FOX Sports’ Mark Schlereth on the Seahawk’s “Huge” Addition of Quenton Nelson

Mark Schlereth came on The Rich Eisen Show ready for Rich's high and tight fastballs. The three-time Super Bowl champ, who works for Fox Sports and hosts his own podcast, The Stinkin' Truth, picked a best team in football, handicapped the AFC and a jammed-up AFC North, explained what Jesse Minter wants from his veterans, diagnosed what was holding Bo Nix back, and graded Seattle's trade for Quenton Nelson. Then he made the whole studio guess the name of a Colorado Rockie.

San Francisco on top, Seattle and the Rams closing

Rich opened by asking for the best team in the NFL through seven weeks. Schlereth still likes San Francisco, loss to Atlanta and all.

"Obviously, no receivers in that game. They're going to get all those guys back," Schlereth said. "Nick Bosa's coming back. They just traded for DeForest Buckner. San Francisco is still really good."

He would not call it a runaway. "I'd probably go San Francisco, but I think it's really close," he said. "I think Seattle's closing ground." The Seahawks' move for Nelson is a big part of that, and Schlereth called him "still a phenomenal player."

The Rams are in the conversation too, after what they did to the Raiders. Schlereth said they "kind of got back to what they do as a football team." Rich filled in the details: run it, play action off of it, and almost 200 combined rushing yards from Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.

Buffalo the pick in a flawed AFC

On the AFC side, Schlereth's instinct is still Kansas City. Jacksonville, he said, is really solid. But after what happened to the Chiefs last weekend in Seattle, he leaned Buffalo, with a caveat that applies to the whole league.

"Everybody, Rich, as you know, is flawed, right? Any given weekend, and they're all flawed," Schlereth said.

The Bills' case starts with the quarterback. "I think the ability of the quarterback, Josh Allen, just to make off-schedule plays big-time, just still beat you from the pocket, their run game," Schlereth said. "But I still have concerns about their defense in general."

So Buffalo gets the nod, reluctantly. "I'd probably have to point to Buffalo as being the best team in the AFC, but everybody seems to have flaws."

Joe Burrow and the AFC North logjam

Rich noted that every team in the AFC North is above .500 and that Lamar Jackson looks set to return for Baltimore. Then he asked Schlereth to put his marker on one team, which drew a protest. "That is such a tough question," Schlereth said. Rich admitted that was the point. "Every question is like, 'Well, let's have some fun, can we?'" Schlereth replied.

He went through it anyway. He loves Cleveland's defense but doesn't trust the offense, calling the group very young and saying Deshaun Watson "kind of has this ebb and flow to his game where he's really good for, you know, a couple of drives and he's really bad for a couple of drives."

The team that intrigues him is Cincinnati, and the reason is the quarterback. "That guy is an absolute killer," Schlereth said of Joe Burrow. "I think the best pure quarterback in the National Football League. He just gives you a chance to win every weekend." He pointed to the toughness, the accuracy and the weapons on the outside.

He didn't count out Pittsburgh either, saying Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers are a tough out with that defense. "Every team in that division is just neck and neck right now."

What Jesse Minter wants from the Ravens' veterans

Staying in the division, Rich brought up Jesse Minter's comments about second-half collapses and needing to see more from veteran players during tough stretches. What does a coach mean when he says that into a microphone?

Schlereth started with who Minter is: a defensive coach who came over from the Chargers. "That's where he hangs his hat," he said. "When you're up 13-nothing going in the second half, and Cincinnati scores on every possession, that is bad football. And that's on you, and that's on your defense."

He put the challenge in Minter's voice. "Hey, man, we're playing with a backup quarterback. Lamar's been out with the ankle for a couple of weeks. I expect you guys to play better. I expect you to tackle well. I expect you to be on point when it comes to coverage."

He granted that Baltimore was facing what he called the best quarterback in football. The bigger problem, as he sees it, is a team waiting to be rescued. "It feels to me like, 'Hey, we're just waiting around for Lamar to come back. When Lamar comes back, everything's going to be okay.' You can't play the game that way," Schlereth said. "You've got to go out there and take care of your business and do your job."

What was mentally holding back Bo Nix

Then came the Broncos, with Sean Payton three weeks back into calling plays. Schlereth said the change he saw started with Bo Nix finally owning his play.

"He did something that he hadn't done all year, Rich, and that was take responsibility for how poorly he was playing," Schlereth said. Nix had been saying he didn't know why the big plays weren't there or why the narrative said Denver wasn't playing well. Schlereth's answer: "I know, cuz you haven't played well. That's why the narrative is out there." Then last Wednesday, at his press conference in Denver, Nix said he had to play better.

Against Arizona, it showed. Nix climbed the pocket and delivered strikes. On the second drive he climbed into a sack, and Schlereth was thrilled anyway. "I was like in my notepad, I was like, 'Hey man, hallelujah,'" he said. "He finally pushed up in the pocket because for me it's something that has been missing." Later came a 62-yard run straight up the middle for a touchdown, "something we haven't seen from Bo making an inspirational kind of play all season long."

Rich pushed back: how does pointing the finger at yourself change what happens on the field? Schlereth said a quarterback has to "deflect 100% of the praise" and "accept 100% of the responsibility," and teammates respect that. Owning it also lets you see what's been missing, like climbing the pocket and running. He noted Nix had averaged a little over a yard a carry this year after topping 400 rushing yards as a rookie.

The root, Schlereth argued, was fear of re-injury after two surgeries on his ankle this offseason. "I may be 80% of what I used to be, but this is my new 100%," he said, describing the mindset he preaches, "and I'm good enough to go out here and whip your ass and play great."

He has told other athletes the same thing. A Major League Baseball player coming off an ACL told him in spring training with the Rockies that he wasn't quite there. Schlereth asked permission to speak candidly. "You'll not quite there yourself right out of the league," he told him. Five or six years later, the player found him at ESPN. "The best advice I've ever gotten, you saved my career."

Quenton Nelson's impact in Seattle

Rich called Schlereth the perfect guy to ask about Quenton Nelson and wanted to know how quickly Seahawks fans should feel it. Schlereth expects a huge impact, though he wants Sam Darnold to clean up the turnovers and Seattle to run the ball better.

"Quenton Nelson still is an elite-level guard, especially when you're talking about zone blocking, coming off the ball, and just creating movement," Schlereth said. "He's a great puller. He still tries to just destroy people in that facet of the game."

He acknowledged that Nelson is 30 and will probably start declining a little. "But his declining is still better than 90% of the guys who play this game," Schlereth said. "He is an absolute home run for the Seattle Seahawks in acquiring him."

His one question was position. Seattle's issue up front has been right guard, and Nelson has always played left guard. Rich checked the ESPN depth chart, which lists Grey Zabel as the starting right guard. Schlereth expects Seattle to put Nelson back at his original spot and move Zabel, whom he called a great player, over to the right side. That transition will take a little time.

Still, "it's a huge move from John Schneider and the Seattle Seahawks," he said. "It solidifies the one issue on offense that I think they've really had." With Zabel, the center and Nelson, he called it "a big time inside three," and said it solidifies the group up front, even with Cross out a few weeks with an ankle injury.

Name that Rockie

Rich could not let the baseball story go. He guessed Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Andres Galarraga and Dante Bichette. Wrong every time. Schlereth only offered that it was a backup player and said Rich wouldn't get it in ten guesses.

The detour turned into a trip back to the Blake Street Bombers era, with Schlereth's Broncos and the Rockies both rolling. Rich remembered covering his first All-Star Game in Denver in 1997. Schlereth was there too.

Then the room joined in. Vinnie Castilla, Ellis Burks, Pedro Astacio, Armando Reynoso, Neifi Perez and Ryan Spilborghs all came up empty. Schlereth signed off without giving it away, and one more name, Bruce Ruffin, surfaced in the final seconds of the segment.