The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Khalil Mack Trade, Rodgers Return vs. Russ Exit, Wentz Red Flags, Aikman MNF Move, News & Notes

Episode Date: March 11, 2022

John discusses the Bears trading Khalil Mack to the Chargers, how much he can immediately improve the Chargers, what it could mean for Justin Fields career, how Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson handled their situations differently, why they are both divas, if Denver is really a lock to be an AFC contender, why teams are so willing to move on from Carson Wentz, and if it was smart for Fox to let Troy Aikman walk split for MNF.Follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hope you're having a great week. A lot of moving parts. We just had a major trade. I recorded the majority of the podcast. Wentz. Obviously Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, returning.

Trey Aikman taken off from Fox. Official now. And then the Killeleel-Mack trade happened. I'll talk a little about the Kahlil-Mack trade-I-Hapening. My thoughts on that, and then we'll just dive right into the quarterback stuff. The Middilkoff Mailbag at John Middilkoff is my Instagram. That'll be on the weekend.

Like we've been doing the last couple weeks. So slide up into those DMs at John Middlecoff. At John Middilkoff is just my name. DMs, get your question answered, Middlecoff mailbag on the weekend. So I wanted to dive into the Kaleel-Mack trade. I think it's pretty simple. I think pro sports representing

these companies in America, aggressive wins. Pedal to the medal. Stop making excuses. Take big swings. Look at Major League Baseball. Actually, Lockout officially ended today. They're cool with you striking out, which, you know, can be a little bit.

Like, I like every once in a while seeing a guy go the other way, which, again, I'm cool with you keeping your third round pick every once a while. But when you have the chance to make some of these trades for some of these players, I'm all for it. and these new age GMs, these younger GMs, are being very aggressive. Now, Telesco has been a GM now nine years. And I was actually texting a little name job, Peter Schrager. We were just BSing, and he alluded to a staff that I was like, damn, it doesn't seem like that, but it makes sense.

Telesco's made the playoffs one time as the general manager of the Chargers. Been there nine years. Been there a long time. Now, as a former scout in me, and listen, I don't know Tom personally, I think he does a pretty good job. Same deal with Chris Ballard, but you are dependent on your coach. Now, Ballard, Frank's solid. Is he perfect? No. But they've had Anthony Lynn, who good assistant coach, not a good head coach.

Brandon Staley, I got no clue if he knows what he's doing. And before that, they inherit it was Mike McCoy. So, I mean, part of it is the Chargers. You know, if your business goes cheap at the most important employee, then you're going to have a problem. And they consistently go cheap at head coach. There's a reason the good teams, typically their coaches cost 10 to 15 million. There's a reason Nick Saban and Kirby Smart kick everyone's ass.

They both make $9.5 million. Right? Urban Meyer, now Ryan Day, they get paid a premium. There are certain positions in America that get paid a lot. If you're CEO of a big bank, you're going to make a lot of money. Position pays a lot. Like, you can talk shit all you want about Roger Goodell making $40-plus whatever million dollars. He runs an enterprise that just signed a $100 billion, $100 billion television contract.

Like most people in the private sector When you're in charge of that Get compensated at high level And for whatever reason The chargers never want to pay a coach But they have good players And this move is a no-brainer Part of having Justin Herbert on a rookie quarterback

Is taking advantage of the cap space So you get a pass rusher Who now he's coming off a pretty major injury Foot injury missed You know basically half the season He had six sacks and seven games And I remember a buddy in the NFL texting me You know early on in the season

Was God, Khalil Mack looks like Khalil Mack So you put Kille-Mack, you put him with Joey Bosa, you're cooking with gas. And I'll talk about a little bit later in the podcast, like their run defense was a joke, and that's on Brandon Staley to get it figured out. But a great pass rush makes everything else easy. And here's the other thing with Kaleel Mack. He is an elite, not a good, an elite run defender. So he adds toughness to your run defense, and he takes away whatever side he's on,

you're not running at 52 because you're not moving him. So a no-brainer move, I admire. I admire and I applaud anyone in any industry that pedal to the metal, chips in the middle of the table. Shouldn't that's how we operate? Now there's a difference with being reckless, right, and putting your chips in the middle of the table and put it on red. Right. And there's also getting Khalil Mack. You know, a guy that's been countless all pros and pro bowls and when he's healthy is one of the best players in the league.

Timmy hat, good move, chargers. Great move. They've had a good week. Mike Williams, re-signed, get Khalil Mack. The AFC West is no joke. The irony is these two conferences on the West Coast are a mother. The AFC West added Russell Wilson, added obviously Khalil Mack today. We know how good the NFC West is.

Now they lost Russell, but Seattle finished dead last last year in the division. There are a lot of rumors with Derek Carr, what's going to happen. I don't really know. We're only time's going to tell what Josh really thinks of Derek. Do they extend them? I don't think they trade them, but let's face it. Rumors are flying out there, and they do every year. with Derek. And from the

bear standpoint, like, part, sometimes you do have to bottom out. Sometimes you do have to blow it up. And the bears are at the point where you got to blow it up. The shitty part about blowing it up, though, they have a rookie quarterback too. And if Justin Fields, like their franchise hinges on Justin Fields. If he becomes a pro bowler,

the Bears will be good. If he's a quote-unquote bust, they're screwed. You know, and they got a brand new coach, which we have no clue if he's any good. They have a new GM who, you know, know, my guys in Kansas City really, really like. But when he was hired, he said, we're going to take back the north. And then a month later, Aaron Rogers comes back to the north. Like, hey, Ryan, you're not taking back the north.

You know, the Packers are going to own the fucking north for the foreseeable future. So you need to figure out how to get Justin Fields playing well. And you have to, they didn't have a first round pick. But I got no problem not having a first round pick going up to get a quarterback last year. They made the right move. Now, all the pressures on getting him good and doing everything humanly possible, They had to clear up the cap a little bit. That's part of getting rid of Khalil.

And he's one of the only assets they have that has value that, you know, they could part with. He's over 30. You're not going to part with Roquan Smith. But their offensive line stinks. They don't have that many playmakers. Alan Robinson's a free agent. Defensively, they, you know, they got a long way to go. I think the Bears could really, really suck next year.

And we talk about quarterbacks, quote unquote, being a bust or not living up to the potential. Like, is it Justin Fields fault that the Chicago, Bears are in kind of roster turmoil, right? I mean, he's used to playing at Georgia, playing in Ohio State with loaded rosters. Now, obviously, it's not that easy in the NFL, but, you know, look at some of these court. Russell Wilson gets drafted to Seattle. Squad, ready to roll. Dak Prescott goes to Dallas, ready to roll. Trey Lance gets drafted by the 49ers. Boom. Start cooking with gas. Mack Jones, Bill Belichick signs them or drafts them. And he spends $500 million that offseason or whatever, accumulate in all.

these players. So the variables, and this works for any part of any human's life, any company you work for, there are things out of your control, right? There are variables that you cannot control. No matter how talented you are, no matter how smart you are, there are things surrounding you in a professional environment that you need to go well for you to succeed. It's really hard to overcome, you know, the things that are out of your control if they're done poorly. And it's a disaster. And I feel that way with Justin feels. Like if this does not go well and Uber Fluse doesn't what he's doing and Ryan Poles, you know, is a little overwhelmed. Like, his career is going to be derailed fast.

That's why Zach Wilson, like, do they know what they're doing in the New York Jets? You'd say historically they usually don't. So I'm fascinated to see that way that it goes. I'm glad Khalil Max with the Chargers. I can't wait to watch. I mean, I watch NFC and AFC West football. I watch a lot more NFC West football because I haven't really been watching the Broncos. And I mean, I had the Raiders games on, but, you know, for the first time in years,

last year they were really interesting. Now I got the Raiders interesting. I got definitely the Broncos interesting. The Chargers and the Chiefs are definitely interesting. Seattle's not, but the Niners, Rams, and Cardinals are. So we got, listen, we do not do college football. We're an embarrassment right now in college football. We have a long way to go, but holy shit do we do the NFL out West. A Pac-12, bad football.

NFL football out West? Awesome. The Chiefs, do they count as West? No, but they're in the division, so we claim. them. But, you know, everything west of Denver, good times right now. Calil Mack, back in the division, which kind of put him on the map. You know, I remember I was going to all those Raider games. When Calil Mack first came to the league, he was a raw pass rusher. Like, for example, like Nick Bosa got to the NFL, ready to go, had pass rush. Colleen didn't really know what he was doing. But it was like, I had a buddy that coach for the Raiders and up, you know, during the Khalil Mack era.

and I vividly remember asking him like at the end of OTAs. I'm like, how good is that guy? He's like, to be honest with you, he was the best player on the team after two snaps in rookie minicamp. And he just needed to figure out within a couple years, he was an all pro at multiple positions.

I mean, a complete freak show. My personal belief on Khalil, he's better when he believes he can win. And I think the last couple years, it was like things have gotten weird in Chicago. Not that he's a checkout front runner, but he has to exert so much will and so much force and play so hard that it's like, what am I doing this for?

And now he's on the Chargers, which, let's face it, a ton of pressure. Well, I mean, technically not media pressure because no one really, you know, their second fiddle in L.A. and they're the Chargers. But just in terms of like the way we're going to talk about them, they have a star young quarterback who's on a rookie contract. They got good players at several positions. Like, it's playoffs are bust. If you don't, and listen, I think Telesco knows it.

It's why you make this trade, which is, the easiest trade he'll ever make, whether it works or not. Like, as of the day, you make this trade with your eyes closed. There should be several other teams. Because I was thinking, like, why didn't the Niners make this trade? Why didn't the Chiefs make this trade? I know cap stuff. But you can get rid of cap space.

I think it's more like the Chargers pick is better than a lot of teams that would have easily made this trade in, you know, I know it's in the second round, but a lot of the teams that draft in the 20s, which essentially is like the 50s and 60s in the second round, their pick is better. So the one positive of missing the playoff is they had a good pick for all the teams that would be interested in Khalil Mack. Now it's time to see these two pass rushers get after it. Oh my God, the players championship is back with one of the best fields in golf.

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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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball.

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Find a forest near you and start exploring. I discover the forest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Okay, before we dive into all the dynamics of the Denver-Seattle trade, I just wanted to start off on a general theme. Relationships matter and working on relationships matter. Anyone listening to this who's married, who's in a serious relationship, who has a business partnership, you know, a long-standing business partner.

who's involved in some sort of enterprise with someone else professionally. It takes effort on both sides to maintain these relationships, right? You go through rough patches, whether it be with your wife, whether it be with your business partner. You go through tough times. Not every quarter is booming. Not every month is like your honeymoon or Christmas. Sometimes shit hits the fan.

and it takes both sides for people to work at them and maintain them. Not everything has to be hunky dory and, you know, sunshine and rainbows. It's okay to go through dark times. And honestly, I think, I know from my own personal experience, you learn more about yourself and others during the tougher times than you do when money's flowing. Or when the sex is explosive, you know, you do. You just, the dark times make you find out who you want to be with. Again, professionally or personally.

And I think when you look at both these two quarterbacks, one, the relationship, both sides really worked on them. They made it a priority. They said, we want to figure out if this is worth it. And ultimately, they did. And I got to give Gutikins a lot of credit. But Rogers deserved credit. They both met in the middle.

they both worked at it. And you can say, John, well, it's just all money. No, Aaron Roder has been the highest paid player in the league for a while. He would have been the highest paid player in the league, whether he's on Denver, whether he's on the Jags, or whether he stayed with the Packers. He was getting his money no matter what. It clearly wasn't about money. He's always got money.

He's worth $260 million. After this contract, when his career's over, he'll have made $400 plus million on the field. He was getting paid regardless. It was about the treatment of, him like he's freaking Tom Brady. Where Russell Wilson, you know, the relationship, and listen, sometimes employees at the highest level, because ultimately Aaron Rogers and Russell Wilson, they work for, you know, Pete Carroll. They are, they're W-2 employee for Seattle and the Green Bay Packers.

Now, when you're the most talented employee in the building, whether you're the best salesman, whether you're the best artist in a recording studio, or whether you're a star quarterback, you know, sometimes they got big egos. They can be a little narcissistic. Like that's happened in the history of time. But clearly the Packers and Aaron Rogers made a conscious effort to figure this thing out and do everything humanly possible

to get it right and see if it could work. I don't believe that's the case with Russell Wilson. There was an article in the athletic that he was checked out. And I'm not just blaming Russell Wilson because I bet if you put yourself in his shoes, he thinks Pete Carroll is not that great of a coach. Pete Carroll's 70 years old.

Like, I'm sorry, I'm not an ageist, but it's 70 years old, unless you're Bill freaking Belichick, you probably shouldn't be coaching anymore. And I know Pete's a young 70, but like, bro, just do something else. You know, it's over. You've had a hell of a run.

Like, unlike Belichick who keeps making the playoffs with ease, like, it's a struggle for Pete. And Bill's calling defense, now he might call offense. Like, Pete ain't doing anything. Pete is a CEO cashing that $15 million check. So I understand Russell that thinks like, this guy's kind of on cruise control.

He acts all happy. they're shooting baskets. I get both sides. And listen, I'm someone, I ain't Colin coward on this deal. I think Russell's a major diva. And I think there is a distinct gap between Rogers and Russell on the field. Roger's dramatically better. Roger's the best quarterback in the league.

That includes Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and hell, even last year, Tom Brady. Russell ain't, Russell's not a top five quarterback right now. Now, maybe he bounces back, but he's good enough. And listen, I've seen Russell live three or four times. He's one of the best players I've ever seen. I think Russell is the first ballot Hall of Famer. But just when you put these two guys next to each other, Rogers is dramatically better.

Now Russell's still good enough that I understand where he's coming from. But ultimately, Russell was over it. And let's call a spade a spade. Russell demanded out of there. Russell demanded a trade. Russell wanted out. Now, his PR campaign, he puts his agent, Mark Rogers, who's a baseball guy out in front of him.

The difference between Rogers and Russell, Rogers has to act or, you know, he is asked about his sins. He gets up and he handles it. Bro, you want it out? You got the vaccine, all that stuff. He takes it on the chin. Russell does this thing, like it's never been up, never asked for a trade. I want to be here.

Go Hawks. But really behind the scenes, it's like get me out of here. Which again, his prerogative. I have no problem with the player, no different than any employee that wants out of a business. That is all on you. the only one who's ever going to care about you the most is going to be you. Only you truly know. It's hard to describe to other people personally and professionally sometimes the things you're going through. Only truly you know. So if you think that Pete Carroll's a village idiot, it's hard for Russell.

He couldn't come out and publicly say that. Now, the media would love it because they think Pete's an idiot, but the media thinks they know everything about football and they clearly don't. But it would be hard for him to describe, even though there might be a lot of merit behind what he's saying. but he in a million years like Rogers ultimately came out like yeah we need to change some shit this ain't gonna fly any of that press russell never does that crap russell avoids that stuff by the plague because he's always running a PR campaign he never wants to be hated he wants to be perfect it's like he's like a politician where you got to give rogers some credit like whether you agree with them or disagree with him he'll wear it and listen i think some of the stuff he does

pretty quirky you know the buddhist stuff you know the 13 day cleanse where you're pooped and puking, like, that stuff's a little wacky for me. And listen, you can do, you do whatever you want to do. But I do respect that Rogers had to take it all. And Russell kind of can hide behind all this stuff. But ultimately, Pete Carroll was cool with getting rid of Russell. And Russell clearly wanted away from Pete Carroll. And ultimately, the relationship in Green Bay, they worked at it, and they figured it out. But like I said, let's not get it twisted. Russell Wilson, wanted out. Russell Wilson demanded a trade

without actually demanding a trade. And it's easy for him to say, like Seattle, I never wanted out of here. No, you did, bro. Now, he'll never say that. He'll throw Mark Rogers the Beijian out there and always look like the good guy. Like, Russell, you're not perfect.

You're a diva too. But you can't. It's where I disagree with Colin. We act like Rogers is the diva and Russell's not. Like, no, they're both. And the difference is Rogers, again, is a better player. So it's like if I'm going to deal with the diva And I got Kevin Durant or I got James Harden

You know who I'd rather have? Kevin Durant Right And listen Rogers left a little to be desired I said it over and over under no circumstances Can you be that good and lose that game to the 49ers That is a shitty loss And listen you special teams No Rogers has to score more than 10 points

He's got to get it done So I put that on him But I watch Russell like let Russell cook And then he tries to cook and he can't always cook Sometimes he doesn't make a great meal So he's by no means a perfect player. Now, the Packers are a much more consistently run organization than Seattle. Seattle's drafted poorly.

They do weird stuff. They traded two first round picks for a guy that can't cover, the guy that can't pick the ball off, and he plays safety. That's a disaster. But part of their aggression historically has also paid off for Russell and helped them have a lot of success. So it's a two-way street. I also think going to Denver, before we get into the compensation, we just assume, and listen,

I said this about Rogers, about Russell, if you're a great player, the competition, you don't even worry. You're just, you're going to put me wherever I'm going to go and we're going to win. But we're just like locking Denver up as a winner. Like, they have some talent, but they haven't won a big game or just any game that's meaningful in years. They have a first year head coach that we have no clue if he's going to be any good. Like, that's the one thing Rogers knows. I have a good coach. I know that for a fact.

Matt LaFleur has coached three years and I know I can win with him leading the charge. We don't know that about Nathaniel Hackett. And I'm rooting for Nathaniel Hackett, UC Davis guy. His dad, UC Davis guy. You used to coach Joe Montana. Like, I'm a fan of the family.

But we see it all the time with these coaches like, you know, the majority of these guys, these first-time head coaches will not be good. So there is some unknown there. Now, when it comes to the trade value, I started reaching out to people in the league, what do you think? What do you think? It depends who you ask. Some people think they got fair value. Other people thought they would get more.

Now, draft picks are capital. And some draft picks obviously are worth more than others. So the capital of the ninth overall pick is obviously worth more than the 20th overall pick. But I think an underrated part about this trade also on the players, Shelby Harris, like whatever, I can find defensive tackles, Drew Locke has no value. And Noah Fant, you know, depending on who you ask, second round pick, third round pick, but he does have value.

So let's just say he's worth an early third, late second round pick because he's going into his fourth year, then his fifth year option, he's going to need a new contract, he's a talented player. But you are going to need to pay him. But the ninth pick, for example, the 49ers and the Detroit line, and excuse me, the L.A. Rams,

traded their first round picks this upcoming. draft to the Lions and the Miami Dolphins. Now, last year when I said they both got first round picks, like damn, they got first round picks. It sounds great. It always does. But then they actually come to fruition. You're like, well, the Lions got the 32nd overall pick.

The Miami Dolphins for Trey Lance got the 29th overall pick. And to put this into perspective, you could not package those two picks, pick 32, and pick 29 for pick 9, according to the trade value chart and just common sense. You would say no, the ninth pick is worth more than those two picks. But if I told you at the beginning of the season, would you rather have two first round picks or one first round pick? Either Denver or would rather have the Rams and the Niners. You know, I bet a lot of people would say I'd rather have two first round picks. So the ninth pick in a vacuum is worth a lot.

because next year their first round pick that even if Nathaniel Hackett is not as great in their team, they're still probably going to win nine or ten games. Hell Seattle that has a worse roster in a tougher division when Russell missed three games won seven. So more than likely they're going to go nine and seven, ten and nine and eight, ten and seven. That's probably worst case. So that pick next year is going to be in the 20s. So next year's picks are not great. But this year's picks, a good second round pick.

and obviously the ninth pick, those are very, very valuable. And I also think it shows you that, listen, where these NFL quarterbacks have gained a lot of juice. We know their importance. It speaks for itself, right? They get paid $40, 50 million. We all know, my mom knows, let alone Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick, you cannot win without a good quarterback.

It's impossible. If you don't have an above-average quarterback, you can't even compete. So they have a lot of, a juice, but it still ain't the NBA. When Kyrie Irving demanded a trade, he's like, I want to go to the Celtics. Anthony Davis, I want to go to the Lakers and they just get their way. When the NFL, like again, Russell Wilson demanded a trade without quote unquote demanding a trade. Well, they go, okay, Russell, and you got a no trade class. We ain't trading you anywhere. We're not trading you to the

commanders. We're not trading you to the Eagles. And they can leak out all they want. Well, you know, they didn't get the same offer. Those teams would have offered three first round picks, I promise you. But the Seattle Cocks, we're not trading you in the NFC, my man. That is not happening on our watch. And they knew that Denver, who was beyond desperate for a quarterback, and rightfully so, they're tired of losing. And once Rogers spurns them would probably be the wrong way to put it,

but just says, hey, I'm staying with Green Bay, which is the right move? The team is better, and you know you can win. And the division, you're just a lock to go to the, the playoffs. Now Denver, if you put Rogers, I ran into a buddy of mine who's actually running the gym now, and he's a big Raider fan. And I said this morning, I'm like, damn, man, those Raiders. And he's like, you know, I actually feel relieved because I was expecting the Denver Broncos to get Aaron Rogers. And obviously, we all agree. Russell Wilson's really good, but he ain't Aaron Rogers.

And again, this is where I disagree with Colin. It's not act like Russell's better than Aaron. Aaron's a better player than Russell Wilson. Ask every single GM and every single coach in the NFL. You had one game, who would you rather play? If you had to pick between those two, you would take, I would rather play Russell Wilson than play Aaron Rogers. Does Aaron Rogers leave a little to be desired

the last couple years in the playoffs? Of course. But like I said, it's partly because where they play. They play in this place that's fucking negative 10 degrees that most players would suck. It takes the greatest quarterback of all time who, if I remember correctly, threw some picks in that game to come in and beat them.

And this year, you know, the Niners just, they played in this ugly game. It was freezing cold, which is a whole other issue. They need to figure out a way to, you know, I don't know, they actually might be better playing on the road because I'll promise you this. And listen, I wanted the Niners to win. I'm glad they won. I had money on the 49ers. I clearly rooting for the 49ers.

If that game would have been at Levi's, instead of being at Lambo, I think Green Bay wins. You know, because his greatest advantage, a passer, you can operate. Like if you put Russell Wilson at Lamba, like he ain't winning. We saw it a couple years ago. He lost. So I just think that when you look at the trade,

I thought they should have got more too. He's the best player in the history of the franchise. And I think from, you know, Pete wanted him out. Schneider probably doesn't want him out. Schneider would probably rather get rid of Pete Carroll. Because ultimately Snyder answers to Pete Carroll. And Pete Carroll, you know, again, seven years old, you're worth $100 million.

dollars, I've been around some older people with a lot of money. Anyone that listening that has two knows one thing. They are fucking stubborn. They are stubborn. They're not like progressive with their ideas. Like, I'm open to stuff. No, they're going to be very, very headstrong in what they believe. And clearly Russell, and listen, I respect Russell Wilson.

His ambition, his desire to quote unquote be great, his work ethic as a player. I'm not a Russell Wilson hater. But I think there are two sides. this story. And Seattle, you know, to trade them, like, I actually think their package, the more and more I've had to marinate on it is probably a little better than you think because of the ninth pick and the high second round pick. And on the Denver side, this is the easiest trade they'll ever make in the history of the franchise. They would have given more to get Russell Wilson. Because in the foreseeable future, they were never going to sniff a quarterback like Russell Wilson. Hell, they've been

drafting guys over and over and over and every single guy stinks. So I think this is, this is a BP fastball for George Payton. I bet George Payton is telling his friends, like, God, I would have paid more. I would have easily paid more. You know, when they told me that's it, I didn't have to give up Jerry Judy or Patrick Sturtain. I didn't have to give up another first round pick to get Russell Wilson, who's, you know, whether he's, he wasn't a top five quarterback last year, but, you know, he's still a top

six, seven quarterback in the league. and for them he's a dramatic improvement from anything they've had since really Peyton Manning, obviously. And now Denver is relevant. And I think the league likes Denver being relevant. Obviously Denver is a big, you know, just been a powerhouse franchise for the majority of my life. And now Seattle, at least of recording this, you know, they don't have a quarterback. They're not relevant anymore. And this is where that you never want to be the team trading the star quarterback unless you get another star quarterback because you're going to lose the trade. Like no one's going to care if you Kvon Tibbido falls in your lap and you draft Drake London

in the second rally. If you don't have a quarterback you don't have anything. You have no chance. You're going to win four or five games. So this is where Russell Wilson you can leak out that he mailed in the season because that was in the athletic article. Seattle thinks he mailed it in.

And when you watched him there were times when he thought he was mailing it in. But if he doesn't mail it in Denver, he's going to make you look stupid. right? You can fire some diva artists from your recording label. If that recording labels, you know, or that artist is Taylor Swift or Dr. Dre, the next label he goes to is going to make you look like an idiot. So this is where back to Pete Carroll, like, I would have fired Pete Carroll. I said last year and just figured out, you know, Russell, I don't love doing this,

but like I want to hire an offensive coach, we want you to stay here. Even if he's a pain in the ass, which I think it's pretty clear. but, you know, it's just, it is what it is. It's a relationship business. This relationship crumbled. And it's been crumbling now for a little while. I just struggle with when a guy can kind of fly under the radar and make these crazy demands.

Because in most people in sports, like in the NBA, you know when a guy's Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, you know, Kauai Leonard, Paul George, like, they get shit on for doing this. Aaron Rogers got crushed for thinking about, like, you know, leaving. Russell kind of avoids it because he, because he, He's great with PR. And I just, I'm not into that crap. I'm not into fake or fraud.

Just say, hey, man, I respect the hell out of him. He was like, I was tired of Pete Carroll. That he was too stubborn. I didn't think he knows anything about offense. I think he's losing his fastball. But he would never say that because he doesn't want to be disliked in Seattle. And listen, I'm someone in the Bay Area. We threw a party yesterday.

Russell Wilson is 16 and 4 against the 49ers. He owns them. I've been watching sports for 30 plus years. I've never seen one single player beat the shit out of one single team over and over and over. And unlike Aaron Rogers with the Bears, the Bears always suck. The Niners have been good. Aaron owned him with Harbaugh.

Aaron's owned him with Kyle Shanahan. It doesn't matter. The only meaningful game, the 49ers have ever beat Russell Wilson. They came within a millimeter on that week 8-17 game a couple years ago on Sunday night football of losing. So he's just, I respect the hell out of the player, but we're going to see. This Denver thing, because some people think it's. going to fail on both sides. Who knows?

Because ultimately Seattle, I think, also kind of feels that maybe Russell's over the hill. You know, he's not, he's a small guy, he's just a lot of wear and tear. We'll see. I think he's going to be good next year. But it'll also come down to the head coach. Anytime there's a first year of your head coach, he might not be very good. Speaking of quarterbacks, like,

did Howie Roseman have the greatest trade in the history of traits? He essentially sold a five million, house that 12 months later got sold for $1.5 million. You talk about a great deal. How he flipped a player that the Philadelphia Eagles couldn't stand. The front office didn't like, the coaching staff was over, even the players, they can say whatever they want, I've been told, weren't big fans of the guy toward the end. Two Indianapolis Colts who then missed the playoffs can't stand the guy either and trade him.

So they gave up pick 16 and they ultimately only get back a third round pick and potentially a second round pick. Now, for Washington, here's the thing with the Washington football team commanders, commanders, commandos. I don't even know their name. I actually think they should have been called the commandos, not the commanders. The Washington football team played last year with Taylor Heineke. Tyler Heineke, Taylor Heineke, a backup quarterback. They would have done anything to be in the position as the Indian Outer, Colts were going into that Jacksonville game.

Nine and seven with all you got to do is win and get in. That's the bar. The commandos are not trying to win the Super Bowl. They are not trying to get the number one overall seed. They're just trying to be playing football in January that matters. And they didn't even come close to that last year. So you get Carson Wentz, who again is in this weird spot. On the field, he's better.

than the way we talk about him. And I'm, you know me, I'm not the biggest fan. But he's better than the way the average person, when you just say Carson Wentz, they just say he sucks. He does not suck. But he is no longer a superstar. And I don't remember a player that's had a quicker fall from grace, potential MVP, physical freak to now like three teams and three years.

That's a pretty big red flag. That's like Russell Westbrook territory. Nothing like Russell Westbrook telling fans to like shitting on the fans. No one talks more shit about the fans than Russell, Westbrook. It really is like, hey Russell, LeBron James and Clutch tried to run you out of town for John Wall and a 2007 first round pick. Stop yelling at the fans, start looking at LeBron James. He can't stand you.

Don't blame the fans. But the Washington football team just wants to be competitive. But here's the thing with Carson Wentz. It clearly isn't just about on the field play and he does some stupid stuff. It's about the guy. People don't love the guy. and part of being a quarterback is the intangible stuff. Here's the other thing about Russell Wilson.

Where are his teammates? Why do his teammates never be like, you know what? I love Russell Wilson. That is my guy, man. Russell Wilson, that is my dude. Love that guy, man. What a badass. Where is that guy?

Say what you want about Aaron Rogers, and he had some interesting relationships over the years with his teammates. He just officiated his star left tackles well. wedding. Devante Adams is like one of his best friends. There are guys on that team that love the guy. Where are these people with Russell Wilson? I don't see any of them. They clearly don't exist with Carson Wins. I'm not asking you to be Tom Brady, the greatest teammate of all time. But do people like you? Say this all the time about Jimmy Garoppolo. Very flawed player. People love him. People like hanging out with them. They like going to work with him. They like being around the guy.

Look at Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford goes to the L.A. Rams like team captain five minutes. it's in guys, they swear by them. Being a quarterback is about more than just throwing touchdowns. It's about every single day galvanizing the room. Having guys be like, I love this dude, man. That's my homie. I want to play for this guy. Because you literally need five people to protect you.

You need running backs to block for you. And you need wide receivers to lay it on the line across the middle for you. Yet for whatever reason with Carson Wentz, doesn't feel like people are all in on the guy. The teammates. Then the moment the teammates kind of get wishy-washy, the front office of the coaching staff are like, Dad, we got to be out.

Now, this Indianapolis Colt situation, clearly the owner is somewhat involved, kind of weird, don't quite know what's going on. You know, let's face it, Ursay's a little bit of a whack job. But, you know, say this for Jim Ursay, he's seen what it looks like. He's had Andrew Luck and Payton Manning. Again, well-like people.

You know, teammates like the guys. Then they've had Jacoby Brissette. People like them. Philip Rivers. People like him. Carson Went, not so much. That's why we talk about it all the time when guys are coming out in the draft. And this draft, you know, for lacking in talent, which it does, it has high character guys.

Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Sam Howell, Matt Corral, like guys like these players. Like, they're teammates, they're coaches. And that really matters. And that's something that Carson Wentz, who, you know, feels like he's going to be on like five teams and six years when it's all said and done, is lacking. And I don't know why. You know, I haven't spending time around them. You'd have to ask, you know, the coaching staffs that have been around them. But something's off, man.

And when something's off at quarterback, you have a big problem, unless the guy is Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning. And that is clearly not the case with Carson. One thing I think we've seen with the quarterback movement, because let's face it, the way the marketplace works in player acquisition is a sequence, right? Free agency happens before the draft. We're actually in the NBA, it's the opposite. The draft is before free agency. Well, supply and demand is a real thing, right? If you know you can get a quarterback in the draft, you would wait until the draft, right?

Or if it's a good quarterback draft. Like last year, part of the reason the bear signed Andy Dalton is because at pick 20, they had no clue, they didn't think they'd get Justin Fields. If they had a do-over on that, you better believe Ryan Pace, who's never going to be a GM again, would have known that Justin Fields would not have gone in the top five or eight picks and he would have been able to trade up to whatever pick 11 to get him, they would not assign any Dalton. They just would have rolled in with Foles and Justin Fields. So obviously there is unknown going into the draft, but it's pretty clear that this quarterback class is

atrocious. Now, that does not mean that these quarterbacks in five years are not going to be good, right? Just because what you are, I say it all the time, the draft is not a representation of what I think you're going to be. It's the price that I have to pay to acquire you. John Schneider loved Russell Wilson, but they drafted him in the third round because that was his value. No one at the time back a decade ago

was going to take a short little quarterback that high. You know, seven, eight years later, you want to get Kyler Murray, you want to get Baker Mayfield, you know, you got to draft them really high. The market changed, right? We see it all the time. Like the certain markets around America in terms of housing markets,

it's constantly adapting. Things change and you have to adapt to it. But in terms of prospects like last year, the worst physical prospect of the group was Mack Jones. And listen, I'm not the biggest fan because I don't like drafting average physical skills in the top 15. But it was pretty clear he was going to get drafted in the first round.

And I thought there was a chance if the Patriots didn't take him he was going to go in the 20s. But he went pick 15. And he was the fifth quarter. quarterback off the board. So look at it. Three or four years ago, when the big quarterback draft happened, Lamar Jackson went pick 32. All those quarterbacks last year were off the board by 15. I think there's a decent chance that none of these quarterbacks, well, they shouldn't be. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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Now, people, the difference between quarterbacks and other positions is there's quarterback inflation. You are willing to pay, you know, $1.75 on the table. Like ultimately if Desmond Ritter goes 14th, is he a first round pick, the history of the league? No, but, you know, quarterback inflation is it is what it is. But when you pay a premium for a non-premium and then that guy, like right now Desmond Ritter, it's like he could be the next Dak Prescott. Well, that's his ceiling the next Dak Prescott.

So if he hits his, not even his floor, but somewhere in the middle, you're getting Marcus Mariotta. And then you got a problem. I draft in the first round of backup quarterback. We got issues. So I think the reason all these quarterbacks are moving places, like if there was a good quarterback draft, the Washington football team commandos commanders would have just waited.

They wouldn't have traded two third round picks to get Carson Wentz. Right? You know, at the time of recording this, Jimmy Garoppel has not been traded. Whoever trades for him just would have waited to get a quarterback. But this quarterback draft is atrocious. And we know that. Like, that doesn't mean, though, that they won't be good players.

Right? The value of Aaron Donald at the time when the Rams took him at whatever, picked 12 or 11 or 13. He was a six-foot defensive tackle. And even that, quote-unquote, at the time was a very, very bold pick, even though he was an awesome player. Now, if you redid the draft, he would go number one overall, right? Things change in hindsight, but we don't have hindsight when we're coming into the draft. It's like, yeah, if you could redo a draft, George Kittles going in the top 10. He went in the fifth round, just the nature of the business. But at the time, he wasn't as good of a prospect as he's

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And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Another story that kind of intrigues me. I've been thinking a lot about this is, you know, because Curb Herb Street, it looks like it's going to go to Amazon for a lot of money. Troy Aikman's going to go to Monday Night Football.

I don't know where Troy said this. Oh, I think on local radio in Dallas. Troy's big local radio guy in Dallas. Don't blame him. You know, Dallas is home. And listen, I believe that Troy Aikman is good. I think because let's face it, the majority of people that are play-by-play guys,

are analysts, most crews you watch, right, are awful. And as someone that watches a lot of 49er games, the majority of their games were not called by Joe and Troy. If they're just playing some random team, I get like the third or fourth Fox crew. It's atrocious. Now, Joe and Troy are good,

and Burkhart and Greg Olson are good, just like Burkart and John Lynch were good. Those are two good crews. The majority of the crews stink. Are awful, but you know what? It's football. I don't care. Troy said that Fox did not offer him a contract,

aka like they weren't going to even get close to matching whatever the hell ESPN is paying him. 15, 18, 17, Tony Romo type money. And I started thinking, like, Fox obviously owns Fox News as well. The reason they pay their Fox News hosts, 10, 15, $20 million a year because they're the number one news shows if you're into politics on television. Regardless where you stand, like Fox News outrates every other news channel. And those guys get paid a boatload of money.

Same with Coward, right? Coward gets a lot of money. But his show, if I'm coming to Coward, or I'm coming to, you know, I don't watch this guy, but Sean Hannity or MSNBC or whatever, I'm coming for that individual. Right? With Troy and Joe, who again are good,

if the Packers are playing the Cowboys, I'm coming for Packers Cowboys. Honestly, back to the political stuff, I don't know how people watch political TV. Like, I actually think I could be a political host, but I would hate the anger. I wouldn't want to be angry. every day. Because part of being a political host, you just got to be angry and just a lot of people

half the country's going to hate you. That'd be really exhausting. Now, it pays a lot. It pays a shitload. But I, not that I care about being like, because I don't even like the majority of people, but you would just have to be angry every day. And the other thing is with politics, you don't control anything. Not that I control anything with sports, but it's more of a happier medium, I feel like. You know, luckily, you know, we're able to make some cash doing this. But I would struggle with just the negative mindset, which you just kind of have to have, right? And I also just think it's so fake.

I don't know how you do it. But again, pays a lot of money because they come to see you. As I was told at several parties, the most successful guy in the history of political radio wasn't even close with Rush Limbaugh. He was making hundreds of millions of dollars for the company. Right? Coward. One of the most, Dan Patrick, successful sportsbri.

You come to watch them. I don't come to watch Joe and Troy. I don't care about them. Now, I'd rather watch them than, you know, Chris Myers and one of the Barber brothers. But if the Packers are playing the Cowboys, the 49ers are playing the Rams, if the Eagles are, you know, are playing the Arizona Cardinals, like, I'm watching that game. Regardless who's calling it. Let's face it, we all watch a lot of bad broadcast crews.

So I put myself in the management of Fox and I go, listen, Troy, you're a stud, love you, we've had you for a couple decades. But I asked myself, CBS. they paid Troy or Tony Rom all that money. And listen, I like Tony personally. I don't know him, but I feel like we'd be buddies, big golf guys and we'd like playing golf and maybe drink some beers. But I do think he's a little over the top sometimes as a broadcaster.

But I also thought, like, if you're CBS, now part of the reason Tony got paid so much is because ESPN tried to steal them and they didn't want to lose them. But like, I wonder if they think now, like, if you put week one, let's just hypothetically say there's a game, Chiefs, Bills. do we give a shit who's calling the game? What if it was me and my mom calling the game? Obviously that'd be a big story

because it's like, why is this dude and his mom calling the game? But ultimately, you're tuning in to watch. Why? Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes. It doesn't really matter who's calling the game. Like if CBS had a do-over on that, do you think it matters? You know, and like I said,

I understand why these guys get so much money, but I do wonder, do you need to pay him that much money? Because ultimately, we've talked before about like, you know, Tony Soprano, or I mean, James Gandalfini, the last year of the Sopranos making a couple million dollars an episode, the cast of friends, million dollars in episode, some of these big television shows, huge money. They are the show. Like, ultimately, Mahomes is the show. Belichick and Mac Jones are the show. Shanahan, Stafford, Aaron Donald, Bosa, they're the show. You're just commentating it. And listen, you deserve to get paid because commentating,

especially being a good one, is hard to duplicate and hard to find other ones. But I don't think Fox is that crazy. Like, you could argue just pay someone $5 million. Throw them in there. Even if you get some blowback on Twitter, who gives a shit? There's like 15% of society is on Twitter. And like 3% actually tweet. The majority of it is just media people.

And we've seen media people tend to be very fucking miserable. Most people I know are pretty normal. They're not that miserable every day. They just watch football because they want to release from normal life, gamble on the game, watch their squad. So if you just put You know, former player X Even if he's not that great

The media will complain. Hell, I might complain. I'm guilty too. But ultimately I'm watching Like I say, hey John, you want to watch Herbert Mahomes today? It's Jim Nance and some random backup special teamer. No, no, I only watch former quarterbacks or guys that are in the Hall of Fame Calling My Games.

I will not watch Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes play today. Won't do it. No one's ever said that. So maybe Fox is right on this. one. I don't blame Troy for getting paid. He's already super rich. It's not like this is more, and I understand from his perspective, it's respect. But ultimately, if you don't own anything, and let's face it, Troy's just an employee. Like, you got to make tough decisions for management. So I do kind of understand where they're coming from. Now, we'll see who they replace them

with. I could probably be Greg Olson, which I don't even think we'll notice, you know. And if Joe Buck leaves too, like Kevin Burkhart and Greg Olson, will they be as good as those two? No, because they're not as famous, but will we really notice that big of a difference? I don't think so. Because let's face it, Troy wasn't that good. I think I heard Bill Simmons say this on his podcast, and he was right. Like, Troy had kind of started, I wouldn't say mail it in, but it just lost his fastball. This year, after Romo got that enormous contract, he was kind of like double middle fingers.

Like, you guys forgot, I'm Troy Aikman. I got the three rings. I'm the important Dallas quarterback. Because you know what fans want? Fans want you to be critical because we're all sitting on our couch, screaming at the the guy for dropping a pass, screaming at the coach for not calling a timeout, and we're the ones paying the bills. Without us, there is no

league. There is no money. There is no television deal. There is no these jobs and Troy kind of got back into the saddle of being critical. Part of I think the reason Madden and Gruden could avoid because John, John wasn't that critical ever of coaches. But John was such a big, exuberant

personality he could kind of overcome it. Most of these guys aren't huge personalities. Most of these guys wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell as entertainers doing, you know, hosting a podcast or something, if it, they weren't commentating on a game. And I thought Troy kind of brought his fastball back because it was like FU to Tony Romo, which sometimes we all need a little kick in the ass. And now we got paid. But I, I, I truly don't believe really Fox is going to miss him that much because I don't think it matters. Like when Aaron Rogers

plays Russell Wilson and Fox the afternoon games hosting it, UI and 25 other million people are watching. Let's hit a couple other stories. Bobby Wagner was cut. It's pretty. simple. When you're tearing things down, anyone that's worked in a company, they usually go after the highest paid guys. They don't start firing the interns. The interns don't make any money. The Seattle Seahawks weren't going to cut a bunch of guys making veteran minimums or guys making $1, $2 million. It doesn't change their salary cap. You cut the guy that makes $20 million a year. If the salary cap is $208 million, you're talking like 9% of the salary cap. Boom, saved. Now, is Bobby Wagner a good player? Of course. Do I think he'll probably end up on the Rams? I do. But that's part of

the deal. I also think we overreact like it's a really big deal when quarterbacks in their prime get moved. That doesn't happen very much. But it, because it just doesn't, right? What Russell Wilson at 33 years old getting traded is kind of an outlier. Now, 33, you know, in the 90s, that used to be more like 38, 39 years old. 33 is like the new 29. Right. When Peyton Manning moved teams, he was coming off like five neck surgeries. Tom Brady became a free agent at 42 years old. So Bobby Wagner's like Ronnie Locke got cut. Dionne Sanders got cut. Some of the greatest players, non-quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame get cut. It's part of the business. It's honestly what makes the health of the business go. If Bobby Wagner was an NBA player, you'd have three years left at $35 million a year

and you'd be stuck with him. Now, he's still good. I'm not trying to do it. diminished like he's still a talented player. But the overreaction is like, Seattle, Bobby Wagner. Hey, draft the new linebacker. Are you going to get as good of a one? Probably not. But can you get a guy that would be 80% of him for $2 million? Probably.

That's the way the National Football League works. It's why it's the healthiest sport. Why it will continue to be? You're not stuck with players. The Chargers, give them credit. You've got to build around your young quarterback because defensively, I think the jury's out on Brandon Staley. I mean, you can tell me all.

you want about the roster, but their defense was a joke last year. And you're like, oh, the talent was, stop the fucking run. You know, listen, do you need to be a top 10 run defense? No. Can you not be dead last? Can you get a run stop against the Houston Texans in a must-win game for the love of God? Can you tackle Josh Jacobs to make it to the playoffs?

Just one time. No, you can't. Can you dial up a defense where even if you're playing with me, you, and three other randos, where you can just fill some gaps? because Belichick could you know, Dick Lebow would have. So if you're going to get a reach around like you're the smartest defensive guy

in the league, like you've got to stop the run. Well, I don't know if they're going to be any good on defense as long as this guy's the head coach because to me he feels a little overmatch. But you can be awesome on offense. So to me, you double down on Justin Herbert. You keep Mike Williams, you obviously got Keenan Allen, you draft another wide receiver,

you go sign another tight end, you've got to get a big running back to go with Echler and you go all in an offense. To me, the philosophy for the Chargers, if I want to make the playoffs next year, is to be a top two or three offense. Be kind of what the Chiefs were a couple years ago. Be an unstoppable offense. And just try to incrementally improve on defense. Right?

To me, so keeping Mike Williams, they have a bunch of cab space, smart move. Mike Williams is the type guy you want with a big arm quarterback. Throw it up there and let the guy make plays. They need Keenan Allen, even though statistically he was good last year, he dropped a bunch of balls. I think they also need a speed wide receiver. I was listening to DJ, Daniel Jeremiah, who I once replaced when he went to the NFL network, which is a little ironic because then eventually I kind of went into a similar space.

But he mentioned Chris Olave as a guy potentially for the Chargers. I think Chris Olave, you know, those type players with Justin Herbert make a lot of sense. My pushback would be, I'd say Telesco is pretty good at finding random wide receivers. that he might be able to find a guy in the second or third round and use that pick on someone on defense. Because you need defensive players. Go get a defensive lineman and then draft a speed wide receiver or sign a speed wide receiver.

That would be my philosophical thought process when it came to the Chargers. The Lions, remember Matt Patricia, the former head coach of the Lions? What a disaster that was. Remember he went to the Lions, classic Patriot move, signed all these Patriots. Trey Flowers, who's a solid player,

was just cut by Dan Campbell and I forget their GM's name from the Rams. But to me, usually when Patriots leave the Patriots, they get paid a premium to go somewhere else, they usually come back to the Patriots on a discount. Because Bill goes, hey, listen, you've already been paid,

you want to win again, come here. So I could see the Patriots being all over Trey Flowers. Patricia's also there now doing that Ernie Adams role. But that's usually the route, these Patriot guys roll. Now, they did it with Brae. we'll see if that continues to happen with old McCorkel Jones.

The Titans, they signed Harold Landry, big time pass rusher. I think 87 million. I didn't see the guaranteed money. You never know with the NFL. It could be like $7 million guaranteed. Probably like 20, 25. Good pass rusher. To me, the Titans, you know, as long as the culture and flux at quarterback,

they're going to be the heavy favorite to win the division again. They're going to be the heavy favorite to be in the mix for a two or three seat. I know this year they got the one. It's probably a one-off time. but their GM's a stud, their head coaches a stud. Their organization is, it's just a well-run operation. It's whenever I hear all the Patriot guys fail, and I say that a lot, I mean coaches. John Robinson, Brable never coached there.

Brable played there. You know, it's like, is Welker a Patriot guy? Well, he played there. Welker's now a coach. He never worked for Belichick. I view the same thing with Brable. John Robinson worked for him, but John Robinson's a GM. I think the GMs have been a little bit different.

So, and clearly John has. I mean, John goes to playoffs every year as a general manager. of the Titans. He's from there. What a great job. You get to live in Nashville. Be the GM of the Titans. They're going to build a new stadium. He's got a good gig. I mean, he knows it. They cut Roger Saffold, who once upon a time signed with the Raiders, and then they did a physical, and somehow Mark Davis got word that his shoulder was messed up, so he reneged on the deal. That's a little inside Raiders right there. But that was probably five, six, maybe seven, eight years ago.

Roger Stafford went on to have a great career with, you know, the Rams. Stay with the Rams and then he went to the Titans. Dude's a really good guard. But here's the thing with cutting guards. Cutting guards and centers, like, I can find guards and centers. If you can't, if I can cut a guard, now, obviously if you got Quentin Nelson or Larry Allen or, you know, Jim Otto or something. But if you have a highly paid guard who, and you have some cap issues, I should be able

to replace with a third round plug in play. starter. Easier said than done, but of any position on the football team, if I can't find a center and I can't find a left or right guard to fill through the draft, I'm not good at my job. Period, point, blank, end of story. So I think that's the way a lot of guys think that once they get to a point where they got to move around a little money, sometimes highly paid centers and guards, if they're not like Jason Kelsey, are the first to go. So it's not really that crazy, especially once they get up there in age. Like how long am I going to hold on to some highly paid 32, 33, 34-year-old guard.

You know, I should be able to, I have to be able to, find a guy in the draft for cheap. So, like Howie Roseman said in his press conference, the NFL is all about allocating resources. Every single team has the same amount of resources to start. They all have the same amount of money,

they all the same amount of draft picks. Teams just choose to utilize them different ways. And to me, I would always draft guards and centers in like the third and fourth round. I mean, that's where I'd find my guys. I'd left tackles, right tackles, pass rushers early, obviously quarterbacks.

I might even hang out on wide receivers till the second round. And running backs, I'm not messing with till later in the draft. I saw it with the 49ers last year. They take Trey Sermon in the third round. Ohio State, Oklahoma, it's like, oh my God, he can't hold Elijah Mitchell's jock who they found in the sixth round.

Running backs, you should never, not in a million, I love Najee Harris. Love them, stud. I would just try to avoid taking running backs in the first round. I don't care how good the guy is. Because I can find really good players in like the third or fourth. We see it all the time. Daven Kook wasn't a first round pick.

Alvin Kamara wasn't a first round pick. Derek Henry wasn't a first round pick. Adrian Peterson was. But, you know, league was a little different back then. He handed off to him 30 times a game. You don't now. Now we throw the ball. Throw the ball a lot.

I talked to a buddy who talked to a couple guys actually about the Arkansas wide receiver, Berks. I had a wide receiver coach text me the other day. And all he said were Garrett, he said, Wilson and Olavet. Dot, dot, dot, dot. Real deal. He loves. There's a wide receiver coach in the NFL loves the two Ohio State guys. I mean, and listen, if you watched Ohio State, which like 10 million people do a week. So if you watch a little college football, you at minimum watch a couple of their games. Those two guys, bad asses. the rest of the crew, you know, I think the jury's out on Drake London. I like him. My guy didn't.

I think the Arkansas guy's really raw. You know, he's just, he's not a great route runner, but he's a big time athlete, even though he's not that fast, but he can just make shit happen. I just think there's a lot, going to be a lot of different opinions on the wide receivers besides the two Ohio State guys, who are just difference makers. I mean, Garrett Wilson, I mean, there's a chance that, you know, two years ago was Justin Jefferson. Last year was Jamar Chase. This year it's Garrett Wilson. Comes in the league, 80

catches 10 touchdowns. Just dominates, kicks ass, take names, and like, God damn, this guy's good. To me, he's the one. Sometimes with the speed wide receivers, like Lave, Rugs, I would say Deshawn, a little bit of an outlier, his rookie seat. Deshawn was a lot better than these guys. To me,

Deshawn, in 2022 is probably going in the top ten. Now, part of the reason he fell was, you know, him and Jeff Tedford, you know, there's some questions about his work ethic and stuff. But the moment he got to the NFL, I was like, Jesus. And it's most speed wide receivers, like 4-2 type guys,

don't just have that easy of a transition. Most of the wide receivers that translate immediately are like Jamar Chase. You know, physical guys can break some tackles, slants, outrouts, some back-shoulder stuff, right? It's not like the burners. Now, if you're Randy Moss, who was big and could burn, obviously. but for the most part it's like total package wide receivers and that doesn't know his work.

And I think sometimes when speed is a question, Keenan Allen's a good example, fell in the draft, he was immediately sweet. Michael Crabtree, who was drafted really high, now granted, the quarterback situation at the time sucked, but he's not a burner. And it took him three or four years to kind of get his footing underneath him. But if you look in recent memory, right,

D.K. McCaff, A.J. Brown, D.bo Samuel, Michael Thomas. Like guys in the second round, just dominate. immediately. So it's all about team building philosophies, allocating resources, and playing this market. Because that's all this is.

It's all market value. How much you're willing to pay for a free agent? How much you're willing to, how much draft capital are you willing to use on a player? You know, some are no-brainers, right? You have the number two pick and Nick Bose is sitting there. What happens when you have the 17th pick? And you're like, you know, the best player on the board is a guard,

but we kind of need a pass rusher. You know, we don't need a wide receiver. the top wide receiver on our boards ahead of a pass rusher. It can put you in tough spots. And it's easy to talk about. It's another thing, you know, it's always easier to make. I've been saying this for a while because I love the quote.

It's easier to make suggestions than decisions. Making decisions are hard. It's why most people are not in decision-making power because they can't do it. They either hesitate. They don't know. They get insecure about it. The more decisions you make,

the easier it gets to make decisions, right? If you're a boss, if you're a parent, you know, at first you're like, what the hell do I do? And then your kid's like 10 years old and you become pretty easy, right? I'm watching my brother parent right now. The older the kid gets, it's easier for them to figure it out. At first year, it's like hoping the kid breeze, you know? First time you're a boss, I don't care how well prepared you are and everyone's looking at you, right?

First time you get into an NFL huddle, you're like, damn, I'm a starting quarterback in the NFL. This is pretty intense. You know, Tom Brady was green his first year. By year five or six, like he knew what the hell he was doing. Paid Manning, same thing. Don't even know what we're talking about now. Have a good weekend. And subscribe to the podcast, share it with your friends.

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