Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Kalyn Kahler of Defector takes the Kirk Cousins QB quiz

Episode Date: September 8, 2022

Football writer Kalyn Kahler talks about her new podcast QB2 in which she interviews backup quarterbacks and then discusses some key questions, like whether it's reasonable to pick Kirk Cousins for MVP, whether you'd rather have him or Derek Carr to win one game, who you'd want for a locker room speech and more...  -- For more of Matthew's Vikings coverage, head to purpleinsider.substack.com For bonus discussions, interview clips, and more videos, check out our YouTube channel! Interact with us on Twitter! @Purple_Insider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and joining me from Defector is Kalen Kaler making a return appearance. But now, Kalen, you have a podcast where you interview backup quarterbacks. And my gosh, I mean, you could not have landed a better brand to come on this show than to talk about QB2. And I have a five question QB quiz about, to be honest with you, starting quarterbacks that matter around the league. But I'm not going to say these QB2s don't matter because you have had some fascinating conversations with Trevor Simeon, Brian Hoyer, Kurt Benkert, who's a really interesting guy. I am loving the QB2 content. How are you? Good. I'm doing great. It's funny because like Kurt is really kind of anonymous. Like he's one of the, as he's described as himself, a fringe quarterback. He's had a few,

he's not on a team right now. He's had a few workouts in the last couple of weeks, but nothing, no signings yet,. But people really liked him. More people have watched his episode than Brian Hoyer. And I'm like, okay, that's strange to me because Hoyer actually started in the NFL and is a better known player. But yeah, the people loved Kurt. Yeah, there's a lot of different categories.

And I've talked about this, and I hope someday you have sage rosenfels on your show because he's kind of the ultimate journeyman backup quarterback and so he we've taught he and i have talked about this how there's like fringe starter journeyman quarterbacks who start for a bunch of different teams this is probably what teddy bridgewater is at this point like he'll start for a lot of different teams. He's not like as bad as most backups, but not as good as most franchise quarterbacks. And then there's the absolute backup, the Brian Hoyer, who you don't really want to start, but you want on your team. And then you have the next level down is the guy who's kind of hanging around in the league. And

that would be somebody like Kurt Benkert. So how did you set your standards for how you were going to decide what qualifies as a QB2? Yeah, I use the word QB2 like loosely because obviously like Benkert is really a QB3. If he's going to be on a roster, like he's trying to be a QB2. He's at that stage where he's like, if I'm on a roster, like I want to win a backup spot, but he hasn't yet done that so I kind of just opened it up to anyone who is not a um clear starting quarterback so like we had Josh I had Josh McCown on and Josh has started a lot of games but he's very much that journeyman guy where um you know he he he brought up.

I actually asked him, I was like, what word would you use to describe your career? And I was like, do you like the word journeyman? Because I know a lot of players actually really don't like that because it's kind of a euphemism for like nobody wanted you to stick around long enough. But he actually was like, you know what? I don't have a problem with the phrase journeyman. But he's like, you know, I've been called retread. He's like that one. I don't like, um, you know, stop gap bridge.

There's a lot of different words that like pretty much all mean the same thing, which is, you know, what he's done where like, yeah, he might get the opportunity to start like an entire season or half of the season. Um, but it's not not gonna be his job like permanently so and i actually like have a request in for ryan fitzpatrick later because he's also like he honestly is a little bit more starter to me than backup but i would love to hear his thoughts on if he thinks you know how he like self-identifies so um I think he would count just because there is kind of a debate on like what is his legacy like what should he be remembered as um so yeah I was

kind of loose with the definition because it's like who am I to say who is a backup quarterback you know like that's it's a personal, it's a personal thing. And I'm going to let them decide. But the interesting thing is, I was a little concerned that when I was pitching this idea that either players or their agents, I've gone through agents, I've gone through teams. I was worried that maybe they would be offended by the name of the show, like, because you really do have to be secure in like your identity and not like, you know, upset that you're not a QB1 to embrace this. And I think there is a certain point in every quarterback's career where they do reach that point where they're like, this is me. You know, this is who I am. Like, I'm not the starter.

It's okay. And so, so far, nobody has been mad about the concept or offended by me wanting them to come on a show that's called QB2. So that's been good. So I think that Fitzpatrick very much fits into the journeyman starter, but also qualifies as QB2

because you'd rather have him as a backup, but he's better than like 98 percent of backup so if he's your backup your starter could get hurt and you could make the playoffs I mean I know that you know Fitzpatrick doesn't exactly have a robust playoff history but it's often because he is signed by teams that need a bridge quarterback so he kind of fits into a few categories but the times he's been on good teams, like the jets, he won 10 games with, and what was it Houston? I think he had a pretty good record with. So he's kind of like that guy that if you dropped him onto a good team, like a case Keenum, if he's on a good team, the guy's going to be able to win. And there is a lot of value in that the Minnesota Vikings did not value

that this year. And you could see why, because they don't have a lot of value in that. The Minnesota Vikings did not value that this year. And you could see why, because they don't have a lot of salary cap space left at this point. And that is an interesting trend. And I promise we'll get into the starting quarterbacks that are going to define the season. But this is a topic I absolutely love. There is a trend, though, of teams saying, I really want a Teddy Bridgewater because

I don't want my season ruined by having my starter get hurt. You know, somebody like Tua has gotten hurt before in the season, or, I mean, he's just been bad at times as well. Andy Dalton in new Orleans, Jameis has hurt kind of a lot. And these quarterbacks are getting paid. So I think that teams understand that there are some players out there that now can give you you know 500 play and those guys lead an interesting life because andy dalton could be a starter on a team teddy bridgewater started last year and went 500 um and i think that there's going to be more of these guys available as we go along as teams quickly bail on the veteran

quarterback like back in the day jim harbaugh was still getting jobs for the San Diego chargers late in his career. So like, Oh, just anybody who can start now it's like, Oh, you're not a franchise guy. Draft a new one.

You're not a franchise guy. Draft a new one, which leads to a lot of QB twos who are qualified to be QB ones. Yeah. I definitely see that happening. And like, I mean, I'm thinking about too,

like the Colts, like Nick Foles is there now, with Matt Ryan and like Nick Foles is very capable, obviously. And yeah, I think that's definitely, definitely, that's what I would do if I was a coach. But then on the other hand, I will say like, just thinking about the new Orleans situation, I think there, I talked to Trevor Simeon this week, and, like, they're – he didn't say that their quarterback room was, like, weird last year,

but he did say it was a very interesting dynamic with, like, Taysom playing several different positions other than quarterback. And so, like, most teams will dress two quarterbacks for a game, but they would dress three because Taysom was often already in the game um in another role when Jameis was healthy and still starting so that's why you know Trevor becomes the backup when Jameis tears his ACL um and Taysom actually had a concussion at that point too so he was also hurt but he was like that was a really interesting dynamic. And then you see this year, Dennis Allen moved Taysom strictly to tight end. He is not a quarterback at all anymore.

And Taysom has had some quotes actually at the team website where he really didn't seem very happy about that. He was like, it's what's best for the team. Like, I'm doing it, whatever. But it was not, he was not enthusiastic at all. And so I think it's really interesting that and Dennis was quoted as saying like well I wanted him to be a tight end because when I'm on the sideline like I don't want him standing next to me while Jameis is out there and to me I interpret that as like he didn't want the distraction of Taysom when Jameis is the starter because I do think that was like pretty confusing with how

like Sean Payton had structured that quarterback room and even when Drew Brees was the starter and then Taysom started the end of that season in 2020 I think that was actually really confusing and so I think it makes more sense now with Andy Dalton as a backup, but Andy is almost like too qualified as well. And like, he's a very nice guy. So I don't think he would be like, you know, a threatening presence,

but I do think about that sometimes of like, if your backup is too experienced and too good, like what pressure is that putting on the starter? And obviously, you know, that applies to San Francisco this year as well. I love that. there's a like qb3 tight end to punt blocker one you know tasem hill i mean there's very few players in history like him and we should appreciate that and two times in my life

i've been at football games where tasem hill threw like a 50 yard completion against the minnesota vikings once in a playoff game and another in a game at home that the vikings lost to new orleans in 2018 and yet you know the guy and he went four and one as a starter but they're like no you're not our backup it's very that's very weird if i was him i'd be like what is going on here but he's clearly not a starting quarterback. So he fits into that like Ray Lucas or Brad Smith. Like, am I a quarterback? I don't know. Which, which I absolutely love. Like the, I don't, I haven't read or watched.

I haven't watched any of the Falcons yet this year, but like fully, they have Felipe Franks who, where did he go to school is he florida right yeah okay they have felipe franks and they actually switched him to tight end um and i don't know we'll get to this later but they only had two quarter last time i checked they only had two quarterbacks on their roster and so i was like hmm is felipe like emergency quarterback still even though they switched him to tight end like Like, so I thought that was kind of interesting. And I'm like, is he going to be like a Taysom 2.0 at some point? Like, I have no idea what,

I haven't really read much about what their plans are for him, but I did see they switched him to tight end. So I was like, oh, that's, that's interesting. It's really actually quite funny how many Florida quarterbacks have been switched to tight end, including an attempt at Tim Tebow at one point. So, um, well, QB two is the show and it is just, it's just perfect. It's like someone made a show just for me. So everyone should check that out, but let's get into this year, uh, and, uh, the quarterbacks that matter and some of the opinions that are strange out there in the world.

So I have a quiz of five questions, multiple choice. You get to pick whatever you want and we can talk about it. Okay, let's start out with this. These things, just before the wire, just before real football happened, we got some crazed quarterback opinions on the internet just yesterday. It was like people saved them up just to stir the internet pot. Which one of these quarterback opinions that were said by real people is the most ridiculous? Mitch Trubisky, QB 12, which was a real thing on the 538 list.

It makes no sense whatsoever. That's how far down the depth chart he should be and i also think i mean i also think like every time there's like an analytical website or something people think that's analytics they're like oh analytics gone wrong it's got derrick carr behind mitch trubisky like no it's just this person yeah but qb12 in the nfl was mitch trubisky. Aaron Rodgers listed by Warren sharp as not being one of the top 10 most accurate quarterbacks in the league or two people from NFL network, picking Kirk cousins for MVP. Which one of those is the most absurd? Oh God.

Um, man, that's a good selection. I'm going to go with, uh, wait, what was the Aaron Rodgers one? He's not the most accurate. Not in the top 10 most accurate. It's really a toss up to me between, honestly, the Kirk one is not the most absurd to me.

Like there is a world in which that might happen. I think it's a not very realistic world, but I'm like, okay, maybe I could maybe see it. I think it's a toss up between Aaron and Mitch being the 12th best quarterback in the NFL. Yeah. Like Mitch should be like, I mean, he was never in the top like 25 quarterbacks when he was a starter in Chicago so I don't know how he all of a sudden jumped to number 12 after one year of

riding the bench in Buffalo although I do I do think he'll be better without Matt Nagy but I don't think he's gonna be that much better so Kerr So Kirk cousins for MVP to me is a thing that people say when they want the other studio analysts to be like, Whoa, he's going for it. Like there's no other purpose of doing that. But I also think that like, that's not to say Kirk cousins can't have a really good year. It's just that the MVP, like Matt stafford didn't win mvp last year i mean you know what does everyone else really plays poorly all year right it's like well i mean because the only

competent quarterback for the whole season in the nfl then what right like josh allen two years ago had this insane breakout year and didn't win m. Like it's incredibly hard to do it. Even you wouldn't bet even the most of the best quarterbacks because it can only be one. And somebody is going to throw for like 50 touchdowns and, and, you know, 5,000 yards. That's probably not going to be Kirk cousins in an ideal scenario. They still have Delvin cook. They're going to run the ball a lot. It's like, not that he couldn't be good. He's been good in a lot of years, but let's not go crazy. That's nowhere close to not putting Aaron Rogers in the top 10,

most accurate. Aaron Rogers is top 10, most accurate in the history of God's planet. Like, come on, man. I mean, that's also something that there's like numbers to support.

Like, I guess you could subjectively say, Oh, well i think mitch is the 12th best quarterback and not go off of stats and you could subjectively say yeah kurt cousins is going to be mvp but like there's literal numbers that could tell you whether or not you know about aaron rogers, which I don't have it in front of me, but I'm certain he's in there. Yeah, I've I've seen him do things that could be considered illegal with his accuracy. Yeah, I have this from PFF that he was third in the NFL in throws that were on target last year and fourth in his percentage of big time throws, which is like tight windows and stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. Shocking news. Aaron Rogers. Good. Very good. I'll make the case for Mitch Trubisky only in this way, only in this way.

So QB 12 is hard, but if you think if you galaxy brain your way into QB rankings, meaning which quarterback just had the best year in that season. I witnessed case Keenum have a top 15 season and there have been a lot of individual seasons that are surprising and random. If a few quarterbacks got hurt and in that particular system, things just worked out because that's a really good team. Trubisky was cheap. They have good receivers,

good coaching. And he was, and, and he added a lot more running. Like for some reason, it seemed Matt Nagy wanted to take away one of his best assets, which was running. You could see like a PFF grade that puts him 12th because he's a better runner than some of the,

like, like what Jalen hurts was last year. Didn't throw the ball super well, but had a good season and ran a lot. Like you could, you could see that not being the most insane thing. Yeah. A hundred percent. I think I'm just like thinking he's going to be benched by week six. Actually I was looking at this year's schedule.

They have like a tough stretch, like week seven and eight. I think it was like, uh, I might be one week off here, but it's like bills and then um buccaneers i think in a row and i was like hmm that might be the time so i don't know well and the way that kenny pickett looked i mean i'm sure they want i'm sure they're waiting for the moment right to just be like oh darn uh what a shame kenny you're in yeah but everyone in pittsburgh like wants kenny to play because he's from there i think he has the fan support too right right and he's probably just more talented than mitch on the face of being able

to throw the football despite his tiny hands folks football season is here and you need more gear to represent Minnesota football. Adam Thielen, Randy Moss, John Randall, the Purple People Eaters, Bud Grant, all great designs from SodaStick that you can put on hoodies, hats, t-shirts. Go to SodaStick.com, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Use the promo code Purple Insider to get 15% off your purchase. Uh, okay. Next question here, which quarterback in the NFL will have the most wildly different performance

from last year, Daniel Jones to, uh, Justin Fields or Kirk. Kirk is going to be in all of these. Kirk is always going to be in? Kirk is going to be in all of these. Kirk is always going to be in answer. He's going to be in all of these. But like people are saying, people are saying that Kirk is going to be a lot better with

this offense with Kevin O'Connell. So he gets in here. Yeah. Daniel Jones, Tua, Fields, or Kirk? Wow. Okay. You know, I kind of want to pick...

I mean, honestly, I think they're all going to be better, but I will pick Daniel Jones. Yeah, I'm going to pick Daniel Jones because I think Ryan Dayball is really good and I like Mike Kafka, obviously. Northwestern, former QB3. mostly QB3 I think he might have

been a QB2 at one point but I don't think he was that good um I think if I think he won a quarterback battle in Minnesota once for a backup okay um anyways he's the offensive coordinator there and obviously uh worked with patrick mahomes really closely in kansas city for i think three seasons um so i kind of believe in that and i don't know i don't i think daniel uh gets a i think he's he gets a bad rap like i think he has something still to show us so i I'm going to go with Daniel Jones. However, Kirk, I think will definitely be better. Tua, not sure.

Hopefully, you know, I don't really, I don't know why I don't believe in him very much. I just don't, I just don't love him. And then Justin Fields, I think, really well. I mean, based off the last preseason game, I mean, if he plays like that in the regular season, that was like miles better than we've seen him before. And I think Luke Getze has done a really good job of simplifying it for him and just giving him things that he can actually do.

And then I think slowly they're just going to build and build as the season goes on. He still doesn't really have any, anyone to throw to, but, um, Darnell Mooney is pretty good. I was like, I got to get Darnell in fantasy because like he's just going to get a lot of targets. I think. Yeah. The theme of the question is really, do you believe that the offensive minds behind these gentlemen will be a big difference maker?

That's really the question. Yeah, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think Luke Getze will. I think the Giants will. I like Mike McDaniel and the crew in Miami, but I don't know. I just don't really like watching Tua.

So I haven't liked watching Tua play. So I just am kind of like, I'm not sure how much he could do. And I just keep thinking of that tweet that the Dolphins PR team, or the social media, but out of his like rocket, it was like under thrown. So, um, yeah, I don't know. So I would go with, I think New York and Chicago, I think I would go with. I think that, um, it's funny that they got to, or a Teddy to be to his backup because

he's kind of like Teddy at this point or like the broken version of Teddy maybe not what Teddy would have become had he stayed healthy but the broke version that's very antsy and sort of throws short passes and stuff like that can't really be consistently aggressive in the intermediate or downfield it's like there's only I mean I know that you know uh in San Francisco they were able to get Jimmy Garoppolo to throw a lot of wide open intermediate passes and like that was their thing. So maybe that's the hope. But I also think that Jimmy Garoppolo was like really good at that. Like, yeah, like a perfect fit for what they were trying to do. And I don't know if Tua is going to be that perfect fit. And I definitely know that Tua is not better in any way than Patrick Mahomes, no matter what Tyreek Hill says on whatever platform.

I'm sorry. No, that should have gone in the most ridiculous offseason statements category as well. Daniel Jones is a tougher sell for me because I think he does have physical talent. He is a good athlete. But when you average under seven yards a pass for three straight pieces, I just have a tough time being like, oh, now he'll do it. And he's also a turnover machine. There's a lot to overcome there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just feel like his last two years, that coaching staff was just such a mess. Of all the new coaches, I think that was probably the worst situation for these quarterbacks that we're talking about in these four scenarios so i'm like okay well he would have the biggest um it's not for ceiling lowest floor i think uh yeah so that's kind of why i think that is i'm like okay that was like a really bad like that was a very bad situation for him the last couple years so before the next question how much like what what is being better look like for Kirk because to me it's not like oh he throws for 7,000 yards or

something I think it can just be the similar way he was in 2019 with Stefanski where it's like yeah efficient and like managing the game the right way but also being aggressive and and using using him at the right times as opposed to Mike Zimmer being like no we just have to run all the time yeah I mean literally like it comes down to like I'm glad you brought up the Stefanski season because like I mean I don't know personally but I think he had a pretty good relationship with Stefanski and Stefanski actually liked him. So I think really, like, I feel like Kevin O'Connell, I mean, Kweisi doesn't appear to like him, but Kevin O'Connell does appear to actually like him as his quarterback so i think that's gonna help a lot because he's gonna actually be in a situation now where like he's not being despised for taking up

the biggest salary of the team and um hopefully there will not be a fight between kevin o'connell and the offensive coordinator and you you know, warring over, we're passing the ball too much. Like that's not going to happen anymore. So that should be a lot better because I think it'll help him, you know, be able to like make decisions better and free him a little bit to actually do what makes sense. So I think you're right. I think like that would be the

goal is like 2019 was that yeah 2019 yeah yeah another thing that stefanski did was actually drew up some screen passes that work which has not happened in the last couple of years and so it's like he understood that you have to find ways to help cousins yeah and also counteract some of the offensive line issues which i am not convinced convinced are, are yet over also with Casey. I'm, I'm just going to throw this out for the audience to notice how few quotes have happened from Casey since the USA today piece. And I'm not going to say anything more about that.

He's been shut down for sure. Yep. I'm just going to, I'm just going to leave that to sit with everybody uh and then we'll just move on so um one interview as long as he lives i mean look man did you think that someone wouldn't quote you saying your quarterback's good not great, but come on. That was, I loved that. I was like, wow. Okay. Confident.

But I also think he's wrong about the Rams. Cause he was trying to say that in that same story, he was trying to say the Rams are like one and done. And that's not a good way to build a team. And you know, you want to build like long-term, which like, sure. Yeah. Like ideally. Yeah, sure.

You, you do but like if you if all you're missing is you know some expensive veterans just go do it like you know go get them throw the money at them bring them in and who cares if they're gone the next year and they also didn't the Rams didn't even really lose that many key people like stafford is back they still have a locker for odell beckham even though he's recovering from his acl so like they might just bring him back in like november like who knows um so i'm like i'm not convinced that the rams are one and done and like it's never gonna you know it's not gonna work out for them again i think they're the Rams' biggest problem is if football, like, destroys Sean McVay before the end of the season. Because if you read that profile of him that Seth Wickersham of ESPN did,

it's like, this man is being tormented by the second, by this sport. And I wasn't convinced that, like, he really wanted to be coaching still. I was like, I think, like, maybe you do want to be a broadcaster anyway i'm going on a tangent there no but it does wear people out quick when you're the head coach and this is like kevin o'connell has no idea what's in for him minnesota vikings head coach look at pictures of zimmer when he got here and look at pictures of him now that man did not age by seven years he aged by like 25 um which is you know it does happen to head coaches but your point I think is exactly right about the Rams and this is interesting about the Vikings because um there's a scene in in the office where uh Michael Scott yells like it's happening or whatever and like is you know

uh that is a gif that people use a lot when you reach the point where your team could literally win the super bowl you have to be michael scott there it's happening yeah we're doing we're doing we're getting if you're the well they did it but the bills we're getting vaughn miller we don't care what it takes because we can win the super bowl and if that blows up okay and this is why getting Kirk was always, I thought it was risky at the time, but always justifiable is they could be like, well, look, you had the number one defense. You got all these stars. It's happening.

Go all in. And if it blows up, it blows up. But, but I, you know, I think that they picked the right, exact right time to do that. And Kweisi needs to hope that the Vikings also get to that point. They couldn't do it this year because of their cap situation. They couldn't go sign a bunch of people. But, you know, at some point you have to realize this is really our year and we have to go for it. And that's where I agree with you.

I think that, like, he's saying that if you're not in that spot, then you can't say bleep them picks and trade for a bunch of stars. I think that's what he was saying, but it was not super clear in the piece right and it's like it's so hard to have a dynasty in the nfl anyways so you might as well uh throw throw it all into one year and hope it works out for you and then you know figure it out the next year like it's almost like this is not this is not a football quote but like um I'm a WNBA fan. I know you are too. And the Chicago skies coach and GM James Wade, I think he had a quote a couple of weeks ago, he won the executive of the year.

And I think he had a quote a couple of weeks ago being like, I'm fine with doing one year deals, which like they often have to do in the WNBA because of the very limited funds associated with the league but like he's like I'm fine with doing one-year deals and like they'll realize they want to come back here next year and then we'll work it out after the season's over like he's like it's sort of his philosophy of like you know every offseason I'm just gonna figure it out again that's like kind of your job as a GM anyways but um yeah i mean i think like

obviously if you have a franchise quarterback you want to lock it down for a long time with like 10-year contracts but you know otherwise it's like yeah it's not a bad way of of structuring your team right and chicago is a good example chicago sky where it was like okay we've got a good team but we're not quite there yet. Candace Parker, like let's bring her in. Let's get Emma Miesemann, like just do anything for veteran players who cares about developing rookies or anything else like that. I mean, I don't even know. They don't play anybody who's young on that team at all.

You're just as a whole, like doesn't really develop rookies. Like, no, no, not no not not really um not not unless you're like a top draft pick but anyway anyway back back to the quarterback way that is an interesting subject though the vikings timeline because i'm not even convinced next year can really be an all-in year for them with their cap situation so when is it going to be i mean maybe that's part of quacey's quote is that there's not really going to be a spot where at least in in the kirk this year and possibly next year time where they can do that so they're going to have to wait until they draft a quarterback and hope that that

matches up with some of their recent draft picks developing but not from the 2021 class we'll have to be other draft classes that develop because it's not that one. So here's the next question for you. If you had to win one game with $1 billion on the line, and you could only pick from these quarterbacks to drop into this super game, Jared Goff, Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield, or Kirk, which one would you pick?

Derek, Derek, Derek Carr. That'sfield, or Kirk, which one would you pick to win? Derek. Derek. Derek Carr. That's not even a hard question. That was a no-brainer for me. I really like Derek Carr. I think the Raiders are going to be better than the Broncos this year. Really? Hot take? Yeah, it's my hot take. I mean, I don't know that they're going to be a playoff team

because I think it's going to be Chargers Chiefs out of that division because that's a tough division. But I do really like – I like Derek a lot. And like with Devontae Adams – is Devontae Adams in my super game? Or we don't know. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you can have – it's like both teams are super teams. So they're like very equal super teams.

Yeah. I mean, like, yeah, I like Derek Carr like derrick car i picked derrick i think derrick car is the right answer here um i'm see i'm i'm a little conflicted about like baker mayfield that we have decided he is terrible when i don't i don't think he's terrible terrible no i don't think i think the browns really uh screwed him over. Who cares if he's an asshole? That was really shitty. I'm definitely rooting for him this season. I don't think he's awful. I think he has a very specific skill set.

I don't know that the Panthers are going to be any good because I don't know that the Panthers are going to be any good because I don't think Matt Rule is a very good NFL coach. I think he's a good college coach, but I don't think he's a good NFL coach. And so I don't know how that's going to go, but I am kind of rooting for Baker. I like Baker. And with Kirk, there is just a history there of important games that have not been won.

Yeah. That cannot be ignored. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. This, see, I tried to pick guys that were very similar, but I didn't want to pick Jimmy G because I thought he's actually probably a better pick because he does win those games a lot. Yeah. He's been there.

Yeah. So I wanted to pick, well, Goff was there and then played horribly. So there's also that, but Jared golf is another one where you're like, could he actually be decent this year? Like it's not like the guy was complete garbage before. Right. Right. I mean, the lions are interesting. I, again, another team I'm like rooting for because they're entertaining. I don't know.

I feel like if they did, I don't know. I think, I mean, Goff is just serviceable at this point. I don't think he's ever going to be elite or maybe what the Rams thought he was going to be when they drafted him. I think he's just like a, I don't think he – I think he could absolutely be successful still, but I think he's sort of going to be more of your game manager types and, you know, people – what is that? Win with, win because of that phrase, which I think is pretty stupid. But, like, he's probably a win with guy forever now. Yeah, maybe – yeah, Baker is going to be the journeyman starter i think

is what he ends up being and and jared goff might very well be the same thing like goff might if he's not great this year he may be andy dalton where it's the same deal it's like when you were young you played on a great team that could use its cap space elsewhere but uh your weaknesses are pretty weak and the reason that car probably is the right answer is because of all the you played on a great team that could use its cap space elsewhere but uh your weaknesses are pretty weak and the reason that car probably is the right answer is because of all the weaknesses of the quarterbacks the kryptonites he probably has the least like because he has the best arm of all of those yeah he's got more mobility than the other guys where it's like we know and you're in chicago so you know what kirk cousins issue is it's when ake, and you're in Chicago, so you know what Kirk Cousins' issue is.

It's when Akeem Hicks breaks through the middle of the offensive line and you have no answer for it. So if other super team has a good defensive tackle, it's going to be a big problem for him where I think Derek Carr could overcome it. But it's like this group of quarterbacks that are thought of exactly what you're saying, like, can I just plug the offense into them and have them run it and see what happens and teams talk themselves into it. And it doesn't really work that often.

Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Next question. Your locker room is a little bit down, a little sad. You lost a couple of games in a row, and this is the pivot point of the season you need

one quarterback to give a speech that is going to change your season good question would it be jamis winston justin herbert russell wilson or kirk definitely not russell because i don't think he's very well liked um he's just as weird and awkward he's a weirdo and I do think like like someone on ESPN when they had the Monday night crew doing one of their preseason games this year um you know how like broadcast crews will like say things that they get from production meetings without like really saying anything um but you're like did you say what I think you just might have meant and they somebody on that crew because it was the money football crew he was like um so and so like one

of the players had said oh it's really nice to have like new voices and i was like okay so everyone was really tired of russell essentially is what i'm hearing there. So not Russell for that reason. You said Justin and then Jameis. Not Jameis for sure because – I think players respond well to Jameis. It's not my style. I think I would go with Herbert. Yeah, I think I would go with Herbert because he's my favorite quarterback.

I don't think he's really the type to even give a speech, so you might have to really, like, prod him to do that because that was his whole knock coming in. Okay, so that was his whole knock when he was drafted is that he wasn't a leader, and that's probably literally why Tua went ahead of him or probably had a big impact over, you know, why he was the third quarterback in that draft class. However, I think his play on the field shows you that actually the speech is not that important. So I pick Herbert because that means he was already my quarterback. So I already trust that we're going to turn our season around and it doesn't matter if he's

whispering the speech. Yeah. Oh, well I was envisioning Herbert getting like really upset and giving a speech one time, like Herbert lost it and everyone's taking him seriously. So then that would be even more powerful. Right. Right. There was a story about like Joe Gibbs and how Gibbs was always very calm with the players and one game they were playing badly and he flipped a table and everyone was like, Oh my gosh. But if it's Mike Zimmer and he's flipping a table, you're like, Oh yeah. Yeah. Mike Zimmer's flipping a table. Who cares? Right. Yeah. I love it. Uh, with Kirk, I think that like Kirk does not have the leadership gene that everyone like just goes to him and he's not magnetic as a personality or

anything like that. But I've always, always kind of felt that it was more of some of the physical shortcomings that caused these things that we pinned on other stuff like not clutch or it's like it's weird he's clutch against the teams like Carolina last year that not that good and he beat uh but then he's not clutch against like the you know some other teams that have better defensive lines that right like we kind of write it after with uh Kirk but but i think herbert is the right answer um okay last one and this is very much this one does not include kirk it's very much toward your qb2 brand if you had to win super game but with only qb2s which of these qb2s would you select jacoby brissett tyra tay, Colt McCoy, or Viking backup Nick Mullins?

Tyra. Well, yeah, my instinct is Tyra because I think he's the most unlucky player in the NFL. I think he's a decent quarterback. And when he did have the chance um to not have terrible luck in Buffalo for that one year what was that 2017 2015 and then he started also 2016 the full seasons okay so um 15 I think they he was decent that year if i remember right so i think i would pick i think i would pick um tyrod and just hope that a trainer doesn't stab him with a needle

i know yeah no you're right he has had he has had a lot of bad luck in cleveland he was starting right and got a concussion i think and then baker took the job and they just you know things went from there. He definitely falls into the like Teddy category as well, or the, the Andy Dalton where it's almost like five years ago, these guys were viable quarterbacks. And now everyone's like, nah,

I don't think so. And I think that's the case. Like Tyrod, I remember ESPN doing a huge piece about how Tyrod was secretly amazing and everything else. But I was there in Buffalo for the 2015 season. And he's, he's, he's a guy like he's a guy. Would I take him for this question? Absolutely. But he's just the guy, he's just the 500 type of backup quarterback. It's like, there's, there's no, there's nothing malicious here. The bills moved

on for the right reasons. Like on come on my friends this is tyra taylor um but before i let you go now you wanted to ask me something before we oh yeah what what was the most interesting backup transaction backup quarterback transaction to you this there was a lot of movement there was a lot of movement so i would say that uh the vikings in particular keeping two backup quarterbacks that were on the team last year that weren't good and were obviously not good last year and then the team being like no this is fine and all through camp being like oh yeah battle's going great everything's totally. Like that stuff you see in practice. Oh, you guys, you don't know football.

That's your problem. And then being like, oh, God, this is so bad. It was like they couldn't hide how bad Kellen Mond was after the second preseason game. And then even better was how ragey people got if you pointed out that Nick Mullins isn't really good. It's like, no, they've got a great backup now like no no no don't um i saw the jets fans absolutely losing it when uh they cut the former golfer yes i i forget how to pronounce his name is it uh streveler

streveler yeah yeah yep because he had like the greatest preseason ever and they cut him yeah uh skylar thompson buzz in miami yeah yeah oh i know my favorite is just that like this draft class for 2022 clearly bad for quarterbacks but all of them were just like getting so much hype it's like desmond ritter maybe malik willis like malik willis's coach pulled him because he wouldn't throw the ball my friends right like you're if that happens great but like come on stop it stop trying to make 2022 draft class happen are 22 guys none of them are starting right that is correct I think it's not starting so I saw Sam Howell film breakdown I was excited yeah there you go sure I'm sure look the preseason might have used to have meant something yeah it sure as hell doesn't now no whatever you see is BS. The Vikings cut everybody who played.

Literally. Come on. Half the team. Gone. So let me quiz you real quick, and then I'll let you go. This has been super fun. Yeah. I'm just going to throw out a team.

I hope I get these. I'm going to be really mad at myself. I'm going to ask you either QB2 or QB3. Okay? Okay. All right. So tonight the Rams are playing. Okay.

Should Calamity strike? Who is their third quarterback oh shit their second one is a john walford um who is the third one you have the list you gave me the i know you're not allowed to use the list oh is it somebody named bryce okay you're getting there and bryce and a famous restaurant chain perkins yes well done well done uh i don't know anything about that man except for his name like i thought he played pretty well here's me being that guy uh all right the philadelphia eagles have four quarterbacks on their roster who is the guy that they picked up from another team oh let's just say he's an open he's an open i know this he's an he's an open open if someone is an open that guy just says how it is he's an open can ask him anything and he'll be an open door book yeah wait there they have so wait they have hurts gardener minshu yep the third one you said they have four the third one in book and then someone named reed sinette oh reed sinette

okay yeah i won't ask you any follow-ups about reed sinette um one of my one of my favorite times of the year is when people try to pick out the seventh round quarterback or something who's the next brady and that that was the case in jacksonville with uh this quarterback getting random buzz as their third stringer oh okay ej perry that's right yeah well done well done uh okay let's let's find one more oh I know I know so uh calamity did strike the Carolina Panthers with their backup situations Matt Corral was uh problematic there and then uh he got hurt and Sam Darnold got hurt. Yeah. Who's the last man standing? P.J. Walker. Okay, that was easy.

That was too easy. XFL legend P.J. Walker. XFL legend. Okay, let me find one more. Let me find the deepest in the weeds that I could find. Somebody that I don't recognize. Oh, okay. In Kansas City, you have Patrick Mahomes and playoff legend Chad Henney. Who else plays quarterback

for the Kansas City Chiefs of Kansas City? They have three, right? Four. They have four. Okay, so there was this guy. Is Dustin Crum there? He was cut. Hold on. Come on. Let me say it. He was cr it. He was crummy. He was crummy. It's like Shane Bukley or something. I have no idea

how to pronounce it, so ding, that is correct. Then there's one more. Yes. And I've never heard of this guy. I think they got this guy from... This guy's really... he has a weird name. Isn't it like Garrett Garantino?

No. Okay. I was willing to stretch on that one, but no, there's no Garrett Garantino. I know who this one is. They did get him from somewhere else. Oh, shit. What is this guy's name? Like they got him from somewhere I think in like the NF guy's name like they got him from somewhere i think in like the nfc east he came from washington maybe um it is chris something oh maybe he doesn't

have a weird name i don't even have a pun well the last name is kind of weird uh chris i don't know i'm not gonna get it okay it's uh ola doken oh yeah a lot a lot of good i don't know i don't know. I'm not going to get it. Okay. It's Ola Dokken. Oh, yeah. I think it's Oladokken. I don't know. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say it in my life. And you probably won't. I probably won't. Well, this has been super fun, and people should check out QB2.

And now we are all caught up on everything quarterback. And follow Kaylin Kallor on twitter for all defector related nonsense and uh and i'm and i also wanted to thank you because you wrote about the chess thing that was happening yes yes and i'm i'm glad that but the defector patrick wrote it right i think yeah yeah i meant the usa company but yes like uh a 19 year old dude with a fake accent clearly cheating at a major tournament with all the best grandmasters to the point where the greatest player of all time just quits the tournament because he knows the guy is cheating it's so insane and no one knows about it so good i need to read it because i need to know how he was cheating

we don't know how he was cheating nobody We don't know how he was cheating. Nobody else. Oh, wow. The post-game interview. What if he wasn't cheating? Unhinged. Come on. No, he was cheating. Like, Magnus Carlsen is the best player of all time.

And this guy has had some issues with chess.com and cheating in the past. He's had kind of a meteoric rise. He had a fake accent. It's yeah. It's super bizarre. It's one of the strangest stories. Yeah.

Scam. Total scam. Total scandal. Okay. Well, thank you for all of your time. I'm glad that we can get together and we'll talk soon. Yes.

Thanks so much.