The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Carson Wentz, Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, & Todd Gurley

Episode Date: October 2, 2019

Colin explains why believing Nick Foles is better than Carson Wentz is ridiculous, why Aaron Rodgers can't use a certain excuse if the Packers lose this week, why he compares Lamar Jackson to Bitcoin, and his thoughts on Todd Gurley being frustrated. Guests include Nick Wright, Joel Klatt, Tilman Fertitta, and Bucky Brooks.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com Or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching

heard. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live in beautiful Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It is great to have you here today. Nick Wright shows up this hour. Joel Clout will argue with me next hour.

Wish we could have Snoop Dog on again today. He was fantastic. My wife got upset with me yesterday because she asked me when I got home, what did you do today at work? And I talked about stuff. And then later in the day, she saw that Snoop Dog was on the show. And she said, you didn't mention that to me? And I said, well, it was just another day at work. And she goes, you didn't call me when you knew he was going to be on.

And I said, I didn't know until I got on the air. He was going to be on. She got very upset. I told you. My family doesn't care about me except when I have a famous person. You were right about that. Yeah. Would she have come in?

Oh, yeah. She has cool. Then that's understandable why she'd be maddie of me. Very, very upset. That's the voice of Joy Taylor. Of course, you're looking at Joy there. Joy, what happens? You know in our world, nobody wants to have a hot take, right?

Right. In a hot take, it's a strong opinion that is contrary into the market, that's different than everybody. And it doesn't bother me. I have some. I have theories and belief systems that don't line up with everybody else. I don't think it's a hot take. I think it's a unique point of view. And I'm for all young sportscasters who go out and have opinions that are different.

But there was one that what happens when the world has a hot take? and it's not unique, and everybody has it, and it's dumb. That happened a couple years ago when Nick Foles won a Super Bowl, and you started telling me Nick Foles was better than Carson Wentz, and my head exploded. It was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard in my life. So yesterday, Pro Football Focus comes out, and they grade the quarterbacks. Guess who's number one this year, Carson Wentz?

That's not having his deep threat, Deshawn Jackson in Weeks. That's having two tough road games at Lando and Atlanta, a tough place to play in a dome. That's not having his Hall of Fame left tackle for a game. Yeah, that Carson Wentz is number one. Greg CoSell, somebody I've relied on for about 10 years. I brought him on two or three times when this ridiculous Nick Foles is better than Carson Went's discussion started happening. And Greg, I mean, Greg was beside himself. He didn't even want to answer the questions. Here's Greg. When people suggest that Nick Foles is better than Carson Wend's. Well, that's ridiculous. I love Nick Foles. You know, and he's a terrific guy. I've met him, been around him.

You know, I think he's a really professional NFL quarterback. You can line up and win with Nick Fawls. I mean, look, he won a Super Bowl, but I'm talking about over the course of 16 games as your starting quarterback, you can line up and win with Nick Folls. But if you're just talking about level of talent, Carson Wence, talent-wise, is probably top five, top six in the league. You would never talk about Nick Foles like that. Carson Wince, I can't help you, folks. He's six-five. with a rocket arm, wildly athletic, can throw it from every angle. If you can't see it, I can't help you. Nick Foles was fortunate.

He had this combination of Andy Reid into Chip Kelly, into Doug Peterson, into Frank Reich. He had these very good offensive coaches, one after another, and was able to manage the game and a great roster in Philadelphia and win. There's a reason they had home field advantage in the playoffs that year. Carson Wentz got it for him, was going to be the MVP until he got hurt in like week 11. When people tell me Baker Mayfield's athletic, I'm like, if Baker Mayfield's athletic,

then Carson Wentz is Superman. He's an alien. There are five quarterbacks in this league, and I can't help you. I would call them my fantastic five. They're just different athletically. Patrick Mahomes, Rogers, Watson, Wents, and Russell. I can't help you.

If you can't spot it, there's nothing I can do. I'm not saying they're always the best on every single. Sunday. But I'm saying you can't argue with a straight face about their talent. They look different. They played different. They have arm angles. Russell Wilson made a throw last week against Arizona that was cartoonish. It didn't make any sense. Deshaun Watson earlier this year played the Chargers. He threw a touchdown pass. He escaped out of a pass rush. I'm not sure anybody but Russell Wilson in the world could have ever done it. Aaron Rogers, Mahomes, no look, arm angle, over the top. So, you know, this whole thing about the hot take society we live in, the world was arguing Foles was better than Wence.

Now, there are things about Wents I don't love. Of these three, Deshawn Watson, Carson Wents, and Aaron Rogers have had major injuries. Why? Because my knock on Wents, and I think it's a real one, it's the same knock I had on Andrew Luck, Big Ben and Cam. When you are born, Chris Carter used to say this. When you're born with a great voice, it's almost biblical. You're going to sing. You're going to sing in the car.

You're going to sing in the shower. You're going to sing, right? You're given a gift. When you are given a 6-5, 240, you run a 4-6, you have a massive arm. When God gives you, and I'm not overly religious, but when the guy upstairs gives you these gifts, and then you sandpaper them and you amplify them because you work really hard, you do get kind of this fearless quality, this kind of bulletproof quality where I'm just going to take hits. I'm going to hold on the ball longer, and Carson Wentz can do that, and I don't like it about him.

And Aaron does that and I don't like it about him. And Deshawn does that and I don't like it about him. But when they do that, about every third time they do that, oh, it's the greatest play on tape you've ever seen in your life. So I think that's the burden, the duality of gifts. I mean, Whitney Houston, when you have a voice like that, it's sometimes hard to manage. It's such a gift.

When you get the gift of Aaron, the gift of Wenz, the gift of Deshawn Watson, it's really hard to manage it because it is so special. It's gotten you out of trouble since high school. And you sometimes, you're fearless. And that's my knock on Carson Wentz. But can we now officially, pro football focus, I'd like to thank you for ending. My head started hurting. Ending what was the dumbest take in sports in the last two years, that Nick Foles, a nice kid, was better than Carson Wentz.

Enough. Thank you, PFF. Oh, I see as excuses are. already coming for Aaron Rogers. Let's shift gears. Big blaring headline today. Wide receiver Devante Adams. The top Packers wideout.

Unlikely to play for Green Bay against Dallas. So what? Tom Brady's had Super Bowls without Gronk. Julian Edelman missed a season. Josh Gordon relapsed. Randy Moss was traded midseason and Wes

Welker bolted because they wouldn't give an extra 15 cents in New England. And Tom Brady wins regardless. Because Tom Brady is a great communicator. Tom Brady is a great leader. He introduces himself to every player, scout team or not, forges relationships. So Tom doesn't become dependent on his favorite receiver or one guy.

Here's another guy who has this quality. His name is Russell Wilson. He'll play tomorrow night on Fox. Everything works with Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson is now making will. Will Disley, a very good tight end. Will Disley caught two passes in college his junior year. He was a defensive end.

They just said he can catch a little. Let's move him to tight end at the University of Washington. He's unathletic. He is now a favorite target of Russell Wilson. He's a blocking tight end. And now he's a really productive tight end. By the way, he also took Doug Baldwin, undrafted from Stanford, made him a pro bowler. Oh, by the way, Tyler Lockett was a good.

gadget guy out of Kansas State. People were like, he's good, but you know, you used him for a couple reverses. He's kind of a gadget guy. Oh, no, he's a great player with Russell Wilson. And what to Tom Brady and Russell Wilson have in common? They're great communicators. You don't hear people, you know, they get along with everybody, the unsigned, the small. And I think this is what Brady and Russell have that Aaron doesn't.

Philip Dorset was a bust in Indianapolis. He was a first round bust. Last couple of weeks, he's been the most valuable receiver for the Patriots. They take small guys, undrafted guys, gadget guys. They all work. Because everybody works with Brady and Russell Wilson because they're great communicators. Aaron Rogers has the talent to overcome the loss of Devante Adams. But you have to forge relationships.

And isn't that always been my knock on Aaron? He struggles with authority. He can struggle with coaching. He can struggle with family. He can struggle with teammates. After about seven, eight people call you out. I'm going to say some of it is true. So Devonte Adams is out.

So what? Russell Wilson loses God. Doug Baldwin literally retired. Doug Baldwin, out of the blue, I'm retiring. It hasn't hurt Russell Wilson one. bit this year. He's having his best year as a pro, and he lost his most dependable wide receiver. And he takes Will Disley and D.K. Metcalf, and he's taking all these guys nobody's heard of. Have you ever noticed that with Russell Wilson? I mean, anybody, it all works. You didn't watch

Julian Edelman in college. It all works. Do you know New England's had a different leading receiver in every game this year? And they haven't even had a tight end. It always works. quarterback is not just about armed talent. It's about leadership and communicating. And the two best communicators, Russell Wilson and Brady at that position, I put Drew Brees in there as well. These guys, I don't want to hear excuses.

It's a conveyor belt of missing pieces, guys leaving, Brady's had guys relapse, traded midseason, gronk is out, gronk retires, Edelman's hurt for the year, never phases him. So, Devante Adams, so what? So what?

I just watched Teddy Bridgewater beat Dallas. Okay, you go beat Dallas. All right, good to have you in. So I have never, until a couple of days ago, invested in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a, what do they call those cryptocurrencies? And so I decided a couple of days, not a lot of money, but a little bit of money. I decided to put a little money in Bitcoin. He finally gave in.

Yeah. And so I thought to myself, well, am I comfortable with the turbulence of Bitcoin? And I said, yeah. And we have a player in the NFL, a quarterback who is the Bitcoin of the NFL. And it's going to be turbulent. And I'm totally comfortable with it. Many of you won't be. That's coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. 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.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, learn the hard way with me, your host, and your host. favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations

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

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, man. Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup,

he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cold and flu season's coming up. Stuffy nose, top of the list. Vic Cynix nasal spray works within seconds last 12 hours.

Vic Cinex nasal spray. Breathe easier. Use as directed Nick Wright in 10 minutes. So I'm not what you would call a risky investor. I never have been. I'm pretty conservative, you know, hit doubles, that's fine, don't need a lot of home runs, put my money away, have since I was like 20 years old, live below my means. I'm not a real risk taker that way, you know. But occasionally, I have stomach for risk. So when I buy something that's risky, I set my expectations at a level, I could lose all of it. It's like when I bet football games. I realize that $50 could evaporate. So that's why I don't go to the internet and act like a degenerate and scream and cry, because I know when I bet it, there's a chance either I'm I want to double it or get nothing back. And that's why I've never been an investor in Bitcoin, because I don't really have the stomach

for it. But I was thinking the other day, things are going well. And I thought I'm just going to, I'm ready for some turbulence. And we have a quarterback in the league that is the Bitcoin of quarterbacks, and his name is Lamar Jackson. And the first two games of the year, he didn't play terribly great defenses, and he was a rock star. I mean, you can look at his numbers on the screen. He completed 72% of his throws.

His passer rating was perfect, seven touchdowns, no picks. The next two games he played Kansas City and Cleveland, and Kansas City got into a little bit of a, you know, a firework show there, and his numbers were bad. And there were times he was terrible against Kansas City, and there were times he was really bad against Cleveland. And, you know, like Bitcoin, there are wide variations in his play. It's so rare when Brady or Russell Wilson has an off game. And I would say, I'm comfortable with it. He makes plays. He gives me a chance, and he changes momentum.

and here's what I here's what I no longer want from my quarterbacks that they're coaching reliant Andy Dalton Mitch Trubisky, Marcus Marietta, Mason Rudolph, Kirk

cousins are what I would call coaching reliant. They have to have the right OC and the perfect protection and the perfect call and wonderful schemes or it's just unwatchable. The running back that can catch. They need yards after catch. I don't want my quarterback to be coaching reliant. And I'm willing

to live with some turbulence from Wentz and Mahomes and to a lesser degree, Lamar Jackson. He's not as good as those two. It's because I look around the league right now and I think we all have to get more comfortable with risk from our quarterbacks. They're being asked to run more. Offensive line play has eroded. They're going to have to be better on their feet. They're going to make more mistakes. Running games are hit and miss. You're becoming more passing reliant, more wide receiver reliant, more over-the-top big throws which come with higher risk. And you can say what you want about Baltimore, but I find them very fun to watch. I didn't think the problem last week for Baltimore was Lamar Jackson necessarily. I thought it was their defense. I thought when they lost to Kansas City.

I didn't think, I didn't think Lamar, I was comfortable with his turbulence. He was hot and cold. The bigger problem is they couldn't stop Patrick Mal Holmes. So it's just, are you comfortable with Bitcoin? Are you comfortable with the turbulence? And when I watch all these young quarterbacks, when you make plays with your feet and you get out of the pocket, you're going to have wildly dynamic plays and you're going to make more mistakes, get more hurt. And I think what I don't want is low ceiling quarterback this point forward. And I'll take a little turbulence. And I'm okay with Lamar Jackson. Here's Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, Dwayne Haskins' NFL debut didn't go quite as well. No. When he replaced Case Keenham against the Giants, Jay Gruden is not committed to a starter for this Sunday's matchup with the Patriots yet, but former Redskins quarterback Joe Thaisman is adamant that it should not be Haskins. You can't start Dwayne Haskins against the New England Patriots.

I mean, it just, it can't happen. It wouldn't be good for him. It wouldn't be good for the franchise. it wouldn't be good for football for crying out loud. So he's off that. Bill Belichick talked about facing the Redskins this weekend. He says the Patriots are focused on being ready for all three Redskins' quarterbacks. He adds they all look pretty good.

Belichick talked about the Redskins' offense. He said it's a very well-balanced offense, very well-designed. They have the 28th ranked offense. Those tweets are from J.P. Finlay. It's not a good situation for the Redskins coming off of putting Haskins in last week against the Giants in a disastrous loss. And now you have the Patriots this week. We all pretty much know what's going to happen in this game. I kind of disagree with Disman in that he's got to play who he's got to play.

Like you can't protect him forever. If you're going to put him out there, what's the point of putting him out there if you're just going to yank him again because you feel like he's not ready for the Patriots? First of all, who's ready for the Patriots? Yeah. I mean, this will be awful. it will be an awful blowout game. But I don't think they, at this point, it's not like they have any options.

There's only two teams in this league, I think, are just shot. Miami, I don't think the Jets. I mean, the Jets, I don't think are going to be a great team, but I think Sam Arnold comes out. I don't think you're shot, though. Yeah, Sam comes back and their players. Like, Miami and Washington are shot. So your options are bad or worse.

So I... Bad or worse, but start getting him some reps because it is a bad situation. And this is my point. Like, this is why I don't think that... I don't think it will have... happen, but, you know, there's talks that there about firing Jake Rood in midseason. Like, you already have a bad situation.

Don't make it worse. Like, you took Haskins for a reason. See what you have with him. The Patriots are a great team. Guess what? There's a lot of great teams in the NFL that he's going to have to play. Guess what, though? The Nats were good last night.

So the city at least has one fun team. Yeah, exactly. The stadium was full last night for the Nats. Yeah, the Nats are a great story. The Redskins are done four games in, but the Natch are a great story. By the way, Belichack against rookie quarterbacks is 18 and 5 with the Patriots. and 19 and 7 in his career, and they're 15 and a half point favorites, according to Fox Bet. So, yeah, not a great situation, even if it wasn't, Wayne Haskins.

So Ben Rathesberger had a front row seat on the sideline for Mason Rudolph's first NFL win on Monday. He was 24 for 28, 229 yards, and two touchdowns. Paul, I'm not a huge fan of that game plan. So boring. So protective. It was very protected, but I liked that they got him in rhythm. Even one of my bosses yesterday yelled at me at lunch. He goes, you're wrong on Mason Rudolph.

That's how you should play him. And I'm like, he had 1,400 college attempts. I stole the ball down to fail. I mean, the passing chart is not impressive. I'll give you that. But he got a nice confidence win. That's, you know, it's the Bengals. That's what you can do.

Anyway, Big Ben said he was impressive performance. He said he did everything they asked him to do. He made plays. He made big plays when we needed him to. He took a checkdown when we needed him to. He threw deep when we needed him to. He even lined up at wide receiver in the Wildcat, when we needed him to.

He did a lot more than just managed the game. All right. Well, you know what? Then let's go see him beat Baltimore. Because I think Baltimore is going to smoke the Steelers this weekend. I really do. I kind of smell that in the horizon, Bruin, too. I know.

I want to believe it. God, there's some good games this week. That game, to me, is really good. I mean, first of all, Ram Ciyahawks tomorrow, Brown, San Francisco. Packers, Cowboys. Cowboys. There's like six half to watch games this weekend. I mean, there's really good games.

Ben's been very supportive of Mason Rudolph, though. He also said he's here to help as much or as little as he wants over the rest of the season. If we had 32 Mason Rudolph in this league, would you watch the football? No. You know what? Mowal my lawn on Sunday, if that was what was in the league. He's just got to build him up, you know? Can't throw everything at him at once.

Well, what's the point? Well, actually, maybe it wouldn't have been a good game, let him stretch it out because it is the Bengals after all. Wouldn't you take some down? His own risk. God, so bad. Kind of coming around to. it. Finally, Adam Thieland was frustrated after the Vikings lost to the Bears last

weekend. Took a little shot at his quarterback Kirk Cousins. Now Cousins is apologizing to Thean for not giving him enough chances to make a play. I really want to apologize to him because there's too many opportunities where we could

have hit him on Sunday. And post-game when I talk to the media, I always say, hey, until I watch the film, it's hard for me to really give you a straight answer. Well, now it's Tuesday night. I've watched the film. And the reality is there were opportunities for him. The one that's most obvious is the third and ten, the beginning of the game, we're near midfield.

That's arguably seven points. If you put the ball where it needs to be, number 19 is shown that he will make that play. And he'll probably finish the play in the end zone and pull away from the defender. He's a super nice guy. I'm not denying that. He's a great guy, but I'm done with it. I'm done with Andy Dalton. I don't think we always have to say people are nice. We're not taking personal

shots at them. We're evaluating their play. I'd rather be a jerk. I'd feel better about saying that. I'm just done with it. I guess it helps, but nothing's being said as personal. Through four games last year, he had 40 receptions, 473 yards, and two touchdowns. Adam Thieland.

This year he has 13 receptions, 179 yards. I was totally wrong on this. And two touchdowns. I said before the season, you were here. I said, Kirk Cunz is now in the second year in Minnesota, watch him go up. He's gone backwards. So I freely admit, I totally whiffed on this.

Well, I mean, that's not, that's how things should work. So. Well, that's what I thought, based on my experience as a sage veteran of news opinions, and I whiff completely because it's gone downhill and the weapons are now better because Delvin Cook's healthier and it's worse. It's, I would say it's disappointing, but the one thing that Kirk Cousins is really good at is making a lot of money.

Well, that's a skill too. It is. Got a hand to him. I had a girlfriend once tell me. She goes, you know, you're good at making money and not working hard. I know. I think you work hard. No kidding. I dumped her for that.

It should. It's insulting. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard live news. You don't seem to have good jobs. I don't know how hard you work.

And that was the end of that relationship. Anne understands the time and effort I put into this show. Speaking of time and effort, a guy that works really, really hard. He's wrong all the time. But, you know, I still like him so much. Nick Wright, first things first of you, the coward Global Satellite Network. By the way, those pro football-focused quarterback rankings are terrific. Carson Wentz number one.

Just acknowledge it. Unbelievable. You are threatened because he's the only guy in this league that has Mahomes-level talent. He's it. It's Wentz and Mahomes look like Superman, and this bothers you to your core that it's Wentz, doesn't it? It doesn't bother me at all. Nobody in the league, except for maybe Aaron Rogers, has Mahomes-level talent, first of all. Now, Carson Wins has a better NFL body and all these things, yet somehow he gets injured Patrick Mahomes yet to be injured.

I think Carson Wins is better than his numbers suggest for the year. Now, he gagged away the Atlanta game and imminently winnable game. Everyone says, oh, Nelson Aguilar should have caught the ball. Yeah, he should have caught the ball, but they shouldn't have been in that position. He has had one verifiably bad game this year, Carson Wins. Patrick Mahomes just had his worst game of the season. that's when he went on the road against an undefeated team, let a come back in the final two minutes,

rush for the game, not the game clenching, but the game is saving a fourth down conversion through for 300, rush for 50, and that's his worst game of the season. Again, I said it last week, I'll say it again, if you type in all these numbers

into your fancy algorithm, and it spits out something other than the quarterback who leads the NFL in yards, touchdowns, yards per attempt, and quarterback rating is, he's not only is he not number one, but he's number six, then it's an absurdity. They've got him the fourth best passer, the sixth best quarterback, my guy Mahomes. Wince is good, and I agree Wynce is better than Dack, even though he hasn't been better

than Dack so far this year. But yeah, pro football focus, there's a fly in your soup, my friends, and you got to fix it. Tomorrow, Peter King was saying this. I said to Peter King yesterday, Nick, I said, in my life, I'm not saying Russell Wilson's the best quarterback, but he's the most over. overlooked and I think he's the reason Kyler Murray got drafted. I think he's the reason Baker got drafted. Johnny Mansell got drafted.

Maybe Lamar Jackson was a first round pick. He is Steve Young but right-handed. That we didn't know what to do with Steve Young because he ran. He was left-handed. He replaced Montana. When I watch Russell Wilson, by the way, Doug Baldwin retires, doesn't matter. Gadget guys work. Undrafted guys work.

Small guys. A blocking tight end now. Will Disley in college. is now a viable receiver. Now, people will say, Colin, you're from Seattle. But you're from the Midwest. You love Mahomes. How do you view Russell Wilson historically and now?

Right, I'll do it in reverse order. Right now, he is the best quarterback in the NFC. Period. Point blank. What quarterback leads the NFL in touchdowns over the last three years? It's Russell Wilson, despite having a pedestrian receiving court, and despite having Brian Schottenheimer, trying to run a 1980-style ground-and-pound offense.

Russell Wilson still leads the NFL in touchdown passes over the last three years. He is off to the best start he's ever had with minimal talent, and we talk about all these other teams. Put Russell Wilson on the Dallas Cowboys. They are the overwhelming Super Bowl favorites. Put Russell Wilson on the Chicago Bears. They're one of the greatest teams ever. put Russell Wilson on the Minnesota Vikings.

They become the favorites in the NFC. He is so underrated. And one thing where I think some people miss this, because I pick Seattle to win this division before the year, because we have had Wintz in Year 2 nearly win an MVP, Mahomes in Year 2 win an MVP, Brady in Year 18 win an MVP, we have forgotten when are players,

quarterbacks most notably, supposed to peak around year eight. Russell Wilson in year eight. He is off to the best start of his career. He is the glue that holds that organization together. And he continues to be one of the most underrated people in all of professional sports. Amen to you 100% on that, Colin. By the way, talent doesn't equal valuable.

I think OBJ is very talented. I don't know how valuable. And I'll give it some context. His 15 biggest games, the Giants and Browns, are 5 and 10. His 15 lowest production games, they're 9 and 6. Last weekend, lowest receiving yards of his career, and I think Cleveland looked fantastic. That's not a shot at him. He is, JJ Wado has had this appeal. He's great. Is he translating to W's? So I think he's at a crossroads. So last week, Jarvis Landry Chub and the defense and Baker lead the team, OBJ is not a big factor.

Do you, and you're a fan of OBJ, but are we at a little bit of a crossroads here? where when they have forced the ball to him, it doesn't look the same. He has become a player that's talented, but frankly, I can align things to say he's not that valuable to a team. Is that fair? No, it's not fair. It's wrong. So here's the thing. The Browns have two wins this year. One of them was because of Odell's brilliance.

He got the game started against the Jets, making a catch only he can make. And he ended the game against the Jets, making a play only one of maybe four other. the receivers can make taking a slant and going 80 yards out running everyone. You mentioned Greg Goselle earlier. Everyone is loved for over a decade now. Your segment with Greg Goselle where he breaks down the film. Ask him to break down the film on the Nick Chubb run and ask him why there was not a safety on that side of the field.

Oh, because they're worried about Odell. Ask him to break down why Ricky Seals Jones is running wide open. Oh, because they're worried about Odell. Odell took the attention of the defense, and that allowed the rest of the offense to open up. But of course, his impact can be seen. They have two wins. He had his fingerprints on both of them. And now if Odell had gotten—if Odell was the one who was choking a player on the opposition, we'd freak out.

Because he was the one being choked. It's a side story. Odell stays quiet after a win, and then, you know, he's the one. There is no add of boys. It's just what you're supposed to do. People waiting for him to be upset. He didn't get his touches, but they won and he wasn't. And I don't think the big games, five and ten, I think a lot of that is some of your biggest games as a receiver comes when your team is trailing already and they have to throw it all the time. They have a winning record when he doesn't have big games. Some of your smallest games are wide receiver, if you will. If you're blowing the opposition out, you go to the run. So I think that's more noise than signal.

I think Odell Beckham is going to be a huge part of the reason the Browns win that division this year, and he's been a huge part of their first two wins of the season. Well, it was certainly a well-constructed argument wrong, but nonetheless, well-constructed. Finally, I live in Los Angeles. So when you live in a city, I watch every Rams snap. I see every Ram's story.

I got three or four great beat riders in L.A. I follow. I think they're in trouble. Listen, my rule in professional sports is you only pay the people that win you game stars, and you pay them when you have to pay them. They paid Todd Gurley a year early. Nick, it looks like he's a shot fighter. The Rams are the three and one team in this league. I just don't buy what say you. I agree with you 100% and here's the problem. You paid Todd Gurley a year early. You can't get off his contract even next year. It costs you more money to cut him than to keep him. And that is not going to be looked at as their worst contract. They paid Jared

golf for no reason whatsoever other than it seemed like they should. I feel like in that building, they were anxious about golf. In that building, they knew you've got the coach giving him the answers to the test. You have prior to this year the best running back in football behind him, a perfect group of wide receivers as far as diversity of talents in Cooks, Woods, and Cup. And still, he's only great in the end when all of those things are there. If Gurley's out, he's not great. if Cooper Cup is out, he's not great. If the defense simply waits until Sean McVey can't talk to him anymore to make adjustments, he's not great.

And Belichick exposed some of that, and now Gurley's not Gurley, and now all of a sudden, Jared Gough, in his last 12 games, Colin, has 20 turnovers. Jared Gough last year, who had 16 touchdowns to two picks with a 110 rating on play action, has become the worst play action passer in football. touchdowns, three picks, a 60 rating. Why? Because it wasn't about his armed talent. It was about the threat of Todd Gurley. That threat is gone. And now they've got a quarterback with a tiny-handed $35 million a year quarterback. And you're about to have a situation where you've got the highest paid defensive player ever, running back ever, and one of the highest paid quarterbacks.

The only one who has a chance to live up to that contract is Donald. And even he, as soon as he becomes the fifth best defensive player in football instead of the very best. He's overpaid. I'm very worried about the Rams who right now this moment look like the third best team in the division. I think they'll finish second best in the division and miss the playoffs. I was telling you that a month ago. I think people are, I don't want to overreact to one game, worried about their offense,

though. Great stuff, Nick, right. Very good today. It came in. It's almost today like, did you notice Joy? Today he did his homework. You know, sometimes he just dad lives his way through it. But today he really, that's what the girl said to me that I broke up with.

She said I didn't work hard. And so Nick feels like breaking up with me right now because I was just joking, of course. Nick Wright, there he is on the big screen. Love you, brother. Good, good, seeing you. You too. Good to talk to you. Yeah.

No, the Rams thing is interesting because they were building the stadium joy and they were trying to sell PSLs. Right. And they were just paying everybody. And I think to Nick's point is in the process of paying Brandon Cook's more and Todd Gurley early, remember about a year ago, we kept saying, God, do they, Are they using a different ATM card? They're paying everybody. They went into the OBJ discussions.

And we were laughing. We're like, do they have a different salary cap? They're operating with different monies. And all of a sudden this morning, you wake up and you're like, oh, Gurley's a shot fighter. And now you're like, oh, so we had to let go Roger Stafford, the lineman to Tennessee, their center left, the offensive line. I think tomorrow's going to tell me a lot about the Rams season up in Seattle.

It will tell me a lot about the direction. Yeah, I agree. But I do think those two things you just mentioned are actually the secret sauce of what's happening with the Rams, which is their offensive line. It's not very good. Yesterday we had the guys on. It's like half as good as last year on the PFF grades. Coming up next, you know, I don't, some things seem obvious. I'm going to pay only people in sports if I'm an owner or a GM that win games for me. And I'll pay them as much as the market demands I pay them. I don't understand the money being paid in one sport to certain people, and I'll talk about it, and you saw it last night on display again.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the 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, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

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

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about. How healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

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

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball like,

after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's October, which means it's Geico Ween. Don't be scared of high rates on car insurance.

You could save so much. It could be scary, Joy. Geico, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. Geico Ween. There's some media buyer out there that thought that was clever. People love Halloween. I don't know if the Halloweeners love that spot. I love Halloween.

You know, in my neighborhood people party on Halloween. Oh, I'm sure you guys got the good candy. You probably give out like the full size. No, I give out gigantic kick cats. Like the full size kit cats? Yeah, yeah. Hey, your kid's teeth are not my problem. I just don't want them egg in my house.

So I give kids just nothing but kit cat bars. Who are the people that give out like the bags of pretzels? Well, two years ago, I gave out kale smoothies and I got egged. You deserved it. I switched it up. So last night, it was a crazy, crazy baseball game. It was a crazy scene. I don't want to talk about the game as much as the scene.

So the Nats, without Bryce Harper, played the Milwaukee Brewers. without their star Christian Yellich. By the way, the Brewers lost Yelich the last month and a half. They went 13 and 5 without him. And the Nats were 11 games better without Bryce Harper, the two superstars. If you watch the tape, it didn't hurt the overall crowd. You couldn't get a seat there. The Nats were 11 games better without Bryce Harper.

The dugout chemistry, it's never been this good. They won a series. Last night officially counts in baseball as a series. and the stadium, every seat was sold. Tonight, the A's and the Rays meet. The Rays have the bottom payroll in baseball and Oakland's 25th. The two highest payrolls, Cubs, Red Sox, did not make the playoffs. The four biggest contracts in Major League Baseball, like Mike Trout contract,

you know, that Mani Machado, Brow... None of them made the playoffs. They finished, they combined 122 games out. Do you see a pattern here? The Dodgers, by the way, only play. pay one player Clayton Kershop. That's it. They don't pay any of their position players big money. Now Russell Martin has a contract, but this front office didn't pay him. Toronto did. Justin Turner makes good money, not great money. The Yankees had a great year.

Their highest paid star, John Carlos Stanton, barely played. He was hurt two or three times. Their MVP is a utility guy that hits for average. Seeing a pattern here, by the way, on Saturday, please watch the Yankees and the twins on Fox Sports One. The twins have the 18th highest payroll. My point being, I don't get these 10-year, $250 million baseball contracts. Conno to the Mariners was a disaster. Joey Votto to the Reds didn't equal squat, just made one dude rich. Joe Mower to the twins.

Nah. John Carlos Stanton ruined the Marlins, and it's not helped the Yankees. They already had him. It was called Aaron Judge, and his contract was tiny. I like Bryce Harper. I really do, but I'm watching the Nats last night, and the dugout chemistry is amazing, and the crowd's amazing, and every seat sold,

and it's the first time they've won a playoff series. Yes, that counts as a series. I mean, it's the first one I can remember. They've been in a bunch, and they always underachieve, and I just don't get the big baseball contract. I don't get it. I mean, at some point, the St. Louis Blues won a Stanley Cup. Nobody made over $10 million.

I'll say it again. if I was a GM, I'd pay about a dozen NBA stars, about a dozen, and I'd pay about a dozen NFL quarterbacks. I'm going to try to get a discount on everybody else. Yeah, I mean, there's about 12 guys in the NBA I'm paying for. I'm paying for LeBron James. I'm being Roy Leonard. I'm paying for Hardin, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Yonis. I mean, there's guys I'd pay for. But even a Kyrie Irving. Nah, Kevin Durant now injury prone. Out. Westbrook, amazing talent. Doesn't make my team better. out. There's about 12 guys I'd pay for. And by the way, we have the owner of the Houston Rockets last hour. That'll be fun. And in the NFL, I tell you, you get to a point about, you get down to

about DAC who is a 12th, 10th, 11th, 13th quarterback after that. I think I draft one every year. But baseball is, you know, they got this thing where they just, they, you keep doing something. What did Einstein say? Like when you keep doing something and repeating it and it keeps failing? It's the definition of insanity. It's insane in baseball. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Like it just doesn't make any sense. And I like Bryce Harper.

But you're watching the Nats last night. They just didn't need him. I mean, they are 11 games better without him. 11. So, I mean, it's just incredible. Look how many teams. So the Phillies went and got him and in their division. Sam, how many teams from the Phillies division made the playoffs?

Braves and Nats made the playoffs from the Phillies division. So two teams in the Bryce Harper team division made the playoffs, not the Phillies, who had these high expectations and finished at 500. I don't get it. I just don't get it. I just, I can't. You baseball people keep telling me your savants and geniuses and analytics. You keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over with payroll.

And your business is only as good any business as your payroll department. So get it right. By the way, Brett Farr have an opinion about the Cowboys and the Packers game. this weekend. And he's not talking about Aaron Rogers. He's talking about Dak Prescott. So that's interesting. And also, NFL ratings are up on every network, despite major quarterback injuries. 11 backups will play this weekend.

And yet, ratings are up. A theory on that coming up, plus Joel Flatt around the corner. Tonight, the NHL playoffs kickoff, San Jose Sharks, Las Vegas Golden Knights, Discover card key matchup. Go further than ever with a Discover at Miles Card. Automatically matches Miles you earn at the end of your first year. New card members only. Discover.com slash travel.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happens.

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, we break it down,

give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action. with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the presentation. pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person

because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me. Join me. Me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win. and no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some

playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,

and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, here we go. Hour 2, Live in L.A. this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio,

Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I can't wait for this hour. Five minutes, Joel Platt stops by. Interesting college football weekend. There's a lot of depth this year in college football. Like Clemson, I would have Clemson rated fifth or sixth in the country. I don't know if the middle or bottom or any good, but the top of college football,

Auburn has been shockingly good to me. And it's also an unbelievable, starting tomorrow night on Fox, Rams at the Seahawks that will tell us a lot about that division and the NFC play. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you?

I'm great. I wonder how Joel Clatt is going to react to you putting Clemson at six or seven. Did you say you would swap them with Auburn? Yeah, I mean, I think Auburn, I can make an argument. Auburn's the second best team in the country. Clemson looks like six.

I mean, listen, I can't just vote Clemson in because I liked them before the season started. At some point, you have to watch the games and go. They're just not clicking offensively like I thought they would. So I'm wrong on that. I thought that was going to be one of the great offenses of all time. But Clemson does this all the time. They start a sputter September, October, then they get hot and boom. Davos watching all this. Yeah, yeah. Watching you, coward. Yeah. So Green Bay and Dallas play this weekend and why I think the game is fascinating. It's opposite

quarterbacks colliding. You know, Dak Prescott has limited skills, but we know he's a great leader. Aaron's got all the skills. We're not sure he's a great leader. Brett Far of yesterday talked about Dak Prescott, he likes him, I like him a lot. He's got everything you could ask for, size strength, arm strength, the guy's loving. He plays hard. He plays smart. You know, I think he's a legitimate, long-time quarterback, barring injury. And at some point, I do believe that he'll lead that team to the Super Bowl.

I think the expectation level is extremely high for Dallas, maybe more so this year than in previous years. all eyes are upon you. I'd be very comfortable if I was a Cowboys organization with Dak Prescott as my quarterback. I think he's a legit quarterback. Yeah, I do too. But I think this weekend's fascinating because DAC is limited skills, but a great leader. Aaron's the opposite. And they really are opposite.

Aaron has battled with authority in his career. Jerry Jones loves more than any player since Roma. he loves Dak Prescott. Aaron kind of the ad lib king moves around and gets hurt a lot. Dak Prescott has never missed a start and generally plays

within the confines of what his coaches want him to. Aaron tends to have his favorite receiver and his favorite players which can alienate others. Dak seems to get along with everybody. It's even funny, the family issue. You know, Aaron's had some

turbulence with his family. You know, brother called him out a year ago. You know, Dak has a commercial. His two brothers are in the commercial. I think the gap between Aaron and Dak is not as big as everybody thinks, although Aaron is clearly better. Because I've said this before, and I truly mean this, when you pay a quarterback, this is why I'm hard on Johnny Mansell,

James Winston, why I'm hard on Baker Mayfield. 25 to 30% of that contract is on, are you a grown-up? Can you get along with others? Are you coachable? Are you good, better in games? And I think that's where DAC is an absolute A plus. I think he's a leader.

He gets along with everybody. He's durable. He's coachable. And I'll take all that because I think it's a really big part of this game. I think what makes Brady great is not his arm. I think what makes Tom great is his willingness to evolve, his willingness to communicate. It's what likes Russell Wilson great. Russell and Tom Brady work with everybody.

They get along with everybody. instantly, immediately. What Russell Wilson is doing with Will Disley, the tight end, a blocking tight end, is unbelievable. But we shouldn't be surprised. And I think Dak has that same quality. He gets along and elevates everybody. He doesn't play favorites. And the other good news, if I'm reading PFF this morning,

Dak's getting better. His big time throw percentage, his deep pass this season, twice as effective as two years ago. and his sack rate, self-awareness, is half of what it was two years ago. So he's avoiding the sacks. He's getting smarter. He feels the pocket. And he's giving you more big-time throws. Again, Aaron's better than Dak, but when they play this weekend,

I don't think the gap, if you consider everything, is quite as large as you think. All right. Let's bring him on. He is the voice of college football at our network. His name is Joel Clatt, Fox Sports, this weekend. by the way. What's up, man? You're doing Jim Harbaugh.

Again, yes. Iowa at Michigan. Now, do you guys get along? I don't know this week. You've been very, well, I think you've been appropriately, you've been appropriately critical. Sure. Yeah. And I think he's said a lot of the same things that I've said about their preparedness

against Wisconsin, where they were struggling, in particular the offensive line. The philosophical change to this offense was not taking hold. You know, everyone's like, well, it got better last week. It was Rutgers. So, you know, forgive me if I'm going to wait until this week when they face Iowa's defense to see if this offense is actually turning a corner. Now, I have defended, I have said this about Michigan, cold weather football teams to me feel like they don't have the advantages in high school personnel like warm weather teams.

But that said, this is the best Notre Dame team I've seen in years. It may be the best Wisconsin team I've seen ever. Maybe ever, yeah. This is the best Washington football program in 25 years. Penn State's now big boy football. So, you know, I tend to support Harbaugh on the cold weather teams. The universities are sort of elite universities and blah, blah, blah, blah. A lot of cold weather teams are doing great.

This is on Jim and the coordinator he hired reportedly without an interview. Yeah, in person. In person. No, in person interview. That's correct. And we'll see. So for me, a big thing. And I know this is in the weeds.

But one of the things that Michigan was great at under Jim Harbaugh before this season was running the ball on first down. Getting to advantageous second down, you know, markers. I'm a big thing. When you're on schedule, when there's not pressure on your quarterback as far as getting, you know, back into converting on third down or third and long as obvious passing situations,

your offense is going to be pretty efficient. Last year, they were over five yards per carry on first down. This year, they're barely at four. That yard is a big difference. I know it's not a, you might be thinking like, what are you talking about? That's a big difference. In particular when you talk about just the philosophy.

and the pressure on the quarterback. They're just not as physical as they've been. They look soft and finessey. By the way, here's Clats top 10. Let me see where you got Clemson here. I've got Clemson at six. Okay, then you and I agree. Yeah.

And the reason is, and candidly, I think that that's favorable because Wisconsin, Auburn, and Notre Dame at times have looked better than what Clemson has looked. Oh, God, Auburns look better. Absolutely. Last week was an incredible game for Auburn. So you've got Ohio State, Bama, LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, at Clemson, Wisconsin, Texas, Notre Dame Auburn.

I don't disagree. I think you have Auburn low. Other than that, I totally agree. The Auburn thing for me is like if you matched up the teams, so that's part of my basis, right? Like, okay, Texas and Auburn play this week. I think Texas might probably win that game. Maybe a toss up. Notre Dame Auburn, maybe toss up. I would lean Notre Dame.

So that's why I have them there. And at the end of the year, Colin Auburn's going to have three losses. This is about the highest that they're going to get. Auburn's not going to be a factor in the SEC. West. All right. That's a big, that's a big thing there. I want to talk to you about, so I am, I'm going to admit this, I root for chaos. That's what I do. And my job, Joy and I have talked to, I'm in the interest. You just sound like that was profound. Like, we all know that. We listen every day. I root for tire fires in sports. I just love them. You know what I mean? I want Cleveland to get blown out, win by 20. No, you don't say. Every weekend I want to do. I'm sure. Right. So I'm, I mean, you just compared. Baker to Johnny and James Winston, but I'll, you know, go ahead. If Andy Dalton got in a train and left the NFL tomorrow, I'd be fine. I'd rather have Lamar.

Great, terrible, great, terrible. I root for chaos. So this California thing, so for those listening, California came out, were a very liberal state, where pro worker, not pro corporation. And the state came out and said, you got to pay those college athletes. Now, the universities don't pay. Not just, yeah, go ahead. So the universities don't pay, which was always my fear, which was I was always very reluctant.

It is YouTube can pay them. you know, Apple can pay a digital service, a podcast company can pay them, and it's chaos. So I'm going to ask you, first of all, I like the idea because I don't know how it's going to transpire, but I like that it makes everybody in the room

uncomfortable. Your initial reaction to this is what? Okay, so there's a lot to unpack. I'm going to try to do it quickly. First of all, I think you have to understand what it is. This act, the Fair Pay to Play Act in California, is it it does not allow schools to punish kids for going out and monetizing their name, image and likeness.

Okay, so this is not making the kids employees of the school. So this rhetoric that you hear from the NCAA or the PAC 12 about professionalization of the sport, that's not what this is. They are not paying the players to play. So in fairness, the name of the act is actually a little bit misleading. But then also the communication and the rhetoric from the NCAA is very misleading. This is just, like you said, name, image, and likeness. This is a good thing.

This is not going to hurt women's opportunities in athletics. It's going to make them better. Let me give you a great example. Katie Ladecki could stay at Stanford, swim in college, and prepare for the Olympics. Why wouldn't you want that? Right. That's crazy to not want that. And then there's some other arguments like, well, the rich will get richer.

I would actually, and bear with me, and I think you're going to like this kind of theory, because you love chaos. Right now, when it's under. the table. Listen, there are teams that cheat. Oh, God, yeah. Just flat out. I'll name eight right now. Well, and to what degree they're cheating, I think a lot of teams do and a lot

of programs do, but to what degree, the ones that are like going, like pedal to the metal, there are only a few. Yeah. Okay, that will do it like no holds bar. I'll name them right now. I actually believe that if you bring all of this into the light, right, and you say, okay, now you can have a booster that owns a car

dealership and whatever it is, okay, whatever it is, I think that you're actually going to find that it's more competitive for these athletes than just the four or five schools willing to go the 300 grand route in a bag. It's going to be more competitive in recruiting, not less competitive. By the way, Alabama Clemson are going to meet for the championship again. Stop telling me the rich will get richer. The richer already richer.

Stop it. Yes. I couldn't agree more. This idea that, oh, it's going to implode only a few schools. The hell I can name the playoff for the next eight years. Yes, exactly. I'd say the system that we're in right now. It's a broken system where the payment to players in some degrees are only happening at certain places.

And those are the ones that we're getting every single year. So listen, and I know I'm insinuating some things here, but this is very common knowledge. I'll name seven schools right now. Cheating. I'm not going to name the schools. I'll tell you that this is going to make it more competitive. And again, again, this is not paying players to play. No.

This is giving them their own name, image, and likeness. Now, are there parameters that need to get set up? Absolutely. And it's also something that's important to note that this doesn't take place until 20, 23. Right. So this in actual reality, they've got time to figure this out. This is more a shot across the ballot, like figure it out or we're going to figure it out for you. And you said, you know, it's a liberal state, this and that.

This is actually one of the most bipartisan political issues that we have in our country. There are Republican legislators and other states that are passing and will pass very similar issues. There's a House Ways and Means Committee that's doing this. Republican led on that side. This is the most bipartisan political issue that we've got in our entire country. The NCAA is the lone objector to this. The lone objector. And it's like you don't have any strong footing.

It's like the person in the group chat that makes it green. It's like you're kicked out. You guys know that. You guys know that, right? The friend that makes a group track green, you're like, hey, let's remove that person. No kidding. Right? I'll still name seven programs right now.

I'll name three green group chatter. that I'm kicking out tomorrow. Okay. Way to go on that. All right, here we go. So I got to tell you, we're seeing something in the NFL I love. Is these college quarterbacks now are coming in the NFL.

They're making the game way more fun. Baltimore. Well, Baker's one of them. Lamar is one of them. Daniel Jones is one of them. They're making the game more fun. The Giants were tired. The Giants were tired.

Not anymore. Can't wait for Giant games. Sure. Arizona, turnstile. Not anymore. Joe Flacco, I'm over it. Lamar Jackson, I'm into it. Tyrod Taylor to Josh Allen, turn style to Baker Mayfield, you know, turn style to Sam Darnold, who will play this week. I love this. And here's what's amazing. We're getting fewer and fewer boring teams. In the NFL now, even they're rebuilding bad teams with young quarterbacks like Arizona. Interesting. Oh, they're fascinating. Usually in sports, bad teams can't watch. Arizona is a fun watch. By the way, you missed Mason Rudolph. How good did Mason Rudolph? Give me a break. It bored me to. death. All right, let's get now. Now, here's the good news. I think we got five quarterbacks that are coming into this league. Two is going to go number one. Justin Herbert.

Jake Eason, big arm guy. Jake Fromm. Can I ask you this? We got two a video. What do you make of Tua as a prospect? Is he Russell Wilson left-handed? I think at his best, yes. That's what I see. He's not as sturdy as Russell. That's one thing that gets lost in the Well, hey, Russell Wilson's a small quarterback. Yeah, but he's thick. He's very sturdy. I don't know how sturdy to a is in that respect. But I will tell you this thing.

I think that there is a bottom line proposition to playing the position in the NFL. Do you get the ball on target and on time? Okay. It takes everything else out of the equation, on target and on time. He throws it on target and on time as well as anybody. I think Jalen Hertz is increasing his NFL stock. You do. A kid that LSU is going to face from Utah State.

Jordan Love is a guy that you got a, he's 6, 4, 225 pounds. He's a legit NFL prospect. There's a lot of them out there. It's amazing. And it's exciting for the NFL, certainly. To this point, I grew up in Denver. How boring are the Denver Broncos 0 and 4 with Joe Flacco? It's brutal.

I mean, like, I talked to my dad and he's like, oh, the Broncos. And I'm like, yeah, I know. It's painful. And here's the thing, Joy and I talked about this, every single team that is, moved off their old guy. They're all happy today. Baltimore's happy. Arizona's happy.

Sure. The Giants are happy. Every one of them, every one of them that rolled the dice and said, we're going to move off flacco. People are going to be offended. That was a great move. We're going to move off, Eli.

What's the press going to say? Great move. That's why I say, Cam Newton, Kyle Allen. Watch out. I will say, though. Watch out. Devil's advocate. Let me play devil's advocate for a moment.

All right. Guess who else is excited about this move? Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Because they dominate. Because when it comes down to it, right? Like when it gets into a divisional playoff game or an AFC championship game, are they going to want to see like the, you know, are they going to want to see Lamar Jackson or are they going to want to see Ben Rathesberger?

They're going to want to see Lamar Jackson. All right. Let me see what else here I want to get to with you. Okay, so Michigan, I would probably take Iowa on the points against Michigan. You don't care about Fox bet stuff I do. I think it's a close game. I think it's a close game. And this is going to tell us,

I believe that Saturday is the defining moment of the Harbaugh era. Wow. Think about it. Do you think they win? I don't know if they're going to win or not. But I will tell you, if they do, there's at least hope. If they don't. They're in trouble.

Even you and I can't defend them. Correct. It's hard to defend it. 100%. I think it's indefendable if they lose this weekend. By the way, let's go back. What's that California pay the kid thing? Yeah.

And here's the thing. If I was a high school. Speaking of chaos. If I was a kid. Segment. If I was a kid in California with all, all 15 minutes from my house is a YouTube office. Sure. If I'm a kid and I can get paid for my likeness, the hell, why wouldn't you come to California?

It's crazy. It's going to look interesting. The NCAA is going to do something. I think that there should be a centralized marketing department that has the Q score and marketing. value for every player so that you can't just have some guy, you know, hey, I'm going to give this kid a million dollars to come to Arkansas. It's like, well, that kid doesn't deserve a million dollars. My name's Smokey.

Right. Smokey. Bewick dealership and Fayetteville. So I think if we had a centralized market department that had the Q scores, we have this, we have this all the time. Everybody knows what the free market principles are. And we can establish the value of every player in college football. And we can say that you can't get a deal that's over your market value.

You know what free market principles do. for me? I don't know. What do they do for you? I was just being obnoxious. I love chaos. I do like chaos. I know. But this interview was chaos. Well, no, it was fairly, uh, I thought today we agreed in a lot of stuff. I know. It's a little disheartening. It is, joy. And I'm, what's your upset? My, he doesn't, I'm not, and we're not doing that anymore. That's stupid thing. What do you mean? That's like, you know, that was the best part of the segment and you're just throwing it out. The other day I got mad driving home. Why? That you literally will take a field goal game and say they, oh,

win. That's not a segment. I have allowed that for two years with you and it's a ridiculous segment. I have told you that this segment is not about almost upset. It's about an underdog that will cover. Why don't you just say that? Because it's more fun. That doesn't have the same ring to it.

Do you think? What's your underdog that will cover this week? Wow. Okay. Okay. Who's your underdog? I like the upset. I think Iowa. You want just a flat upset pick? Whatever you planned upset. Whatever you had to have a chair. It was an almost upset. It was like a large underdog that might get close.

Watch out for Utah State. Like I said, that NFL quarterback going to LSU, LSU's defense is not what it has been. You never know in a game like that. Watch out for Utah State. All right, good seeing you. Thanks for getting us on that California pay-for-play thing. You bet. You did a good job on that.

You didn't get out in the weeds. You were very professional. Thank you, Colin. This is awkward. It is weird when you guys agree. You were good this week. That was fine. Don't count on it next week.

Don't hold your breath. I mean, they don't call it 10 minutes or wrong. for nothing with you. That's right. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough

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

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, Mom, I'm a one. want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifferts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up to quince.

what licking his fingers why he got the bar like after you go through a training camp with that I said you figure it out real quick get your ass up and down the court and you're gonna get the ball so listen to point game on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts Friday night smackdown premieres on Fox in just two days with a star-studded 20th anniversary event so Colin and I use the face swap filters on Instagram and Facebook to become Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock,

Kofi Kingston, and The Undertaker. Don't miss all of your favorite wrestlers this Friday at 7.30 Eastern, 630 Central only on Fox. I don't know. I think I nailed it. Yeah, The Rock is going to be there, by the way. Yeah.

And on our show Friday, Hulk Hogan will stop by. Oh, were you supposed to say that? Or was supposed to be a big surprise guest? Because yesterday you said it was a surprise guest. So they came to me Monday and they said, hey, what do you think about Hulk Hogan on the show? Of course I'd take Hulk Hogan on the show. Wrestlers are the best interviews that you will ever have because they're on 24-7.

And they're bigger than life. And Hulk Hogan was a college football player. I think it like Miami middling player. Oh, that was the Rock. I thought Hulk played some football too and then decided to make a- hurricane. Yeah, the Rock was a hurricane. I thought Hulk Hogan was a Florida football player somewhere and decided to be like America's

favorite wrestler. He really figured it out. Hulk Hogan really figured it out quick. He's just one of those iconic. guys. It's just like you think of wrestling and you think of the Rock. You think of Hulk Hogan. And he didn't have Undertaker. Hulk Hogan didn't have

Twitter. He didn't have Facebook. He didn't have he didn't have all these social media activists, platforms. Can you imagine how big Hulk Hogan would have been now? Because he didn't have any of that and was still a major national figure. Can you imagine Muhammad Hali and Hulk Hogan

if you had had given them the social media platforms today? I mean that just shows you the length of the legend. Yeah. Like the brand and the reach that they have without it. By the way, guys, stop using your wife or your girlfriend shampoo. Use your own. Get your own. Dovemen Plus care. Range designed to give your hair the care it needs to be strong and resilient.

Available at Walmart, Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll, said this week that he thinks Russell Wilson is having his best year yet. I is. Wilson was asked if he agrees with his coach and he said he feels good and is locked into this season. And I think I'm playing good. I think there's some more things out there that you can always try to do.

And, you know, I wish we could, we could, I could have found a way to win the game, you know, the game we lost against the Saints, you know, wish I had that one back somehow. But I feel locked in for sure. You know, you're asking me how I feel. I'm definitely locked in, ready to roll. And my whole goal, my whole career has been from day one, you know, treated every day like it's day one. First time I've ever seen the play.

First time I've ever seen the film. and then use the experiences, because those are real, use those experience to help you continue to grow. He's really, and what's really amazing this year, Doug Baldwin bolted, they have a rookie wide receiver, they're using a blocking tight end who's now become a real force, and I still don't think they have a great offensive line. He's really, that's why I don't want to hear about Devonte Adams

out for the Packers against Dallas. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to hear about it. Russell Wilson is putting up unbelievable, numbers with a rookie, a blocking tight end, and a guy that was a gadget guy at Kansas State. Lockett. It was a gadget guy. I think we make excuses for situations where we feel like the play should be elevated and

we want to figure out why. And then for other guys, it's always their fault. Like, not comparing DAC to Russell Wilson at this point, but DAC is someone where it's always like, oh, it's Dax fault. Yes. You know what? We'd like certain people. He liked Darren Rogers.

He's a packer. He's good looking. He's doing funny commercials. He's talented. So we defend him to the end. Cam Newton, good looking, number one pick. Wildly fun to watch. We protect him.

Yet, Russell Wilson, third round pick, a little small. He's never missed the game since becoming a starter. A little too goody, goody for some. We find fault. Dack Prescott. Fourth round, mechanics. By the way, plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Because there's a, you know, we always find reasons to bang on Russell and to bang on

DAC, but we have kind of protected Cam, I get pushed back today. Cam's lost eight straight starts. Yeah, I mean, the narrative around your career. Do we like you initially? Yeah, shapes whether you get the blame or the, you know, the criticism or the praise for each situation. But he is having an amazing year. He has career highs and passer ratings, yards per attempt, and completion percentage

for the first four games. So he's having an impressive start to this year. So the Patriots defense has been. unstoppable so far this season. They've held opposing offenses to an average of 3.75 points a game, and no one appreciates it more than Tom Brady. Our defense is playing great football, the best football I can ever remember our defense playing, which has been really spectacular to watch. And we're all excited about the way that they're playing. The defense did not allow a touchdown until week four, third quarter against the bills, the Josh Allen one-yard run. They're drawing a lot of

comparisons to the 2000 Patriots defense with Ty La, Willie McGuinness, Richard Seymour. Yeah. And a look at the next five quarterbacks to Patriots defense faces before their week 10 by. A bunch of junk. Well, Washington's, whoever's going to start for the Redskins, Case Keenham, Dwayne Haskins, or Colt McCoy,

Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold, if he's healthy, if not, Luke Falk, Baker Mayfield, and Lamar Jackson. They're going to win those games. By the way, some of those guys are really talented. the darn old Baker and Lamar, but their kids, they're really young. And I'm telling you, Joy, that secondary, it's as good as secondary as I've ever seen in my life. Their defense is absolutely incredible this year.

Finally, DeMonte Adams is likely out for the weekend for the Packers. So Aaron Rogers will need to lean on the rest of his receiving core against the Cowboys. They're actually very big and very talented. Well, Jimmy Grant has had a slow start the season, but Rogers still believes in him. Yeah, trust aside with Jimmy. I got a lot of faith in him. You know, he made a great adjustment on the touchdown in the first half, two-minute drive. Not something we talked about.

He just wheeled it up, and I saw him, and he made a nice catch on the ball. I know he probably, you know, expects to make one of those two plays there that we had down there. But I have a ton of confidence in Jimmy. Well, he was targeted Jimmy Graham twice on the one-yard line to tie the game in the fourth quarter. He couldn't make touchdown catch on fourth down over the Eagles. Zach Brown, who is six inches shorter. We're showing the video of it now. I don't really hold that particular catch against him.

That's a very, that would have been an incredibly impressive catch for him to make, even if he is much taller. Aaron now has the defense he's always wanted, or at least it's better. So no more excuses when you're missing a receiver. I don't want to hear about that. I don't think, I mean, look, Devante Adams is a big piece to lose. There's no two ways about that. But you got to make it work. Edelman missed a year.

Doug Baldwin retired. If Jack Prescott didn't have Amari Cooper, who would still find a way to make it Jack Prescott's fault, they lost. Sean Jackson, Carson, Carson Wentz hasn't had a deep threat in Green Bay. Didn't have anybody over the top. Green Bay knew it, and he went in there and worked his magic.

By the way, yeah, Dak Prescott, for the record, will be playing in this game without both of his starting tackles, one potentially and won his left tackle. It's the best tackle in the NFL in probably eight years. Yeah. So I'll tell you this, I'd rather miss a receiver than my tackles. Yes, DAC isn't a much tough position with that.

So how come that's not the headline out there by the big media people? Because this is how it goes. This is how it goes with Aaron Rogers. And not just particularly Aaron Rogers and put it on Aaron Rogers. Like there are narratives around certain quarterbacks where if you look at the game and they lose because Aaron Rogers is such an incredible talent. Yeah. It's got to be some other factor. And if you don't like the talent or the style of another quarterback, then it becomes,

their responsibility. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping back. The heard-line news. A interesting story here this morning on pro football talk, Todd Gurley is getting very frustrated and agitated with the media covering the L.A. Rams because they keep, the reality is he's no longer the centerpiece of the offense.

And increasingly, I'm not sure if he's the future of the Rams after a year. It's interesting. A couple years, it was last off season. Joy and I had talked about this. The Rams, remember when the Rams, so they paid money for Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks and Adomacan Su and Akeep Taleb? And then the story came out. They were in the hunt for Odell Beckham. And we were laughing.

We're like, how can the Raiders not afford one star, Khalil Mack? And then the Rams have seven and they want OBJ. What bank are they using? Is it in Zurich? Is it in Switzerland? Is it there's no taxes? Well, now by overpaying people or paying everybody, Gurley early, the Rams have a problem. Their offensive line is not nearly as good.

They've had to move off a center and a guard. And Todd Gurley appears to be sort of a shot fighter. Solomon Wilcox came on yesterday and said, it's Gurley, it's the O line. This offense is not the same. Their overall passing grade in terms of pass protection is down by nearly 35. How about the run blocking from one year ago? It's down by nearly 35 points. They're not getting the runner, whether it's Todd Gurley or someone else,

they're not getting the runner to the second level of the defense. They're not able to protect the quarterback Jared Gough as well as they did one year ago. He's being hit, hurried, and harassed at a greater rate than one season ago, and it's having its cumulative effect. I think what you're seeing with the Rams is they paid all that big money, all of us, myself included. I live in Los Angeles, we're like they must be using a different ATM card than everybody else. But they didn't need to pay early early. They did. I thought they overpaid on Brandon Cooks, although I knew they wanted an over-the-top receivers because

Cup and Robert Woods are not that. But you can't just keep paying big money to everybody. At some point, it will come back and you'll have a deficiency. This is the greatness of the Patriots. They not only get a discount on Tom, outside of Stefan Gilmore, they rarely have the highest-paid player or close to it at any position. But they don't because they don't pay those big salaries. I mean, look at the numbers here. Cooks, Donald, Gough, Gurley. I'm adding them up here. That's 180. That's like $300 million. I mean, $275 million on four guys. That would never happen in

New England. I think some of this was the PSLs, the stadium. It was Los Angeles. LeBron came to town. They wanted to get a lot of attention. The Dodgers were getting to the World Series. the clippers with Steve Balmer, Doc Rivers were making noise, and there was a sense in L.A. L.A.F.C. came into town. It's a very, very competitive market, and they didn't want to be left out with a stadium being built and PSLs being asked for. So they went and signed a lot of stars, and the offensive line is now a huge problem, and Gurley has no juice. And as the story said, getting frustrated and agitated with people asking about it. Bucky Brooks, my buddy NFL network, former corner and scout coming up next.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the 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, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so rapid. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about.

All healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways. to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective

on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Bucky Brooks, former NFL defensive back, drafted by the bills in the second round,

that an NFL scout built up the Panthers and Seahawk rosters. You're here to defend Todd Gurley. He looks like he's got no, you got no juice to me. I think they're in trouble tomorrow. You think they're in trouble tomorrow? They won three in a row against the Seahawks. I think they're okay. I think they understand how to play Seahoehl.

He looks like he's a shot fighter. Well, I don't know if he has enough opportunities to see if he has it. I think here's the thing that runs wrong with the Rams. When the Rams become a team that is driven by Ty Girl, not by Jared Gough, they kind of get wayward. Their team that needs to run through Todd Gurley. Todd Gurley is their best offensive player. He's their most dynamic, most explosive offensive player. When he gets the ball, it changes the way the defenses defend the rest of the offense.

As a former scout, is he the same guy? I would say he is the same. I think what has happened is, look, everyone talks about what happened in the playoffs. They talk about the New Orleans game and the fact that C.J. Anderson came and had some success. But remember, in the Dallas game, Todd Gurley also ran for 100 yards. Like he had a 100-yard game against the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs. In the Super Bowl, if given more opportunities, he was a guy that was getting in rhythm and being able to make plays.

Todd Gurley has to get the ball 20 to 25 times a game, be it runs, be a combination of runs and passes. He has to have it enough to affect the game. When you're giving it to him 10 times, 15 times, it's not enough for him to have an impact on the way the defenses play. And also, when you talk to people that play against the Rams, what teams are doing now is they're banking on, look, if we can lock up the running game early

and make the Rams throw off traditional dropback passes, Jared Goff's a different passer. When you don't have the threat of the running game, he changes, the offense changes. It's not as a potent. It's not as explosive. By the way, I think the most fascinating game, there's about six I can't wait to watch,

Monday night football, Cleveland goes to San Francisco. Now, San Francisco's off a buy, and Kyle Shanahan's very clever. That could be, but Cleveland's defense, I think, can play with a lot of teams in this league. But in the first three games, I did feel like Cleveland was trying to get OBJ involved. Last week, Chubb, Landry, Baker, and it's the best Cleveland's look in, I thought, even last year. Now, my question is Monday off OBJ's work. Worst receiving yards game ever, two catches. Will they go back to appease OBJ?

Because I think it's a real thing. People could say, I'm just exaggerating. I do think they have to make sure OBJ is at least satisfied with his opportunities. I mean, this is the nature of the position. You heard Adam Thielen come out and talk about Kurt Cousins. Like when you play wire receiver, man, it is like a track meet if you don't touch the ball. You're just running up and down the field and you're not involved. And so good coaches have somebody or they have a place on their play sheet to remind them to make sure that they keep those guys involved.

You have to get them a hitch route, a slant, something that keeps them active. Because in the fourth quarter, if you need them, they have to be in rhythm. They have to feel like they're part of the game playing. You can't ignore them for three quarters. Then to the fourth quarter, say, hey, OBJ make a play. It doesn't work like that. But to your point about the Browns, Freddie Kitchens has figured out what makes them go. And what makes them go is what made them go last year.

Everyone went crazy about Baker. Their offenses at their best when they run through Nick Chub. Nick Chub, the running game, sets up everything else. When they're able to run the ball, it allows Baker-Mayfield to throw off play action. It enables them to be able to get the ball to the receivers off some of these subtle play fakes, quick slants, things behind linebackers creeping up to defend the run. As long as Freddie Kitchens keeps the main thing, the main thing, which is the running game,

pounded, control the clock, and then throw complimentary passes, the Brown's offense will be fine. I was saying NFL ratings are up at every network despite 11 backups playing this week. And I think you could say it's just gambling. Maybe it is. But I think what is happening is it's a very good movement in the NFL. Baltimore went from boring flacco to uneven but exciting Lamar Jackson. Texans went from boring Brock Osweiler to dynamic Deshaun. Watson. Kansas City, productive but sort of tired Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes, Eli to Daniel Jones.

We are seeing, these are flawed quarterbacks, fewer great, most are uneven. But as a television consumer, they're fantastic. I love watching Kyler Marie play, Daniel Jones play. I'm going to go to your scouting. Now, Tua, I think works in the NFL. I think how many quarterbacks do you think get drafted early next year. You've looked at tape. You've seen them. I think it's a huge quarterback year. Great year for quarterbacks. I think we're talking about five guys for sure that end up going in the first round. Wow. Tua, like if they come out. So we have Tua, we have Justin Herbert. We have Jake Fromm, who gets a lot of attention. Georgia. Jordan Love. Utah State. Look, man, you have Joe Burrow, who's going to get some attention. Jacob

Eason, who is in the mix, who may be the most talented of them all. Washington. And then you have Jalen Hertz. And so, you have, you. you have guys that are beginning to look at the quarterback position and not only realize that, hey, we can take what they do on Saturday and we can sprinkle that into the Sunday game and they can have success. Coordinators are more creative, more willing to do some of the stuff that we're seeing play and some of the stuff that's used prominently in the college game, and it's allowing the young quarterbacks to flourish.

The Giants. Just look at the Giants with Daniel Jones versus how they played with Eli Manning. You're seeing RPO's, you're seeing movement-based stuff. We saw Daniel Jones run some zone read things. It opens up the field. It's different. It's refreshing. And because the game on Sunday looks more like the exciting games that we see on Saturdays,

you have more people tune in. Yeah, I mean, it's Justin Herbert kid at Oregon, big, strong athletic. I mean, it's just, he's going to work in today's NFL. Tua, who worries me a little, he's a little Russell Wilson, but more fragile, is going to work in the NFL. Jacob Eason's a little flacco to me, Denver. will love him. Huge arm. The kid at Utah State plays LSU this weekend. You love him. Yeah, so Jordan Love is the guy that is experiencing what I call the Pat Mahomes bounce. Pat Mahomes as a prospect. And look, there's some guys on our side that say, like, they loved him.

They knew he would be this. I would say you'd be hard pressed to find NFL scouts that really felt that he was going to be the MVP two years into the league. The common refrain when you talked about Pat Mahomes, super talented, unbelievable, raw, talent, but you just didn't know who could refine it. Perfect storm. Andy Reed, great quarterback coach, great whisperer. Every quarterback that he has touched has played well. Andy Reed had experienced with a guy that was similar.

And Brett Farf kind of nurtured him and helped Brett Farms. So Mahomes is going to get this kid drafted. Absolutely. Because once we miss on something that looks similar to that, the next thing that looks anything like that, we're going to overdraft. And so I think the kid is talented. He's raw. But because Patma Holmes has worked in Kansas City,

someone's going to climb up and say, hey, Jordan Love just needs some coaching. We got the right coaches. We can make him be the next Patma Holmes. Yeah, I'm watching. It's funny, Bucky. I'm watching this Saturday college football. The quality of quarterback play.

Trevor Lawrence is a sophomore. Justin Fields at Ohio State are sophomores. Those are two. Like those are two. Last year after the championship game, everyone was ready to annoy it Trevor Lawrence as the number one. I'm telling you right now, Justin Fields, at the end of the day,

would be the bell of the ball in that draft class. Justin Fields has everything. By the way, he's a sophomore. 20 years ago, their sophomore quarterbacks in college were not that developed. Yes. They were not.

No. I mean, this whole thing, seven-on-seven camps. I have a buddy whose kid is a developing quarterback in Southern California. 11 years old. He had a personal coach, weight training. It's a whole industry.

They're writing books on it. Whole industry. Look, Trent Diffor heads up Elite 11. I work with those guys on that. You get a chance to see those guys. part of the reason why I can go big on Tua and From and some of those other guys. They all came through it. So you get a chance to see them in competition.

You get a chance to be behind the scenes. And I will say there's never been better quarterback player than the play that we're seeing right now. Yeah, no, that's where I agree. Saturdays, you're seeing sophomores now that look like, oh, you could put them on a roster in the NFL. Bucky Brooks, great stuff, hour three 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 IHard Radio app. Real pleasure for me.

Tillman Fertita, shut up and listen is the new book. He is not only unique among American billionaires. He's one of the only, if not the only NBA owner of the Rockets. He owns it all out. He owns every business himself. He doesn't have boards and shareholders. That's very rare, by the way. People think Mark Cuban owns the Mavericks.

I'll just say this. He owns less than 50% of the Mavericks, Steve Ballmer has other owners. You own the rocket straight out. You were a season ticket holder 40, 30 years ago. By the way, they have a hell of a history. People forget this. I grew up.

There was the Samson. There was the Elajuan, the Kenny Smith, the Clyde, the Barclay. Moses Malone. Moses Malone. Yeah, I mean, it goes way back. Now, I have to imagine for you as you built your empire. This is different, though. Why is sports?

Because you pay $2.2 billion. and people go, oh, Tillman, why is sports a great investment? It's the greatest. And I got great advice when I was chasing the rockets is that don't ever let a couple of hundred million dollars come in between you because I can show you all the cases where somebody didn't chase something and they regretted it later. You know, the Golden State Warriors, so many people were after them, the clippers, so many people. But there's never been a major sports team sell for less.

And so when everybody was trying to make the numbers work, when the rockets came up, I was working on raising the money. And that's why I got it. It was the quickest close ever and the most amount of money. The team came up on July the 17th, and the deal was done on September the 5th Labor Day. Yeah, because I remember when you bought it, it went from non-story to story. It wasn't discussed. Right.

Even the Carolina Panthers, it took like six to eight months for that transaction to happen. But this was my one shot again to buy a team in my hometown and to have an NBA team, which is just the absolute greatest. I was not going to lose. Yeah, you've had the same season tickets. You've sat in the same seat for decades upon decades. Now, you started with $5,000 in a restaurant. Now, I know you're a cousin to the Fritita family that I was sort of, well, Las Vegas, the Casinos, the Station Casino Group. Yeah, Palace and all those.

Palistation. Great cousins. Yes. So, but you really have different careers. These are not kind of linear careers. They're different. But you are. There's some good DNA, some good entrepreneur DNA in our family. Give me something. You have been a risk taker, which most billionaires are. But your book is titled, Shut Up and Listen. Do you have a big mistake? Do you have a moment you look back and go, well, I learned from that one. Because we all think billionaires. You guys are geniuses. But geniuses make mistakes. For sure. And believe me, I've never been the smartest guy in the room, okay, ever. But I've made lots of little mistakes, but I've never made that giant mistake. And I think it's because of my principles that I talk about. There are no spare customers, regardless if you're in the gaming business or you're trying to put people in the Toyota Center for the Rockets. You've got to put a good product out there and you've got to take care of your customer. And so there are no spare customers, the 95-5 rule. All good businesses, we do 95% of everything right. Look for the 5% that's wrong. And I do that with every one of my business. You drive up to it. Is the parking lot dirty or the plant's dead or there's cigarettes out front or their candy wrappers out front? Is the front glass smudged? Look for the 5% before you even walk in the door.

At the end of the year this year, me and Daryl and Coach Mike, we sat down and talked about what do we need to do? We're so close. We're 95% there. What's the 5%? So Russell Westbrook. Now, Joy thinks it's going to work. I have my questions about two ball-centric guards. In the end, it is a risk.

Why do you think it works? I think that James and Russell, they played together in Oklahoma City. They played together in L.A. when they were growing up. They know each other. And you've got to realize that they're both 30 years old, okay? Chris was 34 years old, and the two winning the seasons, the Rockets have ever had games-wise in the regular season. is Chris Paul, and we would have never accomplished it without him.

And I think Oklahoma is going to surprise you with Chris Paul this year. I think Oklahoma City is going to be a pretty damn good team. But there's a chemistry, I think, with James and Russell that is going to shock people. Remember, Chris is 34, they're 30. In basketball years, that's a lot of years. That's not like, oh, they're 34, 30, we're in business together. They have totally different classes, totally different groups of guys. Remember, Chris is more with the LeBron group and the Carmelo group.

Right. And James is the Russell group. And I think that they both know their strengths. They both know their weaknesses. They also both know they're under contract to the Houston Rockets for the next four years. And this is it. If you're going to win a championship, this is it. This is when you win them.

This is when Hakeem won his at 30 and 31. Where were you the drive to the arena? Where were you the moment you decided to go for it with Westbrook? Do you remember the moment, maybe the. analytic, maybe Daryl Morey calls you on the phone, the room. Where was the go for it moment? I was, I was in Europe. And so I'm six, seven hours ahead of them. So I'm talking at two, three, four in the morning. And we just decided to do it. And they ran different statistics by me. And even I think my basketball ops got a little, maybe a little week at the end. And I just said, we're doing this.

We are going to make the change. And we're going to go out. after it and roll the dice. We're going to find that 5%. The one thing I believe you do in business and you do in basketball is you never sit still. You always keep it exciting. And not only is it exciting that I think we're a better team, it's exciting for the fans. And once again, that's where I get back to my fans that I owe it to them to give them the best opportunity to win a championship every year. It's very interesting.

Hockey, the St. Louis Blues, win a championship, no player over 10 minutes. million. In baseball, you can make an argument. The Dodgers win their division, and they just don't pay anybody but Clayton Kershaw. In the NFL, Tom Brady takes a pay cut. You are in a business in the NBA that is much like international soccer. You are driven by stars. So to some degree, you are beholden to individuals' personalities. So how important is James Harden? Because he's the franchise guy. What about his character? What about his work ethic? Because you don't pay any employee in your businesses unless you think they have the character and the foundation.

When did you know James Harden? You said, okay, this is my guy. This is my Kobe. This is my MJ. First off, you know when you really appreciate these guys when they're gone? And that is the truth that James Hardin is going to keep you in it every year. Remember, the last five years, he's been number one or two in the MVP balloting every single year. James Harden has the greatest work ethic.

James Hardin, last year at one point he couldn't see out of an eye. His arm was hurting him. His neck was messed up. I love him. He's a bull. And I talk about being a bull in my book constantly. And I love James because he doesn't say, oh, my knees hurt me a little bit. I'm not going to play tonight.

James wants to play every single game. We're beating the sharks the other night by 70 points. And here James wants to go back in the game. Okay. That's just James Harden. So I love his drive. I love his ability. James wants to win a championship so bad.

He knows it's his legacy. And I hope he does because it helps my legacy. Well, you're a Houston Rockets fan, by the way. You bought a team you love. Absolutely. And you'd be shocked of your 90-something major sports teams. Most people don't get to own a team in their hometown that they grew up with. That's true.

People fly all over the place to watch their team. But to be able to watch the team that you're, started watching move from San Diego to Houston when I was in junior high school and being one of the longest season ticket holders. It's the greatest thrill in the world. Tillman Fratita, here's the book. Shut up and listen. I am going to devour this. My wife had to travel to Vermont this morning. I will read this tonight. Here's a fascinating part of NBA ownership. This happened last year. I'm not a fan of it because I think it doesn't speak to the middle class load management.

And I do believe your basketball team is better if your star plays 68 games. But if I plunk down $300 and I live in the burbs of Houston and James is not playing, how does that sit with you? That to me is an Adam Silver situation. This is why I think they should shorten the season to maybe 70 games, 72. The load management, I wouldn't call it a crisis, but it is kind of a fledgling current situation. situation, stars playing less being fresher for the playoffs.

Well, this is just, and this is just my opinion, I wish we would just lengthen the season a couple of weeks and get rid of the back-to-back. The back-to-backs. Because LeBron is LeBron. James is James. And when a superstar comes to town, which was a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron or, you know, KD. And people from your city,

came to see LeBron play, and he didn't play that night. I think it's horrible for the fans. So do I. I don't like it. And I don't like it either. But yet at the same time, these back-to-backs are hard on you. You're human, okay? And it is an issue. It is a true issue.

Yeah. And I know this year we're going to try to watch our guys a little better because it is a long season. If you win the championship, you've played over 100 games, most likely. Kauai Leonard sat out 22, and there is no question. He was a fresher player late. So I think it's just a business challenge that you guys face. It is.

It is. You'll get past it. And Adam's going to help us figure it out. Adam's a smart guy. The guys in the NBA office are extremely smart. And they will work with the owners. And we will figure it out. We have a great commissioner and a great staff up there.

All right, Tillman Vertida. I want to ask you a couple of just business questions. Sure. So I had a lunch last week. Joy knows this. I was very excited. I've never had lunch with a billionaire. And it was Rick Caruso.

He's a very smart developer. Very, very much so. Yeah, very decent guy. And so I went there and I wasn't going to talk. I told my wife, I'm going to ask questions and I'm just going to listen to a billionaire talk. Well, Rick asked a million questions. And I came home and I told my wife, I said, that's why he's a billionaire. He couldn't, he was a sponge.

He wanted to know everything. Your book is called Shut Up and Listen, which similarly appears. to say talk less, listen more? I listen every day. Every day is a learning experience. And I think if you talk to all billionaires, we're all sponges. We want information and that's what makes us smarter. We are not naturally born smarter. It is just, it's being a sponge, listening to everything around you and doing basic things. Okay. And it's deciding that what you do, you do well and strive for perfection and being extremely competitive, just like you are. And if you, the thing about it is we all have to find what do we do well and go do it.

Thank you. Tell my kids that. What do you love? And it's not about making just money, okay? Find what you do well and just go do it. One more question. When you, have you primarily built businesses or acquired them? I've done both. Okay. I love to build and I love to acquire and you've got to be an opportunist. And in tough times, I usually grow my business. Okay. Is there something? that you would ever see in a business that you could, from the outside, people like me would say, boy, that is a great business. But when you're acquiring a business like you acquired the rockets,

what are you looking for and what are you running from? Well, you've got to do due diligence and due diligence does everything. When you acquire something like the rockets, what I was concerned is, is what is the cash flow, but I'm not going to look for a return out of that business today. A return on a professional sports team is holding on to it. Yes. I mean, everybody's got to remember, in 1970, Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees for $10 million. From CBS. Right. I mean, think about that. That's not like that was, you know, three generations ago.

I mean, that was not that long ago when you really think about it. And when you think about the cowboys, you know, were bought for, what, $140 million? Jerry Jones. Just 25 years ago. Right. You know, you know what's interesting is, this is really interesting. I bought into the Houston Rockets in 1982 when I was like 22 years old, okay, because it was $10 million and I bought a couple of percent of it.

I was in it for 10 years with Charlie Thomas. I lost the bid to Les Alexander in 1992 for $80 million because it was over my head and I took my company public in 93. 25 years later, I buy the team for $2.2 billion. Now, how do I look at it? Am I upset? Am I mad? No, you know why?

Because in that 25 years, I still went to the Rocket Games, and I built a company that I'm worth $5 billion today. And so that wouldn't have happened if I would have got the Rockets 25 years. So things just kind of fall into place for you. Things, you've got to let things come to you sometimes. By the way, you also own, you know, you're in the consideration. casino business. Golden nugget casinos everywhere. Yeah, they're very nice. So that must be still a great business because now legalized sports gambling in America globally. We're all accepting.

So when the Supreme Court said you can gamble, that was a benefit for casinos too. Absolutely. And you're going to see, you're going to build a lot of fans. And it's all about content. We all know that, just like your show and all the things you do. Everything is content. You're going to have sports fans becomes sports fans because they're going to be able to sit in the seat, whether it's football, basketball, baseball, or hockey, and gamble who's going to make the next shot, who's going to get the next hit, who's going to catch the next touchdown pass right there on your phone

as you're watching the game. It is going to change sports, I believe, and it is not that far away. What a pleasure for me. Tillman for Tita. Darryl Morey had lunch with him about six months ago. He is just fantastic. There is the book. I'm reading it tonight. And just you were on Neil Cavuto and a half hour ago.

And now you're stuck with a sports guy, but we feel very lucky. I'm very fortunate to get to do business and sports. I love them both. Tillman, thank you so much. Thank you, Colin. Look forward to it. Good luck to the Rockets. And joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News.

You feel smarter already. Wasn't that just fantastic? And I feel better about my Rocket's prediction this year. You know what? It's almost makes me want to go gamble tonight. That's what I got out of that. I'm going to go gamble tonight. Well, Dwayne Haskins, NFL's debuted and go so well. He replaced Case Keenham against the Giants. Jay Gruden said this morning that they still don't have a plan for their starting quarterback against the Patriots on Sunday.

But former Redskins quarterback Joe Thaisman is adamant. It should not be Haskins. You can't start Dwayne Haskin against the New England Patriots. I mean, it just, it can't happen. It would be good for him. It would be good for the Fram. It wouldn't be good for football for crying out loud. I think football would be fine.

Yeah, I mean, I think he's been a little dramatic there, but he likes Haskins, so it's not that. I just think he doesn't want to put him in a disastrous situation. I mean, this is the best past defense I can ever remember. And, you know, Belichick against rookie quarterbacks is 18 and 5 with the Patriots and 19 and 7 in his head coaching career. And according to Fox Betts, they are 15.5 point favorites over Washington. There's a cut. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, you know what? Sam Darnold's a 13-point dog to Philadelphia, so it happens. You know, you've got to learn to lose, too. Yeah, look, exactly. I understand that none of us are expecting too much out of Dwayne Haskins this week if he does start, but he does have to get experience. That's the whole reason that you put him in there in the first place. Look, your own four already. Can't get worse.

Like, I mean, you're already not winning. Here's my thing, Joy, if they can protect him and he throws four picks, I'm okay with it. What I worry about is he takes a physical beating. That is the only concern that anyone should have. And look, in some ways, you can't prevent that because whether it's him or whether it's Cole Bacoy, whoever else you're going to put in there, they're probably going to take a beating, too. So you want him to get experience.

I don't know that they're going to put him out there. I just don't know what the point of putting him out there last week was if you weren't going to keep him out there for the remainder of the season. So Ben Ruffisberger had a front row seat on the sideline for Mason Rudolph's first NFL win on Monday. He was 24 of 28 with 229 yards and two touchdowns, and Big Ben was impressed with the performance. He said he did everything they asked him to do. He made plays. He made big plays when we needed him to.

He took a checkdown when we needed him to. He threw deep when we needed him to. He even lined up at wide receiver when we needed him to. He did a lot more than just managed the game. Was he ever exciting when you needed him to be? Because I watched television. Well, it was Mason Rudolph against the Bengals. Sounds like a lot of excuses to me.

I mean, look, like, he got a nice win. He got, he got in rhythm. Hey, Joy, did you hear he checked down on play there? Yeah, he did, a lot. That's what, I mean, look, I would have liked to see him air it out a little bit because it is Cincinnati. And because you have good receivers and a good old line. And you're not going to win like that against a good team. And you're home?

I'm also not going to overly criticize getting a win, which they needed to do and giving them a little bit of confidence. You sound like ice cream for breakfast, mom, on this stuff. Well, sometimes you've got to have ice cream for breakfast. And then you balance. It's all about moderation. That was helicopter parenting. That was, you know what? Well, I'm not going to have a choice next week.

At this point, I am, I seriously, I'm serious about this. I am just rooting for quarterbacks who take risks because it hurts my eyes to watch Kirk Cousins. I am over that football. I can't watch Minnesota. I can't watch Mason Rudolph dump it off the backs. I am rude. I'll root for four interceptions over Andy Dalton. I want fun on my television set.

Jared Goff was like, you want that? because that's the extreme. I'll tell you what. You owe my eyes better than Mason Rudolph. I know that's selfish, but I'm selfish. Finally, Adam Thielen was also frustrated with their cousins after the Vikings lost to the Bears last weekend. He took a little shot,

and now cousins apologized to Thelan for not giving him enough chances to make a play. He's too nice. I really want to apologize to him because there's too many opportunities where we could have hit him on Sunday. And post game, when I talk to the media, I always say, hey, until I watch the film,

it's hard for me to really give you a straight answer. Well, now it's Tuesday night. I've watched the film. And the reality is there were opportunities for him. Well, he said he's too nice. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer agrees. He was asked about Cousins' apology this morning, and here was his response.

I think he was probably just being nice. I mean, seriously. I'm not worried about it. Maybe you should get off the podcast. This was on Cousins' weekly appearance on Minneapolis radio when he said this. So those radio appearances for quarterbacks can go either way every time. Big Ben was passive aggressive. Same with Aaron.

And Cousins is too nice. And Brady is literally the governor of Massachusetts because he never says anything poorly. Like he just lays it out just like Belichie. wants it. I just, none of this really should be getting out is the reality of it, which is probably why Mike Zimmer is frustrated. Listen, I have a source I deeply trust told me about Kirk Cousins right before this season. He has anxiety in big games.

That he, it's almost something that would need therapy, that he gets very anxious. Now, by the way, a lot of people are like that. I mean, you know, my sister, my mom hated dry. in traffic. She was a very anxious driver. This is a real thing. I have been told that Kirk, his mood can change a little bit. He gets a little intense and a little anxious in big spots. And that's why I think, Joy, he holds on the ball. You got to just sort of prep and let it rip, and he doesn't let it rip. Well, while anxiety is a very real thing, every game in the NFL is a big game. Yes. So that is a real problem. He's a teeth clencher.

Bill Pollyan told me one time about Peyton Manning first year in the league. He says, listen, you are so prepared. Sometimes it's paralysis by analysis. That's what Sean McVease said happened in the Super Bowl. Yeah, you're so tight. You have so much information that you can't just let it go. You know, for this show, we do two hours of prep, then we let it rep. If we make mistakes, we make mistakes.

But you can't do six hours of prep for a show. You got too much in your head. Right. We only got so much space up here. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News.

Coming up, NFL Pretender Contender Edition of Buy, Sell, and Hold. We got about all the divisional leaders. Do I buy them? Am I selling them or am I holding on them? That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. By the way, don't use your girlfriend shampoo. Your hair is different.

Dove men plus care. Give your hair the care at need, strong and resilient. Buy it at Walmart. You were looking at me, Joy, like you had to. something fascinating to say. Did I cut you off or something? No. I just always look like I have something fascinating to say. That is true. Tillman Fertita's got a new book. He was

just on the show. He was fantastic. More owners of pro teams on the show, please. Shut up and listen. That sounds like what my mom said to me a lot. I talked a lot as a kid. All right, best for last. We're going to do buy, sell, hold. Last year through four weeks, only four, only

half of the division leaders won their division. The truth in the NFL comes out in mid-October and early November. So our buy, sell, and hold, we're going to look at the standings, and do I buy, sell, or hold the current leaders. Time to buy, sell. Colin will decide if he'll buy it. Sell.

Or hold. All right, Colin, the Patriots will win the AFC East, buy, sell, or hold. Joy, as your broker, that is a buy. Buy, buy, buy. Listen, it's the only division that currently has two winless teams. They did put their kicker on IR today. The reality, they've had a big advantage through the years. They've faced bad quarterbacks or young quarterbacks.

And I think their defense, which leads the NFL in six different categories, while they deal with their offensive issues, will primarily dominate for the next two months. Yeah, it's safe to say that to lock. The Browns are on top of the AFC North. They will hold on to win the division by seller. Holds. Joy, as your broker, I would say, sell this stock. Listen, let's not overreact to last weekend. They still lead the NFL in penalty yards. It's still Freddie Kitchens. It's still the NFL's youngest roster. And despite what you saw, Baltimore leads the NFL in scoring offense,

rushing offense, and total offense. I thought it was a nice pickup by Cleveland. They have to feel good about themselves. Baltimore, though, is way better than that moment you see. on Sunday. Okay. Everyone is two and two in the AFC South, but the Texans own the tiebreakers. Houston will win the division by Seller Hold. A joy that is a buy. Buy, bye, bye.

I recommend a buy for you. First of all, Deshawn Watson has had slow September. He is four and seven as a starter in September. He is 12 and four in all the other months. Also, they've dominated this division, even with Andrew Luck, winning at three of the last four years. Marioo Jacoby Brissette, Gardner, Minshue, or Deshawn, by the Houston Texans.

I agree a buy there. The Chiefs will win the AFC West by Sellerhold. As your stockbroker, this is my, this is like Starbucks or Amazon stock. Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, by, by. For obvious reasons, I think Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes are the best quarterback coach combo right now in the game. He has also dominated this division, seven and one career against the AFC West.

They have really had the Chargers number. And I think when you have this kind of offensive explosion in the way the game has played, it's almost like saying they're the warriors of the NBA. They shoot threes so well that even on bad nights they can overcome it. This offense will overcome lapses in other parts of their organization. The Cowboys are game ahead of the Eagles. Dallas will win the NFC East by Sell or Hold. I gave this Tillman-Fortita talked about due diligence.

when you buy things. I did a lot of due diligence. I'm going to sell this stock. Now, I like the Cowboys, but the NFC East hasn't had a repeat champ in 15 years, and the Cowboys won it last year. Philadelphia is great. In two statistics, I think, really, really matter.

They lead the NFL in third down offense. The Eagles do, meaning they move the change. They play keep away. I love that number. They're also second in third down defense. They give Carson Wentz the ball back for years. This has been my favorite stat in the NFL. Are you good on third down offensively?

Are you good on third down defensively? Philadelphia is great at both, and I think that ends up deciding the division, sell for the Cowboys. The Packers and the Bears are both three and one. The Packers have the head-to-head victory, so Green Bay will win the NFC North by Seller-Holt. Pretty easy decision for me.

didn't have to do much diligence. I'm going to say bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. Listen, I've got Stafford, Cousins, and Tribisky. Packers are already 2-0 against the NFC North this season. That helps. And I think there's such a gap in quarterback efficiency and play between Aaron and the rest of his division. I do think Matt Stafford's really talented.

But I think the gap is just too great for Trubisky and Kirk Cousins and those coaches to overcome. That's a buy. The Saints are a game ahead without Drew Breeze. New Orleans will win the NFC South, buy, sell, or hold, Colin. I made a mistake on this as your stockbroker. I sold it initially. I am buying this.

Buy, buy, buy. Cam's health. Matt Ryan and the Falcons are a mess. Tampa Bay depends on the Sunday. Listen, they're winning. They're beating good teams with a backup. They beat Seattle Soundly with a backup. They beat Dallas with a backup.

up. Also, if you look at their schedule with this Saints defense, which I think I really missed on the Saints defense, Tampa, Jacksonville, Chicago, Arizona, buy. It may be buy to the rest of the NFC South. So I missed on this initially. I had them like third in the division. I'm going to buy the Saints. You are so out on the Falcons. The 49ers are the only undefeated team in the NFC. San Francisco will win the NFC by Sell or Hold. I usually like to have conviction. I'm going to hold. Oh, please. I'm going to hold on this. First of all, here's what I like. They're not dependent on Garoppolo.

They are second in rushing. 57% of their plays are running the ball most in the NFL. I like this. They're not depending like you would think on Jimmy Garoppolo because they have very, very young receivers. So Kyle Shanahan has smartly said, let's get this run game figured out, less reliant on Jimmy G and the kids.

I want to watch the Rams Seahawks tomorrow. That'll tell me something about the Niners' chances, so I'm hold on the Niners' stock. By the way, you've got plans this weekend. If you're driving in your car, make sure your wipers can handle it. Michelin Endurance XT silicone wiper blades. Real world proven.

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