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00:00first Sunday in August. It feels like you're sitting for a Sunday. Look at that. I'm already
00:04ready for football season. The first Friday in August. It's a football Friday. We're ready to
00:08go today. And also, if you had fun in our number one, wait, do you see our number two? It's not
00:13any right side. It's Joe Ranieri. And as we welcome in the man, the myth, the legend. And by the way,
00:19this man gets carried every night on radio by Mike Carver. Let's go. How are you feeling, baby?
00:26How are you feeling? What did I do to deserve this at nine o'clock in the morning, guys?
00:32Unbelievable. Thanks for having me in officially football season. There's no joke. This is it.
00:38Football is back college and pro for the next six months. Nothing better, guys.
00:44No, it is fantastic. And I always say this to Joe. We take a look at the future and we just
00:48had our first preseason game. We understand how quick football season goes. We'll be talking
00:53Super Bowl. It'll feel like in a blink of an eye. So cherish these moments and have some fun.
00:58And yes, let the betting commence. Now, I want to start here. I was listening yesterday to pro
01:03football full circle on the radio. It was George Kurtz. It was it was Joe Lisi. And all I kept
01:08hearing was, we've got to get these alt overs in. We've got to go forty one and a half at Fandul,
01:12forty two and a half, forty three and a half, forty four and a half. Maybe the best bet that
01:16I've ever seen. Twenty one. Seventeen final. Not because they didn't want to score. The game ended
01:22prematurely due to suspension. Talk about the feelings in the room, Joe, that you had yesterday.
01:26No. And you had a golden ticket in your hand. And what happened there?
01:30Oh, Donnie, it was reminiscent of the game back in two thousand and three with Ron Dane in
01:35Wisconsin going up against Jason Thomas. And you want LV? They pulled the transformer before fifty
01:42five minutes. I mean, that's it. The books were out there, you know, creating a weather weather
01:47delay. It was unbelievable. I told Carver last night we had thirty one points in the first half
01:52and I said, watch, something's weird is going to happen. They're going to you know, the lights will
01:57go out, everything. Something always happens in terms of the Hall of Fame game, the turf.
02:02Something's going to happen. And sure enough, after I booked the two touchdown bet with Houston,
02:08that was plus two thirty. All of a sudden, after the thirty eighth point, the rain came in. We never
02:13got it back. They voided the bets. I don't care if football is back. That over was the right bet.
02:19We would have gotten it at seven to one. And it's unfortunate because both offenses were humming
02:24last night. They were humming, all right. I mean, where's that Brett Rippon, Ben?
02:32That would be absolutely fantastic. But when you look at it now, I don't know, is there all of a
02:38sudden a battle for the number two spot here on the Bears? Are you a big Brett Rippon? You think
02:44he's the right guy to back up the rookie that you can trust him or his badger? What do you what do
02:48you do here if you're the Bears? I mean, you go with which, you know, quarterback performs in
02:54terms of game situations. For me right now, it would be Brett Rippon. Looked like he had a good
02:59handle of the offense. He extended that Houston secondary vertically and the touchdown passes to
03:05Colin Johnson really stood out. But Davis, those look sharp as well, guys. That's the biggest thing
03:10is that, you know, a lot of these teams go in conservative in terms of these preseason environments
03:15and I understand injury. But at the same time, you still want to develop the young talent to have
03:20them ready should a player or a starter go down. So I think it should be Brett Rippon. Colin Johnson,
03:27the former Texas Longhorn, looked great. Nice that he's getting back to where he was back in college.
03:33Never pan down with the Giants in Jacksonville. Hopefully, he could stick with the Chicago Bears,
03:38guys. How about this, Joe and Ibraflu's team on pace for 40 passes in a single game here. Maybe
03:44a new Leaf is turning over in Chicago before we get to some other statistics in that game.
03:49Obviously, the reason why a lot of us were watching last night was to see the new kickoff rules and
03:53how they played out in real time. And as they started to telecast off, it wasn't just like the
03:58public watching it. Other teams around the league wanted to see how it was going to play out. So
04:02let's start there. You see the opening kickoff and how it works. Are we liking it? Is it going
04:07to take some time to get used to it? What were your general thoughts on that last night, Joe?
04:11Oh, I'm loving it, Donnie. You know, we saw this in the XFL and the UFL in regards to spring
04:17football and I think it brings special teams back. You saw every return man for the most part return
04:23the kickoff and that's what you want to see. You want to see special teams back in the game
04:28because it could be a momentum changer, right? You know, punt returns,
04:31kickoff returns were always a part of, you know, big wins especially changing the complexity
04:37of a potential, you know, team that's down or a team that's tied. That's what you want to see
04:42and it gives an opportunity for second and third teamers to make teams now, right? Special teams
04:48and the kickoff is back. Guys aren't just taking it out and calling a fair catch at the 25-yard line.
04:55So, I love it, guys. When I looked at these rosters yesterday before everyone announced,
05:01of course, that no starters would even sniff the field, which was expected here, Joe.
05:06Is there two teams? You may not all year see two teams who are more loaded at wide receiver
05:14than these two damn teams here. Between DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Stefan Diggs, Nico Collins,
05:20I mean, you go down the list on these two teams' rosters from a wide, and now you just mentioned
05:25Colin Johnson also showing up here. I mean, these two teams are going to be throwing the ball a lot
05:32this year, are they not? I believe so. I believe more Houston than Chicago. I still believe Matt
05:39Eberflus wants to win games 17 to 13 as opposed to 40 to 20 and now with Caleb Williams there,
05:46you should open it up, especially to get him that type of experience. There is no margin of error
05:51for the Chicago Bears. Eight-amp win total. They're expected to challenge for an NFC North,
05:56you know, division title and more importantly, a wildcard appearance. So, unless they open it up,
06:01I don't think they have a very good shot. Conversely, for Houston, you mentioned all
06:06the wide receivers that they have. John Metsch is there as well. Let's not forget him. I mean,
06:11the depth that C.J. Stroud has now at his disposal, along with Joe Mixon coming out of the
06:17backfield, that could catch the football as well. I believe Houston's offense is going to be
06:22explosive. I'm curious to see where we book all these totals for C.J. Stroud and Houston right
06:28now. He blew right through them last year, going to have to put them in the 48-49 area for much of
06:33their games. By the way, we'll take a look at maybe the head-to-head comparison, the expectations on
06:40these two young quarterbacks will be. But just heading into the preseason itself, Joe, what are
06:44some of your thoughts as you line up on a preseason game? Caleb Williams is a rookie, hasn't played yet
06:49in the NFL. Do you think he should have got some snaps last night? Because for me, you know, Joe,
06:53Ramiro and I were talking a little bit earlier, you have to start the entire 11. Like, because
06:57people don't understand, like, why is he getting any snaps? We're not putting them out there with
07:01third-string guys that aren't going to be on the football team as your franchise guy over the next
07:0410 to 15 years. But what are your thought process behind a young quarterback getting extra reps in
07:09the preseason? Do they need it or not? You see, I think Caleb Williams needs it. And I understand
07:16not putting him out there with D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen. But, you know, this is a team that
07:20really, again, has to make the playoffs. The pressure's on Matt Iberfluss. And from what I
07:26saw Caleb Williams last year, especially in the game against Notre Dame, there were games where
07:31he didn't and failed to step up. Three interceptions, tailed off towards the end of the regular season.
07:37And again, even though he's got the physical attributes, he needs to hit the ground running.
07:42There is no margin of error. I keep saying it because Chicago is supposed to win nine or ten
07:47football games. If you didn't open up the offense or allow Justin Fields to open it up last year,
07:53you got to do it with Caleb Williams and you have to do it in the preseason.
07:57So you can't wait till week number one and say, we'll work out the kinks or we'll work out the
08:02weaknesses. Then you have to do it now. I'm expecting next game he gets a lot of reps.
08:09All right. I'm not a big Caleb Williams guy, Joe. I don't know what you think. The hype around this
08:17guy is laughable. Don't forget Stroud. Nobody was even talking about Stroud after he fell down the
08:22draft board. Right. And look, that was perfect for Stroud. What they are blowing towards Caleb
08:29Williams here. It can only go one way, Joe. It ain't going to go up. It can only be disappointment.
08:35And I am worried about this Bears team here. Are you a Caleb Williams guy?
08:40No. I mean, again, I think he's got the physical attributes. I think the best quarterback in this
08:45draft class was Jayden Daniels. And I'll stick to that right now. Caleb has the first round talent,
08:51but I'm with you. I'm selling Chicago the whole season.
08:55As Joe Lisi would say, the Chicago Bears have a gutless head coach here. We'll see how it plays
08:59out in 2024. Let's take a look at the matchups between these two teams. There are a lot of
09:04similarities with quarterback play, offensive explosiveness, and how these two teams will
09:08factor on possibly making the playoffs. Football Friday? Yeah, you said it. We'll be right back.
09:13More fun on the way. Our number two of Football Friday here. It's Donnie, Joe, and Joe. And
09:19there's no better than to talk to Joe Lisi here when we're lining up an NFL season that's
09:24on the horizon. And what we saw yesterday, just a slight little appetizer. Now, if we do bring in
09:30these two teams from yesterday into the equation, it was an entertaining first half before the
09:34rains came in and stalled this game out. We got to look at the new kick returns. We'll see how
09:38they play out during the season. But I want to take a look at these two teams because there are
09:42similarities. A young quarterback with a lot of hype coming in. CJ Stroud last year, top two
09:47draft pick. We expected some good things out of. I don't think anybody expected him to be in the
09:51MVP race towards the end of the season, winning big football games on the road, winning divisions
09:57and playoff games. He did that last year. But Joe Lisi, I want to bring you into the conversation
10:01on this. Does what CJ Stroud did last year put more expectations this year on Caleb Williams?
10:09Yeah, I think it does, Donnie. I think that's why you're seeing the eight and a half win total. I
10:13mean, eight and a half win total to me would have been if Justin Fields would have come back
10:18as the starting quarterback. He won seven games last year. He obviously got it out.
10:23Some games had some big performances and he's still an experienced quarterback. Caleb Williams
10:28having an eight and a half, nine win total is eerily similar to just hit the ground running,
10:34throw for 4,000 yards and 25 plus touchdown passes with no growing pains. And that's similar to what
10:40CJ Stroud did last year. But I think we're forgetting about the other quarterbacks that
10:45were taken in the first round and how they struggled and rookie quarterbacks in general,
10:50how they struggle with new teams. And again, we have a very conservative head coach and Matt
10:55Eberfloos that would fail to open up the offense to really allow Justin Fields to shine and put
11:01playmakers around them. And now with Caleb Williams, you're expected to do that this year,
11:06not just to make the playoffs, but to save your job. So that is the expectation right now. This
11:11team goes six and 11. Matt Eberfloos is not going to be the head coach next year. So they're going
11:17to be right back to where they started with Justin Fields at the end of the regular season
11:22and making a decision on that. That's bad for Caleb Williams' growth and that's bad for the
11:27organization as a whole. So I agree with you a hundred percent. This number is evident because
11:33of the success that CJ Stroud had last season. So we talked a lot about the wide receiver room
11:41in both of these teams. But can I tell you, Khalil Herbert for the Bears, who is now,
11:48people understand, DeAndre Swift is really going to be the lead guy. But having a guy like Khalil
11:54Herbert, and did you even remember Cam Akers? Because he's out there running all over the place,
12:00Joe. He's making cuts. We forget that Cam Akers, when healthy, was a difference maker here.
12:06The running backs on both of these teams, I think, are going to play huge roles this year.
12:11That's a hell of a Bears combo there, having DeAndre Swift and Khalil Herbert.
12:16Oh, absolutely. Khalil Herbert was very productive at Virginia Tech and he's a player that can catch
12:22the football out of the backfield. Roshon Johnson is there as well. The big back that can get the
12:27tough yards between the tackles to spell DeAndre Swift as well. So I think the Bears are very set
12:34in regards to the running back position. You look at Cam Akers last year. I mean,
12:38he hurt his Achilles with the L.A. Rams, hurt it last year against Minnesota in week number nine,
12:44and he looks very sharp. If he plays the way he does throughout the preseason, that's going to be
12:51a player that you can count on to spell carries for Joe Mixon, and he can catch the football as
12:56well. So another added weapon for C.J. Stroup. That's what you want to do. You want to build
13:02up these guys heading into week number one so you have diversity, and more importantly,
13:07you have players you can rely on down to make a playoff run. Yeah, I think that blueprint is
13:13now pretty much solidified. When you get a good, young, talented quarterback, you don't wait on
13:17him to get good and try to find his way. You get players around him to help him get good at a
13:21faster clip. Now, if we are talking about the Houston Texans, loved what they did in the
13:25offseason. You had a couple nice trades that you made. Obviously, Hunter comes over as defensive
13:29end. Fantastic move, but more importantly, you get a guy wide receiver to add to that already
13:34talented wide receiving core in Stephon Diggs. Who knows if he's going to be the dominant Diggs
13:39that we saw two to three years ago as opposed to what we saw down the stretch, but I do think good
13:43things are here. Joe, I want to ask you this question. Team win total nine and a half this
13:47year for the Texans. I look at that number because it's hard to find anybody that's down on the
13:52Texans. If you look last year, they finished ten and seven. They won the division. The number nine
13:57and a half. Well, I think that is a sharp number. So is there any doubt in your mind that the
14:02Ascension is here for the Texans? They went ten plus games or how can this go off the rails a bit
14:08where they take a step back and maybe win eight to nine games and not even the division? Yeah,
14:12I think injuries Donnie, right that that would really curtail Houston's efforts to potentially
14:18win 10 or 11 games, not just on the offensive side of the ball, but on the defensive side of
14:23the ball as well. I believe in D'Amico Ryan's year number two in terms of his scheme. I think
14:28he did elevate Will Anderson in that unit up to potentially a top 15 unit is going to come down
14:34to can CJ Stroud stay healthy? I think there's no doubt. He erased all the doubts last year.
14:39I really believe he is one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC. I don't put him up there yet with Josh
14:46Allen, obviously Joe Burrow and Pat Mahomes that won three Super Bowls right now, but he's on that
14:52trajectory, right? I mean he can stretch defenses vertically and the biggest thing for me about CJ
14:58Stroud Donnie is the fact that he maintained in his poison and composure. He didn't get rattled
15:03in certain situations in the playoff game. He stepped up against one of the better defenses
15:08in the AFC and torch them early and that to have Stefan Diggs now to warrant double teams and take
15:16it away from Nico Collins. That could be his biggest attribute outside of catching passes.
15:23You weren't at all about the you know the sophomore slump. Let's face it now a year of
15:29tank for defensive coordinators here Jojo on Stroud. This is a we're going to learn a little
15:35something about him. I mean no doubt he's good, but they are going to be game planning in a big
15:41way against him. And are you confident enough? He can overcome it because it feels like a low
15:46is coming at some point this year. It seems that way, but I believe in him. And again,
15:51you know, you saw him challenge Georgia in the semifinal playoff game. That was his coming out
15:56party. And then what you saw what he did in the playoffs. I don't think there's going to be that
16:00much of a drop off in terms of productivity, especially now when you have multiple weapons.
16:05He could check down at every level running back tight end with Jolton Dalton Schultz. He has every
16:11level of the passing tree covered as it relates to this roster. So I think he's going to be just
16:16fine guys. Houston Texans to make the playoffs a minus 210 price. The Chicago Bears to make the
16:23playoffs a minus 104 price. Big things expected for both of these young quarterbacks once again
16:28in 2024. But let's talk about good quarterbacks and injured feet next. Oh boy, the charges and
16:35a bit of trouble. We'll talk about it.
16:56The silver and the bronze. I give you Canada, France, Germany, Serbia and Australia,
17:04Germany, more so than Canada. I think that their talent, it's a little more tiered.
17:08Oh, you know what Dennis Schroeder is capable of. Franz Wagner, another player, Daniel Tice steps up
17:13and Mo Wagner as well. They're built to really take advantage of the mistakes that Team USA
17:18makes and they can make the effort plays. Newswire only on Sports Grid.
17:27Try and set the stage for what should be a great year of NFL action.
17:31There's a handful of teams that potentially can compete for a Super Bowl championship. Confusion
17:37and uncertainty this year, more than some in the past. This team looks like it's ready to
17:43make a move, but we just don't know if it's bad or good this year. JJ McCarthy is eventually going
17:48to take over, but it's like it's a no lose situation for them. I mean, they suck. They
17:52were setting it. Only on Sports Grid. That race for the Cy Young, pretty much as equally compelling
18:01and intriguing as the race for the wildcard spots in the National League. And also keep in mind,
18:05Scheme doesn't pitch the entire season, so his ERA gets affected much, much more if he has a
18:10four out of him, let's just say Chris Sale or Zach Wheeler that's been there all season long.
18:14This would be a fun one to watch it play out, but the big loser last night were the Phillies
18:18and Zach Wheeler. The early line only on Sports Grid.
18:27Hopefully they learned their lesson. Hey, this ain't the NBA, bro. You don't have six fouls
18:31and they will check you on this stuff. And Brooks has a reputation coming into this.
18:35You could tell the refs are watching them and they were on them all the time.
18:39This was 10, 12 years ago. Canada playing Greece with that type of lead that they had.
18:44They probably would have mentally crumbled and lost that game to Greece by three or four
18:48points in the final minute of that ballgame. Sports Rage late night, only on Sports Grid.
18:59So
19:14talking football on a Friday morning here on the early line, get used to it people.
19:17It's only the beginning over the next six, seven, eight months. It is going to be fantastic. Sooner
19:22than later, we will be handicapping regular season football, playoff football and right
19:26through to the Super Bowl. But injuries already creeping up in the preseason, I should say,
19:31before you even get to the preseason. So let's bring in here once again, Joe Lisi, Joe Ranieri,
19:36having fun on a Friday, but injuries never a fun thing. And Adam Schefter tweet yesterday,
19:40Chargers announced Justin Herbert was diagnosed with an injury to the plantar fascia in his right
19:45foot. Per the team, quote, doctors have recommended approximately two weeks in a boot, followed by
19:51a graduated return to play protocol. So just starting there, you're getting ready for your
19:56season. It's a new regime, Joe Lisi. Boy, this is bad news because if your quarterback is not
20:02going to run that new offense over the next couple of weeks and expected just to be parachuting in
20:07in September to play, this isn't a good start for hardball here. No, it's not. And I've had
20:12that injury and we talked about it. It is very painful, could linger throughout the regular
20:17season. I'm shocked, guys, that this team has a price better than the Cleveland Browns,
20:23a team that made the playoffs with the first year head coach, Jim Harbaugh, excuse me,
20:28get him confused with his brother that won a national championship with Michigan. How they're
20:33plus one or two or right there, almost even money to make the playoffs is mind boggling to me. I
20:38don't even think they're the second best team in the AFC West. Jim Harbaugh is going to weed out
20:44the players that fit his roster and don't fit his roster. He's going to bring back physicality
20:49to the offense and defense lines. And that's not a one year fix. That's a two or three year fix.
20:54And now that Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are no longer on that roster
20:58and Austin Eckler, I think there's going to be growing pains in year one. So again,
21:03I'm selling the charges along with the bears. I don't think they make the playoffs this year.
21:08I think Jim Harbaugh is the right coach, but this is a huge blow to the offense,
21:12having Justin Herbert out of preseason right now.
21:17It's not even close. I mean, you got Greg Roman, right? You're new OC. You got the new coach
21:23Harbaugh. You have an entire new wide receiving core, right? And now all of a sudden you're gone,
21:29nowhere to be found. Let's just say, Joe, that he spends the next two weeks in a boot,
21:34which means he won't be out of the boot and won't be able to gradually start practicing until at
21:38least August 15th or 16th. Their final camp practice is August 22nd. The season opened
21:44September 8th. If there's any setbacks, how in the hell is he going to be ready for game one
21:49in the season? You better brush up on Easton Stick's knowledge, I guess here.
21:54Yeah. Easton Stick was a train wreck last year. I mean, absolutely. Look at that game against
22:00Las Vegas where they got blown out. He was absolutely atrocious. So again, this isn't
22:05North Dakota State. You're not playing inside the dome. You're playing now with Jim Harbaugh
22:11that is expected to win at least nine or 10 games. Again, I think Justin Herbert will play
22:17potentially week one, week two, maybe if they keep him out, but it doesn't matter. It's still that
22:22they have such a high win total and such high expectations in year number one with a complete
22:28new offensive defensive scheme. And this team had one of the worst defense under Brandon Staley.
22:35Remember him, coach of the year? He's gone. It's unbelievable in terms of the expectations that we
22:40put on the L.A. Chargers and all they do is fail. I'm sorry, guys, selling Harbaugh on year number
22:47one. I do think Harbaugh is going to have success once again in the NFL. Basically, he's been
22:52successful everywhere he's gone. But the one thing that we talk about, too, with the Chargers is over
22:57the past couple of years, the talent, Joe, has always been there. We just kept asking, well,
23:01outside of a kicker that could never make field goals down the stretch, which was certainly an
23:05anomaly, we just need a coach that's going to put us in the right position and let the talent take
23:09over. Were you surprised that he came in and changed that talent drastically right off the
23:13bat as opposed to just giving it a run with the players to evaluate? Or were you happy the fact
23:18that he came in and made those major changes to get his guys in there and his right of way going
23:23immediately? No, I thought it was a great move, Donnie, and I'll throw another team in regards
23:29to Denver and Sean Payton. I thought he could just sprinkle the pixie dust on the Denver Broncos
23:34and take them to a playoff appearance. He saw the hard way in regards to now he's in a complete
23:40rebuild. Same thing, I think, you know, with Brian D'Abel and the New York Giants, overexceed
23:44expectations with the talent that they had as opposed to ripping it down and starting from
23:50year one the complete rebuild. Jim Harbaugh is doing it the right way. That's why I agree with
23:55you. Long term, he's the right coach for the job. It's just that in year number one, the expectation
24:01is there to make the playoffs, and that's why I'm selling. It's going to take a couple of years to
24:05get his guys and instill the culture in the locker room, and that's exactly what the L.A. Chargers
24:11need, guys. Ah, we could talk football all morning long, but Joe Lisi's got some pressing needs a
24:17little bit later. Make sure you catch him on Pro Football Full Circle and also the anchor, as we
24:22like to say, on Carver and Lisi. That's Joe Lisi right there. Catch him at night as well. We love
24:27Joe Lisi around this network. Thanks for joining us tonight on a Friday. Good luck on the rest of
24:31your day, and enjoy the weekend here. Much more to come right here on The Early Rock.