The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Kill ‘Hard Knocks’, Gannon Crib $$$, Mailbag

Episode Date: June 27, 2023

John discusses Aaron Rodgers and the Jets being forced to participate in this year’s Hard Knocks, why it’s time to kill the series, why Draft grades are misleading, and what Cardinals 1st year HC Jonathan Gannon buying a $10.5 mil says about the future of the coaching profession. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John onTwitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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How are we doing? June 26th. It's about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Just said, you know, I'll throw a couple topics down. The Jets on hard knocks. Jonathan Gannon paying $10 million for a house. Don't sleep on head coaches money. Jeez.

Sean McDermott gets a contract extension. and got to do a mailbag. So at John Middilcoff is the Instagram firing those DMs. I will do a big mailbag. So here's the drill. We will have, we had Cam Hayward on Monday.

So if you haven't listened to that, go back and listen to that guy's a stud, team captain, Pittsburgh Steelers, no big deal. Today we'll have this podcast. We will have a golf podcast come Wednesday. The little thing we call Golo, reacting to the last elevated event, kind of probably look forward to

the rest of the golf season, which is probably going to slow down here pretty dramatically before the Open Championship in Hoy Lake. Pretty sure Rory McElroy won the last time they played there about a decade ago. And we will be off then

after Wednesday's golf podcast for the rest of the week and then all week next week. So taking a little bit of a breather, giving my people some time, working hard behind the scenes, and just, you know, just sometimes it's good

to just take a deep breath and then come back rock and rolling. So basically this will be the last football podcast for about a week and a half. And then we will come back on the 10th. Already recorded with my guy, T. Bob A. Bear played at LSU. Dad, obviously longtime NFL quarterback, beauty. We talked the other day. Just an all-time dude's a stud. So that will play here when we come back and then we'll just start rock and rolling again.

So that's the plan at John Middilkoff, Instagram, firing those DMs. I'll answer some DMs today. And let's rock and roll. But before we dive into football, I need you to grab your smartphone. I need you to go to the app store and I need you to download the GameTime app. They are the official ticketing app of this podcast. We love those guys. We use those guys.

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Download the game time at promo code, John. Okay, as of recording this podcast, it's not official yet, but all signs are pointing to the Jets going on hard knocks. quote unquote against their will, mainly because nobody, the Bears, the Jets, all the Patriots want any part of, I guess the Patriots aren't technically eligible because they made the playoffs a year ago. But all the teams that are eligible are like, do not come to our building. We don't want to do it. And the NFL forces you to do it. Time and time again, last year the Lions didn't want to do it.

It's out of your control as an NFL franchise. My overall take now has been pretty consistent with this show. It is not relevant anymore. I actually don't even think it's needed. And I was just thinking about every single great show of my lifetime. From the late 90s, friends, Seinfeld, hell, when I was really, really young, my dad loved cheers to recent memory, game of throne, succession, you name it. They all come to an end. They don't go on forever.

Every show has a shelf life. Now, I understand this is quote unquote reality television. It's not a scripted television show and they change it team to team. But I do think if we look at it like all these series that we have all loved, whatever it may be, whether you like comedy, whether you like serious stuff, whether it's billions, whether it's the sopranos, whether it's the wire, whatever show that are your go-toes or your favorites over the years, they all ended. And that's what I think it's time for hard knocks.

I just think it's over. I think we've seen it now for multiple decades. It peaked out a long time ago. And I heard Albert Breer telling Colin this, and he is so right. The big difference 15, 20 years ago, I remember I started watching this when I was in high school. And I graduated in 2003 from high school. So I started watching this in their early 2000s. I remember the Ravens, the Dallas Cowboys.

It was so raw and real. You had never seen anything like that. It took you, you know, behind enemy lines in the sense of you were going to these meetings with the coaches and the personnel people. You're like, if you loved sports, you weren't getting that anywhere else. And the coaches, when they would go around in training camp, talking shit about the draft picks or a veteran doesn't have it or being positive about a guy. It was, it was incredible.

And then over the years, as social media happened, as the NFL, really exploded. It dumbed down, dumb down, dumb down. Well, over the last four or five years, this little thing called YouTube has been an avenue for all of us. We all use it that are in the content creation business. Well, that goes for NFL teams.

The Jets are a good example of, I watched, I don't know, was 30 minutes on the Jets off season that they produced, which was essentially their version of hard knocks. and if I'm a Jets fan, if I'm an Eagles fan, if I'm a whoever fan, the Colts have been doing this for years, I get inside access on my team's website. And unlike 20 years ago when it was like if your team was on hard knocks, you were finding out about players who were on the come-up,

players who are holding on for dear life, players who the coaches did not like, that's not the case anymore. Everything is just so surface level. It honestly feels kind of fake. Now, it's still entertaining. It's the NFL. It has its moments on a given episode. But I think the totality of the four or five episodes is kind of boring.

Now, I understand I might be on the extreme end of it, but I've talked to enough people that I think this show has really, really lost its luster. And when I think of all these other great shows, and listen, Hard Knocks, it's a, I mean, it's a transcendent show series. when it comes to professional sports. Everything we've seen since, right? I remember several years ago being bored, flipping around Amazon Prime and stumbling on essentially the hard knocks of Man City.

I'm not even a soccer guy. It was awesome. They've done it with baseball. They've done it with all sorts. They've done it in college. University of Michigan did it years ago. It changed the game. But like, I just don't think it's needed.

I think the NFL's big enough now. I think all these teams. teams take enough. Pride's probably the wrong word because they are profiting from this, but have in-house production crews that are doing it. I just don't think it's necessary. And I do think at this point in time, it's holding on for dear life. And while the Jets on paper are an incredible story, add Aaron Rogers, get Hackett who was just fired from the Denver Broncos, have a head coach that is he on the hot seat, have all these young, star, ascending players have this quarterback that they drafted a couple years ago, number two overall,

who feels like his career's in peril. So they got a lot, they got a star, star would be strong. Let me rewind that. They have a former top 10 pick at left tackle whose career is not headed in the right direction. They got a lot of moving parts, good and bad. So like the storylines, it's not hard to create, but we know that the NFL has really dialed back how controversial this show gets in terms of the access that they give out. Because clearly when it goes to the chopping block and it gets edited before any of us see it,

the team now gets to put their hands on it. And it's just like a PG version. And any of us that started, if you're my age or older, that saw the raw, hell, not even rated ours like NC17, it's hard to go back. And we're never going back. So I don't, I understand their contracts and I'm sure they have a long deal with HBO. My overall take would just like a lot of other shows or literally every other show ever, just cancel the series.

Had a hell of a run, not needed anymore. The NBA draft just happened. And I got to be honest, after the third pick, I turned it off. I thought the production was terrible. It was just a little too fluffy for me. and I didn't know any of the players. Beside the top three guys, dude from France,

Brandon Miller, and the reason I really know Brandon Miller is not like I'm watching Alabama basketball is because of the shooting incident that happened. And then Scoot Henderson, just because, I mean,

I follow the NBA. So we've been hearing about this name. All the other guys have no clue who they are. The production of the NBA draft. I've been watching drafts, the NBA and the NFL now, probably for going on three decades. and I don't know who that production show is for.

Like, what are we trying to accomplish? And so it didn't get my eyes. Change the channel. Just, I don't even know what I watched. I think I might have gone for a walk or something. But by the end of the first round, there was this guy named Cam Whitmore who was supposed to go in like the top six or seven picks. And he ends up going number 20 after teams like the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors pass on him.

And this was a guy that universally on all the boards, media-wise, was like a top six or seven player. And this happens every single year in football. And it just shows you the information that is on the outside is not the information that is on the inside. So I love mock drafts as much as anybody. I love talking about the draft. I love talking about prospects. it's very, very enjoyable. But when you do these mocks and you do these big boards,

the media is not the market. The market is the teams. And they determine where guys go. And it happens every single year. Oh, how did that? What a steal, especially in football, right? You got this guy at the end of the second round. Well, every single team in the league passed on that guy multiple times.

Now, he might end up becoming A.J. Brown or D.K. Mecca. But at the time, he's coming out, there are clearly red flags internally around the league on these players. And I think the hard part is, and it's become more and more difficult in modern day times because so many people are kind of scared of social media. It was easy with Jalen Carter, right? There was an incident when people lost their life, right? But I had been hearing negative things about Jalen Carter for over 12 months, but it's not really my job to come out and brush or bash a kid. I don't really care enough.

But the negative innuendo is probably the wrong way to put it. But just, you know, aura around following him from the program was very, very loud in NFL circles. But there's this line because as a scout, as a general manager, as an assistant GM, even as an assistant coach, when I go into these schools or I call my buddies at these programs and they start shitting on a kid and they start crushing his character, you are very protective of letting that information out because then it makes the program look bad. And these programs are very, very careful about what information becomes public. Like, they will tell their professional brethren what the negative situation is with an individual player. But they often are very, very tight-lipped about, hey, keep this between us. Because we don't want it coming out that we are bashing the player. And, you know, hearing some different

podcasts and stuff come out that like Villanova was not super high on this guy around NBA circles, part of the reason that he fell to number 20. But when all these media people are anointing this guy as a top six or seven player, it just shows you how irrelevant all that is. Because the market is not these mock drafts. And it goes the opposite way, too. I remember, I was reading one of the blogs that Florio put out. I think Dan Pompei, a longtime writer, he writes some fantastic long-form stuff. I remember he did a long expose years ago on Josh McDaniels about it.

He was like changing his whole thing. He would write positive notes to himself. It was all about working on his failures, the Denver situation. It's really paid off. So he wrote this long thing where he talked to all these people. people about Jalen Hearst, Howie, Jeffrey Lurie, Doug Peterson. And that's a good example. If you just hold most scouts around the NFL, Jalen's year, I bet most guys would have had them for fifth

round. I just scout from my couch now, but I got a pretty good idea if I watch a guy at a school play, you know, when you play at a school like Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, USC, I'm watching you play, even if it's on my couch four or five times during the year. And it's like I can't. I mean, not going to be able to judge a guard. But when it comes to quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, maybe a pass rusher, you know, by the end of the year, I got a pretty good idea. And I was not very high on the guy. I would have said mid fourth, fifth round.

Hell, I thought he was a running back. Now, I thought it could have been a really good running back. I'm not, I'm dead serious. I thought he could have been a top five running back in the NFL. And he's proven to be an elite runner of the football. But what I didn't know is what has separated. since getting into the NFL, his work ethic, his desire, his willingness to do whatever it takes, how great of a teammate he is, how quickly the older guys on that team, guys that are

heading to the Hall of Fame gravitated toward him, which is obviously the complete opposite with Carson Wentz, who, you know, not even in the NFL right now. Carson Wentz is sitting on the sideline. Well, of course he is. There are a lot of questions with Carson Wentz, like people don't like him. Well, Carson Wentz is no longer a starting quarterback. I don't want a backup quarterback that people don't like. You know, who wants to be around that guy? Most of the backup quarterbacks when you look around the NFL that aren't on a rookie contract are older guys that people liked. I saw a good quote going around social media over the last like a couple weeks and Howard Mud, not Howard Mud, Tom Moore. Remember Howard Mud, Tom Moore, the two old

crumudgeon guys were always there, those great Colts teams with Peyton. And I worked with Howard with the Eagles. I mean, he's a cremudgeons, but he was an elite offensive line coach. Asked Jason Kelsey about him. And Tom Moore, who I think was more the passing game, Howard was more the offensive line. And they asked why they didn't put more resources or no, someone asked him, it was John Gruden. It was when John Gruden was doing Monday night football. And clearly they would have a lot of Colts games with Peyton Manning.

and he would go to practice and he was like taken back why the backup quarterback didn't get any reps. And Tom said, because if Payton goes down, we're fucked and we don't practice, fucked. I was like, what a line.

But it's so true. Payton went down there, the worst team of the league. When you have Peyton Manning or a team, you're all in on Peyton Manning. There is no backup plan. And there are things that you can't quantify. And part of this article,

I think, out in his couple decades with the Eagles, how many times backup quarterbacks have had a huge impact going back to Jeff Garcia, to Michael Vic, obviously Foles, and now with Jalen. But they really, really believed in the person. And clearly he's better than anyone could have expected, but they took them where most people would not have taken him. I feel pretty good. And I by no means can like text someone on every team. But I've been around this league long enough. I've been watching players long enough to go,

I bet most teams did not have them remotely that close. I would say the majority of teams had them as a third day pick and would not have pulled the trigger on Jalen Hertz in the second round. That move changed your franchise. I mean, it really did. It's one thing, like the 49ers. Do they get credit for drafting Brock Purdy? Of course, because anytime you draft any player,

whether it's the number one overall pick or it's the last pick in the draft, you had to make the call to your guy in the draft room to say, write his name down. So you get credit. But let's be real. Why do they draft Brock Purdy? Because they wanted to ensure that they got him as an undrafted free agent. If they loved him and thought he would be half of what they saw at the end of 2022,

they would have drafted him like a third or fourth round. So there's a huge element of luck to them. that. There's an element of luck to draft in Jalen Hurts. But this whole draft is taking information you have based on your own experiences. And it's easy with a guy like Jalen, everyone's swearing by him, right? Nick Sabin, Lincoln Riley, they are all saying good things. You get guys, you know, under the umbrella of Jalen Carter. And George's had some of these guys over the years. Two years ago, some of the guys that were coming out, you know, Nacobie Dean, super high level guy. Then there were some other guys, I'm not going to name names that I think, you know,

depending on who you talk to with the program, would go, yeah, you know, this is, but that's part of the deal. And then it's just about managing, can we handle it or can we not? And then there's the factor of the medical that, and I've said this forever. As a general manager, as a head coach, you know nothing about the medical in terms of when a doctor goes, listen, we see some things there. It could be degenerate. It might not be, but it's definitely risky. It's on you to just, yeah, we'll just take the risk, right? You, you can't. you didn't go to medical school. Most of these coaches have had a whistle around their neck

since they were 22, 23 years old. So the whole draft process, it's funny to watch the reaction when a guy, quote, unquote, falls or a guy, quote, unquote, goes way early. And then we also, Jaime Hockis, the dude from UCLA, who's 23 years old,

who's been at UCLA forever. You know, a lot of people thought, you know, fringe first round pick. But he goes to the heat at pick 18. Everyone's like, love the pick. Well, of course you do. because you're like, well, this guy was one of UCLA's best players over the last couple of years. They've been one of the best players.

He's older, not a great athlete, but just a really, really good basketball player. Would you like him if you went to the Hornets? Would you like him if you went to the Orlando Magic or the Houston Rockets? Probably not. But if he goes to heat, you like, fuck, that's going to work. Dude's going to play. He's going to be a factor. And it's no different football, right?

Jalen Carter. How many of you guys that are Bears fans, that are Lions fans that are Falcons fans, you guys DM me, you're like, why didn't we take them? Why didn't we take it? Too risky. You guys do not have the infrastructure to do it. But the Eagles take them like, genius pick. They got all of his teammates. They got Fletcher Cox.

They got Jason Kelsey, Elaine Johnson to corral them. It's going to work. And it might. And it might not. No one truly knows. You're dealing with humans. But fascinating to watch it all play out. Love a good draft.

I love the reaction to the reaction. You know, everyone, the moment of guys pick, everyone gives a reaction. And then like a day or two later, everyone's reacting to the reaction. I just find the whole process fascinating in the couple days post a draft. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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 what 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. A couple other quick things. You know, I tweeted this out, Coach Football Kids. Paradise Valley, it's where I'm staying right now. I'm moving probably 20 minutes north of here, but it's debt by far, the richest area in the greater Scottsdale. It's home.

going for anywhere from $6, 7 million to $20 million. It's the famous picture of Kingsbury lives in Paradise Valley. A ton of players live here. Former players live here from the Carson Palmer's to the Larry Fitzgeralds to the JJ Watts. And just people with way more money than them. I saw my girlfriend's in real estate. And I was grabbing some lunch earlier today. She's like, you see the head coach for the Cardinals just bought a $10.5 million house.

I was like, do you know what's crazy? It's not like he's a 10-year coordinator and he's been making seven figures. He's only been a coordinator for a couple years. And then he became a head coach. And I remember a guy told me years ago, I was like, why are you taking this job? And he was a quarterback coach going for an offensive coordinator. And he's like, the money is so big. I can't turn it down.

They're going to give me, you know, one and a half million dollars a year and guarantee three years. I mean, we're talking four or five million dollars. And then if we have a good year, I'm a year away, help, maybe six months away from not just interviewing for a head coach, but if the interview goes well, I become a guy with a $30 million contract. And, you know, Maria, she's got some different website she can go to, the real estate agents. And I saw how much this guy put down. Let's just say it wasn't that much. The loan he got is massive. So to qualify for a loan of that size, guys make a money.

some serious coin. And I would imagine Jonathan Gannon, I mean, he's the head coach for, quote unquote, the cheapest organization in the league. My guess he's making $7,8 million a year. So when the bank sees, you know, he's got a guaranteed $7 million coming, whether he's got, he keeps the job or gets fired over the next four years. It's a crazy amount of money. I've been hammering this home for a long time that the NFL has turned into Wall Street on grass. everyone's getting rich. Everybody. Players, coaches, GMs,

obviously the owners, the TV partners, everyone's surrounded with the NFL right now is benefiting. Hell, I can raise my own hand. I've directly benefited as just someone that talks about football. You can't say the same thing for baseball.

Hell, most baseball managers don't even make seven figures. There's no big baseball podcasts. Right? The players are getting rich. The owners, I guess, depending on what team you own. But in basketball, you're talking about a very, very small number of people. And beside the head coaches in basketball, I remember talking to someone around the NBA, I'm like, how many assistants make seven figures?

Like, well, it kind of depends on the team. Like the Warriors, for example, they had Kenny Atkinson. You know, Mike Brown was their assistant forever. They always had a number two guy making a lot of money. And certain teams do. But a lot of teams do not have a assistant coach making seven figures. There is not a coordinator in the NFL, offensive or defensive. And obviously not every offensive coordinator even calls the plays because sometimes the head coach does.

It makes under seven figures. So the amount of money that is getting thrown around with these coaches, it's why there's so much pressure. They're getting paid so much. But it's really just a line item now that these television deals have gotten so astronomical. And unlike Gulf, who had to get in bed with the Saudis, because they could not sustain paying $20 million purses to elevated events. They couldn't do it. It was all giant Fugazi.

It was fake money. It was not a sustainable thing. I mean, it was going to come crashing down and still might. We'll see. And we'll see if the thing passes through the government. But which it probably will because the government's in bed with Saudi. So that's a whole other topic that we'll discuss on Go Low coming up this week. But ultimately, it's pretty crazy how much coin these first-time headcounts.

coaches and definitely these coordinators are making. And I saw Sean McDermott. I think this happened on Friday. Him and Brandon Bean got extended. I think there's been a lot of people, you know, ask me, do they think is Sean McDermott on the hot seat? People on social media, like, why are you extending this guy? I don't think, I think people forget how shitty it was for Buffalo until he got there.

I'm pretty sure. Remember when Kyle, Kyle Williams, when Andy Dalton had to come back and he was crying in the locker room. The bills hadn't made the playoffs in almost two decades. And I look before I hopped on here and press record that over the last three seasons, 13, 11, and 13, that's their win totals the last three years. They have won the division every single year for three straight years in a division that was clearly, basically for two decades dominated by Belichick and Brady. And they're going to be the favorite to win that division again this season. You win the division three. You win the division three years in a row.

That means you're hosting home playoff games. Think of the last two years. Beat the dolphins, beat the Patriots. Then you start beating your division rivals in playoff games. I know they had a big letdown in the last two years, right? Last year was an ass kicking. They got worked.

And two years ago, I mean, a freaky ending. It was coaches are to blame. But, you know, it took a pretty crazy circumstance for that thing not to work out. through whatever, the Chiefs gained 40 yards and 13 seconds. You probably could simulate that 100 times, and it would only, you would only get a field goal attempt that you could make once, and they did.

And it worked in the Chiefs Reserve Credit. But the bills, this is a reality. Sometimes when life changes, your expectations change, right? When you get your first job out of college, if someone pays you a 30, 40 grand, you're like a picking shit. You're like, I got some money. I got a job. I got a place to go.

And then as life, as you get older, maybe get in your mid-30s and you're making 200 grand and you got a family, your expectations of just life changes. One point in time, you know, everything in life is all relative. Things that made you happy when you're 18 no longer make you happy sometimes when you're 30 or when you're 50, right? Just life changes. And once you start sniffing success, I don't care what industry you're in, but definitely in sports and you start getting close.

You forget really quickly how dark the times were. I see it with the Niners. It's like, Kyle Shanahan, what? He's been to three NFC championship games in four years. I remember for about 15 years before Harbaugh, it was a lot of Mike Nolan's Mike Singletaries. And some Jim Tom Sullas and Chip Kelly mix in there as well. Like, do you want to win the Super Bowl?

Only one guy can really do that, right? And right now, Andy Reid and Patrick Holmes feel like they have the market cornered a little bit. and if Tom Brady now that he's gone like, Chiefs are going to be the favorite again this year. So like, you're going to the playoffs. Listen, I'm hard on Mike McCarthy. Right? I don't blame anyone that's hard on Mike McCarthy.

But if he's winning 12 plus games every year and they're hosting playoff games, winning one, I know they haven't been in the NFC championship game in almost three decades, but times could be a lot worse for Dallas Cowboy fans. Remember with Jason Garrett going eight and eight every year? How that felt?

That sucked. Now going 12 wins, winning a first round playoff game, beating the shit out of Brady, having a close game with the Niners, could be a lot worse. Okay, we're going a little mailbag here. Very easy to get in the mailbag. All you do is go to my direct messages on Instagram at John Middlecoff. A lot of people over the years, Fresno State, Philadelphia Eagles have only put one F. It's got two Fs at John Middlecoff, Instagram DMs wide open. Easiest way to get a hold of me.

Start with my man. Do you think Tony Romo was a good quarterback? Heard Collins take that he was a B quarterback and went on a stat-filled defense of Romo. I'm a lifelong Cowboys fan. All caps. Life-long. I'm so old, I remember Dan Meredith

and that young Navy guy, Roger Stalback. Romo is a nice guy, but he's not a quote-unquote good quarterback. He heard his pinky on a non-throwing hand and sat out after he got a big payday. Stalback broke his finger on a helmet of a Washington Redskin and yank some tape from a guy's thigh pad

and has a crooked finger to this day. That's the difference between great and meh. Okay. If you're going to compare any Dallas Cowboy quarterback to Stalbock or Aikman, yeah, I mean, we're going to have a hard time thinking the guy, you know, was good enough, right? You're talking about guys winning chips, winning playoff games.

But like, if you compare Jimmy Garoppolo to Steve Young and Joe Montana, he's going to look pretty shitty. When, you know, you're going winning playoff games with a guy, it's not so bad. So I think a lot like Dak Prescott, relative to all-time great quarterbacks, or even the rest of some of their contemporaries, he's not as good. But is Dak Prescott pretty good? Yes. Was Tony Romo pretty good?

Yes. Both guys turned the ball over a lot. Tony Romo clearly a little more reckless with his body. Because I also were going to push back. It seems like you were insinuating that Romo is a little soft. Didn't he play a game with like a messed up spleen? Didn't he battle through injuries? I will say this about Tony Romo.

When I think my time watching Romo, I think tough guy. I think a throwback. Now, do I think a guy that had some legendary letdowns, had some moments that left more to be desired? Of course. But the same is currently happening with Dak Prescott. I think both are good quarterbacks or either Mahomes or either Joe Burrow.

And Romo think about some of his contemporaries, right? Payton Manning, Rogers, Brady, Rothesberger. So yeah, yeah, he's not anywhere near as good as I. those guys. He's not going to be a Hall of Famer, right? But was he a damn good quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys? I feel pretty confident saying that. Is he Roger Stalbock or Troy Akeman? No. A huge fan of the pod. I'm a big Eagles fan and wanted to ask what you think realistic expectation is for Jalen Carter in his rookie season. I think sometimes, and I'm guilty of this, that we kind of

our expectations get a little out of whack with rookie especially on good teams right Jordan Davis is a good example right you got drafted last year pretty high expectations then he gets banged up

and he's just I wouldn't say he's out of sight out of mind but for a guy that was drafted really high I would say he had somewhat of an underwhelming individual season now as a team as a defense they were awesome obviously you can't predict injuries but they do have a direct need once they lose Hargrave to the 49ers with interior pass rushers.

Fletcher Cox is nowhere near what he once was. So I think between him and Davis, now Davis has been in the league for a year now, I think if you can get a combined eight, nine sacks, I think I would say individually for Jalen Carter, if you get five sacks and just be active, I think that'd be pretty awesome for them. I think he's going to be used early on.

They're going to ease him into it, would be my guess. They're not just going to try to hit the ground running and make him some all pro. I also think he's going to have to earn it. You know, it's going to be, there's a team that's pretty well established. A lot of veteran players at every position,

I just don't think they're going to hand you shit. So he's going to have to earn it with his actions. actions off the field, the way he acts, the way he operates leading up to games. Now, this is the NFL, just like when he played at Georgia. It's a production-based business. Right. So if he's making plays, he's going to get to play. But I would say my expectations for him is just to be probably more of an impact player

as the year goes along. I wouldn't just expect, like, defensive rookie of the year. I also think it's harder to be like a standout on a team with other really good players. or in theory, you're like, oh, he's going to have a big season. He's playing with how many sweet players. Kind of get lost in the shuffle a little bit. Maybe he's just that talented.

We'll see. But my expectations will just be a lot of flash plays throughout the year. I could also see, you know, maybe a little out of shape come like early October, and then they kind of whip them into, you know, into gear, the older guys. I can see it being a little bit of an up and down year form. But he's definitely going to have some plays

where it's like, holy shit. most rookies I would say I lean especially talented ones that are on talented teams it feels like they usually come on year two year three now some guys hit the ground running and just dominate Bosa Miles Garrett

Cleo Mac as a rookie was pretty unreal but the expectation they just got to play at unlimited about snaps Hey love the pod you guys should consider talking about sports cards people would love it Yeah, I just don't know much about them. I don't really play that game.

We just kind of talk about on this show what I like. It doesn't mean that everyone likes it. I probably leave some stuff out. Obviously, we don't do a huge fantasy football once the season starts on this show. But that's just not really my cup of tea. I just can beat me. Though I'm always been fascinated ever since Gary V started hyping up those sports cards. Hey, John, love the work you've been doing.

What are your expectations for Justin, Fields and the Bears with their improved roster. I feel like they could be anywhere in the range of 7 to 10 to 11 and 6. If the Chicago Bears won 11 and 6 this year, I mean, Justin Fields might be a pro bowler. You said because of their easy schedule. I don't have their schedule up. I think my expectations for Justin Fields is to be a much more explosive passer.

As we saw last year, his running ability was like shades of Peak Lamar. It was pretty freaking incredible. I, you know, remember the one clip that kind of went viral of Mike McDaniels telling him to stop running because he was killing them. As a runner feels as every bit the athlete and every bit as instinctive and natural as anyone that watched him in his collegiate career or you could just YouTube as high school highlights. To me, it's going to be like, can he have consistent sustain 22 of 38? that's not even great, but 22 of 36, he's not going to be, Justin Fields is not going to be a 66% passer.

Can he be like low 60s, but throw for 300 yards, throw a couple touchdowns, and just kind of build on those back to back to back to back weeks. Because I think, and I've heard Michael Lombardi say this, they were the worst team in the league. Obviously, they drafted number one overall until they traded the pick. They averaged, I think, 22 pass attempts again.

they wouldn't let him throw out. Now, you could argue that's because of their personnel around him. You add DJ Moore. You know, in theory, Chase Claypool. Now, there have been some rumors coming out. Do they like him? Is he all in? Does he even like football?

So there was a viral video today of him in France. He's like a male model or something. I would never do business with the Pittsburgh Steelers wanting to trade me a wide receiver. Like, wait, you guys are the best wide receiver. receiver drafting team in the league and you want to trade me one of them? I got a red flag. I don't see that. Look at the last couple.

Claypool. That was a heist. They got the 33rd overall draft pick. Antonio Brown, remember how that thing went? For the Raiders. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented. it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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. I'm a diehard Hawks fan and used to being a small market, but no one is giving them their respect. They got Dremont Jones and Bobby Wagner this offseason to pair with another big rookie class with some college stars, not to mention Jamal Adams coming back healthy. Pretty big if Jamal Adams gets heard a lot. Don't see how we don't improve and give the Niners a run for their money. We also have a lot to work for you in any facets, especially on your go low pod, big golf guy. Oh, you want to work for me. Currently working toward a sports business degree. I like this guy.

Get some, Joey. Good luck to you. I think Seattle's, I'm going to pick him to make the playoffs again. I do think it's fair to go. They got 30 touchdowns out of Gino Smith. And he was awesome. He was a Pro Bowl level player, comeback player of the year.

Easy to root for. Seemed just like a fantastic guy. Right? They wrote him off, but he didn't write back. One of the best lines, I don't care of any industry in 2020. Or 23.

Yeah, it was 22. That was awesome. But is he going to do it again? So he's just going to throw 60 touchdowns in two years? It would be an all-time career resurrection. Now, you'd go, well, John, they got D.K. McCaff, one of the best wide receivers in the league. They got Jackson Smith, who those players in Seattle OTAs are claiming like he's going to be a Hall of Famer.

Tyler Lockett could still play. Kenneth Walker's a stud. They drafted Charbonnet, the running back from UC. LA, who I'm pretty sure he started his career at the University of Michigan. He's a stud. So we know the two tackles they drafted two years ago should be better. I do think the Niners top to bottom are better. And, you know, what I saw at a purdy, like, what the hell is the difference? So the Niners team is just better. I mean, they swept him last year, three and a. Now, when Russell was there, the Niners could not beat Seattle. It was very, very difficult.

I think Russell's career record against the 49ers and his whatever, nine years with the Seahawks was like, it was something stupid. I forget the top of my, maybe it was like 17 and 3. He owned him. The owner ended last year. So I'm going to pick the Niners to win the division, but I'm with you.

Seattle's going to be good. I thought last year, I don't want to say it was fluky, but toward the end of the year, they were running out of steam a little bit. I think consistently they'll just be better. I think their team is better. I'm not counting on Jamal Adams.

Like, what is Jamal Adams? A linebacker? Can't cover a soul. He gets injured a lot. To me, you don't even need them. Like, he went away and you guys run Faced. I would say, can you be a top five run team in the league with those running backs? And then anytime you can run it like that, which they have in the past, the play action game with those wide receivers,

maybe Gino does have another good year. But I would still pick them to be like a one and done playoff team, which if you tell me you traded Russell Wilson, got everything, and then you went to the playoffs back-to-back years, it's pretty impressive, man. Really is. Definitely my favorite sports person. What was a player that you scouted that you were really high on that wasn't what you thought and a more underrated player that you were high on that was really good? Also, if you weren't let go from scouting in the NFL, would you still be doing it?

I don't know. I would say probably not. But sometimes in life, I think there's a small percentage of people that know, that aren't like athletes or singers or something, they're just so talented that is like what I'm going to do, that just go, I'm going to be this, I'm going to do this.

And I worked with some of those guys. Howie Roseman is one. It's like, I'm going to be an NFL GM over my dead body. I'm going to work in football. And I wasn't really like that. It's just one of those things that happen. So I,

you know, I've changed professions multiple times. And so I would doubt it. I really would. I don't know if I'd be doing this, there's an element of luck that led me to the podcasting world. But I don't think I'd still be scouting. You know, for my first couple of years, I was doing much more pro football.

And when you do pro, I didn't like it as much. You're basically just sitting in the office 15 hours a day, just watching football players. But it's not like you're watching it on television, like you and I do now on Sunday or Saturday. It's quiet. You're just watching the all 22 and you're just writing reports on guys in the league. And the character stuff, one thing I really enjoyed when I did college for a year and worked on the road was the character stuff and finding out about the guy. Once the guy's in the NFL, you're just writing them up as a player.

You have all the character information. So you just, is the guy playing well? Is he not playing well? Is he a free agent? Should we be interested? Is he a practice squad guy? Should we try to claim him? It's been a lot of time doing that.

It's just very cut and dry. There's not much emotion behind it. Once you get to college, you know, I wasn't a big Matt Barclay guy. Now, Chip and I argued about it because I said, this guy could never play in Philadelphia. Well, he drafted him. And in fairness to Matt, I was wrong. He's still in the league. Pretty sure he's on the bills right now.

So he's had a decade long career. I would have thought he would have made it in the NFL a couple of seasons. Now, there are guys that, you know, Ziggy Ansas or Dionne Jordans, or Star Lotalei that you just think are going to be impact level players that whether it be injuries, whether it be focus slash character stuff or whether it just be, you know, the game kind of changed and it was much more of a pass heavy league and run stuffing defensive tackles aren't as valuable. So things change on you. But the year I did the West Coast, I was a big Robert Woods guy.

And once he got with the Rams, he kind of proved that he was a really good player. but I think, you know, talk to my buddies. Once you do an area or college for a decade, you have a million of those. The majority of the guys that I watched when I was in the NFL were in the NFL. And you just like, you know, I really like Ray Lewis getting old, trending down. You spend a lot of time doing stuff like that. What's your take on the Lions in Seattle trading away their franchise quarterbacks and thus, in my opinion, reinvigorating their franchises for the,

the players in draft capital they received, especially for the Lions. I think this was the best move the Lions have made in the last decade, even though I still hate what the Lions did in the first round of the 23 draft. I disagree. I like the Lions draft. I think both teams fall under this category. If they would have had Baker Mayfield or some random quarterback, it probably would have looked ugly and we would not be positive. Where they both deserve credit is the Lions asked for Jared Gough in the trade. And Jared Goff last year was really good. And Seattle felt pretty good about having Gito on their roster and said,

we can play and win with this guy. So part of the reason we look at those two teams as like trending in the right direction, making good moves, trading the quarterback is because they had veteran quarterbacks that, let's face it, I thought Jared Goff sucked. I never would have thought in a million years, Gino Smith could throw 30 touchdowns in a season for a playoff team. It is early 30s. So those teams deserve a lot of credit for scouting, whether it be, you know, acquiring golf or a guy on their team believing in them and then coaching the guy up and putting him in a position to have success. Because if you give a team a random, look at the Saints.

Look at their quarterback situation last year. You give some of these teams like Andy Dalton or Baker Mayfield or not trying to shit on Baker Mayfield, but he's your quarterback right now. You're going to lose. So that's a big, big reason is they had guys that they could plug in and immediately, I would say not just function, but have some success. Love the show. Listen all the time. Love your insight.

Don't always agree. But that is what makes America great. Big Freedom of Speech guy here. So I really tired of hearing Colin and others saying that the Giants screwed them themselves by signing Daniel Jones, and now they have to pay Barclay. I love Barclay as a player, but think that you can find a running back like him in the second or third and later rounds and not have to pay them. Totally agree.

What are your thoughts on not having to pay Barclay? I just wouldn't do it. I'm just not doing it. I've said over and over that this has been a very lucrative deal for Seguan Barclay. He was drafted number two overall. He's made $38 million. dollars. Most running backs this year were making five or six million dollars in free agency. They're almost paying him 11. So at the end of this year, he will have made $48 million over six

seasons, an average close to $8 million. I think it actually is $8 million a year. Kind of properly paid for what he's brought to the table. And did I love the Daniel Jones? I might have let them both hit free agency. Right. Like who's paying Daniel Jones? Who was I competing against. I think if Sequin Barclay had hit free agency, I just don't see who pays them. Not more than maybe, I would say the most, $20 million. Remember Levy on Bell sat out a season? And since he said that's the worst decision of his life, even though everyone in the media

and all the former players were saying, like, this guy is a trailblazer. Yeah, trailblazing his career right out of the league and losing $15 or $14 million on a second franchise tag. It's one of the stupidest business decisions in the history of America that was celebrated by these fucking morons with too many journalism degrees working at ESPN. But I don't want to go down that rabbit all. That's still, that's one of my one take that I do not regret having. Feel like I nailed that one. I would just say I would have let both these guys hit free agency and signed them both for cheaper deals.

Now, maybe Joe Shane and Brian Dayball would say, we can't take that risk. And I go, I can hear you with Daniel Jones. I couldn't take the risk of letting him a free agency and go, okay, see what you can get. And then someone does pay me as a quarterback. But I just don't see who would have paid Sequan Barclay. I really don't. So I would just play it on the franchise tag. I don't think Seyuan Barclay, it's not like he, last year when D.K. Metcalfe,

A.J. Brown and Debo Samuel all wanted to get paid. I ran into this guy at the gym the day who said he was at Talking Stick, which is the anyone that's been to Scottsdale, it's the Indian casino right off the highway. He was playing craps. And he's like, you know who I was playing craps with? I don't think a guy quite knows what I do. Even though I talk to him a decent amount. He's like, Debo Samuel, you know who that is? I'm like, yeah, I've heard of him. I've heard of him. I was like, and then I started picking him where what was he like? He was great. We were at a great time. and they played crafts for a couple hours. Debo's doing pretty well.

I guess they had a guy who came in who just was hot. And so a lot of people were making money. But those guys remember were, you know, second round picks, especially AJ and DK, late second round picks. It was like, time to get paid. We've been pro bowlers. I'm sorry, say, Juan, like, you've been broken off. Same with Daniel Jones.

Like, he'd been paid a lot. So you can't risk not having a quarterback. You could definitely risk the running back situation. So I'm with you. You could find, even if you can't find Sequin Barclay, I could find 85% of his value in the third round. That's an objective fact. We see it all the time. And hell, even if you miss on the running back, you get an undrafted free agent, it might be good.

So I hear you. I would just pay Seguan Barclay the franchise tag. Like, that's what we're going to play on. Now, I do expect the Giants to give them like some three-year, $40 million, $30 guaranteed, which I just think is bad business. That's my prediction. Appreciate everyone listening. Adios.

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 acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.