The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 08/02/2018

Episode Date: August 2, 2018

Colin just can't buy the idea that Urban Meyer didn't know what happened with his assistant coach and wife in 2015 because it implies that Urban's wife and coaches don't communicate with him at all. He thinks the NFL has evolved way too much over the past ten years for Jon Gruden to be successful. Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films comes in studio to talk about Dak Prescott and what to expect from Lamar Jackson in 2018. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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.

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NFL starts tonight. Greg CoSell later on the show as we talk a lot of football today, but I think we have to and we should begin with a story that broke just before our show began yesterday. And my takeaway on Urban Meyer was, I think he needs to be suspended. I don't have all the information. But this morning, I've got more information. And I am incredibly greatly disappointed, not only in Ohio State football. But when I think of Ohio State football and Urban Meyer,

I think of Louisville basketball and Rick Bettino and Baylor Football and Art Bryles and Penn State football at the end with Joe Paw. Those universities and those fan bases and those coaches want me to believe the unbelievable that husbands and wives don't talk. That coaches who live together in small spaces for 70 hours a week vacation together don't talk.

We now have texts. which show that Urban Meyer's wife, also an Ohio State Athletic Department employee, knew of a coach on her husband's staff beating his wife. We know that to be true. And she never told him for three years. I sit with my wife, and I'm sure you do this every night. When the kids go to bed last night, we talk for 90 minutes. We talk about our kids.

We talk about our lives. We talk about our future. We talk about our house. We talk about vacation plans. We talk about schools. Urban Meyer's wife, three years ago, knew about this, validated, verified on texts. And for three years, never told her husband, man, that must be a really bad marriage. Oh, wait, it's not.

Because at Big Ten Media Day, Urban Meyer bragged about the relationship with his wife. Here it is. She's always weighed in. You know, and that's my best friend and soulmate, and she's been right there with everything. especially when you start dealing with, you know, not necessarily who's going to carry the ball on third down. She has opinions too, but we don't chat about that. We chat about people. People.

She's got a great spirit and a great love of people. And her heart's always in the right place. She's phenomenal. Okay. And so absolutely I rely on her. We talk about people. Well, is Courtney Smith a person? Because she was getting beaten by her husband who was a football coach under Urban Meyer.

Not to be hyperbolic here, but when you brag about your relationship and then you want me the next day to believe we didn't talk about it. Really? College football coaches and basketball coaches are men often in small towns with power. Where pro fans are loyal to a point, college fans are loyal to a fault. Ohio State fans this morning will surround their coach because that's what they do in college towns. and you want me to believe that a coach who brags about his marriage, about how his wife is great and they talk about people, didn't talk about the one person on his staff beating his wife.

College football coaches have become Jack Nicholson. Remember his character and a few good men? You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. It's a code. Us against them. The big bad media out to get us. civilians, average people don't get us.

Why don't football coaches and basketball coaches like Rick Patino and Urban Meyer and Art Bryles and the people at Penn State years ago, stop being Jack Nicholson? Start nurturing, not protecting. Start communicating, not protecting. And fans, it's on you. You are asking me to believe the unbelievable that for three years, The wife didn't talk to the coach. We have verification that multiple wives on the staff knew, and none of them talked to their husbands.

And if they did, then the husbands who are coaches didn't talk to the boss down the hall, who they talked to 15 times today, never brought it up once. I don't know if you fire Urban Meyer. Maybe you should fire all of Ohio State's football coaches for not coming up with better material. Come up with a better excuse. Here's Courtney Smith, who's been pleading. for help for years. You know, Shelly, she said she wanted,

she was going to have to tell Irvin. She was going to have to tell Urban. I said, that's fine. You know, you should tell Urban. We can't have somebody like this coaching young men. No, no, you can't. And you shouldn't. But increasingly, we see it over and over.

I don't know what to do with coaches. I've told you. When it comes to small college town, and Columbus is not Mayberry, but fans are loyal to a fault. In pro towns where people are not all from the town, because big cities have lots of jobs and lots of people move there not from the city, fans are loyal to a point. Brian Calangelo, wife had a burner account, fans didn't buy it, team didn't buy it, owner didn't buy it, media didn't buy it, GM gone. Unfortunately, we have a victim here, and the town will put their arms around the coach yet again and ask me to believe the unbelievable. Let me shift to something with football that is a lighter note. Jared Cook's good football player.

He says that John Gruden, the new coach of the Raiders, is showing the Raiders old grainy film from 1976. I laughed at this because I don't know how this Ohio or excuse me, this Raiders Gruden thing's going to work. Baseball is considered old, stuck in its ways, rigid and stodgy. But even 10 years ago in baseball, we didn't talk about launch angles and exit velocity. We didn't have defensive shifts. Starters were paid a lot more than bullpen guys. But baseballs stuck in its way. right has made massive changes 10 year contracts didn't have those 10 years ago

bullpins now are more important than starters that wasn't the case 10 years ago a short stop plays out in right field that didn't happen 10 years ago so baseball stodgy in 10 years ago it didn't look the same what about football the NFL is like Silicon Valley they change week to week day to day football doesn't even look the same on television that it did 10 years ago. 10 years ago, you had something called huddles and fullbacks. And the overtime rules were different. And the PAT rules were different. And you didn't have four and five receivers all the time. But that part, I think John Gruden can figure out. What worries me about John Gruden is the other stuff, not the schematics, not the rule changes. The world has changed in 10 years. 10 years

ago, a coach, an old white male coach could walk into a locker room that's diverse and say, no politics. And it was understood. If the old ball coach walks into an NFL locker room and says that today, he's racially insensitive. Or worse. There was no Twitter. There was no Instagram.

There was no Snapchat. The players weren't as empowered. But players today, and rightfully so, have an opinion. Because we go to these games for the players, not the GM scouts and coach. is John Gruden will figure out all the football stuff. I don't think he'll figure it out immediately. He'll be a little rigid. It'll take a little while it did for Joe Gibbs.

But the world's changing now. And that's what worries me about the Khalil Mack situation. The best defensive player arguably in the NFL. And John Gruden hasn't talked to him since February. That's not a schematic thing. That's a personality thing. That's the way it used to be thing. it used to be the NFL was all about the coach.

Not even Bill Belichick is calling all the shots in the NFL anymore. You want to call the shots, there's other places to do it. It's not the NFL. It's not the NBA. It's not Major League Baseball, where managers are increasingly replaceable. So I worry when I read this story, and I've got to be honest, I laughed at the headline. Jared Cook says John Gruden is showing the Raiders quote old grainy film from like 1976.

I just don't think this thing's going to work long term. It may work for a year. Derek Carr is an unbelievable quarterback, but I got to give my staff credit. They found something. I just can't figure out why John Gruden is not communicating and can't get a hold of Khalil Mack. but we found out why their communication is so bad. Gruden is using America online. And he's trying to get a hold of Khalil Mac using this device.

And Joy, it's just not working. Someone keeps picking up the phone in his house. That's what it is. And then he has to keep starting over. So he's trying to get a hold to Khalil Mac. And the connecting, it's not working. Yeah, it's just not working. Maybe that's Khalil emailing him back.

In 2008, when Gruden left, here was a headline. On internet television, that's how it was termed, both NFL.com and NBCSports.com carried complete live games for the first time ever on that thing called the internet. That's the game he left. And football, football is really. fluid, man. There's jobs that don't change in 10 years. They're called the post office. NFL, jettison the thing for a decade. I don't care if you're talking about it on football. That locker room is a completely different place. Hi, everybody. It's Colin. You know I love perky jerky. So much so, I invested in it. Different crazy good flavors. Jamming Jamaican, sweet

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Get it at perkyjurkey.com. Code heard. This is an interesting story. There's a new book out. It was released yesterday called 12. That's Tom Brady's number. the inside story of Tom Brady's fight for redemption. And it talks about Tom Brady's unhappiness and displeasure over Deflategate.

And Robert Kraft, in particular, siding with the NFL, not Tom Brady with Deflategate. Now, there's a quote in the book where Robert Kraft says, at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the full 32, meaning take care of the league before you take care of an individual. Apparently, Brady was watching that press conference and blew up, was furious, grabbed the phone and called the executive director of the Players Association, DeMora Smith, and yelled, what the blank. Why am I not getting the support I deserve on this thing?

Okay, time out. Tom, New England is a ruthless cold business. Coaches and players are expendable. yet the minute that ethos landed on Tom, he didn't like it. Tom, the reason you're Tom Brady isn't because of your mobility, you're the strongest guy with the best arm. It's because they've been cold and ruthless and they get rid of coaches and they get rid of players and they don't lose a second of sleep over it. That's why you're Tom Brady.

The only time, in fact, that Bob Kraft had a heart that the New England Patriots weren't ruthless is the biggest mistake they've ever made. They gave away Jimmy Garoppolo for a nickel and a ham sandwich to San Francisco. That is the one time they decided we should be nice to Tom. And Tom has been good to us. And we should support Tom. And so let's take our next quarterback for the next decade and let's give him to San Francisco for virtually nothing, a second round pick, which has about a 65% chance of doing

anything. Garoppolo has a 100% chance of winning games. He's 5 and 0 in his first five. If you work for a ruthless organization, expect them to be ruthless. Walmart is legendary. They're ruthless. They go into a town and squish small time businesses. Squish them. They negotiate for every penny on every deal with their retailers. I know I have two buddies who have had products and have had to negotiate with Walmart. You don't make any money. You don't make any money. They squeat, but they know you want your product in their store. You make no profit.

Sometimes you lose money. They're ruthless. So if you work for Walmart, don't complain in negotiations. They don't pay you much because they're ruthless. That's what they do to small businesses. That's what they do to retailers. And that's what they do, frankly, to their bosses, their management and their employees. They're ruthless.

That defines what New England is. They're cold. They're covert. They're quiet. They're under the radar. They are system over player. And that's largely, and I love Brady, but he's not as talented as the Elways and Marinos.

He doesn't throw the ball like Aaron Rogers. Tom has benefited greatly from that bottom line business model. Don't complain if it occasionally lands on you. This is the herd podcast. You know, Joy, that I like Dak Prescott. Yes. I don't think he has the best arm. I don't think he's the most talented quarterback.

But he has a personality and qualities that I like. And those qualities are things when I read business books, they talk about leaders having. Smart but not a show off. Confident, but not cocky. formidable, a calming influence when chaos is around you. Since he's come to the NFL, he's had Jerry Jones being controversial and his star running back being controversial. And the Cowboys themselves are being controversial. And this week he talked about the anthem and it was controversial.

And once again, none of it sticks to him because he's Dak Prescott. And what I always loved about him is what I love about all young quarterbacks. Who are the young quarterbacks that I like? Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, Jared Goff. Calm. Noise around him, calm. Who are the quarterbacks I've been critical of?

Cam Newton, Johnny Mansell, Baker Mayfield, James Winston, high, low, happy, angry, moody, inconsistent, accurate, inaccurate. Because when I read business books, they say leadership comes from certain key personality traits. When the world's on fire, are you gasoline like Cam Newton and Baker Mayfield and Johnny Mansell and James Winston? Or are you a hose that puts it out like Russell Wilson? Look at Russell Wilson in Seattle. Richard Sherman saying this, they're getting political. Pete Carroll, this. Rock solid.

Who is the rock solid face of Seattle? Don't hear him much in the media. Russell Wilson. So Dak Prescott a couple of days ago did something that was hard to do. It is very easy to go on social media, Instagram and Twitter and say, everybody should kneel, players' rights, social justice. Dak did the opposite. He said, well, football's my job.

and I think it's a time and a place to protest. I don't think it's the games. Leadership isn't doing the easy thing. It's doing what you believe is the right thing and sticking to it and not bailing on your opinion. And Dak Prescott was pushed back. And you know what Dak Prescott said? Go on social media and see it. Doesn't bother me.

I said what I said. I've got an opinion. So does everybody else. I accept yours. You accept mine. It's not about his arm. It's not about his size. It's about his leadership qualities.

The Cowboys are a zoo. Des Bryant. Tony Romo. He walked into this league with a Tony Romo controversy. That a Zheek controversy. Then a Des controversy. The Jason Witten retires. And his owner can't stop talking about the anthem.

Dak Prescott is the calming influence to a noisy environment. And it's why I think for the next 12 years, They have got their franchise quarterback. Not as talented as Akeman, but not as erratic as Tony Romo. A rock, solid guy. Leadership wins games, not your arms or your legs. It's leadership. Practice standing by what you believe.

What's up, everybody? This John Middle Cop from the Three and Out podcast, brought to you by Colin Coward's Podcast Network. If you like Colin Show, you'll like mine. former NFL scout, I talk a lot of football. This week, I talk about NFL viral videos. I talk about is Jimmy Garoppel overrated? And touch on why I think Sam Darnold has some special qualities. Again, subscribe.

You can listen wherever you get your podcast, three and out with John Middlough on the Colin Coward Podcast Network. I'm not a big fan of making excuses. Okay, if you stink, own it. I don't want pointing fingers. I'm not a big believer in finger pointing. Now, I'm not saying there's not victims in life. There's a lot of victims in life.

But what I see too often now, point, point you, fault, me. You're 45 years old and you can't get your act together. It's not your mom and dad's fault. Look in the mirror. Okay, stop blaming people. So Cam Newton gets the most support in the way. Every time Cam Newton struggles, oh, he didn't have this, doesn't have that, doesn't have this.

Yesterday, an offensive lineman was retired from the Colts. He was drafted in the 2014 draft. He retired. Now, if you go look, because of that retirement, Andrew Luck gets drafted. Here is the first two draft classes, the Colts drafted to support Andrew Luck. They're out of the NFL.

Not a single player remains on the Colts roster. Almost all of them are out of the league. So the first two class, No Indianapolis was bad. That's why they had the number one pick and drafted him. It's always imperative that the first two draft classes after a quarterback has drafted are strong classes. They were disasters.

70% of the guys are already out of the league by 2018. One never played a game. Literally never played a game. One now retired. Let's go to Cam Newton. He was drafted. Cam Newton's first two draft classes. Luke Keekeley.

Josh Norman. A starting right tackle. Two defensive tackles. One a pro bowler. Kenyon Barner, who left his back. A.J. Klein. Great left in New Orleans. I don't want to hear about Cam Newton having no support.

He's got a high functioning front office that in the first two drafts after Cam Newton arrived, they got a hollow. Fame linebacker Luke Kieckley. He'll be a Hall of Famer. Josh Norman will be up for debate for the Hall of Fame. Two defensive tackles, one's a pro bowler. Multiple starters on both sides of the football. I don't want to hear any more excuses. I don't want to hear any. Andrew Luck won 33 games in his first three years. And these are the first two draft classes after he was picked. Absolute utter garbage. After a retired player yesterday, nobody is still on the roster. Seven or out of the league, one never played.

And one played one game in Indianapolis. And he still wins games. I don't want to hear about excuses. Catch the herd from noon to three Eastern on IHeart Radio and FS1. Time to buy. Colin will decide if he'll buy it. Sell. Or hold.

Or hold. Buy sell or hold. Jason Garrett. will be the head coach of the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. A lot of talk about Jason Garrett is on the hot seat in Dallas. It should be noted he's at only one losing season there, and that was when he had chaos at quarterback, and Tony Romo got hurt, and they didn't have effective backups.

With all the controversy and stuff he dealt with last year, and with having the Super Bowl champions in his division, they still went 9 and 7. And I would say this, I do believe it's the best Cowboys roster in years. Now, I don't think it's as good as Philadelphia, and it may not be as good and as balanced as the New York Giants. But I will say this. They have young edge rushers, excellent young linebackers, excellent offensive line, star at running back, and Garrett's at least a behead coach.

So John, bye, bye, bye, Jason Garrett's going to coach the Cowboys all season long. Sticking with the Cowboys, Buy Seller Hole, Dak Prescott will account for more touchdowns than Kirk Cousins. Well, Kirk Cousins has something Dallas does not have. have. They have two really good deep threats. And when you have deep threats, it doesn't mean you have a higher passer rating, but it generally means you have more touchdowns. You get more easy touchdowns over the top. The other thing to remember is DAC Press Gun accounted for 29 and 28 touchdowns in its first two years all in. Kirk Cousins averaged 31 over the past three seasons. And Minnesota is a team that has a better tight end, better wide receivers, and I think what

Kirk Cousins, they're going to throw the ball down the field. I think the Cowboys this year without Wittenden Des and new possession guys will be more of a run-oriented offense. So, John, sell, sell, sell. I think Kirk Cousins will throw for more touchdowns than Dak Prescott. By seller hold, Matt Ryan will have a better season than Aaron Rogers, Carson Wentz, and Dak Prescott. Well, first of all, he's got better receivers than Dak Prescott.

Nobody disputes that. He's got a better offensive line. and better receivers than Aaron Rogers. The Falcons offensive line is the most underrated in the league, probably top three or four. And we don't know if Carson Wentz is going to be available in week one or two. Matt Ryan, by the way, over the last two years, has the second highest passer rating to Tom Brady in the National Football League. And again, Aaron Rogers and Wentz are coming off injuries.

So John, buy, bye, bye, Matt Ryan's going to have a very good year, and because of personnel around him and injuries for others, he will have a better year than Wence, Dack, and Aaron Rogers. Buy Seller-Hold, the Patriots defense will take a major step back this season. Okay, so they lose Malcolm Butler. That's understood. But the one area where I think they've absolutely improved is on the defensive front. And also remember, their best defender in the front seven, Dante Hightower, returns this year.

My questions about New England are rebuilding their offensive line, their lack of dynamic playmakers on the outside, and a bunch of good, not great running backs. I also think this. If the Patriots defense faced on a regular basis elite veteran quarterbacks with their current personnel, I think you could argue that, would take a step back. But the Jets may start a rookie, the Bills may start a rookie, and the AFC, Kansas City, going to start a young guy. Andrew Luck's coming back, we don't know. There is a lot of rebuilding and unknowns with quarterback play in the AFC.

So John, sell, sell, sell. The Patriots defense, I do not think we'll take a major step back. Buy seller hold, Baker Mayfield, will be the Brown starting quarterback by Halloween. Now, Halloween, John, is October, what, like 31st? Yes. Okay, so that's about seven games in. Tyron Taylor in a cold weather city Buffalo led them to the playoffs. And he led him to the playoffs because he makes no mistakes. Makes no mistakes.

So Tyron Taylor is not going to go to Cleveland and make a bunch of mistakes. Got a veteran head coach, he's a veteran quarterback. But five of the last six number one picks were quarterbacks before Halloween. When you're the number one pick in the draft. and the money you are spending on that, never forget Cleveland's schedule. They open with Pittsburgh and New Orleans and face Oakland in week four. They are going to be one and three. And the owner Jimmy Haslam, who was run through coaches in Cleveland

and run through coaches at the University of Tennessee, where he's the number one booster, is going to demand Hugh Jackson off in 0-16 season, start Baker Mayfield. John, buy, buy, buy. Baker's going to start by Halloween. I'm not sure if he'll be completely ready, but he's going to start by that point. Last one, buy-seller hold.

Bryce Harper will never play in a World Series. Well, he is a free agent at the end of the season, and what's becoming popular in baseball is rent a player. Because the Dodgers and the Cubs are very good teams this year. I watched the Dodgers play last night. They got a lot of sticks. Jock Peterson's now hitting too. And in the baseball, you don't have to give up a ton to rent a star player for a couple of months.

You don't have to buy him long term. So the Dodgers could rent him. The Cubs could rent him if they wanted to. Cubs did that with the Raldus Chapman. If he stays with the Nationals, I have questions about the dynamic in that locker room. Anybody that loves the Nats knows they've underachieve for several years. So John, I'm going to hold on Bryce Harper. I want to see where he ends up.

If the Yankees probably won't go after it. But if the Dodgers just rent Machado and let him go, they will. And they go long term on Bryce Harper. I think there is a possibility, Bryce Harper, will be back close to his hometown in Vegas in Los Angeles and win a World Series. All three hours of the herd are always streaming on the Hurd channel on the IHeart Radio app.

Greg Kosell, 30 years NFL films is somebody that about seven, eight years ago I started using it the other place. And I got such tremendous feedback that people said, can you do hours with him? I get so much smarter talking and watching football. And it's an absolute pleasure. I think this is the second time I've had you in studio. I hope we put you in a nice hotel with comfortable seating on a plane and we're feeding you well. Let's start with this.

Yesterday, Eric Mangini said, like when you're a receiver and you go to New England, It's like a finishing school. Right. So Brandon Cooks their deep threat. Gone. Julian Mantleman out. Danielle Mandola, gone. I mean, you look at Tom Brady.

Gronk plays about 10 and a half to 11 games a year now because of his injuries. What do you make of this offense, which could also be argued, is rebuilding its offensive line? Yeah, I think they're a little different, Colin, than most teams in the league. I heard you talk earlier today about fullbacks in the NFL and there's really a dearth of them. Teams don't use them. The Patriots do. They have James definitely. not a name that a lot of people would know.

But he plays 25 to 30% of their snaps. Think about that for a minute. That's a lot of snaps. No team in the NFL is more multiple and diverse with their formations with a fallback on the field. So what they do is they create matchups. And there's no quarterback who's better than Tom Brady at dissecting and investigating and researching the defense before the ball is snapped. That's key. That's the critical piece here.

So the combination of the personnel packages they use, the formation variation, and Brady's ability to win before the ball is snapped makes their offense work. Now, it's still a little speculative right now with who they're going to line up at wide receiver. Obviously, they just signed Eric Decker. And he's an interesting player because he's a veteran who understands route concepts, understands coverages. So we'll see how it all plays out. but that's what they count on to be successful in the past game. For Des Bryant, it's a fascinating year. His go-to, tight-end veteran great-hand wide receiver, Jason went gone.

Right. His talented, but at times demanding wide receiver, Des Bryant, gone. Ezekiel Elliott comes back, who could be a back blocker or receiver. You've got a piece of tape that you think is interesting. And take our audience through this with Dak, who I like, not the strongest arm, not the best arm, athlete. There's something, there's a leadership component here I like. Take us through the tape. Well, before we get to that, let's start with what the Cowboys clearly. They're telling you what they want to be on offense. They did this in 2014 with Tony Romo when DeMarco Murray had 390 carries.

They did it in Zeke's first year in 2016. By drafting Williams, the offensive linemen out of Texas this year with their first pick, they're telling you they want their offense to start with the run game. That's what they want. So what that means is third down becomes critically important. And if you look at statistics right here, third down in six plus, very important for Dak Prescott. He was very good in 2016, not as good in 2017. That's a critical down now for the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott. So what they need to do with him in these kinds of situations is defying the throws. This is where the tape comes in. And this goes back to last year. As I said, he wasn't as good last year, but they need concepts to define the throws for Dak Prescott. And obviously, this is Terrence Williams,

but here's what they did. They lined up with three wide receivers, trips to one side of the field. They knew they were going to get man. They're playing a division opponent, the Giants, so they knew what they were going to get. So what they do here is a natural rub or pick concept. The corner was off on Terrence Williams. They run two verticals with the inside receivers, and then they run Williams underneath on the drag. So the concept defines the throw for Dak Prescott. These are the kinds of things you need to do with him. And then the other thing that they rely on, and you can debate this, you've probably talked a lot about this, are those second reaction off schedule outside of structure plays. How much can you rely on them on third down to win and get you first downs? But

clearly Dak Prescott is capable of those kinds of things. A lot of people love the acquisition by Green Bay to bring in kind of a finesse tight end, a ball catcher Jimmy Graham, who's had some drops last couple of years, with Aaron Rogers. How do you think that works? Well, do you remember, it must be four, five, six years ago now when they had Joe Michael Finley? Yes. Joe Michael Finley, a great, great athlete at tight end. What they did a lot was they split him out as the single receiver, usually to the

the short side of the field and they would create matchups. I think you'll see more of that now with Jimmy Graham. That was very successful. One thing we know about Aaron Rogers, there may not be a better back shoulder thrower in the National Football League. And you line up a 666-67 Jimmy Graham split out as the single receiver. Even if you put a reasonably athletic safety on them, the safety's not going to be 6-5 or 6-6. So you're going to get into those matchups with Jimmy Graham.

on the perimeter and the best back shoulder thrower in the NFL and Aaron Rogers. And I think that's the way they'll use Jimmy Graham. In that division, the Bears they play tonight. Matt Nagy's the new coach. He was Andy Reid's guy in Kansas City. Andy Reid gave the Eagles Doug Peterson. He won a Super Bowl. Now his next smart guy is Matt Nagy.

Andy develops these coaches, part of his tree. He goes to Chicago. I'm a real doubter on Mitch Trubisky. I don't see it. I think his ceiling's very. low. I've said, I think he's a lesser version of Garoppolo. Well, you know, they've compared him. Nagee has compared

him to Alex Smith, who of course he coached. And I'm not sure that that's a great comparison in terms of what Alex Smith is. But I think you have to look at the Barrett's coaching staff, and I'm a big believer in coaching, as I know you are. Yes. So you have Matt Nagy, who comes from the Andy Reed School, very well-designed,

well-schemed passing game. But who did they bring in as the offensive coordinator? Mark Helfrich from the Chip Chip Kelly School. So you have arguably the most interesting mix of offensive philosophies in the NFL. Matt Nagy from the Andy Reed School and Mark Helfridge from the Chip Kelly School. How is that going to play out? You're going to see a ton of shotgun. You're going to see a ton of misdirection, deception, influence concepts.

This helps a quarterback become far more efficient because things get to find. Because the defense, particularly the linebacker level, they don't know what they're looking at. there's a lot of movement behind the line of scrimmage on offense, and that's where I think it really helps a quarterback, and I think Trubisky will really be helped by this, and will end up being a pretty high percentage thrower. Speaking of Alex Smith, did the Redskins upgrade from Kirk Cousins to Alex Smith? I think from a tape perspective, I would say no. I think in their mind from a leadership perspective, they would say yes. But I think that Kirk Cousins on tape is a better quarterback than

Alex Smith. Wow, okay. He's a bigger, stronger athlete. Yeah, neither one has a big arm. I think that one of the things that's always been troublesome for me watching Alex Smith on tape, and there's no statistic for this, there's no statistic for balls that a quarterback doesn't throw that should be thrown. Oh, that's interesting, right? And to me, that's where the analytics and Sabremetrics, whatever term you want to use, can't factor that in. There's no statistic for that.

and when you watch as much tape as I do, and I see throws that should be made. For instance, there were three or four of them in the second half of the playoff game that Kansas City lost last year to Tennessee. Alex Smith should have turned the ball loose to receivers that were open within the design of the route concept. He didn't turn them loose, and he was responsible for his own sacks. So Alex Smith has always had that issue to some degree. By the way, there's also a stat that husbands don't get credit for,

Joy, arguments we avoid because the husband just takes one for the team. Oh, I'm good at that. So am I. There's no stat for it. Yeah. I'm just like, honey, you're right. You, Greg and I are like... Don't you just measure that in just like happiness and peace?

Isn't that the statistic? So you guys get credit for that one too. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Of course. Okay. Lamar Jackson plays tonight.

Yeah. And, you know, preseason, it's a lot of vanilla defenses. But the time he goes in the game again, he can be playing against guys who are working at Ralph They'll be playing against you and I. Right. Exactly. So what do you see on tape, piece of tape on Lamar Jackson? What do you see you like or don't like?

First of all, I heard you're talking about Bobby Petrino. And Bobby Petrino runs a fairly sophisticated pass game. So these people who automatically say that, well, he ran a simplistic offense. That's not true. Now, there's always a jump to the NFL no matter what offense you run. But he did not run a simplistic offense. Now, the key thing about Lamar is I thought he was a little better from the pocket than people are giving him credit for.

And I want to show you this one play, which really to me speaks a lot about Lamar Jackson. We know he can run, okay? That's a given. We know that he's got great legs. This is a play where he stepped up, avoiding the blitz, and made, by the way, a big-time throw. Now, what I really liked about this, he turns his back to the defense. So now he's got a free rusher coming on his front side, which he doesn't know yet. So now when he turns around, there is a free rusher right in his face,

Colin, this is tough to deal with. You know what I like here? He doesn't just break down and run. What does he do? He steps up. Look at him, reset. Good footwork, good mechanics, good fundamentals, and this is not a routine, easy throw. Now, you can go back to the Bill Walsh school. Bill Walsh always believed that if he saw a player

do things on tape, even if he didn't see it a lot, that he could then coach it because it's there. So Lamar Jackson needs to be coached, no question. But I think the people who are dismissing his pocket play are making a mistake. Yeah. By the way, Baker Mayfield, Cleveland. He's an accurate thrower. Compact delivery, quick twitch kid, very accurate thrower.

I don't see a bust. I don't like the intangibles. Yeah, and that's hard for us to know. I mean, and I'll be honest with you, it's hard for me to know that and talk about because I'm not with him every day. He's done some things, obviously, that might get people upset, but you'd have to be with him every day. But I thought the tape was really positive, and a very quick point on Baker Mayfield. I made it a point in last year at Oklahoma to go through all his third down completions,

and there were a lot of them, 130, give or take. What really stood out to me was the large, large number that came within structure. There were only seven or eight in which he actually ran around and moved. He actually played the position from the pocket within the structure. of the offense. That's good news. Now, you are back tomorrow. You're going to have a breakdown on tape of Deshawn Watson. What's interesting is, the Texans and the Patriots, meet in week one. So Greg CoSell will join us tomorrow and we'll do the same sort of thing. We'll have different videos. We all get smarter. Great seeing you, Greg. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning,

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