2023 Packers Expectations (Hour 2)

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That's I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O.com Code Podcast. The rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Let's hear from Dusty May, the head coach of Florida Atlantic. He says he's very proud of how selfless the team has been. In this era where everyone wants the whole pie, these guys continued sharing the pie every single day, and this was the result.

So couldn't be more proud of a group who did it really together every single day. When you look at this group, and when you have a team that obviously has been great all year when you only have three losses, but we haven't really talked about them until March Madness. And you have a group that when you're just at a school like FAU, that a lot of the players get overlooked, and that's been a rough job for a while. I do think, Hickey, it makes it easier for the team to mesh together, because even though you could have egos where you have people that are overlooked and they think they're a whole lot better than what they actually are, it's not as if, I would imagine, the NIL money is flying off the charts for these kids prior to this NCAA tournament run. Not that this is going to be the norm, because eventually I do think the schools with the most money are going to find a way to win out.

But right now, I just think we're in such an interesting time where you have the transfer portal, and you have the newness of NIL being allowed. Right now, where for so many years it was like, okay, go drop a bag of cash off or have a recruiting coordinator so the coach can never know about it, drop a bag of cash off at some kid's house. And just with COVID and how a lot of these guys love to stay an extra year, I do think it levels the playing field, but I do wonder, like four or five years from now, when a lot of those things go away, and let's just call it what it is, it turns into a bidding war for a lot of these players, and maybe some players will say, I'm going to go play for this coach, I'm going to go play for this school because my parents went there, I'm going to go here because I think it's a better fit. But when it turns into who can pay the most, it obviously does benefit the bigger schools, and I just, I look at this Final Four, and clearly it's an anomaly. But I think some people are saying, oh, maybe this happens all the time because parity is now going to be a big player in college basketball, but I just wonder if that's people getting caught up in the moment, and then when you get to four or five years from now and everyone gets caught up with the times of NIL, the schools with the most resources, it seems like they should be able to win out in this entire thing.

Yes and no. I mean, for the top, top, top recruits, sure. You know, you think Duke and Kansas and Kentucky will always be in the mix for the most part for, you know, guys ranked one, two, and three, but also, too, there's only so much money to go around, there's only so many scholarships to go around before. Again, you got to get really talented players still to go somewhere else. If you're an FAU now, not only can you parlay this Final Four trip, maybe a national title into getting a better footprint recruiting, but also, too, you can go and look at maybe either under-recruited guys or guys that are still high-level four-star guys but are not being recruited by Duke because there's not enough spots and, you know, kind of go all in on one guy and hope it's a trickle-down effect.

It's also finding the right players, too. Like, how many, the recruiting thing with stars and all that, how many stories do we hear now of guys that go on to have success and it's like, okay, they were a walk-on or they were a two-star recruit or someone with one offer coming out of college? So, there is always a grind to it, but I do think, throughout time, the schools with the most resources are going to be the schools that are going to consistently be in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

But I will say, before NIL, Wright-Hickey, Kentucky, they've had some of the best players in college basketball for the last 10 to 15 years and all Coach Cal has to show for it is one national championship. And also, the transfer portal, too, is going to help serve as a huge balancing act where if you go to Duke, let's say, you're not playing, you don't like the way you're being utilized, you could transfer easily and now, again, you can go to a system or go to a coach that accentuates what you do well and, again, you can take off more than you would before. That's the one danger of the transfer portal and I do think kids should get paid and I do think kids should have the freedom to leave the school if they don't think the school is the proper fit for them, but with how many voices are in these kids' head, that's where the transfer portal for me and not having to sit out a year and getting that one free transfer does become a little bit dangerous where it's like, okay, are you transferring for the right reasons? Now, I know we say they're kids, but I look at a lot of these kids as adults, actually, and it's like, all right, that's life, you got to learn through life, you got to make the best decision, you got to weigh the pros, you got to weigh the cons. There are valid reasons to transfer, but if it's like, oh, the coach gave me some tough coaching in year one or I didn't get the playing time that I wanted in year one, well, maybe it was more of a you issue instead of blaming it on the coach and not that the coaches are always right and that's the one, the only pushback I have, even though I think it should be allowed with the transfer portal and the one free transfer, is where it's just like, okay, are you transferring for the right reasons?

But at the end of the day, I think that's learning through life and ultimately, how many voices do you have in your head? You got to make the right decision. I mean, too, I mean, if you're a coach, do you want a guy who's ready to quit on you? Like, it's also, so it's like, it's one of those things where now it's easier.

If you want to leave, then leave. Dusty May on the emotions of making the Final Four. Extremely rewarding to see a group give as much as these guys have all season shots, playing time, minutes, everything you can imagine, 100% effort every day in practice, and then be rewarded because there's never a guarantee.

It's always, you're relying on faith that you believe it's going to happen, but you never really know. I also think the difference in that FAU San Diego State game is just how awesome defensively San Diego State has been all throughout the year and in this NCAA tournament. Let's hear their coach, Brian Dutcher. He says they instill a defensive mindset from the start. It starts when you recruit them.

It can't start when they show up on campus. When we recruit them, we tell them, we defended a high level here. If you don't want to play defense, we're not the place for you. But if you do defend, we'll let you play with great freedom offensively.

Let's go from Dutch to Coach L, Jim Lyrenaga. He hopes his team won't be overwhelmed by the moment. They're enjoying this experience, taking it all in, and I'm hoping the emotions of the size of the venue that they'll be able to channel their emotions in the right direction. Is that really a concern, Hickey, for Miami? I know it's one of those general, generic talking points of any team that's in the Final Four.

You're going to a football stadium. These are the most amount of fans that are going to be watching you all throughout the year. I know it's not the entirety of the same group. The entire group isn't the same, and there's been a lot of changes at Miami. But when you have a team that has some players that went to an Elite Eight last year, I know it's not the Final Four. Coach L has seen everything, and this is a group that just has so much talent.

Last week, they were down so big and made that big comeback. I don't look at Miami and think, okay, Miami's not going to be ready for the moment. I think for both Miami and UConn, with a brand like Miami, even though it's more synonymous with football than basketball, and for UConn, what they have and what they're trying to get back to and how dominant they've been, I don't think in that game, the moment being too big is really going to be a storyline. I guess the question I have is, last year you get so close to the Final Four when you lose in the Elite Eight, like you said. And now, all offseason, you think, okay, let's get back to that spot. Let's get to the Final Four. Is the Final Four the end point? For a lot of these guys, it's okay, mission accomplished, we made it to the Final Four. Or is it okay, we made it to the Final Four, but we're still going for a championship? I think Coach or Jim Larynguez kind of talk about it in that instance of, are you happy to be here?

Or now that you're here, is it okay, it's national title time, let's focus? I think the way when we talked to Isaiah Wong, and the way that he talked about this team and what the goals are for the team, there is maybe a little bit of like, okay, we got here to the Final Four, we went further than last year. But I think this team had their eyes set all year on winning a national championship. And I know it's easy to say that, but then for some teams it's not realistic. I think in their mind, they thought it was realistic because of what they brought in this offseason, and what they returned, and all the resources that they had because of NIL, and the quality of people they were able to bring into Miami and also keep at Miami as well. I asked this to John Rothstein the other day, is there a chance that if Jim Larynguez wins these next two games, he retires?

And John said logically, like, yeah, sure, but he doesn't think it's going to happen. Jim Larynguez says there are no signs of him slowing down. I might be 73 years old, but I think age is just a number. I just love doing what I'm doing. I love coaching basketball.

I've done it for 51 years, and I hope to do it a lot longer. And what makes it so enjoyable are the players. So it's funny, like, when we talk about Nick Saban, and also Peacow because we had that conversation recently, Nick Saban doesn't look old, Nick Saban doesn't sound old. When you get to Peacow, he doesn't look old, he doesn't sound old. For Jim Larynguez, he does sound old, but when you see him coach Hickey, he does not look old. Like, if that guy wants to, even though he's 73, assuming just help-wise he's able to hold up, if he tells me he's going to coach another five years, let's just say, I could believe it. Now, I do think this is probably his last contract, and I forget when that expires, I think it's like in three years or something, he just signed it last year. But when you watch him coach, he does not look old, and the way that he's able to relate to these players still is actually very impressive.

Because some coaches get caught up in their ways and they just never want to dab because what they've done for so long has worked. The only thing that's old about him are his dance moves. You need a little sprucing up. I'm sorry, he dances better than you. I mean, that's not a very high bar to clear, so it's really not saying much, but that's where he really shows his age. At 73, maybe let's get those hips a little more fluid, maybe learn one of the new TikTok dances, coach, if you want to kind of bust a move, you know, outside of that. You're criticizing his dance moves? I think his dance moves are exceptional.

A-plus. I'm saying, he dances like a 73-year-old would dance. I think it's not even an insult, I think it's just more of a statement of fact.

So then, you know when they look at your lungs and they tell you how old your lungs actually are? I think if we looked at your dance skills just based off your Macarena, then you have the dance skills of a 95-year-old man. I'm not a good dancer, and most times I'm stiff, so yeah. Danny Hurley says the team is ready to face Miami. The reception here in the great state of Texas, but the great city of Houston, just feels so welcome. By the people, it's great to get in the stadium today and get on the court and put the work in prepared for our biggest challenge of the season. Let's go to legendary UConn coach Jim Calhoun. He was on with us last night and I asked him what he says when people say there isn't a blue blood at this Final Four.

Crazy. 17 Big East titles in 22 years. Now, we didn't have very good coaches, as cynical as I can. Let's see, John Thompson, Rick Pitino, I'll go through the list.

Beyheim, et cetera, Louis, Roland Massimino. He goes, well, all these different guys, and you say, are you crazy? Oh, by the way, we only have, thus far, five trips to the NCAA tournament since 1999 and four national championships. I don't know about anybody else, but I think it had to do with the fifth.

No one else has done that. So what is the blue blood? If you win championships in the toughest league in the country during that time, particularly the Big East, if you win the most national championships in your era, a 25-year period, does that make you a blue blood? Or is that just a crazy game given to a school that might have won 25 years ago?

I have nothing against 25 years ago. What I'm saying to you simply is that we've been incredibly good. Our schools have been great. I won a couple of championship, Kevin won one, and now we're ranked in the top five in the country. You can make it that. That's a blue blood.

Ray Allen, Kimba, Mecca, Daniel, you go through the list. We are certainly a blue blood. I don't worry about that. I know that we've beaten enough good folks over the year, had enough championships, that there's no doubt in my mind that we won.

And we may be the program of the century thus far. Wrap it up with Jim Calhoun, didn't mean to get you worked up there, coach. No, no, you know what?

If you put a striped shirt on, that would do it. Or you say something that isn't true. I'm just making sure that if anybody wants to feel like they want to lie for whatever reason, go ahead and enjoy yourself.

But once again, you asked me earlier, I'll come back with some facts. Yukon's a blue blood. What they've done for the last 25, 30 years, they have four national championships, playing in the old days of the great big east, winning one after Calhoun, now maybe two, they're a blue blood. And finally, so last night, an embarrassing night for the Angels. And it's so Angels, Otani pitches great, Otani plays great, and they don't win, they lose the athletics 2-1. But I guess this was after the game that reportedly some fan called Anthony Rendon a bitch, and then the next thing you know, Rendon started going at it with the fan, this courtesy of Petros and Money on Twitter. Here's the thing, Hickey. And there's a lot of times there's bad fan behavior at stadiums, and there's like sometimes where I even said this the other day, you look at some fans, you're like, you have a regular day job, you're a normal human being at times. If you're Rendon, and you just get called a bitch, like with how much money you're making, I think you just gotta walk away. And at one point he takes a swipe at this guy's hat, like the fan, I know he's getting his face as well, but you're in the dugout, and you're grabbing his shirt, like Rendon's grabbing his shirt, just walk away at that point. You know, there's a line, don't get me wrong, and there's some things you can't say to a player, but if it's just like, hey Rendon, you're a bitch. If I'm Anthony Rendon, I'm like, who cares about that loser?

And I would just walk away, Hickey, if that was me. I think athletes should be allowed to fight fans. You want to talk crap and say something you would never say to anyone's face, or say something that you would never say to anyone in general? This is why you're not a commissioner. Face the consequences. Now, again, I'm the scale of screaming in the, you know, what was said is, bitch, probably the lowest of the low in terms of what should get you aggravated, absolutely.

But again, you want to call someone, like if you want to act like a tough guy in the stands, if you get called out for it, face the music. You know what? I'm going to go through your Twitter. Let's see what Hickey is saying. Look, there's a reason why I tweet, and there's a reason why I sit in the cheap seats, all right? Can't hear me.

If they do, they're not coming up 500 rows of, you know, whatever, the top row of the stadium to come fight me, so I'm good. Hey, Russell Westbrook, Hickey called you that bleeping guy. We invite you to the studio. Just tee off on Hickey. He wants to come to the studio and fight me, be my guest.

He would kick my ass, but if you want to make the effort, okay, go for it. Can we tweet, Ross? Hey, Ross, Hickey wants you to come into the studio and just kick the crap out of him. Leroy Butler, the Hall of Fame, are going to join us next, Zach Gelb Show.

Hickey, that may be your hottest take ever. It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio.

Now joining us, one of my all-time favorites, the inventor of the Lambo Leap, now has his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as he'll be enshrined there forever, and that is Leroy Butler who joins us right now. Leroy, how are you, my friend? Doing good, Zach. How's it going? Well, I'm doing great. Can't complain.

Friday, getting ready to enjoy the weekend. Let me start you off with the Packers. We know this split is coming. It's just whenever the trade's going to become official between the Packers and the Jets. When we look at the Packers this year, what are your expectations for Green Bay with Jordan Love in year one?

They're high. I mean, Zach, let's be honest. We built something called Title Town, and I get what people are saying, but anybody that takes a snap moving forward, you're going to expect big things. Now, whether you get that or not, that's up to us to wait and see, but I'll say this, though, who I'm a huge fan of Matt Leflore, and the reason why is he's not one of these sensitive people that if we disagree, we're not friends anymore. So we're still friends, but I disagree with what he said about Jordan Love. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, to tamper down their expectations, because I get it. You want to protect him so people don't boo him if he throws a pick or if he does something that's out of the ordinary, and he's a real rookie.

I disagree, and here's how, Zach. The gold standard to me is Kyle Shanahan, one of his former colleagues. Kyle Shanahan don't give a damn who the quarterback is. I got an amazing system. If you run that system, I know people are saying, well, what about the defense? Let's stay focused. Let's talk about the offense first. The defense truly is amazing.

I get that, but put that to the side. The offense was run by Brock Purdie, and when John Lynch was asked about it, allegedly, he said, Brock Purdie, make man up, or we feel good about it. So Jordan Love don't need to be Aaron Rodgers. Be Brock Purdie.

Be Daniel Jones. Matter of fact, Zach, be Aaron Rodgers from last year. 3,400 yards, 26 touchdowns, 12 picks, eight games. I'll take it. The only thing I'll say to that, Leroy Butler, is I haven't seen Matt Leflore before consistently as a head coach without Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. So you do just wonder how he'll be as a head coach without number 12. That's fair, Zach. But I'm going again by the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. These guys believe that my system is so good that I can make everybody better at it, and I can call what I want when I want it, and the guy will go execute it. There's no second guessing.

There's no daylight. He hasn't earned that right yet, right, because he just took 34th to the quarterback. But the problem is my good friend Zach Galb said that somebody told him, hey, man, they have these meetings one-on-one. Aaron don't even show up, allegedly. Jordan Love don't show up. As a matter of fact, Jordan Love going to beat the coach there, because he wants to win. So I think what you could have did, what Matt could have done, he could have did the best of both worlds, Zach. He could have said this. I'm looking forward to the challenge of making Jordan Love the quarterback that you guys want him to be.

We want him to be a quarterback that has a good running game, won the best offensive line, got two young wide receivers, get the ball out of his hand quick and let it be what it be. And just leave it like that and just say next question. Because if I'm Jordan Love, I just don't know how I read that, because it could be something behind our back. I say, you know what, you know, good cop, bad cop. You know, I really think that you're a great player, but I just got to do this.

That could be happening, and that would be brilliant. But for me to know that I'm going to get a lot of smoke as Aaron did with the Brett Favre fans. When Aaron took over, they won six games, Zach. People were booing him. I'm like, why are you all booing him? What did he do?

He just got drafted. The problem is with players sometimes, we don't get a chance to choose our replacement, Zach. No. If Aaron was salty because they said that Jordan Love, that makes you say, do you really want the Packers to succeed when you retire? Or do you just want them to let you play as long as you want and then they'll be terrible and really miss you? I mean, Brian Gudekun said it best.

I got to do my job. L'Roy Butler here with us. Not that I didn't have respect for him, but I did gain a lot of respect for Matt Lafleur, because what I said is 100% true, and if I ever told Matt Lafleur, Brian Gudekun, Mark Murphy, and Aaron Rodgers who my source was, they would all look at me and shake my head and go, yep, he knows everything about this situation when I got back to that report that Rodgers and Lafleur would have these meetings and sometimes Rodgers wouldn't show.

So knowing that is a fact, it's like you saw Gudekun take some shots, try to set the record straight. I know how Mark Murphy feels about Rodgers. I give credit to Lafleur this past week where he only praised Rodgers and basically wanted to nip those conversations in the bud.

Two things can be true. Aaron Rodgers is an amazing player. He's going to be retired. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame like your boy. He's going to pack a Hall of Fame like your boy.

He's going to do all of that. But the one thing he can't do is finish his career as a packer like I did. So my thing is what kind of gets on people's nerves a little bit is Gudekun did everything for you.

Why are you so unhappy? They gave you the 150 million dollars. They brought Randall Cobb from the Texas. We brought him because of Aaron. He gave you everything. And we paid you really not to go through this. So one thing I know about Zach Galvin, I hate that we're talking to you at third parties. You're not a liar.

You're not one of these guys looking for clickbait. So my thing is it may be some good cop, bad cop. Because LaFleur, you know what?

I had Gary Ellison, the Elite 36 podcast. We always have these little areas that will take permission to be a conspiracy theory. That means you can go wherever you want to go.

He says he thinks that LaFleur said that because LaFleur in his mind may think, what if this guy has to come back into the building and I got to work with him? So let me just throw his praise out there and just have some class. And I get that too. I get it. But right now it's about number 10. How is number 10 reading these things?

And if that's the case, I just want people to understand that we're going to have to be patient with your love. But no, you should expect for him to win games based on everybody that beat the Packers last year. Jerry Goff, shout out to him in Detroit, they beat us twice.

One time with everything on the line. That Wilson's last game, I remember him playing against the Packers, beat the Packers. I mean, Taylor Heineken, all these quarterbacks, Daniel Jones, just ain't no Hall of Famers that beat the Packers last year. So you're thinking, okay, how good does Jordan Love have to be?

Matt Leflore would make him a great player because he's going to listen to Matt Leflore because the system works. Are you frustrated? Are you disappointed with Aaron Rodgers? That's a great question. Because we let all quarterbacks do this, those guys, to be honest with you.

We let them do it. And I'm okay with it. I don't get wins. Brett Favre got the win. You know, I didn't get losses. Brett Favre got the losses. Brett Favre got a lot of credit. Sometimes he got too much blame. But with Aaron, with a guy that wanted control so much, it makes people look at you with a side eye when you say, I'm doing this for the guys. Okay, fine.

I don't like, when people think I don't like Jordan Love, I think he's a great kid, great, great, great. Fine. But I just want him, the disappointment is that G never changes. Players do. When I'm dead and gone, G still going to be there. When he's dead and gone, then G still going to be there.

I think he lost sight of that. I mean, I wanted the foundation of the team to succeed. They drafted Antoine Edwards in the first round when he played for Clemson. When he came into the locker room, we was best friends.

They drafted Darren Sharper. I ain't got no problem with it because I want the Packers to be good. Not just when I'm there. I want them to be good all the time. That's the disappointment in there that I would say. And you go into a franchise that had all the headlines and then they, for the last 12 years, out of all of the sports, they even been to the playoffs a long time.

I just don't know if I want that on my resume. Do you think, Leroy Butler, the Jets are going to have success this upcoming year? Like, do you think they'll be in the playoffs? Can they be a threat to the Super Bowl? They're going to get knocked out. 7-8 games, they're going to get knocked out. You only think they're going to win 7-8 games? They're going to win a 7-8 game and get knocked out by a team that ain't going to go anywhere. They ain't going nowhere. No, they ain't. Wow. They were 7-10 last year.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. They're going to win one more game and get knocked out of the playoffs and be home. Like they've been for the last 12 years. If they only have eight wins, they're not making the playoffs. No offense.

They're going to be home. This isn't the NFC South. That's why I'm saying all these people that get on my nerves, and I do troll the Jets fans, but I do it for fun.

But thanks. These people got, I got in an argument with people like Gary saying that the Jets got a better roster than the Packers. I said, wow, how you feel that? Big draft of the quarterback, top three, and don't even like him. Now, Breece Hall, I like Breece Hall, but he hurt. Sauce Gardner's pretty good. I mean, Quinn Williams, I bow down.

Ain't nothing I can do. He a grown man. He's a whole different. I can't even argue with that. And then Gary Wilson, I'll give it to him because Christian Watson was hurt, so that's fine.

But it ain't on Rosie over there. Maybe they think that, real quick, if you really think you're one quarterback away from winning the Super Bowl, because I've been in one. I had a parade.

It's amazing. Give up the first pick then. Give everything you got because you're going to win a Super Bowl. You're one quarterback away. You got great defense. You got all this great talent. This is great. All we need is A-Rod to come save us again like Brett Favre did when he was 83 before he got hurt. We're always sitting in here all players.

And you know I'm only doing that to poke at the people that live in the New York area. Yeah, I was going to say just because they don't have to give up a first-round pick to get him because the quarterback doesn't want to be there. Why they don't? Man. They do.

Yes, they do. Ask me why, please. Why? Why?

Why? Because I'm going to use Aaron Rodgers' words against him. He said he's arguably the best player to play in our franchise. He said that.

We come out Don Hudson, Bard star, Reggie White. I mean all these great people, Tony Kennedy, all these people up in the stadium already before he's up there. He said he's the best, arguably.

But I think he's arguing with himself. So what's that worth to you? We give you all the best in our franchise. So Mr. Douglas, let me get that first.

Let me get a second. Give me a Denzel Mims and one of your tight ends. You pick one. Conklin or the kid, I can't say his name.

It was the U. Let me get one of them and let's go. Do you think he's the greatest packer ever, Aaron Rodgers? No. No. Who is? Millennials.

Kids, get your computers out of your smartphones. Google Bard star. The 15 is the universe. Aaron's just a planet. I'm going to say that one more time.

15 Bard star, two R's by the way, I believe. He's the universe. On and off the field and he was a coach. His legacy will never die.

Now you got a planet. Fred Forrest, Aaron Rodgers, Don McCalskey, all these great, fantastic players in my generation. But the guys of the 60s, Don Hudson, don't do them like that. They don't have social media to even argue back. Their families won't even acknowledge it. I would never say, even to my kids, that I'm better than Rodney Lyle. But my kids got the internet. Dad, you can't do that. So I say, you right. I'll wait 16 years for the Hall of Fame. So if he believes that, how much does that work to the Jets, Fred? And the owners?

I mean, how much does it work to? We give y'all the best of all time based on what he says. So I want everything. And I ain't in no rush.

As a matter of fact, I like Robert Soler. I agree with him. I ain't in no hurry. He ain't in no hurry either.

We got two quarterbacks, they ain't got none. The only thing I'll say to that, Leroy Butler, your president was talking about Rodgers in the past 10s. Oh, fair. When he came out of these dark places, wherever he went, I don't know what it was.

I just go to therapy and I can take it cheaper. He said 90% 10s going in. I was his type. The other 10s, he said, I intend to play for the Jets.

I don't know how, cuz. The Packers? The Jets. The Jets.

They could wrap your head around that. The Jets and men was doing the cuts allegedly. Said he tried to call them.

We didn't pick the phone up. Come on. Some of this stuff.

I mean, even the most staunch Packers fan or Aaron Rodgers fan, you had to take yourself. Only here again with this after the red flag. Come on.

Leroy Butler. Just sensational stuff. We appreciate it as always. Thanks so much and we'll catch up soon. You're the best. Take care, my brother. Always a pleasure.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. You can think around the auto parts for your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Hickey, you're number one with love is the starter. What are your expectations for the Green Bay Packers? I know we've discussed this a little bit before, but after hearing Leroy say that the Jets are only gonna have like seven or eight wins with Rodgers, which I disagree with, it got me thinking like I think the Jets will have a better season than the Packers.

But what do you think the Packers will end up doing this year? Seven eight wins. I'd say probably seven wins, seven and ten.

I think that's fair. And could they maybe squeeze in two more and find the way to get into the playoffs? Like, OK, like that wouldn't shock me this year. I'm not saying I'm expecting it because you look at the just the landscape of the NFC. Philly. The forty niners. Dallas is going to be a playoff team.

It's like how many teams can we bank on getting in the plastic? If I asked you right now, NFC East champions, you would go with the Eagles. OK, NFC North champions lines.

Yeah, I would agree with that. NFC South champions. I'm going to go to the Buccaneers.

Are you really? Yeah. With Baker Mayfield? I don't trust Eric Carr. I don't trust the Saints. I don't trust the Falcons.

And the Panthers are going to have a rookie quarterback. You're doubling down on Baker? Well, a little bit on him. A little bit on I like the roster. I'm higher on the roster than some on the Buccaneers. I don't trust like anyone else in the division. So you you're going to pick the Saints? Let me just ask you this, because then it won't affect her. My blood's going to boil. You're just not going to put the Saints to make the playoffs then? Yeah, probably not. OK.

If we're operating under that answer, I'm OK with it. I would reserve my NFC South spot for the Saints. You go to the Bucks. I'm only going to put one team in from the NFC South. For me, it's the Saints.

But for you, the Bucks. I'm asking you the questions. I'll let you answer. NFC West. 49ers. OK, so then you have three playoff spots left. Dallas playoff team? Yes. Vikings playoff team?

Yes. OK, so then we have one spot left. Is that last spot to the Giants? Is it to the Saints? Is it to the Seahawks? Who do you who do you put in the commanders? Who do you put in? Is it the Packers? Who's that final playoff team? I would probably give the edge right now to the Giants. You would? Yes.

I'm very surprised by you. A three team NFC East playoff appearance like we saw last year is right now where I would go. OK, so I can't really say any of those. It's like inconceivable outside of Tampa. I know the division stinks. I just can't put a lot of stock in Todd Bowles as a head coach and Baker Mayfield as a quarterback anymore. The roster outside of Evans and Godwin and a few the piece of the fence out of the ball has changed drastically.

But anyway. You look at that like it's a long shot for the Packers to make the playoffs, but there's also a great unknown element of Jordan Love where I know he's been in the league for the last three years, but we really haven't seen him play. Andy Reid didn't even know who the heck he was the other day when he was at the owners meetings or the league meetings and Andy Reid literally saw one of Jordan Love's career starts when Rogers, I what was it, he had covid and they had to to start Jordan Love in that showdown, which was supposed to be my homes and Rogers and it ended up being Jordan Love going up against Patrick Mahone. So that that's like the one part that I look at Green Bay and I think they are intriguing where I think they'll fall short because there will be some ups and some downs when you're basically playing, even though he's been in league for three years, a guy that is a rookie at the starting quarterback position, but we've seen guys get that first opportunity to start like Mahomes 50 touchdown passes and there was a great unknown with Mahomes.

I remember we were dissecting a interception that he had in the preseason and people are getting like worried about Mahomes. We saw Lamar Jackson his first true year as a starter and it was coming off a playoff berth and a playoff game where he played horribly, he won an MVP. So it's not out of the realm of possibility when your first year as a starter you exploding. I I just don't think Jordan Love is going to pop off like that. Like that would be crazy if anyone saying that in your number one, but there are questions to what this Packers roster and again, it's not, you know, I know what Leroy is saying and there's greatness about the quarterback, but also to like Aaron Rodgers was not Aaron Rodgers start number one. It took him time to develop as well.

Like I think that's I think it's fair and again, you want to give the court like the best chance to develop, give him some time and patience. I actually do think the Packers roster is solid. You got Kenny Clark, who's tremendous Jair Alexander. If he's healthy, he's a great quarterback in this league. You then also offensively have Christian Watson.

I do like Aaron Jones a lot. I don't think this roster is as bad as what some people do make it out to be now. Is it better than the Jets roster right now?

No, it is not. But I don't think Green Bay is going to be dreadful this year, but their standards are so high because you're having a hall of fame Super Bowl champion and then you had another hall of fame Super Bowl champion at the quarterback position. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. One of the things that you just said in those early, early, early, early predictions, you like the Giants more than the Seahawks entering this year. That I thought, like personally, if it was just between those two teams for one playoff spot, I would go with Seattle over the Giants because of Lockett and also because of DK Metcalf. I think Geno had a better year last year, but they're both concerned to me with the quarterback.

What made you put the Giants in front of Seattle? I trust Daniel Jones and Brian Dabile a lot more than I do Geno Smith. But what about Pete Carroll? Pete Carroll is a solid coach, but he's not the outfit's coordinator. He's not developing Geno Smith.

He's a Hall of Fame coach, Pete Carroll. I'm not saying he's bad, but I just don't trust Geno Smith to have a similar bounce back year or continue off that bounce back year in 2023, where I trust Brian Dabile's ability to directly work with the quarterback, in this case, Daniel Jones, and continue to get him and progress him to be better and better. I personally like Seattle better. I just think they are a better overall team compared to the Giants. And also, you look at the state of that division, they're the number two team in that division. I think the Rams are going to be bad this year. I think the Cardinals are going to be bad this year. We know what the 49ers are. They get the benefit of the doubt, and they're definitely the team to beat in that division. You look at the NFC East, the Giants are the third team. No matter how, however you want to look it up, the best they could be is the third team because the Eagles and Cowboys are just better than the New York Giants. Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio, we will take a time out, come on back, talk some NCAA News News Christmas Creations.