OverDrive - OverDrive - August 12, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Join Jim Tatti, Keegan Matheson and Michael DiStefano for Hour 3 on OverDrive! The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Confirm or Deny and The Athletic Senior NFL Writer Mike Sando joins to discuss his quarterback tiers, the rankings on the list and the notable players in the league, the Blue Jays set up for a series against the Cubs and the FanDuel Best Bets.

From managing successful careers to raising families, women today are busier than ever. Thinking about their needs, including their own financial planning, often falls by the wayside. Yet at some point in their lives, 90% of women will have sole responsibility of their finances, whether they're divorced, widowed, or single. It's never too early or too late to start planning for your future financial security. Call Calvin the Money Guy, 416-457 plan, or visit askkelvin.ca.cai. Breaking story from Alpine News Network. Sam had aspirations of opening a clothing boutique.

She called Alpine Credits and was set a speedy superhero to help with a business loan. Super Speed doesn't translate to radio, but when our hero runs, she sounds like this. Approved. If you ran at the speed of light, you'd sound funny, too. Own your home, need a loan, Alpine Credits can help. Alpine Credits, where homeowners get approved. Fisrael License 12-6-16-1-6. Oh, yes, hour number three.

Overdrive on a Tuesday. Coming out very shortly, confirm or deny, followed by Mike Sando, athletic senior NFL writer. And, of course, Jim Taddy, Kagan Matheson, MLB.com. Jay's busy with the Cubs tonight at the ball yard. And Al's brother, Mike DeStefano, with you to guide you through. Welcome to everybody watching on TSN2. Hello.

And what else we have best bets later on? But in the meantime, to get us to confirm or deny, A couple of minutes to burn here. And Keegan is just a football guru. I mean, he's just all over the place with this stuff. He's a, we call him a savant, a football savant. Maybe you have some fantasy advice. I need to do something in my off seasons.

You know, there comes his magical day every October. You just shut down and go to a cabin and that's it. The cabin is my couch. And I've got a few TVs up. And football and fantasy football are my life, really, in the offseason. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Maybe there's a dollar on a game or two.

16 of them. But I love that time a year, guys. It's my favorite time. And it's my man, it's fantasy football season. And I'm deep into the big keeper leagues. My dynasty league is my baby. But. How many leagues are you in key?

Four right now and I feel like it's a good balance. That's my number two. Four is the sweet spot. Getting to five gets a little egregious. Yeah, because I want to give everyone in each of those locker rooms, my all. Yeah. But when we look at redraft season, the top five, as we're looking at here right now, Now, number one, I can't get away from Jamar Chase.

I love an elite receiver with a defense that sucks. It's a perfect combination when you have Joe Burrow in there who might be the best throw of the football in the league right now. Number two, I want Bijon Robinson. I've got the number two in one of my big money leagues coming up. I'm probably going Bijan. Believer in the Bijan breakout, are you? Absolutely.

And it's going to annoy me when Tyler Alger runs nine times for 36 yards every game, but I'm going to somehow try to get through it. I want Justin Jefferson number three. I know that J.J. McCarthy is there, and he might diminish that value. But we said the same thing last year about Sam Darnold coming in. I think Justin Jefferson is pretty, pretty quarterback proof in that offense. And I think they'll be throwing it around enough at that point. This is where I get a little thinner and where I'm arguing with myself.

I want to have Jemir Gibbs in here, but I also want to have C.D. Lamb. I think Dak Prescott's going to have a massive year. I think their defense is going to make them throw the ball a ton as well. and having George Pickens on the other side will drag some of that high safety coverage away from him. Could be helpful. So probably having Gibbs in there, but, man, I want to have McCaffrey in here so bad. McCaffrey. I was one of the people who drafted McCaffrey 101 last year.

And I tell you, I'm singing for my lunch ever since then. It's been tough. But McCaffrey is my dream to pick at the number eight pick and then win the league this year. I'm so tempted to take him higher this year. because if Christian McCaffrey is healthy. Yeah, that's a big gift, though. Yeah. If he's not flying to Germany to seek help with his Achilles injuries,

I think he wins everyone their leagues. But for right now, I've got to go Jamar, Jean Robinson, Justin Jefferson, and then, ooh, gritting my teeth, I'll probably go Jamir Gibbs. You're leaving out Saquan Barkley? Jimir Gibbs, CD-Lam, Saquan. Sequan.

Seek-Wan-Barkley's missing games this year. You have piqued the interest of producer Dougie. Doogie you want to jump in? I bet a million bucks on it. Keegan, quick question. What quarterback would you pick number one? I think Jaden Daniels is going to get overrated this year and kind of not take a step back, but take a step sideways.

And I'm worried about the injury risk with Jaden Daniels, frankly. I think I'm still a Lamar, man. Josh Allen's got to be right there, but I think I'm still going to be tempted to be Lamar Jackson. I think he's number one in MVP odds again this year, pretty comfortably still on Fandul. So that's my direction, man. But I want to take McCaffrey.

And I'm betting on, I don't think you can bet on this, and it's a good thing, but on Saquan missing games, that workload, man, coming up, when you look at the data of running backs who have carried the ball that many times coming into this year, he's somebody I want to fade. I want to take someone else around him. Well, I mean, Fanduel has the odds out there for yardage, could still take his under on the yardage. That's like a polite way to bet on a guy getting injured.

Right, it's like, I don't want to bet on getting hurt, but if he's going to miss two or three games, there's a good chance he goes under the number, a projected number. I want some Will Shipley shares in my life, maybe. Will Shippews real dirty with it, but I don't think Seekwon makes it through all the way healthy. That's interesting. That's interesting.

Is there a team you like this year that you think is going to kind of come out of the woodworks and surprise? Other than my Green Bay Packers, man, I think the Packers and Jordan Love are going to sling it around. I think Josh Jacobs is going to be more of a traditional, you know, carrying it 14, 16 times a game this year. Jordan Love was hampered by that injury last year, the growing hamstring.

So I think he is going to sling it around a lot. I think that Jordan Love, I think, could be a top 10 QB this year. Yeah, injuries always seem to be the issue there. Like even like Christian Watson. Constantly. Like never was playing last year. But when he did. When he played, it was awesome.

But rarely did he ever suit up for the Packers. More football talk to the bottom of the hour. Mike Sandel, the athletic senior NFL writer will stop by. I'm looking at his quarterback tier or pyramid system that he's mapped out. So we'll dive deep into that. In the meantime, it is time for confirm or deny. I can neither confirm or deny that this is in fact a signal. Austin trades Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuka Rass.

It's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. It's time for confirm or deny. Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no-truthers? trades or no movement clauses? I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny that. Yeah, how to sidestep that one? Okay, so confirm or deny number one.

Trey Yassavage will crack the bullpen before the end of the regular season. Confirm. I look at this Y Savage thing, you're sticking to what we're just talking about in the NFL. It's like when you have that first round pick quarterback coming behind. He's going to take it. So tempting. He's going to take it. Every year you see it in the NFL and they say,

He's going to sit. He never sits. He's Savage is the same thing. He's going to be too tempting now that he's in AAA. He's going to be one of the 13 best. So my question is, who's he competing with right now for, like, those final bullpen spots, would you say? Tommy Nance, like that level of the roster for the Blue Jays right now. And even if they're to get Jimmy Garcia back, which I don't really think they're going to do this year, it's that level with, you know, Mason Flew Hardy, yes, he just had an incredible outing,

but that's not everything. It would be with that level of Tommy Nance. Mason Flew Hardy right in around there And as the Blue Jays rang with their rotation They will add a spot September 1 But the upside Oh man, the upside is just too tempting It's hard to look away from

Yeah, I'm going to confirm it as well I just think that A he's pitched really really well And especially his last few outings in AA Was unbelievable if he can replicate that in AAA I don't think they have anything but a choice But to give him a look And if you're going to do that Have him get a few outings

at the major league level before you come around to the postseason, I don't think you want to sit there and it's like, all right, let's only give him a couple of games and then make that decision. So I think Trey Savage will work his way up to the up to Major League Baseball this year. Whether or not he's on, whether he wins like a spot on the playoff rotation, I guess,

or the playoff roster remains to be seen, I suppose, but at some point we'll see him here. I wanted to deny, but I can't. I mean, I just, this is just a continuation of the story that is the 2025 Blue Jays. Next band up and boom, decide something. So this would be like the icing on the cake, if you will. Too much momentum now, yeah, absolutely. Confirm or deny number two.

Jimenez will be the Jays' primary second baseman in the playoffs. Confirm? In that exact voice? Affirm? I think. Squeaky confirmation. We'll see about against lefties, but against righties. Yeah, you have Ernie Klaman, probably at third base.

out of some barger, can play some right field. But the offensive bar isn't high for Andres Jimenez. If he's hitting 250, Ciliad base, 600 OPS, that's, you know, who they're going to tolerate probably in this lineup. And the defense is so good. Probably matters the pitcher the Blue Jays having the mound, too. If he's a ground ball guy, Jimenez has to be. He is maybe the best defender period in Major League Baseball.

But it's a confirm that I say through gritted teeth right now. see. I'm going to deny it. Like primary second baseman to me would mean that it's not a platoon. So if that's the case, he's an everyday guy for me, not at this point because you're going to want to have Clement in there every single day. I think Davis Schneider will probably, you know, have an opportunity maybe to get in there. I'm just, he hasn't, we haven't seen him, like, in a very long time. And he had that great six games to start the year. and then his bat went. Remember those. Wow.

Yeah, not really. That was very long ago. So I don't know. I don't see him being an everyday guy, so I'm going to deny it. Yeah, I'm going to deny it too. Primary is the word. That sort of puts that in a different category. So, you know, he's going to play a lot.

He's going to be important, but I don't, that's a platoon or some sort of, you know, in and out situation depending on, as you mentioned, the game situation. Yeah. And who's pitching in. Certainly a guy that you're going to want to come off the bench. defensively late in the game, you're holding it to a 3-2 lead, and in the eighth inning, you throw them out there, right? Yeah, let's see here.

Okay, number three, confirm or deny. Vladdy has been the team's MVP leading up to this point of the season. Confirm, and it's not overwhelming, but I think confirm. Alejandro Kirk is right in there. Boba Shet has to be in there. Bo Boshed has to be on track to one of his most valuable seasons, maybe the most valuable yet. And then I'm always the one to really focus on the,

like the valuable definition. I think Eric Lauer needs that like down ballot courtesy vote. Really? Because without Eric Lauer, imagine what that spot would have turned into. It would have been a revolving door mess, which would have bled into the bullpen. John Schneider's life would be more difficult.

It would be affecting that roster churn over and over. It's like Ross Scripling a few years ago. He's just simplified people's lives. So I think I go, Vladdy, Kirk, Bobachette, and can't leave Eric Lauer off the ballot. I am going to deny it because Vladimir Gros Jr. in the last month has been great. And he's heating up and he's getting back to being his MVP self.

So like post all-star break for sure. But when I look at the full season, the one guy who's been Mr. Consistent has been Alejandro Kirk. And he doesn't just do it on the offensive side of things. He doesn't just do it on the defensive side. We're talking about a guy who's in like the 100th percentile among, defensive catchers in baseball as well. One of the best defensive catchers,

the guy can swing and he can hit, he protects the play, he doesn't strike out, but he also is an amazing pitch framer. And we noticed when he was out in that little stretch that the pitching kind of went awry a little bit. And I can't help but feel like that had something to do with the fact

that it was Tyler, Tyler Heideman behind the plate, and Axel Sanchez behind the plate as opposed to Alejandro Kirk. For me, because Kirk, the catcher is one of the more important positions in all of baseball, and the fact that he's doing it offensively, defensively, he's improving and helping with the pitching with an unbelievable framing. He's throwing guys out, his cot stealing rate is extremely high. I'm going to go out, Kirk, honestly, is his team's MVP.

You know, I hate to go against the baseball expert, and I like what you said, but I don't think there is an MVP. Really? Yeah, I just think that it's an honest. ensemble cast and at various times it's one guy, it's another guy, and I like that. I don't need it to be an MVP. Yeah, it's

it is a good point. Like it really has been it's been a big committee like season. Like it's not as though it was a couple years ago when Aaron Judge was hitting homers. It was like that guy's carrying this team. Yeah. You know, like even this year like Aaron Judge is carrying that team. When he's out, he's not in homers, they're not winning

a lot of ball games, right? So this has been a very strange season in Toronto where it's just been A plethora of depth, whether it's a star guy, a role guy, a bench guy, someone coming up through the minors, does seem like each and every night someone else is a story. So you could make that argument that just, there's not one sole guy who has been the most valuable player. It's been a plethora of people. Yeah, you know, it could turn out in the playoffs at Vladie or somebody else does lead the way.

Nobody would complain about that. But going by the question, I'm going to go, no, I'm going to say no guy. I'm going to deny. Sorry. Confirm or deny. Aaron Judge is still the MVP in the American League over Raleigh. This is the hardest one on the list for me. I think it's still a confirm because I think the next six, seven weeks,

I think Aaron Judge will heat back up. And when I look at every offensive category, he is blowing the rest of the sport out of the water. An 1131 OPS, I know that he doesn't have Raleigh's home run totals. and I know that there is the combination of the Cal Raleigh coverage which is similar to Judge's year when he hits 60s. Big dumper.

Big dumper. Everyone loves them. And I think there is also some Aaron Judge exhaustion as well. You run into that. Sure. The bar is higher. This guy, he's got to do something bigger and better. Well, average Aaron Judge is still probably the MVP of baseball. So I love what Cowellie's doing. I wish they could give out two.

I think in six or seven weeks. It's going to be judge again with his goodness, third and five years, which is just some all-time stuff. Man, he's doing it again right now, Cal Rale. He's heating up. He's got home runs in three straight

games right now for Cal Rale. He's up to 45, which I believe the record for catchers is 48. That was Sal Perez in 2021. He's three off from breaking that record. I think he's definitely encroaching on Ken Griffey Jr.'s home run record in Seattle,

I'm going to deny it. I'm going to deny it. I think if Cal Raleigh continues to hit the way that he is, if he gets close to that Aaron Judge home run record of 63, how many home runs he hit that year? 62. 62 that he hit that season. If he encroaches and gets close to 60,

I think that Cal Rale has an opportunity to win the MVP. Plus, like we talked about with Kirk, to be doing this as a catcher is unprecedented. And to be doing it from a defensive perspective with the bat, and then also to be able to actually play this many games and have this many at bats while being able to crouch down every day, that's tough to do. So I'm going to deny it and go Cal Raleigh, MVP.

Well, the wording is still. So I'm going to side with our baseball guy and say, I'm going to confirm it. So sometimes you have to really scalpel the wording. Confirm or deny, and I believe we're on number five. The Vegas Golden Knights have been the winners of the off-season

in the national hockey league. I think confirm they got the big fish. There may be more complete off-season, but I'm always whoever gets the best player wins in a trade type of guy and whoever gets the big fish in the off-season. I mean, I can see it happening. the Mitch Marner talk's not going away

he'll have that big playoff run clearly he's not unlike here he'll be fighting in the corners he'll have real sweat in his hair this time baby the narratives are already writing themselves yeah here's the one thing and it was obviously reported a while ago and I think maybe people have forgotten

but I'm not sure Alex Petrangelo is going to be playing this season wasn't he? No he's gone from here so like you're bringing Mitch Marner but you lose a massive piece to the back end there and they didn't necessarily replace it I'm going to say, I'm going to deny it. I think there's a couple other teams that did well.

I think Carolina getting themselves, Nick Eelers, that's going to help them. I think, although the Islanders are not going to be a successful team, I love the summer that they had. I think bringing in, you know, bringing in Matthew Darsh as a general manager, making that no adoption trade that really worked out for them, bringing in Matthew Schaefer. I like what the Islanders have done, but I don't know. The Golden Knights, I'm going to deny it.

I'm going to deny it, too. The Florida Panthers re-signing pretty well everybody is. It's the winner for me. There's the winner. That's the winner. The trifecta. Yeah. Because it's the same names.

It doesn't stand out as much, but that's a deal. Well, and then everybody knows the fit. Everybody knows they know how to play 82 games and then crank it up. So I'd have a rough time going any place other than Florida Panthers. confirm or deny the Ottawa Senators will make at least the second round next season How mad do I want the good people of Ottawa to be at me? I'm going to go deny

What were they at 45 wins last year Before they ran into the Leafs? Yeah, they won a wild card spot Yeah, tough because they're probably still looking at running into a buzzsaw In the first round You need to get yourself beyond the big dogs like that I'm going to go deny I'm going to deny too

They could sneak into the playoffs Don't get me wrong I like the team, but I still think that there's some quality teams out there in the east. I still look at the big three Toronto, Florida, Tampa in the Atlantic Division that they're going to have to get over. I don't think they're there yet. They're getting closer. Toronto's probably inching back toward the pack and they're moving up, but not quite yet. So I'm going to deny it.

Just out of fairness, I'm going to confirm it. And I base it on, the only thing I'm going to base it on is I like their program. somebody at the top's going to fall. I mean, we keep waiting for somebody to have the... I don't know. Maybe is it Tampa? Is it the leaves? I don't know.

I mean, come on. The leaves are a big question mark. Oh, for sure. They're a question mark. Yeah, absolutely they are. But I still think that they got a pretty good... I mean, the goaltending, they solidified that last year, the blue line... Blue line from the blue line back, everything's good.

Marner leaving is obviously a question mark. But what they've done is they've insulated that with a lot better depth. and they've really altered to play more the Burrubay way. That's a regular season, playoff question mark, not a regular season question mark. Which is exactly what we're going with this. Right. Yeah. I don't know.

I just, I think Ottawa's on the way up. So is Montreal, so somebody's going to pay for that. I don't know who it is. Somebody will pay. I think it's the other division. The Metro probably not going to end up winning any wildcard spots just like a year ago. And since we're on the question mark that is the Toronto Maple Leafs Confirmary deny. Easton Cowan has the edge

over Nick Robertson on the Maple Leafs' death chart. Like at a camp, like day one opening night? We're asking the question now, so I don't know how, I mean, I can't move off where we are. I think I'm a day one deny, but I need to be a confirm because I'm thinking the whole season.

Right. So, season confirmed. Like, Easton Cowan has a better future with the Leafs, obviously. Eventually, I think you'll overtake them, but I'm going to deny it right now. They just paid Nick Robertson $1.8 million to be on this team. And Easton Cowell has yet to play a game in the NHL. So I can't put ahead of them quite yet.

I just don't see it happening. There you go. The Echo Chamber. Where are you in this? If we have it right now, again, I want to stick to the legal language here has the edge deny. I think by the middle of the season, we're talking about a much different situation here with Cowan, but has the edge going into the season? and we know the Leafs roster could change leading up

to the opening of the season through the season but by the middle of the year I think it's different deny for now. Yeah, I would deny it too and you know the trade season that was supposed to be all over the summer has never really happened the arbitration season the RFAs was supposed to spur something that didn't happen. None of them got to arbitration.

Every single one of them ended up coming up with a deal. Robertson was last. They took a right to the final day but they got a deal hammered out And there's a lot of teams with money to spend, which nobody really predicted. Confirm or deny, back to football, because Mike Sandel will be with us in about nine minutes from now going over his quarterback ranking. James Cook will play for the bills by week one of the season. Confirm. These things take care of themselves.

I think confirm, especially with Kairn Williams deal, getting hammered out lately. You can build up from there, I think, confirm. Yeah, I'm going to confirm it as well. Like, unfortunately, he's not. So last, it was two years ago, I think we saw a similar situation. Chris Jones won a new extension with the Chiefs. And he actually did sit out a game. And they lost the season opener to the Detroit Lions.

The very next day a contract was handed to Chris Jones that basically said, please come back, blank check, we need you. I don't think that James Cook is in the same situation. They believe that they're running back, their number two, Ray Davis. So they took last year in the draft and had a decent rookie season. and they clearly like what's going on in camp. I think that they look at that and say, we don't necessarily need to pay James Cook like it's off running back.

They don't believe he deserves to be paid like it's off running back. But he also cannot afford to not play himself. So I think that he's going to, he's already come back to practice today. I eventually come week one, he'll be ready, he'll be in the lineup right to go. I would confirm it as well. And let's go back to we played this in a previous hour, Josh Allen and coach McDermott,

both very positive about James Cook? I mean, it's been extremely normal between us. I'm not going to ask him to do anything that he doesn't want to do or wouldn't do or I wouldn't do myself. So I understand that, you know, in his mind it was the right thing to do and I trust him. But, yeah, very happy to him back out there today. What do you say, expected? Have you had conversations with him that lead you to think he's practicing today? Like, has anything changed?

I would say so. I would say so that things have changed, Elena, with, and yes, we've had conversations with James, good conversations, as I've mentioned before, and the information that we're getting is, that he is moving in the direction of practicing. Yeah, so everybody's on side there. That's a complete confirmed. I do find it funny how he didn't explicitly come out and say, yet James is practicing. And I think that's maybe scar tissue from Saturday. That had conversations about him suiting up for the preseason game, which James Cook did, and then elected to actually not play. And McDermott afterwards had some words on that,

so I think that was a little scar tissue, not wanting to exactly say that he was going to come back just in case. And not wanting to reopen the wound. Yeah, exactly. So our final confirm or deny, Aaron Rogers will be the starting quarterback every single week for the Steelers. Is this a health question or a skill question? These are the words.

Aaron Rogers will be the starting quarterback every week for the Steelers. I'm going to confirm. I don't think it'll be pretty. And I think there will be, like his Green Bay Day, it's just a bunch of close-ups of him thying and shrugging his shoulders. Or with the look. It's all very exhausting with him. But Aaron Rogers is too addicted to being the main character to miss a game.

I don't care if his legs broken. It's not toughness. It's an addiction to be a... to being the main character. He will not miss a game. I do like Will Howard, who they drafted, I think, in the fourth round, but it's the Rogers' year and probably another Steelers, Mike Tomlin-esque, nine and eight, sneak-in sort of deal.

Yeah, Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, I don't think they're anticipating them to compete this year for the starting job. It's Aaron Rogers' job. An injury would be the only way that he wouldn't play every week for the Steelers. I would push back. I think that the Steelers are still going to be a good competitive team. I think they're still going to make the playoffs, and I think Garon Rogers still has some good quarterback play in him.

You get him behind an offensive line. I mean, that O-line in New York is hideous the last couple of years while he was there. So you get him in a good line. They've got a good defense, a great coach in Mike Tomlin. I think that the Pittsburgh Steelers will be okay. And, yeah, Rogers will make it to week 18. Hate to go against the grain. I'm going to deny it.

I just think something's going to happen. Well, something. Not a big fan of Air Rod. It's like you know and you're not telling me. He's got a plan here. Oh, yeah. Well, come on. There's a grind pole or there's a Emmy injury.

There's something. Yeah. Bottom line on that. Coming up next to more football talk, Mike Sandel will stop by Athletic Senior NFL writer. He has tiered the quarterbacks in the NFL. So we'll explore how he went about doing that and maybe some things that he had to struggle with to get everybody into a category.

This is Overdrive, TSN 2, TSN-1050, and live on YouTube. Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Keegan, Mathis. in MLB.com and ABL's brother, Mike DeStefano, with you shortly Mike Sandover, from the Athletic will stop buying over his quarterback pyramid or tiers. He's got a top by Mahomes

and Burrow in a tie. Alan Jackson and Stafford round out the top tiering. You're looking at people that have gone, improved a lot. Sam Darnold went up by nine spots or plus nine points and Kirk Cousins

dropped by minus 12, Rogers minus nine in a year's time. He might not be big on Aaron Rogers at the Steelers either. I might have to throw that one at him. And Taddy, you scare me for a second because when you were listing the names, I was looking at my notes here quickly,

and all I heard were the words, Alan Jackson. And I'm thinking, what are we talking about here? Is this an old country segment? But that perked me right back up here. But I think I'm in line with him on Roger. I don't know if I'd have Rogers lower. That tend to 20 range is so crowded.

When you get into the QBs like Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Gino Smith's indicative of them. For me, it's like there's a core four. Just like here in Toronto for years, there's a core four that I think everyone has an agreement on. There's some variance within the core four. But like, you know, you talk to anybody who watches the NFL. They're going to tell you, you know, who are the four best players, four best quarterbacks. It's Mahomes, Borough, Alan Lamar. Like, I don't think anyone else really has a seat at the table of that.

core for. But after that, I do think that there is a lot of conversations to be had, like is Justin Herbert that next guy? Is it Matthew Stafford? What Jane Daniels did last year was unbelievable, but are you sold after one season? Like, I remember having conversations with people back in, one of the 2016, 2017. People are ready to call Carson Wentz, the top quarterback in the NFL at the time. I'm like, this guy has been good for like one year, two years. Let's pump the breaks. And obviously, Carson Went to C's career went way southward after that. Injuries

played a factor, but Jaden Daniels, for me, I'm not ready to, I'm not ready to crown him as like a top. I think Sando has him at six right now. The top of the top of the second tier, I feel like for me I'm not ready to go there

yet. I think it's a tad premature, but not my list. Well, let's bring in Mike now. Mike Sandus here, the athletic senior NFL writer. welcome, how are you? A bit of an audio problem there. Oh, might not have them here. Yeah.

Let's see if we can get them hooked up here in a second. JP, okay, we'll do it again. Mike, welcome. I can hear you guys loud and clear. Okay, we hear me. Yeah, we can hear you now. Okay. So we're our pleasure to have you,

and we're obviously fascinated by your quarterback tier. And so I guess maybe the no-brainer first question is, When you're dealing with Mahomes, Burrow Allen, and Jackson, the top four in that order, I mean, how do you separate these guys? Well, you know, I don't have to do it, fortunately, because I poll the 50 guys in the league. And so really, you know, for me, talking to six GMs, six assistant GMs, six former GMs, I think I had eight head coaches, 15 coordinators, some other folks, you know, really all I'm doing is tabulating their results. And so in this case, I think Burrow and Mahomes were unanimous tier one,

because they're perceived to be the probably the best, just purest passers of the top quarterbacks in the league. And I think there's still a, you know, a bias towards the passing component, right? That's what you really have to have in the end to survive in advance and be a dominant tier one player. And so Josh Yow and Lamar Jackson are really good passers, but probably rely a little bit more on their legs. And so I think there's a couple voters, just a few here there, like,

like three put Josh down in Tier 2, and Lamar. I've had four put him in Tier 2. Those are outliers. I mean, I think those four quarterbacks are clearly, you know, the best. And you probably give an edge to Mahomes just on his pedigree and what he's been able to do consistently, even though statistically he hasn't been as good lately. Yeah, and I've been talking about that for a little bit. The offense has not been nearly as explosive.

They've been middle of the pack in terms of yardage over the last couple of years. It's like when you look at what you think the Chiefs can potentially do this season, do you expect much of the same, or do you think there could be something that works or maybe this offense becomes a little more entertaining this year? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know that it's going to. I think we've been waiting on that for a while. So, you know, Travis Kelsey is a year older.

You know, the receiving core is somewhat similar. They get Rishi Rice back probably, so that will help them. But I don't think it's going to be super dynamic. I think if they would have had answers to make it look easier, they would have done it. And so, you know, they went 11-0 in one-score games last year. They had a streak, I think, over multiple seasons of 17 straight wins in games decided by a test-down or less. They're uniquely set up to do that.

Patrick Mahomes, you know, the head coach in India Reed, they're a well-oiled machine. But that's a smaller margin for error, and it's just hard to keep doing that forever. I think there is an opening for another team in the AFC. those guys just have to do it. Mike, as you walked through this entire process, speaking to your people in the league, going through your story, I was so interested by some of the comments. Matthew Stafford was one that I liked hearing the league's comments on, and some of those being tied to McVeigh, of course,

but which quarterbacks really surprised you in terms of higher on some, lower on some, compared to what the public might think? Yeah, so there's a few, like, you know, Matthew Stafford being in Tier 1, I might not have anticipated that, but he was very high tier two. So maybe it's just I had a slightly different voting panel this year and maybe he just got a few more votes there. I thought Goff might drop, even though he's been great. I think, you know, just Ben Johnson being so acclaimed with an offensive coordinator and leaving, I wanted if people would hold that against him or predict, you know, that he might slip.

That did not happen. I think, you know, the feedback on Caleb Williams was interesting to me, mostly kind of negative. Now, maybe that's somewhat because he was the number one pick in the draft and was in 2024 and was seen as, you know, a consensus pick. And so maybe he's held to a higher standard. But I thought there was just a lot of people questioning his ability to process the game quickly that was a little concerning. I think one of the coaches used the word alarming. So you normally wouldn't hear that out of, you know, a first season like this. And that kind of stuck with me.

So you've got Daniels at number six. So I'm intrigued at what happens when you go into another category. What were they saying about Daniels and how close would he be to moving up? So Daniels got 17 votes in Tier 1. And look, if this was his second year of doing what he did, he probably would be, you know, solidly in Tier 1. People do want to see more than one year. I think there's a feeling that, you know, we've seen some quarterbacks come in.

Shoot just last year, C.J. Stroud, I think, got 12 Tier 1 votes after his rookie year. He only got one this year. You go back maybe four years, Justin Herbert was one of the, I think at that time, was the highest ever anyone had debuted as a second year quarterback in quarterback tiers. And he hasn't fallen off the map, but he's, you know, he didn't maintain it and push up into Tier 1. So I think it's just a little bit more over time. Dayton Daniels, though, is high because not only was he good as a rookie, but he did it in the playoffs, had him in the championship game.

And by the way, he did not only didn't have a top. 10 defense, but had a bottom 10 defense statistically. So there's a lot to like with him after his rookie year. A name that I find really interesting going into the season, and it's Baker Mayfield. You had ranked that

at number 11, but there seems to be a lot of discourse surrounding Jared Goff and the lions and how they're going to take a step back with losing Ben Johnson. Not as much about the bucks losing Liam Cohen, who's now

in Jacksonville. What's your expectations on what Baker and that offense will be able to do without Cohen? I know. Do we just assume because Baker Mayfield did well with Dave Canales when Dave Canales was really not known and then did well with Liam Cohen, who also like Canales had never been a primary play caller in the NFL, but it's going to happen again with their next unproven offensive coordinator under a defensive-minded head coach. I mean, you may be on to something there that they could fall off some offensively.

It might be hard. It'll be hard for them to get better on third down. They were almost historically great in that component of it. But I think at a certain point, too, you have to give Baker Mayfield some credit, which the voters have, for transcending multiple coordinators and really reviving his career. Mike, when you look down the list there as well, Jalen Hertz is grabbing my attention in Tier 2. and if I'm remembering right in your full story, did you have one GM, put him as Tier 3, is that right?

Yeah, so Jaylon Hertz got 12 votes in Tier 3, isn't that something? Super Bowl MVP. Amazing. I think the voters had a hard to have a hard time with him, and they even said they like him, but they're like, so if you guys almost apologized for having them so low because they do like him, they just don't feel like, you know, like, for instance,

last year the Eagles were at their best taking the ball out of his hands and having it be a running game, you know, with Saquan Berkeley. And I think there's a feeling with first that while he's improved as a pastor, he's never really been asked to be a high-volume passer. And there's some doubt over whether that would look very good if he did that. Early last year, he did, you know, have some games with 30-plus pass attempts. It didn't look as good.

And so there's a feeling that unlike some of those guys ahead of him, he might struggle if they put more in his shoulders from a passing standpoint. I think that's why what holds him back from, you know, pushing into the top tier as the Super Bowl champion. And while we're on intriguing names, Aaron Rogers, I mean, a Hall of Fame career, no question about that, but some, I guess, trouble or injury problem and bad teams lately.

What are people saying about him? Yeah. Oh, my gosh, you got votes in four different tiers. Can you believe that? Yeah, actually, I can. He got one tier one vote. I think it was from a defensive court. He's probably a scars from basing him over the years, you know.

And then you got 16 in tier two. Those are the optimists saying, hey, you know, he'll be better the second year back from his injury, right, that he'll be a little bit better. That's 16. 27 in Tier 3 and 6 and Tier 4, those people are kind of saying, hey, look, he may be healthier this year, but he's 41. He showed up in June. He doesn't have familiar receivers, you know, and he doesn't have a familiar offensive coordinator. So there's a lot of ways that this could, you know, not be prolific. Now, I think most of the votes were in Tier 3, and you can win with a Tier 3 quarterback.

You just have to have a good defense, which Pittsburgh usually does, and you have to just not ask him to put it on his back too often. And so from a Steeler standpoint, you know, a lot of people have kind of brushed off, hey, they're not that good of a team, and Rogers is done. But he's better than what they've had, I think. And so if they can play defense and run the ball and just ask him to win a game occasionally, that can be a formula for a pretty good thing. season. Every other seems to be one team that is like the sexy pick for they're going to have a monster season. It feels like everyone's kind of raving about the Denver Broncos.

Are you jumping on that bandwagon or is there another team that you like that's not getting a lot of notoriety? No, I feel that too. I feel like, you know, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but, you know, all of those close game wins by Kansas City, you know, 11 and 0 in one score games. I mean, history has shown us that, you know, there's regression in that regard. So I think there's a path for Denver to, you know, win 11, 12 games and win the division. I do think there's a path to that.

Now we'll believe it when we see it, but that's feasible to me. Mike, looking into the future here, let's do the crystal ball one year from now. I'm looking at Caleb Williams, where he is at 23 in that fourth year. Next year, number one overall pick Cam Ward coming up. It looks like he has some early chemistry there with Calvin Ridley, going well at the Titans. What do you think you're talking about a year from now with Cam Ward? Yeah, I would imagine he'll be in Tier 3 as somebody who, you know,

maybe it's just a part of a snapshot, hopefully moving up ahead of that. I know some evaluators who think he's not going to be much more than that long term, that he could be solid but not spectacular. So I don't think there's enough information. I'm not a big draft Nick. I think it's harder to project from college. And so once we see him a little bit this year, I think we'll have a much firmer view of what the tiers are going to look like.

Tennessee is a good and bad place for him. It's good because it's not New York. It's a place where you can actually go and focus on football. Unlike, you know, these guys have gotten chewed up by being on the Jets like Sam Darnold or Gino Smith years ago. But also, I don't think that it's a team that's really ready to win and support him, you know, as much as you might want to support a rookie. So there'll be some bumps there. I'm just most interested in seeing, you know, the poise, the maturity. how he handles it, and if he can avoid some of the big mistakes that really hurt Will Levis.

You know, you compile this list on a yearly basis, so you have a lot of conversations with people. Was there anything here that surprised you, or did it sort of follow the road that you thought? Yeah, I would say, you know, some of the feedback on Caleb Williams was a little bit surprising. I thought there would be people maybe doubting Goff without Ben Johnson. Let's see if these other guys in here. you know, it just sort of dawned on me with Trevor Lawrence that, you know, no one's really holding out hope for him to be, you know, much more than maybe a low tier two player, like, like, what are his elite traits, right?

And that kind of stuck with me as something that, oh, yeah, I hadn't really thought of it that way, but it kind of makes sense what's he going to really hang his hat on? Well, I think for him, it's almost like you're bringing Liam Cohen, you draft Travis Hunter. I thought there'd be a little bit more upside. People think, like, okay, maybe Lawrence has something around him now. Perhaps this could be the year that the Jags do something and not a great AFC sell. Yeah, and that's totally feasible. I think people just aren't that excited about him because he's not consistently accurate. I think that's been one of the most disappointing things about him. He sprays the ball a little bit more than people would like,

and I think it's hard to be consistent when you're not consistently accurate. Now, they can do more to help him, I think for sure. I think the offensive coaching was a little disappointing in the last few years, too. So we could see a little bump from him, but when I look at the top of Tier 3, I see Trevor Lawrence, Tuatung of Aloha, Kyler Murray, all super highly paid guys by the teams that drafted him without the results. And I thought a year ago that one of those three might make the jump, you know, and be a tier 2 guy, and here they are again.

Mike, thanks for your time. And by the way, great library behind you. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. Enjoy the conversation. Thank you. Mike Sando, the Atlantic Senior NFL writer. I mean, that's a nice assignment to crank out a list like that on a regular basis, not just because of the list, but because of who you talk to. Exactly. Because of you were talking to. It's people who are in the game and understand the game.

And I love lists like this because it's not an aggregated list of everything else. Right. You see that, especially around fantasy football season. Here's my top 100. Well, most of these are an aggregation or a reaggregation of everything else. These conversations when you're talking to people in the league really expose what's going on beyond the buzz. You see that with Caleb Williams. You see that with Trevor Lawrence, some of these names that are high up. Matt Stafford, that one surprises me being a number five.

But it really tells you what's actually happening in the league. Yeah, I don't feel good being a Colts fan. He's got Daniel Jones at 30 and Anthony Richardson at 32. It's not going to be a fun year. Who else has two top 32 quarterback? Yeah. Depends how you spin it, right? Sure, sure.

Two top 30, zero top 39s, though. Overdrive is brought to you by Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Best bets is next. Overdrive, TSN2, TSN1050, and live on YouTube. Oh, yes, guy. The final segment, today's best bets are powered by Fandul. Make your picks and assemble the same game

parley in seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook app. Doogie, what do you have? All right, boys, rocking house at the Rogers Center tonight with the Jays and the Cubs. We're going with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to record a hit. He has 16 extra base hits in his last 22 games. And we're going on the Cubside with Pete Crowe Armstrong,

fifth in the lineup tonight, second on the team in RBI with 78. He'll get a hit tonight. And the Blue Jays on the money line. Returning home from a raucous road trip, winning in L.A., bringing it back home to Toronto. I'm expecting some nice momentum that Parlay plays plus 231 on the Fandul's sportsbook app. Today's best bets are powered by Fandul. the first inning means as much as the ninth

when you bet baseball on the Fan Dual Sportsbook app please pay responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario well thanks to keep about 45 seconds left is there anybody who gets in the Brewers way who at this point no they need to they look like the Jays looked a month ago when they couldn't lose so of course momentum runs out

but if the postseason started today and thank God for all of us it doesn't the Brewers are running away with it they are playing baseball like I haven't seen in years peaking too early is always a possibility and that could be the situation with the brewers. We'll see. Quick thought on tonight's game. You know what?

I think this weekend in L.A. was kind of that speed wobble. You need to get you back straight on. I think they take two or three from the Cubs, two or three from the Rangers. I think this is a good homestand they've got coming up. I like it. Well, thanks to everybody for stopping by. Hacy, be back in the chair tomorrow. Enjoy your night.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from The Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music.

Loud, crowd, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeartRadio app.