Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Johnny Raider and Will Overbo take a deep dive into Wisconsin's brand new Lambeau alternate uniforms for the first segment of the show, then compete to draft the best all-time NFC North teams they can dream up in the final part of the first half of the podcast. Then they sit down to compare their predictions for the AFC North standings in the second half!
Creators and Guests
Host
Johnny Raider
WO
Host
Will Overbo
What is Toss the Mic?
Join Johnny Raider and Will Overbo as they try to bring back their 2018 prime. They attempt this every week through the air waves and YouTube channel. Tune in for laid-back sports takes for both the Badgers and NFL.
Shoutout Shedeur Sanders (perfect timing)
The following is a live broadcast on WSUM ninety one point seven FM Madison, the Toss the Mic sportscast. The following opinions expressed do not reflect those of WSUM, the University of Wisconsin Madison, or its board of regions. And with that being said, enjoy. Living the moment that every single kid dreams about. He's got everybody behind him trying to go 98 yards for a touchdown.
Speaker 1:The number two podcast in the entire state of Wisconsin. Y'all know it's time for the Toss the Mic sportscast. Give me my theme music. Let's go. From WSUM on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.
Speaker 1:Will Overbo. This is the biggest production that we've ever done. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You see the lights. You see the mics.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Hey. This is ESPN Radio Jonathan Sazlo. Hey. It's Amber Wilson.
Speaker 1:You're listening to WSUM ninety one point seven FM Madison. Here's Johnny Raider. Madison Student Radio on the campus of UW Madison. It's the Toss the Mic sportscast talking latest sports topics and, of course, all things Badgers. We are back, Will Overbo.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. How are feeling?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. I'm feeling amazing today. I'm feeling great. A lot of news coming in. You know, we're just So much news.
Speaker 1:We're we're
Speaker 2:flooded with things to talk about. Okay. Larry Nance to the Pacers.
Speaker 1:$7,000,000.
Speaker 2:Chris Middleton back to the Wizards. We have so many different things talk
Speaker 1:about today. Jinxed it last week when I said that so much news happened. We were blessed with so many things to talk about. But this week, oh my gosh, we jinxed it. But you know one thing remains constant.
Speaker 1:We went swimming yesterday.
Speaker 2:Oh,
Speaker 1:yeah. We did. Maybe it wasn't as sunny as last time or as hot as last time. It wasn't as satisfying as last time, but it still was a great time on Lake Mendota. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Most definitely. I I don't know what else to say. Swimming clears the mind.
Speaker 1:And once again, I had trouble treading that water.
Speaker 2:I had a little bit of trouble this time too.
Speaker 1:But this time I found a place to sit. It was a great place to sit but it's also a great place to sit here in the studio of WSUM ninety one point seven FM Madison. We have a video audience. We have our lights, and we have our cameras for the third week in a row. You can check out all those videos if you're listening on the FM airwaves on our YouTube channel, WSUM nine one seven.
Speaker 1:But with that being said, let's dive into our one piece of news we have today. Hot off the press. Yes. That's right. The Badgers have released their all new Lambeau alternate uniforms Mhmm.
Speaker 1:That they will be wearing versus Notre Dame, who also, in fact, have their own alternate uniforms to debut for this game. This feels like Thursday Night Football back in 2017 with the Mustard Jaguars versus the Highlighter Blue Titans.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:This is not a good uniform matchup. I'm not saying both of these uniforms are bad. It's color on color, which is terrible for the color blind viewers. It it's hard to tell who's who. If you think back to Christmas time when the Bills and Jets played each other with their really really bad uniforms of all red and all highlighter green, for color blind people, it was the same color.
Speaker 1:You couldn't tell who was who. So this that's already an l for both of them. Not a great start. But let's talk about our Badgers.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:They got the all red. They have the silver for Lombardi trophy. It that's what it is. They're trying to make homages both these teams to the Packers. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And the Badgers homage to the Packers is the all silver numbers. And when these leaked on I I don't know what website, but a website leaked these uniforms early, it just looked like plain old silver. And oh boy, it looked terrible. First of all, first impressions from the leak.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, like, I don't know.
Speaker 1:It was really bad.
Speaker 2:It's it's bad. I don't know what to say. Like like it does kind of clash a little bit. Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 2:I'm not like a design expert or anything, but it's just like, don't know. It didn't really make much sense to me.
Speaker 1:We always push them to get alternate uniforms. I'm I was thinking like all black when our basketball team did it Yeah. With really cool numbers. The gold, we had gold in that uniform. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:That was really sick. A football edition, if you're watching on video, I'll put it up on the screen. If we had a football version of those jerseys, that would be so sick. The lines down the middle, kinda like a baseball type of pinstripe action. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:But this, I don't know, it doesn't feel like we were creative in the right ways. The one w though, I feel like it's got to be the battle red helmet, the metallic finish. That's pretty cool. Silver motion w. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:That's got to be the thing that's carrying the uniform for me. It makes the uniform for me a solid 6.8 out of 10.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I think I would agree. Like the helmet definitely carries for sure. I think like the number on the jersey, like there's something about like the font style on that that like looks a little bit
Speaker 1:a bigger version of the kind we have now?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Of. I mean like, I don't know. It looks a little bit off to me, but I think I don't know. Decent color balance.
Speaker 2:I I would probably say like, I'm going with a 6.2 out of 10. I'm a little bit more Luke on these uniforms.
Speaker 1:It's not a failing grade
Speaker 2:Yeah. By any means. Definitely not. These are fine.
Speaker 1:And I would definitely encourage whoever's listening from the Badgers to try more things with these uniforms because we're usually playing. We're like Nebraska of old. We just don't have that much going on with our uniforms. We don't really use the high the highlight black we have our behind our motion w that often.
Speaker 2:So Yeah.
Speaker 1:I would like to see some more black uniforms. But Mhmm. With that being said, Notre Dame also has their Packer homage uniforms and you're wearing
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Something very similar to what they have.
Speaker 2:Oh,
Speaker 1:yeah. The ACME Packers jersey, this is basically the same thing except with Notre Dame type of gold. Mhmm. I like these. I just don't think it clashes well with the Badgers uniform.
Speaker 1:I'm not liking the dark blue versus red type of uniform matchup especially at Lambeau.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. I mean, yeah, if you have any color blind players, then it's gonna be difficult. You know what I mean? But
Speaker 1:As long as Colton Joseph isn't the color blind one, it'll be fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But I mean, I don't know. I I think it's a decent homage, you know, fighting Irish and all that.
Speaker 1:They got the stripes like those, almost almost identical to those. And the number style and font, I believe is also an homage to the Packers as well. But with that being said, what would you rate those uniforms on a scale of one to 10?
Speaker 2:Man, I don't know. I'm extremely indifferent to them. It's like what you kind of expect. I'd probably say like a 5.7 out of 10, you know, more than
Speaker 1:Worse than the Badgers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But it's just like at least with the Badgers, they were trying to do something a little bit different and I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's that diff. Like, sure they haven't had a red helmet since 2014, but other than the helmet, it's very like we've worn all red a lot of times before in the Fickle era. I think Fickle likes the all reds.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's probably why we brought it back. I I I didn't wanna try more with the black. We don't do anything with like, we have black in our logo. We can use black jerseys or black pants or black helmet. I I don't know.
Speaker 1:Like Ohio State does
Speaker 2:it. Right.
Speaker 1:And they barely have any black in their logo as well.
Speaker 2:So Yeah. It's the same amount of black, just like the outline of like the actual logo. We could get away with that for sure.
Speaker 1:But I guess I'll give my rating now. I'd give this probably a 7.4 out of 10. Wow. I like this more They than the usually do their alternate uniforms well. They've definitely done worse.
Speaker 1:But I think the big l with this is that Notre Dame isn't wearing green at Lambeau Field. You guys can wear green and you do it often and oftentimes when you shouldn't be wearing green. This was a golden opportunity to wear Packer green on Lambeau Field as the the home team. I'm pretty sure they're the home team, but
Speaker 2:you know. That's an aura gamble right there.
Speaker 1:It is an aura gamble if you lose. But there's no way Notre Dame loses that football game. Yeah. Guess Different combo, but you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You know, we'll see. I mean, they've they've surprised their own fans a lot by losing these big games.
Speaker 1:We can go
Speaker 2:off on
Speaker 1:a a minute tangent about this, I guess. Yeah. The bad the Badgers got a little bit better, but they're not beating Notre Dame. It's not No. I still think Notre Dame wins by two scores comfortably, may maybe a 17 to 20 points.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But I don't know. You can dream, I guess. It would probably be like a win that, like, we're already out of it. So, like, it wouldn't even matter.
Speaker 2:So, like, one of those garbage time wins, like,
Speaker 1:got I a like to get some momentum.
Speaker 2:So, I mean, yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I'm not super optimistic for this season, but, I mean, we got a decent recruiting class. So I don't know.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's reason to be optimistic, but starting with Notre Dame is not fun. I'll tell you that much. You you wanna get momentum against the Western Illinois or in Eastern Illinois or in Eastern Michigan or something like that just to get your mojo back. But throwing Colton Joseph into the fire on at Lambeau Field is doesn't feel right. So with that being said, I guess we can dive into our next segment.
Speaker 1:I got a little game for you. It's an all time NFC North draft. That's right. I played the sound and everything. We got an all time NFC North draft in front of you.
Speaker 1:Here's how it's gonna work. Here's how it's gonna work. We got one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one defense, and one head coach. So first of all, we'll also we'll flip a coin. I have a penny right here.
Speaker 1:They don't make these anymore, so that's how rare it is. We're gonna do snake draft format for the snake on the lake. Whoever gets first pick gets first pick if whoever wins the the coin toss, then the second pick to the loser. And the loser in the second round picks first, and the winner of the coin toss picks third or fourth. Excuse me.
Speaker 1:So vice versa, flipping again into the next round, so on so forth for four rounds. Snake Draft format. You got it. So here we go. Heads right here is mister Lincoln.
Speaker 1:Tails is the mister one sense shield. So with that being said, I'm a flip this. And I forgot to call it.
Speaker 2:Call it. Okay. I'll call Mr. Lincoln
Speaker 1:heads. Mr. Lincoln. It's Mr. Lincoln.
Speaker 2:Shout out.
Speaker 1:And Mr. Lincoln it is. You win, you get first pick or you could defer and go second.
Speaker 2:Okay. I'll take my first pick to be clear. Here we go. I'm thinking about all the different, like, running backs that are in, like, the all time NFC North. And I think that I don't know.
Speaker 2:I think I got a lockdown. Well, hold on. Because I'm in between two running backs. So so we'll kinda just
Speaker 1:see There are some really good running backs.
Speaker 2:We'll just see what you pick, and then we'll we'll defer on that.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're deferring the first pick to me.
Speaker 2:Oh, no. Hold on. Wait a second. Wait a second. Let me lock in.
Speaker 2:I'm taking my first pick. Okay. It's gonna be a quarterback. It's gonna be a top five quarterback all time. I'm taking Aaron Rodgers with my first pick.
Speaker 1:Aaron Rodgers. That's probably the right pick.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I guess then that makes me have to take my quarterback or I could go running back right here because you don't need quarter quarterback anymore. I will take running back then. I think no one beats a prime Barry Sanders.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Can't can't get mad at that.
Speaker 1:If he doesn't retire early, he probably goes down as best all time. Mhmm. He's remembered as the best running back of all time, barely playing any years. So that's all you gotta know about mister Barry Sanders. I'll I'll take him as my first pick on the roster.
Speaker 1:And with that, it snake drafts over to me. And with that, I'll take my quarterback finally, I guess. I'm going to go with it's a it's a toss-up here for me between Matthew Stafford and Brett Favre. And I think Brett Favre's peak with the three straight MVPs beats Matthew Stafford in at his peak which is probably honestly right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1:He's peaking now for sure. And that's probably not the best time to peak in your career. This is this is a swan song. So I'm gonna go with Brett Favre as my quarterback and that would go to you for the next pick of the second round.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate you locking down the all time interception leader.
Speaker 1:Well, Matthew Stafford also led the league in picks not too long ago. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Turnover machines. Wait.
Speaker 2:Do I get two picks in a row?
Speaker 1:Yeah? I believe you do. Yes.
Speaker 2:Okay. Great. I will take this opportunity to take the other running back I was thinking about taking, and I'm gonna lock down Walter Payton, sweetness, 85 Bears. I mean, I don't think he's better than Barry Sanders all time, but I think, like, if you wanna compare their peaks, I think their peaks are very comparable. Walter Payton was absolutely unstoppable back in the eighties.
Speaker 2:Coming up next, I'm gonna I'm gonna look at wide receiver. I'm gonna go offense again. There's a lot of amazing wide receivers in the past that, you know, you got Chris Carter. You got Don Nelson if you wanna go really far back. You got Calvin Johnson.
Speaker 2:You got Davante Adams. Those are the ones Randy Moss, of course, I can't go without So saying I'm between Marshall. I'm between two that are not on my packers. I'll say that. I think if you're thinking about all time ratings and who is like arguably the best receiver of all time, I think I have to go with Randy Moss here.
Speaker 2:So I'm locking him down.
Speaker 1:Okay. Okay. I I have my strategy then based off of that pick. Opal. So I have back to back picks here.
Speaker 1:Okay. I'm gonna go with my second running back. I'm gonna go with Adrian Peterson.
Speaker 2:Fair. Fair. He was dominant.
Speaker 1:So that's going to be my strategy. I'm going to be running the ball a lot. And then next up, the best compliment to a great run game is a great defense. I'm going to pick the 86 Bears as my defense. Statistically, they were better in every category than the 85 Bears.
Speaker 1:They just lost when it mattered. The 85 Bears got the the Super Bowl trophy. Mhmm. But this trophy was all those players carried over but playing even better. So I'm gonna take the 86 bears to hold teams to zero points while I'm just running the ball out and chewing the clock and cheesing the game.
Speaker 2:Okay. Fair. Fair enough. Okay. So I got one quarterback, one right back, one right wide receiver.
Speaker 2:So just looking at I think I gotta lock down a decent running back. I think I wanna pick a running back from Packers era. And honestly, I'm probably gonna just lock down another good receiving option as well. I'm gonna go with Aman Green for the Packers. He
Speaker 1:he was He was on WSU once.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Exactly. And what a legend. After that, I'm surprised that he's still here. I'm gonna pick Calvin Johnson with my next pick.
Speaker 1:So you're gonna be throwing the ball?
Speaker 2:I'm gonna be throwing the ball. Aaron Rodgers to Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss. Who is stopping that? Who is stopping that Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Bears. That's that's who.
Speaker 2:Well, we'll see. They had a good lineback in Courtenay and a decent secondary, but let's like if anybody can beat that secondary, it's it's these people. So
Speaker 1:Okay. So I got back to back picks here. I've established what kind of ball I'm gonna play. So with that being said, I think I do have to start with my receivers now. Who do we have left?
Speaker 1:Obviously, you got Davonte Adams. You got Justin Jefferson. You got all those. So I think I'm gonna go Davonte Adams for my wide receiver one.
Speaker 2:My favorite receiver of all time, by the way.
Speaker 1:Not best, but favorite. I kind of see why here. Mhmm. And then I think I have to. I think I've been forced at hand to take another receiver here.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna go with Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna pair Devonte Adams' route running in the slot and another great route runner on the outside, Justin Jefferson to run my posts and Devonte Adams cheese in with the whip routes and the slant routes and the corners.
Speaker 2:Oh,
Speaker 1:yeah. Something like that. So I have my wide receiver core ready and my run cracked running back core ready and my defense is gonna be holding teams to zero points. So you're up next.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, since I have this Super Bowl winning defense in my lap, I guess I'll just take them. I'll take the 85 Bears. I mean
Speaker 1:Not prime.
Speaker 2:Maybe not prime, but more clutch maybe because the in these playoff games, they showed up, Maybe the offense slowed better. Yeah, maybe a little bit but it's like this is still a Super Bowl winning defense so like I'll take it. Was in between that and
Speaker 1:It's Knife's one people think
Speaker 2:of.
Speaker 1:For sure.
Speaker 2:After that I guess I'll I I thought about going tight end, but I like, thinking about the tight ends history is a little bit difficult because it's like, who am I even gonna pick? But I think I'm gonna lock down my head coach. And this is the OG. A lot of people say one of the best coaches of all time, surely one of the most recognizable coaches of all time. I'll go with the first Super Bowl winning head coach, Vince Lombardi.
Speaker 1:Okay. So that completes your team. Now I have a chance to finish things out here the right way. Here we go. Wait.
Speaker 1:You are missing your tight end still so I guess you're not done. But here we go. I have to take my head coach and tight end. So my head coach I think I gotta go newer era here Sure. Because they have to succeed in this new era of football.
Speaker 1:I don't know what Vince Lombardi would do in this era. I'm not gonna lie. Does he adjust? I don't know. We never know.
Speaker 1:That's a hypothetical.
Speaker 2:He'll be motivating Randy Moss to, you know, he'll get more out of him.
Speaker 1:You know? I mean, we know him for being a pioneer in designing the jet sweep. But Mhmm. Now, in today's era of football, everyone motions.
Speaker 2:There is Okay. Listen. I I was thinking more of like demeanor and like leadership because like you really can't get better than that with the Vince Lombardi.
Speaker 1:But I'm gonna need a scheme wizard. Fine. Fine. Someone that has developed head coaches. Sure.
Speaker 1:Sure. Who has a tree that has proven success. John Gruden, Andy Reid, guys like that. Andy Reid has developed so many head coaches in today's game. Mike Holmgren is going to be my head coach.
Speaker 1:The father of the new age of football, Mike Holmgren. I'm not going with Mike McCarthy because his era of offense has gone stale a long time ago. The 2018 packers, that's your that's your sighting source right there for how stale that style of offense has gone. But Mike Holmgren's style of offense has aged well going into this new era of football. So my head coach will be Mike Holmgren, and my tight end is gonna shock a lot of people because there's not a lot of great all time tight ends.
Speaker 1:Know, shout out to Greg Olsen, Jermichael Finley, stuff like that. But I'm gonna I'm gonna take my gamble here on mister Tucker Kraft.
Speaker 2:Oh. From the
Speaker 1:Green Bay Packers. If he doesn't tear that ACL last year. Oh, historic season. That is a For sure. Historic tight end Totally.
Speaker 2:There. Totally.
Speaker 1:And he's gonna come back and he's gonna look spectacular and he's joining my team. So I think with that being said, with the format we have put forward, my team is complete. But you have one more pick left and it's your tight end. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, honestly, this tight end like I'm thinking I'm honestly thinking about blocking a little bit because, like, realistically, he's not gonna get that many receptions with Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss on his team. So damn. Honestly, I'm going to go with Greg Olsen on the Bears, you know? Greg Olsen.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We'll we'll we'll work with that for sure.
Speaker 1:There's not a lot of great tight ends
Speaker 2:Not really. NFC North. No, sir.
Speaker 1:So I you know, you have to take your gambles. And I don't know if Greg Olsen is if I was you, if I was sitting in your position with Tucker Kraft off the board Mhmm. I'm thinking Jermichael Finlay.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's fair. I was thinking about that, but it's like, I don't know. Greg Olsen can kinda do it all. At his peak, he could really block.
Speaker 2:He could catch when necessary.
Speaker 1:It's like Nick Collins type of story.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Totally.
Speaker 1:Yeah. He he would have been a monster hall of fame tight end probably when it was all said and done. So speaking of when things are all said and done, our teams are all set. So if you're watching the video on the YouTube channel, we have it all in front of you. You can comment down below who you think wins this game.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you how my team wins. We're gonna run that football and we're gonna play a lot of defense. And Tucker Kraft is a great blocker. He is. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And it's definitely not gonna be Luke Musgrave doing the blocking. Oh, Seriously. That for sure.
Speaker 2:Shout out Luke, man. Honestly, he was he was a treat to watch.
Speaker 1:You may look at the flashiness of Will's team with Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss. But I'm telling you right now, Barry Sanders in AP and the duo of Davante Adams and Justin Jefferson, two first ballot hall of famers probably. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:In the future Mhmm. I think you're looking at his duo and my duo.
Speaker 2:How many many rings does your team like have collectively though?
Speaker 1:Like listen DeVonte's getting one this year.
Speaker 2:Sure. Sure. Absolutely. He is. But it's like if you look at the clutch factor, I feel like my team has like the edge on that.
Speaker 1:Randy Moss.
Speaker 2:Well well, okay. That's like one piece. You know what I'm saying? Like
Speaker 1:And Calvin Johnson. Two guys that never will sniff a ring. That's like that's like his main selling point of his team is Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson. Two guys that did not win any rings. Randy Moss really should have.
Speaker 1:He I mean, he joined the '17 and o Yeah. Patriots and still didn't get a ring. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know. Vince Lombardi, you know, he'll he'll coach these boys up even in this new era. You know? Like, maybe you can run the jet sweep a little bit with Randy and, like, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Basically, Aaron Rodgers is your head coach. Aaron Rodgers is the head coach of this team.
Speaker 2:Hey. Yeah. 16 wins in in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:And the next thing you know, you're gonna see Adam Schefter tweeting out that Aaron Rodgers and Vince Lombardi have gotten into a fight about play calling.
Speaker 2:Sure. But not before winning, like, at least two rings. So it's all good.
Speaker 1:At least two rings. I don't know about that. I mean, we all love Vince Lombardi. He is obviously the name of the trophy and the thing that the Badgers based their whole uniform off of. But my gosh.
Speaker 1:I don't think any head coach from the sixties is coming into today's era of football without the knowledge of fifty years of football and succeeding. I just don't think they can. I think Kevin O'Connell is probably a better option for you. I'm not gonna lie. In today's era
Speaker 2:Okay. Well today's era. Well well, like, supplemental draft. Okay. Like, one more route after this draft.
Speaker 2:I'm drafting Sean McVeigh, assistant coach, and we're skiving up a crazy play. We got Vince Lombardi's
Speaker 1:What about the NFC North? Okay. Has Sean McVeigh ever coached in the NFC North? I need to look this up. Okay.
Speaker 2:I don't know, actually. I'm sorry. I just totally I just pulled the first name I could think of. I mean, he must have been an assistant for, like, the like, the Bears or something.
Speaker 1:Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Commanders, and that's it.
Speaker 2:Alright. Then maybe
Speaker 1:You could pull a McVay tree. I mean, Kevin O'Connell is from the McVay tree.
Speaker 2:Sure. Maybe Ben Johnson, the assistant coach. I mean
Speaker 1:Oh, he does not like the McVay tree.
Speaker 2:Well well, I mean, like, listen. Like, we we don't need to go McVay McVay McVay all the time. You know what I mean?
Speaker 1:But, like, the proof is in the pudding. Who's winning all the games?
Speaker 2:Like Sure.
Speaker 1:McVeigh has spread his philosophy around head coaching staffs like wildfire. So I'm not I mean, I'm just reading what what's on the wall. But with that being said, I think my team wins. Will thinks his team wins. Let us know who wins.
Speaker 1:We'll probably put out a poll either on the audio podcast wherever you get your podcast and of course, in the comments section of either a short form video or a long form video. And with that being said, that's gonna have to be our midpoint today on the Toss the Mic sportscast. When we come back, we're gonna talk about the AFC North, and we're gonna predict that all in a row on WSUM. WSUM ninety one point seven FM, Madison. Toss the Mic Sportscast.
Speaker 1:It's time to dive into this mailbag right here. We're once again reading your comments. I picked three of them. They come from our shorts. They come from our reels.
Speaker 1:And of course, they come from the long form video podcast that we post on the YouTube channel with so without further ado, let's dive on in. Let's start with the longer comment here, the paragraph we got here. Uh-huh. This is from Watch Your Step. That's his name.
Speaker 1:The new owners of the Celtics are very cheap or they are trying to upload oh my gosh. This is okay. I have to context this. Jaylen Brown's salary for the future Yeah. They will be out of the second apron penalties next year if they stay under the tax under the tax, the luxury tax, one more season.
Speaker 1:So they should be able to spend, okay, over the penalty starting next year. So that is the comment right there that is trying to justify the podcast p for Jaylen Brown trade. I I don't understand this one because podcast p like makes a lot of money.
Speaker 2:Well, I I think I I do kind of get what he's saying in that he's only under contract for two more years, whereas Jaylen Brown's under contract for three more years now. Is Paul George just as good of a player as Jaylen Brown is? Definitely not. No. But they will also be free of this, like, $50,000,000 plus contract much sooner, and then they might have more flexibility to build around Tatum in the future.
Speaker 2:This is like one of the best arguments that I've heard, like, for this type of salary dump type trade.
Speaker 1:It's really the only argument for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Honestly, but yeah. I don't know. That second apron. It's it's pretty Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's it's the league. That's for sure. Teams make their moves around it. Tanking, no longer tanking teams, teams that are going for the fourth overall pick and be and after that Mhmm. They're taking teams, players with bad contracts.
Speaker 1:You could see that with the Carys Lavertre trade
Speaker 2:to the Bucks.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. The Bucks clearly know that they're not competing, they're taking a bad contract with Carys Lavertre and getting draft picks out of it. That's another piece of the second apron luxury tax. Right. Contending teams getting rid of bad contracts.
Speaker 1:I mean, I can think of a situation in the NFL if you're an NFL fan watching this. Brock Ossweiler had a really bad contract once, really bad quarterback that somehow got a four year $72,000,000 deal. And back then, that was a lot of money. The Texans had him traded him to the Cleveland Browns, and the Browns got a second rounder out of it. Bronco Aswelter didn't even make the 17 or the 53 man roster, but they got a second round pick out of it, which turned out to be Nick Chubb.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So there is good parts of making moves like that, Bucks fans. So Totally. The second apron is making rounds here in our mailbag, and we overall will rate your take here. I'm gonna give this one a seven out of 10 because it is the only justification for that trade.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. I would probably agree. I I think this is just the best type of explanation for a trade like this. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Fair take. I'll give it like a seven five out of 10. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We have another piece of mail right here. It also has to do with the Boston Celtics and their trade with Jalen Brown. This one's from i5p80. Great username. He says Brown is better than Tatum.
Speaker 2:Well That's
Speaker 1:kind of crazy.
Speaker 2:Maybe last season when Tatum did not play a single game.
Speaker 1:Maybe in the finals, like obviously, but like maybe they would have traded Tatum for Podcast P if that was the case.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I can't see that happening personally. I mean, maybe maybe Tatum will take a step back, maybe, like, after an Achilles, but I think that's, like, unlikely.
Speaker 1:But he's still 19 years old.
Speaker 2:The the oldest 19 year old in the league for sure.
Speaker 1:He's been 19 for ten years.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Honestly, if if Tatum doesn't average, like, around, like, 30 points, like, on the Celtics team when Jaylen Brown did last season without him, I feel like you could genuinely make the argument that they're, like, kind of on the same level or Brown is better, but, like, we haven't really seen any evidence to suggest that Tatum is worse than Brown, honestly. But I don't know. We'll have to see.
Speaker 1:The next mailbag take, this one has to do with you saying the floor of the Cardinals is zero and seventeen. This guy m four b says, Jacoby Brissett is good enough to win a few games. Alright. So that's a very good take.
Speaker 2:Well, mean, if they're gonna win a few games, won't be because of Jacoby Brissett. How will
Speaker 1:he play?
Speaker 2:I think they'll they'll be in the same realm of contention, which is like nowhere near it if he plays or if he doesn't. So I don't know. Maybe he is good enough to like weather the storm a little bit and like get them through a couple games. But if they win a few games, won't really because be because of his play, I guess.
Speaker 1:But if I'm I'm fine putting myself in the shoes of last week Will Overbo and what he's thinking. Sure. I think he's thinking that Carson Beck is the worst case scenario starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, and I'm thinking that the floor is definitely o and 17 with Carson Beck at quarterback.
Speaker 2:Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I think yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I'll I'll give Jacoby Brissett a little credit. Maybe he is good enough to win a couple games.
Speaker 1:Yeah. If he's their starting quarterback, I wouldn't be that, like, shocked if you told me they went seven and ten. Mhmm. With him just carrying them to a couple of
Speaker 2:wins. That's a little generous,
Speaker 1:though. But remember Monday night football with the Cleveland Browns when he was their starting quarterback, he beat a Super Bowl runner-up Bengals team 32 to 13. So he has games where he can carry you in 300 yards, two rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown. He could do that occasionally, but he's not consistent. That was
Speaker 2:a that was a while ago too. I mean. You know? But he was
Speaker 1:doing that last year though. Like he was making Marvin Harrison Junior Fantasy relevant again. Oh, yeah, man. He's always been a decent enough quarterback to win you games. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And I think you're looking at a a six and eleven team if he's starting all 17 of your games. But if you're not competing by midpoint of the season, do the Cardinals just say, I'm gonna take the young guy out there. I'm gonna put Carson Beck and see what he can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. To get better draft capital. So I
Speaker 1:don't think there's really any scenario where Jacoby Brissett is starting all of the games unless he's actually winning Mhmm. And keeping them competitive through all 17 games, which seven and ten depending on the scenario, could potentially keep keep you competitive in the playoffs through week fifteen, sixteen type of area. Sure. So with that being said, I think that's a good take. I'll give that a nine out of 10.
Speaker 1:Yep. Because it's true. So and with us switching back to the NFL topic, I think it's a good time to move on to our AFC North predictions. This is my division. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:My team plays here. Yep. And I'm excited for this. The Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before we begin our predictions Mhmm.
Speaker 1:I gotta mention someone on our staff is a Cleveland Browns fan and also a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I'm not naming names,
Speaker 2:but Oh, man. Big shout out.
Speaker 1:Someone tell me how this is possible. You cannot be a Steelers fan and a Browns fan at the same time. That's like saying you're a Packers and Bears fan. It's not possible. Just pick one.
Speaker 2:Just pick one.
Speaker 1:Ride or die with the Cleveland Browns. If you're if you if I'm picking, you gotta ride or die with Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 2:You know? Yeah. Definitely. You don't wanna bandwagon the mediocre Steelers. You know?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. But but with that being said, I've already predicted this in short form before and I'm gonna be using the same list. So if you wanna check out the YouTube short version of this, it's on our YouTube channel. We'll link it in in the description of the long form podcast.
Speaker 1:And of course, if you're listening on air, make sure to check out the YouTube channel to see that. So with that being said, I think we finally have a coin right here. It's once again the penny. They don't make these anymore. It's pretty special.
Speaker 2:Abraham Lincoln.
Speaker 1:Abraham Lincoln. Shout out. Yeah. It's a newer penny. It's from I believe 2016.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So head side is gonna be Mr. Abe. Tails is the shield. So I've only won the coin toss one time in the history of this podcast.
Speaker 1:In the long history of we flip a coin like five times at this point and I'm one in one in four. So with that being said, you can call this.
Speaker 2:Sure. I'll call Tails. Sorry, Abe.
Speaker 1:It is Tails. Have won again and I have lost another coin toss.
Speaker 2:I am so lucky.
Speaker 1:You can pick again.
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, I just can't wait. Okay. I'll I'll yeah. I'll I'll start. I'll I'll I'll start my little my little ranking here.
Speaker 2:Yeah. This is a division that I think can be really competitive. It has a lot of talent within it. With that being said, I think there's a clear kinda last place pick that I have to make here. And, you know, they traded the best player in football.
Speaker 2:I think it's it it would be surprising if they didn't take a step back from where they were last season even though they had they have a last play schedule. They have a much easier schedule. But
Speaker 1:Easiest in the league.
Speaker 2:Easiest in the league. They have a solid young core. I they just need to prove to me that they can be a functional organization, and they just have shown no evidence that they can. They have good young talent. They they got Denzel Boston, Casey Concepcion.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yes. They they got weapons. I have the Cleveland Browns going six and eleven. I maybe it's a little harsh, but it's like they need to display that they have that that they're kind of rooting out the dysfunction, and they haven't proven that to me yet.
Speaker 2:Honestly.
Speaker 1:I I agree that this is I I agree with your sentiment here of where they're gonna finish around six to six wins here. I will say this in terms of dysfunction. I think this team has rooted out their football operations in the last three years in terms of cleanly operating because this team has drafted well. Last year's draft class is still looking like the best draft class in the league. And this year's draft class, you get four first round graded prospects in your first four picks.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. So it's definitely looking good in terms of drafting and surrounding a young core
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:Around a potential quarterback next year. So I'm not saying that this is a bad last place. Mhmm. So I'll let you continue going because Sure. You haven't said anything egregious just yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, Browns have been a quarterback away since like 1999. But I think I
Speaker 1:Well, we've had our quarterback before. I'll say Yeah. Mayfield.
Speaker 2:Sure. Sure. I'll give you Baker. I'll give you Baker. But I think that I would put this team on a similar level to the Titans where they have a lot of talent.
Speaker 2:If they're developed well, if these players turn into the stars that they're promised to be, then, you know, the sky's the limit. They got they got pieces on the defense. They got you know, you lost Myles Garrett, but at least you get back a young edge rusher like Jared Verse. You know, that's the best case scenario. You got Carson Schwessinger?
Speaker 2:Schwessinger. Schwessinger.
Speaker 1:Yes. I know. It was a tough one to pick up.
Speaker 2:A little bit. But, you know, I wanna get defensive rookie of year. Of course. Of course. He he looks to be very promising.
Speaker 2:Quinshaw Juddkins, a really good value pick at running back. Yeah. I don't and Harold Fannin, you can't forget. He saved me in fantasy multiple times. So big shout out to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. They got all these pieces, and we're just gonna have to see how they scheme together.
Speaker 1:But Mister Manning, this is for you. Look at this roster. It could be yours.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Exactly. Well, we'll see. But, yeah, that's where I have the browns, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I I think there's still reason to be optimistic in the coming years, though. Okay. Moving on next to the next team. It's a familiar team for me, but it's in a different division. And, yeah, I have the Steelers in third place.
Speaker 1:Thank God.
Speaker 2:Going nine and eight. Okay. You know, we we I've seen this movie before as a Packers fan. I've seen this movie of Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers together, and it's just it's just the Mbappe special on offense. You know, for example, nothing.
Speaker 2:Like, they're not Woah.
Speaker 1:That's a shot.
Speaker 2:They're listen. I just think that, you know, they won a Super Bowl together for sure.
Speaker 1:In 2010?
Speaker 2:Oh, that was a while ago. That was Sixteen years ago? Sixteen years ago. It's time to let it go. I think, you know, Mike McCarthy, I just haven't seen like, especially that Cowboys stint, he was not doing much.
Speaker 2:You know? He was really doing nothing.
Speaker 1:He was winning, though.
Speaker 2:He was winning a little bit, but it's like, don't know if anybody was realistically looking at these Cowboys teams that he was coaching and saying, wow. Like, these could be real contenders. And I don't know. They they definitely add some receiving help. They they get Michael Pittman.
Speaker 2:I I like Michael Pittman a lot. I think he's a decent option at receiver. You know, he paired that with D. K. Metcalfe.
Speaker 2:You have at least players for Aaron Rodgers to throw to, and he's still decent at this stage of his career. It's probably his last season. It's probably his last run. He would wanna go with his coach that I don't know. Even though Matt LaFleur, I think, got the best out of Aaron Rodgers, he definitely has that bond with Mike McCarthy, and maybe that'll carry them far.
Speaker 2:But I feel like I don't know. Anything more than nine wins is I'd be shocked, honestly. We'll we'll just have to see how it goes.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'll let you keep going. I can I have a really long rant about the Steelers that I can do later?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Coming up next, I have two teams that I think will probably I don't wanna contend is a strong word.
Speaker 2:They'll be very competitive in the AFC playoffs, I would think. Next up, I have the Cincinnati Bengals going eleven and six. I think this is a massive bounce back year. They added a lot of pieces on the defense that I really like. I like Dexter Lawrence down there.
Speaker 2:I think that's the kind of piece that they need. Their offensive line is still we'll just have to see how they perform. But I think that, you know, you're getting Joe Burrow back. Joe Burrow can still be a top five quarterback in the league when
Speaker 1:he's healthy. To stay on the field.
Speaker 2:He needs to stay on the field, but his ceiling is top five. He has had these dominant seasons, and, you know, he might get a third comeback player of the year because he's just been they just they just need to get him help on the offensive line. You know? They need to protect their their franchise player, I think. But as long as you have that Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase connection and it stays healthy, they they will be a dominant offense.
Speaker 2:They will be a difficult offense to stop. I mean, you see Tee Higgins coming in and taking a lot of these reps and looking like one of the best number two receivers in the league. This is the kind of progress that you wanna see. I'm not sure if they're gonna get back to those, like, twenty twenty one heights maybe, but, like, could see them possibly, getting into the playoffs, maybe getting past the wild card into the divisional round. I think that's in the realm of possibility for the Bengals.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I don't know. But this is a must win year. This is a year where they really need to pull themselves together and put together a really great season because I think the fans are kinda tired of this team having these, like, big promises, and then they're underperforming those expectations. So I I think it's gonna be key for them to kinda rise up and win most of their games on their schedule.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:The clock is definitely ticking because 50% of their cap is tied to Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins across these next couple of years. And who knows if they even stay with the team if they see the roster take a dip, which is inevitable.
Speaker 2:Especially Tee Higgins. He he could say, wanna be the number one option somewhere and, you know, just leave the team.
Speaker 1:Well, if you wanted to do that, why would you sign an extension? That's the thing.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I don't know. Things change. You know? And maybe when he signed the extension, like, he's feeling different than it is now, especially if they underperformed this year. Like, we'll have to see.
Speaker 1:So I mean, their defense isn't that crazy. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:Not really, but it is an improvement from last year, I would say.
Speaker 1:I mean, anything would be.
Speaker 2:Anything would be. Yeah. But I think the offense is strong enough to win most of the games, honestly. So I got I got the Bengals going eleven and six. I think but I think that I don't know.
Speaker 2:See, saying that this team is good enough to win 11 games. But will they? Like, I guess that's another question.
Speaker 1:Everything has to go right.
Speaker 2:Everything has to go right. If everything goes right, they win 11 games. And I'm just, you know, my heart would break for Bengals fans if that wouldn't be if that would be the truth. So guess that's why I'm picking 11 wins, you know, but they could easily win, like, eight or nine and Less. Less.
Speaker 2:Less. It it the the the floor is less. So this is a high high stakes season for the Bengals. Alright. So, yeah, moving on to the last team.
Speaker 2:I got the Baltimore Ravens. I got them finishing twelve and five. Top of the division, I think, again, there was, like, there was a bunch of weird happenings last season. It was not a typical season for the Ravens. I think that they're gonna look at this past season and say, okay.
Speaker 2:Like, what were the issues? And a lot of the issues were kinda tied to John Harbaugh and, like, part of his leadership on the team, honestly. And I think that this is their chance to get a fresh start. You're gonna have Lamar Jackson back for a full season. And if Lamar Jackson is back and healthy and competing in every single game, they will always have a chance to win most of their games.
Speaker 2:You know? He he really is that good. I think Derrick Henry, he still he still has the opportunity to be a very productive back in the league. And I think that you're kinda this is kinda your last great year with him, I would say. Maybe you get one more.
Speaker 2:But he he seems to be battling up against father time and winning quite honestly. But, you know, we'll I I would hope that other people on their offense kinda take a step up. I would hope Zay Flowers finally You know, I I saw this report that he his team was looking for Jackson Smith and Jigba money for his next contract. And I'm like, I I can't believe this.
Speaker 1:What?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, the that that's the report I was seeing. I mean
Speaker 1:He's never going to find that anywhere.
Speaker 2:Maybe in post we can like put that up, but it's like you need to perform at that type of level to get that type of money. And I don't know. It will I just hope that he would take a step up because I think that he's shown a lot of flashes of brilliance. Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 2:But I think the Ravens, they're always gonna compete. They're always gonna be a team to watch out for as long as Lamar Jackson is playing. And yeah, can see them getting around 12 wins, certainly winning the division. I think they're the most balanced team in this division. So yeah, those are my rankings.
Speaker 1:I certainly agree. I I have a lot to agree with with this list that you have for me because that's the exact same order that I had. But I will say this, I think all four of these teams have a chance to win a lot of games simply because they have easy schedules. AFC North is finally getting a
Speaker 2:break Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:And they have an easy schedule. So with that being said, let's dive on into the list. I have the Cleveland Browns in last place at seven and ten. Heartbreaking. I am really excited though to watch this team grow because we have a lot of young talent.
Speaker 1:You get to trade back in the first round for basically nothing and take the same guy that you were looking for the entire time with Spencer Fano. Mhmm. And you get another first round pick with Casey Concepcion because of last year's absolute fleece of a trade for Travis Hunter. So you get two first rounders off of that. You get Denzel Boston a steal as well.
Speaker 1:You get Emmanuel McNeil Warren who a lot projected to go 23 or 28 in the first round of the NFL draft this year. He's gonna instantly like compete with Ronnie Hickman to be the free safety for this football team. The defense already looks stupendous. Mason Graham is a big reason why Myles Garrett had 25 sacks.
Speaker 2:He's great.
Speaker 1:Like Mason Graham stunts on the inside with Malik Collins, it is stupendous interior d line football to watch if you like watching the three techs play. So that's a big thing of why the Packers had a lot of trouble blocking the Browns. Uh-huh. They couldn't handle the stunts from Mason Graham. And according to Rashid Walker, Jordan Jordan Love had to run.
Speaker 2:He really Jordan, run. Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I'm also excited to watch Jared Verse, a defensive rookie of the year. Mhmm. He's only in his third year as a first round pick. More fun things to watch. You get Grant Delpit, obviously.
Speaker 1:We extended him. He's fun to watch as well. Carson Swessinger. So many young players on this team. Denzel Ward, I can see him staying with the team for half the year Yeah.
Speaker 1:Trading him to a team like the Packers whose quarterback needy. Get some draft picks out of him while you can. He's 29 years old. He's really the only guy that doesn't fit the timeline. I love Denzel Ward.
Speaker 1:He's the last guy from the 2020 prime Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 2:I I hope that trade happens honestly because
Speaker 1:It's a w for both sides.
Speaker 2:I still really like Denzel Ward, honestly. Think that
Speaker 1:He's really good still.
Speaker 2:He's really good still, but I think you're right that he doesn't really fit this like new young core era.
Speaker 1:Competing in two years. Sure. And how old will he be in two years?
Speaker 2:Like 31? 31. Like and the Packers are trying to get this last like push a little bit.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't say last push.
Speaker 2:Well, I I mean, I don't know. We don't need to talk about the Packers too much.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But I I think that would be a great trade, and I I like the young core on the defense for the Browns, honestly.
Speaker 1:And the offensive line is completely new. So with that, you're you're flipping one of these coins here in terms of what you have. But I like Spencer Fano. He's looked great in camp. He's already taken the starting tackle spot through mini camp.
Speaker 1:Titus Howard, you trade for him, sign him to an extension. So you got your tackles finally solidified, something the Cleveland Browns couldn't figure out for a long time. Dewan Jones still plays for this football team, and he was good when he was healthy. So he's good depth, something again the Cleveland Browns did not have. Elton Jenkins from the Green Bay Packers at the place center.
Speaker 2:I miss him.
Speaker 1:Do not have a great interior so adding someone that's a veteran and great on the interior is great. And then Tevin Jenkins and Zion Johnson are the questions. Zion Johnson coming from the chargers, a former first round pick, has a lot to prove still in this league, but he still earned himself a nice decent payday. Mhmm. So the offensive line could go either way.
Speaker 1:This could be a really good line, a top 12, top 10 line if everything goes right if Fanno hits. But again, this could once it can't be as worse as last year, but it definitely could go either way. Definitely not. And we already mentioned before, you already mentioned Harold Vannen junior and Quinshawn Judkins and the two rookie receivers with Concepcion and Boston. So where does that take us?
Speaker 1:That takes us to quarterback and that's where the downfall of this team is going to be. They're going to beat the teams that they're favored to beat, but they're going to lose to the teams by a lot that they're favored to lose by. So that puts you at 10 losses and it puts you in the same conversations as my next team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're going seven and ten. I don't like this Pittsburgh Steelers roster at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think they probably should have won seven and ten last year if the Bengals and Ravens didn't burn to the ground with injuries. They were beneficiaries of that. I don't they always get the good luck of teams falling apart around them. That's not happening this year.
Speaker 1:The Ravens and Bengals are going to be great because they have great quarterbacks, top five, top seven quarterbacks. So if you're expecting somehow Aaron Rodgers to beat and pass both a healthy Ravens and Bengals team, you are legitimately insane. I don't like the receiver core at all. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. And a whole bunch of nobodies.
Speaker 1:Jeremy Bernard didn't like him. He never really peaked in college in terms of production. He was consistent but he never had the second rounder type of production that you wanna see. So not excited about that. Roman Wilson, Brent Skaranek, no.
Speaker 1:Like Yeah. That is terrible depth. That is division three football at its finest. Jalen Warren and Rico Dowdell, that is not elite running the football type of running back, backfield that you're gonna need to keep Aaron Rodgers to a healthy play action game. So once again, I don't like this team.
Speaker 1:They're done they've been delaying the inevitable for two years. They've been trading for old washed vets for too long. The the rebuild needs to happen. Mhmm. Okay?
Speaker 1:Blow it up. Yeah. And Mike McCarthy is the opposite of what they should have done. Mhmm. Mike McCarthy is not a great hire.
Speaker 1:It's once again delaying the inevitable. This is a how old is 62?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Twilight years.
Speaker 1:He's gonna retire too. Mhmm. So again, you're putting things off. Mhmm. Like, owners want this is a case of an owner wanting to win too much.
Speaker 1:Like, he wants to win in his lifetime with all due respect. Yeah. So that's what they're trying to do and that's what they've been doing for ages. Mhmm. A ten and seven team that gets absolutely booted in the first round.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. If that's something they want to watch, fine. This is the best team to do it. But
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think if you're the Steelers, you definitely would want to bottom out, like, least next year. You know what I mean? I think it's just they're holding on to nothing. They're nostalgic for a pass that doesn't really exist anymore.
Speaker 1:So Yeah. TJ Watts clock is ticking. Mhmm. Cameron Hayward, his clock's been ticking for a long time as well. There's a lot of Badgers on this team, which is the only positive.
Speaker 1:Jaylen Ramsey is is now playing safety because he's no longer fast enough or I I wouldn't say physical enough because he is physical Mhmm. To play at the corner position.
Speaker 2:They really need to trade these assets while they're still like playable in my opinion. Like you want to get draft capital out of someone like Jalen Ramsey or even, I don't know, TJ Watt eventually.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes. Like I mean, the Browns, I mean, they they made that type of move with Myles Garrett. Mhmm. Sold at at this is probably the absolute highest you could sell Myles Garrett, especially after breaking the sack.
Speaker 2:Okay. Totally. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's a situation this year where Myles Garrett breaks the sack record. I know. There's a lot more there's more around him in terms of edge rushers and linebackers and offensive. The offense is gonna stay on the field. I'll just say that.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. And there's not a Mason Graham that's on the interior that's making quarterbacks float in the backfield for Amiles Garrett to bend around and get the sack. So, yeah, a little tangent there. But moving on to second place in the AFC North, once again, I'm high on the Bengals. I think if everything goes right, this team can win 13 or 14 games.
Speaker 1:Sure. That's how good this team is in terms of offensive firepower. I mean, if Ja'Marr Chase stays on the field and Joe Burrow stays on the field the entire year, as long as you play competent defensive football, this team can win thirteen, fourteen games. But once again, that's if everything goes right. And their head coach, Zach Taylor, I don't believe him.
Speaker 2:He's he's on the hot seat
Speaker 1:for sure. Very much
Speaker 2:on hot to win, you need to get in the playoffs, and you need to dominate in the playoffs for him to keep his job. I mean, like, that's the reality of the situation right now.
Speaker 1:And if you're relying on Dexter Lawrence to bring you to the middle tier of football, I don't know know if that's really possible because their quarterbacks are absolutely terrible. I mean, Dax Hill, DJ Turner, Jalen Davis, Brian Cook. The only one here is maybe Kyle Duggar and Jordan Battle. Like, what's here? Dax Hill has been a young promising player for a while now.
Speaker 1:And their linebackers, Oren Birx, Demetrius Knight, a rookie, Barrett Carter, they got rid of their best one with Logan Wilson. So this defense lost more than it gained in my opinion.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's fair.
Speaker 1:You're relying on Dexter Lawrence to to fix everything. Mhmm. And a defensive tackle, news flash, Mason Graham or something like that. I I mean, it doesn't fix everything right away. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, I'm not comparing Dexter Lawrence to Mason Graham, but I'm just thinking interior lineman making impact on winning defensive football. You need more pieces around a great interior defensive lineman to do that. And I think if their edges hit, they'll be okay. Mhmm. They got Miles Murphy, Jonathan Allen, Shamar Stewart, which Shamar Stewart has not looked good so far.
Speaker 1:So with that being said, we've already gone over the Bengals enough. Sure. So I think they have a high floor. I'm putting them at ten and seven. Okay.
Speaker 1:So second place is where they're at. Then Baltimore Ravens, once again, I have them at twelve and five as well. Alright. Lamar Jackson has a decent defense. Matabike is back.
Speaker 1:They got an edge rusher finally with Trey Hendrickson. They they have good linebackers, Roquan Smith. Mhmm. So as long as they have that, they should be able to stop the run, rush the passer. And their secondary has been iffy at times, but when they play great, like Kyle Hamilton leading the way, their corner's playing decent.
Speaker 1:Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey. Marlon Humphrey is in terms of football play, it's bipolar. It's up and down.
Speaker 2:I know. I know. And like, I remember there was a time where Marlon Humphrey, like we were looking at him that
Speaker 1:Jamar Chase owns him.
Speaker 2:We were looking at him to be one of these like top three corners in the league, like one of the faces of the NFL secondary. And, yeah, you're right. It's bipolar.
Speaker 1:It's getting older. It's just what comes with the game. Yeah. So with that being said, yeah, I think it's a no brainer why the Ravens are competing like this. Their backfield, as long as Derrick Henry is still Derrick Henry, you're gonna have an elite option game with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1:So the receiving game's alright if if Zay Flowers can keep up that 1,200 yard production that definitely isn't Jackson Smith and Jigbo money. Yeah. Like, what are we talking about here? He put up 1,900 yards and, like, how many touchdowns? Like, eight, ten touchdowns?
Speaker 1:Something like that?
Speaker 2:It was like it wasn't it over 2,000? Didn't he break
Speaker 1:two didn't break 2,000.
Speaker 2:Okay. Alright. But he still had, like, 10 touchdowns. Yeah. I mean, we'll maybe
Speaker 1:You're not getting JSN money.
Speaker 2:Probably not if you're putting up those numbers, but, you know, all respect to Zay Flowers, but jeez, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think I didn't think we'd agree this much on the AFC part. I I thought the NFC West we agreed on and, yeah, I figured that would be consensus.
Speaker 2:But Yeah. Yeah. Everything's all good here. You're not
Speaker 1:too high or too low on the Browns. They're they're right where they're supposed to be. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was very fair.
Speaker 1:I really wanted to put them at third place and really get to the Steelers fans out there. Yeah. Especially the Steeler Browns fan on staff. But
Speaker 2:Hey, man. That could still hap well, I mean, I feel like that's, like, a realistic thing that could happen if this young core, like, overperforms and, like, develops
Speaker 1:Steelers finally hit their floor?
Speaker 2:If they develop ahead of schedule and, like, the Steelers team, like, really, like, is showing their age and not really showing up in these games, like, Browns really could jump the Steelers, and I would not be all that shocked.
Speaker 1:Yep. And hope it happens. But with that being said, that is gonna put a cap on the podcast for today. Drop your AFC North predictions as well if you're watching on the YouTube channel. And if you're listening on the FM airwaves, you can be sure to catch this anywhere.
Speaker 1:The audio wherever you get your audio podcast and you can check this out as well on the YouTube channel, WSUM nine one seven. We'll see you next time on Toss the Mic.