0:00

Sports grid dot Com Betting insights

0:02

and entertainment at your fingertips as

0:05

our team covers the most important topics

0:07

in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive

0:09

betting models, expert picks and more. Want

0:11

the edge, then get on the grid sports grid

0:14

dot com.

0:18

Hey, everybody, Welcome to sports

0:20

Grid. Thank you for watching Football Full

0:22

Circle on Mike Blewett along with George

0:24

Kurtz. Gonna get right into the NFL

0:27

today. And obviously it was a

0:29

big week George in terms of

0:31

NFL stories. We had some contract

0:34

stories that we went over in our episode

0:37

on Saturday, and on this Sunday

0:39

edition we are recapping the

0:41

most serious story of this week. And

0:44

there were rumors about what was going

0:46

to happen with Washington beyond

0:48

their name change, that there were big

0:51

revelations of a scandal being

0:54

brought to light, and that actually hit

0:56

Thursday night Thursday afternoon

0:59

when The Washington Post dropped a huge

1:02

article regarding the sexual harassment

1:05

of former employees and frankly, the overall

1:07

mistreatment of former employees by

1:10

some red some Washington former

1:13

employees as well as the owner, Dan

1:16

Snyder. Now fifteen

1:18

women who worked for them alleged

1:20

sexual harassment by former Scouts

1:22

and members of owner Daniel Snyder's

1:25

inner circle. Uh. The

1:27

woman that is really at the center of

1:29

it is Emily apple Gate.

1:31

She started working for Washington in and

1:34

settled into a daily routine.

1:36

As the story starts, she would

1:39

regularly meet with a female co worker

1:41

in the bathroom during their lunch breaks, she said, to commiserate

1:44

and cry about the frequent sexual harassment

1:46

and verbal abuse they endured. George,

1:49

We'll get into many of some of

1:51

the details of this, but it's

1:54

just another log on the fire

1:56

of this franchise,

1:59

sort of mis tree eating people. We've

2:01

seen them, mistreat players,

2:03

We've seen them obviously now. Uh.

2:06

Massive allegations of mistreating employees

2:09

of the sexual harassment kind, which is depravity

2:13

at its best, and also

2:16

just general bullying and

2:20

unprofessionalism was rampant

2:22

throughout this building and remains so, at least

2:24

until this weekend, when the final couple

2:26

of employees involved in this resigned

2:29

or were fired. This is amazing

2:31

to me they could have it in this day and age. Uh,

2:34

not such why human behavior, But because we

2:36

all have these phones, we can record

2:38

anything and everything, and the people would

2:40

do this where you could be quote on tape, quote

2:43

on whatever we call these things, and played for

2:45

everybody. We were. They were fifteen

2:47

confidentially convedential agreement

2:49

signed here, which this has been going on for a long time,

2:52

and everybody knew about it all from

2:54

the rug. We'll just paid off and move on. The

2:56

one lady you mentioned that's talking about it, she can't

2:58

because she has not sign that agreement

3:00

yet. I'd like to see the NFL go, because

3:02

right now Snyder won't release them from those agreements.

3:05

So those those women can't talk. I think you see

3:07

the NFL go, Yes you can, You're

3:09

released, you know, Snyder, Fortunately, you're

3:12

gonna sell the team one of the other things. Let's find out

3:14

what's really going on, how bad it was? What Snyder

3:17

gonna say he didn't know? Of course, you know the agreements

3:19

were signed. You damn well. What was

3:21

going on here? You let it happen? Well,

3:23

you just didn't care enough to stop it or whatever it might

3:25

be. You know, it's probably much worse than when

3:27

I just brought on anyway, So it's just not

3:30

a good look obviously for any business, more

3:32

or less something in the NFL. You know, we know Roger

3:35

Goodell, protect the shield, and if I'm the

3:37

players, I want to see

3:39

what's gonna happen here, because we

3:41

all know when a player does anything, suspension

3:45

right, you do anything you d w

3:47

I suspension with Mari, I want to suspension

3:49

anything heavier than that. Of course you're getting suspended

3:51

here. He's sort of let Indianapo

3:54

was Colt or say, off the hook with what he

3:56

did, not that it's anywhere near a severe as this. What's

3:59

he gonna do now with Snyder after this pro has

4:01

done. Is it gonna be another slap on the wrist or

4:04

is it gonna do a heavyer fine? Have you a suspension,

4:06

whatever it might be, stay away from the team, you

4:08

know, I don't know he's got a force to sell a team so like they

4:10

did with Jerry Richardson at that what he uh

4:13

said some idiotic things. But

4:15

I'm curiously how logic Adell handles this, because

4:17

it's amazing how the punishment is different

4:19

from the players than it is for the owners. But

4:21

then again, he works for the owners, not

4:23

the players. Yeah, no doubt. I mean er

4:26

say did receive a significant punishment

4:29

at some point. We'll see what is handed

4:31

down here. Washington attempting to

4:33

get in front of it. But it's so transparent

4:36

what was going on here. A story was ready

4:39

to break and then they started taking action.

4:41

Beth Wilkinson from

4:44

the Washington law firm Wilkinson Walsh

4:46

is going to be conducting a review.

4:49

And here's the statement from Washington

4:51

owner Dan Snyder. The behavior described

4:53

in yesterday's Washington Post article

4:55

has no place in our franchise or

4:58

society. The story is strengthened. Mike ititment

5:00

to setting a new culture and standard for

5:02

our team, the process that began with the

5:04

hiring of Coach rivera earlier this year.

5:07

Beth Beth Wilkinson and her firm are empowered

5:09

to do a full, unbiased investigation to make any

5:11

and all requisite recommendations. Upon completion

5:14

of her work, we will institute new

5:16

policies and procedures and strengthening

5:18

our human resources infrastructure, which

5:20

they were archingly not in sidebar, to not

5:22

only avoid these issues in the future,

5:25

but most importantly, create a team culture

5:27

that is respectful and inclusive of all.

5:29

I think it is a standard boilerplate

5:32

statement that anybody could make. I don't

5:34

believe it. I think he was very

5:36

involved in the he set

5:39

the tone and set the culture for the entire organization.

5:42

Now, it

5:44

is important to note that he is not currently

5:47

being alleged with any of the blatant

5:50

sexual harassment that went

5:52

on. He's accused of bullying. He's

5:54

accused of being mean to fellow

5:56

employees both male and female

5:59

alike, a lot of well being called stupid,

6:01

being degraded in a variety of different

6:03

ways. And I think that's, uh, frankly,

6:06

something I've experienced many people

6:08

out there have experienced in the workplace

6:10

general. Um,

6:13

you know, dime store bullying. Frankly, so

6:16

uh so

6:18

that that is the I guess the one

6:20

note I would make George. I'm not defending

6:23

them anyway, still a jerk, and there's a lot

6:25

of going, a lot going on. First of all, he digs

6:27

in about the name for two decades. Now

6:29

we it comes to light that all this other

6:31

stuff is going on. But uh,

6:34

in the case of Jerry Richardson, he was alleged

6:37

who has said and acted in some

6:39

of the ways that we're going to create

6:42

that created scandal. Donald Sterling

6:44

of the Los Angeles Clippers was on

6:47

video making statements that

6:49

were racist, questionable,

6:51

and all of the above not to mention that he had a long

6:53

history of x X

6:56

engaging in districting discrimination

6:59

discriminator he practices. Excuse

7:01

me, so in

7:03

this instance, Dan Snyder didn't

7:06

quite do that. Now do

7:08

the owners really want to kick him out when he hasn't

7:11

done something like that? And you and I both

7:13

know very well that this stuff has likely

7:16

gone on in other buildings around the NFL

7:18

recently, in the past, forever,

7:21

so that that is the difference.

7:24

And I'll let you comment on that well.

7:26

A couple of things here. You being up a

7:28

very good point. By the way, this is

7:30

not the only team that's doing this, all

7:33

right, Uh it looks bad. Snyder

7:36

kid said he didn't know about it because of the confidentiality

7:39

agreement between he was a part of it. He okay,

7:41

did, so he can't claim that he

7:43

did nothing to stop it. You let it go on. You were okay,

7:46

you know, I was. We'll just we'll just paid off.

7:48

You're okay. So that's a problem

7:50

here. I like what he says. You

7:52

know, we're gonna hire Beth uh I can't remember

7:54

her last name to

7:58

have an unbiased investigation. My

8:00

first question would be who's paying her

8:02

firm? Right? Alright?

8:05

So it's not unbiased. It's not.

8:08

It's not. It can't be unbiased if you're paying it all

8:10

right, So they're gonna cater to you and what you want to

8:13

have done or not get done. In

8:15

essence, I can tell the story. You

8:17

may have seen it. Uh, it's certainly a public story.

8:20

Andrew Brandt some of you and I like to quote quite

8:22

often on the show. Uh, former

8:24

game of the Packers, former players agent now

8:26

does uh teaching sports business

8:29

law. He told the story. This is before

8:31

this happened. By the way, this is this might

8:33

even before the name change thing, but I think it's right after

8:35

the name change thing. Talking about Daniel Snyder,

8:37

how a good friend of his once went to

8:39

the Snyder's home, uh play date, kids

8:42

had whatever, uh date with

8:44

the Snyder's kids, and Snyder wasn't there.

8:46

But as this gentleman was leaving, he didn't

8:48

say who it was. So I don't know if this gentleman is also in the football

8:51

world or not. As the person was

8:53

leaving, Davis Snyder did come home and

8:56

this person said he's he thanked Uh, thank

8:58

you Dan, kids had a great time. We can do it again.

9:01

It snys reply, that's Mr

9:03

Snyder to you, it's so funny that

9:05

you said that, because this

9:08

is so odd because I have

9:10

an almost an identical story.

9:13

I worked with someone who

9:16

is fifteen years my senior,

9:19

who was in the process

9:21

of going through a business

9:23

deal with Daniel Snyder.

9:26

Now this is obviously here say people want have to believe this

9:28

story. Didn't want. I'm just telling an

9:30

experience of somebody I know. And

9:33

in prior to the meeting,

9:35

he was told to please refer to

9:38

him as Mr. Snyder. Now,

9:40

the person that I know is older than

9:43

Daniel Snyder, and

9:45

it was a perfectly successful

9:47

business person in his own right. So

9:50

he was like, okay, no problem. And the second

9:52

he walked in there, he went in there and called him

9:54

Dan. So he wasn't going to listen

9:56

to that. You know, the guy that I know isn't

9:59

the type of person and that it's going to listen to instructions

10:02

like that may maybe it reflects

10:04

it does reflect poorly on him and in being

10:07

unrelatable, and there's a lot of things

10:09

about him that we've seen. First of all, he was a really

10:11

young owner when he bought the team, right he's

10:14

owned the team for twenty years, but he was a young man.

10:16

When he bought the team, he made a ton of money

10:18

in communications, and he had the opportunity

10:21

to buy it from the Cooks. But

10:23

prior to that um or

10:26

in conjunction with all of this, you know, Snyder

10:28

has been known to not

10:31

really take counsel of other owners.

10:33

I think people like Jerry

10:36

Jones or other owners within the

10:38

league will take newer

10:40

owners under their wings, so to speak,

10:42

because I mean, these people are

10:44

are titans of industry, but they don't necessarily

10:47

know how this room works and

10:49

how to get things done. And

10:51

Daniel Snyder is known to really

10:54

not take counsel with other folks.

10:56

The Ron Rivera thing is

10:58

really interesting, George, because it has

11:00

created a ton of momentum. Now has

11:03

his presence created all of this change?

11:06

I don't know, but it is concurrent with

11:08

all of the changes in this now investigation

11:10

going on. Well, not only

11:12

is that it's Rivers. He's been giving

11:14

a lot of being given a lot of power here,

11:18

thank God. Yeah, well, yeah, you want somebody

11:20

who's a decent human being and an adult,

11:23

Yeah, I guess that too to get the job. The

11:26

fact that's happened so quickly, Not only is

11:28

he the coach, you know, but now he's in

11:30

on the name change. He's gonna be in on this, the culture

11:32

change of this organization, which

11:34

is I mean, I guess good for him, but I also

11:36

wanted this when Rivera

11:38

is like, what the hell

11:41

did I get myself into here? You

11:43

know, only I got to coach the team, but now I gotta

11:45

do everything else too? Is he gonna be spread

11:47

too thin? And there's something I would come back to as well

11:49

here. I mean, it's so many parts of the story.

11:52

Remember, they're actually accused of bribery

11:54

bribing officials here. Yes, I

11:56

know, a joke. I guess they didn't pay enough because

11:59

they've been losing games uhing right for the years now. But

12:01

I mean the NFL has to do an investigation

12:04

on their own. They get this thing that's up a Snyders.

12:06

Okay, yea, let's take whatever you find as a gospel

12:09

here. They have to do an investigation that they don't

12:11

have to find out what the hell is going on. But

12:13

I still go back to your first point that you made. This

12:16

is not you know, it's not the only place

12:18

that happens. I say, in baseball, Astros are the

12:21

only team that's cheating. Everybody's cheating.

12:23

It's pretty much my believe that once again everybody's probably

12:26

doing this too. Just to what degree is

12:28

what changes? Yeah, my float tweet

12:30

here from Pro Football Talk. The NFL typically

12:32

hires a lawyer who investigates allegations of

12:35

team misconduct, and for some reason, the

12:37

NFL plans to defer to the lawyer hired by

12:39

Washington to investigate Washington.

12:41

So, um, I think it's a

12:43

bad look for the NFL completely, but

12:46

it wouldn't surprise me if it was related

12:48

to the fact that they don't want to

12:51

overturn thirty one. Other teams

12:53

investigating what might be similar

12:56

practices can't accuse them

12:58

because there's no evidence as of Yeah, but that's

13:00

the deal. We'll come back. We'll talk more football after

13:02

this on FFC Sports grid dot Com

13:04

Betting Insights and Entertainment at your fingertips

13:08

seven as our team covers the most important

13:10

topics in sports wagering, real time odds,

13:12

predictive betting models, expert picks, and more

13:14

want the edge than get on the grid sports

13:17

grid dot Com.

13:22

Everybody back on FFC talking

13:25

about the state of affairs in the NFL

13:27

and how we're going to get back on the field.

13:29

I know it's sometimes feels like we're

13:32

hitting you over the head with these updates, but

13:34

we're getting the updates, passing them along, and

13:37

some of the stuff is relatively interesting.

13:40

Every day I feel that there's good

13:42

news and positive momentum. The next

13:44

day I get kicked in the teeth just

13:47

like you, and it feels like we're walking backwards.

13:49

Uh. As far as the start of the season,

13:52

it's concerned. So I'll just try to take

13:54

these one by one because there's several

13:56

fascets of it. Tom Pallaceero of

13:59

the NFL and at Work says that

14:02

quotes here. Director. NFLPA

14:04

director Executive Director Demorris

14:06

Smith says on a media call that union officials

14:09

had a call late last night with team

14:11

doctors who gave the opinion quote

14:13

with a couple of reservations, that it is

14:15

safe to open training camp. So

14:18

I'm like, great, George,

14:21

good news, we're getting in there.

14:23

July rookie is supposed

14:25

to report this weekend,

14:28

but it doesn't stop

14:30

there. So the next thing

14:32

is Barry Jackson is a long time

14:35

Miami Herald veteran reporter.

14:37

The nfl p A has asked the league. How

14:40

many player positives it would take

14:43

for a team to have to shut it down. NFL

14:45

hasn't answered. That's the

14:47

number two. The next one

14:50

NFL p A president J C. Treader

14:52

on what happens when a teammate test positive.

14:55

There's a quarantine when a close contact teammate

14:57

test positive. Let's say I've been blocking

14:59

with my teammates, and I've been blocking all these defensive

15:01

linemen. Aren't we talking about thirty

15:04

guys? So it's

15:06

a major complication. According to Doug for

15:09

Our, it's a major complication

15:11

the NF. He's from USA today. The NFLPA

15:13

is waiting to hear back from the NFL about So

15:15

the reality is, even as they try to inch

15:17

towards opening this up, George, there's still

15:19

too many questions that keep coming up and not

15:22

all of them had been answered. Um,

15:24

we are ten days

15:26

away from everybody reporting.

15:29

The rookies are supposed to be there now,

15:31

ah, and we don't have

15:33

answers to a lot of this stuff. If I were a player, would

15:35

be like, look, let's just wait a couple of weeks,

15:38

get all the answers, and then we'll show up. It's

15:41

frustrating Mike because

15:44

what do we even talking? You and I've been doing the show for a couple of

15:46

months, now what do we What have I been to a couple jeez?

15:49

I mean, but we keep saying please

15:52

in four months? Wow, I feel much started

15:54

and like end of March pushing

15:57

the end of July. You're right,

15:59

I can't all time as parents to be

16:01

no calendars here, um, But we

16:04

keep saying learn from

16:07

baseball, right, and yet

16:09

this is old deja vu again

16:13

that they can't figet this stuff out here that one. So I

16:15

fully understand that union wants or you know, the

16:18

all these protocols, the NFL wants the other set

16:20

and they But can we meet in the middle somewhere?

16:23

Hasn't this been How has it been

16:25

discussed? The right to know exactly? Okay,

16:28

listen, the Timpany and Buccaneers have sixteen guys at

16:30

with COVID. That's it. They're done. We can't have them play anymore.

16:33

It seems like I'm not saying that to him. I just threw out

16:35

a random number there. I don't know what, I don't know what the number should

16:37

be, but I'm saying, how has this been discussed

16:39

here? How has it some of these things been

16:42

talked about. What happened to the player? When one player

16:44

goes on COVID? Yeah, is he going?

16:46

I R? Can he come back in two weeks, three weeks,

16:48

eight weeks? Is he'm pop? What are you gonna do

16:50

with them? Uh? How can you say it's

16:53

safe? The O world of training camp where we all know it's not.

16:55

I mean, I understand why it's it's a pr game you sort

16:58

of playing here. But the Union, when you know it's not gonna

17:00

buy this all right, they're gonna

17:02

have They have their own stats, they have the same stats that you

17:04

have. They know it's not safe. Now, why aren't

17:06

you working with them to figure things

17:08

out? You know, you hope the Union

17:11

is not still mad about the c b A and then now they're gonna want

17:13

every little thing. They're gonna take it out here. I hope

17:15

that's not the case. It might be, it might not be. But

17:18

why aren't you in constant communication with Mr

17:20

Smith, Mr Vince, you know, whatever is,

17:22

talk to each other and work out

17:24

what needs to be worked out. The NFL

17:27

hasn't really they should be talking to the NFL

17:29

p A about the nfl PAS concerns.

17:31

Maybe not every little thing. But about

17:34

the NFL PAS concerns and work things

17:36

out. You mentioned it, you know, it's

17:39

I think tomorrow some rookies

17:42

are supposed to go. And then I think what the Chiefs

17:44

in Houston shortly after

17:46

that, because they played the first game of the season. Whether or

17:48

not we believe that game is gonna be played doesn't matter. We

17:50

have that. We have to act as it is. It's

17:53

coming now, right, the rest of the teams are within

17:55

nine days of showing up. How hasn't

17:57

this been discussed and at least

18:00

gotta be framework And it doesn't even seem like they

18:02

have a framework, Mike, which is the scariest thing

18:04

to me, that this was played by You will

18:06

see what happens. Yeah,

18:09

yeah, I mean two. And here's

18:11

another tweet from Dave Burkett.

18:13

He's Alliance beat writer for the Detroit Free Press.

18:15

So it's been on this show, I mean, on with

18:17

me a number of times in the past. D

18:20

Smith on what happens at the end of NFL

18:22

P A does not get the answers that wants from the league.

18:25

Quote, We're going to look at all of our options.

18:28

So we are now in a position

18:30

where if they don't

18:32

get some of these key answers. We went

18:35

over J. J. Watts laundry list of things

18:37

that he felt weren't answered. J C. Treader,

18:39

the nflp A president, is talking about

18:42

things that are unanswered, and frankly, that

18:44

what he stated that J. C. Treader

18:46

situation has really been one

18:49

of my major questions all along. Like,

18:51

Okay, the one guy

18:53

tested positive, maybe he got it in

18:55

the grocery store, but now he's

18:57

positive, and you

19:00

didn't know, and

19:02

because he was at the grocery store that

19:05

morning, whatever, Then

19:08

there's an incubation period. Then he

19:10

tests positive. He's been in practice

19:12

for two days, uh, with

19:16

defensive lineman and offensive linemen in the locker

19:18

room and all this other kind of stuff. Now, how many people

19:21

shut it down? It seems like

19:23

a lot. He's right, isn't it

19:25

like thirty guys? Yes,

19:28

but you know they're not gonna they can't do that. They've

19:31

got to follow those protocols. And there's there's no football

19:34

alright. Because you mentioned he'd be around in the meeting

19:36

room alone. That takes out that whole position group. They're

19:38

done. The coaches now they may be in more

19:40

than one meeting. That takes everybody else out.

19:43

You're probably talking at least thirty and that's

19:45

being nice. I understand that

19:47

they're gonna have to listen. Mike Blewett,

19:49

you get it all right, Mike Blue, it's out. I

19:51

may have been around you, but positive

19:54

tests only. I just test only, So Mike

19:56

Blue, it hasn't you're positive even though you and I have even

19:58

together, and maybe Ryan and Dane

20:00

were all together, but we we we haven't tested positive

20:03

yet. We can play even though we've been exposed.

20:05

You can't. And I think that's probably

20:08

one of the concessions we're gonna have to make. If you weren't

20:10

supposed to be played this year, that's

20:12

probably a concession you're gonna have to make, because if

20:15

you're gonna start nailing everybody for being

20:17

around somebody, it's

20:19

not gonna work. It's just nobody

20:21

hasn't rost them that big to be able to afford

20:24

everybody that would miss plus once again, if

20:26

one offensive lineman gets it, I mean the whole group is

20:28

out. Yeah, I'm sure Russell

20:30

Wilson's gonna love to hear that. You know

20:32

that. Yeah, that's why I don't think they're gonna be able

20:34

to finish all the games. I think this is going to

20:36

happen at some point. Oh, I agree. I

20:39

completely agree with you. I think they we're gonna hear about

20:42

what I'm saying. They're getting sick. I'm just saying that they're

20:44

tested positive. Oh yeah, we'll

20:46

not. Everybody gets sick with over and some people

20:49

are asymptomatic, but they have it helly

20:51

for all you. We know you and I have had it, but we

20:53

haven't shown any symptoms. You know, I don't

20:55

know. Maybe I haven't tested, but

20:57

I get it. If I was the guess

21:00

I'm trying to play in my head here, what what do I think is going

21:02

to happen? First? Double digit

21:04

players on a team having it or a position

21:07

group getting decimated by it. I'd

21:09

probably vote for the position group because

21:11

they are together all the time. Yeah,

21:14

yeah, I think it's that's

21:17

That's sort of where we sit right now.

21:19

So there's um, you know, we're

21:21

at a point and t Smith

21:23

did cap off when when he was speaking he did

21:25

say we're at a point where

21:28

what's good for the country is good for sports.

21:30

Nothing would bring back fans to stadiums quicker

21:32

than the simple decision to wear a

21:34

mask. He was just stay putting

21:36

a punctuation mark at the

21:38

end of it. They're an exclamation point on his statement

21:41

as to what he hopes people will do.

21:43

He's look as

21:46

much as the NFL p A and the

21:48

NFL are at odds all the

21:50

time. Hell, we we had

21:52

the cb A signed in the next day. There was

21:54

a huge disagreement on on UH

21:57

major points about communicating

22:02

UH certain things to the

22:05

public. But the reality, the reality

22:07

for d Smith is that he needs these guys

22:09

to play, right. These guys don't want to They're

22:11

not trying to sit out. I think some people

22:14

misunderstand the

22:17

motivations of certain players, Like

22:19

there's Aaron Rodgers. He

22:22

just doesn't want to play because he's getting older

22:24

and he just wants to collect his checks. Well, he's

22:26

not going to get paid if they don't play.

22:28

He doesn't want to go out there and play, but he

22:30

probably shouldn't risk it. Um

22:33

For the guys that are a little bit younger and

22:35

haven't built up a nest egg, yeah, they're going to

22:37

be more eager to play. And I think

22:40

look, a vast majority of the players

22:42

really do want to play. They're just asking necessary

22:45

questions. Oh, I

22:47

agree, I think I think it's it's

22:49

in an athletes sort of DNA to play.

22:51

You played through injury all the time. They

22:54

probably play, they shouldn't play all the time because

22:56

they've had slight tears of ligaments or slight damage

22:58

to their bodies. They know they shouldn't play, and a lot

23:00

of times they come back too early when they do get hurt

23:03

because it's in their DNA to play. It's how they've

23:05

been trained through their entire lives. Here. It's

23:07

why I'm not gonna knock. I'm not gonna delve into

23:10

why. If anybody who opts out, I'm not delving into

23:12

why. You know it's your choice. There

23:14

is a danger here there now that's

23:16

something could happen to you or a family member, and

23:19

I'm not gonna go into it to find out why

23:21

player A, why the player A not go?

23:23

Here's nothing wrong with them, there's nothing wrong that I know

23:25

that I know about with this family. I think

23:27

it's every player is right, even just even

23:30

if you're fine, just be your own health. Not

23:32

to play this season if you want to opt out, you don't want to, you want

23:34

to opt out, you don't want to get paid, that's fine,

23:36

Yeah, And to to I'll

23:38

put the try to put

23:40

it. I can't put a pin in it. I can't.

23:43

I was gonna say put a pin in it, but I can't because

23:45

this is a constant topic. But Tom

23:47

Pellicero again uh

23:50

says here that the league is

23:52

looking for opt out decisions.

23:55

Any player may opt out of twenty

23:57

season with written notice by August.

23:59

First, we just talked about

24:01

them reporting by July. Do

24:04

you want everybody to opt out by the end of

24:06

the month, Like, what

24:08

are you talking about. They don't even have answers

24:10

to all these questions. They don't know how comfortable

24:13

they're going to feel. They're obviously gonna want to get

24:15

out there and and be there

24:17

with your teammates and start

24:19

practicing. But if they didn't

24:21

feel comfortable with the way things were set up after

24:24

they got there, like you're giving them

24:26

two days to try to figure

24:28

this all out, I don't know. I just think it's an

24:30

odd line in the same to draw. I

24:32

think this is a bad move by the NFL

24:35

because you were sort of hitting at it. You're

24:37

forcing players to make a decision now

24:41

and right now. It's not good right because everything everything

24:43

is so screwed up with the testing with the protocols.

24:45

You have nothing written down, but maybe

24:49

middlegus it's all fixed a right, The

24:51

play is a much more comfortable. You got the testing

24:53

down. They know the procedures and they'll want to

24:55

play if you make it Over's first and you keep

24:57

that date, you sort of telling players

25:00

us, I don't know what's gonna happen here, h

25:02

skirt, I'm not taking any chances. I'm not gonna play.

25:04

Yeah, they don't know what's going on because we're

25:07

already in an unknown situation where they're making even

25:09

more unknown. But if you make and I understand

25:11

you don't want it to be September feet Mike, I get

25:14

that team need to prepare and they get out a player

25:16

going, you know, ten days when the season starts. I don't

25:18

know. I'm not gonna play. I understand that, But

25:20

why not cut the middle somewhere by

25:22

middle August or even a was twenty.

25:25

Why can't that be a decision where the player goes You

25:27

know what, I've been around for three weeks. It's

25:29

not getting any better here. I don't feel comfortable. I'm

25:31

not going to play. I think that's some sort

25:33

of a happy medium for everybody here. Team

25:35

still us time there, get somebody else

25:38

to prepare for it, and the player can now make

25:40

an informed decision. That's what I'm

25:42

being with, an informercision about whether or not it's

25:44

safe for me and my family

25:46

to play. Yeah. Look, I think MLB

25:49

players, I think some guys are gonna opt out

25:51

after the season starts, right, They're

25:54

gonna be they're not feeling comfortable with their

25:56

team. Falls back on the standings are like, what

25:58

am I doing here? I'm opting out the

26:00

rest of the way. I think that could happen, and

26:03

I would suspect that certain NFL players will

26:05

feel less comfortable after they're in their

26:07

team's a little bubble for a little

26:10

period of time. So we'll come back. We'll talk about the

26:12

Cincinnati Bengals. Next on the Grid.

26:14

It's a f FC sports grid dot

26:16

com betting insights and entertainment at

26:18

your fingertips as our

26:20

team covers the most important topics in sports

26:23

wagering, real time odds, predictive betting

26:25

models, expert picks, and more. Want the

26:27

edge than get on the grid sports grid

26:29

dot Com.

26:34

Back on the Grid, please follow us on

26:36

Twitter at sports grid on Instagram

26:39

at sports grid tv. You find George individually

26:41

on Twitter at George Kurtz. I'm at Mike Blewett. So

26:43

hate mail to George nice things to say

26:45

about me. I'll filter them across

26:48

to everyone else as needed, So uh,

26:52

right back to you. Don't worry about it. A J. Green

26:55

signed his franchise tender this week. George.

26:57

Um Uh. He had

26:59

to do it because there was a chance, obviously

27:02

in the middle of this pandemic and not knowing what

27:05

the salary cap would be, that people that

27:07

the Bengals could rescind the franchise tag

27:09

and just make him a free agent. Then he was gonna

27:11

have to go out and look for a deal that got him twelve

27:13

point eight million dollars for this upcoming

27:15

season. A little difficult with people

27:17

not able to travel, examine his foot

27:20

issues and everything else, but

27:22

here. According to Jeff Hobson, who

27:26

is the senior writer for Bengals dot Com,

27:28

A J. Green has a plan. Let's

27:30

quote play another four years and hope

27:33

and I hope to retire as a Bengal. So

27:36

kind of weird that he put a number on and the rest

27:38

of his career, but with him being unable

27:40

to finish the last three seasons due

27:43

to injury. I think A. J. Green

27:45

is well aware of his football

27:48

mortality. Yeah,

27:50

I really would have liked to have seen what

27:53

the offers were to Cincinnati

27:55

for Green because I think they should have moved on here

27:57

and not that Green still can't do

28:00

with that. But you're rebuilding here. Listen.

28:02

I love A J. Green. He's a fun

28:04

guy to watch, a great player. He might

28:06

do good things, wonderful

28:09

things with Joe Burrow. But still you're

28:12

building for the future. I mean, if everything goes

28:14

right in Cincinnati, you're

28:16

probably talking two years my three years

28:18

before you're really there. You play in a

28:21

rough, rough division. You know, you

28:23

got bull This isn't

28:26

this isn't getting better until at

28:29

least I think that's being nice, right, That's

28:31

that's probably being nice. Um.

28:35

And let's say you're right. By then A J. Green

28:39

thirty four his birthdays until

28:42

twelve days al right, So by

28:44

that he's thirty four years old. Not too many

28:46

thirty four year over receives. A true game breaker. Is by

28:48

that that I would have liked have seen what the offers

28:51

were. You have the pre draft, post draft,

28:53

whatever it might be, to see what they could have gotten for

28:55

the Green and a very you know

28:57

where wide receiver crazy league right

28:59

now. I understand you mentioned it earlier

29:01

that Green has been hurt now

29:04

and he's been hurt three straight seasons well

29:06

two O three streets, miss seven games and six

29:08

he played sixteen two thousand seventeen, and that

29:10

hurts, you know. I mean, you

29:12

may not want to give him big time competition

29:15

plus the contract he wanted there, But I think

29:17

Cincinnatial gonna tried harder. It's almost like they've

29:19

been shutting people out. I don't think you should ever

29:21

say I'm never trading this guy. Anyone

29:24

is tradable. You might want to say we're probably

29:26

not moving on something like that. We like a J. Green

29:28

to the but you should always do a door over. You

29:30

don't want to shut teams out because someone hears

29:32

all the stithy not trading. I'm not eve gonna give him a phone call then,

29:35

And I just think it's silly to do that. Yeah,

29:37

my mistake. He did play full season in seventeen,

29:40

and the last time he did play the full season

29:42

of seventy five catches, thousands, seventy eight

29:44

yards, eight touchdowns. He was

29:47

definitely productive. Year before that, he

29:49

was having a great season before

29:51

he got hurt. Uh, and

29:53

then that that was only

29:57

the nine games and En

29:59

obviously, uh, big

30:01

fat zero never got on the field. So

30:04

um, there was a time

30:06

George really before he started getting

30:08

injured, in fact, as little

30:11

as as little as is

30:14

not that all that long ago where

30:16

we would consider him a top five receiver. Easy,

30:18

it's him and Julio And that was before

30:20

Michael Thomas had arisen.

30:23

DeAndre Hopkins was in that mix, and

30:25

and O'Dell. But A J. Green

30:27

was really firmly a top five five

30:29

wide receiver for a big portion of his career,

30:32

Oh absolutely, And even he did it for a

30:34

team that Andy Dalton was

30:36

never anyone's answer to Drew Brees, Aaron

30:39

Rodgers, Tom Brady, you know that

30:41

kind of quarterback and not a lot going

30:43

on around him. I mean, Joe Mixon is a

30:45

good running back now, but he didn't have Joe Mixon back then.

30:48

He was the bank. Do you want

30:50

to stop the Bengals offense? You stopped

30:52

A J. Green? You gain plant for Green the

30:55

top top cornerback. What would defensive

30:58

it means we're about stopping a J. Green. So he deserves

31:00

a really a lot of credit for what he's

31:02

done. Plus once again, you go back to

31:04

the Steelers and rain Wins. He plays a lot of games against those two

31:06

teams historically, those are

31:08

really good defenses. Yeah. Absolutely,

31:11

it's an excellent route runner, good hands, the whole

31:13

package. Six four, two tens, lanky.

31:16

Uh so you can go up and get it. But we'll see

31:18

hopefully these lower leg injuries haven't robbed

31:20

him completely of some of

31:23

his ability. So let's get into

31:25

their odds. Look, there's

31:27

not gonna be a lot of positive bets here for

31:30

the Bengals winning tons of games, but I was surprised

31:32

to see a little bit of the market action on

31:34

them. And we'll go through the odds right

31:36

now. So to win the Super Bowl there fifteen

31:39

plus fifteen thousand, it's a hundred fifty one.

31:42

It was one of the lowest, one of the longest

31:44

odds in the entire league. To win the NC Championship,

31:46

they are dead last along with the Jaguars

31:48

at plus seven thousand. To win the AMC

31:51

North plus twenty hundred, that

31:53

is the longest shot in the whole league to win

31:55

any division. It's obviously as

31:57

a result of the strength of the raven

32:00

in particular, but obviously the Steelers and Brown's

32:03

competitive teams as well. Uh

32:05

the win total to make the playoffs and them

32:07

do that first as plus six eighty yes,

32:10

no, as minus twelve minus twelve.

32:13

It's a lot of juice to try to say

32:15

that they're not going to make the playoffs. I

32:18

would just prefer you bet the under on

32:20

the Winds. I think that is a lock

32:22

for me. But I was surprised to see

32:25

that at five and a half George, the

32:28

over is minus

32:29

one. So people are betting

32:32

the over on the Bengals to win six

32:34

games, assuming that St

32:36

Joe Joe Burrow is going to

32:39

tack another four wins onto that two

32:41

and fourteen season they had last year. I

32:43

am not buying it. I think they did make

32:46

some improvements this year. I do not

32:48

buy that they can win six games this year. For

32:50

me, the Bengals are a hard under. Maybe

32:53

they can win four games, maybe

32:55

even five. I do not see them going

32:58

six and ten. No way, Oh

33:00

you know I don't, right. I mean

33:02

that division alone, did they go

33:04

on one in five? Maybe

33:07

you could squeak out a win versus

33:09

your state rival there and then you look

33:11

for Okay, I gotta find four more wins, you get Jacksonville

33:14

Okay, Giants,

33:16

Sure, and I'm done Miami

33:20

Houston. I think they've both

33:22

better teams. Yeah, I think

33:24

they both. It's at Miami, so I think that's tough.

33:26

Houston. Houston still a decent squad.

33:29

I think they're eight and eight team. I said, this is the last

33:31

time we were talking about the Texans. People

33:33

love to bang on them because Bill

33:35

O'Brien is a punching bag. But they've won the division

33:38

four out of the last five years. There's good

33:40

players all over the place, and Deshaun Watson

33:42

is the quarterback. They don't stink. No,

33:45

I think they are more of an average team this year. So I'm

33:47

looking at the schedule now here, and that game is at

33:49

Houston too. I mean that's gonna be rough.

33:52

Maybe you get a break in that Boltimore game doesn't

33:54

mean anything in week sevent team and I'm still

33:56

not sure you can beat the both bore team. It doesn't care. So,

33:59

like I said, and I'm not saying they can be Jacksonville

34:01

a Giants, but those are games where they're somewhat

34:04

evenly matched. Everything else, they're

34:06

the dog. I mean, they're gonna have I don't know what

34:08

they're gonna do against the Philadelphia

34:10

Dallas Pitts. Wheread you

34:12

know they played Pittsburgh.

34:15

I didn't see Washington and Washington another game there they

34:17

could possibly pull out there. Uh,

34:19

and that's really it. I mean, I don't

34:21

see you beat in Tennessee Indianapolis.

34:24

Don't see that. No, I think the charge

34:26

is week one. I think that's why you

34:28

are seeing some juice though, George, because

34:31

there are a bunch of soft teams on this

34:33

schedule, right. They got the Giants

34:35

in Washington, they've got Jacksonville,

34:38

Uh, and Miami. Now

34:41

you and I both think Miami is on the rise. I'm

34:44

not so sure about the Giants in Washington Jacksonville.

34:49

I'll say this, I think Jacksonville is the worst

34:51

team

34:53

along with Cincinnati. I think those are the two worst

34:55

teams in football. I think Washington has an

34:57

opportunity to fall apart. But I actually

35:00

think Ron RIVERI will do a decent job of putting

35:02

the defense together at the very least.

35:05

So that's probably why people

35:07

are You know, you try to take edges.

35:10

No, that's the whole point. I think

35:13

a lot of sharps try to take edges with

35:16

the way things are scheduled, and maybe the road

35:18

games aren't quite as tough um

35:21

as they otherwise could be. Of Jacksonville

35:23

at home, you get the Giants at home. I

35:26

think there are some winnable games there,

35:28

and it doesn't mean that will rip through.

35:30

And they're definitely going on and six in

35:32

the division. George conceded one. Maybe they win

35:34

too. I'm trying to get them to six, and I can't

35:36

do it. I don't. I don't think they're gonna

35:38

win five. I think I

35:41

think they were lucky to win their second game last

35:44

year, and I think they'll be lucky

35:46

to get to to five wins. I do not

35:48

see it happening. I think I bet the Bengals

35:50

under hard last year because it was six

35:53

they went too and fourteen. I would run

35:55

it back. Actually I don't typically like doing

35:57

that, but since I'm gonna play a whole

36:00

bunch of total bets this

36:02

year, the Bengals are one of the teams

36:04

again. As we've said many times, George,

36:07

Um, you hang

36:09

onto the hang onto some of these bets unless

36:11

you see real value. I

36:14

just think that we gotta wait a

36:16

little bit further before you give the sports.

36:18

In my opinion, handing over

36:20

a lot of your money to sports books at

36:23

the moment might not be fruitful

36:25

for you to might just be handing onto your money to avoid

36:27

the bets. I agree, right,

36:29

because we know we've got some issues this year. Uh

36:32

feeling the only way to Bengals get the six

36:34

is if COVID hits a lot of their schedule. I

36:37

mean really, and the other teams losing players here, but the Bengals

36:39

is gonna lose players to eventually. Now then

36:41

I get in the six. This is one of the ones I like,

36:43

I'd be heavy on the under here. So

36:46

what is So let's talk a little

36:48

bit. We've got a few minutes left. Let's talk a little bit

36:50

about some of the big questions for this team. A.

36:52

J Green we let off with, He's not really a question.

36:54

He you know, he's an improvement if he's healthy, he's

36:56

a big improvement. As options. I

36:59

think they've done and look, they have Joe Burrow

37:01

there now. I think they've added offensive lineman

37:03

in recent years, and they're gonna get Jonah Uh

37:06

Jonah Williams back in to come

37:08

back in at left tackle. He was out the

37:11

entire year last year. So

37:14

Joe Mixon a player that has

37:16

a lot of ability and we think could make

37:18

some noise seeing three hundred touches or

37:20

so, he's an interesting fantasy option.

37:23

I just don't know that there's enough pieces here overall

37:26

to make this team competitive. So what do

37:28

you think are some of the big questions with this team?

37:30

Well? I think what's good? Your first question is Borrow?

37:33

Is he And when I say that, is he a franchise

37:36

guy? You know, is he going to be the guy

37:38

you're gonna have for the next ten twelve years. You're gonna be

37:40

paying you know, a couple of hundred million to that

37:42

can lead you out of the you know what you've

37:44

been living in the base. But now forever? Is he that

37:46

guy? That would be my first question. I tend to leave that

37:49

yes he is, but until we see it on the field,

37:51

we can't know for sure. Yeah, And

37:53

what I would say is that I do think Joe

37:55

Burrow is a talented, franchise

37:58

level quarterback. And if he if

38:00

he busts out, and

38:03

let me say, let me phrase it differently, if he ends

38:05

up becoming a bust, I

38:08

would blame the Bengals more than I blame Burrow.

38:11

And I think that's fair. I think we saw

38:14

in Tennessee with Mariota, injuries

38:16

were an issue. You had a couple of

38:18

different coaching styles they tried,

38:21

They hung in there. He became sort

38:23

of unreliable for them, although objectively

38:25

not bad, Jamis, you

38:28

had a lot of off field stuff. He

38:30

didn't seem like he was professional. He

38:32

wasn't a leader, and then he goes out in his

38:34

fifth year option year, which they didn't have to

38:37

give him any through thirty interceptions

38:39

like it's over, Johnny, We're not

38:42

We're not doing this anymore with Burrow,

38:44

unfortunately, I think they can get to the end of

38:46

the four or five year deal and be like, man,

38:49

sorry, Joe, he just didn't really do it for us.

38:51

And meanwhile his coach might have been

38:53

fired. They're looking for more front

38:55

office turnover. I just think the Bengals

38:57

are one of the most broken or going to sayations

39:00

in the league. It's a family business, and I

39:02

just don't think. I think they're sometimes

39:05

more interested in profit

39:08

than they are the product on the field. And

39:10

then some teams are like that you'll get no lugger for me,

39:12

Mike. I agree with your analysis. Yeah,

39:15

so that's it. We're gonna talk about

39:17

the Rams next. Andrew Whitworth had a scare

39:19

with COVID nineteen. We'll talk a little bit about

39:21

that, and then the Ramps will

39:23

be right back on FFC. Sports grid

39:26

dot Com Betting Insights and entertainment

39:28

at your fingertips seven as

39:30

our team covers the most important topics

39:32

in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive

39:34

betting models, expert picks, and more. Want

39:37

the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid

39:39

dot Com

39:45

Back on the Grid, closing out this hour of

39:47

Football Full Circle, Mike and George

39:49

talking about the Los Angeles Rams

39:52

supposed to move into this new stadium. I haven't

39:54

had a stadium update on them in a while, but we'll

39:57

see if we can find something. Emes, you're going through this segment.

39:59

But Andrew Whitworth, longtime

40:01

offensive tackle, one of the oldest players in the

40:03

league, he's back. He signed an

40:06

extension at thirty nine years of

40:08

age. He signed an extension, and he

40:11

said during the NFL p A call this week,

40:13

as reported here by Dan Graciano, that

40:16

he had a family member who went out to lunch with a

40:18

friend contracted the coronavirus. Soon

40:21

after Whitworth, his wife and kids, and wife's

40:23

mother and father in law all caught it. Quote

40:26

all it takes is one exposure.

40:28

His father in law was hospitalized during

40:30

this. So a scary moment. And I

40:34

think a lot of times players don't

40:36

get the benefit of the doubt

40:38

of being a normal human being. They get dehumanized

40:41

in a weird way, whether it's because of fandom

40:43

or fantasy football or wagers or

40:46

whatever else. Uh, some typele lose

40:48

perspective. And Andrew Whitworth is trying to add

40:50

some here. Absolutely. I

40:52

mean it shows you it could happen to anybody

40:55

to be careful out there. I want

40:57

to say, watch you, Survinmes wear a mask for crying out

40:59

loud work mask. Uh we all hate wearing

41:01

a mask. I hate wearing a mask, but I still wear it.

41:03

Granted I've gone into a story now and then I forgot

41:06

to bring my mask because it doesn't daun on me. But I woke

41:08

back out and get my masks. Not a big deal. But

41:10

I wonder this when they

41:12

do these health and safety protocols, who's gonna get paid

41:14

who's not gonna get paid? To opt out by

41:17

overs first right now? And also the garbage they're

41:19

doing. How are they going to handle players

41:21

like Whitworth, Zeke Eliot would fall

41:23

into this as well, a player who's had COVID.

41:26

He's over it now, you will be over by week one,

41:28

But what if by week six? Doctor

41:31

says, oh, no, you used to have underlying

41:33

symptoms. Got your breath

41:36

all right? And he said

41:38

he had pretty significant breathing issues. Von Miller

41:41

did, And but they haven't exerved themselves

41:43

since. Yeah, they're working out, but you're not doing real

41:45

football work. But now when they're in camp, when they're playing

41:47

games here and you're doing those, you don't feel

41:49

the same. Adopted doctor tells you, Yeah,

41:51

it's related to COVID. You're not You're not that perch. You really shouldn't

41:53

be playing anymore. You should. You're not fully

41:56

recovering. You're fully recovered to do normal

41:58

stuff, but not foot bowl stuff.

42:00

I wonder how the NFL is gonna handle this as well. Yeah,

42:04

agreed, So there aren't

42:07

a ton of news stories happening

42:09

in the NFL right now. The story, as

42:11

George and I have talked about at nauseam,

42:14

is right in our faces. Are the

42:17

rookie is going to be able to report on time, how many

42:19

guys are testing positive? Are the veteran's

42:21

gonna be able to report on time? How many are testing

42:23

positive? Have the NFL and nfl p

42:25

A worked out the money, have they worked out the safety

42:28

protocols. I would suspect that

42:30

it won't be worked out before

42:34

everybody tries to report to camp. But I

42:36

think they're trying to gonna try to get everybody

42:38

into Camp George, even if the stuff's

42:41

not worked out. I think they're desperate to try

42:43

to move the news cycle along.

42:45

Yes, well, one thing about the NFL,

42:49

and they truly believe the virus will bend to

42:51

them if they can do anything they want. We

42:53

could do our normal schedule, everything we normally would

42:55

do and will be okay. The problems

42:57

that you is not going to have that. I

43:00

don't think camp opens up on time. I

43:02

don't think it's gonna be I think it's gonna

43:04

be massively late. I don't think it'll be you know, August,

43:08

but I think it'll be August before we actually

43:10

do get in. There might be August first. A second, I think I've

43:12

a couple of days off because they're waiting too long,

43:14

like they're waiting too long to get everything they need to

43:16

get in writing and to satisfy

43:18

the union. I understand you're never gonna

43:20

be able to satisfy the union completely. That's just when

43:22

negotiations work right. Once I wants

43:25

all this was, I wants all that. You have to meet someplace

43:27

in the middle here, but they have to probably edge

43:29

more towards the union be safe. I don't

43:31

think we're playing two preseason games, you

43:33

know. I don't think we're playing any preseason

43:35

games but one at the very most. And

43:37

I also wonder when it comes to these preseason

43:40

games, why just do what the

43:42

what the team is doing in Major League Baseball? Thinking

43:44

about scheduling a game and having you know, Dallas

43:46

played ball tomorrow, Dallas for the Rams, Dallas,

43:49

you're playing Houston. Now you want

43:51

to try and play you playing the closest team to you. We'll

43:53

try and get it done that way. But even that,

43:55

I just don't think it's going to happen. Union's gonna fight

43:57

that quite a bit. I think it's a a

43:59

big negotiating ploy for both

44:01

sides. Actually, I think they'll be one point for the

44:04

NFL maybe to get other things they want by saying

44:06

Okay, fine, we'll give you no ball preseason

44:08

games this year, and the Union's gonna use it the

44:10

same way. We're not playing in the preseason unless you

44:12

do this, this, this, and that. True.

44:16

True. So let's talk about the

44:18

Rams specifically this season

44:20

again. Uh we're gonna

44:22

assume that everything gets underway and we get some

44:24

games going, but let's talk about their odds.

44:27

Rams obviously disappointed to not

44:29

have made the playoffs last year after making

44:32

the Super Bowl at the end of

44:34

the season and

44:36

losing to the Patriots in the worst Super Bowl

44:38

ever. But here are

44:40

the odds for the Rams to win the Super Bowl. One

44:43

plus twenty to

44:45

win the NFC Championship plus

44:48

four hundred. That's fourteen to one to

44:51

win the NFC West plus three seventy. That

44:53

division in particular is pretty

44:55

tight, so the Rams are behind

44:57

the Niners, which are even money at plus one

44:59

h it, and behind the Seahawks. Uh

45:02

so plus three seventy to potentially win that division

45:04

at a very competitive division. Now, you could argue

45:07

it's the most competitive division in

45:09

the NFL. With Arizona on the

45:11

rise. Hopefully for those of us that own

45:13

Kyler Murray and their fantasy leagues. Uh

45:16

so, yeah, I did um

45:20

to make the playoffs plus one thirty

45:22

No, minus one sixty. The win total

45:24

is eight and a half. It's minus one thirty two

45:26

the under. So there was a lot of fading

45:29

of the Rams. I didn't I was fading

45:31

the Rams last year. I remember our buddy

45:33

Joe Rayniery was fading the Rams

45:35

quite a bit last year. Going into the season.

45:38

They had the Super Bowl hangover. It was obvious

45:40

Girly was injured. Uh. They just did

45:42

not play anywhere near where

45:44

the level they played to in the previous

45:47

season. So now are

45:49

they gonna And they weren't terrible. There

45:51

were nine and seven. It's not like this

45:54

team completely fell apart last year. But

45:56

you know, considering where expectations were,

45:59

although it's a point now where I'm not sure

46:01

why anybody not named the Patriots

46:03

has any expectations after they

46:05

win or lose the Super Bowl, it's just hard to get

46:07

back there. Uh. Then again, here we

46:09

are staring at the Chiefs potentially looking at

46:11

a repeat. So so there's the

46:13

odds here, George. We'll go

46:16

through the schedule in a moment, But what jumps out

46:18

to you of those odds, Well,

46:20

what jumps out. I mean, I don't think this is

46:22

a bad team. You said they went nine

46:24

and seven last year. If we had

46:26

that extra wild card team, they would have made the playoffs.

46:29

They were seventeen, so they would have

46:31

gotten there. As far as the odds, I mean,

46:34

I don't I worry about Jared

46:36

Goff. Really what you depending

46:39

on him? That's a rough division they play in. I don't

46:41

think the fourty Niners are thirteen. I think they played

46:43

over their heads a little bit. Not Packers over their heads,

46:45

mind you you know Packers I think sold their soul

46:47

to get the thirteen wins last year. But I on think the four

46:50

Niners are the great four nine

46:52

team of the nineties or something like that. To

46:54

with the s East West blow at plus

46:56

three seventy now, I

46:58

don't see how it might be a better team too. I think the Fans

47:01

are a better team. Eight and a

47:03

half wins. I'm

47:06

gonna take No. One the playoffs minus one

47:08

sixty. That's probably where I I don't like laying that juice.

47:11

I don't think they make the playoffs. I don't eat

47:13

with seven teams. I think they

47:15

ask some question marks, and when we do the question marks

47:17

on this team. I think they have question marks up and down the offense

47:19

outside of white receiver. Yeah, I mean

47:22

the playoffs, you got Philly and Dallas. I

47:25

think it's only gonna be one NFC North team.

47:29

I think you're looking at two NFC South teams.

47:32

So you got New Orleans and Tampa

47:36

UM and then yeah,

47:39

I guess it's two out of the NFC West. I

47:42

think a better What about Atlanta?

47:44

I think Lands a push over either. No, but

47:46

I don't know that both NFC East teams

47:48

are going to live up to expectations. That never

47:50

happens in that division is

47:54

always very consistent. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah,

47:56

they love an eight and eight seasons, but that

47:59

that division it's self as a

48:01

new division winner every

48:03

single year virtually. Yeah.

48:06

So, and they're not

48:08

like knocking out two and three teams into the playoffs.

48:10

Definitely not three this year and maybe

48:12

not even to The teams are just wildly

48:15

inconsistent. So I

48:17

don't know. Uh, my problem with the Rams

48:20

is I'll kick it off with my issues

48:22

with the Rams is what a lot of

48:24

people have said. They are a very thin

48:26

team. They do not have a lot of

48:28

depth. They cannot afford to lose

48:31

guys, which they started to do last year.

48:33

Girly goes down, Cup goes down, and

48:35

then it's Golf and Robert

48:38

Woods. They're trying to get Tyler Higbee

48:40

in the mix. It was pretty good down the

48:42

stretch. I think there's plenty

48:44

of talented players on defense. They get

48:46

Michael Brocker's back because of that

48:49

Ravens contract snaff who Uh.

48:52

But again, I just think they're really

48:54

thin. They didn't have a lot of draft picks.

48:57

You need Golf to play back to the

48:59

level that he is playing in the Super Bowl

49:01

season, and I just don't know if it's possible.

49:04

Uh. They traded Brandon Cooks,

49:06

and I just don't know that they can

49:08

get back to where they need to. They'd have to

49:10

stay extraordinarily healthy, which is a

49:12

hard thing to say during this season that they're

49:15

going to be able to do. Is

49:17

he now? You hosted the draft

49:19

show for US. I was on you when

49:21

I covered the Rams. I was

49:23

disappointed that what

49:25

the what they did. I think part of the reason

49:27

why Golf has regressed is that

49:30

he doesn't have a lot of time back there to throw anymore.

49:32

I think he's turning into a guy who's seeing the rush,

49:35

he's throwing up his back foot. I would have preferred

49:37

them to go go offensive line. In the first round a

49:39

guy fell to them, and they still took

49:41

the wide receiver position that they

49:43

didn't need. The second round

49:45

they go camp anchors. Okay, you could,

49:48

you could? You want to say they needed a running

49:50

back. I'm not gonna argue with you. There they lost

49:52

girly, I get that, but you can find running backs later.

49:54

Still passed on the offensive linement, so

49:56

I thought that was two mistakes they made there. I think

49:58

you want to get Golf back his confidence,

50:01

which I think regressed somewhat last year.

50:03

We know he had got he has guys to throw too, coup

50:06

Woods. You mentioned everyone Higby

50:08

with Bolt pretty good last year. He and drafted

50:10

in another wide receiver here. But I think

50:12

he's seeing the rush. I think he's that happy

50:15

feet or his story about his back foot, rather

50:18

than stepping into a stores because he just doesn't

50:20

want to get hit right now, which is weird for a guy.

50:22

I used to say this about Eli Manning, but at least Eli

50:24

Manning Playton the year ten plus years before

50:27

he started feeling this is

50:29

not even half that, and he seems to be feeling

50:31

this rush already. I would have, like, guess, the major

50:33

question maybe the offensive line. I would have liked

50:35

to have seen them improve it more because I think

50:37

that would have helped the running game and I think it would have helped

50:39

golf. Yea, So I

50:42

agree with a lot of what you said because

50:45

they're off their strength of their their strength

50:48

of the team. A couple of years

50:50

ago when they made the Super Bowl was their offensive

50:53

line now Whitworth is still everybody's thirty

50:55

nine. John Sullivan was a mainstay

50:57

at their center. He's since retired. Are

51:01

Rob Havenst They lost Roger Staffold,

51:03

he's on moved on to the Titans at a

51:05

big free agency deal. So a

51:07

couple of the main stays they had on that offensive line

51:09

for a year or two aren't there anymore,

51:12

haven't been there, And to your point,

51:15

it the team as

51:17

a whole look like it regressed. I think

51:19

there are good weapons there. I

51:21

think some people anticipate that Cam Akers

51:24

could be a really interesting breakout

51:26

back as a rookie this year. I

51:28

just don't know that consistently that

51:30

this offense is going to dominate like they did a couple

51:32

of years ago. I do have faith in Sean McVeigh.

51:35

I think less need has broken down this team

51:38

in an unfortunate way. They've been capped

51:40

out, they don't have a lot of cap room. They

51:42

still need to pay Jalen Ramsey, whom they gave

51:44

up big draft picks for, and they're

51:46

not going to be able to do that until next year.

51:49

I'm frankly surprised that Ramsey has been

51:51

okay with it. Um. You know, he

51:53

still gets paid like a high end corner

51:55

because of his draft status, but you

51:58

know, not what he could get on the open market,

52:01

like what Byron Jones got or James

52:03

Bradberry got. I

52:05

agree with you about that. I'm surprised that Ramsay

52:07

has held his tongue as well I sposed to with someone we know is

52:09

not afraid to speak. Yeah, but maybe

52:11

it's some kind of inside agreement with them that he'll

52:13

he'll wait whatever it might be. I'll not worry

52:16

about the defense. I think it'll play fine. Remember

52:18

they also lost their special

52:20

teams guy. Those teams coach Fossil to the Cowboys

52:22

that he was very good. He was certainly

52:24

inventive with fakes and stuff

52:27

like that. Yeah, they have the best punter

52:29

in the business and Johnny Hecker. So

52:31

uh, that's it for this hour of football

52:34

Full Circle on behalf of George Kurtzer, producer

52:36

Brian Rikowski on Mike Bluet. Thanks for watching,

52:38

everybody, We'll see you next time. On the Grid

52:41

sports grid dot com betting insides

52:43

and entertainment at your fingertips as

52:46

our team covers the most important topics

52:48

in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive

52:50

betting models, expert picks, and more. Want

52:52

the edge than get on the grid sports grid

52:55

dot Com