The QB-Agnostic NFL Roster Rankings!

23:56But I think the offensive line got better this past year. I think that's one of those tired talking points. You remember when the Cowboys had the best offensive line in 2016? And that just carried over for a decade? It was like, oh, they had the best offensive line, and it was not even true anymore. I think it's the opposite effect with Cincinnati. And obviously the concern is the defensive talent. This team could not, they've tried their hardest. We've talked about this plenty of times. But losing Trey Hendrickson hurts. But I just think the offense is strong enough to carry them through where I would rather have that strong of an offense than some of these other teams around the same range.

24:31Like I'm looking at, let me see a team that's like close, like Tampa Bay. I think I'd rather have Cincinnati's star talent than Tampa Bay's roster, even though I think roster, or their roster is deeper on the defensive side of the ball. I think that's fair. And I think that for me, maybe the biggest hang up and why I dropped him down here is like, you still are like crossing your fingers and squinting your eyes with their front seven defensively. Like I think that Dexter Lawrence, a healthy Dexter Lawrence is still a world changer. He's still a math changer. Like I hope that that part doesn't get lost in what I'm about to say.

25:05But Boye Mafe, kind of a specialist in Seattle. He's really, like I think the metrics all suggest, it's like a basketball player, right? that is maybe like the seventh or eighth man in a rotation, but he's a high-volume three-point shooter and some team of free agency convinces themselves like, oh, if we take his six three-point attempts a night and now we're playing him 32 minutes and that six becomes nine to 11, right? This guy is going to be a fringe all-star. And then it turns out like, oh wait, this guy doesn't do enough for the rest of the, you know, we don't have the right ecosystem around him.

25:36He's not impactful enough to make it worth the money that we're spending or the resources that we give up. I think that Lawrence can be that, unfortunately, he's surrounded by Jonathan Allen, Miles Murphy, Boye Mafe. They need something out of Miles Murphy, right? Like that's the way it works. He has to hit. Shamar Stewart has to turn into something. I think that Mafe can still be a high pressure guy in Cincinnati. It's just not going to matter if he's only playing 300, you know, 300 pass rush reps per season and the other 300, you know, are being split with Shamar Stewart or Cassius Howell, two guys who I'm just not very much sold on being able to give you plus, surplus value in that way and miles murphy for all his size and you know the the straight line linear speed that he showed when he was at clemson like none of that has translated quite yet and they're playing in front of two linebackers that i would say are in the running for having the worst single season tape that you will ever see that's his position like yeah it's rough demetrius knight and Barrett Carter both might turn into something eventually.

26:40But if you go back and watch them on early downs trying to figure out what motions mean what, what run actions are supposed to mean what in terms of run fits, how to handle play actions, it was rough. It was absolutely rough. And I can't cast that aside. Maybe I'm too defensive-minded in this respect, and maybe this is something that could be fixed at the pro level a little easier than I'm giving it credit for. But I'm going to err on the side of the Bengals being dragged down by this defense again more so than saying that the acquisition of Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe is enough to kick this team up to where you want it to be.

27:14And Brian Cook as well in that equation. I think you could make the argument that Dexter Lawrence is the most load-bearing defensive player in the NFL right now. And probably has been for the last four seasons. When you hear Bengals fans talk about the linebackers, they're like, yeah, but we have Dexter Lawrence now. He's going to occupy blocks. Like you said, you still have to know where the football is going. and I'm not sure the linebackers do. And you got to tackle too. That's a big thing. That's like one of the most underrated thing, which is kind of funny because it happens every play is that tackling is a big deal.

27:45Yes. Yeah, and they're not a good tackling team. But I do think they have enough to... I dragged them up into the top half of this list. Okay, so we've gotten to around the 20th. Let's take a break here and then come back. Snoring? Gasping during sleep? Feeling fatigued? Ask your doctor about ZepBound, Terzepatite, the first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and adults with obesity. ZepBound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and obesity to improve their OSA.

28:24ZepBound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Z-Bound contains terzepatide and should not be used with other terzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Z-Bound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pins or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Z-Bound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction.

29:00Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experienced vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking ZetBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit ZetBound.Lily.com. And let's look at your 20 through 15. All right, welcome back. We have ranked the bottom 12 rosters. Now we're going to get into the top 20.

29:36And this is where things really get interesting for me. But I'm interested to hear where you have these teams, the 20th through 15th ranked teams. 12 through 20 was agonizing for me, honestly. So hard. Like, I feel like we could have recorded this podcast at any point this week. And depending on how I felt when I woke up, this entire thing could be totally reshuffled. 20, I have Dallas. And I'm still kind of up in the air with how I feel about that. 19, and I think this might be the biggest surprise, and I think we're probably going to spend a lot of time talking about this. 19, I have Kansas City.

30:12Item 20th. Okay. Yes, okay. So we're probably seeing this pretty similarly. 18th, I have the Chargers. I think that's another one that's going to be worth conversation. I have the Vikings at 17 I have the Jaguars at 16 I have the 49ers 15th the Colts 14th, the Bucks 13th and the Steelers 12th Okay, we have similar teams So I have Kansas City 20th, I have the Bucks 19th the Steelers 18th Charter 17th, Jacksonville 16th and Dallas 15th and then we're getting into the I think these are all teams that are going to maybe make the playoffs win a playoff game. I got Baltimore 14th I am not a fan of their roster right now.

30:56And I actually had Cincinnati at 15th. I guess I had Dallas at 16th. And then I have Green Bay at 13th. Oh, okay. That's another interesting one for me to talk about with you. Let's talk about Kansas City first. Where do you want to take this conversation? Because I went back and watched some Patrick Mahomes recently. He's a pretty good quarterback. If you haven't, you should go. I highly recommend watching him play. and I'm just astounded by how bad things were around him at the end of the year, right before he got injured and how much he was lifting that team. The offensive line, just penalties were a problem on first down.

31:32The receiving core couldn't get open. They couldn't catch the ball when they did get open. The defense is just a lot of talent drain. I think they brought back LeJarius Sneed this week, which shows you the standard roster. No, not a good sign. That's a massive red flag after getting rid of Trent McDuffie. they lost Leo Chanel where like outside of Patrick Mahomes if you could draft one player from this team who would it be for like the next five years it could only be like Kenneth Walker right that's the only guy I would feel good about exactly and who's going to be making basically market rate at the position now that's not a good move for me it's like a neutral move 100%.

32:16I mean, we haven't seen a lot of them over the last year. So, you know, maybe it's possible that because with some distance and then with all the off-field stuff that has given me a little bit of pause with them, the version of Rasheed Rice that I thought we were going to have at this stage in his career and the one we actually have, there's a huge delta. I thought that he was going to be like, oh, this is a guy, yards after catch-wise, short area, intermediate. This guy is going to be a killer. He's not as big and physical as Puka Nakula, but he would approximate that role, I thought, for Kansas City.

32:49Ultimately, what I think he is right now is a Patrick Mahomes merchant, which is not what this offense needs. I think that they have an entire wide receiver core who are all Mahomes merchants, right? They're all RPO, quick game screens, working within 12 yards of the line of scrimmage guys. And this offense has been trying and trying for the last two years to push more vertically, to get more explosive. And ultimately, they continue to have to go back to playing in a phone booth because none of these guys separate often enough, none of them are detailed enough route runners to merit and justify that style of play.

33:24And it falls back on Mahomes to, and this is something I was saying, I'm working on a piece about the best quarterback blooms in the NFL. And the thing that I continue to come back to with Mahomes is he is literally like the parent that has to get up and get their teenager out of bed in spite of the fact that they have an alarm clock and stand in the door sill and watch them brush their teeth and put on their clothes and get out the house on time. He does everything just for this offense, at least last year, to be middling. And I think that we have been talking about this for the last two years, even as they were making a Super Bowl run in 2024, that eventually the run game was going to crater.

34:04The offensive line was going to regress. There would be some kind of attrition with the defense and we are going to see Patrick Mahomes totally on an island by himself. And that was a situation we saw last year. And I thought that he was playing some of his best superhero ball that you could have asked for out of a quarterback. Like we talk all the time about Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence pre-Liam Cohen being stuck in these situations where they have to be superheroes just to get their offense across the finish line. Nobody has a situation like what Patrick Mahomes is being asked to do. and he's playing in an offensive ecosystem that is what, like six years behind the meta?

34:43Like they still struggle to get to the play action game. They still struggle to, you know, be multiple as much as they need to be in spite of how many tight ends they've tried. You still don't see enough of a downhill run game. At least it's been waxing and laning over the last few years. This team has just been very disappointing when you don't consider Mahomes, especially now that the defense has taken a step back. And like you said, as you were kind of detailing it, this team has lost more talent than it's added. in each of the last two off seasons. And I think that people might be disappointed, even if Patrick Mahomes is healthy and healthy all year, in where Kansas City lands, you know, in the hierarchy of contenders.

35:18Because if it's not him being an MVP, I just don't see how this team's supposed to make another deep run. Yeah, like you said, like you watch Patrick Mahomes play, you watch the tape, and then you look at his numbers, and you're like, no, those are incongruent. Like, that does not make sense with how good he's playing. You watch the last Broncos game, I mean he's playing One on 21 He's playing against his team and the Broncos defense And he's holding his own and I know he had a couple Turnovers in that game but Man they asked him to put The cape on. Both games against the Chargers I would say like it was Mahomes being A superhero and the rest of his offense Just being totally bullied on a snap By snap basis.

35:56Rasheed Rice like They try to make Him a vertical threat at times last year and he just can't Do it like he can't separate he can't get downfield even if you look beyond the off the field stuff the fact that he wakes up and he's got two stars on GTA when he gets out of bed he's just not the player that they thought he was going to be and maybe that comes next year because he's over the injuries but he could be suspended again it's tough to talk about him as a player and know where his ceiling is to answer my question it would probably be Creed Humphrey would be the player you draft and the fact that it's a center and it's not like they've been skimping on You know, infusing talent into this roster, the swings they've taken just haven't connected at all.

36:39But Brett Veach, whenever you see a GM ranking somehow, he's in the top five. I don't get it. It should just be Patrick Mahomes. Never mind the fact that Patrick Mahomes is making$10 million lower than market rate right now. He's making$45 million a year, and the market rate is$55 ,000, and they have this very complicated contract design to be able to manufacture cash space basically whenever they want it, and they have absolutely botched that over the last two to three seasons. Basically since the Tyreek Hill trade, they've just had a superhero quarterback long enough to patch it over until they didn't last year.

37:12So I'm fascinated to see if their young guys that they're banking on actually give them what they need to get them back to where they want to be in the AFC title race. I hope so. I just want to see Patrick Holmes good again. Is that too much to ask? I don't want to see a 6.5 ADOT, man. God damn. This team pisses me off so much. Where do you want to go next? What team do you want to talk about? I think that we should probably talk about the Vikings and Chargers These are two teams where you really have to weigh Coaching versus roster talent I mean the Vikings At least have your A1 Above the fold type of player Justin Jefferson That carries a lot of weight And creates a lot of opportunities For his teammates But to me with Minnesota It's basically been Brian Flores taking these misfit toys on defense and turning them into superstar appearing players by production.

38:04Maybe not superstar players in terms of quality. You think about Angie Van Ginkle two years ago basically looking like the greatest utility player in the NFL. And then you're actually watching and it's like, oh yeah, that play was made because of Brian Flores. That play was made because of Brian Flores. You made that play because of Brian Flores too. They don't have a ton of depth on either side of the ball. Their offensive line, another team like the Chiefs, they've taken swing after swing with veterans and trying to make different additions and trying to change the way that they play up front.

38:32None of those things have really come or materialized. I think that this is also the perfect team to talk about divorce from quarterback play because they didn't get good quarterback play last year and we're still able to go nine and eight because their coaching staff is as elite as it is in terms of play calling and game planning. But yeah, I just don't know how you'd make an argument that they're a top half of the league roster right now and they'd probably be, you know, 23rd or worse. I would say Minnesota would be at least if you did not have Kevin O 'Connell and Brian Flores at the helm on both sides of the ball.

39:01It's definitely Flores doing the heavy lifting on defense. I think their offense is more, like, KOC's a good coach, obviously, and he's a floor raiser, but I do think they have a lot of offensive talent. We just didn't see it at its best last year because of the quarterback situation. Like, a bad quarterback could just ruin everything. Like, they make the offensive line look worse. They made Justin Jefferson look, at times he looked like a bad player. He couldn't catch the football. I really like the Jawan Jennings acquisition. I think they needed that tough, chain-moving wide receiver to go along with Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson.

39:34I think the explosives are going to be there, but a little more consistency. I don't know if Kyler Murray is necessarily the best quarterback for a guy that does a lot of work over the middle in Jennings. It's not really Kyler's strong suit. I think the offensive line should be a lot better this year, but we'll see how that looks. They'll have to be healthy. Yeah, they'll have to be healthy. and then they just weren't healthy last year, especially at the beginning of the year. I forget what position it was. Was it the right guard? I don't know, but there was a backup lineman that played and he was, I think it was the left tackle, actually.

40:03Worst player I've ever seen on a football field. That's a slight exaggeration. But I like what they did in the draft, adding to the defensive line, because I think that's where they really needed to solidify things if they're going to continue running the defense like this. Caleb Banks. What do you think about Caleb Banks as a prospect? I think that if you watch the right plays the right games from him you can see Chris Jones and then if you're not watching those games you're really trying to squint and figure out whether or not you're going to get tier one play and then you have to factor in the fact that he's dealing with these foot injuries that have been nagging him all year really and it's kind of cost him some money in the draft because he certainly could have been a top 15 talent in this year's draft I think if he's healthy you get an above average, maybe no big impact play at a defensive tackle from him.

40:53I just don't know if I'd be comfortable taking the risk on this roster, which needs defensive tackle help more than anything. They lost guys. They lost talent at that position, and they weren't very good at that position to begin with last year anyways. So I'm very concerned about whether Banks can be the tide that lifts all boats for this defense up front. Yeah, they also drafted nose tackle Dominique Orange in the third round. I do think, I think you're right. like your trepidation with Banks, but if there is a coach to get those four plays where he looks like Chris Jones out of him, like you said with Van Gickle, I think Brian Flores is that.

41:26But I think I overrated the coaching with this roster, especially on the defensive side. But I do like the offensive pieces. I think this has a chance to be a top 10 offense. I think they could score a lot of points. Kyler stays healthy. I don't know if he's going to make that offensive line look good because those quarterbacks tend not to, but we'll see what happens. I think KFC and Kyler is an interesting pairing to me. I'm really excited to see how that works. Let's talk about the Chargers. What do you like about the Chargers roster? You have them 13th? Is that what you said? No, I have them 18th.

41:56I have the Vikings and the Chargers tied together. I don't love them as much. And I think that most people who are bullish on them would also, you know, would all kind of sing the same tune that this is a Mike McDaniel belief thing more than it is an offensive roster belief, right? I think Quentin Johnson has gotten a little bit better, but he is certainly not the number one receiver they need. I think that in terms of scheme to player match, someone like Ladd McConkie working those play action, in breaking routes, working drags, getting that yak, kind of being, I guess, the Brandon Ayuk of this offense.

42:30I think that that's something you can picture for them. I just don't know if he's going to make it work at a high enough volume to make that work, to really be a difference maker. I think that last year they would have needed that from Ladd McConkie and they didn't really get it, you know. And I think that you're really counting on Mike McDaniel to make the interior of this offensive line turn into something. And I know that they spent some money to try to bring guys in and Cole Strains and Tyler Biotish, right? I know they took a swing last offseason with Trevor Penning to kind of be a swing interior guy.

43:00You cannot convince me that this interior three with Penning, you know, and Josh Kautenberger as a backup center, you know, kind of swing around guy. You cannot convince me that that is going to be an above average interior. I think it's entirely possible that we look up at midseason and say, Rayshawn Slater and Joel are healthy and Justin Herbert is still running for his life on every third down because their interior is just getting caved in. That's been the problem is the interior offensive line. There's nothing you can do quarterback-wise to kind of mitigate that. There was always that saying like, oh, the key to stopping Tom Brady is to get interior pressure.

43:34That's the key to stopping every quarterback in the NFL. But yeah, it comes down to be oddish. I think in the middle of the offensive line, it's obviously a big deal in that offense, the wide zone offense, if you want to call it that. Although I think if anyone's deviated from that out of necessity, it's been Mike McDaniel over the last couple of years. I think you're right where if you are bullish on this team, it's because of Mike McDaniel. Cause I, I'm looking at the roster now and it's like, it's, it's Quinn Johnson as your number one. Like you said, he got better, but he's not reliable. And even Ladd McCockney last year was not reliable.

44:09He didn't have the year you thought he would have coming off his rookie year. What do you think about the defense? I think that's the question mark with Jesse Venture. The defense I like, but that's really what you're kind of left with is how much was their ceiling raised by play calling? I think very weirdly, they've built this young kind of amorphous front seven that you can do a lot with. I think even if Kulomak is not as good this upcoming year, and I think that now we're certainly at a space in his career where you can't ask him to be much more than what he's been for them over the last two seasons.

44:47But I think that even if you don't have Pete Kulomak, I still think you can get enough out of their linebacker room with Perryman and Henley. I think that Tully Tully Pelo too can definitely give you a little bit as kind of your flexible move around interior rusher where their new defensive coordinator, that I always, I feel like I botch his name all the time. I think it's Chris O 'Leary. I think that he has the right kind of starting point to have an average defense, right? And I think that that's really where I'm at with them. I think they can be really good in the box. I don't think they have enough difference-making around Derwin James in the secondary to make it, you know, make this team a top 12, top 10 level of defense and level of supporting cast around Justin Herbert.

45:29But I think there's just enough for this team to be what they've been basically for the last few years, which is right on the fringes of the wildcard race and hoping that Justin Herbert doesn't get into the playoffs and lay an egg the way that he has the last two years. God, he was so bad against New England. He was so bad. It's unwatchable. That game is unwatchable even by his stance. It's in the playoffs and he's had some rough ones. I defend him as much as I can, but I could not defend that game. It was the worst game I've ever seen him play. And it was in ways that he typically isn't bad. I don't even want to talk about it.

45:59Who did you have right outside the top 10? So this next cluster, 15 to 11, is... Oh, I've got Jacksonville at 16. I've got San Francisco at 15. I've got Indianapolis 14. I've got Tampa Bay 13. I've got Pittsburgh 12. And I've got Green Bay 11. All right, let's talk about Pittsburgh. Because I thought I was ranking them high when I put them 18th. And I honestly like their roster. It's not a bad roster. No, no, it's pretty good. It's pretty... Like, the offensive line could be very solid. I like the tight... What they were doing with the tight ends and the sixth offensive line. I don't know if they're going to continue that with Mike McCarthy taking over.

46:36The wide receiving, they have wide receiving talent. The defensive talent, obviously, the defense like Leiden Ague last year and they were pointing fingers all over the place, but the talent is there. I would, like if Aaron Rodgers is decent, which is a big if at this point, like this could be a team that threatens to win the AFC North, even if the other teams stay healthy. I know they won last year, but obviously a lot went right for them. What do you like about this roster the most? I think that I think they've done a good job at addressing weaknesses and trying to insulate themselves from having any major holes outside of the quarterback position, right?

47:08Like Michael Pittman to me is a kind of receiver that for most teams in the league you look at him and say for his price point probably not worth bringing in. I think that for the way that Mike McCarthy likes to structure his offense. He needs a Michael Pittman. You need a slant. You need a slant merchant, right? Like a slant boy. Yeah, you know, you need a third down run right to the sticks turn around. and move the chains guy. And I think that that's the best use for Michael Pittman. And I think if you allow DK Metcalf to continue to be your field stretcher, he's going to run nice, he's going to run his hitches.

47:38You're going to get him on an end breaker, you know, once a game, and hopefully you're able to connect on those. I think that that's a good spot for him. And I like Jeremy Bernard playing that kind of Debo, maybe being like a Debo Samuel-esque player in the league where you can manufacture touches. And again, in this offense, where you know Mike McCarthy wants to be in 11 personnel a ton, I think that's a good spot for him. I think the more interesting thing is, can he properly value the tight end combo of Darnell Washington and Pratt Fireman? If he can maximize that from a run game perspective, then the ceiling, I think, takes another big step forward.

48:14If you are able to get spread and under center runs together with this tight end group and be able to be multiple offensively, I think that's just to see it, to believe it. And then on the other side of the ball, while this defense did lay an egg, there's still a lot to kind of like, right? There really aren't big, big holes, maybe outside of Peyton Wilson, who's just not been a favorite of mine. I would say both he and Patrick Queen can be very much catch chasing lasers in points in games. I think that they can be good tacklers. They just don't always go where the ball is going. right um but up front i like what they have and i think that passion graham has enough of a track record now as a ceiling raising play caller that you can take this above average-esque you know defensive setup and be a good play caller not give up explosive plays and we might look up and this is a team that is top 10 in dvoa defensively even though you know we don't necessarily think them think of them very highly at any one particular point because guys are aging have been banged up and they're coming off of 2025 but they were pretty disappointing I think that was the most underrated thing at the end of the Tomlin era because there was so much focus on the quarterback position and there was so much focus on just like the overall results like oh they go 9-8 every year is that I thought the defensive scheme left a lot to be desired they were trying to do too much they busted so many coverages so I do think having Patrick Graham come in who I think is just more solid I don't think the I don't know if the ceiling is as high as it would be with those coaches but I think the floor is a lot higher So I think, and that's good when you have this much talent.

49:45I think a high floor is better. The quarterback position is just, I mean, a black hole. Like Aaron Rodgers. But you said Michael Pittman, like you need a Michael Pittman and a Mike McCarthy offense. And I think if you have Aaron Rodgers, you need a DK Metcalf. So I do think the talent fits the scheme and the quarterback. That's why I'm a little bullish on this team. But I guess I'm not as bullish as you. But I, like we said, 12 through 18, that was just a clusterfuck for me. You could have swapped any of those teams. I had Green Bay at 12. I'm interested to hear where you ended up with them. Oh, we're right next to each other.

50:19I have them at 11. Okay, okay. Because this roster wasn't as good. You think of Green Bay and you think about LeFleur and Jordan Love and they're an ascending team because they have a young quarterback. Then you look at the defense and outside of Michael Parsons who is in red right now on our lads. It's hard to get excited, especially about that front seven and I don't know where the pass rush is going to come from. This team has quietly turned into a stars and scrubs roster. Yes, 100%. The whole draw to them for the two or three seasons prior to this one was that they've got a lot of depth, especially up front, in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

50:57So if guys get banged up, you're not going to see a massive drop-off from one guy to the next. What's happened as of recent, I would say, especially over the last season, season and a half, the offensive line has taken a step back. You don't get the same kind of body-moving aspect. You don't get as consistent in terms of pass protection as you might like to see from a Green Bay offensive line. I would say Jordan Love did an excellent job of still being able to be explosive. We saw him use his legs a little bit more to extend plays. I think that he did a lot more to paper over some of the issues this offensive line had, especially on obvious passing downs, than what we might have noticed in the moment.

51:31I think that people should go and re-watch and see how much Jordan Love was actually doing to lift the level of this offense. I think that the wide receiver room, They've made their bets on Jaden Reed and Christian Watson and Matthew Golden as their first-round pick from two drafts ago. I think I can squint and see how that mix of skill sets can make for a good passing game. I just need to see Christian Watson look like a$20-plus million-per-year wide receiver on a week-by-week basis. The flashes, 100%. Meet the mark. It's just not consistent enough, and he's obviously just not been available long enough to make that work.

52:05and then on the other side of the ball, man, like last year was just disappointing. There's really no other way around it. Very disappointing, yeah. Even when Michael Parsons was healthy, the defensive backs were getting dunked on from time to time, right? They've got a Keyshawn Nixon problem, I think. I think even Carrington Valentine has been an issue for them. They've just not gotten the kind of even play that they need. You get the splash plays from Evan Williams, from Xavier McKinney, right? Like that has been good for the most part. Their safeties have been good young guys, but the rest of this roster around Michael Parsons has either stagnated, regressed, or just left more to be desired.

52:40I'm really interested to see, and taking Parsons out of it, what the other 10 guys on this defense can do to raise the level of this roster because I've just been really disappointed waiting for them to break through in the way that we thought they might when they were hot during the first half of the 2024 season and the first half of the 2025 season for that matter. If you believe in the talent and where they were drafted, I think there is a way to envision this defense being a lot more solid than it was last year. Let's say Lucas Van Ness becomes something. Devontae Wyatt takes a step. But those are a lot of big hits.

53:12And on the other side, the wide receiver thing, I'm with you. I think they made the right bets based on what they had. They obviously had a lot of pieces in there, and they had to choose the best of them. But none of these are sure things. I don't think Matthew Golden's a sure thing. Christian Watson has obviously had trouble staying healthy, inconsistent when he has Jaden Reed trouble catching the football. Tucker Craft coming back from an injury, that's a big deal. He's got to be a superstar. If he's a superstar, I think this offense is going to be enough to carry the defense, even if the defense is below average.

53:46I've been talking myself into them being a contender the last couple years, and I don't think I'm going to do that this time around this year. Where do you have San Francisco? I brought them up. I haven't heard you mention them. I'm guessing there must be a top 18 for them. I have an 8th because I think you can ignore the... I don't know. It's hard for this exercise because there's the age and health thing, which sometimes comes down to luck. But with the 49ers, they're an old, injury-riddled team. Yes. They get injured every year. And I don't think it's because the electric substation or whatever the hell that was all about.

54:18I think it's just when you sign injured players who are old, they tend to get injured. But on paper, this roster has a chance to be really good. But as always, the offense, the skill group, Mike Evans, I think, still has a lot left in the tank. That's going to be really interesting to see how Kyle gets the most out of him. When's the last time we saw a wide receiver like him in that offense? Obviously, he's not prime Julio Jones, but that body type. That's the last archetype. Yeah, that's the last time they've had a guy of that archetype playing in a Shanahan offense. And that passing game looked demonstrably different from what we've seen in San Francisco.

54:53So I think there's a chance for some evolution there on the offensive side. the defense, obviously it's hit or miss. You still have the best linebacker in the league. You still have Fred Warner Nick Bosa, if he's healthy, is still going to give you pressure, going to give you double-digit sacks after that though, you got Lenore. After that, it's kind of hard to get excited about the defense which is the only thing that's keeping me from making this a top five roster, which in October I would not be surprised if we're like, holy shit, the 49ers are very good to me this is like a litmus test on how do you feel about Osa Adigazua and how do you feel about you know and or Lenore right like where do you have them ranked I think in the hierarchy of guys at their positions and I think that I am just a little bit cooler on both of them I liked Osa a lot two years ago and in this past year not as much right like it's hard to kind of parse out like how much of that is Michael Parsons I don't think that he was 100 % the entire way you just didn't get the same kind of production from him.

55:52You're still banking on Nick Bosa being healthy. I think that of the edge rushers who could be on the fringes of, if they give you top five production, that changes the way that we look at this entire unit. And if they stagnate at all, it will definitely lower the floor for a team like this. So Bosa has to be that guy, I think, to make it work. And a lot of that comes back to the fact that their safety position, the safety position has been a major disappointment for them. Jair Brom flashed at times I bought into the flashes earlier in his career it has not materialized Malik Mustafa was like one of those draft darling types because he's a downhill I'll blow you up in the middle of the field guy that has not really materialized into anything consistent he's not a camp chancellor type of player right and I think that Renardo Green too is another guy that like you need a player like that to take the next step up we just haven't necessarily seen that from him I think that he's been fine, but they need better than fine.

56:52I think in a lot of spots on this defense. Yeah, yeah. Like a lot has to go right for the defense to be where it has been when they've been really good. Like that's, the offense is always there in some way, like even with the quarterback injuries, but the defense has dictated this team's ceiling. When they're a Super Bowl contender, they have like a top 10 defense. When they're not, when they don't have a top 10 defense and have a bottom 10 defense, they're also ran. So I think there's a lot riding on that, but I think this offense could be superb. I didn't mention Christian Kirk, who I think wasn't worth the money Jacksonville gave him, but he's a functional player, and Kyle Schinney is going to get the most out of him, that type of player in particular.

57:28So we're on the cusp of the... You don't wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's up big. And you definitely don't shave during the playoffs. When things are working, you don't change them. That's why when you drink Jägermeister, you drink it ice cold. Anything else? Well, that'd just be bad luck. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jägermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jägermeister liqueur, 35 % alcohol by volume. Imported by Mass Jägermeister, U.S. White Plains, New York.

58:01This is what everyone's talking about. Everything's on the table. This is what champions come to take. This is what everyone came to see. And the slam! No do-overs. No second chances No more Mr. Nice Guy This is Winner Take All The NBA Finals continue On ABC and the ESPN app The top 10 Let's take a break before we get into the top 10 And then we'll see what you have Alright, welcome back Let's get into your top 10 Give me your 10 through 6 Alright, so the back half of my top 10 We Baltimore at 10 I've got New England at nine I've got Chicago at eight I've got Houston at seven and I've got Detroit at six okay so I had Minnesota at nine so and then I had San Francisco at eight but outside of that we have similar teams I have Buffalo at ten Minnesota nine San Francisco eight Houston seventh and then I have New England sixth and then I had Chicago 11th you want to talk about Chicago first?

59:07yeah let's talk about Chicago Chicago and Jacksonville to me were two of the harder teams to play in this. Both were teams that got hot in the second half of the season. Quarterbacks seemed to take major steps forward, and their defenses were forcing turnovers left and right. And it gets really hard to parse out hot streaks from what is actually going to stick on a year-to-year basis. I think Chicago, honestly, might be even more extreme, because they got the holy trifecta of things that don't stick on a year-to-year basis. an explosive run game, high turnover margin, and a quarterback that was nails in like fourth quarters, third downs, high leverage situations.

59:49Those three things are very hard to carry over on a year-to-year basis. I have a hard time trying to figure out exactly what to make of them. But when I look at the players, and maybe this is just projection because they have a lot of youth in a lot of spots. When I look at the players, almost at every spot, it's guys that I can kind of squint and say, okay, I think that this could work out for this team. I trust what this player is in a Ben Johnson offense. I trust what this player is in a Dennis Allen defense. So maybe I'm wish casting a bit, and that's why I have them at eight for me. But I do genuinely believe that there is another step forward they can take, even if it's not as many fireworks as what we saw in the second half of last season.

1:00:27I still think this can be a 10 to 11 win team, even if things are a little more stable and less explosive for them. Yeah, I think I have the same concern. I think that the turnovers in particular really embellish how good the defense was. That's where I have the most pause. Obviously, they bring in Dylan Thienemann. I think he could really help that defense. But the Kyler Gordon question, he hasn't been on the field, and Ben Johnson's saying weird things about him right now. Yes. There are a lot of question marks on that. But the offensive line was what they paid for. I think they got their return on investment.

1:01:03but there's a lot of heavy lifting done by Ben Johnson, I feel like. Yes. You look at these pieces and you think about the offense as a whole and you're like, oh, they were top 10 offense. But then you look at the pieces individually and I'm not in love with him. Colson Loveland, he's awesome. And then after that, who are you buying into? Who are you positive is going to be a star player down the line? Even Roma Dunze, I don't know where I'm at with him yet after two years. He was disappointing last year. I don't know if there's another way to cut it. He was disappointing last year. A guy of his size with his athletic ability, you would expect him to be one of those win at the catch point every time, can go dunk on DBs, especially in the red zone.

1:01:44And it was always just fits and starts in and out of the lineup. I think that for him, again, he's kind of the linchpin, I think, of the ceiling of this offense. I trust some of the better plays that their quarterback Caleb Williams made. I do trust that Colston Loveland is going to be an absolute stud, right? I think that he can be everything that Detroit was hoping that Sam Laporta could be. I think that Sam Laporta has kind of topped out as a very good receiving tight end. I think Loveland gives you that, maybe even more of a receiver. I think he's like a force is how I would put it. Yes. He can be like what Tucker Kraft was before he tore his ACL.

1:02:19Every time the ball's in his hands, you can get 20 yards of yak. He can be a George Kittle-esque type of impact player as an inline and as a split out tight end. and then I think that really the projection is with Luther Burden. I think that we've heard positive things from Ben Johnson about Luther Burden, right? I think that one of his OTA comments is that it looks like Luther's playing at a different speed than a lot of the other receivers that they're working out right now. He's playing much faster than the defense can cover him at and I think that if that's what we get, if we get that version of him, then they have what I think they wanted out of DJ Moore, which is a guy that can work in that intermediate area, that could also take the top off and be a decoy at times and allow other receivers or allow Colston Loveland to work underneath.

1:03:02I like Burton a lot coming out of college, so maybe this is just me being anchored to how I felt about him coming into the league, but I think that there's a lot of meat left on the bone for him, and now there's a lot of opportunity opened up for him now that DJ Moore is out of the building. I just find myself saying, while Ben Johnson does a lot of the heavy lifting for this offensive line, that they have the right ecosystem of playmaking talent around this O-line, especially on the interior, to be able to make it work. yeah I'm excited for Burden just because unlike Rome I think Burden is a player that can be elevated by the coaching by the play calling like he's that style of receiver whereas Rome for him to be at his best like that's individual talent like him being a 50-50 ball winner winning in the red zone where Burden is going to get plays drawn up for him he's going to get explosive plays drawn up for him he's going to get open deep I think the production is going to be there I wouldn't be surprised if he like we come out of this year and we're like okay Burden's the number one Not role-wise, but production-wise.

1:04:01He's the number one in Rome, taking a backseat to him. Let's move on. I had Buffalo at 10. Let's talk about Baltimore. Let's talk about Baltimore. Let's talk about Baltimore. I think that there are a lot of people who were going... This is one of those helmet sticker things where people see Baltimore and you think about the reputation of what they usually have in terms of roster depth. It's going to be easy to assume that this should be one of the five best rosters in the league. And what we've just seen borne out after the last two seasons is that it's Derrick Henry, it's Kyle Hamilton, and then it's a lot of on a week-by-week basis, you're kind of hoping that another guy breaks out.

1:04:38A lot of old players. Like, it's kind of reminiscent of the 49ers. I don't think they have quite the high-end talent that the 49ers do, but, like, you think about the players they're relying on to be good that are well past their prime, like Andrews. Even Henry, who Henry, he's a freak. Right. He's the new Adrian Peterson. But Andrews, Ronnie Stanley, Patrick, or not Patrick Queen, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey. You're adding Trey Hendrickson to that list. Trey Hendrickson, add him to the list. It's, Matt Abouquet is coming off a major injury that I think some people were concerned that might cost him his career.

1:05:14If he's not at 100%, like, this defense could be really bad in ways that they've kind of been bad since losing Mike McDonald. And then the offensive side of the ball, The wide receiver room still has those question marks. The offensive line wasn't great, and they bring back John Simpson. I know they drafted Ayanu. I'm not high on the offensive line. It's, again, another year of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry make magic. And thank God for Derrick Henry. Where would this team be if they didn't sign Derrick Henry two years ago? Which wasn't seen as a slam dunk move. They would be asking Lamar to be 2018, 2019 Lamar again.

1:05:51Which is obviously just not feasible. It would not be feasible. I don't think they'd have a functional offense if not for Derrick Henry to at least take some of the load on early downs away from him and away from Jackson in this passing game. And these wide receivers, they just have not delivered the way that we thought they would. Even the best of Zay Flowers, I think, has left some people wanting in terms of down-to-down consistency. And we just haven't seen the connection, really, with Rashad Bateman and Lamar Jackson, you know, outside of, you know, a two - or three-week stretch here where they're pushing the ball downfield, and then they can't connect.

1:06:21You have these miscommunications in terms of where routes are supposed to break. You think about the divisional playoff game against the Bills two years ago where you end up getting an interception because guys are miscommunicating. So this offense has been, I think, more disappointing in the passing game than what you might think given the fact that Lamar Jackson was playing at an MVP level. And I think that kind of speaks to what he's been as a pocket passer to really paper over, I think, what they haven't had in terms of difference-making wide receiver talent? I have them at 14th, and the only reason I have them that high, I think you could put them in the same boat that we put Kansas City, the way we were talking about Kansas City.

1:07:00But I do believe in this coaching staff, even though they still have to prove it. We haven't seen Jesse Minter be a head coach. We haven't seen Declan Doyle call plays. But that's the type of offensive coach they needed. Attention to detail, we're not going to take that shit. If you mess up, we're going to correct it on the field immediately. And I think they've lacked that the last couple of years, and we've seen that with the lack of consistency with the route running. But if this works and they make the playoffs, I think it's going to be the result of good coaching and Lamar Jackson being an MVP-type player again.

1:07:34Yeah, where are you at with Buffalo? Because I have them at five. I mean, I could have easily put them at five. I think it's the defensive part of it. Their issues developing players, I think that's the concern. The offense I think is underrated just because Josh Allen has this narrative that Josh Allen is Superman and he looks like it, he plays like it sometimes. But the offensive line was really good last year. I think Scheme factored into that, but they were really good on the ground. They were good in pass protection. Those two tackles could be left on an island. You didn't need to give them chip help.

1:08:10I'm not excited about DJ Moore. I don't think he solves the man coverage problem that they had last year where Josh Palmer was like their go-to target against Mann and Khalil Shakir, but I think they have enough with those tight ends where they don't need that superstar number one receiver. So even if DJ Moore is what he's been in Chicago the last couple of years, I think that's enough for this offense to be once again a top three offense. The question is, situationally, when they get to the playoffs and they're seeing Mann coverage, are they going to be able to create explosives outside of Josh Allen putting on that cape every third down?

1:08:46I don't know. I don't think so. Yeah. I struggle with that too. I think the interesting thing to me about Buffalo's offense is that you could remove Josh Allen and put a totally different quarterback in stylistically. And I think this offense could just meld itself around whatever quarterback it has because the run game has been so stable. James Cook is not the most dynamic back, but he does such a good job at taking what's available. And I think that we've seen that this offensive line is so good at basically giving him explosive plays where all he has to do is play downhill. I think anybody can play behind this offensive line and be an effective runner.

1:09:26And I think that Cook has done a good job at maximizing what's available to him. Ultimately, though, I think that while this team is fifth, the reason why it's not in the same tier as my top three, top four, I do think there's a tier break after four for me in terms of ideal situations is that other teams do have receivers that can break man coverage. or they do have, you know, they do have play calling that makes it impossible to play man coverage against them, right? Like we saw Buffalo and I feel like this has been for the last two years. And I think that Joe Brady is an above average play caller.

1:09:59I would say that he's solidly a good play caller. Yeah. But you typically see these two to four week stretches where defenses just say, you know what, screw it. If all they're going to do is play mesh, we're just going to run with drafts. We're not going to give you this open air. All you want to do is throw slants out of the gun then we're just going to stick to that, right? If we want to throw hitches and all that, we're just going to stick to that and we're going to force you to have to convert these routes into something more vertical and we've seen them struggle to do so. I think that this offense is where Kansas City wishes its offense could be and still there is a gap, I think, ultimately in them not having guys that can beat man coverage.

1:10:35And the other thing that's an anchor in spite of what I think of their offense and how warm I am about their offense, I think that their front seven still just leaves so much to be desired. There's so many questions about what Bradley Chubb is supposed to be as a lead pass rusher, what Greg Russo is supposed to be potentially as a lead pass rusher. I need to see a healthy, impactful Ed Oliver again. I liked the film we got of Diony Walker last year, especially once you could kind of tell that he had a better understanding of the defense and his role within it and how he could be a game wrecker.

1:11:08I think that pair can be good. We just need to see it on a week-by-week basis. and ultimately I think Jim Lennar is going to have to be like a Jesse Minter type ceiling raiser for this defensive backfield. It is possible. It's entirely possible. But he's got to be a Mike McDonald, Jesse Minter-esque. You can give me any five pieces back there and I will find a way to put together a coverage menu that makes it hard for offenses to get explosive plays on us. I need to see that first. If they deliver that, that would paper over what questions we might have over their wide receiver room because they're going to have a dominant run game.

1:11:39I think that they can have a good interior defensive line, but ultimately they need one more thing between their wide receiver room or their defensive backfield to really punch through if you want me to consider them like an elite A-tier, S-tier type of supporting cast. Yeah, and I think the potential there is for the secondary. Like Cole Bishop was fine. Like if you listen to Tony Romo, he's the next coming of Ed Reed. I don't know if you caught any of those games. Jesus Christ, The guy's just lavishing praise on him. Maxwell Harrison, I don't know how you felt about him. I think he's good. He can stick to receivers, but he can be bullied a little bit, which is always a concern, especially when you get to the playoffs.

1:12:19But I think this is going to be an annoying defense to play. And it's hard to balance that because the defense has had its issues over the last couple of years. But Sean McDermott was a good coach, and they were a well-coached unit for the most part. And we're going to a defensive coordinator who has NFL experience, obviously, and played in the NFL too. But we haven't seen him call plays at the NFL level, so that would be interesting to see. Where'd you end up with Houston? Houston for me, I have seventh. Yep, I have seventh as well. All right, let's go to the top five. I'll give you my top five first, and then we'll hear yours.

1:12:53I had Detroit at fifth. I have Seattle, the defending champs at fourth. Philly at third. Denver second. And then the Rams, obviously, first. Yeah, for me, I've got the Bills at five, who we discussed. I've got the Eagles fourth. I've got the Seahawks third. I've got the Broncos second, and I've got the Rams, obviously, number one. Okay, let's talk about Philly first. Am I too high on them? Am I too high on this roster? Is it as good as it was two years ago? Or was the coaching really the problem last year? I think it's really hard to divorce the Kevin Petulo of it all and then what we saw out of the offense.

1:13:28I think the offense is objectively... Any offense that loses A.J. Brown is objectively worse than it was when it had A.J. Brown. even if he lost a step last year which I think the quarterback factored into that but he's still a very good player. 100 % you're also talking about an older Lane Johnson I think that Jordan Mailata was very uneven in his play. You had a banged up Landon Dickerson and Cam Juergens all last year and a Tyler Steen at right guard who I think the Philadelphia ultimately needs to find a player to replace within the next couple years. I don't know if he's a long term option as a starter.

1:14:02That to me I think it's not like it's a bad unit right? And I'm going to do my best to not be an Eagles homer that also hates his team. A doomer, yeah. Exactly. But I do think that the run game issues were real, and I think that they would have existed no matter who was calling plays for this team. I just don't think the offensive line was very good last year. They look like a team that ran the ball 600 times, or whatever it was, like 580 touches for Saquon Barkley, probably over 600, and you add in all the tush pushes and all that. They looked like that, and it's the same characters. It's entirely possible that They show up next season, and again, they look a little older, a little slower, and a little less powerful.

1:14:42And that would definitely be a restrictor plate for me for this offense. Pass game-wise, I'm honestly not even in a position to project because it is such a different scheme that they're going to have under Sean Mannion. We're going to see a different distribution of touches with Devontae Smith as a number one and Makai Lemon as a rookie. I really don't even know what to do with that, right? So, like, I'm willing to set that aside. Defensively, I think it's entirely possible That they're better than they were last year I think that Jonathan Grenard Is a better player than Jalen Phillips And I like Jalen Phillips I just think that Grenard gives you something a little bit different On rundowns in terms of motor And playmaking in the backfield And I think maybe one of the more underplate things Was Jalen Carter playing through Two bum shoulders last year I think that there was reporting that He felt like he couldn't even do push-ups On a consistent basis and you're asking that guy to be your space eater on the interior, right?

1:15:36If you get those shoulders taken care of, he comes back healthy. I think that there is kind of like this silent but not silent kind of kick in the ass of if you want to go make$35,$40 million as a defensive tackle, you got to go actually play like Aaron Donald because that's what we thought we were drafting. So I'm really interested to see if he's able to go reach that level of play. And if he does, that alone, between the addition of Grenard, Jalen Carter playing the way he's supposed to, and the back seven, which has been, you know, I think no worse than third or fourth on a week-to-week basis.

1:16:07Even last year when they were, when it seemed like they kind of had struggles or they weren't playing at the same level they were in 2024, I still have very high hopes for this team. I love Cooper DeGene. Think Quenya Mitchell's one of the three best corners in the league. And you add a reek one, which I thought was a really smart, high ceiling, you know, type of bet. If those three corners are what I think they can be, around Zach Bond in the middle of the field, we're going to look at this team be just as impossible to throw the ball against as they were two years ago, I think. Yeah, and if you can't run on them, you have no chance.

1:16:36And I think, like you said, alluded to, it's going to be harder to run on them. Seattle, that's probably going to be the most controversial ranking from this. I had them fourth. I think you had them third. I have them third. My one concern is just like the offensive line could be an issue and this offense wasn't... They won the Super Bowl, which papers over a lot of their issues during the season. Sam Darnold led the league in turnovers. and it was like the 13th ranked offense by efficiency. So it wasn't like a world-beating offense. They lose Kenneth Walker, who was a big part of the explosiveness of it.

1:17:07They lose Kubiak, who did a lot of scheming around the offensive line and helping Sam Darnold play at his best. So that's my concern with this roster. But defensively, they're going to be the best defense in the NFL probably. And Mike McDonald's the best defensive line in the league. So any concerns about this roster are very small concerns. Yeah, I have literally nothing smart to add on Seattle's defense. They were the best last year. I think they're going to be no worse than second this year, right? They're going to be excellent. They're still going to be sticking in coverage. They're going to be one of, if not the most physical defense in football.

1:17:42And they're going to do everything in their power to continue to dominate the Shanahan McVay tree, which they've done basically as long as Mike McDonald's been there. I think the one big question that we have to get answered is, did Mike McDonald hire Brian Fleury as the offensive coordinator because he wants to get into the heavy personnel, pound the rock physical run game that San Francisco has leaned on under Kyle Shanahan, right? Like that I think is a big question for me is are they going to show up this year knowing that Sam Darnold is a champion and say in spite of all the good that you did at your hottest and best over the last two years, we still think the best version of this offense is one that takes the ball out of your hands on early downs.

1:18:23If they're able to do that successfully with Jadarian Price and whenever Zach Charbonnet gets healthy again, I can buy them to them still kind of hanging around 14th to 16th in offensive efficiency. And I think that's enough for them to be a top three team in terms of supporting cast. I just know no Seahawks fan is going to want to hear that fresh off of the championship, especially with where we have Los Angeles ranked. Yeah, let's talk about Los Angeles. I don't think there's any surprise after they added Garrett and McDuffie in the offseason. This was already one of the most talented rosters, but let's go the other way.

1:18:57What are you concerned about with the roster? It's wide receiver depth, right? That's exactly what I have at the top of the list. It's 100 % wide receiver depth. I think if this team doesn't make a Super Bowl run, it is going to 100 % be because Matthew Stafford needed one more guy to go win on obvious passing downs, and Devontae Adams couldn't go do it. Puka Nakua, I think. And this is a hot take for me to say that he is much more a product of Stafford and McVay. There's Stafford than he is of McVay. I think that Stafford has done much more to make him be a kingmaker type as a receiver specifically than McVay has done.

1:19:34I think McVay has done a good job of maximizing his blocking skill set, his physicality, and all that in a run game. But Stafford to me is the one who was like, he makes Puka Nakua Puka Nakua. I think you could put McVay and Nakua with a bunch of different quarterbacks, and he isn't nearly as impactful as Stafford has made him, you know, in the intermediate area of the field. And still with that, we've seen him struggle to separate. He kind of turns into a contested catch guy, which he's been excellent at in his career. It's just not a real way to live on a down-to-down basis. No, you need an MVP quarterback to get, you know, cash in on those targets.

1:20:05Yeah, exactly. I mean, Devontae Adams has basically been their short yardage back, right? Like, he's their red zone guy. he's their third and short gotta move the chains guy I have some questions about whether or not that's gonna carry over on a year to year basis and I think maybe most importantly is questions about whether or not this offensive line can maul the way they did last year yeah it sounds hyperbolic to say because I think the more casual more general fan doesn't care as much about like success rate and some of the different ways we can filter things to get nerd stats but it's not an exaggeration to say that Los Angeles had one of the most dominant run games that you will ever come across in the modern era.

1:20:46That didn't mean they were popping a lot of explosives. Basically, whenever they wanted six yards in the run game, they could go get those six yards because that offensive line was absolutely moving people. I don't know if you can count on that on a year-by-year basis. I think Philadelphia last year was instructive of the fact that your offensive line, even if you keep continuity, might not give you that type of time in production in terms of yards before contact like we saw from L.A. last year. That, to me, I think is a big question. Everything on the other side of the ball is Miles Garrett's to fix.

1:21:14And if there was one player that you have to go ask to fix whatever problems might exist, Miles Garrett would be the guy. Yeah, that was like their one problem last year was getting off the field on third down. Like in the games that they ended up losing, like Seattle converted 53 % of their conversion downs. Carolina gave that to them in a regular season. Carolina on the fourth downs. And that solved. Like you brought in a closer as a pass rusher, and you brought in a defensive back who can stick to wide receivers. So I really don't see an issue. I think it is depth. If they get hurt, then there could be issues.

1:21:46But you could say that about every team. Exactly. I had Denver second. I think we all know Denver's just stacked all over the board. The Jalen Waddell thing is... The addition is just the rich getting richer, especially with Sean Payton. He has those wide receivers. He always had this wide receiver room in New Orleans where just fast guys all over the field, explosive. So I think like Bo Nix is in for a big year and he doesn't even have to be a great quarterback to have that big year. But yeah, that's my list. Remind me of your top five before we get out of here. So first I had the Rams, second the Broncos, Seahawks third, Eagles fourth, and Bills fifth.

1:22:22Okay, and I had the Rams first, Broncos second, Eagles third, Seahawks fourth, and Lions fifth. Pretty good list. I think the Super Bowl is going to come from one of those five teams that we had. I think so too. Yeah. I think it's going to come from Los Angeles and Seattle, maybe Denver. But I think last year proved that you don't really need a superstar quarterback to go to the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl. I guess my biggest question is for you is what team outside of the top 10 do you think has the highest ceiling? The most likely starting outside the top 10, but getting hot enough, being like Chicago or Jacksonville last year and getting a 13-win team that can maybe make a push towards a conference championship game.

1:23:03That's a good question. I'm going to go with... Houston's an easy pick for me. Green Bay is an easy pick for me. But Green Bay is that team just because Jordan Love, I think, is an underrated quarterback at this point. Like you said, the strides he made, especially creation-wise, were huge. Can't be ignored. But Houston, I could see Houston going to the AFC Championship. And I picked them to go to the AFC Championship last year. But I think Stroud, how the season ended, it kind of, you know, papered over the strides he made down the stretch, especially the first year in an offense that was really hard for him to learn, put more on his plate.

1:23:41And that defense is capable of like 2 ,002 bucks, 2 ,000 ratings type things, type runs. I would not be surprised if they're in the AFC title game next year. Yeah, I think that's my pick to an AFC. Ooh, that'd be interesting. All right, that's going to do it for us. Thanks to Christopher Sutton for producing, Stefano Sanchez on video, and additional production supervision by Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramkapal. Thanks for stopping by.

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