Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Baker Mayfield's Revenge, Training Camp Hype, and Arch "Smith"/Manning Rank

Episode Date: July 19, 2022

Geoff and Gabe discuss how they want to kill time in this sports lull, whether it's watching the Home Run Derby, getting hyped for Training Camp, or celebrating Mitch’s NFL retirement. Geoff talks QBs: Baker Mayfield and revenge games, how Arch Manning would rank if he was “Arch Smith,” and predicting Top Golf scores. Make sure to leave a rating and follow the pod if you enjoyed, and leave a comment or tweet @geoffschwartz to share your take.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's tuesday july 19th i'm jeff schwartz alongside gabe goodwin this is jeff schwartz a smile on you powered by the varsity podcast network baker mayfield finally finds a home training camp is upon us the rookies have reported my brother finally retires some over-unders a lot of fun on our shows we prepare for football game it's been a long cold winter or wherever you're at maybe a hot summer but football is on the horizon. We have the NFL rookies reporting this week, and we also have college football media days. But you, my friend, completed another triathlon. I'm very proud of you. Thank you. And that didn't even sound as sarcastic as usual.

I did another triathlon, mini triathlon, as you like to call it, and I survived. And we're going to talk about you and triathlons in our over-under game later. We got a question for you about that. I'm proud of you. But it was, I would say, a busy weekend for me physically, athletically. A very slow weekend for the sports world. We have hit probably the deadest time of the year with sports. I don't think that we're going to have a whole long conversation about the ESPY Awards.

When is that? Or the Home Run Derby. They're both this week. You know, it's All-Star Week. So today, we're recording this on Monday, and Wednesday are the only two days, I think, in the entire year where there's not a game of football, baseball, basketball, or hockey on. Very light on live sports to discuss. But good news, the headlines never stop in the NFL.

So I have a few things to throw at you and some takes that I think you want to rip to shreds. And yeah, I do want to hear your thoughts on your brother. Did you say finally retiring? There was some shade in that. What was that? He hasn't played since October of 2020. Okay, I see what you mean. Finally making it official. He stepped away from the game from the game. We played golf like a week ago.

He's very retired. He is quite retired. Well, good for Mitch. We'll talk about that in a second. Let's talk about your boy Baker Mayfield first, though. This tweet got my attention, and I just chuckled at it because I knew your reaction would be absurd. This is from Anish Shroff. If Baker Mayfield is the starter for week one against Cleveland, here's a snapshot of his quote-unquote revenge games in college. He faced his old team, Texas Tech, three times when he was at Oklahoma. Three wins, put up 63, 66, and 49, threw for a total of it looks like 14 touchdowns and two interceptions

um what a great run for baker at oklahoma against texas tech in his revenge games that's sure to translate to the nfl right jeff and the revenge game like what revenge he just like left after one season and then like he went to oklahoma well yeah as a walk-on, they didn't think he should be the starting quarterback, so got revenge. Yeah, I mean, you know that the Texas Tech Red Raiders are quite the same as the Cleveland Browns, who will be facing week one as a Carolina Panthers quarterback. Known for defense, the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

I will say, look, Baker Mayfield's going to start. I know there's some of this thought about, oh, Sam Darnold. Guys, Baker Mayfield's better than Sam Darnold,'s some of this thought about, oh, Sam Darnold. Guys, Baker Mayfield's better than Sam Darnold, right? They didn't make this trade because Sam Darnold was the guy that they want to be their starter. If he was that good, they would have kept him as the starter and then had, what was it, Matt Corral they drafted? Some quarterback they drafted. I always get him and Sam Howell confused. Drafted Matt Corral.

If they thought one of those two could do it, they would have kept one of those two. But instead they brought Baker in. I have not met him yet. I feel like with all that we've talked about him, I got to find a way to have a lunch with him. Maybe I'll drop by the stadium and see if he wants to grab a bite to eat at some point.

And he's there to play. He's there to play. He's there to start. He's there to get them to the playoffs, which I think is possible if Baker Mayfield just is average quarterback. I mean, the talent they have on that team, plus the division right now with the Falcons being down, with the Saints going through transition with coaching quarterback.

And so it does feel like they could win if he is average. But this revenge thing, I'll tell you what the best thing athletes do as many things we do well but and i'm including myself in the athlete category thank you very much is me too as a mini you are i'm impressed man um is we create fake motivations for ourselves i've been talking about this before right like tom brady right it's always the underdog buddy you're not the underdog like you're tom brady the underdog. Buddy, you're not the underdog. Like you're Tom Brady, right? You're the Patriots. You're not the underdog.

Everyone has to create, and every athlete does this, a chip on their shoulder. Have I told you about the list I have on my phone, Gabe? I've told you about that before? I think so. There's a bunch of high school or college coaches who snubbed you. List on my phone that is just people that told me I couldn't make it. No media members on there. I probably should have added like some executive at like that told me I couldn't make it. No media members on there.

I probably should have added some executive at some small startup who wouldn't hire me. It's media motivation. But we all have these motivations, right? Revenge and getting back at someone, showing someone that we can make it. This is just Baker Mayfield going to do that for week one. But then what does he do for week two and three and four and five? So it's natural for him to, I imagine feel some sort of way but the thing about it though is that you have to harness that energy into positive plays in the field like if it ends up getting you so riled up and you over prepare for the Browns and you get so emotional that you overthrow a ball throw an

interception that's what you don't want to do right and so Baker Mayfield is an emotional player I think he'll be okay in this revenge game spot um but for him too like if he's facing Jacoby Bursette and there's even rumors of Browns like trade for Jimmy Garoppolo which is so silly to me um but it's very likely John Watson's not playing week one um you know does it feel quite the same right because if you're playing Deshaun Watson week one and you beat Deshaun Watson in the Browns, that's a F you to the Browns, right? But Deshaun Watson most likely is not playing that game as he will be suspended at some point. So it's a little bit less of a revenge.

But again, the Texas Tech numbers do not translate over at all to the NFL. It doesn't mean anything but it's fun i know anisha just got hired by the panthers the play-by-play guy um long time replaced mick like he's gonna he's going to uh you know just uh he's fitting in with the culture there well i yeah i wasn't ganging up on it no he does a good job but um it was a funny it was a funny thing to run by you the uh yeah you're right that it's interesting if baker is playing against cleveland but it's not to sean it doesn't have enough spice uh you know but i think we've seen

with baker we've joked about the baker cycle in the past like he can get himself motivated by the tiniest little slight and so just he'll want to stick it up the, you know, what of the front office coaches, anyone who he thinks didn't have his back when he needed it. You know, you know the scene, it's actually speaking of Cleveland. You know the scene when Ricky Vaughn goes in to Lou Brown's office and tells him he's going to take the ball and stick it up his ass. And he's like, good.

I need that kind of fire from a player. Only problem is i didn't cut you like that that that attitude is baker at all i love that movie good reference it's so fun watching that movie without like the tbs edits it's like for like the for i didn't know for years that roger jordan like pissed on his contract like i know there's me lou brown pissed on roger jordan's contract all these things that like I didn't get to see because I watched on TBS for so many

years. What a movie. I might watch that instead of the Home Run Derby tonight because very quickly on a side topic, on a rant very

quickly. I used to love the MLB All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby, right? It was always around my birthday. It's a week later

this year because they started the season a week later. It used to always, July 11th is my birthday. It was always around my birthday. I'd go to my friend's because they started the season a week later. It used to always be July 11th. It's my birthday. It was always around my birthday. I'd go to my friend's house, watch a derby, watch all this stuff.

Because of interleague play, because of social media, it feels meaningless to me. I can watch these guys play every single night of the week. I can go to Twitter right now and find. And these are great accounts, right? Like the Pitching Ninja, right? It shows all the pitchers throughout. I can go find any home run hit on any day, tweet out by 10 different accounts.

And it's like, oh, Clayton Kershaw's going to pitch. I just watched him throw a curveball to Shohei Otani that made him crumble to his knees. Like, why do I have to watch Clayton Kershaw again? Like, there's not this, like, I used to love it. I used to love watching this game. And now I feel like I've seen everything. I've seen these players so much.

The home run derby is tonight. Maybe I'll put on. My kids might like to watch it, I guess. But no Chris Berman, right? He's not doing it anymore, so it's not as much fun. With the back, back, back, like the same thing every year. It just feels less, and I feel like I just don't like it, but that's where we are, right?

I mean, interleague play, like we didn't grow up with that. Like the only time you get to see on the West Coast, you know, the Yankees play or anyone else, Cal Ripken jr was the all-star game yeah no it's it's not the same event that it was but they they are finding new and fun ways to spice it up not having berman at the derby is a bummer but you know look it's always a chance to see a bunch of stars play and like get along with each other and it is in la which brings a little extra hype so who knows i'm sure there'll be something fun that comes out of it uh are you going right i'm not gonna go no i'm not much for the boondoggles these days jeff the uh you know i kind of keep to myself is this a fox event do i have to be doctor doctor say i like it i geez oh

i might have screwed up everyone shh don't tell anybody i just i just don't i just don't like i just hey you didn't say just don't like it. Hey, you didn't say you don't like it. You're just saying you used to care more. I think that a little of that's just getting older, Jeff, for you and I. It 100% is. You're just like, I don't have as much time anymore to watch the All-Star game. Tonight, though, if the Derby is, what time does the Derby start? Please tell me it starts at like earlier than 8 p.m. Eastern.

I'll put it off for my kids tonight. All right, good. good well check it out uh here's another thing that has no meaning whatsoever but i think you are obsessed with and love training camp yes opening soon yeah so listen for a lot of people uh the opening of training camp really means uh hard knocks will be back that is what a lot of fans associate with training camp. But you, sir, have been to eight or nine training camps in your life, just counting the NFL, not even counting whatever you did in college. So I just like to get a little bit smarter about that initial week of training camp, what a team is trying to accomplish. And then I want to ask you some specific questions about a few teams that I think have intriguing storylines as camp opens. But give me a big picture on training camp since it's been a year since we've discussed it.

Yeah, so NFL training camp is a little bit different now. But it was funny talking to Lane Johnson with O-line masterminds. We had this office on seminar a few weeks ago, we were discussing, you know, he's old enough where he used to hit a little bit on day one of training camp. Never went through two days, but the couple days before training camp, you're just miserable. You just mope around the house. You're just like dreading this opportunity

to go make millions of dollars and play the game you love because, you know, it yanks you away from your family and your routine, and you're going to typically a hot climate with not much breaks. Now, things are much different. Like when I was in training camp, and I hate to say, I'm 36 years old. I hate saying like when I was doing this, but it was 2008 and my first NFL.

You report in the afternoon. So let's say you report today. Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m., full pads. And then guess what? In the afternoon or really early night, 6.30, pads again. The next day, 3 p.m., full pads again. Then the next morning 6 30 pads again the next day 3 p.m full pads again then the next morning full pads again then uppers then full so it's a lot different now so the rules basically pull them up right here the first seven days of each camp are scripted out by restrictions

the days one through three involve zero contact that's in air quotes because um ots is supposed to have zero contact as well days four and five can be full speed and helmets and light practice gear day six is mandatory rest day and day seven they can go full pad so they're even getting an off day before they get into pads so it's a very gradual ramping in and and even though camp and the rookies report today for the hall of fame game because they have to go kind of a week earlier than everyone else you go 15 days before your first game so the rookies i never actually had to go to like a rookie report early so they go in the field they get a little bit of the playbook practice a little bit get in the flow of training camp and then get ready for the veterans and really what happens game you start from install one right you start with your day

one installs then you go day two. So every single day, you install more of the playbook. And after about a week, you've mostly put all the plays in, and that becomes situational football. Today we're working on third down. Today we're working on fourth down. Today we're working on third and short. Today we're working on fourth down.

We're working on red zone today. And then by about day 15 or 20, you're just doing third down, red zone every day. That becomes what you're, because that's, again, a big part of the game is what do you do on third down and what do you do in the scoring opportunities you have both offensively and defensively. So even though we are reporting today for the rookies

and it feels great to have football, quote unquote, back, you have to wait at least now, what, the seven days the rookies are there and the seven days the veterans are there to get the first full padded practice in. So we're still waiting two weeks to even get clips of guys really hitting each other. And that's really what I want to see, what you want to see, is those guys in camp hitting. They get mandatory days off. Man, our first day off off so we always were like

reporting like a thursday or friday and then we get the next wednesday night off but still have a double practice that day we just moved it up a little bit and then we got the so that's saturday wednesday off we'd be in camp the next saturday the following saturday so basically 12 days no it's gonna be 14 to 16 days after we started we had a fan fest at Panther Stadium we got the night off but if you weren't old enough if you weren't three years or more in the NFL you had to drive back to Spartanburg like that night it was like some just convoluted thing that we got nights off um so like my wife had to drive to Spartanburg sometimes um yeah she had a three series BMW when we met a three series it was fun to drive to Spartanburg sometimes. Yeah. She had a 3 Series BMW when we met.

A 3 Series. It was fun to drive in that thing. I did not fit. I was going to say, I don't see you fitting well in a 3 Series. Off days, I got to tell you a story about the 3 Series when we got off the air here. But yeah, it's so much different now. And it's just not as mentally, physically taxing, which is fine. I'm not complaining about it because guys are staying healthier.

They're playing longer. Like, it's good for the players. Does it get guys as ready? I don't know because we see teams that don't play any of their guys in the preseason that do fine in the regular season. And we see guys like Andy Reid who plays all the guys in the preseason, Bill Belichick, and they do fine in the regular season too. There's no right or wrong way. but it is less of camp now.

It's less preparation. But also too, guys now spend the offseason preparing on individual skill sets that we didn't spend any time doing. When you had double days and when you showed up on March 15th, there was no outside trainer. You didn't show up in shape or as in shape as you need to be. Now, if you don't show up in March 15th, there was no outside trainer. You didn't show up, quote, unquote, in shape or as in shape as you need to be. Now, if you don't show up in shape day one, Gabe,

like the coach's question, your commitment, you should not be that way. Yeah, I mean, I've seen Russell Wilson working out. Oh, geez, those videos. Really important drills. I just like, okay, our job is to work out. Like, our job right it's two three hours a day maybe you have a workout later at night if you're trying to do something special to your body most often lose weight right like that's our job it's not that hard of a job i don't know why guys put out

hype videos of just working out i get if you're just like oh look at my cool clean i did or like look at this but like the thing that I'm out here grinding, like I'm doing my, no shit you are. It's your fucking job. Like, yes, you're working out, Russell. Thank you for working out, doing your job. It's not just a rant on him. It's all these people that put up these like hype work.

Yes, you're doing your job. You're working out, preparing for the season. Congratulations. Well, people have a close eye on him as he starts with a new team and a lot of weapons in Denver, a lot of receiving threats, supposedly. I want to ask you about a few other teams, though,

that I think we're going to expect to learn something about them in training camp. So once again, the Chiefs have some line questions. You know that line very well. You pay close attention to them. What are we going to learn about the Chiefs offensive line and who goes where and what their future holds at training camp?

Well, the Chiefs offensive line is set. I mean, Orlando Brown didn't get his new deal. The Chiefs have kind of decided like, hey, we're just not going to pay guys more than we want. Like, that's just not what we're going to do. So you're not worried about him being unhappy or anything? You think he shows up and plays hard for the year? Yeah, he'll be there. I mean, he's on a one-year deal. He's got to play hard, right? I mean, that's just not so you're not worried about him being unhappy or anything you know he shows up and plays hard for the year yeah he'll be there i mean he's on a one-year deal he's got to play hard right i mean that's the franchise tag the franchise tag for some position like for

quarterback i've argued this before it's not good for the team to have a franchise tag for a quarterback you don't know what that you know you know the salary is going to be but it's one hit and one like if the ravens tag lamar jack Jackson after the season it's 46 million dollars in one year the Chiefs cap you know hit for Brown is much less but no one really wants this they want permanent solutions but Brown will be there he'll show up he'll be fine you know the thing with the Chiefs is you know defensively got some young guys got to work in and then of course what you know how's the wide receiver group kind of gel so we'll see how that goes again less reps man like less time to get ready. But Reid still plays those guys in the preseason.

Dude, they have – and Reid's practices, man. Whew, they are hard. Like even now they're still hard. They have long – this period they call long drive. You have like 20 plays in a row in full pads. Like you just go down the field. It is – but you get the guys ready. It's the reason they start faster every year.

Who do you see as being a bigger threat and connecting faster with Pat? Juju or MVC? Or MVS? MVS. I've got too many letters. MVS and Juju are just different players, right? So, Juju's going to be more underneath and more kind of probably timing routes.

And MVS is like, go get the ball deep. And so, probably Juju just kind of working in that slot and figuring out exactly where he's going to be. And the thing about Andy Reid's offense is they're so multiple, right? So, they put guys in different spots each and every play. So, I think just finding where guys are aligned, where the options are. Pat will know this, but the wide receivers figuring out, okay, I'm on this side, well, now I'm on this side.

Now we're switching sides, now we're motion shifting. That, to me, is going to kind of take a little bit of time to gel. But MVS, to me, is like a go-get-it guy. We'll throw it up to you. So probably Juju will take a little bit more time to figure it out. I'd buy on Kelsey. I feel like he's going to be – I mean, he's always been Pat's favorite weapon, but I feel like he's going to get extra targets in the first half of the season

because he's so reliable and these other guys are still learning. All right. Talk to me about the Bills. Change with their offensive coaching staff. What do they work on in training camp? Because they're one of the biggest threats to the Bills. Change with their offensive coaching staff. What do they work on in training camp? Because they're one of the biggest threats to the Chiefs. Yeah, I think for the Bills, it's, again, kind of defensively, right? Like making sure that Vaughn Miller is healthy.

I just think Vaughn Miller's role is not really even to do anything weeks 1 through 12. It's like weeks 13 and on, right? That's where they have him there. But working him you know just defensively white's back on defense i believe he should be back and healthy to go kind of getting that secondary back up to shape because you know they had a rough game against kansas city guys they just got more injured offensively no brian dable so seeing how ken dorsey works himself in there you know and to me it's like are we going to protect Josh Allen this season more like I just don't know the positive of running him in design quarterback

runs like again like weeks 1 through 12 like I get it maybe you're playing Kansas City you want to do that but like do we need Josh Allen running the ball so much probably not I would just find ways to make sure he's not doing that and it's part of your offense. Again, not scrambling, but like you design quarter. And they're good plays, man. You go empty, you spread everyone out, you run a quarterback. They're good football plays.

I like them. But I think we have to try to limit some of the contact that he gets that's really not necessary for most of the season. All right. So that's something not necessary for most of the season. All right. So that's something they'll be thinking about in training camp. The Jets, not probably a relevant team for the playoffs this season. I mean, just making sure all the milfs are not near training camp. Easy, easy, easy.

That needs to be – just, hey, keep your quarterback upright. Coaches better not bring any wives. Keep them focused on that. I mean, the memes were strong, buddy. The internet handled that very well. Yes, the internet was in peak season form with the Zach Wilson story last week. So a lot of young players at a lot of important positions. What is a Jets training camp going to be like?

It seems like everyone is too young to even rent a car. How do you handle a camp like that? Well, it's all about getting Zach Wilson ready to be better in year two. That has to happen. So whatever you do to make that happen in practice, you have to do it. That's your goal this year. You don't have a choice. Zach Wilson has to be better this season. Training camp has to be geared to make him better. All right, what about the Raiders? Everyone wants to believe that they're a competitor because they got a good receiver I'm not buying it I don't think you're buying it what do they do in camp Devontae Adams a 99 rating on Madden who um you know there's that by the way um to me it's uh Josh McDaniels right it's another

chance to be a head coach what do you learn from your first time in denver and and how you not make those mistakes in vegas now that's to me i don't know what those answers will be for him personally but that feels like what they're gonna have to do is okay hey like let's just you know what did we do wrong the first time how can we make it better now all right and then two teams that i i don't know what we're gonna make of them they surprise us. They're relevant in fantasy at least. What are we going to see or what's the storyline going to be in training camp with Marcus Mariota and all those young weapons on the Atlanta offense? It's all of a sudden like a fast and exciting offense. But I don't know.

Marcus Mariota hasn't really been a starter for a few years. And then boring-ass Matt Ryan goes to the most boring team in football but probably makes them better in Indy. What are we going to see out of those two camps? Well, I think Indianapolis will win the AFC South. I was asked the other day, is Matt Ryan or the Colts a contender to win the Super Bowl? And I just listed off seven quarterbacks in the AFC Conference

better than Matt Ryan. So, no, they're not a Super Bowl-winning team, but they're going to be good with Matt Ryan. Steady quarterback play, trustworthy quarterback play. Atlanta to me is just kind of punting it until next year. Like how quickly can you get through the season before you draft a quarterback next season? They might have some fun with Mariota being able to run the ball

and use his arm and legs and with the weapons they have, but I just don't look at them as much of anything and being able to run the ball and use his arm and legs with the weapons they have. But I just don't look at them as much of anything until just kind of getting to next season. That, to me, is what their goal is. Yeah, they seem like they're on a bridge for Bryce Young. All right, last topic before we take a break. So you mentioned your brother, Mitch, obviously ends a fabulous career, Super Bowl champ, four-time All-Pro.

A lot of people saying a lot of nice things about him and then you two have some funny exchanges on Twitter so floor is yours any any takes on your brother's retirement and whatever comes next I wanted him to retire by by spelling out retire with steaks on his grill. That's nice. Maybe the inflation prices got a little bit too much, but he was not about that life. It's funny. Mitch is private, and so we were in Charlotte together last week. It was last Monday and Tuesday he was here,

and we were golfing, and I was like, are you going to retire soon officially? And he's like, yeah, yeah, I don't know, maybe. And like one day later, he just retires. Just kind of the way he does things. I'm just happy for him. I think it's very difficult to decide to retire on your own.

I mean, he could have played if he wanted to. Not this year, like in 2021. And just understand, i've done enough my career's over i'm gonna move on um it was his his press release was great because they're not really press releases no because there's one very mitch schwartz thing in there and he's a big fan of watches and instead of saying like he had his you know i'm i pursue my other interest right cooking um and you know uh and and my wife and and my dogs and um we say golf and then instead of saying like watches or watch collection you use like the official term for someone who studies watches have you ever

seen that term before it's like horologically or something it's like uh i gotta pronounce it's like i was like what is i had to look this word up. I was like, what are we doing here? I don't even know how you pronounce this thing. Horology? Horology. Yeah, I don't think horology is how you say that. Well, it says horology.

Horology. Horology. That just sounds better. Just say watches. Just say watches just say watches buddy it's very very professional way to say I study watches

which he does he loves watches so I'm happy for him we need to get the Schwartz Brothers podcast going and make a lot of money doing that

because we have very different tastes on things it'll be very funny to get him very angry about things on a podcast so I'm happy

for moving on and now he said i think he tweeted someone he could be an old curmudgeon on twitter so but he's putting his golf scores out there now we went golfing last week um dude so i know you're a former like golfer golfing person and we'll talk more about golfing at the end of the show because we're gonna have a blue duck golf outing. I cannot wait. That's right. Next week. But Mitch plays. So, you know, there's the tips, right? And then there's the one in. I don't know what it's called, but like the one T in.

And there's the third T in. I don't even play from the whites, right? I play from the whites. The third T in, I drive the ball like 230, 250, hit my seven. I'm getting close to the green, and then I three-putt and call it a day. But Mitch plays from the blues. So I was always like 20 yards short of the green every single time,

and it was challenging. Just like moving back 20 yards, moving back 40 yards was so much harder. I did not expect that. I have more admiration for these guys playing from the tips each weekend. Yeah, it's hard. And usually also playing from the tips means like whatever dog leg is in the fairway, like now is an issue. Whereas if you play from the whites, like most guys are going to hit it, you know,

two 30, I just skip the dog. You're out around the list. But if you're hitting from now, you need to carry it 270 to turn the corner on a dog leg. That's a whole different drive. So yeah, it makes a difference. It really does. Especially at nicer courses. Yes, and we played a nicer course.

We played a country club for my birthday, which it's so, country club is like, it's so much different than public course that I play in Charlotte. It's so nice. You show up there, they have nice golf carts.

The practice balls are out and stacked up and ready to go. And's so nice. You show up there. They have nice golf carts. The practice balls are out and stacked up and ready to go. Facilities are nice. The food is much better. It's a better experience. You know what you've got to do? You've got to butter up Baker Mayfield and see if he invites you over to his course now that he's your neighbor. I should do that.

I'm not a country club person, man. I just don't golf enough. It just feels like just a lot of money. The last thing I would describe myself as is a country club person, man. I just don't golf enough. It just feels like just a lot of money. That's the last thing I would describe myself as, as a country club person. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll do our over-under game.

We'll hit a few more topics. Sound good? Perfect. Jeff, we're back. It's time to move the line, our over-under game. First one's a bit of a format break. So Justin Jefferson, I think, was trying to compliment Devontae Adams and say he's still the number one receiver in the game,

but I think by the end of this year, I'll be the number one guy, like the confidence out of Justin. It's not a totally unreasonable thing to say. So, Jeff, I would like to get, you haven't thought about this yet, your top five receivers this season in the nfl by whatever your definition is i want your top five guys well cooper cup right so cooper cups that's your number one that quick no i'm just saying yeah i think i mean as of right now i think you have to i'll i'll we'll we'll order them after cooper cups yeah i'm saying

you have cooper cup i'm just listening you have ad I'm saying you have Cooper Cup. I'm just listening. You have Adams. Adams is in. You have Chase. Jamar Chase is in. Okay. Well, I'm just kind of listening. You have Jefferson to be included in here, right? You have Adams. And you have Hill, probably.

Those six are probably your top six. Am I missing someone? Well, those would have to be among the first names you come up with. Yeah, I mean, you're not counting Kelsey and Kittle and those guys. No, which, I mean, you could. But, like, those are, like, the top six ones, right? Evans, yeah. I mean, I guess, you know, Debo is an interesting weapon,

but I don't know if we're ready to call him a top five receiver. ZK Metcalf, what do you think? I'm not sure about DK yet. I'm curious, what did Madden – I know Madden put, like, they put Jamar Chase, like, 20th, I think that's how it was, which seems kind of like a little too much, a little too low. Here it is right here. So, oh, DeAndre Hopkins and Diggs too.

I forgot. Oh, we got Diggs. I forgot Diggs. But Hopkins really, to me, has fallen off because you don't know what to get out of him. He went from being so consistent to like, I don't know where he's been the last couple of years. So they went Adams, Cup, Hill, Hopkins, Diggs, Jefferson, Evans, McLaurin, Allen, and Cooper.

Yeah, Mark Cooper in Cleveland is interesting. We'll have to see how that goes. We put eight names down here. I would take Hopkins off, as you said. I think about Jefferson, right? Because I think Cup is in the top. He's in the top. So is Adams.

So is Jamar Chase, in my opinion. Hill's in there as well. So he's staying in. You're keeping him in even though the quarterback probably can't throw it to him. Yeah, I think so. And because Jalen Waddell's right there on the other side of the line. Yeah. I might have run Adams twice on my list.

So we have seven guys. So Tyreek Hill's still staying in the top five. I think so, yeah. For now. Entering the season. Are you saying after the season? I'm predicting we don't think of him as a top five guy after this season that's possible right now he is and that's between jefferson and diggs i mean

i would put kind of all these guys on the same tier of six like i'm fine with that if that's what we're going to do this that's not really how the game works but sure i'll let you do it uh let me talk college ball with you okay this uh somebody had a very funny quote about archie manning or arch manning excuse me who is committed to texas and he said if his name was arch smith he'd be a three-star guy so jeff over under arch smith 4.5 stars as a recruit. So, probably under. So the thing with Arch is that he just doesn't play anyone. He plays in a poor division, poor competition, and didn't do any camps this summer.

All these guys went to Elite 11, they went to the openings, they went to the 24-7 camps, and so today they actually released new rankings. They put Dante Moore, who's committed to Oregon, as second-best quarterback behind Arch Manning. And there's a lot of talk, like, if Arch Manning was, again, Arch Smith. But, you know, Arch Smith might go to these camps too, though. Like, he might be able to prove himself at these camps

where Arch Manning doesn't feel like he has to. Why does he have to prove himself in a camp? He's already going to Texas. There's no reason. He doesn't care about recruiting rankings, right? It's not as, what does he care about that? So there's arguments being made that Arch Smith might go to camps and Arch Manning doesn't.

So, but I do think there's a legit possibility that if Dante Moore or anyone else, Nico or Malachi Nelson go to USC, Jayden Rashida, any of these guys, if they have a good season this year, they could go ahead of, end up ahead of Arch Manning by the end of this whole thing. And again, I mean, in the grand scheme of things, does any of this matter? No, like it doesn't matter. But, you know, for bragging rights, you know, certainly Oregon's happy right now.

They got two players in the top 15 for 24-7. Like it's good bragging rights. So it's important for that. But in the end, it doesn't matter to success. All right, let's sort of stay loosely in the Big 12. Texas, I know, is on their way out, which is why I want to ask, over under 50% chance the Big 12 even exists

in another 10 years. I feel like there's conversation about it expanding, contracting. I don't know. After all this shakeup we've experienced in college football in the last few weeks, where's that going to leave a conference like the Big 12? Well, I think the Big 12, the rest of the Pac-10, and the ACC are going to end up just like being, just who's ever left out of the Big Ten and SEC

is going to end up being one giant conference. So like the Big Ten, Pac-10, rest of the ACC might not actually be a thing like at all in 10 years or 15 or 20 years. Like that's certainly very possible. I just saw a report right now that deron ames trying to stay independent so the big the big 10 and pack 10 or 12 might merge but again not all the pack 12 teams are going to merge over there because why would a washington state oregon state cal what do they bring to the big 12 so um again it's it's

a weird spot we're in because we're just looking at adding teams based on market value. Not even market value, just like TV size, like what market they're in, not even value they bring. Like, again, UCLA, no one's watching them play in Southern California, but they can sell a bunch of Big Ten TV subscriptions that they can't sell in Portland, let's say. So that seems what it's all about. And if it's that way, then we're probably staying pat for a little bit of time before they decide to go snag other programs and make it kind of two super conferences and everyone left over will be a third. All right.

Let's talk about some more serious sports topics then. Okay. Me, you. sports topics then okay me you i don't want to put anyone on blast but a well-known sports commentator and our friend and colleague matt will all be at top golf together in a week should the plans go as as we have them currently scripted so So this unknown person who might not want his whereabouts out there is an athlete, is good at talking about sports, is a good hang, seems like he's in reasonably good shape, has a podcast. People know him.

Jeff, rank for me who you think will have the best scores when me, you, Matt, and this unnamed quasi-celeb friend of ours joins us. We're going to Topgolf. I don't think you even mentioned that. Topgolf. Oh, well, we're going to Topgolf. Topgolf. Okay.

So my wife recently went to Topgolf for the first time, and she won between all her colleagues, work colleagues. And she won because she said, I'm very bad at golf, and all I did was try to hit the small targets in front of me. So I think Matt Ford will be fourth. We'll do that. I agree. Matt has stated that he is not a golfer. Yeah, Matt will be fourth. And then it's kind of a free-for-all.

Like if I go with the strategy of hitting them short and like maybe I'm going to bring my club, so I'll have some good club sizes there. I've never been to Topgolf before. I'm going to say that you've told me you're good at golf, right? You used to be good at golf? I used to be good. Now I'm fine. The other member doesn't feel like he's good at golf at all.

No, but I bet he can hit it. Yeah, but that doesn't feel like to help you at Topgolf. Does it help? Aim is more important than distance. Right. So I'll go you, me, me our friend matt wow big l for matt it was so obvious he's fourth and then it's a debate about first second and third tough i mean i think matt would accept that he probably would um but now he has a challenge now what if he

surprises us and just ends up being he might is there breakfast there like are we doing a whole like are we doing like a breakfast like how's this going i'm excited for this well you know that's part of why i'm keeping this friend of ours person or name out of it just in case because i my intention is to be drinking by 9 a.m and and you know that may be his goal as well but i don't know if i'm supposed to share that so i'm i don't know what the breakfast situation will be, but I think they have beer on tap and I plan on having a few. I'll be up at four. I'll be up at 4.

I am on my, my West coast, my East coast times. I'll be, whenever you're, whenever you're ready to go, it is weird being back on the West coast. I have to like,

I'm like, Oh, nothing's open until 6. AM. I've been up for two hours. I'm kind of hungry. Come to the big old shop open down the street from me. But I'm excited.

I've never been to Topgolf. This one in El Segundo is brand new, too. So I'm excited to go and hit some balls. And, you know, it's better than just getting out there and golfing, I would say, for the day. I agree. That's why I'm glad we're doing it. All right. Last one, because you brought this up, over under 749 meters.

Can Jeff Schwartz swim over or under that in one swimming session? Okay. So I used to swim like at my lunchtime, like this master swimming at the local pool down the street. And so I could do like, you know, the 50-meter laps, right? We would go, we wouldn't go the length, we'd go like, not the length of the pool, but like we could do like, you know, we would, the 50 meter laps, right? We would go, we would go, we wouldn't go the way we go, like not the length of the pool, but like we go like sideline to sideline. That's at 25 meters.

I think. I believe so. Most pools. Yeah. I mean, I could do like 50 without stopping probably. So that's over a mile. 50 meters. Oh, meters.

Like down and back. Two laps. Yeah. Dude, come on. So, uh, but you could go. Two laps? Yeah. Oh, dude, come on. So, but you could go on your back for a little bit of this. I mean, oh, geez. I'd be on my back for like 500 meters, probably.

It's okay. Just gotta get there. So I think it's the over, Jeff. Which means that the next mini triathlon that I do will be in September in Malibu. And I think you should join. You're swimming in the ocean. Oh yeah. Regular, regular listeners of this show might want to come to Malibu triathlon. I don't, I don't run though. You could do a relay team. Why don't we pair you with someone? Why don't you and Matt team up? Maybe he can. Can I buy all, can I bike? I'll

do the bike. Sure. Yeah. You're good. You're good at biking. Yeah. All right. Let's put you on a bike. Let's see if we can find somebody who wants to run and somebody who wants to swim. We got a couple guys behind the scenes on this show who are pretty good at both those things. How about Ben? Ben from Blue Duck. He can be your swimmer. I know he surfs a lot.

He's used to the waves. He can be your swimmer. Matt can do the run. He's got a few months to train. You take the bike. Boom. That's a team. How long is the bike? He's got a few months to train. You take the bike. Boom. That's a team. How long is the bike?

It's about, I don't know, 15, 16, 17 miles. Oh, I could do that. Yeah. But I have to do it on a mountain bike, though. I think we should get you a road bike. I don't think you want to do it on a mountain bike. I mean, I Peloton about. That's about long ago on a Peloton.

I could do that. And this is flatter, probably. I don't know about that. Malibu's got some hills. But... I know. It's at least an hour on the bike. Oh.

Hmm. Yeah. Maybe we'll have to split the relay, the bike part in half. Okay. A relay relay? A double relay. Halfway through the bike ride, you just tag in somebody else? If someone wants to sponsor this for us, I might be in.

What date is it? I believe it's September 18th. I will be... That's a lot of football happening that weekend. Yeah, the weekend's probably not happening. All right, well, you know, we'll have to stay tuned, listeners, to whether or not Jeff joins the mini triathlon. Jeff, I'm

excited for you for training camp opening. I'm excited for you and your brother and all the extra time you have to spend with each other talking about horology, horology, horology. Yeah. Okay. Wait, if someone wants to give me like a road bike, I would be in, if someone wants to like, like make me a bike for my phone, I got one. Not my I'm, but dude, I'm big. It's okay. It's not even mine you can use the one i borrowed but i have to train i need one in charlotte to train again go down to baker's house see if he can lend you i'm always up for a challenge we'll we'll uh we'll workshop this at top golf do you see the report that baker mayfield pitched progressive on doing

one last ad yes he moved out of the stadium? They're like, no, no, not happening. It was at that moment where I was like, God damn it, I like Baker Mayfield. I do. He's not someone I thought I would ever love, but I think I love the guy. You have a list of people that you thought you'd hate but you love, right?

He's on it. He's right next to Ryan Reynolds and John Mayer. Deadpool did it for you, huh? I love those guys now. Deadpool did it for you for Ryan Reynolds? Oh yeah, for sure. Deadpool's great. Yeah, I didn't think... These guys, they all have punchable faces. They look like guys you don't really want to root for. They don't need an

extra break in life, but they're just cool. I like them. Last thing, guys that you love to hate. Did you see the story that Tom Brady struggles with the part of parenting that he's too rich? I did see that. I did. I can't even believe I'm going to say this. I actually thought that was a little unfair to him. I understood what he meant.

Oh, dude, I get it. I totally get it. My kids, like, I'm like, hey, hon, can we, like, get my son a shirt from Amazon? No. Nordstrom. I'm like, really? Really? Like, my kids don't need, like, it's just, I'm, dude, I get it, man. We have people to clean our house.

Like, and he has more. He has, I don't have a chef. I at least, my kids make food for themselves. But, like, I get it. But that said, this is the same guy who, who like three days earlier posted a picture of a private jet that he was getting on to take his kids to see Minions in the Amalfi Coast. So like however hard it is to be a rich parent, you know, he isn't exactly running away from it. Right, right. It's more about the part of like the spoiled part, right?

Like, yeah, he's trying not to let his kids be spoiled, but he's spoiling them. But it's also like, like for me I fly first class, especially longer flights. I fly from Charlotte to LA, and my kids go first class with me. And my kid is like, Dad, are we going first class? I don't want to fly second class. I'm like, yeah, because that type of stuff. Not private jet wealthy, but that type of stuff I can't really avoid, I guess, but I still don't like doing it it's weird you got to remind your kids of the great shack quote

which is we're not rich i'm rich last thing on this too on sort of same topic my son was playing kickball last week, and he got up to kick. And they said, everyone back up. He has NFL DNA in him. And I felt bad because I just don't want that pressure on my kid. And I was like, oh, man, that kind of was a bummer. Well, I think he can handle the pressure at the kickball level. Let's see if it stays with him. When he gets into high school, that might not be fair. But for now, I think that's handle the pressure at the kickball level. Let's see if it stays with him.

When he gets into high school, that might not be fair. But for now, I think that's probably kind of cool. These are the problems I have. My kid gets compared to an NFL football player, and I have to find my kid first class. Not Tom Brady problems. Not private chef and private laundry person and masseuse and whatnot. But I understand what Tom was getting at too.

Yep. All right, Jeff, it's been fun chatting with you uh these are those quiet weeks this summer but there's still plenty of stuff going on in the league and we will cover more of it again in a couple weeks so nice hanging with you yes and we come back in a couple weeks it'll be preview time like we will be going through me and Matt will go back to twice a week I would imagine Matt and I preview in each division we made money last season doing this we'll have to bring that spreadsheet back. We made over $10,000 on our wagers last year.

So we'll do that again. And yeah, it's here, guys. Football is back. We've done it. Jeff Schwartz is tomorrow. You're powered by the Varsity Podcast Network. Please rate, review, subscribe. And we'll talk to you guys in a couple weeks.

Take care.