00:00Good morning, 97.1. Jim Costa, John Jansen, Heather Park, Gov and Greg behind the glass.
00:05It's a Thursday, which means we check in with Ross Tucker. He's on a call for a big game
00:09this weekend. Ross, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
00:13Of course. What's up, fellas? How are you?
00:15Well, what's up is the fact that Joey Porter Jr., as we wake up this morning, is headed
00:20to Dallas, not Detroit. We heard the reports that the Lions were calling to inquire. Did
00:26the Lions miss out? Is this a missed opportunity?
00:30Well, it's definitely a missed opportunity on some level. I guess the question is, was
00:36it worth trying if you're the Lions? I think the most fascinating aspect of this to me is
00:43that he's not getting a new contract. I don't really understand what purpose this is serving.
00:49He wasn't playing for the Steelers because they wouldn't give him the money he wanted,
00:54and now he's going to Dallas and it's not contingent upon getting a new contract.
01:01Dallas gives up a second-round pick and a sixth-round pick for a guy that could be a free
01:07agent at
01:08the end of the year. Now, unlike the Steelers, the Cowboys are willing to do negotiations during
01:14a season, although it sounds like they might just wait until after the year. So he's a good
01:20player. I think, you know, it's one of those classic examples where he thinks he's elite. He believes
01:27he's in tier one and deserves over $30 million a year. The Steelers did not agree. The Steelers
01:35offer him $27 million a year. They obviously think he's really good, but they could not agree on the
01:40value. So, yeah, I mean, the Lions certainly could have done it for the rest of the year. I guess,
01:46you know, I don't know where that leaves them with their salary cap. I don't know if they would be
01:51willing to give him the money he wants, and I don't know if they'd be willing to give up those
01:55two draft picks without knowing you have them under contract on a long-term deal like the Cowboys
02:02were willing to do. Do you think Joey Porter Jr. is elite?
02:08No, I think he's probably, well, depending on how you define elite. I do not think he is
02:15one of those top, top guys like Christian Gonzalez or Quinion Mitchell or Patrick Sertan. It's funny
02:24because he has some stats that would indicate he is amongst those guys, and I do think he has those
02:32traits, but he gets a lot of penalties, a lot of penalties. So it's funny because you can look at
02:37and say, well, the completion percentage against him is only 42%. That's second in the NFL, blah,
02:44blah, blah. But what do you do with all the penalties? Because, you know, that doesn't count
02:50as completions against him, but that's a lot of yards against him. He's very, very handsy,
02:55and I think to be a top, top guy, you've got to be able to do it without not seemingly
03:02getting,
03:02you know, a penalty or two pretty much every game, which has always been sort of the knock
03:08on Porter Jr. He's Ross Tucker. He joins us every week. NFL Insider presented by Nationwide for your
03:14insurance and financial needs. Nationwide is on your side. Do you still anticipate the Lions will
03:20address corner before the trade deadline? Because it's taken up a lot of oxygen for us today.
03:25I bet. Yeah. I mean, listen, if you're a Lions fan and you feel like the offense is awesome and
03:32the
03:32defense just isn't good enough and it would really be helped by a corner and the top guy available
03:37goes to another team in the NFC, I'd be frustrated right now if I'm a Lions fan too. I would
03:44like to
03:44think that they would still be looking and still see if there's a way that they can upgrade.
03:50The problem is, and Jim, you know this, nobody's really looking to give away their good corner.
03:56Right. You know, like, you know, I mean, Sunday I'm doing the Bills and Patriots for CBS and I don't
04:04know if Christian Benford, the number one corner, will play for the Bills. Their kind of backup nickel
04:12fourth corner Jordan Hancock is out. Uh, or even like, look, I'll give you, I'll give you a perfect
04:18example. Okay. Your team, the Lions Sunday night, they play the Panthers, both starting corners for
04:26the Panthers are out for a long time, for at least eight weeks, JC Horn and Michael Jackson, which by
04:31the way is good for the Lions, obviously horrible for the Panthers, but it just goes to show teams like
04:39nobody has like fourth and fifth corners that they love that they're just looking to give away.
04:45And everybody knows that they have three corners that play 80% of the snap. So it's just a very,
04:52very tough position to try to upgrade, especially during the season.
04:59I do want to talk about this matchup with Carolina and for the Lions, like you just mentioned it,
05:05right? The top corners for Carolina are out. What does that mean for this offense? Cause this
05:10offense on the surface, it should mean that, Hey, they put up big numbers. They score. We saw Chicago
05:16do that in week one. It, this offense has been good. They've averaged 31 points, but they haven't
05:23started quick. Like they've only scored seven points in the first quarter and they've now had three of
05:28those. Is, is there an issue with them not being able to put points on the board either in a
05:34scripted
05:34opening drive or just simply in the first quarter? You know, I always think that's funny too, by the
05:40way, because it's like, okay, is that, is that a bad sign for the offensive coordinator? Because his
05:47scripted plays, you know, are not having as much success on the first drive or is it a good sign
05:55for the
05:55coordinator because he can adjust during the game and, and, and figure things out, you know,
06:01you could easily go either way on that one. I'll just tell you, I, I mean, obviously you'd love to
06:08get off to a fast start, especially with the lion defense being what it is. I think this game is
06:13going to be electric Sunday night. I think this game gets into the thirties. I think it's quite frankly,
06:19a typical Detroit lions 20, 26 game. I think it's like 34 31. I do think Bryce young will have
06:27a nice
06:28game against this lion defense. The problem is, you know, they, you know, the, the guys are dropping
06:33like flies for the Panthers. They're going to be without their guard, Damian Lewis. So now a Lee
06:40McNeil and those guys should be able to get in there more. I don't know if they'll have arguably their
06:45best receiver at worst, their second best receiver in Jalen Coker. So the, the lions might be getting
06:53the Panthers at exactly the right time. The flip side of that is I feel like the Panthers never have
07:00home primetime games, like a home Sunday night game. This is a really rare, unique game for the
07:09Panthers. You would think that that place will be rocking and that they recognize how unique of an
07:15opportunity is. I mean, the lions play primetime all the time. The Panthers do not. This is a,
07:20a home primetime game on Sunday night football. You, I would expect the lions to get the Panthers best
07:26shot. Yeah. I believe I read this is their first primetime game in 10 years. That's, that's not
07:31right guys. 2016, I think is what I wrote Ross. I think this is going to be the lions most
07:36convincing
07:36win of the season. Are you buying that? No, I'm not. Um, I, I don't think the lions are playing
07:44well
07:44enough on defense. And I, I, I just don't see the Panthers laying an egg in this environment in a
07:52home
07:52primetime game for the first time in however many years or however long it's been. Um, I think it's,
07:59I think both teams get to the thirties and if they don't, then that would be a kudos to the
08:05lions
08:06defense, because I know that it wasn't great for Bryce young and Carolina on Sunday in Cleveland,
08:13but the first two games this year might've been like two of the five best games of Bryce young's
08:19career. He was playing really, really well. So given like what, what I just saw Gino do on Sunday,
08:26I'm expecting Bryce young to bounce back and have another really good game against this lion defense.
08:33So let's talk a little bit more division. How good are the Vikings are and, and on turn,
08:39you know, in terms, uh, in regards to comparing them to the lions, how good are the bears?
08:46It's crazy. I mean, do you guys realize the Vikings have the most punts in the NFL? I mean,
08:52the most punts in the NFL are the Minnesota Vikings and yet they're three, you know, atop the division.
08:59Um, it's, it's really, uh, surprising to see a team struggling that much on offense and yet still
09:08undefeated in large part because of Brian Flores and that defense. I just don't know how sustainable
09:16it is what the Vikings are doing right now, unless they start playing better on the offensive side of
09:22the ball. And then you've got the lions who need to play better, obviously on the defensive side of
09:28the ball. The bears are, I think probably the most complete team. I think the bears do some really
09:36good things on both sides of the ball and Keenum. I mean, I couldn't believe that the other night.
09:42I mean, the guy probably, the guy probably thought he was never going to play another game. I mean,
09:46third string, he's probably think I'm never going to play another game. He gets to play on a Monday
09:50night against the Eagles and then totally lights them up. And now Ben Johnson's acting like he
09:56doesn't know who the starting quarterback will be this week. Let me just tell you, it's going to
09:59be Keith Keenum. I mean, that would be, that would be insane. If Ben Johnson did not put that guy
10:05back
10:05out there after he was unconscious Monday night, he's Ross Tucker insider calls brought to you by
10:11nationwide. You're on that Patriots bills game. And we get that game locally. Lions don't play until
10:16Sunday night and, and it's, it's either your game or green Bay Tampa and both teams are yuck. So I
10:21think a lot of people are going to be watching Buffalo and new England here in Detroit set the
10:26scene for that. I know there's a lot of, uh, drama around Drake may and Mike Vrabel this week.
10:31Yeah. So Buffalo's really, really good. They're coming off of, um, by far their worst game of the
10:37year guys, they were minus four turnover differential against the chargers and still won the game.
10:43That should, that should not happen. You, there's no way you should win if you're minus four, but
10:49the chargers just kind of can't get out of their own way a little bit. And for the Patriots,
10:54two things are interesting for the Patriots. Number one, that was the worst I've ever seen a Mike
11:01Vrabel team play. They, I mean, silly penalties, dumb mistakes. They really couldn't do anything
11:09offensively defensively. They got pushed around. I'm not quite sure what's going on with Drake May.
11:16I've read and heard a zillion different opinions. He's trying to do too much. He's afraid of making
11:23a mistake. His shoulders bothering him. He's got a mechanical flaw. I mean, everybody and their
11:28brother has reasoning for why May's playing poorly. I will say teams are playing them differently
11:34and they've had a tough stretch when you go back to the playoffs last year. But the other point I
11:40want to make with you guys, I can't get over how good the Jaguars are. I mean, and I know
11:46they lost
11:46week two to the Broncos that their week one went over the Browns. You just don't see that yet. It
11:52was
11:52like 35, three or something. You just don't see that in the NFL. And then this past game against the
11:58Patriots, 35, six, that just doesn't happen. It's like high school or it's like college when you're
12:06playing like an FCS program. I think out of the last 10 wins for the Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence has
12:14not been playing the last five minutes in the fourth quarter because they've been up by that much. I think
12:20they're still under the radar and maybe they'll stay that way because they lost to the Broncos,
12:24but the Jaguars have an awesome, awesome football team. It'd be like Michigan-Princeton.
12:33Yeah, I don't know. Have you watched Michigan this year, John?
12:35Yes, I have. Unfortunately. I'm just trying to take a shot at you and I have no idea how that
12:40would turn out this year. No, honestly, yes, you are right, but that's okay. I made the NFL
12:45and got a Princeton degree. I'll take it. He's Ross Tucker. Ross, awesome. Good stuff as always.
12:51Love you, bud. See you guys.
12:53Ross Tucker brought to you by Nationwide for all your insurance and financial needs. Nationwide
12:58is on your side. I want to just correct it. The Panthers haven't played on Sunday night
13:01football since 2016. Right. They have played primetime, just not Sunday night.
13:05Out of sight, out of mind. First time in 10 years, Sunday night football. Maybe we can get
13:09Greg to do the Sunday night theme for us. Oh, that'd be great. Yes. Versus the other option.
13:15You hate Carrie Underwood. I just hate her voice. All right. Well, look, Thursday touchdown
13:19coming up at 835. It's 97. One.
