The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Impressions from the rookie QB class, Caleb and Jayden impress, lots to like with J.J,

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

John opens the show by diving into his first impressions after watching the top rookie QB's in their first pre-season games. He talks about how Caleb showed us all the things he did well at USC that had gotten him drafted number 1, and how the hype that's been surrounding Jayden Daniels is real. Later, he dives into the mystery around why Atlanta has both Cousin and Penix because Penix looks like he should be the starter, should J.J. start in Minnesota, and did Bo Nix give Denver something to think about when it comes to the starter role. 8:13 - Caleb Williams first impressions 19:03 - Jayden's hype is real 23:36 - Not enough to judge on Drake Maye 28:13 - Michael Penix doesn't surprise 36:14 - J.J. McCarthy looks good 41:50 - Bo Nix is the real deal Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex?

Is it just me? Or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest? instead of having sex sometimes. They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with the Anamaria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume.

Throw another shrimp on the Barbie. Get on all the UFC 305 action live from the land down under. At Draft King Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of the UFC. The middleweight titles on the line for the main of the first. event. But the card is stacked full of rip-snorter blokes and shell us. And speaking of stacked, if you're new to Draft Kings, listen up. New customers get five bucks to get 150 in bonus bets instantly. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use the code John. That's code John for new customers to get 150 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks. UFC 305. It's going to be a

ripper of a good time. Only on Draft Kings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. In New York, call 8778-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope-N-Y 467-367-3-69. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-78-7-77 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly.

On behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over, age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. Deposit and eligibility restrictions apply. See eligibility terms and responsible gaming. resources at dkng.com.com slash mMA. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middilkoff here, three and out podcast.

I got, I went on with Colin, like I do every Sunday, talking a lot of football. What I did on this, I recorded this before I went on, so it might be some carryover, but I just went over all the rookie quarterbacks. I watched all, watched some of them live, like Bo Nicks and Caleb, but, but, you know, I went before I recorded and just watched all their throws and watched all their play. Some of them runs as well. So basically watched their debuts as NFL players and just gave my thoughts on what I saw. And obviously overall, I would say this rookie class has a chance to be pretty darn good.

So last time we saw a bunch of quarterbacks get drafted high, it clearly did not work out, right? Four of the five guys are on different teams. That's the 2021 draft. I'm not going to go out and act like this is going to be four of these guys are going to go to Hall of Fame, but these guys' resumes in college speak for themselves, and it looks like they all got a chance, definitely some of them got a chance to be really, really good. So it was an exciting debut for the first rounders.

And there were other rookies like Spencer Rattler. I didn't watch. But all the guys drafted Caleb, Jaden, Drake, who didn't really play. or make many, he only threw the ball three times. Panics, JJ, and Bo Nix, who all played a lot. So it was really exciting to watch. Honestly, it was the highlight of the weekend, watching the rookie quarterbacks by a mile.

I mean, I don't even think there was a close second. Because the preseason can't be difficult, but it is exciting to watch this crew of guys, and that's for sure. So that's what today's podcast will be. No mailbag. I'll do a huge mailbag for Tuesday's show. I got a ton of questions from you guys,

so we will hit on that throughout the week. So keep firing in the mailbag at John Middlecalf as the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. And the Olympics is over. So we got to really lock in on the preseason now because football's right around the corner. Less than a month for week one. So it's exciting. Subscribe to the podcast.

If you listen on Collins' feed, 3 and out, appreciate everyone that has YouTube channel, all of our contents up. And let's rock and roll. But before we talk about football, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this podcast, game time. I actually, was it Friday night or Thursday night, I started seeing it on Instagram. I'm like, I know a bunch of people that are in Vegas right now.

What are they doing in Vegas? And then I started texting them. They're like, we're at Allegiant Stadium. We're at the Morgan Wallen concert. One's like, I use your promo code. And then I see Morgan Wallen come out as he does, you know, at all his concerts with someone famous, came out with Kelsey and Mahomes and Chris Jones when he did Kansas City.

In Vegas, he came out with Tom Brady and Mike Tyson. I'm like that. What a crew to roll out with. Now, if you want to go see a concert, I've seen Morgan a couple times, he's entertaining. No matter who you want to see, they got you covered. Obviously, football games, any World Series or playoff baseball games coming up here in October or late September. cannot recommend them enough. So my friends at GameTime,

make buying tickets easy. Take the guesswork out of buying those tickets with Game Time. Download the GameTime app. Create an account and use the code J-O-H-N. John, for $20 off, your first purchase, terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code J-O-H-N for $20 off.

Download the Game Time app today. Last-minute tickets lowest price is guaranteed. I think an overall theme of this quarterback class to me that jumped out, watching all these rookies really from Thursday and Friday on was athleticism meets arm strength. You know, we saw a couple years ago, just because a bunch of guys get drafted high

does not mean they're going to be good, right? Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Mack Jones, Justin Fields, all on different teams, going into their fourth season, all on different teams. And the highest draft pick that any of them got traded for was Trey Lance because the Cowboys, one, Jerry's a little crazy, and two, they got two years of them on his rookie contract, and he's a third string quarterback. So just because you're drafted high, we've seen forever in football,

it does not mean you're going to be good. For every time there's an Andrew Luck or a Peyton Manning that immediately starts in as good, I guess Peyton wasn't immediately, but you know what I mean? There are a lot of guys that are disasters and it's just a train wreck. And then we see all the time guys drafted

after the first round, in the third round, in the fourth round, the cousins, the Russell Wilson's, the Dak Prescott's. A couple years ago we saw Brock Purdy, last pick in the draft, become a starter who's winning playoff games. So you never know until the true live bullets start flying. But this matters for building confidence and really evaluating your skills.

How do you move? How's your arm strength? How's your accuracy? Do you feel overwhelmed? And I'm watching this class. And obviously this class, based on resume alone, was dramatically better than the class that I mentioned that all failed. but they got a chance to be pretty impressive.

I mean, they really do. Obviously, there's a headliner, right? You can go to the best concert ever. They're still an opening act. They're still an act playing, like when you show up at 4 o'clock, when the place has got a quarter, you know, the people in the venue.

It doesn't mean they're not good, and it doesn't mean one day they won't be headlining. So clearly, the headliner is Caleb Williams. And as we talked about last week, this building hype on Jaden Daniels, like he's in a different class, he would be a headliner of his own. And then there's a bunch of other guys

that are hard not to be excited about. So I'm not trying to overreact, but watching these guys, it's hard not to be bullish on the group. Not saying three of the six of them are going to the Hall of Fame, but they all got skills that translate to playing in the NFL.

Now, the thing that we will not be able to know until the games start is how you handle game plans when you go into a specific team and they have game plan looks and then the longer you play they pick your weaknesses and they force you into those weaknesses.

That's not happening right now. Most of these teams are just, even if they're running blitzes or different looks, it's just stuff that they want to be comfortable doing. Not because they think you're going to struggle with it. Maybe there's a coach here or there that's like truly doing some sneaky game planning. But for the most part, especially this first preseason game,

it's much more focused on all the stuff we've installed in spring and these first, I don't know, however many days training camp has been going, can my guys, the second and third stringers, handle that information and then execute that information? And then when shit goes wrong, figure it out on the fly. So it's basically you're judging more on the skill set than like how you are against different defenses.

Obviously, like I said, the headliner Caleb Williams, there was no disputing coming into the league. skill set he had. Like his, I would say his only knock. I'd say he had two knocks. Hero ball was one, but it's like, guys, Lincoln Riley did one of the worst coaching jobs in roster building you'll ever see last year. That team that he rolled out was an embarrassment.

And that offensive line for a school like USC, they should be ashamed. And trust me, they were. It's why Colin brings up a lot. They've had rumblings like, is he on the hot seat? And listen, he's not on the hot seat because they're giving him $120 million. But you keep winning seven games when you got guys like Caleb Williams. like we got a fucking problem. There's no way around it.

And part of the reason the dude was running around for his life is because they couldn't block a soul. I mean, they were atrocious. So he felt extra pressure to try to make a bunch of stuff happen. And he actually has the skill set to do that. When you watched him in the game yesterday, his arm strength is, I mean elite. I mean, it is top-notch NFL level.

And when you have a top-notch, listen, a lot of people push back like arm strength is not everything. And that's true. but when you are a good player and you have a great arm, like the sky's the limit. Patrick Mahomes, Brett Farb, Tom Brady had a big time arm. Right? So that translates the other thing to inclement weather. Well, where does he play?

The windy city. Last time I checked, it can be awful weather late in the year in Chicago. Also, who's going to be one of his big rivalries? Green Bay. Last time I checked pretty cold there in November and December. So his arm strength is pretty special. His playmaking ability, when I say playmaking,

I don't necessarily mean running down the field, though he can run. I mean running behind the line of scrimmage to throw. That's what obviously Patrick Mahomes, early on his career was his biggest wow. What Josh Allen has turned into holy hell. Justin Herbert had a throw either last year or a couple years ago that I think Daniel Jeremiah said the best throw he's ever seen in person.

Throwing on the move, whether that's bombs or 15 to 20 yards first down on third death. It's what Russell Wilson in his heyday did all the time. Scramble to throw. That means move out of the pocket, keep your eyes up to make a play. And sometimes you do that, the play that he threw to commit, which is just elite NFL stuff, clearly the first read on that play was not there and there was someone in his face.

So he kind of had to ad lib. And when you have to ad lib, it's the knock on, Guys like cousins and golf, like they don't have that capability because they can't move. Rogers built a Hall of Fame career off moving right and moving left and making elite throws.

And the throw that he made to commit was just, I was watching on the couch live. It was jaw dropping. It really was. But like, I got news for you. We kind of knew he had that. So it's not really shocking. It's eye-opening because it's NFL

and he's wearing a Bears jersey, not USC or Oklahoma, but I've seen him do that before. So I would expect him to have those capabilities. But part of being a playmaker isn't just throwing 100 mile an hour strikes. It's also doing what he did on the little dump off, almost like a little layup or a push shot in the NBA to DeAndre Swift that led to a huge game. And one thing we don't talk about enough when we discuss quarterbacks.

We do this all the time with DBs. Instincts. Like, do you have the instincts to feel the bulls? ball when you're not looking. Because the wide receivers looking back at the quarterback in the ball, you are chasing him. And ideally, you turn your head around at the last second, either to make a pick or to break up the ball. I was actually in the car on Saturday driving to the golf course. And I had on Sirius, and I was flipping the channels. And Dan Patrick, they were just replaying interviews. And he had on JJ Watt. And you know, Dan, great interview with their bullshit. And

JJ's like, you know the position that I have the most. most respect for in football and is the hardest to play is defensive back. Because one, you need to have elite athleticism. And two, these, like, God-given instincts. Maybe you've built in your younger career, but you don't develop them once you get to the pros. I think there's an element to that with playing quarterback. It's why a lot of guys get overwhelmed, right?

Because their quarterback instincts aren't natural. And there's something when you watch Caleb play, you're like, God, it's kind of born to do this. and he's not the tallest guy so ad libing is going to be part of his game I mean he can throw within the pocket no problem and he did I think his first throw of the game or maybe it was a third down throw on the first series

just was a strike from within the pocket but like he's going to make a lot of plays moving around and he's pretty natural at it and that's going to be a huge plus like obviously I can imagine the overreaction in Chicago but here's a fact this guy like the jump they're going to have from

the last couple years to this guy when it comes to throwing the football is Grand Canyon wide gap. It really is. And it's not hard to be really excited. And then there are little things like when he's scrambling for a first down. They showed it on hard knocks. They got the slip and slide out. And he slid. Like, it's kind of going to be important because he's going to have the chance probably every game two or three times, third and eight, second and nine, scramble get a first down. But when you're not able to get out of bounds and it's inside the numbers, they're going to be defenders around there. And let's face it, this isn't Greg Williams' bounties,

but defenders are never able to hit quarterbacks, ever, besides preseason games where a lot of starters don't play. So it's only the regular season. And because of the hype around this guy, I don't care what business you're in. When there's a young guy with a bunch of hype, there's resentment, there's people coming after you. That's part of the deal.

And people are going to be out to hit this guy and hit them hard. so especially because I mean if you hit this guy and K-O-em out of the game look at their backup quarterbacks pretty sure the dude went to Shepard College so you got to get down these guys are going to be gunning for you

and he slid and that's going to be something like they joked about it in the hard knocks but that's going to be important because I don't think it's hyperbolic to say that if they do a good enough job building around this guy the next two or three years

I mean their team's pretty good right now but like truly nail some stuff, like this can be a Super Bowl contender. Like he has that type physical gifts, right? And he's much more ready to play. And I'm not saying he's going to become Patrick Mahomes. He's got a long way to go. And I saw they ask him as quarterbacks,

and he didn't even name Mahomes is one of the best two quarterbacks. So Shady McCoy was saying there's something. I don't know. But like, this guy's got a, he's oozing with ability. I mean, it's eye-opening to watch. So Chicago fans, be excited because you should be. Now, I would temper it this year. I saw, you know, some people are picking up like it.

I still think 10 wins is probably a little bit of a stretch. But I don't know. I mean, you get a guy with this much, look at Andrew Luck, his rookie season. What he did do, you know, the Colts, got him in the playoffs, had him in the first round of the playoffs. Jayden Daniels, we talked about this earlier last week. The hype on this guy is growing by the day. it is i don't remember i guess joe burrow probably since joe burrow such a quick rise to just to a status right and burrow did it now burrow accomplished more in college in the sense of his team won the whole thing and they really kind of beat the crap out of everyone jaden had an had a national championship level offense his defense was a joke and brian kelly had to fire him but i'm always i get nervous sometimes.

Like, if you watch Caleb last year, I don't even know who he's really playing with. Jerry Rice's kid who's like a mid-round guy is going to be like a fourth or fifth wide receiver for the Chargers. Jayden's playing with Malik Neighbors, who if he stays healthy is going to be a star in the NFL, playing with another wide receiver gets drafted in the top 25 of the NFL draft. And you're just like, you know, sometimes we've seen that happen to Mack Jones, right?

Gets the start for the year, boom. And it was like, obviously Jaden has a lot more talent than Mac Jones. but the one thing you saw in college, whether it's Malik neighbors or me or you, his deep ball accuracy is elite. Like he puts it right on guys' hands on that go route. And he did it in this game. Just right on the guy's hands while he's being draped by a corner.

So that ability to push the ball down the field accurately is something really, really important. Because I think a lot of quarterbacks, whether they have a good arm or an average arm, regardless, just get, it's a lower percentage throw. So they are much more inclined like, should I try to fit this in? I don't hit this 50% of the time.

I'll take the checkdown or whatever. Well, his confidence level on that throw is really high because he's been hitting it pretty consistently now. He hit it in this game, in the preseason game, but he hit it all last year. So in his mind, he thinks he's completing that ball. And most of the time, it is hitting the guy, not like where he has to go up in high point.

He's like hitting the guy in stride. So it's a weapon. It's a major weapon. Now, the one thing you see when you watch him play is he's thin. He looks really thin out there. But his accuracy, his poise, he scored an easy running touchdown. That's going to translate. But back to Caleb, and we've talked about this just over and over when it comes to Jaden,

the question's going to be in these regular season games. when he scrambles and can't get out of bounds, can he slide? Can he avoid hits? Because we'll get to J.J. McCarthy. J.C. McCarthy tried to take on a couple of defenders. That cannot happen. We're not trying to prove toughness here.

If you're playing in the NFL, we assume you're going to be tough, and you don't need to prove it by trying to run over defenders at the quarterback position. Because your clavicle breaks, you bruise an elbow or break a hand, you get concussed. You are a problem for you. your team. Your liability is you running and not being able to avoid contact. Because the

NFL has protected you as long as you slide. But if you do not, because even if that penalty happens, who gives a shit if you're in the blue tent? So that's just something that he has to be very conscious of because they're going to run them as they should. Now he had a walk-in touchdown, but they're going to have

running plays where it's not in the red zone. But from a passing standpoint, I wouldn't put his physical gifts quite with Caleb. But holy moly, he's a very, very intriguing player. And I've been saying this over and over.

If you tell me right now, like he's competing to be the offensive rookie the year, yeah, this team can win eight, nine games. It's just that simple. A long way to go. I'm not acting. I wouldn't put my money on that yet, but he definitely has the physical capabilities to do it.

I truly, though, think that questioning, like, will he slide, which we won't really know until the bullets are flying come September because he will get injured. Just look at his body frame. I mean, even when you watch Caleb

while he's shorter, he just feels much thicker. And that's a big deal. Kyler has that. Kyler's built like a little tank. Russell had that when he got kind of fatter in Denver. But I'm talking about peak Russell, early on Russell,

was just kind of a little chiseled guy. And, you know, Jaden looks like what I dream about being just slim, just thin. Drake May, honestly not even sure what to say. He had three pass attempts, hard to even judge him. They played Bailey Zappy a lot. And I was thinking maybe they,

obviously Drake May made the team. Jacoby's making the team. They seem pretty high on Joe Milton from Tennessee. Maybe what they're hoping to do is make Bailey Zappy look decent in preseason. Someone has an injury and maybe you can trade them for like a seven round pick for the team that needs a backup. But I don't quite understand not playing them more. I don't know.

I just, I went back to watch the plays, and I saw that he played three snaps, or I mean, three pass attempts. So I don't know what to say there. Listen, I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy. I don't know, Belichick, so I'm not up here, you know, trying to cover up for everything that happened with him over the last couple years. But I don't know anyone in the NFL who is not shorting this. franchise right now. And it's not because Brandon and I, you didn't want to go there. Of course,

Brandon and I, you didn't want to go there. The team sucks. So even if he got, you know, a ton of money, his production would be terrible. Everyone would talk shit. It would be a disaster. I don't even judge him for that, right? Like part of the reason, they weren't just randomly getting guys to take discounts forever. It was because of Tom Brady and winning Super Bowls. So when you suck, people are less inclined to go there if they have options. Now, technically, you could argue Brandon Aute doesn't have that many options because the 49ers only agreed to trade him two places. He said no to both. But I'm not as critical of that.

He's from Reno, Sacramento, played at ASU. I wouldn't want to play in New England either. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes, for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations

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

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast.

We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and were gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor.

I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like what was just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate plea as the finalists to a bunch of ha-who. Ha-ha-oh. Again, we are experts.

So make sure to tune in to Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. who do you think he is? I don't know.

You meet the, like, the president? You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president? Los Wau-Cruzette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that. It is an actual Polish saying.

Yeah. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jared Adano.

You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hippocrite,

I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream.

Cream a chicken suit. This is help for me. Hippocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Michael Penix. I will, I think we can do two things. One go glass half full and one go glass half empty on just the overall situation.

I will reiterate what I said. It doesn't make sense to draft him if you plan on having cousins be your quarterback for the two or three years. He's a 24-year-old ready-made player. Doesn't mean he's going to be perfect, but he's ready to start right now. He is not a guy that, you know, this isn't J.J. McCarthy, this isn't Drake May,

who just is some project. Mahomes years ago, like, Jordan Love, there are projects. Dude, like, if they had to start right away, you never know with Mahomes. I doubt he would have been that bad. But Jordan Love, clearly needed some time, needed some work.

Drake May, everyone viewed. ideally just give the guy a year. Pennix is ready to roll. I mean, he's been in college for six years. His game immediately translates. So it doesn't make sense to me the way it all played out. I think if you could have a redo of everything, the Raiders would have signed Kurt Cousins,

the Falcons would have signed Christian Wilkins, and the Raiders would now have a quarterback. Michael Penix would now be their starter with an improved defensive line. But that's not the way it happened. So if you wanted to go Glasshouse, have full and just live in the short term, you could argue they have, if not the best backup quarterback, one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL. There is probably not a backup quarterback,

just, I mean, I'll watch a lot of preseason, like who I would take over Michael Penix. So that's a good spot to be in. The problem is it's not like Cousins under a one-year contract. It could get complicated and it could get complicated fast. If Pennix ends up playing, that means Cousins either got injured or he's not playing well. And then his contract is not easy to trade. You could argue. It's always somewhat easy to trade because teams need quarterbacks. But let's just live in the present. Because he's not going to

be the start. Kirk Cousins is. I watch Michael Penix and to me he looks exactly like the guy he did at Washington. Unlike Jaden and Caleb who use their athleticism more, who kind of like to scramble, like to move, Pennix, while his 40 time at the Combine was excellent,

he's really more like, plays like a Jared Gough. You know, plays like a true pocket quarterback. And he wants to sit in there. He wants to go one, two, to three, and just fucking get rid of the ball. He missed a couple passes, which I was watching on mute,

so I don't even know who was in the game, how much timing and rhythm. Like, I'm not judging him on, like, overthrowing a sideline route, which he has proven time and time again to be accurate with. But to me, like, I think what he does well, throw within the pocket, get rid of the ball fast. He's got a good arm.

He's accurate. He's a very rhythm-based guy. Once he gets a couple completions, you just feel him rolling because he's not looking to scramble around. He wants to sit there, three, four wide, let me pick you apart. And there were some throws, like, this is what the kid looked like in Washington.

And the thing that pisses me off because I like him so much as a player, I just wish he could start. I just wish he could play. But he can't because Kirk Cousins, They gave him all that money. But yeah, man, he just a very comfortable guy sitting in the pocket. And some of these scramblers, just naturally, if you're Jaden or Caleb, like, if something's not there right away, I'm kind of looking to move because I'm so comfortable throwing on the move.

That's just not Pennix's deal. Like, he wants to sit there and he wants to find an open guy and get rid of the ball within that little two, three yard radius of his tackles. That's the way he plays. and he's really kind of old school. Like you don't see that many quarterbacks. I mean, look at all these guys. Caleb mover, Jaden mover, J.J. McCarthy can move around. Bo Nix, obviously an athletic move around guy.

That's just not Pennix's deal despite the times. So, like, I don't nitpick guys in the first preseason action for a misthrow, an airmail. It's like, is this what it's supposed to look like? Are you calm? Do you have a good pocket presence? like obviously if a guy's wide open can you hit him? Like the first throw I think from Jaden

was a screen pass and he just airmailed him. It's like yeah, it's first ever time playing an NFL game. He's amped up. It's like a golfer. You actually got to be calm. But you got to balance like being excited

but being under control. So it's like, yeah, it happens. Like what am I supposed to do? Negative. I'm not running the quarterback meeting. It's like, yeah, I like what I see. It's on the coaches to figure this thing out. And like I said, I think if you do, if cousins struggles gets injured, they will be able to be like, see, see what we did, we have this guy backing him up.

I would say, yeah, see all that money you invested in the guy? You could have just gone with this guy who no one was going to draft in the top eight beside you, which I'd give you credit for, and utilize that money other spots. I don't know on your defensive line, which doesn't scare a soul. So I'd be excited. The guy can sling it. There's something just put you at ease, watching a lefty who can just throw darts. I just like Michael Panics. I have a lot of friends in the NFL that have Super Bowl rings that, you know,

are on playoff level teams that aren't that big a fan. Maybe I'm biased because I've watched him play so much the last couple of years. But I saw nothing in his preseason action that would make me change my approach thinking, I don't know if he's best case scenario. Like I don't see him being a top five quarterback. But I saw Kirk Connick. Cousins become a guy who became really good in the NFL. So had Jared Gough become a guy became really good in the NFL?

Dak Prescott. All these guys' games are a little different than each other. But let's just use Cousins and Gough, who are pocket quarterbacks. Well, this guy has more athleticism than them, and it's just as comfortable throwing the football. So if Jared Gough can be a high-level player in the NFL, Michael Panics can't too. I mean, Jared Gough is. J.J. McCarthy. I think the shitty.

thing about a spot like this is you have this team that is kind of going through a transition, right? But they're still, like, the GM and the head coach expect to win. So you signed Sam Darnold, who I didn't watch the game, but I saw on Twitter or whatever people said he played well. Kevin O'Connell's already announced he's going to be the starter. It's like JJ's this big project. Well, to me, Drake May is a much bigger project than J.J. McCarthy.

Because the knock on J.J. He said, didn't have to do much. Well, yeah, the running game worked. I saw when he had to make big throws against a team called Alabama, down late in the game, he came through. And you watched this game, he threw a terrible pick. And like I said, with a miss throw, like, throw a pick in preseason. What don't I just do?

Fucking cut the guy? It was awful. Can't do it. But the only way to get better, and this is what's hard once the regular season starts and you're not the starting quarterback, is through playing and through reps. and when you're the backup quarterback, you don't rep it out in practice.

You run the scout team, typically. The team can, I guess, manipulate it a little bit with a, you know, now they have the third string quarterback who's eligible, he can be on a practice squad. But still, your starting quarterback is getting the reps with the ones during practice. You don't have enough reps to go around. Michael Lombardi says this all the time. It's a math equation.

You only have so much time to divvy up, and your starter's going to get it all. And early on in this season, let's face it, this team's going to try to be competitive. Now, I think when you watch this guy play, one, a lot is what you saw in Michigan. Athleticism, arm strength, honestly, showed some really good pocket presence, moving up in the pocket, throwing accurately. Like, clearly his first read wasn't open, getting some heat on the corners, kind of steps up, made a great throw. Through a touchdown pass guy, was kind of wide open, but still, like, he's got the arm. There was a reason Harbaugh loved this guy three years ago when he showed up the campus.

There is a lot to work with there. And I think if I was a Vikings fan, I always kind of hate. Like at the time they drafted Mahomes and he was going to redshirt the year, Alex had been there a long time. Like he was an entrenched player. So even if he thought he was flawed, at least if you were a chief fan, like, listen, we've been winning double-digit games. This guy's been leading us to the playoffs. We were a joke before him and Andy showed up. I respect him.

I do understand if you're a Vikings fan like Sam Donald and listen even if you are bullish on Sam Donuts like I gotta watch a one year bridge quarterback Can't we just start this guy? It's never been easier in the sense of Your quarterback is more protected than ever Your wide receivers are more protected than ever

So if he doesn't know the playbook or something like that I get it not throwing him out to the wolves But I've never heard that Football Acumen and understanding You know In taking in knowledge and taking it to the has ever been an issue with this guy. So you see enough.

His athleticism on full display, a lot like the first two guys, throwing on the move, something he's very comfortable doing, just running around and keeping plays alive, something he also is comfortable doing. I would imagine if you started him, he would probably throw some picks,

clearly, maybe more than some of these other guys, because he's not used to just the offense. Like, okay, we're going to throw it 33 times this week, for three straight weeks. it's not something that just the way he's had to play, but the strength of their team with, you know, having the best wide receiver in the league, Jordan Addison, I'm sure gets suspended,

but when he comes back, I mean, that's a pretty damn good one-two combination. I don't know why you can't just seize him in, but they're not going to do that, and that's just, I don't know. I just, I'm never a believer. Like, I get the Pennix thing. The Pennix thing is he's playing,

he's simply not playing because we gave another guy $100 million. I have a harder time when it's like, we gave this guy $10 million. And I'm bullish on Sam Donald. I like Sam Donald on my team. Probably as a backup. But $10 million?

Like, you can't start over our first round quarterback? And listen, he's going to need work. You saw, I would say he made the worst throw of all these guys on the pick. I mean, hit the dude on the Raiders kind of in stride who undercut the route. But, man, there's a lot to like. This is how calm he is. That's the other thing. You watch Pennix, he's just very calm sitting there.

He's not, you can always tell a guy in the NFL in preseason, some of these younger guys who just get really fidgety. It definitely happens in the regular season when guys get injured and you've got to bring in backup quarterbacks. They just freak out. And this is why we always say it's the hardest position in the world to play. Because you got four dudes who now are all 250 to 350 pounds. All of them are athletes.

They're all pretty good pass rushers. Some are elite pass rushers. Some of them are all time pass rushers. trying to fuck you up. And the moment you start kind of, as Sam Darrell once I say, seeing ghosts or question your confidence or feeling overwhelmed, I can't even imagine that feeling of looking. These guys are huge and you freak out.

And some guys just have the natural ability to not freak out and are very calm in the pocket. And maybe it's obviously a different level from the preseason to the regular season, but I'd say J.J. McCarthy's debut. was more than positive, even with an awful interception. Another guy whose debut was really eye-opening in a good way was Bo Nix, who I think we can confidently say, Caleb's the starter, obviously, Jaden's the starter, obviously,

Drake May backup, Pennix backup because of Cousins, JJ backup because the organization wants to take it slow. Bo Nix, he refused to kind of like, I mean, honestly, he had him like, throw up. the depth chart. Some of the stuff Sean Payton's doing, little Parcellian old school, which is where Sean Payton got his start.

I think that stuff's kind of stupid. Just name him the starter, unless rock and roll. I give Iber Fluse a lot of credit because the moment OTA starts like this guy's a starter. What's the point? Hit the ground running,

pedal to the metal, let's go. And that's the way it should be with Bo Nix. And maybe it will be moving forward. Jared Sidham seems like a nice guy. Have no problem if he's on my roster, but he can't be my starter. and to me the thing with Bo Nix, everyone questions like, oh, he just throws quick screens.

He just throws quick screens. I think when you say that sometimes, especially forever in like the Mike Leach offense or whatever, even Hawaii's offense, which were all these hybrid, you know, spread it out, a lot of stuff around the line of scrimmage, a lot of quick stuff around the, you know, I would say within the 10 yards of the line.

line of scrimmage. It was easy. It's why a lot of quarterbacks that had below average arm strength and were never going to play in the NFL could dominate in college football. And then he played, I don't know if you'd consider that

the Mike Leach offense, but in an offense that was very quarterback friendly. And it kind of hurt him. A lot of people knocked him on it. And then I'm watching him play going, he's got a really good arm. Like he has legitimate arm strength.

Like it's, I'm not saying he's Josh Allen, or Brett Farr, but he's definitely not, I don't know, Dak Prescott or an Alex Smith. Like he has a strong arm. And all Sean Payton has reiterated over and over and everyone that knows him or has followed his career, like he wants a quarterback to get rid of the ball really quickly.

And on the touchdown pass, that ball hit Bo Nix's hands and was in the wide receivers, you know, basically right in the corner of the front of the end zone before you could even snap a finger. It was like, whoa. And it was the ball placement, getting rid of the ball, the arm strength.

Obviously, he made other throws on the move. His athleticism, like Jaden, like Caleb, like J.J. McCarthy, enormous plus. I mean, they scheme just a run play for him that picked up a first down. They had another kind of busted pass that he scrambled around.

You just go, holy shit. This guy has a lot of talent. And there are a lot of naysayers. It feels like a lot of. lot of people want to hate this guy. I don't know why. I'm kind of indifferent. I wasn't pro the guy.

It wasn't anti the guy. I watched him at Oregon. Thought he was a solid player. Watched him for the Denver Broncos. I thought his arm strength was even more eye-opening that I ever thought in college. And what Sean Payton's going to want them to do, they got all these big body wide receivers. He can also run a natural at it like it's something that comes instinctive to him. He's not going to play hero ball.

I don't know how it could have gotten much better. I really don't. I mean, this is what I'm saying. This class, I think if we look back on the class of 21, which is another embarrassment, it really is. Also understandable, the vid happened. BYU schedule was a joke. Trey Lance didn't play.

Mack Jones. Turns out Alabama was like, I'll tell the story one day, but it wasn't a fair fight. And Justin Fields and the big, wanted to cancel football, Kevin Warren, that loser. So I don't know what to say. It's not comparable class. This one's way better.

But these guys' resumes are a lot longer in those guys. Right? I mean, we got multiple Heisman trophy winners. We got Michael Pennix, who dominated college football for two years. J.J. McCartre, two-year starter on one of the best teams in college football national championship beats Bats Bam at the Rose Bowl and an incredible come-from-behind victory. And Bo Nix resurrected his career these last two years on Oregon, who was a top-10 program. You know, I mean, all these guys were playing the best of the best and thriving.

So you see their skills, especially Knicks, McCarthy, Pennix, Jaden, and Caleb, just on full display. Like what they did in college, their strengths are going to translate. And the only way you can get comfortable, and some of these guys are going to have the capability, is to me by playing. The only, people ask me, I'm going to start a podcast. What can I do? Start podcasting. Start figuring it out. Start doing it.

You're going to go into sales, start making sales calls. Start making some cold calls. Start figuring out how to close the deal. Because you can watch as many TED talks and YouTube videos, and you can study in the quarterback room for hours upon hours watching film. But until you're out on the field against other teams, there's no way to get better. Consistently and make big improvements.

You can tell me the mental game and coaches will push back on this and practice. Bullshit. These practices, no one gets fucking touched. They know they cannot. get touched. Even these joint practices. The defensive linemen is not tackling the quarterback. There is nothing to replicate that. I saw Sean McVeigh, who

I got to give the Rams a lot of credit. These preseason games, depending on who's playing quarterback, can be a really tough watch. You don't know half the players. It's sloppy football, penalties. It can be just like, why am I doing this? And then you go, well, there's nothing really else on the watch, and it's football, and I love it, and it's like, you end up watching most of the game. Sean McVeigh, and I remember them doing this last year,

they might have been doing this for years. They mic him up during the game. And they miced him up today, and he was awesome. And you go, yeah, I understand why Amazon offered him $15, $16 million a year, because he would have been very, very entertaining. And the one thing you have to do in these preseason games is try to entertain us through the broadcast. You could argue it's less important in the regular season

because the game speaks for itself. but in these prece- like you want to keep me it's easier to keep me but you want to keep the average consumer you better entertain them and that was that's something every team in the league should be doing

should be micing up their head coach and if he's like Sean McVeigh and if he's the offensive play caller when they're on defense have him join the broadcast who are literally team employees who are team employees so there's nothing like

nothing tough is going to be asked it's going to be a very easy atmosphere. Sean's cracking jokes. He's talking with Andrew Whitworth. It was fantastic. Cannot recommend. I would YouTube type in Sean McVeigh miced up. It was awesome.

We make fun of Siriani a lot. Simply, what does he do? Well, on the 49ers broadcast with Greg Papa, I guess he mentioned I didn't have access to it. I watched the Titans broadcast, which was actually pretty good. and Greg said Kyle Shanahan's not calling plays. Clint,

I think Clint Kubiaks with the Saints, I don't know what Kubiak, there's a bunch of Kubiaks, but one of the Kubiaks that's still in the 49ers was Clay Kubiak and they was calling plays. They asked Kyle after the game. They said,

what was it like not calling plays? And he said he'd never been more bored in his life. Didn't know what to do with his hands. Through a challenge flag that he said was like, kind of kept him in the game. And I say it all the time, and listen, obviously there are CEO head coaches that thrive at it. John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Dan Campbell has been very successful.

But I can't understand young coaches that don't do either. Sala did this immediately when he got to the Jets. Sireani's incapable, I guess, of calling plays. They are doing, beside a challenge play and a timeout, no different than you or me. No different. You're just sitting there watching the game. Now, you could argue they have the juice to run the ball here.

Or let's get Billy out of there. He can't cover 86. Obviously, they can do that. But other than that, they're saying the same things we are. What the hell's going on? How can we not make a tackle? That's all they're doing. Those days are just done.

And football used to be a ton of CEO head coaches. and obviously the sport, the financial ramifications were different. If I'm an owner and the going rate for these coaches, I mean the Andes, the Cows, the McVeves, you know, Belichick and Pete forever, I mean, you're talking $15 to $20 million. Unless you have a resume a mile long, I'm going to need you dictating one of the sides of the ball. Like Mike Vrable is a good example.

Mike, if I'm going to hire you, I would like you to call defense. I want you to be my defensive coordinator, as well as the head coach. And if we can graduate out of that eventually, okay, once you prove. But if I'm going to pay you what the going rate and what you're going to want, $12, $13, $14, $15 million, I don't want you just doing the same thing literally as me up in the box on game day. I don't think that's too much to ask. I really don't.

And I think Kyle tongue-in-cheek by saying he was bored, I can kind of shed some light. Like, at least you know what John Harbaugh does. His leadership and his side works. Same with Jim, right? And Bill for a long period of time, it works. Most of these guys, when it's not working, it's like, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing?

I don't know, man. So, uh, fun times in the preseason. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their Between Songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.