The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/14/2018

Episode Date: November 14, 2018

Colin thinks that the feud between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant proves how this is Steph's team and he doesn't need to flex his muscles to show it. He disagrees with Troy Aikman once again when he says that the Cowboys are in the driver's seat in the NFC East. Plus, former NFL Scout and DB, Bucky Brooks comes in studio and defends Le'Veon Bell officially missing the entire season with the Steelers. 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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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 Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. Show is packed today. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. We have a great, great show today. Joy Taylor is joining me. Good morning. Good morning. Joey, I'm going to the Lakers game tonight. I'm going to check in on LeBron and the Lakers. calling Calhoun Cowherts stepping out on the town.

Yes, I really am. I'm going to do a little dinner, wife, do some scouting. Oh, that's a fun date. Yeah, it's a fun date. But it's work, labor intensive, Joy, for both of us. Joey and I are always on the clock. So here we go. In the NFL dynasties end because of injuries and free agency.

In the NBA, dynasties end because of egos. So a couple nights ago, Draymond Green had the ball. Kevin Durant's open, end of a game against the Clippers. You remember that. And it's the last couple seconds, and Kevin Durant wants a ball, and Draymond Green, he can't get him the ball and he falls down. Oh, boy, it's just not very good.

The Star wanted it. The best player wanted it. Best player didn't get it. And then they went to the huddle and they argued and it was ugly. And there was a bunch of stuff said, and some of it was personal. And Draymond apparently called out Kevin Durant, his salary and his contract and the Warriors then suspended Dremont yesterday and they don't always suspend Dremon. They almost never suspend Dremon.

They've been dealing with Dremont for years, but they took Kevin Durant's side. They took Kevin Durant side because they knew Dremon and Kevin Durant have an issue and Kevin Durant can leave at the end of the year. So Kevin Durant talked about it after the Warriors played again last night and B-Tox. Here it is. Kevin, have you and Dremont been able to hash anything out? No. Do you see that happening anytime soon?

I'm sure it will. We've got a long season ahead. Obviously, it's definitely weird not having them around and not just everything that went down. But that's what happens. Shit happens in the NBA. And, you know, just try to do my best to move on and be a basketball player.

I don't got nothing else to do, but to be the best player, I can be every single day. I try not to worry about nothing else. Sounds like it was no big deal? Sounds like everybody's over it. Ah, the fabric's starting to tear near Silicon Valley, is it not? All started with a couple of little arguments with Kobe and Shaq,

Michael Jordan and Jerry Reinsdorf, the big three in Boston. There's a couple little small arguments. No big deal, I'll get back to it. I had an NBA player text me last night. He said, KD holds grudges. Another NBA player told Marcus Thompson a fine reporter, Katie is gone. Bank on it.

This magnifies the truth about the relationship with Kevin Durant and the Warriors. It's always been Steph's team. It's why Kevin Durant is always trying to prove to you, and prove to me, improve to Draymond, improved to Twitter, improved to the media. It's my team. I got power here. There's an old saying, the greatest sign of power is you never have to use it.

Tony Soprano walked into room. It was understood. Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, Stan Cronky, big people in sports. You know, they walk into rooms in Miami, in Dallas. You go to any city in the country. The guys with power don't have to flex. It's understood. Steph Curry never flexes here.

We all know. He never tries to prove it's his team. It's understood. He doesn't go on Twitter. doesn't hold big press conferences. He recruited Kevin Durant. He was so secure with himself. This is Steph's team.

And Golden State and Kevin Durant has always been an imperfect fit. They won a title without him. They beat him in the playoffs. They set a regular season 73 win record without him. And they had a unanimous MVP. And it wasn't KD. It would be like being the best actor in the world if you were Kevin Durant. And you join a franchise.

that's already number one at the box office and was started by somebody else and he's still in the movie too oh you're great in the movie the franchise is better with you don't get me wrong you have made the franchise better but dog they were number one in the box office without you and the guy who created it a lot of people like him more anyway when you leave the room they like him more than you and they think you're kind of flaky and insecure and they think he's secure and cool And that's what we got here. This Draymond, Kevin Durant, dust up. You don't see this with Steph.

You ever notice that? Clay and Steph, no dust up, Kerr, Bob Meyer, Drayma, nobody messes with Steph. He changed the league. This is his team. And I feel bad for Kevin Durant because there's always been an agitation with this team. Like when he came to the Warriors, sell out! Couldn't win. without him.

So even if he goes to the finals and he's done this twice and he wins and he's the MVP. So what? He has to prove to the players around the league, the stars around the league, his owners are at it. He's constantly trying to pursue this agitation that just hangs over Kevin Durant. Look around the NBA. The great teams become the personality of their superstar. Magic. Those Lakers, they were called Showtime. Magic, fun, smiles, flashy. They became Magic Johnson. Tim Duncan's dynasty in San Antonio became him. Unselfish. Pass more, take less. The Jazz and Carl Malone and John Stockton.

It was workman-like, just like they're two stars. Michael Jordan's Bulls, relentless, just like Mike. And LeBron's teams, all of them. They're all smart, just like him. This Golden State Warrior franchise embodies all of Steph Curry's traits. They're free-flowing. They're fun. They're clever. They're finesse.

They're low-tension, high-performance. And they're a little streaky. If they embodied Kevin Durant's primary personality, they would be insecure. agitated and kind of flaky. Dremont and Kevin Durant, this is how dynasties die in the NBA. In pro football, you lose some good assistance. Guys get hurt like Philadelphia. You enter the season, the Eagles aren't the same team.

They were on crutches. But in the NBA, what starts to tear the fabric, basketball's always been about the individual. The entitled superstar starts to, you know, ego, little fight, little brawl, little this, locker room, little tension. The fabric's tearing. It's coming to an end. It may take a while, but this was something.

Bigger, in fact, than most in the media understood two days ago. Let me shift gears to this. So it was announced yesterday officially, kind of a bummer, because I think I speak for everybody, join myself. I like watching great football players play. I like to see guys. I don't like to see quarterbacks hurt. I think we would all agree with that.

Yeah, I like to see great players play. So Lavian Bell officially is not going to play this year. And I like Levian Bell. I had him on the show once. He was awesome. He's a great player. He's just fun to watch. I'd rather see all the great players play.

And I hate the fact that he gave up like $15 million. But here's one thing, Levian Bell, and a lot of pro athletes don't think about. And it's something I think about all the time. I'm going to throw this out to you. When you go work at a big corporation, they pay you a salary. Now, you probably don't consider that office they gave you a salary. The insurance, the 401K, if you work at a really good company like I do,

working with quality people, driving to a stable environment that's got good management and good coworkers. Pay for my cell phone. I got three cafes right on campus. Now at Fox, if I was doing this myself, I wouldn't be able to, would I have to pay for the guy that sets up my board and the extra producer and the extra graphic person and I'd pay for my own insurance and I'd have to start a CEP because I wouldn't have a 401? Just because your salary says this, when you work at a really good place, there's a lot

of additives that you may not count, but they matter. I said for years, don't chase money. Chase great bosses. There's a sea of money. There's not a sea of great management. When you work at a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you almost always last 20 years have pro bowlers blocking for you. No team in the NFL has drafted and developed wide receivers better than Pittsburgh over the last 15 years. So that's safety? He doesn't hover in the box. He has to go out and guard Antonio Brown. The ownership, rock solid, three head coaches since 1969.

Mike Tomlin, veteran head coach, very player friendly. Big Ben at the line of scrimmage will audible you out of trouble. They have a tremendous scouting department, so your coworkers are way better than league average. And by the way, you're in the playoffs every year at that big corporation called the Pittsburgh Steelers,

and they have tremendous revenue streams. so unlike the Packers, they'll spend money on a free agent. Yes, Levy and Bell gave up $14 million, but he gave up the rest of that too. There's a reason Tom Brady can take a pay cut, and it's not Giselle. It's that Bob Kraft and Belichick create a winning formula every year. And there's a reason Tim Duncan could take pay cuts. Because the best international scouting in the NBA ever is San Antonio. Popovich is one of the best coaches ever.

R.C. Buford's one of the best GMs and the owners were fantastic. Let me ask you this. You, not Levian Bell, what's the value of driving to work and feeling great about where you're going? Good co-workers, good 401K, little view in your office, cafe on campus. In Hollywood, have you ever noticed the stars? work with the same director over and over, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks. You ever notice that? They do.

Lavian Bell chose to sit out of season, but it wasn't just sitting out a season. He'll make money elsewhere, but he'll never work for a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers. You ever sit around with your buddies and talk about those great Emmett Smith, Arizona Cardinal days? I didn't think so. You think Kobe Bryant ever benefited from being. a Laker instead of a Charlotte Hornet? Do you think Kobe Bryant got those international advertisements on Turkish airlines would sell his shoes in China that outsold Yao Ming if he was a hornet?

He did as a Laker? Do you think he would have played with Shaq and Powell Gasol and had an owner as revered and trusted as Dr. Jerry Bus? A brand like L.A., palm trees in his backyard, endorsement, shoe deals, Shaq, Pau Gasol. It matters. You go ahead and chase money. But the Steelers in 2018 for a running back,

that is a great place to go to work. 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. Well, well, well, there is this narrative out there, and I find it rather amusing. and nobody wants to play with LeBron. Paul George didn't want to play with him. Kauai Leonard doesn't want you.

Oh, you're hearing all these, oh, nobody wants to play with LeBron. That guy is needy. Nobody wants to play with him. Well, well, well, well, well, well, this is interesting. A Tyson Chandler, who's been very good since the Lakers acquired him, came out yesterday and revealed

he was down to the Lakers and the Warriors. And he chose to play for the Lakers and LeBron James. Golden State interested. Golden State always starts every game with the center. He would have been the starting center for the Golden State Warriors. He could have been sizing himself for a ring this morning. And he chose LeBron James. So I thought we'd play a little game.

Let's make a list. And we'll make a list on the left of people who have chosen to do business with LeBron. And then on the other side of the paper, here will be people that won't work with LeBron. So here we go. Chris Bosch and Tyson Chandler have both chosen to play. with LeBron. Very smart veteran players. Duane Wade.

He's pretty good. He recruited LeBron. I don't know if you've heard of Pat Riley. He's kind of a big deal around these parts. He chose to play with LeBron. Magic Johnson, his name is Irvin, but he's like the most powerful athlete in the history of Los Angeles, which is the second biggest city in America and the fifth biggest economy in the world.

Magic Johnson recruited him. Have you ever heard of Warner, brother? Well, if you haven't, they did the whole Batman series, Superman series, all 15 Harry Potter's. Yeah, that's them. Oh, and there's a struggling shoe company, a fledgling little group called Nike. They chose to work with LeBron. Now let's go to the list of people who have said, I don't want to deal with LeBron. A Derek Rose, quote, I don't recruit.

Kyrie Irving, the world is flat. Paul George, nine years in the NBA. can you name one clutch shot? Gatorade commercials don't count. Oh, there's Dan Gilbert. He's a winner. Called him high maintenance. Also, DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler, who's on his 23rd team this week.

So we've got two camps here. We got the Magic and the Warner Brothers and the Nike and the DeWade and the Bosch and the Tyson Chandler and the Magic Johnson and all the legends and the Laker brand. They all want to do business with Warner Brothers and Nike. And Derek Rose is not really interesting. Paul George, who chose Applebee's over the palm trees, they have no interest in working with LeBron James. So I've given you the choices. What camp would you be part of?

Given the option, Warner Brothers, Nike, Irvin, Pat, Butler, DeMarcus, world is flat. Best shot ever in a Gatorade commercial. Okay. Just check it in, just trying to, because Tyson Chandler said yesterday, yeah, I could have gone to the Warriors. I chose the Lakers and LeBron. Just trying to, you know, factual.

I'm just trying to give you facts for today's show. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Troy Aikman made news last week. Greatest quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys along with Roger Stauback ever. When Troy Aikman talks about the Cowboys in Dallas on Dallas Radio, it's always measured, it's always thoughtful. I disagreed with it last week, so he talked again yesterday. So last week, he said the Dallas Cowboys were dysfunctional, and then he also said this.

If you're asking the entire organization, you just can't simply replace head coaches and say, now it's going to be better. No, it's been shown that it's not better. Now, I disagree with that. Troy is a fine broadcaster. I know him. I disagree with that. Matt Nagy in Chicago, Sean McVeigh in Los Angeles, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco.

Harbaugh in San Francisco replaced Mike Singletary. Football is a coaching sport. NBA is a player sport. You can just replace the head coach. Nick Saban at Alabama. How are they before? Pete Carroll at USC. How are they before?

You can just put a new coach into the NFL. It matters now. Coaching's never mattered more with all the rules changes being pro offense. So I disagree with that. I don't think the Cowboys need an overhaul. I love their linebackers. I love their front seven defensively. I love their left tackle and center.

I love their star running back. I think Amari Cooper was worth a first. realm trade. Now, they need some things. I think one of them's a new coach and the other one's probably a quarterback, but that's probably not going to happen. So I disagreed with the first thing Troy Eichmann said. I do think they're dysfunctional, but that's just big business often is. Now, he said something yesterday, and I disagree once again with Troy Echman, here it is. Right now, if I had to pick into Thanksgiving and then win that game. I disagree with that, too. Okay, I don't agree with that. Here's the standings in the NFC East.

Right now, Washington has a two-game lead over Dallas, and they've already beat. in Dallas. So Dallas has to beat Washington to just break even with them. That's number one. Number two is Dallas is an underdog this weekend to Atlanta. The third thing is Dallas is one and four on the road and they have three road games left and guess what? In two of that three, they face Matt Ryan and they face Andrew Luck and those were way better quarterbacks than they have. It is hard to win on the road when you face a significantly better quarterback. That's really hard to do in the NFL. So I'll make my prediction on the Dallas Cowboys. You get a little heads up on my blazing five. Dallas loses to Atlanta this weekend and drops to four and six. And Washington, only a two-point

dog beats Houston in and upset at home and is seven and three. Okay. So that's, I don't agree with that. I think Washington wins this weekend. Dallas loses. And they're both the same, you know, two, three-point underdogs. But I don't think, I don't think, I don't think, they need an overhaul, and I don't think they're the team I trust down the stretch. I do think, however, there is some sort of innate, and I don't blame them, and I don't blame Jerry Jones. I think it's really hard to be as big a brand as the Yankees are, the Lakers are, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants.

There's too much money. There's too much power. There's too many people connected to the franchise from agents to power brokers, the Time Warner cable, to blah, blah, blah. I think they're innately dysfunctional. I think when you're not dysfunctional, like Golden State for two or three years, it starts to seep in eventually, and now we're seeing it. So the dysfunctional part, I don't blame Dallas. That's just the way the game works in pro sports.

Internationally, FIFA, IOC, the bigger the organization, the more dysfunction you have. It'll eventually, Apple, Google, and eventually Facebook, you find it. White House, it develops. What's up, John Middlecom, from the three-and-out podcast. If you like Colin's show, you will like mine. I talk a ton of football. Coming up on today's show, we dive into Kyle Shanahan, what makes him a quarterback whisper.

The Dallas Cowboys, they're not done yet in Grinkowski, why Billichick should have got rid of him last year. Again, the three-and-out podcast, wherever you listen to your podcast, with me, John Middlecough. So yesterday I talked about getting ahead of an argument, and the argument surfaced last night. So the college football playoff came out. This is the playoff.

They pick four teams at the end of the year, and they vying a playoff of the national championship. So there are six teams I want to talk about. Bama Clemson, Notre Dame top three. But I want to concentrate on Michigan 4, Georgia 5, and Oklahoma 6. Because those three teams will face Alabama first, and they're probably all going to get beat, some soundly. But I said yesterday, I don't want to hear about deserving.

I hear that all the time in life. I deserve this and I deserve that. I'm not interested. I'm interested in disruptive. Which one makes Nick Saban stay up at night? Well, let's eliminate Georgia because Georgia plays Alabama will in a couple of weeks in the SEC championship. They'll get their crack at him. And let's just say Alabama wins.

I think they will fairly close. Fairly close. I'm not giving Georgia a second chance. That gets down to Michigan and Oklahoma. I said yesterday and I'll say it again today. choose Oklahoma. You're splitting hairs. Choose the worst matchup for Alabama.

Say it out loud. Super mobile quarterback. World class offensive coach, playmakers. I've seen that game against Alabama. I saw Dak against Alabama twice. Deshawn Watson against Alabama twice. Johnny Mansell against Alabama twice. I saw, I've seen all sorts of Nick Saban

against mobile quarter. quarterback, smart offensive coach, they're always entertaining. They're always viable. They're always competitive. I've also seen, and by the way, Oklahoma's defense is bad. Those Texas A&M defenses were no day at the park either. And they beat them once. I've also seen Alabama against Michigan. It's called Alabama against LSU. And those games are a snooze. And they have been for eight years. teams loaded with NFL defensive players, conservative offense. Michigan's 54th in the country in offense. They struggle to score against Northwestern.

They've got no NFL players on Northwestern. Bamma's got 11 starters. Ten will play in the NFL. Four will be starters day one. I've seen Michigan, Alabama. The only way to keep Nick Saban up at night is a world-class offensive mind and a world-class scrambling quarterback and world-class playmakers.

Because Alabama's going to score 30 on everybody. Who can score on them? Michigan, Alabama is 29-0, 34-3. I've seen that game. It's called LSU. You go look at the history of Alabama. The only teams that beat them and give them sleepless nights.

Offensive head coach that's clever. Auburn's beaten him a couple times. Quarterback that can move around and playmakers to burn them. Because Alabama's going to score 35 on you. They're going to score 35 on any. They may score 50 on Oklahoma, but Oklahoma's can score on them. Now, ESPN got into this argument. Reese Davis, good dude, Jesse Palmer, good dude, and David Pollock.

Pollock's on my side. Pollock's like, let's get past deserving. Here's David Pollock last night. At what point do we start going, who's going to give Alabama the best game? I think that at some point is going to enter our thought process. That's the best team. The best team is the one that's going to show up and give the best. fight the most consistently in the playoffs.

And that, to me, is going to be very interesting. What about the best matchups? It's about the best 14. I would disagree with you vehemently that that should not be part of the evaluation. At some point, I think it'll be part of what we would talk about. But it should not enter in the room. Yeah, I don't think it's about getting it. I don't think it's at home of the best.

I thought he was saying amongst us. Yeah, amongst us. It's the team. That's what we have to start talking about because I think it's going to be part of the, it's going to be part of the dialogue. And by the way, I totally agree with David Pollock. I totally disagree with Reese Davis. So, Reese, your company paid $14 zillion for those rights. They pay you a good salary.

Jesse and David, you all make a lot of money. Why? Because they get ratings. They need ratings. They paid $14 billion for those rights. March Madness acknowledges, admits their bracket, they're creating matchups. They want to see Louisville play Kentucky because they won't schedule each other.

Why? Because CBS and Turner paid a fortune. We got to be really. realistic, not idealistic. We're splitting hairs here. Who gives a rip, 8 seed, 9 seed, March madness? Who gives a rip? Oklahoma, Michigan, you're splitting hairs.

You're splitting hairs. In the NFL, you go to overtime, even in the Super Bowl, they flip a coin. Why? Because you've played four hours. You're tied. You've played four hours in the NFL. Super Bowl, playoff game. Let's bring out a quarter.

What? Currency. Bring out a quarter. I mean, we played all the dad. bring out a quarter and flip a coin in the Super Bowl because you're splitting hairs

when you start to split hairs get out of deserving get out of disruptive this idea we should not consider who's a better matchup you think ESPN paid $15 zillion dollars for these things and they're not looking for a better matchup

you've got to be out of your gourd you don't think Fox in the NFL we're not rooting for the best matchups our bosses aren't on the phone with the NFL when they try to take games from us and put them to CBS and we're not arguing, you're disrupting our business. They don't talk deserving. They talk disruptive.

What fantasy we all living in here? Michigan and Oklahoma, it's a coin flip. But I've seen Michigan Bama. It's called LSU Bama. And Bama's going to score 40 on everybody. They may score 60 on Oklahoma. But Oklahoma will score on them. Johnny Mansell scored on them.

I saw Baker Mayfield. horrible Oklahoma defense last year, they dropped a bunch of points on Georgia too. Nobody's shutting out Oklahoma. And I disagree vehemently with anybody in my business who is living in this idealistic paradigm that it's about deserving. No, no, no, no, no. You start paying $14 billion at CBS and Turner for March Madness. Then March Madness is doing business now.

We're doing business together. I'm not a business, man. I'm a business, man, we're doing business together. And if we're doing business together and I'm doing March Madness, then I got Louisville playing Kentucky, and I got Duke playing Carolina, and I got Xavier playing Georgetown, and I got Wisconsin playing Michigan.

Hey, I pay for the wedding. I get to make up the seating chart. I paid for a wedding before. I get to make up the seating chart. And if I'm ESPN and I'm Fox and I'm CBS and I'm Turner, you can take deserving off the table. If it's close and it goes either, way, I'm raising my hand for

Oklahoma's more disruptive. By the way, I like all those guys in the inner place. I like them. I just think David Pollock's right. And I like people more when they're right. 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. My next guest, former NFLDB. Then he was a scout for multiple teams, including the Seahawks and the Panthers. Now he's got a podcast move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, good dudes, and the Bucky is joining us. He does every week. We love that. So the Lavian Bell situation, I've been following you on

Twitter. You've been very pro-Lavian Bell. You've been very, and I'm not anti-Lavian. I don't like to see great athletes give money back because, especially running backs. So I'm like in the category of dude. I want to see you play. But you've been pro-Lavian Bell on this. Why? Just because I think, like, it's so funny to me, like the Great American in public typically has a tendency to side with the team in these situations as opposed to the players. But if we look at it, look, Levy and Bell is a guy who has came in the league as a second round pick, played on like a bargain basement deal for four years, never got paid. He finally has his opportunity to get paid. He has put up numbers that are historic,

like historic numbers at the position. And the Pittsburgh still is having found a way to pay him what he's worth. And a lot of people that have talked about, I've even heard Doug Gobble, Lee talked about they offer them a five-year deal, $70 million, $30 million guaranteed. Well, the big thing is Pittsburgh and even the Green Bay Packers, they do a thing which are called real guarantees and practical guarantees. So Pittsburgh typically puts their guaranteed money in the first year of the deal. Yeah. Then they'll have a practical guarantee on the next year.

Well, Levy and Bell was taking a thing where he was going to play on the franchise tag. It was like $12 million. Then it would be $14 million. The next year would be about $19 million. before we talked about the quarterback stuff. So to be whole in terms of guaranteed money, he needed about $33 million. So what the Pittsburgh still has wanted

was to give him a five-year deal, $70 million, with $30 million guaranteed. He would give five years to the team while taking less guaranteed money. That didn't make any sense. But there was drug suspensions. There was stuff. Yeah, there had been.

But, you know, there are other stipulations and stuff like that. Like it always plays to the team's interest when you say that, because you know what happens when you get suspended, you don't get paid. So you don't get paid anyway. So they could have put things in there.

They could be avoidables or whatever. I liken it to the situation that Von Miller had when John Elway had to make a decision whether to pay him or not. They didn't give him the option and they eventually had to pay him because he played at a level. Levy and Bills play dictates that he should be paid as the best running back in football. Okay, but people say what about James Connor? Stats. James Connor.

It's funny that you say that because I talked to an NFL defensive coordinator today coming in. And he said, we now know what the Pittsburgh Steelers are. Before you were like, man, they may get your magic wand, they may get Levian bailback, that changes their team. He says the team that is probably turning cartwheels right now are the New England Patriots. Because the New England Patriots always make teams play left-handed. So now when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers, they will focus on taking away. Antonio Brown.

And Ju-Jew Smith-Schuster. And they will make the game a James Connor, Jesse James game. can you beat us dying slowly? That's what they call it. Can they nickel and dime their way with the running back and the tied in doing it? And when I talked to a couple of guys, they said, look, James Connor's been awesome.

He's been outstanding, but he's a little more of a one-trick pony. He's a down and dirty, grind it out back. Levy and Bill is a complete running back. Levin Bell can run it. Levin Bell can go outside and run routes like a wide receiver. Levy and Bell is excellent in pass protection. He is a difference maker.

He is special. And so when you take him and you remove him from the equation, they become a lot easier to defend. And I know people are going to talk about, well, look at the numbers, the eight games this year and the eight games last year, the numbers are better. It's cool. We've heard Bill Belichick talk about you don't know your team until week 10. The game changes after Thanksgiving. It does. It does.

When you get into December, people hone in. This is why I don't fall over Kansas City. Everybody loves Kansas City. I'm like, I saw the Rams last year. I know they're good. I want to see Patrick Mahomes. in a hailstorm. So, no, I will say this.

The numbers tell me James Connor has been Levian's equal. Levian Bell is an 85 catch running back. Unbelievable. You combine, that is absurd. You combine, somebody's going to pay for them because the Jets, I don't think the Colts will. I think maybe they will.

They need some weapons. There are a lot of teams. There are a lot of teams that need a running back to alleviate pressure on a young quarterback. That's the thing. Teams in need with a young quarterback, they need weapons. Imagine Levy and Bill being by

Sam Donald in New York, the kind of pressure that it would take off. Not only being able to hand it to him, but being able to throw it to them, gives them a dynamic playmaker. When you look at the best teams in the league, and people talk about running backs being devalued, but it's not a coincidence that the top teams have special playmakers at the running back position, and they're not just runners, they're guys that can impact the game in the passing game. And it's very, very important that we make that distinguish.

In fact, the hybrid running backs are the ones that deserve to get paid. David Johnson, Lev Bell will get paid. I think Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara. Those guys are different. Catch, run, block, can do it all. Zique. Everything. Zique there. It's different than, hey, we're just going to throw somebody in there.

And I think what I would tell people, look at the Philadelphia Eagles. The Philadelphia Eagles were able to do it by committee last year, but look at them this year. It doesn't always hit, just taking a bunch of scrap pieces and throwing them into backfield. You need to have special players. Okay, we're getting close to Thanksgiving. I got my team under the radar. who is your team?

Because this happens every year. We hit Thanksgiving. A couple years ago, it was Atlanta. And Atlanta was just hanging around 500. And then we looked up and we're like, oh, they're on a seven-game winning streak. This team isn't under the radar, but I say they haven't been talked about enough. The L.A. charges our team that you need to talk about. Because when you look at the team and the way Super Bowl teams are supposed to be constructed,

they have the right recipe. And the reason is because they got a quarterback in Phillip Rivers, a veteran player who's played at a high level. It's consistent. He is taking care of the football, which you have to have. You have Melvin Gordon, a running back with the game. Great player. Outstanding.

Great player. He can run it. He can catch the ball out of the back field. Best for cheating in the league? And then they got these big bodies that they're just throwing all over the league. But the reason you want to get excited about them, they have the potential to be a dominant defense. Joey Bosa hasn't played for them yet. So now you potentially have two pass rushes in Melvin, Ingram, and Joey Bosa that can get after the passer. Gus Bradley has been on record.

This year, more than ever, you don't want a blitz. You want to be able to get it with. and cover with seven, they can do their team that is dangerous. By the way, one of the teams I really like is the Colts, and I'm a nerd, I'll just say it right now, I'm a nerd. One of the reasons we get along is you wear sweaters. Sweeters, you're not trying to be cool, you're trying to be comfortable. I like comfortable guys.

I love Chris Bowdo to the Colts. He took a lot of heat for going after two interior offensive linemen. That Colts old line? Now, Tennessee may change all that this weekend. can with Jarrell Casey. The best team of the losing record in this league to me are the Colts. Oh, they figured it out. I think there are a couple of things that you can talk about the Colts where you should be

excited about the Colts and where they're going and how they're progressing when Andrew Luckett quarterback. That offensive line that you talked about, they haven't given them a second four games. Part of that is due to Frank Wright really understanding. Get the ball out. How to protect the quarterback. The ball is coming out quicker than it ever has on Andrew Luck. They're not waiting on these seven-step drops.

He is getting the ball out quickly. your point, their tight ends are getting huge numbers. They have five tight ends, Colin. Five tight ends that play and contribute. They have, and look, no one talks about it. I know you've made fun about the Detroit Lions and Matt Patricia and some of the stuff, but the Detroit Lions gave away a really good player in Eric Ebron. For whatever reason, he was a top 10 pick.

It didn't work out there. The Indianapolis Coast have taken him. He has 10 touchdowns. He is great for them. He has 10 touchdowns. And I'm going to use Frank Reich's own words when they acquired him. He said, he is our Labor. Ron James, meaning that we can put them on one side, we can clear out the floor and let

them go to work. Well, now what you're seeing with the Indianapolis Coast, they're putting three and four big bodies on the field at one time. They can run the ball better than they had in recent years. But also, their big tight ends, two of those guys, Moe Alley Cox and Eric Swope, their former basketball players. So now they can post you up, they can create mismatches. They're doing it.

They have 15 combined touchdowns in the tight-in room. No, their tight ends are the deepest in the league. They're dangerous. and their tight-ins are making up for the fact that they really don't have another receiver outside T.Y. Hilton. I love what the Colts are doing and that young defense is playing better. They are definitely a team. I don't know if this is the year that they can get into playoffs, but I think with the money that they have and the picks that they have next year,

it's a team that we'll talk about. Okay, so, you know, one of the teams that, I mean, Troy Aikman talked about the Cowboys yesterday, and he said they were dysfunctional, I agreed. He said they were overhaul, I disagreed. Now he says he likes him in the East. Here's a bite from Troy Akeman on Dallas Radio. Right now, if I had to pick somebody, I would Dallas. The Thanksgiving game is huge.

But I think that if Dallas can keep it within two games going into Thanksgiving and then win that game. What are they going to do with Dak? What do you do with Dak? Oh, you pay him. What do you pay him? Oh, you pay him quarterback money. You pay him Frances Country. So here's why this is the perfect opportunity for the Dallas Cowboys to pay him.

Because Dak Prescott was a fourth round pick. Say, Dak Prescott is making $700,000. Yes. When you slide a contract over it that is $18, $19 million per, which is what Case Keenan makes. Oh, I'll pay him that. I'll pay him that. Right.

So if you think about it, this is the time to get it because he hasn't played great. You can make the argument that, look, we believe in you. We're going to give you a franchise deal, but it can be on their terms. That then would allow them to save enough money to then go and add some other weapons in peace. So if I go 18 million for three. I think you can go probably up to 20 million because look at how it has changed. Who's 20 million? Case Keenham? I think Case is like 18, but I think you can reasonably play him 20 because the market is changing.

Derek Carr is at 25 and he hasn't played great. Alex Smith is at 23. I think you could put him in that ballpark and probably feel good about what you're committing to him. But I think here's the thing. When you look at the Cowboys and what is available, who are the quarterbacks that you potentially could get to replace him? I don't know. The draft. I mean, the draft is out there.

I mean, people are saying that Justin Herbert may go back in and now you don't have a first-round pick, so you can't get him. You have Will Greer and you have a lot of unknowns. The one thing that we have seen from Dak when surrounded by the right pieces and played the right way, he can win games. And so if I've seen him win games,

I'm okay with what he is. I just have to know exactly what he is and pay him at the right level. I think this is the perfect time for Jerry to do it. Remember, Jerry's a businessman. That's why Jerry's talking about it, because he knows all the leverage is in the Cowboys' hands. So why not pay him now when you got him, put him on a short-term deal, give him his money, make him feel good, and then come back and say, look, we'll do a short-term deal.

And if you play at a great level, we'll revisit it. Finally, L.A. Rams, I've heard this for about six months. They didn't play any of their starters than preseason. NFL did not love that. You work at the NFL network. NFL would prefer you play a little. A little bit. They didn't play anybody.

Right. And in camp, there's a lot of walkthrough days. And during this chaos, they dealt with in Southern California, Stan Cronky has gone above and beyond very good owners. I am hearing Sean McVeigh, by the way, personal relationships with players. Call me Sean, I'm not coach. It is different. I don't know if it works.

Will they get soft? You know, the NFL's had no pain, no gain, got to suffer to win. It's almost like American religion. You got to give something back to get something, right? Rams are like, no, we are going to flourish and shower you with support and praise. What do you make of this? Because it's pretty obvious what they're doing. Look, Sean McVeigh, when people talk about, oh, I want to find the next Sean McVey.

I want to find the next young, hip coach. Sean McVeigh is 55 in NFL dog years. And part of it is because his granddad was president of the San Francisco 49ers. He has been around it and seen it. And so if you're around the 49ers at that time, during the. their heyday. They treated their players first class. Yeah, they did. Eddie to Bartolo was the best. Awesome owner made it about the players. It wasn't this divisive thing. We were all in. It's going to be first class. Now let's go win. When we win, everyone celebrates, everybody gets a part of it.

So with Sean McVeigh, I'm saying this without knowing him, I believe he saw like, man, if you treat your players well, they'll perform for you. If you develop a relationship with your players, they'll go above and beyond. I know we have seen New England and the model. where it seems like it's a little harsh. There's not as personal the relationships between coaches and players or whatever. But I do believe what Sean McVeigh is doing is the new way that you have to connect

with today's play. And I think it works. And by the way, this has been what the NBA, I mean, the Lakers forever, they had training camp over in Hawaii. I had a couple of buddies, Doug Gottlieb, who had a tryout with the Lakers. He's like, man, they paid you.

You got paid before you showed up for the camp. Like, the Lakers were always like, listen, we treat our guys really good. Jerry Jones has done that. The Rams are going in that. Listen, players talk. Players recruit players. Yeah.

So I'm jaded. I'm biased. I play for Mack Brown at a University of Northern Carolina. He did the same thing at Texas. Coach Brown would tell you it is all about the players. Whatever the players needed, the players got. And he made it very central to his theme that I'm building the program around the players. It's a partnership.

What I've always said about pro ball, which is different than college ball. College ball is a little more of a dictatorship. and the pros is a cooperation. If I can show you as a player, look, if you buy into what we're saying, not only will we win, I can get you paid. I think Sean McVeigh understands all of that, which is why he can take these guys

that are deemed to be mercenaries, guys on the one-year deals, these short-term contracts that want to get paid, he can take them and say, look, you buy into what we're doing. We're going to treat you first class, and at the end of the day, you'll get paid either here or somewhere else.

We're going to elevate your game. I think he's sin, and I think his players understand that he is really about them, which is why they play so well for him. Former Player Scout now NFL Network, our friend, Bucky Brooks, good seeing you. By the way, on IHeart Radio Saturdays with my friend Mark Willard, 4 to 8 Eastern. Good seeing you. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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