First Things First - NBA Schedules revealed, Kyler Murray named starting QB, Cowboys vs. Micah Parsons, Mahomes Mountain

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

(0:00) NBA Opening Night & Christmas Day schedules revealed (26:30) Did the Cowboys take shots at Micah Parsons? (41:20) Will this be Nikola Jokic’s last year in the NBA? (47:17) Mahomes Mountain (01:08:00) Are the Rams overrated? (01:16:06) Jake Butt joins (01:26:03) Top 10 Players Most Excited To Watch This Season (01:50:02) Kyler Murray named starting QB, What does the future hold for J.J. McCarthy? (01:58:26) Expectations for Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel? (02:08:13) Jaxson Dart praised for sliding at practice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Live from New York. The show is talking Julius Caesar for no reason. We're an erudite show when Brew gets back. Brew, I was giving you compliment. Congratulations. Can we talk about why you were gone? I was gone because my daughter, Alexis, Broussard, is now Alexis Telford. She got married yesterday.

Congratulations. To a great young man, Jamil, and we are excited to add to our family. I told her, I said, look, before the wedding, I said, this is the last day where I'm the man in your life. And she said, you'll still be a man in your life, my life? I said, yeah, a man. Yeah. You just said a man, not the man. I was the man for the way.

Of course. No, I could have. If I let myself go, I could have. But, you know, I got a rough and tumble. I'm Mr. Gritty. Yeah, I figure you're Mr. Gritty. I couldn't let myself. That's right.

You're Mr. Gritty. There were tears by a lot. Also, your daughter's wedding. You like, Mr. Gris. By the way, you're just 10 more seconds before you get the show. You know, traditionally on this show, I'm kind of the big gift giver. Yes. But Brew now, empty nester, wife with great job, daughters officially out in the world on their own.

Brew's got a little extra money in his pocket coming up this holiday season. I knew it was coming. Yeah, that's right. First hour, first things first. Today, Cowboys praise Quinn and Williams' leadership, but did they take a shot at Micah Parsons in the process? Meanwhile, bold statements from a Euroleague owner. who says he will sign Yokic. He was bold.

Is there a chance this is Yokic's last year in the NBA, period. And finally, 29 days until kickoff in the NFL, we're back with a brand new edition of Mahomes Mountain. A little bit of an honorary title there alongside Chris Bussart. I'm Kevin Wiles. Just an honorary title, Mahomes Mountain. You know, it's very interesting. He's proposing a new name.

What should it be named? I don't even know who's atop the mountain. You know, it's very interesting because we do a lot. There are a lot of lists and rankings that come out during the off season. And I hear from these guys, you this side of the table all the time. Yeah. Speaking Mahomes praises. Then the mountain comes around and people just want to tear him down.

We'll see where he's at. He wasn't atop the mountain for most of last season. He got injured and didn't play well. Was Stafford on top of the end? Stafford, I think, going into the Super Bowl. Super Bowl for sure. Yeah. Post Super Bowl.

I don't even know if we did one. We did a tiers of Jack the Rocks. You know what? I don't think Donald was ever atop the mountain. Because he wasn't Super Bowl MVP. I don't think he was Hertz was atop the mountain when he won Super Bowl MVP. But we all, you know, we all know the most important player on that Seahawks team is Kenneth Walker. He won't even beat the Super Bowl.

I'm just telling you, they gave out an awards for the Super Bowl MVP. We're starting in the NBA. The league announcing a slate of national and Christmas Day games. The ball's going up on a Tuesday, October 20th. First things first battle, Celtics Pistons, going head to head with first things first 3 p.m. Oh yeah, that's a tough one. Let's go.

A tough one for them. Yeah, we got a shot. Yeah. Then it's LeBron and the Sixers taken on the champs, followed by a Western Conference Finals rematch, Thunder Spurs. Then on Christmas Day, finals rematch at noon, Spurs in New York. Yannis Tatum,

30, LeBron versus the Lakers, Thunderwolves, and Yolkutche Steff at 10.30. About to unpack, do the NBA pick the right games? Wiles, I have to be honest, when I saw this list, these games, only one word came to mind. One and one word only. Can you guess what that word is? Okay. I'm going, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm going to go delicious. Yes, absolutely. The schedule, Adam Silver, you hit it out the part. This is delicious.

And that's how you should say it. You don't just go to do this. Well, I don't want to steal your thunder there. You want me to also say it, then you have to take it to another level. Okay, okay. But it's perfect. Now, Boston, Detroit, okay, that's the weakest of the games. But Boston still will be a very good team.

They're playing an exciting style. And Detroit's got Cade and they're coming off this great regular season. So, okay, I get it. It's at 3 o'clock, too. So I would be disappointed if that were like at 7 o'clock, if that was the 7 o'clock game. But the 7 o'clock game and then obviously following, you've got the two most intriguing matchups in each conference.

Philly now with LeBron and Jalen Brown and everybody against New York. Like those are the two most intriguing teams in the conference. Will the Knicks kind of pick up where they left off or do they kind of fall back to the way they played last regular season? And obviously OKC San Antonio. And then Chris, I think as good as opening night is, I feel like the league saved the best games for Christmas Day. I agree.

And again, you get the finals rematch with the Spurs and the Knicks, and that's just going to be awesome. You know, Miami, Boston, it's fine. LeBron. Yonis is not. Yeah, it's Yonis. Yeah, it's fine. Yeah, Janice against Boston and Yonis in Miami.

And then... Sam scored 80 points. Billy, LeBron again against the Lakers. His only return, Kryptel. Yeah, that's going to be fantastic. Oh, that's the only one. Well, you only play East West. Right, they only play one game.

Yeah. So that would be great. And then, yeah, I just think that is fantastic. They did a really good job. So, listen, I think they did a really good job, too. Some other things, though, come to mind for me immediately. Because what is no... The biggest omission from this,

is Jalen Brown's return to Boston. And the Sixers playing in Boston. And that obviously is going to happen a bunch throughout the year. A couple times. They'll play because they're in the same conference four times. And the Knicks Spurs game being... Can we stay there for a second? Sure.

Do you think that's a real omission? Because that's popping up in Boston Celtic circles online. What do you mean? Like, do you, would you rather see 70s? Yeah, Philly Boston rather than these games are just better. No, so I, so this is, so it kind of leads to what I think the league is telling us right or wrong. Because I think Philly Boston is a better game than Philly Lakers. I think it's a more important game than Philly Lakers.

I think it's a game that you could, that you are likely going to see, not likely, you very likely could see in the playoffs. I think Boston is better positioned than the Lakers. But it's not more intrigued. Don't you, like, I want to see LeBron back in L.A. I mean, sure, yes. Listen, I want to see it too. But to me, what the league is telling us right or wrong is they still look at LeBron James as the main attraction of their sport.

That's right. The Knicks are going to open their title defense and drop the banner. It could be against the team they beat in the finals. It could be against a team they beat en route to the finals in the Western Conference, or in the Eastern Conference playoffs. I guess with the Sixers it is in the second round. It could be the finals we didn't get against the Thunder, the last two champions. No, we're going to have LeBron in the building for that. And then the marquee Christmas Day game is always that 5 p.m.

The third game is all. That's the way you could that. I'm basing that purely off historically. That was the one game sometimes that was on broadcast TV. That would go ESPN, ESPN, ABC. and then it would go T&T for the night. So historically, that third Christmas Day slot was the slot where it got the biggest rating because it was the...

So that's, you know, I'm just... That's why I'm basing it on that. And they put, you know, LeBron's return to L.A. there. When there, it's not like there's a, you know, I guess you could go to the 80s for like a Sixers, Lakers, not even rivalry, but you got... Yeah, it was Dr. J's Magic Corrine. Yeah, 40 years ago.

And then you had Iverson against, you know, Kareen or Shaq and Kovie. Right, the last time the Sixers were awesome. And so it just to me is noteworthy that that is what the league to me prioritized. The other thing that jumped. Quickly on that. LeBron last year was the most viewed player in the league. LeBron was first, Wemby was second, Luca was third, and then Steph was fourth.

So there is, they're not just guessing. No. And LeBron on a new team is interesting. Everything about the Sixers is interesting. I mean, look, had he gone to Miami or Cleveland, they still may have been in this slot, his team. But going to Philly with Jalen Brown and if Embed is healthy, like, they're one of the most intriguing teams in the league, so I totally get it.

And so I just, I, we spend so much time on sports TV talking about face of the league and, you know, the next face of the league. and I think we all agree that the face of the league is going to be Victor Wimbunyama. I think the NBA is telling us that, okay, maybe it is going to be, but as long as LeBron James is still in the league,

we're going to treat him as if he is the face of the league. Because Wimby doesn't get pushed aside here at all, but he is the, I am, are you at all surprised that they didn't do spurs at Nix's opening night? Or you think they wanted to save it for Christmas for the bigger day? I mean for Christmas. For Christmas?

Absolutely. And I also think maybe one of the reasons I like the opening night slate is I'm not saying the league is saying this is what's going to happen, but it is the betting odds. And it would be, I think maybe right now way too early my picks, that's a very likely final four as kind of your opening two games. I understand Sixers, Celtics is there. But that's right now the betting favorite to be the Eastern Conference Finals and the Western Conference Finals. Kind of start the season with these two teams playing in the season with those two teams playing, which I like a lot. Out of all these games, Brew, if I played a game like you could only watch one. Wow.

Which game would you choose? It's obviously between Philly, New York, OKC, San Antonio. Probably OKC San Antonio. Really? I thought you would. See, you said it's obviously between. between two that I didn't think it would be between. I thought you would say he's talking about on the Christmas side as well.

Yeah, yeah. So I thought he would say San Antonio New York. That's what I thought. That's what I thought was going to. That's what I want to see. You know what? Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah.

I knew it. Yeah, I would go with that. Wemby's get back a tent. Yeah, he was huge against the Knicks on Christmas last year. Yep. Obviously they, you know, they won't get back. So yeah, no question. That's the game.

All right. Do you want to just do surprises now? Sure. Number one, surprise. from this list that was released? Well, I think they got it right. There are some, you know, omissions, I guess. I would say I'm not floored by anything

because I think they got it right. The first thing that hit me as a bit of a surprise, and I get it, though, was Golden State. Golden State is not on the level of these other teams. They're far and away the worst team. Yeah, that's the thing. teams playing they are the worst by decent margin. And they're not the best team that's left off.

No. Right. So, but I get it because it's Steph. Yes. But that was a bit surprising. But it's Steph Kirby, we want to see him play. He's still playing great. Fine.

I also, but I think they could have gone. They didn't go Cooper Flagg, who last year as a rookie did play on Christmas. They had a great game. They lost the Golden State, but they had 27 and I think six assists. but they didn't go with him and you got Kyrie Irving back with him presumably and Flagg plays so well

at the end of the season that we expect him to kind of emerge as a superstar this year but they don't have him on Christmas Day you would think they might want to showcase one of their young soon to be maybe faces of the league candidates so that was a bit surprising

so I have a number of surprises First one is not about Christmas, but it's about opening night. This is the first time since LeBron's first year with the Lakers. The Lakers don't play on opening night. So, you know what I mean? They had played every year. So the Lakers just being, you know, not included on it there. That raised my eyebrows a bit.

And the other thing is no Kevin Duran is stunning on either game, either day, any game. So Durant has played on Christmas. His team has played on Christmas. every year since 2000, since the year before he made his first finals, so 2011, was every year since then. Exactly. Except for the year he was out with the torn Achilles and the year he got traded from the Nets when that summer he had made the trade demand and then kind of rescinded it when I think

the league was uncertain whether or not. When he went to Phoenix, when they were. Basically, whenever there has been. a healthy Kevin Durant that is not in contractual limbo. His team's on Christmas. And it's not like he's on a bad team. You know what I mean? He's on a Rockets team that I think a lot of people think,

oh, Fred Van Bleet me back. Like, they should be better. They had a bad playoff series. So him not being involved at all on Christmas was surprising to me. And that was noteworthy because of what Bruce said about Steph. Like, the Rockets are better than the Warriors. The Warriors are not.

it's not that the warriors are this massive draw at this point. Steph is. Right. And that, you know what I mean? And because of that, and that also is one of the reasons some of the games, KW, that they picked, surprise me. Like, I thought we would, if we would get Minnesota Denver. Like, that's the real rivalry, right? Like, that's the game.

And instead, those teams get, you know. Yeah, you have Minnesota Thunder. You get Minnesota Thunder. Which is a good, you know, because Minnesota plays them okay in the playoffs. Sure. They got Lonello. Mello's a bit of a draw. No, I do.

No, but really? No, but he's a draw. Lamello's a draw. But so I, you know, if I were reconfiguring this a bit on my own, I think I, what the games that we're not seeing that I know, like, I have circled that I would want to see, right? The one we already talked about, Philly at Boston, to me seeing that how Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum guard each other. like how the crowd reacts to Jalen, like all of that. You would pick that. That could be on Christmas.

Because I think they got the two perfect Sixers game. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm more, I don't, I don't look at LeBron and the Lakers as like bad blood. I look at it. It's going to be a big thing. And the Lakers got exciting players obviously with Luke like. Luca, I think that'll be fascinating. LeBron back in L.A.

Yeah. And so the, and the other, the other game that I, I'm just kind of. surprised we're not getting on Christmas, even though I think we've only gotten it on a couple Christmases. I just like having LeBron and Steph play each other on Christmas. So do I. You know what and so like that? I could I could have bought that game. Yeah, like Sixers at Warriors as your final Christmas nightcap at like to me. They always deliver LeBron. Remember last one of day when he said like Christmas is still our thing like or whatever it was. So speaking of that and again, we're just fans of sport.

So a lot of, some of this programming is like car dealerships. It's actually better when they're all surrounding each other. All right, so 12 o'clock, we've got Spurs, Knicks, one o'clock, Packers Bears. Yeah. Heat Celtics, bills in Denver. 76ers, Lakers at five. Or then I guess they're taking that, oh, because that game's going to run. Then Seahawks, Rams at 815.

So it's a great night of sports. Also, Christmas. Yeah. Open your gifts in the morning. A long day. No, go ahead. Sorry. That's all I got.

I'm ready to talk about Jacoby Lane. Okay. Ready? I am too. Okay. Head to Ravens Camp, where we have seen a plethora of terrific catches from USC standout and weird and wonderful mainstay, Jacoby Lane.

Here's the tweet from Friend of the Show, Jameson Hensley, who I made Friend of the Show, because we talk about him so often. I've actually never spoken to him. He does a good job, but you're getting a little liberal with Friend of the Show. Like if I walked past him on the street, I wouldn't know who he was, and he wouldn't know why. He was better hair than you. No way. Definitely.

No way. Very recognized. Wow. Great head of hair. No way. Great head of hair. He'll never be referred to. Great Head of Hair.

And he doesn't. In 27 years of covering the Ravens, I'm not sure I've seen a, rookie have a training camp quite like wide receiver Jacoby Lane, bro. Every day, Lane produces a highlight making catch and today he has Derek Henry

leaping in the air in celebration. Here we go. Brew, do you like this? Oh, this is the play. Oh, that's a nice kid. Oh, that is a nice catch. Got the feet down too? Yeah.

I love it, Wiles. That's it. Just point, I'm going to get right to it. I love it. I don't like it. I love it. You're going to get a whole misdirect. My first thought, my first thought was, okay, they haven't had a bunch of great receivers, all right?

But he said rookie, period. That includes Jamal Lewis, went there, was a top five pick, rushed for over 1,300 yards as a rookie. They won the Super Bowl that year. So he obviously looked good in camp. Terrell Suggs had 12 sacks as a rookie, six force fumbles, led the league in force fumbles as a rookie. So he had a good camp, I assume. And this guy, Jacobi Lane, his number.

But Lamar, we knew. Remember, he struggled as a rookie, like, early on. I remember seeing Lamar in the preseason and be like, I don't know what he's going to be in the past. Oh, I didn't. Like, really, yeah. Okay, so, yeah. But then, look, he's 6'4.

He runs a 4-4, 4-5-40, 40-40-inch vertical, obviously has great hands. I love it. I think Isaiah likely was a big loss. Like I hated losing him. But now you get another tall receiver, not a tight end, but still could be somewhat of a security blanket. And he seems like from his measurables and obviously what we're seeing and reading from camp,

like he'll be a great compliment for Zayflower. Because Zay is 5'9. So Zay is obviously a burner. And if you got this guy who's sure-handed and taller, it seems like maybe their receiver court could be really good. So I am excited about it. I mean, Zay Flores Justin Jefferson. I mean, the Raymond's state is.

The three, four years, $140 million, $100 million guaranteed. So this guy doesn't have to do much. They love Zay. So listen, I have a, I guess I was going to say is, I have two serious takes, actually. Well, the whole show is serious. I understand. It's competitive sports debate.

It was yesterday when you weren't here, me and Danny got into it. crew, but now you're back. We're being in front of there. I've got to check it out. All right. The, this, I'm not going to say every team right now in camp has their Jacoby Lane, but a lot do. The mid-round pick who looks better than expected,

who the fans immediately get very excited about it. In Kansas City, it's the different wide receiver drafted a couple rounds later, Cyrus Allen. Oh, I keep reading about Cyrus Allen. You keep reading about Cyrus Allen. And listen, and every across all the league, every year, there's usually a running back or a wide receiver who was a mid-round pick, who makes a real impact as a rookie.

It's like, man, we pass, every team's mad. They pass on this guy. Like the most famous example recently is Puka. Everyone's like, oh, man, we should have drafted Puka. Why didn't we see it coming? And, you know, turns into a star. Yep. It's obviously, you know, more often than not, they don't.

They flash in camp. and then they kind of play at the level around where they were drafted. But there's no reason not to be Chiefs fans are excited about Cyrus Lane. Ravens fans are excited about, or Cyrus Allen, pardon me, Jacoby Lane. Imagine if they were one player, it would be unstoppable. So I'm not. Do you like, I hear you're absolutely right on that. Yeah.

But his height. I like the, I like, listen, I know, I'm weird on this. I like his college too. I like, I like big football players. I like, so I like tall receivers. I like, you know, I, the, Colin was talking today about how Caleb Williams lost 13 pounds. I was like, I don't like that at all.

Yeah. I was like, and so no, and his college tape's good, but so no, I think there's real reason for optimism. So that's serious take number one. Okay. Serious take number two is this. Since Lamar's been there, have the Ravens done a bad job of scouting, drafting, and developing receivers? Or has there just been something about the type of offense they've run and the type of offense they've run? type of quarterback Lamar is where these highly drafted receivers have not panned out the way

they would have hoped. I don't know. Like I, and again, it's a weird thing because Lamar's passing numbers over the last few years are so good. But it's, the Ravens are not a team that has neglected the position. You know what I mean? They drafted Hollywood Brown in the first round. They drafted Rashad Bateman in the first round.

They drafted Zay Flowers in the first round. You mentioned they had Mark Andrews. They then spent a premium-ish pick on Isaiah Lik. They have had a lot of bites at, in theory, we're finally getting Lamarra number one receiver Apple. And listen, maybe Zay is that. They're paying him like he is. But that is, I think some of it is the style of offense they run that hasn't been super attractive. Right.

They haven't been the number one offense. Say it again? A few years. They've had the number one offense. And their tight ends have eight, you know, Mark Andrews and Isaiah likely. The number one rushing offense, you're saying? I think they had the number one total offense. A couple.

They have. The year they have the number one seat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But with the run, their run first, even before Henry got there, Zay has been, what, two-time pro bowler, you know, had, was he injured a year or two? No, but he's not, he's only missed one regular season game ever, but he missed their playoff run two years ago. Okay.

So that's what, he got hurt at the end of the regular season, missed the playoff game. So he's been, I mean, he's not the top five receiver, but yeah, he's been very. Bateman, I actually really like Bay. man, he's just hurt all the time. So if he could stay healthy, I think that was a decent picture. He had some good quotes about how Declan Doyle is moving him around the field. He was like a breath of fresh air. He was very fired up.

I didn't put it in show, but maybe I should have. No, but I might have explained it poorly. But is what I'm saying makes sense. Like there is an interesting, what is it about the Ravens where the receipt, they put the resources into the position and haven't really gotten what they expected out of it? Is it style of offense? Is it they scout the position worse than they scout others? Or they don't throw the ball.

Or they don't throw the ball. And Hollywood is a good receipt. He's not great. He's not great anywhere he goes. Yeah, no. Hollywood Brown. And so. Listen, I like the fact that he's tall.

I do like that. He does. He does have hands. That was good. I don't know if you need to preface it with like a warning that it was going to be serious. I thought I was going to do a joke at first because I expected this segment to have a little comedy because I thought the whole reason we were doing this is. So Brue could do the I don't like it.

I love it. And then we didn't get that. Was that your intention? Yes. You thought it was. Honestly, we've been playing that since 10 o'clock. We just normally don't talk about.

Jacoby Lane in the 8 block of the show. Here's it is a story. And you let us down. First of all, I'm trying not to be predictable. You guys have figured out the misdirection to some degree. Guess what? You never, you don't know when I'm going to do. The ability is fine.

And had I sat here and been like, here we go. Here we go again. Another great young guy in camp. He was the 13 wide receiver taken. That's what you wanted. 80th overall pick and you make some catches against this defense. And all of a sudden, your Jamar Chase, Wiles, I don't like it. You would have seen it.

I love it. See, I'm not ready. That's what we wanted. We would have done that. That's what we want. You didn't bring up. As Wilde would tell you, you know what was predictable back when he interned for a guy you maybe heard of David Letterman?

Top 10 list. You know what he didn't do? You know what I want to hear? We're not doing it tonight because people know it's going to Oh, I don't want to play satisfaction tonight, guys. You guys saw it. You know, you saw it. I don't want to play Freebird. Nah, I don't want to do it. Exactly. Oh, Bruce Springsteen.

We're playing born in the USA. No. You want a misdirection like every day? No, but a story. If we're putting Jacoby Lane in the A block in the show, it's because we think you're going to wow it. I had a friend. Baseball player.

Go to break. I love it! I love it. Not for people won. You're satisfied. Yeah, not people are going to the bathroom. Grab a Pepsi. Did the Cowboys take a shot at Micah Parsons?

I don't like this. On FS1, Fox Sports Channel. It's another serious X-M. Well, it's Sirius XM. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 20, Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system.

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That can't be in the graphic. I think that it's great work from our graphics team. They're on it. They're on everything. Vikings to do big things. That's what I think. Wait till Mojones Mountain. Everybody's in for a surprise.

Speaking of, Minnesota's QB battle did not last very long at all. Kyler Murray will be under center when Minnesota takes on the pitch. Packers in week one. Not totally surprising. Your reaction coach, we'll start with you. Kyle are getting the knot already. Yeah, this doesn't surprise me at all. It didn't seem like JJ really took the strides that they were hoping he'd take last year to some degree. It cost the GM his job. So he moved on. And as much as it was an organizational decision, I'm sure, to draft JJ at this point, they're doing what's best in order to win and move forward and he did such a good job with Sam Darnold, probably looking at it as, okay,

Kyler's had success in the league, he has real live experience, guys will probably respond to him better, he's bending those moments. So there's so many things that lean in his direction. It would have been really, really surprising had JJ beaten him out. Now, the one thing I was concerned about is when Kyler was talking about not getting enough reps and how that was affecting his ability to compete. So maybe they saw the writing on the wall. This is the way to get him a lot more reps now by declaring it as opposed to going to the preseason games and letting it play out that way.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not surprised either, but there are some reports that Kyler hasn't looked that great, you know, recently. Like they had a full pads game at the stadium, which is kind of, I guess they try to simulate a real game. He threw two interceptions. But that tells me, JJ has looked. worse. And so they are saying, look, maybe neither one has looked really good.

Kyler's looked better. And so let's give him a full month to get acclimated to the offense with the first team and all those reps so he can be ready for the regular season. So I also feel like this team tells me it seems like JJ, if he's fortunate, he may have to go, he may go to Sam Darnold or Gino Smith route. That's if he becomes that good, where his first few years, he's viewed as like a disappointment and a bust. And maybe, I'm not even predicting he'll become Donald or Gino Smith or somebody like that, but it seems like he's headed for that route. And this is Kyler's chance.

If he doesn't get it done, I don't know what he becomes going forward. Does he become a career backup or something like that if he doesn't make this happen? So my concern for the Vikings, one of them was I thought the idea of splitting reps in training camp was going to be a mistake because I thought it was pretty clear they wanted Kyla to be their starter. They brought him in to be their starter and they were going to kind of pay lip service to the competition. When I think under a new system playing under center a lot more than he ever has, Kevin O'Connell's system apparently is quite complicated. He would need all the reps imaginable. So I think them, you know, finally, officially making this call publicly so they can give him all the starter reps is probably the smart thing for the Vikings this season. I hate everything about their process from the moment they drafted J.J. McCarthy to right now.

And it's borderline unprecedented. For their entire M.O. to be, we can, you know, we can win 11, 12 games with Kurt Cousins. there's a ceiling there. It's not good enough. We're going to draft a quarterback. We then, after we draft the quarterback, he gets hurt. That was before they had soured on him at all. Like he'd played a preseason game, played well in it, got hurt.

Sam Darnold. We win 14 games with Sam Darnold. Doesn't matter. We want the upside of the young player. To give that young player, who, by the way, when I say young player, he is younger than Ty Simpson, who is drafted this year. He is younger than Carson Beck, who we saw in the Hall of Fame game. He's younger than Drake May.

than Cam Ward. He is three years younger than Bo Nix and Tyler Shuck, who are both going into the year, well, Tyler Shucks going to year two. Bow next to year three, same as him. To give that player 10 starts and be like, we're washing our hands of you essentially, it's not unprecedented, but it's close to it. Top 10 picks who got 10 or fewer starts their first three years. Trey Lance in a unique situation where he broke his leg, the guy, who replaced him, they went to the year he replaced him, the conference championship game. Yeah, Bertie

replaced him, went to the conference championship game and then the Super Bowl. And then it hasn't happened since my old pal from Houston, Andre, where? Wouldn't you say they've been right on those guys though? That's the point. We don't know. I mean, and again,

like, I mean, that I understand your point in and just barely missing the cut because it wasn't the top 10 pick. I think he's 12th was Josh Rosen. They were right to cut bait on him. He actually got like, I think, 13 starts. But, you know, he's in the same gist of where you don't really. So you drafted an incredibly raw, very young first round pick.

Had 10 starts and you're just, and you're out on him for me for in service of, in my opinion, a very limited player. The process of it to me is disastrous. And there, go ahead. Yeah, I want to hear. Yeah, the nice thing for him is there's been enough guys that have recovered and gotten a second and third opportunity. And that's different than it has been historically. So he does have a chance to potentially go somewhere else and restart his career.

But at this point, they feel like they can win now. They feel like they're in a position to compete right now. And if he's too far away developmentally, the rest of that group is sitting there going, we don't want to wait for you to catch up to us. Coach, can I ask you a question because there have been a lot of Sam Darnold-type renaissance as Baker, obviously. It felt to me like this is extra bad for J.J. McCarthy is that he started with a quarterback whisperer. Like, Trey Lantz started with a guy who was supposed to remake your career. So once Kyle Shannon's like, not my thing.

Is he a quarterback whisper? Wow. I thought he was. I don't know he got credit for. Kirk Cousin has been pretty successful prior to getting to Minnesota. The Darnold, he gets a lot of credit for Darnold. Fair enough, but in Sam's defense, he had been to Carolina, right? And then he went from Carolina to San Francisco.

San Francisco. So he had two other stops. He had a lot of experience in New York. So you got another guy who has a significant amount of experience. This is really our first opportunity to see him working with a rookie quarterback like this. Can I just real quick? Yeah. There's three teams that if I were running them, I'd call up Minnesota and be like,

we'll trade you a conditional sixth. The first one and the one that's a no-brainer is Pittsburgh, and the other two, it's more kind of insurance plus leverage, Houston and Tampa Bay. Neither one of them do I trust the backup quarterbacks. Tampa Bay, the quarter, well, because Baker's not under contract for next year,

and the franchise tag being tough. Just ain't tagging. Right, and Houston, you know what I mean? I think there is a non-zero chance that something broke within C.J. Stroud, and I think Houston might need a backup plan. Again, I want to be, I'm not the JJ McCarthy guy. If you guys remember coming out, when we were talking about him coming out of school, I was like, I'm concerned because every draft analysis of him that loves him,

they talk about what a great handshake he has and how he looks in the eye and never about how he throws the ball. So I'm not necessarily a believer, but guys just, you know, he's 23 years old and has barely played and didn't play that much in college to all of a sudden just be done with him. They don't have to move on from him. Right. That's why he'll get a.

shot. Yeah, he'll get a shot and then have to move on from right now. Tyler has only played 17 games, I think, once in the last four years. So, all right, Cowboys and Quinn and Williams agreed to a three-year extension, about $106 million, got $101 million guarantee. That's nice. Cowboys' defense got better, but it wasn't just between the lines. Stephen Jones saying, the other thing is, just what a man is, he is, he's a leader. We didn't have a lot of leadership on defense last couple of years. Now to have him, Kenny Clark, with Sean Gary, I think it has really picked it up over there in terms of culture and leadership. Nick, your reaction to this quote.

I hate it so much. It's just such an obvious and unnecessary shot at Micah Parsons, who all he did while he was there was carrier, otherwise mediocre defense. A defense that when he was on the field was consistently by the fancy stats that Bruce sometimes likes and I sometimes like, but when they don't support us, we don't like him as much. You had the number one defense, and when he was off the field, you had a bottom five defense. Micah Parsons, who, I don't know what Micah Parsons' big transgression within the locker room was other than hosting the podcast.

I know the safety got mad at him for a few years ago. Malik, thank you. Malik Hooker, I couldn't remember his name. And this is just a total shot at a player who you traded away and your entire season got kneecapped because your defense immediately went to hell. And the team he went to was a team that last year looked like it could win the Super Bowl until he got hurt. And so I like, listen, I like Quentin Williams a lot.

I think Quentin Williams is a good player. I think the Cowboys pivoted their plan. Their plan was to trade Micah to get five great, young, cheap players. And then they were so bad defensively, they were like, you know what? You know what's really helpful in this league if we want a good defense? A superstar defensive player. Let's use some of the assets we got from trading away our superstar for a star defensive player. Quentin Williams is star defense player.

Mike Parsons is a superstar defensive player. And so I just, I think you could say all these things without saying we didn't have that on defense the last couple of years. I just don't think it's necessary. I don't think celebrating one person's positivity has to be a negative against another person. And what they're talking about here, this is what you want organizationally. and what you want as a head coach is when you pay players, you want to not only pay your best guys, but you want to pay your best human beings.

Because as much as you preach stuff in the locker room, hey, we're about character, we're about together, all the things you say, it doesn't mean anything. It matters what you pay. So with Quinn and Williams, he was a leader in New York. Everybody talked about his characteristics there, how he was a captain among captains. They talked about what a great guy he was when he came into the building,

how he's working with young players, all of those things. So now to be able to reward him with a contract and also be able to celebrate the fact that he has all these great intangible qualities, I don't think that has to be a knock against Micah. I think it's more about, hey, this is what we believe in, this is what we want to reward, this is what we want to celebrate. And if he didn't feel there was leadership over the last few years, then... But that part is, coach, you're right, paying him is not a knock on Micah. Talking about how great Conan Williams is, is not a knock on Micah. the quote, we didn't have a lot of that on defense the last couple years. It's a direct shot at Mike.

But maybe it's the truth. One of the reasons they wanted to pay him was not only was he a good player, but he had this trait that they felt was missing. Is that bad? Yeah, I agree, Nick, that he didn't have to take a shot. This does look clearly like a shot at Micah. He didn't have to take it. He could have just left it alone.

But as coach it, it might be. And I love Mike. I picked the Packers to win the Super Bowl when they got him last. year and maybe they had a shot when he was healthy. But I do think his leadership could be in question. There was a reason they didn't want to sign him as great as he was. We know that he was young. Most, not all, most young players aren't great leaders immediately.

We know that he was laying down on the trainer's table. Yeah, in the preseason, didn't wear the jersey. That was a bad look. You mentioned the podcast and they upset one of his teammates. So I don't know what the dynamic was with him in that locker room, but there's some evidence that, okay, it wasn't great. And so maybe he wasn't a great leader. And they talked about his leadership in Green Bay.

I haven't seen those quotes. Well, I mean, they talked about, I mean. They talked about his, have you guys seen those quotes? I mean, what I saw. He praised Jordan Love and I think they liked that. And you know what? I saw them talking about how great their defense was and how transformative it was when they were one of the best teams in football

until he tore his ACL. And then they never won another game. But did they talk about his leadership? I mean, you know what? I don't, the, historically speaking, maybe I'm wrong, but I think you're going to agree with me, even though it pains you. Historically speaking, I don't need my star pass rusher to necessarily be my best leader. I think that's a fair.

I don't know that Lawrence Taylor or Derek Thomas or a lot of these. But you don't necessarily have to ding the owner for wanting to value those things, do you? Like, why do they, why do they both have to be? counter, you know, against each other. Because he's taking a shot. We don't, this is, because he's taken an unnecessary shot. It seems like he's taking it. He could say, and we really value the leadership.

And if Michael was asked, they don't even have an owner in Green Bay, so it doesn't really work, but pretend they did. And if Michael was asked about ownership in Green Bay, and he's like, I got to tell you, man, it's just so nice, you know, all the things they value here. you know, the last couple owners I've been around, they were thinking about everything but football. It would clearly be a shot. And we would definitely.

He wouldn't be lying, no. He wouldn't be lying, but we would say, and I feel like coach your opinion would be, why are you looking in the past, why are you bringing this up, you're creating more noise, all this stuff. This guy, this is a 60-some-year-old owner, owner of a son's owner, whatever,

taking a shot of the player for no reason. A player who they miss. Who their defense fell apart without. The defense will be all right this year. We'll see. Last year it was the worst. It was the worst. Quinn and Williams got a little better.

Get your tickets now for the dog stars. It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear. Go! Out there, it's kill or be killed. Jacob Allurety. There are people out there? They need her help. Josh Bullen.

Shoot first and inquire afterwards. Margaret Qualley. Okay, tough guy. and Guy Peers. Arm up. The Dog Stars, directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters, August 28th, get tickets now. A Greek basketball owner, Brew, tried to buy out Yokic's contract last year

and says he'll make another offer to the three-time MVP telling Euro Insiders podcast. Don't laugh at all. And I will sign him next year. Is there any chance this is Yokic's last year in the NBA? Well, look, he knows Yokic will be eligible. move for $360 million contract extension after this season. And he's eligible for the record. He was eligible last year for a huge extension, delayed it,

said he was delaying it for this offseason because it'd be bigger. Now it looks like he might delay it again because it can be even bigger. But he could get like 270 right now. So I think the owner in Greece is going to throw, I mean, he's going to outbid what the nuggets can do. He's probably going to throw something incredible, incredibly ridiculous at him. It's interesting.

But I believe Yokic will play his prime in the NBA. Even though people, you know, he's stoic. He doesn't show his emotions a lot. He's as competitive as it gets. And if you're that competitive and you're still in your prime, I can't imagine you not wanting to play against the best players in the world. If I'm him, I want to play against Wemby. I want to play against NB assuming he's healthy.

Like, I cannot imagine he wouldn't want to do that until he's starts falling off. Now, the only way I could see it, Nick, and I don't know him, so I don't know, you know, obviously he's got, he's from Europe, maybe there's an attraction there to get back home or near home. Only way I could see it is if they won it this year. If they won the champion, which I don't foresee happening, but if they won the championship this year, does he say, I really miss Europe, I've got two rings, I've got three MVPs,

I'm a top 20, 15 player of all time. And he will have played 12 years in the NBA after this season. Like, if he played 65 games, we'd about 875 games. Bird only played 897. Magic played 906. Like, he's had a full career if indeed he wanted to leave. I don't see it happening. But so my answer is no.

Your answer is no. I guess there's a small chance. I guess there's a small change. Look, if. If we went to play overseas somewhere, we might want to eventually get back to America. So there's a couple things here. First is you were talking about the only way you could see it happens if he wins it. My brain went the other way.

What if at the end of this year it's like we're not even close? Like we're just, we're out in round one again. And you know what? Aaron Gordon wasn't healthy again this year. And we're, you know, if I want to win, I'm going to have to leave Denver anyway. You know what I mean? Like I'm comfortable. So you would see, I hear you, I just would wonder why you would go to a lesser league.

Well, so maybe demand a trade in the NBA. So that then gets me to, because I try to, I fancy myself a legitimate NFL collective bargaining agreement expert. I feel I need to be for when I get the call to interview to be the president of football operations. You got to be locked in, yes. Basketball, thanks to the, I was a pretty good expert on the preview. previous CBA. This new CBA with the aprons and stuff, it's a little tricky. With that said,

I have it clocked far better than the Euro League CBA, which I spent a few minutes perusing this afternoon, where I think the salary cap for the team is 12 million euros, which is to say I don't think they can outbid anybody.

But again, I don't really know the rules. Maybe there's different things that can happen. Because he made him an offer. Right, some shipping magazines. 18 million a year. That's why I'm saying I'm not an expert. I don't know who the Greek Obloidore is to figure out

if they're giving them a different side deal. I'm not sure. But I'm going to assume if he were to do this, he's leaving a lot of money on the table. Really? Yeah, I think it's the only way

it would do it. To which I then ask the question, do I think that's reasonable or possible? My answer to that question is, yeah, I do. Yokic at the end of this year will have made $420 million. He doesn't seem like a guy who's a wildly extravagant spender.

I'm sure the horses eat well, but aside from that, they do. He's clearly not just about money. Right. I'm with you on that. And so I really thought about it from my perspective. If I had hundreds of millions of dollars

saved up and someone's like, hey, you can have a couple hundred million more, but you're going to live in Serbia the next five years, would I be like, no, I don't want to do that. I have the money

and I want to be at home. And so I don't really know how much Yokic deeply misses home. He seems to really, really like it there. And so I spent time also on Google. When he's allowed the night after his last day. Yeah, exactly. I mean, when they won the championship,

he initially said he was bummed. They had the parade because he wanted to go home. And then at the parade, he's like, I like parade. But, look, Athens is relatively short flight to Serbia. Like, you're, it is, it's, and so I, I don't know the man, it seems like very few people in the NBA really know him, like, personally. But there is a possibility that it's not that he doesn't love basketball much as he loves horses or anything, but it's that he really loves where he's from and living there. And if that's the case, I, this is not zero percent. He's the only NBA superstar that's not 0%.

Well, if I was honest, I'd be like, well, how exactly? Tell me we're playing in Athens, right? How much is that? Who's on top of my home's mountain? That's next on first thing's first right here on FS1. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system.

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It's this show. I think it's Wade Boggs. might be a little too muscular. I want to see a photo. Brew. You know what? I know I can check during the break, but what are you saying?

I'm not saying. Are you saying right there? I'm not saying. Does he look like Cowboy Brew? He looks. You know, the real Cowboy. Like the Jack Cowboy Brew? Yeah.

Except he's in his late 60s. Prime Tony Atlas. Yeah. Prime Tony. Wow. He looks like Mike Bibby did. He looks 10 times better than like. He looked like Bibby is huge.

He looked like Wade Bob. He looks like RFK Jr. It's second hour of first. They tried to tell you. Today are the Rams overrated? Barnwell might have won me back with this. Oh, really? I like when he goes historical.

I like when he gives us a long historical article that I actually read and then stop by your office, see how far you got into it. One article. So he writes a lot of. Meanwhile, big 10. Long riding. It's the big 10 of the best conference in all of college football. Jake Butt joins the show to discuss.

But right now, we're headed to the mountains. Mahomes Mountain, that is. Hot in New York City, cold on Mahomes Mountain. It's our first episode of Mahomes Mountain. Can you predict who's going to be on top? Maybe it's the MVP. Maybe it's the Super Bowl quarterback. Maybe it's Drake May.

Maybe it's a guy who had a very bad years recovering from knee surgery. Nobody knows. Let's find out as we climb Mahomes Fowling. Yeah, what was that? I think that was out of bounds. I agree. He's a... You didn't. No, but when the stuff is in the prompter, I'm just reading, you know?

Yeah. You don't have... I did find it noteworthy yesterday that KW during his defense passionate, fittriolic defense of Jalen Hertz. He's like, oh, all Jalen Hertz has done last four years is make the Super Bowl 50% of the time, which came about six minutes after he was casting doubt on the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes who last three years all these sons made Super Bowl. 75% of the time.

General Hards never missed the playoffs. The Mountain this week has no one eliminated. Everyone is climbing, which means we had to add an eighth row. Also, and you guys can attest to this, the mountain included quarterback competitions on the mountain and didn't feel the need to have J.J. McCarthy's headshot on there because he thought it was a fake competition. And then two hours later, the competition was ended. Mountain vindicated for it even premieres. The premier edition of Mahomes Mountain 2026.

What a day. Football is almost here. A throw. A lot of guys. Either young, unproven players or guys you really don't feel great about being your starting quarterback. Malik Willis, I'm rooting for you, man. I think you're in a really rough spot. You also don't have a ton of, you know, starts under your belt. We'll see how you do.

Gino, it has not been going great. So far at Jets camp, it has. been going great ever since I jumped on the Raiders bandwagon. I may be partially the blame. Kurt Cousins probably the week one started to a probably week one starter. Shador maybe the week one starter. Jacoby Recep probably week one starter. Again, not great situations. The Mendoza and Pinnock's waiting in the wings. Coach looks puzzled. I don't know why he's looked puzzled. It's the beginning of the mountain. There's just the beginning. You don't need to. Where's Deshaun Watson if we're doing quarter by competitions?

I don't think it's real competition. I think I think that I think what I here is what I think this will be my only commentary on this during Mahomes Mountain. I think that if Deshawn Watson's the starting quarterback, it's because the owner made him do it and I don't want to pay any attention to that. That's what I think. I think that it's pretty clear who that coach likes more. It's pretty clear whether more upside even if not a big shador guy. It's pretty clear what the best thing for the Browns is, but the owner changes his mind

quite often and might be favoring Deshawn Watson. If you guys want him on the mountain, so be it. Seventh row. Daniel Jones, Cam Moore, Tyler Shuck, Jackson, Dart, Bryce Young, Kyler Murray, Aaron Rogers. So here is the, in fact, I want to immediately show the sixth row here, because these two rows go hand in hand somewhat. Because you see, the sixth row has vacant spots.

And it is because that this is the line of demarcation to me on, if you are set at quarterback, or believe you're set at quarterback, quarterback or have a potential problem is row six or below. Now the yeah but on that is Ward, Chuck, Dart, the super young guys, they just haven't had enough. You know, I don't think the Titans have a problem, but they're just too young to have proven anything. Their second year players, all they play is the rookie season. But I think there are 18 teams in the league or 19 teams, I guess as it would be, that feel pretty good about their quarterback competition. And then the rest of the league, it's either we drafted a young guy, we're going to roll

with them and see how it goes or they have major question marks. So I think that cults, I know they traded away those two first round picks for Daniel Jones for Sauce Gardner because they believed in Daniel Jones, but then he got hurt. I think they have major question marks. I think the car or the Panthers still have major question marks. Obviously, the Steelers have a 42-year-old Aaron Rogers and I'm not a Kyler guy. You guys will see how this year goes. And Ward Shuck Dart, second-year players, you know, give them time to see what they do. I think there's reasons to, you know, believe or not believe in them. Go ahead.

So the guys above that six row, those are, they have proven themselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Stroud, though. Stroud is the one borderline, but Stroud is the three playoff wins, the playoffs every single year, the great rookie season. I'm not putting him down in that other group of guys, and it's not left to right, but oddly, if it were,

that is where he would be on this row, where he is the shakiest of him. But Bo Nix, Broncos fans love him. He's the winning his quarterback of that. great quarterback class. Jay and Daniels had the one awesome year, got hurt. Brock Purdy was really, really good a couple years ago. Since then, not so much so, but we'll see.

Did go to a Super Bowl. And CJ Stroud just discussed. He's already paid. Yeah, he got paid, so who cares? He just got paid. Just cashing them checks. He said. Top 15 quarterbacks row five.

And this really does show there. It is kind of a have and have nots in the league. And we can argue some of these guys should be higher or whatever it is. But if these are the guys that are 11 to 15, Like there is a very high level of quarterback play in this league right now for more than half the teams in the league. It drops off significantly at around quarterback 20. It could be an average quarterback to be really good. Yes, that's, yeah, well, the tier two is huge, but that's exactly, that's kind of my point.

It's how I feel about New York pizzerias. You can be an average New York pizzeria and still be excellent? Yep. Yeah, that's a great take. That's a very true. Very true. He's a big Sabro guy. People don't know that.

Jalen Hurts, Jared. Helen Heard, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Baker Mayfield. There are reasons to love, really love, any of these five guys. Reasons to argue that any of these five guys are clear-cut top-toned quarterbacks, and I'm underselling them. There's also very clear and, I think, fair holes to pick against each of these five guys, that if you were trying to argue why they aren't top 10 and they should be where they are, it's a relatively easy case to make.

Far less so for this next row, quarterback 7 through 10, Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott, the Prince, and Sam Darnold. Coach, it's going to lose it. Coach, what's, coach what's the problem? What did you say that line was? What is that? That there's clearly, they're clearly what?

Top 10 quarterbacks? Oh, you don't like winning super rolls like Sam Darnold? Trevor Lawrence is now clearly top 10. I'm sorry, he was the fifth most valuable player in every position. and not just amongst quarterbacks, but he can't be a top-in quarterback. They won the third.

Jacksonville Jaguars, that franchise with all that great history. Won 13 games, goes toe-to-to-toe with Josh Allen just doesn't have the ball at the end of the game. Everybody's favorite quarterback. He can't be a top-10 player. Struggled his first year, great a second year.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. You know what? I don't need a history lesson on Trevor Lawrence. I know it quite well. What are you saying the ball at the end of the game? Trevor Lawrence? Josh went down and scored.

I think Trevor then threw a pick at the end. Yeah. There's a reason he didn't have a lot of revisions. He had it for a moment. He had it. And then someone else had it. But if the demons could have just stopped, Josh out. That's fair. You know what is it?

Team game. He took the lead in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. His team blew it. And then he got the ball back. 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. It was like four minutes left. Clearly top 10. All right, you know what?

You guys are fine. Let's just make it a goal. You won a bunch of games. Trevor's tears, and you guys just destroy it. Joe Burrow, how did he do in the playoffs last year? Yeah, exactly. How did you do the playoffs the year before? Exactly.

How do you do the playoffs year before that? What I'm talking about. You guys got no problem with him being there. Winning games. Dak Prescott. Throws for a bunch of yards, has good numbers. I believe this year with the defense being better than it was last year, that team, Brute could be right that that team could be very dangerous.

He is definitionally the non-superstar frame. franchise quarterback. He is definitely leadership Dallas has no. Yeah, God forbid DACD's. I mean, my God, it's all Mike's fault. I think he's a celebrity quarter. Oh, he's celebrity, but he's not a superstar. I mean, the superstars.

Star. Yeah, but just he is clearly a franchise quarterback and to me clearly a tick beneath and is not going to get to the like superstar, his superhero quarterback. Sam Donald rides a lot and that's good. Sam Darry. You know what, coach? Coach is very little rusty. I got same.

He's like, I don't know what the guy. He's Larkin in his bonus. He won the super. You want him lower? It's been a long time. I'm not a preseason. I'm getting my reps in.

Speaking of superhero. Three guys that either already are superheroes in one guy's case and two guys with superhero talent. Third row. Drake May, Caleb Williams, Lamar Jackson. The mountain is not nearly as fickle as

the NFL GMs as ESPN's 100 as the players that saw Lamar plummet down to the Brock Purdy level. He was 14th on the NFL top 100, 69th, actually, 14th amongst quarterbacks. I think 11th on ESPN's top 100. He did come in fifth in Sandoz's player polls, or Sandoz GM poll, but was tier two. Now, I have some pretty well-established concerns about Lamar in the playoffs. and concerns about Lamar not being a consistent rushing threat. But the idea that he's not still clearly a top 10 quarterback in the league is a total absurdity. And then you have two guys that I believe are going to be perennial top five quarterbacks throughout their prime.

Maybe this year that maybe Drake's already in it. Maybe Caleb is entering it. We'll see sometimes, you know, sometimes progression is not totally linear in the NFL. You go up, you go down, you go back up a little bit. But I think they're star of quarterbacks. And then before we reveal the very top of them, be the change you want to see in the world. Well, they did reveal a little bit there. So I'm just going to pretend they didn't.

Then now that had a whole thing prepared here. There's been a lot of lists that come out this off season. And we debate them on the show. And you know, I don't know many people know this. But one of my mentors, one of the people I looked up to as a kid in the field, I now sit across the down. from Chris Broussson. Oh, wow.

And you know what I've heard Broussard say? Just just... I still look up here. You know, you know what I've heard Broussard say just as an aside? A dozen times this summer. Listen, I think Mahomes the best quarterback in football. And then we have a discussion about Josh Allen. Or, listen, I think Mahomes the best quarterback.

And then we have a discussion about Lamar, Joe Burrow. You have said that. He said it a bunch. And then I thought about the one player evaluation thing that we said was the best done. The Sando one, the one that had Lamar fifth, not 14th. And who was atop that one? Who's had the most tier one votes, Patrick Mahomes?

You have 49 of 50. And I said, you know what? 48 to 50. You're 49. You're right, 49 to 50. I was like, you know what? Don't be cowed by these folks. They're like, oh, you're from, like coach yesterday.

He's like, oh, he's from Chicago. He's from Kansas City. Like we're not impartial journalists. Yeah, that hurt coach. It's unnecessary. I believe Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. Did he have the best season? Nope. Is he coming off a tour in ACL?

Yep. Did Matt Stafford have an unbelievable year? Yeah. Did Josh Allen have a pretty good year until the postseason? Sure. Does Patrick Mahomes, did those guys have an opportunity to go out and grab it? And they did. They didn't. So still atop the mountain is a guy who, God forbid, has only made five of the last seven Super Bowls. And God forbid two people have one, I'm sorry, now three people have won a league NBA. VP more recently than him.

Patrick Mahomes, Stafford and Allen Road 2. That is the premier edition. They wanted to be. Of Mahomes Mountain. Coach, I don't even know if you have anything left to say with all your little peanut gallery nonsense throughout the segment. This is definitely a preseason mountain. There are...

Well, it is the preseason. You're right, coach. There's some false starts where you've got too many men on the field. There's all kinds of flags. There's six people in the crowd. Yeah. Yeah, we got a lot. What are you doing six people in the crowd?

Viewers? No, I'm just saying like we're watching the game, but it's like, we can't wait until we get some real football. So, yeah, that's how I feel about this. So what is the superhero? What superhero is what superhero is? Oh, this is a coach. This is a, no. Just curious.

No, I don't. No, I'm not. I'm not into the Marvel movies and stuff. So I can't really do a comp. But I do in my brain. separate quarterbacks to civilians and superheroes and the ones who have like a singular or multiple like out of this world talents as opposed to the guy we usually call a civilian Jared Gough who's like very solid but doesn't have any singular trait that you're like

oh my God and I think that we are in an era of the best quarterbacks having these superhero athletic traits that make it very hard to be a top the mountain if you don't have one of those. I think Caleb and Drake May both have those. And as much as KW would love to kill me on this, since I'm including Drake May, I'm kind of binding you a bit. Yeah. And so with Mahomes, last year

doesn't matter, but with Caleb last year does matter. Bridge Tapestry. Yeah, it is. It is. And in that mind, I'm going to go and talk about who I believe should be moving up or should have been moved up is Jaden Daniels. Because last year doesn't matter for Mahom, so last year probably shouldn't matter

for Jaden Daniels. But let's just compare Jaden with Caleb over the rich tapestry of their career. Going back to college? No, no, we're just going to look. Well, we could. They both won a Heisman. Caleb was on the mountain in college. Yeah, exactly. They both want a high school. But here's what they've done over the two years. So obviously, Jaden has better numbers in terms of pretty much every category across the board. That's two years. But let's just go back. Fewer wins fewer touchdowns. Well, I mean, turnovers,

turnovers. You've got a little bit of a little bit. I'm sorry, Cala's been available. We're talking about 10 more games, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right, but whatever, let's just look back two years. So two years ago, we're talking about superhero type things.

Here's all the things, all the rookie records of Jayden Broke, completion percentage, rush yards, fourth quarter and overtime, past touchdowns, 12. Now, a bunch of those, I think it was four or six of those were in the last 30 seconds, which is the most by any player since 1970. So 56 years. So that kind of superhero-esque. Playoff pass yards, 822, playoff rush yards. He took his organization for their first playoff win in what, 18 years.

And I know Caleb. They took him to a playoff win. He took him to playoff win? I know, but I'm just saying one is like several rows up, one several rows down. And I just, I don't know, does last year matter? Does last year not matter? This is a great question. Two years matter.

And this is why. It's a rich tapestry. Coach, you're not only a parent, you're a great parent, three awesome boys. Thank you. You know how you learn, like, I think we've all probably heard, like, in parenting. One of the reasons for, like, a little kid, the idea of something being next week can be, like, unfathomable to them because that is such a bigger percentage of, like, a week for them, because they've been alive so much less, feels so much longer than does to us.

Similar thing applies to why, how much does Mahomes last year matter compared to Jaden's last year, whatever? If you have two years in the league and one of them's bad, it's going to ding you more than if you have eight years in the league in one of them's bad. That, of course, logically makes sense. We all get that. It's a smaller portion of his career. He has two top nine MVP finishes. He's five years, he has two top nine or six years, two top nine MVP finishes. He just does.

He does two top 9 MVP finish. One top 5, one another top 9. I want Sam Arnold. How many of the end league? A lot. Sam's had a lot. I just want to. But two of them have been absolutely spectacular than last two.

Spectat. But you want a Jaden move up. Where is Jaden on this? So you want me to replace Jaden with, you want me to, no, you don't, Jaden's in the right spot. I've given enough time. Caleb's too high. All right.

This is going to be awkward. Because as Nick said, I do believe Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league. Oh, no. Thank you. I am on the record. Thank you. Sports Illustrated, Coach, has me as the guy,

the first guy to say he's the best quarterback. No, that is not what Sports Illustrated said. They said you called him Jordanesque. They didn't say you're the first guy. And the best quarterback. Well, you did say that, but I don't think they'd say that. I don't think that's in sports. I don't, okay, we'll check the archives.

But anyway, all that said, coach. Mahomes should not be atop the mountain right now. I absolutely agree. He's coming off the worst season of his career. He's coming off the worst injury of his career. His receiving cord doesn't look special. Cyrus Allen. He's no Jacoby Lane.

All right. I mean, he just, and his last three years. Oh, yeah. He's won a Super Bowl, one 15 and one lost. Individually, he hasn't been great. Stafford should clearly be atop the mountain right now. And here's a little graphic just to underscore what I said. What I said.

This is last year from a home. Career worse in all of those categories. And he darn near tied a career worse in interception percentage. So I still believe in him, but I got to go with what we've seen lately. I think that's not feeling. I totally agree. I totally agree. I totally agree that last year for the 2025 Mountain Stafford should have been ahead of Mahomes and he was.

I also, Dusty was talking to me, so I didn't hear the beginning of what you said. Who do you think the best quarterback in the league is? I missed it. Mahomes. Okay, I feel good about it. Go ahead. I just feel good about it. It's who historically has been the best.

No, no, that's not what he said. We haven't seen him after a knee injury. Right. I think he's going to be. KW. I've got to go. No, you've got to do it. No, we've got to go to break.

It's the first one. You got to do it. Go ahead, Walt. Just do it quick. Dusty? Oh. What were you going to do? Come on, tell us.

Kyler. Okay, I'm glad. You can go to breakfast. You had prepared for that. You had to be plenty. We'll be talking plenty of Kyler. The 2026 Chevrolet tracks is the stylish SUV for those on the move. And with the standard Chevy safety assist package,

you have the backup to handle every turn with confidence. The 2026 tracks, start your build, at Chevrolet.ca. Tomorrow 425, Alex Pillow, back on the show. Countdown of the Freedom, 250 Grand Prix. Oh, yeah. August 23rd. Friend of the show.

Yeah, I know that. Keeps winning. One Portland. Just dominating. Tough one for you, KW. Why? Because he doesn't like you. He likes me to grow.

Why isn't he like Ked? He watches the show and you always talk about other drivers. I'm talking about this guy being the goat. Yeah, I think I'm moving off New Garden. He's won a couple times this year. Fortunately, Polo's won six. They've had 13 races. He has 11 top 5, six wins.

He's the best. Former friend of the show, Bill Barnwell, prior to that Mahomes all decade fiasco, has a new article noting that only two of the last 15 largest Super Bowl faves since 1990 actually won the Super Bowl. About 12% chance they win it this year. Still kind of low, you know, 12%.

Well, so that, yeah, I mean, that's the implied, them being a plus 550 favor, whatever they are, the implied actual odds of that are they have about a one and eight chance of winning the Super Bowl. So are we overrating the Rams? I think they have the best claim as the best team in the league, and I think Bill's article is a great reminder that that very rarely means you're going to win. the Super Bowl. It's so different than the other sport we talk about the most of the NBA, which is

being the best team in the NBA, the consensus best team in the NBA, it means it's pretty like shocking if you don't make the final four. It's surprising if you don't make the finals and it's, you know, an upset if you don't win

the title. That's not how the NFL's ever been. And so it is that what was really noteworthy to me is in this article there's eight teams that are bigger favorites than these Rams teams. None of them won the Super Bowl. And so now some of them were,

you know, one of them, for instance, was the Pats the year after they went undefeated. Okay, Brady blows out his knee, so throw that year out. Would a one. But maybe. I mean, the one of them, but a lot of them were years

where the team was healthy, good, got clipped in the playoffs, and a few of them were where the team just didn't have. the year that expected to have and ended up either limping into the playoffs or missing it entirely. And that the team coach that he brought up that I was like, oh, I could see a few of the corollaries is the 2002 St. Louis Rams. So the Rams with Kurt Warner won it in 99. Rams with Stafford won it a few years ago. The Rams in 01 got back to the Super Bowl, lost, you know,

was huge favorites to you guys. Yeah, good job. I'm pointing, you know what? I've been so, I've been so brainwashed by KW's doorstep of destiny. I talked about the 01 Badridge winning the Super Bowl. I pointed to KW when coach won that Super Bowl was on that stack. For the record, neither of us played. I'll bring in the ring for you.

And I know the Rams didn't make the Super Bowl last year, but they kind of made the real Super Bowl. into the championship game. And their quarterback got banged up and was not the player he had been the previous few years. That one spot on their team, they didn't have a ton of depth, was offensive line. Orlando Pace missed some time. And their superstar skill position guy who had been MVP candidate Marshall Falk just had his production cut seemingly out of nowhere. And that team kind of fell apart.

I'm not predicting that for the Rams. So I'm like, oh, the timeline is similar. or do they have any real replacement on the roster if Puka goes from first team all pro to just solid? And, you know, the concern about the aging quarterback with a shaky left tackle, all that to me was gave me pause on, you know, how inevitable the Rams are headed into the season. Yeah, it's so hard to go through a whole season and predict who in the precinct is going to win the Super Bowl. just because so many things can change so dramatically with one injury. But when you look at the team that they're bringing back,

so I think it's like 18 out of 22 starters are back, and then some of the guys that they brought in to replace those starters that left, both starting corners from Kansas City, which is an upgrade, and that was an area of concern. I think they were about 19th in past defense, and then you add the defensive MVP, who's now also going to contribute to their past defense. that's unique. They've never had

in NFL history been the defensive MVP and the offensive MVP on the same roster going into a season. So that's a really unique situation. So they're poised and it makes sense why they're being looked at this way. But again, last

year at this time we're talking about is Matthew Stafford even going to play? And he's a year older, a year more of wear and tear. Hopefully he'll be able to get through the entire season. But that's a huge question mark is can he go through the whole season again yeah i mean they they're phenomenal on paper but when i hear questions on other shows of in the nfc rams or the field that's when i

think this overrated because i just think with football even though they look better than everybody on paper they're great on both sides of the ball it's just not it doesn't work that way in football you know and so i think that stafford at 30 and he's not a question mark but you never know when a guy might fall off Devonte Adams in his 13th season was great last year in the red zone otherwise his numbers weren't his typical

numbers I know they had other receivers No but it's why Puka's so important Yeah exactly so so So all of a sudden if Puka's not himself that receiving core is not what you expected Aaron Donald who I know you don't think you'll come back but it seems like people think he they think he's coming back

but he's been off two years and he's 35 years old. So there are some question marks about this team. And they're in probably the toughest division right now. I mean, you got Seattle and obviously San Francisco. So, and the NFC in general is tough. So I think they are being a little bit overrated. It is pretty exciting, though, if you're a Rams fan,

that think they're going to add Miles Garrett, Aaron Darnold, two quality starting corners, bring everybody back. It's as decorated as the offense. Yeah. Just quickly, coach, outside of injuries, which can happen to any team, the way the ball bounces, just bad luck happens to any team. Is there any glaring flaw or something that's on the horizon that you see that could speak of bad, a disastrous, not a disastrous season, but bad season? They changed offensive coordinator, so you don't think that's going to be a major contributing factor. But whenever you have a new signal caller, there is a, there are growing pains there.

but you've got a veteran head coach, you've got a veteran quarterback. There's a lot of things built in that at Cliff Kingsbury. I think that that should add some value to the offensive staff as well. So in terms of overall the guys they brought back, the quality of the guys that they added in positions of need and areas specifically that they were deficient in last year, it's a pretty good package that they have. I'm really interested to see how the two chiefs corners do.

I think McDuffie's awesome. Jalen Watson, I think, can be really good. But the corners, the chiefs have had a lot of corners that Spags developed that went elsewhere. And those teams did not get the same production that they had in Kansas City. Tomorrow are the Rams going undefeated. 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. OICOS 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. OICOS Pro. Feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more details. The Big Ten is the best league in football and a lot of really good football teams.

It's hard to win on the road. Very physical football teams, very well coached. it definitely prepares you for the playoffs. There's no doubt about it. The numbers speak for themselves. I mean, we don't run a hype machine up here in the Midwest. We believe everything's earned not given. And when we fall short, we say we fell short.

We don't cry a river, whine and complain. All right? And that's why we're the best. Big Ten has three of the top six teams in the first poll. Ohio State, Oregon at one and two. Signetti's Hoosiers at 6. Joining us now, Big Ten network analyst Jake Butt. Jake, thanks for joining

us. Do you agree with Signetti that the Big Ten is the best conference in the country? Absolutely. It's undeniable. And I would also say back when I was playing, college football ran through the SEC, so I'll give them their credit. But you know, with NIL, with conference realignment, times have changed

and it's undeniable. Big Ten, three straight national champions, three different teams, Michigan, Ohio State. And then Indiana being undefeated, 16 or no national champs, undeniable the success of the Big Ten, and they're not slowing down anytime soon either. So listen, I know you alluded to the NIL portion of it, but I think it's got to be more than that.

What do you attribute this pretty significant shift? Because you know, you're a young man. It's not like you were playing ages ago, but it felt the up until very recently, it was a Georgia mini dynasty right on the heels of an Alabama actual dynasty and LSU having a dominant run. To have this type of seismic shift, it can't just be NIL and some conferencery alignment. Why do you think it has shifted as such? And NIL is the fundamental part of this. It's the baseline.

And I'm not going to name any names or call it any programs. But back when I was playing, there was NIL going on before NIL, and it was going on mainly down in the south. And then once we legalize that, all of a sudden certain teams that were able to stockpile five stars on their bench, those five stars aren't going to go sit the bench for an SEC team. They're going to come up north. So we've seen talent be dispersed across all college football. And then the ripple effect of that is now coaches want to come coach the best players. So the teams in the SEC can't stockpile coaching talent on their rosters as well.

And then if we're looking at NIO as a resource battle, you look at the alumni bases, the amount of business success from the teams in the Big Ten, there's a lot of teams up north that have those big time pools of money that are required to compete in the modern college football game. Jake, you talked about the Big Ten winning the last three national championships. They're talking now about expanding the playoff from 12, even the 24. It seems to be kind of the most common thing they're talking about. Do you like that? When you played and even now, would you have liked to see that as a player?

Do you like it if they expand it now or do you feel 12? is perfect. Well, once we went from four to 12, I think the further expansion was inevitable. And, you know, the 12's been great. I think college football is in the best position it's ever been in. But the issue with 12 is you're kind of caught in between where all of a sudden, if you don't make the college football playoff, the season is a failure. And I still think there's a lot of quality teams that have been on the outside looking in in a 12 team college football playoff era that were good teams. we have to say, hey, their seasons were a failure. Now when you go to 24 teams, that's going to bring all those teams in.

And then the other thing is, is that creates some fun narratives into late October and November. Outside of the powers that be, the halves at the top of each conference, all of a sudden, the middle of the SEC and the Big 10 and the Big 12 in the ACC, for example, the middle of those conferences now will be in the hunt into late November, which puts more stakes on those regular season games. which is fun for all of us. Indiana is at six, which to me feels, I don't know, a little bit low. I haven't seen them lose a game. Signetti just feels still super confident. Obviously, Mendoza's gone.

What are your expectations for the Hoosiers this year? I agree. I think six is way too low. I would, they be my pick to go repeat and win as national champions this year. And they've reloaded across their roster. And look, replacing Mendoza. knows is no easy task. You go on get Josh Hoover, the TCU transfer, number one quarterback in the portal. But across the board, once you get into the postseason, the rosters in terms of on-field

talent, there's not a bunch separating them. So what is the big separating factor? It's your coaching staff. It's your coordinators, the ability to scout opponents and implement game plans and be dialed into situational football. Indiana, we have seen that that is a proven fact about this staff since Signetti was hired. And what's rare about them with the success they had last year, being undefeated and winning a national championship, they bring that entire staff back, head coach, all three coordinators, and with a roster that I think is certainly capable of winning a national title, I've learned my lesson. I'm done betting against Signetti. They would be my pick, mainly for the coaching staff to go repeat as

national champions. I know this team isn't in the Big Ten, but it kind of feels like if it were in a conference, it would be. I want to ask about Notre Dame, because while Indiana's got the longest winning streak in college football. Notre Dame has the second longest winning streak of any of these teams in college football. I thought they were fairly left out of the playoff last year. I didn't necessarily love how they handled being left out of the playoff, but it doesn't change the fact that Cam Car is a star, that even losing those two great running backs, they've reloaded everywhere.

I think they have the best chance that they've had in quite some time, even the year, they made the national championship game to actually win the national championship. do you agree with me about how dangerous Notre Dame is? Absolutely. They're one of maybe five to seven teams that I would be willing to bet money on that can't actually go and win a national championship. I agree. C.J. Carr is a stud. Could be a top five pick if he decides to come out after this season. The roster is loaded. Arguably one of the best defenses, certainly the best secondary in college football. And they are always going to have good line play, tight ends. That's always the case. but I think what's the advantage for Notre Dame is

they are going to have a chip on their shoulder going into this season. Combine that with a very favorable schedule, they're going to be fresh going into the postseason. That matters in an extended postseason college football era. There's so many things that align and reasons to like the Irish. I absolutely believe they'd probably

be in my top three alongside Indiana and maybe a handful of other teams that can certainly go win a national championship. We haven't talked about Ohio. state. They've got two Heisman candidates and the quarterback Julian saying and Jeremiah Smith, the receiver. Which one do you think is more likely to win the Heisman? Well, the Heisman is really a quarterback award. We know that. I know Travis Hunter won it a few years ago playing both ways. You got to go back to DeVante Smith at Alabama after the COVID year to see a wide receiver

that won the Heisman. Jeremiah Smith is capable of winning it, but it's a quarterback award. for that reason alone, I would pick Julian Sane. And another reason I like the Buckeyes, this is kind of a side tangent. They went out and hired Arthur Smith, who has an NFL background, bring him to Columbus. I think he's going to unlock a whole other element to Julian Sane's game. So to me, I'd probably pick Sane. Do you have a surprise team in the Big Ten? We've got your Wolverines at 16.

I think Iowa is in the 20s. Who do you have as a surprise team in the Big Ten? to make the college football playoff? Yeah. I would pick Penn State. Obviously they fired James Franklin. Yeah, bring in Matt Campbell from Iowa State. And just to sometimes you get lucky with the schedule.

Penn State's schedule is extremely favorable. They really have three games. They have USC. Then they go on the road to Michigan. Two weeks later, they go on the road to Washington. Those three games will be the only games that should be considered toss-ups on their schedule. So say you go one and two or even two and one in those games, they could be 10 and 2 or 11 and 1 at the end of the season.

That's certainly enough to get them in the college football playoffs in year one of the Matt Campbell era. All right, Jake, I'm going to pivot a little bit because you and I have talked for the better part of 10 years back when you were the best tied in in college football playing at Michigan into your NFL career, which was sadly shortened by injury. And what we talked about was two things. One was that once you were done playing sports, you want to be a broadcaster. And congrats, man. you are crushing you're doing a great job. It's been really fun to watch. And the other is LeBron James. So I have a very simple question. Are you riding with me with the Sixers this year, or do you have other loyalty that demands your attention? I'm riding wherever LeBron James.

I'm like a Cavs fan. I went to a Hague I went back to the Cavs, the Lakers, and now I'm with the Sixers. Absolutely. What a fun story, though. I mean, we're all going to be tuned into watching. Shout out to LeBron James. He's worth a max contract just for the eyeballs and the revenue he would bring to the city. But hey, for all those Jordan fans, look what LeBron's doing to go take care of his team with that major, major pay cut. I'm sorry to take. What a take. He engaged the goat. He ends with the goat debate. I know where I'm. I know what show I'm on. Jake, thank you very much. Continued success. We'll be watching you. Thanks for making some time for us. Thanks, Jake. Definitely. Thank you guys. Absolutely.

We're first after the break. Live from New York, first things first overtime today. Kyler is QB1. Could he make the Vikings the number one team in the NFC North? Meanwhile, are we expecting the Chargers to immediately, immediately succeed with Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert? For the Chargers? Danny, randomly, randomly today at 2 o'clock.

Man, oh man, weeks three through 10 for the Chargers might be the toughest stretch in the history of the Chargers. the league. Okay, hold on a second. Did you or did you not? It wasn't random because coming up later on the O.T. I'm picking every game in the Chargers schedule. I like this picking every game thing.

Yeah, but it's amazingly fun. We should do it for every team. Totally agree. Why are we out here talking? I don't know. You want to just pick Gans right now. You start picking games. It did seven minutes to start our show on Jacoby Lane.

I saw it. I saw it. And finally, top 10 Tuesday, Danny's top 10 players he's most excited to watch. Can't wait. Very interesting. It is. On my podcast network, I'm doing top ten players I'm least excited to watch.

You are? Yeah. Give me one of them. Just one. A random guard on the Saints. Okay. Andrus Pete is taking strays? I don't know.

It is. It's just fundamental. Alongside Christmas. How's the Kevin Wilde's podcast network going, though? Well, you haven't shown up to a lot of the meetings. Well, it's clips only. I don't have enough equity to show up to every meeting. I just there for.

Do you hear about Danny's podcast of the Kenwatt's Podcast Network? I've heard it. Clips only. Yeah. We've talked about it. It's pretty good. Also, my bad, Andrews, Pete retired. It was a guard for the seconds.

He took a shot. Sorry, Christina. Christina works hard putting this rundown together. And then you do just about your fake podcast network. Let's start the show. Roll it, Christina. Christmas Day. Yeah.

And opening night. The NBA has released their national games. Here's what we got to kick off the season. Celtics going to Detroit, 76ers going up against the champs, and Thunder Spurs. Then on Christmas, finals rematch, Jan is taken on Tatum, and then it's LeBron back in L.A. against Luca, SGA, taken on Lamello. And then finally, before he goes to Greece, it's Yokic taken on Steph. Anything you change here, Parkins?

So I have won quibble with opening night. What's your quibble? And it's the opening game. That's not opening night. That's opening afternoon. That's what makes it okay. Okay. Well, so Sixers, Knicks, and Thunder Spurs are perfect.

And my gut tells me, no other games were even discussed for it. Because the finals rematch of Nick Spurs opening up Christmas is perfect. And that game starts. I think we have to reconfigure the Christmas hierarchy of games now that the NFL is doing Bears Packers. Bears Packers at one.

So you get an hour of uninterrupted, you're not opposing the NFL for the finals rematch. I agree with you. Whereas then we have an NFL triple header that obviously the NFL will happen. Oh, so maybe that does change what the marquee Christmas game. I think that's what I'm saying. Clearly is the marquee.

Okay, that's interesting. So I think they led Christmas with their best game and to give the love to the Knicks because it's the only slot that has a huge percentage of it not opposed by the NFL. And look at how well those. Until the very late. Yeah, but the Knicks always used to be. I mean, it's a little bit of a coincidence. The Knicks have the noon game historically.

Correct. Right. I just, I do wonder if now that Christmas is going up, makes sense. Christmas NBA is going up against Christmas NFL if we should recalibrate in our minds, which the best time. slide is. As for the opener, it's the co-favorits for the title, Spurs Thunder, against the co-favorits for the East, Sixers Knicks. So I think those two were no-brainers. I just personally

think if it's about changing, I think Janus rejuvenated in Miami is more interesting for like a first impression on opening night than either Detroit or Boston. So given that we're seeing Miami, Boston I would have preferred Miami Detroit for opening night. I feel like I know what Boston is. They're going to shoot a lot of threes. They're going to be really good. They're going to win a ton of regular season games, and we'll see if they make their shots in the postseason.

So I would have preferred to see Janus and Miami in that early slide. Can I give you a tweak there? Detroit just gets eliminated entirely. Boston, Miami opening night, and on Christmas, let's flip-flop the Celtics and Lakers. logos. Janus Luca is a game and Jalen Brown's return to

Boston as a game. You know what I like that? I think Celtics Lakers is a classic game. No, but I'm not, I'm not doing that. Oh, you're taking Sixers Celtics. I'm Sixers Celtics Heat Lakers. And that way you can get Celtics heat in the first

day of the season. And then on Christmas, you get Jailen. I love Jalen Brown but I don't know. Well, I think What makes that interesting, too, look, I really love Sixers Lakers on Christmas Day. But what does make the, because I get it, Jalen Brown isn't like a celebrity type player where everybody just wants to see him.

But when you throw in the dynamic of him facing Tatum, last year they didn't have Tatum and they were great, how will Boston play with just Tatum but no Brown? Like, it does make it really interesting from that standpoint. Sixers Celtics is one of the most historic rivalries in. But I see it all the time. Oh, so it's not rare because. Yeah, I don't, it just, like, I just see it often.

I think every, the same things that you're talking about, I'm more interested in seeing LeBron in L.A., standing ovation, bored. The celebrities. I know it's like kind of minor league story, but it's like Brony, clapping for his dad. I totally forgot about that. That in theory we might get to see LeBron guard Brani.

It's so cool. Or the other way around. Like that that is the first time that's even occurred to me that that can happen this year. I mean, I understand Brani's got to make his way into the rotation. A lot of things have to happen. But that's certainly on the board. He could give Brani a gift and let him dunk him. Dunking on your son.

That's a gift. You get the dunk. No, you don't. You don't. You know, because you don't. The other way. Brunney dunk on him. But if Brew had a son, he would dunk on him.

Brew now has a son-in-law as up two days ago. Would you dunk on your son? I actually thought it was like a nod to LeBron because Adam Silver said the, he was like holding the schedule for LeBron and how much it clearly matters. I thought it was like a little bit of a thank you to, hey, in year 24, we're so grateful that you're still playing and carrying us that we're going to let you spend Christmas in L.A. with your family.

I actually, that actually crossed my mind. You get to see Brony, you get to see your daughter, You get to be with your house, be with Savannah, and the Sixers get to be in L.A. So you could spend Christmas there. I saved this take for when you were out here. Oh, thanks, buddy. Because I want you to have time to prepare for it.

It also feels to me like the slight, just slight, dimming of the Thunder star. The Thunder, like, listen, the Thunder were the champs. And because the, and then the, the year after they were the champs, they were the championship favorites, and they had this gaudy record. And so they were what I would call begrudgingly respected. But I don't think outside of Oklahoma, they have a ton of diehard fans, and I don't think they play a style that necessarily attracts people

as much as some other teams or stars do. And so, yes, opening night, we get the Western Armourts Finals rematch, the two Western Conference favorites, the championship favorites, so be it, that makes a lot of sense. But that, to me, is the Spurs and Wimby and that potential rivalry there is the story. And then on Christmas, that's one of the games when you look it up there. It's like, yeah, it's just two really good teams. It's not like a lot of, like, there's, it's not to me, and again, maybe the time slots are changing.

It's not like the marquee time slot. It's not, there's no obvious, like, hey, here's the history between these two. team. They've had some pretty good playoff series though. I actually do think that's interesting. I agree. Look, OKC is not an

exciting team to watch. I mean, SGA is great, but they're a little bit like the Spurs were with Duncan. So I don't, I just think I just don't think they're that exciting. But them against Minnesota,

SGA and Edwards, now Lamello's in the mix. I do think that's an interesting game. They get to play in both. With primetime spots, I would think if you're a thunder person, you'd maybe say that they'd earned Christmas Day at home over Minnesota. Like instead of having to go on the road, like that should be in our building. Our fans should get that spotlight.

We've been the champs. We're in the Western Conference finals. We've had the multiple time MVP. So maybe that's a slight disrespect to the market. But La Mello and Ant are bigger stars and do better on 2K and NBA Top Shot if that was still a thing. Both go ahead. No, I'm just saying. It's like I don't, I can't see the thunder who.

didn't win the title last year, playing on opening night and playing on Christmas and think that they're like, well, I just, well, I mean, I just, they were, you know, they were in, what was it, chapter two of a seven chapter dynasty. And now, you know what I mean? And now there, I think the fourth attraction on Christmas, I, one other thing before you get topped in, do you think it is a mistake, how LeBron-centric some of this still is? Absolutely not. You hold on to it as long as you can. Only it's a long, like, because Brew brought up earlier, like, Cooper Flag is not on the schedule. The, the, Brown wasn't going to be the one to be dropped.

No, no, but, I mean, it just the, you understand what I mean, that it still is. Yeah, the NBA has been. And they didn't just do, like, LeBron's Steph against each other as, like, a senior's, you know, either matinee or late night thing. I know what you're saying. But, like, has Cooper flagged earned as. good as he was, has he earned the right through like, you know what? I must see T. No, but is some of it

priming the audience to let them know these are the guys. Like Anthony Edwards has, you know, gotten there. Yeah. Like the... I was going to say you could, I mean, somebody young, like, there's no... Because the game, Boston, Detroit, are two of the teams you maybe replace.

There's no Indiana with Tyrese Halliburton back. You could have gone. Now, these two teams aren't good, but Washington with DeBanza and Anthony Davis against Utah with Darren Peterson. I mean, again, I don't know. I'm just saying teams that got overlooked. And Dallas, I'm not, I wouldn't replace them.

I said this is delicious. You want to go into. Last year they put Cooper Flag on there. Yeah. He had done nothing. Dallas wasn't any good. Real. They did put Cooper flag.

No, I didn't say you should replace them. I'm just saying these are teams that were overlooked. I'm just, I'm fine. with it as it is. I understand. I understand the idea of it. I think still big, huge brand. Yeah, I'm not saying I would have put a brand.

And they've been excellent. Yeah, I also think that you have to earn it. Like, Cooper Flagg's got to get into the playoffs. He didn't earn it last year, though. And they put him on. Sure, played it, played individually well. There are a lot of stars. I think they're shocked that LeBron is still a thing.

And so they're going to do it. Yeah, no, I would, I'm not saying I would have put that game on instead of any of these. The only one I said was Boston, Detroit, potentially. But yeah. Any, you have any interest in putting Sacramento on? Do they have AJ DeBancers? Do they have Darren Peterson? Just Portland Sacramento game up against bills.

Guys, I got it. I got one. I'm trying to, I love the way they did. I love it. I love it. I'm trying to throw other things out. All right. Coming up now, it's Tuesday.

Thank you, Bruce. for engaging with my question. Danny's top 10 NFL players. He's excited to watch. These lists always get Danny's in trouble online. Can you just, is there anything more to it? Yeah, there is. You think it's complicated?

Most excited to watch. It's not the 10 best players. I'm not going to do 10 quarterbacks. And I'm not going to do multiple players from one team current. Like just a lot of bears. Right. Colston Loveland is truthfully number two for me. But that would be a little ridiculous if I put him on the list. But yeah, I did put three guys from Team USA on the World's Cup, most excited to watch list.

And the internet was furious. We got crushed. The internet was furious. So I can't win. Coming in at number 10, a player who currently isn't on any roster. Aaron Donald. Great. Little asterisk. If Donald returns.

Well, I would hope so. I watch the cone drills. I like the Instagram videos. He's arguably the best defensive player. of my lifetime. I was thinking it's like Dion Sanders, Miles Garrett, J.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, Dorel Rivas are probably the five best defensive players since I can remember watching football. The guy was number one in pass rush win rate. He was a first time all pro when he retired. So he retired early. He walked away. It wasn't because anything had really dipped off.

So if he joins the overwhelming Super Bowl favorites after two years away, it'll just be an absolutely fascinating story and make the huge favorites and even bigger favorite. Coming into number nine, C.J. Stroud. Huh. I don't think anyone individually has more riding on this season than C.J. Stroud. They picked up his fifth year option, but he was bad in every loss last year. Like there was not a single game you could point to and you'd be like,

CJ Stroud played well, but the Texans lost. He had four touchdowns against eight picks and like a pass rating of 60 across their six losses last year. was absolutely terrible in the playoffs. Is this a J.J. McCarthy spot? Do they just turn to Davis Mills as their backup? Do they call Jimmy Garoppolo? Or does he play like he did as a rookie? And he carries a team that can clearly win the Super Bowl deep into the playoffs.

They call Jamie Garoppolo. I thought your eyes were going to raise. Do they call Mac Jones? Holy cow. You could call Mac Jones. There's a lot riding on this for C. But maybe he's like, don't be ridiculous. He's going to have a good September and he'll be the guy from the rest of the way.

Huge story. Coming in number eight. Kenneth Walker. Now this is tied to Mahomes, but Kenneth Walker is the best running back Patrick Mahomes has ever had. The Chiefs have never ranked higher than 16th in rushing yards per game since Mahomes has been there.

He's the Super Bowl MVP, they gave him a ton of money, they're going to use him, and there's two things that really contribute to a great play action game. Deep threat, Tyree Kill, and when you have to honor and respect the run, Patrick Mahomes had, this is crazy to me.

Some of that on the left is a Tyreek Hillstat. 38 touchdowns against seven picks on play action, but he's nine touchdowns on nine picks on play action in the last three years. You give Mahomes a real running game. I think that part of the game opens up for him. I think Kenneth Walker is going to be the key to the Chiefs' Bounce. Just to add to that quickly, because 2022, which on the left-hand side, Tyreek was already gone.

Correct. What that timeline is is with the enemy without the enemy. Yeah. The enemy is now back. And so plus the running back situation. So I think it's just an absolutely massive situation. Number seven is another asterisk, Max Crosby. The guy's played in one playoff game in his career.

I don't think he's finishing the season with the Raiders. So if he has a good September and is healthy, he gets traded for one first round pick instead of two to a team that starts hot. Is he a bear by October? Is he a bill by October? Is he a cowboy by October? like an in-season trade for a pass rusher that could tilt, you know, the Super Bowl odds mid-season.

That's interesting. I think it's going to be a huge story assuming he looks good and is healthy early in the season because his timeline just doesn't match up with Mendoza. Coming in at number six, this is begrudging, but he's really good. Jordan Love. Oh, you know that he's really good. He is, listen, he's better than Packers fans deserve from going from Far to Rogers, so I do root against him.

He is just streaky. When he is on a hot streak, he looks like he could be the MVP of the league. He doesn't throw a lot of interceptions, but when he throws interceptions, they are among the worst interceptions you've ever seen. And at the first five, six, seven weeks of the season, Micah Parsons is going to be out. So Jordan Love, I mean, they gave him Matthew Golden and Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft is back. He has to lead a top 10 offense this year. Jordan Love, one of the most intriguing players in the league this season.

Coming in to number five, Jamir Gibbs. I think he should be the number one pick in fantasy football over Bijon Robinson, a great 1v2 debate, but also we've never seen this guy without David Montgomery. Like his touches have gone up year to year to year, but I don't see why Jemir Gibbs shouldn't lead the league in touches this year. So if Jemir Gibbs gets 350 plus touches, I just think the sky's the limit for him is one of the most dynamic offensive players in football. Speaking of dynamic offensive players, Josh Allen at number four,

No one has more on the line. Legacy-wise for him, you add DJ more. I don't think the defense is going to be very good this year. I think they've got a real shot at the number one ranked offense. Coming to number three, Miles Garrett. We talked about this when the trade happened when we were all on. It is a stat that is just now seared into my brain. He had 23 sacks last year.

It's five straight years of 14 or more sacks. Why can't he have more sacks this year than he did last year and break his own record when he's going to be playing with a lead? He's never played with the lead, really. Last year, 80 snaps on a team that had a two touchdown lead. Rams had 365. The last two seasons. He's only had 80 in the last two seasons, excuse me.

So yeah, he is going to just have more pure pass rush opportunities this year than he's had in the last couple of years combined in Cleveland. Could be an absolutely monstrous season. Number two, my guy Justin Herbert. Hold on. Gino Smith and Kenyon Smith. Cam Ward, the only players sacked more than Justin Herbert last year. God knows that none of it's his fault.

Well, when you have an entirely new offensive line this year, you bring back two of the best tackles in football, and you add a new offense coordinator, and he had the most touchdown passes. I was just about to say that. I was like, this is crushing. Like we're at Jamira Gibbs. I'm like, this is a great list.

Okay, I'm sorry. I'm interested in an entirely new offensive line and offensive coordinator for a great. So put Joe Walt on there. So Joe, guess what? Joe, it's awesome whether Herbert's out there or not. I did see Joe. I'm excited to see Joe all. I do like Herbert on this list then.

Oh, thanks, Drew. Okay, well, so I mean, I guess you guys are going to have a problem with number one. It's Caleb Forbes. That's okay. I don't blame you for that. Okay, yeah, I'm a friend of. Young ascending superstar quarterback for your favorite team. It makes sense.

Okay, good. I'm glad you like it. All right. Well, then I'll just a perfect top 10, Drew, probably not. No, I mean, it's your own list. It's hard to. No, I mean, just stay tuned. There's a couple of good ones going there.

You should be more excited to see. Yeah, I do want to hear it. Go ahead. Look, I'm happy about Kenneth Walker, the third, going to the chief. You know who I want to see more than him? Who's that? Patrick Mahomes. How about that?

I mean, he's only coming off an ACL injury. He's only had a couple of years where he hasn't been himself, and now he's got his offensive coordinator back, who he shined under. Yeah, where's Mahomes? And for that, since we're at it, where's Lamar Jackson? They're both coming off down years.

We want to see both of them return to MVP form, their teams back in contention. I'm sorry. That's what I want to see. What's your problem? Mr. Hands above his head? You don't want to see either one of those guys? I do, but I can't, I mean,

the list can't just be here, some great interesting quarterbacks. And like, we never talk about Lamar or Mahomes on this show. Do you know how many times we talk to? Top 10 guys you're excited to talk about for the first time. Can I pitch one to Danny? Of who we should be excited. Yeah, you're going to be mad.

You took away my time, but go ahead. And I like Kenneth Walker's Super Bowl MVP. I think he did a great job against a stellar defense. But we never talked about Kenneth Walker really much at all last year. We just didn't. We talked about this guy almost every week he was up to something. His name's A.J. Brown. And now he's with Caleb's draft partner in crime.

Drake May. Now, the Patriots have gotten had, in moderate recent history, four huge name wide receivers come to the team. One, Randy Moss, historic season. One, Antonio Brown. Eh, a little up and down. One, Ocho. Antonio last one game?

No, most things that. No, I think you're thinking of him with Tampa Bay. Maybe, maybe I'm wrong. It wasn't enough to be up in that. It was one game. Wasn't one game? Josh, fact check me on the, one game. One game down.

One game left, then Brady went to Tampa and he moved in with him. That worked. Oh, Joe Sinko. Didn't do anything. And now we have AJ, and now we have AJ Brown. Well, I'm fascinated by. Yeah, it's an interesting one. So I'll be quick here. So as much as, you know, we all love sport,

and it's fun, you can get excited rooting for guys. Yeah. You can also get excited rooting against guys. I like where you're going. And you have. a lot of take show professional incentive in watching Caleb ascend and this guy stumbled so you should be excited for good or for bad to watch Drake May it is going to be who Caleb is judged against it is the same draft classes picks

one and three it is you know Jaden is in a different spot just because of the injury but it is there's huge it also KW's old car dealership I think works here. Maybe they're both ones good. The raises the other one's tied. It's fine, like the next generation. But I'm very excited to watch Drake May. I'm interested in watching Drake Mae.

I was surprised Drake May wasn't on there. You should be on the list. Yeah, maybe more than AJ Brown. Most to lose, most excited to root against. Yeah, Drake May, Jordan Love. Yeah, exactly. Watch out for Bow Nix. Just quietly wins the most games and throws the most touchdowns.

Again, I'm not the Bow Nix guy. You are. The guy wins games and throws touchdowns. What am I supposed to be? You got those cool throwback jerseys that you love, bro. What is a successful season for Kyler as QB1? And can he be the best quarterback in the NFC North? One person next says yes.

Wow. What? Holy cow, went nine and eight. Couldn't be me. NFL kickoff 29 days away, which means OT predictions week is coming up. Coach Manjini and I, August 31st of September 4th, are official predictions ahead of the NFL season. Something tells me.

me, I'm going to have the Bears finishing ahead of you in the NFC North. I would imagine that's a very good possibility. You don't have them as the one seat? Okay, no big deal. Uh-huh. Let's get back to the OT with Coach Manjini out here. Let's go to Minnesota, speaking to the NFC North. The Vikings, this wasn't much of a competition.

They have not played a preseason game yet. And shockingly, to nobody, they named Kyler Murray as QB1. They host the Packers to open the season, a 9-and-8 season, which was disappointing, given all the talent that they have in Minnesota. Do you expect us to pay immediate dividends? Kyler Murray, QB1, Vikings. I'm not sure if it's going to pay immediate dividends because, first of all, it was supposed to be a competition.

You'd think it would go at least a little bit into the preseason. I would imagine they set it up as a competition, understanding or feeling that Kyler was going to win it, but as long as they positioned it as a competition, they could keep J.J. McCarthy, still on board as things move forward as opposed to just naming Kyler without seeing the two of them. So there's that immediate dividends. I don't know.

It's going to have to be a fusion between the system that they have and the things that Kyler does well. And to me, that's always very important. When you bring somebody in, you can kind of force them into your system, even if it doesn't work, because that's what you believe in philosophically. or you can say, okay, we're going to do this core, but we're also going to do the things that you've done really well throughout the course of your career. And Kyler's not what I imagine they traditionally want to have a quarterback

in terms of stylistically, and how that learning curve unfolds will determine dividends or how quickly the dividends come. So I'm not surprised by this. I said as soon as Kyler signed there, I thought he was going to beat out JJ. I didn't think it was really much of a debate. I didn't think Kyler would sign there.

Were you surprised that this was ended so quickly? Well, so that's what I kind of want to press you on a little bit. There's no way this was a real competition, right? Like, this is a, I know Kevin O'Connell can't say it. I'm not sure if you're willing to say it. It feels to me like this was a sham competition. They didn't play in any games. The reports from the reporters who were at practice

actually said in the early practices that J.J. McCarthy looked more comfortable than Kyler Murray, and they were explaining that away, is, well, it makes sense. He's been in the system longer. Kevin O'Connell's system is famously difficult and intricate to pick up and very different than what Kyler Murray had ever played in before in the NFL. Right. So how did he win it?

He didn't play any games and he didn't beat out the backup quarterback in practice in front of the reporters, but they've already named him the starter. Like, this was not a real competition. I do think it was positioned initially with the thought in mind that Kyler's going to win it. But as long as you had a competition, again, that keeps J.J. McCarthy in a better headspace than just saying... But for a week. Right. So I think that's what they went into this with. But then you heard Kyler Murray talking about how important it was for him to get reps, how important it was for him to get reps. So they, in their mind, must have said, okay, he is going to win

this. We feel strongly that he is going to win this. So let's not waste any more of these reps that he's desperate, sounds like he desperately needs to get to. where he feels competent in the system. Sure. And that's why they accelerated the declaration of who the starter was. So here's how I'm going to make the case that this is going to work. If Kevin O'Connell gets good quarterback play, the Vikings win a ton of games. And Kyler Murray should be better than what they got last year from J.J. McCarthy, Carson,

Wents, and Max Brosmer. Like, it's pretty easy. He's been there four years. They won nine games last year with those three different quarter. The year before, everybody knows what happened with Sam Darnold. They were amazing in line for the one seed going into week 18 when they lost that game to the Lions. Won 14 games. 2023, won seven games, but Kirk Cousins missed half the season.

Year before, when Cousins was healthy, they won 13 games. Like, they returned their whole offensive line. They returned Jefferson. They return Addison. They return Hockinson. They return Aaron Jones. They lost Harrison Smith on defense, but used four of their first five draft picks on defensive players.

because Brian Flores is suing the NFL. They still have one of the great defensive coordinators. Like they've got coaching staff continuity. They've been a quarterback away from being an awesome team ever since Kevin O'Connell has been there. And Kyler Murray doesn't have to be excellent. He just has to be better than J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer, and they still won nine games last year. But think about the quarterbacks that they've had. So Carson Wentz, J.J. McCarthy, Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins.

they all physically resemble each other. They all have played in similar types of systems where Kyla Murray is a radically different type of quarterback. The things that he can do is different. So how much is Kevin McConnell going to be willing to adjust to what Kyler does well? So it's a balance between the two. And if you are just stuck in your ways

and not willing to give, it could not be very good. I think there's going to be some stumbles early for the learning curve, but the floor has just been demonstrated as being so high with O'Connell and Flores there. I think this is a playoff team. So I do think that, like, if immediate is this season, I do think this is. But are you saying, when you say learning curve, are you saying learning curve for the coaching staff? For Kyler.

For Kyler and the system. And so you don't see there being any learning curve for the coaching staff and as to how to best utilize the strength that Tyler. Yeah, because to me it goes both ways in the situation because of how different stylistically Kyler is to what he's been used to having in that system. I think that makes total sense. Carson Wentz is still there. They re-signed him to a deal in March.

The future of J.J. McCarthy. I know how I feel about it. What do you think? Do you think J.J. McCarthy is a Viking for a while here? I would imagine he's a Viking in the short term, depending how strongly they feel about Carson Wentz. But there's no value right now to giving him away. Why not let it go another year as long as they can all coexist and provide him an opportunity to learn further and see where you are? Because we've seen guys grow.

And quarterback's just like every other player, they develop at different paces. maybe it hits for him next year. So to give him away for a six-round draft pick or something like that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. If someone were to give you something more substantial where you actually had to consider it, then maybe he's not. I think the Vikings try to trade him,

but I agree they don't give him away for pennies on the dollar. Do you think they try to trade him because they feel he's a distraction or they try to trade him? I think they think it doesn't work. He's played 10 games in a couple of years. and they moved to Kyler Murray. But I would just say if I, JJ McCarthy would not ask me for advice.

But if he did, there's some talk out there of like, should he demand a trade? That would be ridiculous. Because if Kyler goes down, you've got a top 10 coaching staff and a top 10 wide receiver duo and a top 10 offensive line

and you get to play in a dome. Like there aren't many better situations for a quarterback than Minnesota. And even though he lost out on the job, you never get as much benefit of the doubt as with the team. that drafted you. And that traded up a pick together, too.

Yeah, and once you're out in the NFL world, all that benefit that out disappears. Well, it went so well yesterday with me picking the Bears schedule. They've asked me to do it for the Chargers schedule. Can't wait to see this. On the other side. They're not starting 7 and 0. Spoiler over. Okay, I'm like the Bears yesterday.

Thanks for hanging with us at the OT. Let's go all the way to L.A. where Jim Harbaugh, he must watch the show. He's a fan of the misdirection, just like. like our guy, Brew. When asked about Mike McDaniel, his new offensive coordinator, he said, quote, I don't just like him. I love him. I love his energy. I love the way he thinks. I love the way he sees football. I always thought it was a great fit with Justin Herbert. Both those guys are so smart. And it's even better than I thought. All right, coach, what do you expect the Mike McDaniel, Justin Herbert duo under Jim Harbaugh to look like.

It's so interesting with Justin Herbert. He should get some new award for like MLP for most loved player between you, Jim Harbaugh, and now McDaniel. Because did you hear the things that McDaniel? Hold on a second. Hold on a second. The McDaniel comments about him is how much he loves him. What an incredible guy.

I think he's got a fiancé. there's no room for her. There's too much love for Justin Herbert from Harbaugh, McDaniel, like his parents. Do you think Madison Beer is jealous of my love of Justin Herbert? Is that what you're saying? Between the three of guys, his cup runneth over. There is no other space because there's so much love for him. Okay.

Troy, in my ear, please, whatever you have time, because I don't want to misquote it. Can you tell me, please, where the NFL coaches, executives, and scouts anonymously ranked Justin Herbert in the poll? because I know it was top 10 and it might have been top 7 or 8. This isn't something that I am fabricating. I'm not like the only person who watches Justin Herbert is like, that guy's awesome.

He can make every throw. This isn't something that I just came up with out of thin air. When I lost my MVP candidate last year, I went with Justin Hurried as well. I just wasn't as effusive in my praise as you are. And Mike McDaniel is and Jim Hart. And it's a great thing. I do think that the positivity or the positive effect that Mike McDaniel had on Tua was real.

And some of that might have been confidence related. So now he has the full faith of Jim and that's sincere and that's real. And I feel like McDaniel's feelings are the same way. I feel like your feelings are the same way. It's a little more than seventh in the, you know, Vikings or whatever. There's a real deep love there that's fun to watch. I think it could be really fun to watch. I think that Mike McDaniel, he has talked all camp about he wants to make Justin Herbert's life easier.

And he's talked about maybe instead of throwing 60% of the time, it's going to be a 50-50 split. And it's going to be my job to scheme guys open. I don't get the sense that this is going to be like, we're going to hide Justin Herbert and he's going to be a low-volume passer. A lot of what Mike McDaniel did with Tua was the scheming things. Guys were sent in motion, snap throw. Yep. You know, just get the ball out, get the ball out. get the ball into your playmaker's hands.

We went back and looked at the 2023 season when Tua, Tyreek and Waddle were all healthy and they were, you know, the number one offense in the league. Tyreek was fourth in yards after the catch. Jalen Waddle was 12th in yards after the catch. They were third yards after the catch as a team. A-chan has been really good there. Like I think that this is just going to be, you know,

Ladd-McConkey. He's been a top 20 yards after the catch. A 19th, both of his years in the league. My guess is this year he's top 10. Quentin Johnson, never been in the top 20. My guess is he flirts with the top 10. I think Mike McDaniel's job here is to make it easier for Justin Herbert so he doesn't have to take 56 sacks like he did.

And I know a lot of that was offensive line related. But just he's not going to get hit as much. He's not going to get sacked as much. His time to throw is going to go down, get the ball in the playmaker's hands, and let the offense go to work. Yeah, I thought all the things that he said were really positive. So he did talk about making it easier.

He talked about balancing run and pass. So it's 50-50. that takes the pressure off in terms of pass rushers. And then he talked a significant amount about adding more play action. Building off the running game, adding the play action, making his life simpler. All those things should be positive. And him and Jim Harbaugh together,

there's going to be an openness and a level of creativity there that's going to be really interesting because they're both willing to try anything to be successful. All right. So I love playing the way too early win-loss game because, you know, it's not even a really. predictions week. So it's all pencil. There's the Chargers schedule. It's a fascinating one. If we go to the first third, I don't know if any team in the NFL coach needs to start

with two wins more than the Chargers do. Cardinals and Raiders at home. That has to be 2 and 0 because it begins a stretch that I will get to in the second third of the schedule to finish it off, but you can see it there on your screen at Buffalo all the way across the country in their new stadium. At Seattle, the champs, arguably the toughest environment. Home against Denver, great fan base that will travel to Southern California, amazing defense, and at the Chiefs, who I have them beating in Arrowhead. But the first two games are the easiest two games other than Week 16 at Miami on their whole schedule, week 11 against the Jets as well. Their easy games are easy. Their tough games are brutally hard. And as you'll see here in the second third of the schedule as we go through the win-loss

I have losing to the Rams on the road coming out of the buy, beating the Texans in the playoff rematch, losing in Baltimore, and then beating the two AFC East team. So at this point, they are seven and four. But I don't think there's a tougher seven-game stretch in the NFL than at Buffalo, at Seattle, home against Denver, at Arrowhead, buy at the Rams, home against the Texans, at Baltimore. I only have them going three and four in that stretch.

I don't think that I'm being too much of a Herbert Homer there. I just think that's too many really tough games back to back to back. Yeah, I don't think this is a really tough group of games to pick. Because like you said, being on the East Coast against Buffalo, who knows where Buffalo is going to be at that point. But that's a tough trip for a West Coast team. You give them the two wins against Denver and Kansas City, but that's by no means gimmies. Of course. The first two games, I'm with you.

those are games on paper right now. They should win. The difficulty with that first game of the season is there's so much unpredictability of what you're going to get. So that's, that's. They have to win week one. Yeah. If they're not getting those first two wins, any one of those games could swing green or red. And so now as we go to the last third of the schedule, I think things start to stabilize for them coming out of that stretch.

And they will, they'll be one of those teams that we talked about as we talk about as being calloused by their schedule. At Tampa, while it's a long trip, I think they are a more talented team on both sides of the ball. Vegas, neither team really has a great home field advantage at this point. I gave the Niners as like the home, the home loss against a great fan base. So that's also a really good team that'll probably be fighting for an NFC wildcard spot there.

I have them sweeping the chiefs this year. You say, how are they going to sweep the chiefs? Well, they swept the chiefs last year, one with Mahomes and one without him. And then with no one seat on the line, the division on the line. I have them losing in Denver for an 11 and six finish, a playoff appearance. They won't go in as the one seed. They won't get the buy. But they will come out of that schedule saying, we can beat anybody because we played both teams that were in the Super Bowl last year. We played arguably the toughest division in football. We had to go to Baltimore,

to Buffalo, to Seattle. We brought the best defenses in Denver and Houston into our building. We're going back to the East Coast against Miami. You're going back to the East Coast against Tampa Bay. I think they are bottom three in terms of rest advantage and air miles traveled this year. It is a very tough scale. Here's the one thing being with Jim in San Francisco with the 49ers. He did a great job when we would make East Coast trips. Really? And that was as a head coach of the Jets, one of the things I struggled with was playing on the West Coast.

We could not get the right former for playing the West Coast. And I thought that would be the same thing going east or west of east. And we consistently competed really well and won on the East Coast. He does a good job with that. What do you? So like, you know, this is not that abnormal from a chief schedule or a Bronco schedule, right? They play the same divisions, obviously. Just they match up with difference based on their seating from last year.

Do you look at that middle stretch of games and say even if they, like four and three in that seven game stretch would be a huge win? I have them going three and four in that stretch. But is that the type of thing as a coach? You say, hey, guys, if we can go through this gauntlet, we can beat anybody. See, we never, ever, ever looked at a schedule and said, Ben, loss. It was literally week at a time. And to me, that's where you get in a lot of trouble.

And I've given you a hard time about it when Chicago last year was talking about weeks ahead of time. Yeah. You're consistent on this one. Yeah, as soon as you start talking about the future and not wearing. about what's in front of you, that's when a team that you probably should beat, you lose to, and you get caught up in the wrong things. Yesterday, coach had some questions about Jackson Dart and his personality and some decision-making. He got cheered at practice for a decision today.

We'll talk about it. That's a good day for him at practice, coach. Talk about practice next on the OT. Defense seemed to enjoy when the quarterback's sleep today. Yeah, we've been begging him to do that for a while now, so I was glad that. I'm glad that he's starting to, you know, practice it. I applauded. I applauded when he did that.

That was great. Critical situation drill, play calls and execution to get that first down. That was what that was. So we had a great play. He came open. He ran around the corner. Got the first down, slid the in bounds, kept the clock running. All those things were well done.

That's right. That is public praise and apparently an ovation. at practice for Jackson Dart sliding coach. You might remember there were five concussion protocol checks on him last year. He missed two games, of course. There were questions about whether or not it bordered on reckless or arrogant.

You happy to see this? He's sliding at practice. Well, we'll see whether he does it when it actually counts and when people can actually hit him. Remember, his response was, this isn't soccer. I'm going to do what I do. I can't imagine that he's, he's, he's fundamentally changed. And that drill, too, was about staying in bounds.

Right. It's situational. Yeah, so it was a situation. So I'll be really curious whether or not this translates. And look, this has been an issue in the league for years. Remember, Rex had one of the baseball coaches teaching his quarterbacks how to slide. So it's not a new problem with guys that want to get hit hard. It's just whether or not they learn.

It's a thin line, though, between reckless and tough. This kid's got Moxie. He says he's going to protect himself. In line between starting quarterback and backup quarterback too. That's the cynical way to get. Always glass half that. We'll see you tomorrow on the O2. That's realistic.