The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Inside Pre-Draft Meetings, OBJ Value, $6 Bil Commanders (?), Mailbag

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

John gives an insider’s look at how much weight teams give to pre-draft meetings with potential draft picks, what the Commanders potentially selling for a reported $6 Billion would mean for the rest of NFL owners, if Odell Beckham reportedly seeking a $15 mil/year deal is delusional or brilliant, and why Hard Knocks needs to die. He 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  See 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.

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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. The Volume. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecough? That's me, Three and Out podcast. That's the show. Back in action again. Hopefully everyone had a good weekend.

Having a good Monday. It's probably Tuesday if you're listening to this. Some football talk on the draft. Hard knocks. Odell Beckham, Jr., back making some news. And obviously, we will discuss your mailbag questions. Because that's what we do here on the show. At John Middle Coff is the Instagram.

DM's wide open. Fire in and get your questions answered here on the show. Probably going to need your guys' mailback questions this month because free agency is basically over. And if nothing happens with Rogers or Lamar till the draft, it's going to be slow times. You know, there's not going to be a lot of draft buzz. I would say for the next month.

Let's add a couple quarterback things here and there. the most part. Come on, baby. Fire in those DMs. Get your question answered here on the show and interact with myself, the people. Let's have a good time. We can hell, we can talk whatever we want. I just watched the first episode of Waco on Netflix.

Talk about a documentary. Can't recommend it enough. Turn that thing on. I'm going to watch another episode after the college basketball national championship tonight. That thing was good. I just fell asleep. I couldn't, I was exhausted, but the first episode Rividing. I mean, absolutely riveting. So let's talk some football. But this weekend I found myself

watching a lot of baseball. I watched the Yankees. I was like, is Aaron Judge going to hit 70 home runs? He's already got two. He's only played three games. I want to go to a Yankee game. If I lived in New York, do you know what I would do? I would download the GameTime app, the official ticketing partner of this podcast. I type in the promo code John, J-O-H-N, and I get $20 off. And I would go watch Aaron Judge probably hit a home run because that's usually what Aaron Judge does. If you're listening to this and you want to go to a baseball game, the only last two and a half hours, you're in, you're out, enjoy a little vitamin D, have a couple pops, enjoy yourself, and do it on me. These inflationary times, I got your back, saving you $20, promo code John,

download the game time app, fastest growing ticket app in America, promo code, $20 off. Don't even need to thank me. Just use the promo code. And because you guys, they're the ticket, the official ticketing app of this podcast, we appreciate you guys, they appreciate you guys, it on me. Concerts, comedy shows. I got you. promo code, John. A lot of football stuff going on right now. We got the draft, you know, basically three and a half weeks away. I would imagine most NFL teams are, you know, finalizing their draft board, right? The grades were well established months ago, but this is the time of the year when, now, it's probably changed a little with Zoom and Google Meets. You never want to leave out Google Meets.

They might want to sponsor the show. I heard Google's got a lot of cash. Even though I did see that Google is cutting expenses, they're getting rid of staplers. That'll probably save them some money. But, you know, the draft is a time where for those that work, you know, the college scouts, the general managers, they do this year round.

In the summer, they are watching the guys that are going to play in the fall. And then when those guys play in the fall, they watch all their snaps. And then in the off season, they go to all the All-Star games, the combines, and it's a constant kind of, you know, addition of information. And they say it's a process, it's a big, you know, puzzle, you're putting the pieces together, you're gathering information, and you're trying to make an educated guess of if the guy's going to be a really good pro, what round would we take them?

You're factoring in all these different variables. And I've loved the draft since I was a kid. I would imagine many people listening to this love the draft. It's a unique part of the sport. You get to add young players who are really cheap and who ultimately become stars, right? The greatest player in the league, in the history of the league, you know, we could debate this, but I mean, the most accomplished player was pick $1.99. And so just because you're taking the first round, we all are fans of teams that have drafted

of guys in the first round that haven't become players. So right now, depending on the operation, a lot of teams involve their coaches heavily. some teams are more a front office led operation. Some teams involve their coordinators. It's hard because just like a lot of scouts don't know scheme, a lot of coaches aren't great talent evaluators. So there's a balance of knowing your own operation internally, who's good at evaluating, who's not good at evaluating.

Just because you're not good at evaluating, if you're a linebacker coach or a running back coach, doesn't mean you don't have a strong opinion on who you want the team to draft. Now, if your coach is the ultimate decision maker, maybe you can get in his ear. If the GM is, he can push back. A lot of push and pull right now. A lot of both sides are trying to figure it out. And let's face it, like I've talked to enough people, this is not a great draft.

I've talked to several older scouts and executives that thinks this is one of the worst drafts since they can remember. It doesn't mean that really good players are not going to come out of this. This doesn't mean we might not look back in three or four years and star players are littered in this draft. But based on the college film and these guys measurable slash production, it's not viewed as some star-studded operation. I was lucky enough my first year in the NFL to be the guy that went, and this was before the NFL took the draft to different cities. It was just at Radio City Music Hall. And I went and my job was to sit there and talk to the team. Right.

So Howie or whoever the point guy was would call, you know, call me on the phone or you'd press a button. I forget exactly how it works. And I'd write down the name. And it was a draft we took Danny Watkins. But that draft was incredible. Cam Newton, JJ Watt, Vaughn Miller, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Alden Smith. It was loaded. I mean, it was star-studded.

And the draft, like on draft night, there is never a moment when someone's picked and they show the war room. And those people aren't happy, especially in the first round. So most teams, when you pull the trigger on a player, you think the guy's going to be really good. Now, the thing with football, more than these other sports, there are so many variables. It's the most scheme-oriented sport. I would say it's definitely the sport that requires the most intellectual capacity on that individual sport. You have to learn positional requirements for your team and then scheme requirements for the entire offense or defense. You constantly have coaching turnover.

There are just a lot of things that are hard to quantify. That's why this process and this date, given the draft every single year, we have hits and misses. And we have things that at the time feel like, oh, my, I can't believe this guy fell. And then three years later, no one's even talking about that. And vice versa, especially in a sport that is so physically demanding that these injuries and things that people don't know about that teams have red flagged behind the scenes come into play. and right now you'll read and hear a lot about top 30 visits. And what that is is every team in the league gets 30 players that they can bring into their facility for like 24 hours. And part of that is you take the guy to dinner, you get to spend time with the owner, the coordinator, the head coach, the position coaches.

You get to ask them some questions about things that maybe you don't know about or have questions about with their past. or maybe you're just simply trying to get to know the player better. And I think you've got to be careful with this, because I'll never forget when my first or second year, Bobby Wagner was coming out. And he was pretty highly touted prospect, was going to go probably in the top, you know, 75 picks, a really productive player from Utah State,

which, you know, not some powerhouse program, though at the time they were actually producing a lot of NFL players. And I'll never forget, he wore a Ninja Turtle backpack And I would imagine, because I know I did, that's kind of weird. Not that I was in position to draft him or not, but it turned on to have like a borderline Hall of Fame career. And I just think sometimes in these visits, and he was not like a, no one questioned his character or anything.

But a lot of times, these character guys show up in a full suit. To me, that was always like, well, something's a little off here. And I'll never forget, there were two guys one time my first year. I did a lot of like picking them up from the airport and taking them to the facility and then when they'd leave, I'd take them back to the airport. And I remember that there was a group of two players that got into the car with me. And neither of them went on to have really long careers. But both of them had some red flags off the field. It was why we were bringing them in, you know, Howie, Andy, whoever to meet with them.

And they just started talking about things that they would never say in front of the GM. in front of the coordinator, in front of any of the coaches, in front of anyone that they thought might impact their status. And one of my jobs was, kind of report everything I heard. And I remember going right back, I don't know how much interest at the time we had, but it definitely wasn't a flattering thing that I reported back. And that's what this whole time is.

So when you read that Will Levis is meeting with the Raiders or so-and-so player is meeting with the Vikings, you know, it's an information gathering time. And some players, you know, it's not even about character at all. It's just getting to know you more as a football player, getting to know, you know, for Will Levis, when he meets with these teams, I think teams are going to want to know, what is your football intelligence? Like, what, if I tell you, if I give you a playbook the week before you're coming to meet me, and then when you get here, I sit you down with my coordinator, my head coach, my position coach, and we start drilling you on 10 things,

that I told you to keep an eye on or read about in that playbook, can you reiterate those things back to me? Do you know what's going on? Because I remember a famous story, I think Mahomes told this to the Kelsey brothers on their podcast that Matt Nagy gave him the answers to the test because he liked him so much. So when he came on his visit, they kind of did some of that. And Mahomes had already been tipped off of what they were going to look for. But that's just kind of what's going on right now. Getting to know people, anyone with character questions, you're definitely fully digging into. I would say a lot of first round picks. I would imagine, I know in my experience, Jeffrey Lurie always met with high valued picks. He talked to him. Again, it might not even be

about that serious, just getting to meet somebody. When you're thinking about drafting a player really high, you know, the owner probably wants to talk to him. And so when I saw the story today that Jalen Carter, who, and I give this guy a lot of credit, he's clearly one of the great agents in the history of sports. His success speaks for itself. He's a unique personality who, knows what he's doing. But a story today I saw Drew Rosenhouse is not letting teams outside of the top 10 get visits with Jalen Carter. And that's pretty abnormal, I would say, in the NFL.

Like in basketball and baseball, you often hear about these agents withholding information. Because, I mean, those are kind of player run, agent run operations. Listen, I grew up around Sacramento. The Kings who just made the playoffs. and now the longest playoff active or missing the playoff streak belongs to the Jets. So the King just snapped a long streak. But for a long period of time, they were viewed and rightfully so as one of the most dysfunctional teams in all the sports. And so many agents would withhold information, would tell them, do not draft my player.

That doesn't really happen in the NFL. It's very, very few and far between. Happens in baseball or teams or a kid coming out of college or high school withhold medical information. for major league teams. I get it. That's just not the way the NFL operates. Jaylon Carter's unique, right? He is viewed as arguably the best player in this draft,

but because of some off-the-field questions, which are very valid, he could slip. So I saw a quote from Drew Rosenhaus, who views this guy as a lock top 10 pick. And I understand, like, I'm not going to send him some team that's drafted 19. That's a waste of my time. And typically, teams that are drafting late don't even.

even request like on a, you know, on a year, let's just pick a sweet player, like a Miles Garrett or a Nick Bosa. Those guys aren't going to meet with like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Baltimore Ravens. But those teams wouldn't even ask to meet with that player just because it's a waste of everyone's time. In this case, I do understand teams in like, I don't know, 12 to 20 going, hey, can we get this guy on a top 30 visit? Because there is a chance that this guy falls in the draft. And ultimately, like, and listen, Drew's been doing this longer than I have, but if he does fall in the draft, you do want him to go as quickly as possible. And for those teams to become more comfortable with this player, I don't think getting to know him is the

worst thing. Because I don't know, depending on who you talk to, I think people would argue, this guy's got fall potential. And I remember thinking this about Mack Jones. I'm like, you know, if the 49ers don't take him at three, who's going to take him? And if it wasn't for Bill Belichick, Mac Jones was headed to the 20s. That was more of a talent thing. His talent was really overhyped. And look at it now. And this gets back to there is no such thing as a guy with like a super high floor. Mac Jones, Bill Belichick wouldn't even give him, he wouldn't even name him the starting quarterback at the owner's meetings. Wouldn't say it. Refused. Just now, that's maybe he's going a little old school. Mac Jones, not like he's proven anything,

but usually by your third year, you're just either the lock starter or you're not. And Mac Jones is. You know, Jalen Carter, if Jalen Carter and everyone that I've talked to in the NFL has acknowledged, if this guy's focused and he tries hard, he's a really good player.

But then I had one scout tell me, listen, Georgia could have won the national championship if Jalen Carter did not play a game. They could not have won the national championship if Stetson Bennett had not. not played. So you start nitpicking these guys, these teams go, you know, it's just, you can just talk yourself into and out of a lot of things this time of year. So interesting tactic by Jalen Carter. And just when you see all these guys making these visits, teams get 30.

You get to spend, you know, 24 hours with the guy in your home base, where you're comfortable, where you know the drill, where you can dictate the terms. I also saw the Indianapolis Colts. they chose to not really be that present at a lot of the big pro days for the quarterbacks. Instead, they're going to privately work out C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young. They're going to send, you know, their quarterback coach, their offensive coordinator, obviously their head coach, I'm sure is their offensive coordinator. And they are going to make, I'm sure Chris Ballard probably be there as a contingent, work the guy out. So, you know, every team approaches a little bit differently.

I do think in the internet age, it's harder to hide things. It used to probably be more in vogue, you know, 15, 20 years ago that you kind of played mind games, cloak and dagger of like you bring in a guy that you didn't really want. I don't know if you have the time now. So I think if you're bringing in a guy, you have interest in them. And yeah, this is just a really fun time of year. It's lying season, not that far away from guys actually being on teams. A couple other things in football.

It feels like the Washington commanders, by all reports, are going to sell for $6 billion. And one thing that fascinates me, as someone who's been looking to buy a home now for a year and inevitably is going to buy a home on a street that is a lot more expensive than the other homes on the street, not necessarily because the home is that much different, just because it's 2023.

and another guy on that street might have bought that home in 2003. So if that guy pays 500,000, I might have to pay $1.9 million. And his home currently, if he wanted to sell, would be worth a lot of money too. But that's not how I view it. He got it for that amount of money. And I'm fascinated by some of these owners. There's a lot of owners in the NFL that have gotten teams, hell just because their parents bought it once upon a time, right? They inherited the franchise, which I'm not here to like tell

you they shouldn't own it. That's welcome to the reality of life. Now, a lot of their grandparents or their parents, their dads, bought that franchise for not that much money. And I'm always fascinated by a money dynamic once the money gets really, really big, right? Like if you bought a home on a street, let's just say for $10 million. And there were other homes on that street where the people bought it for $100,000. There might be some tension when it came to the HOA rights, right? Just natural. You view yourself right or wrong like having more skin in the game, right?

And you also made those people a lot of money by just buying that piece of property on the same street that that guy lives. So if the commander sell for $6 billion, we just saw TEPA by a team for whatever $4 billion. we saw the Denver Broncos sell for whatever, $4.5.5 billion. Some of these teams are being purchased at, you know, just the going rate for astronomical numbers. Yet there are so many people in the league that once upon a time

bought their team for $100, $200, $300 million. So right now, the one thing that the NFL has had is they've been on the same page as a group. They've argued at times, right? But for the most part, they've used well as a unit. for this Thursday night argument a couple weeks ago. I guess it was last week. A lot of people were like, why are we trying to flex these Thursday night games? And I read an article where Dave Tepper stood up and like, did Amazon say something? Like, why is this even an issue?

And it's clearly just an issue because they used to have 20 million people watch Thursday night games. And last year they had about 10. So they want more people to watch. Now, part of it is just a natural change where you're going to streaming only is going to be pretty extreme. But the point is the amount of money that's on the line and the amount of money that's being spent by the partners, some of these new owners is just a lot different than some of the money that hell, Jerry Jones once upon a time bought the team in 1989. Now, he thinks like these big money guys and he now is a big money guy, but not every owner is just flush with cash. So one thing I've always, at least the show has talked about, that NFL's not staying on top forever.

That's not going to happen. They're not just going to be the bohemists in perpetuity. And it's like, well, I don't see any other sport catching them in terms of interest. Maybe the downfall inevitably is just, what did some of the owners start internally fighting? And any time you get a huge wealth gap, not because the teams don't have money. This is not baseball. every team can pay the player. But the way owners feel that they're more important

because they paid more for the team is just something that I'm pretty fascinated with. Because I just saw Florio was writing about on pro football talk that the escrow rule in the NFL, if I sign you to a guaranteed contract, within 12 months of signing that contract, I have to put a substantial amount into escrow. It's kind of an archaic way

that the NFL does their funding. Well, technically the Browns on March 31st owed the league $169 million for the escrow payment for Deshawn Watson. Now, they declined whether that was put in there, but it just shows you. I mean, we are in different times with the league that I know, you know, I grew up with. 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 put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis. The reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Odell Beckham Jr.

It was originally reported that he wanted $20 million, which was insane, and it has since been rescinded to $15 million, which I also find somewhat laughable in a vacuum. He's not a $15 million player, given his production and given that he has two ACL tears in what the last like, you know, 40 months. Now, I think we all can relate to this at just a different price point. once you start doing something you like or start making a lot of money, for someone to change your lifestyle or get you to do something you don't want to do, they usually have to pay a lot of money, right? Or get to a amount of money that like, listen, I'm going to throw a number out there.

You're probably not going to match. I'm not even that interested. And that happens sometimes. And I started thinking, like, Odell has made a lot on the field. He's also made a lot off the field, made a ton of money. Are we sure O'Dell, like, is willing to play for three or four million dollars? Because to me, that's kind of his going rate. It's like a three or four million dollar player, given that he's got multiple injuries.

And when you look at his production, he's got seven touchdowns since 2019. Right. Like, part of the problem right now with DeAndre Hopkins, he makes $19 million. He averaged a career low in 2022 for yards per catch. He obviously was suspended for some PED issues. The money doesn't really add up for the production and some of the red flags and some of the trends. It's why you could request to trade all you want. No one's trading for you at that price point.

It's why Odell Beckham can ask for $15 million. Don't blame him because his life's great. He's already worth a ton. But he's not a $15 million player. And I don't see anyone, especially currently going to crack at the $15 million number. Now, maybe if we get in a training camp and a guy tears an ACL or an Achilles, a team is desperate and someone gives them like $8 to $10 million. But I will be stunned given his age, given his limited past production over a three or four year span, and given his injuries if he gets a big time contract. Don't blame him at all for not asking for asking for a bigger number, but it just doesn't add up.

So I think you have to ask yourself, does he really want to play that much? Like, is this life or death? I don't want to say life for death. I don't actually mean life or death. I just mean, does football mean everything to the guy anymore? I don't know. I mean, it might. It might not.

You know? And I think it's very, very, he's a, he's a bizarre player because his peak, he was really, really special. The Giants fans know his speed was elite. He was so dynamic with the ball in his hands. He was so unreal as a punt return. I mean, the dude was a legitimate star. But then the moment he got paid slash he got traded to the Browns, his injuries, it ain't the same. Like this is 2023.

It's not 2015. And I just wonder if where we're headed with Odell is maybe he's not headed to an NFL team anytime soon. And it's just going to be when his number comes way down. Or maybe somehow he backs into some guys get hurt and he gets way more than, you know, I think he's worth, but way less than his $15 million number. Hard knocks. They are down to four teams. Because to be eligible for hard knocks, you can't have a new coach and you can't have made the playoffs in the last two years. So like the Patriots, for example, they don't have a coaching change, but they made the playoffs in 2021. So they are exempt. So the teams we're looking at are the Saints,

the Bears and the New York Jets. And the Bears have been pretty adamant. They want no part of it. To me, the Saints would be a little boring. I think the Jets are, I mean, honestly, if you just, once Aaron Rogers is traded to the Jets, if you just had to do a draft of, what teams would you want to see on hard knocks?

I don't see how the Jets wouldn't be near the top. I mean, honestly, they feel like a lock. big market, star quarterback, who's polarizing, and a really talented team, and a coach. Because to me, you need a star player and you need a head coach with some personality. The commanders are another team, right? They would make, actually, they're not commanders. No, no commanders. I'm confused.

I thought there were four teams, but I only named three. Maybe it is the commanders. Do they make the playoffs two years ago? Is that three years ago? I think it was three years ago. And I think the Jets just end up being on Hard Knocks. I mean, they make too much sense. You got Robert Salah, good looking, big personality.

He can carry you. Aaron Rogers content can carry you. And let's face it. And I've been saying this for a while, Hard Knocks is kind of a thing in the past. You know, it's just, it's kind of boring. We don't get the inside view of the GM and the head coach talking about, you know, the 53 man roster, who's going to make it, who's not going to make it. it feels like it's run by the league in terms of no one wants to hurt anyone's feelings.

And I get why. If I was a team and I was in charge of a team, I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings either. But that was a huge reason that Hard Knocks really shot out like a rocket ship when, you know, when I was like in high school and college because it was so raw and real. It was reality television. Like legitimately, you would get those personnel meetings where they were like ranking guys who was going to get cut. Who might not make it? What draft pick sucked.

And those days feel like a thing of the past. The Lions had its moments, but even that, you know, it's just, it's a little cheesier now. So at least with the Aaron Roger drama alone, I think it could carry hard knocks at minimum for a couple episodes. Okay, let's bang out a little middle cough mailbag. We'll keep this short and sweet. This shorter podcast, we will do a much longer mailbag probably on Friday. start with Jim first ever DM

Instagram sucks gonna push back like Instagram one scenario for the Lions this year if they miss the playoffs does Goff have a job next year and win total predictions for the NFC North

pretty good question here I'd go with Jared Goff he's going to be a free agent I'm pretty sure after this season so if he were to miss the playoffs no he would not be back and win prediction I do think it's for example

example, the Packers. For the last 30 years, they have been the Hunter. That doesn't mean, excuse me, the hunted. That doesn't mean they make the, you know, win the division every year, doesn't mean they always even make the playoffs. But every year that they've had Farvin Rogers, coming into the season, people view them as good. And most of the years, they have been, right? They have been a double-digit win team. Packer fans, I mean, if I had to take an educated guess, since Brett Farv began starting and they've had Rogers, I would guess 20 division championships. Does that feel a little high?

I guess the Vikings have won it a couple times. I don't even remember the Lions winning it. Obviously, the Bears probably wanted a time or two. Been the Packers Division, right? So the Giants last year were a good example. They kind of got to sneak up on some people. In 2023, like this fall, they're stinking up on nobody.

Not because there's some super low, you know, super loaded roster, but because people are going to view them as a playoff team, right? So the Lions, while they didn't make the playoffs, people are going to have a lot of respect for their roster and their players this fall. So they're going to be viewed as, like, a real team. And it's just going to be fascinating.

Like, I'm going to pick them to win the division. We'll see, though. It's not going to be easy for Dan Campbell. He's going to have a lot of pressure on him, not just to win the division, but to me anything less than the playoffs, a major, major disappointment. And I do just wonder

if it's going to be a little more difficult than we think. I'm picking them. I'm not off the scent. And they haven't even had the draft. Like, I like where they're headed. But it's just difficult when people take you seriously.

Like, it's easy to climb the mountain, right, when no one sees you coming. Then you get up there and that wind starts blowing. It's harder to stay. Now, hell, the lions haven't got to the top of the mountain yet. But my point is, it's kind of easy just what they were able to do last year. Remember, they started really shitty.

They start 0 and 3 or 1 and 4? We'll see. Again, I'm not wavering from my lion's pick here in April. As someone who just got their first sports journalism job, Beat Rider for some NFL teams. Don't want to out you. Maybe you do want to be outed. I don't even know if it's outing you,

but, you know, I appreciate how you always tie football to real life scenarios, such as business, real estate, stocks. I just finished my bachelor's in business and will be starting my master's in journalism soon. My guy's well educated here. Would appreciate any tips on how to grow your following in the media world? Or if you think that's overrated

and just focus on the content? Well, that's a good question. I think the content is always king, right? Unless you, you know, if you're going on first take, you can say whatever the fuck you want, right? And then it's just like just being exposure. But if you're starting at a lower level, like try to do a really good job.

Try to master and figure out what you're good at and then hone in on those skills. It's funny, I was talking to my girlfriend about this the other day. It's like, you know, a lot of people have dreams and aspirations about doing bigger things in life. in whatever you do. And I think a lot of people, and I'm all for,

try it, don't waste too much time planning, like you just kind of got to dive into the deep end. That's part of life. But when you do dive into the deep end or when you do, you don't want to think big picture stuff, it does help to be really good at whatever specifically you're doing.

So I would just hone in, I don't know, journalism, I don't exactly know what that means. Like, are you going to, when you say a beat writer, are you going to be on camera, Are you going to be doing videos? Are you going to be writing? Whatever you're doing,

especially if you're young, like in your 20s, master that. Give all your time to figuring that out how to do it. And then like over time, like your following will just naturally grow. You'll separate from the pack if you're good at what you're doing. But I wouldn't be obsessed with that,

you know, at 24 years old. I would be more, and I understand in these times and the way society works, everyone wants it all. I did too. I'm sure many people listening. but I think sometimes you kind of just got to stack a couple things and then figure it out.

And I think it's hard because we have so much access to see these guys that make millions of dollars on YouTube that are our age or a couple years older. Like that's not the majority of people. That is a small, small minority of people that just blow up and got 10 million followers on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. You know, again, how many of those people are actually monetizing them? on Twitter nobody on the other apps the people of the big followings can monetize them but ultimately a point is I would just focus on just being laser just be really good at what you're doing be laser focused on the present and then let it kind of play out from there which you can be like well it's easy for you to say well yeah in my 20s I just fucking swung my pick I just swung my

pick. And honestly, it wasn't, I didn't start making real money till three or four years ago. Honestly, you know, probably around 2019, 2020, not 38 years old. Now, I took a path, was very focused on I was just going to make it. And the crazy part is in my, what I did in my 20s is not, it does relate to what I'm doing now, obviously, but it's not the same business. I'm not working in the same industry in the sense of like, I don't work in the NFL. I don't work in the NFL. I don't work in college football anymore. I don't even work in radio. So life changes. Just be fluid with everything. But the one thing I focused on was, it sounds cheesy, but like be where your feet is. And if you have an opportunity to cover NFL teams, like, I would take that shit very seriously.

And the two teams you listed are pretty big teams. So if you get to be around those GMs, those assistant coaches, those coaches, those players, the agents, like take advantage of that. Who knows where things could break. I wouldn't be as obsessed as quote unquote growing my following as I would be in like trying to do a really good job and trying to impress the people I'm around. Because that's usually, you know, how the damn breaks. Because then once the damn breaks and you're prepared to handle the situation when, when the opportunity is there, then you just break down the fucking, you know, the wall and never

look back. I think a lot of people, I want to do this. And then you're just not ready. and then it's kind of a waste of time. Or a wasted opportunity. So, you know, there are only so many, like, Gary V's who are ready to do, like, seven different things when they're 27,

at least according to the internet. I'm not a Gary Vee hater, but I'm just saying, like, some people just operate a slower pace. Some of us just need to experience things before we figure things out. Some of us are just willing to just do whatever immediately. I was always,

anyone who just, like, becomes an entrepreneur or just starts their own thing out of like college is an incredible story to me to have that wiring at 20, 21, 22. And I know a couple of people. I'm one of my college roommates crushed it, created his own business out of college. Also one of the smartest guys I know, right? I wouldn't have that capability. Like I just, I wouldn't even self-confidence, understanding, just, intellectual.

intellectual capacity. I mean, at 22 years old, 20, I'd have no chance. I would have been screwed. I wouldn't even have tried. I didn't. I couldn't. Most people can't.

So just do a good job covering those teams. And, you know, I'd say, Adam Schefter once upon a time, started covering Denver Broncos. Worked out okay for him. Hope you're well. I'm a Catholic priest and a fellow older millennial,

an avid listener. If you're ever in Detroit, say for next year's be cool to get together. Probably not in good drinks on though. Is that allowed? Catholic priest. I've been a huge Lamar fan throughout his rise to start him. I think your take on his current contract negotiation is pretty spot on.

My question, do you think people perhaps, most especially Lamar himself, are significantly overestimating how well he will be able to perform in a new setting? I get that he starred everywhere he's been, but I also get it's the Ravens pretty meticulous. built their offense to suit his skill set. And they had Greg Roman, who, while failing to develop Lamar's passing game, featured an overwhelming, intricate run game, and surely capitalized on Lamar's skill set. Do you wonder whether Lamar might decline significantly without such a tailor-made roster and most clever run game schemer in recent memory?

I'm concerned he will. Well, a new setting, if he were to be traded, that would mean he got traded for several picks and given a lot of money. That in itself, you know, whether you're Lamar Jackson or Deshawn Watson or Jalen Ramsey or Khalil Mack, you don't even need to be a quarterback, brings a set of expectations that are sky high. That is a moment where the bar is dramatically raced. Now, when you're a quarterback, especially of Lamar's resume, you've won an MVP. You've won an MVP, you're famous. The bar is pretty high.

People expect you to play at a high level, and when you don't, you get criticism. So you're kind of used to that. But if a team, let's just say Team X, the Falcons, the Lions, whoever, were to trade for him and then give him a $200 million contract, like the expectation, anything less than dominating and being a pro bowler in going to the playoffs every year would be very, very difficult. Now, the variables in which you said, yeah. Like, that would give me grave concerns. I think one of the big reasons he hasn't been traded for or teams aren't as interested slash the Ravens are somewhat on the fence is I don't think people trust that he's some

star passing quarterback. Now, maybe that's recency bias. Maybe it's just simply the Ravens did a shitty job drafting quarterbacks. Maybe, like you said, it's their run game coordinator who was their offensive coordinator, but Greg Roman's not a great past game guy. He's a great run coordinator. Maybe it's the coaching. And these are variables, and we talk about this in the draft,

we talk about this in free agency. Football has more variables than all these other sports. It just does. Like if I sign a right-handed hitter, it's pretty clear what he does well and what he doesn't do well. He doesn't hit right-handers well. He doesn't hit the inside breaking ball well.

His go zone is the outside, upper middle half of the strike zone. Fastballs. Great fastball hitter. It's very black and white. It's like an Excel spreadsheet. There is no Excel spreadsheet with football players. Because who's he throwing to? Who is his offensive line?

Who is his coach? Who is his head coach? What was the organizational philosophy? What is he good at? What did they ask him to do? What is his learning ability? What is his arm strength? What are the route he's good at throwing?

What are the routes he's not? Is he an accurate quarterback? So, you know, what division is? he in. Who's he playing? And yeah, I think he is, you know, I still think he, I mean, where's he going to end up at this point? It does feel like he's going to end up back on the Ravens, which is kind of weird, but that's the NFL. This is not Kyrie Irving demanding a trade. It's just, that's not, if the Ravens don't want to trade him, he's not getting traded. Just simple. It does feel like they would be open to trading him, but it doesn't feel like there's a lot of people

offering a lot of picks, which, like, I've said, you'd be naive to think people haven't talked, but if he's saying, I want more guaranteed money than Deshaun Watson, he's not getting that. And I hear a lot of people like, Lamar knows his value. Well, no, he doesn't, because that is not his value. His value is not $230 million. It's just not. Right, wrong, or indifferent. He's not getting that much money. So I think he just ends back up on the Ravens, to be honest with you. And then, you know, is he going to sit out the year?

I don't know. Maybe it just gets weirder. Situation is just weird. So I don't really know what to say. But if he were to go to another team, yes, those things would, you know, leave me concerned. Appreciate everyone listening. Fire in those DMs at John Middilkoff.

Get in the mailbag this upcoming week. And hopefully everyone has a good week. It's good times. April, Sunday. coming out, hopefully, wherever you live. Get some vitamin D. Enjoy yourself.

Enjoy the masters. And the draft's right around the corner, baby. So buckle up. 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.

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