The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of the week of the Herd

Episode Date: March 14, 2026

Colin shares his 5 favorite moves of the NFL offseason including the Raiders landing Tyler Linderbaum and the Rams trading for Trent McDuffie.  Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel joins the show to share with Colin his relationship with QB Diego Pavia, the current state of NIL and college football and his journey to turn things around since dropping out of the NFL NBA champion Channing Frye joins the show to tell Colin why LeBron James has adjusted to his role as a number 3 option on the Lakers and defends Bam Adebayo for his “controversial” 83-point performance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the

biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She can win. She's an outsider to win the French win. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any service. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to three eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day.

and the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. Our number two conference tournaments ramping up, selection Sunday is around the corner. Next week, the tournament begins. Duke, Arizona, Michigan State, Michigan, Florida, Yukon, Gonzaga.

So there's still a few moves being made. Bradley Chub got picked up by the bills. I thought that was a decent. He's going to get you about 9, 10 sacks a year. I thought that was a pretty good get by Brandon B. and the GM. They got DJ Moore, Bradley Chubb. Those are good pickups, especially DJ Moore.

So I thought I would give you, these are my five favorite moves of free agency. These are the five that jump out to me that are like game altering. Number one, I think Tyler Linderbaum and Jalen Naylor, the wide receiver from Minnesota, I think the Raiders nailed it. I think Linderbom is second best center in the sport. This is what the Bears did. Go get your young quarterback, an elite center. I also think Jalen Naylor was the fastest Vikings wide receiver last year under the radar signing

to go along with the Brock Bowers, Ashton Genty. I thought the Raiders nailed it. two, the Rams getting two corners, including Trent McDuffie, made them literally in Vegas Super Bowl favorites. So Jalen Watson's a good, solid corner, arguably better than anybody, but McDuffie now on the Rams. But the Rams are not paying anybody on that defense for another year or two. They've drafted so well, they're very young, so they get a veteran that can match up with the top-niner, Arizona and Seattle receivers in division, and beyond. I love that move.

Number three, Malik Willis. I know it's only six starts, but last season he was 30 of 35 with five touchdowns and no picks. Really accurate. Jeff Halfley, the head coach at Miami, was the defensive coordinator in Green Bay. He watched him for two years. 22 million makes him the 17th highest paid quarterback in the NFL.

I think it's very realistic that at some point next year, you will feel like Malik Willis is at least the 17th best quarterback in the NFL. I feel very confident saying that. The number four team, I think DJ Moore is a good get. I think he's a very good player, never miss his starts. Five years, really durable, smart guy. I think sometimes late in the year with the explosion of Luther Burden for the Bears in Colston, Loveland, he felt a little lost and overlooked.

He will not feel that way. in Buffalo. So he's going to get 12 targets a game. He can go over the top. Josh Allen, like Caleb Williams, strong-arm quarterback. He can get free deep. Thought it was a great move by Brandon Bean. And I like Tariq Woolen to the Eagles on a one-year deal. Listen, they've already got two great corners. No other team in the NFL can say they have three elite trait corners, except the Philadelphia Eagles. He joins Cooper DeGon and Quinion Mitchell. So this is a stacked second for the Eagles. I loved all five of these moves.

Those were as good as it gets to me. And I will say this. I do think Bradley Chubb coming in late. Trey Hendrickson to the Raven solid. Bradley Chubb to the bills solid. Those are good plays as well. So, you know, if you're struggling as a business,

and I don't know if the NBA is struggling, but it's always hard, whether you're a football team or a business, you have to identify your problems. And I think the NFL has been very good at that. I think baseball recently. Baseball a couple years ago, Rob Manfred said, the game's not fast enough and we're losing young viewers who are on their phones. We cannot have three hour and 20 minute games. So they instituted a pitch clock. And baseball also had another issue. Analytics told them, hey, home runs

over everything. Well, the problem is strikeouts went up. Because of a defensive shift, there were you were base runners and the game was boring. There weren't enough guys on base stealing bases second to home play at the plate. So baseball made moves. So I think the NBA is struggling to figure out what their real problem is they think it's tanking and I don't. They've been tanking forever. They think it's dynasties. I don't. The Heedles were popular. The Bulls were popular. Kobe and Shaq were popular. I don't think dynasties or tanking are the problem. I think the game's gotten boring and repetitive with too many threes. So I would eliminate the corner three and make it easier to defend the arc threes, the perimeter threes, and forcing players to move

inside the line, body on body, more physicality, more collisions at the rim, get rid of the corner three. Daryl Morey, who was Mr. Analytics, who was a proponent. of the threes has now said, you know what, we've overcorrected. Here's Darrell Mori. I could not agree more. Change the three point line. I don't have the exact remedy. I would move the line back. Even that won't fix it. I would get rid of the corner three. I would move the line back. It will help, but I wouldn't get rid of it, for example. I believe something needs to be done. I think it's more urgent than tanking. As much as people talk about the different ways people get to threes and think that's all true.

The reality is 50% more is too much for that shot. The game is unbalanced. For sure, three is too much for that shot. So it used to be the three-point shot was featured on All-Star Weekend. Now it's called Tuesday Night Hawks Against Hornets. So last season, here's something I just want you to think about. So most NBA teams shoot about 35% from three. 35%. So let me ask you, if you're only succeeding at 35% of anything, it could be five-foot

puts at the Masters. What if Major League Baseball pitchers only through strikes 35% of the time, it would slow the game down? Your hit rate for anything in sports has to be higher than 35%. If the NFL decided, summarily, the league decided, no more screens, no more drag routes,

no more rollouts, no more underneath stuff, everything has to be 20 yards plus down the field. Do you know what the completion percentage in the NFL was last year for throws 20 plus down the field? 35%. Do you think the game would be better if quarterbacks were completing

35% of their throws. It would be unwatchable. It would be awful. It's excellent when it's at 65 to 68%. Right? We want offense to succeed. It's great that baseball pitchers half the time or more throw strikes, speed the game up, force batters to swing. So listen to these numbers. So last year, 396 games, there were at least 83s, again, at a 35% hit clip. That gives you on average 52 bricks a game. Do you believe watching an NBA basketball game? Oh, I watched 52 clanks. If you have any more bricks, you can join a union.

I mean, at some point, it's not good sports. That's why Roger Goodell cleaned up the count. And Roger Goodell changed the PAT because the NFL's always understood aesthetics matter. I've said it many times on this show. When you go to a nice restaurant, they want to make sure it looks appealing, not just tastes appealing. Because you eat with your eyes first. That's why there's no blue food. You don't eat with your mouth.

You eat with your eyes. So if you go to a Bobby Flay restaurant, if you go to an Emerald, you go to any nice restaurant where I live in Chicago, anywhere in the country. It looks appetizing. The problem of the NBA, you watch these games, it's not aesthetically pleasing. You have the greatest athletes in the world shooting 35% on the shot they shoot the most. You know what's beautiful? Michael Jordan's mid-range game. That's beautiful.

The sound of the swish. The aesthetics of the swish. It looks cool. So we don't talk about this at all. Baseball had this issue too. Home runs were everything. Well, it was home runs are. strikeouts, launch angle. The problem is there's no base runners. Part of the beauty of baseball

is first to third, second to home, stealing bases, athletes on the base pass. You eliminate that. It's not the same game. And Rob Manfred got it. And the catch and moving the kickoffs. NFL got it. Forget the math may work on the three. But you're asking teams to launch 52 bricks a night. you go to basketball game. You ever once driven home after a basketball game and say, I got to tell you, that eight out of nine bricks in the third quarter was riveting. It's bad aesthetics.

It's boring and bad to watch. So I don't buy for a second that tankings the end of the world. Teams were tanking during Jordan's era and magic and birds. And I don't think dynasties are a problem. If they happen, they happen. I mean, in college basketball, if I told you Michigan wins the next three national championships, in college basketball.

It gives you somebody to hate. Right? Give you somebody to root four and somebody to root against. So, I mean, here's another one. Wemby 7 foot six. Wemby took 403, three point shots last season. Do you really think that's aesthetically pleasing?

But if you cut off the corner three, okay, now it's easier to defend the wing three, forcing guys in. And I'm also a believer. of that I think basketball is better. You'll see this in March Madness and you'll see it in the NBA playoffs. I think basketball is better when there's physicality and there's bumping and tempers flare. And I think physical basketball is more fun to watch than just up and down the floor, YMCA, pick and roll, Jack of 3.

I don't think of that compelling. And what's amazing, Wemby took 403, three-point shots and he missed half the year with blood clots. I mean, at some point, guys, it's just the same. everybody's playing the same game. The other thing I've always thought about basketball, it's our most artistic sport. I mean, Magic didn't play like Bob Coosie, didn't play like Alan Iverson,

didn't play like Steph Curry, Dr. Jay didn't play like anybody, and Michael and the tongue out and the switching hands. And it's artistry. Like, there's a real artistry to basketball. Why would you sap and reduce the artistry by asking everybody to shoot threes? I want Aunt driving to the basket.

I want Kobe and MJ. I want them being, Go look at them. Go look at Dr. Jay's highlights. They're un- I watched Vince Carter and Dr. J. highlights last night. Just go look at Vince Carter dunks and Dr. J. highlights. Not a three. But it's incredibly. The artistry is insane. And I think the threes are formulaic. I do. I just watched the great movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn. It was the opposite of formulaic. I didn't know what I was getting. That when you watched MJ and Dr. Jay, you didn't know what you were getting. Every time down the floor is like, I got no idea what MJ's doing.

I know exactly what I'm getting from everybody, every possession now. 52 bricks a game. Yeah. So guys like JMAQ who like to jack them up, love it. I mean, you said a lot there, Colin. You seem a little combative on this NBA. First, it was tanking. Everybody's outraged. I'm not outraged by that. I'm not out. And now. Now it's like, well, too many threes. I mean, artists, art changes over time. It evolves, right? What was awesome art-wise in the 15th century changed by the 17th century.

I would argue. 1970s NBA. I would argue that's not true. Picasso today was worth more than Picasso then. Great art enduers. Yeah, but nobody's painting like Picasso did. They're painting in different ways and now modern art is different, but still beautiful. I would just say that the dunks are still happening.

And the threes are artistry. I've never seen a seven-foot seven-seven guys. how tall is what he's 7, 5, 7, 6, whatever he is. He's a giant. He looks like a praying mantis shooting threes, and it's fluid and clean. And to me, that's art. I don't, I love threes.

I'm a little disappointed in Darryl Mory. I guess he's upset that he just was never able to break through with all his strategies and numbers and process. Or he's seeing the same thing everybody else is, world baseball classic ratings, Olympic ratings, World Cup ratings, NFL ratings, college back, all these ratings are up, up, up. And there's this, you know, there's a little bit of a

lays with the NBA where people are like, even like diehard NBA, people are like the regular season. Let's cut games. Why you got to cut games? Hockey guys aren't cutting games. Baseball aren't cutting games. Everybody's adding games. Basketball is like, we've got to have fewer games. How about work on your products? Well, the counter is, World Baseball Classic is like two weeks. Baseball season is long and their ratings were not great last year in the regular season. NHL ratings were down last year in the regular season. So let's compare Apple to apples, NBA 82 games. Don't compare to NFL or college. Major League Baseball.

Three years in a row, ratings through the roof. Yeah, but they're not significantly like above the NBA or anything. I mean, their regular season games are fine. World Series amazing. Those ratings are massive. NBA playoffs are going to be fine. We're going to shelve all this talk as soon as the playoffs hit. You're going to love the artistry of Anthony Edwards, three-pointers.

Oh, Colin. Geez. Austin Reeves, no artistry there? Again, his, I don't think he's a three-shooter. he drives to the basket, creates contact. I like watching Austin. He's a contact creator. He's not a three-point shooter.

I mean, I don't think of, I don't think of Austin Reeves as a three-point shooter. I think he's a contact creator. I love a Dwayne Wade contact creator. I love those games. Guys jacking them from the corner doesn't do a thing for me. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Stygots here.

I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow. And I have brought it here to IHart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5 p.m. Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugats & Company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports. A lot of phone calls. I love you guys' show.

It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction. Guys not taking themselves to. too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugats and Company and Stugats and Company Live. So listen to Stugats and Company Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review. Stugats and Company and God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today. And you can check all of those out on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL,

late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm break. taking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she won. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I like the NIL and like anything that's new, you know, people don't know quite how to get their arms around it.

So everybody complains about the NIL and the transfer portal. But I'm kind of like, I like the idea. of college kids getting a little scratch, a little at us before pros, because we used to do documentaries on athletes go broke, and you don't see that as much because kids, they got a little bit of money. I like the NIL.

As a kid that was around some money, do you worry about the NIL and what it provides, or are you comfortable with it and think it helps young athletes? I talked to Marcel Reed about this on my podcast last week, and I asked them, are the schools and the programs, having financial people come in and talk to you. Are they making sure your guys are being smart about money?

You have a private jet deal right now, Marcel Reed. How are you keeping from spending $40,000 to take the boys and to go on a trip and do stuff? And he said they do have people come in. I believe there's probably people in college station and in these towns that are bankers that are, you know, people that are managing their money that are trying the best to make sure when these kids get early money.

You know, if you're a high school kid, coming out, you could get a million dollars dropped in your bank account by the time and first day that you get on campus. That's crazy. I obviously had an experience with money very early on and it took me a long time to learn about it because I didn't educate myself. So it still has the ability to go both ways. It is a lot of money. We're seeing points right now where there's a roundtable discussion about what's happening with college football and the playoff. I know at the end of this month as a group of Heisman winners, we're all going to a location we're sitting down.

They're updating us on where the Heisman Trophy Ceremony fits into this playoff. You know, where does it fit into the end of the year now? I think it's something that we are all very much concerned because as a former winner, we love this event. We love being back. I love being around the guys and seeing everybody who comes back. It's a special thing in the history of college football. I don't want to see that go away, but there are things that are constantly changing.

It shouldn't be paid for play. Guys should get paid to do a commercial or NIL deal or this. Right now it's just a wild, wild west. You need some regulations and you need some things for these college kids to not just have all the power and run over the game that is college football right now. It's ridiculous. I think a lot of coaches are sticking up about it. You've seen Calipari talk about it. You've seen Dabo.

You've seen Elko. You've seen, you know, Signetti. A lot of these guys be like, oh, this is crazy what's going on with tampering and this or that. that and college football right now is run by agents that may not have a lot of experience, but they're friends or family friends of somebody who's got with these guys. And I don't think they're always getting the best advice. The thing that you can't do as a college athlete is transfer or get into the transfer portal and then not find a new home and then you're back at home where you started this whole journey

without a team. You may never get back. So it's tread lightly in this. And really, it's really benefiting the top guys of college football. You went to Texas A&M, but you're right now in Austin. I've always said, I think there's three programs in college football that I love when they're good. Miami, Texas, and USC. Because I think they feel like almost like 30% NFL. They're big.

A lot of college programs are rural towns, small towns. That's great, too. but I love that Miami's good. I like that Texas is good. But I've always said, Texas for all the resources, actually underachieve. They should have like nine natties. And I said this years ago, I said, I think it's too distracting. Austin's too fun.

There's the scene. There's the food. There's the women. There's the, it's just this wild fun town. Is it possible that there's too many good things going on in Austin to be as good all time is Alabama or Ohio State? Well, to be honest, it all kind of started in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting class, 2008, 2009 recruiting class.

Texas made some iffy decisions on who they were going to give the keys to for their team, and they really, really messed up by not offering this quarterback out of Curville, Tybee, a scholarship. They went through their downhill slide, and we got to watch it from a Texas A&M point of view with a big smile on our faces is they ate it on Saturdays every year for four or five years. But look, I understand the USC's, the Miami's, the Texas is, they should be better, this and that. I am a bigger fan in college football right now of the Texas A&Ms, the Vanderbilts, the Indianas, the teams who haven't been good in the past, but the NIL landscape has allowed them an opportunity to change their program very, very fast.

with the right coach, the right leadership, the right money of boosters. You can have Vandy have a season like they had. You can have Indiana come back and win a national championship, get a quarterback in a team like Mendoza, and you go and you knock off a Miami team who's been dying to get back to that position since the early 2000s. So I like the parody of college football. Look, we'll always have the history of the Texas USC Rose Bowl.

We'll always have the history of, you know, the Miami Hurricanes teams that are some of the best ever. I said this on a podcast a couple weeks ago. The Big Ten is kind of running the show in college football right now. It's taking a lot of power from the SEC. And we'll see if that continues the shift. I got to end with this. It's a personal question, so you don't have to answer it. But you sound so much more mature than 10 years ago.

And by the way, you're older, obviously. But in your journey, how did you get there? Was it therapy, parenting, looking in the mirror? You sound like a different guy. You've got a different perspective. That is really hard to do because you not only had some missteps, you were public. It's much harder to do when you're public and people were reminding you of your mistakes. How did you get to today?

Look, I think I've accepted the fact that I'm human. I make mistakes. I'm really hard on myself. If you guys don't think I was really hard on myself about things that were going on in the past, embarrass myself, embarrassed my school, embarrassed, you know, my family. You know, I was always raised by a great group of parents who did a lot for me, who instilled great values. I went to amazing coaches in my life that instilled good morals, good values, good things in me.

And now I've done a lot of work on myself. I've spent a lot of time with therapists. I've worked through a lot of trauma that we all have in our life from the way that we grew up, from things that may have happened with your parents, from instances. in life that you couldn't always control. You know, I couldn't control certain things that happened to me in my life. And there was a lot of things that I could, that I didn't do right. So from there, I've taken an honest assessment and an honest look at my life and what's

transpired, what I did to myself, what other people did to me. And I look at it through a very honest lens. And to be honest, I look at situations now in life from not only my perspective, but from how this may affect somebody else. or if this decision is made, what does it mean for this or that? And look, I hold myself to my own standard. I was raised in a church. I feel like I have more religion in my life.

I have better friends that surround me. I have a passion and a purpose in my life of things that I want to do moving forward that get me out of bed every day and that move me. I'm in a great place in every sense of the way, work-wise, family-wise, where I live, what I have going on in my life. and I'm proud of those things. And there's one thing about me is I appreciate Hasselback and what he had to say that got me here last week.

I appreciate you for having the perspective that you had on things. And I'm a writer for my friends. You have always been good to me. I appreciate you having me come on the show. And more than anything, like I said, I want to spread a great message of when you come into my life and you have me on your show, I want you to feel like, man, that guy is doing better in life.

He has grown up. And if you come into my life and interact with me in the streets, I want you to leave with a, you know, interaction with me that was funny, that was fun, and that made you feel good and have a good time. And that's what I'm going to continue to do for the rest of my life. Wow. Great perspective. Good for you.

Hey, you know what? Let me ask you a football question before we go. Fernando Mendoza, not a great athlete. People say he's a little dorky, whatever. So was Andrew Luck. What do you make of him? Just as a player, what do you make of him? Yeah, I think he's going to be.

going to continue to get better. I think he throws, as I was watching him at the national championship game, throws a really good ball, has a lot of zip on his passes, reads coverage very well. He obviously had some good help at the receiver point and the team that they had last year at Indiana. The situation that he's going into is going to call for a lot of patience, but Brock Bowers, you know, Gentie, rebuild some of the offensive line, get a defense, you keep Max Crosby, like, have some patience with it. And I feel like this kid is going to be very good. he more than impressed me being around him at the Heisman. We have continued our relationship since then,

and I've talked to him a lot through this period of the NFL draft. He's a great kid. I wish him nothing but the best. Yeah, good stuff. Johnny really appreciate it. You gave us 20 minutes. You didn't have to. And Godspeed, good luck to you.

You're always welcome on the show. If you want to promote some, call us. We'll put you on. I'd love to have you on during the season. You've got great insight. For sure. For sure. Yeah, anytime.

Thank you, guys. Thank you to your staff, everybody. Thanks for letting me come on the herd. Much love. You bet. Johnny Mansell, Johnny Football, who has really turned his life around. And good for him. You know, it was funny when I reached out, I thought, you know, we've been critical of him.

You know, this is I talk. He's an athlete. I talk. I try to be fair. And I thought, yeah, he probably not going to be comfortable. Boom. He said, you, absolutely, I want to talk about it. So good for him.

Kind of transformational to listen to him from 10 years ago, right? Like, wow. You know, put his head down. Got some therapy, looked in the mirror, different dude. He'd be, you know, he'd be a, I'm telling you, if you didn't see him play at Texas A&M, like he was, I mean, there's been a handful of college quarterbacks, Johnny Mansell, Cam Newton, Tommy Frazier at Nebraska,

you know, Tim Tebow, that you're just watching them, and you're not sure it's going to work at the next level, but it really works at the college level. And, I mean, he was just, dude, he was just different. He was one of the first quarterbacks that Nick, Saban put his hands in the air, is like, yeah, I can't, I can't stop this guy. Johnny football. That is a great nickname.

Of all the football nicknames, Johnny football is pretty damn strong. We'll take a break. J-M. Heard line next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new?

Huge news. We created our. own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts.

We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And... Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers...

Mm-hmm. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. Last night, a blown call changed the game. Morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs.

And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,

and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the Eyeheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here we go. It's hour two. It's a Friday. We got good stuff. World Baseball Classic's been amazing. I'm still going to defend Bam out of Bayou. God, did that guy get ripped apart by the NBA fraternity? I don't get it at all. And he's got a hysterical bite on that. Bam Out of Bayou is, you know, he reminds me a little bit of another. former Miami Heat player, Udonus Haslam.

Good guys, low profile, work their butt off, just perfect Miami Heat culture guys. And I mean, just the NBA savagely went after him. And I don't buy any of it. I'm going to get to that in about five minutes. I'm going to support Bam on a Bayou's 83 point spectacle in a couple of minutes. But all right, the draft's coming up in April. A draft can absolutely change a franchise.

if you get the right quarterback. So the Raiders getting Fernando Mendoza, that's going to be a big deal. Okay, but I think really when I look at teams after a season ends, I look at the coaching hires, I look at free agency, and that's about 75 to 80% of what the new league is going to look like, and maybe I'm being optimistic on some of these free agent signings, but a lot of GMs made moves I agree with. So here's my top 10 pre-draft.

Draft may tweak a spot or two, but I doubt it does a lot. And here we go. Number 10. Number 10. I would say Detroit. I thought they had a coordinator issue last year, not a personnel issue. Drew Petzing, new OC, I think it's going to be fantastic. Listen, they've had a top five offense in four straight seasons. And last year, they had a coordinator issue or Dan Campbell had to takeover play calling.

And they were still viable, nine and eight. So I think they're going to improve by two or three wins. I love their front office. you know I like Jared Goff, respect Dan Campbell, Lions at 10. Number nine. Patriots. Now, why do I bring him down? Well, they go from the historically easiest NFL schedule in 50 years to the six toughest. They lose Stefan Diggs.

They add Romeo Dobbs. That's kind of a wash to me. They add Kevin Byard in the back end of their defense, who's an interception machine. I love the coaching, the owner, the culture. I just think the AFC had a downy. year. Lamar's back, right? Like Mahomes won't get hurt again. The Chargers will be better. Denver Bo Nix, another healthy offseason. So I think New England at nine. Number eight. I think Sean Mannion, the new OC, is going to work. I thought Tarek Woolen grabbing him at

corner. I didn't think it was a position of need. The Eagles now have the best cornerbacked Troika, trio in the league by a lot. So it's not like they didn't. didn't have enough talent defensively. Now they added an elite pro bowl level corner. I think Mannion, listen, Nick Siriani is very coordinator dependent. Okay, that's just the reality. He needs a Kellynne Moore. He needs a Shane Steichen.

I think Mannion could be good. I have Philly at eight. Number seven. Listen, the smart bet, take the Houston Texans to win their division again. They added David Montgomery, the running back. I think that is a sneaky edition. So David Montgomery and Woody Marks, that is a above average running back tandem,

and they just couldn't produce consistent run totals last year. Yeah, it's worrisome that C.J. Stroud has regressed, but they're still winning their division. AFC South, their favor to win it for a fourth year. They won 12 games last year. I think they'll be around that this coming year. Number six. Probably lower than a lot of people think.

I like the Chargers. and they had the worst O-line in the league due to injuries and won 11 games in a good division. They're going to win 11 plus this year. They get Roshan Slater and Joe Alt back at tackle. They have a ton of cap space, so they've addressed the Interior O line. They also added Mike McDaniel,

who I think is one of those coordinators like Detroit's Drew Pedig, that's going to be worth a win or three. And they got kind of a sneaky, Keaton Mitchell, the running back, The speed back from Baltimore comes over with Amarian Hampton. So I like what I see. I think this is going to be a team that offense leads the way,

unlike last year where defense had to lead the way. I have the Chargers at six. Number five. Broncos. People may forget this. But in that divisional round loss to the Patriots, they were missing. Bo Nix, their number one back J.K. Dobbins,

and their number two and three wide receivers. They were banged up at the end of the year. The NFL, as you well know, is a league of attrition, and they just picked a bad week to be playing in the divisional round. Team won 14 games. They don't allow sacks, and yet they led the NFL in sacks. I don't think that changes. Great head coaching, great line play, Denver at 5.

Number four. I'll put Josh Allen an inch ahead because he's Josh Allen. I think Bradley Chubb, again, kind of a sneaky, smart signing. Going to give you about 9, 10, 11 sacks. And DJ Moore, because the Colston Loveland and Luther Burden exploded last year at the end of the year for the Bears, people think, well, DJ Moore's numbers drop. DJ Moore is still a number one, never misses starts, tough player. So Chubb and DJ Moore, to me, are some really nice B plus ads. elements, Buffalo at four.

Number three. The Seahawks. I think it's almost impossible to win back to back. I think Kenneth Walker leaving is a real thing. Now, if it was a great running back draft, I wouldn't worry much. It's not. Zach Charbonnet comes back. They've got kind of a, it's running back by committee after Charbonnet. Listen, JSN, Mike McDonald, Sam Darnold, Gray Zable,

Nick Oman Worry, they've got really good leader. leadership on this team and really good players, but they had to move off some really nice football players. That's what happens when you win a Super Bowl. Guys want to eat. Seattle, I have them at three. Number two. The Bears, to me, first round pick's going to be a corner. Second round picks, they're going to go and get a pass rush. I like what I see. Again, a really sneaky stat with the Bears. They were the third best rushing team in the league last year. And you think it's about Caleb in the aerial circus. They ran the ball really well. Now, they have to replace Drew Dolman at center. They did it with Garrett Bradbury from New England. Not as good as Dolman, but a good solid pro

in the middle anchoring your O line. Again, they're probably not going to lead the league in takeaways like they did last year. They'll probably drop to somewhere in the upper half in the NFL. But I have the Bears at number two. Number one. The Rams, they solved their dilemma. corner. Trent McDuffie, top five corner, teammate Jalen Watson. There was an argument the Rams were the best team last year, but in the NFL, you don't have to be great anywhere, you can't be bad anywhere, and last year the Rams really had issues in their secondary. So they've gone out, solved it. Trent McDuffie is an elite corner, and there you go. There's my post-coaching hires, post-free agency top 10. Baltimore.

11 Jacksonville 12. Jacksonville lost a couple of key pieces. Don't love that E.T. and the running back who'd been there with Trevor Lawrence forever. So I got Baltimore 11. I got Jacksonville 12. And that's where we stand today. Okay. So I got

to defend Bam Otabayu. So Bam Otabayu is a pro's pro. All NBA defense five times. Two-time Olympian. Very much a heat culture guy. Plays on both ends. Excellent pro. And a couple nights ago, he drops 83.

And I defended him. I said, okay, got a little doctored at the end. But he had 31 points in the first quarter. He had 62 after three. If he just played a normal fourth, he scores 71. But he scored 83. That surpassed Kobe. And people didn't like it.

And the pitchforks and the knives came out. And I'm like, guys, this is not a, this is not a. random guy that, you know, he scores, he defends, he's an Olympian, he's a legitimate player, and Spolstra's not a guy that doctors stuff up. Here was Bam on his critics after an 83-point performance. First of all, y'all are blaming me. You should be blaming the head coach. Get that first. I was not the one, let me go one-on-one the whole game until I started, until I had 70. Then you started to send a double. At that point, I got 70 with like, what,

nine minutes left to go in the game? You think I'm not going for it? I mean, seriously. You got 71 points, nine minutes. Everybody knows the Kobe number. I'm going to go after the Kobe number. I don't have any problem. Spoh could be my favorite coach in the NBA.

Spoh's like, get over it, people. I apologize to absolutely no one. period. I'm not losing any sleep over what other people are saying about it. What's ethical? What's not? All this stuff happened under two minutes, like I said. He had already broken a bunch of records, and we're going to go for it. It was just an amazing moment to be a part of that. And I would do it 10 times out of 10. By the way, when people say, that's not basketball, was Hackashack not basketball? Of course I was. Shaq was. Shaq was. Shaq was. was a bad free throw shooter. Mike Dunlaby, I was in that arena when he began the hackashack with his Portland Trailblazer team. They couldn't stop him. They started fouling him. Fans hated it. It's real basketball. When I was a kid growing up, Dean Smith used to get a lead in North Carolina, and they would run four corners offense, and they would freeze out the other team's offense.

There was no shot clock. Was that basketball? It was allowed. There's a lot of stuff in sports. that it's almost like being an accountant. You're always looking for loopholes and how to manipulate. I have, I mean, you see sometimes in the NFL, you bring in like a third tackle and he's an eligible receiver. Well, that's not real football. Yes, under the rules it is. What they did in the last couple of minutes of the game is legal.

By the way, right now I've defended tanking. Tanking today, you can say it. It's not allowed. I watched it all year with Indiana. I watched it with Utah. It's allowed. So you can try to shut off accountants. They're going to find loopholes.

And I just don't have any problem with a pros, pro, a great organization, a great coach saying, okay, we got nine minutes left. He's at 70. We're going for the Kobe number. I'm not losing any sleep over that. I mean, James Harden for years was falling down, taking threes. The NBA had to say. step in and go, okay, that

that's not going to work. I can guarantee Adam Silber's not sitting there thinking, hey, listen, the next time a guy gets to 70 with nine minutes left, we've got to outlaw what they did. Nobody cares. I was reading this. The other thing, because I said, I watched

it on YouTube, I didn't watch it live. Tyler Hero and Norman Powell, the heat's other two leading scores were out of the game. So who's going to shoot? I don't know. The guy was 70? I'm going to probably give him the ball. I love BAM's reaction, and I love Spos, even more.

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

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

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She's a win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stub's tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist, and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 SportsSlic 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.