The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 04/22/2021 - HOUR 1 - Zach Wilson, Lakers, pressure

Episode Date: April 22, 2021

Zach Wilson will not have an easy time in the NFLThe Lakers are still the best team in the NBAQuarterbacks in the NFL don't really play well under pressureGuest: Ryen Russillo Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Thursday.

Today, it's an absolute pleasure to have you in. Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and F.S.1, joys off today, Alex Curry, who always fills in quickly, smartly. Love to have her on the show. You're always there for us when we need you. I love all those compliments. I'll take that any day in the way. Thank you, Colin.

By the way, she is, hey, been covering baseball forever. She's covering the second best team in Southern California, but nonetheless, it is a great year to be a baseball fan in Southern California because it's just there are so many stars. Teams playing well right now. Good stuff. Oh, it's fun. It's fun. So let me start with this. The draft is a week away.

From right now, it's a week away. You know I love the draft. And whenever you get to the draft, you know, there's always what they call comps. You know, what's up? What's this guy going to be? What's this guy going to be at the high end? What's he going to be at the low end? So, Zach Wilson, we know there's five quarterbacks going in the first round. Some say six but five. One's not going to work. One's going to be a star. And then it's kind of where they land. So I've said Zach Wilson, BYU to the Jets, that's where he's going, is the one that smells like trouble. Very talented. But his comp has been Aaron Rogers. And the belief is, Oh, if you're compared to Aaron Rogers, well, you're going to succeed. The other comp form is Johnny Mansell, though, an utter disaster. Because Johnny Mansell did not inherit the stability of the Packers.

He went to Cleveland. So as we get closer to the draft, you dig and dig and find more and more. And I do see a lot of Aaron Rogers with Zach Wilson of BYU. you. Not as much Johnny Mansell. But I'm going to show you something interesting about Zach Wilson. Here's how he did against the teams he played in his career that won 10 plus games. And this is not exactly Alabama and Ohio State. The five teams he played, 10 plus wins, Coastal Carolina, Hawaii, San Diego State, Utah,

Boise State. Okay. Good programs, not Oklahoma. He went 0 and 5, one touchdown, seven picks, completed 61% of his throws. In those five games, the next Aaron Rogers had one touchdown pass. And BYU's got players. BYU is a good program. He's not surrounded by a bunch of stiffs. BYU is a top 25 program. The two best coaches he faced were Kyle Woodingham at Utah and Chris Peterson at Washington. Those weren't necessarily the best teams, but really good coaches, could coach in the NFL. Against those teams, he was 0 for three with three touchdowns and four interceptions. You're seeing a pattern here, and it is an Aaron pattern. He's a frontrunner. That's always been my knock on Aaron Rogers. He's great against average,

against tough, he often bails. Now, I'm going to list a series. of words or terms. And you tell me who you think of. Flashy. Cool. Been injured a few times. Not huge in terms of physical stature. Wow.

What an arm. Likes to show off a little. That's not Aaron Rogers. That's what you thought it was. That's Zach Wilson. They share all these similarities. But Colin, that's a great comp. Who would not

want to be compared to Aaron Rogers. But it's as if people have amnesia about Aaron Rogers' first four years in the league. Aaron sat for three years, went to a stable franchise in a small market, a culture that is patient in a historically dysfunctional division. And he was surrounded by great talent at wide receiver and running back,

and the team had been 13 and 3 the year before. And with all that, the great Aaron Rogers was a hot mess. his first year starting. Six and 10 and the most picks of his career. And don't tell me Aaron couldn't pick up the system. He's one of, if not the smartest quarterback in the league. Aaron was a hot mess. He had Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, a thousand-yard rusher, an excellent head coach. They were 13 and 3 the year before. Patient, smart culture, Green Bay. Aaron was 6 and 10.

Zach Wilson is going to be asked to start for a rookie head coach. In the best defensive coach division in years, Sean McDermott, Belichick, Brian Flores, with a battle line, no proven star receivers you can depend on. And we think this guy's going to knock it out of the park. But, but, but he compares to Aaron Rogers. People have amnesia. Aaron got every benefit in the world.

stability and patience and the Packers were great the year before and weapons and three years just watching it. And he struggled his first year. And you think Zach Wilson is just going to fly in here? This is the trouble spot for me in the draft. We know one of these guys is going sideways. This is it. Zach Wilson so far in his career has shown the ability to dominate garbage. struggle against even good teams like San Diego State, Utah, Coastal Carolina. They do not exist in the AFC East. All right, so Anthony Davis is coming back tomorrow. I know this is obnoxious, and nobody wants to hear this, but the Lakers were the best team

in the league last year. They were the best team when LeBron and Anthony Davis played together this year. Now the brittle guy and the older guy have taken a rest and they're about to come back, and they're going to be the best team again, and they're going to win a championship. The Lakers are the best team. I've watched the Clippers a lot in the last month. Paul George is on fire.

There's something there. I've watched Philadelphia. Ben Simmons takes some nights off when he and M. B'd play. They're very good. Still think they need another shooter, and I've watched Brooklyn. You know, the four or five games, actually all the guys have played together, but they have no chemistry and they're not very good defensively.

The Lakers will win the championship. And when you watch all these stars play together, Joy and I had talked about this. It was remarkable how LeBron and Anthony Davis clicked immediately. LeBron was best friends with D. Wade. It took three months. They were just clunky together, even though they had so much talent in Miami. Why do LeBron and AD work?

It's really simple. As a basketball player, LeBron is a leader. As a basketball player, Anthony Davis wants to be led. A lot of guys in this league think they're leaders, Kevin Durant Kyrie, but they're not physically or emotionally dependable. If you're depending on Anthony Davis, he becomes Rashid Wallace, who I covered in Portland. If you're depending on him, he'll drive you nuts. But if you ask him to be led by others, a strong coach and a strong four leader, and just be productive, he's as difficult to defend as anybody. Phil Jackson told me in the middle of the Laker dynasty with Shaq and Kobe.

I sat in the hallway of the Staples. It was one of those times when Phil Jackson there and nine reporters. And I asked him in the series, Lakers, or even with Portland, how do you think you can stop Rashid Wallace? He's giving you trouble. Phil Jackson turned to me all six, seven of him, and said, Colin, we will not be able to stop Rashid Wallace. There's nobody in our roster that can stop him. including Shaq. If he scores 40, we hope to slow everybody else down.

That's how good Rashid Wallace was. He was ahead of his time. God, if he could play today with that three-point shot, Anthony Davis is Rashid without the technicals, without the volatility. He doesn't want to lead, and he has the self-awareness to know. That's not who I am. Guys like Kevin Durant and Kyrie want to be the man, but they're not really built for it.

Kyrie's just too erratic and physically he gets hurt. KD. similarly, little off, little erratic behavior, very, very emotional, thin skin, can't be as a leader, have to take the heat. But Anthony Davis has this understanding. I want to be led, and LeBron loves to lead. And that's why it works magic. That's why I said when Kevin Durant left the Warriors, I said, man, I'm not sure about this because Steve Kerr's a great leader and so is Steph. And Kevin Durant could drive to the facility, score 28 a night, grab titles, single guy, have a life, off season, don't have to do all the media stuff for the Warriors.

During the season, don't have to do all the media stuff for the Warriors. Draymond likes to talk and Steph likes to talk and Kerr likes to talk and the owner grooved him into some tech investments. It was perfect. And now, now in Brooklyn, he's got to be the man. And that's not what he is. What he is is brilliantly talented. Kevin Durant, KD, is more AD than he'd ever want to admit.

And AD's ability to admit that is why he'll come back. LeBron will follow and the Lakers will win back-to-back titles with them. All right, scouts for a living pick apart recruits. That's what they do. That's what they should do. They're paid to do it. But can I pick apart some scouts for a second who have come up with completely inane, ridiculous criticism of Trevor Lawrence, who will be the number one pick.

And I'll lay it out with data. It won't even be an opinion. It'll just be data. It's a criticism I've heard for years about star quarterbacks. And it's silly. The minute it comes out of their mouth for a scout, it's silly. We'll talk about that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Ration. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you're you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with

Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanging. happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45.

How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbiased. and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfridell from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, Traders, and we're gearing up for the season finale

of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like what was just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion at the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha who. Again, we'll be are experts. So make sure to tune into Podmeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to Podmeets twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This Mother's Day, 1-800flowers.com, 36 SorbetRose is 36 bucks. 1-800flowers.com. The code is H-E-R-D. So, listen, I know what scouts do is pick people apart. That's what they're supposed to do. That's what they're paid to do. You have your scouting director. You got your regional scouts. you have your national scouts. And their job is to find flaws. But there are some players like a Derek Jeter, you know, out of college or high school that don't have a lot of flaws. Alex Rodriguez did not have a lot of flaws.

Andrew Luck, people started talking about his lack of arm strength. It was like, oh, brother, we're nitpicking. So Trevor Lawrence doesn't have a ton of flaws. This one, I've heard this a lot from fans and now I'm hearing it from scouts. Well, when he faces real pressure, he's not as good. I'm reading this this morning. And NFL scout said this, boy, under pressure, you see him rush the process. He hurries through it.

That needs to be baked into Urban's thinking. So when he gets pressure, he has to hurry through stuff. Yeah, that's what you would do when you're pressured. If you're in traffic and somebody cut you off, you put the brakes on a little. Or you speed up to, you know, avoid getting hit. That's what you would do. This is a nonsense argument. I read another quote this morning from somebody against Ohio State and

2020. He threw for 400 yards, but he struggled against the Buckeyes pressure. I could be wrong, but 2020 Chase Young played for Ohio State. The best prospect out of college at pass rushing the sports had for years. So let's just take what pressure does. Patrick Mahomes, the guy. Last two Super Bowls, he's faced Tampa's pressure and then the 49ers pressure. That's real pressure. Patrick Mahomes. This is with Andy Reed, with Travis Kelsey.

with Cheetah, with legit running backs. Eight quarters in the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes has two touchdowns, four picks, has completed 57% of his throws with an abysmal 64-passer rating. Funny what that pressure thing does. That's Patrick Mahomes with a great system and coach. Oh, by the way, Brett Farr, Mr. Gunslinger, in the playoffs when he faced better teams, better coaching, better pressure.

13 and 11 with 30 picks. Tom Brady last year, the goat. And I'll include his playoffs when he went four and O. So I'll include the hot stretch against pressure last year. The dad of Tom Brady against pressure. His passer rating was a 46.8 and he completed 42% of his throws, 4 TD 6 picks. With Bruce Ariens, that O line, that running game, those receivers and tight ends. A passer rating of 46.

There's never been a quarterback in my life who was great under pressure. Russell Wilson makes more out of duress than anybody I've ever seen. But even Russell Wilson last year through 13 picks and kind of went sideways in October, November. Like frustrated the staff. Nobody's good under pressure. And yes, when you face LSU as Trevor Lawrence did and they have 14 NFL players. Yes, it's just amazing. He didn't look the same against LSU as he did against, you know, Boston.

college or when he faced Chase Young at Ohio State. It's amazing when Chase Young is chasing you down. You're not quite as slick as you were against, you know, Florida State and their bad staff a couple years ago. Listen, you can nitpick this kid apart, but no quarterback in my life. Peyton Manning would go from the best have ever seen to a mess with interior pressure. Brady struggles with pressure. Eli, two Super Bowls, pressure becomes an interception machine. It's the reality. nobody is Goodwin hurried from that position. Alex for the news. Well, according to reports, Justin Fields told NFL teams that he has been managing epilepsy

throughout his football career. Now, he was diagnosed as a child and has taken medication for it, and his symptoms have become shorter and less frequent. The condition has not affected him on the field so far. And Ohio State coach Ryan Day tweeted his support for field saying, Justin's health, toughness, and work ethic have never been a lot. an issue, and I'm incredibly proud of his professionalism and the character he displays on and off the field. The fact that he never missed a game at Ohio State speaks volumes about how he takes care of

himself. Now, I'm not a medical expert, obviously, but anytime you're dealing with seizures, it just seems like that's a big deal. Well, I mean, I think everything for these prospects is something, and nothing is everything. And so if you were the Denver Broncos and reportedly, they like him and Trey Lance the same. Is this something that moves you to Trey Lance, potentially? So I don't think, you know, I just kind of look at it like Zach Wilson. The deeper you dig, you find certain things you're like not a fan of that. I don't think it's, I always defended the Wonderlich test for quarterbacks.

I said, it's not everything. It's not even significant. But if you had a really low score, it's something. I'm like, okay, he struggles on test. this is a fast league. Everything is something. Yeah. So I don't think it means he's going to drop out of the first round.

I don't think it means it's going to drop. Listen, we got five teams that need quarterbacks, and they're all going by like the 13th, 15th pick. So he's going to get drafted. By the way, if he goes a little lower, he probably goes to a better roster. So if he drops to New England, he gets Belichick. So I think everything is something, but, I mean, the rest story I read this morning is his family has had it, But what he is dealing with is lessened every year. Yeah.

So the symptoms have decreased every year. So that's good news. I mean, my question would be, could there be something in football that could trigger it? Yeah, I don't know. Maybe getting hit extra stress, something like that. So whatever team picks him up, it's just going to have to be a little extra research they do on the medical staff to make sure that he's okay. Right. Yeah, that's all it is.

It'll be okay. Well, moving on. Jerry Jones has been very high on Kyle Pitts in this year's draft with the 10th pick. the Cowboys may not be in a position to get him unless they move up, and the team held a virtual interview with Pitts, and Jerry told him just how excited he is to see what he does in the NFL. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm excited to have you come into this league. And, man, what a pair-up we could do with old Dak Prescott,

some of those guys that we've got out there of options to get to the ball. So we can dream of visions of sugar plums around. here. What comes to your mind when you think of sugarplums? Well, I don't know. What? Am I missing something? It's like a Christmas morning. Like I looked up sugar plums and it's all these Christmas morning like candy kind of fairy tale images. To get Kyle pitch, you'd have to give up draft picks and what Dallas has a few. But what Dallas can't do is give up a ton of draft picks because they're so expensive on the O line and offense. They need their draft picks. They've got to get inexpensive on defense because they're so expensive on offense. So I mean, listen, if if they weren't

paying Zeke and Amari and Tyron Smith those dollars, give up, give up picks, multiple picks and go get him. Because I do think he'd be amazing for Dak Prescott. And by the way, I will say this about Dallas, despite all the misgivings people have, they do offense right. Yeah. That's not the issue. With Aikman, with Romo, with Dak, they've drafted offensive well. They've been productive. I mean, C.D. Lamb has been an absolute gold mine of talent. and he'll pop this year. So they're good with offense. The question is, you know, I just, I mean, they could get Kyle Pitts.

If you called Atlanta and gave him a ton, you could get him. But I just think they, right now, they are up against the cap and they need a lot of young players to hit in the draft. They do. What are they willing to give up? It's not necessarily what they need, but Jerry Jones loves the flashy offensive player. He always has, and he's honest about it. So you got to respect him for that. All right, let's move on to Steph Curry.

He was on an incredible streak. of 11 straight 30-point games. It came to an end last night when he only scored 18, the Warriors lost to the Wizards. But before the game, a preview of his interview with Rex Chapman was released, and he asked if he thinks he should be the NBA MVP this season. And he said, I got to be.

I probably won't get it, but whatever. Now, I am here for Steph Curry's answer. He changed the game. He plays a different way. He's only one MVP twice. He's healthy. He's on a hot streak. And I think that's what it's going to come down

to this year is who actually can stay healthy. And you got to remember, he didn't play in the bubble. He had a lot of time off, a lot of time to get healthy, a lot of time to rest. He's looking good. The only thing that's going to hurt him is his team isn't great right now. I'm interested to see where Chris Paul finishes because he did it again last night. Chris Paul's not flashy. His game isn't easy to love. But the Phoenix Sons for 11 years have been a tire fire. They still have a chance to finish with the best record in the NBA. All these young players they have have all blossomed. I know Chris Paul's not going to win it.

I just want to see if he gets top three because Phoenix did it again against Philadelphia that once again Chris Paul's the key. But we all know the MVP has mostly been about stats and what's the better story. Russell Westbrook was a great story. Katie bailed on him. It's a good story and his stats.

I've given up a hope of Chris Paul's. Paul winning it, but I want to see where he gets votes because I think what what's happening in Phoenix right now, and by the way, I haven't watched Oklahoma City lately, but they were an 11-game losing streak. And last year with Chris Paul, he had him in like a four-spot or a five spot in the playoffs. So where do you see the MVP? Where do you see it right now? Foxbet has Steph at fourth. If M-Beed is great down the stretch for the last, how many games they have, 15, he's going to get a lot of it. You know, what's funny is Yonis, we were talking about this yesterday, Yes, his defensive numbers are up, but I think people are tired of Janice.

Janice's stats are great. But we've already given him that. So the story's old. We're fatigued on the Yonah's story, but you could give it to Yon. There's a lot of people you could give it to. You know, I give it to Steph. I'm good with it. His numbers now are better than his MVP year.

Yep. Good stuff, Alex, with the news. Good stuff today. Bruce Feldman next hour. T.J. Hushman's out of my buddy Ryan Rusillo is going to join us now. the ringer Ryan Rusillo podcast. Joining us live brought to you by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. So here's my theory.

I do think the Lakers will win it. I think they're younger and deeper than last year. And I think, you know, the old man and the brittle man, LeBron and AD taking time off is actually in a weird way, actually beneficial. But I, you know, I covered Sheed for years. And when I first covered him, he drove the Blazers nuts because they depended on him. It's not who he is. What he is is filthy, crazy good.

And when they came to terms with, when you put Sheed, Rashid Walsh, with Detroit that had Chauncey Billups, they had leaders, sheed's a monster. And that AD and LeBron work, because LeBron is a Hooper, is a leader, and AD likes to be led, and he's self-aware, he doesn't care. And I see, now he doesn't get the technicals. He's not as volatile because Sheed was crazy. But I think AD reminds me a little bit of shit. She wants to be led when you lead him, he's money.

Okay. We may not get to anything else. This feels like one of those cowherd greatest hit CD comes out of the end. This is all of your anti-Anthony Davis stuff that we used to yell at each other about in the hallway. Yeah. Your anti-Kentucky thing where you just get you like everybody from Kentucky's a bad pro and there's like 40 of them in the league. You're wrong on this one. Okay.

You're wrong. Anthony Davis, you want to tell me he's not a one? That's fine. How many ones? How many true ones are there in the NBA, a league between 450 and 500 players that playing the season? How many ones are there that as soon as you get them on your team, they completely change who you are and give you a real chance at a championship? Okay, that's a good question. So I would say LeBron, I'm a Chris Paul fan. I'm a huge Chris Paul fan. By the way, I used to be a denier.

I would say Jimmy Butler and Miami has been unbelievable both ends of the floor. He's changed the temperature in the room. They've got a bunch of kids. And then I would say, Steph. Steph. Wait, you have it. What? Four, the whole league.

Wait, see, the thing is, is my list is four. So I thought when you said Jimmy Butler, I'm like, oh, no, we're going to be here. We're going to be here until Saturday. I wouldn't put Jimmy down as my four, but I think it's four. I think it's, I think it's Steph. I think it's LeBron. LeBron, I put ahead of Steph. Because look, even with Steph with no one around it, they may not even make the real

playoffs. That's right. Kauai is certainly that. but with the injury management, I think it's a legitimate question you have to ask yourself, and I throw Durant in there. Okay, so the point is that even as great as Hardin is, I don't know that it guarantees you a chance at winning a championship. So if your counter or your anti-Anthony Davis position, not you or anyone else out there is like, well, he can't be your one.

Okay, well, then join the club. Because it's like a handful of guys. That's a very, very short list. Not, hey, who's really good or who can be the lead guy on a team, but changes to you're like, we don't even know if Janus is that right now. I love Embed. I'm not sure that's who he is. Joker is going to win the MVP, I think, this year, because he's been the healthiest out of the group.

I'm not sure that he guarantees you that kind of championship. So the point of all of this is, is that if you're saying Davis can't be that guy, that's fine. Yeah, there's moments there. Look, the injury thing is real. It's a problem. There are moments when I watch him where I'd like to see just a little bit more aggression, but I'm going to throw a couple numbers at you here, okay? Because I think the Sheed comp is so far off here because as good as Sheed was,

he was somebody that was complimentary, like incredibly complimentary when he was in Detroit. He was averaging 13 a game for them. All right? His shooting number is like 40, 44 or 45% from the floor. Anthony Davis in his playoff career is like a 28 a game, 11 rebound a game guy. He's at like 58% from the floor. He's honestly one of the five most talented guys in the league. And if you want to throw one more stat at it, I know there's no perfect stat.

If you go P.E.R, which I think does a good job of telling us the extremes. You want to know number one is? It's this guy named Michael Jordan, all right? All time. Number two is LeBron James. Number three, right now in career PERR is Anthony Davis. Rashid Wallace is at 241. They're not the same guy.

All right. That's a decent argument. All right, let's move to this. Let's move to this. This is what we talk about. We have beers. We argue like this. Okay, so I said this for the Brooklyn Nets.

What's interesting about the Brooklyn Nets is I'm falling for it, or I did early like I did the Clippers. They'll figure the chemistry out later. The deepest roster is a bunch of baskets. It's good. and it's all of a sudden you're like, if you don't think chemistry matters, look at what Doc Rivers has done to the Sixers. Like it's like, oh, it's amazing that, you know,

and Doc told me, and I'm sure he's told you this, when he went into the bubble last year, he told the Clippers, guys, we're not playing together. We have no chemistry here. And he told me that after the season. And I look at the Brooklyn Nets and I think to myself, we're falling for it again. They've played four total games.

You cannot solve your issues in the playoffs. And I look at Brooklyn and I'm like, I don't know if they get to the finals. I don't know if they match up with Philadelphia. I mean, where are you on the Nets today? I'd like to believe everything you just said is still important. So I lean towards agreeing with you here because as weird as these regular seasons have been for much bigger reasons, it's just odd to think that, okay, so a group that's never done anything together,

I'm just like, hey, you guys want to start playing for real now? I would think that's a huge ask. The problem is when those guys are together, and it hasn't even necessarily, been when even Durant's in the lineup. The offensive numbers are a joke. Now, to say historically the greatest offense ever, because that's what the stats are saying. I think, look, this has been the easiest year to score I've ever seen in my lifetime of watching basketball. It is. I mean, it's never been easier to score a bucket. We get guys getting 20 a game where I'm like, is that guy going to be in the G League next year? All right? So I look at them against Philadelphia

and I say, okay, the Nets defense isn't that good. The bigs, I don't know that it's really a problem for them. You know, there's going to be a night where if they go up against M.B., where Embed is going to get 40, but if the Sixers aren't shooting around them, it's not going to mean anything. But here's the thing I keep coming back to that I like. At least I know with Philadelphia, like how everybody is supposed to be used. And between Green, Thibel, and Simmons, who might be defensive player of the year, those are three incredibly versatile defenders that can switch a lot that also give you a lot of size. So it's just keeping Brooklyn honest and making them work if this matchup actually happens in the East, because I feel like we still are being a little dismissive

Milwaukee as well, as they've had another really good season. And they say, is the best version of them, but we don't want to buy into it. I would love to see it look real because I still don't know if the regular season is so, like, are we so beyond the regular season? And maybe we are with this one that we're just supposed to give you the benefit of the doubt when there's no reason to you. You want to tell me the Lakers and I'm supposed to give them the benefit of doubt? Okay, no problem.

I just saw you do it last year. It wasn't even that long ago. So I'm with you, Colin. I think it's a big ass to go, okay, Hardin, whose playoff disappointments are lengthy. Kyrie, who at this point, you don't know what to expect of them, and the Durant injuries that continue to pile up, like as if you're just supposed to hand them the east, I think that's granting them a huge benefit of the doubt

that I don't feel comfortable with. A couple football topics now. So one of the things about the draft is, I mean, just the more layers you uncover, I mean, we found out about Justin Fields' epilepsy. I don't know what it means, but in the end, I didn't know about it two days ago. I know about it now.

And I started digging the last couple days on Zach Wilson. And there's a frontrunner component to him, him that's really weird. If you go to the five teams he's ever played against, and I'm not talking Ohio State Oklahoma here, I'm talking the five 10 plus win teams, Utah, San Diego State, Coastal Carolina, not only is he 0 for five, he's got one touchdown in seven picks. Like, okay, so, and by the way, BYU is not a bad program. They've got real players. This is a real, BYU is a top 25, top 30 program. Then when you put him up against Chris Peterson and Whittingham, I think the two best coaches he ever faced. Yeah, he didn't win any of those games either. He was 0 for three more interceptions

to touchdowns. And I've always said this about Aaron Rogers. He's great. Little frontrunner component, but Aaron went into a stable organization and sat for three years. And then when he came out, he had Greg Jennings, Donald, Driver, Jordy, Nels to a thousand yard back, and number 13 and three the year before. And he still struggled as a rookie, rookie being the first year out. I look at Zach Wilson. Ryan, the more I look at, the more I'm like, one of these guys is going a bust. There are a million red flags with him. Are there not? Yeah, I think the component where you go up against the weaker opposition this year compared to previous years, you're like, okay, well, what story am I being told here? I had his head coach, Kalani, on my podcast recently, and I go,

you know, what's going on? He goes, well, what you guys don't understand is that he actually just improved, okay? So, like, can the guy just get better? But the bust part of what you're talking about is a perfect example. The more I've looked at the, this now. As long as I've been on the air, almost 20 years and loving the quarterback deal of the NFL draft as much as you do, the more I've dug into it and look through it, the more I know I don't have any idea what I'm doing. I'm serious. We could sit there and go, okay, he wasn't very good against the better teams. That's a huge red flag. I would agree with you. But the funny thing is, Josh Allen, when we saw him coming out of Wyoming, where honestly the first two years of his

NFL career, I was like, I don't know what's going on here, if this is going to work out. The worst games he had against the teams that were good, like Oregon, the Iowa game, and I thought he might have to retire at halftime of the Iowa game. And the thing is, is that actually in that Iowa game, when he had no chance, you saw him fight and compete like crazy, and that was actually a positive, even though the numbers were atrocious. So I can give you a template for any guy where it's like, actually, this guy did this, and he was great.

So now this guy will be great. Or, hey, this guy did this, and he was terrible. So this next guy's a bust. Here's what I know is the five or six guys who are arguing about three are going to stink and be on different teams in three years. And I can't really do a great job at telling you. you which ones I would want to bet on because it's so hard with quarterbacks even in the first round. Finally, Trevor Lawrence, I just, you know, I just, scouts pick people apart.

Scouts are now saying he's not good under pressure. And I'm like, yeah, he lost to LSU. It's crazy how that works, the best college team ever. Right. When I hear the criticism, he's not good under pressure, and I watched Mahomes, and I gave his stats in eight quarters of the Super Bowl, and they're like horrible. I'm like, can we stop? I mean, I mean, what do you make of the pressure?

By the way, I've heard this now for two years. Oh, when he plays Ohio State in LSU, he's a different guy. So is everybody, right? Yeah. Look, as much as I didn't like the Rashid Antity Davis segment, I couldn't agree with you more on this one. This one is, like, this would be like describing a hitter saying, you know, when he strikes out, he doesn't, he doesn't give you a lot.

And you're like, okay, who, which quarterback is good under pressure? until I hear one guy that played, one guy that was a GM ever in all the years that we've done this, Colin, one guy say, you know which quarterback is awesome who thrives when he's getting hit and getting pressure? You know, I mean, granted, yes, we could talk about the guys can escape and you can't contain him in the pocket. But nobody, nobody with this kind of approach to playing the position is going to be good under pressure. I've seen enough for him. Like, hey, what the hell is Bama as a freshman in the national championship game? Like, that's not, you want to tell me that the game get out of hand?

hand so that they couldn't pressure you as much. Okay, fine. But I just, we get so much time with these guys. If he doesn't work out, it's going to be because he's too tall and long in his release. And then other guys are like, well, he's long, but he's actually not that long in his release. You know, it depends. Do you believe Dilford? Do you believe, you know, I talked to Carson Palmer this week, too, and they disagreed on kind of the mechanics of the whole deal. I just saw a guy out there whose teammates loved him, who competed like crazy, who's a sick athlete for his size. And yeah, he had weapons all over the place. But just because we've had more time to look at this and go, you know, he got dinged up a little bit against an NFL team that was out of Baton Rouge. I'm not buying it.

Yeah, same here. Well, that was good. That was healthy for both of us. It was like a therapy session. We had to come to, I had to come to terms with some of my foibles and issues. I really appreciated that. This really was like a rom-com there at the end. The Ryan Rusillo podcast, it's very popular. Occasionally he'll have me on that. But, you know, once a year, and that's about, you know, it's very... That's about all I get out of you. I put in an ask before you moved. Now, you know, now I know I'm never going to get you now. I got hamburger chains moving up.

I know. I'm very busy guy. All right, buddy. Good seeing you. The ringer. Ryan Rosillo, listen to his stuff. Thanks, bud. Thanks.

You know, it is interesting about quarterbacks. Should we judge them not before the draft, but after the draft? Really interesting data this morning on the last 32 quarterbacks taken in the first round. Really interesting. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches. We talk to players. We tell you stories.

You download it. You listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Ghalib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered. conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the

Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fan.

fantastic BS. All of a sudden I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura podcast network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfridell from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Star, traders, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge.

That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion of the 50th season

from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of, Oh, aha, who, oh, oh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, sometimes talking to Ryan Rosillo about the NBA, I think we forget. And Ryan touched on something that I touched on earlier this week.

I've never seen a year in which it was easier to get a basket in the NBA. And listen, the NBA ratings are down like 50% the last two years. Is it, you know, some of their politics? Who knows? I don't know. It's not great for the NBA. Is it because they have young viewers and they just watch on their phone? You still wouldn't lose 50% of your TV audience.

So there's some things with the NBA they have to deal with, but I think we forget sometimes it's a pandemic we're still dealing with. Dodgers just announced this week they'll have a vaccinated area for fans. They can only let 10,000 in. The Dodgers draw 4.5 million a year. They can only let like 10, 12,000 people in. So in the NBA, you're still dealing with a pandemic. Last year, it was the bubble, which came off brilliantly.

But the NFL made it look so easy that we just think, oh, it's just, it's regular sports. No, it's not. The NBA schedule is all jammed up. So you're getting a lot of these star-driven teams. Philadelphia's got two A's. You know, Ben Simmons and Embed are great players. Well, M.B. took some time off.

He got hurt. And that meant they leaned on Simmons, and now M.B. healthy and Simmons has taken time off. And James Harden carried the nets and then Kevin Durant took time off and then he was hurt. Then he came back and then James Hardin goes out and the Lakers AD. I'm not saying these guys aren't legitimately hurt, but what I'm saying is when you're on the Lakers or you're on the Sixers or you're on the Nets and you're on these kind of star-driven teams in a condensed jammed up schedule, any opportunity to give a guy a night off if he's a little got a little bit of a sore hamstring, you just do it. So I don't think next year the league will be

quite as offensive as it is this year. And I don't think next year players will take as many days off. We have a real pandemic here. And I get where the Lakers and the nets and the top teams, Ben Simmons, take the night off. Like, I get it. They're just getting ready for the playoffs.

We are still in the middle of a national crisis, although I think increasingly the news, there's light at the edge of the tunnel, right? So, you know, we always nitpick all these quarterbacks going into the draft. and I actually think it's much easier to predict how they'll do after the draft based on where they land. So I have a list here of the 32 quarterbacks taken in the last 10 years in the first round. Here's the best winning percentages. Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Andrew Luck, and Teddy Bridgewater.

Now, Bridgewater doesn't feel nearly as talented, right? But he got Mike Zimmer. Mike Zimmer is known as one of the four or five sharp defensive coaches in the NFL. He's very respected. Vegas actually loves Mike Zimmer. They're big fan. Mike Zimmer gets a buy. Mike Zimmer. Well, four of the five coaches, those quarterbacks landed. Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, and Mike Zimmer. I consider them excellent coaches. Now Chuck Pagano and Andrew Locke, how do you explain that, Colin? Well, I think Andrew Locke was not a prospect. He was a prodigy. He is a once-in-a-decade John L.A. talent. So when we look at all these quarterbacks coming into the draft,

nitpick them. Most of their success will be based on where do they land. That's why I think Zach Wilson could struggle. That's why I really don't love Mack Jones as a prospect, but I think if he goes to the right team like San Francisco, he'll succeed. Here is where I'm projecting the quarterback's

land. This is really going to dictate how they do. Trevor Lawrence, Urban Meyer. First, I know Urban well, one of the smartest guys I've ever met. I have faith in him, and I do think Trevor Lawrence, like Andrew Luck is a once-in-a-decade talent that will win, even if Urban three years in doesn't work. Trevor's just, he's Andrew Luck.

It's going to work. Zach Wilson, Robert Sala. I'm predicting trouble. Mack Jones, Kyle Shanahan. Zach Wilson's more talented than Mack Jones. But Mac Jones taking over a Super Bowl roster and Kyle Shanahan. I think you'll have some success. My mock draft yesterday, Trey Lance goes to Belichick, who I think moves up to about seven.

or eight, and both Detroit and Carolina at seven and eight would love more picks. I think he gets Trey Lance. I think it works. Sits behind Cam for a year, it works. Justin Fields, I think, goes to Denver. I have real questions. And I like Justin Fields. And so out of this, I think what you're going to have is Trevor Lawrence is going to win a lot of games, maybe not Super Bowls.

Mack Jones is going to be successful with a ceiling. and Trey Lance may take a couple years, could end up being the big winner. Super smart kid ends up in a very smart system. Just give him two years. But where you land means a lot more than all the stuff we're nitpicking you about today. T.J. Hushman Zott is about as good as on the draft

and these prospects. He coaches them every day. He'll be joining us next. Hour two. In L.A., it's The Herd. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not.

not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at a Podcast. That was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford, and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.