The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Packers D Questions; Belichick's on to 2021; Best Coach/QB Combos; Clemson's NEXT #1 Pick; 3 for the $ Week 9 ATS Picks; Mailbag

Episode Date: November 6, 2020

In this episode, John reacts to the Packers pounding the plague stricken Niners, why he has concerns about the Green Bay D in the playoffs, why Belichick isn't taking 2020 seriously, which teams have the best coach/QB combos, and why Clemson's freshman QB D.J. Uiagalelei will be a future #1 overall pick. He also gives his 3 for the $ week 9 NFL picks, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening. Appreciate everybody. How are we doing? I just watched an absolute butt kicking. ass whooping, total beatdown. Green Bay Packers destroyed the injured Corona 49ers. And we'll dive into that off the top, of course, because it's usually what we do here on the show

as we talk about the Thursday night game. Have some thoughts on a lot of different stuff this week. Some comments by Bill Belichick that I want to dive into. Clemson has a new freshman quarterback because Trevor Lawrence is still out with Corona, who has a chance to be the number one overall pick. We'll do three for the money, dive into three games that I like this week.

The college slates gets a little bigger. The Pack 12 is back, some pretty good Pac-12 games. And so basically all college football, in theory, is playing right now. And then, of course, at John Middlecoff, Instagram handle, fire in my DMs. This is how you get on the show. we answer your questions. It's very simple to do.

I've been saying it for a while. I guess there's still a lot up in the air, but just download or I guess you are downloaded if you're listening to this. Subscribe to the podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, three and out, it's its own feed, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple iTunes. If you go to Apple iTunes,

I'd greatly appreciate you leaving a review. Please do that if you like the show. Let's start with the game. No takes on the same. to go 49ers. They're in shambles. They're injured. They're not going to win many games.

Nick Mullen stinks. Yeah. I give the Packers credit. They showed up on a short week, and they beat the crap out of the Niners. Now, they were by kickoff a seven and a half point favorite on a Thursday night game. So they did what they were supposed to do. But I said this a couple weeks ago about Seattle.

The reason I don't like Seattle to win the NFC is because of their defense. Two things you have to have to win a Super Bowl. A great quarterback and a good defense. You don't need a great defense, but you need a good defense. What do Seattle and what do the Packers have? They have Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Rogers, Russell Wilson, both won Super Bowls. Aaron Rogers, the more accomplished player won multiple MVP's.

I think it's fair to say one of the most talented players we've ever seen. Now, I think Russell's kind of becoming that too. I mean, both of them. I mean, to me, Rogers competing to be a top five quarterback ever. Russell, when it's all said and done, should definitely be probably a top 10 quarterback. And hell, maybe a top 7, 6 quarterback. They're just superstars. I mean, they're all-time grades.

But they can't do it alone. And you saw tonight, like Rogers, Devante, when Aaron Jones is healthy, they can dominate on offense. They can throw up 25, 30, 35 points. They can't. So can Seattle. so could the Chiefs a couple years ago. But there was a couple of moments in this game early on in the game. The 49ers, you know, half their teams at home quarantining.

The other half is in the training room with Cass and ice all over their body. But for a split second, Kyle Shanahan was running the football all over. With Jerich McKinnon, who's torn in his ACL two years in a row, without his left tackle Trent Williams because of contact tracing. with a guy, you know, Justin's school who stinks. But the Packers defense, even Seattle, like I'll give them, they do have Jamal Adams coming back. They did trade for Carlos Dunlap.

And at the end of the day, their head coach is a defensive guy. It's his defense. The Seattle, the defense that all these coaches, you know, Gus Bradley, that Robert Salaf for the 49ers, or is a Dan Quinn forever, these guys run. That's Pete's baby. It's like Pete does. bring the mentality of like hitting people in the mouth being tough i just don't think they have

the talent why sometimes they get smoked but they are physical and they will throw their bodies around and with jemal coming back they will hit you in the mouth i watch green bay and go it's just swiss cheese against good teams like i understand why tampa tossed them around so at the end of the day winning this great game they're going to the playoffs the packers last year went 13 and 3 this year they'll win 11 12 games they are going right to the play They will win that division. They will host a playoff game. They might, because of the NFC, them or Tampa, get the number one overall seat.

But their goal with Aaron Rogers in the, you know, making $40, $35 million a year, I almost said peak of the powers. He's probably not in the peak of his powers, but he's still a hell of a player. You know, probably be second, third, fourth, in the MVP voting when it's all done if Russell wins it. Because I think it's pretty clear Russell's kind of in the driver's seat. he is good enough to win a Super Bowl with. Of course he is.

We've seen it. The history of this team for the last decade, right after he won the Super Bowl, their team the next year was better. And the next couple years were unreal. They always got their ass kick by the 49ers. Why? Because the 49ers were really physical. Remember, the next year,

they hosted that New York Giants team, and they got shoved around in that game, and that freezing cold game where Tom Coughlin's face froze off. In the next two years, the Niners beat him. and then a couple years ago, remember their defense, which really Aaron Rogers carried him to that NFC championship game, and the Falcons beat him.

It's always their defense. That is the problem. And I know Colin gets on Aaron Rogers, and listen, like today, he, uh, Valdes Scantling drops the ball and he's mean mugging him. It's like, Aaron, like, why do you got to do that? Now, he did a couple of series later, hit him on a deep bomb.

Like, listen, we can argue all day long about Aaron's passive aggressive this, he's an elite player, and he's as, you can't ask for anything more. If they don't win the Super Bowl this year, it's not going to be him. It's on the general manager. And I defended them taking the quarterback, but they have a number one overall pick that doesn't impact their team at all. And their number two overall pick, the second rounder, is a running back, when two of the better players on their team are running backs.

And their defense stinks. They cannot stop the run. Well, think of the teams you're going to have to beat to win the NFC. The Saints. They have one of the best players in the league in Alvin Kamarra. The Patriots, I almost said the Patriots. The Tambay Buccaneers. They are a really physical team,

and while you think Tom Brady passing offense, Leonard Fournett and Ronald Johnson look really good. The L.A. Rams. When I think Sean McVeigh, if they're going to win playoff games, it's going to be because of their running game. Not because Jared Gough, they're running game. And you just watch the line?

backers and I go, you know, the Packers are going to be kicking themselves when this season ends because like last year, they were in the NFC championship game and they go, oh, you know, we actually probably weren't as close as we should have been. Well, it turns out you couldn't be one team, the Niners. And that team this year just doesn't exist. If you would have improved your defense, all we talk about with Green Bayes, they need more wide receivers, they need more wide receivers. I watch Aaron Rogers, he makes all these random guys look sweet. He has a top two or three wide receiver on his team, they dominate. Like, their offense is fine.

It's part of the deal with the Shanahan offense. You run it down people's throats, and when you have a quarterback as good as Aaron Rogers, he's going to hit 70% of his passes. And when you have a wide receiver as good as Devante Adams with a couple other randoms, you'll be fine. You can win a Super Bowl with that offense. But like we always talk about, it doesn't, it's not just about the quarter. Your defense has to get stops because in the playoffs, what are you doing?

You're playing other good offenses. And I look at this defense and I just go, I can't bet on it, man. I can't bet on them. And the thing if I'm Brian Gutikins, or even if I'm Aaron Rogers thinking, like the thing that's going to kill us is like, can we get stops?

Can we be physical enough on defense? Because that's always held us back. Because people always say, isn't it kind of crazy that the Green Bay Packers only won two Super Bowls in 30 years of Brett Farve and Aaron Rogers? And I go, well, I watched a lot of the FARV years. They ran into some pretty good teams.

Some of their teams weren't as good. but I do think when you look at the Aaron Rogers years this decade, you say you had one of the best players in NFL history for basically a decade stretch who was in the peak of his powers and you only got to win Super Bowl, that's going to hurt. And it's going to fall on the GM, the personnel department, not on the quarterback and not even on the coach

because, listen, I was hard on Matt LaFle. I might be wrong. Sure look wrong because he's a good offensive play car. But like a lot of offensive coaches, Hell, like every offensive coach, they don't know a damn thing about defense. That's not their fault. 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-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramedipausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanging.

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Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas, their practices. and this mental health awareness month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Help out Mike Patton. He can't do anything with the defense. I know he's the head coach.

He should be able to. Yeah, but the reality is he's the offensive coordinator. He can't. So it really is on the GM to help out that side of the ball. In all offseason, they didn't do anything. Hell, they lost everyone in Green Bay. I always hate Blake Martinez. I watch Blake Martinez play for the Giants.

Packers who died to have Blake Martinez. They're just not physical enough up front, and that'll be the reason that they don't win the Super Bowl, because clearly their quarterback and their offense is good enough. Look for your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky.

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Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinwiddie host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. Okay, let's dive into a story that I saw from my friends, not my friends, I just followed them on Twitter, TMZ. And really quick about TMZ, listen, I, I,

It helps not being a journalist that I actually appreciate the way they do business. They literally pay for stories. And I understand why old school journalists, whether it's sports or just normal journalists, despise them, right? I can just speak for kind of my world. Adam Schaefter, Wojj, you know, those type guys don't pay for their stories. They develop sources, old school way, and they get them, right? General managers, agents, players, whoever, leak them things.

TMZ breaks a lot of stories because they literally pay for the content. And listen, as just someone that views himself more as an independent, not a journalist, I don't even like calling myself a media member. I would have no problem paying for stories if I had the money.

If I was, I'm not a story breaker, but it doesn't bother me. But I understand why it bothers people. Now, they're also an aggregator. You know, when it comes to their Twitter account or social media accounts, they just throw up shit that gets said or that's happening in the world

that they think will get them a lot of clicks. Which, listen, I don't do a lot of clickbait in the sense of... Maybe I do, actually. I do click on a lot of clickbait. So it works for me, and clearly works for a lot of people. People in the media despise clickbait,

even though a lot of their business operations now do it, like Bleacher Report, I had to unfollow. I couldn't take any to LeBron, like what LeBron was doing on his Snapchat. I don't care that LeBron's daughter had a smoothie for breakfast. but clearly people click on that when they post that stuff. TMZ has kind of turned into that a little bit, but whatever.

It doesn't bother me. But I've kind of gone off here on a tangent. Matt Light, the former Patriot offensive lineman, said on the big radio station in Boston, W.E.I. That he either knew that Bill Belichick thinks this or has been told that he thought this. And I would imagine this comment is going to trigger a lot of people because it's going to look like an excuse.

And Bill Belichick views this 2020 Corona season, quote unquote, it's a joke. And I think the first reaction, especially to a lot of football fans, would be, of course he does, his team blows, he's not going to make the playoffs, he's lost Tom Brady, his team sucks. Hey guys, did you see his roster before Corona ever hit? His team was going to suck no matter what the moment Brady left, especially once the opt-out hits. Like he had the most opt-outs on the his team wasn't very good. Even if those guys

had come back, still at best they're probably a 7-8 win team. His team wasn't going to be that good. But I also don't think he's wrong. This season is a joke. We just saw it on the 49er game. Their left tackle could not play in the game because of quote-unquote contact tracing. He does not have, he's not even sick. He hasn't even tested positive.

And listen, those are the rules. It is what it is. I said from the beginning when the season was going to happen. It had nothing to do with fairness. It had nothing to do with who was going to make the playoffs or who was going to win the Super Bowl. The NFL Newsflash this year truly doesn't give a shit.

They don't give a fuck who was ultimately going to win. The only thing they cared about was getting games on television. It's the only thing that matter because it's where they make the majority of their money and they want to keep the business going. That's why basketball went to a bubble. That's why baseball played a 60-game season.

They typically play 100 more games, 102 more games than they actually did. It was all for television, because now television pays for everything. Because as a business, as we've learned during Corona, we've seen a lot of businesses go under. And I was always told this, and you guys would know if you listen

that are in the food or restaurant business, that 80 to 90% of restaurants go under. Within the first couple years, right? They do not make it. That's just a fact. What do you think the percentage is during corona? I see businesses and restaurants that thrived that have gone out of business. So are they a bad business?

Of course not. They were, at least in my state, told they couldn't open for months. That's not normal. Just like Trent Williams not being able to play or some of these players that don't get to play on a weekly basis, that's not normal. Or the moment you have a tag, You have to shut down your facility and go virtual with meetings.

You can't have practice. You can't even have walkthroughs. That's not normal. Though I'm not complaining. I understand the only reason they did this was to get these 17 weeks in the playoff games to pay for everything, to get the players paid, to get the owners paid, to keep the business going. Like, listen, I hate the Lakers.

They had the number one seat before Corona happened. They ended up winning the championship. I think we can all say, listen, they probably would have won the NBA championship, regardless. But the one thing I know when I watch the bubble, that's not normal playoffs. Because typically you have to travel. And when you have to travel, you have to play away games.

And what happens as away games? Anyone that falls basketball knows. Role players usually don't play as well. Crowds against you, the environment stuff, it usually exposes guys. LeBron, Kauai. I mean, those guys play well, home or away, right, in the playoffs. Roll players don't.

and typically the teams that win championships, their role players make a subtle difference here and there. So, listen, Lakers probably win the championship? Probably. Corona or non-corona. That bubble? Is that normal basketball? Hell no. We had guys scoring 50 points.

Jamal Murray look like Michael Jordan. Come on. And I'm not trying to diminish anything. It just is what it is. Baseball. I actually, despite Hayden Lakers, and I'm a bigger Giants fan than I am a basketball. It's not like the Warriors or the Kings.

They ever had a rivalry. with the Lakers. I love the San Francisco Giants. At least I did. I don't really, I'm not a big Gabe Capler guy, so I sneakie kind of root against them right now. I have no issues with the Dodgers. And they have been the best team in the regular season

for several of the last five or six years, right? And they won it. They might have won it no matter what. They traded for mookie bets. But my podcast partner, Guy Haberman, worked for MLB Network during the first round of the playoffs and went to the A's White Sox series. He was there in the stands.

Place was empty. He said the weirdest part about it being empty. The only people in the stands were the A's and White Sox players that weren't actually playing in the game. You know, like the taxi squad or some of the training staff. And he's like, after big hits, the only noise you could hear in the stands beside the Pipedin music was like the strength coach

and these random pitchers that are in like AAA standing up and going apeshit. It was eerie. You'd have like this, you know, two runners on, two outs in the eighth inning of these big playoff games. and the place is silence. Well, it's actually not because they're piping in music, but there's not a soul in the place.

That's not normal. Anyone that's been to a playoff, baseball goes, knows that every pitch, especially later in the game of like a one-run game, you can cut the tension with a knife. I've been to every single round of the playoffs. World Series, NLCS, ALCS, AL, division a round.

It's incredible. It honestly is a football-like atmosphere. But it's with no fans, it's not. not taking away. Like, they won fair and square given the rules. It's like when you win a PGA golf tournament, whether the course is easy or whether it's really hard, you won on that given week,

given the conditions and given the field. The Dodgers, the Lakers, and whoever wins this year, the Steelers, the Chiefs, whoever. Because listen, you look at the playoffs, most of the good teams would have been good Corona or not. The Chiefs, the Ravens, you know, the Packers, right? The Saints, Tampa, once they add,

Tom Brady Seattle We know Like this is Nothing's really changed That doesn't mean This is normal Because it kind of is a joke

When you can't have fans Aaron Rogers Earlier this year Is having guys jump off sides On the road This isn't normal condition Now it's the card they dealt And I commend them for coming back

When let's never forget Most of the media wanted Everything shut down and nothing to be played And as any of us with a working brain knows Well a couple things If you're in the sports media and you're rooting for sports not to come back, you're going to eventually lose your job. Because most of these people that you follow on Twitter or see on TV don't on the company.

They work. So the moment, the sports that they cover go away. And even clearly this year, it's just the revenues change. Like, it costs a lot of people their job. We saw ESPN laid off a bunch of people. That has to do with the pandemic. Like, they would not have been laying off these people non-pandemic. Now, big picture of the health of the business, that's another conversation.

but it is a joke, and it's okay to say that. And Belichick, I don't even think it's sour grapes. His team was going to suck. It was going to be a transitional year. It is what it is. Plus, he doesn't need to, I'm going to say this over and over, like earn his reputation every game. We've seen it.

Six Lombardes. Oh, and when he was the D.C. for Parcells, his game plans in the Hall of Fame for taking out the Buffalo Bills, who had like the equivalent of, you know, the fastest show on turf or whatever with the Mike March that Rams team in the late 90s, early 2000s.

That was the Bills. Belichick kicked their ass in the playoffs. His game plan. Parcells in the 30 for 30 even admitted. Like, yeah, he did the scheme. That's him.

We know, Belichick's great. His team sucks. They're going to win four or five games. But this season, like, you send people home on a Thursday. Your left tackle can't play because, no, he's not sick.

Will he test positive? No, he didn't test positive. Is he hurt? No, he's healthy. He just can't play because those are the rules. Like, we get all admit it. If the Steelers win it, I'm going to call you Super Bowl champ. I'll call the Lakers

champ. Call the Dodgers the champ. If the Chiefs win it again, like, yeah, these teams are really good. But this is not normal. I think we all can agree to that. I saw something earlier this week with the picture of the playoffs and what it looks like right now. I'm recording this before the Thursday night game, so as of right now, the Packers are the one seed. But it kind of hit me. And I said last week, my issue with Seattle was pretty simple. To win a Super Bowl, you need two things. You need a star coach, excuse me, you need a star quarterback and a really good defense.

Those two things go hand in hand. You cannot win the Super Bowl with Russell Wilson and a shitty defense. It's not possible. Now Seattle gets Jamal Adams back. You know, Dunlap gives them a little bit. If their defense can just be middle of the pack, they can win it. But you cannot be bottom five or six defense and win the Super Bowl. It just doesn't happen.

We went through the teams. It's not even arguable, right? We saw it last year. The reason the Chiefs won it, they had Mahomes for a couple years, is their defense started playing well and took out Jimmy Garapolo down the stretch of that game. Worked the 49ers. And then Mahomes made some plays. But that was the reason that they made their run.

Their defense played well. It's a trident true formula. Quarterback, defense. It's a little looser when it comes to making the playoffs. You do not need a really good defense to make the playoffs. We've seen it. Your offense is going to be really good. But I do think to make the playoffs in the NFL, you need one of two things.

And as of right now, we have the divisional round or just the playoff picture. This year they're adding a 7th team. I know more reported that they might add go 8 teams. I'd be a little surprise. I guess it would depend on how many games get kids. canceled. That would be a money play. And I wouldn't even blame them. They had to add eight teams. This year's all about money.

Don't know. It's not about the Super Bowl. It's not about fairness. It's not about any of that crap. Don't stop listen. Don't listen to the media who doesn't even understand it. They don't get business. This is all about cash. Now, you could say most years are. And I would say yeah, but most years about growing the business, you know, having the right teams in the playoff. Like, this team's about none of that crap. strictly about getting games on TV.

That's the only goal. Getting games on television. So right now, the information I have, we're going to have seven teams in each conference. They've added the team, which I like. Add that seven team. One team gets a buy, and then the seven plays the two,

the six plays the three, and the five plays the four. And one thing hit me looking at these teams that are making the playoffs. You need two things to make the playoffs. It is what it is. And if you don't have one of these two things or have one of these two guys

heading in that direction, you probably should either get rid of them or fire them. And here's what I think you need to make the playoffs. You need a top flight coach. I want to say top flight doesn't need to be a Hall of Famer, but a guy that we view, go, that's a really good coach. Or a big time quarterback. And if you have both of them, you're obviously a team's going to be really good.

So let's look. The Pittsburgh Steelers, currently the one seat. Mike Tomlin, future Hall of Famer. Rothersburg, Future Hall of Famer. That one's pretty easy. Let's look at the Colts are a good example. Philip Rivers, I would no longer call a big-time quarterback. But Frank Reich, I think we can all agree.

Really solid coach. Is he great? No. Is he bad? No. If his team's talented enough, they're going to win, you know, nine, ten games. And that's what it feels like they're on pace to do. The Chiefs speak for itself. I think the Browns are a good example. And the Browns should make the playoffs, though their schedule still shakes out pretty easy.

The Browns, their quarterback, is a major question mark. If he was not the number one overall pick and had been a third round pick, yeah, Baker Mayfield's probably not going to be on the team. But whether they pick up his fifth year option this year, I would say probably not. But he's going to be their quarterback next year. Looks like pretty average at best. But their coach looks really good. Kevin Stefansky, it took him a while to become a coordinator,

longtime position coach. I watch him this year and go, Kevin Savancy's good. He's good enough to get your team to the playoffs. Is he going to be some elite all-time coach? I don't know. But watch him enough, I go, this guy's got a chance to be a 10-year NFL head coach. And the Browns would die for that

because they've been running through coaches like you and me run through bottles of water. Tennessee Titans, kind of the same thing. Tanny Hills, clearly, we'd all take Tany Hill over Baker-Mayfield, but, you know, he's like this, you know, next five or six-year version of Alex Smith. Probably a little more talented, but makes probably dumber mistakes.

But Mike Vrable's big time. Mike Vrable is clearly a playoff level head coach. Baltimore Ravens, really good quarterback. Flawed, but really good. Clearly, very good. Can get you the playoffs, no problem. Harbaugh, Super Bowl winner, bang, bang, boom. The Buffalo Bill's kind of a mixture of them both.

I was really high on Josh Allen early in the season. He's coming back to Earth, but I think even the Josh Allen haters would go there. There is a lot to work with. We've seen the flashes this year for several, game stretch. Can he get it back? The train back on the tracks. He's a really talented thrower of the football, though his decision making has looked shitty. But he's, he was a playoff quarterback last year. I expected to be a playoff quarterback again this year, win the

division. Sean McDermott, very solid head coach. You need a top flight coach or top flight, you know, a top flight talent at quarterback. Or kind of meet in the middle. Like the, uh, the Buffalo bills. I think Vrable is a good example of probably balancing out Tanny Hill. Stafansky clearly is the strong one there. The Ravens, the Chiefs, the Steelers, when you have really good at both ends. The Packers. LaFleur, I was probably too low on the floor.

Seems like a really high-level guy in the sense of. Aaron Rogers really likes him. I watch LaFleur's press conferences. He's a very, very smart guy. And he's a solid play collar. The mixture, I give him a lot of credit, because Aaron Rogers has bought into his offense, but he stills allow him to kind of run

some of his spread it out, right, what they did with Mike McCarthy concepts. Because that's where Aaron thrives. And he should get the benefit of the doubt. He's one of the best quarterbacks we've ever seen. So Aaron Rogers, all-time great. As long as he's healthy, you're going to make the playoffs. But LaFleur is proving himself to be a very solid head coach. The Seattle Seahawks, Hall of Fame coach, Hall of Fame quarterback.

The Rams are a good example. Despite being one of the highest paid players in the league, I think he's the third highest paid player this year in the league. Jared Gough is mediocre. I'm rooting for him. He's just not very good. I've watched him the last month. He looks awful, actually.

He does not look very good at all. Can't move. His accuracy for a quote-unquote accurate quarterback is very hit or miss. But Sean McBey's big time. Like the information's in. Made the playoffs his first year. Went at the Super Bowl's second year. Last year was a disaster.

Oh, wait, it wasn't really. They went 9 and 7. This year, they look poised to go to the playoffs again. With their quarterback kind of playing like shit. Tambay Buccaneers. Arian's playoff level coach, Tom Brady the Goat. The Arizona Cardinals, I think, are a good example. A little bit like the Tennessee Titans, but the reverse.

Cliff Kingsbury, is he some playoff level coach? I'd say no. Couldn't win in college. You know, this year, I watch Kyler Murray and go, he makes plays kind of out of his ass much more than I see Cliff Kingsbury just dialing it up. Their defense stinks. That's on Kingsbury. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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But I just don't view their coaching staff as a quote-unquote playoff level coaching staff. But they have a star quarterback. Kyler Murray is kind of this generation's the modern version of Michael Vick. He's more accurate. He's less likely to get hurt because he slides. And part of that's his baseball background. If you remember, Michael Vick couldn't slide. Didn't know how.

Remember the Atlanta braves when he was Atlanta tried to teach him, but it was very uncomfortable for him. And just sprint for 10 yards and try to slide. Some people do it naturally. Some people can't. Kyler Murray, clearly the baseball background, it comes easy to him. But if the Arizona Cardinals make the playoffs this year, it's because of one individual.

Kyler Murray. Now does Cliff Kingsbury get credit? Of course he does. The more credit I'd get for him than being the head coach was for him having the vision of we need this guy. This guy will change the franchise. And he was right. Then you have this game right now, the 5 and 4 seed,

the Bears who, listen, I love my guy, Nat and Aggie, his team, they shut down because of Corona, like they're heavy underdogs of the Tennessee Titans this weekend. They're probably on the path of not making the playoffs. So that team will be replaced, I would imagine, by the Saints eventually. And then the Eagles, like, listen, we can talk shit all day long about the coach and the quarterback. Every team in the league that needs a quarterback would take Carson Wentz without flinching.

Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl. We saw him. Beat Belichick in a Super Bowl. How many coaches have done that? Tom Coughlin and Doug Peterson. Short list, right? And last I checked, Tom Coughlin's got two Lombardis. So I give Doug, Doug's a big time coach.

And you want to make the playoffs. You do not, unlike winning the Super Bowl, your defense doesn't need to be great. It just doesn't. Your defense, look at the Seattle, the Cardinals. You know, right? Looking at some other teams here, I guess most of the teams in the AFC's defense is actually pretty good.

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and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest. brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. My favorite part about watching college football, and it really always has been, but definitely now as a viewer, unless I'm gambling on it, is to watch these big time players that are going to be future pros.

I use it like, I'm not watching much film March, April, like getting ready for the draft, mainly because I don't have that big of a life. I don't do that much in the fall on Saturdays. I watch football all day long, multiple televisions. And I can kind of put together my big board of the guys that I think are going to be good pros in my head. It's a great part about being a podcaster. That's the way I roll. And I use Saturdays to keep it out.

I don't follow college recruiting that closely. Because having worked in it, it doesn't matter. Now, it does matter in terms of obviously Clemson, Ohio State, BAM, I'm not saying it doesn't matter for to build a really good team. but just because you're the number one player or a five-star recruit, we have countless examples of those guys not becoming NFL players. So I wait until you play on Saturday to go,

oh, this guy is going to be good. I don't go, this five-star, I just don't waste that much time on that. And I know many people listening, if you're a big Ohio State guy, a Bama guy, an LSU guy, I understand it. I don't necessarily, quote-unquote, have a team.

My team is really more of the NFL, so I wait until they ball, and then I go, okay, this guy's going to be sweet. Unless, like Naji Harris, for example, was this enormous recruit, he was just right down the street from my house, so I knew a lot about him. And occasionally a guy becomes so famous,

I know a lot about. But other than that, I wait till they play on Saturday. That's how I roll. That's the Middilcoff scouting service. Plus, if I ever have a question on a guy, I can just text my countless buddies that actually scout these guys in the league

and get the information, which helps. I have easy access. So I don't need to rely on Bleacher Report for my draft news. Here's the thing. Last, I guess it was two years ago now, Guy Haberman, Haberman Milkov, my other podcast, he does game for the Pac-12 network,

and he does spring games, and he did the Spring Oregon game. And he came back and we were recording a podcast, and he was telling me about this guy he met. He's like, bro, I met the number one quarterback in the class before we called the game. He was there on a recruiting trip. This is when Herbert was still there,

and Mario was just named the head coach, and Oregon's recruiting, is like the only team on the West Coast that recruits like an SEC or Ohio State right now. They crush it because of Mario, who is an Alabama guy, has that mindset. And they were trying to land this quarterback from Los Angeles. He was this Polynesian guy.

His name was DJ. I can't even say his last name, so I'm just going to call him DJ. And he's like, this guy is enormous. And everyone around Oregon's program was like, I'm telling you, this guy is a superstar. and at the time his final two schools were between Oregon and Clemson. Number one quarterback, everyone in college thought this guy was a star.

He ended up committing to Oregon. So I, again, would not have known about this guy unless Guy had told me. And then I started Googling, I've just kept an eye. And when I found out he was going to Clemson, I even kept a closer eye. Because obviously, once Trevor Lawrence eventually goes to the pros, this guy was going to be the starting quarterback. then Trevor Lawrence gets Corona and he has to miss last week. So I go, you know what? I don't typically watch Clemson games unless they're playing.

I'll be honest, I actually don't watch that many Clemson games against the ACC. Because whenever I have over the last handful of years, it's like 40 to nothing before you even blink. It's like, this is a joke. Occasionally, when they've played a Syracuse or whatever and it'll be tied, that's when I'll tune in. Like when they're tied at halftime. I'm like, oh, this is the game of the year that they're going to like lay in. egg and still pull out. So that'll be, but for whatever reason, once Trevor Lawrence got Corona, I read, okay, DJ, the star freshman from St. John Boscos was going to be the starter. I'm like,

I'm watching this bad boy. 9 a.m. kickoff last week. My takeaway was this guy's going to be a star. This guy is a chance to be the number one pick in the draft. Like, I've been doing this long enough to know, yeah, that guy's a dude. He's enormous. He's athletic. And his arm looks like, I mean, he's got a cannon. It's like Josh Allen or Mahomes. This week against Notre Dame, I think he has a chance to solidify himself of the future number one pick,

like set it in stone. Now, that doesn't mean things can't change. We've seen it before with Hackenberg, right? Clearly, this guy's way better than Hackenberg. But my point is, Josh Rosen, when he was really young, we thought that guy was going to be number one, things change. But I think early on in this guy's career,

he has a chance to kind of cement himself as... We see this a lot in basketball, like Zion Williamson, we talked about for years. LeBron, some of these big, big-time recruits. Doesn't mean they always live up the hype. I'm not saying this guy's going to be a star NFL player. He's played one collegiate game. But I saw enough in that Boston college game, and I read this a story on the athletic, that a little bit like Justin Herbert, remember when Justin Herbert,

when Tyrod Taylor got the injection and it went and it punctured his lung, and then Justin Herbert had to be told in pre-game warmups, like, bro, you're starting. This guy found out on Thursday that Trevor Lawrence got Corona had a day to get ready and went and beat Boston College. Who Boston College, their coached Jeff Hathley, Hassley, I screw up his name, coached at San Francisco. So I've kind of kept tabs on his career was at Ohio State last year, and now he's the head coach. He's doing a good job. They were four and two.

It's not like there's some shitty Boston college team. Now, Clemson laid a little bit of an egg, but this guy made just some eye-opening throws. where the scout and me went yeah, this guy's a dude. You do that against Notre Dame. Everyone's paying attention. Not just the media, the hype train, the fans, but the NFL people.

Everyone's got this guy's name circled on the board now. They don't quite have it. He's in my head. Most NFL people are not paying attention to freshmen. This is not basketball. You don't have to because he's still two years away after this year from even being draft eligible. But you get put in the vernacular.

I'm not even talking about the road scouts. I'm talking about the general managers, the owners, the head coaches. They're at home. I guess, well, the coaches are usually at the hotel, but the GMs are at home, the owners are at home, your scouting directors at home. Those are the guys that are watching this game. And I'm telling you as a viewer, as a football fan, keep an eye on this guy. Now, I don't know he might play shitty.

It's going to be really difficult. Notre Dame's really good. Now, if Trevor Lawrence was there, I'd say Clemson would beat him by double digits. It's hard for a true freshman. Brian Kelly, for as much shit as he gets, is a really good coach. Very, very physical team. Clemson's probably got more athletes. But as you see, every year, these guys that come in in the NFL, it's like,

Notre Dame's got some athletes too. Claypool, he could have played for Clemson. It's pretty clear, right? I'm watching for the Steelers kick everyone's ass every week. That guy could have played at Alabama. That guy could have played at LSU. That guy could have played at Clemson. Claypool is the big time, he's a dude.

And it does feel when you just watch Notre Dame now, they got more of those guys. So if DJ can go in there and play well, I just think the sky's the limit. And you're looking at what Trevor Lawrence was two and a half years ago, what this guy is. He clearly has the pedigree five-star, number one recruit, L.A., went to Clemson. And as a scout told me this week, he's like, the biggest difference between Alabama and Clemson,

because they have been kind of paralleled each other, the last. And you could probably throw Ohio State in here, though he does the South, so I can't speak to the way Ohio State runs their program. And clearly they've transitioned a little bit right from Urban to Ryan Day, so it might be a little bit different. But Clemson, Alabama, same head coach for the last decade. Produce a ton of pros, win national championships. Heisman trophy type guys.

A ton of first rounders. They're basically the same program right now. One's in the ACC, one's in the SEC. He said one's a factory and the other's a family. Clearly, BAM is the factory. and Clemson is the family. That's why E.T.N. went back to school. It's why Trevor Lawrence, while he's not going to go back to school, has talked about it.

It's fun to play there. It's not not fun to play at Alabama, because winning is fun. It's the one thing you learn when you're involved in athletics. The goal is to win. Not every day is fun. Life is hard. Right? Like, everything in life, whether it's your relationship, whether it's your business, whether you're on a team, like, it's not always easy.

And usually, when you get to the wherever you want, to go in said situation, if it's a little harder to get there, it actually makes it that much more enjoyable. It's like the one time a year you see Sabin smile. Actually, it's usually two times a year. It's usually after the SEC championship, and then if he wins the national championship. Dabo, I would say a little more consistently smiles. He enjoys beating Boston College. He enjoys winning something. Now, you can say Sabin actually, in the last couple years, he's got a little older. It does feel like takes it in a little bit more. But this guy, as long as Dabo stays there,

and there are going to be rumors the next couple years of Dabo leaving NFL teams are going to come after him, who knows with the Jets, if they come after Dabo. But if he stays there and just this guy plays, whether he plays well against Notre Dame or not, I just think it's safe to say we're looking at the number one pick in a couple of years.

Time for a little three for the money, and I came to a screeching halt last week. I gave away three picks and a bonus pick. None of them hit. Now, depending on where you took the over for the over under Packers, Texans. I got it at 51.

It was 50 because the final score was 20, or excuse me, Packers, Vikings. First time they played 77 points. I'm like, the over is going to hit with ease. Final score was 28, 22. Not a math major, but that's 50. I had the number at 51, didn't hit. Niners didn't cover.

Titans didn't even win. I mean, obviously the Niners lost too, but the Titans were a heavy favorite loss of the Bengals. Thank God for the same. Steelers. I was 15 and 7. Now I'm 16 and 11. So we want to stay above 500. Here's what I did. The NFL slate's actually kind of tough this week. I was just going through the lines and it was just, I mean, I laughed out loud. The Steelers who are playing at Dallas, you know, Danucci's out, what's his name, almost called him, Darnold. Dalton has Corona. He has a concussion and he has

Corona, so he can't even play. It might not matter. I mean, he, I don't know, even healthy if he's any good. They're starting Cooper Rush. They were a 14-point favorite on the road, the Steelers against the Cowboys. If I would have told you in the middle of August, what do you think the line's going to be Pittsburgh at Dallas? If I would have told you Steelers minus 14, you would have been like, oh my God, did McCarthy quit?

That's a disaster. Now, I understand it. The Steelers is one of the best teams in the league. If not the best, they're undefeated. Cowboys in shambles. Steelers can score, Cowboys can't play defense. But man, that line's pretty big. I'm going to go, listen, I got to stick to my West Coast Roos.

I'm going to pick to start off with a Pac-12 game. They're kicking off. And one of the big conversations in the conference has been that they get lost. It's cool for me on the West Coast. That Pac-12 night game, sometimes a good game. It'd be like Arizona State, USC. Sometimes kick off at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Now, if you live on the East,

coast and you're not like 28 out of the bars, you probably go to bed because you Sunday, you got kids, you get up, watch football, do whatever, but you're not staying up until midnight or 1 o'clock in the morning to watch these games. That includes voters. That includes the college football landscape. When you play in the day, or especially the morning, like that ESPN Fox kickoff at 9 a.m. is a big deal. We all see it. NFL people, media people, fans, the super, super late game for the Pac-12, they get lost in the shuffle. So they have volunteered to play 9 a.m. kickoffs, right? Typically, the Fox kickoff game is a big 10 game.

It's been Ohio State, it's been Michigan, Penn State, like those type games. I'm talking regular Fox. This Saturday, it's Arizona State and the Fighting Herm Edwards, Sun Devils, at USC. That's the game on Fox at 9 a.m. kickoff in L.A., which it's going to be a little weird to see, but a lot of people are going to watch it. So I commend the Pac-12 for doing it. know if you saw, but the FS1 pregame show, which is good. Urban Myers is really good on TV.

I'm a big Matt liner guy. Brady Quinn, very good looking dude. Reggie Bush, favorite college football player ever. That's a great crew. They all got Corona. The crew, like, I don't even know who's doing the pregame show. Things like Carissa, like Terry Bradshaw, but it's a lead-in to this game. And what I don't understand, and I got some buddies that work at different Pack 12 programs,

they've all said Arizona State is a little bit of a sleep. to win the conference this year. Arizona State is getting 10.5 points on the road. It's not really that far. Scottsdale to L.A. is like an hour flight. Arizona State, 10 and a half, morning game. Herm Edwards gets up at like 3 a.m. I like Arizona State to win this game outright,

but I definitely like them to cover. I definitely like them. That's a lot of points. Broncos plus four. The Denver Broncos, I didn't even write down their opponent. I got this is a, I'm screwing up. this segment now. Who the hell are the Denver Broncos playing? I saw a plus four and I immediately

loved it. The Denver Broncos, this is bad work on my part, are playing the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons are trash. They are terrible. Their defense is awful. Last week you saw the Denver Broncos play the Los Angeles Chargers. Now the game was outdoors, but one thing's The Denver Broncos have a lot of offensive firepower. Fant is really talented. Philip Lindsay's really good running back. Jerry Judy at any moment can take a ball to the house. And Drew Locke is an explosive player.

They actually are much more built as an offense to play indoors than they are outdoors. They have a ton of team speed on offense. And defensively, they're not bad. They actually statistically, in a lot of the major categories, are pretty good. Here's what I know about the Falcons. They are not good on defense.

I just think they just lose a lot. I'm getting four points with a team coming off a pretty big win, who's actually now three and four. I like the Broncos plus four in this game. This is probably my favorite game on the board this week. And it would be a game that if I didn't bet it, you probably couldn't pay me to watch it. But from a gambling standpoint, there's a lot of value here.

The New York Giants have been really, really, I mean, they have played their ass off since that week two game, or I guess a week three game against the Niners when they got blown out. and they got destroyed. But the New York Giants, the last three or four games, every single game they are in. And they could have easily won that Monday night football game.

They play really hard on defense. They actually got some good players on defense. Bradbury has been a really good corner this year. Blake Martinez is a tackling machine. Their front four is pretty solid, and they can stop the run. Offensively, they do have some weapons. Now, Daniel Jones can be hit or miss,

but I think we all kind of agree that Daniel Jones is pretty talented. The Giants are getting two and a half point. at the road against the Washington football team. I'll take those two and a half points all the game long. We're seeing Joe Judge, and I see that some Giants fans DM me, like, I think Joe Judge is pretty good. I go, yeah, I agree. Like, maybe I overreacted to him making coaches run in training camp.

Because his team, well prepared, they play hard, they're not that, you know, just in terms of talent, like they shouldn't be winning that many games. And a big element of that might be the quarterback. But they do have some guy. They're the best player towards ACL, second week of the season. Love the Giants plus two and a half. So I got Arizona State plus 10 and a half.

I got the Broncos plus four, and I got the Giants plus two and a half. Okay, let's get to the little thing we call the Middlecough mailbag. At John Middlecough is the Instagram handle. Just my name. Middlecoff, K-A-U-F, unlike the Eagles and Fresno State, they give me name plates with only one F.

Even though it's happened a long time ago, you never forget. People misspell my name. Now, in fairness to them, my last name isn't Williams or Smith or something. I mean, it's a little middle cough. You know, it's not normal. Two F's, but just wanted a little respect, got none at Fresno State or with the Eagles.

Actually, I think I had a radio office, too, when I worked in downtown San Francisco. Didn't spell my name right either. So it just, no one spells my goddamn name right. I don't know what to do. I just get one F. But I spell with two Fs on my Instagram handle, slide up in those DMs. Also, if you haven't, just to remind you, subscribe to the podcast, away from Collins' feed, three and out, Spotify, Apple iTunes.

If you do Apple iTunes, leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Stitch or wherever you listen. I've been watching Ben this year and he looks good, but I've seen some passes where it looks like someone hit him in the funny bone. Last week I saw a trainer massaging his elbow. Saw that too. Do you think as it gets colder his elbow could become a problem? I'll never forget having Carson Palmer on last year,

and he said the one thing is, as you get into your late 30s, He's like, when I got re-injured, everything is just slower, slower to rehab, and then even when you're healthy, your body doesn't always feel right. Ben is a weathered, weathered dude, right? He has taken a physical punishment over the years. I don't remember off the top of my head a guy with that injury, the torn, it's basically a baseball injury. See, to me, like, he looks dramatically older, just his movements,

and maybe he has the last couple years. he didn't really play last year, so you'd have to go to 2018. Like two years, when you go 36 to 38, that's a pretty big swing in age for a guy that's bigger. You know, his movements, like his athleticism is average at best now, and he's really going to have to hang his hat on, which he did last week, is just making big-time throws. Now, he plays in a cold environment, right? Pittsburgh, it's going to be freezing cold the next couple months.

I guess he's already got the ball. Baltimore game out of the way. The Browns game, I'm pretty sure it was in Pittsburgh off top of my head. Let's just bring up their schedule. I think it's something to keep in the back of your mind for sure. Now, I don't think it's like arms going to re-ripe, but clearly, you know, they say on Tommy John guys, it takes a year to fully get back. And they don't have a year in the sense of they're trying to win it this year.

So let's just look at their games. Cowboys this week, they're a 14-point favorite indoors. At home versus the Bengals, that could be really cold, 1115. At the Jags, okay, it gets a warm game. Ravens at home, Washington at home. Warm, warm. Or excuse me, not warm. Cold, cold.

At the bills. Really cold. At the Bengals. Cold. Colts. At home. Cold. At Brown's cold.

I'm not a doctor just a state school. guy, but we're going to find out. It's definitely something to keep an eye on. And if you're a Steeler fan, it's probably the one thing that would make you a little bit nervous. If he stays healthy, you have a chance to win it all. If something happens to him,

and I think you guys would all agree, you're screwed. My sister is a non-football fan and wanted to keep listening. Wow, that's impressive. Tell her, I like her style. Personal opinion. Do you think Carson's

leads the Eagles to another Super Bowl? Well, not this year. I mean, their team's not going to be good enough. But I think he never let him to a Super Bowl, right? I mean, he put him in position to get to one and then Foles let him to Super Bowl. So I guess your question is, can he lead them to another Super Bowl?

Can he lead them to his first Super Bowl? I think he's talented enough. Now, the version that we've seen this year, of course not. He's played like shit. Now, I've supported him. He's playing with Folgum. he's playing with Greg Ward he's playing with Billy Scott

or Boston Scott Brian Westbrook Terrell Owens and Deshawn Jackson ain't walking through that door actually I think Deshawn did walk through that door for a game and then he broke his ankle and now he's out again or high ankle sprain so his season's over

Alshan is he been on the team anymore Ertz major injury I think he got to give him somewhat of a pass this year I know people hate to hear it and Max Kellerman thinks he sucks I wouldn't give up on them. I know this, Niners, we take them out west in a heartbeat. Eagles want to get rid of them?

I know they don't. So I think he can't. But this offseason, because more than likely they're going to be a one and done, right? They're going to win the division, and then they're going to get bouncing in the first round, unless they get a bunch of people back, but still, probably not. He needs to do some self-reflection of how to not turn the ball over enough. Because he makes big plays. He makes sweet throws when the game.

games on the lines, how they win some of their games. And if they get to 7-8 wins, he's going to keep making some of those throws and some of those plays. He needs to find a way to not turn the ball over enough. I'm not Bill Walsh or Andy Reid, but he needs to just talk to the right people about how to play within himself. Look forward to listening twice a week, especially on Fridays, when you give your picks. I'm from the Bay Area as well who's been following you since your radio days. My question is regarding Jimmy Garapolo.

Could you see Jod Lynch and Parag get creative this offseason with no guaranteed money left on Jimmy's deal? Could the 49ers approach Jimmy to restructure a deal ask him to take a pay cut where instead of 27 mil per year they go to a two-year deal around 17 to 20 mil per year

and some guarantees? That way they can evaluate Jimmy at least for another year at a lower cap number. I think Jimmy would want to stay beside the other team beside New England would trade for him, beside what other team would trade for him? him beside New England. At his current cap number, sign him as a free agent outright, especially

if he spends the rest of the year on injured reserve. It could also buy the 49ers another year or two to evaluate the quarterback position and maybe even draft someone in the first or second round like Zach William Wilson. Thoughts. The Niners have made some catastrophic mistakes the last year, and they had to do this because they were in a little bit of a pinch financially, but they gave D-4 to a huge restructure, and it cost them dearly. I get what you're saying, but I think under no circumstances can you guarantee Jimmy more money? His best asset right now is his contract. And you can cut him, I think it's up until June 1st. Actually, for him, it might be April 1st before the draft. So you would have to pick up his option and guarantee some money. But just

knowing the way and knowing, you know, Fallen John and Parag and Kyle and knowing people in that organization, they're not going to do that. To me, they're either going to, if they can upgrade with a free agent guy or a trade. they'll do that and cut Jimmy. If they can't, Jimmy will return at his 26 million number and they will draft a guy really high. And it'll kind of be an Alex Smith,

Patrick Mahomes situation, where it's different and they would, you know, do backflips off the Bay Bridge to get their Patrick Mahomes. But that to me is what I envision. I just see no way possible that you guarantee. You can't...

One thing we've been talking about, lot about on my other podcast, and we talk a lot about Jimmy Garoppolo. The best attribute Jimmy Garoppel currently has, as I'm recording this on November 5th, is that you don't owe him any money. And you basically can get out of his contract whenever you want. It's the one thing like Jared Goff, for example. Can you imagine if Jared Goff was on Jimmy Garoppel's contract? The question would be, is Sean McVegan to move off from Jared Goff this offseason? Can he find a younger replacement? Can they draft a guy, but we don't waste time with that conversation because they can't. He makes so much money that you're stuck with him. And even, I don't think that would necessarily be a conversation

with Carson Wentz, but the reality is check his contract. He's going nowhere. Matt Ryan, all these guys. They just, Kirk Cousins, you're stuck with these guys. So you got to make it work. Jimmy Garoppel, you're not stuck with anything. Now, it's easy for me to say, just cut him and figure it out because we saw when they tried to figure it out before, they ended up with Brian Hoyer and C.J. Bethard, and they were one in nine. The team sucked. So I think they're in somewhat of a predicament,

though it's a positive predicament because it's contract, you can just, at the end of the day, if you've got to cut him and move on, you've got to cut him and move on. I've got a lot of 49ers questions. What do you think about the 49ers trading for Sam Darno this offseason?

Would he be a better fit than Garoppolo? he'd be a better fit than Garoppolo in the sense of he's way cheaper. He's way younger, and in theory he's still moldable. You know, Jimmy Garoppel is about 29 years old. Sam Darnold has just been through the ringer, but I think he came in the league at 21, so he's 24 years old. Now, you would only have one more year of the cheap contract with Sam Darnold next year. You'd have to pick up the fifth year option. Really, you'd have to pick up the fifth year option when you trade it for him.

So it is a little complicated. It's not like you get Sam Darnold with two years remaining. on his four-year guaranteed contract, and then in a year you have to pick up his fifth-year option. You have to pick up the fifth-year option before you play the season. Now, let's just look at it logically. Sam Darnold.

They get the number one pick. They're going to take Trevor Lawrence. Who is trading for Sam Darnold? Let's just look at some logical teams. Patriots. They would never trade Sam Donald to the Patriots. The Colts, I think they would be interested and probably trade their first-round pick,

assuming Chris Bauer likes them, and I think I hear Colin talk enough. We know Collins, boys are Chris Ballard. I think it's fair to say they would be interested. The Steelers. Now, if the Steelers win this year, unless Rothersberger goes Elway, what do you think Rathesberger's going to do? He's going to come back. Now, if you're the Steelers, would you just give your first round pick and just have one year behind Rathusberger? Wouldn't make a lot of sense because Rathesberger makes big money. Darnold, even though he doesn't make huge money, was still the third pick in the draft, and he'd have to pick his fifth-year option, but it would be somewhat

of a contingency plan. Maybe you let Darnold take a deep breath, be your backup. But ideally, if you trade for Sam Darnold, you want to play Sam Darnold. So I wonder if the Steelers would be as aggressive doing that as they probably should be. Because in the perfect world, they'd,

like if you're a Steeler fan, you win the Super Bowl, Rathesberger retires and you, like, go get Sam Darnold and then you got your young quarterback. But you could argue, like, Rothesberger is a better player in Sam Darnold right now, and he probably is. But I think Sam Darnel will look pretty good with the Steelers.

I think the Niners would definitely be in the mix. So, yeah, I mean, would the Niners give their first round pick? I doubt it, but it's up to Kyle. He's the quarterback guru. New York Giants fan here. How do scouts and coaches around the league view Evan Ingram? The media and game day coverage seem to think he's an elite tight end who needs the ball more and is one of the better ones in the league.

The eye test shows me that he's built like a great athlete, but overrated talent-wise. He routinely misses blocks and too many catchable balls. Am I off base here? Side note. Can you provide a word of optimism for Giants fan going forward, even if possible? If even possible? Yeah, listen, I think Joe Judge is doing a good job. Clearly, their team is pointed in the right direction in terms of physicality,

in terms of preparation. Like, they show up ready to play. And they're flying around and hitting people in the mouth. They just lack some talent. I think it was a Pittsburgh Steelers scout, and this would make sense. Maybe it was someone told me this, that a team that he had worked for when I worked in Philly had this maybe it was Bill Polian

I forget exactly who it was but when I was in the league someone told me this or someone told me that they were told by a GM and the GM was really good the franchise whoever the franchise was at the time

was like one of the best teams of the league so it was probably the Colts or the Steelers it wasn't the Patriots they had a philosophy if you had bad hands they did not fuck with you and it was more toward wide receiver but I think it works for tight ends too

because Evan Ingram was, right, a first round pick. Now, my philosophy has always been like, you know, I can live with guys with questionable hands if you make place. Like, if you're a D.K. Metcalfe, I can live with some drops, right? Like, Terrell Owens didn't have great hands.

Vernon Davis with the Niners, Freak did not have great hands. You know, Julio Jones coming out of college, you know, had some drops. I can't live with drops if you're like Keenan Allen or Devante, like the great route runners. And typically, Keenan Allen, Devonte, like, they got the best hands, right?

Jarvis, my slot receivers. Like, to me, Jarvis sometimes drops the ball a little too much for me. But the point of this, like, in the draft room, if drops were an issue, and I think this is true for some good teams, it's a non-starter. We are not drafting you. I don't care how talented you are. Because Evan Ingram, elite athlete. You watch a move and you're like, God, this,

guy, 6-3, 245, runs like a deer. I mean, can fly. Ran a 4-2-40. You see it on tape, and then the ball hits his hands, hit the ground. And I haven't watched every giant snap this year, but I've seen three or four drops that should have been catches, that Travis Kelsey, that George Kittle, that Darren Waller, that those guys catch. So I think sometimes, like, if you have questionable hands, you just become kind of average, even though you get open. And at the end, of the day, you didn't draft Evan Ingram to block. So I, like, I don't, I don't crush guys like Evan Ingram, Zach Hertz, like, if they don't want to block.

They're not blockers. Like, that ain't their thing. Like, they're basically wide receivers, which gets back to my point of, it's hard to be a great wide receiver if you drop the ball. And right now, is he overrated talent-wise? Might be fair to say, because he drops the ball. Is it just me or does Don Brady look like he's having less fun? than he did in New England.

Seemed like he had more energy on the sideline and was less pissed off and Mopee as a Patriot. Well, they won consistently. So they, and let's be real, they beat the shit out of a lot of people. Like, just think about the Patriots over the last just decade. How many games do you look up and like the Patriots were up double digits? It has been a challenge in Tampa, which it should have been. New offense, new coaches, new teammates. change is hard.

Changing as a quarterback, like, if you get a divorce or break up with someone and get a new girlfriend, usually the early part of that relationship is the best part, right? You're hanging out, having a bunch of sex, you're kicking it. I mean, it's great. And then as the relationship gets more real,

it gets more serious. It's actually the opposite as a quarterback. The honeymoon phase, in theory, is like, later. Like, as the end of the season, Super Bowl, or the second season. Typically that first season, I remember never forget Matt Ryan, won the MVP,

went to the Super Bowl year two. After the first year, he's like, I was going to go to Dan Quinn and tell him I couldn't work with Kyle Shanahan. They had to have like an offseason where Matt Ryan and Kyle Shanahan

just like took a weekend together and got beers. They were button heads. Sometimes when you have an established quarterback and established coach and Tom Brady's not just an established quarterback, right? He's the greatest quarterback of all time.

Bruce Ariens never won a Super Bowl, but I think we all acknowledge he's a really, really good coach. There's going to be a huge learning process. Then you have all these new players, you have a new playbook, you have a new offensive line. No honeymoon phase. It's actually the intense phase,

especially when you factor in Corona. No off-season, no training camp. I guess you had training camp, but no pre-season games. And training camp wasn't normal training camp. So that phase, like in normal life, when you usually get a new job or get a new girlfriend, it's the most fun time. It's easier, it's cool, it's all new.

When you're Tom Brady, like, his standard is Super Bowl or bust. Think how many people we can count on hand that their standard in sports is championship or bust, right? Happens in college, I'd say Nick Sabin for sure. Dabo now that even Ryan Day, like, if Urban Meyer was still the coach at Ohio State, I'd say Urban Meyer. But I can't put Ryan Day in that category. though the Ohio State program is, but not Ryan Day. In football, it was always Belichick and Brady. That was their standard. Super Bowl or bust.

Hell, I'd even say the Chiefs with Mahomes and Andy, I don't even think you can say that yet. Now, if they win another one, then you can be like, okay, that's the new standard. But like, with Belichick, that's his standard, his team's not good enough. Like, Tom did not go to Tampa to play in the playoffs. He went to win another Super Bowl.

Period, point blank, end of story. And I think when, like, with the Patriots, It was always big picture. He was there for the long haul. This is kind of a little short, short-term deal. You know? I mean, it's really just get in, get out. Like, I vacationed.

Vacation would be strong. I spent a weekend with a friend of a girlfriend. I've become buddies with him too. And he's a dominant little real estate house flipper. And he crushes it. And he was telling me about it. It's really remarkable how they go in, they go out, they flip it. They make their, you know, 20% margin.

Hell, he says 15% depending on, you know, in and out, 60 days. I mean, it's just, that's their goal. Brady's two-year contract, in and out. I mean, it's just, and his goal is, I would say, in those two years, to at least win a Super Bowl. Definitely to get there. Anything else at massive failure firm. The Phillip Rivers, like, they make the playoffs with the indie.

It's cool. That's good. Like, that's a win. They're the Colts. I mean, they didn't make it. the playoffs last year. They make the playoffs this year, win a game, give them an outstanding ovation. Tom Brady, making the playoffs, winning a playoff game ain't good enough. So I think there's part of it, the stress, the intensity. That was always there in New England, but his teens were

always good. And they were dominating. The division was easy. Just, it's hard. I think you see it on his face like the challenge. Should the Cowboys start thinking about Trevor Lawrence? Maybe they should trade Vanderesh or some of the receivers to get more picks to maybe move up to the number one pick. In my opinion, I think the fact that DAC was asking for premium money, premium money, when he clearly is not elite, Mahomes, Wilson, Rogers, and Jerry Panzeek early when, in my opinion, he hasn't done much, really F them over in getting premium free agents.

I think the problem is, man, is you could have Van der Wresh, you could have Gallup, you could have whoever picks. The Jets ain't trading Trevor Lawrence. They're going to draft Trevor Lawrence and they'll trade Sam Donald. So it's not even an option. When you get the first pick with an Andrew Luck, with a LeBron James, you know, with Trevor Lawrence,

you just pick the player. You know, it's just, I don't give a shit what you offer me. I want the player. And that's ultimately what's going to happen. Lifelong Packers fan, but watching us lose of the Vikings this past weekend just seems to further my point that we don't really need a number two wide receiver.

We need some defensive adjustment. we need some defensive adjustments whether that be the defensive coordinator the players effort whatever it may be i can see the league seeing this team as the same one as last year if moves are not made by tuesday what are your overall thoughts on the packers well i'm recording this part before the thursday night game so who knows what's going to happen well i guess you already know what's happened and technically i know what happened but i'm recording this about 430 pacific time because you know i don't like staying up till midnight on Thursday nights after I watched the game. I think my overall take on the Packers is this.

You're right, their offense, when everyone's healthy, is fine. That ain't the issue. There's a softness, and there always has been a softness to the Aaron Rogers Packers. It was the reason when they played San Francisco with their best teams. They won the Super Bowl and then 11 and 12 and 13. I mean, they had great teams, and the Niners hit them in the mouth. They were just more physical than them. Then they lost the NFC championship game that they should.

to one. Part of that was McCarthy was a puss, you know, kicking the field goals and not going for it. And then the last couple of years, even before the Packers fell off a cliff, they've been soft on defense. And you watch them like, they get, they're not a very good run defense. And when you don't have a good run defense, in the playoffs, football slows down. Like, we see some shootouts, but that game that you saw against the Minnesota Vikings, 28 to 22, that is much more like a playoff game, right? Just running the ball, slow the game down. Adalvin Cook is a playoff level player

and he annihilated them. And you look at the type teams they would play in the playoffs, well, you'd get an Alvin Kamara. You'd get the Rams who want to run the hell out of the ball. You'd get Tampa Bay who has Leonard Fournette and Ronald Johnson look really good. And Brady

and they're just very physical. Say what you want about the Saints. Like, they are a physical team. Tampa's is a physical team. the Rams are a pretty physical team. The Cardinals aren't really, and I think the Packers would beat them. You've got to be physical to win. What do I say about winning the Super Bowl?

It would be my question mark. To win a Super Bowl, you need a good defense and a great quarterback. Obviously, Rogers is a Super Bowl level player. You can win the Super Bowl with Aaron Rogers. Breaking news. Can you win the Super Bowl with the Packers defense? I would say no. I mean, last year the Niners eviscerated them in the play.

game. I mean, just destroy. It was embarrassing. They got embarrassed. Now, I don't know if there's a perfect matchup like that to happen again, but the way to beat Aaron Rogers and it's happened early in his career and it happened last year in his career late in the playoffs, it just score so many points that he can't even do anything. Just destroy their defense.

Make him the non-factor. And I think that would be the question mark right now. Is their defense good enough? They didn't make any moves at the trade deadline. obviously this after the trade deadline, but is their defense good enough? Because I'd say right now I couldn't pick them to win the Super Bowl with their defense.

Appreciate everyone listening. Godspeed, have a great week. See you. Subscribe to the podcast. Leave a review. Unsubscribe, then subscribe again. Probably helps out. I don't know.

That's what part of my take you say. I don't even know if that works. But adios. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1-800flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting desktable. destination. 1-800 flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise. Shop thousands of unique gifts at 1-800flowers.com for exclusive offers

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