Second Year NFL QB Expectations (Hour 2)

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Without further ado, I'm not talking about Freddie Odoo. I'll take a look. Let's go! You caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Ari Merob is going to join us coming up 20 minutes from now. We'll preview the NFL season. It's a great job covering the NFL for pro football focus and I guarantee you, you've seen a lot of tweets from him.

His Twitter handle is at mysportsupdate. We'll start off with Lamar Jackson. He had a deadline of the start of the season. Now he is targeted a day as the season is a few days away. Ravens will kick off their season.

Up against Joe Flacco and the Jets. More on that in a moment, but let's hear from Lamar talking about a deadline for the contract negotiations. Hey Kiki, what else are they talking about right now? You've had all off seasons to negotiate. For a while, the Ravens were begging you to get to the table. You're now finally at the table.

You gotta be close to crossing the T's and dotting the I's at this point. If he's talking about Friday, that's two days away. Today's the seventh.

That means it's the ninth. I would be stunned at this point if a deal gets done. How about yourself? You know, I actually think a deal will get done. Woah! Change of heart!

Yes. Deadlines do spur deals. And also, you mentioned before, the Ravens have been the ones pounding the table. Hey Lamar, come to the table. Let's talk, let's talk.

What's their excuse now? He's there. I can't really sense that urgency from Lamar. Other than when he said I'm ready to get a deal done. Other than that one week, I haven't really sensed any urgency, and maybe he's fine clearly playing out this year on the fifth year option, and maybe even taking it further, going the franchise tag route. This is also, I will admit, wishful thinking. I'm sick of this conversation.

Enough. Just sign the deal, get a, like, if you're the Ravens, get them signed, and let's stop talking about, oh, Lamar Jackson. Is he gonna get a deal done?

Is he risking, you know, his injuries? Well, doesn't this come down to the fully guaranteed contract, you would think? That Deshaun Watson got one, he's probably trying to get a fully guaranteed deal.

We know no other quarterback with these recent extensions since Deshaun Watson got it. Got the fully guaranteed deal. That's what this has to be over. That's just what logic would tell me. I don't have any sources on that. Right, or how much, you know, if it's not gonna be fully guaranteed, is, you know, 75% of it gonna be guaranteed?

Or 80% gonna be guaranteed? Because this can't be by your salary at this point, what they're negotiating. No, I don't think that has to be clear now. And the guys deserving right now to be a top three highest paid quarterback in the league, whatever the semantics and wherever you want to fall in the top three pecking order. I'm not saying he's a top three quarterback in the NFL, but we've seen guys that don't have an MVP, don't have unanimous MVP. We've seen guys that are clearly worse than Lamar Jackson at the quarterback position get paid big time deals.

We say this all the time, you don't have to be great to get a big time deal. Lamar Jackson though, I do think is a great quarterback. He's an electrifying quarterback in this league, so it shouldn't be that complicated. But this entire offseason, it's been complicated. And there's been times this offseason where we wonder if Lamar Jackson is happy and really wants to continue his career with the Baltimore Ravens. Right. And you would think with the last two deals to get done with Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray, that would side more towards the Ravens, which would make it more favorable to get a deal done because they were not fully guaranteed deals like Deshaun Watson. So it should, again, make it easier to come to an agreement on a number by Friday.

Now, I'll just play devil's advocate here and just also file logic. If I'm Lamar, I don't care what happened with anyone else. I could simply say you either want me or not. If you don't want me, someone else will eventually want me.

Someone else will eventually give me a guaranteed contract. People are looking for quarterbacks all the time. We see how desperate people are for quarterbacks. So if you're not going to give me the terms at the number that I want, good luck trying to recreate the entire offense and fixing the offense because for the last few years, you basically built this offense around one person.

And that's me. So the power is in the hands of Lamar Jackson because if he wanted to, next year or we'll see how the franchise tag does play out, he could walk and there will be a big time market for it. There's no doubt about that. We're talking about a guy that's a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. We're talking about a guy that does things on the football field that we've never seen anyone else do. Can he improve in some areas of his game?

Absolutely. But if the Ravens don't get a deal done, another team will give Lamar Jackson whatever the bleep he wants. Let's get to more Lamar Jackson. He doesn't believe he's taking a big risk in playing this season without a long-term deal. It was a pretty big risk last season, the year before.

I wasn't thinking about contract negotiations around that time. This season is going to be the same thing. But I'm just playing football. Anything can happen, but God forbid the wrong thing happen.

I'm keeping God first and just playing ball. Now I know it's different because Dak has a better arm than Lamar Jackson. Dak, though, did get hurt, Ryan, has suffered a gruesome injury. And a lot of people at the time go, oh, there goes the contract as Dak was waiting because he was upset on the four or five-year deal fight that was happening with the Dallas Cowboys organization where Dak wanted to take a four-year deal and the Cowboys wanted to give him a five-year deal.

That didn't end up mattering. They eventually got Dak Prescott the contract and that was after the injury. So I guess you could say the same thing for Lamar, especially with how young he is. Would you say he's different, though?

Because of the style? Yes, because he is more predicated on running the ball. He's featured more running the ball. And his game, although he was a good passer in that MVP year, led the league in touchdown passes, was still predominantly run first, pass second. Now, I will say, Lamar has done an excellent job in his career avoiding big hits. You don't see Lamar really take a lot of big hits, which is rare when you have a mobile quarterback, especially with how young Lamar Jackson is. That age, though, factor, and let's just say if it was an ACL tear, all right, that would be devastating.

That would be gruesome. We've seen so many guys recover from ACL tears. Now, he uses legs more than any quarterback in the league.

I get that. And it probably then still takes another full year after that to feel 110% normal and you're still going to be taking some hits. But the guy is 25, he turns 26 in January. So even if he has a devastating injury, I'm talking ACL tear, Achilles, something like that.

It is a concern, but there will still be someone that more than just one person that would be willing to give him whatever he does want, I would imagine. Let's hear from the coach of the Ravens, John Harbaugh. He says Lamar Jackson hasn't been distracted amid the contract negotiations. I don't have any updates on that.

There's nothing that I'm aware of. It's been football, football, football for players and coaches. And that's kind of where we're at. My interactions with Lamar have been all football. And he's been focused and locked in on that 100% from a football standpoint. So that's kind of where we're at.

And just really, I don't personally have anything to add that I know of. Let's stay inside the AFC North. We go from Baltimore to Pittsburgh. Mitch Trubusky, now the starting quarterback for the Steelers. And he explains what made him the best man for the job.

I had a really good camp. I came in here, a lot of experience, showed I could lead the team, showed I've been playing really well, throwing football really well. So now we go out there and execute on the field. Let's go to Pete Carroll. He doesn't agree with the narrative that the Seahawks are going to be bad this season.

I've got to hear this audio. Go ahead. I don't feel like that at all. I don't feel like any part of any of that is what's true, other than the fact that that's what people think. I'm not in that business now. I'm in the business of helping these guys get ready to play.

We've been averaging 10 wins a year for the last 20-something years. You think I could think anything different than that? I don't. I don't see any reason my expectations should change at all.

I don't care what anybody says. So I'm not expecting a coach to say, hey, we're going to suck, especially when you have the resume that Pete Carroll has. But let me just remind everyone, Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest coach of all time, the year after he lost Tom Brady, and he was starting Cam, and Cam's not the way that we viewed Cam from a few years ago, he only won seven games. I don't see how Pete Carroll, if we were to shoot him up with true serum, if we were to have him in this studio and put a lie detector test on him, and if he said that they're going to be a good team this year and he thinks they could win double-digit games this year, that would come up as a lie.

I get it. You got to say publicly, I don't care what anyone says, us against the world, bleep everyone. There's no way when he puts his head on the pillow at night he actually thinks he has a good team there. If that's the case, he's delusional and he should retire. Who would be more delusional, him or Jerry Jones?

That's happy. Pete Carroll's basically telling you one plus one is three. He didn't say one plus one is three. Jerry Jones actually said it. Jerry Jones is a better team. Jerry Jones, though, sounded more delusional with one plus one equals three. Pete Carroll's just defending his team. Jerry Jones, in a weird way, he told you yesterday, we're not as great as what we should be, but I'm going to tell you we're great anyway. That's what one plus one equals three means. Tyler Lockett on a Seahawks fan should cheer Russell Wilson.

He returns to the 12th man coming up on Monday night. At the end of the day, I get it. It's football.

It's competitive. You never want to see people leave. But you got to understand that everybody has to do what's best for them. And that's what you have to be able to learn about this life is you got to cheer people on.

And so, I mean, that's really how I feel about it. I think that Seattle should cheer him on, you know, for everything that he's done. Helped bring a Super Bowl to this community, all that different type of stuff.

He's an amazing guy. Is anyone actually wondering if Russell Wilson's going to get booed coming up on Monday night before the game? He's going to get a standing ovation. They'll do a tribute video. He'll get a standing ovation. And then when the game starts, boo the crap out of him. Do you think he's going to get booed coming up on Monday?

I don't think so. I do think it's a fair question, though, with how he left really not just even this offseason, last offseason. But don't you think some Seattle fans, you never want to lose Russell Wilson. But I would imagine there's a lot of Seattle fans that were understanding of the situation, because a lot of them were saying, let Russ cook. A lot of them looked at the state of the offensive line, realized it wasn't all that good. Now, the receivers have been good in Seattle the last few years. And it felt like it was time, and the organization wasn't giving him what he wanted. I'm not saying all fans are logical and all fans are calm on that. I'd be annoyed if I was a Seahawks fan that he's no longer my quarterback. But still, with what just happened the last decade or so, I don't see how you boo the guy. And I will say it. Will there be some jackass in the crowd that boos him?

Sure. But when they introduce him, you will hear loud, loud cheers, I would think. A little different, but Andrew Luck was booed when he was walking off the field for the last time by some Colts fans. But that was, first off, Andrew Luck was a heck of a player. Did not win a Super Bowl in this league, never got to a Super Bowl. Was viewed as a franchise quarterback there.

That was in the shock of the moment. Wow, this guy's retiring, and this came out of nowhere right before the start of the season. I don't think that's comparable. Now, I'll go back to Brady. It's different because Brady won six championships with the Pats. Brady won out of New England. Brady left New England.

He came back, and I said the same thing I said last year. Standing ovation. Brady could punch my father in the face. I would still say sit down at the family barbecue.

We have that rejoined in the system. You give Brady a standing ovation, and when the game starts, I don't want to see him do well. I want to see my team win. You're a fan of players, and yeah, Tom Brady's been a football player of all time. But I was a fan of Tom Brady because I was a Patriot fan. And therefore, Seattle, you're always going to love Russell Wilson. It annoys you probably to the utmost degree that he's no longer on your team.

When the ball gets kicked in the air, you're cheering for Seattle. Before the game, though, if anyone boos Russell Wilson, I would have a problem with that. Robert Salas says Zach Wilson won't be available until at least week four. Wasn't there an outside chance he'd play week one or definitely be back by week two?

Let's listen up. To be honest with you guys, and I'm just going to lay this out, so I really don't want to talk about the situation anymore, so the earliest he's going to be available is Pittsburgh. That's going to be the earliest. Do you actually believe that? Or do you just think he said that so this conversation goes away? Now, people will still ask, is he ready for Pittsburgh? Is he ready for Pittsburgh?

But then leading into Cleveland and Cincinnati, even if there's a chance that he's going to play, he just doesn't have to be asked about it. Do I believe that he won't play until week four? Yeah. I do. Take your time.

I would say yes, take your time. I just don't know how much I actually believe Roberts. I don't want to talk about this.

He knows the question is going to keep on coming. Now, he may not be ready until Pittsburgh, but would it shock me if he goes up against Cincinnati, which is before the Pittsburgh game? No. It does feel, though, and the Jets have a lot of young talent, with Zach Wilson getting hurt, if that's true that he's not going to be ready at the earliest till week four, it does feel as if the Jets season's already over before it started. You play the Ravens, the Browns, the Bengals the first three weeks, then Pittsburgh after that, the Dolphins, Green Bay, Denver, New England, Buffalo, bi-week, New England. At least you get the Bears coming up on November 27th. The Jets are going to have that point.

Maybe one win? This is going to be, this is a brutal stretch to start off the year. The only hope you had of Zach Wilson playing well is at least gone for the first month. Now, you could still get some confidence with Zach Wilson, and he could still come back, and then that could mean it could be a successful season for the Jets if he plays well, because at the end of the season, after Chicago, Minnesota, Buffalo, those two teams are not going to be easy games for the Jets.

To end out the season, though, Detroit, Jacksonville, Seattle, and then you get the Dolphins for a second time, that's an AFC East Divisional game. So you could send the Jets off on a good note at the end of the year, but the first 10, 11 weeks, this is going to be brutal for the JTS Jets, Jets, Jets. That's the news brief for the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll come on back, we'll preview the NFL season with one of the more popular follows on Twitter, at My Sports Update. He's Ari Mirov, he does a great job covering the NFL for Pro Football Focus. We're getting set for the start of the NFL season. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Kickoff, a little over 24 hours away.

Buffalo Bills going to SoFi Stadium to square off against the defending Super Bowl champs in the LA Rams. And if you're on Twitter and you see news about the NFL, most likely it comes from the Twitter account at My Sports Update. The man behind that account is Ari Mirov. He does a great job covering the NFL for Pro Football Focus, and he's kind enough to join us for a few minutes right now on the Zach Gelb show. Ari, thanks for the time. How are you?

Zach, how are you? 25 hours away from football, like you said, a little bit over 24 hours. Can't go any better than that. Well, we're also counting down to see this Friday now deadline if Lamar Jackson's going to get a contract extension. This is just my gut feeling that it's not going to happen. Do you have a sense either way if the deal's likely or unlikely at this point? You know, it's very interesting because I think everyone knows the situation by now that he's a quarterback entering the fifth year of his contract and he's doing it without an agent. And based off, the thing that has to be understood here is that the Ravens are one of the best organizations at not having stuff leak whenever they do stuff.

And when the other side doesn't have an agent, you wouldn't expect much to leak either from his side. The thing is, Lamar has given us some indications from his Twitter account, from his tweets, that it sounds like he wants to get a contract that would be in a similar structure to Deshaun Watson where the guarantees are as close to being fully guaranteed like Deshaun did. The thing is, after these last couple of contracts that have come in with Kyler Murray, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson most recently, where they are still the traditional quarterback contract, that probably hurts Lamar's chances of getting a type of contract like Deshaun Watson. And I think it's noteworthy to mention that when the Watson contract happened, their owner, Stephen Bishati, was the one owner who came out publicly and said that contract was a good contract. So if Lamar is really all in on trying to get that type of a structure where the raw dollars don't matter, but the guarantees matter more to him, I don't think Baltimore is going to go there. If that's the case, he'll be going to the air with this rookie contract and possibly a franchise tag come next year.

And that's the thing. I still think Lamar has all the leverage here. He's a unanimous MVP from a few years ago. And if he wanted to go down that road of waiting a few years and injuries could happen, but we saw Dak get hurt and then he got paid still a king's ransom, there would be one team I would have to imagine, at least in the NFL, that would still be willing to go all in on a fully guaranteed contract a few years from now for Lamar, just because you know it. If you don't have a quarterback, you do desperate things to go try to find one.

Right, absolutely. And it's the one thing here is Baltimore has kind of gone through this road once before of Joe Flacco, where they couldn't get a contract pension with him. He bet on himself, won a Super Bowl, the Super Bowl MVP, and then became the highest paid quarterback in the NFL. So if they don't pay him now and Lamar goes off this year and has a spectacular year, a year where so many good players are coming back from injury and they somehow get to the playoffs, win a Super Bowl, you're right. All the leverage for sure will go to him. And by then, when you're already on the franchise tag, the leverage definitely starts shifting towards the player, like we've seen of Kirk Cousins, like we've seen of Dak Prescott. At that point, if he's still playing at the level that we know of, Lamar Jackson, the leverage 100% goes towards him.

I can tell you this much. Last year, a lot of agents told me they would not allow Lamar Jackson to step on the field without a new contract. He didn't do a deal. He ended up being right. Even though he got hurt, it wasn't a serious injury, and the quarterback market has exploded this option. So, so far, he's been right up until this point. But like you mentioned, the injury part, the security part, this is the 32nd overall pick in the draft.

He hasn't made great money up until this year, where he's making $23 million in the fifth year option. So it's a very fascinating situation. If it doesn't get done, I'm most curious to see it become a bit of a distraction in Baltimore. Ari Mayrov here with us. My Sports Update.

Make sure you give him a follow on Twitter. Does a great job covering the NFL for Pro Football Focus. Who do you have winning the AFC North this year, Ari? Yeah, it's definitely a very fun conversation to have, especially in that division, the AFC West as well. I'm in on Baltimore.

I mean, I mentioned some of the things before. I mean, first of all, just all the players coming back from injury, whether it's the running back room, which was basically cleared out before the season started to Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, Lamar Jackson coming back, Ronnie Stanley's coming back. So many high-level players are coming back. And on top of that, we just talked about Lamar's contract. If no deal gets done, I think he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. But they also have a fourth-place schedule after he finished their vision last year. So they get a game against Jacksonville, for example, because they were fourth place.

So the little things like that, I feel like the fact that they've gotten so much healthier. We all know about John Harbaugh. We all know about what Lamar Jackson could do. All these players coming back, all the new players that they added in the soft season as well, from a guy like Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton in draft and Kyle Lindenbaum at center, a lot of new faces coming in, a lot of returning faces coming in, and just the element of the schedule and the chip on his shoulder for Lamar, if no deal gets done. I really like Baltimore, but as I mentioned, that division was Cincinnati. We'll see how it all goes with them.

Still love them. I'll probably have them as a wildcard team. So it's definitely a fun division to watch throughout this year. How many teams out of the AFC West do you have making the postseason this year, Ari Mirov?

I have two. And I've kind of been going back and forth on which two it would be. As of right now, I've got the Chiefs and I have the Chargers. And the reason I kind of go there is, first of all, just the two other teams of new head coaches. I'm always hesitant when there are new head coaches in there. But the thing it will see is that the AFC is just so stacked, and especially that division, that I feel like these teams are going to be beating up on each other. And in particular with the Rangers, I'm really curious to see how that offensive line does.

I feel like everyone loves talking about their weapons and they really are great. The offensive line has an argument as being a bottom three offensive line in the NFL. I know Josh McDaniel has a good history of getting the ball out quickly with his quarterbacks. But I want to see how that all gels early on. Same thing with their secondary. I really want to see how that all does over there, because I think the back end is a bit shaky. And then in Denver, I just want to see how it all does. I mean, I'm fascinated by a new quarterback, a rookie head coach, all these new pieces as well with that team.

I just want to see it before I commit to it, if that makes sense. So, I like the two teams that have been there with the Chiefs, obviously. I'm not that worried with Tyreek Hill no longer there. And the Chargers, Brandon Staley, basically inherited a defense last year. This offseason, he basically brought a lot of guys that he wants in his defense, from J.C. Jackson, Khalil Mack, Sebastian Joseph Day.

And they added a lot of depth pieces as well in case they do have injuries. So, I really like them this year. All right, Mayrov here with us. What do you like about Mike McDaniel, if you do so? Because I know that a lot of media members get great access to him. He's very fun with the media. I'm just wondering what he's going to be like as an NFL head coach.

Give me a little thought or two about the Dolphins. Yeah, he's a very unique guy. I actually got to talk to him a little bit at the NFL owners meeting.

He's a very fun and energetic type of person. I'm just curious to see how it does in a locker room, especially if they somehow get off to a bad start. I want to see how all that does. Because up until now, Mike McDaniel was a guy who followed Kyle Shanahan every stop that he made. And he basically was the guy locked in his room, drawing up plays, and Kyle Shanahan trusted him. Now you're the guy who's in front of the locker room talking to everyone. And you are essentially the leader.

So, I want to see how all that does. The thing that I will say is that Kyle Shanahan will tell you this. He is a genius when it comes to offensive play calling.

And when you see the Miami offense, first of all, obviously it starts with 2-0. But I do like the fact that the first year where they are committing to him. When it was his rookie year, that was the Ryan Fitzpatrick element. The second year was the Deshaun Watson element.

This year, it's his team. And you had all these pieces where there are so many speedy players that I feel like even if you think that Tua has some deficiencies. When you have all these types of players around him, I feel like Mike McDaniel could draw up so many different types of players to get the ball into their hands and make magic happen. So, early on this season, the first two or three weeks, I want to see if they're able to do that with all these guys from Hill to Waddle to Moster to Edmonds.

So many guys who get the ball in their hands and let them do the work. And I'll just mention one more thing with that team. The offensive line has been so bad for so many years. Adding a guy like Teron Armstead, who Sean Payton will tell you is a player and a coach, essentially, built in one. He could basically lead that entire offensive line room. They added Connor Williams as well.

They have Robert Hunt, who is this third-year guard who has been raving about what Teron Armstead has brought to that team. So, I think if the offensive line is better in front of Tua, I think that will do wonders for him. Ari Mirov, how do you see the game playing out tomorrow night with maybe the two best teams in football kicking off the season, the Bills and the Rams?

Yeah, I mean, I haven't really had a good answer to this one. I mean, it's going to be a fascinating game where you have the Super Bowl transfers. It feels like what everyone is taking to win the Super Bowl this year. I've never seen just so many people heavy on Buffalo the way they are right now. I saw an image this morning of the entire NFL Network crew basically picking them to make the Super Bowl and win it.

So, it's a fascinating situation. I'm just looking right now at the Buffalo secondary, which Davis White is not playing tomorrow. He's out for at least the first four weeks of the year. That secondary is a bit shaky. You have Pierre Ilham, the first-round pick.

You have Dante Jackson, who is the veteran there. I just want to see how they do against guys like Cooper Cupp, Allen Robinson, who I think is bound for a big year there with the Rams. That's the one matchup I'm keeping a very close eye on because I feel like everyone is talking about Buffalo and they're very high on them. Rightfully so. But I want to see how their secondary does tomorrow because if there's one thing that they didn't really truly address, when they knew that Tredevious White was going to miss the start of the year, is the secondary. I know they have a first-round pick, but based off some of the reports out of Buffalo's media, it doesn't sound like he has in any way shined to say the least or that he looks like an immediate starter.

So, I'm definitely keeping an eye on that. In terms of what's going to happen, I'm going to go with the home team. I'm going to go with the Rams, finding a way to win this one. It could be a close game, a great game, but I always tend to go with the home team their first game back after winning the Super Bowl. And I'm surprised they were an underdog as well. I know Buffalo is supposed to be a great team. I made plus the two-and-a-half points with the Rams.

I was on a similar line of thinking as you, Ari Mirov, here with us for a few more moments. So, we know the three best teams in the NFC, in my opinion, I think it's a lot of people's opinion. L.A., Tampa, and the Packers. Some people getting concerned about Brady missing 11 days in training camp.

I'm not. Rogers, how is he going to do without Devontae Adams? Are there genuine concerns for Tampa and Green Bay? You're not just really buying into a lot of what the narrative has been over the summer. Yeah, I mean, I'm with you of the Tom Brady missing 11 days.

I mean, nowadays with school training camps, a lot of these coaches are giving guys who are 25, 29 years old, basically do two days of training camp and take a day off and end up combining until 11 days at the end of the day. Tom Brady is 45 years old. I mean, the fact that he's back in Tampa Bay right now after retiring and after the Miami stuff, it should just be thankful for that and that he's there for week one. I am a bit concerned with the offensive line, though.

Three new faces in the interior. Shaq Mason, I think, will be fine, but the other two names, Robert Hainsey at center and then Luke Gedicke, a rookie guard who they drafted in the second round, who will be starting at left guard. We know how important the interior of the offensive line is for Tom Brady, someone who isn't really mobile. I want to see how that really does, because I think it has been talked about a lot, but Ryan Jensen has a good argument as one of the best centers in all of football, if not the best center. And the first call that Tom Brady made when he unretired was to bring back Ryan Jensen, who was scheduled to be a forager, who many people thought would leave if Brady was not there. Now he's not there because of injuries.

So I think that is a massive and a major loss. They're holding out hope they could possibly return at the end of the year, but it's probably one of the biggest injuries we've had through this entire camp season. But as for the rest of the team, I think like the Packers you mentioned, I think they're lucky they're not in the AFC as well, I would say, because if they were there, I think I would have concerns. But the NFC is just so top-low and there's a bunch of I-don't-know's about all these other teams that I'm fine with Green Bay and we'll see how the receivers do.

What I would keep an eye on is if they don't start off the year well off their receivers, where there are some struggles, where Aaron might be frustrated. I would remind people that last year Odell Beckham Jr., when he became a free agent, the two teams that he was considering were the Rams and the Packers. He chose the Rams.

That was the right decision. He won the Super Bowl, unfortunately had a torn ACL. But it looks like he's not going to sign before the season. He's going to let things play out or continue to recover and then he'll see which options come to him. And if the Packers receiver group isn't that great, would he consider signing there, going to Green Bay, which he thought of doing last year, becoming the main guy for Aaron Rodgers, and possibly trying to win another Super Bowl, depending on a different team. So I would just keep an eye on what Odell does, because it sounds like he didn't let the options come to him, let the season start, and see who really needs me.

It's a great point that you bring up. Before we let you run, as we've been discussing, if you look at the top four teams in the NFC, you've got to have Tampa, you've got to have Green Bay, you've got to have LA, some are on that list. Who's the fourth best team then, or in that top four conversation in the NFC once we get through those three?

Yeah, I know the teams are getting a lot of hype, but I truly am buying into it. I think Philadelphia will be pretty good this year. I know that last year, when they made the playoffs, if you look back at that seven-game win streak they had, they beat a lot of just really bad teams. But I just look at what they did this offseason and what Howard Roseman has been able to do, really since the Carson Wentz mess, when everyone thought that he was done, when Doug Peterson got fired, everyone was like, get rid of Howie. The way he has turned around that ship has been incredible to watch, and then when you see all the additions they made this offseason, the way they've committed to Jalen Hurts and just putting around pieces around him, whether it's an A.J. Brown, whether it's obviously on the defensive side with guys like Hassan Reddick, last week they traded for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jordan Davis in the draft, and the Kobe team, who many people thought there was some injury concerns, sounds like he'll be good to go come week one. It's a team that made so many additions, I think I mentioned James Bradbury as well, so many additions for the weaknesses they had going into this offseason. And when you look at the NFC East, you have Washington there, you have the Giants in there.

I think you can make a very strong argument. Dallas is taking a bit of a step back with all their moves. So, Lafayette has an opportunity here to really thrive this year. It all comes down to Jalen Hurts. We'll see if he is the answer at quarterback, because again, Philadelphia has two first-round picks come next year. But when you look at all the things they've done, still one of the better offensive lines in the league, they've built a really good team around him, and it feels like they're able to make everything gel. And with all these new players, they could be a team that really could make noise in the NFC, again, looking at all what they've done this offseason. So, I'm really intrigued by Philadelphia. Last thing I'll ask you, is there a team or two that you want to talk about that you think aren't getting enough buzz nationally, and maybe you think are going to surprise some people this year?

Surprise people? So, I don't know about making the playoffs. We talked about how stacked the AFC is, but I really want to see how the Jaguars do this season. Again, not a playoff team or anything, but last year was just such a disaster for Urban Meyer.

I don't think it even should count for Trevor Lawrence. Now you have a head coach who's been there, done that, and Doug Peterson. They also made a lot of additions this offseason.

Travis ETN comes back. They added a bunch of receivers. They added Brandon Shurf on the offensive line.

Trevon Walker might be the least talked about number one overall pick since Eric Fisher. This is a team that I think could be at least competitive in games, make games hard on other teams, and it's no longer an easy win whenever you face Jacksonville. It was just so, so bad last year. Listen to all the players whenever you have press conferences.

I think today Trevor Lawrence spoke and said, the culture in here has flipped. It's unfair to even consider last year a real year for them after the mess and the toxic environment that Urban Meyer brought in. So now that you have Doug Peterson, who has been there, has won a Super Bowl as a former quarterback, could help mold Trevor Lawrence to the quarterback we all thought he would be.

We all called him a generational talent when he was coming in. I want to see the Jaguars this year. I want to see if they're able to take that next step and at least get to that six, seven, maybe eight win type of team where they're able to be competitive in games and just be that annoying team and eventually maybe become a bit more of a destination for other players eventually, like we saw with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati this offseason. He has one of the best NFL accounts on Twitter, at MySportsUpdate. Make sure you go follow him. He does a great job covering the NFL for Pro Football Focus. That's Ari Meirov. Ari, appreciate the time. Thank you. Thanks so much, Zach.

All the best. MySportsUpdate, Pro Football Focus say that he's intrigued by Jacksonville this year, not that he thinks he's going to make the playoffs, but they could get six, seven, eight wins. This is really Trevor Lawrence's first season, even though he played last year. Now he has a competent NFL head coach in Doug Peterson, a guy that's won a Super Bowl. And Urban Meyer, even though he's a great college football coach, he was an absolute disaster in the NFL.

So real quickly, when we do some quick hitters here, hot take hickey, just give me what you feel this team's going to do this year, what you want to see from this team this year. Trevor Lawrence, second year quarterback, Jacksonville, I think Ari hit the nail right in the head. I don't think it will get as high as eight wins. But if Trevor Lawrence shows that he could elevate a franchise like we thought he could, and you go win six games in year number one of Doug Peterson, I think that would be more than fine. Doug's first year when he was in Philadelphia, he had a young quarterback too in Carson Wentz. Wentz wasn't even supposed to start the year off as the starter. Then you had the whole injury with Teddy Bridgewater. And that team that year, they weren't bad, and he was aggressive with all the analytics and all that.

And a lot of people thought it was not going to work out long term. And then the second year he wins the Super Bowl, but that was a team that was seven to nine. I think if you go six wins, I think even seven's a stretch, but it's more so that you show that when he gets good coaching, that you could have a stud quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. That to me is what the big looking point is, and the big takeaway would be from the season. I'm with Ari, or some could say Ari's with me. Been bullish on the Jags. I think Trevor Lawrence is going to show this year why everyone is regarding him as one of those can't miss prospects coming out in 2020.

I guess 2021. Bullish on the Jags for week one when they go up against the Commanders. Is that a win, or is that a loss? I think they'll lose, but that's a game that should be right there. Well, if you judge by logic from last year, Carson, when he was with the Colts, a better team than the Commanders, could not beat the Jaguars at the end of the season. You are right, mate.

I didn't think about that. Back-to-back games. The boogeyman is back. Sam Darnold sees ghosts when he goes up against Bill Belichick. Carson Wentz sees ghosts, well, pretty much for the whole league, but especially the Jacksonville Jaguars. Zach Wilson.

We went through this earlier. It seems like the Jets' season from a win-loss record standpoint with their first 10-11 games is over before it even started, especially when you're starting quarterback the first three weeks of the season, you have a tough schedule. I think Zach Wilson has to do what he did the last five, six games of the season last year. No interceptions, and then you end the season off on a good note, because the start of the season is not going to get off to a good note, because you're not going to have your quarterback to the first three games. They have talent there with the Jets, but they're still two years away from even thinking of maybe that team going to the playoffs.

Is it just right? Provide hope? Provide a glimmer of positivity where Jets fans in late December are like, okay, there's something here.

Here's the slogan. Jets football, let's hope we're not drafting a quarterback next year. If that's the discussion right, that's not good.

Trey Lance. Most pressure on him out of all these second, even including Mac Jones, because they made that move to go win a Super Bowl. Now, I don't think they're going to win a Super Bowl this year. I don't even think you need to go make the playoffs this year, but those fans are going to expect playoffs because they've consistently been in it, and they've had some really good deep playoff runs. They've been to a Super Bowl three years ago. Then last year, they were in the NFC title game with a lead in the fourth quarter. I think for Trey Lance, there's going to be some good, there's going to be some bad, but at the end of the year, you need to see the vision that John Lynch and maybe Kyle Shanahan had on why they drafted this guy. All right, leave no doubt.

That's really about it, right? Give him the entire season, too, unless there's an injury. How about Justin Fields? I hate to say it, Justin Fields' career may be ruined by the Bears. I think the guy's a good quarterback. I don't think he's going to have success in Chicago because that organization is a dumpster fire. He needs that second contract to be with someone else. He's going to be a guy in three, four years that we're talking about getting a second opportunity, and let's hope that second opportunity he could flourish because he's not going to thrive with the Bears. The Bears are three years away, bare minimum, because they got nothing this year, really. So this year's the wash, then you've got to have improvement in year two, and then maybe that regime starts to take a step in the right direction. But I don't know what to expect out of Ryan Polson, Matt Eberflus, and the roster stinks.

Survival. Yeah, don't get hurt. Yeah, honestly, this team. And if your hamstring's a little bit tight, you may want to take two, three weeks off.

Yeah, honestly, play it safe. Mack Jones. I have confidence in Mack. I just don't trust what they're doing at the offensive coordinating position. I think the Pats are going to be 8-9 wins. I'm leaning towards 9-8 and just missed the playoffs, but I don't really have that many doubts about Mack Jones. I think he's going to be very good.

The question just becomes, can he become a great quarterback? I don't have high hopes for this offense whatsoever, but to steal line from R, I think, is right. I'd almost throw out the season for Mack Jones.

I don't think it's going to go very well, and I don't think it's going to be his fault for 90% of it. Offensive coordinator, the weapons, I don't really love the offensive line question marks. I think he's a pretty good, decent quarterback, like we saw last year. But just this year, with what they're doing around him, I don't think it's a fair way to evaluate going into year two. And then finally, Davis Mills, who showed some things last year. I don't think, I believe, I know I don't believe he's going to be the long-term starting quarterback in Houston, but the Texans will probably have a top-five pick again.

And then you're in that shroud, you're in that Bryce Young category, maybe an Anthony Richardson if he continues to play well. I just don't think Davis Mills, who wasn't set up to succeed last year, and now he's started this year once again, and he did a nice job last year, I don't think he's set up to succeed. And I don't think he will succeed. I think he'll be better than expected. I think there's a chance he could keep the job. Really?

I do. He was better than everyone really gives him credit for last year. Agreed, but if, let's just say, he still shows you some flashes, but the team is the number two overall pick, you think they're going to pass up on a quarterback? It's going to be hard, but if he shows you, I think there's a chance he could be better even this year than last year. That's the case, again, you have to take a big jump this year, don't get me wrong, to take away temptation from taking a Bryce Young or CJ Stroud. I think there's a small chance he could win the job, where most people say zero. And we also got to see how the rest of the college football season plays out, because last year we were talking about Spencer Rattler being a potential number one overall pick, and Sam Howell being a first-round quarterback, and Spencer Rattler's now at South Carolina. Sam Howell was, what, a fifth-round pick, I believe, of the Washington commanders, so you never know how it's going to play out, but I do think Stroud and then also Bryce Young are going to be taken in the top five, but already you have people hyping up Anthony Richardson, Paul Feinbaum, Harry Douglas, guys loving Anthony Richardson after what we just saw this past weekend up against Utah, Will Levis had some buzz before the start of the season, you never know who else jumps into that conversation, I'm still expecting the Texans this time next year, they have a new quarterback of the future. When we come on back, we'll take your calls, 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227, and HTH has ten big NFL questions for me as we're about 24 hours away from the start of the season, I'll give you those ten answers when we return in half that time, five minutes.