The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Unwanted Wentz, Anthony Richardson Buzz, Bears #1 Pick, Mailbag

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

John looks at what happened to Carson Wentz after being cut by the Commanders, the draft buzz surrounding Florida’s Anthony Richardson, if the Bears will really trade Justin Fields or trade back with the #1 pick. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. The volume. It's the three and out podcast presented by Fanduel. The NBA season is kicking into gear, and there's no better place to get into the action than Fandul. Awesome new and existing user promotions.

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It is Monday afternoon. Beautiful, somewhat chilly day here in Arizona. This is a three and out podcast. I am your host and talker and podcaster. John Middlecough. Hope everyone's doing well.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Back here on the grind. just combine week is here baby we will have by the next time you listen to me talking football because we'll have a golf podcast this week big golf tournament the Arnold Palmer in Florida next week the player so we got a lot of gambling coming up on golf

but this week especially by the end of the week the combine the buzz on the players the top players the buzz on the draft order is obviously something we will talk about today. The Bears open for business. Of course, they're open for business. Everything when you suck that bad should be listened to. We will dive into that as well as Wents. Some thoughts on Anthony Richardson, a guy that's shooting up the draft boards. And potential

trade slash cap casualties, we will discuss as well. It's going to be a heavy, heavy mailbag. And the way you get in this mailbag is you fire in my Instagram DM. My Instagram handle is just my name. John Middlkoff. And the way they do this on the interweb, they put an at in front of it. So at John Middlecoff is my Instagram. My DMs are wide open.

You want to get your question answered here on the show. Fire in to those DMs. Easy to do. Very, very easy. What else is going on? That's probably it. Make sure you subscribe to the 3 and out feed. If you listen through Colin,

we also have the Golf Podcast is on this feed. every week go low on the grind trying to grow that bad boy just swinging our pick you know we're just we're just podcasters and what we do is we podcast so let's dive into the show but before we dive into that I got to tell you about my friends at game time if you're listening to this or watching this on Tuesday I'm currently at the Dodger game and I'm there because of my friends at game and if you or your significant other or your son or your best friend

want to go to an event, whether it's a concert, comedy show, a game, spring training, a regular season baseball game, March Madness, a golf tournament, live golf, might check that out in a couple weeks. Use my friends at game time, fastest growing ticket app in America, go to your smartphone, download the app. And when you do, first time users, type in the promo code John, that's J-O-H-N, that's just my name, and get $20 off tickets to any event. Get outside, leave your house, go do something. And when you do it, do it on me. Get a job. Get a discount. J-O-H-N, $20 off, do it now. I'm at the Dodger game, probably booing them because I don't even like the Dodgers. I'm a Giants fan, but the Dodgers are good, the Giants aren't, so might as well

go enjoy a good spring training game. And you should too. Game time, download it, go see an event, promo code John. Let's dive into quarterbacks because that's just going to be a hot topic, right? The draft, all these free agent quarterback movement, who's going to go where, who's going to get traded where? We had news today. Carson Wentz was released from the Washington commanders. And you know, sometimes on paper, things look really good, right? And when it comes to athletes or quarterbacks, big, strong, big arm, accurate, productive, and things just don't work.

And for whatever reason, I can't exactly put my finger on it. Carson Wentz just isn't that good. And whether it all started being derailed because, Mentally, he couldn't handle some adversity, right? When he got injured and tore his ACL and Nick Foles ended up winning the Super Bowl, it's never been the same. And let's face it, it's all been downhill since. The problem was for Philly and then Indy and now Washington is that he had got the extension

when that happened. So he was making big money. And when you make big money, you just get judged differently. Like if you're listening to this, and you're 25 years old, knew at a company, and you're making 75 grand, you've got to fly under the radar. If you're making 60 grand, 80 grand, if you're listening to this and you're 40 years old and you make 600 grand at your company, like, you kind of got to get it done. Because if you don't and things turn, I saw a quote from Mark Zuckerberg.

Not a big Facebook guy or meta. I actually can't even sign into my account. But obviously their stock plummeted over the last six months as a lot of people in tech did. And they had a lot of layoffs at their company. And one thing Zuckerberg, I saw a quote. thought it was like, God, that makes a lot of sense. We need to get away from managers managing other people. Basically managers managing other managers. And what's he's basically saying is we got guys making 700 grand, managing people making 350 grand. That's a problem. And those

were the type of people that just got laid off. Right. The reason these people are going to get cut throughout the NFL is because they make a lot of money. Not because a lot of them can't play, but the moment you start making a lot of money and your play diminishes a little bit, I got to get rid of you because we're in a salary cap league and I got to build the puzzle that is my roster. Now, Carson Wentz is a guy who was making because quarterbacks, once they get extensions, even if they happen three, four, five years ago, still make more money per year than every other position in the league. Carson Wentz making $30, $35 million is more money than the historic amount of cash that got handed out last year to guys like Tyree Kill and Devante Adams.

So once you play at an average level, it's not going to work. It's just simply not going to work. Because two years ago, Carson Wentz, Google his stats, weren't that bad in Indianapolis. But what was the problem? Last two weeks, he played like shit against the Raiders and the Jags, and they missed the playoffs.

This year, I watched the commanders, a decent amount this season. I thought they were pretty good. I remember talking to my buddies in Philly. I'm like, their team's pretty talented. And that was before they beat the Eagles. Like, they got good players on that team. They have some flaws, but they definitely have a talented roster. And you can't make the playoffs with this guy as your starting quarterback.

And once I start paying you at that rate, you're going to be a red flag. You're going to be a problem for my team. So then we factor in, you know, there's like this unspoken thing with him. People don't really like them, like in the building. Not like a bad guy. People, you know, it's just, it's hard to quite quantify, but he's not well liked. for whatever reason. And that's another thing.

The standard at quarterback is really fucking high. Because you know all the good players in the league at that position? Joe Burrell, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts are fucking loved in their building. Loved. I'm not talking by the coaches or the GM. I'm talking by the other players. Everyone really, really likes them. Forever.

Tom Brady, greatest teammate of all time. That matters. And that's something as we dive into. of these draft prospects, who you are as a guy impacts as much as who you are as a player, unless you're an elite player. Like, once you get to be as good as Rogers, you can do some quirky things. Whatever. I'm rattling off MVP's and 13, 14 wins.

When we start going under 500 or missing the playoffs, your quirkiness on top of your salary don't quite add up. And that's why Carson Wentz now feels destined to be a backup. And to me, the best thing Carson Wentz can do now is to take like a year, make like a million bucks and go be Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, a guy like that's backup with a real head coach. And I would specifically lean offense. Andy Reed, Sean McVeigh, that's where I'd be interested. I'll play for nothing. I'll be a backup. And I'll just resurrect my reputation. And maybe I'm destined to be a backup. But I think as much as his play

is a question mark, I think his reputations and tatters. I don't think people respect him around the league from a front office standpoint. And what a fall. from grace. I mean, it wasn't that long ago where it looked like the guy was going to be the MVP and then hurts his knee and the rest is history. And now Nick Foles has a statue and he doesn't and Carson Wentz is currently looking for work. And on the other flip side, and this goes to Carson in the draft, especially high in the draft, you're taking calculated risks, right? There is no bigger risk you can take than the investment of trading up or selecting a quarterback really, really high. Right? It's one thing to take a position player. It doesn't work.

Whatever, you can pivot. You got other, like, if I miss on a wide receiver in the top five or offensive linemen or a defensive lineman, I got other guys playing that position. But when I miss on Mitch Trubisky, on Carson Wentz, you know, on potentially Trey Lance or Zach Wilson, like, that's a major problem. Partly because I'm drafting you to potentially be my quarterback for the next decade and a half, you're going to be the reason that my coaches, my general managers, get extensions, why my team consistently goes to the playoffs. You change the trajectory of my franchise. But it's a calculated risk because I'm basing everything off college, which whether you're really productive in college doesn't mean you're going to be productive in the NFL. And whether you weren't productive

in college does not mean you're not going to be productive in the NFL, i.e. Josh Allen. So that there's no guarantee, no matter any of the information that we have. And that's just from on the field. Now, off the field, I think we know that pretty consistently, high level, high character, hardworking football junkies kill it in the NFL at quarterback. It's got to be a way of life. It's not what you do for work. It's what you do. It is your life. It defines you. From a time standpoint, during for six months of the year, you work coaches hours. 90, plus hours a week, studying, preparing, on time you spend with your teammates, you know, cultivating and, you know, continuing to grow relationships as human beings, let alone as players.

So this buzz on Anthony Richardson is really starting to grow. From a gambling standpoint, he was a huge, huge flyer to be the number one pick. And now I heard someone say he's five to one, five to one, five to one to be the number one overall pick. Now, whether he's the number one overall pick or not, I don't know. But it's pretty clear. The buzz is growing that there's a very good chance that a guy like this is going to be the number one, or excuse me, a top five pick in the draft, right? He's six four. He can run. He's got a huge arm. And his highs, like when you watch that game against Utah, the opening weekend, he looks fucking incredible. Like, when he's on, it looked awesome. But he's also a 54% career passer who has been basically a one-year starter and

thrown 24 career touchdown. Now, as we've seen with Josh Allen, like, statistics in college don't necessarily equate. The number one thing that is ultimately going to define this guy is, you know, mechanically, I'm not a quarterback coach. So there might be things that a quarterback coach sees that he can work on that he thinks might be an improvable potential. But the reason this guy is going to sink or swim in the NFL is going to be the person.

So starting this week, if I'm the Texans, if I'm the Texans, if I'm the, the Bears, if I'm the Colts, if I'm the Raiders, whoever, all these teams that are drafting really high that are going to be interested in this guy, I got to get to know the person. How much he loves football, how hard he works, his football intellect, how well he takes football information and then can execute it on the field. And because I don't know just because he wasn't that good in college that he won't be good in the NFL, just like we've seen guys be very, very good in college and not be good in the NFL. So there is, this is not an exact science. We do not know for sure on any of these things.

And this notion, like, the way Warren Buffett invests, slow, steady is pretty boring. Now, it works over time. That's why, you know, he's the most successful investor of all time. But like, there's a reason that once you gave everyone a little cash, they started invested in crypto and NFTs. Why? You're all trying to hit strike oil, right? Hit the lottery. That was everyone's mindset. I want to turn $1,000 into 50K. And Warren Buffett probably tell you, just turn that $1,000 into $2,000 and go from there. But you can't do that in the draft. Because just because you take the safe player, there's no guarantee that he's going to be good. Every single year we go, this guy's got a high floor and then the guy sucks in the NFL. Right. And just because you have a high ceiling,

doesn't mean you're ever going to hit it like Anthony Richardson. But if it does hit, I get a star quarterback. And then I do strike oil or I do hit the lottery. I was the guy that turned $5,000 into crypto into $50 million. Changes my life. So I understand the rise on this guy because the physical characteristics, just go to YouTube, watch two minute highlight. It's freakish. But I don't know, and I haven't done any research yet in terms of texts of my friends in the league, like what his character stuff is. That ultimately will determine his success or failure. But I do get why this guy, when the dust settles is going to go a lot higher than, you know, his college tape would tell you he should go.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're 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,

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The midway point of the NBA season is here, and now is the perfect time to download Fandual, America's number one sports book. Because new customers get a no-swet first bet up to $1,000.

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18778-8-N-Y, or text, Hope, N.Y, 467-New York, Tennessee, 8-88-98-97-89, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming. Visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. The Bears. it was reported on Monday morning by Adam Schaefter that the bears are now open for business. Of course they are. They're terrible.

They should be when I say open for business on the number one overall pick. Here's what I know the Chicago Bears. And I don't know Ryan Poles. He's listening to everything and anything. You want to trade for the number one pick? What can I get? You want to trade for Justin Fields? What are you willing to give me?

There is not a phone call right now that not a number, only is he not picking up that he's actively discussing. Like there are phone calls around the NFL that I hang up immediately. You call Andy Reid, ask about Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelsey. He hangs up. Call Kyle Shanahan, ask about Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. He hangs up, right? But when I call the Chicago Bears, the worst team in the NFL last year that has a million holes, and listen, Ryan Poles would like a redo on something. That second round pick that he traded for Chase Claypool is the 32nd pick in the draft. I think he'd like to have that pick back.

So the notion that trading down and rolling with fields, well, yeah, would I rather keep fields if somehow I could trade back five or six spots and get two extra number ones on top of my tradeback and maybe a third round pick? Of course I have to entertain that. no different that, well, will someone give me a first round pick for Justin Fields? And do I love Bryce Young or C.J. Strout or one of these guys? So I think you're balancing at all. There is not a story that's going to come out about the Bears that I don't think is believable.

Because everything should be believable. They stink. Right now, their roster is awful. All they have is potential to make big moves this offseason. And to me, whether that's Justin Fields, whether that's Justin Fields, whether that's trading back, everything is on the table. Now, if Bryce Young was 6'3 and 215 pounds, to me it'd be a no-brainer. You would trade Justin Fields for whatever.

Because there's a chance. Part of trading Justin Fields, are they getting a first round pick for the guy? Probably not. So do they want to trade Justin Fields for like a second and a third round pick? Now, they were not the ones that made the trade to acquire them, which cost them multiple first round picks. but like ideally you don't want to do that. But if I could trade him for two twos

and I think Bryce Young is a can't miss guy, then I do it in a heartbeat. Now, if the best offer I have on the table is a third round pick for Justin Fields and I can trade back and acquire a bunch of picks and then just figure it out as we go with a lot of ammo, then I probably do that. But this notion that the Bears

like, see, Shefter tweeted, they're open for business, they're keeping Justin Fields. Yeah, they're open for everything. and they would not be doing their job if they didn't fall under that category. No different than the big story going around right now on Jalen Rams. That the Rams might trade Jalen Rams. You're going to see this a lot. When I worked in the office and I was a pro scout,

we had this sheet all basically starting in like November, December, of guys on teams that were cap casualties. Basically meant good players on every team that were probably going to lose their, job, not because they couldn't play, but because maybe their play outweighed their salary or their team was up against a cap situation where that was really the only option. If I cut you, I can save $15 million. I can say $20 million. So a lot of guys get released over the next several weeks who can play in the NFL. And most of these teams have had their pro personnel

department grade these players because they know those guys are potentially going to be available. Now, the first thing you want to do before I cut a player is I want to trade them, right? Ideally, the Raiders would have loved to trade Derrick Carr. The reason they cut Derrick Carr was because he had no trade clause, right? But ideally, they would have loved to trade them for whatever to get value. So Jalen Ramsey is a good example. Now, he's on the high end, but there are a ton of players. Like last year, James Bradbury got cut.

He didn't get cut because he can't play. He got cut because not a scheme fit. And this happens with a lot of new regimes. I cut players that aren't a scheme fit and make too much money. And they become available and they immediately sign good, healthy contracts on other teams. So you're going to see a lot of rumors over the next six, seven days coming out for the combine of players on the trading block. And a lot, this is a business. A lot of that revolves around the money.

Now, the Rams are in a unique position. one, they invested so much money into like four or five players and they don't have any picks. So really, what are they going to do? Trade Aaron Donald? Trade Matt Stafford or Cooper Cup? Of course not. The only guy who you could possibly trade and get value for is Jalen Ramsey. But here's the problem.

I was reading the other day that Jalen Ramsey, he's going to want a new contract. So if I'm a team, and I don't think Jalen Ramsey played that well last year, he's already been traded once for two ones. What's his market now? When you factor in, like, does he need a new deal? Do I have to give him 50 plus million dollars in guaranteed? Now, he's only 28 years old. But am I trading from the chiefs? Would I trade pick 31 for Jalen Ramsey and then give him money? Well, I'm paying a lot of other people too. I just invested a lot in these young corners who played pretty well and I won the Super Bowl with them. So probably not. Right. Now, would Jalen Ramsey be an immediate starter? Of course. But do I want to allocate money? Like, do I need to extend Chris Jones again? Do I need to to go buy other players? Do I need to continue to invest in my offensive line? It becomes complicated, right? The money, it's not just about the picks, it's about the money. And you can always

finagle your cap, right? You can turn base salary into signing bonuses and in the incentive bonuses. You can do a lot of things. The cap is very easy to manipulate. But one thing you can't do is like when guys have enormous sums of money coming,

if I know, because a lot of times, these GMs or the cap guys will go to the agent and go, will you take a pay cut? You're scheduled to make $16 million next year. We want to keep you, but we got to have you on the books for nine, right? And they go, well, if I hit the open market, I might not get 16, but I'll get a multi-year deal at, you know, 28 and get $20 million guaranteed and make $14 million a year. That's better than taking the pay cut. So that has been going on for the last week. And it really comes to a head this week. When all the agents are talking with the GMs who then kind of find out the rate for their guy from maybe their given team, they start going to other teams. They go, hey, what would you pay my guy?

And that's why, like, there are no rules. The tampering rules, like everyone's talking about everything as they should, you know? So you're going to see some rumors about trades. Like, Jaylon Ramsey, that makes sense. The Rams don't have any assets. The only way they can free some space and get some picks is Jalen Ramson because they're not trained the other guys. But you're going to see names of whoever your team is. Wait, they're shopping this guy. Well, yeah, they're just doing it because they need to either gain some cap room or they're not willing to pay him what he's on the books. And he's not going to take a pay cut because he knows through his agent that he's worth more on the open market. So it's a fascinating time kind of

of a give and take and kind of betting on the rumors. Because you never truly. know until you hit the market, right? Derek Carr bet I could get more money than $40 million. Well, he's about to find out, and he's kind of getting a gauge right now. He's meeting with all these teams. But eventually, when the contract, the rubber's going to meet the road. Right. Like, what is Jimmy Garoppolo worth? Well, we're going to find out in a couple weeks, right? I'd say about 18, but if someone gives them 30, I'm not going to be shocked, though. I will call that a dumb deal. Okay, let's dive to the mailbag. It's very easy to get involved. There's only one way to get your question answered here on the show.

You fire into my direct messages on Instagram at John Middlough. It's my name. Fire into those DMs, get your question answered here on the show. Very, very easy to do. Let's start with my guy, David. Hey, I'm 16 and been listening to you and Colin, quote, every day,

since I was about 12. This guy's ahead of his time. I was just wondering how you feel about the failure of the Russell Wilson trade and how it will affect the future of trading for and giving up the farm for a veteran quarterback. I think someone of Russell Wilson's stature, 32, 33, 31, that age range, who is, as accomplished as him, every team in the NFL would do a deal like that. It was desperate for a quarterback.

The Broncos, the Panthers, the Colts, you and me, if we were running the team. So, listen, when the trade was executed, I understand why the, the Broncos did it. Now, this is always my thing. It's like people love to brag about the process. We're in a results-oriented business. So I want to hear about Nick Saban's process. I want to hear about Jeff Bezos's process.

Ultimately, the process from the Broncos, like I get why you did it, but now you're in this predicament. Did you give him that contract? Obviously, once you make the trade, you go, well, you got to lock him up to a long-term deal. Well, do you see him in the off-season? Do you look normal to you? I'd be fascinated if you gave,

whether it would be the coaches on the staff, George Payton, anyone around the team on a daily basis, even an older player, did it feel like he was a little off? Or was it like, no, he just looks like Russell Wilson. And then the games had all got derailed. Because if there were question marks like he was a little off, and they still pulled the trigger when the guy was under contract,

that was clearly a mistake. I got, you make the trade, like, That's just what you've got to do if you're the Denver Broncos. Now you just got to pray to God that Sean Payton can figure it out. Fort Collins, Colorado, from Troy.

You mentioned in your last podcast that some people may say you don't have enough emotions sometimes. From a personal level, your podcast provided me with plenty emotions and I really enjoy listening to you. The passion you speak

that is apparent that you apply the many aspects of your life. As a 23-year-old myself, you are inspiring me to, this is not going to lie, I like this DM, passionate about all areas of my life. Whether you see this or not, I want you to know that you are impacting people in a way that is inspirational. God bless you, brother.

God, Troy, you want to be friends? I agree with you that Justin Fields will be dealt. If Justin Fields gets traded to the Ravens, what does Fields' market look like financially when he's due for an extension. He's obviously not worth as much as Lamar as of right now. If Ravens trade for him, are they expecting to resign him when he's due for an extension?

When I made my emotion statement, it was more about like relationships and probably even in business too, not about my emotional delivery for the podcast. It was more about other aspects of my life, not this. Because I'm an emotional guy. for sure. To your question, I appreciate the note, by the way. I would say that no one is even contemplating Justin Fields' extensions right now. It's just, if you traded for him, and to me,

I think a fair value for Justin Fields would be like a second and a conditional depend on what he did. Like, it could be a two and next year's four, but it could be as two and a high as a one. Like if he's a Pro Bowl guy and we make the playoffs, I'd give a second and a first round pick for Justin Fields. But you're acquiring him to basically get two years. with the guy and figure out what he's bringing to the table because you probably loved him coming out. Now, one curveball is, after the third season, you have to pick up his fifth year option. So part of trading for him would be, you know, if you traded a lot, right, if I gave a second and a conditional pick that could be really high, I'm also with the potential of picking up that

fifth year option, which from a quarterback is pretty expensive. And we know sometimes you regret that, right? Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, guys that come to mind that had their fifth year options picked up that I think, obviously the Browns

and, you know, the Panthers would like a redo on that. I think it's more for a trial run for a guy who is still relatively cheap, right? He was the 11th pick in the draft, sandwiched between, who's he sandwiched between Devante Smith and Micah Parsons?

so those are pretty good players. This is from Luke. Big Charger fan. They're in Capel right now and still need to extend Herbert bring back some key free agents. Do you see them cutting Keenan Allen or Kille Mack?

I feel like Keenan still has some good years left and desperate team might trade a day two pick for him. I don't think you trade Cleo Mac, right? You just traded a second round pick for him. Your defense is still an issue. He can still play the run. his pass rush is not anywhere near what he once was. Maybe you would like to restructure the contract a little bit,

but it's harder to find Khalil Max than it is Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen's had an awesome career. I think it's probably over for him with the Chargers. Almost at San Diego, but obviously they play in Los Angeles. People, you know, it's, I think people around the league, people that cover the league, it's kind of been well-speculated now for like a month that Keenan Allen will be released.

if he can't be traded. The reason he won't be traded, I'd have to pull up his contract. This is the problem that it's hard to trade if you're a team and you want Keenan Allen. Let's say I'm, think of a team that needs a wide receiver.

I'm just trying, it's hard to, sometimes on the fly. Let's say you're the Packers. You're like, you know, I'd love to get Keenan Allen in here with some of our young guys. You go, well, are we going to trade for Keenan Allen,

whose cap hit is $21 million and is owed $19 million. You can't do that. Now, if on the Packers, hey, Keenan, if you get cut, we'll offer you two years, you know, $23 million. So $12, $11 million a year, right? Guarantee every penny. I'm just throwing out hypotheticals.

That's the conversations that are happening right now. No one is paying Keenan Allen $19 million a year next year. But he doesn't suck. He's just not worth $19 million a year. For example, he made $16.5. You know, I don't know what was his stats. Probably not great, actually, because he had the hamstring this year. So like this year, he was 66 catches and four touchdowns.

Last year when he was healthy, 106 catches, six touchdowns. He's a really productive player. You put Keenan Allen with Jordan Love, because Aaron's gone, Dobbs and Christian Watson. Kind of like their passing game. You like how I just put him on the Packers? But that's what's happening right now. He's not going to get traded because of the money. So he's going to, at that number, he's getting cut.

He is a tradable player, but the money makes him untradable. You follow what I'm trying to say? Like, guys like him get cut not because they suck. Love the show, refreshing takes, no bullshit. God, I'm getting some good DMs here. Just became a golf fan lately as I love gambling and needed advice to hold me until football. after football ends. By far the best sports to gamble on outside football.

Anyway, do you really think ROMs that much better this year? I do not. Just like Roy last year. I firmly believe they are winning because the top talents are now at Live. Think about it. DJ, Cam Smith, Neiman, Louis, Kepka, a lot of golf talk here. 47-year-old Tiger, no majors in, 10 years, Rory, the fierce speed. Would love to hear your thoughts because of live.

Cam Smith is a stud. Just send some screenshots. A lot of golf talk here. Yeah, I mean, keep this short and sweet. The live defections have infected or impacted the PGA tour at the top. DJ is still a top 10 player. If you want some gambling advice and you listen to this for football takes, I would take DJ at the Masters if you can get him 25 to 1.

If Dustin Johnson was on the PGA tour, that number would be cut in half. He'd be like 12 or 13 to 1. For example, John Ron this week in a loaded. field is like six and a half to one. If I can get DJ at the Masters at 25 to 1, I like it. Now, Cam Smith, elite player, Kepka, winner, Bryson,

you know, falling off a cliff, Neiman, yeah, just... I think Rom is better right now than he was last year for sure. I guess that's a long-winded way of saying that I think that he benefits, clearly, but he's the best player in the world. Routine listener,

do you think the CMC, this is from Bo? Trade to the Niners for that hall could potentially influence teams to add a little more value back to the running back position, specifically running backs who possess elite pass catching skills. CMC effectively unblocked that offense to a new level of efficiency. I think in the modern day NFL the last several years, the guys that could catch, you know, Alvin Kamara, obviously McAfree for several years even in Carolina. I think Dalvin Cook's pretty good out of the backfield. You know, Josh Jacobs last year is he pretty pretty.

well-rounded player. You have to bring value in everything, right? Like E.T.N. For example, he was a first-round pick. If you're a Jags fan, you know, I'd be lying if I said I watched every E.T.N. Snap, but it feels like, ideally, he's more of a hybrid back, right? Outside runs, he's got great speed, catch the ball, use him to stretch the defense. You're not going to go like Derek Henry, line him up and just hammer between the tackles. But if I can catch wheel routes, screens, outside runs, I have a lot of value. Now, like McCaffrey, I can line up that wide receiver in the slot. I can run between the tackles, outside the tackles, and I can catch.

There's nothing I can't do. Right? Like, what makes Debo so valuable? He's not a great wide receiver. But he can play wide receiver, and he can take a five-yard out to the house, and he can also play running back. So his value is different than just a flawed wide receiver because he's so good with the ball in his hands

and he's comfortable playing running back. So like we talk a lot, at least I do because I talk a lot about the 49ers on my other podcast like Debo compared to the other two wide receivers in his draft class. Like DK and AJ are better quote unquote wide receivers. But neither guy can do what he does behind the line of scrimmage. I can't line D.K. Metcalf up at running back. Like if Debo Samuel next year just played running back,

he could have a thousand yards rushing and he could catch 60, 70 balls. Wheel, route, screens, no problem. So ultimately my point is, his value is high because I can get on the ball, doing a lot of stuff. And I think that's the key with drafting a running back or paying a running back. What can he do? Derek Henry is an outlier. I can just have him on my team and he can run for 1,500 yards.

Most guys are not that. And he can't, the passing game is not a huge part of his repertoire, right? So, Bejan Robinson, he's the total package, I think. I mean, I haven't really studied him, though. I talked to a buddy that thinks he's like one of the best players in the draft. So he's very well thought of. So I assume he's great in the passing game as well as being an elite running back. If you can catch and run between the tackles and outside the tackles and block,

you can play every snap, right? I mean, that's part of it. do I need to take you off the field for passing downs? Because if I don't, then you bring a lot of value. That's the key. Like, the value in football has really changed. When I was in the NFL in 10, 11, 12, 13, it was like two down mics. Well, what does that mean?

You can stay on the field against the run. Well, what's, so you can play on first down? Because we're going to run the ball? Well, fuck, some teams pass the ball 80% of the time on first down. So if you bring no value in the passing game, as a linebacker, are you even that valuable? It's why these run-stuffing linebackers are a thing of the pass.

Right? Like, we used to call designated pass rushers, DPRs. Well, those guys have a lot more value if I can't stop the run, but I'm just a great pass-rusher in a pass-heavy league. No different than running backs. A running back still has value if he can catch.

So I think the value of the sport is just kind of shifted. you know, over the last five, six years into much more pass-havy. So who has more value? Nickel corners, pass-catching running backs, linebackers who can cover. 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. I was wondering, this is from Mike. Wondering what your take was on Baker Mayfield. With all the quarterback storylines, Lamar Rogers Carr, and the remaining quarterback vacancies,

I have not heard any mention of Baker. Obviously, Baker is not going to go back to Carolina, but where do you think he ends up? Does he accept a backup role to Stafford or another quarterback? Or do you think he's only interested in a starting job? Well, I think the starting days are done, right? I think those days are over. Now, if a team with an established starting quarterback, right, just think of the top 10 guys,

Allens, the Herberts, the Holmes, Burrough, Stafford, if he's healthy, just go around the league. If they want you, if you're Baker-Mayfield, you should go. It was smart for him. I guess the Rams claimed him. But if the Rams want him to stay and be Matt Stafford's backup, I think he would be crazy to leave. Because he's not a starting quarterback.

He's just not. But he can have another 7-8-year career as a backup. Look at Chase Daniel. Chase Daniel has like a 15-year career. Barely ever plays. Never does. And Baker Mayfield is dramatically better than he is. So part of being,

once you get to the crossroads in your career, I think as a football player, especially as a quarterback, is kind of knowing where you land. And the faster you can figure out the way the league views you, you can play longer. It's when you want to force-feed yourself as like a starter, when you're not actually a starter, is when you get run out of league. But when you just accept, smartest thing Chad Henney ever did, like I'll be my home's backup.

Look at what happened. From 2018 until this year, from what, 33, years old to 38 years old multiple Super Bowls some great moments and he'll just be highly thought of in the Kansas City organization for the rest of his life because of that experience

he surely could have gone somewhere and tried to compete to be a starting quarterback but he knew where he stood and he made the right decision and that's half the battle I think sometimes because the agent's always going to want you to go chase more money as they should because they get points on that

were you like are you better off taking a $10 million contract or taking a $4 million contract, which may last six years. And all of a sudden you look, you made $20 million over a five or six years span, where that $10 million, two years later you were out of the league. A couple more here. Active duty military that's been listening to your pod for the past two years on my commute to work. Appreciate your service, Todd.

No question, although I may hit you up about Niners' takes in the future. But just wanted to say I love the content. you put out on the NFL and the PGA tour. I got a few years left in the Army, but you definitely put out some inspiring words on career advice that makes me look forward to the Arod, beautiful mystery of my future. Keep it up all the best.

I appreciate that, Todd. And like I said, you are backbone of the country, baby. I appreciate everything you guys do. Beautiful mystery. I wonder what that darkness retreat was like, you know? And trust me, I'm someone that sleeps. I love a good cold,

like it about 66, and I like it pitch dark. I'm not one of those people, persons that sleep with a TV on, I don't have an extra light on, I like it dark. So I am pro-darkness when I sleep. And I'm a good seven, eight-hour sleeper.

But 24 hours, that would be, remember like some of the challenge shows? Joe Rogan had one. There's been a lot of challenge shows over the years. I think if you just took 10 random people, let's just say like in their 30s, and tried to make, especially now with our

addiction to phones and iPads and all that stuff, and tried to be in darkness for 24 hours, even if I slid you some food or some smoothies, you had a bed, do you get any music or anything? I think most of us would crack, man. And I like thinking, right, in terms of sometimes when I wake up, if I go for just a five-minute walk just to gather my thoughts before I put my ear pods or turn on, you know, CNBC or whatever,

NFL network or whatever. Sometimes I just, sometimes you just got to gather your thoughts. Sometimes I don't do that. And sometimes I put my earphones in. I'll just be walking to the office. It'll be like 6.30 in the morning. It's like,

it's the first thing I need to do, listen to a podcast, or can I just listen to my own thoughts? Like I said the other day, I'm kind of jealous that Rogers, there are some elements of his life that I would like to implement in my own. I just think I'd lose my mind.

And I think most of you listening, none of us would make it 24 hours in the darkness. You'd have to feed us, you know, unless you're an intermediate faster. I'd need like, at least protein smoothie or something. I don't know. But that's a long time in the darkness, man. Can I ask questions?

Like, what's going on in the world? Who's winning the, you know, is like, is Duke winning? You know, what's happening with the Sun's game? I can I ask questions? Who won the Honda Classic? Or am I just literally in the dark? not only in the room, but with society.

I don't know. That's fascinating information that maybe I will never look up because I don't really care. But if I did, that's what I would ask. Okay, question from Mo Brian. Hey, John, first off, wanted to say that discovering your podcast in 2020 may have single-handedly gotten me through COVID

in the ensuing years. God, we got some, you guys are in good moods today. Sports takes aside, your business takes honestly power me through the day from time to time and keep me driving my small business as well. I'm a diehard Tampa Bay Bucks fan. Yes, we exist. My question is, are we totally fucked?

Perhaps the worst head coach in the game, cap strapped, huge quarterback void, have a recipe for a disaster. I know our division is pathetic, but we may only win enough games to take us out of the quarterback draft to Palooza next season. Please put your GM hat on

and tell me what your move would be. You definitely have too much talent even if you have a random quarterback play like Kyle Trask and Jimmy Garoppel. I saw a headline today that whoever comes in as a free agent will have to compete with Kyle Trass to be the starting quarterback.

Now, I actually think your division's probably a little better than we think, right? Tampa, you guys always got played hard by the Saints and that's when you had Tom Brady. The Panthers actually are sneaky, I think, a little better than we think. and the Falcons just kind of suck

but they actually have a good run game. I'm with you. It's hard to close your eyes and envision Tampa with like a top two or three pick, but no Tom Brady, it could unravel. I don't know. I mean, I think your quarterback position

would have to be like bottom two or three in the league. If Kyle Trask is your quarterback, potentially possible. Potentially on the table. I think Todd Monkin, did I read that correctly? Is your new offensive coordinator? coming from Georgia.

So a couple years ago, he was a favorite to be like, this guy, Ravens, Todd Monkin helped hire, or maybe he went to the Ravens. You guys have, who is Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator? Tampa Bay.

I was going to say, I don't really like Todd Monkin in Tampa. I guess he was there before, huh? Dave Connellis, as their new offensive coordinator. I'll be honest, don't know much about this guy. Dave Canellis.

but Gino Smith, oh, he comes from Seattle. So I don't think Todd Bowles is... Yeah, I actually don't think he's great. I like Todd personally. So Canales is 41 years old. Let's do a little recon on this guy. So you're taking a quarterback coach. This guy's basically been Russell Wilson's quarterback coach

and then he was Gino's quarterback coach. This guy's been to Seattle a long time. This guy came with Pete Carroll in 2009. So he has been with Seattle his entire NFL career. As a wide receiver coach for a long period, then the quarterback coach. I would say Todd Bowles and a first-time offensive coordinator. Yeah. Maybe you guys have a better opportunity to draft higher than I thought.

So I would be prepared for a crappy year for sure, but I guess you already are. Are the Jets better off with Jimmy G. than Aaron Rogers? No. Also, I have family baseball film. I directed called Rally Caps, starring Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart, showing at Sedona Film Festival on Friday. It's kind of like a modern-day sandlot, if you will.

Think you mentioned on your pod that you're in Phoenix. Come check it out. Your ticket is on me. I missed it, but I hope it went well. That's awesome. Congratulations. Jimmy G. Here's a problem with Jimmy G. He gets injured all the time.

You know, all the time. And this is a hard part. I remember being in these free agent meetings. We'd be like, he's got two concussions. This guy's got four. This guy's broke his leg. So just because last year he broke his leg, is he more inclined to break his leg again?

This guy, he's at a shoulder and he's at a knee. Well, then he might play three years and never get hurt again. Or the first day on practice, he might shatter his foot. You just never know. But when a guy literally gets hurt every single year, he got hurt in New England, he got hurt all the time with the 49ers,

the chance that Jimmy G plays a season healthy it happened one time with the 49ers in 2019. Other than that, hurt in 20, hurt in 21, hurt this year, hurt his second year when he tore his ACL, hurt his last year in New England when he played because he didn't play before that. So to me, Jimmy,

what Jimmy is, he's truly a bridge quarterback. I would pay Jimmy like $17 million one-year deal. If someone gives Jimmy Garoplo $30 million, I think that's insane. I get money is different, caps up, I think you are flirting with disaster. So under no circumstances in any world that we're playing football with a pigskin on a field, 53 by 120, you know, because the end zones, right?

100, you add the 10, so you get 120. Do I want Jimmy Garabolo over Aaron Rogers? Aaron Rogers could have his eyes closed and he could, he's only allowed to skip. and I'd still take Aaron Rogers over Jimmy Garabla. Let's listen, Aaron might do some weird things, depending on who you are, but he's pretty good. As a Ravens fan, I think Lamar is going to get a deal done with the team, but if he stays, he needs more help.

Andrews is great, but we have too many injury concerns elsewhere to have a solid, dependable offense in the grueling AFC. If you were the Ravens GM and got Lamar to come back to Baltimore, more, what moves in free agency to help the quarterback out? One thing has been pretty true, right? When Lamar's been healthy, your run game has been really good. And he had a ton of success with the tied end, which makes sense. The tight end, in theory, is much closer to him on a lot of routes than the wide receivers, right?

He's running slants, you know, curls over the middle, sitting in zones, even when he runs the seam. It's relatively easy to function if you're a solid quarterback. with a really good tight end. That's why most good quarterbacks in the history of the league have had good tight ends. Now, you drafted a wide receiver really high last year

when you got injured. So that guy's coming back. You need to find a way to get some power, excuse me, some fire power. And when I say power, like, to me,

guys, they're going to work with Lamar Jackson are not Hollywood Brown. Deshawn Jackson. Do you know what I'd want him to have? Mike Evans. I'd want him to have big-ass wide receivers. Guys,

with big catching radio. This tight ends would just have a lot of success. Bateman isn't he a pretty big guy. I'd want bigger wide receivers with Lamar Jackson. To me, the running game, if he's healthy, will be good. Mark Andrews, when he's on the field, stud. I need bigger wide receivers. This notion that he's going to like play with Deshaun and Hollywood and, yeah, I just, I never understood why Arizona Cardinals. They kept going after these little little. guys. Like they drafted Rondale Moore and then someone got hurt and they added Marquise Brown. It's like, do you want to get 7 million little people with Kyler? Get more guys Hopkins size. Get me bigger wide receivers. It's just easier for a quarterback. You know, even to Sean Jackson in his prime. It is, it's more challenging to operate with a guy like that than I don't know, Devante Adams, just a bigger target. If the strike, if an umpire is giving you a wider strike zone, it's going to be easier

to strike guys out than a smaller strike zone. There's no different with a wide receiver. If you have smaller arms, like Wes Welker, who'd he succeed with? Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Would Wes Walker have dominated with every quarterback? Probably not. You'd have pretty accurate.

Doesn't have long arms. Catching radius isn't that big. It's just much more difficult. Okay, last question. I was debating draft stocked as Andrew for some upcoming wide receivers. Jackson Smith and Jigba and Jordan Addison And the question of playing through injury versus sitting out and its impact came up

My position is that teams probably value players who Though not at 100% still put up the cleats Still put on their cleats and play on game day Jordan Addison The contrary position was that high-end players Will sit out if they're not 100% Because the tape will look worse to scouts And impact the draft stock

Can you shed light on this? Would Jordan Addison have a better draft profile if he sat out the majority of 2022? As his production suffered from his ankle injury or do teams prefer to see the grit and pain tolerance significant but not season ending? Well, grit and pain tolerance and toughness will always matter. I don't care what the GM or who the head coach is or who the team is.

Every team in the league is going to value that. But there comes a point when you're a quote-unquote elite player. You get treated a little bit differently, right? Like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rogers get to act a little bit differently than Russell Wilson. They just do. You know, Kyler Murray gets crushed because he's not playing well. If Kyler Murray had played like Mahomes and Joe Burrow,

no one would care about his surly little attitude. So when you are an elite player like Jackson Smith and Jigba, and a year ago, you were on a... a team with guys like Garrett Wilson and Marvin Harrison and everyone's like he's the best wide receiver on the team your standards are just a little bit different the way you operate so when you start playing and you get injured is it worth it to get more injured now you could argue like his team has a lot in the line they were competing for the national championship I don't know all the details on him specifically like did he just mail it in or was it like listen guys

I do not feel right and it's just not worth it for me because I'm going to go in the top 12 picks. He would have been a top 12 pick the previous year. My issue with guys when they skip games or they skip All-Star games or they skip the Combine or they skip the Senior Bowl,

it's like, who are you? Right? Are you Micah Parsons? Are you Jamar Chase? Or are you some random third round pick? And to me, Jackson Smith in Jigba, tough name to say, was so highly valued that I kind of understand it, right?

Jordan Addison, when he transferred from Pitt to USC, I remember watching a YouTube highlight tape, and I went, this guy's pretty good, but I don't think he, he was viewed last year, just kind of like BSing with people in the league, and just for my own eyeballs, probably more like he picked 20 to 32. And I think that's still where he's going to go.

Really good prospect. But I don't think he's viewed as some elite guy. Where in Jigba, and now we're going to nitpick him, you know, the knock is he's not quite as fast. But he's pretty damn good, right? And if fully healthy, like he's a top 15 pick. So I get it. I hear what you're saying, and you are right, it matters. But like, guys are sitting out now.

Or guys, once they get injured, they don't come back. It's kind of understood. This is, we're not talking about $100,000. If you're taking 10th overall, I don't have it in front of me the scale, but I'm going to guess $18 million. Right? That's a lot of money. Right? It's a lot of money.

And when I know I'm a lot to go that high, not everyone is. There's a small group of players that are. And I think it's fair to say he was one of them. And once you're one of them, teams get it. Because ultimately, it's their business. They understand. It's about dollars and cents. and you have a lot to risk.

So, yeah, most guys fall into that category, I'd nitpick you. If you're a third round pick, like, what are you doing? When you're Jackson Smith, next year, Caleb Williams, like there are a certain guy, and I'm not saying Jackson is Caleb's level,

but you know what I mean. There's 15 guys that kind of fall into a special category. Appreciate everyone listening. Fire into those DMs at John Middlecock. Have a great week. Talk to you soon. Peace. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app,

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