First Things First - HIGHLIGHT: Mahomes Mountain to start the preseason

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Watch clips on YouTube! Subscribe to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FIRST THINGS FIRST YOUTUBE CHANNEL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ With the the NFL preseason about to start for all teams, Nick Wright reveals his latest Mahomes Mountain QB tiers. How will the rankings turn out this week? Listen and find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, it's week one of the preseason. At least we're getting ready for week one or three season. Are we climbing the mountain? Not quite yet. We're more at base camp getting all our stuff ready. Glasses, goggles, mittens, gloves, hats, winter jackets, parkas, and the like. What? Nothing.

I'm just listening to you cook, buddy. It's just a pleasure be able to sit here every day and watch you. Freeze, dried, food. Frail mix. Several ropes. Carabiner. a large axe, a ladder that you have to put over crevasses. Heavy socks, boots with spikes on them.

Is that off the top of the dome? Backfacts. Freestyle? Yeah. Wow. An oxygen. I was going to. I was waiting for that.

I'm impressed. Dried cranberries. I don't know. It's time for it to climb a home balance. Thanks, KW. So here's this. deal. We did this few weeks ago. Hasn't been a lot of reason for a lot of movement because was there,

it looked awfully familiar. Well, you know, guys, you know, it's new, you know, it's new step into the river, same river twice. Exactly. And so there is new information as far as like we learned that the 1600 or so players crossed the NFL don't think Brock Purdy's an above average quarter. We did learn that. Did that affect us standing on the mountain? We'll see. Um, we, uh, we did learn it, though. We just did learn it. We learned there's 15 quarterbacks in the top 100.

He's not one of them. Um, we also got, you know that made. Right. Exactly. We don't know that for sure. We know. Uh, we also got some ideas about some quarterback competitions. The sad thing is, though, the people involved in the quarterback competitions are not on the mountain.

Here's who's not climbing today. And it's everyone involved in the quarterback competitions. Tyler Schuck, who. My favorite stat of the week is Tyler Shuck seven months older than Trey Lance. He's a draft pick this year. That's amazing. That's true. The Joe Flacco, who is going to be the starting quarterback in Cleveland.

Daniel Jones, by the way, he might be replaced off the mountain by Anthony Richardson. It would also be off the mountain, but at least he'd have his picture on TV again. And then Russell Wilson. I'm surprised Russ is not on the mountain. Yeah, Russ, I would think he's a mountain worthy. Okay, well, let's see who we're taking off. Bottom row of the mountain. Kyler Murray, Aaron Rogers, Michael Pinnock's, one of Wilde's mini guys, Bryce Young.

Now, you could say should Russ take Justin Fields a spot? Justin Fields had a rough last couple days of camp. But so that would be the one argument. J.J. McCarthy, Cam Ward. So again, I would, of all these guys, the person I think, is most likely to move up the mountain first is Kyler. And of all these, but then move back down once the season gets a little longer, the guy of this whole row most likely to finish next year higher than this,

I think is Cam Ward. Oh, yeah. I think Cam Ward finishes the year higher. I'm a Cam Ward guy. Well, I'm not, again, I'm not trying to be a Cam Ward guy. I'm just saying, I was trying to give you a bow. No, you're trying to infringe. I'm not.

You're trying to plant a flag in preseason Malmes Malin that you're a Cam Ward guy. I'm not. It's going to come on. You remember preseason? I've always liked Cam Ward. Next thing you know, I'm not the Cam Ward guy anymore. Buddy, I promise you, you'll always be the Cam Ward guy on this show. You'll always be the one that's like, let's talk Titans.

Sixth row. Just like all always be the Caleb Williams guy. For good or for bad. There's a few guys on this row that all always be their guy. I'll be the Caleb guy. You're the Drake May guy. I think you're also the Bo Nix guy because he reminds you so much of one of your favorites of all time, Mac Jones. I'm the Prince guy.

You're the Tua guy and the Darno. This is me and KW. Row. I think. Yeah, this is, how special. This is just our guys. I'm not a Darnal guy. What?

You're a huge. I'm not a Darnel guy. You love Sam Darnel. I don't love San Darnel. Oh, it's okay. I'm just saying 4,300 yards and 14 wins. There it is. Not easily replaced.

I love that. Brew, I think you should be happy, though, because I don't know if you've noticed. There's 15 quarterbacks left because rows five up is 15 left. We haven't yet shown Brock Purdy, which means I amazingly have more respect for Brock Purdy than the entire NFL roster. Roe five. Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, Dak Prescott, Gino Smith, Brock Purdy. Five solid quarterbacks. It's a good row.

You can win with you. guys. You know what I mean? Are they getting you to the next level? We've never seen it, but you can win with these guys. Roe 4, top 10. Matt Stafford, my guy, Baker Mayfield, my guy. Jared Goff, Wilde guy, C.J. Stroud, coach's guy. Brew, sorry. What? What is coached guy was my guy? Oh, Greg's guy. Greg's guy, too. Greg's guy was already on the screen.

Daniel John. Daniel J. CJ, that's true. Uh, fake show, by the way. But I was thinking about this today. If he duplicates what he did last year, he's looking at like $200 million, man. He right now is the best bargain in the NFL

that's on a rookie contract. He makes $33 million a year. And I think he could have bigger numbers next year because I don't think the defense is going to be that good and they're going to have to, you know, they're going to have to be an offense offense team. He added another good receipt. Exactly right.

All right. All right, top six, Joe Cool, Jalen Hertz, Jaden Daniels. Now, this was also, the other news out of training camp, of course, is Stafford's injury, which made this a lot easier for me. Because in my heart of hearts, I feel like Stafford deserves to be on this row. I don't know who I'm taking off.

I don't want to argue with Kevin Wilds because I kind of know who I'm taking off. But he's injured. I'm shocked. He's in the middle though. It doesn't. Well, again, it's not left to right, buddy. Right.

Everybody knows that. And then the top three, everybody knows who it is. This is, it's not currently a big four in the NFL. It is a big three. It's really a big one and then two other guys. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, then top Mahomes Mountain. Big me. Thank you, KW.

Now we're in a huge feud. And at the top, Patrick Mahomes. Greg, it's been a while since you were part of Mahomes Mountain. And I'm going to get straight to it. It's one of those guys that you mentioned most likely to move up the mountain. Well, he should already start up the mountain. and that's Kyler Murray. Wow.

Yes. There is no way Kyler is at the bottom of the mountain. I am sorry when you look at some of the guys that are above him. And yes, Bo Nix had a great Brooklyn season. But Caleb, Drake, Trevor,

what are we doing? Like, when you look at those numbers, Kyler versus these guys. Like, it's, are you kidding me right now? And again, Bo Nix had a really good. good year. Drake May, I don't, it's not a knock on him. He played only half the year as a starter, basically. Caleb, no excuse, buddy. I'm a fan. I'm still a fan, but you're not better than

Kyler. Kyler has a great tight end. I love what they're doing with that. He has a great young receiver. Kyler Murray had the second best stats of his career last year, and we don't give him any credit. In his division, he's one of the better quarterbacks. Right now, And when you look at their schedule this year, why is Kyler, why is Kyler not going to have success? You got the NFC South, the AFC South. Like, you got to love who you're going to be playing if you're the Arizona Cardinals. I'm not saying that the Cardinals are going to be a really good team. I'm saying the Cardinals are going to be a team that I'm not sleeping on.

And Kyler Murray is going to be a huge reason why he's going to have a big season. He deserves to be up the mountain. I think that's probably, I think that's all pretty smart. And that'll probably be all the case until right around, what is it usually, Thanksgiving? Yeah. And then like, there's always a moment when, like, you know how we always hear Kyler was the, arguably, the single greatest player in the history of Texas high school football? And people are like, how could, if that was the case.

I don't think it's because the competition was easier. I don't think it was about playing in Texas Stadium, whatever. I think it's the 12 games. You know what's been going around this year? What it is? What? Guys are starting to understand offenses. They're starting to study.

They're starting to take notes. Kyler? All right. I like that. Nick. What? Matthew Stafford's too high. Too high.

And you're not alone. You're not the only one. People are talking about Matthew Stafford like it's 2017. Or 2021, for that matter, when they won the Super Bowl. He's not even playing it right now. Well, nobody's fine. And he's weak. to week.

He's not day to day. He's week to week. He is an old 37, and any 37 is old in football, but particularly his 37. All right. And I hope he plays this year. I think he'll play this year, but he will be hampered just like he has been the last two years or really last three years. And look at it.

This is three years. This is not three games, three weeks, three months, three years. three years. This is where he ranks 18th impasse rating. 17th. I mean, you see the numbers. They're not good. How is he keep getting in people's top six in your case? He carries the team to the playoffs every year and plays also. Oh, really? He's 22 and 18 over the last three years. Okay. That's his record. Right. And correct. And did they make the playoffs last year? And did they win a play off game? And did he play great in the playoffs? Yes. And the year before, did they make the playoffs? Did they play the Lions to a point?

So now you're just Cubey wins. No. They win. They got a great coach. They got some other great players. Who are the other great players? Who are the other great players? Kyron Williams.

Kyron Williams a great player. He's a very good running back. Okay. He's brutal. Matthew Stafford has not had a passer rating over. And Puka, Puka's pretty good. Puka was hurt last year. Not all year?

Okay. Matthew Stafford, the last three games that he played, because he sat out there one game, Garoppola. played the last game. They were in the playoff race. And he had one touchdown and one intercept. And how did he play in the playoffs?

Oh, he had moments. No doubt. I'm not saying he can't have moments. I'm saying to have, he just needs to be dropped. Because I'm not, I'm fighting. Who are you switching with? And a big part of it is health. Who are you switching?

Drop him a level. Okay, with who? A level, drop him down and you can move Herbert. Move Love up. What? Drop Stafford down. down the level, move Jordan Love up. I'm sorry, Matthew Stafford.

We don't know when we're going to see him on the field. But that's fair. I mean, he's doing light. And when he has been on the field, he hasn't been great. Okay, I think your newfound love of just raw passer rating is I, no, it's just a. It's just a stat that people, no, it's just a, it's just a stat that put up the graphic again. Because it wasn't just pass or rating.

No, I'm talking about. Yeah. Oh, right. It's not just passer rating. A lot of, you see where he ranks in all of this stuff. TD interception ratio. Yars for a tip, like completion percentage. Come on, man.

I'm approaching being post-stat. When it comes to quarterback evaluation. I'm just letting you know. What did you say? It's just 10 minutes ago you threw up a graphic with all these stats. Who was it? It was to sway you guys. You guys are stats.

Gio, yeah. No. You guys. When it. When it hits you're there and if you go with the status. I was trying to, again, I do not think Jordan Love has earned a spot above Matt Stappard. Now, if the argument is, and certainly Justin Herbert hasn't, we know Brock Birdie hasn't, Dak hasn't, and the other guy on that row is Gino, my guy.

Now, Gino maybe, but probably not. I just, the injury thing is concerning, but August, it's August, it's August 4th. No, when he's healthy. When he's healthy. When he was healthy without his Avengers. He struggled. No, it's not. You know why I bring up Brock Purdy

because I think you have a double standard for Brock Purdy. I think you criticize him for certain things that you praise other guys for and vice versa. I think that's the only reason I bring him up. I think Snapper is a great postseason quarterback. I value that a lot. And he will need to be in traction for me to think there are 10 quarterbacks

in the league better than him. And if you are, that's what you're arguing. If he has to drop a row, there needs to be 10 quarterbacks better than him. I, I, I, I do not. A lot of this is injury. I, a lot of this is injury. But that's a big part of his story. Totally fair. But he has been, he has played through it over the last couple years, but not being great. He's, he's having great when it's mattered. Like he is, his numbers are depressed because he's playing through injury and then he's great in the big spots. Greg,

I'm not going to, Greg. I'm not going to say. Thank you. I don't with you on the map. I don't know. Do I need to say the two words? Do I need to say? Oh, no. No. We're back. Jaquoski Tart! Matthew Stafford's whole story is different if Jekwasky Tart had caught the football. And that's just the truth. We've reached the end of that. Okay, look, behind the curtain, courtesy of Jalen Rose, if you're a quarterback who has been on the show, we give you a lot of grace. Patrick Mahomes, friend of the show.

Grace. What he's a friend of the show? Not of yours anymore. You should see the text to sit me about the things you've been saying. No, he doesn't. I'm beloved in Kansas City. You're not. Oh, come on.

You know what? Go ahead. You're not. Keep going. What other quarterbacks? Baker on the show? Yeah. Bryce Young's friend of the show.

Two of before I was on as friend of the show. We offered everybody a lot of. Has the Prince been on? The Prince is not one. That's an outrage. That was actually you and a wig. Sam Darnel! Sam Darnal was on.

I don't talk to Sam Darnell. No, he was the good old days. Caleb was on. Caleb was on. This is what he's getting to. Caleb was a friend of the show. He was on when we were in Arizona for the Super Bowl. Yes, yes.

So I give Caleb a lot of grace. I appreciate that he spent some of his time with the first thing's first family. That being said, some troubling stuff out of his first year. The main bad stat wasn't the lack of interceptions It was this bad throw percentage Okay, highest bad throw percentage

Anthony Richardson who is known widely as a project that couldn't get better Bryce You're a guy Friend of the show Caleb And then guys who aren't starting It's a bad list to be

It's not a great list A couple number one overall picks Anthony I mean I don't know It's a little bit It's like these bad throws It was, we have to, you know, the ceiling is high, but, you know, the floor was pretty low all of a sudden. Then we see this type of footage coming out of Bears' scrimmages. This, I would consider, a bad throw.

Now, a lot of people are saying, you know, he did throw it to one of his teammates. No, no. Understandable. But it was a defensive player. And people say, you know, that's, you know. There's a lot going on there. Wilde, you don't know. You don't know how to read the tape, maybe.

Maybe something broke down there. You don't know. Give me something a little more simple, Greg. You know, just exercises, just throwing the ball at like the net. Again, this not great is either. So Ben Johnson is supposed to fix all this. Ben Johnson is a huge supporter of Caleb's. Ben Johnson's quote on recent practice.

It was sloppy. Sloppier than we were hoping we would be at this point. He told the Chicago sometimes. Now, Ben Johnson is a genius. Ben Johnson will never do the tush push because he likes explosive plays. He's never seen. Have you ever seen the tush push push? Greg, you haven't been around lately.

Are you aware of this? I'm not. He's wilds went from adoring Ben Johnson. I still like him last year at all times. You remember. I do require. And then Ben Johnson was asked. about the tush push.

And he was like, he said, he goes, I'm not a big tush push guy. I like explosive plays. That's the full quote. But he was like laughing. And he wasn't laughing. Push push. And ever since then, Wilde has decided.

Also the Bears voted to ban it. Well, most of the league voted to ban it. Most of the league voted to ban it. And so now Wilde has decided Ben Johnson has his come up. But go ahead. I just feel like Caleb should drop down a level. Because I need to see a little more. So here's highlights.

Okay. You were low lights. Dust. That's fair. Run the latest time Caleb tried that drill. Maybe this will switch. Oh, really? What's right.

Bang. Bang. Love it. There you go. Look, there it is. Four right in the bucket. All right. There you go.

I like that. Perfect. Now I'll be honest. Bounce back. I have not been able to lock down if that video is from the day before. It doesn't matter. Or the day after. That's what I was.

No, I know it was, it was either literally the day before the viral video or the day after. I haven't, by journalistic integrity demands, I say that. But we now know confirmed he can crush that drill. I almost feel like maybe, I don't know what it was, but if you had done that the day before and then you have the one instance, maybe that's why you're so mad. That was a different drill, though. You know, when I do this, we're getting breaking. So the same just different angle.

Oh, when I do this, you know what I'm getting breaking news from our news desk. What's that? From just, who is just hubs. Yeah. Shador starting Friday. Really?