The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 08/08/2019

Episode Date: August 8, 2019

Colin had no idea Jerry Jones & Stephen Jones would make great WWE Tag Team partners with their constant back and forth tug of words over Ezekiel Elliot contract talks. Aaron Rodgers might just be a better arm talent then Tom Brady but when it comes to leadership skills he falls flat on his face. Freddie Kitchens has skipped way to many steps in becoming an NFL head coach that it could end up hurting the Browns in the long run and Kevin Durant is a grown man making his own decision to play during the finals, stop coddling these adult athletes he deserves the heat.Guest : Greg Cosell - NFL Films 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 iHeart Radio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Thursday, packed. This is the herd.

Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Urban Meyer in 45 minutes. Greg CoSell next hour. Chris Haynes on his interview with Kevin Durant, stopping by today. We're absolutely packed. Joy is on assignment. A veteran newsman John Goulae will be updating us on an NFL trade that's taking place today with the Browns and the Texans.

It is so great to have you in. Let me start with this. I am really enjoying. I never knew that Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones were pro wrestlers, but they are tag team partners. One day it's Jerry banging on Zeke. The next day it's Stephen Jones banging on Zeke. Then it's Jerry banging on Zeke. And then it's Stephen Jones banging on Zeke.

These guys are tag team partners. WWE, which, by the way, is coming to Fox very soon. Let me go to the first thing. Jerry came out. Remember that? And Jerry said, you can win Super Bowls without star running back.

And then Stephen came out and said, a couple days later, you know, any money we give Zeke is just taken away from other cowboy stars. And then Jerry came out yesterday and said, Alfred Morris, the running back they signed, has the best feel of any running back I've ever seen. And then Stephen came out later in the day with Rich Eisen

and said he won't call us back. Here's Stephen Jones. How often are you talking with Zeke's team these days? Very rarely. There's this perception out there about negotiations that there's these ongoing talks and they go on hours at a time. And that's just not the case.

You kind of set the boundaries of where you think it should be and certainly, you know, they're all represented by very sharp people, and they're trying to do the best for their client. And you kind of sit there and you stew on it and you think about it. You know, you're always trying to think of something that might bridge a gap. Okay. So remember, this is the latest thing. It's a tag team partner.

Jerry, you can win Super Bowls without great running backs. Stephen, you're just taking money out of Dak and Amari's hands. Jerry yesterday, Alfred Morris, has the best feel of any running. back I've ever seen. And then Stephen Jones comes out later and says, nobody's returning our calls. We're not close. Okay. So this is tag team and Zeke. Are they getting nervous? Are they getting anxious? Now, I've felt from the very beginning, Jerry and Stephen have been very shrewd with their public comments. But there is a reason they are going out in public. They are trying to put pressure on Zeke. And I think Zeke has two things going for him here. And they're not the things that people think.

Well, he's a great player. They need it. You know, he's got a good. two things going for him. Number one, Jerry Jones is 76 years old. He doesn't want to waste another season. When you get older in life, you just don't have time to waste. When you're on the back nine of your mortality, you're not going to waste time. You want to get things done. I can tell you, the older I get, the less time I'm willing to waste because I have less time on the earth. That's an advantage for Zeke. An older owner hasn't won a Super Bowl in a while. Finally has a roster, he doesn't want to waste a season. And the second thing that I think helps Zeke is, in the division, Philadelphia is great,

well-coached, Carson Wentz, and they have all their young stars signed. But even out of the division, the NFC is loaded. I'll give you nine teams, not in Dallas's division that I think are capable of making the playoffs. The Falcons, the Saints, and the Panthers, the Packers, the Bears, the Vikings. the Rams, the Niners, and the Seahawks. That's just out of the Dallas Cowboys' NFC East Division. So I think those are big advantages.

The NFC's loaded. The division, Philadelphia, may be a Super Bowl favorite. Jerry is 76 years old. There is a reason that Jerry and Stephen on a daily basis are coming out and doing a tag team on Zeke. They're feeling it. This is not a time. to not have all the ammo for the NFC East, the NFC with an aging owner.

So I think it's a blast to watch. I think it's really fun. By the way, Zique has shut it down. Zeeks's in Mexico. Zeek's not talking. Zeek's not calling. Does Zeek understand he has leverage here? Because this morning, when I see Stephen Jones talking and Jerry talking about how great

Alfred Morris is, cowboy leadership getting a little tight, getting a little closer to games and getting a little anxious. Kind of feels like it this morning. Kind of feels like it. All right. Let me shift to this. Aaron Rogers time. You know I think Aaron Rogers is great.

But when the comparisons were made years ago to Tom Brady, I said, well, he's got a better arm. But I think there are certain leadership skills that Tom has that Aaron does not have. I think Aaron's talented. He's more mobile. Maybe he's a better athlete. He's got a better arm. I'm not disputing that. Of course, Aaron is thin skin and thinks I don't like him.

I think Aaron's great. It's one of the 10 best, 15 best quarterbacks in the history of the game I've ever seen, and I've seen all of them that matter. I'm not joking. Outside of Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas, I think I've seen most of the great quarterbacks. But it's interesting. Finally, another member of the media, sports media, NFL media, is recognizing what I'm recognizing. So pro football talk came out yesterday and admitted Aaron Rogers' criticism of joint practices,

which he did yesterday, amounts to criticism. of his new coach Matt LaFleur. Pro football talk also acknowledged in the last two weeks, three weeks, Aaron Rogers has criticized his new coach twice. One, on the audible thing, he didn't love the restrictive nature of Matt LaFleur's audibles. And two, by coming out and saying, and this is what Aaron said in the last 48 hours, in regards to the Packers' joint practices with other teams, quote, I don't think live special team drills are smart.

the kickoff especially is dangerous. I just don't think it's the best use of joint practice. So what are you saying? This is essentially the equivalent to an eye roll to your coach. This is the equivalent of calling your coach stupid. If Tom Brady came out and said, you know, I think these joint practices, I think these special teams drills are not very smart. Would he say that about Bill?

Would he question Bill's audible system? This is the eye roll. Two eye rolls before the season. starts. By the way, isn't Jeff Saturday, former Packer, the one that came out and said, Aaron would roll his eyes at Mike McCarthy's play calls? Didn't Aaron Rogers lead the NFL last year and throwaways by a mile, basically acknowledging before the play started, I hate it, I'm throwing the ball out of bounds. This is the gap that I've discussed for years, Brady and Aaron. Aaron is condescending. Aaron goes public with it. Aaron takes shots at.

at superiors. I don't control practice. It's not very smart. That's the gap. That is the gap. It's not talent. Aaron's got arguably more of it. But, I mean, ask yourself, if you were a high school coach, you're a high school

football coach, and your high school quarterback came out and said, yeah, I don't think these joint practices are very smart. The high school coach would go down and talk to his high school quarterback. If Tua came out in college, if they had college joint practices, and Tua, the quarterback at Alabama, said, yeah, I don't think these joint practices are very smart. Nick Saban would bring him into his office. The difference here is Matt LaFleur, the new Packer coach has to eat it because Aaron Rogers is a, you know, he's an icon. And he's rich, and he's got a Super Bowl ring, and he replaced Fav, and he's idolized, and he's worshipped.

And he, you know, mostly he's one of the great talents of our time playing quarterback. But make no mistake. These comments, thank you, pro football talk, these comments were essentially the equivalent, the audible comment publicly and the special teams comment publicly. They're an eye roll, which is all I've been saying for years. Aaron's talented, but he's condescending.

They did a study years ago at the University of Washington years ago about why couples get divorced. It's not cheating, it's not money. They could predict with 99% accuracy, why couples would get divorced. They would interview couples. They'd sit them down for a couple of hours. They'd ask the couples together all sorts of questions.

And they could predict with 99% accuracy if they would get divorced. And do you know what the factor was that the social scientists or the psychologist could spot? Eye-rolling. Condescending. Not respecting your partner. That just led to a Packer divorce. And already in a relationship, we're not. even to the preseason games yet. These are calm waters. Already, Aaron is doing what teammates

have claimed he did with Mike McCarthy. Sometimes you got to eat it. You don't want to go public. You can tell your coach in private, but Aaron makes a point of going out, making it public, which essentially is kind of embarrassing your head coach. I don't want this system. This is stupid. Why are we doing this? Those are private conversations. So again, Aaron just got a divorce from a football coach. Throwways led the league. Eye rolling in the huddle. This is what causes divorces in real life.

And it's just nice occasionally that I don't have to carry the water for the criticism of Aaron Rogers in America, that he's not perfect. I mean, we're always willing to say Tom Brady's not very athletic. Tom doesn't get mad. He makes fun of that. On Twitter, he makes fun of that. Does everybody have to say Aaron Rogers is perfect? Or can we acknowledge now more eye rolling? Because that's all these quotes are.

They're the equivalent of eye rolling, which has been my primary criticism of Aaron for a decade. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 the. 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. From 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. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. 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. 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 of the thing, we get so rapidly. 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. 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. All 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, A, 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 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 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. nice but get that thing that man

hell get the flying he run up the court licking his fingers why he got the ball like after 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 gonna get the ball so listen to point game on the Iheart radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast

so that was a deal made this morning the Houston Texans traded a fourth round pick it's a conditional fourth rounder could become a third rounder to Cleveland the Browns now have nine picks going into next year's draft as of now. And Cleveland gave Houston a really nice, I think, number two running back in the NFL, Duke Johnson. It's a very, very high-end number two running back, not sure he's a one.

Cleveland didn't need three running backs. One of my criticisms of Cleveland is they got too many mouse to feed. When Kareem Hunt comes back, they're going to have Kareem Hunt, Nick Chubb. They don't need a third running back. They've already got more than enough tight-end talent, wide receiver talent, running back talent, get some better offensive line talent. So I like to move by Cleveland. Move off a running back, get a pick for next year, accumulate draft picks.

You can use them or you can use them for a trade to get a more veteran player later. Also, Houston is a very good football team. People forget this. Houston won the AFC South last year, not the Colts. Houston reeled off nine straight win. Houston got off to the bad start and was really good at the end of the year. This solves a realist issue for Houston. Okay, because this team's got great defensive line talent,

young quarterback, superstar wide receiver. Now they have two very capable running backs. They have very athletic linebackers. Now Houston, go out and solve your other issue, left tackle. Trent Williams has been a very, very good Washington Redskin for a long time. He's the best player they have on their team, and he is adamant.

He will not play for them. And Trent Williams is a man. He is Washington's best player, and he's adamant. I'm not playing. Houston needs a left tackle. Okay, because they have the other components. Now they have two legit running backs. Star receiver, athletic linebackers, star young quarterback, who I really like to Sean Watson, very good athletic linebackers.

They need a dominant imposing force on the offensive line. They've cobbled it together. It was putrid last year. Reports are it's better, but it would have to be. So I think for Houston, this is a win now move. This is a we're close, and I agree with them. I think Houston is close. Now, Houston doesn't have a history of winning those big games, especially away from Houston.

But this is kind of a win-now move. Deshawn Watson's still on that young rookie contract. This is what we see a trend going around the league, get young guys, quarterbacks on that roster, bring in players now and win. Cleveland's doing it with Baker Mayfield. Jets are doing it with Sam Darnold. Rams have done it with Jared Gough. Cowboys have tried to do it last couple of years,

not as much as I would like with that Prescott. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. I'm a believer that when you raise young people, you've got to be careful about missing steps. I've said this about the NBA before. This insistence that you find a high school basketball or an AAU player, one year of college, get him to the NBA, you're skipping steps. The maturity process of college. You're going to tell me a 19-year-old wouldn't be better with. one more year of Roy Williams or Mike Shosheshefsky or Jim Beheim or Bill Self or Mark

Few or Jay Wright. Of course he would be. We're skipping steps. That's why Adam Silver says the commissioner of the NBA, all my players are unhappy. That's why there's so many busts in the NBA. You're skipping too many steps, a maturity step. College is where we all grow up. It's where you grew up. It's where I grew up. I learned how to make my own dinner, make my own budget, make my own class schedule, had to figure out how to use time efficiently. College was valuable resource, even though not a lot of the classes did anything for my career, it was a maturity stage, a maturation stage. You can't skip steps in life. When you see these child actors in Hollywood that all turn out to be losers, they skip steps. They need to go to summer camp.

They need to be a kid. I don't want a seven-year-old to be on a movie set. That's why so many of me a child actors are trained Rex as human beings by 25 years old. They're skipping steps. Let a kid be a kid. Let him go to hang out and be on an inner tube on a lake and go to a birthday party and eat too much candy and chocolate and getting a fight with his brother and his sister and, you know, a normal process for a kid to be a kid. Their brains don't even form until they're like 24 years old. That's it. Take the boy's brain 24. So skipping steps is generally you can succeed initially, but over time you will pay a price for it.

So there's an article in Yahoo Sports, and it just made me laugh yesterday. I'm not going to pick on the writer. But Freddie Kitchens is now managing the Browns with lessons he learned from Nick Sabin and Bill Parcells. Okay, time out. He spent one year as a grad assistant with Sabin at LSU and one year as a tight ends coach with the cowboys with Bill Parcells. He's not exactly a disciple. He spent 11 years with the Arizona Cardinals. That's his resume.

That's his coaching experience. But what worries me about Freddie Kitchens is, and I'm not saying he can't succeed, but this article insinuates that he got great tutelage from Sabin, and he got great tutelage from Parcells. In fact, his general manager, John Dorsey says, one of the things I admire about Freddie Kitchens, he's got no ego. Well, Parcells does. Nick Saban does.

He has nothing like those guys. But what I worry about Cleveland is that Freddie Kitchens missed steps. Okay. Cincinnati hired Zach Taylor and people said that's ridiculous that's a terrible hire

who is Zach Taylor Zach Taylor had been a college offensive coordinator and an interim NFL coordinator then studied under the smartest young coach

in the game Sean McVeigh then he got an NFL job he didn't skip any steps people think Sean McVe of the Rams he was like the new hire he came from nowhere

No, he was an assistant position coach in the NFL for a year. He was a position coach in the NFL for three years. And then he was an offensive coordinator in the NFL for three years. Then he got the head coaching job. And he's like the guy that's considered a meteor, a rocket to a head coaching job. Not to mention he had relatives who were in the NFL. So we hung out in the San Francisco 49ers offices when he was a teenager. Big advantage.

Freddie Kitchens did not. Kyle Shanahan is considered, and I think Kyle's as good a young coach, including Sean McVey as the league has. Kyle Shanahan was a coordinator at four different teams. Okay, Jim Harbaugh, he was a played in the NFL, most valuable position quarterback. Then he was a position coach in the NFL. Then he got a small college head job and then a bigger college head job. And then he went to the NFL. They didn't skip steps.

Nick Sabin was a defense. defensive coordinator in college. Then he was a defensive coordinator. And then he got a college job. Then he got a small college job at Toledo, then Michigan State, then LSU, then NFL, then Alabama. There's no step skipping. Freddie Kitchens, and there have been a coordinator. Last year, he was a running back coach for Cleveland, who is now the head coach. I'm not saying it's impossible. I do think their roster is really good. I think Baker Mayfield, is going to run most of that offense, but Baker's a kid, and Baker needs tutelage and Baker needs guidance. That's just a reality for Baker. So does Sam Darnold. So does Josh Allen.

So does Josh Rosen. So does Lamar, Jackson. So does Mitch Trebeske. So, but I am a, I see this all the time. When I used to work at my former employer, I was in local TV and radio for almost a decade and a half before I got to my former employer. So with the time I got there, I had a game plan.

I had a person, I mean, I had, you know, I knew exactly day to day what my brand was, what my belief system was. I always tell young broadcasters, don't be in a hurry to get to the network at 25 years old. Go make a bunch of mistakes. You're skipping a bunch of steps. Go to Midland, then go to, you know, Ann Arbor, and then go maybe do weekends in Detroit. And then maybe a weekday job in Chicago. And then you can go syndicated. Stop rushing to get the big job.

You're skipping a lot of steps. So when I see this article on Freddie Kitchens to manage combustible Browns with lessons learned from Nick and Bill Parcells, first of all, combined you work for him for two years. One is a grad assistant. His reality is Arizona, where he had a bunch of position and never a coordinator. And John Dorsey, because he doesn't want pushback from his coach,

that's John Dorsey's personality. That's why he and Andy Reid did not get along because Andy Reid pushed back on John Dorsey, so Andy Reid got him out of the facility. John Dorsey hired a kid to me as skip steps. And I think if you look at camp so far with Freddie Kitchens, I don't think he's done a bad job. And I'm rooting for him.

I'd like to see this thing be, I'd like to see the Browns not be man overboard. I think they'll be good 9 and 7, but don't kid yourself. This is a hard team to manage. OBJ, Baker, youngest roster, high expectations. And the very quiet Pittsburgh Steelers down the street are just sitting there looking and rolling their eyes.

at the circus on a weekly basis, Cleveland is delivering to us the media. 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. From 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. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. 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. 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 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. 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 on 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 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 of it. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Red, my mama want you to weigh better. What?

Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie. I'm Tom 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 Balagan. 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. Remember when Kevin Durant got hurt and then he came back in the finals? What was the first reaction by the NBA media? It's the Warriors' fault. They pressured him. It's the doctors. It's the training staff. NBA media, in my opinion, coddles its players because stars run the league and none of

reporters want to get ghosted by the top players. So they suck up to him. So when Kevin Durant got hurt, even though he's a grown man, the immediate NBA media reaction is the Warriors made him play and the doctors made him play in bad training staff. And Kevin Durant yesterday dispelled all of that nonsense and came out and said, hell no, the warriors pressured me into getting back. Nobody ever said a word to me about rehab. When the series started, I targeted game five.

Hell, nah. It just happened. It's basketball, man. Blank happens. Nobody was responsible for it. So the entire narrative, and that was the first reaction by the media that covers the NBA, which is coddle baby, protect the stars. This is why Adam Silver says our players are not happy. This is why therapists tell you don't overcomplement your kid.

Because when they face crisis in life, they won't be able to handle it. Stop coddling the players. They're grown men. They love basketball. They want to play basketball. NBA media, because they're beholden to a handful of really popular stars, their initial reaction to anything is Cottle. Kevin Durant wanted to play.

Wasn't anybody's fault. He wanted to play basketball because he's a basketball player. And by the way, the NBA media, I bring him on all the time. I like him. but I mean that was just basically a nonsense take. Kevin said none of it. By the way, the other thing is, you know, this kind of leads into, I didn't think Kevin Durant took enough heat for leaving Golden State.

He left for a weaker roster, less money, worse head coach, unknowns in the front office. Why would you do that? I mean, if Tom Brady left Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft five years ago, six years ago in his prime, because he wanted to be the man in Jacksonville, we'd make fun of him. If Derek Jeter in his prime left the loaded Yankees to go to the Kansas City Royals to be the man, we'd make fun of him. We'd go, what an idiot. Kevin Durant left more money, current dynasty, great GM, better roster, amazing teammates

for a bunch of unknowns for the second most popular team in New York. And basically it was like, well, he wants to be the man. It's not a good move from a business decision. It's not. We would crush Derek Jeter leaving the star-studded Yankees. We'd mock Brady for leaving Bill Belichick. But again, everybody's petrified of offending the NBA star. They're grown men.

They make their own decisions. They can handle criticism. Kevin Durant, nobody forced Kevin Durant to play. Kevin Durant's a man. He's like, by the way, he has his own doctors and trainers with the Warriors. They're like, go play. Sometimes injuries happens. Nobody's fault.

They just happen. Guys get hurt all the time. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. One of my favorite guys, 30 plus years at NFL films. Greg Cocell is joining us on the phone today.

Okay, so Greg, today we're going to look at two divisions in the NFL, the NFC East and the AFCE. So let's start with the NFC East, which is Philadelphia, Dallas, New York, and Washington. So let's start. You've looked at a lot of tape on the NFC East. People have said Zeke is crucial for DAC, but yet, DAC was 7 and 2 when Amari became part of the offense. When you look at the Cowboys, are we understating the value of Amari Cooper to Dak Prescott? Well, I think always helps, but I think, Colin, you have to talk about their philosophy and their approach.

There are quarterbacks who will play well in any given system, but this is a system that starts with the running back. That's their philosophy of playing the last three years, basically since that got there. Now, he's been efficient at times within that system. There's other times he's not been efficient. Certainly, you add a quality quarterback, quality receiver, but what struck me is fascinating in watching a lot of tape over the summer of the Cowboys,

particularly since Amari got there, is they didn't necessarily feature him. In other words, they would often line him up as the ex-receiver, the single receiver to the boundary, the short side of the field. That is sort of the main receiver in offenses. They didn't automatically throw him the ball. I don't know whether it was a coaching thing. I don't know the answer to that. But I'd be very anxious to see how it plays out this year now that he's there through an off-season.

Right. But this team is not built or hasn't been for the last three years on the quarterback. The quarterback is a complementary piece. Yeah. We're watching some video of Amari Cooper. I do think some of that was he was injected into the offense mid-season. Now they've had an entire off-season. I would think that Amari Cooper would be more, they would focus more.

I would think so. He's very talented. Yeah. All right. Let's go to the Philadelphia Eagles. I think they're my Super Bowl favorite. I do have questions about Carson Went. and his health and durability.

Do you, are the injuries avoidable, or are they just happenstance with Carson Wentz? Well, I think, though, that the ACL is just one of those things that happened. I know his back, apparently. He's had back-in-back problems before, so we don't know about that. I did talk to a GM earlier this week, who came right out and told me that the two best young quarterbacks in the NFL hands down are Mahomes and Wentz.

So, you know, I think if Wendt stays healthy, He's a really good player with a chance to be absolutely special. They've got a lot of weapons. I think you'll see them be incredibly multiple with their use of personnel on their formations, and they'll present a lot of different looks and put a lot of pressure on defenses. Washington with Duane Haskins, I like some of the things he does, but when I watched him this year, when you make him move off his spot, his accuracy dips. I think he needs to be coached up in the NFL.

how close is he to ready to play a starting quarterback role in this league in this tough division? Well, as you know, Colin, we always say that quarterbacks are not ready and then they play. So, you know, that's a tough question to answer. I remember when Trubisky played his rookie year and everybody said there's no chance. And then he started whatever, 12 games, whatever it was. So Haskins will play, whether it's week one, we don't know the answer to that. The big issue with Haskins is when there are bodies around him, his feet get a little heavy. He loses his mechanics and fundamentals, and he tends, as you said,

and you're 100% right to lose his ball placement. So in the NFL, you tend to have to throw with bodies around you far more than you do in college, where at Ohio State he basically ran a quick game offense. So they'll try to do a lot of that with him, but there will be situations where he's going to have to take deeper drops, and there'll be pressure. He's a pretty good thrower of the football. So, you know, if they can protect him, and that's, the critical part here. Yeah, I had an NFL general manager tell me about, it was at dinner about a

month ago, he makes enough NFL throws in college that you know he's a franchise quarterback, but you just don't know much beyond that. Correct. He does have the arm, he does have the size. Let's go to the New York Giants. Now, my takeaway is before their cluster injuries at wide receiver, that they have done over the last two years, Dave Gettleman's taken heat, but I do believe they've elevated their offensive line over the last two years. I feel that. Now, I don't think their defense is as good. Some players like Olivia Vernon just left to Cleveland, they'll miss him.

Giants' offense in this division with high-powered Philadelphia, in the NFC with high-powered offenses, do the Giants, are they a pop gun? Do they have the ability to get in shootouts and win? Shootouts, I think that Dave Gettleman's approach, and then maybe their defense is not quite good enough now, is that you build through the offensive. line, the defensive line, it's an old school approach. Now, if you're going to have the foundation of your offense be the run game, then your defense theoretically, theoretically gets to play fewer snaps. It's the Cowboys approach. You build through the run game, you control the pace and

tempo of the game, your defense plays fewer snaps. Maybe you can camouflage and compensate for some of the weaknesses in your defense. The question is, can they do that throughout the course of 16 games? You know, it's really interesting when you look at Eli Manning, and these are just cumulative. But when you look at a lot of his stats situationally, he did not have a bad year last year. There's the sense that he's terrible. But cumulatively, the stats indicate that he was pretty good in most situations. Now, he needs to be, I think, controlled a little bit, and that's the whole point of Barclay. All right.

Let's go now to the AFC East. We won't start with the Patriots. We'll finish with them. Let's start with Sam Jarnold. And the Jets, you were at Jets camp. They've got some new faces. Labian Bell, C.J. Mosley are very high-end players. What is your get?

Now, you told me last week that their offensive line, and you told me this before they added Ryan Khalil, that it was a little better than people like me think. And so I would imagine if the O line is better than we think and they've added Ryan Khalil, you're fairly hopeful with this offense. Well, they also added Alex Lewis, who was a starter with the Ravens, and then came in Nebraska a few years ago. so they have really good all line depth right now. Their big issue is skill position players.

They're lacking in that area. They're trying to make Robbie Anderson a much more complete receiver. He's a big-time vertical dimension. So that's their main issue. They know that's their issue. Now, I think you can work around that to some degree, and Adam Gase is a very good offensive coach, but obviously there are times when you can work around that.

So that's a little bit of an issue for them. And then defensively, where they're lacking and don't have depth is at corner. another important position in the league. They're well aware of these two major issues. The question is how can they work around them? Their front seven is very, very good on defense. Yes, yes, it's very, very good. And I think they're trying to make up with their deficiencies in the secondary with a great pass rush.

And, I mean, it feels like to me they'll be very good up front. Greg Williams is very aggressive as a defensive coordinator. So they'll try to add pressure, which limits their susceptibility in the back end. Let's go to Buffalo. Don't talk about them a lot. Josh Allen was mostly what I thought, big arm, talented, great size, but inconsistent. What do you make of him and the bills? Yeah, well, we tried to play to his strength, which was a lot of intermediate and deeper route

concepts, particularly in normal down-and-distance situations where they protect and let him, you know, drive the football down the field. He ran the ball extremely well. He actually ran it. Some could argue he ran it better than Lamar Jackson. Now, again, then you get into that debate about, you know, whether you can live like that in the NFL. that alone for now, but I think that

Josh Allen improved incrementally last year. I think he'll probably continue to do so. They've added weapons. It's actually a team that has pretty good weapons now. Yeah. So if they can protect them, I think you'll see continued incremental improvement and they'll be better on offense. Nobody ever says this.

I thought they were a really well-coached bad team. I thought they were well-coached. I just couldn't agree more. Okay. And it's funny, I've talked to offensive coaches who say that Sean McDermott, whenever they play him, he gives you something a little different and he's very tough to play against. Let's go to Miami. Some suspect they're tanking. I don't think NFL, I don't think you can do that in pro football, but is it a

total rebuild or do they have players? I don't think they have a lot of really good players. I think, again, that's always hard to say. The big question is who will play quarterback. I think when all said and done, it's going to have to be Josh Rosen. Whether he starts week one, who knows, but they have to play Josh Rosen. Ryan Fitzpatrick has had an amazing. amazing career coming out of Harvard. But Josh Rosen was a high pick and a very talented player, a very good throw over the football, very smooth. He needs to play.

He needs to be out there. By the way, their offensive line isn't great. Rosen's not overly mobile. No. Is that an issue? To some degree. You know, Tunsel, some think Tunsel's on his way to being the best left tackle in the league. But beside that, they have a lot of moving parts on the offensive line that need to be worked

out, that is an issue. Rosen is a rhythmic player. He needs to feel comfortable. Let's move to New England. That was tough for me to have to get and wait on New England because I love talking about him. Bill Belichick told a friend of mine who's close to the organization, this is going to be one of my more athletic teams. Not only do I think their first five draft picks will play, but three of their top four draft picks last year who had good camps got hurt. So they may have like seven or eight new faces. Akeel Harry, the wide receiver from Arizona State, obviously, is going to play. I think they're going to be a little younger than most Patriot teams.

What do you think? Well, let me ask you this. I mean, they drafted Damien Harris out of Alabama in the third round. Right. When you draft a running back in the third round, my guess is you expect him to play. Last year, they drafted Sony Michelle in the first round. Now, I know he's coming off an injury, but he'll be ready to go, barring any setbacks. So now they have two pretty big-time backs.

Is there going to be a continuation of what they did sort of toward the end of last year where they kind of evolved into somewhat of a running football team playing with the fullback devil and playing with what we call 21 personnel, two backs, is that going to be more of their MO? I'm not saying they're going to move away from Tom Brady and make him just a little piece here. But is this going to be sort of a transition given the fact that Brady, I don't want to say he lost it, but I thought there was some parts of his game toward the end of last year that I didn't think were quite as good as the great Tom Brady.

Yeah, I think the last two years, it looks like to me, they have added to their offensive line. They have added running backs. By the way, even their top receiver pick this year is not a burner. No. He's an intermediate route guy. Tom gets rid of the ball. He's a very good, hard way. It's a little bit like a poor man's juju smiths, in my opinion.

They're going to have to scheme him open. Yes. So I do think they're making a transition. Bill sees his personnel. They'll become more run-centric, more power over finesse. I would agree. And by doing that, they'll give a guy like Harry a chance to be a factor because you can't line Harry up on the outside and say win one-on-one with isolation

and individual routes. He won't do that. He didn't do that in college. No. All right. Greg CoSell, NFL Films. NFC East, AFC East this week. We'll talk to you in one week, my friend.

All right, Con, I appreciate it. Thanks. Oh, my Lord, was that fun. That meat, I'm stuffed. I just had a huge meat sandwich for lunch. I am stuffed. I mean, that was, that was pastrami on rye bread stacked a mile high. That's what you got right there. I hope you could handle it.

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