The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out Mailbag - Hurts Future, Watson Mess, Rams Rainmaking, Obscenely Early Playoff Picks
Episode Date: June 13, 2022John answers listener questions in his weekend Mailbag, including how Jalen Hurts can convince the Eagles he’s the QB of the future, if Deshaun Watson red flags should have been noticed earlier,... how the Rams are able to pay so many stars under the cap, if the Broncos should be considered the AFC West favorites, if the Vikings are underrated, if anyone can challenge the Bills in the AFC East, if John has been too hard on Brandon Staley, and reasonable expectations for the Jets. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and FanDuel for the best wagering action! #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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John Littlecock Three and Out podcast.
Little weekend mailbag edition.
You guys know the drill.
Go to Instagram at John Middlecoff is the Instagram handle at John Middilcoff, just my name,
fire in those direct messages and get a question answered here on the show.
Like I said, the other day, summer now.
I see a lot of these teams canceling practice next week.
It's over.
Everyone's going to be partying.
I follow Taylor Luwan on Instagram.
He just threw a big party for the offensive lineman called the Bud Light Olympics.
So the parties on for the next 40, 45 days still football.
I guess a couple teams practice next week, but for the most part, we're rocking and rolling summer break.
It's like being a kid except these guys are millionaires and they get the next 45 days to screw around, coaches screw around, and enjoy the month of July.
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If you listen through Collins feed, subscribe to three and out feed, share with your friends, share with your enemies, share with whoever the hell you want.
But I appreciate everyone sharing the show.
start with Andrew.
Hey John, love the show.
Just switched over to your feed from Collins per your request.
See, I appreciate it.
People listen.
You just got to tell him.
I just wanted to hear your thoughts on Jalen Hertz
what he has to do to win the job permanently.
The Eagles roster is stacked.
And now on both sides,
we made the playoffs with a lesser roster last year,
and I'm still not sold on Hertz.
I don't think it necessarily matters.
Like, he's your starting quarterback right now.
He's on a cheap contract because he's a second round pick.
You're not in any rush to make a move.
you have multiple first round picks next year.
If the Saints somehow implode, you have their first rounder.
And if you're just a wild card team, you'll have a pick in the 20s.
Though I do think you guys have a chance to win the division.
The only question would be him, right?
If he just plays solid, you're going to be a 10-win team.
You have such a good line.
You have skill guys everywhere.
Your coach is solid.
It's just going to come down to him.
And listen, I was wrong.
He's way better than I thought.
and knowing those guys in Philly, they really like them.
And one thing you can't take away is like he's liked by his teammates, he's liked by his coaches.
He's just an intense, serious cat.
You know, I mean, he's not screwing around.
And anytime you do that, you bet on people like that in life.
Guys that are focused, even if they lack, you know, I mean, football is unique because you have to have such a high-end skill.
But if you're not relative to your peers, the most talented guy, you can overcome it with focus, with work.
ethic, with drive, with toughness. And this dude has it, man. That's where I was probably off
when it came down to evaluating him, because you can't underestimate that. You know, what had Angela
Duckworth said the most important characteristic in a human is grit. And he clearly has it. He
had it at Alabama when he got replaced by Tua. And he had it in Oklahoma. Lincoln Riley,
those guys liked him at Oklahoma a lot. So yeah, I mean, he's got something that you can't teach. You
either have it or you don't.
Heard you talking about Watson in today's pod and I remember that my roommate six years ago
was a scholarship athlete at Clemson when Deshawn was there.
Some of the stuff he said he saw Deshawn doing at parties and stuff definitely makes
his judgment look more suspect retrospectively, especially in light of all the lawsuits.
Obviously Watson was a generational talent coming out of college, but I didn't really hear
or see a lot of people question marks on the character.
As a former scout, is there something along the lines of a risk calculator?
when it comes to off-the-field stuff
and what evaluators had in front of them at the time.
Could they see something like what happened now,
24 civil suits hasn't played in over a year
because of the bad PR coming
or was it completely out of left field?
Wanted your perspective as well as to share a personal antidote.
Love the pod and your insights.
Well, I think anytime you evaluate a college kid,
you can only go based on the people around the program,
right so if you're talking to quarterback you go to the quarterback coach talk to the
offensive coordinator you talk to the head coach but I think to learn about someone you know typically
in my experience a lot of women are the academic advisors and those tend to be a pretty good
judge of character and if you get the right one at a school they can give you a lot of good
information because ultimately for the most part a player is going to treat the AD his coach
pretty well with a lot of respect.
But sometimes, like, I would say
an equipment manager, definitely an academic
advisor, has a pretty good judge
because, like, the player lets his guard down.
Right? So, everything I had heard about
Deshawn Watson was his
character was impeccable. We talked about
him like Mahomes, like Josh Allen,
like Justin Herbert, like Lamar Jackson.
And listen, people keep saying, like,
he's innocent until proven guilty.
Everyone agrees. But when you
have all these cases, like,
The guy, one thing I had heard in the NFL is that people around the league thought he was in a weird way like introverted.
He didn't like going to clubs and this was a way for him to meet chicks.
And clearly he jumped the shark.
And listen, if you know 66 people, not all 66 are going to move at the same pace.
And it's clearly some people acknowledge they had consensual sex, but a lot of them are not acknowledging that.
And it's hard in these cases because he said she said thing.
I mean, he's quoting things on his Instagram, like acting like he's innocent.
But I don't know.
I mean, this thing is getting really, really ugly.
I just utilized academic advisors.
And honestly, when I, I've said this before, when I was a graduate assistant at Fresno
State, just because I wanted to work in the NFL, every time NFL people came around,
it's how I got to know a lot of people in the league.
Because I'd go up to talk to them and then they'd know I'd have the information.
So they'd be like, what's Ryan Matthews like?
What's his deal?
what's and I would be an unfiltered.
I would give them everything.
Like sometimes the head coach, remember Dabo compared him to Michael Jordan.
Deshawn Watson changed Dabo's life.
He won a national championship.
It made Dabo probably $100 million because of them.
So there's nothing.
And obviously,
Deshawn never got in trouble in college.
So I guess this is a round way of saying that I don't think there's anything you can do.
This is not,
I don't put this on the scouting community or even the coaches.
Like eventually as human beings,
especially as a guy in his mid-20s,
like it's about making good decisions.
And for the most part, and I say it all the time,
like the bad apples in the league
are such a small percentage.
Most guys are super high level.
Like most guys, like, you don't have to worry about Patrick Mahomes.
You don't have to worry about Tom Brady.
You don't have to worry about Eli Manning or Philip Rivers.
Like, just make good decisions.
Be a high-level guy.
Part of being paid all this money isn't just to play at a high level.
It's like to do high-level shit.
And not the last guy that any team can,
worry about is the quarterback.
Right?
It's like the last person in a company you should have to worry about is the CEO.
I remember Carson Palmer told me he's like, the thing he missed the most was the pressure
of walking into the building every day, knowing every single person in the building.
Basically the company and football, a team is just a small company, is relying on you.
And Sean Watson is just, I mean, been a disaster just because he's not a trustworthy person.
His decision making is just in question.
That's just a fact at this point in time.
Love the pod.
Let's go to Trevor.
Your experience goes a long way.
My question for you and something I think, I believe many of us wonder as well.
How the hell does the salary cap work?
Not sure what kind of insight you have, but there ain't no way the Rams paying all these guys while staying under the cap.
Hope to hear your response.
Well, it's like in business, you can amortize and sputize.
spread out the life of a deal, right? So when you, like in real estate, when you buy real estate
and you redo the floors, you can amortize that over a period. Like there are, there are rules
that you can follow to spread out costs and expense stuff. It's no different with the salary cap.
So if I give Cooper Cup $80 million and he's on a five-year contract, while I pay him $80 million
at whatever the contract says at certain periods of time, like he's owed certain amounts of money,
I can put it on the books
like the last year could be worth $70 million
and that would hit my salary cap
and the first years could spread out
$2.5 million for four years.
You can utilize it that way.
It's why when you see teams
they get in trouble, like they're out of space,
it's because they push a lot of things back.
It's like a credit card.
Eventually you got to pay the Piper
and the Rams eventually are going to have to pay
because it hasn't been a big issue.
Why? These guys have dominated.
So if you're paying,
a lot of money like they are for basically like an NBA team, but they're an NFL team. As long as
as the guys are all pros, you can kick ass. But the moment they become average and you have this
lump sum on your cap and it takes a big percentage, I mean, let's face it, they'd be screwed.
And they know it. I think I saw a headline yesterday that the president, Kevin Demoff, who I think is
like Cronkies, right hand guy, but he's also like, obviously works with Les and McVeigh said that this
this is not, this model is not sustainable forever. But when you're in it, like, what are they
supposed to do. I mean, their chips are all, they've been in the middle of the table for years.
You might as well just keep doing that. They've rolled the dice and they keep rolling well.
I mean, it keeps working in their favor. Like I said, when they won the Super Bowl,
honestly, they didn't need to win the Super Bowl to be justified on what they did. Like, to me,
the moment they got to like the NFC championship game, it worked. Because every team in the
league would have did what they did to get to the NFC championship game, let alone the Super Bowl,
let alone winning the Super Bowl. And they benefit a lot because in the NFL, and I talked about
this on the podcast, I think on Friday, all that my days are running together, is that because
Cronky has so much cash, he can pay huge signing bonuses. So that's a huge advantage they have as well.
I reached out a couple years ago regarding the Seahawks 50-yard line tickets. I'm old,
so don't have an Instagram account, just this work account, just so you don't think who the
F is marriage and money. Love the pod. I want the cap guy for the L.A. Ram's master class. I mean,
that's obviously a major talking point right now. People do not understand how they can pay all this money.
But like I said, the simple fact is they're moving it all back. So none of it, they actually get cap relief this year.
Where they're going to get hit is in like, what year is it? 22 in like 25. That's where they're going to owe a shitload of money on the salary cap to these players.
It happened with the Falcons with Julio Jones and Matt Ryan. It's like I think Matt Ryan's dead cap was enormous this year.
It was huge, but that's just, I would do the same thing.
You got to, you know, in life, you got to think big picture.
I think sometimes in football and pro sports, especially in the NFL where the parodies so crazy,
you kind of got to live in the moment.
And if your team's good, like, I don't blame any team for being aggressive financially.
At the top of your head today, name your playoff team for the AFC and NFC top to bottom.
Thanks.
Okay, I'll go Rams, Bucks, Packs.
What division am I missing?
Eagles, wild cards, Niners, Cowboys, probably Cardinals, AFC, I'll go Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, Titans.
Titans, Colts both make it.
Bills, the AFC North Ravens.
I think the Steelers come back to Earth.
I'm bad for something top of my head right there.
Smart guy.
Found your podcast through Colin and the volume
and now I'm absolutely addicted.
Appreciate that.
I'm 58 years old.
You know, you're a little older in my typical demo.
It might be moving the age needle of your listeners.
You are.
I really love your perspective.
My question is,
with the offensive geared structure of today's game,
what top five or six quarterback wide receiver
combinations would you consider to be lethal
and have enough impact
to propel their perspective?
teams deep into the playoffs.
Well, I think you just, you know, I mean, Rogers and Devante were that guy.
Now, they're split.
So, you know, Derek and Devante have a chance.
They played together in college.
I would put Herbert and either Keenan or Mike Williams.
You know, obviously, I know he's not a tight end, but Mahomes, Kelsey, Allen.
I mean, it's all the best quarterbacks.
Allen and Diggs, I guess you could say DAC and C.D. Lamb, cousins, Justin Jefferson.
I mean, we'll see on
Lance and Debo.
Yeah, I mean, it's just all the teams that are sweet.
I mean, if your quarterback's good,
you're going to be in the playoffs for the most part.
Love your show.
Why do you pencil in the chief chargers to make the playoffs,
yet stay skeptical of the Denver Broncos?
Did we not just see Brady and Stafford eject themselves
into loaded teams with unproven players,
more so the bucks, to win a Super Bowl?
I think you're smart enough to see Russ was clearly hobbled.
and busted finger and didn't reflect his actual play.
When halfway healthy, this guy farts 10 plus wins.
I like that line.
Now, he's one of the rooks and sophomores, first and second rounders,
KJ Hamler, Jerry Judy, running back Williams,
who listened to everything.
Russ says he will torch those in-division defenses.
How is this even a question they don't spoil the division?
Well, my pushback on that would be, I agree.
I think Russ is one of the better quarterbacks I've ever seen in my life.
but Tom Brady inherited Bruce Ariens.
And like you said, they had an unproven team.
But Bruce Ariens went to the Arizona Cardinals and started kicking everyone's ass.
Like he showed up with Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh and won 10 games immediately.
Hack it.
While again, Davis guy, bald person, I'm rooting for him.
We know nothing about him.
We know nothing about him.
So I see your comparison for the roster, but it is a coach quarterback league.
And we know nothing about the guy.
And how do I pick the chiefs to make the playoffs?
They won the division for six straight years.
They have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, who is easily, to me, right now, the best coach quarterback combination in the league.
Doesn't mean you win it every year, but they literally go to the playoffs every single season.
They have host four straight AFC championship games.
Like, that's a fact.
Now, you can say the Chargers, for sure, I question their coach.
But one thing that can't be denied, whether you hate the Chargers or love the Chargers, you see, Dean Spanos is getting sued by his sister because she said he was misogynistic in how he hid the money
from her. Nothing splits up a family like cash. I mean, the Spanos family is just exhausting.
But their roster is incredible. Now, no team has underachieved historically, especially like
in my adult life, like the Chargers with great rosters. But Justin Herbert might be my favorite
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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 what I'm saying.
Yep, that's me, Clifford 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,
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Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're
you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok
podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the
VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.
What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back
at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here,
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To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.
I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know.
I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.
So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.
We also have AIDS on the table right now.
Thank you for finishing that sentence.
Yes.
I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Really?
Yeah.
For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.
Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,
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And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field
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Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we
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I think a lot more people
are sleeping on the Vikings this year.
Their defense was historically bad last year.
Warren Sharp's stat,
in the four-minute defense at half
in the end of the game,
they allowed TDs 32% of the time
that was last place.
31% of the time was 20%.
So 12% worse than every other defense
since 2000.
That's a crazy stat.
another stat is if you combined wins and one score losses,
I believe they were tied with the Packers and the Bills,
maybe another team too.
Yeah.
Listen, their offense is really, really good.
You know, Jefferson's a stud, Thielen's a stud,
Dalvin Cook's a stud.
Cousins, you know, love them or hate him.
Like, he puts a pretty damn good numbers.
And we saw him win a playoff game a couple years ago.
Reason for optimism are one would think the offense should be better
and the defense can't get any worse.
If they were NFL average in four minute defense,
all those one score losses might have been wins.
Yeah, I mean, I think they are,
I didn't mention them to make the playoffs,
but it's hard for me to bet against the Packers as long as Rogers is there,
but I think they would be a sleeper to be a team,
random team to win a division.
Just because, I mean,
you could argue their roster is as good as the Packers,
now with Devante leaving,
but Rogers is dramatically better than Cousins.
And I just don't trust Cousins in big game.
They also have a new coach who Kevin O'Connell, San Diego State guy, good looking dude,
you know, McVeigh, kind of that mindset, but can the guy be a head coach?
You know, we see a lot of times these guys get this opportunity, especially now it's like
in vogue to hire a guy between like 35 and 42.
Like most guys are not going to be Kyle or Sean McVeigh.
Coaching in the NFL is so hard.
Like I love Robert Sala, but he goes to the Jets and they suck.
Now, the Jets, you know, Zach.
Wilson, like obviously, Cousins is a much better player than Zach Wilson. You know, he's accomplished,
he's been in the league, he's been a eight-year starter or whatever. But you were just not guaranteed
to win. The majority of guys that become head coaches in the NFL, and you could even just say
Power 5 football as well, do not succeed. You know, do not become winners. Why? It's hard. It's a very,
very competitive industry. So we've seen a lot of these young guys have success. Like, eventually some
of them are going to fail. Hey, dude, found your golf pod and then started listening to
your NFL one.
I'm hooked.
I would love to hear a story about your career as an NFL scout.
What was your biggest success and biggest failure rate?
You know, people ask me this a lot.
You know, when you're the lower guy in the totem pole, you just give recommendations.
You know, you say, hey, I like this guy.
I don't like this guy.
We should claim this guy.
It's, you're not the decision maker.
So basically, like, what I worked in the office for two years, I would give my opinion,
but, you know, ultimately it was on Howie, Andy, the coaching staff.
You know, it's just I would say my greatest hit, though, was Andrew Sendejo, who was playing in the AFL or the UFL.
It was like this made-up league.
He was playing for the team in Sacramento.
He was not even in our system.
I took him to Lewis Riddick, who laughed at me.
Now, because it was kind of funny because people were not coming out of this league.
And, uh, and yeah, we didn't do anything.
It didn't really, nothing happened.
And then the guy had like a 10-year career.
Now, Tyler Clutz, who actually played at Fresno State.
in the mid-2000s was another guy in this league.
And I remember going into Howie's office and said how, because we needed a fullback.
And he's like, what's this guy's deal?
And I'm like, I wouldn't touch this guy.
And then we were kind of joking.
I'm like, I'll bet my salary he can't play in the NFL.
And at the time, my salary was like 50 grand, 45 grand.
And it was kind of tongue in cheek.
We were joking.
And then the guy not only played in the NFL, he like started for the Cowboys.
He started for the Bears.
Tyler Clutz went on to have a really, you know, solid.
NFL career out of nowhere.
But yeah, it happens.
I've been listening to your show for a few months.
I feel like you got good opinions.
I'm just now getting the time to send a question.
Anyway, I was talking to someone the other day about the AFC East.
The bills are obviously the best team in the division, but who is the worst team?
Patriots got problems.
O.C., offensive weapons and a defensive retool.
Jets are better, but still very young and lacking talent.
Dolphins got good weapons and corners, but unproven head coach, bad quarterback,
bad offensive line.
I think the division could be really, really bad.
Like, I've said over and over, like, this is the year for the Jets to kind of like, you know,
shit or get off the pot.
Like, let's do something.
Like, you can't just always be three, four wins.
And having all these draft picks, you know, I like Joe Douglas.
I don't know him personally, but everyone I know that likes them, that has worked with
him likes him.
But like, he's had a lot of picks now.
You hire Robert Sala.
Like, their defense was a joke last year.
Like, Robert, you're a defensive guy.
I'm not a huge fan when I hire young guys.
Like, I like them to be the coordinator.
Like, Robert, you were the defensive coordinator.
Be the defense of coordinator with the Jets.
Like when we hire McVeigh and Shanahan and LaFleur, they call the place.
So I'm hiring you and then you're not calling the place and then your defense sucks.
Like I get you're a raw, raw leader guy and I'm pro Sala, but you can't be this young, you know, head coach and not call the place for your side of the ball.
I'm not looking just for the CEO head coach.
I like the guy to influence the game.
And like at least Mike McDaniel,
who is also a Kyle guy,
is going to call the place.
You know, I'm out on the Patriots.
I just,
now when I say,
I don't think they're a two-win team,
but they're not making the playoffs.
Two of my brothers showed me,
and I love the pot.
My question is,
what do you think the Vikings?
A lot of Vikings love here.
Do you think cousins can get the Vikings there
or is the ceiling not that high,
talking about the Super Bowl?
Is the defense the person?
problem seems like they should have always.
You could argue what to figure it out with the Packers once we see how they look
without Devante.
And I know we've seen them before.
I think their record was actually pretty good when he didn't play.
But like if Kevin O'Connell is good, like if he's just a LaFleur, a McVeigh, like in that
kind of realm, like he's that good of a head coach, they could win the division.
They could.
But I wouldn't bet on them doing it.
Super Bowl, I would say no.
You seem to have a decent understanding of the economy.
any podcast recommendations you have for someone who barely knows what a 401K is.
Thanks.
I say it all the time.
I mean, my go-to is the compound, Josh Brown, CNBC guy.
He does a podcast.
He does a YouTube show on Tuesday.
They have Animal Spirits, which comes out on Wednesday, which a couple of his like worker guys.
Michael and Ben, they're pretty good.
And then he does another one on Friday.
That's where I get.
That's the financial podcast I listen to.
I think it's fantastic.
because it's not, you know, all in with Shamath and all the VC guys in Palo Alto.
They tend, and listen, part of the economy is always tied to politics, but I'm not looking to like, I'm not, I don't want to hear about politics on my financial shows.
And I understand that they are directly correlated.
So sometimes it's unavoidable.
But I like a money show.
I like talking the stock market.
I like talking the real estate market.
I like talking that stuff without going too deep.
Sometimes all in, those guys do talk a lot of politics, which is just,
it's just sometimes I'm not vibing.
I don't want to, it just gets so negative.
Everyone starts arguing.
So I would go Josh Brown, the compound, big fan.
First off, you're absolutely correct with your take
about the bubble no fan championships.
See?
Dodgers and Lakers get asterix while Tampa also gets one in my opinion.
Although as a Chargers fan,
it was awesome to actually have home games
where a majority of the fans weren't for the other team.
Second, is it a slight rebuff to your Brandon Staley takes?
Although I was screaming at the fourth down from what felt like our own end zone,
at least he was going for it.
From 07 to 2020, we had North Turner, Mike McCoy, and Anthony Lynn.
I can't tell you who was the best.
Turner had the most postseason appearances,
but Lynn had a better presence in my opinion.
I agree.
I actually see Anthony Lynn out of 49er practice.
He does?
Anthony Lynn's got a little swag to him.
I mean, he's a big dude, man.
But I can tell you I was happy the day Gutless McCoy was fired.
All three of those coaches felt basic in scheme, and with Staley, I feel like our team has got a little something extra to bring.
I don't disagree with you.
Again, I am pro.
I've said this forever.
The analytical academic elites love claiming going for it.
Is there, like they get to claim that for the chart.
In the history of the sport of football, from the 70s till now, whether you went to Harvard or a plumber watching the game on your couch, you want your team to go for it.
No one is for kicking field goals when it's fourth and one in a big spot.
But he was reckless with his decisions.
The one on Thursday night football against the Chiefs, the play against the Raiders that you mentioned.
Like, it was insane.
But I'm with you.
I want my coach to have some balls, some stones.
But you also like, there's a time and a place, right?
To make smart decisions.
And I thought Brandon Staley like jumped the shark on that one.
My other issue with Staley is not, and again, none of this shit's ever personal.
Most of these guys, like, I don't know this guy.
I know some people that work with him that said, you know, he can be a little bit of a know-it-all.
And then I see him talk and I feel like he's kind of playing the media.
So it's like, you know, I get kind of Russell-wilson vibes.
And at least Russell Wilson has accomplished a lot in the league.
This guy's been in the league since 2017.
So, you know, a lot of these guys, especially these young coaches, like Robert Stalo, LaFleur, McVeigh,
these guys had decade-plus of experience in the league.
This guy's kind of new.
And I just thought, and his team's really good.
He had a top-five quarterback.
And he lost the Raiders.
to get into the playoffs.
Sorry for the little rant.
My question regards Herbert.
The Chargers had a lot of drop balls this last season.
Do you think this is because Herbert looks like he just throws fastballs all day long?
Thanks.
Well, it is much harder to throw a ball that's, you know, it's like a fastball, right?
It's harder to hit 100 mile an hour fastball than it is a 92 mile on a fastball.
I said the reason that like, you know, Philip Rivers, for example, and Peyton Manning,
like, they threw a very interceptable ball when it was off because it wasn't going that hard.
I remember, you know, Kaepernick used to throw, and Michael Vick was a little bit this way too.
Like, even if they were inaccurate, if they were throwing the 100 mile an hour BBs, like,
there's a reason guys play defense and not offense.
They can't catch.
So it's, you know, he throws.
And I saw, I think Keenan Allen, I remember last year talked about it during the week was like,
ultimately it's on me to catch it, right?
I'm an NFL player.
I make $15 million a year.
Whether he, he has an absolute cannon, he got to catch the football.
But, like, I remember.
remember the stories when I was a kid about Brett Farr of like breaking guys fingers like it fucking
sucks like I can't even imagine trying to catch some of these balls how would I start out in
podcasts and do you have any tips or topics that would stand out to help any advice many thanks
Marcus well if it was a good topic I wouldn't I just keep it for myself I would say the number
one thing I think people screw up with is trying to do stuff for social media and they get like
like they try to be big on Twitter, like with their podcast.
And they think the topics that are happening there are what, like I just try to do topics
that my friends and people in my real life talk about.
I just say what I think that the way I'm talking in real life.
I don't try to, you know, I can't.
I've talked about over and over.
I can't do the Skip A. List, Stephen A. Smith thing.
I can't fake it.
So just be true to yourself.
You know, just do topics you're excited to talk about.
Because if people are going to listen to you, like if I'm not,
excited to talk about it, then why would you be excited to listen to it? Right? You come,
if people that listen to the show want to hear my opinion on something because you know,
if I'm talking about it, I'm interested in talking about it. Like, there are a lot of topics that
I just don't do. Why? I don't give a shit. It doesn't matter. To me, it might matter to you.
And if it does, do a podcast on it. So I would say just do stuff that interests you. Now, you also,
there's a balance. Like, I can't just, I can't just talk about the Jags and Trent bulky all day.
I do have to eventually, you know, there's part of it.
This is a business.
You know, you do need to figure out ways to talk about Aaron Rogers, talk about the Dallas Cowboys.
But I don't go overly out of my way to do that.
It just happens that it's easy to do.
Like something happens with Mike McCarthy, Rogers.
But if you've listened to the show long enough, like I'm not just playing the hits over and over and over.
But I also talk a lot about the quarterbacks, talk a lot about the coaches.
I talk about the stars.
I'm also not too into the weeds.
You know, I'm not.
Some people ask like, you know, as a former scout, you don't,
really, no, that kind of, that bores me. I like talking about the stuff that I know the majority of
human beings can talk, you know, everyone has opinion on Patrick Mahomes or everyone has
opinion on Aaron Rogers. No one cares about the right guard play for the Dallas Cowboys,
besides diehard Dallas Cowboy fans. And you can find that information somewhere, but I'm not
going to break that down. I actually get more joy. You know, I like talking about the financial
aspect of this stuff. That's why like when the Broncos sold, like that interests me.
as a long time
Jets fan,
I have seen these promising drafts
before and young quarterbacks
with potential.
What do you think would be considered
a successful season this year?
Jester listed at five and a half wins.
I'm going to keep beating this drum.
I think they have to
get to 7 and 9.
And the quarterback's got to show promise.
I mean, I see these
pictures going viral of his
practice and, you know, he looks at the part.
Like you said, they have a million draft picks.
Like, eventually you've got to win some games.
ultimately the point of this whole thing is to win on Sunday.
And if they won, if they hit the under on that, that's a disaster.
And I would say Robert Sala would be in major, major trouble.
They don't need to make the playoffs, but at least be in like, can we get to Halloween and be like,
ah, the Jets are a wildcard team?
Can we say that?
Or is that not going to be possible?
As a massive Pats fan, what do you think about Bill's plan for the secondary?
Jalen Mills, Dugger, Peppers, McCordy, Miles Bryant, Adrian Phillips, all have played multiple positions.
all have gotten significant playing time in their careers.
Given their weak lineback in core,
I'd assume Dougger and Phillips could fill in even as edge players.
They have experience in coverage.
You think this is Bill's master plan,
incentivizing other teams to run knowing the rules are bent in a fashion
that makes pure coverage almost impossible,
and the new goal is just to confuse the O-line and quarterback as much as possible.
As a former scout, what rule do you see Peppers playing in the defense?
Love the pod.
Well, I don't think that's necessarily the case.
I think you're going up against Josh Allen, who's easily one of the best players in the league.
The Miami Dolphins have a ton of weapons and the Jets drafted a quarterback.
Now, we don't know if he's any good.
Number two overall, it's a passing league.
So you need a shitload of DBs because you've got to cover all these guys.
You got to cover Tyree Kiel and Jalen Waddle.
Like, you've got to cover all the guys the bills have.
You got to cover, I mean, every team you play, for the most part, like most teams are not Kyle Shanahan.
They don't want to run the football.
So I think it's more you just need a lot of versatile DBs.
You need guys that can cover tight ends.
You need guys that can play in space.
You need guys that can play inside.
You need guys that can play outside.
You need guys that can tackle in space.
I just think Bill values versatility in general.
He always has.
But I don't think it's necessarily like to try to force teams to run
because ultimately teams will pass.
Like you're not forcing Andy Reid to run.
He's throwing and you've got to beat them.
Like ultimately, you know, they want Justin Herbert to throw.
Now, Lamar Jackson, that would be if you're playing them.
But I think ultimately, I think he's just doing.
doing it because you want versatile defensive backs.
Have a good day, everybody.
Share the podcast.
Ad John Middilkoff, Instagram, fire in those DMs.
And peace.
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.
Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.
Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,
help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
Where does your group perform?
We do some retirement homes.
Those people are starving for banter.
Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends
on the 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.
Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.
Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,
such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot,
or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.
Listen to stuff to bowl your mind on the iHeart 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.
Clifford Taylor the 4th.
You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,
or my career in sports media.
Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement
to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.
This is a place for raw,
unfilled conversations with athletes, creators,
and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.
So let's get to it.
Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more behind the scenes,
follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.
This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.
