PMT DB
PMT DB
Danny Kanell on the CFP Mess, Mayfield's Draft Stock, and a LeBron Wine Intervention
The 2017 NFL regular season is officially in the books, and Big Cat and PFT Commenter are processing the news that Marvin Lewis is somehow, someway, still the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. It is a level of job security that defies logic, science, and the general concept of winning a playoff game. Big Cat has a theory that the Bengals have found a way to weaponize their own mediocrity to stay in the headlines.
Big CatThe Bengals bringing back Marvin Lewis is a strategy to maintain relevancy through being a running joke.
The Bengals... Bringing Marvin Lewis back and continuing his contract and continuing him coaching, it's almost like a running joke they've created themselves that gives them relevancy where everyone can be like, Marvin Lewis jokes. So you at least have an identity that everyone can make fun of Marvin Lewis.
PFT Commenter sees the genius in the move, noting that Lewis has mastered the art of being exactly average enough to avoid the axe. It is a lesson for everyone working a 9-to-5 that excellence is actually the enemy.
PFT CommenterThe worst thing you can do at an office job is have people set high expectations for you.
You don't want to be great at your job. You don't want to be really, really bad at your job. You just kind of want to just go with the speed of traffic... That is the worst thing that you can do to yourself is make people have high expectations. It's a low bar in Cincinnati. I love it.
With Bruce Arians stepping away in Arizona, the guys are already counting down the days until he realizes that retirement is just a fancy word for staring at a wall.
PFT CommenterBruce Arians will be back to coaching within two months of his retirement.
Bruce Arians, he's retired. But as we know, he's not going to know what to do with himself. He's just going to sit on his porch staring out into infinity for two months, and he'll think that's retirement, and then he'll be like, I've got to get back to coaching.
The LeBron James Wine Intervention
We need to talk about LeBron James. He’s been very vocal about his love for the "vino," but his New Year’s Instagram stories—which featured about 51 white dots and a lot of screaming—suggest he’s basically a freshman sorority girl who just discovered Twisted Tea. PFT Commenter points out that LeBron's entire career arc looks like someone making life-altering decisions while slightly buzzed.
PFT CommenterLeBron James never wins NBA championships and doesn't follow through on plans.
If you look at LeBron's career, you see the patterns of a drunk person... He doesn't follow through on plans because he never wins NBA championships. Makes big plans and then just kind of backs out of them.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne
Amani Toomer is on the Hot Seat for coming after Jim Harbaugh’s passion. Big Cat isn't having it, mostly because Toomer used Paris Hilton as his benchmark for a supermodel.
Big CatJim Harbaugh is not on the hot seat despite criticism from Amani Toomer.
I am not putting [Harbaugh] on the hot seat, but Amani Toomer put him on the hot seat... Amani, you kind of lose everything here by thinking Paris Hilton's a supermodel. [Harbaugh] is not on the hot seat. You're on the hot seat, Amani Toomer, for your lackluster analysis.
On the Cool Throne, the Jacksonville Jaguars are looking elite as they prepare to debut their all-black look for the playoffs. PFT Commenter is calling them "Blacksonville" and thinks the fit is a total game-changer.
PFT CommenterThe Jaguars' all-black uniforms are a 'grail' and make the team look fast and strong.
The Jaguars, they announced today, they're wearing all black. And so that's a fit... That's a grail. It just screams excellence. Yeah, and it's also just, it looks good on a football field. When TCU does it, it looks good. They look fast. They look, like, strong.
Danny Kanell Joins the Show
Danny Kanell stopped by to discuss his quest to be more likable on Twitter in 2018 and to vent his frustrations with the College Football Playoff. As the self-appointed guardian against SEC bias, Kanell is disgusted that two teams from the same conference are playing for the national title while other conference champs watch from home.
Danny KanellHaving two teams from the same conference in the College Football Playoff is bad for the sport.
It's two teams from any conference. Like that just bothers me... If there are more teams outside that are deserving, that there's teams out there that are worthy of playing for a championship that we don't need to take two teams from the same conference... for [Ohio State] not to get that opportunity, I think it's messed up.
He argues that Alabama’s path to the title game was paved with far less resistance than people care to admit, especially given how they looked against Auburn.
Danny KanellAlabama's 2017 schedule was a 'cakewalk' and they were manhandled by Auburn.
Bama's schedule was a cakewalk all season long. Their toughest game was Florida State, who turned out to be garbage... And they got worked by Auburn. They got absolutely manhandled by Auburn, and yet never once did anybody say, oh, wait a second, Alabama's schedule is not that tough.
Big Cat agrees that the system is flawed but thinks the solution starts with the way we rank teams before the season even starts.
Big CatCollege football should abolish preseason rankings and not release any rankings until October.
The problem is it needs to be 8 team playoff, but they also need to get rid of preseason rankings because that's really where it comes down to... they should do no rankings until October. Let a couple teams figure it out. See who's good. See who's bad.
Kanell’s proposed fix is simple: expand the field to eight teams and give the power back to the conference champions.
Danny KanellThe College Football Playoff should be an eight-team system with five conference champions and three wildcards.
I try to get the easiest, simplest solution... And it's five conference champs and three wild cards. And everything would matter that much more because the conference championships would matter... and the three wild cards make those valuable.
Looking further ahead, Kanell is legitimately worried about the long-term survival of the sport. Between CTE litigation and parents pulling their kids out of youth leagues, he thinks we are nearing an inflection point for football as we know it.
Danny KanellThe sport of football will be unrecognizable in 20 years due to CTE and lawsuits.
I think football's in big trouble. Like, I really do... It is more about the future of the sport. And I don't know how it's going to continue when you start seeing lawsuits come to fruition, when you start seeing guys hang it up earlier than ever. I would say within 20 years, you will not recognize the sport of football.
Draft Talk and The Florida Hotbed
As we shift toward the 2018 NFL Draft, Kanell is planting his flag on Baker Mayfield. While everyone is enamored with the physical tools of Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, Kanell thinks the Browns should go in a completely different direction with their two top-five picks.
Danny KanellThe Browns should take Saquon Barkley with the number one pick and Baker Mayfield with the fourth pick.
If I'm the Browns, I am taking, with my number one pick, I'm taking Saquon Barkley, and with the fourth pick, I'm taking Baker Mayfield, putting those two in my backfield and saying, good luck, try to stop us.
He has serious concerns about Josh Rosen fitting into a pro locker room, calling his outspoken nature a major red flag for any team in a big market.
Danny KanellJosh Rosen's outspoken nature makes him a red flag for NFL locker rooms and the New York media.
Rosen is outspoken. He likes to talk. He likes to have really strong opinions. But I don't know if that's going to fit into an NFL locker room... It is a red flag. Thinks too much for himself... If the Giants take him, I think it's going to be a disaster with him and the New York media going together.
When it comes to Mayfield, Kanell thinks the off-field concerns are overblown and that the Oklahoma quarterback is actually the safest bet in the class.
Danny KanellBaker Mayfield has the fewest red flags among the 2018 draft's top quarterbacks.
I'm telling you, Baker Mayfield has the least red flags of all of them from what I've seen on film watching him throw.
To wrap things up, the guys asked Kanell to power rank the coaching landscape in Florida. While the state is loaded with new names like Scott Frost and Willie Taggart, Kanell remains firm that there is no better place in the country to find football talent.
Danny KanellFlorida is the absolute hotbed for football and it's not even close between Texas and California.
Florida is the hotbed of football. It's not even close between Texas and California.
Between Todd Haley getting shoved outside a bar called Tequila Cowboy and Logan Paul being a total douchebag in Japan, it’s a packed show to kick off the new year.
Stay hydrated, especially if you’re following the TB12 diet or trying to have a more "powerful" experience like the girl from Guys on Chicks.
