The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/31/2019

Episode Date: July 31, 2019

Colin explains why NFL teams are the safest to own because of their inability to become trapped in these huge player contracts. He thinks Dak Prescott at 26 years old is by far the best Cowboys quarterback they've had and deserves to get payed. He also believes that, even after the Saints resigned Michael Thomas, they'll still fall through the floor next year. And, Nick Saban answers Colin's request to play against stronger competition while Jon Gruden might have just let slip who the new starting QB will be for the Raiders.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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 harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com

or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. One hour from now, Greg CoSell live in studio. Wherever I go, people always say more Greg CoSell, more Greg CoSell. So we're going to have them on today for a couple segments. I'm going to have him on tomorrow for a couple of segments. He comes and stops by once or twice a year, generally right before the season as we get into August. So one hour from now, Greg CoSell stops

by for about 15 or 20 minutes, and Joy Taylor is joining me. She's got that August sunshine look. I got the lavender. She's got the yellow. We're celebrating summer. We are celebrating summer, and summer means camps are opening and camps are underway. Let me start the show with this today. This is what I don't get about fans. Why do you want players to make a lot of money? What you should want is flexibility. You should actually be on the side of the owner because players come and go. What you want as a fan is your team to be financially nimble.

They don't get trapped in a bad contract. Washington Wizards John Wall. What you want from your team, because you grew up in the city, right? You grew up in Milwaukee. grew up in Dallas, you grew up in Chicago, you grew up in Atlanta, you grew up in Tampa. The player, it'd be nice if he gets paid, but you don't want your team to get trapped. That's when you become a bad team. New England never gets trapped. You know what I mean? They don't get, San Antonio Spurs rarely get trapped.

So I never understood fans who were like, yeah, my guy got paid. What do you care? He's not going to hang out with you. He's not going to party with you. He's not going to spend it on you so he can afford another yacht. But it's a prime example. Michael Thomas just made a hundred million dollar extension five years. He's worth every penny. But this is why the NFL's got it right and the NBA doesn't. So first of all, Michael Thomas is very productive. Secondly, they've paid him almost nothing for three years. Third, now you only have to guarantee 60 of the 100 million, meaning if he goes sideways, you can bail on it. And D, he's almost guaranteed to continue to be productive because of Drew Brees and Sean Payton and that offensive concept. It's great for him.

him. He gets generational wealth. But it's great for the team and the fan because, listen, the Saints want to win now and they're paying him now money for the next three years. It's guaranteed. So his family's well off, but the team's in a good spot. At the last two years, if he gets hurt, team can move on. He's still generationally wealthy. The team got every bit of production out of him. Yes, it's a lot of money to pay a wide receiver. But I've always said, I'll pay a quarterback, I'll pay a left tackle, I'll pay a defensive lineman, and in some cases, I'll pay big for a wide receiver. He's a guy I'd pay for. Drew Breeze is getting old, or I'd pay for him. But the reason this contract works is because there's so much talent in American football, he was a

second round 47th pick that you can, if you paid nothing for a house and the value just kept going up first three years or mortgage, you don't mind overpaying on the mortgage four, five, and six in the year seven because you paid nothing for it. the first three years. Take, take Dak Prescott, for example. So, Dak Prescott has cost you nothing. He's been absurdly productive. I mean, Dak Prescott in four years has made $2.7 million. His guaranteed money has been under $400,000. I don't mind if you pay him $150 million over the next five years because it comes out to $15 million. So it changes Dak Prescott and his family's life. He's worth every penny. It helps the price.

player's life. That's a great story. It makes me feel good. But I don't know, Dak. I'm not going to party with that. He doesn't live in my neighborhood, right? It doesn't matter. You're not going to be throwing street parties. I'm not going to benefit from it. But it also allows the cowboys to feel like they win it too. They got a ton of production and didn't have to pay him anything. I never understand NBA fans were like, yeah, my guy, John Wall. You're done. Your franchise is dead in Washington. It's over. You're trapped. The NFL doesn't get trapped. Yes, Michael Thomas now has generational wealth. I'm happy for him. But the Saints can move out of it in three or four years if he gets hurt or goes sideways. They don't play. They don't want to work as hard.

Gets hurt. He still gets 60 million guaranteed minimum. And the Saints can move on and say, now we've got to pay this new quarterback that replaced Drew Brees. This is the NFL's secret sauce, a hard cap. Everybody wins. The player wins. The fans win. The owner wins. The coach wins. The star players family wins. I've never understood this.

In the NBA, you only get about five new players a year that can really play at a top level. So stars have ultimate leverage. Middling players get paid a fortune. And, you know, fans are always like cheering for the big contract. Why? It's not spending it on you. You want your team. to be nimble enough that they can pay star players when they're great,

but when they erode, they get hurt. They don't work as hard. Just like a company. Just like a company. If I ran a company, I would pay my best people a lot of money. But if they did go four or five years into it sideways, I wouldn't be like baseball.

I wouldn't want to be locked into Joey Votto in your 7, 8, 9, 10. I can't afford any pitching. This is where baseball in the, the NBA are a mess, you're paying a lot of times for hope, crossing your fingers, you don't have leverage. There's not enough players coming into your sport. The NFL has got it figured out. Everybody wins. The Saints win. Michael Thomas and his family win. Mickey Loomis wins. Gail Benson wins. The fans in New Orleans win because they want to win now and he's a great player, so let's pay him now. Front-load it. 60 million guaranteed. Changes his family's history. But it doesn't,

negatively change the fans' potential history. That's why I think the NFL is number one. You don't get trapped. It's a good contract, and I would have paid every penny of it. All right. So speaking of paying, there's this, you know, consternation about, oh, we've got paid DAC. We've got paid DAC.

So the Dallas Morning News, the Great American newspaper, went back, and they looked at all the great cowboy quarterbacks at 26 years old. Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Danny White, Troy Ake, Ben, Tony, Romo, Dak Prescott. Well, what do you know? Dak is way better than all of them.

Not even close. Roger Stobach and Tony Romo had Tony Romo had not attempted an NFL pass at 26, either at Roger Stoback because of his military service. Don Meredith and Troy Aitman weren't very good in the passes they had thrown. And here is DAC. Hmm. And this is the funny thing about Dak. Dax had the deal with nothing but crap. In 2016, he comes in. Tony Romo gets

hurt and then calls an impromptu press conference which catches the whole state off guard and Dax's like oh I love Tony I guess I'm starting the following year he has to deal with Zeeks six game suspension the suspension hovered over training camp tyron Smith the left best left tackle and football gets heard and then last year he loses des he loses Jason Whitten he loses the best center in football Travis Frederick, and there's an anthem controversy he has to put his arms around. And the entire time, win the division. He also has to deal with a public owner. He has to deal with a coach who's on a perpetual hot seat.

Pay the man. For seven years, all you fans have done in Charlotte is make excuses for Cam Newton. He's had above average offensive lines, above average running games, an above average head coach, of average defenses. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Dak Prescott has had to deal with controversies, suspensions, an absurdly public. There's not even a second owner in the league that's close to Jerry in terms of setting fires as an owner.

Controversies, suspensions, the anthem thing, Jerry talking, coach on the hot seat, Jason Witten retires, wins every single year. second winning his record to Tom Brady since he came in the league. Little perspective, Dallas Morning News says, let's look at all these great cowboy quarterbacks at 26. How were they? Dak is significantly better than all of them. He doesn't have the best arm.

He's not the most mobile, but leadership, good enough mobility. And oh, by the way, oh, by the way, at the end of last year, I just want to make sure all you cowboy fans out there and all you NFL hate Dak guys, remember, anybody know what Dak did in his final eight games last year? Like a lot of young players, he got better. 7 and 1, 68% completion percentage, passer rating over 100. He's also getting better. Here's Dak Prescott, last eight weeks of the NFL season. Young people in all sports tend to get better.

If you look at his last eight weeks, seven and one. Completion percentage, passer rating, yards per game, up, up, up, up against four playoff teams. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaders to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports slice brings you closer to the action. with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit. suit of the thing. We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard

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

be a good person. Join me. Kier Gains is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, Brett. My mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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. 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 I tease friends stop by, like Quentin

We dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said. 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. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So yesterday I said, and I've been pretty good on this, a joy saw me last year say this, I pick a team, and this is the way it works in the NFL. This is not a debate. There's at least one team every year in the NFL that was really good, and they fall through the floor.

It happens every year. I just happened to predict the last two, Minnesota and Jacksonville. I'm predicting New Orleans this year. And so Michael Thomas signed a contract yesterday, and everybody's like, oh, what are you saying now, Colin? You're still falling through the floor. We all thought you were signing Michael Thomas. I didn't like the holdout situation. I thought it was a distraction, but is Drew Breeze getting younger?

Is Mark Ingram coming back? Is your schedule getting easier? New Orleans, it's over. You're falling through the floor. Okay? The Saints offense last year, and this is how I know Tom Brady and Drew Breeze don't do steroids. Drew Breeze at the end of the last year looked tired.

Your offense was a pop-gun offense. Just like Tom Brady didn't play well in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady didn't play well in the AFC championship. Tom Brady didn't have a great December. Why? Because Drew and Tom are old. And they don't age particularly well when the weather gets cold and they get hit and their 500 throws in. So did Drew Breeze get younger yesterday with the Michael Thomas signing? No.

We all knew Michael Thomas was coming back. The reason I have the Saints falling through the floor is Carolina and Atlanta have excellent rosters and excellent head coaches. and I think they bounce back. I think the Saints' schedule in the first month is the toughest in the NFL. And the organization knows OBJ was a luxury for Cleveland. Cleveland already has a quarterback in their athletic peak Baker. They have Jarvis Landry, David and Joku. They have a stable of good running backs.

They didn't need OBJ. But it's nice to have him. Michael Thomas is a necessity for the Saints. he is a necessity. Mark Ingram's gone. Max Unger retired. Tom Brady's division hands him about five wins a year guaranteed. This division doesn't hand you any wins guaranteed except maybe hosting Tampa.

You can go 0 and 2 against Carolina. You can go 0.2 against Atlanta. And Tampa can certainly beat you in Tampa. So Michael Thomas doesn't change anything. We knew he'd be a saint because he has to be a saint. Drew Breeze last year had the fewest attempts in 14 years. Drew Breeze threw under 4,000 yards for the first time in his Saints career. The organization knows he needs more help now.

They know he was not the same quarterback at the end of the year. And I love Drew Breeze. He's in my great eight, the eight best quarterbacks I've ever seen play. I am a huge fan. And I love Brady. But Brady in December on is not as good as he is in October and November. And the same for Drew Breeze. Listen, the Saints, three of the four top cap hits for the Saints, offensive linemen.

The organization now is loading up their offense and paying for their offense. New England pays for defensive players. The Saints are paying for offensive players. Why? Drew needs more help now. So Michael Thomas wasn't a luxury. Michael Thomas doesn't change anything. Michael Thomas was a necessity for this football team.

a highly productive, athletic peak perimeter player for an aging quarterback who lost Max Unger and Mark Ingram. And who now, December on, looks like a guy who's 3940 who's not taking PEDs. He looks like a normal human being how they age late in the football season. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand. whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations

with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough.

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

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Hard Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on the Army Stewart of the chip.

I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions.

If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos

on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Great to have you in. Mike Tomlin and John Gruden, our first ballot. Hall of Fame sound bike head coaches. They're great. So let me ask you a question. If you're, let's say you came home, your wife spent three hours making lasagna.

I mean, she really put time into it. She would just felt like making you a great dinner. And you sat down and said, you looked at it and said, yeah, I think I want Cheetos for dinner. That would be rude. Right? That'd be rude. So last year, John Gruden had Derek Carr.

He completed 69% of his throws. he threw for over 4,000 yards, and his passer rating was 94. That's with a bad offensive line, massive change, and letting Amari Cooper walk. That's a pretty good year in a tough division, Chargers, Chiefs. And here's what Derek Carr said about, here's what John Gruden said about his lasagna. Here's what he said about his quarterback situation. This Nate Peterman is growing on me. He's athletic. I know he's had some nightmare performances in the NFL, but when you watch a film, you can see why. It's not all his fault. But he's got some talent, he's got some athleticism. He has some experience. Here's an opening day starter for the Buffalo Bills last year. I take that very serious. And he's smart. He's done a good job. He's been consistent. And I think he's starting to get his confidence back. And we all need that. he's your third string quarterback.

Could you say something nice about Derek Carr? Take out Derek Carr's rookie year. And I've said this. Take out Baker, Sam Darnold, Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Troy Akeman. A lot of these guys have had horrible rookie years. Take out a quarterback's first year in the league. Start with year two.

With coaching up evil, bad rosters, tough division. Derek Carr's numbers. Last four years. Take out his rookie year. complete 64% of his throws, 92 passer rating, 101 touchdowns, 42 picks. Over 4,000 yards,

250 yards per game. That's pretty good. That's a solid B quarterback to me. Why don't you talk about Derek Carr? And Derek Carr's a guy that needs a little love. I mean, the Raiders don't even, they're playing in a lame duck stadium. They got two broadcasters,

coach and GM. They got rid of his best. defensive player and his best offensive player. They're rebuilding big chunks of their football team. Why you talk about Nate Peterman? I don't even, it's, Gruden sounded like a broadcaster talking about a backup who's challenging a starter for a job. Peterman's got something going on, man.

He's got a charm. So I'm not, I don't want to do, I just, this morning I said. And I, the order on this is close. I didn't give this a ton of time. But I said, here's about, this is what I would say this morning are my top 15 quarterbacks in the league. Brady, Mahomes, Luck, Wilson, Rogers, Ben, Rivers, Breeze, Matt Ryan, Wentz, Gough, Garoppolo, Deshaun, Derek Carr, Matt Stafford. Cam's probably 16. Baker's probably 17. So, Derek Carr is very much in the Deshawn Watson, Matt Stafford, been a good solid B,

hasn't won enough big games, but a good solid B. But yet, Derek Carr is the only. one of those 15. Don't you kind of feel like the coach doesn't like him? Isn't Derek Carr the one of the 15 quarterbacks there? Virtually everybody is singing the praises, has their back financially. Hell, Carson Wentz can't stay healthy. They just paid him $140 million.

Can't stay healthy. Derek Carr is the only guy at the top 15 quarterbacks, and maybe I have him higher than. you do, but I've got him somewhere in the Garoppolo, Deshawn, Matt Stafford, Jared Goff. I think Goff's a better arm talent, but, you know, I don't get it. And I, and you think I'm picking on the Raiders. You know, by the way, Gruden talked about how much he loved Kyler Murray before the draft. Could we give a little, could you sprinkle a little of that, those love sprinkles on the

cupcake, on the Derek Carr Cupcake? Could you just sprinkle a little love around there? Derek Carr's dealt with upheaval. He's moving the franchise. You know, Raiders have been a mess. Offensive line has been rebuilt. They got rid of Amari. They got rid of Khalil Mack.

Little love, little support. Not asking for the world here. It is remarkable. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. So Nick Sabin, I don't listen to the critics. Really? So a week ago, I blasted Alabama. I said, the reason you're struggling to sell out your games, even though you're winning all your football games, is this garbage home schedule you give to your fans. It's garbage. Three or four times a year, they play Panera bread and roast beef tech. And Alabama students are like, I'm not paying top dollar for this. I'm not waiting for the Auburn game. I'm not waiting for the Georgia game. It's garbage. So a day later, Alabama does something they haven't done in six years. They schedule the home and home with Wisconsin. Oh, interesting.

They don't hear, though. Nick never hears anything. Alabama is shrinking their stadium this year, shrinking capacity. Why? Because kids don't want to go even though they win. Because fans want to be entertained. It's not entertaining being Citadel 58 to 8. And I like Nick Saban, but he controls four games a year on that schedule.

And he won't play legitimate teams. Well, it's really difficult for us to get a home and home. Funny, two days after I ripped you, you found Wisconsin. It's not hard at all, but you have to be willing to go to Wisconsin. Call Chris Peterson it at Washington. They'll do a home and home with you, but you're going to have to go to Seattle, and you don't like leaving the South. You don't like going on the road.

Because in year four, Nick Saban lost three games at Alabama, and he said, I'm not going on the road anymore. And he started messing around with his schedule. Pete Carroll at USC didn't duck anybody. Pete Carroll would go to Virginia Tech and not get a home game back. Pete Carroll would go to Ohio State. Pete Carroll would go anywhere anytime. He went to Auburn.

He went to Arkansas. He went to Virginia Tech. Pete Carroll went anywhere. He wasn't afraid of anybody with USC's talent. He went to Virginia Tech one year with a great team. And I don't think they ever came back out to L.A. Because Pete Carroll knew in Los Angeles, people aren't going to tolerate Utah State. They want to be entertained.

And Alabama fans are like, we're tired of eating crap. They want to go to Wisconsin and see Wisconsin. And don't tell me the SEC just too tough. Oh, give me a break. If it's too tough, why do you win it every year on a cakewalk? George is good. Everybody else in that conference underachieves the last decade. Lord.

I mean, next year, Alabama is three out of conference games. Are Georgia State, Kent State, and U.T. Martin. And then they play USC. But they won't play USC on the road. Well, let's go to Dallas and play them, which, you know, you have like 80% of the crowd because people in L.A. are too busy Botoxing. Okay, I'm done ranting. I'm done now.

But don't tell me you don't listen. A day after I ran it, and that's nothing against Nick, I like Nick. But the reason people aren't going to your games is because you play garbage. You can't keep hiking the prices up. Sometimes you just got to hear the truth, Colin. Yeah. Dang it. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

All right, Greg Kosell. Almost three or four decades of four. You're right in between three and a half decades at N. NFL films. We bring him in to Los Angeles a couple times a year. Greg, get up here. I'm sorry, I just, I went unhinged there for a couple minutes. Okay with me. I was a little unhinged for a couple minutes. But this is why, listen, the reality is, in anything, if you double the ticket prices for movies and the movies stunk half the time, you wouldn't go to the movies, right? You're right. If a restaurant doubled their prices and about every other time you went to

a restaurant, you're like, this food's not very good. You wouldn't go to the restaurant. So do you think the SEC isn't as good as people say? No, no, I think. I think. the SEC's fine, but I'm tired of hearing it's so hard to win games here. It's hard to go 11 and O in the Mountain West Conference. It's hard to win games. It's a bunch of 18-year-old kids. Yeah. They have finals and girlfriends, and they're transferring now and they leave early for the Well, you didn't mention Utah State. We'll get to that in a second. We're going to get to that. There's an interesting player at Utah State. Yes, there is. Okay, Greg, you look at film objectively. And so we talked about, you know, you were one of the first people who said, I like

Aaron Rogers, but he add libs at a too many well-conceived plays. So knowing what Matt LaFleur did for a year in Tennessee and knowing Aaron Rogers, how does that thing reconcile? How does it work do you think? It's going to be fascinating because LaFleur's background, as you know, Colin, is Kyle Shanahan. It's Sean McVeigh. Last year, toward the end of the year in Tennessee, he basically put Mario to under center, ran the bow with Derek Henry. His offense starts with the quarterback under center with the play action pass game, and it's all built on structure. Look what Kyle Shanahan did with Nick Mullins. Nick Mullins became a somewhat efficient quarterback because that kind of offense defines the reeds and the throws for the

quarterback. The quarterback has to play within the structure of the offense. That's why coaches work 18 hours a day. That's why they do that. So it's going to be very interesting with Aaron Rogers, who of course already said, hey, you're going to take away my ability to do a lot of things, but we'll see how that works out. I'm curious to see. I'm not real optimistic about that. You're not. No, I'm not. I think Aaron Rogers has spent much of his recent career playing too much outside of structure.

When you watch tape, okay, this is not, by the way, an interpretation. This is a mathematical equation here. This is like saying two and two is four. When you watch tape of Aaron Rogers, there's a ton of times where the design of the route concept presented the throw within the timing and structure, and he did not throw the ball. Now, we know he's great in other areas. We know he can make things happen outside of structure. We know he's got a great arm.

But at the end of the day, you have to play in the NFL within the structure of the offense to be really, really good all the time. And I'm anxious to see how that works. Coaching obviously matters. The knock Mike McCarthy was not creative enough, not enough motion, blah, blah, blah. Right. But sometimes I could argue we may give the coach. too much credit. I like Sean McVeigh a lot, but when I watch Jared Goff, I see a tall,

coachable, solid throwing, accurate, precise thrower of the football who throws a feathery ball down the field. I love McVeigh, but I think we're, we are overlooking what I, what I see as a more talented Matt Ryan and Jared Goff. I think Jared Goff's a very smooth thrower. You know, you walk a very fine line because ultimately coaches are supposed to do a good job in defining the reads and the throws column. That's their job. Sean McVeigh did an excellent job with that, basically until the Super Bowl,

when Bill Belichick gave him some looks, and, you know, he's a young coach, and he even admitted he wasn't ready to respond to that. But Goff is a somewhat programmed quarterback. Now, that in and of itself is not a negative statement. Some would say that about Brady. Correct. I mean, if you talk to coaches or you just talk to people and say,

you know, system quarterback, a lot of people think that's a negative term. For a coach, that's a positive term. because they have a system and they want it executed. Jared Goff executed Sean McVeigh's system at a very high level. He's done that now for two years in a row. And, you know, Goff is, he's very programmed. They're under center more than any team in the league.

Oh, they are. More than any team in the league by far. They're under center. Not much shotgun at all. Everything is built off the outside zone run action game, which limits pass rush by the front four, and it also impacts second-level players. So the reeds become very defined and clear for a quarterback.

Goff is not real good when it's not clear and defined, but Sean McVeigh does a great job with that. That's why I use the word program. That's what Goff is. He's programmed, but very, very efficient. By the way, Drew Breeze is more programmed. Tom Brady is more... Nothing wrong with that.

Jared Goff, Joe Montana. Here's talented guys that weren't. Marino, no Super Bowls, Favre and Rogers combined two. We buy into this. I love my talent. Peyton Manning, to some degree, had a system that he had created and played within the structure of Peyton's own system. I think we freak out if we're so caught up in arm strength and we're, listen, the reality is. And outside of structure now, that's become the new thing, these guys who can run around and make plays.

And yes, are there times that that does become important because defenses have become so detailed and so nuanced, particularly on third down, where the, the, the, the, Blitz packages have increased tenfold in the league. So, yes, are there times the quarterback does have to be able to make a play? No question. Okay, so this is where you and I have differed a little. Russell Wilson, who I think is as in, his intuition is remarkable. I would agree. But he needs, because of his hyper-athleticism, he needs to be allowed and his size, his

stature. So with Russell, I see some Steve Young, which is you'd be. defusing some of his talent if you didn't allow him to just kind of make it up. On film, is Russell confounding to you sometimes? I think what most interested me about Seattle last year, and I'd love to hear your take on this, is they brought in Brian Schottenheimer, and obviously Pete Carroll allowed this to happen. That's why he brought him in. But they ran an offense that started and was founded on the run game,

a lot of under center, a lot of six offensive linemen. So they basically ran an offense in which they were limiting the number of throws of the quarterback and basically asking him to be a complementary piece, which is very interesting given that we see Russell Wilson as a great, great player. But the way they ran their offense pretty much said, hey, we've got a quarterback, we don't want to ask him to do too much. But because Wilson is a very good thrower and a terrific deep ball thrower, by the way. So there were a lot of big shot plays where Max protected with six and seven,

particularly when they lined up with six offensive linemen, and he's a great deep ball thrower. But the overall philosophy of their offense was more about Russell is a piece, not the guy. But is that Pete Carroll's identity where Pete, like Saban, don't lose it for me offensively, I'll win it defensively. I mean, he is a defensive coach, and certainly in Russell's first, what was it, three years? I can't remember when Marshaun left, but certainly in the first three years or so with Russell there, the offense ran through Marchand, and last year it essentially ran through Chris Carson. I mean, I think they ran the ball, and I know there's some of Russell's runs in this,

but I think they ran the ball either first or second most attempts in the league last year. They were a running football team in terms of volume and in terms of structure with the quarterback under center. Yeah, I'm not opposed to that. I don't want my quarterback throwing 42 times a game. I don't think anybody does. I want 28, and I want you to go 21 to 28? That's what I would want.

You know, it's hard to protect. I mean, you look at the way defensive players now have become so athletic. And look, offensive linemen, yes, have they become more athletic? But the reality is you could still make the argument, Colin, that the biggest mismatch in the NFL is pass rushers versus offensive linemen. Athletically, there's no question. So you do not want your offensive line to have to pass protect 45 times a game. Now, it's one thing on first and ten. Now, a lot of teams do a lot of things on first down.

are normal down in distant situations with quick game stuff where the ball gets out. But you certainly don't want to ask your quarterback to have five and seven step drops too often because it's just too much of a burden on your pass protection. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. All right, let's get into stuff. My job as a sports opinionist to have opinions beyond the film.

You primarily overwhelmingly, you do the film stuff. So Baker Mayfield's whizzing the ball, planting flags, grabbing his junk, police video. So I've been very critical at Johnny Mansell, James Winston, Baker Mayfield, coming into the NFL with their off-field garbage. Now, one of those guys is a bust. One of those guys is close to done. And Baker's yet to me to prove he's a great player. A lot of people disagree.

Well, he's only played one year, but he had a very good season. Okay, he's one in five against playoff teams. He was a rookie quarterback. I mean, I hear how great. I mean, all I'm doing is looking at his particular skill set, and I think his skill set is very, very good. And I think you've got to see him throw it live. He's got a really good arm.

He snaps it. He's compact. He's twitchy. He's accurate. He can make plays outside of the pocket. Short. Yeah, but I think because he's so quick in everything he does that that's not a big factor. I mean, I think he's a quicker, more compact thrower than Russell Wilson, who tends to drop the ball down to his waist when he throws the ball.

But I think Baker Mayfield has very good traits to be a really good quarterback. I'm not a guy who, you know, annoyance guys after one year in the league. I think that's ridiculous. The guy's played one year. He's played very well. I like the player on tape. What about Sam Darnold?

What do you think of him? I think he's terrific. I think Darnold is in a good situation with Adam Gase. I think Donald's a fascinating guy. Darnold is actually very good movement-wise outside of the pocket, but there's an interesting dichotomy there, Colin, because he almost has heavy feet in the pocket. And I know they're working with him on that.

It's why he throws a lot of balls seemingly off balance because his footwork in the pocket, he has a tough time moving his feet with his eyes, but he does have a knack of making off-balance throws that are accurate. And he does throw a very good deep ball. I like Sam Darnold. I like where he's going. I thought he was very inconsistent last year, but I think there's talent there, and I really like what Adam Gase does offensively.

Okay, so let's explain that because I think Gase and, and by the way, Lavian Bell, as a pass-catching and running back. I also think, and Jameson Crowder, a slot receiver. I do think Sam inherited mostly inferior support. O-line back receiver talent, I thought was kind of weak. I think their O-line might be a little better than you think. I think obviously they've got a back in Bell. Bell in his last year in the league, he caught a lot of balls, but he wasn't really used much as an intermediate type receiver. It was a lot of checkdowns and a lot of screens. Adam Gase, I guarantee, will use Bell in a more diverse way as a receiver, and I think they're really excited about that. They feel Bell can add that. They're going

to miss Chris Herndon, the tight end, who they absolutely love. He's a guy you can split out wide. He'll miss the first four games. They've got Robbie Anderson, who's clearly a vertical dimension, but they don't have great receivers. But I think they'll be an interesting team as the year progresses when they get Hernden back. And I think Adam Gase does a really nice job with his route concepts. He's really good at attacking defenses, understanding what defenses are playing, designing routes that beat coverage. I say Mitch Trubisky and Lamar Jackson are similar to me. I think they have ceilings that are fairly low as throwers.

They're both athletic, and they need on their rookie deals a lot of support to win. When you eventually have to pay them, I don't think they're as good, say, as DAC who gets a lot of criticism. I think Daxe better than both. I think Trubisky and Lamar are limited. So Joy and I were talking about this yesterday. Baltimore's gone all in on Lamar's running, and they're like, we've got to run him 20 times. We've got to. part of me, Joy and I are like, that doesn't work in this league long term.

But as he's growing as a quarterback, could I not argue for a year, that's what Seattle did with Russell. Make plays until you figure out the- Yeah, but Russell was a better thrower. Look, Lamar did not throw the ball well last year. He actually threw it better his last year at Louisville than he did last year in the NFL. Wow. Now, they have Greg Roman as their offensive coordinator, and as you may recall, Greg Roman was the offensive coordinator for Colin Kaepernick. In the first couple of years, Kaepernick played well.

And they're going to run a lot of that stuff. It'll be a lot of multiple tight ends. It'll be run game. The quarterback will be a part of that. The thing is, I think the league defense is that better now than they did when Kaepernick started doing it because it was kind of new to the NFL. At some point, Lamar is going to have to throw the ball from the pocket. You have to do that in the league. What they want to do, obviously, is try to create situations in which they can get predictable fronts, predictable coverages,

and then have Lamar throw versus those where everything is defined for him. Now, obviously, he can run and he can create problems for defenses with his running. The question is, how much can you do that on a week-to-week basis? Yeah, and I think when you get to the playoffs and you face better defenses and better coaches and better coordinators, that's where I think Trubisky and Lamar. Trubisky was frustrating for Matt Nagy last year in the playoffs. There were plays he couldn't make. And Nagy does a really nice job as well, scheming throws.

But Trubisky, and again, it doesn't mean Trubisky can't be successful. And I made this point a couple of weeks ago to someone, and I took a really nice job. a lot of grief for. Trabisky's not a natural thrower of the football. He's not. He's got kind of a funky delivery. He's a little bit of a pusher. He lifts his back leg off the ground before he delivers the ball, which means he locks

his front leg, which makes it difficult for him to really drive the football. So he's got some limitations as a passer. But again, now you're getting into scheme. Nagy's scheme can really help him. It doesn't mean he can't throw 26 touchdowns and be at least a quality NFL

quarterback. I'm not suggesting he's going to throw four touchdowns and 30 picks, but I think there are some limitations to his throwing ability. So the only question you never answer on my show, and it makes me laugh, is, and I agree with you, when people suggest that Nick Foles is better than Carson Wants. Well, that's ridiculous. You just won't answer the question. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous.

It's not even worth a conversation. Exactly. You and I could have a cocktail, be looking for conversation, and would not. By the way, I love Nick Foles. And he's a terrific guy. I've met him, been around him. I think he's a really professional NFL quarterback. You can line up and win with Nick Falls.

I mean, look, he won a Super Bowl. But I'm talking about over the course of 16 games as you're starting quarterback, you can line up and win with Nick Falls. But if you're just talking about level of talent, Carson Wentz, talent-wise, is probably top five, top six in the league. You would never talk about Nick Falls like that. By the way, so you were at Eagles Camp. I was at Eagles Camp on Saturday.

People say Wence is thinned out. He looks great. And also, they've got some weapons this year. I mean, Deshawn Jackson gives them the vertical weapon. There's a nice rapport developing there. They've got two really good tight ends. I think their two tight end sets are going to be really difficult for teams because Dallas Goddard is very athletic.

He's more athletic than Ertz. Ertz is a better route runner, obviously, at this point. But Goddard's a really intriguing player. I think Philadelphia, there's three teams, four teams in the NFL, five teams in the NFL that I really feel are favorites to win it all. Philly, Rams, Patriots, Chiefs, Colts. Colts are interesting. I mean, their offense was very good a year ago.

Andrew Luck is very good. Frank Reich did a great job. Yeah, yeah, let's explain their offense because Luck actually had his best year. Well, Luck had his best year for a couple of reasons. Number one, what Reich did is design an offense in which there were many more three-step and five-step drops. So the design of the play forced Luck to get the ball out. So Luck ran less, was less of a reckless player. did not put his body in harm's way.

Plus, I think he understands that he can't do that. But there were much more designed throws in which the ball came out quicker. Plus, they did a lot of multiple tight-end stuff. Multiple tight-end stuff can be very tough on defenses, especially if those tight-ends can line up outside the formation and be detached like in Eric Ebron. Because what happens is his teams normally play their base personnel to that, and you can often get mismatches with athletic tight-ins.

Yeah, six-seven tight-in who runs. Eric Ebron has almost big wide receiver, movement ability. So it becomes very difficult. And then, of course, even without great wideouts, they did not have great wideouts a year ago, although I think T.Y. Hilton's a lot better than people think. But it's just he's not 6-2-220. But they did a great job schematically to set up throws four luck so the ball came out. And I'm anxious to see Marlon Mack this year in the context of that offense. By the way, before we let you go, Greg. And Greg's on tomorrow for another 20 minutes. We give almost nobody 20 minutes. I'm not sure if Howard's

Turn walked in, I'd give me 20 minutes. I appreciate that. Okay, so you're going to give our fans. There's a college quarterback that nobody watching this show has seen play in a state I dearly love. Tell me the quarterback in college to keep, everybody keep your eyes on this kid if they're on TV this year. Jordan Love Utah State. Would not surprise me if he stays healthy if he's viewed as a top 10, top five quarterback in next year's draft. Okay, by the way.

You can hold me to that. I've been wrong, but I don't think I will be. Okay. Carson Wentz came out of nowhere. Josh Allen, Wyoming came out of nowhere. We've had... And by the way, we talked about Josh Allen two years ago, and I told you about him. You did.

So this kid is Jordan Love, Utah State. Okay. We're writing that down? Goulet, why don't you do something for a change? Write that down for me. Okay. What'd you say, Goulet? 6-4-225.

He's got Carson Wentz, Bill. And he throws it really nicely. He's an over-the-top thrower, and you don't see that very often anymore. Good. Great seeing you. We'll see you tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports

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