NFL Top 10 (Hour 3)

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AutoTrader. Alrighty, rockin' and rollin', jammin' on out with you, our number three of our radio program, the NFL Top 100 List. Oh, I thought it came out tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. You have the Hall of Fame game tonight between the Texans and the Bears, so the Top 100 List actually comes out tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern. So I apologize on that because for the last hour, I'm like, oh, coming up at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight, the NFL's gonna reveal their Top 100 List.

But it comes out at Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern. But they have given us already players 100 to 11, and they will reveal the top 10 players Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time. So they have put out a list in alphabetical order of the top 10 players right now.

So the top 10 players, this is not in order how they're gonna be 10 to 1. Max Crosby's in the top 10. Miles Garrett is in the top 10. Tyreek Hill is in the top 10. Lamar Jackson is in the top 10. Chris Jones is in the top 10. Travis Kelce is in the top 10. Patrick Mahomes is in the top 10. Christian McCaffrey is in the top 10. T.J. Watt and Trent Williams. And if you're trying to figure out and you're saying, wait, Zach, you just said it's in alphabetical order, you put Max Crosby was in front of Chris Jones, it's by last name. Alphabetical order by last name. So Crosby, Garrett, Hill, Jackson, Jones, Kelce, Mahomes, McCaffrey, Watt and Williams. So I want to do this right now. And I think this is going to be tough because it's not who my top 10 players are in the NFL. It's how I think the players voted on this.

Now, I will tell you right out of the gate. I'm already being a hypocrite with this assignment. I'm being a hypocrite for this assignment with the 10th spot because I think he's going to be higher than this. But quite frankly, he was not a top 10 player last year. He did not play like a top 10 player last year. And that was Travis Kelce.

Now, don't get me wrong. Travis Kelce in the playoffs was excellent. Travis Kelce last year and him dating Taylor Swift was the biggest story in the league. But Travis Kelce's regular season, I think people forget there are moments last year where people were like, he's starting to slow down.

Ooh, he's dropping the football a lot. Oh, he put the ball on the turf up against the Eagles. Like Travis Kelce still finished with 93 receptions, 984 yards and five touchdowns. But that wasn't a regular season that we're used to with Travis Kelce where since 2016, he's been a thousand yard receiver tight end. How everyone referred to him as 2016, 1,125 yards, 2017, 1,038 yards, 2018, 1,336 yards, 2019, 1,229 yards, 2020, 1,416 yards, 2021, 1,125 yards and 2022, 1,338 yards. So last year, maybe he's grandfathered in and I know he missed two games. So if he would have played in one of those two games, all right, he gets over 1,000. I didn't feel like he was a top 10 player in the league.

So that's my only gripe with the names that are there. Like you're telling me Josh Allen's not a top 10 player in the NFL? No, he was ranked 12th. I know Josh Allen did not have the greatest season last year, but Travis Kelce to me should be on the outside looking in at this stage of his career.

What needs to be is great. He doesn't need to be great in the regular season. Come postseason time, he's great. But I was a little surprised that he was in the top 10. So I think I'll rank higher than that. But I'm going to put him 10th on how I try to claim I think the players are going to vote, even though I just totally contradicted myself.

So it's really how I think the players are going to vote 9 through 1. In at number nine, I think I would rank this person higher, but offensive lineman is just not sexy. So I'll go Trent Williams in at number nine. This dude is a closer.

He is a finisher. And outside of Patrick Mahomes, I really do believe he's the most valuable player on the Kansas City. How about those chiefs? And that's Chris Jones.

You look back at their Lombardi trophies that they've won recently. Chris Jones makes big play after big play after big play over and over and over again. So I think the players are going to put Kelsey 10th, Trent Williams nine and Chris Jones eight.

Then at seven, I'm elated. I know this guy's in the top 15 last year. I'm elated that Max Crosby is sitting inside the top 10 now. And I'm going to put him as the seventh best player in the NFL right now. And I think the players really do appreciate Max Crosby. And that's reflected by him already being in the top 10 because it still feels like like Stu nationally. What do you think the view is of Max Crosby? A good player on a bad team. I don't think enough people know how great he is because he's not on an elite team. Like if you think we polled most players, the best three edge rushers in the NFL. Don't use most people.

I'm saying not players like fans. You would think most would say probably what TJ what that is. Myles Garrett and then probably Michael Parsons.

I think so. I think most people would have Max fourth. And to be clear, I would put Crosby in front of Michael Parsons.

Me too. I think the three best pass rushers in the NFL. One TJ what led the NFL in sacks for the last four years, then Myles Garrett. What he did this year, how he is running from tackle to tackle, tackle to tackle, then forced to delay a game.

I've never seen anything like that. And then Max Crosby would be in a number three for my top pass rushers in the NFL. But for this list, I think the players going to vote Travis Kelsey 10th, Trent Williams ninth, Chris Jones eighth, and then Mad Max in at seven.

So. That leaves me with six names left. Lamar Jackson, Tyree kill Patrick Mahomes, TJ Watt, Myles Garrett and Christian McCaffrey. This is where it gets difficult. Do you go defense? Do you go offense? This is a league based on offense.

You know. Running backs are undervalued now. Christian McCaffrey is more than a running back. And you could argue non quarterbacks in the NFL. Christian McCaffrey could be the most valuable player in the league.

Could be. I'm going to say McCaffrey six on this list. Then personally, I think watch should be in front of Myles Garrett. I think TJ Watt will be fifth. Myles Garrett, who won the defensive player of the year, will be fourth. And then I have three names left. It's Tyree kill Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Let me be abundantly clear here.

If this list comes out on Friday at 10 p.m. or 8 p.m. Eastern time. And there's been years where, like, Mahomes or Brady haven't been number one. I was like one year. I think it was it may have been on Mahomes is 50 touchdown pass season. I think like there was one year that Drew Brees was ranked in front of Mahomes. And I was like, no disrespect to Drew Brees. We all know he's a Hall of Famer.

But what are we doing? So if they if the players vote Lamar in front of Mahomes because Lamar now has two regular season MVPs, I'll lose my mind. Now, I don't think I I think Lamar Jackson's the fourth best quarterback in football.

You know, I've said this before. Number one, it's Mahomes to borough borough got hurt last year. We know that Josh Allen three and then Lamar Jackson fourth. But on this list, I think the players are going to vote Lamar Jackson three. Tyree kill in at two and then Patrick Mahomes in at one. So this list is going to come out on Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern.

And it is. The top 10 players only they gave us the top 10 names. This is I think the players going to vote Kelsey 10. Trent Williams nine. Chris Jones eight. Mad Max seven.

Run CMC six. T.J. Watt fifth. Miles Garrett fourth. Lamar Jackson third. Tyree kill second. And then in first, Patrick Mahomes. So do me a favor here.

Give me your list. Yes. And how you is it close. There are a lot of parts that are close, but there are two that are pretty different.

Especially one guy is pretty different. OK, so that's a good, good tease. Yes. It was in 2019, by the way. Let me just pull this up. 2019 NFL Top 100, where Drew Brees was ranked the second best player in the league. And I remember because I was on the network at the time and I was like, oh, they just did that for clicks. Right. I'm like, oh, they definitely they wanted this list to get talked about. So they changed the rankings.

There's no way. And Drew Brees. Right.

We all know is a great player. We'll be a Hall of Famer, but I just could not believe that they put Drew Brees ranked in front of Mahomes. And I think that was that coming off Mahomes rookie.

Well, not as true. First year playing. Yeah. Go back. Here was the top ten that year. Aaron Donald won. OK. First, I think you got as great as Aaron Donald. You got to have a quarterback. Drew Brees was second.

This is 2019. Khalil Mack was third. Patrick Mahomes was fourth.

This is sad. Todd Gurley was five. You know, I saw Todd Gurley. He attended Georgia.

I guess his fullback is the strength and conditioning coach now in Nebraska. When I went to Nebraska, Michigan this past year, Todd Gurley was walking around Casa Bovina, the the steakhouse I went to. I'm like, why would Todd Gurley be here? And eventually I was like, Todd.

And he picked up his head. I'm like, you're wondering if it was Todd Gurley came over. Nicest guy.

We'd like talk to him for like 30 minutes. And I was like, what the heck are you doing here? And he looked at me.

I'm trying to figure this out myself. And he was like, get around. His buddy is on the strength staff. So Todd Gurley's fifth. Tommy Brady was six. Antonio Brown is seventh. Rogers is eight. Julio Jones was ninth. And Von Miller was 10th.

Kind of crazy looking back at that. Alrighty. So you have the name, Stu.

I do. And this was given in alphabetical order by the last name. Crosby, Garrett, Hill, Jackson, Jones, Kelsey. Mahomes, McCaffrey, Watt, Williams. How do you think the players are going to vote on this? Once again, I had the players voting. Kelsey, Williams, Jones, Crosby, Run CMC, Watt, Miles, Garrett, Lamar, Jackson, Tyreek Hill, and Patty Mahomes.

And I gave the disclaimer that I probably know that Kelsey is going to be ranked higher, but I don't think he should be. So what do we got, Stu? Alright. I have Max Crosby at 10. Okay. So I had him at seven. Yes.

That's one of the, I would say, bigger plus minuses between us differences. I have Travis Kelsey, nine. Okay. I had him 10th.

So not that big of a discrepancy. Chris Jones, eight. Okay. I had Jones eight as well. Trent Williams, seven. I had him nine. Miles, Garrett, six.

Okay. I had Miles, Garrett, fourth. TJ Watt, five. Which I personally agree with. I'd put Watt in front of Garrett, but I think the players will go, well, I had Miles Garrett ranked higher than Watt. That's confusing when you say that.

But I think the players are going to, that's the way the players are going to do it. I would personally put Watt in front of Miles Garrett. You put Garrett when? I put Garrett six.

So one spot behind TJ Watt. Okay. Okay.

So this is where it gets a little interesting. Wait. So so far you have Crosby, Kelsey, Jones, Williams, Garrett. And TJ Watt, fifth. And then Watt, fifth. Okay. So I had Watt in at the fifth spot as well.

This is where it gets interesting. I have Tyreek, fourth. I had him second. Lamar, third. I had him third as well. McCaffrey, second. So I think McCaffrey gets more love from the players. And I put him sixth. Which I can see that.

And then Mahomes, one, obviously. That one's pretty easy for me. Yeah. You know what? I kind of like your list.

Tap it inside the brains of the players. Now we had some similarities. That was the one I struggled with the most. McCaffrey. Because when you got down to run CMC, Watt, Miles, Garrett, Lamar, Hill and Mahomes.

Like you know Mahomes is one. Then after that it was how do you rank those other five players? Because I think players will put more of an emphasis on defense.

Fans won't. This isn't a fan list. And then I was like, I got to think of winning back to back MVPs. Lamar was going to be in the top three. So how did you kind of rank Watt, Garrett, McCaffrey and Hill? That was the tough order on how to place those guys. And for some reason I bookend it with Hill one place and McCaffrey on the other. But it would not surprise me if McCaffrey is inside the top five or even has you at him as a second best player.

Yeah. So the way I looked at it was I thought the defensive guys would be together being Watt and Garrett. I thought those two were pretty much very close players. Apples and oranges.

They're just so good but very slight differences. So I thought those two would be together. And I thought the offensive guys would be ahead. Now, again, like you said, maybe the players do value defense more. So then that would maybe bump it up a little bit.

Yeah. But but I do think the two fascinating parts of this top 10 reveal with the players that we have. Is Myles Garrett or TJ Watt by the players, where are they going to be ranked?

Yeah, I think that's one. And then it's also. Assuming that the second spot because we both had a second spot to the off the second overall to an offensive player that wasn't a quarterback. If you go to non quarterback on the offensive side of the ball, is it Hill or is it Christian McCaffrey? Right.

That's what I think are the two most intriguing parts. When you look at Crosby, Garrett, Hill, Jackson, Jones, Kelsey, Mahomes, McCaffrey, Watt and Williams, the NFL players. Will they put Hill in front of McCaffrey or McCaffrey in front of Hill? And then who will be the number one defensive player?

You have possibilities. Jones, Crosby, Garrett, Watt. I think it's a discussion between Garrett and Watt.

And I'm fascinated to see what what the end results are there for sure. And I guess another way another way I looked at it, too, just looking at this, I thought ten, nine and eight between Crosby, Kelsey and Jones are pretty interchangeable. I thought Trent Williams and the two defensive linemen, Watt and Garrett, were all in that next group. And then the top, you know, Mahomes was one. But two, three, four between McCaffrey, Lamar, Tyreek, I thought were also.

So those were I just thought like there's almost like tears like Mahomes is on his own tear. Then the three offensive guys are on their tear and then the two defensive linemen and an offensive lineman. And then the rest of the guys. I do wonder, though, how high up Trent Williams will go. Yeah, because he's the best. Right. I think everyone first was the best offensive lineman in football.

And it's like, OK, how far are players willing to go? Like if he it shouldn't be a surprise name in the top five, but if he landed in the top five, I wouldn't be sitting there saying like, oh, my goodness gracious. I think he's the best player at his position by maybe McCaffrey. But I think between those two, I think those two are the best at their positions by a margin. Like Mahomes is the best quarterback, but there are also guys that are amazing quarterbacks like just below him. Sure. But the Mahomes scale, Mahomes. Yeah.

Like, look, the Chiefs were were down the last two years and they still were at the top of the mountain screaming victory as Super Bowl champions winning back to back Super Bowl championships. OK, Zach Gelb show infinity sports ever. Can we come on back on three has predicted the 12 teams in the college football playoff.

There's some things I think they got right and some things I think they got wrong. We'll discuss next. Have we ever used this as a rejoin on this show? And I've been at this network now for a long time. I've never heard this as a rejoin, though, still to my folder.

I guess I just don't rotate it in nearly enough. I'm not being critical of it. Just one of those things where I've never heard this as a rejoin on this particular network.

But anyhow, let me get to on three. They have put out their projected top 12 playoff teams or how the 12 teams are going to get into the college football playoff for this upcoming season. This was J.D. Pickle in at number one, Georgia.

OK, don't got a problem with that, too. He had Oregon winning the Big Ten. I could see it. Dylan Gabriel, I think, takes over the Oregon program in a better spot in his career than when Bo Nix was walking into Oregon and Bo Nix was up and down. We've seen more consistency from Dylan Gabriel. Personally, I would put Ohio State in that spot. Now, he had Miami with Cam Ward, who was a zero star recruit, went at an incarnate word. Last year was at Washington State. I'm a big fan of Cam Ward, but do I think Mario Cristobal, who I like a lot, is taking Miami to be ACC champs this year?

No, I do not. He had Utah finishing fourth in the Big 12. I will say this. Between the four power conferences, ACC, Big 12, Georgia, SEC and the Big Ten, I think the toughest conference to predict this year is the Big 12. I don't think you have a great team in the Big 12 this year. I think you just have a lot of good teams like Utah.

I have all the respect in the world. But your tight end's coming off an injury, your quarterback's coming off an injury, and I love Kyle winning, and he's a top five coach in the sport. But Utah was picked to win it. I kind of feel like they're not going to win it, because that's a lot to overcome, even though they have a very good team, I should say. I'll go Kansas State for the Big 12. I think it's the toughest one to pick, though.

You can give me an answer, and I really can't refute the answer. So as the four highest ranked conference champs, Georgia was one, Oregon was two, Miami was three, Utah was four. Now, the fifth conference champ, which was the highest ranked, which ends up being the 12 seed, was App State, Appalachian State in that 12. I'm not going to go nuts. I think anyone that's predicting outside of the top four power conferences now, anyone who's projecting who's going to be that fifth spot, it's all a guessing game. I'll say Liberty, but I'm not going to cross JD for putting App State there. I won't do that.

That's fine by me. Now, for the other wildcard spots, he had Ole Miss as fifth, Ohio State six, Florida State, so two from the ACC at seventh, Texas eight, Notre Dame nine, Alabama ten, Tennessee 11, and then App State 12. So in that home playoff game, Texas would be hosting Notre Dame.

Oh, that would be ratings galore. Florida State would be hosting Alabama. Ole Miss will be hosting App State, and then Ohio State will be hosting Tennessee. I have a few reactions to this, but, Stu, something that annoys me here, it makes, and I understand, right, that App State shouldn't be ranked higher than 12.

But isn't it kind of funky to me with the way that this works? That if you're a conference champ, you're guaranteed a bye. But then the fifth conference champ, and they just say it by the highest ranked conference champions, get the four byes. But then the fifth conference champ, you could be seeded anywhere. Like, that's always funky to me in the seeding, because you could argue that there are teams better than, like, let's say Miami wins the ACC and Utah wins the Big 12. You could argue there's teams that are better than those two, but they don't get impacted. It's just, oh, App State, because you're not in the upper tier of college football, one of the four power conferences.

I always think that's funky with how they word it. It's like you're picking and choosing when to reward the conference champions. So you think it should almost be like they automatically get the fifth seed or? I just think you should be guaranteed a spot. You know, just guaranteed a spot in the playoff. You win your conference championship, you're guaranteed a spot in the playoff.

That's all I would do it. But this is just the way that it goes. So we'll play by the rules. Now, reacting to his top 12 playoff team, J.D. Pickle, Georgia 1, Oregon 2, Miami 3, Utah 4, Ole Miss 5, Ohio State 6, Florida State 7, Texas 8, Notre Dame 9, Alabama 10, Tennessee 11, 12, Appalachian State. A few reactions. Number one, I don't think the ACC is getting two teams.

I don't. I think this year you'll have your five conference champs. You will have then three more spots that will go to the Big Ten. So that puts you to eight. Three more spots that go to the SEC. So four and four overall.

That puts you at eleven. And then that final spot that I still have to play will either go to Notre Dame. And if Notre Dame isn't a top 12 team, then I do believe that the Big Ten or the SEC would get another team. And quite frankly, heading into this year. I kind of feel like the Big 12, if there was a conference in the Big 12, the ACC to get a second team, that it would be the Big 12 over the ACC.

But here's the tricky part. Like, let's say this is where a conference like the ACC can get in. Let's say a Florida State was definitely like undefeated going into their conference championship game. And they were playing Miami in the conference championship game and Miami upsets them. Now, Miami then not only gets in, but they get a bye. And it's like, oh, you're going to keep a one loss Florida State team out.

So I don't know if that's the way that he did it. But that's just something to think about where that's where it could get really funky in a 12 team format. Where in four, you lose your conference championship game and most years you don't get in. You know, there was, right, TCU lost the Big 12 championship game and they were still able to get into the college football playoff. They made it to the national championship game two years ago. But in a 12 team format, that's where someone can get bumped out. If like the ACC or the Big 12 has their top team in the conference not end up winning the conference championship.

So that's something to monitor. I look at this list, though, no Michigan in the top 12, which you could see this year, and no Penn State in the top 12. I think personally in the Big 10, I would say Ohio State is one. Oregon right now is two. Penn State is three. And Michigan would be four going into this season.

But I think the two biggest things from this exercise that J.D. put out there predicting his top 12 teams. You know, outside of Miami winning the ACC, which I just can't believe. But he has Miami and Florida State, two ACC teams in. And then after that, from the Big 10 perspective, let me just make sure I get this right. He only has Oregon and Ohio State in. And the big, only two in the Big 10?

There is no way. There is a zero percent chance that the Big 10 is only put in two teams in the playoff. You know, Matt Rule was talking about they should get four every year.

But only two. I can't see where we have like actual debates. Is the Big 10 or the SEC the best conference in college football?

Those are debates. Now, I like I personally think the SEC still is the king. But you tell me when it's a have or have not sport now and you have 12 spots that, and we've seen before, right, the Big 10 get two teams in a four team format in the college football playoff. Two years ago when Ohio State got in, they lost to Georgia and Michigan got in, they lost to TCU. So in a four team format, the Big 10 would get two teams in one time. And in a 12 team format, they're only going to put two teams in the college football. That's not going to happen.

There's no way that's going to happen. And five SEC teams? So if you tell me. That's a lot. Five SEC teams get in.

You know what my response would be? Notre Dame didn't make the college football playoff, right? Because there is that now in this list, crazy enough, he does have Notre Dame in. Because the way that I look at it once again, the five conference champ spots are reserved. Like reserved for conference champions.

Then after that, you have seven spots to go. If you want to tell me that three more go to the SEC, three more go to the Big 10, OK, and then Notre Dame doesn't get in and the fifth spot, that last spot goes to an SEC. OK, that's why I could see either the SEC or the Big 10 getting five teams in. But to think that the SEC is getting five teams in and the Big 10 is only getting two.

Just stop. I'm looking through this because you have all these conference changes. I'm like, where are we missing? Like, what school are we forgetting?

We're not. He put Oregon 2 and Ohio State 6 and then nobody else from the Big 10. Like, I know we give Hickey a lot of crap and we call him a Penn State homer, right, all the time. And Hickey's like, oh, I'm not getting optimistic about Penn State.

And then I had him do win-loss and he goes, oh, they're only going to be a one-loss team this year. But like, seriously, how are you going to get five SEC teams in? And even if Hickey's wrong by a game like Penn State should only lose two games at most when you look at the schedule that they have. So I don't see how the Big 10 is only going to put two teams in the playoff.

I don't. And five in the SEC. I could guarantee you this. You may not get four teams in from the Big 10 or like four teams. Like, that may not happen, but at a bare minimum, I can guarantee you each and every year they do a 12-team college football playoff. Each and every year, bare minimum, two out of the final seven spots or, excuse me, four out of the final seven spots will be divided up, SEC and Big 10, two apiece. Every year, there will be at a bare minimum three teams from the Big 10, three teams from the SEC in the college football playoff in a 12-team format, if not more than that.

So this is a fascinating breakdown. And, you know, predictions are made to create conversation, so JD did provide that for us. But put a Miami in there.

I did not see that. You know, Tennessee, I think, is a fun pick. But when you put five teams in from the SEC, like Niko, how have you seen the quarterbacks last day?

Ima Liava, you know, he could be a dark horse for the Heisman. But to think that the SEC is getting Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee five in and the Big 10s only get in two, that doesn't line up where college football is. Like if college football right now is a seesaw and you put two big people on there, you know, and ones with the Big 10, ones with the SEC, yeah, you could tell who is stronger weighted, but you're not getting thrown off the seesaw on the other side. This would be the Big 10 getting thrown off the seesaw by the SEC.

It's not going to be a 5-2 split. You know, that would, Big 10 commissioner. My best friend, Tony Petitti, him and Rob Manfred, they get together and they talk about how much they both love Zach Gelb. Rob Manfred and Tony Petitti, man, he would have every right. I would put him on the show after that, and I can't stand his guts, but I would put him on the show after that, what, Selection Sunday, I believe it is. And I would put him on that show Monday and allow him to shred the college football playoff, absolutely shred the committee, if they only put two Big 10 teams in.

That will not happen. Alrighty, we will come on back. We got one more segment to play. Why I would not want to be Steve Kerr right now.

And he should just stop doing what he's doing. I'll tell you why when we return. Update time. Here he is, the Ackman Rich House. Alrighty, we got more injury news. This time we have another injury news item in the NFL. And we already know Justin Herbert's going to be in a boot. They still expect him, as he has a little plantar fasciitis, to be ready to go for the start of the season. But DeAndre Hopkins of the Tennessee Titans has suffered a knee injury during practice this week, and the expectation is he'll miss roughly four to six weeks per Paul Kowalski.

This is via Ari Murov as well. Tennessee opens their season versus the Bears on September 8th. So, one, two, three, four. If it's four weeks, he'll be back by week one.

The fifth week is of week one, and then if it's six, it's past week one. When you just look at that. Now, here's just sad news. It's not surprising, and I have no expectation for one of the great Major League Baseball players I've seen in my lifetime for the rest of his career. He should have left his team years ago, but now he just can't stay healthy. And Mike Trout's going to be one of those players where he's kind of like the newer version of Ken Griffey Jr. Don't get me wrong. I'd rather Ken Griffey Jr. over Mike Trout. But Mike Trout is that great and that special, and even when he's easily going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. But just like Ken Griffey Jr., it's one of those careers where even when you are a first ballot Hall of Famer, you're still like, man, imagine if that dude just could have been healthy.

Like, you look back at Mike Trout. Right now, he's an 11-time All-Star, a three-time ALM VP. You know, hasn't even hit 400 career home runs yet.

He's at 378. Ken Griffey Jr., 13-time All-Star. He only won one ALM VP. You know, 10 gold gloves, though. And you look at Ken Griffey Jr. just accomplishment after accomplishment, and he got 99.3% on the first ballot. Like, Trout will easily slam dunk Hall of Famer. But Ken Griffey Jr. did hit 630 home runs. So if he was healthy, right, he would have been the home run king and a clean home run king, or easily at least 700 home runs if he was healthy. But Trout, who is an all-around player as well, I think it's one of those guys that you've got to look back at. You're just going to say, as great as he is, right, your first ballot Hall of Famer in any sport, that is creme de la creme. But you look at Mike Trout now, who's only 32. Right? He can't stay healthy.

I just saw a tweet from Bill Shaken. Games played by Mike Trout in the second half of the season. This is from 2021 and on. 2021, zero. 2022, 40. 2023, one.

2024, zero. So in the second half of season since 2021, he has played in a grand total of 41 games. That's sad.

That is really sad. And I hate to say it, his career is done. He's still going to play.

Right? He'll still have a good half of a season, you know, where you'll think, okay, maybe he'll get through a full season. But these injuries just don't go away. And by the way, Stu, our pal, friend of the show, Sean Merriman, he retweeted my take that the Chargers shouldn't rush Justin Herbert back because it's a punt season for them. A take that I gave earlier because I have no expectations for the Chargers.

And I'm not an anti-charger. I love Herbert. And I don't think there's a, outside of Rich Eisen, I don't think there is a national, I guess I'll refer to myself as a gas bag now. But I don't think there's a national gas bag that is a bigger proponent of Jim Harbaugh than Shefty Eisen.

Those are the two, Rich Eisen, Adam Schefter, and then Zach Hill. So Chargers fans aren't happy with me now. Now, Merriman retweeted my take and he said, if he has plantar fasciitis, it won't get injured more, but it is painful as hell.

Feels like you're walking on pins and needles. Chargers fans are like, this is a lazy take calling it a punt season. Like, come on. Let me talk to the eight Chargers fans that are out there.

All right. Is that a little mean? I like the Chargers, too. Mean but true. I like the Chargers. I have nothing against them.

But, my bad, to all 16 of you out there. Like, come on. Austin Eckerd used to play there. He was like, where are fans? He, like, stopped even trying to get Chargers fans to be fans because no one would show up anyway for those games. But what do you expect? Like, if you're saying, how dare you say it's a punt season?

What are you expecting? Like, if everything goes right, maybe your wildcard team, everything. And I love Harbaugh. You have a kick-ass offensive line and I love Herbert. But this team's like a walking injury year after year after year. And I know Harbaugh in the NFL, four years in the league, he had three NFC championship game appearances.

One ended up winning and getting into a Super Bowl. I think Harbaugh was a tremendous hire and Harbaugh is going to be great with the Chargers. But, like, if you're a Chargers fan and if you get, you know, all 16 of you once again, if you could take off the Chargers glasses, you really expect this team to be something this year and you find it offensive when someone calls it a punt season? Like, it's year one of a new regime after you had an incompetent coach in Brandon Staley who should be charged with football crimes for what he did in the last two years. But just because you bring in Harbaugh, you'll be improved. But I'm not expecting this to be some great team. Yes, I stand by it. I think this is a punt season.

And if you rush back Justin Herbert for the first two games of the year up against the Raiders and the Panthers, your organization's a bunch of fools. Look around. What do you see? Cars? Lots of them. And guess what? They're probably on AutoTrader.

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AutoTrader. Christy Pierce-Rampone here. Former member of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Three-time gold medalist. Two-time World Cup champion.

And part of the 99 team that won the Women's World Cup, igniting passion for soccer everywhere. A mom to two teenage girls and quality time together is prime time. We love to cook and I have an obsession, a healthy one of course, with cooking utensils.

Where do I turn? Amazon Prime, to get them fast. And when they arrive, where do I turn? To Prime, to stream the best cooking shows.

And then, for dessert, what do we do? The Rampone team streams. Each of us gets to be the captain and pick the show. Right now, we're all over British TV, part of our Prime subscription.

I think a trip to the UK is in the future and of course, we'll get all we need for that trip. From workout clothes to raincoats, from plaids to luggage, from travel guides to umbrellas, from streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.com slash Prime to get more out of whatever you're into.

That's Amazon.com slash Prime. Our daughter, Jessie, loves playing detective. A clue. But since we discovered she has sensitive skin, we've been playing detective too. We thought the problem was our puppy. But it was actually our old detergent.

Aha. So we switched to Tide Free and Gentle. Tide Clean's better than the leading competitive free detergent and it doesn't leave behind irritating residues. Plus, Tide Free and Gentle has no dyes or perfumes, so it's gentle on her skin. Case closed. If it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide Free and Gentle.