The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 08/31/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: August 31, 2021

Colin gives his reaction to the shocking NFL news of the day with the Patriots cutting former MVP Cam Newton and announcing Mac Jones as their starting quarterback for week 1. He discusses potential landing spots for Newton considering where he's at in his career and the regular season around the corner. Colin also takes a look at the landscape of young QBs around the NFL and which ones have the best chance to succeed. Plus, 2-time Super Bowl champion and former Cam Newton teammate Torrey Smith joins the show to give his thoughts on Newton getting released by the Patriots. 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. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at It Podcasts. In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional

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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 Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher. on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a lively news breaking Tuesday in Los Angeles. The show is called The Herd, Wherever You May Be, however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, news coming down an hour ago.

Cam Newton went from the starting quarterback to released in a week. Joy Taylor is joining me. Well, well, well, well, you know, just the one thing to remember here, Joy, it doesn't matter if you got COVID last year, right? Like you say, well, anybody's, it doesn't matter. The league is set up protocols. If you are not vaccinated, they don't care if you got it last year. You're the quarterback.

You're not vaccinated. You're going to have a much greater likelihood of these constant snafoo. and disruptions to practice in games. Well, we've already seen it with several other teams already around the league. And if you're in a quarterback battle, missing significant time, it's going to play a role whether you win that. So here's the story, the Patriots Cam Newton released. By the way, I'm hearing this this morning.

And Cam's always been bizarrely coddled by the media. I can never figure out why the media chooses to support some players and not. others. Like Lamar Jackson gets more crap. The guy wins 80% of his games. He gets better every year. Cam Newton ever had back-to-back winning seasons. But Cam has been bizarrely coddled by the American sports media his entire career. And these 59 and a half percent completion percentage banged up guy who two COVID issues with a Patriots and they let him go. I was told this morning by a source I trust. The COVID stuff, last straw.

One thing about inconsistency. One thing about last year. This year, they were done with it. Okay. And so in the end, Ron Rivera and Bill Belichick, both defensive coaches, both smart coaches, both successful coaches, both been in Super Bowls, both bailed on cam. And they're both, what?

No nonsense head coaches. Ron Rivera and Belichick have no time for nonsense. The quarterback is the position that has to be reliable. I don't want to hear this morning that Mack Jones won this job because he was good against fourth stringers in the preseason. That didn't hurt, but you don't go from backing up to being the only really starting viable quarterback in a team because you were great against the fourth stringers. Don't kid yourself. This COVID nonsense, don't listen to anybody. I got it source.

It drove them nuts. I said this last week. New England leaked the story last week. They were unhappy with this COVID snafu by Cam. New England only leaks what they want out. There's a new book out by Seth Wickersham on the Patriots in their 20-year dynasty. There's stories in there. None of us have heard.

Ten stories none of us have heard. New England lets out what they want out. And a day after the COVID snafu, the story leaked. They were unhappy. Why? Because when they, and I told you this last week, when they moved off Cam, they wanted you to know it's on him, it's not us, and we're pissed. This is not just Mac Jones winning the job because he was good against four stringers. And he did a good job.

And I'll get into that in a second. He did a good job. Mac Jones did a good job. And he deserves opportunities. And I'm excited. The AFC now has got all young quarterbacks except Big Ben and Tannahill. It's all young guys. And it's exciting.

But there's two things here that the Patriots gave you. heads up what was happening. Number one is they leaked the story last week, how disappointed they were. So when they moved off Cam, it's Cam, it's not us. The second thing is, did you notice four to five different veteran New England players? James White, Matthew Slater, Brian Hoyer, these are all Belichick's guys, Dante Hightower. These are all Belichick's guys. All leaking stories in the last week. Oh, Jack Jones is so mature. He's won the locker room. He's a remarkable player.

You think it's a coincidence? They made sure they put some veterans out there. And they said nice stuff about Mac Jones, how mature, how ready, how he'd galvanized the locker room. Between the leak last week and those press conference quotes from players, they were telling you. It's time. Listen, we all knew it was a Band-Aid. we all knew the cam thing was a bandit. Listen, I thought it was a weird fit.

But I was like, he's coachable. It's a bridge year. You lose Brady. They signed Cam late. I mean, nobody here expected. I didn't, you didn't enjoy it. We didn't expect New England to win a Super Bowl. They had eight guys opt out.

It was a weird year. We all knew this was a bandaid. But I think the second COVID issue and Mac playing well in the preseason, let's just rip it off and go. But remember, what is the one thing that Belichie? truly loved about Brady. Wasn't his arm, wasn't his athletic ability, wasn't his size. It was Tom's reliability.

You got the same Tom every day. He was the first at practice, the last to leave, watched the most film. Tom Brady's not flawless. But if I just said Tom Brady, reliable. Nobody works harder. Nobody said the right thing more. nobody was as dependable and reliable as Tom Brady.

It's snowing. He threw the same ball than if it was sunny. Zone man to man, press coverage, you got the same quarterback. Cam, the last word you could use is reliable. And so everybody today is going to say, you don't go from starting to released because Mack Jones tore it up against four stringers. The second snafu, COVID, it's a thing.

It's a thing. Oh, by the way, I'm told the Colts are not happy with unvaccinated Carson Wenz. And I believe Minnesota would move off Kirk Cousins in five minutes if they weren't trapped with this horrible contract. We all make decisions. You agitate. You'll get released. Fast. Fast.

All right, let's talk now, Mac Jones. You know, and I've said this before is I think Tua and Mac Jones, who I don't. meet in week one in Foxborough, New England's favored by about a field goal, they're going to win games because they have excellent head coaches and excellent defense. And where you land matters. The coach you have matters. Jared Goff looked like a bust to a Super Bowl because they got Sean McVeigh. Mitch Trebisky looked like a bus to made the playoffs twice.

Matt Nagy, offensive guy. So Mack Jones is a starter. Here's the good news. As we've noted, where he landed is perfect. It's a patient franchise with a great. great coach, a great coordinator, a great offensive line, depth at running back, maybe no stars, but very good at running back. Look at the schedule for New England.

Ten of the 17 games, Belichick faces a young quarterback. Is there any bet in the NFL over the last 20 years, I'll ask Joy, that is safer than bet Belichick when he faces a young quarterback? Even Josh Allen. Terrible numbers. It's basically a lock. It's a lock. And 10 of the 17 games with New England's defense are against young quarterbacks.

Now, I will say this. Whenever quarterbacks come out, I always have a strong opinion. And yes, I don't consider myself a journalist or just an entertainer. But it's more fun for me when I come out with strident opinions on quarterbacks, because if I'm right or wrong, then you can come and shoot arrows at me. And that's what's fun doing this job. I'm not a reporter. I'm not a classic journalist.

I'm not really a host. I'm an opinionist. And so I've always got strong opinions on all the quarterbacks. And five went in the first round. And the one I was most critical of was Mack Jones. I said, number one, he's hard to evaluate. He never got touched in college. He always played with a lead.

He had the best receivers, best offensive line. What's the wow? I don't see it. I will admit, of the five first round quarterbacks, for the five, I still feel the same way. I think Zach Wilson, small, good arm, but could struggle. I think Trevor Lawrence is the most gifted.

I think Justin Fields and Trey Lance, it's all about the offensive line and the support. They could fail, but I don't think they will. But I will say this with Mack Jones, and I have no problem admitting I'm wrong. I don't know how great his upside is. I think his ceiling is low. But boy, he looks comfortable. He looks really, really comfortable, and he looked really, really comfortable. The first snap, and I watched it, and you watched it.

So of all five quarterbacks, the one I've gone, oh, this is a little better than I thought, is Mac Jones. Between the O-line, the run game. Now, New England did, let's be honest here. They played a lot of starters. So I still think Mac Jones is hard to evaluate. Okay, they open up with Brian Flores in that defense. That is a, even at home, that's a tough opener for Mac Jones.

Hey, it's tough for Tua, but he's got. got some snaps in this league. But I will say this. Mack Jones from the first snap looked like he could handle it. Didn't look like he would unravel. Now, they played a lot of starters, but that's a complex offense. Josh McDaniels, this is not easy. It's hard. It takes weeks. And he picked it up quickly. His feet were good. His accuracy was good. His tempo was good. It was good. There's not a lot of wow factor. I think his ceiling is really low. But I do think, Young quarterbacks, even with low ceilings, two and Mac Jones, can be highly effective, not saying win in Super Bowls, but they can be highly effective if they're surrounded with the right elements.

And we said this from day one. New England was literally the perfect fit for Mac Jones. They've had a guy that doesn't look physically the part. His name was Brady. They've had a guy that doesn't move well. It's Brady. They've had a guy that's, quote, smart but has a lower. ceiling. It's Brady. So they've seen, they've had this type of quarterback. You know, Brady from

Big School, Michigan, Mack Jones, Big School, Alabama. I don't know how it's going to work. I think you could struggle against Miami. I think he could struggle against Brian Flores. I can see that being a really low-scoring football game where two in Mac Jones, you know, the game's played inside the 20-yard lines. They're not a lot of scoring. But I'm excited for it because I think this league is built on young quarterbacks and old quarterbacks, and a lot of the old quarterbacks are leaving. Drew Bree's just left. Brady's close. Ben's close. Peyton Manning left a couple years ago. So I'm all in on the new guys. Good luck, Mack Jones. 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, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it 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 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 finishing that sentence.

Yes. 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, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness, this month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood,

pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The reality with Cam Newton is, New England leaked a story last week. They don't leak much, but when they do, they want it out. This is the way, by the way, a White House works. This is the way politics works. When the White House wants something out, regardless of who the president is, they leak it out. They find a reporter.

They leak it out. This has happened in my entire career in this business where if a team is considering acquiring a player, they'll leak it out to a member of the media. That happened a lot when I used to listen to WFA in a New York. They leak it out. The host talks about it. you get reaction from the fans. This happens all the time. So New England leaked last week.

They were disappointed with the COVID snafu by Cam, and they did it for a reason. They don't leak much. They do it when they want it out, which is, hey, when we bail on them, this is the reason. They also had multiple veteran players saying how great Mac Jones was. Now, I do think Mac Jones played well, but it's hard to interpret. New England played starters. Not many teams played starters. About 75% of this league didn't play any starters.

A snap. New England played lots of starters as they tried to decipher what they were. And if you're playing starters and I got Belichick and starters and you have a coach less than Belichick and second and third stringers, both these quarterbacks look good. Mac looked good and Cam looked good. And my guess is they would go with Cam because it's division's better. You can't mess around. I think they wanted to give Mack Jones more snaps, more snaps.

But once Cab now is sidelined for five days, Matt got all the snaps. And that coaching staff looked around and said, he's more reliable. There's not a gap now. The gap between Cam and Mac is tinier and tinier and tinier and tinier and now it's just we feel we can trust him. This is what I was told. We can rely on him. We can trust him. And the Mack Jones era begins in earnest. How good will he be? Well, there's a lot of good about New England. If you get my yellow pad of paper test, take your yellow pad of paper. What I like about New England, what I don't. It's a lot of what I like. I have them at 10 and 7 this year. I'm not going to change him. I said last week, Cam could go 10 and 7 and Mac could go 10 and 7.

I still believe that. I think both quarter, they're different. Mac, you're going to get more of a distributor, Cam a little bit more of a shooter and a score, and a guy in the red zone that will, yeah, 12 rushing touchdowns last year. So Cam's a different quarterback than Mack, but I think both in this system could get you 10 games. So why is one released and one starting? It's not just because they both tore it up against third and four stringers. but Mac they don't worry about anything other than he'll show up early,

leave late, and he'll get it done. So that's the situation. We have Cam's last 17 starts are ugly eight touchdown passes 11 picks. Let me support him though on this. Those stats look really, really bad. So Cam Newton's last 17 starts, you can really pick on him. But let's be fair about this. Tom Brady.

Look at Tom's last year in New England and his first year in Tampa. Okay. Cam didn't have a lot to work with here. So everybody in Boston, Boston Sports Radio has just been picking apart Cam for the last year. Folks, they led the NFL in opt-outs. Belichick has not drafted tight ends and receivers well. Cam's numbers, let's be fair here. There's a reason New England went out and spent $120 million on free agents, mostly wide receivers and tight ends.

They didn't have any. They didn't have any. So one of the people say, well, you like Cam starting. I did because I took his numbers last year. And we were joking about this. I mean, people in Boston were just rooting against Cam. A lot of diehard Patriot fans were rooting against him. When you kind of consider all of it, they were a play in Seattle and a play from Buffalo

from potentially getting into the playoffs. And those are good teams. I mean, the Seahawks won 12 games. Buffalo win 11, 12 games. So you got to be fair on Cam's overall numbers. It's really been bad in his last. last 17 starts. But when he left Carolina, that wasn't his fan, wasn't a great team. They're rebuilding, right? They've been rebuilding last year. And New England, offensively,

who's going to star? I mean, maybe, maybe Mahomes, but Russell Wilson, but who was going to take that team to the playoffs last year? So let's be fair with Cam. The COVID stuff, I have no, I have no time for Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins, and Cam Newton not getting vaccinated. I got no patience for it. It doesn't matter if you had it last year. Doesn't matter. NFL set up protocols. Unvaccinated, we're going to make your life miserable. Delta Airlines has done it. This company's done it.

Netflix has done it. Disney's done it. Doesn't matter if you had it. Take it or you're going to be a problem. And I think as a quarterback, Kirk Cousins, get vaccinated. Carson Wentz, get vaccinated. Cam, good luck on the open market. There's a big difference now between the Vikings and the cults who are trapped with their

unvaccinated quarterbacks. They can't do anything. You can't get out of Kirk Cousins. contract. It's a $46 million contract next year. Terrible. There's a difference between that and Cam's now on the market, unvaccinated. Brough, there's not going to be much of a market. And then not going to be much of a market. One thing of a team is trapped. And by the way, this isn't just quarterback. This is life. If you work at a company right now and you're unvaccinated, that's one thing. But if you're unemployed looking for work and you're not vaccinated,

it's a different thing. I'm not bringing in. So I think the market for Cam was small. a year ago. I don't know. People are talking about the Dallas Cowboys today. Like they needed another disruption, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. I would not bring an unvaccinated quarterback in the league.

Again, I'm not a mandate guy. If it was an unvaccinated outside linebacker and you were great, I'd consider it. But quarterback, 60 touches a game, most valuable guy in the locker room, I can't do it. I can't. If I had GM or a coach, I just can't do it. It's one thing if you decided that and I'm stuck with you. It's another thing if you're on the market, it's a hard pass for me.

So I don't know the market for camp. But we have to be fair. Don't just pull out his numbers from last year and go, look at those terrible numbers. He had nothing to work with. I mean, that was the worst receiving tight end core in the league in forever. Since the 76 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Steve'sbury, it was terrible. Be sure to catch live editions of the Hurstead. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio. 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. 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, 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 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 Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Keer 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, Tripp 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy

far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nothing makes smart men dumb like beautiful women in sports. They just unravel. And so all five first round quarterbacks, it's fair to say, have shown real promise. So what are the chances?

All five are great. There's no chance. In fact, let's just go to the last 10 years. Now, in the last 10 years, the quarterback position has changed from elite 11 camps to personal coaching to 7-on-7 summer camps. The kids now are much better than they've ever been. And they're ready to play much sooner. So I'm not even going to go back 20 years to help my argument.

I'm not going to go back 30 years to help my argument. I'm going to just go back 10. This generation of quarterbacks last 10 years, they were in elite 11 camps, personal coaching. In 10 years, there's been 32 first-round quarterbacks. 32. Seven have been stars. And I'm including Cam and Andrew Luck, and those didn't exactly end well.

But I'll call them stars. Double that, 13 have been busts and 12 have been solid. A bust being Paxton Lynch, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, Brandon. This didn't work. You didn't draft a guy in the first round to have that career. And then there's a bunch of solid average guys, you know, like a Teddy Bridgewater, James Winston, and Ryan Tannihill. I mean, let's be honest about this. Three or four of my solids could be busts. I mean, Sam Darnold struggles this year to bust. Didn't work. Jordan Love struggles, bust.

You know, I mean, I, Kyler Murray, I got to see, give me a little bit more. Jared goff if he unravels. So those are my solid guys. Okay. So that's seven stars in 10 years. Less than one per year. And you think all five are going to hit this year. Exqueze me?

I beg your jargon? No, it's not going to work. But if I insinuate your quarterback could be a bust. Oh, I mean, you guys come unglued. Unravelled, Coward, I can't believe. You know, I'm right, right? Like four of these five are not going to be stars. So what I'm going to do right now for the next four or five minutes,

I'm going to take each quarterback and just tell you how it could go wrong. Let's start with Mack Jones. Well, okay, Josh Allen's great. And Miami makes the Deshawn Watson trade. And Mac Jones is solid, but he finishes third a lot. Because both Josh Allen and Deshawn Watson would have what I consider elite coaches. He finishes third a lot. lot. By the way, Belichick remains problematic in terms of drafting wide receiver talent,

and they just don't have the pop and the juice to beat Buffalo and Miami. And you look up, and Mack Jones is winning 60% of his games and not making the playoffs. You don't think that could happen? Okay. How about Justin Fields? All right, Matt Nagy gets fired after this year, and the front office, which I don't love in Chicago, whiffs on the next coach. And he's got a bad offensive line, a lot of bad drafts. And oh, by the way, Justin Fields develops really bad habits running around to save his life. And he becomes a really good athlete who doesn't win many games with bad habits, without the right coach, in a front office, I don't trust. By the way, I don't like the bear's offensive line. Maybe he gets banged up. All right, let's go to the third one.

Trey Lance. Well, he continues to struggle with accuracy. That's been the question. And he remains a great athlete who runs around, but he struggles with accuracy. Oh, by the way, plays in the division where Russell Wilson's better, Matt Stafford and McVeyer better, and let's say Kyler Murray just keeps getting better. So he becomes the fourth best quarterback in a division. That ain't a long shot. You watch Russell Wilson play? That ain't a long shot.

How about Zach Wilson? What could go wrong? Two words. The Jets. Bad owner, bad moves. Bad contracts, great division, three great defensive coaches. Belichick, Sean McDermott, Brian Flores. He's talented.

He can wing it. He's got a good arm. But he's small, gets beat up behind a so-so offensive line and great defensive coordinators. And you look up and he finishes fourth, three of his first four years. How about Trevor Lawrence? Jaguars can't surround him with talent. Urban Meyer is okay, but not special as an NFL coach.

They get a lot of things right, but they never. get the offensive line right. And let's be honest, he's a kid who's not totally defined by football. He's got kind of an Andrew Luck DNA where he loves football, but it doesn't define him. And after about four years of getting beat up and banged up behind a terrible offensive line, or at least a bad offensive line, he checks out. He's done with it. He doesn't want to play that much anymore. And Urban retires or leaves, and they hire another coach, and Jacksonville has a history of whiffing sometimes on coaching hires, and he's got a coach that's worse. the Nerman and it doesn't work and they do and by the way players don't always love staying in

Jacksonville Jalen Ramsey wanted out and play as Camel wanted out and it's almost a college town more than a pro town and some guys don't want to play there and just come down again 32 quarterbacks last five years first round seven are stars seven 13 or busts and there's a bunch of guys that are solid could go either way. Now, I tend to think Carson Wentz could move into that star thing. I really do. I think that situation with the offensive line in Indy and Jonathan Taylor, Pittman, T.Y. Hilton.

I think Carson Wentz could move, make it eight. But not all five of these guys are going to hit. It's just not the way the league works. I've said this before. The hardest job in sports in America is quarterbacking in the NFL. The data tells you, it's hard. You've got to get the right old line, the right coach, the right GM. it helps if you're in. Let's be honest about it. It really did help Tom Brady that by and large,

for most of his career, Miami and Buffalo and the Jets were completely dysfunctional in the front office. You can't kid yourself. Don't kid yourself on Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer dominated the SEC for years. Then Nick Saban moved into it. Okay. Like your surrounding cast, your surrounding rivals matter. And right now that AFC East, Mac Jones is stepping into a really good. division. I mean, Brian Flores can flat coach. Sean McDermott can flat coach. So isn't going to be a Brady situation where

it's nonsense for 20 years and bad GMs and bad coaches. 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. A lot of excellent coaches. Also played with Cam Newton. He is now joining us live. Tori Smith. So, you know, it's interesting.

Cam Newton gets released. They go with Mack Jones. And if you look at the AFC now, it's just kids. I mean, Joe Flacco a few years in Baltimore. They just moved on. It's Lamar Jackson's team. And, you know, everyone in the division is so young. Yeah.

I mean, the entire division is 25 and under. Looking at that, it's definitely a change in the guard going on right now in that division. What worries you about, I mean, I said this, Tori. Nobody plays starters in preseason. New England's one of the first. the few that did. I don't even know what to make a Mac Jones. I don't know how much is real and how much is beaten fourth stringers. What did you take from Mac Jones in the preseason? I think Max Jones looked excellent. You know, coming into the draft, I think he was drafted where he

should have been. I did like all the other quarterbacks that went before him, but I think he fell into the best situation. In a team and a system that matches his skill set. This preseason, he did a great job getting rid of the ball. And offense is all about timing and space. And he did a great job getting the ball out, putting it where it's supposed to be. His stats would have been even better if guys would have held on to a few plays. And he looked great. And so I understand their decision. I don't like it as much, especially being a caller Cam Newton, a brother.

But you understand the business side of this. You know, this is a young guy that is ready to go. And there's only one way to know if your young quarterback is ready to play, and that's to put him in there. I heard when he was up in New York, he did a great job in those joint practices in terms of going out and executing that offense with Cam was sick. So that really stands out to me because joint practices are better than preseason the game. You had the opportunity to compete.

You're not getting brought to the ground, but you get different looks. And those defenses show things in practice that they don't even show in the real game. So I believe that the coaches were comfortable rolling with him going forward. And it would be hard for him having Cam Newton, especially the figure that he had literally figuratively with their size, but also his talent standing behind him. It allowed them to move forward as an organization and roll with their young guy. Whether people or players or anybody agrees with it, the NFL has very strict protocols on COVID. If Cam is not going to get vaccinated, my question becomes, does he have a place in this league?

It's one thing if you have Kirk Cousins and he isn't and you're stuck with his contract. It's another if a guy's just on the market and you're like, I'm not bringing that in. Does Cam have a market if he remains unvaccinated? You know, that's a tough spot to be in right now. You know, if it was the all season, maybe that could be the case. But I think where we are right now, teams want to go to safe route when it comes to being vaccinated. Yes, we know it's falling off a little bit in terms of the way it works. But it's overwhelmingly supportive and science shows that teams are going to be better off with their guys being vaccinated.

It comes down to wins and losses. These teams are in the business of winning. And we've seen over time with a bunch of players, if you're more of a liability, in this case, more of health liability and the organization is going to be hard on if he's not vaccinated, but talent-wise, Cam Newton deserves to be in this league. He looked better than he has been the past few seasons. He's healthy. He's ready to roll, and I know that fire is under him. I definitely believe in his talent I've seen him. I've been in the huddle with him and to see where he's come and the way he's worked this all season to overcome that injury. He's ready to go. So I hope that he ends up

getting vaccinated and not just simply so he can play, but because it's the right thing to do for where we stand in this climate. But, you know, it's going to be tough. And that's a decision that, you know, five years ago we'd be laughing. Like, what do you mean? It comes down to making a roster if you're vaccinated or not. At this point, and where the league is, if you're not a starter, it makes a lot of sense. So you know John Harbaugh well. John's a veteran coach and, you know, Belichick and Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh, they played some starters. They played guys. A lot of the young coaches won't. They won't even travel guys. But Harbaugh did, and J.K. Dobbins now out for the year,

do you think they regret playing him? Or, you know, I could make the argument. You know Baltimore. They don't, I mean, they're just going to play dudes. Like every, every practice matters, every game matters. How do you think John Harbaugh thinks about the Dobbins injury this morning? Man, it's tough. I'm thinking hindsight, you always like to say, man, I wish I didn't play them.

But the reality of it is you can get hurt in football any day, any play in practice and walk through. It doesn't matter. So you just have to go out there and just live with it. Harbaugh has always made his starters play, and whether it's a series, which it literally was a series, and it was on the back end of the series when he got tied up. So it's tough for him and definitely praying for him and his injury. But the reality of it is you can't look back at that now.

I knew the Patriots are going to play there guys. He's also going to just believe in guys simply being out there and going to perform. So it's going to happen. You have to be caught with. The injuries are part of the game. Yes, you would like to avoid it when you can. but I understand both sides of the aisle when it comes to making sure your team is ready come week one. Okay, so, Tori, you know well young quarterback.

So in the last decade, 32 quarterbacks have gone in the first round. Seven are stars. Double that, 13 are busts. And then there's a lot of guys in the middle that could still go bust. So on average, less than one a year stars. If I said to you, give me, of the five quarterbacks, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Mack Jones, who did I miss here? I probably miss, Zach Wilson. Of the five, if I said to you, this guy's going to be a star and this guy could have some issues, maybe not all of them his fault.

Give me your kind of summation of the five guys that came in, the one you think's got a good space and one that doesn't perhaps. Well, the one who I love the most in their situation is Trey Lance. I think his talent matches perfectly with Kyle Shanahan and his mind as an offensive coordinator. He's going to put him in position to succeed. He's a dual threat similar to Justin Fields, but the difference between Justin Fields and Chicago, who I love as a player as well, is the organization. Right now, the San Francisco 49ers are a stable organization. They have a coach in the GM that you can't see this going separate ways for a while,

hopefully for Trey Lance as well as the 49ers. but I believe it's just a perfect match there. The offense fits him, his skill set, and they're going to continue to build around him for the long term. But in terms of a guy who I will be more concerned about, that's tough. You know, you want to say Zach Wilson being in New York, and you would typically say that, but I believe in Joe Douglas and what he's building there. So I wouldn't even say that's the case.

I think for the first round quarterbacks this year, they all fell into pretty good situations. And Justin Fields is the only one that could potentially be a little questionable but because there could be a coaching change if they don't get it together this season. Yeah, no, you know how valuable the coaching stuff is. When you were part of the Ravens, you had no chaos, you have the same coach, you have the same practice schedule.

So if I said to you, Mack Jones debuts in about 10 days against Tua, that's in Foxborough, and I've said, I think Brian Flores is a home run young coach. I think he's great. Their defense last year gave McVeigh trouble, golf trouble. It gave, you know, it gave a lot of people

trouble. What will be a successful, let's say Mac Jones loses, you know, you lose, that's okay. What will be a successful opening game against Brian Flores? Let's contextualize it because you're not going to go out and go 28 to 30 against Brian Flores' defense. That's just not going to happen. What will be successful for Mack Jones against the Dolphins and Flores? I think when you're evaluating young quarterbacks, it comes down to just executing his confidence and getting rid of the ball, which were. his strengths at Alabama. You know, he got his timing and his spacing. I'm expecting him to go

out and do pretty well. One thing you know, he may not be the most mobile, but he knows where he wants to go with that ball. And that's his strength. And that's similar to a guy who they've had in the past there in Tom Brady. So I'm expecting those coaches to get him right. With them having almost 10 days, like you mentioned, to get prepared, they're going to

put him in a position to run the things that he does very well. And New England, even though I feel like they're still the third best team in the division, this is the team that never need superstars to go out there and to perform. The thing that's made them great over the years is that they get the most side of players and put them in position to succeed. I've never once looked at the New England Patriots roster and felt like this roster is loaded. We need to be concerned about them.

That's never been the case. I never felt that way as a player and I don't feel this way now, but you know that they're going to be disciplined. They're going to be well-coached. And they're going to have enough veteran leaders and stars in the mix to balance out that team and to help put them in position. So I think right now if you're the New England Patriots or their fans, you know, you have everyone right where you want them because, you're going to be. you're not expecting the most out of them, but that's when they're the most dangerous. The president and founder of Level 82, leveraging the power of community collaboration to enable all Baltimore families that reach their full potential. Tori Smith, the two-time champ, great to have you on the show.

Again, I think last time we had you on the show, you rushed into a room. You were flying down the interstate, and we rushed into our side room at a school and you pulled it off. So we finally wanted to get you back home in a safe space. And congrats on your success and your family. everything. Thank you. Appreciate you having me. 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 Acapella 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. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at it podcast. In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Keer Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional

who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.