The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Rookie QB's, Urban's NFL Transition, Tua Pressure, Hurry Up NFL Headlines, Mailbag

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

In this episode, John analyzes the different situations the rookie QB's are in, which should start or sit in week 1, what factors are working against Urban Meyer as he transitions to the NFL. He also gives his quick takes on the other top NFL headlines from the week, 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.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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 IHeart 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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 Clifers 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1800flowers.com.

From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1,800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stemmed Enchanted Flowers.com. rose medley for $3999 or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. What is going on, my good people? John Middellcop, that would be me.

Three and out podcast. That would be what you're listening. Back again. August 17th, maybe 18th. Hell, maybe 19th. It's a podcast. You can listen to whenever you want. want football isn't just back in the air.

We had a full weekend of games. We are rocking and rolling. Kind of. Kind of. It's preseason. But preseason, I think we all admit, is better than no season. And football is basically officially back. I mean, we're less than a month away from week one.

Let's get going. Now, preseason games, as they get going, especially by the second half, can be a little rough. But, you know, when we got guys like Andy and Ariens and Belichick that are playing their starters, I can do. that. Now, I don't blame anyone for not playing their starters. I subscribe, despite having worked for Coach Reed. I'm more of a coach McVe-style guy because I cringe at the thought of anyone getting carted off the field that matters. Now, I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. Andy's been doing it

for a long time. One of the best coaches ever. Ring on his finger, he likes playing his guy. So does Belichick, so do all the guys. So that's a fun part of the preseason. The problem is, is a lot of McVeigh guys now are head coaches and they don't play a soul. We saw with LaFleur, Aaron Nagler, I saw it on Twitter, put out a tweet. I mean, it was just public knowledge of the guys that weren't playing. I swear to God, it was like 50 guys on the team. It's basically it's too deep. So the Packers, the Rams, it just depends who you're watching.

You know, it just depends who you're watching. But we got rookie quarterbacks. Going to dive into rookie quarterbacks. Some pressure on an individual that's just, I think, going to be a constant talking point. a thought on something I saw that stood out when I was enjoying the Browns Jaguar game. Stafansky, also a guy, plays nobody.

Again, like Kevin Stafansky, Ivy League guy, his dad was the president of the Sixers. And then it will just fly through some topics and different things I saw from around the league this weekend and just on this Monday. Of course, the Middilkoff mailbag at John Middilcoff is my Instagram. That's my Instagram.

Direct messages wide old. open, you fire in the DMs, and you get a question read here on the show. If you're listening on Collins feed, subscribe to the three and out feed, subscribe and leave a review if you could, Apple iTunes. I know we got Spotify users, but if you listen on Apple and iTunes, if you have not left a review, would greatly appreciate you leaving a review so we can keep making some money and we can keep doing this. It helps the business and the algorithms.

I don't know, man, I just talk about football. but I do know being in the podcast biz that it does help out the salespeople. So let's dive in. Rookie quarterbacks. They were all the talk of the town. In my town, on the internet streets, everywhere. We all paid attention.

If you didn't watch the games live, you probably YouTube them. It's a little website owned by Google. And checked out how they looked. And listen, as someone who probably consistently makes fun of preseason football and somewhat of it's sarcasm and somewhat of it serious. Like at the end of the day, it's a bunch of third string guys by the second half playing against each other.

The overwhelming majority of human beings will not be participating in this season. Some will, but most will not. But I am a sucker, always have been, and still am for elite drafted talent. And I will watch them in meaningless. games. I've gone to spring training several times. I really enjoy spring training. When I was younger and used to read newspapers, this thing was like this paper, they delivered it to your front yard. If you're listening to this and you're under 35, you probably don't get one anymore. They used to be a big deal in society. Now they no longer are, at least the tangible

one. Some people still read them on the internet. But I used to love reading about spring training prospects. In the NBA, I went to Summer League back before it was really cool to go to Summer league. Actually saw Dame Lillard, that rookie class. Dremont Green was in the rookie class, Harrison Barnes. Dame Lillard was the best player by far in the summer league. Went for like three or four days. It was freaking awesome. He's gone on to obviously be an elite player. It's really cool. I have a soft spot for doing that. No different than in football when it comes to these rookie quarterbacks that are drafted in the top 15. I enjoy watching them play. Now it doesn't mean we can come to some grand conclusion because ultimately this is the long game.

these teams pulled the trigger on these players for the future. Not for today, not for a week, and not even necessarily for this year. Though they're all going to be on somewhat different paths. Now, my stance on this has been pretty consistent and it's not going to change. And that does not mean that I'm right. It's just my personal opinion. Because I'm not in the building every day. I'm not around these guys every day.

I once was. And you have such a beat on your team, on the personalities, that it's understandable why sometimes these teams think the media and the fans are kind of crazy because they're not living and dying in it every day. And I've also been on the side when I was in the inside. I think we can make too big a deal of that. Just throw the guy out there, let him play.

Just because he's crappy in practice. Let's see what he's got in the game. But I remember that Harold Varner, guy on the PGA tour, a couple years ago was in the final group with Brooks Kepka. He's never won on the PGA tour. He's one of the few black guys on the tour. And I'm a fan of his game.

And he crumbled on Sunday. I think he shot like 80. And he's been close a couple times. He's sponsored by the Jordan brand. And he reached out to Tiger and he asked him advice on how to get it done, on what it takes. And Tiger's advice to him was very simple. It was run your own race.

And I think too often we get caught up in other shit that's out of our control, whether we're an NFL team or whether we're human. Think how many people you know, and probably you, and I know I can be guilty of when you see your friend get a new car, you go, I got to have a new car. When you see someone you know, redo their kits, and you're like, I want to do that. It's like, well, maybe you're not ready to do that. Maybe you don't have the money to do that. You get obsessed with other people.

I know as someone who's now in his mid-30s like, when are you going to have a kid? Are you going to have a kid? Well, I got to meet someone to have a kid with that I feel like I want to have a kid with. Yeah, I can have a kid right now. But is that the right thing to do? Probably not. I got to meet someone to have a kid with that I want to have a child with

with and who wants to have a child with me. But there are pressures in society that a lot of people succumb to and then they're miserable because of it because you're constantly forcing outside stuff to force you. You have to run your own race. You have to do what's best for you.

I know me professionally hasn't been as normal and I'm sure I've been judged by people in my inner circle. When I say inner circle, family, friends, whatever. I don't care. Now, it's just human nature once you hear it said, it's understandable to let it impact you

or to try to do things for other people. And every time you do that, it typically, you don't feel great about it, right? And I think teams have to focus. All these teams are in different situations. The Jags, every game they play this year is irrelevant. They are going to be terrible. Trevor Lawrence is clearly going to play every game

as long as he stays healthy as he should. They don't even have, I guess, Gardner Minchew, but it's not like they have some backup, like a McCown, like a Chase Daniel, like an, you know, I know Andy Dalton's a starter, but an older vet to like teach this guy. He's just going to sink or swim. And I agree with that mindset.

It's a number one overall pick. Let's see what he's got. Two, Zach Wilson. Like, listen, whatever you think about him, it's been a struggle in training camp, look pretty good against the Giants. I think they've done him somewhat of a disservice. They do not have a veteran.

Look at the backup quarterbacks for him. I've never heard of three of the guys. This backup quarterback might be a guy they drafted last year. And it's going to be very, very difficult for him. Right? That team could be terrible. They plan a tough division. It could go really wrong.

But he's going to get to sink or swim as well. The problem is the infrastructure there, people to help him out, don't really exist. But they're not really worried about that. The Jags and the Jets are cool. Just throwing the guy to the fire. None of their games mean anything. They have coaches who have never been head coach. is in the league, obviously Urban, who will get to a little later, has been a head coach,

Sala definitely not, he's only been a coordinator for four years, but they're just going to let those guys have at it, because they can win four games and it's fine. Then the next two guys, who to me are big time talents, Justin Fields and Trey Lance, that if you watch them play this weekend, you go, damn, they have a lot of ability. Trey Lance's ability to push the ball downfield and move around, Jimmy can't. Justin Field, I don't think people quite understand how fast he is. There are two quarterbacks in the league that are faster. Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray.

And both those guys are four-three guys. Justin Fields is a 4-4 guy. And you see when he runs, he flies by guys. Like Deshawn Watson, for example, is viewed as a running quarterback. Deshaun Watson ran a 4-66. Deshawn Watson, relative to a lot of NFL defenders, is not that fast. Russell Wilson hasn't run by anyone in years. Justin Field has elite speed.

Even Trey Lance is not that fast. Trey Lance is like a 4-5-5 guy. But this is very, very difficult. In both these two teams, obviously Nagy's trying to make the playoffs. The 49ers view themselves as a Super Bowl team. Again, you guys know where I stand. I would start both those players.

But it's easy for me to say. I sit on my couch and I talk about football. I can say whatever I want. There are no repercussions. That's my job. I'm not in the right or wrong business. I'm just saying what I think. and whether I'm right or wrong, it ultimately doesn't impact my bottom line.

If people listen and like what I say, that's all that matters. Where for Kyle Shanahan and Matt and Aggie, like, they are trying to win games. Now, I might disagree, and you might disagree, the Jimmy Garoppolo and definitely Andy Dalton given the best chance, but they believe that. And it's pretty clear that Andy Dalton is starting. That's just going to happen. I would not do that, but he's going to start. I think Jimmy Garoppolo, listen, he's going to start as well.

Now, Jimmy Garoppolo at this point in time is better than Andy Dalton. Andy Dalton hasn't been good in a couple years. I also don't value as much. You know, well, he knows the offense like the back of the hands. Well, he knows all the audibles. Well, he can get us in and out. Yeah, can he make place. Because ultimately, I can live with those two guys going through the ups and downs.

And listen, they would have some downs. Trey Lance could have thrown multiple picks in the game. Justin Fields probably going to turn the ball over. I can live with that because I'm going for the high end. I'm going for the upside. Those coaches though right now clearly don't feel good about the downsides because interceptions in their games when they're trying to win, especially early on like the bears are opening up against the ramps.

The Niners open up against probably one of the worst teams in the league of the Lions but I was talking on my other podcast, which obviously we talked all 49ers. What if they started Trey Lance week one and he throws two picks in the first half and they're down at halftime. You think Kyle Shanning might bench them. Is that the way you want to start? So historically, up until the last three or four years, you just sat guys for a year, maybe two.

Hell, some guy sat for years. That is not the case anymore. There's too much pressure. And let's face it, there's too much money on the line. And I'm not just talking about the individual player, but your greatest asset of all these quarterbacks is their contract. Once they start playing, the whole team becomes cheaper.

Look at Baker Mayfield. They have built up a great roster in Cleveland because Baker doesn't make that much money, even though he was the number one overall pick. So the faster you play them, the faster you benefit that, but you also have to focus on the here and now. You have a game in three weeks that counts, right? And the other team is going to try to beat you. And if your guy is overwhelmed or you don't feel like he knows all the playbook,

no matter how explosive he is, if you feel like he could screw up constantly, I understand where that makes coaches nervous. And coaches live much more in the day-to-day than people like me do, than definitely the fans do. We think bigger picture. Like, let this guy throw him in the deep end, right?

That has always been my stance. But that's not going to happen with those guys. And in fairness to them, talking about running your own race, like, I do think Kyle has a pretty good beat on Jimmy. And they have a unique situation because Jimmy had a lot of success with a lot of the players on their own team.

where Andy Dalton, I think is a little more, a little more difficult because I don't think he has equity with the teammates. And then you look at Mack Jones. And listen, my, I was not anti-Mac Jones. I think Mac Jones was a good college football player. I was anti-Mac Jones as a top-fight pick. In no world in the history of the NFL that a guy of Mac Jones physical attributes get drafted in the top five.

That was my issue. Could you take them in, I even think 15's a little rich. I'd like to take him in like the late 20s, early 30s, but he was the fifth quarterback off the board. That feels right to me. And when you watch him, he can go through his progressions faster than all these guys. That's what he brought to the table.

That's why he was a highly touted prospect, right? It wasn't his speed, it wasn't his height, it wasn't his arm strength, it was his intelligence and accuracy. So he, I compared him to like in the NBA draft. There were several guys in the NBA draft. a dude from Oregon, Chris Duarte, the dude from Baylor, Davion Mitchell, who were ready-made. They were older, they've dominated in the summer league, they were ready to kick ass right now. The Warriors, instead of taking those guys, went with Jonathan Cominga, a 19-year-old who played in the G-League that skipped college, who's just a freak.

Obviously, if you need to win a game, you know, in October, one of those guys is going to be better off than Cominca. But that's not the way you draft. But the Patriots don't necessarily think like that. The Patriots live day to day week to week. Also, Belichick, of all these guys who were drafted in the first round, is the least emotionally connected to fucking anything. If Mack Jones were to suck in two years, Belichick will just cut him or trade him.

He won't care. So there is less because he has way more equity than all these coaches combined, you know, tied up in his franchise. So if it does fail, it's like whatever, he does it all the time. Now, it'd be a little more controversial with the quarterback. And listen, Mac Jones, when it's all said, done, might end up starting week one. My issue with Mac Jones was, I don't think he's going to get any better. But for these guys, Belichick's trying to win, and if this guy gives him better chance,

he's kind of ready-made right now. The knock on him was, like, he's not going to look any different. And I still believe that's the case. So I think we're looking at all these quarterbacks. 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tick. Talk Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. Clearly, 84 is 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 Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. 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 are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now dramatically different situations and and it's understandable even if you differ from the outcome and the decision they make with who starts and who doesn't relative to fields and lance all the other definitely the first two guys are starting

and mac jones when the dust settles i think he ends up starting as well fox sports radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation catch all of our shows at fox sports radio dot com And within the IHeart Radio app, search FSR to listen live. As a few-moo, we can't get-seller in this time in the pandemic to ensure. Now, we have to ensure them more important to the best tool. We're doing the most important thing

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Visit Adoptuskids.org 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. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination.

Our sense of wonder. And our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this 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.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Let's dive into Urban Meyer. And usually I record from my other show on Sunday because the Niners, they played on Saturday.

I had Sunday off. So I played golf. And I played golf with a buddy and a really good friend known for a long time. And we talk a lot of business whenever we're hanging out. And we tell each other our stories and throw things off each other. And he's potentially going through a transition right now. He might leave his company to go to another company. Same industry, though.

The construction business. Now, it's somewhat of a startup. A guy just bought this company. He kind of gets to start in on the ground floor and be, you know, one of the early members of this new company. Now, he might take a little less money, but big picture, he might be able to make a ton more. But ultimately, as he was describing this to me,

is it's the same exact business model as he's been working on. So he thinks that he's going to be pretty successful, and this has a chance to be pretty big. It makes a lot of sense. He's like, I can actually bring a lot to the table because the business, what we're going to be doing is exactly the same. And I think that happens to a lot of people listening, right? And definitely my generation, people like 40 and under have never changed jobs more. Like my parents' generation, they worked the same job their entire life. Both of my parents did.

They held the same job my entire life, both of them. and they had those jobs before I was even born. That is not the case with people my age. We bounce around at crazy levels. They think we're nuts. But it's just we're different. And people in pro sports have always done that, right? If you go to a bio and look at a coach, look at an executive,

most of them have worked with countless teams. Here's the thing, though. When you bounce around the NFL, it doesn't change. When you bounce around college, it doesn't change. Now, there might be tweaks year in, year out, right? Salary cap changes, free agencies adapted in the mid-90s, NIL in college football, recruiting changes. Obviously, it's no different than if you're a sales guy in construction,

regulations happen all the time. But the actual business model doesn't change that often. I've always thought there is a dramatic difference, and I was lucky enough to work in both. Now, I didn't work for a Power 5 program at Fresno State, but we were Division 1. And then I went to the NFL. It was like two completely different worlds. Yet when I got to the NFL, we ran some of the same plays that we ran at Fresno State.

Some of the same exact concepts. We ran. Coached them the same, thought of them the same, ask our players to do the same. The football on the field doesn't change that much. and I'd argue the same for high school. Now obviously things adapt in football, spread offenses, power off, whatever. But as we've seen now more than ever, you might turn on an NFL game, you might turn on a high school game, they're running the same spread concepts.

Where it changes, though, is the business element of the sport. When you're at Florida and when you're at Ohio State, you have the pick of the litter. Every single guy you recruit and signed to a scholarship is the equivalent. equivalent of a first round pick. Remember, Pat Hill used to always say this at Fresno State. Our biggest disadvantage at Fresno State, relative, and at the time, this is when USC Pete Carroll, every one of their picks, you know, every one of their recruits was equivalent of a top 10 pick.

Yet at Fresno State, most of our recruits would have been equivalent to like a great recruit for us was like a third round pick. Most of them were like fifth, sixth, seventh round guys. Now, that doesn't mean that those guys can't become NFL players, but you are at a disadvantage. where in the pros, every team gets the same amount of first through seventh round picks. Now, obviously trades happen and that changes, but it is completely different. In college, you can't cut a guy just because he sucks.

In the pros, you cut guys all the time. In the pros, you have guys on your roster making more money than you. That is clearly not the case in college. In Urban Meyer, and I'm watching some of the Jags Browns, now the Jags are bad. they are a joke franchise. They have drafted the top 10 basically the entire decade, except for the one year when they made the AFC championship game. And clearly the core guys on that team immediately got traded or cut.

They are no longer on the squad. They had a stretch, I think, for five years where they drafted in the top five. The last couple of years, they drafted one, nine, they draft high all the time. They never, ever win. And there's basically little to no history. So I'm just watching the Jags play the Browns and thinking, Urban Meyer went from like sitting first class to in the back of the bus.

Like, and I get an NFL job is an NFL job. That is by far the worst NFL job. Honestly, I don't think it's really close. But also I think this. Guys that have made the jump, like Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh, quote-unquote, went from college to the pros and had success. Pete Carroll had been a coach in the NFL multiple times,

a head coach. and a coordinator in the pros. Jim Harbaugh had like a 15-year NFL career. And then when he got into coaching, he worked for Al Davis. Hell, even Matt Rule, who went from Baylor to Carolina, had spent a year with the New York Giants. When you look at the most recent biggest failure, it was Chip Kelly, who had never coached in the NFL.

Hell, he had only been in Division I for like six years. It was a massive jump, and ultimately it didn't work, he couldn't deal with personalities. Now, Urban Meyer is a better coach than Chip Kelly. But like Chip Kelly, he's never worked in the pros. And I'm watching the game, and they start, one of their best players is James Robinson. He's a running back.

I had multiple people on other teams tell me, you know, that we really liked that guy in the draft last year. It was a mistake. We should have picked them. We loved him coming into it. We weren't shocked to see a success. That guy is a stud. Carlos Hyde, who is currently their second running back.

They drafted Travis E.TN with a second first round pick. Now, think of this in college, right? You got 20 recruits every year. You sign a running back. You sign basically every position. So in Urban Meyer's mind, in college, like you're always bringing in sweet running backs. In the pros, it doesn't make any sense.

You have a second first round pick. Why aren't you taking someone in the lines? Take a corner. To me, that was baffling. And Trent Balke, his general manager, answers to Urban Meyer. Trent Balky's not in charge. That one's on Urban Meyer.

And I'm just watching these jersey colors and just thinking, is this possible it's going to work? And we've all seen some of the Tebow videos gone viral. Listen, I've said many times I think it's pretty irrelevant. 90-man rosters, who cares? But the moment some of these clips go viral of him not being able to block, like this is the National Football League, pretty embarrassing. You don't cut that guy immediately?

Like, kind of a clown operation. That's my first take. Like, yeah, it's kind of a clown. down deal. It feels very collegiant. Like, what are we doing here? And listen, the C.J. Henderson, the more and more information that comes out, I'm not going to put that on Irv Meyer.

And I ask around people in the league, like, what's Urban doing? That's a C.J. Henderson issue. Peter King wrote, they went to his house, trying to help. I'm not even putting that on. I'm just wondering, I think this transition for a guy who's an all-time great college coach,

if I was a betting man right now, and listen, I'm not even trying to take some big takeaway. The Browns with their third string guys. If that was a real game, the Browns would have beat them 50 to nothing. But they should. The Browns are a playoff team. The Jags are going to be drafted in the top

five. I'm not judging them on the game. I'm judging them on moves, and then I watch the game. E.T.N. comes in with the threes. I'm just thinking, what is going on here? And Trevor Lawrence, who was widely viewed, I was texting with a guy watching the Niners game. An executive on a very good team.

And I said, how did you guys rank the team? Or I said, how'd you? It wasn't necessarily his team's ranking. And he went Lawrence, Lance, Field, Wilson, Jones. That was his one through five of the top quarterbacks. Everyone worth their salt in the league inside the NFL, not the media people in the NFL,

agreed Lawrence was a big time player. I just, I think it's going to be very, very tough. He's never had any adversity. his first class problems at Clemson were like losing in the playoffs, losing in the national championship game. Like that was his adversity. And they are going to lose a ton of games. If I had to guess a record right now, I'd probably say four and 13,

something like that. Clearly more games than either guy is used to losing. It's going to be very difficult. And in fairness to Lawrence, I don't know if his coach is equipped to quite handle this league. Okay, I was reading Peter King's Football Morning in America. Used to be MMQB, but Albert Breer writes that.

I tried to read Albert Brewer's MMQB this morning, but SI, they want to charge me. I only get so many links a month that I can read. So it's like, hey, you lost me. You know, I pay for about 8 million services now. Hulu, Disney Plus, the athletic, you name it. Spotify. I just, I got to draw the line somewhere.

Sorry, SI. though I was a loyal customer for decades, and so were the middle cops even well before that. But if you're going to charge me to read Brewer's piece, I'm sorry, I'm out. And I love Albert and I love his piece. But so I went to Peter and he was free. And going through Peter's article, there was a section in which he talked to a coach

and thought that it was a travesty the way young quarterbacks were treated. I think mainly talking from the outside, the way fans, the way the media, They demand these guys to not only play early, but be great. And honestly, he's not totally wrong. There is a crazy amount of pressure on young players, where it just simply did not happen back in the day.

It was very understandable to ease guys into their careers. Now, easing a guy into a career, what Andy did with Patrick Mahomes is a complete outlier. And that is going to continue to be the case. Now, there are a lot of variables. I think number one is, again, is the money, the money you're spending on these players, the money, their salary cap, the impact of their contract relative to your team. But most teams, and let's face it, Mahomes went to a really good team, most teams aren't that good.

Well, it's why Trey Lance is such a polarizing topic. Like, people think the Niners are going to be good. But the Jags aren't, the Jets clearly aren't. They drafted one and two. The Bears, we'll see. I think they could be okay. The Patriots, you know, last year they went, what? what, 79? So we'll see.

But when you talk about these young quarterbacks, there's really one guy who gets to leave, you know, or lead a very old school life. And that's Jordan Love because he's got the MVP playing ahead of him. Now, it's a polarizing discussion because Rogers hates Goudicans. He's going to demand to trade, all that. But no one is forcing Jordan Love on the field.

Because Aaron Rogers won the MVP. he's going to try to win the MVP again. He's probably going to be sweet because most quarterbacks are in that offense and he's an all-time great talent. The Packers are loaded. It's probably going to go well. I would guess the Packers win 13 games this year.

And Jordan Love, who's kind of shitty, he's already hurt, but doesn't have to do anything besides just playing pre-season and be the backup, right? That is not the case for all these other young quarterbacks, definitely in his draft class, Tua, Borough, and Herbert. Now, Herbert has kind of been anointed because he had this great rookie season. We all think he's going to be really good, me included.

Burrow is going to get somewhat of a pass this year because he's coming off an injury, but last year we saw like he's pretty talented. Tua, to me, is what this coach is talking about. And I'm someone who's borderline closer to out on Tua than in. I would bet against Tua. If I had to place a wager, is this guy going to succeed in Miami or is this guy going to quote unquote fail? And when I say fail, I don't mean be a, be someone,

Royal Bust, he just might not be good enough relative to what they need. I think he could be serviceable. They don't need serviceable. They need a good quarterback. In a defensive division, in the AFC, which is loaded, it's going to be difficult. They start, their season starts this way.

Belichick, Sean McDermott, they get the Raiders whose defense is terrible. Then they get the Colts and the Bucks, who probably have two of the best defenses in the league. The Bucks might be the best defensive league and hell the Colts might be the second. that's who they got to play. So not an easy landing spot.

Now, he's a second year quarterback. They basically went and drafted a guy in the top 10 for him. They went and signed another receiver. They have a good tight end. Like, they've equipped this team for him to succeed. But the pressure on this player is going to be immense. It's going to be nuts. My theory has been now pretty consistently.

The reason he played last year, as Ryan Fitzpatrick said last week to the athletic, that he laughed when they told him he was benched because he thought it was a joke. The reason was the owner. I don't have any inside information on this. I'm just, it's pretty logical, right? You're Stephen Ross, your team's doing solid, you're watching Justin Herbert set the league on fire.

You've heard all about Tua for years. You're like, throw this guy in. Then they threw him in and it clearly didn't go well. Now, watching him in the preseason game, were they playing the Bears? I think they were playing the Bears. You know, made some nice throws. Also made a couple shitty throws.

don't know. I don't really see it. I think it's going to be a struggle relative to the other guys. But the pressure on him, more than any young quarterback, even including if Trey Lance gets in or Justin Fields, because this guy's in year two and his team is equipped to win. Now, obviously if Trey starts, there would be a lot of pressure on him too. But when it comes to Tua, I think this guy, the criticism, the intensity of the way he's talked about, of the way he's covered, A huge part of it is his story about the hype that he had coming out of college, about how we all thought he was a can't miss. And I don't know.

I mean, I think Miami could be in trouble. Not in trouble that they're not going to be able to win games. They're solid. They have good players on their team. Even if he's just an average guy, they can go 500. But when you went 10 and 6 last year and you got that. 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, this is right where you need to be. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'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 Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own

experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. 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 are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Close to the playoffs. 500 is not going to cut it. And if they are struggling, we saw last year,

they kept yanking them out of the game. I watched Jacoby Brissette. Now, listen, I'm not the biggest Jacoby Brissette fan, but there is no guarantee that the Tua is going to be as good as Jacoby Berset. There is zero guarantee. Absolutely none. And we have seen Brian Flores that if in the Pats game or in the Bills game, I mean, it's very conceivable.

They start O and two. Well, if in one of those games, they are struggling, you don't think they'll have a quick hook? You think they'll just let Tua learn by fire, learn by quote unquote doing? He did last year. Maybe he's changed his tune, but they went out of their way

to get a guy with experience, a guy that he's been around, a guy that Flores feels comfortable with. It's just something to keep an eye on. Because I don't even think it's close. Every pass, every quarter, every game, is going to be analyzed. It's such an intense,

just, there's this microscope on this player. Because let's face it, a lot of us on the outside, fans, people who talk about this for a living, are already kind of wishy-washy on them. So when you're already wishy-washy,

once the Titanic starts sinking, you've got no problem jumping off. You know, most people aren't jumping off if you really like a player. It's human nature. Whether you're a scout or whether you're a fan. If you believe in a player, you kind of hang on a little too

long. And sometimes, you know, the guy battles through and turns into a great player. I remember doing it with Devante Adams. Devante Adams was terrible his first year and a half. Everyone's like, this guy sucks. This guy's a bust. And I was adamant. I was like, I promise you. Now, I had inside information, Fresno State guy. I'd watch them since high school. I'm like, he's going to be fine. And I held on. I've done it to other people. And it's not gone well, right? I'm just talking on the outside. I'm sure if you're listening to this, you've done it with a player on your team. But I'm telling you, too, was going to be that guy. And I think the majority of people will leap off the Titanic fast, including his organization.

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You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide

through this fascinating world. Find a forest, you and start exploring at discover the forest.org brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Okay, let's go around the league and just some things that stood out this weekend or just some kind of, you know, talking points that are driving certain teams. The Denver Broncos are yet to name a starting quarterback. I would say, thinking off the top of my head, they probably are one of the few teams in the league

that have a true open competition. I guess the Saints, maybe too, even though most people feel like James is the guy, but the Broncos truly have one. I'm thinking around, I don't know if there really is one around the league. Even the Texans, you know, Tyrod's the guy. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think this is them and the Saints,

but the Saints is kind of a weird one. This is true, like which one's going to be the guy? Like, if you watch some of the highlights of that game, Drewlock is in a different world than Texas. Eddie Bridgewater as a talent. He has a much bigger arm. Now, he has some problems, and he's had some poor decision-making in his career.

But if he can just look anything like he looked over the weekend against the Vikings, you might as well just start with him. To me, I would 100% go with Drew Locke, because Teddy Bridgewater can come in at any moment. Teddy Bridgewater is immediately one of the best backups in the league. not the best backup in the league. When you're a good backup, it's easy for you to be the backup. I don't love Drew Locke as the backup. I like him as the starter, and then if it doesn't work out, you basically bench him and you realize he's not the guy and he's not going to be in your team next year.

And then you're just kind of all in with Teddy. But to me, it doesn't make sense to start with Teddy and then go to Drew Locke. Because Drew Locke, if he does play well, they get a lot of talent on their team. They got a ton of wide receivers. They got a sweet tight end. They got multiple running backs. Their defense is going to be really good. Vaughn Miller's back, Bradley Chubb, Patrick's Retain, their top 10 pick is a legit. They got good players. So to me, if they had a top 10 quarterback, they'd be a playoff team. Now, I'm not saying either one of these guys is a top 10 quarterback. Clearly, Teddy is not. Drew Locke just has physical skills that can maintain that. Right? And when I say maintain that, I'm saying play up to that level. Now, is he even a top 20

quarterback. Probably not. But if it's 17 games, he can have 8 to 10 good ones. Maybe you're able to win 9 10 games and compete for a wildcard spot. I don't think you're able to do that with Teddy. So to me, that one's a pretty easy decision. Cam Newton clearly, when you watch him throw, like it just doesn't look good. It's looked like the last couple years. Maybe that shoulder is never going to be right. And I saw Belichick the headline, like he's not being as, uh, Aggressive, a definitive is probably a better word than aggressive, about naming Cam the starter. I think he's starting to realize, like, this guy can't really complete passes.

Now, Cam does bring something to the table. His size and his legs, fantastic short-yardage quarterback, fantastic running quarterback, fantastic goal-line quarterback. You can use him in packages. It probably makes the most sense to just run your offense through Mac Jones and then use Cam as you see fit. Kind of like, as they've done with Taysam Hill over there. the years. I just don't understand. I'm going to talk about this every week. What are the Texans doing?

I guess Deshaun hasn't been there the last couple days. It's kind of, it's just an embarrassment. This whole situation on their side. Like they couldn't control Deshawn Watson sleeping with every massage therapist in town. That is not their fault. They did not create this situation, which on the outside, we don't know what happened. We just know they slept together. They've admitted that and Sean Watson was sleeping with them. all. Deshawn Watson's side has admitted that. Consensually, they claim.

So I do not blame the Texans for the masseuse thing. I do blame them for handling Deshaun Watson and letting him show up. The moment he shows up, because you're kind of pinching pennies, because if he wasn't there, you'd find him. What you should have done is the moment he shows up, send him home. Listen, we're not going to find you. We don't want you around. We don't want this circus here.

Because it's already kind of a circus. David Kelly, Casario doing weird shit. It just doesn't quite make sense. So when you add to Sean, it's like pouring gasoline on this fire. Because it already is kind of a franchise on fire. It would be an easy one. Send them home. When we figure this out, mainly when you figure this out, then we'll go from there.

A trade, ask you to come back, whatever. But every day bringing you to practice, having you run with the fours, putting you on the scout team on defense is just a joke. Something I saw that's a little bit of a red flag for just this individual. Stefan Diggs has a knee injury

and it's something that he wasn't able to practice this week. I saw Sean McDermott say he might not be able to practice this, you know, last week, now this week. He is a speed-wide receiver. Diggs is a guy who depends on elite speed, elite play speed. So to me if his knee injury is a concern,

He was one of the best players in the league last season. So it's just something to monitor. Because if he is not the same guy as last year, then maybe the bills aren't as good. A big reason they were such ass kickers and Josh Allen was so awesome was because of Dix, who had an all-pro type season.

Quinn and Williams, the third overall pick in the draft two years ago on the New York Jets is officially off pup. He's back. He was a guy that I really like coming out of college. fantastic interior pass rusher. Good for the Jets.

I mean, they need this guy. They actually might have a pretty good defensive line. Robert Sala runs a very aggressive scheme, but for his scheme to be good, it's not as much about the DBs, it's about the front. They need to get pressure and they need this guy to be good. The Jamal Adams thing is really a head scratcher to me. Feels like we're going to talk about it every week until he gets signed.

The moment you trade that many picks, how do you not have a financial number, ready to sign him last year. I just read today before I hopped on to do this podcast, and maybe by the time you're listening to this, he's officially signed, they are nowhere close. And I understand Jamal's arguing like he's a linebacker, he's a pass rusher, because he's their best pass rusher.

He's their second best linebacker behind Bobby Wagner, and he's their best DB. So in his mind, he thinks he's all these things. But remember several years ago with Jimmy Graham, claimed he was a wide receiver, like, bro, you play like a wide receiver, the arbitrator is not going to rule on your behalf. Jamal Adams is going to lose this fight.

He wants all this money because these other positions make more money than him. And I don't even necessarily blame him where he's sitting because he's kind of getting screwed. I see when I go to nine of practice with George Kittle. See these wide receivers making $22 million a year and you got George Kittle making like 1415. George Kittles is a $20 million player, but because of the position he plays, he doesn't get that much money.

Same thing's going to happen. been to Jamal Adams. But the moment you make that trade, I keep going back to Khalil Mack, they signed him right away. Same thing with the Rams. The Rams had a deal in place with Jalen Ramsey. He told them, like, I'm going to wait till a free agency, but I'm going to resign with you. And obviously it's easier with the corner because the corner market, you make more money, there's not as much argument. But this situation with Jamal Adams, like he's one of your better players. Like, I want him in a good frame of mind. You just mortgage the franchise basically to get them. And now you're going to pinch pennies.

I don't get it. Jordan Love, dinged up, watched a little bit of Jordan Love. He clearly is very, very physically gifted. He has a big arm. I saw the floor set after the game. You know, sometimes he's got to let it rip. He's aiming. And then he's like, you know, he hasn't played in the game in 600 days.

And I think sometimes some of the rookies last year, some just players that we're watching right now, like Mack Jones, he played in 13,000. games last year. Corona did not impact the SEC or Alabama at all. I don't even know if they know what Corona was in the South. In California,

some of our PAC 12 teams played like three freaking games. It was a joke. Trey Lance didn't even have a season. So I think sometimes we look at these guys like Jordan Love didn't get any reps. So really when you're judging him, you should look at it more like a rookie

than you should a second year player because he didn't even get a Corona season. I mean, you have to practice a little bit, but they had to jump right in and get ready to win. And then they were a winning team. He was probably running with the scout team. So I hope he's okay because to me these next two games, they're clearly not going to play Rogers. LaFleur doesn't really play his guys are very, very valuable to Jordan Love.

He might play the entire game. And one other thing that I thought of is what is on the line? And listen, at a show like this, I'm not talking about mid-round picks. But the reality is of the preseason is the guy who has the most on the line is a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh round player and an undrafted free agent. Now, we talk all the time about first round players. Those guys are locks to be on the team. Their contract is fully guaranteed for four years.

Name any first round pick, Naji Harris, who looked pretty good in the preseason game, by the way. Four year contract, guaranteed. He's our starting running back, right? uh, leatherwood from the Raiders for your contract guaranteed. Obviously all the quarterbacks. All the players.

Fully guaranteed contract. You know who's fighting for their, really their livelihood? Is a fifth round pick. And do you know what that guy has on the line? I think give or take, the average salary for a late round pick this fall would be around $800,000. That is a lot of money. If you make $800,000, you're in like the top 1% of society.

Do you know what's on the line if you get cut and have to be on a practice squad? You make $9,200 a week. That would work out to about $150K. So if you were on the roster the entire season, you make $150K. Now, depending, like if you live where I live, that's not that much money. If you live in, you know, if you play for, I don't know, one of the Florida teams or Texas teams, that's pretty good living. But the thing with the 150K as a practice squad player, 92, you live week to week.

You are not on the team all season. At any moment you could get cut. You might make it three weeks, then they cut you. And then you're not on a practice squad for another seven weeks. So it is a very, very tough lifestyle. It's not easy. Now, if you can survive for the whole week, $150,000, probably better than you would. get as just a college graduated 22 years old.

So it's still a solid living. But if I sign out of college to work at KPMG for 90 grand, I know I'm making 90 grand for the year. When I get signed to the practice squad, I might not know this right away, but I'll learn it quick. Weird stuff happens to the roster, I can get cut. And if no other team wants me, I don't have a job.

When I make the team as a fourth round rookie and I get that minimum salary, there's a decent chance. I'm going to be on the roster the whole year unless I get injured or unless I'm really, really bad. And then even if I'm really, really bad because I made the roster at minimum, I'm going to be on the practice squad

the whole year. So when you watch these games, if you're still watching in the second half, don't blame you if you turn off the TV. Just know there is a ton of money for the fringe guys on the line. I know this. I'd rather make 800 than 75, right? And who knows?

What if you're on the practice squad for eight of the 17 weeks? That's what it'd probably be, right? About 70, 75 grand. But if you make the big boy roster, you know, you're closer to a million than $500,000. So that's what I think about when I watch some of these games. Okay, time for the Middlecough mailbag. There's this thing called Instagram. It's owned by Facebook. And I have a handle called my name. That's what people call me, John Middlecough. There's an at symbol in front of it. Slide up in those DMs and you get a question to answer here on the show. Let's start with Joe.

Big fan helps me get through my weak commute to work. Question for the bag. I'm hearing almost every day that 21, 22 will be the season of the comeback. Zeke, Sequin, Sutton, Burrow, Bosa, McCaffrey, and Dack, just to name a few who went down last season. Do you believe these guys will have success this upcoming season and which of these guys has the highest ceiling for success? Which guys do you think will struggle to see success in the upcoming season?

season. Thanks for your time. Love to grab a beer anytime in upstate New York. I'll be completely honest. I haven't been to upstate New York ever. So 36 years on this planet yet to make it. If I ever get there, we can grab a beer for sure. Let's just go through the guys. Zique. Here would be a problem for Zique who at what you watch Hard Knocks, he looks skinny. He looked good. He looked fast. What if Dax banged up, their running game would suck. Now, if Dac, who's also in this list, is healthy, I can see both those guys having good seasons. Dak has a ton of wide receivers.

He will throw for a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns. If they are throwing the ball well, skinny Zique should be pretty good. Sequin Barclay, big time talent. His problem, their O-line is not very good. And if their quarterback isn't any good, how are they going to get open running lanes for Seekwon? Sutton just depends on his quarterback. If Drew Locke is the quarterback, then yeah, push the ball down the field.

If it's Teddy, I would, as a daily fantasy player, I don't know if I'd play many Denver Broncos. Burrow, a little nervous with the injury. I just think it's going to be a tough season kind of, you know, transitioning back to full health. It's human nature to be kind of hesitant on the knee. Bosa, being out at nine or practice, the dude is a freak show. If he can stay healthy, which is a major if in that family,

I could see him having a massive season, like 15 sacks. But again, can he stay on the field? If Christian McCaffrey is healthy, he will dominate. He's one of the elite players in the league. As someone who jumped ship from the financial industry to follow my passion, sports fitness, your takes about taking risks and doing what you love always resonate with me. Go bills. Just a nice little message.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I don't understand why linebackers aren't more valued. Looking at Micah Parsons for the Cowboys, he received mediocre draft grades, especially after missing out on the two cornerbacks. Even after everyone considers Parsons to have the potential to be a better Devin White.

To me, this is a steal to get him in the first round. Devin Wright, White was the fifth pick and Tampa was ridiculed for the pick. Not by me. However, he seemed to be the person who carried Tampa in the playoffs, made sure they were cheap. They were no cheap dump-off passes and shut down scrambling quarterbacks like Mahomes. There was a graphic from last year's Super Bowl that showed how Mahomes was being spied

the entire game by White. To me, a big and fast middle linebacker is more important than a pass rusher or small cornerback. What are your thoughts? I will take a pass rusher over every position beside quarterback. Pass rusher to me is the second most valuable position in the sport. but I am with you. I think linebacker is very, very undervalued.

I don't think DBs matter that much, unless you're talking Dion Sanders or Revis. Newsflash, Dion Sanders or Revis don't really exist. So I would much rather have Devin White or Fred Warner or Roquan Smith than like an above-average corner. Because as a linebacker, like those guys, in today's game, what Keeckley was, is, think how many teams,

throw to the tight end. Well, who covers that guy? That linebacker. Think how many guys have a Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamira. Who covers that guy? Your middle linebacker. Who is dependent on making every tackle

in the run game? That guy. I saw it with Bowman and Willis when Harbaugh got here. They dominated. They dominated the past game. They dominated past rushers when you blitz them.

And they dominated in the run game. They could do it all. I see it right now with Fred Warner. Like you say with Devin White, I'm with you. I would, if I think I have a big time talent and middle linebacker, I would not undervalue them. My question is this. If the Cowboys don't make the playoffs this season, is it a fire sale?

Do they pursue Watson bringing a different coach? Well, they're stuck with Dak. They just paid him a historic amount of money. He's going nowhere. Watson is not an option. The coach is done. If Mike McCarthy does not make the playoffs this year with the Cowboys, he will get fired. period point blank end of story

I don't even think that's a question Jerry is too old and he loves his breakfast sandwiches too much to watch McCarthy screw up them cowboys I'm a Giants fan but I think the biggest miss of the past draft was a Giants

passing on fields after watching Fields play now I only feel stronger about him Danny Dimes is just not as good and I don't see why GMs and teams can't see what seems to be obvious to a lot of people. Guess they just fear of being wrong

and hold out as long as possible. But I think the Giants will regret on missing out on fields. I would agree. I think teams, when they get stuck with a quarterback who has not done anything, they hold on to the belief

until the ship goes down. And I think you saw the Giants do that with Danny Dimes. I like Danny Dimes. He's probably like his career arc is probably destined to be like a Teddy Bridgewater. probably a good backup. One of those guys that makes $8, $9 million as a backup.

He's not a starter. I think this year is going to be very, very difficult for Danny Dimes. I'm with you. But the problem is for the Giants, they were never going to take a quarterback in the first round unless Joe Judge was adamant. And Joe Judge, despite being a former quarterback in college and like a wide receiver coach, special teams guy,

he feels like a defensive coach. I bet he wanted to take, now I guess they ended up taking a wide receiver in the first. round. But maybe he liked Danny Dimes coming out. Maybe Belichick did. I don't know. I knew scouts that like Danny Dimes coming out. I don't see it. And I'm sure, you know, I would rather have Justin Fields on my team than Danny Dimes. I don't think most people would argue with you there. Hey, this doesn't have to be on the show, but how, well, it's on the show. How do you recommend growing your audience? For, we have been podcasting for 16 episodes and about,

four months and have seen our average listeners continue to drop, which is understandable. You know, you tell all your friends, they'll listen the first two weeks, and then only the football fans stick around. So we went from averaging, I won't read the number, down to about, I won't read the number. I know consistency is the key, as well as having good content, which I believe our show is pretty good. Not great yet, but pretty good. Anyway, any advice or any suggestions would be great. I think the key is you have to be relentless. So you have to, when I say relentless,

I also mean consistent. You have to keep doing it every single week, multiple times a week. I put out right now two podcasts on this and really that's, as you'll find out relatively soon, I think that's going to be, we're going to add a week. Me and Guy put out at minimum four

and then a ton of YouTube content, constant content, constant content, content. Think how much content coward does every week. He does his show five days a week, three hours, and then that all gets cut up into podcasts and YouTube and video stuff. Then he now does the volume

stuff three days a week. That's a lot of content. So you just got to keep swinging. Now, obviously a guy like that already has a big audience. When you don't have an audience, and listen, everyone starts without an audience at one point. You have to use what's available to you. So to me, YouTube is a huge, huge, huge area of growth.

I don't think enough, the media spends all their time on Twitter. They fucking love Twitter. You know what doesn't happen on Twitter? If I post three and out or my other podcast on Twitter, I don't get any more listeners than if I don't post it on Twitter. Twitter to me has run its course. Yet no revenue is done there. Yet Instagram with video and definitely YouTube,

where they literally pay you, I would go to spend most of my time on this. those two areas and Facebook. I would spend little to no time on Twitter. Even though in sports, when you're talking about that feels like the place to be, I'm telling you it is not. So my number one recommendation would be to spend time on Instagram, spend time on YouTube, load all your stuff there.

And you've got to be willing to go a year, go two years. It might be a while. And honestly, you got to give it like three or four years to find out if it's going to work. You're not going to know right away. You're not. I didn't know three and out if it was going to

work the first couple years. We just kind of just kept swaying and just kind of kept trying to figure it out. It takes a long, long time.

So, and when you're starting just a normal person, not like from a radio, not like with a built-in audience, you got to be willing to go long-term. If you're not,

and just because you go long-term, it doesn't mean you're going to succeed. But you have no clue if you're going to succeed or failure, succeed or fail if you're not in it for the long haul. Zero. Absolutely zero. Dude, listen to Three and Out on Coward.

How can I get more NFL content? It's coming. I appreciate the note. Never messaged you before and wanted to say I totally agree about Dak. That guy could be my quarterback any day of the week. Already liked him. Like him even more now.

And yes, if he's hurt, the boys are in serious trouble. I'm with you. I'm only excited for hard. because I just want more DAC. Whole City can't wait to see Fields' career pan out in Chicago. My concern isn't with Fields, but the rest of the supporting cast. If Fields proves to be a steal of the draft, you were the GM in Chicago, what do you address first in the offseason and how aggressive do you get?

We're already in the off season. It's crazy how fast we move, you know? We're very, most of you guys DM and me, I can tell her younger. We're very impatient. You know, it's, and I think the youth is, only going to get more and more impatient, right? We didn't have when I was a kid. No one handed us a nightpad and told us to just shut up.

We just had to figure out a way to stay entertained, right? Those days are over. You need to get sweet wide receivers and tight ends. Now, commit the tight end from Notre Dame, we'll see this year if that guy's good. You keep Allen Robinson and you go draft another wide receiver. Now, I guess they don't have a first round pick next year, right? Because they traded Trey Lance for it.

I mean, they trade it up to get Justin Fields for it, excuse me. You just need to get offensive weapons. Your defense is already solid. To me, it's just offense, offense, offense. You surround him with as much offensive talent as humanly possible. That would be my only goal. Hey, love to know your take on the Broncos quarterback situation. Locke is an insanely high ceiling but insanely low floor,

whereas Bridgewater is mediocre quarterback at best, who doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes. I like Drew because I think I'm in the long run. I learned to limit his mistakes and keep the big play potential. Who would you roll with week one and why? Already answered it earlier. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. You go with Drew Locke and Teddy just, he's like the long reliever.

You know, it's like, hey, be ready. When? Well, I don't know. If my starter goes nine, I guess starters never go nine anymore. If my starter goes seven, we're not going to need you. But if my guy gives up seven runs in the first two innings, we're going to need you about inning three to seven. So just stay locked and loaded.

And that's what Teddy Bridgewater is. He's the ideal backup. We saw him in New Orleans. He was just ready to come in the moment Breeze's finger got messed up. Like most guys are not that. Because most guys, even if they are ready to come in, they suck when they come in. Most backups are atrocious. I think we've learned there are about 25, even just capable quarterbacks.

There's like 10 really good ones. Then there's like another 10 who are kind of up and down but are really good as well, have a lot of talent, then they're like five to six, who if your team is unreal, you can win with, and then every guy after that is the same. And the reality is Teddy is,

even though he's going to be not one of the starting 32, he's better than some of the guys that start. I'm a Vikings fan and would like to know where you think the team will go with Zimmer. If they have another average year and miss the playoffs by a game or two,

I know he has been decent coach for the Vikings, but I believe he has reached the ceiling and I'm starting to feel like you can't win the big games and will either fall short of the playoffs or have a miracle or have a miracle playoff win and then lose when it matters. Well, two years ago, they did have a, I wouldn't say a miracle playoff

when they beat the Saints. That was a very, very impressive win. The 49ers were better. I was at that game. Your guys' offensive line stunk. The Niners' defensive line had DeFord, Armstead, Buckner, Bosa. It was a fucking mismatch.

They had no chance because cousins can't, if he's getting pressured, he can't make plays outside of the pocket. So it wasn't even a fair fight. I don't put that game on Zimmer. I put that game more on the GM, who I think is really good. Their offensive line simply wasn't good enough.

I think he's in trouble. I think, yeah, he probably, even if he makes the playoffs, if he, like, let's say he goes 10 and 7 is the 7th seed and they get bounced in round 1, he's probably fire. I think where you've got to be kicking yourself is like, God,

what if they just had Stefansky as their head coach? would most Vikings fans trade Zimmer for Stefansky? And I think Zimmer's good. Zimmer's the arians of defense. The problem is you'd rather have the offensive guy. And he's just not a, he's not a, he's a good defensive mind. And if their defense doesn't bounce back this year,

and even if their offense is still awesome and they somehow still make the playoffs, I'd be out on them. I think Zimmer's in trouble. My guess right now on August 16th, I would guess Mike Zimmer's not the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings next year. Appreciate everyone listening.

Have a great week. Adios. I'm pretty hungry. I'm going to go eat dinner right now. And see ya. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1800flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting 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 1800flowers.com for exclusive offers and group. great values. To order today, visit 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. 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 IHeart 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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, Cliver 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 Clifers 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's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.