The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Jeremiyah Love at the combine, Speed is taking over the NFL, AI's impact on the NFL

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

John recaps his trip to Indy by diving into the impressive combine that Jeremiyah Love had and how his stock is higher than ever right now. Next, John discusses Fernando Mendoza and notes that besides him, Indiana lacks any other players likely to be selected in the first round which makes last season's performance even more impressive. Later, John reacts to a report from Mike Florio discussing how AI could take over NFL jobs in the future. All that and MORE! Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet Use promo code “3ANDOUT20” on https://nicokick.com/zone for 20% off at checkout! 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. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. What is going on, everybody, John Middilcock, Three Now podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing well, better than me. Feeling a little under the weather. That's, you know, a couple-day bender at the combine, having a newborn who's also kind of sick. I think he got sick from my niece came into town.

So we just got germs and lack of sleep. And you just got to put on your big boy pants and, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and press record and do a podcast. because we set the Combine. So I wanted to do some big picture takeaways from the Combine, from Jeremiah Love to Fernando Mendoza, to just the quarterbacks at the Combine, from an NFL perspective,

to Florio saying that AI is coming for people's jobs in the league, talking to some GMs, to just some overall takeaways for me walking around at the Combine, rubbing elbows with the people. So that will be the plan today. I think we're going to do a big mailbag tomorrow. at John Middlecock, at John Middlecop is the Instagram.

We have a former player that might turn into a current player here in a couple weeks that I think is going to join us for Wednesday's show. So we got a big week upcoming. So buckle up. Let's just talk some football because you guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the three and out. Separate podcast. I'll probably do a go-low podcast as well this week.

Shane Lowry just all-time implosion today on the. golf course. He was up four, hit a couple in the water and ended up losing by two. But we'll talk about that in a couple days because they're playing Arnold Palmer this week. And we got NFL free agency right around the corner. We got a lot going on. You can find all of our videos up on Netflix, so make sure you check that out. And I appreciate all you guys watching. Appreciate all you guys interacting. But let's just start with, let's start with Jeremiah Love, the Notre Dame running back. and I would say over the course of the last, I don't know, 10, 15 years,

it has felt like the running back has been devalued. Remember like five or six years ago they did like a Zoom call because they were pissed about being underpaid. It's like guys, these GMs aren't colluding against you. It's just your value. It's supply of demand. We can always find guys in the middle rounds and get us 1,000 yards and produce. And then it kind of came a crop of like Hall of Fame level players.

If you polled NFL GMs and head coaches on non-quarterbacks who are the best players in the league, you might not make it past five without the name Bejohn Robinson being said. I was talking to someone at the Combine, and I was like, if they're not going to do this, but if they did put Bejohn Robinson on the trading block, they would get two number one picks for the guy. That would feel like something that would happen from the 80s or the 90s, but he's that good. I mean, three years ago, Christian McCaffrey, the season he had for the 4th,

49ers easily could have won the MVP, the year Lamar did. Last year, Sequin had like a historic season. So the running back has become what Jamir Gibbs is doing in Detroit, has definitely become more and more back in the forefront of importance in the NFL. Now, my takeaway is I have a pretty simple philosophy. It is really hard to get high-end offensive tackles and elite pass rushers. So when you have an opportunity in the top six, seven picks, you always take Abdul Carter, Aidan Hutchinson, whoever, over the best running back on the board.

But it's also a market value, right? And in 2006, there's a lot of debate on all these players. The only thing we know for certain is Fernando Mendoza is going number one. If you pulled 30 GMs and said after Mendoza, rank one, through 10 the next 10 best players. I think the rankings would be all over the place. But I think one thing that would be pretty consistent that you wouldn't get past a couple

on everyone's list without Jeremiah Love coming up. And here's the thing, let's use Bijan, Sequin, and Christian McCaffrey. I would put when Christian is right and obviously Bejon above Sequan slightly because of what they bring in the passing game. Like the one knock on Seacuan is he's probably average in the passing game, has some bad drops, just not an area in which he excels.

Adrian Peterson was not good in the passing game, but he was an all-time runner. When Sequin's right, as he was a couple years ago with good blocking, he went for 2K. Now, the other guys, their arsenal, like Marshall Falk or like a Ladanian Tomlinson, is just an unstoppable force because they are elite wide receivers and then awesome running backs. and all three of those guys fall into the category of super high character. Like face of the franchise elite character, which is something that really matters in the NFL when it comes to star players. And historically running backs can be a little hit or mess.

Like sometimes those guys aren't exactly, you know, choir boys, which, listen, you can't have a team full of choir boys. You ain't going to win a championship or you're not going to win playoff games if you don't got some wild cards. So I'm not mandating that every guy just be Fernando, Mendoza here. That ain't the case. And the story that came out that some GM or

some scout or coach told Fernando Mendoza to get arrested so he falls to them. It's like, guys, that's clearly a joke. Like, can't we just factor in some things that are like, that's clearly a joke? It ain't that serious. I see people and listen, I've spent less time

the last four or five days on social media and I felt extremely refreshed or refreshed. It's crazy how enjoyable people are in the real world and you just get on social media like, does everyone just want to kill themselves? Like this, these are two separate realities and one

is actual reality and the other one feels fake. A lot of people, you know, tweeting from their house playing video games, how shitty the world is. Like, guys, stop being a scam artist here. But when I see the Fernando Mendoza reacts like, it was a joke, clearly. But back to Jeremiah Love is he went to the combine

widely viewed as one of the best players in this draft. He's six feet tall, 212 pounds, he ran a 4-3-6, his drill work, which is kind of important. We've all seen him play. He was going to excel at that. He did.

And then they asked him like, hey, can you do extra? Because in your offense, the passing game wasn't a huge part of the repertoire at Notre Dame. He did not need to do that. Honestly, once he ran a 4-3-6,

he could say, guys, I'm not doing anything at the combine. I'm not doing anything at the pro day. And no one worth their salt would have judged it. Do you know what he said instead? Yeah, I'll do it. Let's roll. And when we talk about competitive nature,

football character, football, like, they talk about this a lot. Like, how willing are you to compete? How willing are you to do everything humanly possible when it comes to football? And it's easy to go, well, none of this stuff matters anymore. It did a Jeremiah Love. and Jeremiah Love is a lot better player than a lot of the guys at the draft who refused to do it.

So it mattered to him. And to me, when I watched his interview after he got done working out, I went, God, I mean, you could argue 20, 30 years ago, this guy is a lock to go number two in the draft. Right, back in the day when running backs went one, you know, obviously Fernando Medozo would probably go one in most drafts, given the importance of quarterback and given that the Raiders just drafts. that are running back in the top six last year. But I think when you look at this class, Jeremiah Love, in 1997, in 1988 and 1988 and 2002,

would be the number two overall pick. And that's why my big takeaway was, you know, you guys know where I stand. I thought drafting Christian McCaffrey at eight was nuts. I thought drafted Bejohn Robinson at eight was nuts. I thought drafting Sequin Barclay at two was nuts, which is somewhat ironic because those three are like, some of my favorite guys in the leak.

I love the way they play, and I love everything they stand for. So it's like, it's easy to, I almost feel like a hypocrite because the Falcons don't regret taking Bejan Robinson. Obviously, McCaffrey was, you know, should have gone higher than eight. And Seekwon was just on an awful team, but you put them on a good team. You see how talented the guy is. I think Jeremiah loves floor now.

Like, I thought, you know, making the Chiefs. I never thought the Chiefs were going to take them. but it's like I could see him get into the Cowboys at 12 like there's no chance. I think the farthest he were to quote unquote fall would be the Saints at 8. I think if you're the Titans and they just made a trade, they traded the big detackle

from Texas who I remember a lot of people thought he was a major red flag to the Jets for Jermaine Johnson who saw it was a part of drafting the edge rusher. Obviously I am a believer in taking linemen and people in the trenches if all things are equal. But are we sure all these guys in the trenches are big time? Now, I'm a big believer in Bain, the kid from Miami, is going to be a high-end NFL player.

But teams get reluctant when your measurables are what they are. Because historically, there aren't that many guys who are all-time great players with those measurables. Now, could he be an outlier? 100%. Russell Wilson was an outlier. right? Like small guys, there are certain individuals who can break through. Most times that's not the case, though.

When you look at the best pass rushers in the league, they're massive human beings. Miles Garrett, Aidan Hutchinson, the Bosa brothers. You know, Max Crosby's kind of a unique situation because he was a late round pick. But he's a fucking monster. I saw this clip of him in the Octagon with Sean Strickland. I'm not some big UFC guy. But Strickland was just peppering him in the face. And Max is like shaking it off and smite.

I'm like, these guys, now, now Bain's competitive football character and his effort on the field is elite and his ability to play the position is high end. But like, I think he's going to go a little later than people realize because of the measurables. So I think the, I think Jeremiah Lefke goes high as four with the Titans. I mean, the Giants, I know they took Scataboo last year, but I mean, we know the type football that the Harbaugh brothers. like, I think he is definitely going to be a long conversation. Now, if I was a betting man, they probably, you know, if they feel comfortable enough about the offensive lineman or Caleb Downs right there. And then the Saints at 8 make a lot of sense. But like, that's, that's where Jeremiah loves going. He's not sniffing falling out of the top 10. And he earned it on the

field. And then he went to the combine double middle fingers to every guy that's like, yeah, I'm a little too cool for school. I'm not going to work out. My agent told me to do this. My agent told me to do that. I was with a couple GMs on Tuesday out of the combine. And I mentioned this to Coward last week when we recorded a podcast. And these guys have been in a league a long time. And the beers were flown. And they said, it's crazy.

How often guys in these meetings. We're like, yeah, I'm not going to do anything. Or I'll do the broad jump in the vertical, but that's it. It's like, well, what's the point of even, like, what? Are you afraid to just do some drill work? You're going to do it anyway. Well, it's not their idea. It's their agents.

which, listen, the agents are incentivized to, you know, try to control as much as they control and earn the couple percent that they're going to make ideally off these guys making a lot of money in the NFL. But that has become a much more in vogue thing. And Jeremiah Love would have been the number one guy to not do anything. And he did everything. You know, Fernando Mendoza didn't throw. He just played 16 games and won the national championship. And speaking of Fernando Mendoza, one thing that really

kind of became very obvious to me over the course of the combine. To win the national championship, you have to have good players and you have to be a really good team. And football is the team game. It's the ultimate team game, right? Even if you have,

Dan Marino made a Super Bowl a second year and never went back. Talk to anyone that played Dan Marino in the 80s in the early 90s, they'd be like, he's one of the best players I've ever seen. I played Montana. I played Elway. He's every bit as good.

And I've known a lot of those guys. the reverence in which they hold Dan Marino's crazy. He never got back. I don't even think he won that many playoff games this career. I have to YouTube or Google that one. But when I look at the Indiana team, Fernando Mendoza is going to go number one. Talking to some different scouts and people in the league,

there is a chance that another Indiana player doesn't come off the board till the third round. And that is Cooper, not even Surrott, who's probably going to be a day three pick. The corner, little undersized. good player, again, round three, round four. You are not looking at some team. Like when you watched all those guys work out of Ohio State, you went,

my takeaway with Ohio State and people think I'm a hater, and I kind of am, there is no disputing. They're the number one college program in the country. In terms of over the course of the internet age. They might not win the national championship every year. But now that Sabin is gone, you would say Alabama, but that was a Sabin-led deal. It hasn't mattered who their coach was.

With Tressel, with Urban, now with Ryan Day, they're an NFL franchise. I mean, every year they got four or five guys going in the first round. And this year, you know, from Sunny Siles to Reese to Caleb Downs, I didn't even think did that much at the Combine. Don't blame him. He's a locked top 10 pick. And Carnell Tate, same thing.

He's going to go on the top 20. Their best prospect arguably is still on the team in Jeremiah Smith, surely with a ton of other guys that will go in the first round next year. for Indiana to win that game looking back, that is an incredible accomplishment. Alabama is not the same Alabama under Sabin. Obviously, Alabama would be the best program over the internet age. But I also think you'd have to factor in pre-sabin and post-sabin.

It ain't the same. And the Alabama team we watched play this year is like, eh, okay, relative to their standard. But Oregon, you look up, the tight end had like historic day. I think he ran a 4-3-6. I did a little research. I remember because I was in college when Vernon Davis ran like a 4-40 or a 4-39,

complete freak show, got drafted in the top five. Kyle Pitts a couple years ago, ran a 4-4-0, got drafted in the top five. Sadiq, I mean, that's, I don't know if he's going to go top five, but he's going in the top 10. The white safety, I mean, might be the fastest white guy in the history of athletics. Ran like a 4-3-5.

The guy that picked off Drew Aller in the overtime up in Happy Valley. And I'm not even factoring in their best prospect is their quarterback that returned to school. So I watched it running back workout. I mean, this is a team loaded with guys. Oregon has been a pretty consistent four or five program in the country

over the course of the last 15, 20 years. And then Miami, who obviously has been down, their team this year was full of freaks. Do you know how many guys on that team? over the course of the next couple years are going to get drafted in the first round. I mean, they got two top 10 picks, probably at the Combine right now,

in Bain and the offensive tackle, who is a monstrous human being. You could argue the best player on their team this year was an 18-year-old freshman. So what Signetti and the coaching staff and Fernando and the whole team coming together, it has to be one of the most incredible accomplishments we've ever seen.

because typically when these teams win it, like Georgia when they went back to back, their entire defense was first and second round picks. And they had Lab McConkey and Brock Bowers on the team with several drafted offensive linemen on the team. You look at all those Alabama teams. The first round used to be like an Alabama invitational. You go back to some of those Urban Meyer Ohio State teams or the Urban Meyer Florida teams or the Pete Carroll teams or that Texas team with Vince Young to win the national, Joe Burrow and LSU, you have to have a roster full, not of NFL players, of elite NFL players,

especially when it comes just to the draft. Guys, they're going to get drafted in the top 40 picks. And that was just not Indiana. So part of what Indiana, it wouldn't have been possible pre-NIL because they got a lot of transfers. I still don't think any team that lacks the amount of impact draft players, we're going to see this happen again. it truly became more impressive, I thought, watching the Combine than Indiana won this national championship.

So when I see that Kurt Signetti is making $13 million, I go, he's underpaid. He deserves more. Because if you just put decent coach, like Sark, or you just pick some top 15 coach in the country, no chance. Zero chance. You could argue they wouldn't have beat Ohio State. They wouldn't have, might not want a playoff game.

So, Signetti is a badass. The speed at the combine. When the defensive linemen ran, when the linebackers ran, when the D.Bs ran, when the running backs ran, all DJ and Rich Eisen kept saying, fastest group in the history of the combine. Fastest group in the history of the combine. Fastest group in the history of the combine. I've been hammering this point for a long time. The reason we have more injuries now than ever is because we have never had more players in the NFL who are this fast.

I don't know if it was Charles Davis or DJ made the point you know if you were a wide receiver or a safety and you ran like a 452 like that was a fine time like most guys were not Dion Sanders or D.K. Medcalf. Like if you ran a 451 or a 452 it's like yeah no big deal. Now if you ran a 452 you felt slow. Like 448 used to be a good time. It feels like if you're not in the low 4-4s you are bringing up the rear. So we have never had isolated training, obviously nutrition,

really figuring out from a workout standpoint, working on speed. Like, guys top to bottom have never been faster. From big guys, I mean, I flipped on the, there was a Penn State defensive tackle that ran. It was like 300 pounds. He ran like a 470. Like, who the fuck are these guys? It's insane. The Big Ten with NIL.

Collins has been hammering this point, but you see it like the amount of skill that is going to the combine. a lot of those guys used to be in the SEC. I mean, Caleb Down is a pretty good example. That guy would have been a Bama. A guy would have been in Georgia. Now the Big Ten's open up the checkbook. They're going to get a lot of these guys. Ohio State always has.

But now a lot of these other programs are. And I think you see it when you look at the combine. You'll see it when you see the draft. But in football, it's a lot like, you know, boxing or the UFC. There's a reason you spar before you get in the ring, right? You want to build up the calluses. you want to build up the feeling of getting hit. Football is no different, right?

You want to feel tackling, physicality, before you just play a game. Well, double days got wiped out 15 years ago. They haven't exist. I don't know if they even exist in high school anymore. They definitely do not exist in Division I football, and they do not exist in the national footballing. And now there are rules like you can only practice three or four straight days before you get a day off.

You go back 20, 30 years ago. And listen, whether this right or wrong, you would have like weeks on end of double days. And if the coach, they didn't give you a day off. Maybe they gave you an afternoon practice off. But there was no, I remember my first, when I became a GA at Fresno State, and Fresno was like 108, 109, 110 during the summer, especially in August. I felt like we went three straight weeks double days. It was a fucking war zone.

And my first year in Philadelphia, same thing. Double days, the physicality. it was like, Jesus, this is the NFL. And the next year the CBA changed and you couldn't do that anymore. And it became a walk-through league. And no one is more anti-this than the coaches. The problem is the owners didn't care because they gave in that to the players and they kept more money. So it was all negotiations and the owners look at it as a W because it was a financial negotiation,

not an on-the-field negotiation. So when you look at the speed of these guys and they don't practice as much, When you see all these injuries on the field, yeah, they might not be as big as they once were, but they've never been faster. So the contact, when these guys get hit and these guys get into these weird positions, they've never been working at the consistent speeds in which they work now. So my big takeaway was, yeah, all these guys are hauling ass, but this is why all these guys in the league get injured.

There's never been more speed and there's never been less practice. And that's a combination that equals injured reserve. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bend, Florida's Sportsbook. March is here. That means college basketball takes center stage. Stakes are rising and the shots are falling. Get it all your action you need on Hard Rock Bend.

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In Indiana, if you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide. range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band

before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast.

How hard can it be with Deanna Maria. where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45, how can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy.

That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva

as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about Define the Arr. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

And then he has to give us a lot. everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball.

Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The other big takeaway is the quarterbacks. And I'm not talking the college quarterbacks.

I'm talking the NFL quarterbacks. All signs point to Tuatanga by low getting cut. And if they wanted to take the entire hit right now, it'd be close to $100 million. I personally would do that. I would imagine that they split it into two because teams, I thought the Broncos several years ago when they cut Russell Wilson should do the same thing and they cut it into two. But I don't think it would be inconceivable given that they're trying to. to kind of reset the franchise.

Kyla Murray, he's going to be cut as well. No one is trading for Kyler Murray. And all signs point to Malik Willis. Listen, timing is a huge part of life, right? I mean, knowing these coaches, they move a lot. Like, you asked them four years ago, try to sell in your house. If you got a new job in 2021 or 2022, they're like, God, I made $500,000 and I lived in the thing for 18 months.

Well, talk to them now, trying to sell their house. A little harder. interest rates a little higher. Not as many people lined up at the front door to buy the thing. So, timing matters. And Malik Willis really benefits right now from being 26 years old, played at a high-level organization, proven he has dramatically improved. Last year was thrown into multiple situations, one just as a starter on a given week, excelled, another thrown in to the fire in the middle or early in a game where he was not the starter

and excelled against the Bears. So he's got a lot of buzz and it's not his fault that all the teams they're going to be interested in him suck because you got to cash in. This league can turn on you in a dime and to me Malik Willis my guess would be like three years

$75 million for like $50 million guaranteed and there's a chance that he goes to the Cardinals to the Jets to whoever is one of these bad teams and it's just it's a terrible situation. I would kind of bet on that being the case but he doesn't have a choice. This is when you change.

change the financial outcome of your life. And those are the teams willing to pay you. So you got to pounce. And he did enough this year that even if that doesn't go well, Malik Welles can play in the league for a long, long time. And he's going to be really, really rich because of this contract. But we all kind of agree, like, I wouldn't sign Tua. You probably wouldn't sign Tua.

Who knows if Tua lands anywhere. Kyler's pretty interesting, right? Because there is some physical talent there. Now he's battled injuries. he's obviously battled some maturity questions. But you know one thing he's really got going against him is Ben Johnson talked about this at his press conference. I love Tyson Badgett. But listen, I believe he's one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the league.

I think someone is going to trade for Tyson. He's under a cheap contract. Even if you've got to give a fourth round pick, you would rather have the hope of Tyson. Because let's face it, I mean, you could argue hope is one of the most powerful things in our lives. What's it feel like when you have no hope? What does that usually mean? You're depressed. You're feeling down. You feel like crap. What happens even if you don't have much going on in life? But it's like, hey, I got this job interview coming up in a couple weeks. Or hey, I got this girl I'm taking out on Friday night. The power of hope is real. And to me, Tyson Baygett allows at least a team to have

some hope. Maybe they found a diamond in the rough over Kyler or two. And I also think the comeback of Derek Carr dramatically hurts those two guys because he's proven to playing the league a long time, super high character guy, been in a ton of different offenses now. Kyler's going to get a spot,

but my guess would be he's got to be a backup somewhere. And last but not least, I saw Florio put this article out on pro football talk. In the headline, it made, it was so good, it made me click on the article. It said fear of AI eliminating jobs

makes its way to football. And one thing that Florio said was that during multiple meetings away from the cameras and microphones, folks currently employed by franchises questioned whether and to what extent AI will supplant positions currently held by humans.

He must have been talking to people that I wasn't talking about because I didn't hear AI come up one time, but I do think he brings up a couple good points. He said, we're starting with the scouts. Many of the tasks currently performed by a team's staff of scouts can be performed by AI. As one GM explained it, the reports generated by AI, based on the various data fed into the program, were eerily thorough and accurate.

I'm going to sound like a homer because these are my people. This is, that stepping stone led me to this and the life that I have now, which I feel very fortunate to have, is, while I won't disagree that there is going to be some sort of program that is going to be able to take measurables and probably even the film and generate some tape, talk to any of these scouts. Their job, besides maybe like six, seventh round picks, the least important part of it is the valuation part,

especially as the area scouts. Maybe for pro scouts, you'd be in some trouble. You know the number one job of the area. Scouts is to get all the information that is not available. Find out about his character. Well, guess what? That is not public information. When you have guys in this draft, which like every draft are major question marks and have issues,

whether it because of the law, whether it be because of maturity issues inside the facility, whatever it may be. You know what happens? The teams don't just give that stuff out. You get that information based on relationships. based on other human beings. I saw a great tweet this weekend. Basically, like, I'm shorting all this AI and Algo stuff.

Because anytime you go somewhere with family, with friends, and interact with humans, how good do you feel? When you sit and live in the Algo, how good do you feel? I even saw Ray Lewis called Social Media, the New Drugs. And I've said this forever. Like, remember when all the talk about Algo? alcohol. Young people don't drink alcohol. Remember the Thunder won the NBA championship and like half the team had never tried a beer. One takeaway I have from the combine is I saw a lot of guys

20, 30 years old. Some people that I had taken calls from and given advice to that are now scouts and playoff teams is really cool to see. All having sea tails, all having beers, enjoying themselves. Didn't see any algos, didn't see any AI. Humans. Interimals. interacting with humans that bring and fill your cup. I promise you if you need a lift in life, go interact with other humans. Because I did more than I typically do at the combine, I felt great despite having six hours of sleep. That shit works.

Get yourself into the sun. Talk to other people. And the thing with AI, when it comes to the scouts, getting the information on the people, because if it was just the player, drafting would be easy. why do most of these guys in the NFL fail? Because of the person, because the wiring, because the focus. Shit, you can't measure. One of the guys who's one of my best buddies in the league, who's a coach, assistant coach, we went out.

And I was just picking his brain because he's so good with players. And he was just telling me the different players he was interviewing. And he's like, out on this guy, out on this guy. he's like one thing I've learned is like this is a serious ass league and guys that excel in this league are serious ass people so when now I get it you're in the draft class you're still young and immature but like dilly dally dallying and being like well figure it out like i'm like that doesn't work in the league it is a league full of bad motherfuckers who are very very serious about their craft and you can you can luck into a year but you can't have a high

high-end career without being all your chips in the middle of the table. The media has fought this forever. They love the word balance. You need to be balanced. Balance doesn't fucking exist. There is the way I lead my life is different than the way you lead your life. And there is no right or wrong. But for most of us that, you know, whatever, you know, certain jobs, you have a little less

balance with maybe your family. Comes with the territory. Ask NFL coaches. Ask Wall Street bankers. it's part of the gig and I just think when you look at what people are asking from the scouts a lot of people can

I could teach anyone listening to this to evaluate some players now some of you might be better than others but I can't teach you all to go into programs where you need to develop longstanding relationships to find out well actually this guy was involved in a car accident

where someone was left paralyzed but because we live in this small town and control it, it's never gotten out and no one knows about it. Do you think the computer program can do that? Because I'm not sure they can't. Now, here's where I think I'd be a little nervous. And listen, coaches make more than scouts. So if you are a quality control coach,

that means you're the lowest guy in the total pole. For example, when I worked with the Eagles, my first year, Doug Peterson was our quality control coach. My second year, Matt Nagy, was the quality control coach. A couple years before I got there, Sean McDermott had been the quality control coach. If you become a quality control coach for the right person and you are a good coach, you are a lock to have a great career.

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh started being quality control coaches for John Gruden. Like, if you get with the right guy, it propels your career. So here's what Florio wrote. For coaching staffs, the quality control position is typically held by a lower level employee. whose job it is to compile information and clips requested by the head coach or typically the coordinators. Typically, these are labor-intensive exercises requiring more elbow grease than brain power. And it would be very easy to develop a tool to pull the same kind of information together without having a quality control assistant in place to perform that work.

I think I saw this special on the ramps. And typically when you get the lowest position, the quality control position or the offensive assistant for Sean McVeigh, your job is to draw all the place. And on Monday and Tuesday, you're working like 20 hour days drawing the place. I don't disagree with this because these are positions now that pay 150, 200 grand. And you're basically just drawing stuff into a computer program where you're not coaching a position. You're not coaching a unit. You're on the field, but you're not doing anything. So I agree here. The quality control position would be in.

major trouble if you can develop a program that you can just say what you need and it draws all the place, which to me feels pretty inevitable. And I don't even dispute that the programs will be able to figure out how to write up a player. But how are you calling the GM of Oregon football and going like, what happened to you're running back when it's not public information? And it actually makes the football program look good because if it was me or you, and I'm not using this as a specific example, the Oregon running back. I just picked a position in a program. I think the Oregon running back, I watched them work out. Good guy. But you have to understand these programs in the South and the Big Ten, they control the city. And a lot of guys get off

on a lot of shit that no one knows about. There's a player in this draft who's going to go really High who was involved in a situation off the field. The scouts know about the public does not. And the media then freaks out when stuff comes out. Well, they did against, you know, how did James Pierce work out? Red flags exist. And people don't want to go on record and say what it is. Proprietary information that's kept within the leak until it's not. But it's going to be interesting to watch how this plays out. Can I tell you about my new friends, Z biotics? Let's face it. After a I would drinks, I want to bounce back and I want to bounce back fast. Zbiotics is a pre-alcohol probiotic drink that is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It's been invented by PhD

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Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say,

Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast.

How hard can it be with the Adamia Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A couple other highlights from Mike Combine. For those of you longtime listeners, remember when Brandon Staley was the head coach of the Chargers. I used to make fun of his coaching a lot and kind of make fun of the person.

I thought he was a little bit of a politician. Not my type guy. Not my type guy. But I don't know from a character standpoint, it'd be some bad guy or whatever. I've never tried to be too personal besides like, I'm out on this guy. And the Chargers were too. They were out on them.

They fired him. Well, Wednesday night, I went to dinner with Jackson. And we were having, we had a bunch of beers and cocktails and ate some dinner. And then we were both going to, you know, we shut down the restaurant bar at about 10 o'clock. And we were staying at different hotels.

I changed my hotel last minute. So he was walking home. I was walking home. And as I'm walking home, I have to go through the J.W. Marriott, where all the action has happened. So as I'm walking home and I was, I had a plane flight early at 6 a.m. the next day. I was honestly planning on just going home to bet. But, you know, you've had four or five vodka. You're feeling pretty good.

You're like, I'll just do one round. So I do a round, see some people I know, start talking. I get very excited with some of the guys that young guys that I've known are having a lot of success and just talking to some different young scouts. One guy came up to me with a really good team now. It was really cool. But I see, I text a good buddy. I'm like, hey, you're going out tonight? He's like, yeah, I'll be at the JW in five minutes. So I waited. So I spent the night with him. And then about an hour in, he's like, hey, we're going to this other place. So I'm like, this is probably not the best idea, but I go to the front of the hotel. I'm like, hey, do you guys

have a water? They hand me a bottle of water. I'm like, I just maybe have a course light or something at the bar. But I'm just going to go. And so we're there, you can barely move. I don't even think I've ever beside a strip club. I don't think I've ever been to a club in my life. I'm not a club guy. Now, this is a steakhouse,

but it essentially turns into a club during the combine. You can't move. It's one of those. But it's not big, at least from what I see online, of like a club. It's a restaurant. So now they take out all the tables, so it's just shoulder to shoulder. And a lot of these guys are NFL coaches or, you know,

NFL people, just bigger people. So you can't fucking move an inch. So you're just trying to make your way. You're seeing, oh, there's that guy. There's that guy. All of a sudden, I turn around. And my guy goes, I want to introduce you to my buddy middlecough. He's a massive podcaster.

And I lock eyes. And at first, I didn't recognize him because Brandon Staley is now bald. But Brandon looks at me. I look at him. It was almost like we both knew. Now, you're in these weird situations. You just kind of say, hey, nice to meet you. But it was, and it's one of those I've said forever, you feel a little fraudulent.

Now, if you would have asked, I would have said, but it wasn't really, but you can't even hear anyone talk. But all of a sudden, I'm being introduced in the middle of this bar club to Brandon Staley, who is now completely bald. And one thing I heard, he's obviously in New Orleans, he's a good defensive coach, did a good job for them. They got, if they get Jeremiah Love in the, in the draft, they would be a sleeper playoff team next year. The New Orleans Saints. They got a lot going for him. But I met Brandon Staley. And, yeah, it was just kind of awkward.

I'm not going to lie. Other two guys I met, which probably not my finest hour, I'd had a few too many. One, Anthony Weaver, who is the Ravens defensive coordinator, who was the Dolphins defensive coordinator last year, who was interviewed for head coaching jobs. I, as I told him, because I watched the Ravens press conference, I'm like, bro, you're a lot.

No, he didn't, I mean, he is, he's a massive former NFL defensive lineman. He's huge. He's good looking. He's well-spoken. I'm like, you're the total package, bro. You're gonna be, you feel like a lock to be a head coach. And just a really impressive guy. And Joe Brady was the other guy who has a, you know, a young millennial feel.

You know, he's got the chain. He just kind of looks cool. He just, he doesn't feel like most of the other coaches, I would say. Like when you see John Harbaugh or Mike Grubbaw, or Mike Vrable or just most of these guys. I met Mike McDonald, who the guy I was out with Wednesday night, worked with him. And goes, Mike, because I was like, hey, can you introduce me to Mike? So he's like, hey, Mike was walking in the hotel room as we were leaving.

And he introduces me to Mike. And Mike's, you know, is unassuming and under the radar. I mean, he'd be the last, if you didn't know football and you said, which guys do you think won the Super Bowl? It would be all these guys puffing their chest out walking around the gym. J. W. Marriott that are like D.B. coaches on the Jets. I'm not, like, whoever the D.B. coaches is on the Jets. I'm not saying that guy specifically. I'm just saying random guys, big egos, like, who the fuck are you? Mike McDonald walked in. He's like, oh, uh, me, I forget the guy's name. He's like, meet James. We went to high school together. And they were just like out at dinner.

I'm like, you guys, you and John Snyder got to be the most low-key Super Bowl champs in the history of the league. I mean, easily, the history of the league. They just, the way they carry themselves, the way they act, how nice they are to people. Very, very impressive. And the way it was described to me, I'm like, why is he so impressive? We know how good he is as a defensive coach, right? As like a schemer. But the way it was described to me is like, you don't understand when he went with Jim Harbaugh

to the Michigan Wolverines. Well, when he got rehired by the Ravens, they named him the defensive coordinator. They had Anthony Weaver on the staff. They had Zach Orr on the staff who was the. the defensive coordinator last year. They had all these established coaches on the staff that he basically left as an assistant, went with John's brother, Jim to be a coordinator for one year, and then just jumped above when he got rehired.

And he's like, how impressive he was dealing with those guys, he's like it was a seamless transition. And right when that happened and the respect those guys had for him and the way he handled kind of a delicate situation, because we're all human beings, if you're somewhere and you get passed over for a gig, especially one that pays as much as that, and as prestigious as that,

the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, there could be a lot of animosity, a lot of hostility. Last time I checked Zach Orr and Anthony Weaver played in the league. Mike McDonald didn't even play in college. And he's like, it didn't even phase any of them. And you look at Anthony Weaver, you're like,

fuck. I mean, that guy was taking orders from Mike McDonald's. Like, yeah, he did, no problem. So I left that combine I'll buy more Mike McDonnell's stock Just a high level easy going cat Obviously he's good with the players Great with the coaches

Which is an underrated aspect of being a coach Is how you deal with the other coaches Because I've said it forever The money these guys make Is enormous Like if you're a position coach You're making half a million dollars

You're on the low end I mean I heard stories of Offensive line coaches Making two three million dollars getting mad at other coaches on their staff, not showing up to meetings. It's just like, egos with the assistant coaches is as big as the players, which is ironic because they constantly preach to the players like, the team, the team, be a good teammate, be all in.

It's like, well, you guys aren't. You guys are backstabbing everyone trying to make it. So the NFL is a crazy place. It's like a millionaire high school with the gossip, you know, and these guys are public, famous people. It's like a Bravo show Meets UFC Meets like Wall Street

It's just a weird combination It's hard to even describe But when you're there It's like I don't think I've ever seen anything like it And when these guys go to the combine They really just let loose So one piece of advice If you ever want to break into football

There is not an easier way To meet people That you would basically have a very difficult time Ever getting around Than just going to Indianapolis for several days And whether you drink or not just going out at night and just being social. Just going out at night and being social.

I mean, there were times where I had friends I was waiting on. They were interviewing people. And I was kind of in between. Like, I didn't really have anywhere to go. I'd already eaten dinner. Jackson was getting up early the next day. So he was already in bed. I'm like, I'm only here for a couple.

Jackson's a day the whole week. So I was like, I was like, I just got it. I started roaming around by myself. Shit, I would never do now. Ever. It honestly kind of brings you back to like when you were like, like young and hungry. I'm 40 years old. That's stuff I would have done when I was like 24. I can't even imagine, but it kind of makes you feel good. You feel accomplished when he left.

It's like, I started talking to people. I talked to more people in two days than I probably have in six months, uh, beside you people. I have more people listening to me, but I don't actually get to interact with most of you guys. So, Combine, man, Brandon Staley. You just, he would have been pretty low in my bingo card of people I, not only would run into, but then have an interaction with. Uh, and I, and I do think he's part of a team that's going to be really good. The Volume. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. Nice. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets.

But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Some day into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio. Nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7.

Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worst that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free.

Have a great day. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.