The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Colin Cowherd on Cowboys’ Bucs Beating, Brady NEXT, Sean Payton Decision, Mailbag

Episode Date: January 17, 2023

John is joined by Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd and Colin Cowherd Podcast) to discuss Dak Prescott’s 4 TD 300+ yard passing performance in the Cowboys 31-14 dismantling of Tom Brady and the Bucs, the best fit for Tom Brady if he’s done in Tampa, Colin’s take on Sean Payton’s landing spot after his revealing Herd interview, what stands out about Brock Purdy’s dominant rookie year, if the Giants should re-sign Daniel Jones after his impressive Wild Card performance or look to upgrade, and if Lamar Jackson will ever play another down for the Ravens. Finally, John also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herd #colincowherdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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John Middlecob, 3 and Out podcast, Dallas Cowboys to the second round. Adios, Thomas Brady. Big show tonight, joined by none other than Colin Cowan. You may have heard of him. He owns the volume and has a couple shows. So me and Colin talk a lot of football. Obviously react to the game. Dak Prescott killing it.

Some Tom Brady stuff, some other football stuff. A lot going on. If you listen on Colin's feed, make sure you subscribe to my feed on the three and out. If you want to get in the mailbag, I threw a little mailbag on the end of this show. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. And yeah, we will have a show. What's today?

This is going to be Tuesday show. We'll have another show later in the week. And we'll get you ready for the game. So exciting times of football and let's roll. Okay. What is going on, everybody? John Middlkoff here, three and out podcast, joined by Colin Coward, rocking and rolling.

Hopefully everyone's having a good night. Monday night football. The divisional round is set. But before we dive in, me and Colin, make sure you subscribe. like the volumes YouTube page. Make sure you subscribe to the 3-N-Out podcast. I want to tell you about my friends at GameTime. Game Time is the fastest growing ticket app.

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We have the divisional round set. We had Monday night football, two big brands, a lot of pressure on the Cowboys. And you've got to give the coaching staff, and they'll start, I guess, with Dak, who was, you know, probably played one of his better games of his career. Yeah, I thought that was as good a performance as Dak's ever had. My rule has always been a good quarterback has a lousy week. They'll bounce back. these are pro athletes you don't become a pro i mean dach's never been a pro athlete because he has a beautiful arm uh because he's the twitchiest this or the most gifted that he's a very driven

aspirational guy he works really really hard that his craft and doesn't need you know a self-motivated guy and when you play really bad for the cowboys or any big profile team you almost always bounce back so i i like dallas tonight i think thought Dak would play really well. I thought he had a drive may have been at the end. I'm looking at my notes here. He had 11 straight completions at one point. I thought he kind of gave his body up a couple of times tonight.

Like it felt like, like Dak really understood. It was big. Yeah, like the opposite of Kirk Cousins, who I felt even yesterday, you know, underneath throws, Dak was running out there, throw going head first, jumping into defenders. It was like Dak really understood what it meant for him, the team, the cowboys. And I thought he was terrific. I really thought Dak was as good as I've seen him as a pro. Yeah, I think sometimes him and cousins get lumped in.

You know, they're kind of that second tier guy, statistics sometimes, parallel each other. But when you saw tonight, they get Dak on the move. Cousins doesn't have that in the bag. I mean, one of the reasons, Dak, you know, he wasn't a great passer in college. It was athletic ability. And I think ever since the ankle injury, you get him on the move. watch tonight thinking, you know, this is, that player is a problem for the 49ers. If he's going to play at that level on the move, he's not, he's never going to be Peyton Manning and Tom Brady from

the pocket. But if you can mix up the play action stuff, obviously the play action touchdown, he has other elements to his game that when you ask him to throw it 40 plus times from the pocket, that's when he gets in trouble. Yeah, I think Dallas, Dallas is an interesting matchup. They can put pressure on Purdy. The weakness of the Niners tends to be their old line, especially the center right. So I think you can move Micah around DeMarcus Lawrence. I think they can create a little discomfort for the 49ers. You know, Dallas, now Dallas tonight played virtually flawless.

So let's expect Dallas to not play as well next week. I mean, that's kind of, they're a highly emotional team. Many of their best players, Trayvon Digg, C.D. Lamb, Micah Parsons are very young players. They tend to be emotional. So they're a little hot and cold. They'll probably pull back next week. I expect the Niners to win. But I will say this.

I talked about this on my show today. Mike McCarthy took 100% of the PR beating in the divorce with Aaron Rogers. Aaron, three straight years, losing at Lambo, outplayed by an old Tom, Goff and Garoppolo in the fourth quarter. Mike McCarthy with a nearly flawless game plan tonight. I'm not saying Mike McCarthy, didn't shouldn't shoulder some of the blame with Aaron Rogers. But Matt LaFleur hasn't solved kind of the fourth quarter, Aaron Rogers,

hasn't solved the playoff disappointment Aaron Rogers. And here's McCarthy, four and one with Cooper Rush, 65% winner with Dak Prescott. We got to give Mike McCarthy a little respect. Like that was a hell of a performance tonight. I wrote it down, the Cowboys coaching staff was phenomenal. Offensively, obviously he's. an offensive guy, him and Kellynne Moore. Dan Quinn's been interviewing for head coaching jobs.

The one thing that's interesting, right, is the second year of the Monday night games. Well, last year, the Rams won the Super Bowl playing in the Monday night game, but they played at home. So tonight, the 49ers played on Saturday day, the first game. So they get the extra day on Sunday, and then they really get all day to day. And even Kyle mentioned, I'm going to be at home watching this game. We're going to prep for both. And I bet by about early on in that game, he told us coaches, let's just focus on Dallas. but now Dallas has to fly home the night.

I'm not a math major here, but let's say three, four in the morning, they get back to Dallas. Obviously, the players get tomorrow off, but the coaches are spent that they put, they threw, you know, through the kitchen sink tonight. It's a lot.

You know, it snowballs on you fast. Like you said, the players, there might not be flawless, but now you've got to get the coaches locked and loaded back. That, to me, is a pretty big disadvantage when you're the road team on Monday night and you end up playing, you know, a team that played on Saturday.

That's a pretty big swing for rest. Yeah, I think both the Giants and the Cowboys will come back down to Earth against the Eagles and the Niners. You know, I was laughing today about Daniel Jones. He had three games this year over 300 yards, two were against the Vikings. And I was talking to an NFL coach texting today. And he said he thought the Vikings defensive coaching was abysmal. He said those schemes, they, they really, really, he echoed what Sean Payton said on my show today, which is they miss Mike Zimmer defensively.

And they do. So Daniel Jones with a pass rush, the inability to run with Sequin is going to come back down to Earth. And I think the Cowboys with a two-day rest disadvantage probably come back down to Earth. You know, Dallas's defense has some really spectacular players. I still contend it's not consistently a great defense. I agree. So, you know, listen, this is what's fun about the playoffs. I think the AFC is fascinating because now Cincinnati's missing three offensive line starters.

Buffalo is not mistake prone. So it's, you know, I think the NFC, we see it as wide open. I think after this next weekend, it won't look nearly as wide open. Philadelphia and the Niners will look like far and away the best teams. Yeah, to me, if the Niners stay healthy, and Jalen is just 90 plus percent. They feel like they're on a collision course. Before we dive into a couple other things, obviously Tom, I've been saying for a while, he's a shell of himself, not from his inability to throw, right?

Breeze couldn't throw, Ben couldn't throw, Peyton couldn't throw at the end. Tom can still throw. I mean, hell, right until the end of that game, you can see the arm strength. He wants no part of being hit. I don't blame him. He's 45 years old. I bet you go down ski slopes yesterday differently than you would have 30 years ago, right?

You just, there's a risk factor in his age, it makes no sense. But he can't play quarterback at a high level if he's not willing to stay in there because he's never been able to move. And that was always kind of a point of differentiation for him. He would stay in there and throw the dart at the last second. Right. And now he just won't. And let's face it, no matter any of the teams that have options,

that no team has the mid-90s Cowboys offensive line. So he's going to get hit. That's part of the sport right now because offensive lines aren't that great. So what's he going to do? Miami feels like the fit to me because that's a distribution offense with a lot of good weapons. But I was texting a friend tonight and I said, you know, Tom needs to now cherry pick teams without holes offensively. He no longer elevates others, right? Whereas like when he went to Tampa, get me Tristan Worf's, get me Lenny, playoff Lenny.

bring grong get me a b the reality with taut like brock purdy cost nothing for four years he's more he's in his prime tom's not he's more mobile he's um now he's gaining playoff experience like this idea that san francisco is going to make a move on him they got tray lance brock pretty and they're not paying either one of them anything if you want to keep this defense if you want to keep both those linebackers if you want to keep all those d linemen you got to save somewhere you're not to save someone and, you know, I think, I think to your point, Brady now no longer elevates. He needs protection. You can't have a bad right tackle with Tom.

You can't look at their offense in the last three months. You have to have a run game. The Mahomes, Burrough, Allen, Herbert. I mean, if you go look at statistically, the Chargers don't do anything well. And they took a 27-0 lead in a playoff game on the road. So I think Miami looks like a good fit for Tom in terms of they kind of have offensively, they kind of have all the pieces, a lot of bubble screen guys, one over the top guy, tight end, that one.

And it's the San Francisco system. Yeah. And San Francisco needs a quarterback that's upright and healthy 17, 18 weeks a year. When you look at the quarterbacks right now that are having success beside Brady, Cousins is the only guy probably in the top 12 who can't move. every single guy can move. I mean, look at Purdy now. Obviously, Lawrence, Herbert, all the top guys, Burrow, Allen, you know, Rogers, Mahomes. I mean, all these guys. Kyler went healthy. Lamar went healthy. This is a movement. That position is dramatically changed in five years overnight. I mean, all these guys. None of these guys are coming in the league like that either, right? All the college quarterbacks are all really athletic. You talked to Sean Payton today. Went viral. It was, I mean, that's about as candid of a coach. ideal situation pretty cool. What was your big takeaway? Sean's going to be very picky. I'm having dinner with him tomorrow. Sean's going to be very picky

on jobs. I asked him a question on the air that I kind of knew the answer to, but I wanted him to say it. I said, owner and quarterback really is what matters to Sean. stable owner, top quarterback. So you can start eliminating a lot of people over the next three or four days. Arizona, Adios. Houston. See you. Yeah.

So, I mean, I think it's, I think, you know, in my opinion, Carolina would they be gone? Well, the Chargers, if McVeigh would have left, that would have been interesting. The Chargers, Sean lives in Los Angeles and likes it a lot. But when I hear a lot of the reporting on. where Sean would like to go, just ask yourself, owner quarterback. He's not desperate. Sean's making a lot of money at Fox.

Fox loves him. We're not moving off him. I mean, you know, selfishly, I hope he stays with us one more year because I've had so much fun talking to him. He's good. You know, looking at the Chargers pick, it's 21, obviously recording this. Brandon Staley's still employed. I mean, he was pretty candid today about it's going to take a first round pick.

I mean, he's obviously boys with Mickey Loomis. One, could you see that coming together if they fire Brandon Staley, not only paying Sean Payne, which is something the Chargers never did? And I'd give a pick 21 for him all day long. I mean, that's the easy part. Will they pay him $20 plus million a year? Yeah. Jimmy Johnson, the Spanos family, they offer Jimmy Johnson the job. And it's kind of well documented.

Jimmy didn't want to live out West. Jimmy, you know, the Spanos. Like Miami, like the... Yeah, and Jimmy's a Miami guy. They came and offered Jimmy the whole thing. The Spanos is, from what I've been told through the years, Jim Trotter mentioned this, and he's very accurate. Jim does a great job.

He's very accurate. You know, the Spanos is, they're not going to give power to, I mean, to one guy. They're, you know, D. Sons, a big part of it, yeah. Sons are in the front office. I know they're sons. They're nice guys. They're bright.

Telesco. They want everybody. I mean, remember when Marty Schottenheimer wanted a son on his staff? And A.J. Smith, the GM said no. And they, you know, so this is an organization where they don't want one person having all the power. And I do think Sean really works with Telesco. Sean is passionate and intense. And Telesco is very capable, very emotionally capable of dealing with a live,

passionate coach. So I think Sean would be perfect. You know, my guess is they stay with Brandon Staley. You know, they went from like nine wins to 10 wins. You know, I heard somebody two weeks ago that I trust, I asked about Staley. And I voice my concerns on, I think he's smart. I don't think they do anything particularly great. Run the ball, get turnovers.

They're not a great second half office. or defense, what's their identity? And, you know, Staley, like a lot of young smart coaches, can, I think, get a little stubborn. I've heard a tad stubborn on what he believes. Now, they did talk him out of some of these analytic decisions this year, but he clearly rolled that back a little bit this season. I just worry that two years in, what are they?

Dable, Mike McDaniel, Doug Peterson, Kevin O'Connell created an identity in six games. Brian Flores, who got fired in Miami, about six games in,

you were like, wow, that defense and those special teams were two years in now. What are the Chargers do exceptionally well? I just think in action when you have a talent

and a quarterback is every year you waste with that guy. And Herbert could have played a little bit better in that game, but you have the chance to be something special. I mean, you play with the Chiefs right now as is.

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1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming, visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. I got a quote for you, because I know you love the wiring of the quarterbacks. I saw Kittle talk to Peter King on Purdy, and he said, Failure is a big part of learning to play quarterback in the NFL. And Brock had success and failure in college. So nothing is really unknown to him since he's got here. He understands.

And you see some of these quarterbacks that get to the NFL and have a lot of success. Patrick Mahomes failed a lot in college. Josh Allen, up and down roller coaster in college. Joe Burrow had to leave a college, right? These guys aren't just going to Alabama or Ohio. state and winning it all and just getting the job from the jump, go through ups and downs. Because what he's doing obviously is unprecedented. But when you really dive in and look, besides his size, all big 12 guy, first team twice,

second team or his sophomore year. So a lot of success. And it didn't all go perfect. Had a great year. And then a senior year, it didn't go as well. So mentally you watch him talk, you go, God, this guy kind of feels like he talks like a quarterback. Like he's not, it's not too big for him.

Well, the thing I really noticed, John, the two things that jump out, and this is first of all tells you how good Kyle Shanahan is. Hiddle, fifth round, Jennings, six round, Elijah Mitchell, six round, Purdy, seventh round. Name another offense in the league that has this many late round, like, highly productive players. Kyle's brilliant. That's first thing. This system can take guide. Now, Kittle would have starred anywhere. I don't think the other guys would.

The second thing is Matt Campbell's a very good football coach at Iowa State. If Harbaugh left, he would be a finalist for Michigan. They were very good with Purdy. He left. They were awful this year. Time out. So they were recruiting on the success with Purdy. The recruiting's gone up.

Campbell's a good coach. The Big 12 was not very good. And Iowa State was awful. maybe Brock Purdy is Romo or Kurt Warner. He was just either underscouted or overlooked that, like when I watch him, the one thing that jumps out to me, his quick decision making is exceptional. Like he dirted that ball yesterday when the play blew up and he just dirted it. He, you know, he, he's very good at like moving out of the pocket and reestablishing his feet.

and his shoulders. Like he's just mechanically, when I read the scouting on him, and you're a former NFL scout, it was he was sloppy and erratic. I think some of it is, Kyle's coach, some of it out of him. Yeah. He looks really, his feet are good, his decision making. You know, he straightens himself out. He goes from sideways, quick to the feet.

Some of this is Kyle. We got to give Kyle a lot of credit. Yeah, I mean, and I think he has some natural instincts. and he's a much better athlete. You know, his 10 time, the 10-yard split in the 40 is the same as Christian McCaffrey's. And Pete said after the game, he said, you know, I didn't realize he was this mobile. I looked over there. I thought it was Fran Tarkington running around.

I mean, they couldn't. I mean, they were chasing them all. Now, the Cowboys, Micah probably does catch him, so he's got to be. But he has a very good understanding of his speed relative to the guy chasing him. And that's something that you can only learn. You know, Trey Lance, for an athlete, didn't play very fast. And in fairness to him, how would he? He played one season at a small school.

Purdy's used to see an NFL guys chasing. That's a really good point. I'm going to write that down. That's a very good point. I heard the same thing about Trey Lance, that he's a power runner, more cam than Lamar, and that Purdy is a little bit more twitchy than Trey. Trey's big, strong power arm.

He's actually kind of the opposite of Pertie, where Brock is accurate, twitchy, quick. Prey is a power arm. His football smarts, I mean, to have this offense down like he does is insane. Matt Ryan said it took him a year to figure it out.

This guy's in his rookie season. It's pretty crazy to watch. Last but not least, the day ball, Daniel Jones, what he's done with this quarterback, to me has a lot of similarities, what Jim Harbaugh did in 2011 with Alex Smith,

you know, a high pick, who's probably not as talented as the elite guys, but clearly has a lot going for him. Duke guy, Utah guy, smart, big, can move. What he's got going on with Daniel Jones, obviously Minnesota's defense sucks, but just throughout this season, it's been he's worth his weight in gold

to the Giants immediately just doing that. I think the Alex Smith comps really smart. I think Daniel Jones has a little bit better arm too. If you watch what they did do it, So over the first, let's say until Thanksgiving, they pulled down the mistakes, they slightly elevated his completion percentage. This is what he did with Josh Allen. They eliminate the mistakes. They give him some easy layup throws, take some risk out of it with Daniel.

Now, Daniel's not Josh Allen athletically. But what they did was, I mean, Daniel led the NFL like in quarterback fumbles the first couple years. He was a mess. Oh, he was turning the ball over nonstop. reduce that and then a little more accurate and then after Thanksgiving a few weeks after it then they kind of let him loose okay we're going to go from 24 to 28 they let him loose and they did it against the Vikings the first game obviously dable looks at the film and says this defense I can let him loose and they did it again so this is what worries me about Daniel his really

his two best games of the year arguably were against the Vikings he had a good game against the Lions. But Carolina ate him up, Dallas ate him up twice, Philadelphia ate him up once, destroyed him in one year, yeah. I think Daniels limited. I think we're going crazy right now. I think what you do, if you're the Giants, they got to get a tight end, a receiver, probably a corner. I wouldn't be, I don't think it's crazy. This sounds nuts. Fifth, six round, draft another quarterback. just I think or you franchise tag him, John. That's more

Yeah, and just figure it out. That's more than you want to pay them. But they don't have a ton of huge contracts, right? So Sequin, Dexter Lawrence, but they don't have a lot of big contracts. They're going to rebuild this offensive line. Both their tackles now. Evan Neal and Thomas are, you know, cheap.

They're going to draft receivers and tight ends. So this offense outside of Barclay is not very expensive. But he's a free agent. And it's hard. What do you do with running backs? You don't like giving him long-term contracts. But damn, he's pretty good.

I think you have to keep him because of Daniel's limitations. I think you have to. Okay, I got hit on one more thing. You might have talked about on your show today. I didn't see the Lamar Jackson situation, which has clearly gotten weird. And my thought's pretty simple.

Money's all relative. So whether you make 50 grand, you think you're worth 80, whether you make a million dollars and you think you're worth two or whether you make $25 million, you think you're worth 200. Things get weird when their animosity with money comes up. And in sports, when injuries factor in, things got weird in Baltimore.

And it does feel like enough reporting from people that are in the know that they might across, like, I wouldn't be stunned if Lamar Jackson is on another team. And usually, you know, you just write out quarterbacks who are successful. But I had some people, like, is it crazy? Maybe the bears are open. they get, you know, Justin Fields, they move on from Lamar, the Bears kind of restart. What about Seattle? They have a power run game. I think you have to, I think you have to.

And we know John will take some big swings with Pete. I mean, yeah, I kind of expect him to be on another team, to be honest with you at this point. There's a little Kauai Leonard here, nonverbal, too much mystery. Family involved, no agent, you know? Yeah, there's just, um, You know, both Kauai and Lamar thought they were sort of overlooked into college, overlooked out of college. A little chip on their shoulder. Yeah, I don't know if it was his call.

I didn't like him not being in Cincinnati. But, you know, that what's really interesting, John, when you look at Baltimore playing Huntley in Cincinnati, almost pulled that thing off. That culture and that kind of power football, you could go. that's the kind where you could bring in a rookie quarterback if he had two or three years starting. I mean, can he pick it at the end of the year? Pittsburgh felt like a playoff team. I think that culture in Baltimore, I mean, I really like what Lamar brings to the table. But I could see them starting over and just saying, listen, we, it's not working.

By the way, what if they went and got Anthony Richardson from Florida, you know, and they just, said, listen, we're going to do what we do with Lamar. We're just going to get tight ends, running backs, linemen and defense around him. I could see him doing it. Baltimore's so, their culture is so formidable. You're not going to score much on that defense over the next two years. I mean, they took two average Pac-12 quarterbacks in Huntley and Brown and competed in games. That's insane.

You know, those guys couldn't play in the Pac-12. It's crazy. You're right. I mean, yeah, so you see what they do with talent like Lamar. Sure. Well, Colin, let you get on with your night. Fun talking to you. And it should be a fun week.

All right, buddy. Good seeing you. Okay, let's dive into the Middle Cough mailbag. But before we do, I just want to hit on a couple quick things. I probably mentioned it yesterday on Sunday Night's Pod, but there was a lot going on. Maybe I missed it. I definitely talked about it on Twitter with some people. The final play for the Minnesota Vikings.

I've seen it now several times. My issue always with a situation on fourth down, not in the middle of a game, but at the end of a game, especially in the playoffs, when you run a route or a play, even if the quote-unquote hot route or the underneath is there

for a reason, right, to clear out a defender or whatever, that if the quarterback eventually goes there, it's a disaster. and obviously Cousins did. So I put some blame on the coach for calling a play that calls for a guy well before the sticks, that he would, especially if he's covered,

would have to make a miraculous broken tackle stiff arm I don't even know to get the first down. Now, when I've rewatched the play, here's another issue I have. And this is the ultimate knock on Kirk Cousins who has turned in to a really good player. Is Kirk Cousins ever going to be any of the top five, six guys? No. But is he solid somewhere between 10 to 12 and you can win double-digit games and make the playoffs with them every year?

Yes, and there's something to be said about that. Minnesota Vikings are going to print cash. They're never going to win the Super Bowl with the guy, but they're always going to be competitive. And they should be in the playoffs for the foreseeable future with him playing quarterback. But when you watch the play, now he's about to get hit, but I don't know if he truly feels the pressure. the knock on him in league circles has always been he's very robotic. Why is Brock Purdy having some success? Because he can make plays.

Obviously the top guys, Burrow, Allen, Mahomes, Lamar went healthy. Those guys, Herbert, those guys can make plays with their legs. Rogers forever. They're very athletic and they can add lib on the fly. Because every play call, whether it's fourth down with the season on the line, or just some random play call in the middle of a game in the middle of the season

is not always going to work. Sometimes you're going to get wrong looks. Sometimes the defense is going to disguise stuff. It's just football. Plays don't always work. And I need the quarterback to make some plays. And when you watch that, Cousins goes in to what he's always been.

A robot. And when you watch his eyes on that play, it's one, two, boom. and that works the majority of his career because the majority of his football career is not fourth and eight in the playoffs. One, two, not there, getting rid of the football.

He's just very robotic. And that play to me symbolizes a lot of, when I say the bad with cousins, I would say the limitations. It's hard for him to add lib on the fly. This is not his deal. And as long as you know that, it's why I put a lot,

like you're dealing with somewhat of a robot. So when you call a play with that being the option, like he might go there. You know, somewhat is on the coach to just not call the play. Now, if Cousins audibled into the play or whatever, then obviously I don't know the details of it, but I cannot call a play without guys at least close to the sticks. On 4th and 8, if I'm running a guy two yards off the line of scrimmage, I mean, that's a long way to go. It just, just is. I saw that Pete Carroll said that he talked to Gino Smith about a contract. Obviously, they finished on Saturday, so they've had the last couple days to talk, and they want them there.

And Gino would be smart to stay if they do want them, if they can figure out the financials. And really when I say figure out the financials, like, who's really throwing a lot of bread at Gino? Probably not. To me, if you could sign them to like a two-year, $50 million deal, paying them $25 a year and guarantee like $25. So basically guarantee one year of it. Like, who are you competing against for that contract? So you're compensating a guy who just can throw 30 touchdowns, high character guy, but you're also not like breaking the bank for him.

I'm not giving the guy $100 million dollars because go get $100 million contract on the open market. I bet you can't. Because ultimately, Gino is the ideal bridge quarterback. For a lot of years, bridge quarterbacks were like Mike Glennon, you know, Andy Dalton. Like to me, if for whatever reason, Trey Lamp, is not on the Niners next year, I would sign Andy Dalton to be Brock Purdy's backup. There's certain guys that become backup quarterbacks when they're done starting, and then they're kind of quote-unquote bridge quarterbacks.

Alex Smith was one. I think Gino Smith, now we'll see Alex had done it longer, but if he plays just at a solid level that can, you know, put you in the 8 to 10 win range, that's an excellent bridge quarterback. And you can still pull the trigger on drafting a guy, if you feel, you know, you like one of them high in the draft because what are they picking? Fifth? Sometimes I got to relook at drafts because it's not the actual teams.

You're like, oh, yeah, they traded with them. They traded with Denver. They traded with the Rams. They traded with the Browns. That's a lot of that's the Eagles pick. That happens a lot in this draft. There are a lot of teams drafting in like the top 12 that actually are like in the playoffs or pretty competitive.

You're like, you know, the Lions went 9 and 8. They're also, oh, they got also a pick in the teams. you kind of got to do some mental gymnastics. But by about another month, we'll just know. I mean, I already do, but sometimes when you look at it, you got to kind of mix and match the teams. But I think Gino Smith, assuming the Pete Carroll wants them, which it sure sounds like he does,

that they will come to a number that will be far less than what some of these people are talking about. Last, before we dive into a couple of mailback questions, Harbaugh officially announced that he's staying at Michigan. And I think part one of his quotes and his press release was like, You know, there's not a happy, happy, happier or something like that. Basically, like, when you're happy, like, you got it pretty good. And I think he's realized, like, I got a pretty good deal at Michigan.

The Big Ten isn't quite the SEC, but in terms of interest, it's not far behind. Both those conferences are basically like the NFL light. They do huge television ratings. You get paid a lot of money. You know, you're going to go to the Denver Broncos because I think Mike Cliss, who's boys with Elway and boys all the Denver guys, says, that Harbaugh called, I want to say the owner.

I mean, technically he's the owner. He's the owner's son-in-law, the dude that runs the Broncos to say he was out. I think they had talked a couple times. Why would you want to mess with a Russell? You know, why would you want to do that? It's just too risky that he's never going to be any good again. And like there's a decent chance that he is,

even if he gets some mojo back, he's 75, 80% of what he once was. I got into an argument with a guy on Instagram. I'm not afraid to mix it up on the social media streets and the DMs. He was very mad. He's like, you talk a lot about investing. How about seeing the big picture? Long-term ROI.

How can you call the Denver Broncos move a disaster? Because what we saw this year, like typically a guy at 32, 33 years old doesn't just fall off a fucking cliff. And then when he factor in, he doesn't move like he once was. and part of his deep ball accuracy, like D.K. McCaff played a pretty big role in that for three years. So that guy does not exist. You kind of got to be a little bit more of a surgeon. And that's never really been his deal.

It's been ad libing. And he's one of the great ad livers of all time. And the other thing with Russell is he pushed back when it's like, let's run the ball. Let's run the ball 35 times a year. So while the, you know, a lot of the analytical nerds were like, let Russ Cook. Also a big part of it was like

people like Russ's people like let me cook he was the guy pushing that narrative so I think Harbaugh made the right decision to not take the Broncos job and just maybe see what's out there next year like I don't think he's never coming back to the NFL but he definitely has a pretty happy situation

when it comes to the Michigan Wolverines okay let's dive into a couple Middilcoff mailback questions firing those Middilcoff mailbacks at John Middlecoff's the Instagram. They're wide open. More than welcome to fire in. I need some questions.

I went through and I probably spent like an hour and a half just answering some questions. No big deal. I had some time on my hands today, Martin MLK Day. So I manually answered some of you guys. And if some of people have asked me questions like a month ago, it like cut me off after two weeks. I couldn't keep going back. I don't know what my man Zuckerberg's doing at the Meta headquarters,

but they apps was acting funny. I used to be able to basically go back forever. I'd go back two months and keep answering questions. It wouldn't let me do that. Now, you could also blame me. I let it go for a while. I got to try to carve a couple hours a week just to answer questions for the ones I don't get.

Try to interact with the people. You know what I'm saying? Okay, question. As a Herbert fan, I'm wondering if maybe he's not quite as good as we hope. It's easy to blame coaching and injuries, but if he needs a perfect situation to find success, then we're looking someone akin to Carr or cousins. Do you think Saturday's loss is mostly a result of coaching?

I think there's two ways to look at it. There are people that just want to shit on him to shit on them, and those people are idiots. And you can also say objectively, like, he could be a little bit better. But he has a coach, which, I'm not even talking the head coach, the offensive coordinator,

who is fireable. And he has a head coach that, you know, by the time you're listening to this, maybe he's fired. If he's not fired, that's insane. Kind of a chaotic situation. Now, Justin Herbert is not Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Joe Burrell. So when we say he's really good, like, there is a trio of young guys that are in their own little world.

But he's proven that he's not far behind him. And the stats for him kind of speak for themselves. He's been excellent. So could they have used, could he have hit the Keenan Allen on the one play? Yes, of course. but this notion that like he stinks or he's underachieving like there is not a team in the league

they would laugh at you if you compared him to Carr or cousins. They really would. So I would say he can improve. He can go to another level. But part of going to another level, like look at Josh Allen, had Brian Dayball.

Look at Patrick Mahomes. Had Andy Reed. Joe Burrow might just be a freak and doesn't, you know, he had a Hojeron and now he's got Zach Taylor. So maybe he doesn't, doesn't even matter for him. But I would say most guys from Joe Montana to Tom Brady needed some assistance from good coaching.

But by no means is Herbert number one or even top three or really four. But like, let's look at the group. Would you take him over Cousins or Dak Prescott or Derek Carr? Of course you would. Would you take him over Kyler or Lamar? You wouldn't even hesitate. So Tom Brady's 60 years old. Aaron Rogers, when he's on, is better than him clearly, but he is also 39.

He talks about retirement like every other day. So really the top three guys I listed and Trevor when he's on, but Trevor can also be off. But, you know, in two years, Trevor could easily be better than Justin Herbert. And that wouldn't be that crazy. Long time listener and enjoy your takes. Question for the pot. This is Brock's floor. What are his ceiling possibilities?

I mean, with more reps and another off-season working on arm strength and accuracy, sky is the limit, right? I get a lot of questions like, what's your comp and just texting with buddies on Brock Purdy? There really aren't that many Brock Purdy's, right?

Because he's kind of got the Drew Bree's build, but he's pretty damn athletic. His 10-time in the 40 was the same as Christian McCaffrey's, and you saw him against Seattle, like, he could scramble around. And here's the other thing about his scrambling. I say this all the time when it comes to quarterbacks,

and it's not like I came up with this. I learned this when I was around football in college and the pros. Instincts, instincts, instincts. You can't teach what you can through experience. And he has a lot of experience. Four-year starter in the Big 12, multiple time all Big 12 first team and one time second team. So for three years, he was one of the best two quarterbacks in the Big 12, an offensive conference.

So he got a ton of reps, right? his athletic ability, even Pete Carroll was like, I was shocked how athletic he was in person. I thought he was Fran Tarkington. He can really move around behind the pocket. But he's not a runner, right? He's not Lamar, Kyler. That's not really his game. But he can scramble like a younger Russell Wilson or Deshawn Watson behind the line of scrimmage,

keep his head up and keep making throws. That to me is I didn't realize, not that I'll be honest, I don't watch a lot of Iowa State football. So any of you fans that watch a lot of, a Big 12 and have seen him play in college. I don't know if he was this mobile in terms of they asked him to do this, but that has been a major, major reason for his success so far in the pros. I mean, he's got 16 touchdowns and four picks.

Obviously, he could have thrown a couple more interceptions and easily could have thrown a couple more picks. So I think it's kind of evened out. I mean, he's a four to one ratio right now. But his mobility has been beyond eye opening. So when you talk about his ceilings, like, I don't see why he couldn't, you know, I mean, took Kirk Cousins a long time to get going. Dak Prescott.

Those guys are bigger, but like, Brock's every bit the playmaker. Now, the one thing Brock benefits from is a really good supporting cast. Right. I mean, Iyuk's a stud. Dibo's a star. Kittles a star. McAfrey Mitchell studs, use checks a stud.

His offensive coordinator is a stud. He's got, you know, pretty good landing spot. It's also why we bet on Trey Lance. You're like, shit, how do you screw this? up. And then we watched him, you know, play four games. Like, God, he really struggles to make plays happen. Brock Purdy gets in there immediately play start happening. You either make plays or you don't. As Charles Woodson once said when I was around the Raiders when he was there, work hard and make plays. Right. There's just a couple things that is demanded in football.

You come every day, ready to grind, and then when the game starts, make shit happen. Like, no one really, you can give excuses all you want. Like, you either make plays or you don't after a while. And Brock Purdy just makes plays. You know, I'd be honest, I didn't see it coming. like, I would have bet the house on this, but it's happening. We're all seeing it. Just listen to Sunday's episode. I'm glad someone finally said it. Tony Dungey is a wet towel of commentary. Even when he was on set, he would make bland statements providing minimal insight. Some people have pushed back to me that Al Michaels was also terrible. And maybe I didn't notice because I've re-listened to some of the calls. They weren't great. I'll be honest. They were not

great. He was, I wouldn't say comatose, but he definitely didn't have all the juice. I do think your partner in crime in a booth when it comes to play-by-play guys impacts your energy. Now, I was old. And Jags Chargers, I was in a lot of bigger games

than that. But the game turned out to be really good and he wasn't great. But I cannot get away from blaming the dudes at NBC for putting on one of the most boring human beings. If I wanted someone to talk to my team, or give me leadership advice or coach a team or, you know, talk about the Bible.

Tony Dungey might be your man. But not everyone is meant to have a mic in front of their mouth. Because having a mic in front of your mouth, you got to entertain. You got to have a little something to you. And say what you want about Tony Romo. There's a lot of energy there. Greg Olson feels very well prepared. Troy Aikman, damn good at his job.

Herb Street with college, damn good at his job. John Smoltz, we can go around. the horn here and pick a lot of guys that are good with a mic in front of them. If you're a golf guy for every Johnny Miller was just, he had it because he wasn't afraid to say whatever. This is an entertainment property. In NBC, whoever the coastal elite, they put Tony Dungey on the broadcast, I'm sure they'll be like, well, did a historic rating on Saturday night.

I could bend over and talk like Ace Ventura with my butt cheeks and the rating would be impacted. It does not matter. Now, obviously having a better crew, you know, Burkhart and Olson are good. Buck and Aikman are good. But we're watching football regardless. Look at the ratings. There are a lot of bad crews all over the NFL and we consume it anyway. So to throw Tony Dungey, you have an ability to hire anybody. Any young up-and-comer, any solid former player who's done it before. There are a million options to put him there. I thought it was insane. I thought it was malpractice.

I thought it was an embarrassment for us to consumer who give our time. And I say it all the time. I'm not being sarcasticer. Our time is the most valuable thing we have. And we give a lot of it to the NFL. And in big games, historically, they've given us Madden. They've given us Al Michaels. They've given us Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

I like Collinsworth, Tariko. These are big time guys. Say what you want about Gruden. He was entertaining there for. for a while, you can't give me Tony Dungey with all the marbles on the line on my Saturday night. Now, I do this for a living. I got no choice. And some of you, your addicts, you ain't going to miss it. But for some people are like, God, it's kind of boring watching this guy. Luckily, the game, you know, made up for it. But holy canoli, how does that happen? Okay, audios,

firing those DMs at John Middlough. And we will see you later in the week. Peace. 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.

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