The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out with John Middlekauff: J.J. Watt all the way back; Aaron Rodgers' bad fundamentals; Reuben Foster's future; Jalen Ramsey's tired act; Baker/Hue drama; OSU or Oklahoma?

Episode Date: November 27, 2018

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2. 3 and Out with John Middlekauff is part of the Colin Cowherd Podcast Network. 3 and Out is an unfiltered podcast covering the biggest stories in the NFL and college football. John brings his unique perspective as a former NFL scout, NFL analyst and radio host. In this episode, John discusses J.J. Watt's improbable return to dominant form, why Aaron Rodgers' bad fundamentals are catching up with him, Reuben Foster's future after another domestic violence arrest, why Jalen Ramsey's trash talking act is tired, if Oklahoma or Ohio State or Oklahoma should get the final CFB Playoff spot, Baker Mayfield's beef with Hue Jackson and answers listener questions from the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What's up, everybody? John Middlecalf, back at it again, three and out podcast. Monday night as I record this, fresh off the Houston Texans beat down of Tennessee. Texans are rolling. Eight straight wins. Hottest team in football beside the New Orleans Saints. We'll dive into something I saw tonight that really stood out for the last two months. A lot going on since the last time I talked to you on Friday.

We had a little Tiger Phil action on Friday. Friday night's games were awesome. The Apple Cup, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Saturday, Urban Meyer, Harbaugh, college football playoffs. We'll dive into that a little later. Baker Mayfield, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Rogers, I think I've noticed something going on with Aaron Rogers that I think is a big reason for his struggles

that you don't really hear anyone talking about. Ruben Foster, God, this was an incredible weekend of content for the Three and Out podcast. I mean, I got a lot of takes, a lot of thoughts on what's going on, and I'm excited to dive into it. But first, you know, I think for those that have been listening to this podcast for a while, know that I look at football a little differently than your average media member, it's just very pro player.

It's just a very, Twitter's very pro player. The player's always right. You know, I've worked on the other side. I tend to be more pro-management. I'm just more pro-smart business when it comes to sports, especially when it comes to football. And you have to be.

This isn't baseball. There is a salary cap. Building your team. You can't just pay everyone. Like, give Levi-on his money. Pay Earl Thomas. Like, no, you don't have an unlimited cap. This isn't, you know, even in draft kings, when you build your team, you only get, you know, so much money. So I look at players much more like stocks.

Are they trending up or down? Because there's nothing, there's a famous saying in the NFL, it's the first time I heard it. And I know a lot of coaches use this. You're either getting better or you're getting worse. No one stays the same. And I think that's true in any walk-of-life. You're either growing or you're dying. Now, as humans, we're every day if we get older, we're closer to dying.

But anyone knows in business, you always have to be growing. In football, you know, in sports in general, in any business, I mean, in any occupation, you always, if you're an aspirational person, if you have high standards, if you want to be the best in your field, you always have to look to grow. And the thing about sports, you know, as a player, one thing with a coach, you can coach for a while. One thing with a general manager, you can be in a position of power. power for a while. As a player, you only peak for so long. Your physical gifts, as they all say, father time is undefeated. The other thing for the most part that is undefeated are a lot of injuries.

Like, you can come back from a major knee injury now, you come back from a major shoulder injury. I mean, 15 years ago, people thought Drew Brees was done. I guess it wasn't that long ago because of his shoulder. Like, you can recover from injuries. But if you have two, three, four major injuries. John Middilkoff, me, I don't care what your name is, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, J.J. Watt,

I'd short you as a player, meaning I would trade you, I would bet against you, I would think you will no longer be very good. Like, I'm shocked Tiger Woods came back. When his back gave out and he had to have it fuse and his knee blew out, like a couple years ago, I bet against him.

I said he's done. He obviously proved me. me wrong. Modern medicine is pretty incredible. JJ Watt, I thought there is no way. First off, I was advocating thinking about trading him. When he factored in, his contract was enormous. He didn't just have one injury. He's growing, you know, he heard it a several years ago, and then his back, and he'd had help. He'd had just so many major injuries, I thought there's zero chance. You're carrying this huge salary. He's one of the greatest, and I don't, this is not hyperbole. He's one of the greatest. He's one of the greatest,

defensive lineman ever. If he didn't play a snap this season, I already thought he was a law call of famer. I've seen him play live multiple times in his peak. It doesn't get any better than that. It may, you know, mean Joe Green, Reggie White, like there are a few, but you can count maybe on one hand true defensive linemen in the peak of their powers you'd rather have than JJ Watt. And I was wrong. You know, I, you don't always, like when you trade players, when you short a stock, sometimes it doesn't work. You know? And I would have shorted JJ Watt. I surely thought he was not only shot physically,

you know, he's getting up there in age. And again, injuries, you can come back from one major injury. Hell, you come back from two major injuries. But it's hard. And the one thing that was clear about J.J. Watt, you know, a little corny sometimes. But you couldn't dispute the dude was a hard-ass worker and just a certified stone-cold badass. But, like, if your body gives out,

your body gives out. You know? As you get older, like he was unblockable at one point in time. Like, he struggled to play the last couple years. You could just tell, like his twitchiness, his power, the injuries took its toll. He's come back with a freaking vengeance. You know, I don't think he often gets talked about on this level and in the same sentences as Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald, but he's been every bit as good. Him and Clowny, at least in the Monday night game, the night, and a couple times I've watched them in the last month have dominated. Those two guys are so damn good, and I keep hearing like, are they going to resign Clownie?

Yeah, they're either going to break them off or franchise them. People are like, well, how are they going to afford that? Like, don't like John Gruden fool you. The cap is going to be $190 million. Deshawn Watson does not make much money. He is 100% staying, and JJ Watt, like, this team is not going to be an easy out in the playoffs. I always said this also about Bill O'Brien. Everyone's like, oh, he's just an idiot.

Yeah, you know, total idiot. You know, Belichick Brady loved him. Then goes to Penn State after the Sandusky deal. Wins eight games with Matt McGloin as his quarterback. Then comes to the Houston Texans. Makes the playoffs with no quarterback. Yeah, Village idiot. What a moron.

What a crappy coach. Does anything get thrown around quicker? Like when guys are clearly pretty good, then that guy can't coach. He can't. You know what Bill O'Brien is done? Win everywhere he's gone. And listen, I think the Texans are rolling. The AFC gets more interesting by the day

because clearly Kansas City's offense is elite. New England, I mean, it's Brady and Belichick. Pittsburgh, they lose weird games, but I wouldn't want to be playing Ben and Antonio Brown and those guys in a big game. The Texans, JJ Watt, Clowny. These guys have one playoff games. Easily the best

quarterback they've ever had. Philip Rivers is rolling. The sixth playoff team in the AFCs probably be like the Ravens. I'd love to play Lamar Jackson. I would sign up to play Lamar Jackson actually. But the top five teams are going to be really good.

All have proven track records. All have won at a high level. A lot of those teams, several of them, have experienced quarterbacks. You factor into Sean Watson, who's pretty special. Demarius Thomas looks good. DeAndre Hopkins is awesome. And again, J.J. Watt,

hat tip for me. Because I probably like most people that aren't crazy fanboys and just see a, oh my God, that's a famous player. He's got to be really good. I would have said he's never going to be good again. And not like he's going to

be out of the NFL, but never be the J.J. Watt that we came accustomed to knowing. The guy that wins defensive player of the year, I think he's won it three times. Hell, he's maybe one at four, I have to wiki him. I mean, he's, you know, hell, he might win it this year. Like, he's been awesome. And, you know, sometimes in this business you're wrong.

You know, it may sound cliche, and you can Google a million quotes on it about habits in life, about little details in life, and how they add up over time, and they bleed into everything you do. And you can Google a million quotes about it. But the older I've gotten, the more I've realized from the people I've been around professionally, even personally, from college that have gone on to have been much more successful than I am at this point in time in life. Looking back, the people that I've been around from the NFL to just gone to school with that are doing high-level things, from Andy Reed to buddies to the private sector and business.

Like, most of their habits are pretty good. They do the basic things really well. And then their talents doing extraordinary things, whether it's Coach Reed being able to scheme up plays, whether it's a friend being able to just, I have friends that have created tech companies. They're just smart. They're brilliant.

Like they just have the God-given talents to do things that other people don't. But for the most part, they do a lot of other little things really well. Whether they're detail-oriented, whether they're very organized, whether they're just natural kind of leaders, whatever. And as a player in football,

like your fundamentals, and you hear coaches talk about it all the time, and again, it sounds very cliche, like, focus on the fundamentals. When Steve Kerr was hired with the Warriors, they had been to the playoffs back-to-back years, they had the Splash Brothers, he wasn't quite Steph Curry yet,

but he was an all-star. The first day of practice, they did like basic passing drills. He just wanted to instill. like guys, you just, you got to know when to make the right pass. You know, and I think I remember reading Andrei Guadala and it's well known around the Bay Area was like, what are we doing? This is like high school basketball.

If you ever heard Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Drew Brees talk about how seriously they take individual drills in practice. Like coach, like John Gruden. Now, this may be a little bit of a waste of time, but this is the way he learns. Like he draws up and he did this at least when he was successful. I think he still does it, but it's a hard example because he's not winning. He would draw the scout team cards just because that's how he remembered it. Most coaches would have like a quality control guy do it.

But again, like that was something little to him. It was just a habit that he developed that helped him become a better coach. And any quarterback worth his salt, if you went to practice, I've never seen Tom Brady practice, but I've had friends that have had joint practice with him on other teams and just said, it's incredible to watch how seriously he takes every drill. And then when you watch him on Sunday and Peyton was like this, Drew Breeze is like this, Rivers is like this, like their fundamentals are so good.

Their feet in the pocket, they're just basic foot. They're carrying out play action fakes. They take that shit really seriously. Like when I watch, because especially Rivers, Peyton, they've never had great God-given talents. Their arm wasn't good enough to throw off the back foot. So they could never get away with it, the first place. Like, we all know a super skinny guy that can eat whatever he wants to stay skinny.

Like me, I've had to change my diet dramatically in like the last five years. Always a dirty eater. Well, what happened? My metabolism slowed down, especially the last couple years. And as I keep talking to people that are older than me, they're like, wait till you're late 30s, wait till you're early 40s. Like, you got to adapt. And Aaron Rogers, but if you build good habits at a young age, it's not as hard. You know, but it's, I mean, it's hard to eat salads. It's not always that fun. But if I don't want to be 30 pounds overweight, I got to mix in some salads. Like if you want to play into your late 30s, into your hell early 40s, you've got to have really good fundamentals.

Tom Brady's fundamentals and individual work are pristine. Like Aaron Rogers has always had terrible fundamentals. But he's been a freak talent. And he's been able to overcome it. Why? Because he's had this elite arm that he could make these throws off his back foot. And everyone's like, oh my God, it's one of the greatest players, most talented players we ever saw. Well, you know what the problem is now?

Like, I don't know if his arm's quite as good. I don't know if his passes are quite as crisp. What has stayed the same? His terrible fundamentals. He never throws, steps into a throw. He's always throwing off his back foot. And now, instead of hitting dudes in stride, it may be a little bit behind a guy. And if the DB is semi-competent, he just puts his hand up.

Well, if you watch Drew Brees, if you watch the guy, Don Brady, if you watch Phillip Rivers, those guys never don't step into a throw. Young guys, Mahomes, Jimmy Garoppolo before he got hurt, Deshawn Watson, tonight, Marriota, these guys, if their fundamentals aren't that great, whatever. They're in their mid-20s. They can get away with it. Forever. Aaron Rogers has already always been able to get away with it.

Well, it's starting to catch up with him. And I'm watching him now. Like, he's had a good year, and he still makes elite throws, but he's no longer an elite quarterback. And here's the problem. in a capped league, when you cannot have an unlimited salary, in any other business, if you make a bad acquisition at a huge number, you can overcome that because you can always buy other stuff.

In baseball, if I miss on a player and overspend on a $150 million player, well, if I'm the Yankees, the Giants, the Dodgers, the next year, if he sucks, I'll just buy another one. In football, if you make an enormous investment in a player, player, and he is not by a country mile the best player at his position or one of them, you're in trouble. And when it comes to a quarterback, when you invest as much money as the Green Bay Packers paid him, and as they've consistently paid him, forever, he was well worth it.

Why? Because he was the best player or top two player in the NFL at his position, which is by far the most important position. It matters, because in a salary cap league, there's a pie, and you allocate, every player takes a piece of that pie. And when you pay a guy $30, $35 million, and the salary cap is $170 million, and the next highest paid player in your team makes like $14, that's a huge percentage of your salary cap.

So when they allocated as much cash as the Packers paid him, which he deserved, he has to be an elite player. If he is not an elite player, it ain't worth it. And right now, he's not worth the money. They paid him, I think, I remember Chef de Root, who's getting $80 million over the, this first six months, which again, I got no problem paying Aaron Rogers $80 million or whatever the way you've got to structure the cap.

But he has to be an all-pro. If he's not, we're in trouble. And he hasn't been in the Packers are in trouble. And it gets back to when I watched him play this year, his fundamentals are shit. They're terrible. And I'm no quarterback coach. But I know as players age, when their fundamentals are not good, and their basic other attributes just diminish,

because again, as you get older, they diminish. Like I said, as I'm getting older, my metabolism slows. I don't feel like my brain's quite as smart as it was like 10 years ago. It's just natural. You know, I'm definitely aches and pains. And I never even played in the NFL. So can you imagine a 35-year-old that's been injured a bunch that now has bad footwork? Like Aaron, you better, when they do get this new coach this offseason,

he better have a long look in the mirror and go, Aaron, if you want to be like Drew Breeze, if you want to be like Philip Rivers, hell, if you want to be like Tom Brady, who a lot of people have said, you've been the better quarterback for the last five years, which is kind of crazy when you look back, which does have some validity, but it doesn't quite feel right anymore, which is like Aaron, bro, you're 35. Like, you've got to pick it up, bro. This ain't good, you're getting paid way too much money to not be elite.

And he ain't elite. He wasn't even the best quarterback on the field last night. Like Kirk Cousins, paying $86 million, I need that. They went forward on a big fourth down. at the end of the, or third down at the end of the game to ice it, and everyone's like, what are they doing? Just run the ball. If you pay a guy $30 million a year,

and I can't trust him on a big third down, we got a problem. Now, you can trust Aaron Rogers. Right now, I don't trust that Aaron Rogers are going to make the play. Why? Because it'll probably be back foot it, skip it. He's just, and again, people would be like,

well, he's always freelance. Well, it's not good enough anymore. It's not. We're paying him too much money. He's not playing well enough. And it's not like it's going to change this year. I was just at Thanksgiving with my mom and my brother. We had two dogs.

One of the dogs, Bailey, both labs. One of them's seven. The other one's almost a year. The little one is very, very influential. You can teach her stuff. She's learning. Like, it's easy to teach. She just got back from training because my brother hunts.

She's pretty on the ball. Cali, the older one, has been acting the same now for like five straight years. There are certain things she ain't changing. Old dogs. You can't teach them new tricks. It's going to be, that's my one big red flag, because I got someone tweeted me last night. You know what? Bruce Ariens should take the Packer job.

If you think that Aaron Rogers wants to deal with Bruce Ariens who lights up any player, he's old school, he doesn't give a shit who you are, he would be in Aaron's ass every day. And it honestly would be the healthiest thing for him. It would make him uncomfortable. It would make him better. I don't know if Aaron wants it I don't think he wants any part of that Old dogs don't change man

And that would be the scariest thing if I'm a Packer fan Again, Aaron Rogers is a first ballot hall favorite He's one of the greatest players at his position ever But I would And like I said about JJ Now again, if he dives back into his fundamentals And his feet, just his, we're talking the most basic elements of the position

Like do you step into a throw And I'm not talking about one where you don't have any room to step in, and there's a defensive lineman falling in your feet. I'm talking about when the pocket's not muddied and Devante Adams is wide freaking open. Can you just step into a throw? Or do you always have to look too cool for school and step off your back foot? Because I'll tell you one thing. If you miss that throw in Bruce Ariage's your head coach, he's lighting you up like a Christmas tree. Mike McCarthy ain't saying crap and even if he did Aaron clearly ain't listening.

But for this investment to be worth it, if Aaron doesn't change, nothing is going to be. a change in Green Bay. Like, as he gets older, it's only going to get worse. The Bears ain't going away. Minnesota's solid, well-run. Like, Aaron better this off-season, because let's not get a twist. Their season is over. They're going to have a coaching change.

And hopefully the coach can influence him. But Aaron's going to have to look in the mirror. And he's so rich now. Everyone loves him. I don't know if he will. Honestly, I'd bet against him doing that. If he's willing to do that, maybe he's going to. can get back to that old peak form and not just be somewhat of a flash player, he's still going to

make elite plays. He is still going to have the ability to make some of the best plays you'll ever see. The problem is he doesn't have good games anymore. He doesn't string it together for three straight games. He has stretches, but because he's always freelancing and firing off his back foot, balls are firing into the ground, firing over the wide receivers, missing wide open guys. It's just not good enough. But craziest story of the weekend easily and it's one of the craziest stories the last several years happened in Tampa Bay with the San Francisco 40 Niners and Ruben Foster and he was arrested anyone listening to this podcast more than likely knows the story arrested at the

team hotel immediately cut and as the recording of this he's currently on waivers will he be claimed my gut says he will be but I texted a couple buddies in the league general manager, scouts. They didn't think he will be. So as you're listening to this, we'll probably know. I kind of changed my mind. Maybe he won't be. Who knows? I would think about claiming him for sure. Because he starts on every team.

And I think that gets to where I fundamentally view the NFL. And any sports league for that instance is I think oftentimes, and especially with social media, you see people get very offended when the league or a team. and the NFL has taken so much crap over the years for not being like the moral compass of society when 1,000% that is not their job, that is not their role in society. And it really bothers me.

Why do people get a fit? Like if an NFL team signs a guy with a rap sheet, domestic violence, I like you, can't stand domestic violence. It is despicable. If you hit a woman, if you're a male, it to me that's up there, murder, rape, pedophilia. Is that the right way to say it?

It's right behind it. I mean, it's terrible. It's despicable. I literally don't know any person that is pro-domestic violence. Every single human alive that has any common sense is anti-domestic violence. So this isn't some hot take. But there are only so many people that can play pro sports. And when you're talented at your job, you get more chances.

That's the way the private sector works. Now, in society, the moral world. accomplish should start with your parents, with your teachers, with the police, the judicial system. Like, it's on them to figure it out. It is not on these teams to set the code and the standard for life. And everyone's like, oh my, I can't believe the 49ers. You can't? I mean, have you followed the NFL? Have you checked the rap sheet and the resume of individuals in the Hall of Fame? Like, This is professional football. This isn't a high school football.

When you get in trouble, you get kicked off the team. Unless you're really talented and maybe going to a Division I college. Why? Because guess what? In life, talented people get more chances than the less talented. It's been like that, and it will always be like that in a capitalistic society. And Ruben Foster is simply more talented than 95% of the NFL, 95% of the non-quarterbacks. So whether he gets claimed or whether he doesn't get claimed, he's getting another shot.

And listen, it is just under zero circumstances can you get arrested on a road trip? None. It cannot happen. It should never happen. And I think it's borderline unprecedented. I don't think it has ever happened. And it was a cutable offense. Even on a team that's terrible and he's probably their second or third best player.

You had to cut them because you cannot go on a road trip and have a guy escorted out in handcuffs, especially when it's a situation where you've already gone down this road with the guy and it's the same girl. TMZ had the 911 call. With these type situations, I don't assume to know anything. Whether he did it, whether he didn't do it, I don't go into it hoping something's true. Obviously, if anything you'd hope, it's not true. Because if he did hit her, he should go to jail.

If he didn't hit her and she makes it up for a second time, she should go to jail. This situation's pretty black and white for me. The one thing I will not do, though, is think that the 49ers are bad people. Or that John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have low standards. They are the same as every other damn team. Once upon a time, Mark Davis said, we will not employ anyone that has ever been involved. with domestic violence. That will not stand for the Raiders.

Then he signs John Groome to $100 million and who does he immediately hire. Tom Cable, who is admitted to hitting his ex-wife, maybe his current wife, I don't know. But he's gone on record and said he hit her. You know why? Because Mark Davis didn't really mean that. No owner ever means it. It's why, if anything, you should never say even touch these subjects. Why? Because if the player's talented enough, every team in the NFL will think about signing them and probably has signed a player that has been in trouble before. Domestic violence, crimes, whatever.

It's just the nature of the sport. And people that get offended and angry at these teams doing that, you just don't even watch because, I mean, that may sound terrible, but I don't go, I don't turn on football on Sunday to expect anything out of these guys. What Charles Barkley once say, we're not role models, they're not. They're simply not.

They are individuals being paid to play football. That's simple. They are paid to win. They are paid to play well. And if they don't play well, they get cut. Ruben Foster got cut. As Kyle Shanahan said, not because he hit her. We don't know.

We didn't care. He was gone because we already told him we will not stand for you getting in trouble again. And I've also always said this. People always say, due process. there is no such thing as due process in the NFL. The best part about the NFL from a contractual standpoint and for a fan standpoint is they can get rid of players whenever they want. So when guys suck, most of the time they don't have an Aaron Rogers contract.

You can just cut them. That's why the turnover in the NFL is so high. You just get rid of players. Well, I've seen guys get cut and I was the Turk for looking at a coach, wrong just because a coach didn't like his body language because a guy wasn't good, you know, they've literally been cut because a guy's been arrested. Players in the NFL have been cut for every reason imaginable. They've also been kept when things that if another player was in trouble, they would have been cut. I heard a story. Someone said it this weekend on one of the

games that Jimmy Johnson was famously said, Emmett Smith can fall asleep in a meeting and I might let him keep sleeping or I might wake him up. If the undrafted player falls asleep in a meeting, I'm cutting him. There are different rules for different people in life. Ruben just, you know, exceeded the amount of chances that an individual is going to get with the team. They gave him six chances. Alden Smith got a ton of chances. Why? Because he was good. If he sucked, he wouldn't have gotten one. And I always, it's just, I always see it on Twitter like, I can't believe it. You can't have you consumed the NFL. It's been happening forever and it will continue to happen and every team and every owner and every general manager is the same. Talent trumps all.

Even when the guy's a scumbag. If he can play, he will be employed in playing football on Sundays. I'm not going to spend much time on this next guy just because really he's wearing me out and I'm just over it. It's one thing to run your. your mouth when you're an important big deal, when you're the best player on the team and your team's good, when you're an owner like Jerry Jones or George Steinbrenner and your team is the most important franchise in your sport. Joe Lakeb acts like that now. He could not act like that if he owned the Sacramento Kings. George Steinbrenner would have been an idiot if he acted like that and he owned the Minnesota Twins. Jerry Jones would just be like, if he owned, he owned

the Jacksonville Jaguars and carried himself like he did. We would make fun of him constantly. Now we make fun of Jerry constantly, but it can't be disputed that the Dallas Cowboys by far are its most important television property. They put it on primetime games for a reason. They are the highest rated property in the league. In a league that does by far the highest media deals

with the television partners. So without the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL would make less money. In, you know, return, the players would make less money and the owners. And you know who knows that? Jerry Jones. It's why he's got the biggest ego in the league. You know, I'll give you a guy. I'm watching in the background in the Warriors game.

You know a guy that never shuts up, Draymond Green? And you know why I don't mind it? Because he's an ass kicker on one of the great all-time teams. If he acted like that on the Dallas Mavericks, we'd all, I mean, no one could stand them. Now, I know a lot of people that don't live in the Bay Area I think, may think Draymond's a clown, but I'll say this. He's an absolute winner.

A guy that I had to play a big game, I'd want Drayvon Green in my foxhole with me. Because you know what? If I have a big NBA finals game and he's on my team, more than likely I'm probably going to have a good chance to win. You know why? Because it's a team game, and he's a team player. And if you're not playing an individual sport like golf or tennis and you run your mouth to a certain level, you can start, you know, your mouth can start writing checks

that not everyone on your team can cash. And Jalen Ramsey has crossed that threshold. It was fun last year when Jacksonville was awesome, and their defense was elite. Well, this year the team sucks. I mean, it's god-awful. Borderline unwatchable. As of the recording of this podcast,

they fired their offensive coordinator, and Blake Bortles have been demoted. So that shows you where they're at. But it's not as fun and cool, running your mouth when you're, team's four and eight. And you constantly, you know, talk crap about the opposing quarterback. And I've said, I don't always disagree with Jalen Ramsey. But you can't be saying, you know, Philip Rivers sucks. Tom Brady's overrated. Like, bro, you're an idiot. And listen,

I've gone on this podcast. And ever since the draft and even before the draft, I did not like Josh Allen. Under no circumstances would I have drafted Josh Allen in the first round. It was crazy. And I get when Jalen Ramsey called him trash and made fun of them all offseason. But when you're playing that team and your team is struggling to keep doubling down during the week and talking just mad shit, it's just not necessary. And a couple weeks ago when the story came out, the same day as the Condoleezza Rice story, that Jalen Ramsey might get traded. I knew exactly Twitter would be like, oh, Schaefter, you idiot. They're not trading. They're not trading Jalen Ramsey.

The hell they haven't thought about it. He literally never shuts up. When you think Jalen Ramsey, do you think Tom Coughlin? You know, again, I think Jalen Ramsey might be the best cornerback in the league. But he is a pain in the ass to have on your team because he's always giving the opponent elite bulletin board material. Like if you don't think he inspires the opponent every week just talking crazy crap about their play.

players, you're crazy. You're high on marijuana because that is just a factual thing that's happening, that their coaches are bringing it up and using it to motivate. And so far this season, and again, he plays fine, but the problem is his teammates don't, and he's creating these situations that are just unnecessary. And I'm pro talking. I talk for a living. I'm not against him saying his opinion, but you have to be somewhat calculated,

And again, you don't need to be the Patriots and Belichick and say nothing. But just destroying your opponent during the week. Like they suck and that dude's trash and Tyree Kill stinks. And just saying things that are just false. Like, hey, bro, Tyree Kill is an elite player. He's an elite wide receiver right now. So you're just blasting their best player. What is that doing for you?

And it's gotten to the point where he's kind of jumped the shark. And for a great player, he's really starting to take away from, his greatness because he's arguably the best corner in the league. They're going to put him on the block this offseason. Do not think twice about that. Now, do they trade him? I don't know. You probably think twice about trading such an elite talent.

But they're talking about it. They're thinking about it. 1,000 percent. And I'll tell you this, if I was an opposing team, now if I had a pick in the 20s or something, I'd do it. But just because he's the best cornerback in the league, they're not getting a top 10 pick for him. I wouldn't trade top 10 pick for him

because first off you've got to pay him in a year he already talks a lot and he's on a rookie contract which he was a top five picks so he makes a lot of money but imagine paying him $75 million guarantee I mean you wouldn't be able to tell him to be quiet

and again I am not anti-talking but just saying just craziness week in and week out middle of the game calling Josh Allen just telling him he's trash screaming at the sideline he's trash. When you're down 14-0-0. Again, if this was an individual sport and it was tennis,

I go, you know what, he can do whatever he wants. It's just all him. But bro, it's not. Like, you have to depend on your teammates. You're playing this opponent. What's the point in inspiring them when you don't control the deal? You know, it's one thing from Michael Jordan who just belittled everyone. Like, in basketball, you have so much control as an individual player. In football, you don't. Like, yo, Jalen, your quarterback, sucks. You're running back just got tossed out of the game. Your team sucks. You play for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Like, bro, you're arguably on the most irrelevant team in the league. Like, just tone it down, my man. Before we get into Baker Mayfield and Hugh Jackson, we'll head to

the state of Ohio, Ohio State, Urban Meyer, and college football playoffs. We have, I mean, kind of a crazy scenario. I'd been saying forever, listen, That was as big of a game as Harbaugh had had since the NFL. And, I mean, they got killed. They got boat raced. I was wrong on Michigan. They didn't even belong on the field. That wasn't a loss for Michigan.

It was a massacre. That was a borderline body bag game for Ohio State. It wasn't just the speed, because you know how fast Ohio State is. It was, I mean, they were dropping Michigan guys like flies. And Michigan, listen, I thought they were one of the more. physical teams in the league. They did not, besides Roshan and Gary, their guys didn't belong. I mean, Ohio State, when they hit them, they fell.

And when Michigan hit Ohio State, they did not fall. It was a heavyweight fight. I don't know if you saw the highlights. I didn't order the fight. When I was at Cal Poly in the mid-2000s, Chuck Lidell was in the peak of his powers, and he went to Cal Poly, and he kind of spent some time there, even when he was kicking ass and the UFC was, and MMA was blowing up. and he was like the heavyweight champ.

He would actually come out to like frat parties and, you know, and kick it and get wasted and pick up on chicks. Like he was a big deal. He was a rock star in the community of San Luis Obispo. I mean, just on top of the world. Like the Mike Tyson version of UFC. Well, if you watch Google the highlight of him versus Tito Ortiz from last weekend, Chuck got dropped.

Like, it's over. It kind of looked like that with Michigan. Ohio State was Tito Ortiz. Now, Tito's probably shot too. But that's what the game looked like. Now, here's the problem. It's pretty clear to me. Alabama's the one.

Clemson's ceiling is, might not be Alabama, but it's damn close. If Clemson plays an A game and Bama plays a B plus game, Clemson can win. There's only one other team to me I would put in that sentence. And it would be Ohio State. Ohio State's ceiling might not. be as high as those two teams, but they clearly, if they were on and one of those two teams is off, could beat them. I can't say that for Notre Dame, and I cannot say that for Oklahoma. But it's clear. Alabama's in no matter what. They're going to beat Georgia, so Georgia will be out. Clemson's

in, Notre Dame's in. Alabama and Notre Dame are officially in, and Clemson's going to house Pittsburgh on Saturday night. Why that game's on Saturday night when Oklahoma, Texas, they should put that bad boy at night. The reality is there's one spot for two teams. assuming they both win. Ohio State should kill Northwestern, and Oklahoma should get revenge on Texas. And to me, Ohio State's better. There's just no question.

But if you're the college football playoff, do you really want a mess? And I often think the PR nightmare in sports is a tad bit overrated. Like, who cares that social media freaks? Who cares that people go nuts? Like, if you win, no one will care. literally no one will care.

We freaked out about Urban Meyer and then he beat the crap out of Michigan and now they're 11 and 1 or whatever and people ain't really talking about it. But in the college football playoff because there's so much time before games the domestic violence deal with the coach that he fired and then that coach that he fired

has also been tweeting like a madman at Tom Herbin about massage parlors and what he's done with his wife like he's a wild card. I don't think the college football playoff would want any part of that involvement in that. Because unlike a lot of times in football, you have a couple days, but then football becomes such a big conversation and then you play, it's over with. Well, in the playoffs, after this weekend, you wouldn't play until the 29th.

You have a huge gap between this, like when the college football playoffs is set. So what are you doing? You're just talking about the game. So Alabama, they're out, you know, it's positive talk. Clemson, positive talk, Notre Dame, positive talk. If you put Urban Meyer in that game, all the talk is about domestic violence and how he kept that coach on his staff all those years. Like the negative stories, if you're in that committee, like you have to be talking about

that when you put the team together. Because I don't even think you could argue and you can tell me about the Purdue loss. Yeah, I get the loss was bad. But if you have half a brain and eyes that work, you can't argue that the one-loss Ohio State and a one-loss Oklahoma, Ohio State would have the better chance to beat Alabama. Even though both would have a small chance, Ohio State is much better. Urban has beat Sabin several times. Oklahoma cannot beat Alabama. They do not play defense.

But if I put Oklahoma instead of Ohio State, instead of negative publicity for a month, a coach that's not even on this Ohio State staff anymore, tweeting about Tom Herman's sex life and crazy things that happen. I just get Lincoln Riley, who is, you know, I would say the sexiest coach in all of college football, not in his appearance, not Cliff Kingsbury style, but just the way we talk about his offense. And Kyler Murray, that may or may not win the Heisman, but is easily the most intriguing college player because they're playing them up like he's Bo Jackson and got drafted and the top

10 in baseball. He's fun. Like to me, Oklahoma is the no-brainer choice simply because there is no drama. Like, I think that that is going to be a talking point in this committee. Whether you like it or not, whether that's fair or not, whether Ohio State kind of gets screwed. Now, they put themselves in this position because if they had been undefeated, they would be a lock and Oklahoma would be screwed. But again, like, I watch basically every game of Oklahoma's played this year. I've watched a lot of Ohio State, and obviously Ohio State had struggled, but as you saw with Michigan, their ceiling is just higher than Oklahoma. And isn't that what we're trying to do, get the best four teams? Ohio State, when their best is better than Oklahoma's best, because they don't

play defense. But if I'm Mullins, the AD from Oregon, I can't have Urban Myers drama. I can't have that crazy-ass coach that he fired tweeting about who knows, what for three weeks. I want no part of that. So, I simply put Oklahoma in whether you like it or not just to avoid the PR disaster. Okay, let's dive into this last topic

before we're getting the Middle Coff mailbag. There was so much to talk about this week. I even have a ditch a couple topics. I mean, God, I've been fired up today. This is one of my favorite podcasts I've ever done just because so much stuff happened this weekend, but one of the kind of funnier things was

the interaction, uh, fake handshake hug with Hugh Jackson and Baker Mayfield. Hugh went in for the hug. Baker just went in for the handshake. Hugh kind of stopped mid-hug, realized that Baker wasn't feeling it. And then Baker after said that he was pissed off, that Hugh went to Cincinnati, a division rival, and people blew up on Twitter, calling him not classless, whatever. Simply, I think this.

In a day and age, why are we so caught up with everyone being so fake with one another? I'm all for politics in life And when you work with someone You work for someone You're partners with people You work in the same office as someone Sometimes you got to suck it up And just be nicer to someone that you want to be

I mean that's the reality with all of us in life It's just I mean Welcome to America Welcome to this world We all have to fake it every once in a while But if I'm not doing business with you And we don't have a personal relationship relationship, why do I need to pretend I care about you?

It's one thing, like, after a game, to show respect to an opponent, a guy you played, but a coach that you just had, that you clearly didn't like that much, that they clearly didn't see eye to eye, that whether he, on the record has, you know, said that he kind of like Baker, whatever, clearly he had leaked to a bunch of people that he wanted Carson, that he wanted Deshaun, that it was never his fault, and Baker didn't like him. So Baker gave him a half-hearted handshake. Like, why are you not allowed to do that? Now, I disagreed a little like Baker.

He can go to Cleveland or Cincinnati. I mean, who cares? But I did respect and really liked that Baker was like, screw you. You know, I would have supported him. Like, I have a little petty in myself. And if I was given the same situation, and I could think of several people, that I would have really struggled just to shake their hand.

So he was a bigger man and shook his hand, but he did not owe him a hug. Honestly, I don't think he necessarily owed him a handshake. Like, listen, the rep on Hugh Jackson with my friends in the NFL, and just that I've heard forever, is that he's just kind of a fraud. He's just a disorganized mess. I know a couple people close around the Cleveland team. He wasn't respected at all. Like, he's one of the worst coaches we've ever seen.

scene. And clearly, you know, it's hard to quite decipher. Did he want Baker? Did he want Baker? Did he want Baker? Did he not want Baker? I don't know. But Baker clearly has some red flags with him, with Hugh that being. So I respected Baker didn't fake it. Why are we all about faking it in life? I'm just so tired of it. If you don't like a guy, you don't have to shake his hand. It's a good thing Like Belichick, when the Mangini stuff. Like Belichick stopped liking him and he gave him half-assed, you know, hugs. Like Belichick doesn't fake it. If he doesn't like it, like you, he shows you.

And I've always respected that about Bill. He's not a fraud that way. When a lot of guys, especially in football, are very fraudulent. It's a very, you know, it's like high school, the drama in the NFL, the rumor mongering between coaches. and scouts and executives and players and player agents. And, you know, it's a very small community. It's a weird little small, rich community because all the players and now coaches

and now definitely executives are all really rich. I mean, even an average, I don't think people quite understand how much assistant coaches make. You know, like a tight-in coach makes like 400 grand. You know, a running back coach makes like 350. Offensive and defensive coordinators make millions, like seven figures a year. salary. That's not like bonuses. That's not like if they make the playoffs. That's a set salary. Like that happens. So, you know, with so much money on the line, I respect Baker for basically, you know, giving him the middle finger. Like, what did Hugh deserve for Baker, for him to give him respect? Baker knows that it wasn't Hugh's call to start him.

Hell, it wasn't even Hughes call to put him in the game. Tyraud Taylor had to get hurt. That's the only reason Baker came in. Think about that. Looking back on that game against the New York Jets on Thursday night, Hugh didn't even want to play him. Think how stupid Hugh is. Tyrod Taylor over Baker Mayfield. I mean, they might have won two games this year with Tyrod Taylor. So, I respect it.

Okay, I'm going to keep the Middlekopf mailbag a little shorter this week just because I've already done so much stuff. You can always slide into my DMs at John Middlecough on Instagram, and I will answer your questions. I'll answer some questions on Instagram this week just because I'm going to be a little behind after only probably answer two or three tonight. Okay. I know Kyler Murray, A situation is confusing and kind of odd, but I had thought about his pro prospects. Kyler Murray, by the way, said today that he hasn't ruled out playing in the NFL, but right now, as of today, literally he said it Monday, in lieu of the Big 12th.

championship game, his game plan is after this season to go play baseball full time. And that's clearly, I live in the Bay Area, what Billy Bean, Dave Forrest, Bob Melvin, all those guys believe, I don't know if Bob Melvin. I mean, in baseball, the manager is not really paying attention, but Billy Bean believes he's going to play baseball. And Kyler does too. If Kyler Murray were to say after the season that he's 100% in on his baseball career, do you think that an NFL team could use a mid-round pick on him to hold his rights while

he pursues baseball, i.e. Texans drafting Drew Henson in the sixth round in 03 while he played baseball. I didn't read this question before I read it. I thought you were going to ask the opposite. Like could he give up baseball and play football? Because as I've said, the knock on him really is that he's short, and I don't know truly how tall he is. The more and more I watch him, you know, some people have said he's probably a shade over 5'9. He is pretty small. I mean, if he was 5'11, I think he'd be a lock first round pick. I still think even at 5-9, I think he'd have a chance to be a first-rounder in baseball. But if, and he said it, like I said, so his game plan is to play professional baseball that I would say that, yeah, I mean, you'd be crazy, you definitely wouldn't

use a second, you know, on the second day, the second or third round pick on him, because if he says, listen, I'm going to play baseball. You can't afford to do that. Fourth still seems bold. I'd say anything after the fourth round, you could easily draft Kyler Murray and sell it to your fan like, you know, it was a risk worth taking. I mean, what's the likelihood of a fifth round pick hitting? You know, 10%, 15%, and that guy, that guy won't be a starter. If that guy hits, that means he just dresses and he's a backup. You know, so why wouldn't you draft Kyler Murray? That's a great question. That's a great question. I actually think hadn't ever thought about it and I hadn't asked anyone in the NFL, but I definitely think that's a very likely scenario that he gets drafted if he just goes on record saying I'm going to play baseball.

Because here's a thing, and everyone always says this, and I think I've talked about it before in this podcast. You get paid if you were a first rounder more than you do on baseball. Like if he was drafted, Lamar Jackson at Pick 32 got more than Kyler Murray got at Pick 9. but if you let's say he gets drafted in the late rounds they hold his rights if he tries to pursue baseball I googled like a month ago

the likelihood of making the big leagues just for anyone in the minor leagues is 10% now if I did a deep dive on what's the likelihood of a first round baseball player making the big leagues I think it's much higher than 10% because clearly they push those guys up so let's just say it's 30%

well the likelihood of let's say Kyler Murray just said, I want to play NFL football. He would be a lock top 50 pick. The likelihood of him making the NFL if you're a top 50 pick is 100%. It's actually 1 million percent. You literally go right to the NFL. You know, there's a chance that he's a center fielder, he's a great base dealer, he's a great defender. You know, for those that you listen to the pod that watch baseball like Jason Hayward,

what he now is, just an elite defender he can't hit, he actually hit a little this year, that Kyler Murray, let's say he could never hit the curveball, because I don't even think he hit above 300 in college, and anyone that follows anyone in college baseball, like usually guys that get drafted that are position players

in, at a college baseball, hit like, at minimum, like 380. You know, when you see some of these high school hitters get drafted, they hit like 600. So if you hit below 300 in college, It's not great. Like, there's a chance that Kyler Murray gets to minor league baseball and just can't hit breaking pitches.

Because as anyone that's, you know, falls baseball or read anything about baseball, most guys can hit fast balls. It's the breaking stuff they can't hit. And just talking to people in pro baseball and just reading stuff about it, I mean, that's going to be, can he do it or not? And maybe he figures out how to do it. Maybe he doesn't. And that if he can't hit the fastball, I mean, excuse me, the breaking ball,

the chance he never makes it the Big Leas. You know, it's really that simple. It's kind of crazy. But, yeah, I mean, God, that's hat tip to you. Great, great question. Bill O'Brien has gone to the playoffs with below average quarterbacks on multiple occasions. Last year when Watson was healthy, they led the league in scoring, and now this year, when healthy, they're on a, this says seven, but it's actually now eight, game winning streak. However, it seems like when the Texans play an elite quarterback or in a big game, they can never win.

people have been calling for his job for a while. Is it warranted? Is he a good coach or not? Can the Texans win the Super Bowl with him as the head coach? I hit on him a little bit earlier when I was talking about J.J. Watt. Can they win the Super Bowl with him as a head coach if Deshawn 100%. I don't know if their offensive line is good enough this year, but their team's pretty damn good.

Like keep watching the Texans. J.J. Watt, Clownie, Deshawn. Hopkins is, you know, I think the best wide receiver in the league, him or Antonio Brown, coin flip. absolute monster. Just, Demarius Thomas had two touchdowns the night. I mean, if you got Demarius Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, Clowny, Honey Badgers playing well, and Bill O'Brien, again, won it New England.

Belichick, Tom Brady believed in him. Then he goes to Penn State after Sandesky won. And like you said, has won at the Texans with, made the playoffs with Brian Hoyer. Now, the AFC South was not as good, you know, several years ago. like Lucks first year, that Colts team was a wild card team. You know, the Titans have gotten a lot better the last couple years. I mean, you look at their team this year, they'll probably be like 8 and 8, but they're a tough little feisty 8 and 8 team.

The Jaguars last year were good. And say what you want about them. I make fun of them, but they have good players. I definitely 1,000% think you can win a Super Bowl with Bill O'Brien. I think he is a good coach. I think he's gotten a bad rap because he's had terrible quarterbacks. Like you said, last year when they had Deshawn Watson pre-ACL, they led the league in scoring. This year with Deshawn Watson playing a full year back from an ACL injury, they're 8 and 3.

And if you think about it, they started 0 and 3. Why? He was slow and he didn't look great recovering from the ACL injury. As he's gotten stronger, I mean, he's run around like a gazeladite. You know, he is a potent weapon in the NFL. as the great philosopher, Dabo Sweeney said, you will regret it. He's the Michael Jordan of football.

That might have been a little strong, but Dabble was right that Dachan is a stud. So I think the Texans are going to be held to deal with in the playoffs. The AFC is going to be really good. It's going to be really important for them because the difference in the first round of playing the Chargers and playing that six seed, because the Chargers are going to be the fifth seat,

unless the Chiefs' first seat, unless the Chiefs fall apart, somehow they win the division, which is not out of the realm possibility. Well, let's just assume the charges are the fifth seat. That's a tough first round game. But if you get the Ravens, you get, I don't even know who else. I mean, the Broncos, it's a much easier game to play the six seats. So that's the key for the Texans. Keep on winning, you know, get to 12 and 4, and you'll probably be the 6 seed.

Okay, let me look up. Do you believe Derek Carr will be the quarterback next year for the Raiders? Do you like Carr for Winston deal? Tampa is now legit, and Raiders can dump or franchise Winston, then select Herbert? I would say this. I don't think Derek Carr makes it to Vegas. I would say it's a 50-50 proposition that he's on the team next year.

I don't think anything can be discounted when John Gruden's your coach. He's very emotional. He's impatient. Clearly his mind changes all the time. Would he trade Derek for James Winston? I have a hard time seeing that, but if he does get rid of Derek, someone's going to have to play quarterback.

I don't know, like, I watched James this weekend because they played the 49ers. He actually wasn't that terrible. I thought he looked pretty good. Like, he's a more talented player than Ryan Fitzpatrick. I'd even say if James is playing well, that game was as good as any game Derek's had this year. Now, the Niners are terrible on defense,

but Derek has not played well for the majority of the year. His stats aren't great. I mean, aren't terrible, but he hasn't looked good. The more I think about it, can you discount Gruden doing something like this? No, you can't. Just get off Derek's contract, kind of start over,

take a flyer on James, former number one pick. I would say this, depending on who, I think Tampa, they're going to get blown out, on who the next general manager slash coaches in Tampa, would they even want to do that? Because you do watch Tampa Bay,

and you just go, If you just play consistent, that team has dudes everywhere. Mike Evans, Monster. OJ. Howard went on an injury reserve. He's a stud. The Humphrey guy's a stud. Brakes a stud. They got legit offensive weapons.

They can score points. Hi, John. Love the show and your opinions. Thanks. I'm a Vikings fan from Brisbane, Australia. Do you think Zimmer is still the man to lead us to our first Super Bowl? It's crazy. The Vikings never won a Super Bowl.

Or is it too hard to win now with defense first mentality in the new day in the new age NFL. Thanks, Brendan. I would say, yeah. I think Zimmer's a superstar. As he said, after the game on Sunday night, he put a lot of trust, and he basically said that was a big time game

from Flip and Cousins. He empowers his assistant coaches. You saw last year with Shermer, he hires good offensive coordinators, and then he lets them do their thing. Flip was awesome. I think their team is really good. I mean, they're starting to play good football.

Cousins has had a good season. Those two wide receivers are monsters. Dalvin Cook is awesome. Now that Everton's back with Hunter, those two guys are monsters. Kendrick's a good player. Harrison Smith, Xavier Rose, they have a star-studded team.

Obviously their offensive line is not very good, but if they play well on a given game, they can beat anyone in the league. They really can't. Their A game is good. enough to hang with other teams, other great teams a game. Now, are they top to bottom as good of a roster as say the Rams or the Saints? Probably not, but I've seen Zimmer in big games.

His teams are ready. I know they got boat race in the AFC or in the NFC championship, but it felt like God was just ready to give Philly a Super Bowl. You know, it was like out of their hands. But yeah, I mean, I believe in Zimmer. I think their team's really good. I think they're going to make the playoffs. I don't think they're going to win the division.

Chicago doesn't have it wrapped up, but I mean, they still play the Giants. They still play the Niners. I don't see how the Bears don't win 11. Might end up winning 12. It kind of feels like the Vikings are going to end up 10, 5, and 1, or even 9, 6 in 1, and I think that would be good enough to get a playoff spot.

And then in the playoffs, they're going to have to go on the road and either play the Bears or probably play the Cowboys. I definitely think they could win that game. So yeah. I mean, now are they going to win the Super Bowl this year? I don't know, but I do think with another good offseason, adding a couple more offensive linemen, they can get it done in this next year or two.

Their roster is 1,000% good enough. I am a believer. Appreciate everyone to listen. Been a long podcast. If I haven't got to your middle coffee mailbag question yet, I'll bang out a bunch this week just on Instagram. I'll just load videos and I'll run through them. So I know I'm a little bit behind.

Keep sending me those questions at John Middlkoff on Instagram, and I will get to them. Thanks everyone again for listening. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and come down and stretch run, baby. Let's do this as we head to the playoffs. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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