Hour 2: Man McConkey (feat. Mina Kimes)
40:34 Share

What does Zinn give you? Not just smoke-free nicotine satisfaction, but real freedom. Freedom to do what you love and choose your rewards. With Zinn Rewards, you can redeem points for premium tech, outdoor gear, and gift cards to your favorite retailers. Find your Zinn and keep finding rewards that fit your lifestyle at zinn.com slash rewards. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm Personal Price Plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling, just another way to save with a personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stukas Podcast. That Gearhead segment was presented by NASCAR. For all the latest insights and storylines and to find out when and where to watch, visit NASCAR.com. Guys, during the break, two big roster movement stories broke, one in the NBA and one in the NFL. In the NBA, Miles Turner is headed to the Milwaukee Bucks.

for a deal that's worth $107 million. Wow. And in the NFL... Hold on. Can I stop you for just a second? I believe that Greg Cody will be titillated by what you're about to say right now, and I believe that Stugatz will also get very excited about this next bit of NFL news that you're about to deliver. So the Dolphins, as you know, traded John U. Smith yesterday to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a...

Big-time blockbuster deal that featured an all-pro move for an all-pro. Mike, may I stop you for just a second? Because I'd like Cody to try and guess who would make him enthusiastic to replace Jonu Smith with. Because the Dolphins have replaced Jonu Smith with somebody I think of as better than Jonu Smith. I also have a quick update just broke from Shams. As part of this Miles Turner move, the Milwaukee Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract.

This facilitates the move. Lillard is going to rehabilitate that torn Achilles. Wow. Shams is having a week, huh? It's actually been like an underwhelming NBA one, but back to your point and trying to get Greg Cody excited with this very surprising addition. I believe that the name that you're about, I'm looking to get an instantaneous reaction from Greg Cody because I believe that what Mike's about to say is a talent that the Dolphins have not

had at tight end since maybe like Keith Jackson or Eric Green. Going back forever when he says the name. Randy McMichael would love a word. I would take Randy McMichael at his peak over this one because Jordan Cameron would like a word. I think if you gave Greg a hundred guesses, he wouldn't guess this person's name. He wouldn't get it, but

But I think it's why it's going to excite him, and also it might trouble him. But do you want to take any guesses? I would like to take a guess. George Kittle. That's a great name. No, this dude was actually retired. This dude was retired. Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Dolphins are bringing in Darren Waller. Wow, I thought it was going to be Joe Rose. What a story that would be. Joe Rose! Greg, you know...

If this guy was still playing, you'd be writing a go-get-em column when it comes to Darren Waller. Darren Waller does not excite me quite as much as George Kittle would have if I'm being honest. Okay, very good. I'm glad we had you here for this analysis. One of the best in the game, sure. I'm glad that we have a player in here of football coverage who's covered football for 50 years. Yes, no, George Kittle is better than Darren Waller. You got me. You got me. Dead to rights. You cornered me, and I'm sorry that I got you all enthused. This guy over here was overselling Darren Waller.

You did make it seem like Gronk was coming back. Yeah, Darren Waller had an all-time season. He's excellent. He had two 1,000-yard seasons. He was a very good player. He was awesome. He tailed off after the move to New York and then retired. And he's had a bizarre retirement. He had music come out. He's a rapper now. A high-profile breakup.

A couple of things on Darren Waller. Please get me some of the specifics. This is a troubled individual and his public breakup evidently was embarrassing enough to him. He also talked about various, you know, weaknesses that he has had in terms of, you know, stimulant usage and

He has talked about concussions and depressions. He is a person who is open about his vulnerabilities and his demons. And he was supposed to be something with the New York Giants and Daniel Jones that he was not. He was that with the Raiders. This is a singularly talented physical human being. The issues with him are not physical.

No, but there was a huge drop-off in production, and he was marred by injury there. So I do think that there are some physical concerns, and we also don't know what kind of shape, mental or physical, he might be after the time away from football. But if you're looking at available options this late into the season, you just traded Jonu Smith, you look at your roster, everyone has questions about what that tight end room looks like.

I mean, it doesn't cost them much, and it's pretty inspired to give Darren Waller a call. He can make an immediate impact if he's, quite honestly, if he's half-assisted

as productive is a great move. That's what he did his last three years, though. Be half as productive as he was. Yeah, he was half as productive as his first couple of years. That's still an upgrade over the tight end. Wait a minute, though. Come on now. What the Giants and Daniel Jones were doing and the injury combination, I'm looking at a person, I don't have this wrong when I say this is as physically gifted a tight end as there is in the sport.

that he was un he was unguardable with the raiders he was their primary weapon everyone knew he was their primary weapon and he was still dominant now i don't know if his body has broken down since then but this is a player whose skill level i regard as higher than john who smith's now he might not be in that point of his career right but i think of this as a better overall player a more dominant player his best is better than john who smith's best you put him in this system because it wasn't

in this system. Well, this system is important, right? At his best, he had 197 catches over two years. Physically, physically, yes. That's crazy. Lunacy. But the

The reason that I was disappointed by Cody's reaction is for two years, this was kiddlish. Like this was in the realm. This was one of the best in the league. Production surpassed. You being underwhelmed by this human being like caught me off guard because this is a monster physical talent. Well, in fairness to Greg, though, he's been retired for a year and hasn't had a good year since 2020. Understood. Yeah.

And he's in his early 30s, right? He retired early, and I don't know. The reason he's available to you is because he's a cocktail of physical and mental issues. That's why he was out of the sport. But the production that you got from him four years ago, before the concussions, he plays very physically, and they were putting him in a lot of positions where he was getting dinged a lot. He's bigger than everybody.

Like, he's running through a secondary, and there is no one in the secondary nearly as big as he is. I believe he said that the reason that he stopped playing and retired is because one day he just woke up and he's like, they're playing me at fullback. What am I doing with my life? I don't want to continue playing like this.

This system will either be a rejuvenator or not, but it is a perfect place for somebody who's got high-end physical gifts. You guys said Randy McMichael, and yes, Randy McMichael was a nice tight end taken in the fourth round. Keith Jackson and Eric Green were prime favorites.

free agents trying to change the position so was this yeah I mean he was number one receptions for his position in 2020 it's a top 15 season all time at the position George Kittle in 2018 had a pretty massive one there too so I don't want to short change him but yeah he was really productive for a very limited offense and we saw last year finally he got production out of that position historically it's a position that you could always count on for whatever reason I think

I think the reasons were Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddell on the outside. They didn't really use the tight end all that much until last year, and John H. Smith became a pro bowler by finding all that space underneath. I think I'm appropriately reacting to somebody his age with his off-field issues whose only two notable seasons were five and six years ago. Right.

I mean, it's a signing better than not signing him. Don't get me wrong there. And he could work out well and big, but the odds are against it. That's all. If there's a place where he's going to flourish, though, I think Dan's point is this is the place. This is the offense. A physical talent. This is a perfect rehab center for whatever it is that he might or might not have left. I don't know what he's got left, but I would say that if you can do it with Gusecki, you can do it with this person.

But I think Greg is right. He had the appropriate reaction to Darren Waller coming back. It's not Antonio Gates. It's not Tony Gonzalez. I find his skepticism there refreshing because Greg has never seen a Pro Bowl name that he hasn't liked before. But there are plenty of questions about this player at this age.

And that physical state, no doubt. Highlighting his younger usage of drugs and stuff, he began abusing Oxycodone at 15, started drinking at 16, and his addiction escalated to the point where he was spending $100 a day on pills, overdosed on those, had a lot of cocaine use in his time. That's why his time got cut short with the Ravens, because he was on all these pills, and we didn't know what he was going to be with supreme talent and then that off-the-field stuff. But Greg, you would concede, given what their options are at the positions and the fact that they just...

use Johnnie Smith to reacquire Minka Fitzpatrick. It's a pretty inspired idea from this front office to bring him into camp and see what he's got left. It's worth the gamble. The thing that I would wonder about, as I always do with the reclamation projects that have an assortment of drug issues, throwing them into this particular cauldron of temptation in South Florida, when you have a

a history of escapism or depression or darkness. If you have cocaine in your past, Miami's not the place to be. I mean, you get drugs anywhere. Yes, and he played in Vegas and New York. Correct. But I would ask you to give me all the reclamation projects that are coming from drug pasts that four and five years later, when they are talking about the things that he's talked about publicly, whether his heart's in the game,

He is a player who feels like he has been spent by whatever the enduring of the last 10 years have been, both being in pain in that sport and killing the pain in that sport. One of the things that I wanted to mention to Tony as Lewis still wanders around the premises here complaining about how tired he is from wrestling Tony.

Can you guys look up for me the bar fight that Uriah Faber had at one point when you underestimate who these fighters are and what it is that they're training? Because Lewis was talking in the eating area about how physically granite these fighters are. And one of the reasons I've always loved the mixed martial arts is because my initial fascination with whatever it was, was fighting.

Foreign combat was the stories of guys who would sharpen their shins by kicking a tree over and over again until their shins were so callous that they could feel no pain and only administer pain because they'd done so many reps of just turning their body to rocks. No, that was Jean-Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer. He stole it. That was cultural appropriation from...

Jean-Claude Van Damme. He stole it from the mystics who did the martial arts before him. But look up the details for me on Uriah Faber, the street fight he got into because I'm pretty sure he beat up 11 guys. I believe it was him. There's a reason why I picked his name. He had a, like, was it him?

A Bali bar fight in which he and one of his friends were fighting back-to-back, I think. No, he didn't want to. He told us the story. I think it might be in the system somewhere. He was just running from people, and they kept chasing him, and he kept having to beat them up.

One after another. And I'm sitting next to this guy. Tiny dude. Tiny. Very tiny dude. Small. But at his peak of his powers, though, in the pound for pound discussion. He was a dog. Yeah. Actually, I had a great rivalry with Mike Brown, who's one of the great trainers. Do you have for me the details on that report? And I want to get to your other report as well. Mina Kimes is going to join us here in a little bit to ask her about...

Darren Waller and other football things. Yeah, the Miles Turner thing, Dan, is of more consequence, I think. That shakes up an East that is already kind of upside down because of injuries and everything, and we didn't expect Milwaukee to kind of be buyers. I don't really think it was maybe talked about. Certainly, if you follow the Bucs' specific Twitter accounts, this stretching and waving Damian Lillard thing, but Miles Turner...

leaving a team that is already hampered by their own Achilles injury to go to Milwaukee, it does sweeten the pot a little bit for Giannis. I do think, though, that it is interesting, and how could it not be, Stugatz, to...

accelerate our hunger at analyzing who can Game of Thrones their way to the top of the crown that the first two spots that he would go conversationally are Giannis and Miles Turner and hey Dame Lillard nice seeing you see you later that was supposed to be the piece see you later see you later Damian Lillard remember when that

was going to run the East and now it's been traded or it's been moved around in the roster for Miles Turner, a player who exasperates me, by the way, because he should be better. Miles Turner is always on the trade block and I'm always wondering why he's always on the trade block. And I'm always wondering why he's on the trade block the same way I also used to wonder why is Brooke Lopez always on the trade block? And then I see Brooke Lopez win a championship when he's used correctly as the seventh guy.

Miles Turner, I'm sitting there waiting in the finals for him to prove that I'm right about Miles Turner. And in game six and seven, he proved that I'm wrong about Miles Turner. He ended his Pacers career by not showing up when they needed him to give him something with Halliburton out, and he couldn't give him any rebounds, and he couldn't do anything other than wander around the court and score six points. At this point, he's a bit of a role player at 100%.

$107 million, though? That's not bad. He has some value, and I do find it funny. Yeah, he was perpetually on the trade block, which is why I think he protected himself this time around. He has a trade kicker in his contract. He gets a 15% bonus if he gets moved. He's sick of the trade rumors, too. When you talk about keeping Giannis and the Bucs doing that, obviously it's his decision, but is the pot sweetened with Miles Turner? Losing Brooke Lopez and adding Miles Turner? They didn't seem like the reports were that this wasn't a team that was going to be buying. Right.

And they made a $100 million investment. Miles Turner is a player that can help them. They've made a decision on Damian Lillard. It does seem like they've got some direction, which is, if you're Miami, what is the direction? At least you see all these other teams in the East making moves, and it's very clear that they're going into their offseason with a plan where other teams are just apparently just treading water again. Because the East is wide open. I mean, the Hawks are making moves. It's weird. It's a weird year to just decide now you're going to tread water again.

You have to think that anything the Bucs do right now, anything, is strategic with the idea this is going to help us resign. I don't want to skip past, though, what we're doing here, which is Dame Lillard is now officially a liability. I understand that he's been injured. I understand that people get awfully forgetful, and athletes will tell you all the time, just stay out of the training room. Even your teammates will forget if you're living in there.

that happened fast man Damian Lillard was the piece and now Portland is young and better good at defense gets out from under what that would have been if you had it on your contract with an Achilles tear at 50 million dollars a year but you look at that whole trade in its entirety and it's kind of garbage on both sides it's bad on both sides he players had some value some of the players that were talked about over there but Damian Lillard I don't think it's one of those things like you could look at it certainly what happened and

Milwaukee. They just have an in-season tournament win to their name. You could look at it and say, well, Miami avoided disaster there, but I think it's more nuanced than that. There were a lot of things going on in Damian Lillard's personal life at the time, and he did not want to be in Milwaukee. He wasn't in shape either. He told Doc Rivers, and then his body broke down from not being in shape. And he wasn't in shape because of what

was going on in his life and all of a sudden he shows up in a place that he didn't want to go to. He thought his franchise that he gave everything to would send him to the place that they wanted and they decided to make an example out of him when he did everything the right way. I don't think it would have gone the same way had Damian Lillard come to Miami. I actually think it would have certainly helped Jimmy Butler and it certainly would have given Miami what they needed but the stats speak for themselves. Well you can't know though whether someone would have gotten injured on your watch or not. I'm more interested in the end of his career because

because his value is now past its prime whatever that comes back as even if it can shoot it will come back as a bargain he'll always be able to shoot and he's gonna have to he's gonna have to get accustomed to being a role player and we've seen in the NBA in this century Dallas won a championship taking these former superstars and making them role players and maybe that's going to be the future for Damian Lillard because when you consider that injury and what was such a big

a big part of his game was how much quicker he was. Okay, but the thing that you guys are doing, it's okay. Like, I get it, right? It's all about now. The trade just happened with Miles Turner, and Giannis is interesting. But we're talking about a league superstar who that's the announcement that his career as a star is over. That announcement of, we've got to get Miles Turner because the thing we were doing to keep Giannis...

That's a spectacular failure, and it's a failure none of us saw coming that has at the end of it. And also, Dame, you're pretty much done. You're not a marquee name in this league. LeBron's still around and Steph's still around. You're not. We probably would have been there before the Achilles, honestly. He just wasn't considered that. He hadn't flashed it. And I do think that you can tie the injuries to the conditioning and whether or not one franchise would have taken care of his body more, but I don't think it's the end of Damian Lillard's story.

I agree with you, Mike. He's one of the five greatest shooters that we've seen all time. I know it's a mental hurdle for him to clear, to have to change his game and maybe become a role player off the bench. It's a spot of shooter. But that guy can shoot forever. With the landscape of all these Achilles injuries in the East, Dugat's brought up an interesting point that I wrote down

earlier today, I think the Hawks might be the best team in the East right now. Oh my God. It's crazy to say. It's a scary, crazy thing to say. But you get... No, Dan, the East is so bad. There are so many injuries. Guys, the Knicks are probably the best team in the East right now. And the Cavs, yeah, they won 68 games. They're cooked. They're frauds. And look, imagine how bad the Heat are that they got smoked by the Cavs who were frauds. But I will bring up this. The Hawks...

Add Porzingis. They add the New Orleans 2026 first-round pick. That's going to be a really good pick next year. They've got Nikhil Alexander-Walker on a side in trade. They've got Luke Kennard, another shooter, on a trade. You did something to Cleveland that's wrong. What was that? That's not right. Orlando's going to be nice to Desmond Bain. But your point is, look at Atlanta. They were a total afterthought in the conference. Battling it out with Miami in that play-in range. Now all of a sudden they have a path and they're doing something.

I have no friggin' clue what Miami's doing. You add all those guys to Trae Young, to Jalen Johnson, who's going to be incredible coming up, to Dyson Daniels, probably second or third in defensive player of the year. Atlanta's building pieces, and if they get that number one pick next year, if the Pelicans are that bad, all of a sudden, things are starting to rotate in a way that Atlanta's good. Here come the Hawks. Yeah.

Even Chicago, everyone, it's not just the top. Everyone around the bottom and middle of the pack is making moves in the east, and the Heat are just standing still. It's bizarre. Standing pat, some are saying. Atta boy. If the Heat would have lost to Atlanta and had the same pick, New Orleans would have called the Heat to make the same trade for Derrick Queen, and the Heat would have had a number one pick next year that could be a top three, top two pick.

Mina Kimes is going to join us in a moment. And I'm laughing on the inside at the idea that I keep trying to get you guys to talk to Damian Lillard about Damian Lillard. And you'd rather talk about the Hawks. Like,

Like there's no conversation that you would rather have. He's not going to play for a year. Less than the one about Damian Lillard and what this means. You want to throw this through the frame of Miles Turner when what this means is the announcement from Milwaukee that they're out on the experiment of Giannis and Damian Lillard can ever be anything here as an architectural blueprint. What's the most aggressive timeline for Damian Lillard to return at his age from that injury?

I mean, maybe he has something to say. He's done as a star player. He will be a name, but it'll be a faded name. He'll be able to hit jump shots, but if you take away his quickness, he's no longer Damian Lillard. Right. I think the conversation that we're having is what does this do to the landscape of the East? And I don't think Damian Lillard has a damn thing to say about the East next year. He's injured. He's out. He's 35 years old in a couple of weeks. I'm just pointing out how quickly things change. It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago.

We're just pointing out the Hawks have a shot.

for work that my home, my property, my family is protected, not just reactively, but proactively by Simply Safe. They are the number one for home security on the planet, on the market. There's nobody better than Simply Safe. I got the cameras going on. I got indoor cameras. I got outdoor cameras. I'm looking all over the place. Most security systems only take action after somebody breaks in.

But you and I know that's too late, especially when you have a little one at home and when you have your wife at home and the big dog's not there, right? SimpliSafe's new ActiveGuard Outdoor Protection helps stop break-ins before they happen. AI-powered cameras, live monitoring agents detect suspicious activity,

around the property. If somebody's lurking, agents talk to them in real time, turn on spotlights, and can call the police proactively deterring crime before it starts. Everything's on the app. I want to see the cameras. Boom. I see who's walking their dog a little too close to my yard, maybe leaving some dog residue close to my yard. I can go on the microphone and say, buddy, clean up after your dog. Over 4 million Americans trust SimpliSafe and so do

There's no safe like SimpliSafe.

Jeremy, you know something about me, right? You know when I'm grilling outside and it's summertime, you know how I supplement my summertime? Of course I do. I make a Miller Time. Of course. That beautiful white can. Oh, when it's so hot outside, I just put it right to my forehead, right there, and I just roll it sometimes right on the forehead, cool my body down, and then I crack it open and

instant relief and then that first sip brother does that first sip that is a top five sequence of events that you can possibly go through i'm just serenity now when i just imagine that first sip of miller light just thinking about it's making me happy dude the sun is out it's nice you have your friends showing up you got your family there you just had your first sip of miller light and you know what you're happy

You're blissful. You're fulfilled. I've been stocking my cooler with Miller Lite for years and for good reason. It's brewed for taste. Only 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs. This year, Miller Lite turns 50%.

There's five decades of cookouts, laughs, and ice cold moments that never miss. It's the original light beer, and it's still my go-to. Miller Lite, great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlite.com slash dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

This show is sponsored by Game Time, the official ticketing partner of The Dan Lebitard Show with Stu Gatz. And folks, let's be real. Buying tickets for concerts or games is usually a pain. You hop online early, you wait in some never-ending virtual queue, which I truly can't stand. And by the time you get through it, prices are sky high or tickets are sold out.

are gone. It's the worst. That's why I use GameTime. Look, you guys know me. I'm a white guy who likes to project like he thinks he's smarter than other people, which means Vampire Weekend is one of my favorite bands. And when Vampire Weekend was coming to town just a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for tickets. And not only did I find amazing seats on GameTime, but I actually saved a ton of money. GameTime has last minute deals that let you save up to 60% off for concerts, comedy, theater, sports, you name it. And soccer fans, how about you listen up?

Game time's offering 10% off exclusive zone deals for FIFA World Cup matchups. Big matches, great sections, and even better prices. You can see the view from your seat before you buy. Checkout takes just two taps. There are no surprise fees. What you see is what you pay for. So take the

Did you get lost on the way to Home Depot today, Dan? Like, what's going on?

Get his ass, Mina. Stugatz. You look like you're about to ask me to check the oil on my car. Get him. Or come over and look around and point things in my house that need to be fixed. This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz. Stugatz.

I wish you guys could see the negotiations with Stugatz and Greg Cody during the break as Stugatz tried to become a presenting sponsor on Greg Cody's podcast, The Greg Cody Show featuring Greg Cody brought to you by God Bless Football as presenting sponsor. We're in negotiations. We have enough bills that have piled up that need to be paid first. Greg Cody's not going to be the first one to get God Bless Football money. I like the way they're...

We are owed money from the episodes that aired on Metal Ark that you were paid for that I did that you did not. So we are owed money. Thank you for doing this. Turmoil. For privacy. Yes. So maybe it won't be a presenting sponsor soon. Title sponsorship. We'll see what the judge decides.

We will have the judge in the next couple of days to make some rulings. Mina Kimes is with us now. I was disappointed earlier with Greg Cody's reaction to the Darren Waller signing and him being generally unimpressed with Darren Waller physically and just complaining in general that Darren Waller is not anything special. Mina, let me say one thing.

Levitard was talking about them signing Darren Waller as if he were Darren Waller's agent. All I'm saying is I was appropriately standoffish in my enthusiasm based on a guy his age with his off-field issues whose last great season was five or six years ago.

Yeah, Greg, I don't know. There's such an impressive track record of older players in their 30s coming back years after they were good and being dominant in the NFL. So shocking that you're underwhelmed by this. Dan, were you whelmed by it?

Were you over-whelmed by it? Dan was well. Properly whelmed. I was appropriately whelmed. Stop watching football three years ago, four years ago? Yeah, but Mina, if we told Greg that Kellen Winslow Sr. was coming back, he would have been more excited. He would have been. Well, but here's the thing, though. I believe the Giants were a place where every talented person went to die over the last three years. I think if...

he was younger, I could maybe work up a little bit more excitement. You know, with all due respect to his rapping career, I believe it was, as you guys, I'm sure, remember maybe the most embarrassing music video of all time that he dropped after him and Kelsey Plum split. You remember this, right, Stan? Yes, yes, yes. Never want it. It's hard for me to get excited about this. It's also hard for me to get excited about it specifically for the Miami Dolphins because

They seem to be leaning it, committing to the bit that they're not a physical football team. When everybody for now two or three years has been saying the one thing this team needs to get better at is January, is running the ball. And instead, so they go out and they get a tight end. Last year, John Smith, who I thought was excellent, not in terms of he's not like a real blocker, but he was getting those yards after the catch underneath that.

They're like going away from it. And it feels like they're leaning even more into their identity. But we already know that identity has not worked out over the long term. What are the things from the last couple of days that have been most interesting to you? I mean, the trade was really interesting, the Steelers-Dolphins trade, because...

You don't really see this type of trade that much in the NFL, which is essentially two teams betting against each other that the players they are acquiring are better, right? Because it wasn't like a huge salary dump, although I think that was a big incentive for Miami was getting Jalen Ramsey's contract off their books and by the way, a success. So I know Dolphins fans maybe don't have the highest of enthusiasms right now, but that to me was a success because we thought that they would have to eat that contract.

But, you know, they felt Mika Fitzpatrick was a good fit for their defense. The Steelers felt Jalen Ramsey was a better fit. We'll see who's right. I actually think both sides, from a football standpoint, have a case for going after those particular players. But I think it's a really interesting talent bet.

Greg, could I not make the argument that the Dolphins just traded away two of their top five names? You could make that argument. Particularly since John O. Smith had such a career year last year. Sort of transforming his reputation in a way. Mina, is Jalen Ramsey a Hall of Famer? Yes!

Yeah, I think so. I think he's got a good case of it. I would have to take a look at sort of the threshold for corners, but, you know, multiple all pros, pro bowls off the top of my head, Super Bowl appearance, and

many years where he was a top three player at his position. Usually that sort of resume does lend itself to the Hall of Fame. - We were talking though about interceptions as a bad stat to use for DBs. What do you use and who do you regard as the best three going now? - The best three corners in football? Well, so interceptions definitely matter if you get a lot of them. I think if you don't, it matters less, if that makes sense. And so, you know, they tend to regress year to year. They tend to not be sticky.

They also depend on scheme. Are you playing a defense where you have eyes on the football, maybe play a little less man coverage, have an opportunity to make plays off the ball, playing behind a good pass rush? All of that matters. The truth is, and this is hard for me to say as a numbers person, there really aren't good stats for quarterback play. I can look at the average passer rating, and I'll consider those things. But because it's so dependent on scheme and what's being asked of the players, it's really hard.

to make broad sweeping generalizations about corners based purely on numbers. As far as you asked, who are the best three? Pat Sertan, easy. Derek Stingley Jr. Yeah, hold on. Are you doing this in order? You want to go 3-2-1 or did you already ruin it? No, no, I was going 1-2-3, I think. I mean, he was the defensive player. You stopped at Stingley, yeah. Okay, so Derek Stingley Jr. This is hard. I know I'm leaving somebody really obvious out here.

I love Marlin. McDuffie is really good. Okay, fine.

Give me traffic. He's taking too long. I don't know if that's my official. Mina, you mentioned scheme and a lot of people were pointing to scheme as to why there was a huge issue with Minka Fitzpatrick's on-field performance last year. He really dropped back. PFF had him ranked 44th. He's a confusing player. A lot of Dolphins fans were confused. He was bad. He goes to Pittsburgh, all of a sudden ball hawk, making a huge big time impact. And then that same uniform gets used differently. And there's a huge drop off in production.

Is Mika Fitzpatrick good? He's good. Yes, I do think he's good. He was not good this last year in Pittsburgh, and his play has been up and down. But I do think...

in the right defense he can return to form. And I like Miami's defense better for him than Steeler's defense for the reason you described, Mike. That's a defense where he was basically only asked to play deep safety. Miami with their defense coordinator, who I think is quite good, by the way, Anthony Weaver, more split safety, so he'll play a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage. I think there's more opportunities for him to be versatile, fly around the field. So I like this for him, too. What about Jalen Ramsey? Is he going to move to safety, the long-rumored move to safety?

Or is he still too good at corner? Because his PFF grades, that's all I really can consult here, were pretty good at corner.

Yeah, well, I still think he's a good corner. I think there's a reason why. Jalen Ramsey is a really, really smart player. He's really, really aware of his skill set, and I think there's a reason why he has been talking about moving to safety. He understands that it's hard to play quarterback at a high level when you get old because just athleticism and things that are asked of you, turning your back to the quarterback. I do think he can play more slot, maybe safety, closer to the line of scrimmage. He's definitely not going to play the make-of-its-Patrick role, though, in Pittsburgh. So anyone who says that is dead wrong.

Mina, with this week's trade in mind, particularly adding John U. Smith, is Aaron Rodgers in a good spot right now to make believers of his doubters?

Time to mow through some colors. Yes. Mow, mow, mow. Yes. Colors. Not really colors, but we're just going to... We're going to mow through those colors, but there's nobody business. No, that's not... We don't need that. Mow, mow, mow, mow your boat. Nobody's business. That doesn't make sense. Nobody's calling. It doesn't make any sense. Who's calling? Welcome to Billy's experience. Yeah. The Billy experience. He's tired of listening to you talk, and so he's going to throw some grenades your way. Wow. Mina, we haven't seen the full video. She didn't answer Greg's question. But...

Should Shelly really be this mad at Ace? She was mad at Huda, and that's the problem, Billy. Why wasn't she mad at Ace? Double standards, anyone? The music's too loud. It's very loud, Billy. More exciting season to watch. Love Island or Hard Knocks in season following the NFC East? Love Island. Love Island. Come on. Next question.

The music's too loud, Billy. It needs to be quieter. Turn it down a little bit. Turn it up. It's too loud. Turn your headsets down. Otherwise you can't. That doesn't help. It's mislabeled on the board. Okay. Thank you for a whole lot of nothing.

Greg Cody, did you have something? Well, he asked it already. I asked a question and shenanigans began. Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers, because he turned doubters into believers. I am skeptical that he is going to return to anywhere close to the form of a few years ago. Can he be competent? Sure. Can the Steelers offense be a run first offense? You got Johnnie Smith as an underneath option.

Sure. But I think at this point in his career, Aaron Rodgers is not Aaron Rodgers of 2021. Mina's doing a car phone. What's going to happen with TJ Watt? I think he's going to be a Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't understand why the Steelers would make all these other moves where they're clearly all in on this season and then trade away their best defensive player. It doesn't make sense. Is the jig up with the Dolphins offense or can they still be good?

The jig up. I haven't heard that phrase in a minute. I know, really. Old timey. Yeah. Jealous. I think... I am. I think the jig... Why am I so uncomfortable saying that? Is it...

Is that offensive? It feels offensive, and I don't know why. It should be. You think the jig is? Now you've got me scared of it. You guys have got me scared of it for no reason, and it's just the jig. But I don't think any of us know what the jig is or what the origins of the jig are. It's up in the office. It is up. It used to be a little dance. Like, if you were doing a jig, you were, like, dancing. Hmm.

That's all I can say. I feel like a jig is the best word to describe my dancing style. I think it is up, yes. I think that everybody has been begging this offense to become more diverse and become better at running and become more physical, and they just aren't and aren't investing in that. Drake May, what is he? Good player. I thought played excellent last year despite being in the worst situation in football. Very optimistic about him and his arrow pointing out. Best young quarterback nobody's talking about.

Ooh, that nobody's talking about. It's hard. We all talk about all the quarterbacks. Young, young, young. We're not talking about enough. Why is it K-Mord? K-Mord, the number one overall draft pick? I haven't heard enough people talk about it. That's actually true. We don't really talk about K-Mord, so that is actually a pretty good answer. I'll throw out one. Caleb Williams.

I think I went back and watched some of his games last year, and I was really impressed with what I saw. I understand, you know, this is like a horrible season, some really difficult performances, but I think the talent was there. Will Carolina make the playoffs?

I don't think so. They would have to win the NFC South, and I've got either Tampa or Atlanta. Fulls gold, though, with Bryce Young. Typically when we see young teams close out the season and a young quarterback close out the season the way that they did, it's usually a good indicator for a future season. Optimistic about Bryce Young, less optimistic about that pass rush and pass defense. Breakout wide receiver this year. I think he's already broken out, but I went back and watched Ladd McConkie. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Dude, he's so good. He's so good. He's so fast.

This is the year he becomes Man-McCaulkey. Number 100 on the NFL's top 100 players. I like that. I like that. I contacted you when I said that. I did. I looked up. I tried to do it in your voice a little bit.

I haven't used that one. That's fresh. Only the best stuff for us. She does it for me. I wonder why she hasn't used that elsewhere. It can't be because they've rejected out of hand anywhere else on earth. You loved it. What are you talking about? C.J. Stroud. Give me a reason. Give me a reason that he was bad last year other than pressure up the middle.

I thought he, obviously pressure was the biggest reason, but I thought you saw his accuracy wane in moments. Granted, because of that pressure, but you really saw how bad offensive line play can also eventually lead to bad quarterback play separate from the offensive line. Even when there was a clean pocket, he looked skittish at times. Your best thoughts on Pablo Torre finds out almost finding collusion, but being screwed by an arbiter who got it wrong. So close.

I thought it was a great story, a great podcast. And my first thought was, oh, my God, this NFL PA guy. Like, the Stugatz was strong in him. Oh, my goodness. The player had a treader, the head of the PA. Fall guy. Terrible look. Terrible look. Fall guy. Fall guy. Is Bill Callahan so skilled as an offensive line coach that he can mitigate some of the issues along that offensive line to help guarantee Cam Ward the most possible success?

I think so. I think, though, more than just Bill Callahan, you know, they bring in Dan Moore Jr., who's a competent left tackle. I think everybody's sliding to their correct position. You bring in Zeitler. So I think the investments they've made in players, just competent veteran players. Faster. Is Trevor Lawrence good? Yeah! Yeah, exactly. Is the jig up in San Francisco? Are we... Has anyone...

that phrase, it is not up. I think that they're going to bounce back this year. Has anyone looked up how many people Uriah Faber was fighting in Valley? Countless. They said hundreds. Yeah, countless. People breaking bottles over people's heads. That, by the way, is Billy just playing Uriah Faber's laugh instead of Uriah Faber telling us that story. It's all he's got in the system. A team that's going to be less good than people think it is next year. I am not super high on the Chargers. Damn it.

People are higher than me. A team that's going to be a lot better than people expect it to be. I think the Jaguars. I know I was like, eh, I'm at Trevor Lawrence, but I think they're going to be, I think that offense is going to be pretty good. BTJ is fun. The next disposable position in terms of value that's going to get cut the way that running back has been cut.

It changes constantly because football is changing constantly. I would say it's less that it's less valuable, but I think maybe the interior of the defensive line has been climbing and edge has gone down a teeny bit in my mind. She's the host of the Mina Kimes show starring Lenny. She is Mina Kimes, NFL analyst on ESPN. We miss you, young lady. Thanks for stopping by. Bye guys. Man, McConkie. I'm going to use that again. Terrible. Watch me get laughs.

Jeremy, you know something about me, right? You know when I'm grilling outside and it's summertime, you know how I supplement my summertime? Of course I do. I make a Miller Time. Of course. That beautiful white can. Oh, when it's so hot outside, I just put it right to my forehead, right there. And I just roll it sometimes right on the forehead, cool my body down, and then I crack it open and...

instant relief and then that first sip brother does that first hit that is a top five sequence of events that you can possibly go through i'm just serenity now when i just imagine that first sip of miller life just thinking about it's making me dude the sun is out it's nice you have your friends showing up you got your family there you just had your first sip of miller light and you know what you're happy

You're blissful. You're fulfilled. I've been stocking my cooler with Miller Lite for years and for good reason. It's brewed for taste. Only 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs. This year, Miller Lite turns 50.

There's five decades of cookouts, laughs, and ice-cold moments that never miss. It's the original light beer, and it's still my go-to. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.