🏈 Unpacking Jonathan Taylor's Contract Standoff: Colts Owner's Tweet Sparks Debate In this riveting video, we delve into the headline-grabbing contract negotiations between star running back Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts. The drama escalated when Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted a thought-provoking statement, sparking a storm of discussion. Join us as we analyze the implications of Taylor's contract holdout, the motivations behind it, and the response to Irsay's striking words. We explore the complex dynamics of player-team relationships, the economics of the NFL, and the broader narrative of athletes seeking fair compensation. From dissecting the challenges faced by players to the enduring legacy of the NFL, this discussion offers a thought-provoking look into the heart of professional football. As we unpack Irsay's tweet and its impact, you'll gain insights into the tug-of-war between players' aspirations and the league's unfaltering course. Whether you're a dedicated football fan, a follower of player contract negotiations, or simply curious about the intersection of sports and business, this video has you covered. Join the conversation, share your thoughts, and let's explore the layers of meaning behind the Jonathan Taylor contract saga and its resonance within the NFL landscape. 🏆🎥 Subscribe now to stay informed about the latest developments and discussions shaping the world of sports and beyond. Together, we navigate the complexities of player contracts, team dynamics, and the indelible spirit of the National Football League. 🏈🗣️
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Julian Martinez: [00:00:05] The Baker Mayfield saga continues in Tampa Bay. But for how long? Baker Mayfield Seven interceptions in training camp so far. Many are wondering, with this potentially being Baker's last chance if he doesn't win the starting job over Kyle Trask, is he done. [00:00:21][16.7]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:22] Done as in being a starting quarterback in the NFL? [00:00:24][2.4] Julian Martinez: [00:00:25] Done as and being a starting quarterback in the NFL for sure. But do you think that this is just his last year? Like, even if he's the backup, like, okay, he sits on Tampa's bench for a year. Is that it? Like, can Baker Mayfield walk into the sunset after that? [00:00:39][14.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:41] Still, I can't remember if it was you and I talking about it or someone else. But last year, when the whole Rams thing was going on with Baker Mayfield, he was having this career revival and an incredible 13 point comeback on Thursday Night Football for the Rams. I remember saying at the time, Baker Mayfield is one of those quarterbacks where he's going to have to reinvent himself to have a second stage of his career, because it's pretty clear Baker Mayfield's no longer the starting quarterback in the NFL. Basically, the way that came about is really sad, where his former team, Cleveland, basically didn't sign him to an extension going into his fourth season because they didn't sign him to an extension his fourth season. He played through just a ridiculous amount of injuries. He had two knee injuries, a torn throwing shoulder, an elbow injury, an ankle injury. He had a bruised rib that year. Like Baker, Mayfield was just absolutely gutting it out for a team that had no chance of making the playoffs and a team that plan try to move on from him at the end of the season because any ability Baker Mayfield showed his first year or that third year where they made the playoffs and won a playoff game against Pittsburgh, they grinded it out of him. Baker Mayfield I mean, it's been known for years. He's a smaller stature quarterback and all that stuff. But the other thing was he was a two time former walk on, which means that you look up and Baker Mayfield is 28 years old and Baker Mayfield being 28 years old means that he's kind of at that age where the guys who don't really have it as a quarterback in the NFL start to see a decline like we've seen for a few years that, like Kirk Cousins was the fully formed quarterback and then a bunch of young quarterbacks replaced him. And then Jimmy Garoppolo became a fully forward quarterback and then a bunch of quarterbacks entered the league and he went from like the 15th best quarterback to 25. Andy Dalton went from 15 to 25. That's kind of where Baker Mayfield's out at this point is just teams would rather choose the young guy to replace you, and whether that's Bryce Young with the Carolina Panthers or whether it's Kyle Trask with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers teams have just opted for, we're going to take the young quarterback instead of you. And yeah, Baker Mayfield is is it in what I called a bridgewater-ing stage of his career which is he is just going to be a quarterback hoping that he can get one last big contract before he is no longer able to play the quarterback position at a high level. If this is his last year in the NFL, it's going to be because he is the kind of quarterback who doesn't need to reinvent himself just to stay in the league as a backup. Like he doesn't need to have the underdog, unbridled confidence that he's had for all these years because he's he's accomplished everything he can in the sport. He there's no reason to just keep going on as a backup. Maybe that's what he said. Well, he. [00:03:31][170.4] Julian Martinez: [00:03:31] Has accomplished everything he can in the sport. I mean, obviously, there's MVP individual honors, There's team honors. He hasn't accomplished. [00:03:39][8.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:03:40] That. Yeah. Yeah. No, but he's never going to be able to do that. Right. Like, yes, Philip Rivers never won a championship. And by the time he was 37, there was no chance he was going to win a championship. Like, yeah, Baker Mayfield. That would be like setting the bar, I think too high for Baker Mayfield because again, this is a former two time walk on quarterback who became the greatest quarterback in the history of college football. [00:04:02][22.2] Julian Martinez: [00:04:03] I think that's. [00:04:03][0.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:04] Part of the whole. [00:04:04][0.4] Julian Martinez: [00:04:04] Story, but I think that's part of the problem, right? Baker Mayfield, his expectation, his ego, what he sees in himself is not a Bridgewater quarterback. I mean, the biggest difference between him and a Teddy Bridgewater is Teddy. Bridgewater never really had commercials. Teddy Bridgewater never was like the face of a franchise like I guess Minnesota as the starting quarterback. But if you told me about Teddy Bridgewater being their starting quarterback back in the day like okay like Baker Mayfield if the Cleveland Browns would have went on to have a little bit more success, he would have been like almost as big as LeBron and Cleveland. How he at one point like winning their first playoff game in like 30 years, that still, you know, like he was. [00:04:47][42.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:47] He was the quarterback that broke the drought. Right. They had like 17 quarterbacks in 15 years. And he was the first one that actually looked like he was worth a damn for that franchise. They grinded him up and tossed him out the door. If you remember last offseason, he was kind of like in limbo for like five months or something where they had already moved on from him, but they weren't ready to just cut him outright. They were waiting for a team that was willing to pay at least a little bit of his $18 million fifth year option. And then Carolina was the team that stepped up and Cleveland paid 12 million and Carolina paid 6 million. And then Baker ended up getting tossed out. But I mean, last two years have been a reality check. [00:05:26][38.8] Julian Martinez: [00:05:26] Yeah. So you mentioned other quarterbacks. So like dropping from 15 to like 25. Where is Baker Mayfield realistically? You said not a starting quarterback. So is he outside the top 32 in terms of ability like are there 32 guys that you look at and think better than Baker Mayfield? [00:05:39][13.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:05:40] He's number 32. I feel like I can say with relative certainty he is the worst starting quarterback going into the season in the NFL. Desmond Ridder is probably pretty close. Sam Howell is pretty close. But those guys are kind of what I think of as the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL. It's Ridder with the Falcons. It's Howell with Washington, it's Baker Mayfield with Tampa. So I guess that means he's like in the 25 to 26 range. And granted, there's like four rookies who haven't played yet. So I haven't really, like, put them into the list yet just because they're rookies and we don't know what they are yet. But and I think Jordan loves is also in that group. So maybe Jordan Love is also considered a rookie because he hasn't really played yet as a quarterback. So yeah, I'd say Baker's probably not like 25, 26, 27 range. [00:06:27][46.9] Julian Martinez: [00:06:28] So if you're Tampa, do you have any obligation to start him over? Kyle Trask Because you've seen a lot of Baker Mayfield on tape. We've seen him play a lot of games in the NFL, so we more or less know where Baker Mayfield is. We haven't seen contrast. And I don't know if you're a big Kyle Trask believer or not, but at least we can potentially see it the same way we talk about like a Trey Lance. Like it'd be nice to just kind of like, see what he has on the field as opposed to Baker Mayfield, who we know who he is on the field. Like you're Tampa and you're seeing this training camp right now. Or you think to yourself like, Oh fuck, I don't know if we're going to be bad. He might as well just start the new guy. [00:07:00][32.5] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:01] So I'm usually always in favor of start the new guy instead of just the placement holder quarterback. I remember last year I was yelling from the very beginning of training camp until week four. Why the hell are the Steelers playing Mitchell Trubisky? You drafted a quarterback in the first round. He's clearly your long term plan. Please put Kenny Pickett in to start week one of the season and by week four they had made the call They'd seen enough of Trubisky being bad and then they replace Trubisky with Kenny Pickett and haven't looked back since because they are invested in Kenny Pickett's development. The difference with this team is I don't know if Tampa Bay is too invested in Kyle Trask's development because remember they picked him with, I want to say, the last pick in the second round the year after they won the Super Bowl. [00:07:45][44.5] Julian Martinez: [00:07:46] Different circumstances, though, when you're talking about Tom Brady being on the roster versus Baker Mayfield being on the roster. [00:07:51][5.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:52] Yeah, but I don't know if they believe Kyle Trask is their quarterback of the future. Now, maybe you say this season is a wash anyways and you give them a chance, but maybe they go into the season believing, hey, if we have good luck with health, if Mike Evans bounces back this season, then maybe, just maybe, we can win the NFC South like we did last year. And I just don't know which quarterback gives you the better option to win. But I also know Tampa Bay isn't invested in Kyle Trask's future because they drafted him to be a backup quarterback. He was a later round pick that didn't really have franchise quarterback potential when they picked him. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers, regardless of what you thought about Kenny Pickett going into that draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers made their call. Kenny Pickett is the quarterback we're investing in for the future. We're drafting him in the first round. We're giving him every opportunity to develop. I don't know if Tampa Bay's committed that way to Kyle Trask or Trask is a placeholder for the quarterback they're about to draft in next year's NFL draft. So if Kyle Trask is viewed as a placeholder, the difference between playing Baker and Kyle Trask is kind of regardless if neither is going to be on the roster next season. But if you believe that either of them has a chance to be on the team next year, you play that one. And I don't know which quarterback they think has a better chance of being on the roster next year between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. You play whichever one you think has the best chance to stay on the team and give them the repetitions. [00:09:16][84.7] Julian Martinez: [00:09:17] I'm pretty sure contrast still has at least a couple more years on that rookie deal, right? [00:09:21][3.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:09:22] Yeah, but we've seen rookie, we've seen backup rookie quarterbacks get tossed all the time. I think Kellen Mond just got. [00:09:27][5.2] Julian Martinez: [00:09:27] Yeah. But if they wanted to keep him as a backup even next year, like let's say they just want to see what he can do on the football field. They could keep him next year because Baker is just on a one year deal, right? [00:09:36][8.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:09:36] Yeah, for sure. I think Kyle Trask is 20. He was just drafted the year after they won the Super Bowl. So that would be this is his third year. So he's got one more year after this. Now, so Tampa. [00:09:47][10.6] Julian Martinez: [00:09:47] Is potentially in a blow up mode, but they can also it's already enough just because of the division they're in. They could also still potentially make the playoffs if the NFC South is just as bad as it was last year. Right. [00:09:58][11.1] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:09:59] Yeah, but that's where the question is interesting is which quarterback does give you the best chance to make the playoffs? Is it Baker Mayfield or is that Kyle Trask? I have no idea. I suspect Tampa has no idea either. So, I mean, I don't think Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask are like long term plans as an NFL starting quarterback. But I didn't think Geno Smith was last year, so potentially I could be wrong. Maybe Kyle Trask is given the opportunity and he looks like a solid quarterback. [00:10:25][26.0] Julian Martinez: [00:10:25] Well, the difference is that last year and we didn't believe it when he was saying it, but last year Pete Carroll was saying, Man, it's a nice luxury to feel like you have to starting quarterbacks. When he was asked about the Drew Lock first Geno Smith discussion and then Geno went out there and. Proved what he proved, made a Pro Bowl looked pretty solid and we could kind of see it. But not every headline I'm seeing, at least out of Tampa, is negative press. Baker Mayfield throws another one and throws another one. And I think when you consider the type of player that Baker Mayfield is, I want to say he's thrown the most interceptions since he's entered the league. [00:10:59][33.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:11:00] It's something like that. And Baker Mayfield, from what he's telling us, took less money for an opportunity to be a starter in Tampa. I don't know how true that is because I've only heard it come out of Baker Mayfield's mouth, but he is basically saying, I believe I am a starting quarterback in the NFL still, which if you're Baker Mayfield, of course you have to believe that. [00:11:23][23.0] Julian Martinez: [00:11:23] Well, I wanted to believe that he was going to stay in Los Angeles. I actually thought that was probably the best situation potentially for him with Sean McVay sticking around because Sean McVay, we respect him as an offensive mind. Right. I'm a little worried for Baker in this sense. And I guess this is where I should ask is if this is truly the end of the road for Baker Mayfield, did he maximize his ability or was he just screwed from the start? Because you look at the Cleveland situation, we talked about the Freddie Kitchens era, the brief Freddie Kitchens era. Stefanski comes in, loves him one season, hates them the next. Then he goes to Carolina, which we know how fucked that situation too was. And now he's in Tampa where I mean, Tom Brady would never outwardly say it, but I think that he was so over Todd Bowles in that coaching staff after Bruce Arians was gone. And yes, that was Tom Brady's fault, don't get me wrong for pushing Arians out. But now Baker Mayfield goes to that and maybe Todd Bowles and that staff is just a bad staff at the end of the day. [00:12:25][61.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:12:26] So to answer the first part of your question to Baker Mayfield maximizes NFL ability. If we're thinking about his career in hindsight, I would say no part of it on him, part of it on Cleveland and the year that Freddie Kitchens was the coordinator was just sabotaged from the start for Baker Mayfield, and it stinted his growth. But the other side of that is Baker was pounding his place on the table for them to make Freddie Kitchens the offensive coordinator. So both maybe are at fault there the last season. He shouldn't have played through that injury. He should have sat around week three, sat out the season, made Cleveland have to pick whether or not they were going to keep him long term or not, because all playing through the season did was make it clear in Cleveland's head that he was not worth keeping around. He shouldn't have played that last season. And so from there, it's hard to evaluate with the rest of his career has been because he got to Carolina was so bad that they just straight up cut him like he was the third string quarterback on the Panthers who didn't have a quarterback basically to start the season and then had that run with the Rams where he was playing well, but he was playing relatively well. But it was meaningless football. I mean, the Rams were out of it from the start and. [00:13:38][72.6] Julian Martinez: [00:13:39] Yeah, and you go back you mentioned because you mentioned the comeback effort, right, on Thursday Night Football. You even go back to that one. There was some interceptions that should have been had by the Raiders defense that just weren't interceptions. [00:13:49][10.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:13:50] Yeah, for sure. So no Baker Mayfield didn't maximizes NFL career, but that doesn't mean like Baker Mayfield's career is a failure, like the fact that he was the number one pick in the NFL draft and the fact that he stuck around as a starting quarterback for even five years is absolutely remarkable. Again, this dude is five foot nine without super athletic physical gifts. He was a walk on at Texas Tech. Kliff Kingsbury didn't keep him around despite the fact he won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, filling in for I think it was post Patrick Mahomes at that point and moved to Oklahoma, wins the freakin Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma has the greatest statistical season in the history of Big 12 football, which is saying a lot because there's been some crazy statistical seasons in the Big 12 and then he gets drafted number one overall in the NFL draft and then gets all the commercials and gets to be a legend at Oklahoma forever like. But isn't that kind of incredible success. [00:14:50][59.8] Julian Martinez: [00:14:50] Part of the problem in terms of why people look back and think of his career as a failure because he was the number one overall pick. Why would we look at his career differently if he was drafted 1510 relative to Josh Allen, Lamar, Josh Rosen, even, and Sam Darnold in that draft? [00:15:09][18.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:09] If the 2018 draft had been drafted correctly, he would have been the third quarterback in a two quarterback class. And by the way, most NFL think about it, there's like what, 16 NFL quarterbacks that are worth a damn, that are going to have ten year long careers as a starting quarterback. That means basically like 1 to 2 quarterbacks a year that's actually worth a damn gets drafted in the NFL. Like the fact that he was kind of on the fringe of like the third quarterback in a two quarterback class is still an incredible success because he doesn't have the physical. Gifts of Sam Darnold. Now, granted, Sam Darnold is going to have a better second stage of his career. But that's not for Baker Mayfield's abilities as a quarterback. It's because Baker Mayfield was an immature asshole coming out of college and never really got rid of the full, immature asshole part of the game. And, you know, there's been all sorts of immature moments that people have talked about with Baker Mayfield. [00:16:00][50.9] Julian Martinez: [00:16:01] What was that Duke Johnson thing? Yeah, Yeah, the Duke Johnson thing. You had him calling out the training staff something about concussions or injuries or mis evaluation, whatever. [00:16:11][10.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:12] The arrest in college, where he's running away from the police, you have the grabbing, the junk thing. That is going to be one of his defining moments. You have. [00:16:18][6.8] Julian Martinez: [00:16:19] Hugh Jackson. You know, he had that situation where you jawing at him on the sidelines. [00:16:23][4.0] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:24] Was that Stefanski who said they wanted an adult in the room when when they were getting ready to move off of him. That was the whole thing that they were saying. [00:16:31][7.1] Julian Martinez: [00:16:31] Yeah, that was something that was game discussed as well. Like we want an adult in the room. And obviously when you consider what ended up happening in Cleveland too, that's also an indictment on Baker Mayfield. [00:16:42][10.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:43] Yeah. And again, he was the one who was pushing hard for Freddie Kitchens, and Jimmy Haslam believed he was the long term option at quarterback and gave him the head coach he wanted. And it was a it was the biggest failure. [00:16:52][9.9] Julian Martinez: [00:16:53] And again, the commercials get used against him to like, again, go get your money. Sure. But like when you just have one good year in the NFL and then you come out and have like more commercials than a touchdown passes at one point, you know, that's that's a problem for NFL team. [00:17:07][14.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:17:07] But again, that's the reason why we're talking about will this be Baker Mayfield's last year in the NFL? It's the same thing we talked about a couple of weeks ago with Carson Wentz. It is. You have to be really well like to be a backup quarterback in the NFL. And this is the moment of Baker Mayfield's career where in his mind, he is always an underdog. And by the way, he's got good reason to believe he is always an underdog. He is a two time walk on corner rack who ended up having the greatest statistical season in college football history until Joe Burrow a couple of years later. Like he is perennially an underdog, he went to Cleveland, the ultimate city of underdogs who haven't had a franchise quarterback in 15 years. And he's the savior. He's the God complex. And it's what happens when using the haters as fuel of sorts. What happens when that underdog mentality and trying to prove everyone wrong? What happens when they're right and you're wrong and then that underdog mentality doesn't serve you anymore? That's kind of where we're at with you. Give it to. [00:18:03][55.5] Julian Martinez: [00:18:03] Colin Cowherd, Right? He was like on Baker Mayfield from the start, as far as like what he thought of him. In fact, I'll go back to that Baker Mayfield interview on The Coward Show that was also part of like his legacy as well, like him showing up Colin after like he had a successful first year in Cleveland and now here we are. [00:18:21][18.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:18:22] Like I said, this this originally started with he's the third quarterback in a to quarterback class. Sam Darnold is going to have a promising career as a backup quarterback because Sam Darnold is is more likely. [00:18:32][10.1] Julian Martinez: [00:18:32] To play devil's advocate here, though, I would say obviously and I alluded to this, but part of it is where you end up, right? Like if Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson ended up in Cleveland, how different would their careers be, especially like a guy like Josh Allen, Right. Who was considered a project, didn't look that great his first couple of years in Buffalo. But Buffalo had the right staff to work with him, develop him and make him a better quarterback. Where is Baker Mayfield's ability regressed under the coaching staff in Cleveland because his rookie year eight commits comes out sets the at the time NFL's rookie record for passing touchdowns and the second year again Baker it was Freddie kitchens but still like you mentioned Baker wanted Freddie kitchens and his ability regressed because of it. [00:19:24][51.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:19:24] BAKER Mayfield had two seasons as an NFL quarterback where he was he was legitimately if he could have had his first season and his third season every year of his career, he would have been Kirk Cousins if he could have done his first year and his third year every year, he would have been a couple time Pro Bowl quarterback of starter in the league for 12 years. It was the second year with Freddie Kitchens and then his body just fell apart because he played through seven different injuries in that 2020. But why? [00:19:53][29.3] Julian Martinez: [00:19:53] Why he could never be. Kirk Cousins honestly though is going back to it. The interceptions, the turnovers, that's part of Baker Mayfield's game too, which is unfortunate because when you consider what made him so great in college, it was that he was a precision quarterback, most accurate quarterback in the game, and he just went away from that. He wanted to be the playmaker. He always thought that he was more athletic than the other guys on the field when clearly when you get in the NFL, that just doesn't translate as well. You're just not the athlete you once were, especially at the quarterback position. [00:20:25][31.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:20:26] Absolutely. I didn't mean Kirk Cousins in terms of like his play ability, although he could have evolved into being one of the short accuracy guys in the league. I just meant like he was an above average quarterback his first. Last year, he had 27 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 94 passer rating league average is about 91.6. [00:20:44][18.4] Julian Martinez: [00:20:46] I think a good comp. [00:20:46][0.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:20:47] Though, pretty good. [00:20:47][0.6] Julian Martinez: [00:20:48] Is he wanted to play like Mahomes. He wanted to play like Josh Allen. He wanted to play like Brett Favre. He wanted to be the gunslinger. And at a certain point, it's like you got to stop being the gunslinger. You kind of honestly would have been better if he played more like Tom Brady, you know, quick out of the hand, accurate. Drew Brees or any of the other ones that like we kind of think of the pick apart slice and dice in the short passing game that would have probably been playing more to his strengths. [00:21:13][25.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:21:14] Maybe that's where having four different offensive coordinators in three years in Cleveland probably didn't help. Right? Having four different offensive coordinators probably didn't help me out to where it was kind of the Baker Mayfield offense. But again, this is where I think his career is so interesting for so many different reasons. But I think that this is where it kind of because it's over at this point, let's let's put it there. Whether he gets the starting job in Tampa, whether he doesn't get the starting job in Tampa, it's over. People are picking Tampa to finish fourth in the NFC South this year. [00:21:43][28.9] Julian Martinez: [00:21:43] Even if he gets the starting job right, he's probably going to lose that job at some point during the season if you had to put your money on it. If he starts week one, how long before he gets replaced in season? [00:21:53][9.1] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:21:53] Yeah, I mean, it happened last year, right? He was the starter out the gate for the Panthers and he got what, like three games? Then he had to go in and he had to replace P.J. Walker, played like shit, and then they cut him. So like, yeah, it's basically over for Baker Mayfield at this point. It's just if he sticks around as a backup quarterback, I don't think of that as being like the legacy of Baker Mayfield. It's like he's sticking around because it's nice to be an NFL quarterback. It's fun to play football. I haven't thought about Andy Dalton's career in like four years. It's basically been signed, sealed and delivered at this point. For Andy Dalton being an impact quarterback, that's where Baker Mayfield's at at this point. So he was he's in that group of like the third tier quarterbacks in terms of careers. He didn't have a 15 year career. He didn't have a ten year career as a starter. He had about a five year career, a few years where a team was going to take a chance on him instead of a rookie. And then after this year he'll be a backup quarterback again. I mean, he was a backup quarterback last year. It's just he he chose to go to the one place that had a quarterback opening and he still might not even get the job because they'll opt for the the rookie who the young guy who's been a backup quarterback for the last two years. And I mean, either way, I mean, at the end of the day, Baker Mayfield's career is going to feel like a disappointment because he only got five years as an NFL starter. But the fact that he was even as good as he was, given the skills that he had and given the physical abilities that he had, like his career is incredible. Like his journey to get to this point is absolutely incredible. And at this point, his body has been physically broken. The underdog mentality thing doesn't work anymore because you are no longer an NFL quarterback. It doesn't serve him anymore. And I'm interested to see how he changes for the next stage of his career. [00:23:42][108.9] Julian Martinez: [00:23:43] All right, guys. Well, that's a little bit of a retrospective currently on Baker Mayfield's career or is it a retrospective? Can you take back the reins in Tampa and win over that job? Over Kyle Trask? My dear thoughts in the comments section, we were like on the video, Subscribe to the channel, Follow us on our social media forum, Juju and I'll stay safe, happy and healthy. We will see next year. She. [00:23:43][0.0] [1390.7] Denver Broncos: Pressure & Expectations Russell Wilson's Struggles, Injuries & Sean Payton's Arrival8/10/2023 Unveiling the Denver Broncos' Crucial Season: Pressure, Struggles & High Stakes 🏈🔥 Step into the huddle as we dissect the intense spotlight shining on the Denver Broncos in the upcoming season! 🌟 In this must-watch discussion, we dive deep into the pressure and sky-high expectations surrounding the team, following a rollercoaster of challenges and changes. Russell Wilson's debut season with the Broncos didn't go as planned, leaving fans and analysts pondering the future. Combine that with the setbacks of injuries to key players like K.J. Hamler and Tim Patrick, and the stage is set for a defining moment in the franchise's journey. But that's not all – a seismic shift is happening at the coaching helm. Sean Payton steps into his first season with the Broncos, adding a new layer of anticipation and scrutiny. We'll unravel the dynamic between Payton's arrival and his past comments about Nathaniel Hackett's coaching legacy, sparking intriguing debates about leadership and team dynamics. Join our panel of NFL experts as we weigh the Broncos' potential comeback, the resilience needed to overcome adversity, and the expectations that come with the spotlight. Whether you're a die-hard Broncos supporter, a football aficionado, or simply intrigued by the psychology of team dynamics, this video is your ultimate playbook. Don't miss out on this gripping discussion that dissects the perfect storm of pressures and challenges facing the Denver Broncos. Like, subscribe, and dive into the fray as we decode the narrative that could shape their journey into the NFL spotlight. 🎥🏆 Julian Martinez: [00:00:04] Well, it's a year or two for Russell Wilson in Denver. It's year one for Sean Payton. And so far, their training camp has not gotten off to the best of starts. Tim Patrick Torn Achilles, K.J. Hamler heart issue that's going to keep him out. So here we are again. They're getting beat up before the season even starts. Does that at all change the expectations for Denver coming into this year? [00:00:26][21.8]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:27] Well, that's a good question. What are the expectations for Denver this year? Because obviously, they're not going to win the division and obviously they are not going to be better than Baltimore, I would say. So I guess Denver's in that gluttony of teams trying to fight for the sixth or seventh wildcard in the AFC this year. So I guess not making the playoffs would feel like a disappointment, but I don't think this Denver team is good enough to make the playoffs in the AFC specifically. Like I say, they're not that good. I mean, they last year traded off a couple of big pieces on that defense. We know Bradley Chubb was the biggest of them that was traded at the deadline and their defense was still really good last year. Defense is the position. That's harder to predict whether it's going to be good year over year. But let's say that Denver still has a very good defense going into next year. That then puts the onus on Sean Payton to develop that offense. But like you said, they have lost two of their top four wide receivers at this point. There was already talks about Jerry Jeudy getting traded at the deadline. So I don't know if he's got the same rapport with Russell Wilson that they might need. So then it leans on. Javonte Williams and the Broncos are leaning on an injury prone running back entering his fourth seasons. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's going to be as catastrophic as last year, but they also don't have a whole lot of talent on that football team. So yeah, I don't know where the expectations even lie for Denver this year. They're, by my count, the third best team in the AFC West. And if they're the third best team in the AFC West, that means they're probably shooting for like eight and nine this season. [00:02:12][104.8] Julian Martinez: [00:02:13] When you consider last year what their strength was with that defense, there was the stat, of course, if they scored 18 plus points in these respective games, they would have been a playoff team last year. And if you insert Sean Payton instantly, that should be a boost to the offense, right? You get a guy with a better offensive scheme, maybe he can revive Russell Wilson and that's really what it's going to fall back on if Russell Wilson looks like he did last year or the year before that it doesn't look like Russell Wilson from 2019 or hell, even just not even. He doesn't even need be that good. He just needs to be serviceable. Russell Wilson again. Then this team can live off the back of their defense, live off a running game. You mentioned it too, though. Javonte Williams is coming off an ACL injury. So how good is he going to be? I think most people, especially in the fantasy football community, want to believe that Javonte Williams will still be will still come back fine from this one ACL. Obviously we've seen a lot of running backs go through it over the years. It's kind of the NFL version of Tommy John where guys just kind of have to go through it at some point. I don't think most teams like whenever they suffer like a third wide receiver injury, fourth wide receiver injury, really realize how much of an impact that is until they get middle of the year. Because you mentioned Jerry Jeudy, he even battled injuries I think it was week one of last year where we thought he had a season ending injury. So suddenly, you know, you have an injury to him. Courtland Sutton gets banged up and then you realize just how thin you are at wide receiver. And Russell Wilson is all kind of like fighting for his NFL career. Just suddenly he has no one to throw to what is it, Big Albert Big a big oh, whatever. Is there tight end? Is that going to be like your top guy if, like, Sutton gets a concussion and Jerry Jeudy has a banged up ankle? [00:03:59][106.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:00] Apparently number one on the depth chart is someone named Greg Dolcich at the tight end position. And then they have Albert O and Adam Trautman still hanging around in the NFL is in their tight end room. I don't know who any of those people are, but they are their third wide receivers as well. [00:04:17][17.1] Julian Martinez: [00:04:17] I guess that makes sense, right? Trautman Because I'm pretty sure he got drafted by the Saints when Sean Payton was there. [00:04:22][5.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:23] You would be correct. Yes, he he did indeed get drafted by the Saints back in 2020. The Broncos feel like this year the team that's like we get to week 17 and then there's going to be like one result that locks up a playoff berth for like the Chargers and it just eliminates like four teams from the In the Hunt graphic. That's what it feels like Denver's going to be this year. They're going to be one of those teams that like gets bumped out of the in the Hunt graphic like in week 17 because the sixth wild card has been locked up in the AFC. That feels like where Denver's kind of headed for this year. But they're digging themselves out of a big hole. And I'm not talking about just the Nathaniel Hackett catastrophe of. Last season. It is eight seasons of being one of the worst around organizations in the NFL. The Denver Broncos right now have the second longest playoff drought in all of the NFL. Like we think of them having Peyton Manning and everything that was going on when they were competing with the Patriots. They went to two Super Bowls and made a divisional playoff with the number one seed since the end of that Peyton Manning run. They had been one of the worst run organizations in football. They have used 14 different quarterbacks in and one wide receiver at quarterback In the span of the last eight seasons. I used to be able to name them off the top of my head. But there's a mark Sanchez in there twice. There's two Mark Sanchez runs for the Broncos in that span. So they have been essentially the new Cleveland Browns over the last eight years, and they are now trying to dig themselves out of that hole with Russell Wilson and Sean Payton. [00:05:56][92.7] Julian Martinez: [00:05:57] Well, we can talk about it last week, but I should ask you on camera, on microphone here, did Sean Payton make a mistake choosing Denver? He got to stayed in the analyst booth one more year. There's plenty of great open positions coming up, I think, next season. Did he make a mistake jumping the gun for Denver? [00:06:13][16.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:06:14] It's hard to tell anyone who's making $18 million a year for the next six years that they made a mistake. But in terms of like which job gives him the best opportunity to succeed? Yeah, he may have made a mistake, but also that WalMart money hits a little bit different when it shows up into your bank account. It's hard to turn down being the second highest paid coach in the NFL, which reportedly is what Sean Payton is right now. Like, we don't know the exact contract terms of NFL coaches, but reportedly he is the second highest paid coach in the NFL right now behind Bill Belichick. I would say it's hard to turn down that kind of money, but the Broncos didn't want him. [00:06:49][35.1] Julian Martinez: [00:06:49] Well, yeah, no one cares about John Payton's pocketbook. We don't care about that. But yes, let's focus more on the in terms of success like because my my point is like next year I can see Brandon Staley getting fired with the Chargers. I could see Mike McCarthy being out of Dallas, both situations, especially the Chargers one. Hell, I was all aboard The Brandon Staley should have been fired last year and just go out there and offer your best contract to Sean Payton. And obviously the Chargers didn't do it. We know Spanos has a reputation for being cheap at head coach because even Brandon Staley is what, it's third or fourth first time head coach that he's hired recently. So in. [00:07:26][36.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:26] A row. Yes, in a row they have gone from Mike McCoy to Anthony Lynn to Brandon Staley. [00:07:32][6.1] Julian Martinez: [00:07:33] But I would much rather tie my ship to ascending Justin Herbert Then what we saw with Ross last year, how Sean Payton, he had a weekly segment on Cowherd's show where we would go on and talk about what's happening in the NFL. And the Broncos, of course, came up more often than not because the Broncos were. Interesting story last year and Sean Payton knew what he was getting into. He would talk about it weekly, what was going on in Denver, and he's still talking about it. Obviously. We go back to his comments last week about Nathaniel Hackett throwing under the bus one of the worst head coaching jobs ever. I'm pretty sure if we checked the tape, we checked out every word. He probably said a few negative things about how Russell Wilson was slowing down last year, just because you have to look at it through a different lens as an analyst versus being a coach or being specifically the coach of that player that's struggling. He knew what he's getting into and it doesn't matter what the contract is. I get it. But every NFL team is going to pay. Well, I'm sure you guys got 18 million next year, too. [00:08:28][55.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:08:29] It was the new owner. I just situation right. The owners wanted a splash move with the head coaching position and so the day they got up and said we are going to hire the best head coach available on the market. And so they offered DeMeco Ryans the contract and DeMeco Ryans turned them down for the Houston Texans. So then they pivoted to their second option, which was Sean Payton. Remember that people the Denver Broncos wanted to hire DeMeco Ryans DeMeco Ryans said that the Texans who are run by a youth pastor for three seasons were better than the Denver Broncos head coaching job. DeMeco took the Texans job over the Broncos job, and then the Broncos pivoted to their second choice of Sean Payton. So that tells you kind of where Sean Payton's reputation lies right now in the NFL. And by the way, they had to give up a first round pick to make that happen. Like, I don't think that Sean Payton is enough to fix all of your problems because Sean Payton with not enough talent on the roster, we've seen what that becomes like. Sean Payton is the is the kind of coach that will elevate your roster if you give him talented players and people will talk about him losing all those games in the playoffs and all that stuff and blah blah blah like I understand that part of it. And Sean Payton got the perfect quarterback in Drew Brees to reinvent his career and win a Super Bowl like Sean Payton. And by the way, they won more regular season games in four years with the Saints between 2017 and 2020 than any team in NFL history that didn't make a Super Bowl like they were great. [00:09:54][84.9] Julian Martinez: [00:09:54] I won't push back because I don't want to completely undervalue Sean Payton because there were years where Drew Brees was injured and you had inserted. Teddy Bridgewater or you had to have Taysom Hill in there for a few snaps or Jameis Winston came in for a game. And Sean Payton's record in those games was pretty good. He was able to still keep things going, even with injuries. Obviously not having Michael Thomas basically the last two, three years. [00:10:18][24.1] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:19] Yeah. And where I think there's a difference there is the Saints had talented players on offense all throughout Sean Payton's tenure with New Orleans and that's why the general manager, Mickey Loomis with the Saints has been there for just as long as Sean Payton has. They had talented players. They're surrounded by Drew Brees for all of. [00:10:38][18.7] Julian Martinez: [00:10:38] But I don't want to say that Denver doesn't have talent players like I think Courtland Sutton is a talented wide receiver. I think Jerry Jeudy is a talented wide receiver. I think Javonte Williams is a talented running back. We still have to see how he comes back from this ACL but is a talented running back. [00:10:51][13.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:52] No, but yeah, but I'm talking about top of the line players in the league. Like for whatever you think about Mark Ingram Mark Ingram made one Pro Bowl with the Saints They had Mark Ingram they had Jimmy Graham And then when those two players were done, they pivoted to Max Unger and drafted Ryan Ramczyk on the offensive line. Alvin Kamara has been an All-Pro running back. Michael Thomas has been an All-Pro receiver. They've had consistent top of the line. I think a lot of. [00:11:14][22.4] Julian Martinez: [00:11:14] Guys would say that guys like Jeudy, who was a former first round pick, Courtland Sutton, and a former first round pick they thought they think could be that or be considered that had they just had consistent quarterback play. One of the narratives coming into last year is, wow. Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, they're getting it done with lesser talent At the quarterback position. You get Russell Wilson in here, future Hall of Famer Russell Wilson in here and their stats are just going to blow up. These guys are going to be consistently thousand 1500 yard wide receivers. They're going to put up career touchdown numbers and then last year happened and it wasn't their fault or was it their quarterback's fault? Was it their coach's fault? Probably a combination of both. But like I don't think they're lesser talent because their coaches and their quarterback let them down. [00:11:58][43.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:11:59] I think with Courtland Sutton, I never bought into the hype, so I've never considered the possibility that he would be a top end receiver with Jerry Jeudy I understand that, though, because Jeudy was the top ten prospect in that draft class. He was expected to come in and be the number one. He's had one above average season. I think he had 900 yards and I think he only played 12 or 13 games his second season, but he had close to 1000 yards on pace for, like Jeudy, I could understand the belief that he could be a Pro Bowl caliber wide receiver even in the AFC, which has all of these, you know, Tyreek Hills and Stefon Diggs and I'm forgetting someone, but point B Ja'marr Chase You could make the case for Jeudy being a top end receiver. And at this point they're betting on that being their best path forward. Is development of players already in house. Because I know they signed Zach Allen, I know that they signed Mike McGlinchey on the offensive line, but other than that, they didn't really change the roster all that much from last year. They were betting on Hackett is a disaster and we can run it back with a different coach and that will be our path to improvement. And my point from the beginning is I don't think the Broncos have very good players. Even last year my preseason prediction was for the Broncos was they would be competing for the seventh wild card in the AFC and it all fell apart on them at the end of the season, but they haven't gotten any better. [00:13:15][76.9] Julian Martinez: [00:13:16] So I will play a little more devil's advocate here. I do know that at one point they were on their third left tackle last year. Yeah, you know, that stuff matters, right? It does play into the grand scheme of things like having injuries at the offensive line. Now, again, I go back and I did watch those Broncos games and I thought to myself, Russell Wilson again, just isn't making the best decisions. Like there's blooper reel of him having guys literally wide open middle of the field. The Colts game right Thursday night last year where he had K.J. Hammer speaking of K.J. Hammer, wide open, middle of the field, people are questioning whether Russell Wilson was legitimately blind. [00:13:51][35.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:13:52] The best thing I can say about the Broncos right now is they will be better than the Raiders, which is something they were not last year. So I think that they'll be better than the Raiders because last year they were, if I'm doing my math correctly, my head finished 14th out of 16 in the AFC. And while there's a lot of like glut in the middle of the AFC this year, I don't think they're going to be that bad. Like, I don't think they're going to be so bad that they are that want to start the Seahawks. I actually I think they just used the last Seahawks pick so that they'll be drafting at the top of the draft like I don't think it'll be that bad next season that they'll be in the top five of the draft again. But I also I don't think I don't think the roster's all that talented and this is me saying that I think Russell Wilson is somewhere between what he was at the end in Seattle, which was like a tier two and a half tier three quarterback, and where he was last year, which was legitimately one of the worst starters in the NFL. I think Russell Wilson somewhere in between at this point, I just I still don't think that's going to be enough to turn a corner for Denver because they don't have enough talent. [00:14:51][58.8] Julian Martinez: [00:14:51] And you mentioned this earlier, but where they fit into the grand scheme of the AFC, Right. The Chiefs, if we put them in pen to win the division again, then they have to jump over. A lot of AFC North teams, a lot of AFC East teams, the AFC South, I mean maybe like a Tennessee or something surprises you. There's always that like one, right? [00:15:12][20.5] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:12] Yeah. If I told you that Tennessee, Indy or Houston could be a spicy seven in ten this season that you would believe me if I told you any of those teams were seven and ten and cause problems for. [00:15:22][9.4] Julian Martinez: [00:15:22] And we're also assuming that the Jaguars take that next step this year and just win that division. And then again in division itself. You mentioned you think the Broncos will outright be better than the Raiders. Who knows, Maybe Jimmy winning Garoppolo comes in and gives them seven wins or something like that. And they're better than the Broncos. [00:15:38][16.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:39] I can't even look at that with a straight face. I just it's just funny to think of hater hater. They're talking about the Raiders might just cut Josh Jacobs, just rescind his franchise tag and be like, okay, see you can leave. [00:15:51][11.6] Julian Martinez: [00:15:51] Yeah, they're a shit show. But still it's it's a possibility it's in the cards because the Raiders I think beat the Broncos twice last year. You the Chargers. Yeah you know and then the Chargers do it another double digit win team and regardless of how much I have disdain for Brandon Staley as head coach and I think that he's a bit of a chump in that position they were a double digit win teams. They also have to leap over them too. So there is that you know I recognize they have to jump over like five teams to even be in the playoffs this year. [00:16:20][28.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:21] Yeah, and look, before the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, they were not good enough. I said it at the time. I said it after they were not good enough. But I commend them for saying we're still going to try and get a franchise quarterback anyways, even if it costs us no offense to first round picks and a second round pick. I commend them that they said we're still going to try it anyways. But the Broncos, they said we're going to go for it. We're going to give up essentially three first round picks because no offense was a first round pick two years prior. We're going to essentially give up three first round picks for Russell Wilson and I commend them for saying we're going to try it because they didn't have enough talent at the time. It was a catastrophe last year, but I still thought at the start of the year they've got enough talent to compete for the seventh wildcard spot. And this year I can say they've got enough talent to compete for the seventh wildcard spot. That seems to be where I'm at with the Broncos right now is if they put the pieces together correctly, they won't be battered in Kansas City or Cincinnati or Baltimore or the Los Angeles Chargers or. [00:17:22][61.3] Julian Martinez: [00:17:23] Buffalo. [00:17:23][0.0] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:17:24] Buffalo or the obligatory team that wins the AFC South. But they could maybe get that last mark. They are just as talented as the Jets, and that's why I think they are just as talented as the Jets. And one of those teams might get into the playoffs. [00:17:38][13.7] Julian Martinez: [00:17:39] Denver Target painted on their back. What do you think this year? Big expectations come in when Sean Payton can Russell Wilson revive his career? How much do these injuries in training camp hurt them? Like for your thoughts any and all things Denver Broncos will I can video subscribe to our channel find us on all our social media from JuJu and Kyle Stay safe happy and healthy. We will see you next time. [00:17:39][0.0] [1038.7] NFL 2023: Which Team Goes Worst to First? Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets Analysis8/9/2023 "Unlocking NFL 2023's Most Dramatic Turnaround Scenarios: Worst to First Predictions! 🏈🔮 Get ready to dive into the thrilling realm of gridiron speculation as we analyze the potential for an awe-inspiring transformation in the upcoming 2023 NFL season! 🌟 In this video, we take an in-depth look at three standout teams poised for a remarkable worst-to-first journey. First up, we delve into the Chicago Bears' narrative, with a laser focus on the electrifying development of Justin Fields. Witness the evolution of this young quarterback and explore how his growth could potentially elevate the Bears to a stunning resurgence. Next, we shift our spotlight to the Atlanta Falcons, fresh from drafting the dynamic Bijan Robinson. With the NFC South presenting unique opportunities, we dissect how the Falcons' strategic moves could position them for an impressive climb up the ranks. And then there's the New York Jets, who've sent shockwaves through the league by trading for none other than the legendary Aaron Rodgers. Join us as we unravel the potential impact of this monumental acquisition on the Jets' quest for a spectacular turnaround. In this video, we combine expert insights, data-driven analysis, and a dash of football magic to craft our predictions for these teams' journeys from worst to first. Whether you're a die-hard football fanatic, a fantasy league guru, or simply intrigued by the art of comeback stories, this video has you covered. Don't miss out on this riveting discussion that uncovers the underdog potential of these NFL squads. Like, subscribe, and join the conversation as we embark on a thrilling ride through the scenarios that could reshape the NFL landscape in 2023! 🎥🏆" Julian Martinez: [00:00:05] Every year in the NFL, there's a team that goes worst, the first. Obviously, the only eight options that we can possibly have. Last year's worst place teams. We have the Jets who finished seven and ten. Big year for them with Aaron Rodgers in tow. The Broncos five and 12 last year. Then you had the Browns seven and ten. You had the Texans three and 13, obviously picking at the top of the draft last year. The commanders, eight, eight and one in a wild NFC East, the Cardinals four and 13, the Bears three and 14 and the Falcons rounding things out at seven and ten. When I say those eight teams out loud. Who's the standout for you? [00:00:45][40.7]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:46] I can think of five teams that have no chance. So that leaves three options left for me of the group. And of those three teams that I have in my head, I kind of want to say the Chicago Bears. I know that's kind of crazy, but I kind of want to say the Chicago Bears have a chance to go worst to first this season. I know that they've added a bunch of talent and I don't know how that'll change. They obviously draft an offensive lineman they traded for D.J. Moore, signed a couple of players on offense and defense that are lesser impact pieces, but they let David Montgomery go. But I've seen Justin Fields play such incredible football those last couple seasons. And look, if it weren't for them losing a bunch of Crazy one score games because they were really unlucky and one score games, that's usually how a team ends up getting the number one pick in the draft. When we didn't think of the Bears being the worst team in the NFL last year. They're really unlucky and one score games. Justin Fields got hurt at the end of the season and they were trotting out Nathan Peterman for the end of the season. I will not forget that Nathan Peterman played for the Chicago Bears to end the season. But if you're looking for a team that could make a jump from a three win team, that probably should have been like a five or six win team on paper last year, making the jump to nine or ten wins to win a crappy division. I think it could be the Chicago Bears. [00:02:00][74.4] Julian Martinez: [00:02:01] Okay, well, let's work back to the Bears. Well, let's work back to the top. Let's work from the bottom. Let's talk about those five teams that you said had no chance. If I had to guess as far as which team would be the lowest. Arizona. [00:02:13][12.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:02:14] Arizona's in that group of five. I don't know if there's one that I think because it's been. [00:02:18][3.4] Julian Martinez: [00:02:18] Between Arizona and the Texans, I imagine for you. [00:02:21][2.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:02:21] Know so the teams that I would say have basically no chance of turning it around are Washington. Arizona. Denver, Like, those are the three that I feel pretty certain aren't going to get it. And the reason I say they aren't going to get it is none of those teams that made significant improvements. Arizona, you could argue, has gone backwards in terms of the talent because they want to potentially tank for a top draft pick or rebuild or whatever they want to classify it. [00:02:48][26.6] Julian Martinez: [00:02:48] Well, I guess what actually got to think about also the question to worst to first, we also have to think about who else is in that division. Right. Okay. So in that division for the Texans, they would have to leapfrog the Titans and the Jaguars. The Colts kind of maybe a little bit of gray area this season. They could probably leapfrog them. But are they better or can I potentially see them being better than the Jacksonville Jaguars if Trevor Lawrence gets hurt? But other than that, I have a hard time seeing it. Okay. Well, the Cardinals. Right. The Cardinals would have to leapfrog Seattle, San Francisco and Sean Mcvay is back there in Los Angeles. So that one even might be a dogfight as well. As far as like, can they even get to third place in that division? Right. Okay. So, yeah, no chance at all right for those teams to make that happen. The commanders. So they would have to leapfrog Dallas a playoff giants from a year ago and the Eagles, could they be third place in that division could have a wild year happen and then be two? Probably not with Sam Howell at quarterback, but where things have happened before in the NFL. But yeah, I don't see them being first place in that vision. So words the first in that concept instantly negated the Broncos. They would have to leapfrog the Chargers in Kansas City to make that happen. [00:04:05][76.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:06] Yes and that's not going to happen. My thinking on those three teams specifically are I feel more confident than anything else that Kansas City's winning the AFC West. The Eagles are winning the NFC East and San Francisco or Seattle are winning the NFC West. Now I'm just putting Seattle in. There's a caveat like it's a possibility Seattle could win the division, but San Francisco is the most talented roster top to bottom, I would argue, in the NFL. And then the other two teams I had, that group are the Texans and the Browns, which are the divisions within striking distance. But I don't think those teams are necessarily going to be able to leapfrog everyone in that division. So the three that I had a possibility on were the Falcons, the Bears and the Jets. And of those three, I like the Bears. [00:04:52][46.5] Julian Martinez: [00:04:53] Yeah. And you know, also to round out the group talking about Cleveland a little bit. Okay so let's say Deshaun comes back and is actually Deshaun from a few years ago okay that's one thing for them but they don't have to. The same talent that they had initially when they made that trade for Deshaun to upgrade their quarterback position. Like I think their defense, obviously, we know how good Myles Garrett is, but don't think that defense was quite what it was whenever they won that playoff game a couple of years ago, had Baker Mayfield and thought were an ascending team within the conference, there might be okay, they might be a playoff team, but do I think that they'll be better than Baltimore or Cincinnati? They'll be in that. I think they'll be in that group, but it's going to be hard for me to see them jumping over Cincinnati. So I agree with you on that one as well, talking about the others. All right. So we have the Jets, Chicago and the Falcons. The Falcons are unique because they have the benefit of a bad division that they can exploit and take advantage of to jump to the top of their standings. So in another video, we talked about Baker Mayfield and what's going on in Tampa. We think that they might be on the downslide and might potentially be a top five drafting team this year. All right. While also kind of expanding on that one, Carolina, they have a rookie quarterback. We know there's going to be a learning curve. They have talent, but it's going to be a challenge for them to be able to really compete for a playoff spot within that first year. The Saints, their mid their defensive players they just resigned Cam Jordan on an extension their secondary we know that that's a strength of the team with Lattimore back there but he was injured and banged up last year and Derek Carr his first year outside of Las Vegas Oakland. We have to see what Derek Carr will really be. But Dennis Allen as a head coach is also a liability. Arthur Smith I respect him as a head coach. They just drafted Bijan. We know that. Kyle Pitts Their wide receiver position leaves a lot to be desired. Desmond Ridder certainly at quarterback, but if they live off the back of a running game and a decent defense, not a great defense, not a good defense, not a bad defense and a horrible defense, but an average defense with a solid running game, they could probably ride that to at least being the winner of that division. And then you mentioned the bears. Okay. So the bears looking around them, the Lions are the preseason darlings by many people had their first sell out at Ford field in the history of Ford field or will season ticket owners I should say the Vikings 13 and 411 and no and one score games a year ago. We know how that those teams tend to regress and then Jordan Love is the Packers starter this year first year starting for Jordan love I agree with you I think the Bears probably provide the biggest X factor to jump to the top and jump to the top and actually being good. So both the NFC South and the NFC North, because of those divisions being more in flux, provide both the Falcons and bears respectively the best odds that jump to the very top of their standings. [00:07:51][177.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:52] I feel more confident about any prediction this season. The team and the prediction I feel most confident about is the Packers are going to go seven and ten. I feel so confident that the Packers are going to be a seven and ten football team this year, and then that leaves Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago is the remaining teams. Maybe Detroit grabs a hold of that division. Minnesota, I think, is still should be the favorites, like they still deserve to be the favorites because even though that defense isn't very good and even though Byron Murphy's going to try and be the patch that they put to try and fix it, like I still think Minnesota deserves to be favorites. And I. [00:08:30][37.8] Julian Martinez: [00:08:30] I think that Minnesota, they regressed to being a wildcard team at worst this year. I think their offense is still going to provide them more than enough punch. They still have tons of playmakers on that offense, but that defense, they have to turn around everything on their to be good. They were Swiss cheese last year and you go back and watch. I just finished quarterback. You go back and watch that game against the Giants. They're just getting carved apart. It's embarrassing. So if they still have that embarrassing defense and they lose a couple more of those one score games, yeah, they're going to be probably closer to a wildcard team than they will be winning Division 13 and four. [00:09:05][34.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:09:05] So here's where the Bears kind of sneak in the backdoor because again, are the odds on these teams great? I don't think so. Maybe you think the Jets are going to be this 13 and three juggernaut this season? I personally don't see it, but here's where it works in favor of the Bears potentially making that leap. All the NFC North teams have to play every team in the AFC West, which is potentially some losses on the schedule for those teams. And everyone has to play the NFC South this year. So all those teams in the NFC South, in the NFC North are going to start beating each other up because we just went through all the teams that if I told you that the Buccaneers, Panthers, Falcons, Saints, Vikings, Lions, Packers or Bears were to go eight and eight this season, you would believe me. Like there's a scenario where all of those teams could finish eight, nine or eight, nine or nine and eight or whatever. With the 17 game schedule, like, all those teams have the potential to be perfectly average. And so that leaves a lot. A room for chaos that's within that division, because 25% of each of those teams schedules are going to be playing each other. So the NFC South, the Falcons play the Bears. The Bears play the Saints, the Saints play the Vikings. All those teams are going to start beating each other up. And that creates potential for one of those teams to maybe win a division at ten and seven. Maybe it's the Falcons, maybe it's the Bears, maybe it's one of the non last place teams, but there's some potential for chaos. [00:10:27][81.9] Julian Martinez: [00:10:28] We haven't talked about the Jets enough here, so let's talk about the Jets in their possibly jumping worse the first so we know the big storyline for them is Aaron Rodgers getting added to this one they have talent at the wide receiver position their defense is a strength of this team. You compare that to the bills who the bills have a little bit of drama in their locker room. We know that there was some offseason headlines between Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen. It's getting tougher to manage the cap. We saw that this team got beat up in the playoff game last year against Cincinnati, so the Bills could be a team on the decline potentially. A Josh Allen is still going to be good enough to keep that team afloat more often than not. But even Josh Allen, you know, he falls victim to the turnovers and that could be a potential thing that could cost the bills to lose a few more games this year. The Dolphins now the Dolphins are a lot of people's picks. The hell even be a surprise Darkhorse Super Bowl contender but that's going to ride on Tua's health, which we know is a consistent story for them. Their defense wasn't great last year. Their running game was a big drawback on the team. Last year. They're going to beat you with their wide receiving talent. They're one of the fastest teams in the league. Let's face it, they have Tyreek, they have Jaylen Waddle, the Patriots Steady Eddie. They could be the second best team in this division. They can surprise people and be the first. I don't know what Belichick they're you're always going to be no they're going to be good but the Jets in terms of pure talent on the roster should be better than the Patriots. I don't think that that's really deniable in terms of talent on the roster. The Jets should be better than the Patriots. So when I compare them to the teams in their division, the Jets from seven and ten, they were seven and ten with the bad play of Zach Wilson and everyone else that they had a throw at quarterback last year. Yeah. Could they win this division and be like a 12 and five team? That's something I could see happening. Could the bills regress and be more like 11 win team next year as opposed to a 13 win team in next year the Dolphins more in that ten win territory or as you joke around with the nine and eight or eight and nine record. Yeah those are all things I could see happen, right? So that's like the Jets opportunity, but it's a little bit more of a tough road. So again, going back to the rankings question of it, they are the third because they don't have the benefit of a bad division like the Falcons do, like the Bears do. [00:12:46][138.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:12:47] I might go as far to say the Jets are two and the Falcons are three. And the reason I say that is just I don't see the vision with the Falcons like Bijan Robinson is going to improve their offense. They want to run the football. I joke last year Arthur Smith, after Marcus Mariota threw a pick, ran the ball on 17 consecutive plays in a game last year. Arthur Smith's wet dream is to recreate the 2019 Tennessee Titans in Atlanta, just the most boring seven and ten football you can imagine. [00:13:13][26.0] Julian Martinez: [00:13:13] But you get I'm betting more against that their division than I'm betting on them. [00:13:16][3.1] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:13:17] Yeah, No, you're absolutely right. Anyone can win that division. But I think I think Carolina has a better chance of winning that division than Atlanta, because I just I don't see division with that lane. I understand drafting Bjarne, he was that talent. We talked about it around the draft. But if the whole point was to draft a star running back and never invest in the quarterback position, why did you draft two receivers with top ten picks the previous two seasons? Why did you pick Kyle Pitts? Why did you pick Drake London? If the entire game plan was just, we're going to run the ball with Bijan Robinson. [00:13:48][31.3] Julian Martinez: [00:13:49] Maybe I should say, with Atlanta. So we mentioned Desmond Ridder, but I'm forgetting they did sign Taylor Heinicke this year and they were Heinicke has come in and he's shown the ability to be a gamer. At least he's a NFL quarterback, which I don't know if Desmond Ridder is an NFL quarterback. Right. So I could see potentially if Taylor Heinicke comes in, wins the starting job, takes over, could he be good enough to engineer this Falcons offense to again, like nine and eight good enough to win the NFC South? Yeah I can see that with Taylor Heinicke. Yeah I can. In fact I'll go I'll stretch this I can see that if they start they start Taylor Heinicke more than I can. If they go into this year with Desmond Ridder, I would say honestly, if I'm the Falcons, yeah, Taylor Heinicke is my guy. [00:14:35][46.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:14:36] Just because Desmond Ridder's the unknown, right? We don't know what he is. [00:14:39][2.8] Julian Martinez: [00:14:39] He's the unknown. But he didn't even. Well, he's kind of known because I did see the games he starred in last year, and I left very underwhelmed, in fact, too. And maybe this is unfair to him in certain respects, but seeing him in the game against Alabama a couple of years ago, that really scared me for what even going into the draft of what Desmond Ridder could be like going against the first elite defense that he really faced in college football. All that year with a bunch of guys who obviously ended up going to the NFL, and he looked as inept as he did. And then he comes into the pros and kind of looks about the same as he did in that college football playoff game. So I would say I've seen Taylor Heinicke, how I've seen Taylor Heinicke do it in a playoff game, actually. So against a team that went on to win the Super Bowl that year. So I can only say that I think that I, I feel very confident that from what I've seen on the NFL field, Taylor Heinicke, he's a better quarterback than Desmond Ridder. [00:15:33][54.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:34] I think that's why I put him third because I still I still think the Jets have a pretty good chance. And look Buffalo was this juggernaut last season. I think Buffalo's going to be that this year in the regular season. But I do acknowledge that the Jets have talent. Like I don't want to say oh that it's not all buffalo. Like the reason that the Jets won't win the AFC East is not all buffalo. Like the Jets do have a talented team there. I just I think if you stack them up against Kansas City or Cincinnati or a Baltimore or even a Buffalo, I don't know how how the Jets are going to match up in terms of regular season. Now one game sample size, it's football, random shit happens all the time. But over the course of a regular season, I don't know how the Jets are going to stack up in that respect. [00:16:15][41.4] Julian Martinez: [00:16:16] Here's another thing to mention with the Jets. I know that their start to their schedule is not very favorable. I want to say a top five toughest schedule in the league to start the year. So if they start off on a poor note, then that opens up the possibility that they're out of it before we even get to Thanksgiving. [00:16:32][16.5] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:33] Oh, yeah, it's rough. I just saw it for the first time. It's home against Buffalo at the Dallas Cowboys, home against New England, home against Kansas City at Denver. A little bit better. But then again, we did a video on the Broncos and I said it's a little more favorable. The Broncos get to play at home against the Jets. Yeah. And then they play home. You give them goals. [00:16:54][20.7] Julian Martinez: [00:16:54] You give them Denver at home. That's that's not good. [00:16:56][2.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:58] There's no and then they're then they're home against the Eagles neutral game against the Giants because again it's Jets Giants they play at the same stadium and then they play Chargers. So yeah, the first half of the season is rough for the Jets. [00:17:11][12.9] Julian Martinez: [00:17:12] Yeah. And we know that sometimes like a poor start to the season could back break a lot of teams before we even get to the point where we're talking about playoffs. [00:17:20][8.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:17:21] But if they beat Buffalo at home, week one could be the turning point to galvanize the season. It makes them believe in the abilities of Aaron Rodgers, believe in themselves and believe in Robert Saleh. If they could just beat the bills at home week one. [00:17:33][11.9] Julian Martinez: [00:17:33] Now, I would say in doing this exercise here, though, I have discovered that there's not as many worse to first teams I really believe in as there have been in previous years. Like, you know, there's been years like I remember when the Niners made their Super Bowl run a couple of years ago where a lot of teams were like, okay, I could see this team. They had a rough year, but they're going to be bouncing back next year. We're looking at these teams here and there's not really that team that we think can Yeah, there's teams we think could win their division, but there's not a team. We think they can go from being at the top of the draft to suddenly being a Super Bowl contender. So I do think that that's what makes this year a little bit different. [00:18:09][35.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:18:10] The exercise that I think is interesting about this is like so from like 2000 to 2018 or something like that, I want to say 16 out of 18 years, there was a worst of first team in the NFL. And then the last four years I think there's only been two. And last year was the Jaguars, which, you know, came down to the last game of the season to get the. [00:18:30][20.5] Julian Martinez: [00:18:30] Bengals to a couple of years ago as well. [00:18:32][1.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:18:32] Yeah so I think I think we went two years without a worst of first team. Maybe Washington counted as a worst to first during the pandemic season. But the point being like you don't see it as often. And my theory for the reason that's the case is the top end talent in the NFL has never been as sturdy as it was in past years. Like you used to be able to always say, well, you know, the Patriots are going to be good and, you know, the Peyton Manning is going to be good. And other than that, we'll see what happens below that. Now you can say we know Kansas City's always going to be good. We know Buffalo's always going to be good. Before Buffalo, it was the Patriots. We always knew the Patriots were going to be good. Now we feel confident saying we know that the Bengals are always going to be good. The 49ers are always going to be good. I personally would say that the Eagles are going to be really, really good this next year. [00:19:20][47.5] Julian Martinez: [00:19:20] Like now, I. [00:19:21][0.6] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:19:21] Think they get top end talent. [00:19:22][0.8] Julian Martinez: [00:19:22] Now we're saying this too, and part of what makes a lot of worse the first seasons is injury and we can't predict injury. We're not in the future talent business in that respect. But if you told me, like we go into this year and God forbid something happens to like Mahomes or Trevor Lawrence or a lot of those Top End quarterback talents, then throw everything out the window and that completely changes a division. And suddenly you say, like Houston Texans, bare with me. But the Houston Texans winning that division suddenly becomes likely because the talent around them in the division just instantly is not that good. [00:19:57][34.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:19:57] I mean, we were talking about that with Jared Goff earlier. Jared Goff goes down for the Lions and we take them out. I mean, it means. Ten wins could win the NFC North. If you told me the Bears got ten wins, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing in the world. I mean, it would mean Justin Fields is taking the next step to like MVP frontrunner and like has made this Josh Allen. I mean, not Josh Allen type league. Justin Fields finished 10th in the MVP last year, but he's made an extra step. [00:20:19][22.0] Julian Martinez: [00:20:20] And you mentioned it earlier to the improvements and the talent around Justin Fields on the offense. This year is going to be something that if the Bears do make that leap and hey, kudos to you Bears fans, if this is like a turnaround season for you because I know that you've struggled to find talent at the quarterback position for ever. This is why I do think that we're of like mind here. We look at the division, we look at ascending players around the league and the Bears just make the most sense as far as like this worse, the first team. [00:20:51][31.2] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:20:51] You and I saw the highlights last year, we both believe like Justin Fields is incredible and I know I'm less of the winds are not a quarterback stat person than you are, but you and I both see it like Justin Fields. The record of the Bears was not indicative of the play of Justin Fields. Justin Fields was amazing. [00:21:08][16.3] Julian Martinez: [00:21:09] Now just I will cut you off just a little bit just to say that. Yes, I do see the highlights. I do think the talent is there, but I'm not as fervent of a Justin Fields believer entirely like he. I still need to see it like reflect in the win loss record. But I do think that it is there. Like I'm not going to deny it, is there. There is something like, can he have a Cam Newton style development? Yes, I do think that that is a possibility for Justin Fields. What about you ranked these teams in the comments section. How do you think that this things shake out? Is there like any exception to what we said here? Like, do you believe that there's a team that we're kind of sleeping on by to your thoughts in the comments section We like in the video, subscribe to the channel, follow us on all our social media from juju and Kyle. Stay safe, happy and healthy. We will see you next time. [00:21:09][0.0] [1242.4] |
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