The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/02/2021 - HOUR 1 - Raiders, Zach Wilson, Packers, Michigan

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

The Raiders are not a playoff teamTony Romo is overhyping Jets QB Zach WilsonThe Packers will be interesting to watch this seasonCan HC Jim Harbaugh turn around Michigan this season?Guest: Peter King Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The 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.

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or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a Thursday. College football's great weekend starts tonight, live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be in however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, Peter King, Bob Stoops, Joel Clatt.

Dodgers, by the way, are now in first place. The best baseball roster I have seen in 15 to 20 years, top to bottom, which got stronger with the trading deadline with Trey Turner and Max Scherzer. The Brewers, hot knife through butter through the Giants. The Dodgers fly through. Now the injury riddled Braves and the Dodgers are in first place. I am not a homer because I live in Los Angeles. I will say, though, that it's nice since I moved to the city.

Yes. Everybody wins all the time. There's a magic potion with this show. We should be re-signed for decades. Just bring winners here. All we do is hang out. Winning energy. That's what we have.

Big win energy. Joy Taylor is with me today. So tonight we got a college football game. Great college football weekend. So we got Bob Stoops and Clat in the show today. I want to start with this, though. I say this all the time. And I've watched this in broadcasting.

It's amazing who we choose to support and who we choose to pick on. And that's why I tell young broadcasters, Just don't listen to the noise. Believe in your content. Work hard. If you do good work and you're a good person, you will make it. But Matt Nagy's been in Chicago three years.

He's made the playoffs twice with Mitch Trubisky. And everybody wants him out. Gruden has Derek Carr, a much better quarterback, top 10, 12 quarterback, in my opinion, in the NFL, and they're picked for fourth place. But you all love Chuckie. And I got nothing against Chuckie. But Mike Mayock, the GM, and let's be honest,

Gruden runs the organization, sort of like in Seattle. They got a GM, but Pete Carroll runs it. I'm not a fan of that. I don't think you should give guys this much power, powerful, big emotional guys with too much wealth and power, screw everything up. But Mike Mayock laid it out yesterday about this season for the Raiders.

I think John and I would both tell you that we feel like we need to be a playoff team this year. And I don't think there's any doubt about that. And you guys are all going to put that in your headlines, and I understand it. But we're not, I mean, that's what the expectation is. We think we've done the infrastructure work necessary to put us in position. And we've got to take care of business. All right. The pressure is on.

We need to be a playoff team. They will not. Gruden's fascinating. So I think John Gruden knows football. I know John, I like John, he knows football. That's not the question. But personalities matter. And that's why I always said it was very dangerous to give John a 10-year contract.

If you really inspect John's career, last 14 years total, he's made the playoffs five years. And the beginning of his career was better than what's happened recently. Why? Because before John had the big money in the fame, he didn't have as much power, his flaws, his vulnerabilities, his personality, which is he runs really hot, falls in love with players. It didn't hurt as much because he was on a leash a little bit, right? He had an owner, he had a GM. He didn't have ultimate power. If you go look at John Gruden's last six years, last three in Tampa, or excuse me, last three in Tampa, last three in Las Vegas, last three in Las Vegas.

Oakland. His teams have all ended the same way. They've either been bad all year or awful post- Thanksgiving. Look at John Gruden's career in December. It's never been good. With the Raiders, it was its best. He won 41% of his games in December. The Bucks, it was bad, 38%. Rators, it's terrible, 28. He wins 37% of his Denver games. Yet the five winningest December coaches in the NFL since John came back are Pete Carroll, Belichick, Andy Reid, Sean Peyton, Harbaugh. Why? By the way, those are the five best coaches arguably. Why? Because they have strong messages. Some are intense. Some are laid back. They're all different personalities. Andy and Peter are different personalities. Sean Peyton and Belichick, different personalities. That's not what bothers me. But I've always felt once John went to TV, he kind of became a salesman. I'm selling this rant to you right now.

and John salespeople sell whatever they need to sell today to sell the product. And that's not authentic. And that wears thin with players. So as we've given this guy that's highly emotional, that runs really hot, a 10-year contract, an ultimate power, his messaging falls flat and his teams erode over the season. He is a bad coach post- Thanksgiving. But I don't think he's a bad coach. That's why with Gruden, I never liked the 10-year contract.

I'd give Andy Reid a 10-year contract. That's a different personality. I would give Belichick a 10-year contract. That's a different personality. I would never give Jim Harbaugh a 10-year contract. He runs too hot. I'd never give Gruden a 10-year contract. He runs too hot.

But it's interesting now if you go look at Gruden's career, last three years in Tampa, and with this Rader reunion, It's the same story. Bad late, really bad late. And that's coincided with his wealth, his fame, his power. So not all coaches, John can coach. But when you lay it out there this year, I think this team's his worst team. I think they have the worst offensive line.

They have a weird cap situation. And I wish him the very best of luck because I like him. But when he signed that 10-year deal, I said he's not the personality to sign a 10-year contract. We've all worked with people. We've all worked with people. Oh, that's a 10-year deal. And then, you know, sometimes you fall in love with somebody.

You marry somebody you think it's going to last forever. A lot of times you date somebody you think you're going to have a fun weekend in Vegas with. And I think John is more of the latter than the former. And so Mike Mayock laid it out there. We're a playoff team. Good luck with that because I don't see it. I see a fourth place roster in that division. I like Tony Romo.

I defended him forever when he was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. I did. I was always a huge Romo fan. I think he's a terrific broadcaster. But he's officially lost his mind. He said this yesterday about Jets' rookie quarterback, Zach Wilson. I think Zach Wilson is going to be in discussion as one of the top three to five quarterbacks very quickly.

You know, within the next couple of years, I think you're going to see him rise. I think he's unbelievable. Well, his ceiling is so high. It's rare for me to say someone has the ability to get in the stratosphere of a Mahomes, but I think this kid actually has that ability. There is zero chance that Zach Wilson in the next, quote, couple of years will be a top three quarterback. How do I know that?

Because if Patrick Mahomes didn't win, he would be Matt Stafford. Crazy talented, big stats, massive arm, and we'd never. talk about him. Quarterback is about winning. James Winston threw for 5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. What did Tampa do? See ya. He went 7 and 9. 9 and 7, Brady does not end up in Tampa. You watch Matt Stafford this year. He's past his prime. This is year 13. He's not in his prime. We've never put him in top 10. We don't even talk about him. He is going to be in every single top 10 list by the end of this Is it because he's better? Is it because his stats will explode?

No, it's because he'll be winning. I'll give you an example. I like Derek Carr. Derek Carr's last two years, he has carried the Raiders and they're horrible defense. Look at these numbers the last two years for Derek Carr. They're insane. He completes 69% of his throws. His touchdown to interception ratio is insane, 48 to 17.

His passer rating's over 100. And when I suggest he's a top 10 quarterback, you mock me, you crush me, you destroy me. Why? Because he doesn't win. Zach Wilson has no chance to be a top three quarterback in the next two years. Here's what would have to happen just in his division. Forget about Justin Herbert. Forget about Patrick Mahomes, Josh, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, all these

AFC quarterbacks we like. Forget about all his guys. For him in the next two years to be a top three quarterback, he would have to win. So that means Josh Allen would regress badly. The Miami situation would have to regress badly, not just quarterback everything. I mean, they won last year with Ryan Fitzpatrick and two of them. New England, Mac Jones, implodes. Folks, when you finish third or fourth in division, you are not a top quarterback.

The only reason we have Mahomes won. It's because he wins. He gets to Super Bowls. I mean, there's a lot of people out there that would tell you Deshaun Watson and Lamar are way more athletic than Mahomes. Aaron Rogers throws a slicker ball. Brady's more efficient. Mahomes ends up in Super Bowls.

He's the best come from behind quarterback in the last couple years in the NFL, maybe one of the best I've ever seen. And so this is nothing against Tony Romo. I like him. But Zach Wilson has the worst coach in his division. and the worst roster, the AFC East has never had better coaches that I can recall. Flores McDermott-Belichick, A-A-A-A-plus. So love Tony Romo, but that's not going to happen.

This is not baseball where you can bat 340 for a lousy team and we write columns about you. That's not what we do in football. Football is about winning. Brady doesn't have the biggest arm. He's not the biggest quarterback. He's not the most athletic. He's not the best. He wins the most.

That's why he's the goat. Montana was not as talented I'd argue as Troy Aikman. He kept going to Super Bowls and winning. He was a goat. It was replaced by another guy that just won more than him. And Brady's the goat. You think Montana and Brady the best quarterbacks, the best darts? They just won the biggest games.

So therefore, they're the goats. The zoo in the NFL, the goats, they just have the most rings. That's the way it works. Zach Wilson is not going to win a lot of games next two years. He's talented. Matt Stafford's been talented forever. We never talk about it. You put him top five or six in the NFL in Detroit.

You get laughed at. I mean, literally people would be like, Matt Stafford, I'll give me a break. He finishes fourth. He finishes third. There you go. By the way, have you noticed what's happening in Green Bay? No, we have all acknowledged there are two Aaron Rogers. There's peaceful Aaron and passive aggressive Aaron.

There is swell Aaron and snarky Aaron. is nice Aaron and not so nice Aaron. Interesting what's happening in Green Bay. We will get to that in a second. 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.

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So I've said this about Aaron Rogers. You know this. I lay it out there. I have strong opinions on quarterbacks. I think Aaron, there's two versions of Aaron. He's a very complex guy. There's nice Aaron and there's a nasty Aaron. He turns on people fast.

I think there's swell Aaron and snarky Aaron. I think there's pleasant Aaron and passive aggressive Aaron. He turns on people. We've seen him turn on his family. He ghost people. He turns on people. Okay. You know, that's fine.

Whatever. But that's what he is. You know, Brady's got all these long relationships, families. He's just different personality. And it's Aaron, I've always said. There's a statistic out there with Aaron that you can't deny. He plays great with a lead. He's more, he's a little bit of a bailer in tough situations.

He'll bail on people. He'll ghost people. I've had multiple people that know Aaron. And that's just his personality. So when the going gets tough, I don't love him. When the going's going well, he's great. He's the best play with the lead guy in the league. and there's stats that back that up.

He has very few come from behind wins, fewer than Andy Dalton, fewer than Matt Ryan, I think fewer than Derek Carr. How's that possible? He's not a going-and-get-tuff foxhole guy. That's not who he is. That's more Russell Wilson's personality. That's more Brady's personality. That has clearly become Patrick Mahomes' personality, right?

And so it's very interesting. Brian Gudenkoons and Aaron Rogers had a really bad off-season. It was bad. It was bad. But apparently, Braynuchner, Ryan saying it's been pretty good couple weeks here. I've had really good conversations throughout camp with Aaron and Matt. And I think the communication has been really, really good.

And so as we went into this kind of decision making period, I think everybody, all the people that are kind of involved in that were very aware of what was going on and why we were doing what we were doing. So I feel really good about that and the conversations that I've had with Aaron have been excellent. Well, it's preseasoned, so they should be excellent. And you're picked to win the division, and they should be excellent. I really think, I said, Aaron's got two personalities. And we've seen this.

I think the Packers season, what's fascinating about it is two seasons. There is the first six weeks where they face several teams that are rebuilding. They face the Saints, and they face Detroit, and they face the Bengals, and they face hit and miss Chicago. They get a host Pittsburgh. road game at San Francisco's no day at the beach, but they're trying to figure out their quarterback situation. That's season one.

I think Aaron's going to be five and one. We're going to be talking about back-to-back MVP's. Weather's going to be good in Wisconsin. Badgers winning, Packers went in. Aaron, a good mood. And there's the second season, and it starts Sunday, October 24th. This is the lowest rated Packer offensive line, I can recall. The PFF, the grading camps, put it at like 16, 17th.

It's not a great old line. They lost a Pro Bowl. Center, David Boktiari's, an elite pass blocking left tackle. Could be the best in football. He's on the Pup list. He's not back until, I think, Chicago or the Washington game. The second season for Green Bay is brutal. Washington, best front in the NFL.

Arizona on the road, great pass rush. At Kansas City, Seattle, at Minnesota Rams. A couple weeks later, at Baltimore, Cleveland. A lot of pass rushes, a lot of good teams. The weather turns. So we've seen kind of a dual personality with Aaron. This is two seasons for Green Bay, and I can't wait to watch it. Because I think Aaron's going to have a great September 12th to October 17th.

MVP level talked, he's going to be happy. O-line's not great, but you're not facing a lot there that could disrupt it. Second season starts Sunday, October 24th. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Kyle Shanahan kept his choice of starting quarterback very quiet during camp.

Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance both took significant reps in the preseason. But even with Lance dealing with a chip in his finger, Shanahan won't make the final decision public. I don't need to announce the quarterback. I don't think I need to announce the starting punt returner either, but I bet you guys can figure it out. Is there an official thing where you have to announce it like, I mean, once the season starts, yeah, like once you put the lineup, I think that's like when you officially have to do it, week one, and we know who's starting before the game.

Trey's not playing for five more days, right, because the chip? Well, Shanahan's update on it says that he hopes that Lance will be back at practice Monday, but they will be cautious so he doesn't re-injure the finger. He was doing individual drills, like working on his footwork on the side at practice yesterday. So he's still recovering from the chip in his finger. but I don't understand what's happening here. Like, injury aside, the preseason is over. Are you, like, trying to get an edge on your first opponent by not saying who your quarterback is?

Well, because I think Lance and Garapolo have two distinct style. Stylistically, they're different quarterbacks. That's probably what he's doing. He's like, I'm just going to. At what point does the value of that, oh, like, what is the value of your team not knowing who the quarterback is? No, I think the team does. I think you won't say it.

I think the team knows he's not telling us. That's a lot of people to... Well, it is, but if you go into a room and say, guys, we're not telling the media, we know what we're doing, we're not telling the media. You and I know, people keep secrets from us and they manipulate us. The more people that have to keep a secret, the less likely that that secret is going to be kept. Right. Also, why is it a secret?

And by the way, it also doesn't need to... It may be a secret to the team except for people. The two quarterbacks, Shanahan, and the O.C. Right, but I'm saying at what point does the team's lack of knowing who they're leader is and what the plan is for the season. What is the damage of that outweigh the damage of your first week opponent not knowing if Trey Lance is starting or not? That's for a coach to decide. I think if I recall they open up with two, they've opened up with Detroit and Philly. So I think they just love Detroit and Philly scratching their head. I think they love that. And I do think

Lance knows, Garoppolo knows, Kyle knows, the O.C. knows. Well, it might not even be up to anybody if Lance is injured. But I just, I just think it's very strange. So Bears fans are obviously very excited about seeing Justin Fields as they're starting quarterback eventually, but Andy Dalton is going to be starting the season, and GM Ryan Pace says they're going to take their time getting Fields into the game. I just feel like we're in a, Dion, we're just in a good position with Andy. It starts with how we feel about Andy, and we're very confident in him and where he's at. So there's no need for us to rush Justin playing quarterback the NFL. There's so much that goes into that, you know, and so much different than you'd even see in the

preseason, just the weekly preparation, seeing NFL defenses in the regular season, all those things. And I just think the more time he has to learn that and observe that, the better all for him. He's not wrong, but Chicago does not want to hear this. I know. I know. We're just on such opposite sides with the starting of young quarterbacks. I'm mostly an old guy. I mean, they just talk about them like they're just incapable of doing, like we talked about Justin Herbert like this. Justin Herbert was fine. Figured it out. Well, yeah, he's also great.

I mean, we got lucky on that one. He's great. Sure. I mean, lots of young rookie quarterbacks start right away and they figure it out. Yeah. What's the stat, Ryan? We had it a couple weeks ago that no number one quarterback, I forget what it was, has had a winning season that played, that started so many games.

Other than Andrew Lowe. Yes. Like, it's hard. Yeah, I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I'm not saying it's, uh, there isn't some. value in a little bit more time. And I think Chicago's GM and head coach are on the hot seat. I think to me that this is what the story is.

It's not about keeping Justin Fields safe. It's not about giving Justin Fields a little bit more time to learn NFL defenses from the playbook. This is about the GM and head coach wanting to win games right now because they're in the hot seat. But I don't know that that necessarily helps Justin Fields. I think there's a fair argument on both sides that, Dustin Fields actually being on the field and developing on the field reps will help him develop more

quickly. And there's an argument that he needs a little bit more time to learn the playbook or whatever, watch Andy Dalton. I just think this is about winning games right now. Well, they're going to lose their opener. And so what's going to be the Rams and then they have the Bengals, Browns, lions, and Raiders. So I mean, what's going to happen is they're going to lose the opener regardless of who plays. And there's going to be this out, this outrage. to not play Justin Fields. And so they'll probably play Justin Fields at Cincinnati and win. And then he'll go to Cleveland and lose.

And then they'll, I mean, to me, I look at them as a two and two football team. There's no way you can line up a rookie quarterback and go to L.A. and Cleveland and win. Those are just losses. But I don't think it's about wins and losses at this point. Well, it is for Matt and Aggie. Right, but that's what I'm saying. So are you coaching to develop the best thing for Justin Fields moving forward? or are you coaching to keep your job?

Are you GMing to keep your job? The whole league is about winning. So I think you're, I think. But when you have a young quarterback, you're not going to win. You're not going to win. But you have that grace mostly with the media and with your fan base. Andy Dalton will go three and two through five.

He will beat the Bengals, beat the lions and beat the Raiders. So my point, it's not about winning. The whole league's about winning. Right. So that's my question, because this was my question with the dolphins last year with the way that they handled Tua. And maybe Tua wasn't physically ready. I was not under the impression.

from what the Dolphins were saying that he wasn't physically ready. But you missed time for Tua developing last year because you had Fitzpatrick out there winning and you didn't make the playoffs. And you're not going to win a playoff game, little alone multiple playoff games with Ryan Fitzpatrick, I don't believe. So do you feel like you can win a playoff game with Andy Dalton? I feel... Because to me, making the playoffs and winning a playoff game with Andy Dalton is the only

beneficial scenario for Andy Dalton playing this whole year. No, I think I'm going to go three and two with Andy. and then I can hand it over to Justin. That's what I think. But I think if I start Justin for those first five, he could blow it against the Bengals because he's a kid. He just doesn't. It doesn't matter if he blows it.

No, I know it does because Matt Nagy gets fired. Right, but that's what I'm saying. It doesn't matter for the development of Justin Fields. It doesn't matter for the future of the Chicago Bears if Justin Fields isn't winning now. Justin Herbert didn't win a bunch of games last year. Joe Burrow didn't obviously got injured, but it wasn't about winning.

It was about learning how to play the game. That's right. But you can do that in week seven as well as week three. I want to win games. So I'm Matt Nagy. I want to go three and two and say, listen, I want the wins I think I can win. In their schedule, they got three Ws right out front. By the way, those Ws, you start looking at their schedule, they're not really available.

They get Cincinnati early. Unfortunately, they get, you know. Then they get rough. It's brutal. It's at Vegas. Then you have Green Bay, Buck, San Francisco, Steelers, all before you're by. So it gets rough after that. So to me, I'm Matt Nagy, I'm like, listen.

Listen, we have to win. That's better for the locker room. I'm going to go with Andy early. Once you get to Green Bay, I could argue they have the worst October, early November in the league. It's brutal. Green Bay, Tampa Bay, San Francisco. It's not great. It gets a little easier later, but their middle of their schedule is pretty rough.

Brutal. So the dolphins have been at the center of the Deshawn Watson trade rumors recently, and head coach Brian Flores has been vocal about the team's commitment to Tua, reiterating again. on Wednesday that he is their quarterback and Tua said he's very thankful for all the support he's gotten from his head coach. It means a lot with it coming from the head coach, the support that you know I have from him from the team. It means a lot. But you know, for me, I'm just focused literally on trying to get our guys ready for next week. It's such a massive distraction. It's such a great opening game. Tua against Mac Jones, Newie. And what a great. That's great. It is great.

But I do feel for Tua in this situation. It just feels like a complete, like screeching on the brakes. We're going into the season. It's Tua season. We're going to get the first full, healthy season with Tua. No Fitzpatrick, no switching out for a veteran. No, all the bubble wrap is off. And then, but, Sean Watson trade rumors.

And then now you have to address that with the locker room. And you've got to address that with Tua. I think he's handling it great. But it just feels like it's just such unnecessary drama going. into the beginning of the season. He played at Alabama with Sabin, so he understands being in the headlines and he understands intense coaches. So, I mean, he's clearly, he's got the DAC thing where you're like, he's always good

in the mic. No, he's always good at the mic. I never worry about that with him. He's an adult. He's like older than his years. The question with him becomes, you know, they had, they were clearly inside the building interested in upgrading quarterback. That's a thing.

And now it's public. So how it's going to affect him particularly personally? I don't buy into the thing that nothing ever affects you. You're a human being. Like that's going to affect you in some way. Now, some personalities, it might be more than others. But it's also a locker room aspect of like, wait a minute, we had this leader, we had this guy we were moving forward with.

And that is a massive change to switch from Tua to trading for Dishon Watson. Like, that's not a small thing. So they've said they're moving forward with him. I don't believe that they're still interested in trading for Deshaun at this point either because the asking price is absurd. But I'm glad that Flores is being very vocally supportive of him. Yeah, Joy with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Football Morning in America by Peter King and NBC Sports. You know him. Let's bring him on. Brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. So you tell me the Tua Watson thing. I had a theory yesterday, Peter, is that the dolphins were interested, and they made, you know, they talked to Watson's people.

Watson's people leak it to make it public because they're trying to save his career and make it look like there's a massive market for him. I don't think there's a huge market for him until this stuff gets settled. And then Miami's like, okay, I went public. Then they peel back. They don't want to implode the season. They got a young quarterback. That's kind of my takeaway on it is once it went public, Miami was trapped, but I still think they want to, I still think they like Deshaun Watson. and they just went public.

What is your takeaway on the last week in that situation? I think there are probably four teams in the NFL that want Deshaun Watson under the right circumstances. Will those circumstances ever exist? We just don't know right now. You know, as I wrote this week, Colin, and I know this sounds rash, but none of us have any idea what. is going to happen with Deshaun Watson. Nobody knows if this is all going to go away, if he'll make some settlement with his accusers. No one knows anything. No one knows could he go to prison? Probably not,

but nobody knows. So how in the world could anybody trade for Deshaun Watson right now? Say you're to Miami Dolphins. They're certainly interested in Deshawn Watson. But if you trade for Deshawn Watson, you're going to trade Tua. So now you're going to go into a season having no idea whatsoever. If the guy you just traded for is your franchise quarterback is going to throw a single pass in 2021. It's just it's the wrong time to make a trade. It's the wrong time for Houston to be trading them. They have to suck it up and take whatever happens with Deshaun Watson this year because no general manager in his right mind is going to make his best offer for Deshaun Watson, knowing the absolute unknown that his season is going to be this year.

So we went back yesterday to 2015, and we found a trend that regardless of the quarterback, if you have a top two-rated offensive line and a top three rushing productivity attack, back to Cam's 2015 Panthers, and then I forget the teams in order, it was Cleveland last year, It was Rams with Goff to the Super Bowl. It was the Niners Garoppolo to the Super Bowl. And then it was Nick Foles in Philadelphia. So we went six years in a row. If you have a top two graded O line and a top three rushing game,

the quarterback becomes less crucial. The quarterbacks were Garoppolo, Nick Foles, Jared Gough, Baker Mayfield. And I said, this Mack Jones thing, this is the best offensive line I have seen in New England in years, and they have a really deep running back group. And I said, maybe it's not crazy. They're going to be a little more run-centric. I've seen this recipe work.

I think you can win a lot of games with Mac Jones. Your thoughts on the move. I mean, we'll see. How can anybody know that? Mac Jones is not played yet. So you're judging him basically by a few moments you've seen in preseason games where he looked very good most of the time. A competitive practice, he had a great practice he had against the New York Giants a week ago.

One's against one. And you're judging by what he did at Alabama, which is okay. Now, you talk about the Patriots. I mean, you know, I don't know if this is going to be their best offensive line at all. I mean, Joe Tooney's not there. He was probably their highest graded linemen last year. And, you know, that's why to me I look at what happens in August and I say, we'll see. I don't have a great strong feeling about a lot of teams right now.

I will say this. I feel better about the Patriots today than I did on July 27th, the first day of training camp. because I think Mac Jones has proven, you know, when he's gotten to the stage that he can handle it. But the only thing is what he, no one ever writes, you know, after, say, Tom Brady becomes great. No one ever says, well, geez, we knew it on August 21st. You know, you just, they got to play games to see. So, you know, we were talking about John Grude and I sat on a plane this weekend. from Chicago to Los Angeles next to a 30-year NFL exec who knew Gruden and Mark Davis very well.

And he said their relationship's not the same, is that John can wear people out over time. And I look at Gruden, and I was never a fan of a 10-year contract. I just said this earlier. There are certain personalities, Jim Harbaugh, John Gruden. They run hot. They're big personalities, and they can bulldoze people. And they're probably not guys I'm going to give a 10-year contract to. Not that they can't coach.

They're both very smart guys. But the Raider thing to me, this morning, Peter, if you're writing a column on the Raiders, is it going to work? Does it feel right to you? It doesn't, even the cap situation with them I don't like. I mean, look, I was out there, but for only one day. And it's hard to really get a great handle on a team in one day. But this is, you know, what I see when I see the Raiders is every year, it's

seems like they count on a lot of good young players who haven't done it yet and maybe a big veteran signing or two in free agency. This year, it's Yonikin Gakwe, big money, and everybody is so excited about their pass rush this year. And I say, there's a reason why Yonikin Gokwe has been on four teams in a year. And at that time, four teams in 10 months or whatever it was. So, I mean, I'm not really fired up about the Raiders, quite honestly. We'll see. But, you know, John Gruden's 19 and 29 in his first three years. It's not all his fault.

A lot of the players they drafted have not played to their college resumes. Right. And that is going to be essential for those young players to play significantly better this year than they have. A lot of young quarterbacks, they've all at moments look great. Tony Romo said yesterday, Zach Wilson's going to tear it up. He's going to be a top quarterback in no time. I think he has a lot to overcome. We don't know if Saul is a head coach.

It could be. I don't know. Your takeaway in the young quarterbacks, I said we have a cultural change in the NFL where almost nobody outside of Belichick plays starters. So you start with twos. You go to threes by the second quarter. You know, all these young guys look fantastic. I don't know what to make of any of it.

Do you have a strong feeling about any of these young quarterbacks going forward? you know probably if you were to look at the young quarterbacks who were going to play right away you'd probably have to like mac jones the best because he is going to be surrounded by the best team and you know the jets and jaguars are two teams that have been horrible and they bring in young quarterbacks and Have they improved enough across the board to not be horrible? That's the biggest question about both of those teams. And I loved what I saw.

Everybody, how could you not love what you see in Trevor Lawrence in the preseason, particularly last week in Dallas? But having said all that, you still need a good team around you. And that's why I don't know that Mac Jones is better than Trevor Lawrence. I doubt that he is. But Mac Jones is probably going to have a better rookie year than Trevor Lawrence because of his surrounding, the people surrounding him. It's funny, Colin, I spent some time last week with J.K. Dobbins before he got hurt. Yeah.

And the talented Baltimore running back. And he was so upset when he was drafted by 55th overall when he went to the Ravens. He wasn't thinking, I just went to a great team. I just went to Nirvana for a running back. And the saddest thing about the J.K. Dobbins situation, to me anyway, is that he was going to be a great player on a team that without any question is the best running attack in football. And now because of that injury, he doesn't get to be that way. They're still going to be really good running the ball.

But you have to look at your surroundings. And Mack Jones easily has the best surroundings. Yeah, good stuff. NBCSports.com. You can see the golf shirt right there. It's Peter King, Football Morning in America. Great seeing you again. Thanks a lot, Colin. Take care. You bet. A lot of stuff today. Seattle's making noise

up in the Pacific Northwest. Bob stoops around the corner. Jim Harbaugh, big year, will he turn it around? Interesting article today about him, the inner workings of what happened the last several years. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays at 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. Straightfire 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 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. 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. 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 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 podcast. 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, Tript Fantine, 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, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

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Search learn the hard way 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. All right, great weekend of college football starts tonight on Fox. Let's check out the schedule. It's a really strong week. I like the Golden Gophers of Minnesota to keep it close tonight for a while against the Buckeyes. Ohio State will win.

And then Saturday, Penn State, Wisconsin is fantastic. Ella, Alabama, they'll beat Miami. The question is how much. Keep your eye on Louisiana giving Texas problems. They're a really unharalded team. I'll take Clemson over Georgia, UCLA to upset L.A. LSU, Notre Dame beats Florida State. They can't name the score, but they should win convincingly.

It's a very, very good week. And with that, a lot of pressure on Jim Harbaugh. The Athletic had a tremendous article on Harbaugh. It was a deep dive on what has gone wrong. Remember, he started 10 and 3, 10 and 3. So the first two years, there were no complaints. He'd won at Stanford. He'd won at San Diego.

He got to a Super Bowl. Mick Saban couldn't win an NFL. Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl. That should not be lost. Spurrier couldn't win in the NFL. Saban couldn't win in the NFL. Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl in a division with Pete Carroll. Okay, pretty good.

And the article goes on to say, much like Gruden, too many yes, man, he needed to go find younger, confident coaches who will push back that can connect with recruits better. The recruiting's gone downhill. And Harbaugh really had too much power. So the athletic director sat him down and said, we're going to redo your contract. You've got to win more games. It's about winning football games. So Harbaugh, who runs, he's like, he can bulldoze people. It's a big, strong personality, had this big, fat contract, and got rid of people who pushed back on him, got rid of coaches who didn't agree with him, and they went down south fast.

So it's a fascinating article. Bruce Feldman came on the show yesterday, and I've said from about Harbaugh is that, I mean, look at his resume before Michigan. In fact, look at his resume up until year three at Michigan. Win, win, win, win, win, win. Everything worked. He turned Michigan around immediately. Then about year three and four, it started going sideways. Here's Feldman. the hardest thing for him is he had a pretty decent start the first few years and then honestly at the end of 2018 it just kind of fell apart and then it's been sputtering since then i think he's had a hard time establishing identity there which is curious because he was always mr physical football

right tight ends fullbacks that's him and he's kind of it seems like they've kind of lost their way with that uh they have and they've also struggled to land a quarterback and i've always said about Michigan. They're not as good as Ohio State. If they can beat them once every four years, take it. They should beat Michigan State, and they should win their bowl games more consistently. But I like Harbaugh. I think because Jim rubs people the wrong way and he's kind of hyper-aggressive, that he turns people off. Urban Meyer can do that with people. There's already people rooting against Urban. But if you go look at Harbaugh's career, it's better than Sabins early. I mean, he turned around the University of San Diego. Stanford was the worst team in the conference.

A few years later, they were a 41-point underdog and beat Pete Carroll at the Coliseum when USC was the best program in the country. He goes to the NFL. He goes to the NFL. He goes to the NFL. He gets to a Super Bowl. First two years at Michigan took over for Brady Hoke. 10-3-10-3. They're not going to beat Ohio State. That's not who they are.

They're not as good as Ohio State. But I'd love to see him get back on track, and I think they will. Hour 2 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 IHeart 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. 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're 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 AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

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

Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 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. I mean, 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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast Guaranteed human