First Things First - Aaron Donald has formal tryout with Rams, BUD List, Will the Chiefs have a bounce back season?

Episode Date: August 6, 2026

(0:00) Chiefs bounce back season “guaranteed”, Aaron Donald has formal tryout with Rams (23:46) Jalen Hurts under the most pressure entering this season? (38:56) Can the Bengals return to contender status? (44:42) BUD List (01:06:03) Time to sell stock in 49ers? (01:16:48)  Will Jayden Daniels or Jalen Hurts have a better year?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, the show it's talking sports movies. Yeah. The Christian Bale Mark Wahlbock boxing movie. Dark Night. No. No, that's the fighter. The fighter. That's great.

Can I tell you, dead last in the sports movie conversation. Dead last. Million dollar baby. What? I just said that was pretty good. You don't think that's good? It's like, it's really good for the first 90 minutes. Spoiler alert, kids.

And then the main character gets her neck broken and it's awful. That's awful. It won best picture. I'm here telling you it's awful. It's a good movie. You know what's good? Got a little overskies on it. What?

The wrestler. Oh. I think I did. Was that recent? Moderately recently. By one of the first MMA guys? No. Oh.

I did see that though. The rest of the rest. Check for a full list. We'll be on Instagram in a couple days. I did see that. The wrestle was good. Who's willing to guarantee a Chiefs bounce back season? I'll do it in about two minutes.

One person here had no doubt. One person here has a fair amount. You will say, you know what? Someone here will give their reasons, and you'll say, that's not unfair. Meanwhile, Aaron Donald works out with the Rams. What are we waiting for? He's back. What would his retirement mean for this event?

There's Aaron Donald's making a sack on a guy who has to be. on that team in five years. Wow. I'm not saying. What about him getting Tom Brady? Well, that's the last time the Bengals were relevant. You know what?

We're getting close here. I'll save it for the conversation. But we're getting close to it. Okay. The most motivational saving all the sports, the bud list. Can't wait for this one. By the way, classic one by me.

What was it? That the Swifties were going to have my back against whatever Madison Beers fans are called. The Swifties mounted up on Twitter. Is there a rivalry there? Well, no, but I'm saying the beer fans, the Madison beer fans mad at me and brew for yesterday, but luckily, we're the Swifty Show,

and they roll deep, so we're fine. Oddly, I'm Olivia Rodriguez. That's where I go. Yeah. Oh, I like her a lot. Yeah, I don't know if she had a huge family. What was her name, like, Mary Allen May or whatever? Who's that?

Drake May's wife. I thought we're talking about musical artists. Oh, okay. Well, there you go. We're starting in Kansas City. Mahomes looks to be on track to start week one. That's good news. Past game coordinator saying it looks like the injury never even happened.

Yep. Take a listen. You hate anything that Patrick does to say it surprises you because he's always pushing the limits of physically what he can do with the football and just the recovery time table from the injuries that he's had. But still, I mean, I haven't seen anything. with the knee out there on the field that would lend itself to show any sort of hangover, any sort of stepbacks from the season. So that, I mean, I hate to say I'm surprised by that, but it's just non-existent any sort of knee issues, which has been incredible.

It's great news. Are you willing to guarantee a Chiefs bounce back season? Absolutely. And before I get into why, can we stay on Mahomes being basically a full go already for a moment? One of the reasons I was so confident about his timeline was because, and I think maybe because Brew, he doesn't have NBA guys that are freak athletes, you just see it. You know, they visually look different. Some of the NFL guys that are freak athletes like Cam Newton, they're just, you know, bigger. Adrian Peterson looked like at 16 years old he could play in the NFL.

Patrick doesn't have some of those physical traits that look. lead freak athlete to be applied to him. But his history of, the year they won their first Super Bowl, he dislocated his kneecap. He played 18 days later, 17 days later, something like that. We saw him suffer a brutal high ankle sprain during the playoffs of a different Super Bowl run. And not only did he not miss any time, the two of the biggest plays of that postseason were Mahomes scrambles. there was never a doubt to me that whatever the shortest possible rehab timeline

would be for a player at his position at his age that suffered this injury, he would have it. So now that we have, I think, removed as much concern as is as possible to remove about you know, is he going to be ready week one in those things? Now we just get back to was last year an aberration or not for the team. And I would, I know I'm the chief's guy

and I know I can be annoying. but if this were the resume of any other team and any other sport adjusted for games played, would we think they're going to be more like they have been every single other year winning a minimum of 11 games, reaching a minimum of the final four, or that one year? Now, again, I'm not sitting here saying you can guarantee they make the Super Bowl. Not even necessarily saying you're sitting here and guarantee they'll be back at the Arrowhead Invitational. But what I am saying is a bounce back season means back in the postseason, a legitimate contender. And yes, and the additional reason for it, Brew, is, and this has been papered over throughout Mahomes' career, no team in the league since Mahomes got to Kansas City has gotten less, literally, from the running back position than Kansas City.

This is their ranks in not rushing yards by team, but rushing yards by running back. so it removes Patrick scrambles. And look at the average over the last eight years is dead last in the NFL, which is why I think the Kenneth Walker edition, even if he brew is the 10th best running back in the league, is going to have outsized impact because they have not had a dynamic running game

since he's been there, and they haven't had even a reliable running game in the last four years. So yeah. Someone that has to be by design, right? Because they don't... Early on, they threw it so much.

They threw it, yes, but I mean, they're not anywhere near dead last in the NFL in rushing attempts. You know what? And so, yeah, I agree with you. You wouldn't expect him to be... Right. But to not have a single year, we've seen a lot of teams

that are high-flying offenses that also have very efficient successful running backs. I mean, his old career, they've never had even a thousand yard back. That's 62 yards a game. So, yeah, I'm willing to get. guarantee it. Look, first of all, his comeback, one of the things that makes him so great is his

mental toughness. You know, like that, that is where that mystique comes from, obviously, the winning, but he got to the winning with his mental toughness, obviously in the playoffs and things like that. And this is just another sign of that. I mean, there's no doubt when he got injured, he clearly said, I'm getting back as soon as possible, was working as soon as he could. And this is then result. So props to him, this is reminiscent of Adrian Peterson, who did something similar coming back from the injury. But I do think, I can't guarantee it. I do think it is very much on the board that they have another disappointing season. Mahomes, as we know, hasn't been terrific individually, statistically, the last three years. And the receiving core right now,

Now, Rishie Rice, you know, is starting to get back, it seems. But that's a bit of a question, Mark. Xavier worthy with his health. And Kelsey just keeps getting older. I mean, he's still playing well. But he keeps getting older at some point is really going to fall off. And so I think the receiving core is an issue. I agree Kenneth Walker helps.

But then defensively, and they've been a top defense for these last several years. But Chris Jones is another year older. and was very good last year, but his numbers, you know, didn't wreak the type of havoc. He wasn't a defensive player at the year level. I know he's never won it, but he's been a defensive player

of the year level guy. He wasn't last year. They lost three of their top defensive backs, their starters. I love the draft, you know, Delane. Yeah, but he's hurt for what I mean? He's the shoulder to be.

So I just think that defense, obviously Spagnola is great, but that's a bit of, that's more of a question mark than it's been in the last few years. and that division's tougher. It's tougher than it was a few years ago. And you got two other really legit teams,

the Chargers and the Broncos, who did both of them swept the Chiefs last year, and they both beat the Chiefs with Mahomes. Beating without him as well late in the season, but beat him with Mahomes. So I do just think that it's on the board. I'm not saying I'm picking them to miss the playoffs, but I might, we'll see,

I haven't made my decision yet. But I think it's on the board that they do. Before you go, can I say something about the division? I don't think the division's going to be tougher this year. No, but tougher than his bit was like two years. Certainly it. It's a three, four, five years ago. It's a tough division.

It has become a tough division. I think last year the Broncos and Chargers overachieved. And I think that both of them will do worse this year than they did last year. Now, the Raiders shouldn't be the worst team in the entire NFL like they were. I mean, they could. No, they certainly could be. It's pretty rare to go back-to-back number one picks. You could.

And so I just think the division, while tougher than it had been historically, yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah, I don't think the Broncos and Chargers were going to combine for 25 wins like they did last season. Yeah, Broncos had a very easy schedule, although we talk about the Patriots have an easy schedule. Because, again, whenever you mentioned the Patriots had the easiest schedule of any team that's played this century, the Broncos had quite an easy schedule. I think we were both in the century conversation.

Well, I mean, they weren't. certainly wasn't the easiest of the Patriots. Well, no, I mean, it was one of the easy. It was one of the easy. We were both right there, the Broncos and the back. Can I say something quickly you brought up schedule? You probably noticed this. The chief should start strong.

Yes. I mean, they got Denver will be tough, Indianapolis, Miami, and the Raiders. They should be three and one, even if they aren't playing one. I'll go ahead and say four and oh. Okay, but at least three and one, I'm saying at least. Anything short of three and one is very disappointing. Yes. And then it gets tough, obviously. So a few things.

Do you have a win total for the Chiefs this year? Put the schedule back up. We want to do in pencil, the old Mike and the Mad Dog. That's a win, that's a loss. Week one, two, three, four, five. They start five and oh. They lose back-to-back games in Seattle and in Denver. They're five and two.

They get a nice little respite mid-season, which I like. They get to eight and two. They lose in Buffalo because it's an annual tradition. It's almost rude not to. Eight and three. And they lose to the Rams. They have two, two game losing streaks. They're eight and four.

They beat Cincinnati. They lose at home to the Pats. Oh, okay. I just didn't want to argue. Thanks. They haven't lost to the Chargers since Mahomes was at – I'm sorry, to the Niners since Mahomes was at Texas Tech. 12 and 5.

Losses being at Seattle, at Denver, at Buffalo. at the Rams and home to the Patriots. So they sweep the charges. Yeah, I'm not as into your guy, Justin Herbert. Bruce guy, Justin Herbert. But I know you wanted, so 12 and 5 is where I would. 12 and 5 is my just snap. Again, it's in pencil prediction week, August 31st to September 4th for the official.

But 12 and 5 is made. Things bouncing around the internet. Because I like to keep my pulse on the finger of Kansas City's heartbeat. I think you like to keep your finger on the pulse of Kansas City. What do I have? You have your pulse on the finger of Kansas City. Yes. Also, there's the eye.

My neck right there. Yeah, the other way around. There is some talk about, is this a bounce? Is this a rebuild year for us? That felt like. They had that talk the year they traded Tyree Kill. They won't Super Bowl. Okay, but a lot of, but this certainly feels more like it

when you're like, let's clean up our books on defense and develop some young defensive players. Let's not make a major move for a wide receiver like Josh Allen did, like Bo Nick's did like Drake May did, especially when the guy is, we knew that he's, you know, behind schedule, let's say, if he didn't go to. Who's behind schedule? Oh, Rashid Rice. You know, the 30 days in county lockup threw him off.

I was surprised. There was big targets there. They didn't make a move. The defense certainly didn't get better. So that feels like a contractual cleanup. So, yeah. So, but I mean, that was all of that applied to 2022. They didn't want to, they didn't spend money.

They traded away their high dollar guy in Tyree killed. They went super young on defense, and the defense started the year off not better and ended the year excellent. Mahomes that year's number one receiving option was Marquezvalda Scantling, and number two was McCull Hardman from the receivers. Kelsey was better. Juju was there. And so I, listen, I do not think they have right now a reliable at all receiving court. And I know you want to, you don't do that. But I have seen this team go 15 and 1 with the receiving corps similar to this and losing the Super Bowl.

I have seen Patrick Mahomes win an MVP with a receiving corps similar to this and win the Super Bowl. I don't think they've had a good receiving core since Tyreek left. And they've certainly had good offenses. So here's the wider receivers career. were these going 43 yards a game, 10 touchdowns, where she's 65, 15 touchdown. Thornton is a nice additional. Granted, he spent most of his career in New England

when guys couldn't get a lot of yards receiving at the time. But still, I mean, he's just, it's in, yeah, I don't think you would be, here's my major point. Yeah. To reach the Super Bowl, like climb in Mount Everest, there's an easy side and there's a hard side. It feels like some teams are like, well, let's go up the easy.

side. We'll talk about the Rams. We've got the defensive player of the year. We've got two great wide receivers. Maybe Donald comes back. We've got a healthy, albeit aging quarterback. Chiefs are like, let's go up the hard side. Injured quarterback, but look, he looks back to normal. No additional wide receivers. Let's get rid of our defense. Defensive stalwart. So I, listen, I think that to use your Mount Everest analogy, I would if I had an aging mountain climber and it was his last climb ever, I would also want to go up the easy side.

That's why I think the Rams are loaded, loaded for bear for the, you know, they're not trying to have the next 10 years be, you know, be climbing the mountain. I also think teams that we have seen that are like, all right, let you know what I mean? Let's overpay or trade a bunch. I think what the Patriots said smart

is they're not paying their quarterback yet. But the teams that are paying their quarterback that then go out and they are giving away first round picks to get veteran players as opposed to what the chief's doing the opposite. It is a, to me, that's one of the reasons those teams have shorter windows. The chiefs are trying to thread the needle of competing for a Super Bowl and keeping the window as wide open as possible. That is the harder side.

I agree. This is something that I agree with Brett Beach on. A lot of Chiefs fans are very critical of Brett. I think there are things that are fair to be critical about. I like the we want to compete Belichekian style. You could argue the Patriots went up the hard side a lot.

You know what I mean? But it's what kept them in the mix year after year. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Aaron Donald worked out with the Rams. Funny wrinkle here from Shafter because he used the team equipment at the facility during training camp.

The Rams had to officially list him. I think was it a formal tryout? Yeah, he's trying out. Here's Sean McVeigh. So I hope you're even aware of this. Like the NFL transaction wire had Aaron Donald working out with the Rams today, which I guess... Did it come across as a tryout? It did come across as a tryout that we've ever had.

Okay. You think he could make the team? Phenomenal. I think he could make the team. The kids got a shot. Yeah. That was honestly our way of being able to get a workout with him within the, you know, parameters of what's necessary.

But Giff Smith said it's the greatest tryout he's ever had. So, Brew, you think this is a done deal? Yeah. Yeah, unless he just isn't pleased with how he's played. He's been working towards this for a few weeks and then goes through the tryout. And I'm sure he's looked pretty good. And he's continued to work out throughout his retirement just as far as weights and staying in shape. So I feel like he's definitely coming back.

Don't know for sure, but that's my gut. And look, he's 35 years old. Bruce Smith, Reggie White, they were still excellent at that age. And he has only played 10 years. He doesn't have a wear and tear that a typical 35-year-old has on him. And he, I'm not doing a misdirection. No, no, no, no. No, no.

And he, you know, he stayed in shape, as I said. I expect him to come back. I know a few weeks ago I said, I'm not sure what type of impact they'll have. I think he'll have a great impact because also Miles Garrett is going to draw some attention. away from him. You know, you got the other guy, Bryron Young, who last year had a great season. So they have, they don't have to rely on him

as much as they used to, although I'm not going to say he'll be as good as he was. But I do think he could come back and make a heck of a impact. And I don't think they need him to win the Super Bowl, but he definitely helps. KW. Yeah.

He looked like you wanted to say something. No, no. So I don't think he's, I don't think he's coming back. You don't think he's coming back? All this and not coming back? I don't think he's coming back. I looked at one of his comments about only if he's at the level he's accustomed to as a sign that I think, maybe I'm wrong. I want to make it clear.

I think if he did come back, he would be good. You know what I mean? Not as good. He was first team all pro. He was first team all pro his final year and also was the third word. year of his career. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And the year before his last year was the only year he dealt with injury. Year two through eight, he put up a resume of if that was the entirety of his career, he might be the best player ever at his position. So I'm not here doubting Aaron Donald. If someone said, I think he's the greatest defensive player of all time, they have a strong argument for it. But I think he already, his last two years, was not the player that he, he, is. that he was and the player that he wanted to be.

It's one of the reasons I... It's not like he left because the Rams stunk. They still had Stafford. They were recently off a Super Bowl. Not immediately off Super Bowl, fresh off. And he walked away. And it's been two years. And again, I say this with no firsthand knowledge,

but I imagine there is a massive difference between staying an amazing physical shape and being ready to play NFL football. games. Yes. And so I think I just, if he comes back, I think it is almost objectively speaking, you know, a zero downside proposition for him. He's not going to be a diva.

He's not going to be a pain in the ass. And if he's not old Aaron Donald, he's still better than whomever was going to be in his rotating spot. I just don't think he's going to come back. Wow. And if he does come back, I think the impact would be flashes rather than consistent production. I'm less concerned about age than I am about time away from the game. Like, I think two years retired is a real thing, and I think that that, I think this is more sizzled than stake when it comes to the actual impact that it would have on the Rams season.

That's where I've, you know, I've been thinking about this for a month because I, from the very beginning felt like this was, this was a little weird, and I didn't know exactly why I felt that way. It was like teasing it. It would really be, to me, it would be surprising. He's gone this far. Now, you're right. Maybe he's like, I'm just not looking like I'll have. He didn't want to probably go through some of it. Didn't they travel somewhere for training?

Well, and their first game of the year is in Australia. Well, I don't mean to travel, but I mean for camp or whatever. It's been this month-long flirtation. Yeah. Like, you can just snap it now. It's like, I'm back. You can do it, you know, after Thanksgiving. I think he's really trying to gauge where he's at.

that. And I think if he doesn't come back, it just means he feels like I don't have it at the level I... What do you think? But I think he will. I thought we were going to get the debut of your Marlowe

do it or don't. Do it or don't, but I got places to be. No, because I don't feel... He's one of the greatest players of all time and it's not bothering the Rams. So I also think it's maybe on the board that Brew and I are either both right or both wrong

depending on how you want to look at it. Meaning he does not come back and then in November he does. That makes more sense for me. But that to me is even more time away. Like come in halfway through the season. Certainly if something dramatically bad happens with the Rams and then all of a sudden Aaron Donald is out there on a team that's two and six.

You mean if Stafford gets hurt. If something were to happen, you don't want to say it. But if you're missing it, if he's really missing it, he wants to play. I'm not missing it if we're two and six. He has a Super Bowl. It's not like he's just coming back for a ring or anything like that. I mean, I'm sure it would be fun for him to play with Miles Garrett. Like, that's the part of it that I would think is the draw, is he's, obviously, he was on great teams.

They went to two Super Bowls, they won one. But he, my guess is, this would be the first time in his entire football life that he plays on a defensive line where the other team is more worried about someone else. And, you know what I mean, what that would open up for him. So I bet that is super attractive to him. I just think 35 years old, two years removed from the NFL has done well with his money as a smart guy is going to, I don't, I don't, he doesn't need to come back. I don't think he's going to come back. Love's working out though. Well, yeah, but that's so does Greg Jennings.

Yeah. Greg Jennings couldn't make a comeback. Wow. I actually think you could, Greg. If you wanted to. Greg was, Greg's about a skeptic. I hope he's watching. Greg was a four-six guy in his prime.

Come on. We have no idea what Greg is going to look like. I'm just kidding. Greg comes back on this show. He fluctuates. He's like I'm in bulking mood. He might show up 2.30. Or 160.

I never know. Jalen Hurts, under the most pressure of anyone in the NFL. That's next on FS1 in the Fox Sports Channel on Sirius XM. Predictions week is coming up. End of the month through September 4th, Aaron Donald. Making an appearance on predictions week. We don't know if he's going to be in uniform. If he's not in uniform.

uniform dust. Let's reach out to him to see if he wants to be a member of Predictions Week because it is going to be star-studded. Yeah, of course. Gianna, can you get on that please? Thank you. Gianna DMs people for us to see if they, she slides into people's DMs to see if she wants to come on the show. Yeah, that is what she does. New article on fox sports.com, Bucky Brooks and Eric Williams listing the most the players under the most pressure at number one, Jalen Hertz. Brooks Hertz needs a strong 2026 campaign to silence the boo birds and naysayers and perhaps save his head coach's job, if not his own.

Hertz has seen firsthand in Philly how this could all play out. Oh, my goodness. What do you make it hurts being number one? Listen, I don't think he should be number one. We actually talked about this yesterday. We all said C.J. Stroud. I don't even know if we mentioned Jay. No, and I thought Bryce Young would be the second guy behind CJ.

But if you remove the actual list from the quote there, I think everything he said in the quote there is accurate, whether it should be or not. This is more an objective or a observation on what I think the objective facts on the ground are rather than if it's fair that he is considered this. I do not think he is on as steady footing as any of the other Super Bowl-calibal-calibular quarterbacks in the league within his own franchise. I think his franchise has a history of being like,

yeah, good's not good enough sometimes and wanting to move on. And I do think that what Bucky wrote is certainly correct about Siriani. And while I don't think Jalen Hertz's job is on the line, it is more on the line than the superstar quarterbacks. It's more on the line than Stafford. then Mahomes, then Alan, then Lamar, then Burrow, then, you know, Drake Mays, or like, and so I wouldn't have him number one, but I do think, and this is one of the reasons I find Sandoz article, the player, the quarterback poll, you know, the tier is so valuable.

I do find it as valuable data point that 50 anonymous people around the league came together like, yeah, he's decidedly average. He's the league average quarterback. And again, we can say that's unfair, but that is an unemotional ranking that what is a pretty, cast a very wide net from GMs, coaches, coordinators, and that's where they saw Jalen Hertz. And so I understand Bucky's point,

even if I think number one is, you know, too high. Yeah, yeah. Well, I totally agree with that. He shouldn't be number one, but there's tons of pressure on. him. And for those that would say he's average, you're right, he was 17th out of 32 or

35, yeah, so just right at the average number. There, more than half of the quarterbacks in the league if they were in his position, and I would even say some, not necessarily going to name names, but some that were well above him, a good

number that were above him, if they were in Philadelphia these past four years instead of him, I don't think they'd have won a Super Bowl. Now, they were wildly talented team. Why don't you want to name names? Well, I just didn't, I didn't go through the, you know. He thinks it's because one of them is your guy, Justin Herbert. That's what he's, that's what gave him. No.

No, I mean, look, Herbert has not, Herbert's been the opposite of him in the playoffs. That's not sure. But I'm just saying like, that to me, it's not just that he won Super Bowl. He didn't win the, and no disrespect to this guy. He didn't win the Super Bowl like Sam Donald did last year. Sam Darno was fine. but he wasn't the star. That's right. Jalen Hertz was the star and then played great when they lost to the chief. So I think that it boils down to this.

Because, again, I agree with you on the pressure, the fans, I already, you know, feeling a certain way about him, the franchise, whether or not they could get rid of him. If he doesn't have a good year, I think he might be on shaky ground there. And for whatever, I just think it boils down to this, Nick. people don't like the way he play as quarterback. Even the talent he values in the league. I've said it.

To me, he's a winner. He's a leader. He's clutch. He's poised. He steps up in the big moments. He's mentally tough. So he, I mean, we saw it in college, bouncing back from being benched by Nick Saban

and all the things he's doubt, all the doubters when he came into the league to turn. himself into a franchise quarterback, but he doesn't have the golden arm. He doesn't throw for the golden statistics. And when you look at these polls, it tends to be the guys that that's why Justin Herbert always rank so high because he throws a beautiful ball, pillowy balls, you might say. Well, no, he throws a laser. But that, that is what the bottom line is people just don't like the way he plays quarterback.

Yeah, because then I want you to go long. Yeah, that's why I want to ask first. I'm getting angry. All right. So I have two questions about what you said. Because I agree with a lot of it. Is it fair if someone says, hey, some of his leadership shine has taken a hit over the last few years. Like from the supernatural funk to whatever was going on in Philadelphia last year, some of the great leader shine.

it's not quite what it once was. Here's what I say. That's not an unfair comment, but what I would say is a lot of the great leaders we've seen in sports, LeBron, Kyrie dips on him, Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, quits in the middle of the city. So there's only so much at this level of grown men that a great leader can do it.

I hear you, that's a fair point, but I do think he's still a very good leader. And the other one is, It's one that I have brought up many times as a compliment to him. It's one of the things that I mentioned to Mrs. Hertz when she was telling me before the Super Bowl, when he kicked the chief's ass, that he was going to do it and that I'd been unfair to her son. When I said, hey, you've heard what I said in real time and since then about how he handled what happened in Alabama. And she actually gave me credit.

She was like, you know, you were fair there. But that's always such to me an interesting. that gets brought up in his defense and I'm one of the people who brings it up. It's like, hey, remember what happened how he handled getting benched in college? Which is kind of speaks to what we're talking about. Like there has been dating back, dating back to Alabama.

Right, exactly. Was there is something about whatever, and almost no quarterback has no holes. But his holes seem to really be red flags for either certain types of coaches, or certain programs, you know what I mean? And so, and that's, and so that it's, you know, it's a weird attribute of when he lost his job, he handled it like a pro when we're talking about, you know, things.

Yeah, but I think that's, you know, character shines in your lowest moments. Right, but so, but it's a compliment to his character. And it's an indictment on the ability that he lost his job. And it gets like, so that and, but now you go. I guess so. Take all the time you want. KW. The guy's never had a losing season.

And you can go around and say, hey, raise your hand if you haven't had a losing season in your career. Lamar can't raise his hand. Patrick Malmonds can't raise his hand. Eight and seven, 14 and 1, 11 and 6, 12 and 3, 11 to 5. I would sit down and you should do this any job. Hey, what does success look like for me? I'm new at this job. What does success look like?

I think the answer is win games for us. Cool. Anything else? Be high on a poll of Nautibis executives. Doesn't make any sense. Well, look, he has, in his defense, he's been second in MVP. Yeah. Voting two one year.

The other part of this that really bothers me is, and a part of this is a little bit of a Joe Burrow conversation, as we are doing rankings. Some of the quarterbacks, the media has decided, will be judged on their best moments like Joe Burrow. That's definitely true. And some guys will be judged on their worst moments like Jalen Hertz in a half of a football. game. I'm a little guilty of it. I'm like, wow, it was a really wacky half of football when you didn't complete a pass. But winning Super Bowl MVP and not completing a pass in a regular old game that I think you won are not equally weighted. Finally, Dusty, can you pop up? You don't even need to if you don't have it. The Eagles schedule. First five games I just did.

Commanders, Jaden Hertz, excuse me, Jalen Hertz versus Jaden Dan. He's two and one against Jaden Daniels and the commanders. Including a playoff win in which he put up 55 points and they won. He's yet to play Cam Ward. He's actually 0 and one against Caleb. That was the game where Vic Fangio's vaunted defense gave up 280 yards on the ground. The bears rushed all over them. Ben Johnson.

I don't know if he debuted it, but he certainly took his shirt off after that game. Okay. Then he's got the Rams. Oh, the Rams, Matthew Stafford, Super Bowl champion. Matthew Stafford has never beaten Jalen Hertz. Jalen Hertz is 4-0 against Matthew Stafford. But in that game, it will feel like one, you know,

king with a crown on and one underdog trying, like, this guy's never beaten me. I beat him in the playoffs. I've beat him in the regular season. He's never beaten me. But his job's not in jeopardy. And finally, the Jags, of course. What's his record against the print?

To win O. Okay. I was curious. I was literally asking. It's basically all. He's just all the guy does is win, and it's a little bit of the Jalen Brunson. It's become a meme at this point.

Everyone's better than Jalen Brunson. To have time to be better. What about Drew Holiday? Drew Holliday. I think he's a lot like a winner does the little. Drew Holiday is never going to wow you with his points per game or, you know, his bag or anything like that. But he is a winner.

and you know if he goes to your team, it's going to be. That's right. And does all the little things that win. Yeah. I haven't. The Drew Holiday one is it would take me longer to one back. My full thoughts, because I didn't see it coming. So I don't want to dismiss it, but I can't.

I'm sure it's a good comp. I just haven't spent a lot of time thinking of it. I am curious to you, though, KW, because, and I think this is where the Jalen Hertz, collective rankings does not come out of nowhere. It's not like a wheel was spun and all teams and media is like, hey, just like the Herbert,

collective rankings don't come out of nowhere. Even if we think they're wrong. It's not like, all right, this guy, we're going to give five extra spots to and this guy we're going to take those five spots from it. There's a reason for it. And I feel like last season, in real time,

you start. started to on Mondays, not so much in the off season, but on Mondays, understand it a little more. Because it wasn't just the one. There's a rough film. It wasn't, and it wasn't just the one. You mentioned one half or didn't complete a pass. It was a multiple games where all of a sudden the offense would seemingly become totally non-functional. Yes.

And it culminated for the second time in three years. Now again, the middle time in those three years, they won the Super Bowl in. blowout fashion, scored 100 points in the final two rounds. But it culminated for the second time in three years with a totally dysfunctional offense in the playoff game. You know what? We're in the final

play. They're running the four verts and everyone's mad at the offensive coordinator and it's an incomplete pass and you lose to a nine-off team. So it is I think he is a touch underrated. I think you feel like he is wildly

underrated and from a pure winning standpoint, the evidence is in your favor. But I also think I understand why some folks, even though DAC, I'll use DAC as an example, has not a third of the playoff success of Jalen Hertz, watches the two guys play. I think Dak's an excellent leader. I think leader and character, like they both check those boxes. And they're like, yeah, I'd rather have him as my quarterback than Jalen.

I get, I don't think that's like an unacceptable opinion. I don't think that's, I understand why people watching the games week to week are like, yeah, I think he's better. Here's a good question on that. And you know, I like Dak and I think Dak should have been rated ahead of me. I can't say they have a Super Bowl if Dak's the quarterback instead of Jaylon. Because Dak hasn't been great in the playoffs. So you're saying if Jaylin Hertz was the- If Dak was the quarterback- He's saying if the Eagles had Dak the last six years.

And I and I- Oh, well, I can flip that. that too. You think the Cowboys would? Oh, I don't. Wow. It's on the board. I do not. It's on the board. I guess he's on the board. It's got to be on the board. If we're playing imaginary. No, it's on the board. It's certainly on the board. Dak would go to

Philadelphia and melt down. When Jalen Hertz would step up and then there's an issue where that Jalen Hertz could rally a team. There's right, but the flip side to both of those are also on the board. Yeah, if Jalen Hurts was on a Cowboys team that had, you know, mediocre defenses and instead of having the best ownership situation in the league arguably, one of the wackiest, that Jalen Hertz would have never gotten a second contract. That's certain, you know what I mean? That certainly has to be on the board as well. And that Dak Prescott, if he walked into a situation where they

have consistently outstanding skill, like he finally had two great wide receivers. We're talking about whether or not they can have the number one offense. If he had that the whole time, this great defense that the Cowboys are, you know, have even more success in Philadelphia. Like that to me, I'm not eliminating his possibility there. March ace. His girth helps him. It helps him. That former giant Dexter Lawrence is having a giant impact on this defense.

He's been terrorizing practice. He's a great player. Bengals looking to shore up their defense, which hasn't been the best partner for Joe Burrow throughout his career. This is career seasons when you're scoring defense ranked in the, the bottom half of the NFL. Joe Burroughs got five. Alan Mahomes and Lamar have four combined.

Are you buying that the Bengals can return to contender status? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. No, contender status? Yeah, gee whiz. For the record, I think the Bengals have only had one season where they were a contender, and it's not the season. They made the Super Bowl.

Well, that seems like that doesn't. Yeah, they were 10 and 6. They, like, listen, they, they make the Super Bowl, you got to be a contest. No, they, they, it would. No, they retroactively, yes, but going into that year and throughout that season, I did not view them as a contender. They ended up clearly proving me wrong. They made the Super Bowl.

You understand what I mean? There's only been one year that start to finish. It's like that team's a contender. It was the year after they made the Super Bowl when they won 12 games, when they went to Boroughhead and then, you know, franchise was forever altered. I just, I, this is the company the Bengals keep, no matter how many people, in Cincinnati after eating that awful spaghetti, tell me I'm wrong. I like that.

That's it. This is the entire list of teams. There's nine of them that haven't played in a playoff game in the last three years. They're all bad. Any other one of these teams were like, hey, expect the Falcons to return to contender status with the addition of Tua.

Cam Award year two. What a Carson Beck tonight. Look out. But in fairness, to the Jets. In fairness. Look at the quarterbacks on those teams. I see.

All right. And you got Joe Burrow. Let's look at a number one pick Fernando Mendoza, number one pick Cam Ward. Cardinals had number one pick Kyler Murray. None of them were even close to Burrough. Pennix. Yeah. Daniel Jones, Tyler Shuck.

Yeah, the Falcons have two top ten picks. But you know what I'm like, that's the problem with those teams. No, I get it. Which is also almost why it's more. embarrassing for the Bengals. Because they do have a great quarterback, and yet usually a great quarterback inoculates from this type of dysfunction.

And so no, I do not expect the Bengals to be a contender. I think Joe Burrow, who is a great player, one of his quotes that has simply aged terribly, was the hubris-laden.

Yeah, I think the windows, you know, every year of my career the window's open or whatever? It was something about every year of his career. How long is the window? And he said every year of his career. And it turns out the window was open for a year and a half. And I just brew, I don't trust their O line.

I don't trust their defense, even with Sexy Dexy, who I think is awesome. They lost, you know, art shows guy, Trey Hendrickson. I don't think they have a very good head coach. I thought they had an excellent defensive coordinator that they scapegoated for bad personnel two years ago, and I think that was a bad move by them. And so, no, I do not expect the Bengals to be a contender. I expect them to be a good team this year. I think the Ravens will win the division.

I think the Bengals will be in the hunt for a wildcar playoff spot. Because I think they, much like Dallas, now like Dallas's defense, what they've done better, you know, with the, draft pick and some of the other additions, Quinny Williams. But look, in addition to Dexter Lawrence, Boyet Mafei, Super Bowl, a Jonathan Allen, a pro bowler, and then your guy from Kansas,

Brian Cook. So they brought in two guys with Super Bowl winning experience. Obviously they added talent in addition, even though they lost Trey Hendrickson. We know the offense is going to be great. To question to me as to whether or not they're in the playoff hunt, I am not.

I cannot sit here and say, I feel 100%, like I feel about just about every other starting quarterback in the league, that Burroughs going to be healthy. I think if he's healthy, Nick, they're fighting and maybe comfortably make the playoffs, but I think they're definitely fighting for the playoffs if he's healthy. Well, for the record, I can certainly see them fighting for the playoffs. But I think there is a, I don't look at the Bengals the way people did.

Remember last year when it was like, Oh, if they get in, look out. We had to do that charade for a bit. I don't look at a team that, and maybe the defense will be totally remade and all I'm saying it's going to be great, but just. Right. But the Bengals team that I have a single dimensional team, they have a great passing attack. Nothing else on the team to me is above average.

I don't look at that team as dangerous to make a Super Bowl. Now, could they be dangerous in, could they, if they were to be? make the playoffs upset a team in round one. Are they individually, in individualized instances, dangerous? Sure. Are they dangerous for a month of playoff football? Absolutely not. Budless, the most motivational

segment in all of sports coming up next. This is a great one I heard. They're always great. Did you get wings upstairs? No. Well, you guys respond to the emails. I saw it. I'm watching my figure. Oh.

Whether life serves you an ace or an expected backhand. The high-protein yogurt, OICOS Pro, is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash. Oikos Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high protein and contains no added sugar because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits. It's about being able to bounce back. Oikos Pro Feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more details. Live from New York, the show that's already thinking about football parties and food. And I'm excited. I'm telling you, you guys, you're going to have such a great time at the house. It won't be as good as if you came over for the Sunday 1 p.m. slate where I could, who knows.

It's a good time. And I could, don't be offended by this. I say with what, teach KW's eyes how to watch six games at once. I knew he's going to be mad. He, he's, you and I are watching every game every Sunday. You're watching one team at a time. He's doing it one at a time. The one o'clock game is so cranky. And then he watches by themselves after. There is a limit to how much I watch. That's what I'm saying. I could train you. I knew you'd get mad. I am locked in, but I am a monotasker.

That's what I'm saying. And I have to go back and watch again. I have monotasking. First hour. Oh, second hour. First thing's first. Today, panic time for the 49ers. Everybody's. They got to just move. As Nick goes into.

Pete Crow Armstrong territory. No, that's not what that is. You know, it's a, I would argue you're a binary choice. You're either into conspiracies or you're not. I'm arguing something that we can see exists and you're arguing it's actually not there. I already researched a bunch of Pete Pro Armstrong stuff, so I'm ready to go. Meanwhile, who will be the star of the first game of America's Game of the Week slate? Jane McDaniels were Jalen Hertz.

We're really almost there. boys. I know. This is so exciting. Yeah. But right now, of course, it's time for the most motivational segment in all the sports. It's the budlless. Also time when we read some viewer mail. I had gone to the real post office because I had to mail my kids letters at camp and I picked this one up. Don't you always go to the real post? No, Christine often goes. Oh, yeah. She's all. Dear Wilds, thoughts on Jerry Jones. We almost did this story. Thoughts on Jerry Jones's recent comments that he'd be open to selling a portion of the Cowboys and partnering with a long-time NBA presence turned TV star. Thanks, Ryan and Brian.

This was a story that we considered doing. I would love to fly on Jerry's helicopter. That's a heck of a helicopter, too. It's like a private jet. I bet you think he has both. Yeah, I'm sure. The jet used not as normal. That's like a big, stirred, choppers for the shore.

He's a cable helicopter. Probably takes the chopper from the landing strip to the stadium. Probably would imagine. I think he lives in there. I think he lives in Texas. But when he's out of town. Yeah, he travels quite a bit, I'm sure. I like it.

That was good. I like that. It travels quite a bit on shore. I'm sure. Don't you're right? Yeah, I agree. Every Sunday or half the Sunday's in the league. All right, here we go.

Number three, Trevor Lawrence. What? Look, Trevor, there's no easy. way to say this, so I'm just going to give you the cold, hard truth. No one believes in you. What? Really? Except Nick Wright, and he's some timing with him.

What? Very some timing with it. Remember, you can bring out the wig now. Last time he had, yeah, that's about what he, he, the wig is gone. The bug, who was it, the buglers? They don't do it for the prince anymore. It's not even in there. It's not even in there.

See, he's gotten rid of the wig. This is why we can't win in. Go back to Brunschild. Some timing. All right, he couldn't even find it. He was calling him Trevor Lawrence. I do remember that. Wasn't calling him the Prince, all that stuff.

But I say this, Trevor, here's why. I'm not trying to be mean. You just came off of leading Jacksonville to 13 wins. You just finished fifth in MVP voting. You have thrown for 4,000 plus yards three of your last four seasons. It was a great year. And the last three years you've been healthy. You've thrown for 4K plus.

Go ahead. And yet, the league's talent evaluators, the brainy guys. Yeah. The guys that tell us who's great and who's not. They ranked you as the 16th best quarterback in the league. Decidedly, as Nick would say, average, 16th out of 32. Touch your ball. They guess no.

Well, 32. 16 and a half would be the middle. It's right about average. I mean. Really? It is. That's not the depth. Well, yeah, right.

With an even number, with an even number, there isn't a mean, a dead medium. That's dead medium. It's right about. I think we're safe. There is no dead averages of meat, of an, of a medium. of an even number of digits. If I had 32 bucks and you were like, give me half, how much money do you want?

I get 16. Well done. Yes, well done. Which would mean half below half a plus. You'd be like, give me 1650. Go ahead, bro. Nick, you're not going to like this, Nick. I promise.

Well, this is 33. Go ahead, bro. One OC said this, offensive coordinator. This is kind of who he is. Streaky, up and down. If everyone around him does their job at a high level, he has a chance, but he is

not going to be able to carry everything for a substantial period of time. I mean, you picked maybe the most negative. It was, well, he was 16th after finishing fifth and the MVP voting.

So here's what I'm saying, Trevor. I'm not, I didn't vote. This is not on me. I'm telling you, go out and prove that you are the man. You've got a very nice receiving court. talented. You got a coach that everybody loves, a hot shot mind that everybody loves.

All right. You're coming off 13 wins. You're healthy right now. Go out and show people why you were the Gatorade player of the year in high school as Nick reminds us at least once a month. Right? Yeah. Go out and show us why at one point you were Caleb Williams as far as the hype and the buzz and the hoopla. So this is your year to get it done, Trevor. Show the people what you're made of. Trevor, I am open to belief. Me too.

I'm open to belief. I love to hear that from you guys. Open. All right. At number two. Lamar Jackson. Wow. All right, Lamar.

I keep getting text. This is true. Keep getting texts and calls from people. Why are you the only one standing up for Lamar Jackson? They see the ranking 69th best player in the league. And I'm not the only one. In fairness, Warren Sharp came out. I'm sure you saw his little defensive Lamar Jackson.

But these preseason rankings have been downright disrespect. That's true. Downright disrespect. There's no other way to look at them, all right? Period. The end. And Kevin Wilde's. he mocked you you're reminiscing you're thinking about to how fun it was to play youth football

pop warner when you were under center and he's mocking you that was a silly quote he's laughing at you he said i played under center when that was reminiscing about how fun it was and it wasn't if it was a unique quote that's all i wasn't mocking him so so lamart look this season though isn't about proving people wrong. It isn't about showing people you're still elite individually. It is really about winning that Super Bowl. You've got to get it done. You've done everything individually.

You've been one of the best regular season quarterback statistically that we've seen. I said yesterday that you or two days ago, you led all the current players in passer rating for your career. You actually lead everybody. You and Aaron Rogers are the all-time career leaders in passer rating among all the quarterbacks who've ever donned in NFL uniform. You've won two MVP. Until Purdy gets enough attempts. Purdy might.

Pretty. Yeah, purdy could, you know. But you have won the two MVPs, one of 11 quarterbacks to do it. But those 11 quarterbacks, of course, all have a championship ring. So, look, you got a new coach that you seem to be fond of. You're going to be under center. You're going to, your offense looks like on paper is going to be more deceptive than ever. The defense, I think, is really going to be revitalized by head coach Jesse Minter.

So Lamar, this is your year to go out and get that elusive Super Bowl ring. That's the only thing left for you to do. I believe in you. And at number one, C.J. Stroud. C.J. Stroud. It started with a bang, C.J. came out, even though your offensive line was in flux, you took a franchise, a team, really, team that was horrific.

Won three games a year before you got there. You have a rookie head coach, and you take them to 10 wins and the playoffs and a playoff win. And then all of a sudden, the bottom fell out. I don't know what happened. There are theories out there, even on this show. theories about what happened, but the last two years you were not anywhere near the rookie quarterback who had

arguably the greatest rookie season of any quarterback in league history, certainly among the top five. And so the question now is can you get back there? Because we're not the only ones wondering what's going on. The guys in the preseason rankings aren't the only ones. Your team did not offer you a contract extension heading into your fourth year. You guys have everything you need to win a Super Bowl, arguably the best defense in the league. You got your receivers back.

Nico Collins and Tankdale, your buddy is back. You added a running back in David Montgomery. The only question mark is who is CJ? Is he the guy that came in the league and took the league by storm? Or is he the guy that had one of the worst post seasons on record with five interceptions, five fumbles in two playoff games last postseason? So CJ, believe it or not, I still believe in you. Wow.

So go out there and get it done now. A great but list. Coach Manjini texted me during said he, It was just fantastic. Especially C.J. Stroud part because Coachman and Jeannie loves C.J. He's really high on C.J., huh? He wants to believe. I think he's not going to have a bounce back.

Yeah, I wouldn't believe. I might, I'm going to be very high on C.J. Really? I don't necessarily. Well, they had the best. They were basically the 85 bears until Drake May had 100 pass rating. Hey, it's time now. Are fumbles incorporated in passer rating?

I don't know, to be honest with you. But if they are not. They're not. But if they were, then even more. more impressive. No, in that game, that was his problem, was the fumbles. No, it was probably won the game. Okay, easily. All right, time now for the sports media on Budsman, Thursday 412.

Thank you so much, Kevin Wilds, for the tepid introduction. You know, I didn't want to just be negative. That's good. Oh, wow. And so as I scoured as we get ready for football season, the NFL media landscape, I came to this conclusion. The last week or so, we saw the very best. and the very worst of NFL media on display. So let me start with the best, a little sweet before the sour.

Mike Sando demonstrated, as he does every year, the value in consistently delivering excellent results at your job and consistently nurturing relationships. Mike Sando has a group of at least 50, if not more, NFL decision makers, coaches, GMs, coordinators, that it's got to be more because he's been doing it for more than 10 years that he knows he can go to, get real commentary from. They trust that their anonymity will be protected.

And it to me is the best and most accurate snapshot, not necessarily of where these quarterbacks actually are in skill, but where they are viewed amongst the league. Yes. Like it is a wide enough sample and the fact that we have his own archives to go back and see how a player was viewed throughout his career. I view it as a valuable historical tool, to be totally honest, like, oh, okay, what was the feeling of Eli Manning near the end of his career?

You can go back and check these lists. He's been doing them since 2014. That can only be done by doing your job well for a long time consistently. That's the best. The opposite of that is whatever that. What the hell happened with the Kyle Shanahan car wreck reporting? Where it turns out people that cover the Niners, people to cover the whole league knew about this.

And they had just agreed, all right, so when are we releasing this info? Now again, while I do have a fake news hat, the hat is fake, the news is real. I am not a journalist. However, I did go to school for journalism. I took a few classes, Com 101, Barbara Comstock, shout out Newhouse school. I have worked with Brew for quite some time. And while I understand there is, we're not covering the White House, there is going to be some level of horse trading involved on certain things

about timing of releases and stuff like that. I get it and I don't even really have a huge issue with it. That struck me as over the line. Even if you wanted to hold some of the details of the wreck until you found out everyone's okay, if there was potential legal proceedings, Maybe you can say, all right, it's gray area, but it's fine. But for no one to have reported, one of the 32 head coaches in the NFL was in on a public street

and then went to a public hospital, maybe private hospital, but public in general. And there's a police report and a written record and the ambulance ride and all of it to just hold it until the team was ready to release it. does make me ask the question I've asked many times who exactly do some of our NFL reporters think they are working for? Is it the audience? Or is it the people that are giving them information

which in theory is for the audience? But I don't totally get it. So, Sando, great job. Folks who knew Kyle Shanahan needed 40 stitches in his face and got a concussion and was going to be out for some time and held it for two weeks. Not as great of a job.

It's the best and the worst, I think. Shout out the good and the bed. Sports Media on Budzman. Thanks, Kate. I think that was good. I think that was balanced. Yeah, thank you. That's what I always strive to be.

That's right. Thank you. I'm putting, Brew, a team near and dear to your heart. The Akron Zips. Oh, this is great. On the Bud List. Have you seen this story? Yes, yes.

Akron Zips are trying to drum up some season ticket sales. They said, what should we do? Give away free car washes or some merch, you get yourself a Zips hat, maybe even a signed helmet from the team. Nope. Actually, get to call plays. Here's the Director of Athletics, Andrew Tia Goodrich. All right, Zips fans, this is your chance.

You asked for this opportunity and we're going to give it to you. If you're a season ticket holder before August 19th, you're going to have a chance to be entered into a raffle and win the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator of the game. We told you we're not crazy. You're going to be doing this with Coach Moorhead, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime for you to be able to draw up the plays, script out the opening drive,

and help the Akron Zips get this season started on the right note. Okay, so a few things. Number one, to Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich. I respect. You ask for this opportunity, and we're going to get, you don't have to listen to everyone and asking to call place. Like, you know what?

You asked the orange uniforms. You got it. I appreciate it. It's not burking. The customer is not always right. But you actually get to call the script with the coach. So I assume it's going to. For the opening drive.

For the opening drive, I assume it's a grab bag of I want to pick this, this and that. I laid out the worst case scenarios from worst to best. Okay. Number one, worst. scenario very much on the board, pick six. Yeah.

Pick six. Now the Akron Zips are national news. And if I was on the team, if I was the quarterback, I would be furious. If I was Robert Morris, I'd be a little bit fired up to it. Well, that's what I thought you were going to go. This is not even a subtle diss to Robert Morris. Yes. Yeah.

Worst case scenario. Number two for the Akron Zips and their offensive coordinator, immediate touchdown. immediate touchdown is you have to score, at least on the second drive, you have to score again. If the fan scores immediately and then you go out, you're in trouble. Worst case scenario number three. This is probably the most likely, I think, four and out. Just three and out.

It's just not great. You know what? I think three and out's not on the board. Because if you think the guy who gets to call is only drive of his life, he's going to signal the punt team on there? You don't think he's going for it on. You're not getting it. You're not getting it.

If they allow him to make that decision, fourth and 12, we're going for it. And find a field goal somewhere. The field goal is very happy, the stunt headwork. But they're moving tickets in Akron. Well, look, first of all, Akron is a legitimate. program, Jason Taylor played there. The great, great defense.

I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. You know what? It's the legit division one program. Small asterisk on that. Of what? On the legitimacy of the program.

Oh. I think they are as legitimate as a program that allows fans entire sequences of plays. Well, look, let me say this. When I wrote for ESP in the magazine, we were able to work out a deal with the, Then New Jersey Nets, where one of our readers, we set it up where the reader got to call a out of bounds. You remember an out of bounds play in a legitimate game.

Now, the reader, he was a former Division I player in it. It was a legitimate play. I don't remember if it worked. I think it did. I think it was like a clever. They might have scored. But I would argue one out of bounds play is a lot different. Yeah.

than a series in your opening game of your football season. I love it. Here's the question. You actually like it, them doing this? Yeah, because I think what is being undersold is what KW said. Brew, do you remember old Tech Mobile? Yes. Video game?

Yes. You only had three plays to pick from. You're just picking one of those three. I think there's going to be a very limited menu that the guy gets to pick from. Like on first down, we can do a dive right. We can do a safe little pass to the tight end. Like, I think it's going to be very in that regard. I don't think it's going to be like carte blanche flea flicker first play.

I don't think he's going to have true. But we'll see. Also, false advertising. I guess so they actually got that in. They're very, like, hey, opening script. You know. With the coach. They probably have a ton of plays that you get to choose, though.

Also, listen, Andy Reed famously. got a play from the janitor in Kansas City, the custodian, a game of play that they used in a game. Like, maybe, you know. That's goodwill hunting, I think you're thinking of. Saturday night is baseball night in America. Got three games. Guardians, White Sox, Orioles Rangers. You might see Tigers Giants.

Saturday at 7 o'clock, only on Fox. Heading right now, back to the NFL. San Francisco. Wednesday practice, not a lot of practicing, bro. headline from the San Francisco Chronicle. 49ers camp injuries piling up. Bosing Greenlaw among the 20% of the team. That sat 20%.

On Wednesday, Noah Furtado writing, the 49ers have a joint practice coming up next week with the Titans on August 11th. We've got a preseason game at Levi Stadium on 13th. A consistently dwindling number of healthy bodies on the 49ers side raises a question of whether that session might be reconciled. Considered, not good.

Time to sell stock in the 49ers. As far as reaching the Super Bowl, yes. Oh, yeah. I do think they could fight for a playoff spot. Now, they're the third best team in their division, Seattle, the Rams. But last year, they had a ton of injuries and won 12 games. I mean, that's what Purdy does.

So they won 12 games. I mean, he missed. He was one of those injuries in MacDow. He was seven and two. What was five and three? Well, I mean, I guess that would be. Well, he played the Rams. 7 and 2.

Okay, but go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, I, they, like I said, they can fight for the playoffs, but last year they had a ton of injuries. But the defense, you had Robert Sala, who is a great coordinator. He's not there this year. Correct. And look, as good a coaches, we all think Kyle Shanahan is, and he legitimately is, he's not, I mean, he'll have a six-win season. He's had three of them.

And he's had one-four win season on. top of that, usually because of injuries. And so, look, I think they'll be respectable last year, really surprising about how good they were. And obviously, these guys, some of these guys are going to be healthy in play. But I don't think they're a Super Bowl contender. Could be a playoff, will likely be a playoff contender, whether they make it or not, but not a Super Bowl contender.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like the balance of power conference to conference has shifted significantly over the last two years to where it 20 20 to 24 it felt to me like the AFC was pretty clearly the Superior Conference overall and now I don't feel that way anymore. I feel like the NFC

is deeper. And because of what the Rams have done they might be deeper and have the best team. Yeah. So I think that works against San Francisco. And they've won it the last two years too. Oh, the NFC, yes, correct. And so I think that works against them.

I, so I don't, I'm not going to talk about the substation. I'm going to talk about why I have flirted with that possibility. Because I am not, we joke, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm not conspiratorial in my day-to-day life. And most things like that, I am almost as offended by as KW is. the the Niners injury

recurrence numbers compared to the rest of the league being such an outlier demands to me almost mathematically an explanation greater than bad luck and that's why I have grasped on that somewhat tongue in cheek

I'm not at zero percent on that but if I look to tell the audience I don't actually think that's the meeting. That's the reason. I'm just not willing to totally dismiss it. But let's totally dismiss it for a moment. Let's say it has absolutely nothing to do with the substation. I do think the Niners then have an obligation to say, okay, then what are we doing? I remember last year there was a brief period of it's like, hey, they don't stretch before practice, but that got debunked a bit. You know, it's like, no, we just do a different type of stretching. Well, anything

you're doing differently than the average team, I would take an extra look at. I had thought for a while that the style of offense that Shanahan asks them to run, which kind of made Debo Samuel briefly, you know, one of the best players in the league, that over the middle run after catch, all of that, like, hey, does that have real knock-on effects? You know what I mean? Does, is there, I know the training staff has gotten very criticized. I have not really been able to quite figure out how much turnover there has been on that, because that's not as publicly reported as, like, player transaction.

But something, and is it the fact that they don't mind older players as much as other teams might? You know what I mean? That's a lot of it probably. And stick with those guys. I mean, a lot of the guys that get hurt, Arnold, Pearsaw, I-Uke. A lot of their young players get hurt, too. That's true, but are they not? You know, one of the reasons Pierce all fell in the draft for certain teams was college injury concerns.

Are they not paying enough heed to injury red flags? The point I-Shanahan has hard physical practices, but so does Andy Reed. Right. I mean. But there's the point that I'm trying to make is I am past thinking, well, it's 32 teams. One of them is going to be the most injured. So here's, we pulled the list here. So this is starters missing games in the last two.

years. It's the Cardinals and just one starter behind is the 49ers, the Panthers, and the Saints. You know, three teams that aren't very good or haven't been, you know, the Panthers made the playoffs, and the 49ers who vacillate between being great and playing a lot of extra playoff games and then being okay. If it was just the last two years, then I would say, all right, it's random chance. It is a long, it is really. It's Shanahan's tenure. I'm not putting it on him. Correct.

It's we're approaching a decade now of real, you know, bordering on outlier injury results to where if I were the Niners, I would really want to, I mean, again, to bring up the substation, John Lynch said he was like, we will investigate it because anything involving the health and safety of our players, we owe it to them to investigate it. He then came out and said it was a nothing burger. We did our investigation. okay, but then the investigation therefore must keep going. That's right. You know what I mean? If you were worried there's something going on that is making us disproportionately injured, and it might be as simple as they don't, in the pre-draft process,

value injury red flags as much as other teams. It might be as simple as part of one of the reasons Shanahan's offense, Ethan Strauss to his credit, wrote an article about this on a substack, that one of the reason Shanahan's offense seems, you know, to have the highest floor of any coach's offense is because they throw a lot of these in-breaking routes that are, you know, good for the quarterback. But are those more likely to end an injury because you're not going out of bounds? You know, that's how Brock got hurt. It was a Shanahan call because they let an Eagles player run.

Well, I mean, Trey Lance broke his leg when it was, you know, the second game where he was the starter on a quarterback. driven run. So there is something where it is not nothing. I'm the only one on the show that can kill the same. Just tangential before we go on to Herbert because I thought this was fascinating and I think it is a piece of this story. So I think sometimes we look

at NFL teams as hey, 32 teams, they're all probably doing business in a similar way. This is a story that Dan Graziano reported about the teams going to Australia. I thought this was interesting. Yahoo Sports kind of summed up

Dan Graziano reported. The Rams will arrive in Australia the day before their matchup against the 49ers and then leave Melbourne immediately after the game. San Francisco will arrive a full week earlier so players and coaches can adjust to the time difference. So this is two teams in the same division with just wildly different takes on how to have, you know, the control of playing in Australia. So I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that,

Oh, the Rams are training totally different than the 40-N-Ares. We have a totally different nutritional plan than they do. When you see it pop up here, we'll be there all week. Like, we're coming in, you know, we're going to land in our cleats. I also wonder, when I read that, my immediate reaction, and I say this, I'm just telling you honest what my immediate reaction is. I obviously have no medical expertise on that. How much of that not wanting to get there the day before has to do with Shanahan's concussion

post-car accident and does after a flight that long does he, you know what I mean? Do you need more time, whatever it is to adjust, like to adjust. How far out in advance when teams go to London? Because I actually think the Niners, I think the Niners are doing it correctly in this, of these two teams.

I wouldn't, go in there the day before it seems crazy. But I don't, I don't, this is, and this is where the Niners and the Rams both if they wanted to have a gripe with the league, but somebody's, if they want to play a game in Australia, some teams are going to be the first to do it. Australia is, you know, I have flown to New Zealand,

which is, you know, three hours closer to the West Coast than Australia. That, the difference in that flight than any other flight I've ever been on, I've flown to places in Europe, I've flown to Tokyo, is demonstrative. Yeah, for days a day. It's a full day's slow. It was, I mean, from New York to New Zealand was 18 hours. So I think from the West Coast to California is around the same. But it is, it is, and I, again, so, but both teams are going to have to deal with that piece of it.

I don't know that there is a definitional right way to do it, but they clearly feel very differently about what the right way to do it is. All right. Coming up next, I'll be honest with you, we kind of played with the rundown. So we're going to do Jaden and Jalen and maybe a dash of Justin Herbert. Maybe a little Harvard. Maybe a dash adjuster. I'm not sure. You want to make up for yesterday?

Give him some of love. No puniting. Whether life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand, the high-protein yogurt, Oikos Pro, is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash. Oikos Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high-protein

and contains no added sugar, because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits. It's about being able to take the hits. able to bounce back. OICOS Pro. Feed your strength. Visit OICOS.C.C. For more details. Sunday on Fox. The stars of IndyCar trying to take down Alex Palo. It's tough. New Garden. New Garden. I've started to grown to like New Garden's surly attitude. You've always liked New Guard. You've liked him ever since. He briefly shook your hand in the hallway four years ago. Sunday, Four Eastern, only on Fox. America's Game of the Week.

On Fox. 38 days away. That's amazing. 38 days away. We're basically right there on the door. We're five weeks away from the Patriots getting stomped by the Seahawks. If we went, well, if that's more on that later. Commanders in Philadelphia, September 13th.

It's going to be Jane Daniels versus Jalen Hertz. Who are you expecting a bigger year from? Now, are we doing teams? You guys yelled at me yesterday. No, we're doing the quarterbacks. We're doing. Eagles win the Super Bowl, but Jayton Daniels has more

touchdowns are going to be like he had a better year. That's what I'm asking to be clarified. That's what 10-15 is for. If Jalen Hertz wins the Super Bowl, he's going to have the better year. Yeah, I agree. If Jalen Hurts wins the second Super Bowl, people will be like he's the 15th

best quarterback. He's one of those one of the quarterbacks in the league who most is measured one of by Super Bowl. Yeah. Because he's not have the tremendous individual numbers. That's his brand. I win.

My numbers might not dazzle you. I win. At least 11 games. That dazzles me. Yeah. So I like both of these guys. I'm hoping for both of them to have a great year. But I would say give me Jalen just because Jaden is a little bit of a wildcard with

his health. And I know you called this from him going into the league. Last year he missed 10 games, rookie year, even though he played every game. He was banged up for several games. And that team doesn't have a great defense that puts pressure on the offense. I don't think his receiver, like McLaurin is going to be 31 pretty soon, I think. It's an older receiver. Yeah, yeah.

It's accomplished. Diggs, they just add it, but he'll be 33 in, I think, November maybe. So they're a little older group, whereas Jalen, you got Devonte's. Now, he does have a new OC again, like he seems to every year. But I just, Jalen has, to me, earned the benefit of the doubt in this discussion because he's gone out and done it. And he does.

He's a proud man. He's been questioned not only by A.J. Brown, but the fans in Philadelphia, for all his accomplishments, he takes a lot of shots. Yes. And so I think he wants to come out and really prove people wrong.

And I think he's going to do that. Can I say something about the fans in Philadelphia? And I certainly didn't. poll every single fan in Philadelphia, but I have some, went to school in Philadelphia, have some Philly friends. You have that one friend of yours, the cop. Yeah.

That's it. No, he's from my own town. I don't, I have not found any Philly fans who are not fans of Jalen Hertz. Oh, you don't listen to me enough Philly Sports Talk Radio. He's certainly popular there, and you know what I mean? But I had people come up to me and be like,

hey, thank you for riding for Jail. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like, I just feel like, and again, it's hard. I don't have my finger on the pulse of Philadelphia like I do Kansas City, but I just feel like there isn't so much doom and gloom in Philadelphia as there is nationwide. Here's how I would parse it. Joe Burrow in Cincinnati has a 99% approval rating.

Yes. Josh Allen and Buffalo has a 100% approval rating. Correct. Holmes in Kansas City, 100%. Stafford in L.A., 99%. Lamar in Baltimore, probably 95%. This is great. Keep going.

You know, go to the other side of it. Aaron Rogers in Pittsburgh, like 40%. You know what I? The Jackson Dart in New York right now, like 80%. Oh, I take the under on that. Or JJ McCarthy is being booed at camp by Vikings fans. Yeah, but so you take the, I think Giants fans are high on Jackson Dard, but that's fine. I was going to say, I think, so forget my judgment.

Jackson Dart thing. I think Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia is right around 80, 85%. Okay. Which is, again, higher than it is nationally, but for a quarterback who's won a Super Bowl in a town and is in his prime and bin to two, you would think it would be close to unanimous. So I think that's what, when I say you don't listen to WIP, what I, you're just not going to to hear sports talk radio callers call in to WGR and Buffalo and be like, Josh Allen's the problem. Yeah. And so, uh, Would be it would be the lane is open. Right, the lane.

So I am a little conflicted here because I think it's fair to say I've been something of a jail and hurts. I think I've been fair, but a critic. But also, I am, you know, working towards being beloved in Philadelphia once again. By once again, I mean for the first time. You don't need that. What do you mean? I'm going to be there a lot. I do need that.

People are way meaner to me in person than they are to UKW. the I like there is there the the amount of Philadelphia sports fans men and women who have not so subtly threatened to punch me in the face is a number more than I could count on one hand and I'm going to and that's with me there once a month much less me there three times a week when the Sixers season starts however I owe the audience honesty luckily for me I can achieve both with this answer because I do trust Jalen Hertz more than I trust Jaden Daniels like I don't, you know, I'm not a big fan of skinny football players. So that's a concern. And I do think Jalen, at the very least, to your point, has earned the high floor designation. Yeah. And I have been adamant that I do think the A.J. Brown departure is addition by subtraction.

I know that is something Danny disagrees with. I think Brew might somewhat disagree with. But I don't, I think that there was that as talented as he, was there was enough dysfunction there at the end that just having that gone is helpful. Now, everybody liked the draft pick they made Malachi Limeon. Pardon me, Mackay Lemon, not Malachi. He's been banged up. Devante Smith also falls into the skinny football player bucket, but he's been skinny forever

and he's, you know, one of the Heisman has been durable. I say Kwan a year older, there are reasons for concern. The new offensive line coach to me is a real reason for concern potentially. But I trust Jalen more than I trust Jaden. If the question were tweaked a little bit, more likely to have an MVP caliber year, my answer to that would be Jaden. I think the guy more likely to have like, oh, my God, a crazy year would be Jaden. But I think Jalen having an awful year is very under the radar MVP pick.

Jaden? Dar-course. Yeah, to like come in fifth? Oh, well, too. Or Dar-Course. Dark course to win.