Scott Hanson, NFL Red Zone Host

Welcome back in, it is the Zach Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. My next guest, well, he's synonymous with football.

You hear him, you see him, you know it's Red Zone time, and that of course is the host of Red Zone in Scott Hansen. Scott, happy football season, how are you? Oh man, we made it. We made it, Zach. It was a long, long off-season, but we're back, and it's awesome to be speaking to you here on game week.

I know you played football, now everyone knows you as the host of Red Zone. I'm sure you still have like a pump-up speech left in you. People just want to hear your voice right now and get us jacked up for this weekend. The best pump-up speech you can have is when a coach or a team captain or a leader just looks you right in the eye and tells you the truth.

The truth that inspires you, but it's got to be rooted in truth. And so all I would say is to every one of your viewers and listeners here is we finally made it. We are back, and we're opening it up with an Octobox on Sunday that's the real deal for the first time in over 200 and however many days it's been since the last full NFL Sunday.

And that's the only pump-up you should need. Doing this show, you bring so much joy to people. What's been the most rewarding part for you hosting Red Zone after all these years? It's been that 100%. It's been serving our audience, which is made up of millions of football fans around the country and around the world. NFL Red Zone is probably the number one way that foreign fans, whether they are expats, Americans who live in other countries, or foreign fans who have picked up football in European football cities and countries have picked up American football as a sport that they want to follow. So it's been gratifying to use the skills that I've been blessed with with the demands of the NFL Red Zone job to make a show that people say is the definitive way to watch the NFL. I love it that the audience feels as passionate about what we do as we on the NFL Red Zone staff are about showing it to the audience. And we talked about this last year, how you wait to really pig out and eat once the show is over. And I'm in a similar boat doing that eight-hour ION football show for CBS Sports Radio. So I don't like to have a full stomach bowl of broadcasting, but last year you gave us a great answer.

First meal, once all the games end, you go home for Sunday Night Football. What are you thinking this time around, Scott Hansen? You know what? It's in the moment.

It's in the moment. It's did I have a good show? Did I have a great show?

Did I have a bad show? And then whatever hits me. And sometimes I'll be so hungry, I can't decide. And I think maybe I told you this last year, I put on Twitter polls every once in a while. Okay, gang, it's either Italian, barbecue, or Chinese.

What should I go for? And let the audience vote because I love it all. All I can tell you is it will be highly, highly caloric. I will eat every last bite of it and enjoy it while I'm watching Sunday Night Football.

My producer thinks I'm a moron when I say Sunday Night Football in season. Clearly, it's got to be Chinese food like that. Chinese is strong. It's the standard with a great egg roll. You get some General Tso's chicken, some fried rice. I take an egg roll.

Let me see if I got something that can can approximate. Let's say this is an egg roll. I take an egg roll, bite the top of it off, and I take a jar of low sodium soy sauce and pour it in like it's a tube.

Wow. And eat the egg roll the same way. I'm more of a duck sauce guy on the egg roll, but soy sauce is okay. No problem.

Duck sauce is good too, but I love the soy sauce. Oh, man. Well, before we get to Sunday, Scott Hansen joins us from NFL Network and also Red Zone. Thursday night, we got a big game, a lot of buzz about the Lions. The Chiefs, doesn't look like Chris Jones is going to be there with the contract. Now you have the knee injury with Travis Kelce. Give me a thought on this game.

Yeah, massive. I mean, I mean, outside of Mahomes, you couldn't name two players on on the Chiefs roster that would be more significant if they're not out on the field. And then Jones is not going to be, but we still are waiting on the Kelce word, but that's not real good 48 hours before the game that they're saying he hyperextended his knee. Dude, if the Lions could go in and beat them, it does two things.

One, it makes the world champs look human and maybe even vulnerable. And two, it puts the Lions probably within not just like a fun little pick that people are making for the division champion, it might put them into contender status in the entire NFC. The Eagles are head and shoulders above everyone right now. The Niners are probably in that stratosphere, depending on what you think of of the Giants or the Cowboys.

They could be there, but why couldn't the Lions jump into like that third spot in a in a conference power rankings should they go into Arrowhead and win this game on Thursday? And that to me is one of the more fascinating stories, because the AFC, it's loaded, right? I could say who the top five teams in the AFC people give me so many different answers in the NFC.

I can't even do the top five. It's like, okay, Philly, like you said, then the Niners and then the conversation, who's the third best team, you'll get six or seven different responses in a team that I'm optimistic on and never thought I'd be saying this, but he was awesome. Last year is a Gino Smith with the Seahawks. I think they could be the third best team in the NFC. Keep in mind, though, the Seahawks snuck into the playoffs on the last game of the season, which, of course, was that Lions-Packard's Sunday night game. Had the Packers won that game, the Seahawks wouldn't even have made the playoffs.

Now, Gino, you know, comeback player of the year, you know, they're one in two wide receivers as good as as most tandems in the league. Add JSN, if his body's going to get right and he can become a playmaker in there, year two for Kenneth Warren and a defense that could still do it, especially when they get home games with that crowd being as ferocious as they can. Seahawks are going to be contenders in there, but the NFC West is tough. I love the Niners, just their roster composition. They got to figure out the Nick Bosa contract situation. But if Brock Purdy is who we kind of think he is at this point, look out and then a full year of CMC in that offense. I think it could be very, very special for the Niners this season.

Talking to Scott Hansen right now. Everyone's been talking about the Jets. Everyone's been talking about Aaron Rodgers this offseason. How do you think we'll be talking about gang green at the end of the year, though? If I had a bold prediction, I would say Aaron Rodgers is going to be a Pro Bowl quarterback. I'm not I'm not comfortable enough to say all pro first or second team all pro, but he's going to be more like MVP Aaron Rodgers than he was like 2022 Rodgers. And if that happens, and again, I'm predicting that it will.

I expect it to. That Jets defense could be top five in a lot of statistical categories by the end of the year. I think the Jets are a playoff team, and if the bills stubbed their toe and they looked vulnerable in in bad spots last year, even in western New York and home games. If the if the bills stubbed their toe and maybe Miami isn't isn't what some people expect them to be the Jets could win that division. So not only not only could you see him in the postseason, how would a home game at MetLife Stadium be in mid January with Aaron Rodgers used to outdoor cold weather playoff games trying to make it to the to the to the big game? It would be delicious.

Talking to Scott Hansen right now. The Chargers are a team that are interesting to me because they have all the talent, but then I'm not a big fan of the coach and I just don't have a lot of confidence in him. How good do you think the Chargers could be this year?

Yeah, look at there are a few teams in those and that AFC top five that they all have some reason to think they won't be the team, but all of those have a lot of reasons to think they could be the team. You know, are the Chargers going to finally put it together? Are the bills going to finally put it together? Can the can the Bengals put it together again? Remember, they already played with the Super Bowl and Mahomes and the Chiefs are Mahomes and the Chiefs depending on this on the Jones contract and the Kelsey knee injury or of course if anything happened to Mahomes, it's all bets off for Kansas City. The Chargers look at all the talent.

I think we find out in the first month of this season. How bad truly was that rib injury for Herbert, because a lot of people think that Herbert's going to go he's going to throw for 330 yards a game this year, assuming he's he's fully helping now, and that rib injury which he played through that rib injury was sick more significant maybe than the team led on, and you've still got, you know, team now is not getting any younger but he's still a very very good talent. Mike Williams is they're capable Quinton Johnson that they just drafted is going to add to that, and then Austin Eckler trying to play for a $50 million contract or whatever he wants that offense should be able to put up points in the 30s against anyone they play TV the Jaguars as a Super Bowl contender because I feel like naturally they don't get a lot of conversation but I'm a big fan of that team there ahead of schedule. This is year three for for Trevor Lawrence, he doubled his touchdown total from season one to season two, I don't think he doubles it again because that would put them up near 50, but if he's in the low 40s in touchdown passes with Calvin Ridley coming into that offense as well, and probably a two headed backfield if tank Bigsby is going to get some carries as a rookie to go with ETM and Doug Peterson having a Super Bowl pedigree.

They need their defense, it's going to be more. They need their edge rushers that they used a lot of draft capital for Walker was the number one overall pick Josh Allen, the Jags Josh Allen. The number seven I overall pick I believe they need to get they need to both be double digit sack guys, and if they can do that and the Jags can get early leads and let these guys pin their ears back and make some noise coming off the edge. The Jags can absolutely be a contender in the AFC, who is a team or two that you're a little bit more optimistic on than what most of the big conversation is Scott Hansen, a lot of people are saying, I, the teams that I think could pop. I think Pittsburgh might surprise some people. I think someone's got to win the NFC South. And I think the New Orleans Saints could be in line for something, if camera comes off the suspension. At the end of the first month of the season, and can get something close to Alvin Kamara type production. I think Derek Carr and Chris Olave are going to have a special connection. And if Michael Thomas is back to normal he talked about the hardware that they put into his foot and ankle that his body allegedly rejected. And that's a rare thing apparently but if he's, if he's right physically and mentally that offense is going to be real real nice, and we all know about the home field advantage in the Superdome which allows that defense on on on silent snap counts to really really get up field, I someone's got to win the South, I can see the Saints having a home playoff game, and maybe maybe surprising some people in week two of the postseason. So what's your Super Bowl pick right now Scott Hansen.

Yeah, look, I'm smart enough to know that nobody knows nothing. Yeah, but those darts out there. But, you know, forced me into it. I was taking the Chiefs again to get to the Super Bowl. Prior to this Kelsey injury again that's a massive x factor if it's multiple weeks for whatever reason and again we don't know if it's even one week for him, but if it's if it's something like that, then I might back off of that but they still have the best player in the sport. And so I would still say Kansas City.

If you want to bet against my homes, do it with your own money. And then, and then out of the NFC. Give me the San Francisco 49ers, I think they, they, they, they put it all together they got to figure out the Nick Bosa contract situation they got to get him in there but that's, that's a matter of one correct phone call going the right way and you're going to wreck and shop again, you take Hargrave from that defensive line of the Eagles and put it in, in between the tackles for the Niners to be able to play with and a two man game between Hargrave and and and and Bosa, and then all the weapons that I don't even need to name on that Niners offense if Brock Purdy takes any type of a step forward in year two. The Niners are my would be my pick out of the NFC. Well if we do see Chiefs and Niners again let's just hope a month later we don't get a pandemic all right. I don't need another pandemic like last time well said I was on the sidelines for that Super Bowl and I remember thinking, I wonder if this coronavirus thing that I'm reading about is actually in the United States or not, I wonder if it's even here in the stadium right now. Yeah, let's Yeah, we don't need any of that. Let's talk about it Scott Hansen, we will see him on Sundays obviously all throughout the football season brings a smile to everybody's face we appreciate you doing this, that good to see as always buddy enjoy the season.