Talking Grit: A Detroit Lions Podcast
Talking Grit: A Detroit Lions Podcast
Bonus Episode - Madden 25 Ratings Episode (with a little help from our kids!)
Join us for this special episode of Talking Grit. We have special guests Preston, Bradley, and JJ. We are going through Madden ratings. We are focusing the Detroit Lions but we touch on other high rated players.
If you are looking for analysis, look elsewhere, lol. This is a episode for fun. Enjoy!
EDIT: We are aware that Madden has updated ratings since we recorded. The boys still had fun, lol!
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All right, everybody. Welcome to Talking Grit. Today is a very cool episode because not only is Jacob Linton and me, Jason Harwood here for you, we have a couple of special guests. I have my two sons Preston Harwood and Bradley Harwood are here. You guys want to say hi? Hello. And then also Jacob, you want to have JJ say hello?
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Hello.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:All right, That's JJ. That's Jacob's oldest son. We're going to do something fun today. That's kind of a bonus episode. We're going to talk about Madden ratings. The Madden, 25 video game comes out this Friday. My boys are a huge fan. And we've been just looking for a way to include our, our kids in this. Um, they're pretty excited about the podcast. They're kind of nervous right now and we'll see how this goes. And, um, I'm sure Preston, Bradley and JJ would like your feedback. So if you want to give us some feedback on how you think they did, that'd be awesome. All right. So we're going to start out with Preston and Bradley first. Um, they're Lions fans, unlike JJ, who's a Dolphins fan. So we're going to focus on the Lions with. Uh, Preston and Bradley. First, I have the top 10 lions, how, how Madden has them rated. And they're gonna try to guess this list in order, and as they give me a player, I'll tell them what number player it is. We're not gonna guess any ratings at this point. We're gonna save that for the second segment. So, first, uh, we're gonna kick it off to the oldest, which is Preston. So, Preston, name a player that you think is in the lions top 10, and I'll let you know what number you got. I'm in Ross St. Brown. He is actually number two on this list. Bradley? I would say Aidan Hutchinson. Number four. Preston? Um, Jameer Gibbs. He is number 10. Alright, Bradley. Uh, Sam LaPorta. Number 5. Um, Jared Goff. Jared Goff is number 13, so not in the top 10. Alright, that's the first miss, but that's okay. Alright, Bradley. Uh, David Montgomery. Ooh, number 11, so not in the top 10. Think offensive line here. Panay Sewal. Number one. All right, Bradley. Frank Ragnar. Yes. Number three. All right. All right, Preston. Still on the offensive line. Think offensive line. Taylor Decker. Number seven. All right, Bradley. Going to hint. Okay. He was a rookie last year, so this is his second year and his first initial is the same as his last initial. You want to guess Preston? Um,
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Tommy has a
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:is he on offense or defense? Is he on offense or defense? He is on defense. And Jacob just gave you a good clue. He wears something on his helmet. Oh, Brian branch. Number nine. That was a good clue, Jacob. All right. Then the two players that are, are, that are left are brand new players for the Lions this year, and they're not rookies. All right, Preston. Preston says he's got it. DJ reader. Yes. Number eight is DJ reader. All right, Bradley, uh, Carlton Davis, that's a good guess, but that is not. He's on the offensive line. Kevin Zeitler. That's right, Preston. All right. That is the top 10. So real quickly, I'll go through it. Um, Benet Soule, number one, Amin Ra, Sam Brown, number two, Frank Bragdon, number three, Aidan Hutchinson, four, Sam Laporta, five, DJ Rader, six. Taylor Decker 7, Kevin Seidler 8, Brian Branch 9, and Jameer Gibbs number 10. Alright, Jacob, let's uh, JJ Cern, let's, let's see what you got lined up for him.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:right. So JJ doesn't have any help. He's just here by himself. We'll see if he's able to get it. He says even better. He thinks he's going to get it. So JJ is not a Lions fan, JJ is a Dolphins fan. So we're going to go through the top 10 of the Dolphins. So see if he can guess these guys. All right, JJ, remember you got to speak in the microphone. Who's your first guest here? Obviously. That's a good one. He's number one. All right. He's number two, two is number five. Bradley Chubb is actually not on here. I think Bradley Chubb was just outside of the top 10. He's 11. Oster is number nine. Jalen Waddle? Toron Armshed. I'm trying to think of the new guys. That's No, I
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:need the Jeopardy music.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:his name. His name was Red. Inception. Safety. What the heck does he do? And his initials are K. F. Oh, yeah, Fuller. Yep. Remember his first name? you know, they're hearing this all the way in Estonia. So? All right, if you don't have a Fuller, we're going to skip that one. It's Kendall Fuller. I thought you were moving on. I knew his name. Okay, so you have one more safety, who's number four, and then number 10 on the list is a linebacker who got hurt last year. Well, it was one that was very emotional because they were recording it. Yes, Jalen Phillips is number 10. So number 4 is your free safety. He was the guy that I knew. You already said 99 yard touchdown. Yeah, I just J. H. Jovan Holland. There you go. Alright, that's all 10 dolphins.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Alright, way to go.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:That was still pretty good.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Alright, Bradley and Preston's turn here. Now we're gonna go with the ratings. So we're gonna start with Preston. I am going to ask you about Pené Sewell. What rating do you think he got? Overall, we're talking about overall rating. 96. You are 100 percent correct. 96, is that a good rating for him? Yes. All right. All right, Bradley. Amun Ra. What do you think his rating is? 98. It's a little too high. He was number two, so he's got to be below Penesul. So do you want to know his rating? Or do you want a second guess? 95. That's right on the money. 95. That's a good rating for Amun Ra. All right, Preston. Frank Ragnell. 93. I think Preston cheated. You're right, right on the money. I didn't cheat. Okay, alright, I trust you. Alright, your boy Aiden, Bradley. 91. Little high. 90. Little high. He's below 90. 88. 88. Right on the money. I'm thinking that you think that's a little low. Yeah, I don't like that rating. You know, he should be at least a 90. All right. The Heartwood boys want, want Aiden to have a little more respect. All right. I'm gonna actually Preston already knows this rating because he cheated and looked ahead at this one. So I'm gonna give this one, Bradley's gonna go two in a row and then we'll kick it back to Preston for two. Uh, Sam Laporta Bradley. Madden doesn't give respect to, like, newer players, so What do you think? I think he's gonna be around an 86. That is correct! All pro tight end and he's an 86. He has the most rookie receptions in history for a tight end and he gets an 86 overall. I know. Spitting facts over here, boys. Alright.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Right, right. Good take. No
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Alright, Preston, you can do this one. As DJ Reader. 85? A little low, it's actually 86, so it's pretty close. Oh, he's tied with Sam LaPorta. He is. Alright, I'm gonna press on you get to do two in a row because Bradley did two. You're on Taylor Decker. Um, 84? Nope, a little low. This one's 86 too. Taylor Decker. What do you guys think about him? What do you guys like about Taylor Decker? He's tall. Very tall. Very tall. Yeah, you guys got his autograph, right? Yeah, yeah, it was very big. Yeah, see? My boy's talking about big strong men, Jacob. All right, that's right. Number eight, another big strong guy, Kevin Sightler. Bradley? 85. A little low. 86. This is the fourth 86 in a row. That's too much. All right, Preston. Brian Branch. 85. That is exactly right. Now I want you to get, what do you think he's going to be by the end of the season? 89. 89? What about you, Bradley? Yeah, I'll say 89 too. You're gonna go 89? He's gonna be in the 90s. All right, Bradley. Probably your favorite player, I think. Jameer Gibbs. All right. What number do you think he's at? Like I said, they don't give respect to newer players, so 83. A little low. You didn't give him enough respect. It's 84. I thought he was going to be an 85. Nope. Sorry. Too close to 86. All right. So I know you guys had said something about Jared Goff, but he's actually rated an 82 in Madden this year. Low. Very low for a boy Goff. I think that was his rating last year also. It should be at least an 86. You think so? Yeah. All right. Alright, time to, uh, quiz JJ over here.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:All right. Next category I have for JJ. This is throughout all the NFL and this is just going off their Madden ratings this year. I want you to name who you think the top five players are just based on their speed rating. I'll be quicker to give hints this time if you don't know, but all right. Yep. Go ahead. Tyree kill, obviously. Tyree kills number one. Is Marquise Brown on there? Marquise Brown's not on the top five. don't have the whole list. I don't know how far off he is. Lamar Jackson. So I'll give you a hint, like, the, of the four that are left, three are receivers, one is a cornerback. Rondell Moore. Nope. Wait, there's a Lions guy in here, isn't there? There is a Lions guy in here. Jameson Williams. Jameson Williams is number two. Number three is a rookie. Xavier Worthy. Xavier Worthy. Flash. Already? Yeah, already. Well, you break the record for the combine in the 40, and they show you some respect, I guess. Number four, really, honestly, not that good of a receiver. I don't get the hype. Okay, Jalen Waddle's number four. I'm just kidding. He's a good receiver. I just have to give you credit. You were too slow to think of it. All right, number five is a cornerback. He's a younger corner. He is really fast. He plays in the NFC. So their secondary used to be called the Legion of Boom. So initials are T W. Something I'm not sure if I'm going to know. Yeah, jason might be able to help me. Is it Tareek or Tarek Woolin? Oh yes. Yeah, I went
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:I think it's Tariq Woolin.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Woolen.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Tariq Woolin, yep.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Yeah. So Tyre's 99, Jamo and Xavier worthy are 98. And then waddle and, uh, woolen are 97. Alright. Second half of yours is to name the top five quarterbacks. So this is just going off of the overall ratings for the quarterbacks this year. This year? Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes is gonna be number one. That was easy. Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson's number two. Um, they put Josh Allen in there. Josh Allen's number four. Of course they put him in there. Sucks. I know. Um, who'd you say they didn't put in there? They put Joe Burrow in there? Joe Burrow's number three. Number three. He's a 93 overall. that's good enough for like the top, that's number three. Quarterback. So you have the top four. You're just missing number five. Rap party Okay. Get outta here. I, So, Brock Purdy is number nine, which is. 10 spots too high for him. Number five, NFC quarterback. Probably gonna have a record breaking contract. Yeah, here we go. Dak He's not gonna have a contract. He's gonna get cut. And he's gonna get a share of the team. Probably the Broncos. Dak Prescott's number five. Yeah,
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:the boys a question. Preston, you're first. I want you to name your favorite Lions or sports memory that you got. Oh, when we went to the Rams game, because it was freezing cold. And when we were walking to the game, our legs hurt and we had to take breaks in between. But it was worth it, because we won. You're welcome. And then Dad hugged the stranger next to him when we got the first down at the end of the game. This is all true. Alright, Bradley, your turn. I would say the Rams game, but Preston already said that, so I would say our first game. It was vs. Minnesota. We were with our grandma and grandpa, and then J Mo got a touchdown right in front of us, and it was very cool. It was his first career touchdown. Yeah, that was us. That was. Yes, it was. Yeah. Who else caught an amazing pass in that game? Do you guys remember? He plays on the offensive line, number 58. Penesol. Penesol caught that pass in that Minnesota game, yeah. So, that was a fun game. Alright. Jacob, you got a question for
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:do.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:JJ?
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:That was a good game
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Alright.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:That was very, very cool for you guys. All right, JJ. So basically, what is your favorite sports memory with me? Whether watching a game, going to a game, it could be any sport. Any sport. What's your best memory that you have with me that's sports related? Probably that one Lions game in the preseason when we got on hard knocks. Like, we were just right so close and it was so cool to see and then afterwards see us on TV. Do you remember who caught the touchdown in front of us? weird name. Yeah, someone that played for Michigan. He was only on there for the preseason though. It was Funchess. Remember? Yeah. Nope, I've mentioned that on the pod already too. That was a really cool moment.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Alright, I thought we'd just do a short, uh, like, couple question Honolulu Blitz for the boys, put them in the hot seat a little bit. So, I got, these are man related that I have for the boys. Um, they're actually on overall ratings. So I'm gonna throw it to Preston first. Preston, what do you think is the lion's overall rating? 90. Way high. Bradley, you got a guess? I'm gonna say 86. You're high too. It is actually 83.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Disrespectful.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:That is so bad. No. And I want to tell you that we aren't even the highest Rated team in our own division, so I'm gonna throw it to you Bradley first this time Who is the highest rated team in our division per men rankings? The Bears got a lot of players In the draft and around that area, so I'm gonna say the Bears. Okay, I'm gonna tell you that you're wrong Preston. The Packers? And you are also wrong It is actually the Vikings. They are rated 85 ahead of the Lions, which I think is ridiculous. No. We added so much spots. We added to the D line and we got three new cornerbacks. I know, yeah. The only, like, the player I only know that was added to the Vikings was only J. J. McCarthy. I don't remember anyone else. And we come three points away from making it to the Super Bowl. You
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:They just
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:These guys are, they, they do. Uh, all right, Jacob, you got any questions for JJ?
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:I do. They're not Madden related, but they're Miami Dolphins related for him.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Oh yeah, go right ahead.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:so who is the last Miami Dolphins player to win MVP? Is it Dan Marino? It is Dan Marino. Good guess. All right, so last year, what was the highest scoring game the Dolphins had? Do you remember how many they scored? That was the final score. All right, second part to that. How many touchdowns did Devonna Chan score in that game? Three? Four? It was four. That's what I was gonna say. He had two, two rushing touchdowns. rushing yards with two touchdowns. And then he had 30 receiving yards, but two more receiving touchdowns. So four touchdowns total for Chan. Insane. So good. And he was on my bench in fantasy. That was the only Dolphins player you didn't have.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Yeah. We were all making fun of JJ cause he got all those dolphins, but he ended up, you know, kicking our butts cause they kept scoring so much.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Ridiculous. He won't have the same luck this year.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:I know I should have just taken Tyreek from him when I had chance, but I ended up with CMC. So yeah, CMC is all right though. That was a good one. So, all right. Do you guys have a good time? Yes. All right. Yeah. We had fun with this. This, you know, just something a little bonus episode, so we'll, uh, you know, maybe their expertise will come in handy later on when we have a fortnight question or something like that. So. All right. Anything to add, Jacob?
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:It's been real.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:All right.
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:give us a go Lions? Not in a million years. Okay, well I tried.
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:He did try. How about I give one. All right, everyone. Thanks for joining us on this special episode of Talking Grit. A lot of hardwoods and lintens on this one. Uh, so for, for all of us, I want to say, including JJ,
jacob-and-jj_1_08-13-2024_214904:Yeah,
jason-harwood_1_08-13-2024_214905:Go Lions!
