The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 04/27/2021 - HOUR 2 - NFL Draft news

Episode Date: April 27, 2021

People need to realize there isn't a perfect player or coachColin discusses the latest NFL Draft scenarios and rumorsGuest: Mark Schlereth Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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So Joy, this is something that dry. We don't talk a bunch of politics on this. And I am more Democrat than Republican, but I have a lot of Republican friends. This drives me nuts. And I'm going to get to Zion in a second, Lamar Jackson, but it drives me nuts. Thank God in my life. I married somebody that didn't expect perfect. Right.

And I married my wife. She's close to perfect. But there's some things she does I just live with and I'm okay with it. So one of the things that drives me nuts in politics, there's an old saying that conservatives, Republicans, fall in line. They find a guy. He doesn't have to be perfect. He's their guy. Democrats fall in love.

There's somebody they love every week. And it drives me nuts that if their candidate, Democrats candidate, has a candidate has. That's four or five things you agree with. If there's one thing they don't agree with, it's bad. There's no perfect candidates. I don't agree with everybody on anything. I don't agree with me. Tomorrow, I want to agree with some of the things I said today.

You cannot find, if you're looking for a political candidate, that you agree with everything, you're an idealist. You're a child. Grow up. That's not the way the world works. If you can get 75% of the stuff you agree with, that's good enough. Nobody agrees with it. But these people go crazy on Twitter.

well she said this yeah but she also said this this this this this this he said that but he also said this this this there's no perfect people when zion williamson came into the NBA it was all about what he couldn't do and i'm like yeah i don't care about that i see what he can do which is score 25 a night and get on the free throw line because he leaned in everybody right when i i just started a company not long ago called the volume sports it's a podcast network and i had to hire a bunch of people i One of the things I never worried about was what people couldn't do. I was looking for people who could do things well. I didn't care about their flaws.

Can you make me laugh? Boom, I hired Jenkins and Jones. Could you make me think? Oh, okay, I hired this guy and this woman. I didn't care about the cans. I cared about the cans. Can you do something I can't stop listening to?

Do you have that skill? So I love Bucky Brooks, but this drives me nuts. This drives me nuts. there's no perfect husband, there's no perfect politician. I mean, Michael Jordan, by the way, was selfish, punch teammates, and really couldn't shoot threes. Well, you can't have a perfect co-os. Boom. So Bucky Brooks, who we like, suggests the Ravens should take Justin Fields and let Lamar Jackson graduate.

Okay, stop. Time out. Lamar Jackson is 30 and 4 against every quarterback not named Patrick Mahomes. He's 24. He wins 80% of his guys. games. He has won a road playoff game. Outside of like Mahomes, Rogers,

there's no perfect quarterbacks. We love Drew Breeze. He couldn't throw a deep ball the last four years in the league. Tom Brady can't outrun a batting cage. Can we stop with the perfect quarterback stuff? The kid's 24. He wins

84% of his games. He throws a nice deep ball. He is great athletically. And he's okay throwing, but does appear to be getting better. First year his passer rating was 84. Needed work. Next year, it was 1-13 MVP. Kind of felt like a little bit like the league was still trying to figure out, what the heck is this guy do? Then the league last year kind of figures out, but his passer rating ends up 99. If he retires today, it would be the fifth highest ever. I like Derek Carr. His passer rating's closer to 90 than 100.

I like Matt Ryan. What's his passer rating? If his passer rating settles around 99, And I do think that's kind of what we're looking at. He's also very good on third down, which has always been a very interesting quarterback stat. The best quarterbacks are good on third down. They have instinct. They're good pre-snap. They're coachable.

You know, that's always been a big stat for me. How's your quarterback on third down? How's your quarterback on primetime games? Lamar is Zion. We're so caught up in what he can't do. But the stuff he can do is so otherworldly. We've got to stop the can't. stuff. If you sit around and are paralyzed because you don't agree with one policy of your politician,

you're going to be a bitter old man. If you agree with he or she on 75% of policies, vote for them. No perfect candidates out there. You're like your child if you think you're going to get a perfect candidate. Drives me nuts. There's no per, even my homes. He now's been hurt a couple times. Sometimes he gets a little flake left sideways, throw behind his back. He's not perfect. I mean, close as perfect as we have. Aaron's about as close. Aaron can be a little condescending, a little prickly. He's about as close as you're going. I'm going to deal with that stuff.

Russell Wilson scrambles into sacks. But boy, he's about 90% of it. It's just about as good as I can get on the market. We've got to stop. There are no perfect anybody's. It just doesn't exist. We're just picking apart everybody. Just be happy.

Be grateful a little. I love Bucky, but move off him. He's about 81% of his games. It's insane. This passenger rating is 99. You know, but sometimes on the crossing routes, I... All right, Mark Schleris, I'm exhausted. I need somebody to help me.

I need a life preserver for the rest of this segment, joining us now live. You know what? I want to be positive today. Right. We're nitpicking everybody. Like, none of these court-up, even Trevor Lawrence isn't perfect. He doesn't play as well under pressure. Okay.

By the way, no, by the way, I love that concept. especially come draft time. We get so enamored with what a guy can't do as opposed to what can this guy do and can we put him in a system where we can take advantage of that skill set. And I think you could make a compelling argument that John Harbaugh should be one of the coaches of the year every single year because you've created, you've gone back and said, okay, there hasn't been a new passing concept in the NFL in 25 years, but we can create some unbelievable run schemes and we can create this situation for our quarterback.

that he can take advantage of. And think about this. When you play the Baltimore Ravens, they take that opening kickoff, they drive it down your throat for eight minutes and a touchdown, and you're down seven to nothing. And now they kick off to you,

and you go three and out, and now you're starting as an offense coordinator or count possessions. You're like, oh, shoot, you know what? We've had one possession. It was a three and out. And now all of a sudden, what do we get?

A normal game, you get 12 possessions, 13 possessions. We might get seven or eight. Now we've got to score every time we touch the ball. So it takes you out of your office. offensive rhythm and what you wanted to call. It is the ultimate and complementary football. And the reason you can play it that way is because of number eight. So just understand, if you give that up, you know, now you've got to recreate kind of the wheel, if you will,

in Baltimore. Yeah, every time I watch Lamar, I just, that's what he can do. I'm over the can't. I am over the can't. He is a, he is a freak show athlete. And he has gotten better as a passer over time. So I think they're pretty happy in Baltimore with number eight. I'm just just a guess. I'm going to go with you out and happy. So this is interesting. I was saying this this morning. If you're in a division like the NFC West and it's really good and you're sitting there and you're thinking and yourself, listen, if Jimmy Garoppolo gets hurt again, we're going to get nothing for him. Nothing. If we can get a second round pick for him, we'll just draft the quarterback ready to play now, Mack Jones. May have a lower

ceiling. But Jimmy Garoppolo's interesting. The team, I think it's fascinating that I think what I would take a chance on him is Denver. That's where you live and here's why. Jimmy's got two years left in his deal. You bring him in and it doesn't work. Okay, well, Drew Locke's not working and we think he's better than Drew. The second year, if you get rid of Jimmy, there's no cap hit. It's like a million dollars. So if I'm Denver, I'm sitting there today, if I'm Vic Fangio and I'm thinking and myself, I got Mahalms, Herbert, and Derek Carr. I got a guy that's ready to play. I don't want to go with Justin Fields.

I got to win now. So I think Vic Fangio could argue my offensive line played pretty well last year. I'll go Jimmy G. A second round pick's not the be-all, end-all of Denver. Their roster is. So just talk about, in San Francisco's perspective, Mark, is, crap, if Garoppolo gets hurt again, he has no trade value. We'll get nothing for him.

So your thoughts about Denver and Garoppolo, because it does feel like I could certainly make an argument in that draft room, we sign him to a one-year deal. If he stinks, there's no cap hit next year. Yeah. You know what? I think it's a great, I think it's a great concept, Colin. And Jimmy Garoppolo, there is nothing wrong with his QBing skills. I mean, that guy can spin it. There's no question

about that. It's just his availability has been the issue because he's been hurt so many times. But, you know, the Broncos came in with George Peyton being the general manager now saying, we want to bring competition to that quarterback room. So, like, if you draft in the top 10, you're not bringing competition into the quarterback room. You're replacing your quarterback, correct? You're not saying, okay, we're driving the top 10, and it's open competition between you and Drew Locke. No, you have drafted the predecessor. So that's not an open competition. If you draft in, you know, if you're drafting in the second or third round, then, okay, that's a competition. Or if you're bringing somebody in like Jimmy Garapolo,

a veteran player, you can still have a competition there. So that part makes sense. As far as San Francisco, you know, I thought it was funny yesterday, Kyle Shanahan saying, well, we have five quarterbacks we like. You do not move up to the number three overall spot because you've got five guys that you like. So we're just going to give up another first rounder because we could have moved up to five with Cincinnati. If all five guys are equal, I mean, that is the ultimate. And listen, I'm tired of having to answer stupid questions, so I'm going to throw some stupid stuff at you, right?

You know, and like, listen, my, I'm not, like, I was texting with Kyle this morning. I am not in the newsbreaking business. That's not my bad. Listen, I, like, I don't have any desire to break news. Like, I'm just happy to break wind without soiling myself. That's all I'm looking for right now. That's where I'm at in life, okay? So I do think it makes the most sense.

You are ready. Your window to win is open. Your roster is so solid. You get all those first rounders back. that, you know, on your defensive line, your offensive line is set with Trent Williams at the left tackle position. You can plug any running back in. And I talk to teams all over the general managers and head coaches. There's not one team that I've talked to and I've talked to multiple, six, seven, eight. Every one of them studies San Francisco's running game. So you're

not looking for a quarterback to come in and provide you with a running game. You've already got one. So that to me makes the most sense. Again, this is the season of lying. So I have no idea what they're doing. And I don't really care because I just want to watch it unfold on Thursday night and see exactly what happens. Yeah, I love, I had Peter King said the draft drives him nuts. I love the draft. Where do you fall on it? You know, it's interesting. There's all these questions about Justin Fields, this, that, I always kind of have a feeling like in life, and I, this is something I preach to my kids all the time. Like, there's a silver lining in the worst days. You can go to the worst days of our country. There's a silver lining and stuff. If you drop in the draft, you go to a better

roster. I mean, seriously, I mean, I would love to drop to New England if I was Trey Lance. I actually think Denver at number nine, I think Denver, once their left tackle played well last year, it's like, okay, now you got some weapons in an old line that can play. What do you make of a Trey Lance where we just don't know anything he may drop? What do you kind of make of his small, you play that a small school? Small school hasn't played much in a year. What do you kind of make of him as a prospect. Well, you know, I think one of the things you look at is you look at the athleticism. I think this goes to kind of playing at a big school like Clemson as well. When you play and every guy that you play with is a superior athlete to everybody else, it makes your job that much

easier. So when you're running over linebackers because you're bigger and faster and stronger than the linebackers you play with in your own division, like that's not going to happen to you in pro football. That's why people are saying, hey, it's going to take a while. I mean, when you look at North Dakota State, they're kind of the Alabama, if you will, of their division. So they just run rough shot. They run the ball down everybody's throat. They're bigger, they're faster, they're stronger than everybody else. So you've got to take that into consideration. The kids got an unbelievable skill set. I understand that he's an unbelievable athlete. But a lot of times, how do you respond when all the sudden you don't physically dominate each guy that you play against?

So when you go to Alabama, you know, for instance, and you play on the line of scrimmage, you physically dominate every guy that you play against, you know, 10 out of the 11 or 10 out of the 12 games that you line up. You're a physically dominant specimen. So I'll take that to the D-Line. How much do you develop as a pass rusher if you can just run over the guy in front of you every time? You don't develop as a football player. You just rely on your physical attributes. Then you get in the NFL, and guess what?

Every dude is not only technically sound, but every dude is stronger than the day is long. And you're like, oh, you're going to run into it. Like, please, as an offensive lineman, I mean, and, you know, my skill set, even with injuries, my skill set is strength. I'm still strong as, I mean, I'm strong as any human on the planet. And if you're just going to run into me, I will eat you for lunch. Like, please run into me, every play, because I will grab you. I will hold you and you will not go anywhere. And so I think there's an aspect of when you're physically a dominant player at the college level

and you come to the NFL, many of those physically dominant players don't really learn a skill set. They don't really advance. And so now you have to learn it on the fly against the best players in the world. That's a tall task. Yeah, good stuff. Mark Schlaher, three Super Bowl championship rings. Good seeing you, buddy. Love having you just right before the draft. Thanks, bud.

Absolutely, my friend. That's what Jimmy Johnson said about a week ago. When you come from a small school, you have so much ceiling because you don't need as good a technique. You can just dominate people. And I think that's the thing with Trey Lance. Trey and Mack have played the same number of games. One has faced the best players in college football. One has faced inferior competition, like a Josh Allen.

So the ceiling for Trey is enormous and probably hasn't been reached yet. Well, clearly hasn't been reached yet. Whereas Mac, you've got a ceiling. This is what he is. And if you're San Francisco, what he does now, we can win now. Ceiling, I'll let somebody else worry about it. So we'll see. I mean, the whole thing is fun.

It's a story. And I'm here for it. All the stories. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's a lot. unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, 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,

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That's pretty good. 1-800flowers.com. Put in the code Herd, or you don't get all the good stuff. I know, I drive you nuts. But if you don't put in Hurd, it may just not send you the vase. So put it in. Okay. Joy with the news.

No. No. Turn on the news. This is the. heard line news. Well, LeBron James has been out since March 20th when he entered

his ankle. His initial initial prognosis was four to six weeks. How long has it been? Well, that's March 20th, so a little over four weeks. So he's right on it. Yeah. He's teasing his returns just around the corner.

He posted a video of himself on Instagram, running up and down the courts. And the caption is coming to a city near you. I'm really real hashtag Kid from Akron hashtag James Gang

so he is running so that's what we're watching in the video and Joy we have about what eight to ten games left in the regular season there are 11 games left in the regular season for the Lakers

and they are fifth in the west right now so very interesting they'll bring LeBron back with about seven or eight to play just enough to play with Andre Drummond a little Anthony Davis and then they'll be off and running and win a vanquished the rest of the league and win a title.

Well, works out perfectly. That's the plan for Lakers fans and for the Lakers, certainly. I still think that that's what's going to happen, but I don't look at this the same way as I did last year.

Because last year, the break was due to the pandemic. This year, they're not playing, is due to them being injured. True. So it's not the same situation as it was last year.

Now, the Lakers have an advantage over a team like the Nets who have been suffering from injuries and that they have already won a title together, and they have a lot of chemistry, and they have their culture set already, and they have LeBron James, who makes everything go away.

So as long as he's healthy and Anthony Davis is healthy, I still think they're in the best situation to win the title, but it's not as the same as last year. They're a really big physical team. If you go Drummond, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Dennis Schroeder, KCP, that is a long physical team. They're really unique.

They are the opposite. really they're the opposite of Brooklyn. Which was why Brooklyn Lakers would be a, not only because of stars, it would be a fascinating juxtaposition of talent. Whereas Brooklyn's kind of skinny, not very good defensively, not committed to the defensive end, but absurdly gifted. And the Lakers would come in just lumberjacks, just big guys, not as highly skilled. I think that's the best series for the league.

Yeah, I mean, that's what the league is rooting for. I'll be honest, that's what I would like to see in the finals. Like, that's if, you know, the heat are, I don't think are capable of beating Brooklyn. So coming out of the east, I'd like to see Brooklyn and Kevin Durant and James Hardin and Kyrie Irving up against LeBron and Anthony Davis and the Lakers. Like, that's an unbelievable series. And to your point, a test of how do you build a team and does defense really matter in the biggest games and the biggest moments?

Yeah, I mean, it's not going to be a sweep either way. I mean, listen, Miami with a bunch of kids and Jimmy Butler. Yeah, it was six games. It took six games. So it would be a long series. Which everyone wants. Yes. And it would be also would be a chess match.

It would be the most talented offensive team against the best defensive team. Vogel's also a big, he loves coaching. Vogel fits this team because Frank's known it. He loves Biggs and he loves defense. And Nash and Dan Tony like guards and love offense. So the coaching staffs are really built for the roster they have. So it would be a chess match. And I remember, you know, Frank Vogel's interesting.

I remember when he coached Indiana. Those marginally talented teams gave the Miami Heat fits, fits with Roy Hibbert, George Hill, and the kind of playoff, tenuous performance, Paul George. So I think Vogel finally has a roster. He's like, I like Biggs, and I got Anthony Davis, and I got Andre Drummond, like this roster fits Vogel's coaching style. Yeah, I'm just crossed my fingers.

Everyone stays healthy through the playoffs because the way that this has been going this season, it's been brutal. So since Brian Flores took over as head coach for the Dolphins, they've made several moves that brought in more first-round picks, but Flores says the goal was not to stockpile draft picks. They were simply looking for ways to make the team better. I wouldn't say the goal is necessary to accumulate first-round picks.

I think it's to put the best team together. I think there's a variety of ways you can do that. Trade, free agency, Riverwire transactions, obviously the draft. Look, we're looking for guys who are tough, who are smart, who are competitive, who love to play on our team first. And that's kind of the criteria we look for.

And as we look through those different avenues to acquire players, that's really always at the forefront. So they had three first round picks in 2020. They currently have two this year, number six and number 18. Good picks. They have one in 2022, be of the 49ers, and two in 2022, their own and the 49ers. They have a lot of first round draft picks coming out. Their needs are, it's funny, their needs are O line, but at six, it's probably you're not going to get Penae Sewell, so you'll probably go something else.

And at 18, your three best offensive linemen are gone. so they're one of those where you know that's why they eventually they traded back and then up I'm fascinated with them because if you're asking me what they need it's not wide receiver and all indications are

Cincinnati's taking Jamar Chase like that's all indications I can't believe that Cincinnati is going to do that I know that that's what everyone is saying well Burrell's pushing for him hard they don't have an offensive line Well, they have a good left tackle, and then it's a lot of cross your fingers. I think that Bengals have a really good left tackle and a decent center.

That's just not how you build. That's not how you build a team, especially in the AFC North. They signed another tackle and free agency. So I think Joe Burrough's pushing for, listen, if you're Joe Burrow and you have T. Higgins and you're like, guys, I played with this kid named Jamar Chase. He's way better than T. Higgins. Jamar Chase is great, and I get it. But you still need an offensive line. still the AFC North. Don't forget what division you're in. That's a tough division to play in

with the sketchy offensive line. Miles Garrett, Steelers pass rush. Well, Baltimore. And you just got injured this year. Speaking of Baltimore, the Ravens seem to be set at quarterback with Lamar Jackson. At least I assume that they were set at quarterback with Lamar Jackson, just won an MVP. But our friend, Bucky Brooks, thinks that Baltimore should consider drafting another one this year. He thinks they should trade up and draft a quarterback like Justin Fields. If he feels if he falls low enough on Thursday, Bucky thinks they could bring in fields while Lamar Jackson plays out his rookie deal without having to extend his contract and then move on to fields as the starter.

I did not have Baltimore in the quarterback conversation on my draft bingo card, but it is draft week, so anything is available. I don't, I disagree with Bucky. I do not think this is the move. I think they are very much set with Lamar Jackson. They have built the team around Lamar Jackson. I've built everything to put him in a position to succeed. They just need to get over the hump.

And I don't think that that's impossible this year or moving forward. And Lamar Jackson should get paid. They don't need a quarterback. This is not a position of need for that. It is. We're getting so ridiculous in the NFL that suddenly it's like Atlanta needs a quarterback. Well, not that's actually that they don't really need a quarterback. Lamar, folks, if you are a top 12 quarterback, if you have a top 12 quarterback in the NFL,

address something else. Unless they're like Drew Breeze and they're like Big Ben Pittsburgh, if somebody fell to me, I could see Pittsburgh getting, if fields dropped to 11, 12 and Pittsburgh's like, okay. But like to me, if you got a top 12 quarterback,

you're good enough. Matt Ryan got to a Super Bowl. You can get to a Super Bowl. Lamar won a road playoff game. If you're top 12, we're getting so picky on quarterbacks that teams with, does everybody understand Matt Ryan last three years in the NFL has led the entire league in attempts,

completions, and passing yards. That's not their issue. I mean, it's so to me, like Lamar, if you win an 80% of your games in the NFL, quarterback's not your problem because you're not doing that. You're not doing that with a C quarterback. If you've got a B plus or above, and Lamar is absolutely a B plus or above,

you're good at quarterback. Well, to your point earlier about people looking for perfect, like who are the two quarterbacks or three quarterbacks we think are pretty close to perfect? Aaron Rogers, Patrick Mahomes. And I would say most people would still say Tom Brady. Like he just won a Super Bowl. And I think he's somewhat limited when it comes to running,

but he doesn't need to run because he doesn't put himself in that position very often. I think Herbert and Josh Allen are getting really close to, oh my God, they can do everything. Well, yeah, but Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, and Tom Brady have won Super Bowl. So they have validated everything that they do and their talents and as close to perfect as they are. But my thing where I think people are getting too crazy about quarterbacks is, Tom Brady is an ultimate outlier.

Ultimate outlier. There will never be another Tom Brady. There might be somebody who surpasses Tom Brady's accomplishments. Maybe Patrick Mahomes will do that. Maybe another quarterback will do that. But Tom Brady specifically, there's never going to be another one of him. Aaron Rogers is such a unique player. Patrick Mahomes, such a unique player.

And the places that they went, the coaching that they had, Tom Brady taking pay cuts, Patrick Mahomes with Andy Reid, Travis Kelsey, Tyree Kill, like, stop thinking that you are, look, you're going to find the next Patrick Mahomes. They're all one of one of one. That's it. Stop. There's only one Colin Cowherd in the world.

Yeah. There's only one Joy Taylor in the world. Pay them what they want. Yes. And stop looking for the replacement. It's not there. Like, and that's fine. Like there's, there's just some things that just only exists once.

Yeah. That's it. God broke the mold. Smash. Move on. Find something that works for you that fits your system that you can enhance. Look for the can, to your point. And stop trying to find this, this mystical unicorn.

God, for years, if I had to hear Justin Rose, Rory McElroy, they were going to be the next tiger. It's like, no, tiger's never going to happen again. Nobody at four is going to be on national TV golfing. And at eight and nine agents are interested. Yeah, just stop. Stop. Stop. It happened.

You enjoyed it. We watched it. Look for the next superstar. But don't look for something that already existed and was an outlier and a complete magical situation. Like everything stars align. There's a reason those things happens. It's not going to happen again.

It's okay. Just look for what's going to work for you. Yep. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. You know, Justin Herbert cracks me up.

If you asked NFL GMs about Justin Herbert, half didn't like him. Now, just think about this. 6-5, mobile, huge arm, four-point biology major, dominated the Senior Bowl, dominated the Rose Bowl. Now, if you didn't know anything and just put that up on a screen, you'd be like, I'm going to take him number one.

But people, because what was his comp? Like a lot of great people don't have comps. Like Lamar Jackson has a little Michael Vic, but Michael, I thought, was a more natural thrower of the football. And Lamar's just a different athlete. There are comps. I mean, I do think Kyler Murray has some Russell Wilson. They played baseball. They're undersized.

They throw a beautiful ball. They make play. I'm not saying there's not comps in the league. I do think Zach Wilson, on the low end, I see some Johnny Manzell and the high end I see some Aaron. I get it. But a lot of, like the Justin Herbert thing is really, nobody talks about this. It's fascinating.

His resume was impeccable. A four, not a four point PE major, a four point biology major. His family had athletes. Big, mobile, strong, dominated the senior bowl, dominated the Rose Bowl. And half the league wasn't into it. Like, sometimes we're trying so hard to find comps. And sometimes it's a lot of one-on. You just, this is one of one.

There's nobody else been like him. He's very good. Does he check most of the boxes? Again, stop looking for perfect. With Justin Herbert, people were paralyzed by perfect. Big mobile smart huge arm. That's good enough. Think about how much more talented Justin Herbert is than Mack Jones.

it ain't close he's bigger he's stronger he's faster better arm more starts we pick justin herbert apart mac jones will go higher in the draft there is nothing mac jones physically that can and by the way i'm not sure mentally a four point biology major so it's it's amazing how but mac jones feels like it looks like brady looks like ela so justin herbert nobody was saying looks like what he actually is, he's Andrew Luck. That's what he is, but nobody said it. He's Andrew Luck with a better arm. That's what Justin Herbert is.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Hey, I'm John Middlecoff, and I host the three-in-out podcast. Do you like football? Do you like the NFL? Do you like the NFL draft? Quarterbacks, coaches. Well, I talk about it all.

On the show. I used to work for Andy Reid as a skis. now I give you my unfiltered and raw opinions on everything that goes on the NFL. And you know we're talking college football because of how important the draft is year-round. Listen at the three-and-out podcast with me, John Middlecombe, on the IHeart radio 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. 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. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little bit? Kim. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade. of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross.

Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person? because you're afraid. Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search, Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Dane Bruegler is an NFL draft analyst for the athletic. He's got a draft guide he calls the Beast

with 415 scouting reports of over 600 prospects. And what's fascinating about this draft, it's an interesting combination of productivity, talent, need. You know, so much now. Zach Wilson in New York, you don't have to pay him for four years. You were going to have to make a decision on money for Sam Narnel. And the Jets acknowledged that was part of the understanding. When you don't pay a quarterback, Baker Mayfield,

look what you can do with Cleveland's roster. Jared Gough early. you could do with the Rams roster. Aaron, Rogers, Russell Wilson, expensive. Limited front office moves. You can only do so much. Let's bring in Dane. He recently did a seven-round mock draft for the athletic,

which, of course, you know, folks. I'm into that stuff. So it's interesting. The kid that's interesting to me is Zach Wilson. I watched him play a couple years ago against Utah and Washington. I thought he's a little undersized. He's talented. There's some Johnny Manzell.

He didn't blow me away. Then all of a sudden, two months ago, he's number two in the board, no argument. So where do you see him? Where do you have him on your big board, which you consider not where a guy will get drafted, just in terms of pure talent, you have Zach Wilson pretty high, right? I do. He's number three overall behind only Trevor Lawrence, behind only Kyle Pitts. And with, when you're talking with Wilson,

it's tough because you look at the competition that he faced this year. And the BYU schedule went from a bunch of PAC 12 schools, power five programs to facing a bunch of group of five programs. And so the competition is not great. You look at Zach Wilson, 214 pounds, you wish you were a little bit bigger. He actually weighed a little bit more than Trevor Lawrence did at their pro days. So interesting how that worked out. But when it boils down to with Zach Wilson is the tape and his ability to make these throws off platform and be accurate.

He's a type of guy that never played darts before in his life. He goes into a bar and just runs the table. He's just naturally accurate. He can pick up things quickly. And he's a point guard in high school, that type of guy. True Jr., still young. He was the youngest player to ever start a quarterback at BYU. And this past year, really dynamic tape, 73.5% completion percentage.

That's a BYU record. 43 total touchdowns. Another BYU record. So his ability to improvise and be dynamic, especially off-platform, outside of structure. You look at Pat Mahomes and Aaron Rogers and what these guys have been able to do. It really fits today's NFL and what a lot of teams are looking for. I talked about this earlier, Dane.

In the NBA, it's always been understood. You draft for ceiling. Joel M. Bid, Kobe Bryant. You have four-and-five-year rebuilds in the NBA, and it's understood. In the NFL, you don't get four years as a head coach to rebuild. The NFL draft to me has always been, I need somebody right now. that leads me to Mac Jones in San Francisco. He had an NFL head coach in college, an NFL coordinator, NFL receivers, NFL defenders

in the SEC. How do you view Mack Jones as a talent on your big board and then kind of a clear ceiling with him? Yeah, the ceiling part's tough. I think that it's easy to look at him and say, okay, this is a high floor player. We know what we're getting with Mack Jones in terms of his ability to read, his ability to operate within the pocket. That's the biggest selling point with him is he's going to get the ball out. His pre-snap recognition is outstanding. But it makes it tough when you watch his Alabama tape and the offensive line, elite, the running game outstanding with Najee Harris. You've got a Heisman winner

and another first round pick at wide receiver. And then, oh yeah, the play caller, arguably the best assistant coach in college football last year. Now the head coach at Texas and coach Sark. So everything around's him perfect. What's going to happen when he goes to an NFL organization when that's not the case. But if he does go to the 49ers, all of a sudden he's going to a system that's proven with Kyle Shanahan. And you look at Cal Shanahan,

what is he looking for? He's basically looking for an extension of himself on the field at quarterback. Mac Jones could be that guy. I think the 49ers, they traded up to number three with the idea of drafting Mac Jones. But Trey Lance is giving them a lot to think about.

With Trey, you're getting more of that upside, more of that higher ceiling type of player. that has to be appealing when you compare them apples to apples against the Mac Jones. Who is, you know, somebody will drop in the draft. I have said Devante Smith is interesting because there's some really good physical specimens at receiver. There's a bunch of receivers in the draft, so somebody may argue at 12 or 13, we can get something close to Devante's second, third round. He's a player to me that looks like I could see him, you know, Jamar Chase is the physical specimen. Many believe Waddle.

as a better NFL body. Is there a player to you that you look at and think to yourself? And I'm not asking you to guess a mock draft, but that you look at in the closer inspection you could see based on frame, the more you inspect him, maybe the more you looked at him, a guy that would drop in this draft. And people could talk themselves out of him until late first round. Devonte Smith is really fascinating because you talk to some teams

and they will tell you that, hey, we're not going to be the team. that bets on the outlier in the first round. And that's what Devante Smith is. When you're talking about a guy that's over six foot and only 170 pounds, it's hard to find wide receivers taken in the first round who are those size dimensions and have been productive. You just can't find them. Even Marvin Harrison was over 180 at the Combine back in 1996.

So not much of a sample size there with Devanti Smith. Now, it doesn't take much to watch his film and get excited about what he offers. I think you also factor in, started double-digit games each of the last three years. No major injury history that we can really talk about as being something that could pop up. And the fact that he's one of the toughest, most competitive players in this draft, pound for pound, probably tougher than a lot of 225 pound receivers in this class. So it's an interesting case with these teams and how they're going to view that. Some teams are going to be out.

And then there's going to be some teams in the mid-first round crossing their fingers, that a player like Devonte Smith would fall to them. I think there are a few players in this draft when you factor in the medicals. They're really tough to figure out. Caleb Farley is, I think, the perfect example at a Virginia Tech. I think he's the most talented defensive player in this draft. A former high school quarterback goes to Virginia Tech as a wide receiver, moves the corner three years ago, and he's a natural.

He's 6-2, 33 and a quarter-inch arms, 4-3 speed, outstanding burst, the agility, natural ball instincts. but he's got an ACL in 2017. He's got two back procedures over the last three years. The durability, the red flags, it's really tough to figure out where Caleb Farley could go. He could go 16. He could go 36. I would not be surprised at either outcome when you talk about the medicals and how different teams are going to weigh those. I think we're going to see teams be maybe a little more conservative in this draft just because it's been so uncertain throughout the process.

No combine. Teams are still getting some of this medical information. up right now the week of the draft. And so we might see teams lean towards being a little more conservative, and the players, they just have a better feel for at this point. By the way, just about 45 seconds left. I had a GM tell me it's a good draft until about the middle of the fourth round, and then it changes.

And then it's a lot of guessing. Guys have opted out. Just for a minute left, how does this compare to last year's draft, the field, the high end, the low end, how's it look to you, Dane? It's a smaller pool of players. There's no way around that. We have, you know, right, just under a third of the total players we usually have. So the free agent market after the draft completely wiped out.

And it's going to be fascinating for future years how that affects next year when we have more players in that pool. How's the NFL going to respond? But I think that's fair to say, rounds five, six, and seven. You know, we're going to see some surprises. You know, teams are going to be all over the place with how they rank those players. So it's really going to be a free-for-all. you know, who's going to go in that range, who's going to be a free agent, just a smaller pool of

players this year because of the pandemic and then everything that goes into that. No area scouts on the road, no combine. Everything has been off. And so we're going to see that reflected on the third day of the draft. Dane Bruegler, the athletic NFL draft expert. Really, I didn't even think about that. I didn't even think about the scouts not on the road. I didn't even think about that. Wow. That is, again, it's just a good story. This is why it's going to get the highest ratings ever for a draft. There's a zillion stories in this thing. Dane, appreciate you stopping by our show. Thank you.

Any time. Thanks, Colin. You bet, Dane for the athletic. Yeah, that's, that's right. Guys opted out. Scouts couldn't go on the road. No combine. A lot of guessing. You know, it's everybody agree, we said this yesterday. There are about 15

players. Everybody is saying, in fact, Carolina's GM basically said yesterday, They graded 15 players as first round players. That's it. So the high end, I mean, Jamar Chase, Penae Sould, the high end of this draft is remarkable. Then it gets pretty interesting by about round three and four. I mean, I was looking at some USC prospects yesterday, and I'm like, there's two I love.

And then I have no idea. J.2OFelly opted out. I don't know what he is. I think he's talented. I haven't played football here. How do I know? Hour three next. 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, 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 I-Heart 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 I-Hard 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, 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 Clifford show on the I-Hard 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. On The Look Back at it podcast. For 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.