OverDrive - What's up with Drake Maye? | OverDrive: Oct. 1, 2026 - Hour 2

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Jonas Siegel for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Football Analyst Luke Willson joins to dive into Drake Maye's struggles with the Patriots, the Steelers' ranking in the AFC and Aaron Rodgers' spotlight for the team. Jonas gives his changes and keeps for the Maple Leafs in the latest edition of Jonas' List and Bryan selects his FanDuel Best Bets.

If you smell What the Owen Wilson is cooking. Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fandul, making you want to hit the sports book app and hammer the Browns tonight. That's what I think the play is tonight.

But I'm not on the clock, thankfully. Luke Wilson in studio. Because Al's brother and I, Al's brother's very, very distracted right now. Completely unreliable. Not good. Yeah, he's got to, I mean, he's got a massive life event coming up.

Clearly, he's getting married in a week and a half. So I don't even know what he's up. Are you not getting, like, the analytics reports as usual? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. You know what I think Jammin, too, is when Parts said, O-Dog was like, yo, we're going to start using gut instinct.

That hurt. I think that, and then he pulled out a huge dub. I think the guy's all out of whack. Yeah, it's not a good place. Like, Al's brother is very, very distracted and very conflicted. And I don't know what the hell he's doing after the wedding. Like I'm assuming they're going, are they going on a honeymoon else? Yeah, they are great.

Chris? Apparently, apparently it's like an extensive honeymoon. We're talking like three weeks type of thing. I mean, he's earned it, right? He's earned a break house brother. He's a busy guy. So three weeks, he'll be MIA. So I'm riding solo, Jonas.

And that's help? Do you want my help? If you want to supply some help, I'm happy to feel good. He does need to help. I do actually. We are not seeing the board clearly. What's crazy about tonight is someone is going to be in first place in the AFC North. And it could be the Cleveland Browns. Could be. Like they have won two in a row. DeShon Watson,

compared to week one performances, the last couple weeks, he has been better. You got to give him some credit. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Got to give him some credit. He's protected the football as well. Yeah, big time. But that being said, I'm not sure I'm ready to be like, yo, this is the Deshaun Watson that they paid for that we saw kind of at the tail end of his Houston career.

That's never coming back. Yeah. I mean, last week he was 16 of 30 for 144 yards, throwing the football. Yeah. And now all of a sudden everyone's like, oh, man, I'm like looking at this thing. And he's protected the football, which has been big. And he's used his legs, which has also helped him. But I'm not sure I'm ready to be like, yes, this is Deshaun Watson, the Brown's knee.

I totally agree with you. I don't think it's ever going to happen. But Chador Sanders is not either. I mean, that's the reality. That's the tough part is like, you know, there's this narrative where it's like, oh, you know, has Deshaun earned more time as the starter? And I'm like kind of wondering, I'm not sure like they have another option. Exactly.

Like statistically, Shadur looked horrid last year and statistically was horrid and did not look great. So it's like, hey, are we just going to cash in the season and see what we have with Shadur Sanders? I'm not sure that's the play for. And this is the NFL. if he was the guy, he'd be playing. Like they have to pay Deshaun anyway. That is a sunk cost. It is one of, if not the worst trades in the history of the league.

And they gave him a fully guaranteed contract, without question the worst contract in the history of the league. And he's playing because they're two and one, and they think he's better than Shadour. Bingo. Like, that's it. Like, if Shadur was the next coming of a stud quarterback, he'd be playing. facts.

They're not playing him because he's not. They think Deshaun gives him a better chance to win. That's why Watson's playing right now. To be honest, it's a hard one for me, Hayes, because, you know, as an analyst, you field all these questions. And I'm like, there's really no, like, conspiracy here. It's just that simple. Yeah.

Like, turn the film on and look at it. Yeah, exactly. I don't know what else to say. No, it's exactly what's happening. And then on the flip side, you get Aaron Rogers, who, yeah, I know. I mean, it's, listen, he's in an, it's a fascinating division because all four teams are two and one.

Lamar's looked pretty good. Burrow up until last week, I guess, with seven or eight minutes to go, has looked pretty good. So he's got these two monsters in their prime within the division. Yet, again, if he goes on the road short week, finds a way to perform tonight, the Steelers could be three and one. Three and one with the division win against Cincy.

You know, everyone said, okay, they beat Atlanta. Atlanta's garbage, blah, blah, blah. They look terrible against the Pats. You know, there was a lot of offensive line issues against the Pats. Now of a sudden, you come back, they beat up since he, beat him up. Okay, and I look at that that ran the ball well. They threw the ball well. Okay.

In fairness, this team has, you know, they could get a little spicy here. I look offensively. They got a nice little duo running back, Warren, Rico Dowdell. Okay, the offensive line seemingly played better week three. That's a big question mark. they're also banged up. But I look at their weapons, and it's like tight ends, you got Friamuth and Darnell Washington.

Obviously, Darnell's not more of a receiving guy, but he can be once he gets the ball of his hands. Then you look at D.K. And D.K. has been horrid thus far, but hopefully he figures it out. They sign Pittman, which is a nice acquisition. They've got the youngster Roman Wilson. They've got the youngster Bernard. Like, I'm not saying this team's, you know,

a Super Bowl contender right now, but I would put him in the top seven, top eight of the NFL. In the NFL. Not the AFC. Top five in the NFC. You would go top five in the AFC. Let me run these teams by you. Obviously, you have Kansas City and Buffalo ahead of them.

Like clearly ahead of them. Denver's better than them. Agreed. I still think Baltimore is better than them. Not sure. I agree with that. What about Sincey? No, they just beat Sinci.

Okay, but it's a long season. I mean, if we're talking about... I would put the Jags in front of them at four. Jags are another one. I'll put the Jags. After that, I think the fifth spot is, There's a very good argument that the Pittsburgh Sears are the fifth best team in the AFC right now. Okay.

Wow. Okay. I'm with you. When you say it like that, are you, wait. Are you out on the Chargers years, done? Out, out, out. Well, I couldn't be more out.

You have to be. What about Houston? What about Houston? Oh, three? They're done. I know, but they're all in three last year? I think they're own two last year. They were 0 and 25.

And they made the playoffs both years. I don't think they're done. But I think they got a very tough, tough schedule. Yes. I think that loss in Indy last week was a, was crushed. And Stroud does not seem like he's really on a trajectory. Well, he bet on himself too, right? Like they were allegedly or reportedly, they were willing to pay him 50 million a year.

And he goes, no dice. And now, like, he's put himself in a bad position where if they end up in the top 10, there's a couple of big-name quarterbacks. They take the quarterback. They tell CJ possibly to take a walk. But I would say 5, 6, 7 are in some sort of whatever order would be Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and CINC. Where is Vegas at 3-0?

I love Vegas. I love Pubeyak, but I'm not putting them in the top five. I'm with you, noodles. So I'm not put them in the top five yet. And what about New England? I would say they're in that conversation with Steelers, Ravens. Like that's kind of the whole. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not arguing against that. Like Kansas City, for me, it's Denver, Kansas City, Buffalo.

Those are the three best teams in the FACC. And I think the Jags deserve a lot of love. Yes. So that, that for me would be a clear cut four. and the debate is who's going to be the fifth team. Now, furthermore, can the fifth team be a team that actually does damage come playoff time? And I know this is way down the road, but that's a different story.

In other words, I guess what I'm asking you is, would you put money on one of those top four teams in the AFC being in L.A. at the Super Bowl? Or do you still think there's a potential a Baltimore can push their way into that? Sincere. Sincie, Pittsburgh. I don't see Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. but could Cincinnati or Baltimore? Cincinnati would be the one for me

where it's like, you know, all of a sudden of Jamar and T. Higgins are healthy and get hot and Joe Burroughs protected, they can light up a scoreboard and if they can... If Joe Burroughs protected, that's a yearly... There's a long way to go for that. When does he take some heat though

for not being clutch, Joe Burrow? You've seen the stats. It's ridiculous. Like he's 1 in 34 or something when they're losing with eight minutes to go in a game. You know, I'm in a... NFL on CTV group chat, Carol Wagland's in there,

you know, Davis Sanchez in there. I caught a lot of heat a few years ago about Brock Purdy. And Hayes, I'm going to present this. And Joe, feel free to jump in here. Okay? Who would you rather have? Brock Purdy or Joe Burrow?

Right now. For a game or for a season? Both? I mean, I think the ceiling is still higher for Joe Borough. Sure, but I still think he can be. We're talking about ceiling for Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow. How many years have we heard sealing? I mean, you got hurt last year, right?

I agree. But that's a part of it. Now, Purdy gets hurt too. Purdy gets hurt too. Like, he does get hurt. I guess my point is, and I probably still take Burrow. I probably do, but two years ago it was like Joe Burrow was in the conversation with Josh Allen. You know, now all of a sudden, when you

present Purdy versus Burrow, it's at least a conversation. You're not like, right away, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. If you watch Brock Purdy cooking right now. No, he's playing really well. This guy's doing it. Like, he started, in Australia, he was dancing down there.

And that started the season for them, and they're 3-0. And they look great. Yeah, they look very good. What about DAC? Would you throw DAC in any other? No, that's what I'm saying? That guy makes, what, 55 or 60? I think it's 60.

I think it's 60. A lot of them do, though. And I'll tell you, crazy. But rank those three then, Burrow, Purdy, and Dak. Like, one, two, three of who? Yes. Who you would pick right now? Jack is a distant three for me.

Who I would pick, if I was an offensive coordinator, I would pick Purdy. But I know I'd probably be in the minority there, but I think Purdy understands offensive football. Part of that, in fairness, is he has been with Kyle Shanahan, who I don't know Kyle personally, but I believe he is one of the greatest offensive minds in the history of the world when it comes to football. Okay, so that is part of it. And we're not talking ability, because Burrow has obviously got a ton. So does Dak. but as far as playing the game of football,

I would go Purdy, Burrow, DAC, and it's close between Burrow and Purdy. Yeah, see, I think Joe Burrow may have a Matthew Stafford case to make. Get me out of here and watch what happens because Purdy has had the luxury of having arguably the best left tackle protect him his whole career. Yes. Which is very significant.

He's had arguably the best game-breaking running back in his backfield the last few years. Very significant. Agreed. and the best offensive mind head coach. Agreed. So he's got a lot of benefits going for. But he's also never had a Jamar Chase.

T. Higgins, I guess. Like, who would be, I mean, it was Brandon Ayuk a couple years back. Obviously, he's had his off the field. I mean, Debo is rookie. Like, when Debo was there, the first in, I think, I think they overlap when they went to that Super Bowl. They did. It's more of a, but even Debo, I wouldn't say he's a traditional receiver. No, he's not.

He's not. He's awesome. Don't wrong. He's had a premier tight end. I'm not saying. that. I'm just saying from a receiver perspective. But I agree with you, Joe Burrow could be in the Stafford realm

eventually. Yeah, if he gets out. What, can I ask you your concern level out of like, what is the concern level of ratings? Do you know them off heart? Level of concern. Yeah, I can play role play level of concern. Drake May. Where are you at?

On a scale 1 to 10? Yeah. Or drinks. drinks on a patio? I'm a six-pack with a shot or two. Like, there's a level of concern, but, But like last year, I was reading on ESPN earlier this week that what defenses are doing to him, they're playing zone on him this year, way more than they were last year. I guess last year, like 51% of the snaps or at least the dropbacks, I guess they were blitzing or they were playing cover two.

I think it was 51% of the time. Now it's like up to 65 or 67%. And he's clearly not adjusting to it. He's not reading it. He's like he threw eight interceptions last year. He's throwing six already through 10 games. Yeah. That is very, very special.

Second for MVP. Exactly. It's off their schedule, but I'm with you. He also played at Seattle, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh's defenses. Yeah, which is fair. But, like, I think a lot of Pat's fans, they went to the Super Bowl last year. You're hoping, like, hey, this is a year where we can get back to Super Bowl and win. So I would, I don't know the patio drink scale, but I'd put it at it,

I'd put it at like an 8 out of 10. Okay, that's a lot. That's like Rick Bush. They're bad. They're bad turnovers. Six Bush light, six Bud Light. and I love them, tall boys. That's a lot of booze and a lot of concern.

Yeah. Yeah. Listen, they're bad. And Brable's coming out and saying it. He's like, I'm very concerned about the whole club. But now there's reports in New England that the two of them are not. Yeah, I don't believe that. Did you see Brable's response to that?

He came out in front of the media. It was like part of the reason I came here was because of Drake May. Like, one of the things that it really drives me nuts about the media is when it's like an unnamed source says that there's an issue between Drake May and Mike Brable? Who would even know that? Like I mean lots of people. So one of the coaches?

One of the coaches? Coaches, teammates, agents. But you're right. It's, yeah. Greasy. There's, yeah. It's part of journalism, all right, John. Yeah, it's part of it. But I get it. I mean. Am I missing something here?

Well, Jonas is a reporter that quotes anonymous sources. Are you? All the time. All the time. I miss it. Not of those sources. You're delicate with using that kind of thing. You've got to have a good reason.

Yeah. It'll be the thing. Well, and it's got to be ironcloth. Yeah, and they check it. You can't just write unnamed source. Like, they're going to come to you and say, like, how do you know this? You're not saying. Yes.

Look, it's weird for me, and maybe you can, because this is one not always confused. I like this. Media Corner. Yeah. What does the unnamed source get by saying things? That's a good question. I mean, maybe they're, maybe they're upset about the. perception, they want to correct the record, maybe they're a you know what

disturber. Yeah. They're just, what's weird is in the NFL, and I don't know about this is something always drove me nuts, but it was like somehow like Adam Schafter, Ian Rappaport would get in these agents would be like, oh, I'm going to leak this to whatever. And the quid pro quo here is that they'll call in a favor. Like it's very like, hey, when I'm going to give you this piece of information, but in two months when my other client

needs a nice tweet about how there's a big market for them, you're gonna like... A hundred percent. You're like playing a game. But what's tough for me about that is this is no longer journalism now. I'm with you on that. This is quid pro quo. This is politics. Well, and it's to the point where some of

those guys you mentioned, like they have copied and pasted texts where they forgot to delete something, you know, and it's like man, that is just blatantly from the agent. Yeah. But that's the game. The agent has the information, and a lot of it is relationship building. And if you want to be one of the insiders, you know, you got to have those relationships.

You got to bank on that type of intel, you know. Like that's where a lot of information comes from is agents. Agents are telling you, you know, what players are saying and what they're hearing. And agents know everything in the league. In a situation like this, it could be secondhand and that's where it gets like, you know what I mean? It's like, I talked to Luke and Luke said they're not talking. It's like, oh, interesting. You know what I mean?

But don't you think, though, like, Jonas, you obviously have a lot of integrity. I know some people that I think flat up make just stuff out. Like just flat out, make stuff up and say, oh, unnamed sources. When really it's their thought and they're trying to get it validated. Their hunch, yes. Yeah, like, it's my hunch. So this is what I'm thinking. So I try and get it validated by saying unnamed sources.

And maybe that's more Twitter type of stuff. Like, Jonas, you obviously have an editor. and you have to have a level of integrity, and you do. But there are people in those scrums that I've come across that are a little bit shadier than you want. Would you agree with that? Yes. 100%.

No more comment. No more comment. I heard a story the other day. I'm not going to name any names. I want to get jammed up. I heard a story about a gentleman in the Toronto scene, ex-CFL guy that got jammed up for making up a person and quoting him. I love that place

Rick Bushwood Like I've heard that that's a real thing And from a unnamed But extremely reliable source Who may or may not have worked with him Yeah I could see that being a case Like you're making a human up being like

I talk to this person This person is not real But did you guys see Harbaugh talking about Justin Herbert Where he said He kind of criticized him for the first time So like that's real

Yeah Yeah. Whereas before he's like, this guy's going to be the greatest quarterback in the league? Totally. Now, how much of that is because Harbaugh realizes I'm in big trouble here if this doesn't work out. Do you think they would ever fire him in season? I can't say. I don't know about in season.

But if they're on their way to 2 and 15 or 4 and 13, I don't know how he's going to survive. Like, that's a huge step back in L.A. The Harbaugh situation to me is a bit funky because this has kind of been his MO, and this is from guys that I know Unnamed guys. Bales, not bails, not unnamed guys, guys that have played with that. Unnamed players who have played with him.

In San Francisco when he was there. And it was like part of what they told me was like when he comes in, everybody loves him. Because he's so quirky and he's so different and it's fun and it's like, you know, who's got it better than us? Nobody, all that stuff. And then all of a sudden

it's like, yo, I've been listening. of this extremely awkward man for three years now. I don't know, you know, or it's been whatever amount of time. And the messaging starts to kind of, you know, is this authentic or is this kind of more of a shtick? And I do worry that maybe the Chargers are starting to enter into that phase where like the allure of, oh, we've got Jim Harbaugh is starting to kind of wear a bit. Yeah, he's a different cat, you know, what he's willing to show the world, you can just

tell he's a different, different cat. But he generally jumps at the right time. This would not be the right time. Like he left the Niners. They had been to a Super Bowl. They were kind on their way down. Yes. And then he goes to Michigan. They win a national championship. All hell breaks loose

with the investigation. He's out of there. And now the thing is, this is different. Because in L.A., you're 0.3. They haven't had any success. They were in the playoffs last year, but it didn't go well. No. Right? So, you know, this would be him going out,

you know, not on top. Like, it's a bit of a different journey. So are you saying like this is him being like, yeah, maybe it's the quarterback and isn't as good as everyone thought, or I thought? Well, what's weird is that again two weeks ago he said he's one of the best to ever play the game or will be? Yeah. That's the Harbaugh play though, right? His brother said that about

Lamar. Like they jump on that like hyperbole pretty quickly. But that generally is the way it works. You know, go look at the other guys when you're trying to, when you feel like all eyes are on you and you're the problem. Yeah. Not everyone takes full account of it. Where does Mike McDaniels stand in all this?

He's obviously it hasn't worked, but I'd ask you that, like the execution of a game plan. He may put his hands up and say, dude, I'm telling him to, you know, make plays or what have you, and they're not executing. I was finding a bit strange where it's like this guy was considered in the same breath as like the Shanahan's and the McVays, and he's like this offensive-minded guru. and he goes to Miami

and he was, you know, the bell, the ball for let's call it a half of a season. Everyone was like, this guy's going to transform the NFL. And then all of a sudden, since then, Miami became a fire sale. Since Tyreek left, basically. Yes. Comes down to the Chargers and everyone was all fired up. Hey, how's it going to be now?

Oh, he's gone from Tua to Justin Herber, like such an upgrade. I mean, it's been off to a tough start. Well, and who's really running the show in San Francisco? Shanahan. Exactly. So he got credit for it. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve some of it, but he didn't have carte blanche.

I don't believe on the offense. Like Shanahan was still running a lot. Kyle Shanahan runs very, from what I've told unnamed sources. One of which, one of which I think is a, was KJ. Wright, who was a linebacker coach over there,

was like, I remember calling him last off season in the Super Bowl. I was like, how has it been coaching? And he was like, man, like, love it. It's been awesome. but Shanahan runs a very tight ship. Like, it's pretty buttoned up. That's what, his dad did the same thing. Yes.

Right? Like, that's where he would have learned that from. And he mentioned a compliment. He meant it in a very complimentary way. I think athletes are probably looking for that, right? Like, you guys would be able to speak to it. You don't want to show up and it's like, what the hell is going? Who's running the show here?

Yeah. Stability. Yeah, exactly. You watch stability. Like, it's ridiculous. Yep, exactly. All right, you guys are on the clock. The line has moved down at two and a half.

Yeah. So it's Steelers minus two and a half. and a half at Cleveland tonight. I think we know who you're taking. Go ahead. We're taking Pittsburgh. On a field goal game, again, like, I get it's a divisional game, and I do

expect this thing to be like real greasy, but I don't see, I cannot take in good faith to Sean Watson on a short week after barely completing 50% of his passes. I just can't. Isn't there some home dog thing

that you shouldn't? There's a bunch of this stuff. and Dugge's been in the division on the payroll right now and has been just exploding my phone with statistics, none of which are football related as to why I should take the Browns, which I won't do, okay? We're going to roll with Aaron Rogers who looked great last week. Yep. I mean, Mike McCarthy on a short week on the road.

I don't know. I don't know about big Mike. I get it. I get it. I don't feel like I'm jumping over the moon for this, but it's a tough game. I can't sit here in good faith in Partsy, I think would understand. And picked to Sean Watson.

I hear you. I can't do it. I hear you. I think he would be very supportive of that pick. Not feeling well today. Although he's been sending me texts about different things. Which I responded with, who is this? And then he's now.

Who this? Who is this? And he lost it. Unnamed source. That's by unnamed source, exactly. But, all right, more picks tomorrow. We get some big ones like New England's a seven-point dog in Buffalo on Sunday. Who's got that one?

Who's got that one? I don't know if they've even established that. We're not even playing that game. I don't think, because there's a 930 game. There's a London game. Oh, we're on the London game. Indianapolis, Washington. Oh, wow. You guys are a bit great. Dude, what's the line for that?

You want to talk about greasy. I think it's Colts three and a half. Wow. That game's being played at Hottonham Hotspur Stadium. Those are my least favorite games to call. This guy has jammed us from the word go. We had to play an Australia game, a Brazil game, and now a London game.

Dude, imagine trying to. It's impossible. On a neutral site in London. Like, do you know how awful this game? The best is if it ends up being three on the dot? It will be. I guarantee you it will be. 100% it will be.

Three and a half right now. Even that is gross. Like, I'm going to be having breakfast. Praying that Danny Times does something. One way or the other. I think you take Mariotta. You know what delusional that is? I know Mariotta look really good last one.

Anyway. Yeah. So I guess that means you guys are on Bill's Pats, right? Dugue is that the plan? Of course, why would they play that game? That's a tough. We're not playing Bill's Pat? Yeah, why would we ever want to play that game?

Rams Eagles, boys. That's a massive game. No way. Okay, that's a good. I like that. Now he's going to take Matthew Stafford. You know he's going to do it. Have you watched Jalen Hertz play recently?

They were awful on Monday night. horrendous. That's a layup, dogy. Good, good call. All right. There you go. Lock in the pick. You guys are on Pittsburgh tonight.

Unnamed sources. Did you ever see, you would have seen this? Did you see the curb episode where Larry goes to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist tells him? Yeah, starts talking about it. He says, I have this patient. I'm not going to say his name. He's a famous director, directed Star Wars.

Yeah, it's so great. That's what you should start doing with your own-name sources. 100%. I had this quarterback in Seattle. Not going to say his name. The initials were RW. He threw the worst pick in NFL history. I'm not going to say his name, though.

That's exactly what this is. That's precisely what it is. All right, Luke, enjoy it tonight. Cheers, Luke Wilson, our TSM. Football analyst. All right, Jonas, you got a three-pack on both sides of the Maple Leafs through two games.

Get back into the least win last night. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. The newest tracks. Let's go. New music. And the next big thing. Always on the new music first. Your first place to take it all.

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Stream now on the free IHard Radio app. All right, BestBets coming up later in the hour. Leaves off today, off tomorrow, Ottawa, on town on Saturday. You know, what I've seen, crowds been packed, packed, built. place was going nuts last night, right? When Easton Cowan scored, that was one thing the O-Dog was texting me about. He's like, you've got to talk more about Easton Cowan. I agree, yeah.

Well, why don't you just come on? It's your show. Yeah, we talked a lot about him. Did I miss that? Like, I bet she tuned in at like 4-18. And then goes, why aren't you talking about Easton Cowan? I'm like, dude. Not feeling well.

Give him a break. Yeah, I know. He's not feeling about it. He's under the weather today. I know. I know. He probably is in and out of a little nap and tuned. came in and we're yelling and screaming about like radish or something.

He's like, why did you guys talk about Easton Cowan? We did talk about Easton Cowan. He was great. He was great. He was great. He was extensively. And even to the point we're tied a little bit to McKenna and was like, okay, maybe there's a shift there or there.

Like there was an extensive conversation about Easton Cowan. Yeah. So I'm not sure what more you can say. Like Cowan, again, as we were projecting what this team was going to need this year, Cowan again was kind of lost in the shuffle because of the arrival of McKenna, the arrival of so many new faces, including the head coach, the GM, Hall of Fame goaltender in town, that I think it's actually fitting that a guy who got so much hype last year and kind of got lost into the shuffle a little bit,

had a great camp. Hiller was talking about him day one. Like day one, he's like Houston Cowan stood out, looks great out there. It was very complimentary of him last night talking about how early he was there, the rink and how professionally is and how he's you know maybe he's growing up a lot i don't know he's still a very young player in the league but two games man he's he could not play better through two east and cow's been great and keep in mind he's only one of two that are young on this team like that's that's legitimately like no more nice yeah there's like well i mean yes marchenko is 26 so yeah you know you went from 23 to 26 so it's not that big of an age gap but but

But Cowan is a young player just like McKenna. Everybody else is a vet, and they've been a bet for many years. They don't have a second, third year guy other than Cowan type of thing. So that's the – you know, I said this. I think I said this maybe last week, Brian, to you. Like, let's not sleep on Cowan because we're talking so much about McKenna. He's the Golden Goose, and it's the number one. But Cowan is a guy that, you know, quietly, you know, he had his ups and downs last year,

but he's learned. You talked about being in championship situations. You know, that's a guy that, you know, has grown and had a really nice start. Yeah, he sure has. And that's good for him. Can you imagine what that must have been like to go through as a rookie last year? Like, there was just chaos all the time. Like, you remember even to the start of the year where he was supposed to be on the, in the lineup,

and then, like, he was just scratched in the first two games. And it was like, oh. Do you remember that? Like, it was just like the whole year. I try to forget about as much. as I can from last year. Jonas knows it like low-by-blow. You know, the other thing, too, is they traded Nick Robertson.

Like, he's the only, he was the only other young forward outside of McKenna. Robertson got, did he get two goals? Twice last night playing with Sid and said, hey, I finally gave me an opportunity because the least is... Did he say that? I wondered if he said. He didn't say that. We have the clip. We have the clip.

I'll take it. You want to hear this? This is a very passive, aggressive shot. I knew this. at the Maple Leafle. Backhanded Sean. And well, and guess what? He's down there with Dubus and West Clark.

Like West drafted him, right? And Dubus obviously was the GM at the time when they drafted him out of Peterborough. And they gave him ample opportunity. He did not take advantage of it early on. But the least I thought gave him ample opportunity last year. He did a great camp. And he made the team out of camp. And he played in Pittsburgh last night, made his debut.

Penguins won seven-nothing. He scored twice. Here's Nick Robertson after the game. It's a blessing of an opportunity to play with Sid and Raquel, to put me in that line right away. It's nothing. I'm not used to that. And obviously they put me in position to be successful,

and then it's my job to go out there and perform. So, yeah, I just want to continue to compliment those guys and game of men and metaphors. I think that's okay. I think that's all right? Yeah. He never had that before, never played with Austin or John. He played with all of them.

Like, that's the only thing. He got opportunities. but I don't think he was saying that. Like he never has played with Crosby. Well, exactly. I mean, obviously, Sid is an extreme. Like, you get to play with Sid.

That is an incredible honor. But he has been known to have a great start, great preseason, love scoring goals in the preseason. Let's see what, you know, and I'm rooting for him. I'm not anti-Nick Robertson. Go have a great career.

That would be amazing. But I don't think they're missing him here. And with McKenna here and Cowan playing the way he played, it was going to be even more difficult for him to ever find a role here. So anyway, the Leafs are one and one. We've seen 120 minutes of hockey. But Jonas, you have a two-fold list kind of how to explain this?

I wanted to get into things that I would change and things that I would keep the same. But the problem is, if you change one thing, it ends up changing the thing that you want to keep the same. Right. So that was really the challenge. That is challenging. That's why we have you do these things. Yeah, like, and this is what a coach like has to deal with. It's like if I change that line, oh, then I screwed up that line.

But anyway, I'm going to look at a couple things that I would change. So I'll start with something I would change. And you'll tell me what you think of this. I'm going to come in hot. I put Gavin McKenon on their number one power play unit. Now, here's the problem. It's like, well, who do you take off? I think they need a passer on there.

I think he can play kind of quarterback. I think they're missing that. But then it's like, okay, well, who am I going to take it? It's not Nealder. It's not Matthew. It's not Radish. Probably not Marchenko, who they just traded for. So are you taking off Tavares?

And then it's like, well, who's playing the net front? And Tavares still very good at that. That would have to be Austin. Because if you're putting McKenna in a position to six feet, he's got to play the off-wall. And that's another complication. Well, I think that time is coming, man. McKenna is going to run that power play someday. So is there a world where, let's just say John comes off, and let's just say that.

that. Okay? Yep. You put Marchenko in the bumper position, the high slot, the Braden Point position, Austin on the goal line, McKenna on the half wall, Willie on the other side, and Radish at the top of the umbrella. That's not bad. You're not thinking that's what the world. Marchenko in front of the net.

He's a big guy. But Marchenko goes into the bumper, he spins out. If you watch point, he goes net front and then drops out. To me, what it is is the low guy. But keep in mind, you've got a 69 goal score playing on the goal line. That's probably not. That's where the challenge is. Because if you want half-well, if you want McKenna in the Kuturoff position,

then Matt, you've got to find a spot for Matthews. But that's what we're saying, because the fact is Austin, he doesn't rip shots from this in the power play. Do you want a crazy stat so far from the first 120 minutes? Zero attempts for Matthews on the power play. Yeah. attempt. I'm not surprised by that because, like, obviously

he literally hasn't, but I don't recall a time where I thought, okay, step in there and shoot that puck. And I do wonder how much of that is we got to get Radish going. Like being a good teammate and them thinking, okay, Radish is here, Radish had a couple of shots on net last night on the power play. You know,

when it gets over to Willie, Willie's going to rip shots off too, right? Like Willie, Willie is going to be, you got to be selfish at times on the power play. Like, there are times where it gets on your stick, you got to shoot, But yeah, I think, like, let's face it, the way McKenna is wired, and I don't know, I don't know if this should happen night three of the season, at some point he is playing that Kutraub role.

Yeah. Like it is running through him on the off wall where he is going to use his vision and his time and space to find lanes and create opportunities. They had a morning skate, and he was doing that with the second unit, and I was just like, wow. On the second unit, you could already see it. Yeah. Like, he is moving the puck around and dancing.

And that is a chance at 18, I don't think his birth certificate matters as much in the power play. Clearly, as it does five on five. Exactly. But the elephant in the room, which is the largest elephant, maybe in the history of the franchise, is you got to go tell 34 he's move. And I don't know if Jim Hiller has the stones to do that. You won potentially, right? But I'm not as worried about Tavares.

I can have that conversation. But 34 moving. Keep in mind, if you actually want to take. it a step further. This power play shouldn't be stagnant. They shouldn't be just stand alone and move the puck around. You've got to be, you know, again, you look at that Ebaton-Oiler power play. He's all over the place.

They get people moving, right? That is the biggest thing. You could say to 34, you know, in a perfect world on a setup, we want you here, but really, we need motion. And then you could find a spot. There could be an interchange where Marchenko slides down low and Matthews gets into a one-timer, position because they work the offside. And Willie's on that half wall, who's a really good passer.

Now, you won't have a one-timer from Radish, but you could go to the other side and work to Marchenko on the goal line to Matthews in a one-timer in the bumper position because he spins out. Like there's lots of different options. Like you have to be creative on the power play. We are seeing so many smart players now where the power play coaches are saying, get your set up, but then get creative. And we know, obviously Kuturoff is going to set up where he wants to.

But you don't have Kuturov. You have good players and you have players that might be like that. But Kuterov might be one of the best powerplay players of all time. He is. You don't have McDavid, who's going to be in a blender everywhere. So you've got to be creative. So I think there's options there. It's more about the personnel.

If you get McKenna on the power plate, then you are breaking somebody's heart a little bit. you're going to 91 or you're going to somebody else and going, you're not on the first power play, you're on the second one. That's the way I look at it. Marchenko's been here for 48 hours and McKenna's been on the team for like four months. Here you go.

Yeah. But that's the challenge. You take the job. Are you guys anti just creating two units? Because like basically if you look so far and like the first power play has been bad, they basically rolled them out pretty evenly. It's like a minute apiece.

I found that interesting at the end of the second period. I think they're on a power play. 40 seconds left and they changed and I was thinking, I'm surprised you're not just saying, like you're about to hit the intermission. Like let them drain out there. Remember the Keith days, it was two minutes. Exactly.

And he made a change last night going into a period. All right, there's your number one change. You saw me on that. I like that idea. What else did? Should I make another change or should I keep something insane? Give me the changes. Okay.

I like this one too. I'm pretty happy with this one. I don't care that it's only two games. Easton Callen. I'm going, he's going up to the, top line. He's playing with Matthews and Marchenko. So Cowan's going up. I thought you wanted McKenna to go up.

I changed my mind. I'm willing to give Hayes talk me into like I'm going to give that a little bit more. Well, I'm not going to give it that much more time. But that's the look I think I want to see more. So with how Cowan has started. Yeah. You like the idea of him getting more minutes clearly. Yes. How does he benefit that

line? He chases down the puck. Remember Mike Babcock used to say about Zach Hyman? It's not quite the same, but... Yeah, he's been very noticeable on a forecheck, you know. I think Roscovix played pretty well. So what do you do with Roscovick? That's the problem. Because now it's like, well, I like the third line being like I can play them against good players,

stuff him in the D-Zone. Don't want Roscovick there. But like he's with Paul and Sizzins in that case. I think I'm okay with that. He played himself out of a top six in Eminton now. Correct. So you might see. him in the third line anyways just based on his consistency level because rosslovick's a guy who can

really show up and be a difference maker but then there's times where i do think he gets pushed out of the top six consistently yeah so if you do want it would just be a different dynamic brian like i think it's more you know if cowen is a guy who's got pop you put him on the third line with a couple stabilizers and maybe rosslovick gives them some different looks because those guys will go get the puck ultimately you need with Roslovick somebody to get him the puck because he's not hunting it down he's more of a distributor once he gets it

so whether he plays on a top line or a third line he's kind of more he's a guy who uses skill with whoever he's going to play with so I could see that happening at some point I like it all right you got cowing up on the first line all right here's something no because it was just going to cause too many ripple effects

give me two things you like that you want to stick. So I'm not sure I like this, but I think I want to see it through. I'm going to give the Riley Radish thing a little bit of time. I was surprised by it. I'm not sure I think it's going to last. But I like the idea of like Jim Hillers explained it as, I want Riley playing with Radish because that pairing is going to play with their top two lines. And I think that makes sense. Like the more you can get Riley on the ice with Matthews, and Nealander and Tavaris and McKenna.

He made a great play on the blue line last night. That was a phenomenal play. And so that's the other thing. It's like if you break that up, it's like who's playing with Routish and then who's playing with Tenev? And like the D is like a, it's a funny D. It is not the ideal defense court. It's an old D2.

Very old. I've been saying it. Like I just, you know, if drags and insider trading were teasing us the other day saying they're not, you know, done yet like they should be in on Natchiechkin. Is it Nekishkin? I always butcher his name. Oh, in Carolina?

Yeah. He wants like eight or nine million, reportedly. How many new players to... Morgan Riley makes eight million. You know, like, you've got to... My point is, is, like, you've got to find money for good young players, but, you know, you have to... You're right. That defensive core is old.

I was looking at their speed today on NHL Edge. Yeah. You know, it's thin, right? It's... But, like, what you need is, you can see they've spent their money or made most of their changes, what eight guys up. front, right? Like eight forward. So two on the back end. But it's, you got to give them a little bit longer leash.

If TANF can continue to play 20 minutes, it's, it's found out for me. That is big, yeah. He has looked comfortable. Yes. Like he has looked like himself for the most part. Yeah. Which is very significant. And I think that might be a part of it. They got to wait to see him get going first and prove he's back. He feels comfortable. You can rely on him in every situation. Exactly. And then I could see a change happening. It just, there isn't, I don't know if Jake McCabe is the ideal partner either for Rattish. And OEL, if OEL was eight years younger, he would be the guy for me. You won him playing 16 minutes on the third pair.

You can see why they wanted to trade for Zach Wrenzky, like for obviously. But it's like you put him into this and it's like everything changes. Everything changes, clearly. All right, we're sticking with Riley and Radish. The other thing I, the other combination I really like, and I was looking at their lineup, last year. The Paul Sizzins thing, and obviously Calan has made a difference,

but I can't imagine, like, if you're Jim Hill and you have those two guys just at the bottom of your lineup, just the comfort he must feel. Like, I was looking at their third line at the beginning of last year. Do you remember who was on it? I want to say Max Domi was on that.

Their third line was Dakota, Joshua, Max Domi, Nick Robertson. Like, just think of, like, the feeling you would have as, like, as a coach, just trust-wise, with Sisons and Paul versus those guys. Like, nothing against those guys, but, like, there are different types of players?

Well, there's nothing there that seems to fit. You made three good NHL players with the guys who started a lot. But there was no, like, definitive, like, what do they do? Like, what does Max Domi do? Like, he's really not a natural centerman. He's more should be a winger. Right. You know, he's kind of a skilled guy, a tweener.

You know, like, he works hard, but he's not big, so he's not going to run anybody through the boards. Like, you didn't have, the pieces didn't seem to fit, even though they're now it seems like those guys are more defined they fit in a third line role fit in a fourth line role and can interchange but brian you you said it you know a week ago or whatever they've got a defined top six and a defined bottom six and now you can interchange a guy here or there the cowans of the world but but you really you know i don't think du hame is coming no he's not the lineup no he's going to kill penalties and check and you know get on the ice and get off the ice. Don't make a mistake.

Try not to take any stupid penalties. And McEwen is a guy who will be in and out of the lineup. Based on who they're playing. Yeah, exactly. You need a little bit of toughness or guys who can keep the flies off. McEwen comes in. Then maybe Gru gets a peak. Yeah, Drew.

As a fourth liner, like, he kills penalties a little bit. He can take a draw if you need them too. They also have some flexibility there. You can bring up other guys or maybe that's where there's a trade and it works at some point. And perfect world, you're actually, you turn into a top nine, bottom three. That's kind of actually what they are. And that's what they're hoping for. The first line is barely played.

But there's a lot of discrepancy in terms of skill. Oh, yeah. Like there's no Nylander, Marchenko, Matthews, even McKenna, you know, as much as I like Cowan and Sizzins was really good last night, really good. And Paul was really good. They are not at the same level of like game-breaking skill. But I think in terms of minutes played in performance and importance, they'll be closer to the top two lines than the bottom one.

All right, Jonas, good stuff. Two things we want to change, two things we're going to stick to, or at least keep rolling. It's only two games, right? Only two games. But it's a good start. It's great to have hockey back. We've got the NHL rolling.

More games tonight. Games tomorrow. Leaves to Ottawa on Saturday. Best bets coming up. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. I'm Cynthia Lois, and I'm Josie Dye. And we're done pretending we have it all figured out. Each week we laugh, cry, and talk our way through life's messiest moments.

The things you think about but would never say out loud. The questions you are always too shy to ask. Relationships, regrets, awkward moments, and the stuff no one warns you about. It's honest, it's funny, and sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable. But that's kind of the point. This is Cynthia and Josie's unmentionables. Listen on the free IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Best Fets, powered by Fanduel, make your picks, and assemble the same game parlor

in seconds on the Fandoos Sportsbook app. I just, I can't do it either, man. I can't do it either. It's tough to root for the Browns. It's impossible to root for the Browns. You think you're going to win, don't you? I don't. I mean, that's the thing.

I don't love Aaron Rogers at his age on a short week. I don't think Pittsburgh some, like, I don't think they're as good as Luke believes they are. Yeah. But the Browns are the Browns. And I just can't live in a world where I believe. leave they're going to be three and one and leading the AFC North after tonight.

I don't care what the stats are because the stats all indicate that the Steelers short week on the road, Aaron Rodgers, all that kind of stuff, Cleveland at home, but I'm going to lay the points. It's down at two and a half. Best bets powered by Fandul. Same game parlors available for every NHL

game or NFL game. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. I forgot to ask Luke about the Mike Tomlin thing where his Minecraft world, I guess. has been revealed. How do you do that? How much time would that do?

What is that? I don't know what that is. I don't really know either. I guess it's a video game where you create your own world, but you got to... You create your own, like, yeah, like my kid is into Minecraft. Dude, that sounds so painful. What is the benefit of your own world? But why?

For what? I don't know. I just, people go in there and they play. It's like World of Warcraft and all this. Like these people just, they get special. hours in there. I find that to be my son will be like, Daddy, I got a private jet. I'm like, what? It's like I got a man, I built a mansion and I built an

IKEA on my, on my, you know, in my neighborhood. Like he does all these weird things. Good for him. It's greatly. I couldn't think of something I would want to do less. I know. Then do that. I really, it's weird. But Mike Tomlin was doing it forever. Guy, I mean, what's, what's this guy up to? Come on, Mike. All right. There you go. We got a football game tonight. a bunch of NHL games tonight.

Great seeing you, Jonas. Thanks for doing us. Jonas Sego of the Athletic. We're out of here. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciated everyone for tuning in today. TV radio podcast web up on YouTube live. Streaming soon up on Crave.

We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. We'll chat then. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello.

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