It's that time of year: A deeper look at how each of the divisions are shaping up in the first of our eight division previews. It’s a look at the AFC North.
Who was the best veteran addition in the division? The most intriguing rookie? Which coach—head or assistant—are we keeping an eye on in 2021?
The Ravens’ work solidifying their roster, the Steelers offensive question marks, the never-overwhelming expectations of the Bengals, and the bona fide (according to one host) Super Bowl aspirations of the Cleveland Browns. Plus, an unveiling of our absolutely unassailable collective projection for the order of finish in the AFC North.
But the true highlight of this episode is AFC North mad libs, a wonderful idea from Conor that went swimmingly once Conor understood how Mad Libs work.
Have a question for a future mailbag? Email themmqb@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Hello, and welcome to the m m QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I'm Gary Grantling, I'm Jenny front Up, I'm Connor Or and guys, the sun is shining, the days are longer. Everyone's heading out to the beach. It is summertime, and that means we all retreat into our homes and preview the divisions for the upcoming season. We're, uh, we're gonna start this a little bit earlier this year that the thinking was being we probably wanted to vote a little more space to uh, I don't know, uh, sort of sort of developing news once we get to August. So we're going to start the division preview series right now. There are eight divisions. We are beginning with the a f C North. We're not going to tell you how we determined to do a f C North first. We're just gonna tell you what we're doing it. And these are gonna come at you in in a fairly random way. You'll be surprised and delighted every week. But uh uh, here's the deal. We're gonna go through four categories for each division, dealing with biggest additions and and most valuable non quarterbacks, and that sort of thing. We are going to have a coaches pole style vote at the end to see who who is our pick to finish in each place in division and in the middle. We uh, I don't know. I'm super excited about this. We're gonna have a mad Lib. We're gonna have a division preview mad lib. Very exciting. Connor Or has taken the lead on the mad lib section and I just have to say, Gary, we should probably make it into a little bit of a guessing game for listeners. They can figure out how we have ordered the divisions. Mm hmmm. Boy, inviting people into our twisted minds to try and figure out how we did this. I don't know, that's dangerous. It's a dark place. Hey. And we should also welcome everybody that's going to join us on YouTube for this. Oh yeah, we are. We don't see us now. And it's way harder for me when other people are talking to just read for pleasure, you know, so I can't do that anymore. Um Um, I'm enjoying this and welcome, Welcome to our basements and uh living rooms and other respective areas. It's very exciting. I'm very disappointed that that Gary used to sit against the backdrop of classic board games, and has since decided to move it over. What is that like an Atlantic Ken poster? You know that is a that is Maryland Basketball two thousand two. There's a Yukon and I T Champions Clifford Robinson, the late great Clifford Rominson. So wow. Yeah, I think we should be honest and share that Gary's background is not authentic. While this corner of his house may have previously existed, this is not where he usually records. He usually records in a somewhat dark basement as Connor reference, with a stack of rejects board games behind him, which I enjoyed. I thought there was a lot of charm and appeal. I thought it was going to become a little bit of an interesting you know which board games were there? Why we're they rejected? Potential topic of conversation. However, Gary slyly upgraded, although I have to say Connor has also done this. I am the only person that hasn't moved. Well, because you have a lovely home. Yeah, well, I also live in an apartment, so there really isn't much place for me to go. This is my main spot where I can sit. So here's a little peak of Hollywood magic. Right, I just took my laptop and turned it around. So normally you're facing the door, and now I'm facing the door back like this is what I look at when I'm typing downstairs, like the one time year that I used my office, and so, uh, this is I figured that would be the view that I want to bring the readers into. I think they I also just rotated fifteen minutes. That was all Connor. At the end of the show, we should pick up our laptops and slowly rotate like a dramatic shot to U show our our old basis so much I would get I would get killed for this. There's just like trash everywhere, like in my office, like, but you're seeing the nice part of it. So please don't tell anyone how we live. Alright, guys, let's let's get into the preview. Here. We're gonna do. Uh, We're gonna four questions sort of questions if you do for for each division, and each of us will give our three answers and then maybe uh trade barbs and shout at each other and be angry about what the other person answers. But uh, the first category here and We're gonna start with Jenny's answer. Uh, we'll call it Biggest offseason addition, and this is the veteran addition. So there it was audition with an A and then addition with an E. It's good podcasting right there, Jenny, biggest Veteran offseason edition here alright. I went with John Johnson three safety that the Browns added. Their roster is really pretty solid across the board. The one area from last year that really to use fortifying was the secondary, and they did that. They got Johnson, who's a fantastic player. Somehow flew a little under the radar, surprisingly so, maybe because he was on a Rams team where there were so many other stars, and certainly as a player that the Rams would have liked to have kept. But you can't keep everybody, and especially because the roster has so many stars, you end up losing a player at a spot like safety. But I think he'll really be a big difference maker for the Browns secondary, shore up the back end, which had faced some injuries last year. That was that was part of the reason that that was one of the weaker areas. But just a fantastic player, and I think you know, if you look around the division. Certainly one of the biggest editions, but maybe even one of the biggest free or the best free agent signings across the league. So I'm I'm going with Kevin Zeisler in uh in Baltimore here, And I don't think he is uh. I don't think he was the best player added to the divisi And uh, I don't think he's anywhere near what Marshal Yonda was even in Yonda's last season, even if you can serve Yonda's maybe a half step below his Hall of Fame prime. But uh, it was such a problem spot for the Ravens last year at right guard, I think, just bring someone in who brings a uh. If I could be so rude to the guys over there last hear kind of just like a level of competence that to that spot, because I don't think the Ravens offensively slid back as much as people think. I think a lot of it had to do with with some inefficiency in the red zone. But just bringing in Zeitler and being able to run the ball more effectively down there is I think gonna make a big difference for them. And and again, you know you saw them since they were injured up front, they tried to mix in some uh to some degree of success and mixing some zone stuff with that scheme. I think they showed last year they can do a few different things with this with this rushing attack here, and they can still be based on that. You don't have to go out there and make Lamar Jackson h a guy who throws the ball seven year percent of the time. So I think they can basically land somewhere between twenty nineteen and twenty TWENTI as far as his offense goes with their performance, and I think Zeitler's a guy who is going to be able to solidify what they do up front of here, and that's a that's a big deal after they just couldn't replace marshal Leyondo last year. So for that reason, I'm going with Jadevion Clowney because I think that Baltimore bolstering their running game means that Cleveland needs to get tougher against the run. And we'll get into a little bit of that when we talk about rookie additions too and why I think that's important. But it's really interesting if you watch Baltimore's offense, there are a lot of times when Lamar Jackson's only option on plays is to give the ball on on a lot of those zone reed handoffs, there are a lot of times when there is no run option, like he has to give the ball, and their preferences for him to give the ball over and over and over again to set up the other things that they like to do. And so the first step in beating Baltimore is to confront them at that at that first kind of preference for their offense. And Jadevian Clowney I still think plays the run better than most defensive ends in the league. Uh, and then and and so he really is kind of a kryptonite for Baltimore. And then you know, and played on that Titans defense that played them so well. But um, you know, to kind of elevate that further, I mean, he can do for um Miles Garrett's career what he did for J. J. Watt's career in Houston too, which is to take on a lot of the difficult matchups, to draw a lot of the double teams and um and then let the the more athletic pass rusher, the guy who's gonna get into the backfield faster, flourished, So I think that there's a there's a chance for some pretty serious dominance there because he's in Cleveland. Alright. Our next category here, this is the biggest offseason addition, rookie edition, and this is more like I'm gonna I'm gonna slightly rebrand this as most intriguing addition here in the in the division, because I don't know. I mean, I think we all would probably go Jamaar Chase as far as the guy who's gonna have the biggest impact, But I think there are some some guys who are are certainly more intriguing what they're gonna bring. And if you guys in mind, I'm actually I'm gonna go first this time, so I'm going to anger everyone. I'm gonna pick na J Harris, the Steelers running back. I think there's two things that are somewhat important that he's gonna bring this Pittsburgh offense. One is just something to regulate them. I I think that's what you saw, uh in the second half of last season, is you know they had run out this this sort of new look, all the motion, all the horizontal stuff in the passing game, and it's sort of caught teams off guard, and it just didn't. It got stale. Everyone knew it was coming about the second of the the season and they didn't have anything to turn to, and it just it was just a really disjointed offense. And on top of that, they've never been you know, Ben's never been a big play action guy. They never really used a whole lot of that. So I think having a guy like Harry Is who can grind you out those those five yards on first down and basically keep you ahead of the change. I think that is a big deal. But also my big thing. And and I am, uh, I don't know, I'm gonna become the the champion of running backs everywhere everywhere here. Uh. I like running backs who can finish drives, who can score in the red zone. I think that's one of the most important skills running back. If I was gonna, if I was gonna put together my my wish list, I want a guy who can catch the ball out of the backfield and I can move around the formation. But secondly, I would want a guy who can get the ball into the end zone. And he did. See late last year the Steelers had some issues in short yardage. I think Harris makes a difference there, and uh, I I don't want to go so far as to celebrate a first round pick on a running back, but I think this one makes makes some sense, makes a good amount of sense, makes a makes a serviceable amount of sense. Your opinion was so mainstream that it actually fits into your penchant for being an outsider because it was so made and stream that it is almost against the mainstream. And so it was really the perfect Gary answer. Uh. It was initially expecting you to say, like Ben Cleveland or something, but this is, uh, this is um, this makes more sense and uh, it's viewers are going to have to kind of give it a second, let it turn in your mind, and eventually it will become so wild that it will fit perfectly into into Gary's whole milieu. You know, it's it's very hipster. It was a very hipster answer. It is. Yeah, I'm telling you, I'm not joking about this. Um uh like old takes expose me. Running backs are going to be a thing again, Like it's it's we're gonna be talking about running backs again a lot, big time. I like that. I'll get on board with that. The non ironic selection of the running back. It's it's so non ironic that it's ironic, is where we landed with it. Yes, I personally like Jenny's answer the best, which is part of the course, but you go ahead. Well, I also had a little bit of an advantage because I filled out the Google doc first, so I think my answers were probably the most obvious ones. So I went with Rashad Bateman for the biggest offseason addition rookie category. Clearly we knew the Ravens were in need of upgrading their receiving corps. Bateman was one of multiple additions they made Sammy Watkins and free agency. They also took Tylan Wallace later in the draft. But as Gary set up so well, probably, yes, Chase maybe the receiver that puts up the biggest numbers or or one of the flashiest offseason additions rookies in the a f C North, but Bateman could have a chance to be a really big difference maker and to get that offense a little bit more over the hump, And I agree with you, Gary, I don't think last year was as much of our regress and as it was made out to be, which is why a player like Bateman and Zeitler and some of the other additions they've made conserved to push the Ravens forward a little bit, which can make a big difference. So I'm interested to see he's the he was a fifth receiver taken and obviously to cost this pre draft comments where ah, well, receivers not a position we need to upgrade, or however he phrased it, were a tell that they were going in this direction. But you know, we already knew that. Anyway. I like that answer a lot. UM. I went with um Jeremiah a Woosoo Coamoa from Cleveland, but also just added sneakily into the Google doc Tony Fields the second um just as a as a package, right, because I think that there was a definite belief in uh, you know, I think that the Browns had that um, like that healthy disagreement. I think during the pre draft process where I think that there's probably some linebacker guys in there, and there was probably some defensive back guys in there that um that thought that we should you know, we we we need to continue shoring up the secondary, and there were some other people that you know, when you think about it, it's like Okay, it's sort of a dated um thought process, but it's not really. If you look at the a f C North, it's just a different division. You need different players, you need different kinds of guys UM, and I think that j Okay helps them because you know, the Steelers are very tight end oriented, the Ravens are very tight end oriented. That solves some of your problems there. But he can also step up in the box and hit people. Um. He had a lot of you know, kind of these eye popping hits at Notre Dame that that blew a lot of people out of the water. And Tony Fields too, is a tougher guy that can kind of just fit into these gaps and stop these run first offenses. And I think that that was something that as much as we were talking about Cleveland Secondary desperately needing to get overhaul, I think they needed those guys in the middle too. Because Jenny has pointed out so well over the last few weeks, like, look at the way that teams are behaving now that Tampa Bay has won the Super Bowl with off ball linebackers. You know, they're they're just like running backs. They're back in vogue a little bit and they're realizing it, Like, Okay, all these other teams are either gonna do what Baltimore is doing, um, what the Steelers have done, or you know with the forty Niners, Um the Jets are trying to do. It's all downhill. It's all very physical. And I mean the Buccaneers ran duo like a basic you know, two back running play all through the playoffs because teams weren't tough enough in the middle to handle it. And so I think that these two players go a long way towards fixing, uh that problem, or at least shoring them up a little bit. So we are going to touch on the quarterbacks in the in in the heavily in the the reveal of our of our vote at the end of the show. But uh, let's right now, let's do most valuable non quarterback in the division here, and uh let's actually let's let's let Connor go first this time. I did the Gary answer this time, so uh both you know, I can't believe it. Um, So I'm gonna be pedantic here and I'm going to underline the word value, right. Uh, most valuable player is a player that does things that other players in the league don't do with as much regularity. And so Mark Andrews, the tight end from the Ravens, is probably one of four or five tight ends in the league that can block as well as he blocks and receive as well as he receives. It's you know, probably Mark Andrews, George kittle Um, you know Travis Kelsey. It's a very short lived Dallas Goddard. You know, it's very very short list of guys. They're able to do that stuff so well. And I think the more that you look around the league, you see who's getting paid and for what reasons they're getting paid. Uh, teams are realizing, holy smokes, were we're out of these players. There's not a ton of these guys left. And Mark Andrews is one of those guys. And I think without him, we see a very different Ravens offense. You Know what I like about Mark Andrews is like he was only one of these tight ends who came to the league with his reputation of like, oh well, he's just he's just a big receiver. He can't block like he can. You know, you can't ask him to block, and uh, and he does it now. So I am going to uh, I don't know, treat him like he's a small child and just say that's really that's really impressive that you made good was a weakness into a strength. So I salute you, Mark Andrews, and you can you can wear that badge around and and be proud of it. But it's not unlike what Travis Kelsey was. He sort of came in with the same reputation and he had issues as a rookie. They really they ran to the other side of the formation when he was in the game, and now they run behind him. And Mark Andrews kind of done the same thing. So good on you. I'll go second, Jenny, and you can go third. Here I'm going Miles Garrett. And look, Myles Garrett might have been Defensive Player of the Year last year if he hadn't missed a little bit of time. What is really interesting to me about Miles Garrett is there's no doubt. I mean, look, he's the question is is he an A player or an A plus player like he's the Defensive Player of the Year or is he just really really really good All Pro player year and the year out? Um, I thought he picked on some really really bad tackles early in the year, and that's part of what you do as a good defensive coordinator. You uh, you know, Joe would make sure that Myles Garrett gets those matchups. But I mean he feasted against against the backups earlier in the year, which I think maybe gave him a little more of a boost. I think he was maybe a half step behind the t J. Watton and some of the other you know, Aaron Donalds, any other really top guys. But uh, if he is a true sort of just just bona fide defensive player of the the Year candidate, and now you put Clowney on the line with him, and that's gonna be even more single blocking that he's gonna be facing. I mean, you could be talking about eighteen sacks this year for Miles Garrett. Well, once again, Gary has set up my pick nicely, which is t J. Watt. I think what's interesting about Lot is he has still not maybe fully gotten the recognition that he deserves. He was the defensive Player of the Year candidate last year, yes, and he finished in second place, but I think we haven't seen him fully emerged from his older brother's shadow yet. Although I do think last season was kind of that point where where kind of we we saw a shift from the focus on j J to t J a little bit more. And he's head it into his fifth season, so he's still growing and developing as a player, but obviously a disruptive force and really key to the Steelers being a contender in the division because there's so much uncertainty about what will happen on offense. You know, Ben Roethlisberger is obviously at the tail end of his career. He lost his center, they have a new offensive coordinator, so they're really going to have to rely on their defense this season to be a factor. One thing I am interested to see is how they fully transition away from having Bud Dupree. That happened, you know, uh quickly. There was a sudden change last season right when he tore his a c L and we saw that the defense, the front wasn't quite as productive without Dupree in the lineup. Now he's gone, he's gone to Tennessee, so they have an off season to adjust. But I am interested to see. Okay, now that bud Dupree is out of the lineup and they're planning for that to happen, perhaps the adjustment will be a little bit better this season without him as a piece in there. And it's also a contract year for t J. Watt, which will be another interesting factor. Uh. He declined to talk about it at Steelers Mini camp, but obviously as a player that the Steelers would like to keep around. Jenny obviously did that awesome cover story on t J. Watt last year in the Art of the Turnover based on what you know reading the tea leaves, which I was banned from saying, but I will bring it back because I want to read some tea leaves. Um, do you think that we're like one contract here away from a What Brothers reunion somewhere? Like we need Well, it's not a reunion because I don't think they've ever played together, but like a real a real What Tacular finale or something spent time together. Yeah, they know each other. They have the subway in their backyard that they all eat at. That's right, that's right. Yeah, I mean that was the potential possibility this offseason, right, and it didn't work out that way. But I can imagine that would be a career goal if you're we all have siblings here, like if if if your sibling was playing for the Steelers and you were a free agent, would you want to play for the Steelers or would you want you know, like I feel like I feel like I don't. I don't know, And I mean, I love I love my sister. I just don't know if like i'd want to like bookend a defensive line with her, That's all. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I am the younger sibling. My sister is brilliant. And I had the same major as she did in college. And I still remember going in to my biochemistry class freshman year, pretty big lecture hall, like at least a hundred students sitting like in the middle of the room, and the professor points to me and is like, are you related to Cathy Brentis And I was like, yes, I'm her sister. And he said, well, you have big shoes to fill and I was like, yes, I'm I'm aware, I've been I've been told this my whole life. And he said, well, it sounds like it's an issue for you, but I just want you to know that she's the only person to receive a hundred percent on all four exams in my class. It was one of those classes where your grade was based entirely on four exams, and this teacher was one of those who had the tricky multiple choice questions, so it was like ABC, and then D was like A and B, and then he was like A and C. So you had to know every last thing. So I think I took the first exam. I think I got one question wrong or something, and I go to, you know, check my test score. Pick it up. Because you know, this was a while ago. I'm older. You didn't always get your grades via email then, and uh, well, you know, nice try or something along those lines. So you know, I can. I can relate to t J a little bit here, So you would you would prefer like, let's say happy as a franchise quarterback, you're the past rushing defense event. Maybe being able to get after in practice a little bit would be cathartic. Oh no, I was saying, you know, maybe maybe I should have gone with a different manger for university or something along. You shouldn't have been in football at all. Yeah. Yeah, if Jenny is j J, watch she's going to go somewhere and a convert to punter. Oh man, uh most interesting head coach? Uh no, sorry, most interesting coach, head or assistant. I can even read the category that I that I've wrote myself, Um, this is most interesting coach. It can be a head coach or an assistant coach in the division. I'll go first on this one, just just to break it up a little bit and to sort of introduce the Bengals into the conversation here for for just a moment. Zach Taylor just I don't know, in a way, it's probably not great to be the head coach in Cincinnati where maybe you don't have the same resources, maybe you don't have the same investment that you'll get in some other franchises. But by the same token, maybe it's nice to be in Cinnati because it just feels like there's not a ton of pressure. Maybe I'm misreading this. I just feel like there's not a ton of heat on Zack Taylor there. Everyone's kind of looking at this team and be be like, Okay, well they're the Bengals there. Yeah, they'll finish fourth place again, and let's just see if they make a little bit of progress, and uh, if they you know, I think the team is capable of maybe stealing nine wins this season or something like that. But um, it seems like if they even if they go five and twelve, it'll just be like, I know, that's that's where we're supposed to be. We're the Bengals and this is where we belong type of thing. But uh uh, I will say, I'm really interested to see what happens with this offense because they did fortify the offensive line a little bit. Um Obviously they bring in Jamar Chase to to uh, Jamaar Chase is going to a j Green had a great career, but he just didn't have a very good So you get a big upgrade in Jamaar Chase Joe Burrow last year. I'm surprised the Bengals offensive line kind of graded out as well as it did because I thought when Joe Burrow was in there, it was just a guy who had zero trust in his blocking and he just there was never a top of his drop. He just took the snap and it was immediately in the scramble mode. And that's that's how they just kind of played all season. So uh, you know, it's it's you have a young, potential franchise quarterback, you have a decent supporting cast, Maybe the defense is still a question mark. But I don't know. Maybe Zach Taylors and and this group kind of sneaks up on people this year and steals a couple of wins from three teams that I think we all are looking at as being certainly not on the chief's level, but but possibly in that tier two of a f C teams. Interesting, Gary, Alright, I went with a non head coach. I went with the new Steelers offensive coordinator, Matt Canada. And the reason is partly I referenced it in my last answer. There have been some changes and also some non changes for the Steeler's offense. Ben Roethlisberger loses his longtime starting center Marques Pouncy, and Matt Canada has said he will continue to do what Ben Roethlisberger wants to do with the offense. So I think what I'm most intrigued about is how is this going to work. You have a new offensive coordinator coming in who's supposed to bring new ideas, but you have a long entrenched veteran quarterback that's probably not super amenable to new ideas. So do we see Matt Canada have the chance to run the offense he would like to run. Is this a weird, awkward transition period? How do they deal with the fact that they're running a new offense without an experienced center that Roethlisberger has worked with for so many years. So I think there's a lot of questions about the Steeler's offense overall. Obviously naj Harris Gary talked about earlier in the show. So I just don't know what's going to happen with the Steeler's offense. And I think the switch in the offensive coordinator adds an interest. Saying wild Card, I love that answer. And uh, you know, because Matt Canada is a really interesting guy, right he Um, you know, he had a lot of success in in college and um, everybody who wants like a good instructive look at Matt Canada. Go back to the year that the Rams made the Super Bowl. All that backfield motion stuff, that jet motion stuff in the backfield that was stolen from Matt Canada. That he that was the guy that was doing it before everybody else. And so he's got some really interesting ideas. I think, you know, it's it's too simplistic to say he'll just bring that to Pittsburgh, But there's a lot of great athletes on that Steeler's offense that could theoretically do a lot of that stuff and and make um make them a little bit tougher to defend at the line. So I think that's a great answer. UM. I did a little bit of a cop out here with Kevin Stefanski, and I'll just say this just because he's the only new head coach I believe to make the playoffs last year. UM the only first time head coach. Um Ron Rivera also made the playoffs, and I guess he was technically a new head coach, but only first time head coach to make the playoffs last year during a pandemic. And UM, I think in a lot of ways, like it's just like a sky's the limit thing with this guy. It feels like UM as well as they were and as prepared as they were last year coming into the season despite not having any anything in the offseason, you know now that they have all these chances to get together to meet UM, I don't know, like, what what else could he do and how kind of high could he take? This? Uh the ceiling of this, you know, this Brown's team is loaded. As Jenny said earlier, they have UM uh, you know a Coach of the Year. They have Bill Callahan, who a lot of people you know is probably next year head coach, your offensive line coach, might be one of the most important people on your staff. And so they have a lot of really good things going for them. And it was you know, it's just um and you know they're together with the GM and the you know, like there's no infighting. It's just like, I mean, this team could win the Super Bowl. I said, I think that they have as good a chance as anybody going to the Super Bowl and winning it this year. Is that crazy? Connor? That is a bold prediction that you dropped in. I wasn't prepared for it. I wasn't either. It just came out of Connor or Browns to the Super Bowl. Sometimes some people, some people meditate for years to find that kind of subconscious clarity. And I here, I am just blurting it out on on the Monday Morning podcast. But yeah, no, it's just um. Like I was talking myself into it, you know while I'm I'm just blabber in here, and then I was just like, wow, like it wasn't Super Bowl. And yeah, you got fired up as you were going on all of the pros, all of the reasons. Their roster strong, the coaching staff is strong, and you felt confident enough to share it. Connor, I really appreciate being here for this moment. Please clip this for for for social so I look like a ridiculous when they're three and four in October. That's the goal of all of this, bring down the oracle. Listen, A lot of good teams start three and four and now you have ten games to to to recover here, Connor, very true. All right, So, um, I'm gonna spearhead the mad libs portion of this, and it's it's it's good to get this out of the way early because I volunteered to write the mad libs and I was very excited about doing divisional mad libs, and I came to realize that I didn't exactly know how mad libs worked, and uh, but it clicked for me, like write about minute twenty of the show, and so I think I'm ready to go. Um, but I do have it here, so um, all right, so the first thing I want you so I'm gonna I'm gonna write these down, uh, and you guys will just give me your answers. Can you give me a noun and it's it's got to be the name of a woodland type creature, creature you'd find in the woods. Jenny, do you want to go first? And then I'll go second? Well, Jenny, Chipmunk, Oh, this is gonna be great. Okay, Chipmunk, perfect, Gary, go ahead. Oh I need to give you one too, Okay, Um, do you or do you are? Are the two of you? Just go one and then the other and then we'll see what we come up with. That probably works better, right, Yeah, I think one and then yeah, because otherwise you have to you have to give like a slash on each one. You really want to flow when it's all you're right, You're right again, just highlighting my misunderstanding. You volunteered and we were so pumped about it, and it turns out you don't even know what it is. It's like, uh, it's like when I went over to my friend's house to play magic the gathering and I talked about it all day in school and then I was like, okay, so how do we do this? And you don't know how to play? All? Right? Soul frantically looking at the Wikipedia page in that it lives yes, go ahead. Genre, Gary, I'm gonna need, um, I'm gonna need an adjective that you would use to describe, um a slightly eyebrow raising outfit on the red carpet, and not in a good way. Oh I think that would be uh uh how about selecious? Perfect? All right? That works. Writing this down. That was not a trap to get you to say seous, by the way, but I bet it feels like it. Yeah, I bet it feels like it. Um, Okay, Jenny, I'm gonna need a noun that you would use to describe a large dog, a noun to describe a large dog, or an adjective again, yeah with me here, all right, Uh, lumbering, This is great? Okay, all right, I guess lumbering works as an adjective. Yeah, yeah, they Ah, this is gonna work out. Okay. Um, Gary, I'm gonna need a verb disc gribbing um kind of a fun dance that you would do at a wedding. I would say a robot the dance robot, not not the noun robot. There is so dance robot is what you're Yeah, well, robot, but you know it's it's meant as the verb it's a verb. It's a dance verb. Do the robot correct? Do the robot? Okay? Uh? And then jenny uh, a noun describing something in the bathroom that isn't the toilet. Okay, that's a very family feud question, right there. Um. Fawcett, all right, all right, so we got it, all right. So this is actually going directly into Sports Illustrated the magazine, the divisional review issue. So copywriters just get ready. Um, when you look at the a f C North, this division is a real chipmunk. You have the Cleveland Browns, a team that has typically been salacious. Last year they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in a playoff game that some may describe as lumbering. Meanwhile, the Ravens fizzled in the playoffs and due to their inability to do the robot. Lastly, the Cincinnati Bengals finished in in the divisions. Fawcett, Wow, all right, that was that was exactly as wonderful and stupid as I thought. Oh man, I was thinking of like I was writing it as like me, you know, and so I was like trying to and then I realized that like I wasn't going to give any of the answers, and uh, but oh that that turned out better than I thought. Fawcett was the kicker for me. I love that. Yes, that's a new term. We got to use that throughout the season, the old divisional Faucett. This harkens back to playing mad libs while waiting between events at swim meets. You always had like a pad and you know, one of those little books, and then somebody would yeah, which, by the way, you should have told your professor as much as oppressive as that and the test score was. Is Jenny's sister still in the record books in state college p A for various swimming records? Name is still up there right there? You go, Connor, So what do you value, mr professor? You know, just saying thanks, Connor, I appreciate the ego boosts after I bury that embarrassing anecdote anytime. All right, this is the wrap up part of the show. We unveil our I'm calling in a coach's pool. I'll stick with that, and the three of us voted are our order of finish in the A f C and a f C North and I will now unveil it with number four. The Cincinnati Bengals total of three points. We each picked them to finish fourth, and and I don't know. I mean, I think it's a team that's moving forward. There just I don't think there's any reason to think that they move forward enough to to catch anyone else in this division. I agree with that. I think too that if you listen to the conversation surrounding uh my dog agrees with me that if you listen to the conversation surrounding the team, you can often tell what the coach has convinced important people of around him. And every anytime you listen to anybody connected to the Bengals talking, it's well, you know, it's gonna take some work, and and the roster was really bad before we got here, you know. And so I think that that leads me to believe that even probably deep down the Bengals think that, you know, they're probably going to be like a five win team this year, and they're in one of them competitive divisions in the NFL, if not the most. Yeah, no doubt. So we have a tie for second with eight points. That would be the uh, well, we'll do the Steelers first, will do reverse alphabetical Uh, Steelers second place. I I voted the Steelers first place. I think the uh I think they learn some uh some difficult lessons last year with this offense. I think they'll get that sorted out. I do think that Canada will find some answers for them, and I think the defense is gonna be good enough. So I I picked the Steelers durin the division. What yeah, and I yeah, both had the Steelers third. So yeah, spoiling the brown super Bowl run when it's all said and done. But yeah, the Browns. Uh, the Browns are our tied for second here with with eight points as well. Connor picked them second. I picked them third. I disrespected them, and uh, I I will live with that. I mean, it's the safe that cosmically right, I mean it's, you know, to have Pittsburgh in first, in Cleveland third, mean, that's you know, if you're reading the stars, that's the easiest way to go. Um. But I mean I was really left with no choice after that monologue back there. So I'm all in now. So I'm in the defend and I'm I'm prepared to swim. Where are where do we put Baker Mayfield? Right, there's gonna be a do there. Don't they long term deal for Baker Mayfield? I mean, I would. I I think even in October last year, I was kind of leaning towards they probably have to move on. But I think I think you do it now. I think you've figure out the long term deal with him. I thought it was really good in the second half of the year. I feel like you do it to stop him from being pissed, but you build in a bunch of stuff where you could get out of it pretty quickly. Right. I think that the Browns probably as and I'm not saying that they're thinking this, but I'm sure as a front office, would be the least married to the idea of having a franchise quarterback over the long term. You know. I think that they could probably take it or leave it. And you know, but if you perform as well this year, of course you pay him absolutely. First place. Our pick to win the division is the Baltimore Ravens. Jenny had them first, Connor and I each had them second. And yeah, I don't know, that's plenty of plenty of reason to think that this is going to play out that way. Yeah, I think with the additions to the offense, filling in some of the weaknesses last season, right, they really address those with adding Zeitler and adding receivers, and I think they'll just be as we discussed, that little margin better that they needed on offense. And I think they have the best quarterback in the division. Yeah, yeah, yes they do. They definitely have the best quarterback in the division. I think. I think that's true. Um, I like it. I'm never gonna say it's a bad thing to have a Bird team win the division, that's right. You know. As we've made the transition from the week Side Podcast, Connor, we have kept some of our favorite things, notably the Jets, and I really hope we can keep the ornithological references as well. It's really a key part of our identity. So it is fitting that in our first division rankings this summer we have a Bird team in first place. I'm gonna I'm gonna for YouTube. I'm and have them photoshop like a little bird right here, you know, just like a little c G I B. Yeah, it'll say and it'll say, like, let's wrap it up, Gary, you know perfect, Oh that note, Let's let's wrap it up. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL podcast is Jenny Brentis Connor Or and me Gary Grinling. We are produced by Shelby Royston, Sis, Executive producer Podcasts to Scott Brody. Mark Rabick is Emeritus editor of the MQB, and Andy Benoit is the founder of the MMQB NFL podcast. Be sure to subscribe to This Beat on Apple Podcasts, and once you do, please leave a rating, m review because it really does help where people find the show, which is also available on Spotify, Radio dot Com, Stitcher, s I dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.