Confirming not interested. They read the stuff, the alleged stuff that no one has ever figured out that Christian Wilkins did in the locker room. But apparently toes were involved. There was some talks about toes. The Falcons acquired Sidney Brown since we last taped. The Eagles' safety for two trade downs in the fourth and sixth round from the Eagles. The Eagles also signed Damian Pierce, running back formerly of the Texans, Marcus Epps and JT Gray. So some safety help.

22:46While we're talking restricted free agent, last week we were covering the issue really strongly about Ryan Van Denmark. He is a member of the Vikings. Have you ever heard of a name that fits more on the Vikings than Van Denmark? No. He and Van Ginkle on the same team. Wow. Yeah, that could be a thing. Multiple Vans. Can we get a Van Sweden? Maybe. and Van Finland? It's time for the off-season ride-along presented by Toyota. Mark Davis, the owner of the Raiders, has reportedly agreed to a succession plan. Is everything okay? Everything is fine. He says he is not going to sell the team right now, but he is 71 now, but now he has a structure in place for when he does decide to sell, then he has the next owner.

23:40And so the NFL has to approve this. And so we'll see. Just something to watch there. I think he's also selling maybe like 10 % of the team to this next owner. So that'll be kind of sad one day when the Raiders are out of the Davis family. Some other very just little bits of news, and then we'll take a break and get to our segment. AJ Epinesa, formerly of the Bills, signed with the Browns. Josh Dobbs, the backup of the Patriots, has been cut. They're going to go with Tommy DeVito as their backup quarterback, presumably Greg Dorch and Peyton Turner, both back in the league as members of the Lions.

24:16And happy trails to DJ Chark and Logan Wilson, two NFL players who have decided to hang him up. Unfortunately, I hate to do this. You know what I always think about with Logan Wilson? What's that? The penalty in the Super Bowl. I'm actually glad that I'm the only one that ever brings this up. But it was like second down where if the Bengals got three straight stops, the Bengals would probably won the Super Bowl. And on second down, he got called for a pretty questionable P.I. He probably was a P.I., but it looked for a second that the Rams were down to two plays or else the Bengals were going to win the Super Bowl.

24:50They called it on Logan Wilson. That's what I think of him. But a very good career with the Cincinnati Bengals earned a lot of money and happy trails to him. That was the off-season ride-along presented by Toyota. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people. Let's take a break and we're going to come back with a segment of different NFL figures who are suddenly important at work. It will thankfully not include Logan Paul.

25:26Nick Shook:For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur.

26:06Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine.

26:15Nick Shook:Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremphayaRadio.com. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop. Apply for Apple Card in the wallet app to see your credit limit offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch.

26:57Terms and more at AppleCard.com. You know how it's never really about where you're going? It's about who you're going with. Like the destination could be totally average, but if the right people are there, it becomes a great memory. Toyota really gets that. Toyota designs vehicles around real life and real people, the ones who bring everyone together and somehow make the drive part of the fun. There's room for all the stuff that comes with togetherness. Luggage, golf clubs, camping gear, plus comfortable seating, smart layouts, and space that lets everyone relax. And Toyota's lineup makes it easy to find your match.

27:33The RAV4 is perfect for everyday adventures. The Grand Highlander brings serious space for up to eight with generous legroom and expansive cargo space. The Highlander also has space for up to eight. It's ready for big moments and spontaneous ones, balancing style and flexibility. and the Sienna is built for everyday life. Carpools, road trips, snacks, spills and it even has a built-in vacuum for when things get a little too messy because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people.

28:08Nick Shook:Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention, work, family, social media and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first but here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list, your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. And the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half.

28:41Nick Shook:And yet when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%, nearly 100 % for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now, pay the girls some attention, head to yourattentionplease.com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis.

29:13Back on NFL Daily Quiet week We're getting ready for the league meeting But we're also getting ready for the NFL draft We're breaking down the wide receivers Coming up later in this week with Ollie Connelly Been watching the film We're starting to get into draft takes Also 40s and free agents coming up on Tuesday But before that, it's a phenomenon that happens sometimes when changes occur and suddenly you're important at work. And so we're thinking about how the league has changed over the last month. And both Patrick and I both thought of one man to start this exercise. And that was Basial Tootin of the Jaguars who sees Travis CTN leave and suddenly feels very important to what the Jaguars are going to do this season.

30:03Patrick Claybon:Yeah, and we've seen it so many times. Our colleague Maurice Jones-Drew always points this out where the second running back looks explosive. makes so many plays, but that's because the starter is getting the volume of the work, especially in the past game where Travis Etienne, excuse me, HN, excels. And we see Tootin with a 35.8 missed tackle rate with the ball. It's looking pretty good, but he's going to have to keep that up for a whole game now. And the Jags are going to have to facilitate backup and support around him. I think he can do it. But suddenly, when I'm thinking about guys who are becoming very important at work, Basial Tootin is it.

30:36And I don't need to see, like, the metrics. You got to just trust your eyes. Anyone with that burst, when he gets the ball, the zero to top speed is so fast and he's so rugged. I know we've heard, oh, Chris Rodriguez, who they brought in, is going to be, like, a big factor. And yet I still think Tootin is going to be leading the way because he's more talented than Chris Rodriguez. Chris Rodriguez is a good player. You had two Jaguars. While we're at the Jaguars, you might as well just throw out your other. You're going deep here.

31:07Patrick Claybon:Yeah, it may be even more difficult for Ventrell Miller to come in and replace what they were able to get last year from a footballer, an all-pro who's now going up and playing in Devin Lloyd in Carolina. But Ventrell Miller played about 40 % of the defensive snaps, played well. He's going to have to slot over the Jags. They've got time to try to fill that out. I don't know if you replace a veteran with a draft guy. So here we are. You've got a veteran there. Ventral Miller's suddenly going to become very important to work. Is he going to be picking off Patrick Mahomes and running it back 99 yards?

31:40Patrick Claybon:No, but he's significantly more important. And they have four picks in the top 100, three in the third round within about 20 picks, like 80 to 100. Is that a spot where they look at linebacker? I don't know. It's an organization that hasn't put a premium at that position. Let's get to you, Shook, and pick your favorite guy who's suddenly important. We're going to

32:00Nick Shook:offensive side of the ball. We're going to go out to Las Vegas, where the Raiders have lacked a name of significance since moving on from Jacoby Myers. And they have since added Jalen Naylor, a guy whose previous career high stand at 29 catches, 444 receiving yards and six touchdowns, which is relatively respectable for maybe a two or three receiver. Except now he walks into a depth chart that includes Jack Besh and Trey Tucker. And they know that they need more production from receiver. They cannot solely lean on Brock Bowers, especially if he isn't healthy, like he wasn't for a good portion of last season.

32:33Nick Shook:So Naylor steps into a great opportunity to really hit his maximum, but he's going to have to do it with a team. That's probably going to be relying on a, on a rookie quarterback, uh, as we all expect them to select Fernando Mendoza with the number one overall pick. And hopefully that rebuild offensive line holds up. So it's going to be an immediate prove it situation for him, but he is suddenly very important at work. Yeah. He's a different category of guys who fit well here and being suddenly important. And that like, yeah, he, he never really got the volume there in Minnesota. And I think it's a big early test of the new John Spitech era Raiders where he's actually in charge.

33:07They got Pete Carroll out of there and the pro personnel department. Everyone likes Jalen Naylor's tape, but there's not a ton of production on it. And you heard in Minnesota last year, I think the staff there really liked him. I think they expected a big season out of him. And look, Justin Jefferson didn't even have a big season. No one had a big season catching the ball there. So you're really trusting the tape and your evaluation. The money's not crazy, fully guaranteed. It's only$18 million. Like, he is getting paid more like a 2-3. So if he shows up and catches 60 balls and has 900 yards, like, that is a huge win.

33:42I will give a win to John Spitek if that happens. I'm going to go, let's go with someone that has a new title, and that's Rob Brzezinski. And I don't think they officially changed his title, but I wanted to get a little creative here. Like, he's kind of the GM-ish. with the Vikings. He is the executive vice president of football operations, a man who has been helping run their cap since before Mike Zimmer was there. He has been there forever, like 20 years. He has outlasted Rick Spielman and now Questy, and he's there, and suddenly you got a draft where I'm sure Kevin O 'Connell has a big say, maybe the biggest say.

34:23But you do have someone who is trying to organize everyone who's been there for a long time, maybe been a little more middle management, and has got to maybe keep that job by not getting too high. That's a good strategy in middle management. And now this draft is going to partly be authored by him and KOC. They've got to prove it.

34:42Patrick Claybon:Especially in a circumstance where relationships seemingly and the social aspects of those things may be the most important part considering what we heard about the departure of Kuesi Adolfo Mensah. And so we know that Rob can do that. how's he how's he how's the relationships go when you know maybe you're not necessarily the one making the decisions but you're going to be one at the podium I actually think there is a way to have a GM type of guy who's not the scouting type because they have so many so many scouting types why is that you're giving me a Nick well because I happen to live in Cleveland where the Browns

35:19Nick Shook:I don't know if notoriously or infamously hired a man who came from baseball and Paul D Podesta and had him run the analytics side of the way the organization ran for a long time drew a lot of fire when the Browns struggled. I'm just saying when you promote a numbers guy, which I'm, look, I'm all on board with promoting the numbers guy. When you promote a numbers guy, they will be within the target of fans who are upset. But I hope, you know, given that the time that this happened, because it was kind of out of cycle when they moved on from Pwesi, you hope that they can do well and that the relationship is strong.

35:49What I'm kind of getting at though, is it's more of a, it can be a management job. And it always confused me a little bit. But like, what is everyone doing in these huge scouting departments? Because you got the area scouts and then you got the higher scouts and then you got the other scout. And then you have the GM who actually makes the final decision on top of that, who is also a scout. And does every like ultimately like the GM is kind of making all these calls. So I'm saying someone who could manage an entire department who's been there, who knows the people, their strengths and weaknesses.

36:17Do you need another scout on top of all the other scouts? What's everyone doing? How many scouts do we really need? I mean, you could say that about a lot of management positions, right?

36:25Patrick Claybon:Like in general, it would be great if everybody in all those positions would be able to clearly delineate what their actual day-to-day is like and what other people's decisions and how they play into the ultimate decision. But I think generally, based on what we heard out of Minneapolis regarding the departure of the last GM, I don't think we're ever going to know that. Right. I'm kind of getting at, like, you know how they think about Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh are two great head coaches who are really good at, like, managing the building. It's not about the X's and O's and stuff. In theory, that's maybe the most important thing for a GM to have.

36:59And yet we have no idea who's actually good at that because what we think of as a GM is just who can scout the best. But I think some people who either are good at player evaluation or not get to that role, and they're not really good at managing everything. I can think of a couple who seem like they're quite bad at it, and they don't really prove that they're good at scouting either. So maybe Rob Brzezinski's got the tools. We have no idea. Let's get another one from Patrick.

37:26Patrick Claybon:Yeah, I'm going to go back to Florida. I'm going to go over to Jacob Parrish, a corner going into this second year where Todd Bowles didn't mince words at all. He was asked about it. He's like, oh, yeah, Jacob's going to play. And he was right. It's 72 % of the snaps. And Jamel Dean is now playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would imagine if Jacob Parrish didn't have the rookie season that he did have, that we wouldn't be saying that. Jamel Dean would maybe still be there. And so, yeah, he's going to get more snaps at a more prominent position. And he's suddenly more important at work. Great example.

37:53And it's part of how they do things there. They develop at cornerback. They pay sometimes. They paid Diane McCollum. They used to pay Jamel Dean. But they also have Benjamin Morrison. They have Jacob Parrish and they kind of trust Todd Bowles' ability. And if they didn't, they would have paid Jamel Dean again, cause he didn't really get that much money. So he was a third round pick. Morrison was a second round pick and that's going to be very important for them. Why don't you go shook with the next one? It's funny because I targeted a Tampa Bay secondary as well.

38:23Nick Shook:And I had Morrison on my list. Now you got to go for a different one. We cross it. We're crossing a different team, but we're going to stay on the defensive side of the ball. We're going to Cincinnati where one of my favorites, I think one of your favorites too, Greg boy, Mafe has arrived as Trey Hendrickson's replacement of sorts, a guy that, that Bengals fans are going to hope is going to produce off of the edge and help that pass rush, which has been non-existent, especially when Hendrickson wasn't there. They also had a Jonathan Allen, but Mafe steps from a rotational guy, one member of a very strong crew where he was playing alongside Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence.

38:54Nick Shook:And now he's the guy, he's the guy in Cincinnati. He's no longer just starting four games. He's playing a full season and he's going to be expected to fix a lot of what was wrong with that defense from a pass rushing perspective. So I hope that he, with the increased snaps, that he can be a producer like we've seen him produce at times, especially earlier in his Seahawks career when he had more playing time, but a lot of pressure on him. He's suddenly very important in Cincinnati. Yeah, he is a guy that played 20 games last year, and yet he only had 630 snaps because his teammates were so good.

39:23And I do really like him a lot as a player. I think it was a good contract, and yet I am a little worried about the expectation level. But maybe he can just do a lot more. He did have a nine-sack, seven-quarterback hit season back in 23, and maybe he can do more winning one-on-one. But I do think of him as someone who would be great in a group. Like, there's no reason to think, like, to expect just because he's getting paid more that he's going to be a completely different player. What he needs is some help. Let's talk about someone else. Let's do a whole series of... I'm going to group some guys together just so we can talk more players.

40:02I'm going to give a list of wide receivers who have a bigger role than I would have expected. Jahan Dotson right now is the wide receiver, too, in Atlanta. Will he be come week one? most likely because they don't have a first round pick wide receiver is a fairly likely place for them to go but that's a mid to late second round pick will he beat out johan dotson i don't know zakiya is behind them as a wide receiver three they gave dotson pretty good money so this is his chance to really step it up and i'm going to just throw out a couple other wide receiver names that i think are kind of in this group too luther burden um is going to be asked to do a little more in Chicago.

40:40I'm very confident that he can do it. We saw the proof of concept late last year. And then our guy, Patrick, Isaac Tislaw. I did think when they let Khalif Raymond go, especially, not that Raymond and Tislaw are that similar, but it did hit me that, like, okay, it's going to be Tislaw season in 2026. Grow the mullet now.

41:01Patrick Claybon:And maybe not as many shot plays. Just kind of incorporate Isaac Tislaw in, like, non-end zone targets. kind of, you know, he's not going to be leaf in the return game. And I think, you know, Ben Johnson's familiarity was a big part of that as well. But I'm excited for this loss. You know what? They did give him more. And there were some injuries, more snaps later in the season. And he just didn't get a lot of targets. And he's a rookie, big body receiver, learning, I think, how to run routes and, you know, defenses on the at the NFL level. But yeah, I'm excited to watch a little to slot a little burden.

41:34And then Jahan Dotson, who I've always thought could do like a little bit more, might be asked to do a little bit more. What do you think about those three guys in particular? Pick one that you like the best.

41:43Nick Shook:I had Zaccheaus actually listed, even though he wasn't one of the guys that you threw out there, just because he's back in Atlanta after he's had a bit of a nomadic career. And I've loved where he's been, no matter whether it was in Washington or Chicago, he's like an under the radar guy who produces. And I think that that's a good, just mention of the Falcons receiving core as a whole is figuring out who else is there opposite Drake London. And especially with their uncertainty at quarterback, you know, when is panic's going to be ready? is to a going to be the guy to start the season. We're going to find out a lot of these things under Kevin Stefanski, a whole lot of change coming there, but I think Zaccheaus is a good fit, but I want to add another receiver instead of opining on those guys.

42:16Nick Shook:Let's go with a guy who was a former first round pick who washed out in Tennessee and may have found new life in Washington trailing. Oh, wow. Because he's one of the top three in Washington opposite Terry McLaurin, who, you know, as we know, missed a lot of time due to injury last season and Luke McCaffrey. And I think Washington likes Luke McCaffrey more than the average football fan. And that's fine, But if Jane Daniels comes back and can be completely healthy throughout the whole season, he might end up throwing a lot of balls to the big receiver with Burks on his, on the back of his Jersey.

42:44Nick Shook:And maybe just, maybe we finally see a little bit of return on that first round investment, even though it wasn't Washington's pick. I liked what I saw in the brief moments in which he had success down the stretch since he joined the commanders in the middle of the season. Just, I'm very intrigued. I would love to see if it actually panned out.

42:58Patrick Claybon:There was like a small window there. It's like a couple of games where Traylon Burks was getting loaded up with targets. And if you weren't aware of any of the other stuff and you're like, there's a former Titans receiver that got traded to a team in the NFC East and is being successful. You might look at that and be like, it's Traylon Burks. If you took his top three catches from last season and compared them to the top three catches of everyone else, Isaac to slot might be on that list pretty high. And Traylon, which is maybe not the best way to measure. I love this is some real you're hitting me because, yeah, I when I when I saw those couple games for the community, I was like, could Traylon Burks happen?

43:31because I feel like he looked snappier there than he ever has before. He gets like$4 million to come back. They have a million receivers and they're going to draft someone and maybe sign more. But they brought in Van Jefferson. They brought in De 'Ami Brown. They have a fourth round pick, Jalen Lane McCaffrey. As you mentioned, it's kind of been a disappointment for them. But you're right. I actually am buying what you're selling. Why don't we just finish all the receivers that we have listed anywhere? Because I had one more I just will throw out there, which is Jalen Tolbert for the Dolphins.

43:59The former Cowboys receiver is going to have a chance to make a lot of noise for Miami if they actually throw the football forward. I'm going to continue, though, and I'm going to go to a left tackle. Jordan Morgan, the first-round pick from a couple years ago with the Packers, is now the presumptive left tackle. They let Rasheed Walker go in free agency. Morgan's kind of bounced around at the interior positions the last couple years, was a guy that our Daniel Jeremiah, You know, according to his rankings, they reached a little bit for it's taken him a little while to get going. And suddenly you're at left tackle for a team that expects to compete for a title.

44:39And this is sort of trusting in your development and trusting in your draft picks that they are going to make this work. Jordan Morgan protecting Jordan Love.

44:48Patrick Claybon:Yeah, it's a it's a significant amount of pressure. And, you know, you are very important protecting the most important man in Wisconsin. So congratulations. They are really, if you kind of look at their offense, they are really counting on coaching and development because it's still just all their guys. The offensive line is the same. The wide receivers are the same. And they just need to be better. They had that continuity for two years up front. And now it's like, that's all gone. Here you go. I just looked at your list in full, Patrick, and I don't mean to skip around, but you wrote down Aaron Rodgers.

45:19What?

45:20Nick Shook:Oh, let's do this. Am I spoiling the end of the show or something? No.

45:25Patrick Claybon:Grand finale. No, it's fundamentally different. Okay. The power and the way that which he's navigated this process the past few years has dominated things. And collectively, there's been like a, oh, he's coming back. And if not, who cares? Mike McCarthy is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers now. And this is probably it. This is probably it. This one probably means more than any of the previous ones, specifically to Aaron Rodgers and probably to... Why? Because this is probably it. This is going to be it. Didn't we think that last year, though? No, because people still generally, like, if you want to go to Google Trends and look at Aaron Rodgers searches, like, during and after the Gregular season, people were trying to find out, is it going to happen?

46:11Patrick Claybon:Is it coming back? It's not there. The interest generally isn't there. There's the collective, like, oh, he's on McAfee. People are waiting until after the fact to find out. And so like that, I think that decline in interest means that this is probably it. He's probably done. And the fact that this is going to be the last one is pretty important. The crazy thing is that I think this is a very competitive roster, Shook. And that makes it important, too. It does. It is an absolute indictment on this entire organization if they're wrong about Aaron Rodgers. And they thought they were right about him last year.

46:51right to me it was it was sort of incomplete like I'm not gonna say they were right or that I was wrong on that one I was like yeah it was like on the high end of outcomes but you weren't really competitive against real teams and if you dig beneath the numbers the offense was pretty putrid

47:08Nick Shook:and for long stretches yeah I mean recency tells us you know that they were overmatched by the Texans in the playoffs but they don't get to the playoffs or anything close without Aaron Rodgers I thought he was fine. I thought he was better than he'd been in his time with the jets, probably his best season over the last three or four. Sure. But you could have, if Jacoby Brissett was their quarterback or maybe even Andy Dalton, I think they could have made the playoffs too. I wouldn't, I'm not going to sign up for that. I wouldn't sign up for Jacoby Brissett, even though he threw a million passes in Arizona because they had no running game.

47:36Nick Shook:I think I, Aaron Rogers earned another shot. I don't think he earned the leeway that everybody gives him. And I think Patrick makes a great point there, which is that we're all so tired of it. the football world has collectively hit the point of fatigue where we're just like, okay, come back. We're done tracking you. This might be your last season. I think you're, you're spot on Patrick. And that, I think this is his last go around. Everybody's over the whole wait and see thing. And if he comes back, he completes that competitive roster. I believe that will help them contend in what should be a tougher AFC North.

48:06Nick Shook:So yeah, he's very important because if they don't have him, they have Will Howard, Will Howard, who the Steelers fans are trying to convince themselves has some sort of long-term developmental potential, which maybe he does. We don't know. But if that's your fallback, Aaron Rogers is really important to what you're planning.

48:22Patrick Claybon:Well, I'm sorry. I didn't set you up like that.

48:26Nick Shook:What, um, go back guys, by the way, I didn't realize what I didn't realize here. We're dealing with a crazy person when it comes to shook and, uh, and Aaron Rogers, he ranked Aaron Rod and the crazy person is shook and Aaron. Yeah. That's fine. Shook ranked Aaron Rodgers as the 16th best quarterback in the league that played football last year. Ahead of Baker, I don't accept that, but you could maybe argue that. Ahead of Bo Nix, that's ridiculous. Ahead of Jalen Hurts, don't agree at all. Ahead of CJ Stroud, don't agree at all. Ahead of Bryce Young, Tyler Shook, Jackson Dart, Malik Willis, Mac Jones, don't even agree with all those either.

49:11He wasn't good. If he was pressured, the play was over. His success rate in general was down near the bottom of the league. He hits a couple big plays, and he was good in high leverage moments, and he prevents mistakes, including sacks and interceptions. That's all very important. So that's why he is not where he is statistically in terms of success rate, which is with Joe Flacco and Mason Rudolph and some of the, and the worst quarterbacks in the league, but he's not good. Like he limits, he really limits. I can't believe you ranked him that high. Well,

49:47Nick Shook:I think his general lack of mobility forced them into a box when it came to how they operate their offense, they got the ball out incredibly quickly, but he was really good at that. He was really good at finding guys. It's just that the success rate is going to be lower because they're not gaining a ton of yards per play because they're getting it out so quickly. They took it. What's the point of football? It's to gain yards. unless this is the only quarterback that you've equipped yourself with. If you're the Steelers. And I think he did a good enough job given the situation that he was working in.

50:13Nick Shook:And oh, by the way, a receiving core, that was just DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin and a bunch of tight ends. They've improved that group. I think that he'll, if he produces like he did last year, they'll be in the playoffs again, which is good enough for me at his advanced age, which is totally fine. Cause guess what? You could say the same thing about the whole, oh, well he couldn't move. And he, when you pressured him, it was going to be an ugly situation about Tom Brady at the end of his career, because he also couldn't move and he won with his eyes and his brain before the snap. But Tom Brady, Tom Brady was awesome.

50:42Tom Brady was one of the best deep ball throws in the league. Tom Brady was contending for MVPs at his age. Like there's no comparison.

50:49Patrick Claybon:No, I'm sorry for putting Aaron Rodgers name on this page to initiate this discussion, but I will not stand by the disrespect of Super Bowl champion Ben Skoranek. Shook, that is ridiculous. Ben Skoranek does not deserve this. Thank you.

51:02Nick Shook:You know, it's a problem when when Kenny Gainwell is one of your best receiving threats and he's coming out of the backfield. Wow. I didn't get any Gainwell. I did not expect to dive that deep into Aaron Rodgers on March 23rd. Let's wrap up some rapid fire names of guys that you really want to put into this show. Yeah.

51:20Patrick Claybon:Chris Cooper just lost his job as the offensive line coach in Minnesota. And now he's got the most pressure. Jeff Stoutland is God in Philadelphia. He could do no wrong. They would blame everybody. Big Dom would get blamed before Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland said he's out. Chris Cooper has the biggest target in all the sports on him right now. Not to mention Lane Johnson in a podcast appearance said that he believes Jeff Stoutland could still have a role with the Eagles. That doesn't. Yeah, this was weird because this was like rumored for a while.

51:51Nick Shook:Like to the point where I had to double check to make sure that he had. What does that even mean? Out. So this is, things seem unhealthy. Welcome to Philly. They do. Philly does not seem like a good situation right now. Right. There's guys looking over your shoulder. If you're Chris Cooper, like Sean Mannion's got a guy looking over his shoulder and Josh Guzart. Like there's, it just feels like it's set up for a lot of, a lot of palace intrigue, but that's a good choice. My coaches that I thought about were actually an offensive line coach to the Ravens offensive line coach, Dwayne Ledford, who did a great job in Atlanta.

52:22I think this was a sneaky good hire for the staff for Jesse Winter. center. But right now they are short a couple of starters. I'm sure they're going to fill those spots, but either way, it's not going to be a lot of big names. Also, yeah, replacing Clint Kubiak is a little tricky for Seahawks OC, Brian Flurry. So that the tight ends coach from San Francisco with a lot. Give me some rapid fire ones before we go. I'm going to keep it in coaches.

52:48Nick Shook:New defensive coordinator in Cleveland, Mike Rutenberg, replacing Jim Schwartz. We know how ugly that divorce was because Schwartz lost out on the head coaching job and spent the same, you know, the media immediate hours after telling everybody in the building, goodbye and the Browns couldn't keep them around. They had the fourth best defense in terms of the total yards allowed per game last year. They've had some minor changes on that side personnel wise, but a new defensive coordinator is going to have a big job ahead of them of keeping this team competitive on that side of the ball, because we all know their offense is not competitive.

53:15Nick Shook:So a lot of pressure on him. And because we're doing offensive line coaches, I'll go another Browns coach, George Warhop. He's got to come in and coach up a rebuilt offensive line. Joe Thomas hall of famer is a big fan of George Warhop. That was his O-line coach in Cleveland early in his career. He's got to come in and put together a team that has three new additions up front and potentially could have a fourth that they don't believe in DeJuan Jones. So a lot of pressure there for a couple of assistants. And also guys, I know this is maybe too on the nose for this exercise, but very important.

53:42Nick Shook:It works suddenly as Malik Willis, quarterback of the Miami dolphins. I mean, my God, maybe it's just too on the nose. I know. I like that one, but I can't get past the name Warhop as an offensive line coach of the Cleveland Browns. Has there ever been a more football name than George Warhop, new offensive line coach? And yes, I think Freely is a good name too. Willis is important. But yeah, we, you know, he was the number one player here on the free agency list that the expectations are going to be a little different because he doesn't have a lot of. Yeah.

54:13Patrick Claybon:So we're trading everybody. Hey, but Devon, a chance still, they are not trading a chance. So he'll be able to hand the ball off, I guess. Well, look, Shook, you're very important here at work, as are you. Patrick's going to be back with me later this week. Maybe we'll call up Shook for a double duty on Thursday year round. Maybe why not? Sign me up. Got to keep the importance, right? Yes. We will be back in this feed on Tuesday. 40s and free agents. Daniel Jeremiah and I are doing an exercise. For all the poor teams that don't have first round picks, we're calling it March Sadness. And we're going to tell those teams who they should be taking in the middle round.

54:48Only DJ would know. And then we'll be back in this studio with Colleen Wolfe and Jordan on Wednesday. That'll be a fun one. See you then.

55:01I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal.

55:04Nick Shook:I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts. To my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins.

55:27Patrick Claybon:Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now.

55:32Nick Shook:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.