Pine Pony Podcast
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Pine Pony Podcast
Pre-Draft Playbook: AFC North & South 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Pine Pony Podcast! In this episode, we break down the latest NFL free agency news, including big moves by Russell Wilson to the Giants and Aaron Rodgers potentially heading to the Steelers. We also dive into the AFC North and South, analyzing each team's draft needs, cap space, and recent signings. From the Steelers' QB drama to the Browns' offensive woes, the Bengals' defensive gaps, and the Ravens' signings, we've got it all covered. Plus, we look at key players in March Madness and a hilarious discussion on keep, trade, cut.
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Welcome. Welcome to another edition of the Pond. Pony podcast is me the og, hanging out with my buddy, the fantasy uncle, what's happening in Persian. Howdy, howdy. Glad to be back. Talking ball with the original strengths to himself. That's right. That's right. We're here and we're talking ball, all kinds of ball. Football, basketball, tennis balls, all kinds of balls. Well, we got the A OC north and south. We're gonna go over this week and a couple of new signings, March Madness and a Game of Dynasty. Keep trade cut at the end. So with that being said, let's get on into it. Alright, so biggest news of the week just happened today in free agency NFL Russell Wilson Signs with the Giants. I mean a little shocked. Yeah, this means Rogers is definitely going to the Steelers. We can get into that to a second, but let's talk about Wilson and how much he's getting paid and, you know, what does that mean for, didn't they sign Justin Fields? They signed Jamis. Jamis, that's right. Jamis Winston, I forgot. Yeah, they signed him. They signed him a couple days ago. Right. It's, yeah, I think it's pretty rare that a team will do a, a double dip at quarterback, like for agency wise like that. And Russ is getting paid 21 million with 10 and a half guaranteed. That's not bad. Yeah, that's not bad. That, that's pretty good for one season. The final, well, almost the final quarterback off the board free agency wise. I, man, you gotta think that this is bad news for the Steelers because if they were in negotiations and they had a little bit of leverage with the option of Russ still being out there to just bring back, well, now you gotta think Rogers has all the leverage here. Like he's the only game in town. I mean, unless they're really gonna trade up to, to take a shot at on cam board or Shair. But Mason Rudolph is gonna be the starter. Yep. They, Hey, I believe it. I believe it locked him back in. They said, come on back. We think you're ready to, to, to take us to the promised land. But yeah, I mean, Rogers is locked in, right? He went there, he visited for six whole hours. Yeah. You know, he's locked. He's gotta be locked in. In my opinion, the this signals it that like the Steelers didn't even, like, you know, there was no reports that Russell Wilson was even offered money, so they kind of, in their mind, moved on. This, that team has, has had turn to quarterback a complete 100% QB turnover in the last three seasons. Every year they've not. Wow. Same quarterback room the last three seasons. Wow. That's, that is wild. It does, it, doesn't it make you think it's a little weird though, that I, he would go to visit with the entire coaching staff there for six hours and then not sign the deal though. Like, isn't that a little bit of a, a red flag there that he decided to walk away after six hours? I mean. The only thing I could think, honestly,'cause I, I have no idea what's going on, is that he really does still think he has a shot with the Vikings and he would just prefer the Vikings over the Steelers. If he thinks he still has a shot with the Vikings man. The Vikings have already said they're not in the Rogers sweep sticks. Oh, did they say that? Yeah. Oh, I didn't catch that. Okay. Yeah. All right. They came out and said that like, we're, we're not, like, we have no interest in Aaron Rogers in signing him or anything at all. Like we're, we're moving on with our plan of, I mean, they didn't say this part, but I, you know, I'm putting reading between the lines of JJ McCarthy and. Whoever. Yeah, so I, I think this is this becomes a little interesting for the Browns too, right? Because I think most people's expectation was that Russ was going to the Browns and so far the only thing the Browns have done quarterback wise was they traded a fifth round pick. Or maybe it was a sixth round pick for Kenny Pickett, so, right, right. I it could be that the Browns are trying to talk Rogers into coming there too, I guess. I don't know. But it could be that the Browns are indeed in on Ur and that that's why they don't care to pay up for any of these free agent guys. Listen, man, the Browns are in Deshaun, Watson said he's coming back locked and loaded. Okay. Well, I thought he wasn't gonna play this season. Look, man, he said he, he said he is in the lab. He said he is in the lab. Okay. All right. All right. He, he, Hey, he got engaged. Some girl was, some poor girl was foolish enough to wow to say yes after all the massages. Yeah. She's like, she's like, don't worry, I'll give you massages now. There is no way that, that's real love. Right? She, she's like, this guy's got$250 million sitting in his bank account. I think I can handle his massage ass for a couple years. She fucking divorces his ass and takes half. Hey, you know what? You know what, man? They look, they, they looked cute on Instagram. You know they, they did not look as cute as Bill Belichick. His girlfriend at the beach too. Cute. But they did look cute. A lot of filters. A lot of filters. You're being used. All right. Moving on. Stefan Diggs to the Patriots. Woo six. Incredible. 9 million. Incredible. This was more money than I thought it was going to be now, now in reality you know, just, just to be fair here it's, it's really just one year of guaranteed money, but it's still a bunch of money for that year. Even if they do decide to move on from him after this coming season, I thought that he was gonna be more in the range of 12, 15, 16 million because this is a guy who's getting ready to be 32 years old, coming off of a huge, a major injury. So it's like I. I, I would've thought his stock was down. But man, the Patriots, I guess they just got all that cap space was just burning a hole in their, their pockets and they, I mean, hey man, you got 121 million. I mean, you know, you gotta do something with it, you know? Yeah. They, if, if you're not using all of your cap for the, at least that season, like, or close to it, like, what, what are you, what are you doing with it? You could have that, that's money. You could have brought in somebody to help, you know? Yeah. Or, or traded or something. Bring somebody in and then trade'em away. I thought they were gonna sign Elijah Moore for that same kind of underneath role. They decided to go big with digs. I think it's interesting. That Elijah Moore's still out there. I don't think he's elite or anything like that, but I think he's a usable guy. You know, I mean, he wasn't horrible. Right. So I guess we'll see where he lands, but for now you know, pretty big win for digs, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see what happens with him and Drake May. Okay. Moving on to March Madness. We have hit the Sweet 16. Let's see who we got. Duke, Arizona, BYU, Alabama, I guess. Yeah. Auburn, Michigan. Ole Miss. Michigan State, Florida, Maryland, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Houston and Purdue. The lowest seed is a T seed, I would say. I'm gonna be real honest here, ma'am, I have not been interested in this tournament whatsoever. It just, I mean, Clemson lost in the first round, so that was kind of a bummer to Will Wade and McNee State. Remember what I said last week? I told y'all, don't sleep on Will Wade. You did say that, and it just, but now he's going to NC State, so now Clemson will get the, the luxury of getting beat twice in a year, every year by him. It'll be great. It's gonna be awesome. But yeah, man, I mean, you know, there's no mid majors in the Sweet 16 for the first time, and I think all time or in like a really, really long time. Yeah, so that's kind of boring. I I don't really know any of the players, like most of them. If you even become star status, you're immediately in the NBA. So it's just kind of like, hmm. Yeah, it is just kind of boring, you know? I don't know if NIL or anything has anything to do with all that, but I feel like every single school that's still in there is just like a pretty big basketball program. Yeah. It's just a fairly big, it's like a, I wonder if in a weird way, that actually helps the ncaa because these teams tend to have pretty big fan bases, but like, who's the smallest school? What BYU? Yeah. Gotta be, right? Yeah. I think they, and I mean, even BU is not that small, like, right? It's so yeah. I mean, for someone like me who just doesn't have a dog in the fight, I'm not like a big fan of any of these sort of legacy teams. It is just boring. It's just like too bad. They didn't have a, I. M-S-N-B-C University make it to the Sweet 16 or whatever that one year in that, that, that college from Virginia, Loyola Chicago, Chicago Lo or whatever. Yeah. Just crazy, crazy stuff that's yeah, man. And then it is just, you know, North Carolina made it all the way just to lose to the first round. So we had all of that controversy really for nothing. Both teams probably would've, would've lost. Yeah. I mean, we did, we did have a little coach get angry and like there is against the journalists. There's some, I, I think somebody threatened to like sue them if they didn't take down the video of the guy, like cursing at somebody or, I don't know. But everybody's loving him for it. He like, apparently even like referees are like praising him for his, his angst. I thought that was cool. But yeah, I mean, that's really all I got from March Madness, you know, just kind of a, a ho home blue blood tournament this year. There's just not enough madness in March this year. Yeah. There is no, there is zero madness this, this year. Yeah. I mean, like, I think one of these games was like a, a complete Yeah. Duke beat Baylor 89 to 66. They beat Mount St. Mary, 93 to 49 in a, in a NCAA tournament. They are smoking people. Duke's probably gonna win this thing. Yeah, I mean they are like a top four or five team, aren't they? Yeah. Oh yeah. They're the number one seed in their bracket. I don't know if they were number one overall, right. Or, but you know. Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy. Any anyw who, so I got a list of. Some athletes here for the best first round pick at every draft spot. Yep. Through the first 10 spots. So number one was Miles Garrett, 2017. Number two was Jayden Daniels both. Number three, Joey Bosa, number four. Sauce. Gardner, number five. Jamar Chase, number six. Quentin Nelson. I don't even know who that is, to be honest with you. He's a guard for the Colts. I know. I see. He is a guard for the Colts, but it was just like I, I never heard of him. Josh Allen, number seven. Christian McCaffrey at number eight. Patan at number nine. And Pat Mahomes at number 10. Nice. Yeah, man, that's a pretty, that is solid list, man. That is a good ask list. Yeah. Yeah. Miles Garrett, man, what a, what a piece of junk he turned out to be. Apparently he shows up late. Man, this guy don't even care, man. He doesn't even care. He, these guys are all such primadonnas, bro. Prima's so old. It gets so old. Can't, can't. We just have some good guys. Can't, can't you be really good and dominant and just be a good guy? Like, why you gotta, everyone's gotta be so, me, me, me whining and bitching and all this fucking, get me the bull. Get me the bull look going, man. I hate these people, man. He hates him. He hates him. Oh man, man, you really gotta, you know. All right, and then here I got another list based on career success, talent and draft position. Best player drafted by year. Like, like, the four major sport, the four major sports for the four major sports by year. The best player drafted? Well you mean like a player Could be in any sport? Any sport. This is the best athlete drafted this year by, by some goon on the interwebs, but I just think it's inter, I think it's interesting, you know, it's like in 2024, Jaden Daniels. Okay. Okay. All, you know, not to a bad start, you know, 2023 is pirate's, I wanna say pitcher scans, schemes, I don't know. Never met the guy. 2022. You met Jake Daniels. Yeah, I met him before 2022. Hamilton from the Ravens. Kyle Hamilton. Yep. Kyle Hamilton. That's the best athlete of that entire year. Come on bro. We got, I mean, it might be worthy to see who was drafted in 2022. 2021. Micah Parsons. See, we're getting better. Okay. Okay. 2020. Justin Jefferson? Not bad. Not bad. He's good. He's good at football. We're gonna skip a few of these. 2017, oh no. 2018 Luca Donit. Okay. I am mad at that. 2017 Patrick Mahomes. Clearly that is, you know, stamped out approval. Moving on Djokovich 2014. Giannis Kempo, 2013 JJ Watt in 2011. Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper. In 2010, Steph Curry oh nine. Kevin Durant, 2007 Clayton Kershaw, 2006 Sidney Crosby, 2005, Alex Ovechkin, 2004, LeBron James, 2003, ed Reed, 2002, drew Brees 2001 and Tom Brady in 2000. I mean, that list ain't that far off. Like it ain't that crazy to believe some of these. I just feel, I just feel like Kyle Hamilton sticks out like a sore thumb naked. He sure does, man. He sure is. He even in the league. Yeah, he's in the league. He is a good player, but he is not like, I'm kidding, he's not. And like on the same list as all those other players, he's just not. I mean, even if you just look at the NFL draft in 2022, like there's gotta be a better player than him on there. You know? I mean, Chris Lave. I mean Drake, London's better than him. Quay Walker. Kenny Pickett it. It was a bad year for QBs, that's for sure. Boy, it sure was. Man, this draft is looking pretty Suspect. Garrett Wilson's on there. James Wilson. James Wilson. What's funny is like all of the, all of those QBs that people thought were gonna go in the first round, they all sucked. Right? And then Mr. Irrelevant was Brock Purdy who actually was decent. Yeah. It's like, wait, y'all mean to tell me y'all couldn't find nobody were drafted in this whole class and then this guy was just hanging out. It's so funny. That's so funny to look back at that. I know. I remember the B drafts had like Malik Willis going like second overall and will love going like third overall and then like. During the draft, like nobody drafted anyone. And then Kenny Pickett lasted all the way to the Steelers. Like Kyle Hamilton was 14th. Pick that year, man. Yeah, 14th pick first. Pick first of his position. He's been a good player, but he has not been like, there's no way all four sports, man. Someone else is better than him for sure. Hey, you ready for the post draft analysis of of ESPN For him? The Ravens somehow get incredibly lucky and draft my number four overall player in the middle of the first round. Hamilton fits this defense because he can play anywhere in the backfield. New defensive coordinator, Mike McDonald can utilize him at strong safety, nickel linebacker, or even free safety. And Hamilton will excel projected year one impact rookie of the year candidate. He's going to line up. And make an immediate impact at a number of different spots. There you go. Don't believe he got that rookie of the year candidate. No, I actually, I think he actually struggled his first year and then the past two couple years he's been really good. Yeah. There you go. There you go. Alright man, let's, let's get into what everybody's here for the A FC North. That's right. So we already talked about Steelers a little bit, but let's, let's talk about them again. Draft position, 21st cap. They got a lot of cap space. 63 million. You know they did, they did well. They signed quite a few players. Darius Slay, Malik Harrison, Mason Rudolph, Kenneth Gain Will Juan Thornhill, Zai Oma, Daniel Ukulele. Brandon a Coles. Donald Parm Jr. They resigned. Some players, Scotty Miller, Isaiah Loudermilk, great name, Jeremiah Moon. James Pierre. Ben Nik. They traded for DK Metcalf and extended him five year, 150 million and they lost Russell Wilson officially, as we spoke about earlier, and Justin Fields. I think core needs to me here, even if you bring in Aaron Rogers, I still think you gotta go get a quarterback in in one of these because you're never gonna be in the top half of the draft. You gotta find a quarterback in days two, three, or at the end of the first round. So they need to draft somebody and they gotta, they, with Rogers, they can let'em marinate at least for one year and then bounce'em into the pit. I also think. Even with DK Metcalf, him and George Pickens are kind of the same player. I think they need to figure out another wide receiver in the draft and pick one up to play. Opposite of one of them, as well as with getting rid of Najee Harris, they need another running back. So they still have a lot of work to do in the draft man, but Mike to got those magic beings. So maybe he'll get some say this year. Yeah. Yeah. I, I agree with the quarterback take, I think that even if they had brought Russ Wilson back, which obviously they're not doing now, but IWI was thinking that even if they did. They should take a, take a shot on a developmental type guy, and there's plenty of them in there. This, I mean, this Tyler Schuck or Tyler show. I'm not even sure how you're supposed to say it. Different people have different pronunciations, but Will Howard yeah, I mean, will Howard Quinn ERs even Jackson Dart, most people think could use a year or two sitting. I mean, there's plenty of these guys you could take a shot on, and I think that even if they sign Rogers, and obviously they, they're gonna have Rudolph go ahead and get that guy take a shot. And it kind of just like what the Packers have done is like, go ahead and just take a shot every single year until you find something that works. Because you know, the, like you said, they're never gonna be projected to have an early round Right. Pick. So you're not going to have a shot. At getting the next like young gun on a rookie contract. You know, you'll either be constantly trying to chase your tail through free agency or just settling for, you know, middling quarterback played forever. Yeah. I'm really liking Will Howard for them in like the later rounds. He, he'll be there third round. It's an easy pickup for me for, for the sealers, man. Dude's huge, you know, got that big. He probably, you know, you could run a lot of similar stuff with him, like Big Ben. Yeah. And I think he, I think he literally plays similar to how big Ben plays. Yeah. I said go for it. Take him, let him marinate for that year. Give Rogers the fucking boot and star stardom next year. That's my, that's my plan for the Steelers. Yeah, I agree with the running back thing. We've already spoke about it before, but it's a good draft class for running back, so I expect them to take at least one shot. I, I would not be surprised if they went ahead and grabbed a couple of these guys. They, it's really deep at the position, so you could, you could find you know, quality depth at sixth, seventh round. You know what I mean? So, oh, yeah. Yeah. This is a great draft to be able to draft a runner back later too. Like they could really Yeah. Get this team rolling in this draft here. I, I, I think there's, similar to the Broncos, where they'll probably take one in the first three rounds, but then again, they'll take one toward the end of the draft too, right? Completely agree. Completely agree. I'm liking, I'm liking it. Steelers fans, even though you guys might hate Aaron Rogers also real quick. Aaron Rogers, I think might be coming into the Steelers a little humbled. He recently said that based on his experience with the Jets, that he now realizes how much more special playing in Green Bay was for all those years. And that, you know, is, it's not the same everywhere else. He's looking for that same experience now. And, and I'm like, bro, now that he got to experience the league's worst owner apparently. Right? Yeah. He's like, damn, it ain't, it ain't all, it ain't all like Green Bay out there. I had it so good there. I had it so good. Damn, what did I do? Yeah, well I had too late there. Yeah, they've already paid Love, brother. Yeah, we're done with you old man. Yeah. All the, you know, MVP stats. It's all I'm saying. All right. All right. Look, even if he does the exact same record like thing as the Steelers, like that's still, he's gonna be playoffs if he plays for the Steelers.'cause you know, Mike Tomlin don't play that fucking under 500. Shit. Yeah. I just, I just think that it, it could be, it could be like real tense behind the scenes though, because you've got such big personalities with Arthur Smith, Rogers and Collinson dk. Yeah. And I mean, you, you think about the wide receivers that, that he's going to have to play with. These are not the kind of guys he likes to deal with, you know? And so you just got so many cooks in that kitchen. I just feel like maybe it'll work, but probably it wouldn't, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Man. Well, Brandon Cooks is not there, so, you know, that's one Less cooks, that's one less cooks in kitchen. All right. Moving on to the Cleveland Browns. Here we are again. Browns fans. Second pick in the draft, 12 million in cap space. Signed Malik Collins, Cornelius Lucas, Joe Tryon, ska Deandre Carter. Tevin Jenkins traded for Kenny Pickett resigned. Devin Bush extended Miles. Garrett got rid of DTR released Dalvin Tomlinson released Juan Thornhill, but we already know he got picked up and released. Charlie Hulett draft needs, in my opinion, quarterback offensive line. They need another edge rusher'cause Miles Garrett is gonna be gone soon. Probably won't even finish out that contract. I also think they need a running back and wide receivers. To me all. But to me, even though they, they may need edge or safety, I think they should really focus on the offense because that seems to be their biggest Achilles' heel is that they just cannot have a consistent enough offense to where that defense can cook and, and just, you know, smother other offenses.'cause they know this team cannot score. So what are your thoughts on the Cleveland Brownies? Yeah, I'm a little bit more optimistic towards the pass catchers than you are. I think that David and Yoku probably still has another two or three good seasons in him. I think that Jerry Judy's not elite, but I think that he's all right. And I liked what I saw from Cedric Tillman before he got injured. Toward the end of the season, he basically stepped in to replace Amari Cooper and. You know, he, he didn't get much opportunity, his rookie season last year being his second season, he got I think four or five games in which he was a starter and I thought he looked pretty good. So I'm a little bit more optimistic about the past catching group, but I agree with you about the offensive line. They really should address one of the tackles and probably one of the guards, if not the center as well. I think that they could use another pass rusher, aside from Miles Garrett, I'm not expecting Miles Garrett to like demand a trade now that he just got Yeah. Or whatever. But I, I'm not too worried about the defense. I actually think the defense played pretty well last season. Mm-hmm. Mostly important parts of the defense are coming back and I think adding a guy like Sureka certainly won't hurt anything. But, but really it's all, it's all gonna come down to quarterback and offensive line. Yep. If they could find a viable solution at quarterback and they could get a tackle, you know, they could use some depth at the running back position. They really just have Jerome Ford. Right now, apparently Chubb wants to. Get signed to another team. They don't wanna pay him much. He actually hasn't got signed yet. I guess there's a chance that he could still come back and work something out with them. But the thing is just that with his injury Yeah, this major massive injury. He, he clearly was not the same guy once he was back. And so I, I also don't think I wanna take a flyer on him anyway. Man. He's, even if he does come back, I think that they need something. So I, I don't expect them to take like a first or second round running back or anything, but I do expect them to take one or two shots towards the end just because the, the draft is built for that anyways. I think up top they need to go for a quarterback and, and offensive line. Couldn't agree with you more. Perfect, perfect assessment. Yeah, Brown's got a lot of work to do in some areas. They could also probably trade their head coach if they want to. I'd be okay with that. But you know, we won't rehash my hate against Stefanski. Yeah. Going to the Cincinnati Bengals draft position, 1740 3 million, I think left in the cap, but this may have been just before they signed t Higgins and stuff. So that, that number may have moved down. Yeah, I'm not sure what it is now. But yeah, as I said, extended t Higgins, extended Jamar Chase, extended Cal at Adamis for one year. They signed TJ Slayton, Orrin Burkes, Lucas, Patrick resigned a bunch of players. BJ Hill, Mike Gki as we talked about how, that's Joe Burrow's, buddy Joseph Asai, Samad. JP Ryan, Marco Wilson, Cody Ford Cam Sample Tanner Hudson. Yeah, they, I think they released Alex Kappa. Draft wise, I am not worried about offense at all on this team, but the problem is, is they put so much money into the offense that they are banking on being able to outscore everyone. And I don't think that's a recipe for success. So they need a lot of help on defense, specifically edge, safety line. I mean, the whole defense, linebacker and quarterback, I, I think they need, I think they need depth at all of it, and they need, they just need new, new people. Yeah. I, I honestly feel like aside from Hendrickson, who is a legitimately great player, all of their defensive starters are basically like below average starters. I mean Yep. They can hit on any of those defensive positions and it would represent an upgrade. You know what I mean? Like, like really, like, as long as it's just not a bust, you know, whoever they take in the first three rounds I think would be an upgrade. I do think that they could, they could definitely use an upgrade at a couple of those offensive line spots, but you're right when you say like, we really just don't have to worry about the offense too much. You know, they're, they're playing a risky game by paying literally half their salary cap to three players. But that being said, you know, they are really good players. They, they have gotten results. I do think, and this isn't really, you know, draft analysis per se, but I do think they need to make sure that they actually get. Borough in the building working with the team and even get him some preseason reps if they need, because every year, for the past three seasons, he's come out flat. The first, at least the first couple games, and they've had to play catch up. Now sometimes they catch up. Last year they couldn't quite, but it's like, you don't wanna wait till the, the second half of the season to get on a roll. I mean, right. Yeah. If you're gonna be paying these guys that much money, make them start the, the fucking season at full strength, like but that being said, I do expect them to have a, a defensive heavy draft. Mm-hmm. I do think that they kind of hit on a running back solution in Chase Brown, so that's not a huge need for them. Maybe they'll go for depth there. I, I would like them to see if they, if they do wanna mess with the offense at all, I would like for them to focus on the offensive line. But really, right, like getting another viable pass rusher that can cash in on some of the pressure that Hendrickson creates would be a really important move. And then of course, just anything in that secondary, anything in that secondary would help out. So I, I expect them to, to go for some safeties or Corning cornerbacks first couple days. Absolutely. And that cap number's more. It's closer to 20 million now. So there you have it. Going to the Baltimore Ravens 27th draft pick right around 8 million in cap. They signed nuke to a one year 5 million deal. Cooper Rush, two year 6.2. Jake Hummel resigned. The biggest thing that they did was resigning Ronnie Stanley. They also resigned. Ty Wallace, Patrick Ard, and Ben Cleveland. They saw Arthur Malott and Marcus Williams leave. Again, similar to the last team offense, not really worried about this team with Lamar, you know, Derrick Henry and the, the rest of the supporting cast, defensive wise, cornerback safety edge. They could use some help there and maybe a player here on the offensive line, but I expect them to mainly focus in the defensive area. What do you think about the, the Ravens. Well first I got a note that you, you said that they signed Nuke to a$5 million deal. Think about the difference between what he got and what Stefan Digs got. Like I know that Stefan digs at his peak was probably better than Hopkins at his peak, but you're talking about guys that are the same age. Mm-hmm. Age. Mm-hmm. You take that back. Oh, okay. I'll take it back then. No way. He was better than Nuke at his peak here. Here's my point though, is that these guys are the same age. One of'em is coming off of minor injuries and one of'em is coming off a major injury and gets paid five times as much as the other. It's like, that's wild to me. That's wild to me. I think the Ravens gotta steal at 5 million because he's probably still got some, some usage, you know, even if they rotate him in and out, whatever, yada, yada. Who would you say had more usage though? Like. Do you like Stefan Diggs currently over nuke, or do you like nuke as far as who's got what in the tank? Man, I, I gotta think that you're better off signing nuke because his injuries were just not as bad. I mean, he did suffer through a lot of injuries last year, and I think he missed the last five. He's also not a drama queen, but the thing is that when you got a 3-year-old coming off of an ACL bro, like, do you really expect him to come back and be the same guy? I just, I just, I don't see it. Not at that old age. Yeah. I just, I, I'd rather just take Hopkins for the same money, let alone a fifth of the money, you know? Right. So, yeah. Yeah. They did get a steal man. But hey, I, I do think that the Ravens could definitely use some upgrades slash debt at the on the offensive line. Most of their best guys are very old now, you know? So you would not be shocked to see that they take a step back, you know, whatever, yada, yada. Bro. Come on, man. Ronnie Stanley's the only 31. Is he only 30? I, to be honest with you, I would have guessed 34. If, if you were like, how old is Ronnie Stanley? I would've been like, this motherfucker is like 34. He will be at the end of this contract. He will be 34. I'm actually surprised he is only 34, to be honest with you. But yeah, I, I, I think that, that they should probably focus on offensive line and I'm not a big like Justice Hill fan and you know, you've got a good running back in Derrick Henry, but of course he's getting up there in age as well, so I, I do think that it, it would be wise for them to get some running back def so that, that's, that's kind of what I'm thinking. I don't think they have too, too many holes, like defensively. I think they're pretty well-rounded. I. Yeah, probably they could use some depth. But you know, you got Kyle Hamilton that could play any position in the secondary, so That's right, man. You got that guy. You don't need other players, apparently. Yeah, I mean, best player in the draft that year. So next team up. We got the Indianapolis Colts. Moving on to the A FC South Colt's Draft pick is 14th. Got about 15 million in cap. Signed Cam Bynum. Chavar Ward, the biggest signing of the year. Daniel Jones, Neville Gallimore, Corey Valentine, Ashton Dolan, they resigned. Him and Khalil Herbert I think they could use a tight end. And some other players on the Defense Edge, linebacker and a running back. But they said they brought in Daniel Jones to compete with Anthony Richardson. And while Daniel Jones has been a starter and you know, maybe it'll work. I don't know, man. I'm just not that, I don't really care for Daniel Jones. I mean, maybe he'll help, we'll see. Yeah, my, I think it's fine. Like from a real life quarterback perspective, I think it's like, okay, if Richardson doesn't work out, he at least gives you a shot at winning games, I guess. But the thing is just that as a fantasy player, Daniel Jones has never been good for his wide receivers. So obviously Richardson has not either, but. The good thing about Richardson is that you know that he sucks and there's a good chance he'll get benched. And so, so before when they had guys like Michu and then they had Flacco, it's like, well, when he is not playing, then voila, the wide receivers are worth much more for Pitman Downs, whoever, you know. But the thing is just like, if, if the guy that's coming in when Richardson gets inevitably gets benched is gonna be Daniel Jones, and it's like, I just don't want nothing to do with any of these past catching options. Even if they sign themselves like a Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland, oh yeah, I, I'm still not gonna be excited for that. You know, like it's just, they re they could really use a tight end and I, I, I'm willing to bet that they do draft Tyler Warren or Colston Luman, one of the, one of these guys. But the thing is like, it it, with these quarterbacks, man, the expectation's just gonna be so low, at least for me. Man. Sorry. Hate, hate and breath. Sorry. I guess I'll still fuck with Jonathan Taylor if, if he falls in the fast. No, man, I, I agree with you man. So, you know, basically stay away from the Colts. Stay away from the Colts. I hate to say it because I actually like those receivers. I, I think that that Pittman and Downs is a really good one, two punch. And I, I think that Alec Pierce and Adam I, Mitchell are probably underrated as like backups third, fourth wide receivers. I, these guys can play. And it's just a shame that such a good wide receiver court is essentially just going to waste. Yep. Colts man, forever in the middle of purgatory. Alrighty, Jaguars, terrible season. Got rid of their head coach. Draft position number five cap space. Me just double check this number. They signed Trevor? Yeah, right around 28 mil. They signed Trevor. Who? Lawrence. Oh, he used to be a Clemson tiger. Ever heard of him? Yeah. Never heard of, never heard of him. I just didn't see that. That he got like, what extended or resigned or whatever. Whatever man. Trevor, Lawrence or that guy. What a guy. That's a bad signing. They should move on from Trevor Lawrence. He's bad. He's bad. Just terrible. All right, moving on. So as I said, Trevor, Patrick Macari, Jordan Lewis Di Dami Brown, Eric Murray, Robert Hayesy, TMA Aoga. Nick Mullins backing them up. Johnny Mon Hunter Long Fred Johnson. Man, they traded away. Christian Kirk. They've released Evan Ingram, which he later signed somewhere else, Ronald Darby and Devin Duverney. I think their biggest need is wide receiver and defense. Yeah, I was honestly surprised that the D Army Brown signing, because they still have Gabe Davis under contract and the thing is that Gabe Davis and Dami Brown basically play the same exact role. I cannot see either one of them doing the underneath stuff that Christian Kirk and Evan Ingram were so good at. So it's like, I guess they're just gonna be counting on Brett and Strange and Parker, Washington to fill those roles. And I mean, I just feel like those are probably just downgrades for Trevor Lawrence to be thrown to. I mean, obviously Brian Thomas Jr. Is really great in the flanker position. I expect that he's gonna get as many targets as ever, and they're, they're just gonna lean on him. But I definitely think I could, I could totally see them drafting a really good underneath wide receiver. If someone like Amika Buca, I think could fill that role pretty well, even like an Alec, I, I Amor could probably fill that role really well. I, I think aside from that though, offensive line is a place of need for them. They could use at least one tackle on at least one guard on that line. And then pretty much the same thing for defensive line. They got Josh Allen and I don't think they have a lot else to, to put pressure aside from him. And you know, the, I, I guess defensive and offensive line makes sense. I think they probably covered reasonably well enough in the backfield with the tank Bigsby and Travis ETN combo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like, I like your offensive line too. Trevor does need some help. He, he was kind of running for his life a little bit there last year. Last couple years, man. We'll see, man, I, I wanna like the Jaguars'cause of the Clemson tie, but I do think it was, they just stinking it up, man. I do think it was a good decision to finally let bulky go. I think that might low key be like a pretty important thing. Maybe not necessarily the very first season, but like down the road in general. I think that he, I think that he was a big part of the stink. Oh yeah, for sure. Okie dokie. Moving to Houston. Draft position 25. Right around 7 million in cap space, somewhere in there. They, they went, they went shopping. They traded for some players. They signed a bunch of players, most notable players. You know Christian Kirk? Yeah. Christian Kirk, Braxton Barrios, Justin Watson. Edgewise. Casey Tohill. Ronald Darby. Signed Tackle. Trent Brown, Nick Neman, Trayvon Smith. Tons of players resigned. Some players. Mario Edwards extended Derek Steinle Jr. Three years, 90 million in new money. Woo. Yeah. The man just got paid. Yes. Yes he did. He has been pretty good the past couple seasons. So I guess, yeah, I guess he's worth keeping. Yeah, yeah. Traded for CJ Gardner Johnson. Ed Ingram got rid of Kenon Green, Laramie Tonsil released Shaq Mason. So kind of retooled their offensive line there. Yeah. I still think it would be a good idea to, to draft and offensive line player in this draft for them, just because they're an abundant and it can't hurt to have backups in those positions as well as defensive line. And with the loss of Stefan Diggs, I you know, I like their wide receivers, but I, I would love to have another one just because of injuries and, and what we've seen, how that decimate this team when, when one of their ch combo wide receivers is out. So I, I expect them to kind of be offensive line defensive line wide receiver is, is what I'd like for them. Yeah, I, I think that makes a lot of sense. I think that Darby is low key, pretty good piece. You know, he is not an elite player or anything like that, but he helps shore up that secondary in a way where it's like, okay, they don't have to worry about that. They can focus on that offensive line. They did bring in some dudes for depth on that offensive line, but I don't think they even expect that this is gonna be their starting five. I think that they, they know that they really wanna upgrade that offensive line. Really? It was literally tonsil and a shit show last year. Yeah. And then they traded away Laramie tonsil. So I definitely expect them to hit the, hit up the offensive line first couple rounds. I do agree with you with the wide receivers like they brought guys in, but I'm not like. I don't in love with any of them. Yeah, I agree. I don't think Braxton Barrios or Justin Watson are intended to be starters. I think it's probably going to be the Nico Collins Christian Kirk show for the most part. And I, I just really think that they're going to hammer up the, is Pink Dale coming back? No, I don't think he's gonna play this entire season. I think he has to miss the whole season. He's yeah. It, it was just such a, a even more of a reason to get more wide receivers. It was just such a brutal injury. It, it just, it really sucks.'cause obviously, you know me, man. I'm, I'm a huge tank dealer. Oh yeah. You're a big time deli. And even when he comes back in 2026, it, there's a good chance he's just not gonna be the same player. So I, I guess we'll have to see. I. But, but for now, you could see them taking shots at that position. And of course, the trenches. I do expect them to focus on the trenches there. All right. And the final team of tonight, the Titans draft position number one right around, I wanna say I wanna say right around 26 million. They signed some players. Dan Moore, Mont Jones, Cody Barton, Kevin Zeller, Xavier Woods. Man, that's a wrestler man. That guy is on WWE e, he can't possibly do this, and he's not. Pat McAfee van Jefferson. Blake Ants. Johnny Hecker. Brandon Allen, Lorenzo Carter, and a resigned Sebastian Joseph Day and Julius Chestnut, Joey Chestnut's brother, the hotdog guy. Draft was a draft needs definitely quarterback, like, definitely qb. I mean they're, they're definitely taking Cam Ward, right? Fuck God. You hope so, man. That's the, that's the best quarterback on the board, man. Yeah. Like you have to take Cam Ward to that position if, if you're not, like, what? Apparently they weren't even like, they weren't even like putting out any offers to any of these free agent quarterbacks. To me, that just screams, we already know what we're going to do. Either that or they're trading back for Will Howard. When they could get a Hal to trade from first overall to like the third round, they could get a haul. Man. Browns, Browns need'em. I mean, you saw everything the Panthers were able to give up to go get Bryce Young. Remember that? Oh gosh, gosh. Or what about the Bears to go get Mitch Trubisky Oh, to move up two spots to man Mitch Trubisky. That was pro. He was gonna, he was gonna be there. He was gonna be there. Y'all didn't have to trade. And they didn't even keep in his, his rookie contract. They, they, they traded his ass away before he even finished that. Man. I'm so glad. Those aren't my franchises anyway. Yeah, he's still in the league, right? What team is he on? Is Mitch Ky. Ky I know, you know, I can't remember. He was with the Chiefs last year, but I, I don't know where he saw it. Bills. Oh, okay. Yep. He's in Buffalo. Okay. Pittsburgh. I don't know what happened to Mitch Trubisky. Yeah. I don't know. But anyway oh, he went to the Steelers and then back to the bills. Remember? I remember that now. He played for the Steelers. That's right. Yeah. I was thinking Chief. It was The bills just a flash in the pan, man. He's just a flash in the pan. We, we just, we can't even remember when he plays. And that was just last year. Yeah. Wait, what team were we talking about? Titans. Titans. I knew you forgot. Oh yeah. Titans. I knew you forgot. I fully expect'em to take care more and I don't think they're gonna take any trade back. I think that they are, are I? Comfortable and confident that that's gonna be their guy. So they're gonna give him a shot and l is just gonna play back up. Which I think he has earned. I don't think he's done enough to be a starter. I, I just don't think he is done enough to be a starter. Oh my gosh. This guy, I think they got a big problem at wide receiver though. Like who, who do they got wide receiver wise? I mean, it's like, it's nothing. Right? It, it's, I mean, not a lot. They got Calvin Ridley, I guess is still there, right? Yeah. Yeah. He's there. I expect them to draft some wide receivers, man. Bryce Oliver, Stanley Morgan Jr. Tay Martin, Mason. Kinsey. Hey, van Jefferson. Oh, they signed Van side. Yeah, he, he's still, still hanging out. He's still hanging out in the league. Remember? Defense, Jaquan Jackson. I mean, they got a bevy. Look at all these white Tyler Boyd, t Tray, Lon Burs, Colton Dowell. Look at these studs. Colton Dowell. Who even is that? I don't know. I'm sure Colton Dow's a great person. Okay. I don't listen, man. He played at Tennessee Martin. Tennessee Martin. Mm-hmm. I didn't even know that was the name of a school, bro. You wanna know another name of a school? Barry College. Wow. Mason Kinzie played there. Okay. How's this guy even on the team? He's five 11. Like, come on man. You're not even tall enough to be a wide receiver. Six foot or higher for me. Okay. But serious, seriously, the Packers do not draft like smaller than six foot. Oh, do they have a hard, hard policy there? Mm-hmm. At that, and I think at quarterback too. Like they, like, they don't want any short people. I like it. I like it. Yep. They the more you know. Yep. Is that all you got for the Titans? No, and they also need some secondary help in the defense and offensive line was still a problem last year. I know they signed Dan Moore to a whole bunch of money, but I think they need more than that. I think I could totally see them going. Offensive line, going cornerback, certainly wide receiver, but I think that first overall is already spoken for, so we'll see. We'll see how it goes. All righty. Well that concludes the A FC north South. We are gonna go into keep trade cut on the way out. Oh boy. Yeah. My one question to you. And I saw this on the interwebs. Okay. And I thought to myself, who would I do if this was my team? So the three players are AJ Brown, Garrett Wilson, or Lad McConkey. Wow. Yeah. So for me, so obviously we're living in a world where they're all three on your team, but you've gotta let one go, right? You, you've gotta, well, you've gotta let the two go, essentially. Wow. I, all right, so I'm keeping lad McConkey. Ooh. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Because I love his upside. I love his age, his young cat. I just, I just like the way that the, they, he was used last season. I'm releasing, I'm cutting Garrett Wilson. Jets do nothing for me. The Jets do nothing for me, and I want nothing to do with that organization. Oh, I'm trading, I'm trading away AJ Brown because I feel like I could get the most in return for AJ Brown. That would help with any shortcomings that Lab of Conkey may have here and there. Okay. I certainly can't argue with you because here's the thing is that like, when I think of these three players, I think this is, you're a ma Conquer. I think this is a legitimately hard decision. I'm, I'm a Macon because I thought he was underrated. But the thing is that now that he's had a good season, he's probably like. Appropriately rated. Right, right, right. People, I think people are, are on board now, right? So, oh man. Sophomore slump man. Hmm. All right, so I, I'm keeping AJ Brown. Okay. I'm keeping AJ Brown. He's just proven himself to be elite for sure. Season after season. Can't argue with that. I'm trading lad McConkey, and I'm cutting. Garrett Wilson. I'm sorry. I do, I do. Really, I knew that's what you were gonna do. I do really like Garrett Wilson. But here's the thing, is that like all three seasons, he's shown the ability to get open and command a ton of targets. But he, he just makes little mistakes here and there that add up over the course of a season. He never cashes in as well as he should have, you know? And yeah, I, I think after three seasons worth of like little mistakes here and there, it's, it's ki it's, it's kind of like, I think there's more upside with La McConkey at this point. Who, and with one season with a quarterback who had MVP, an MVP like season. Yes. Yes. He people, people said the first two seasons, well, you just gotta get him a quarterback. Well, he had a quarterback. Okay. He had a quarterback, an MVP esque, alleged league quarterback. Okay. And he, and he still didn't cash in. I mean, he wasn't horrible. But the thing is just still do cash in. But the thing is, like, we've seen what happens whenever. The Eagles actually have to pass, which they never did last year, but what they do actually have to pass when the Tish push is banned, AJ Brown goes nuclear. My man is as, as he's right there in the same tier as Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase as far as actual skill and talent goes. Yeah. So I think he's got to be your keep, and I think at this point it makes more sense for the upside guy that was highly efficient on his chances versus the upside guy who has never been efficient with his chances. You know, that's basically where I'm coming from and the fact that Justin Fields is such a question mark, whereas Justin Herbert, we have more confidence in the, you know, I, I like the lad, the LAD side at this point. Absolutely. 100%. I could, I, you know, I could go either way, so I'm, I'm mad with your pick. Yeah. At all these, these three I will say are. They're in the same tier they should be. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Alright, well that's all the scoops we have for you. We're gonna be off next week. I will be in Costa Rica yet again. Oh, nice. Pura Vita. That's right. So following week we'll come back and do the NFC start with the NFC East West, then the NFC north South, and then it's mock draft time. So with that being said, we're outta here a.
