The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Browns Should Start Shedeur, From The NFL Back To…College? JJ McCarthy Is A Bust, Seahawks Underrated?

Episode Date: August 24, 2026

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” on The Volume. They start with the Browns & the stark contrast between Shedeur Sanders having an affable sideline interview and Deshaun Watson’s disaster of a press conference, and they agree that the Browns should start Shedeur (2:00). They also agree the Brown’s deal for Watson is the worst in league history (13:00). They move to JJ McCarthy’s disastrous performance in the Vikings second preseason game and Colin believes that if McCarthy can’t succeed with Kevin O’Connell… he isn’t going to succeed (14:30). They also revisit past quarterback draft classes and Colin finds that only 10% of them are franchise guys… showing the NFL may have a development problem with quarterbacks (21:30). They pivot to college football and the story of Dae’Quan Wright going from the Cleveland Browns back to LSU as proof that the NCAA is diminishing in power and keeps losing in court (30:00). They poke holes in the NFL Top 100 and the Athletic’s Top 25 Players Under 25, and Colin marvels at the Seahawks being overlooked as a potential back-to-back champion (40:00).  They react to Joe Burrow’s comment about being tired of talking about “next year” and Colin argues that the Burrow could be burning out while languishing in Cincinnati, and that he shouldn’t sign with them again… but John offers some defense of the Bengals (55:00). Finally, Colin highlights all the amazing undrafted players who have popped in the preseason and marvels at the amount of football talent in America (1:04:00). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Easy to enjoy. Former NFL Scout John Middletoff. our Sundays for the next 20-plus weeks. We started last week. So I think we should start. I mean, generally we want to start with more interesting teams, but the situation in Cleveland where Deshaun was awful, Shadur was better, was only part of the story.

Shadur had a five-and-a-half, six-minute interview on the sidelines during the game, which he was incredibly, like, thoughtful and likable and relational. I like him as a kid. I thought he was immature when he came out, got the speeding tickets, but I like him. I don't think he's a bad guy. He's just young, right? You can grow up your dad's, you know, famous. Deshawn, after a horrible outing, basically in the press conference, said the booing from the fans is disrespectful, it's personal.

I'm like, you know, with Deshawn, you know, you can go back several years on this. I don't think he has a ton of self-awareness, which I think being a quarterback and pro football is really, really important. I mean, I would have a hard time not starting Shadur Sanders. And for the record, the win-loss record really isn't the issue here because it's not a great team. Why not just go? Generally, this isn't why I would make a decision. But if you're not going to be good, why not just go with a popular kid, the younger kid who I think in the room, the locker room, is kind of well liked.

Why not just go with the younger kid should do her? Yeah, I mean, I think yesterday was a tipping point on Saturday. You can't have a guy that your entire fan base just despises personally and professionally. It's like Deshaun, yeah, they can't stand you personally. You know, everything that happened off the field, like we're not idiots. We've all lived long enough now. And most importantly, they might have been able to forget it if you could play. are objectively awful.

I mean, it's terrible. And if you didn't have an albatross of a contract, they would cut you like an undrafted free agent. I mean, they really would. And then when you have this lack of self-awareness, and you can tell me the locker room doesn't have an issue, that's fine. But you can't roll out a guy,

because I thought the whole time, they're just going to start to Sean. He's making a bunch of money, and Shane comes in four or five weeks in. When people are listening to this, I guess this comes out Sunday night, but on Monday, my kid said he's going to name a starter.

So my guess is Shador's name. And I don't know what they do. The other thing is, if financially they could release them, I don't think another team would touch him. Oh, no. And I would never say never because his agents, Mugeta and that guy's got a lot of Jews. Sometimes you do favors, it's business.

But I think he's as untouchable as any player in the league. I mean, you see Terry on Arnold, he gets in this, I mean, did you read the athletic article a month ago, three weeks ago on that situation. I was like, geez, Luis, he gets released 10 teams and even John Snyder, if you watch Hard Docs, was like, yeah, if he had been our draft pick,

we would have had to cut him. But he's not, now we're not that vested. That's the way the business works. This guy's is, I would say it's toxic of anyone in any business right now in America. I'm dead serious. I mean, I think yesterday, I don't blame the fans. Like, now, booing him for Taryn his Achilles. But I don't think they were booing that he was hurt.

They were just booing the situation. I mean, it's this fan base, remember the jersey with all the quarterbacks on the back? There's been like 700 since they restarted. It's just, I mean, now Shador actually have not a bad spot because the bar is so low. It's not exactly like he's taking over for Elway. You know what I mean? Well, and the other thing is they have drafted well the last couple of years and they've drafted a lot of offensive players. Boston and Concepcion will step right in and play.

They have their right tackle situation with Fanoe taken care of. Jack gives the running backs. There's some real. Yeah, they've got real talent in Cleveland. And listen, they beat last year. They beat Green Bay. So I know I'm not going to think, I don't think they're a playoff team. But if they got kind of a sneaky six wins, they were kind of good at home.

And listen, I, every time I watch Shadur, my take is he just needs reps. Like Colorado, since Dion Sanders has taken over, Deon's the opposite of Kurt Signetti. Signetti comes in, immediately Indiana, can run the ball and protect the quarterback. Since Dion has arrived in Colorado, they have the worst rushing attack in college football, dead last, of like 130 D1 teams, and they have the worst pass blocking offensive lines. So let's be honest, Dion was hired not because he was going to be a great coach.

I mean, I never thought that. I don't think anybody thought that. But he did make Colorado interesting. And I think there's value in that when you're Colorado, like recruiting. And I think they were. Well, I just saw a stat last week. They've lost like 67% of their TV audience. So now Colorado's not even interesting.

But Signetti is all product, no pomp. circumstance, Dion's the opposite. So Chador played with no-run game and an atrocious offensive line. And he was productive. He was accurate. And my take is, well, Cleveland's got, I think Cleveland's got an offensive coach, a legitimate coach, a better offensive line. I think they have real skill people. And Judkins could give you a running attack. So my take is when you, when you judged Chadur, did people consider how mediocre, first of all, how bad had the offensive talent was line running back tied in. And how mediocre to below average the coaching was.

So I think there's something there in Cleveland. Yesterday, doing a little daddy daycare I had on NFL network because these games on Saturday and Sunday started like 10 a.m. Well, they had the Cleveland lightning delay. So they had to stop the Bill's Brown's game, and they just started going to other games. They went to Minnesota. So I'm expecting to get Shador Sanders,

and boom, J.J. McCarthy comes on my screen. So I'm watching J.J. McCarthy, no touch. He throws one fastball. Sometimes he hits it. And a lot of times it's going all over the map. Well, then the lightning delay ends. Shador comes on. So you're kind of just watching them. They're not playing each other, but they're on TV simultaneously. And Shador, and this goes back to Colorado. Shador does not have, I would say, J.J's got a better arm. Shadour has way more touch. Just from a natural touch standpoint. He can throw. I mean, he's more like a low 90s pitcher, but he can't really move. So, I mean, blocking form is important. But he's definitely, I would call him a touch thrower. He is an anticipation touch thrower. I totally agree. And the reason JJ McCarthy is, as of this point, a complete disaster.

I would not make him the second string. He has no touch. And you cannot play, just like, you can't pitch to the big leagues. If you can't locate, you could not play quarterback, whether you have a big arm, small arm, if you cannot have touch on passes. That's short, intermediate deep. So I watch the door and go, yeah, Deshaun's got nothing. Can't move.

I mean, no playmaking, no accuracy, no arm strength. He's never had a big arm. You know, his comp early was like, oh, he kind of plays like Russell Wilson, because he kind of did run around freelance. But he's always had a weak arm relative to like what you would think of, like Russell Wilson had a big arm. He did not. I remember when Deshawn came out.

I read these NFL.com and Lance Zerlain. I read all these draft previews. I mean, I read virtually the top 200 players. I love reading that stuff. And Deshaun, you know, Gabbo called him Michael Jordan. But the truth was he was a very average prospect. He was a B prospect despite his great college success. He had an average arm.

I've never thought he was terribly accurate, although you could probably show me some, you know, some stats at Houston. But I just never, they were winning a bad division a couple times. He was athletic. He could make this spectacular play. But I never really trusted him in terms of, you know, the next level quarterback stuff. Listen, I take pride in my quarterback opinions.

And I think Chedure was at worst a low second round pick. It was a weak draft. Now, it was a week. And maybe in a great draft, he's a late third. But I always said you could argue, and I got this from two executives who have drafted star quarterbacks in the NFL. I asked him and they said, you can make an argument. He's a first round quarterback in this draft. Nobody felt that about Kenny Pickett.

I was told by a GM that did not need a quarterback who currently has a star quarterback. He's like, we have him as a mid to late third round pick. The people I trust like Chatur. And again, Colorado had no run game. Colorado had no offensive line, and the coaching was below average, and he was pretty damn productive in college. The other thing Shador has is like, in all athletes whose parents were pro athletes in general, but his, you know, Steph Curry's dad was Del Curry. This guy's dad was Dion Sanders, who was equally as famous once he retired. I mean, his star has never really dimmed.

Like he's been rich and famous and been around it his whole life. You saw Deshaun. Yeah. You know, we used to talk about this in college football, right? When Clemson and Alabama were playing by then, it's not nearly as big as what it is now. Sabin was, but the sport was just so located in the South. No one else had a chance. Yeah.

He gets to Houston and he became a star and they weren't paying players back then. He got out of Houston not because it was like his rookie contract. They'd already given him a big contract. It's like he couldn't handle the fame, the money. Like, bro, get a girlfriend. Like you can't be, I can't have my quarterback not being able to handle what comes along with it. And clearly he failed every single test, but he got bailed out. So when people like, I can't believe how the lack of account of it, you can't, he, he had 30 pending lawsuits.

And he ran away and someone had a straight at three first round picks for a guy that had just gone four and 12, who then the league suspended. And they gave $230 million to and not a fake contract, like a real NBA one. So, yeah, I mean, how can the guy be out of touch? Well, I mean, it's pretty clear. Two people benefited from this transaction. Well, three, the Texans, David Mugeta and Deshaun Watson. Everyone else, the Browns, I mean, it's going to go down as the worst transaction in the history of the league. It, in my opinion, I've never seen.

I mean, again, when Russell went to Denver, people go, oh, look what they gave up. But Russell was a 100-passer rating, 90-passer rating guy. He did fall off a cliff. he just did. And without an injury, which is fairly inexplicable. But I understood Denver rolling the dice on Russell because I was in the camp of maybe Pete Carroll's not the coach we think. I mean, he is pretty damn good on the deep ball.

He doesn't get in trouble. He's just kind of a guy that you know he's obsessed with football and he fell off a cliff. But the Deshaun Watson warning signs on and off the field were a major. flashing red light in Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam acknowledges it now. It was just an egregiously between Deshawn's judgment and Jimmy Haslam's judgment with a contract.

I don't have any pity for Cleveland, but I do think the fans are right. That booing was more than just performance-based. It's just like he, they want to do. We just think you're a loser. We just want you out of here. We don't care. Financially, just make this end.

And look at, Look at the three teams. You know, Russell Wilson or Aaron Rogers, when these guys, all these, if Joe Burrow became available, you just go around the league when players become available. It was Carolina, Atlanta, and the Cleveland Browns. Like, that's what it came down to. This is exactly John Schneider, Howie Roseman, and Les Neat beaten down the door for this guy. So I think that this experiment, who knows, maybe they end up, it's gotten so ugly, they eat it, and they just cut them and they just figure it out. Yeah, okay, I do want to pivot to J.J. McCarthy, who was, you know, five for 10.

There was a play in the end zone that was basically a touchdown, just a quick, easy layup for any quarterback, starter, backup, Stetson Bennett. It doesn't matter if you're a third or a second. It's just a two-step pop it over there to the right touchdown, sailed it. And one of the things that's really obvious, and I feel bad for J.J. McCrott. I've said it from, he was the one quarterback in that draft. I just did not buy. He didn't initiate Michigan's offense. So then you ask him to go to the NFL.

It's like, well, he hasn't, this is a huge. It's hard enough to go college to pro if you're Fernando Mendoza and did initiate a lot of your team's offense. Or Jared Goff. It's hard enough to do that. But when I, I think there's a rule. When Kyle Shanahan can't figure you out, Cowboys don't. trade a fourth round pick for Tray Lance. And when Kevin O'Connell can't figure out J.J. McCarthy, right?

We know there's, we know there are a lot of defensive coaches who just don't have the sensibility for quarterback. But if a McVeigh, a Shanahan, a Kevin O'Connell, I mean, Liam Cohen looks like he, look at, look at Baker's numbers with Liam Cohen. I mean, he looked like a top 10 quarterback. He leaves, and he's just not the same quarterback. Trevor Lawrence, I loved him out of college. I think you did too.

I mean, he was really, I mean, John, you got to a point with Trevor, you're like, oh, this just doesn't work at all. And then you watched last year, like, oh, finally. So obviously coaching matters. But I think with JJ, a lot of it, a lot of the indictment is not just what you see, but who he's failing with. And, you know, I think, I don't know what you do. I wouldn't, again, the Vikings are not Cleveland. They could be a playoff team. They could actually, would Kyler be a 10-11 win team?

It wouldn't shock anybody. They've got maybe the best defensive coordinator in the league. They've got some nice offensive pieces, of my opinion. But what do you do with J.J. McCarthy? Well, my guess is here on August 23rd. He's not even going to be the backup quarterback because you see that pass that sales over. And again, a guy wide open that's not that far away, you don't need to throw it as hard as humanly possible. I mean, that ball got on that guy so fast.

There was no one around. He could have just thrown a lolly. That's the pass that like the second tier guys. I saw Jordan Love had a touchdown pass last night. But you just watched like the guy was right in front of them. The receiver or running back did most of the work. But sometimes you just throw a little lollipop. You know, you watch Baker Mayfield or Jared Gough or Brock Purdy, the Dax, the second tier guys.

The lollip, they would hit that. What do you think? 95% of the time? I mean. Oh, God, higher. Those guys. the elite guys always hit him. The high-end guys, to me, you can't make him your backup quarterback because

Kyler's question marks with injuries, he'd go down like you go to him. You're going to lose. You couldn't win regular season games against decent teams with this guy. Carson Wentz, you at least have a chance. It's just a disaster. And this gets back to, like, this is, they just pick the wrong guy. You know, and listen, they were picking the fifth guy of the class. but the sixth guy turned out to be Bo Nix, who I know this.

They wouldn't trade Bo Nix trade up for J.J. McCarthy. And Bo Nix, if he doesn't break his ankles, probably in the Super Bowl. And obviously Seattle's really good, but that would have been a game. I mean, you know, New England had no chance. Like Denver was equipped to physically have a game with them. And Bo Nix is dramatically better. And if you just look back, you're like, well, he was way more productive in college, right? Especially he had to bounce around.

around like JJ, you just go back to the college profile and you go, Anthony Richardson, the college profile, Trey Lance the college. Like, we have specific examples now of these profiles that were dramatic red flags and all of them blew up. You know, one of the things, I remember this year's ago, remember Danny Werfel at Florida, who I was down in Tampa when Worfel was down there in Gainesville. He was a profound, a prodigious college guy with Steve Spurrier. But I remember talking to Rich McKay was the GM of Tampa. And I said, what do you do with Worfell? And he said, listen, he's a local kid.

We want the local kids to succeed. And I think I can say this now. But Rich just said, it just doesn't for us. He doesn't feel like he has the arm strain through the athleticism. And I don't remember exactly what Rich told me. But he said, basically, listen, great kid, great family, local kid. We're rooting for him, but, you know, I just, we don't see him quite. And then Mike Ditka, remember Mike Ditka said, hey, he's a winner.

Mike was down with the Saints, I think. Hey, he's a winner. I always pushback. I heard this about J.J. McCarthy. He's a winner. Well, under Harbaugh or Steve Spurrier, you know, the truth is with Kurt Signetti, they're all going to be winners. Nick Sabin's quarterbacks, they're all winners.

So that's another red flag. Whenever I hear that, when you say, well, how's the arm? How's this? How's the pacing? How's the touch? He is a winner. That is a massive red flag. And I kept hearing that over and over and over.

And it's like, that doesn't mean anything to me. I can give you so many college quarterbacks who went to, who are in great programs, who win nine, 10, 11 games because they have, you know, those Alabama guys under Sabin, I mean, think about the offensive coordinators. It was Kiffin. It was Sark. Like, they're the best offensive coordinator for about an eight-year stretch. It's like, they make everybody look great.

So, yeah, I just, I don't think it works. I wish I'm the best. I think, I don't know what they do. How often do you think, do you see guys that need a dramatic mechanic change at quarterback, which they spent last year working on as mechanics? And this year, clearly, you've lose your confidence. because when you're thinking about mechanics, you can't just go out and play. You're thinking you can see it.

He's just robotic. He doesn't have any feel. It just feels like he's pushing it toward instead of just led it rip. And I just think it's the evaluation. They bet on the guy. But remember, like he's, I don't know, remember he was doing like the meditations before games in college? It's like, bro, you hand it off 80% of the time. You know, this isn't asking Mahomes to throw it seven.

75 times in Texas Tech. So, yeah, I think it's over. I think it's over. I mean, the air thing, John, I did it this week on FS1. I went and looked, I didn't count this draft, but I went back to the previous five drafts. 57 quarterbacks drafted. Six are what I would call franchise quarterbacks, where I'm not making a call.

And two of those, Bo Nix and C.J. Stroud, there's a lot of doubters. I didn't count Jaden Daniels. I want another year because last year was so bad and he was hurt. And he has a little bit of an injury bug. First year he played, but he was dinged up all the time. Six of 57. So I'm not saying it's easy. It's one of the hardest.

I mean, think about this. The average major league baseball player bats, you know, 245 maybe. Okay. But when your hit rate is 10%, 10.5% in the NFL hitting on quarterbacks in any round. For the record, though I didn't count this past draft, Fernando Mendoza was one of 10 quarterbacks drafted, and he's the only one I liked in this draft. So the number, the hit rate, I think, will be about,

I mean, Drew Aller, to me, is probably a backup. I don't take, you know, he is. But so I just, like, J.J. McCarthy should not get too dejected. It's hard in this league to do it. And when all the other quarterbacks hit in a round, you're not going to go six for six. So I think he's a backup quarterback. I think hopefully he finds a spot.

And I do think you mentioned this. I mean, Kyler, there's a chance he's going to get dinged up. So, I mean, it's a real serious position for Minnesota. Backup quarterback's very likely going to play two to four games. So it's not just a, hey, we put him here. You know, it's like even the Rams, they'll probably carry Ty Simpson, Stetson, because, you know, I mean, Stafford's one of the last guys at his age that just sits in the pocket and gets drilled. I mean, he'll take shots.

So I do think it's a real position for the Vikings. Think how many quarterbacks have gone down in the last handful of years. I mean, Joe Burrow missed the majority of the season. 55 to 60 quarterbacks now playing in year. The only reason Brock Purdy got created is because they lost two quarterbacks in front of them. So you just, you know, Dak Prescott. The reason he started as a rookie is because Tony Romo's back got shattered and Kellan Moore, I think broke his wrist.

So these things can change the blink of an eye. And I think Minnesota played like four quarterbacks last season. If you're listening to this, you're probably not a casual NFL fan, as you know, neither am I. Bud Light understands that our passion runs deep. They've given us a chance to do more than just live and breathe. Our NFL teams, we can drink them. Check out the Bud Light NFL team cans. And more than that, you can take your game day to the next level.

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Today's Colin Classes segment sponsored by Chat and GPT, the NFL season is approaching and this is how I would class the top teams in the league. Let's start with the valedictorians, the most complete teams, the Rams, coach, quarterback, defensive front weapons. I think it's the best roster in the league. Seattle only has to replace three starters. Sam Darnold just rated the fifth best quarterback in the NFL by players in the top 100. Sam Darnold, back-to-back 14-win seasons. You know I love him. Second group is the Dean's List, legitimate contenders, one or two things keeping them from the top. Lions, really, I love their GM, their coach, and their quarterback. Jared Goff has some limitations if the pocket breaks down, but they may have the best skill players

in the league. The Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, has a lot of weapons offensively, rookie head coach, You know, they've drafted a lot of defensive guys last couple of years. Now it's time to see if they can play. The Chargers, Mike McDaniel, Justin Herbert has his best coordinator. Back-to-back 11 wins seasons for Harbaugh and Herbert, and now they have the offensive line that's healthy. The Texans, I know, I know, you're bored with them. Best defense in the league easily.

Their coach, D'Amico Ryan's wins divisions. Can C.J. Stroud and the Houston offense bounce back. Bears. Caleb Williams, my bold prediction for MVP. He and Ben Johnson and those weapons near the top of the class. Third group, upperclassmen, proven experienced teams with question. The Eagles still don't love the coach. They've made changes at offensive coordinator.

I think they'll be fine to very good. I think Jalen Hurts should be better without A.J. Brown. Chiefs. Mahomes is healthy. They got left tackle in the running back situation sorted out. Now, Travis Kelsey's getting old. Mahalm's off a knee injury, but they're still very dangerous. And the Ravens.

Listen, I love their owner. I love their roster, but I got a rookie head coach, Jesse Mentor, who I think will be good, and a first-time play caller, who I think will be good. Out of respect, they would be one of my top teams. This was Collins classes sponsored by ChatGPT. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com. on Plus and Pro Plans.

There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable.

I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. but these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. So I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is the Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations,

or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is pioneers in Appalachia.

But they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. Stop right there. Is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need men to rule. Great. And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bull. They're not just opposing what's being planned for here.

Our hometown is not a test tube. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. Guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to Our Town on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I like the NIL and the transfer portal. I like conference consolidation. I like the four-pack-12 teams going to the Big Ten. I like Texas, Oklahoma going to the SEC.

I am for it. I did my essay this week, my Sunday essay this week on that. There's always been in college football, this charming, cute, sort of regional aspect. And my take is, I want Texas playing Oklahoma. I want Texas playing LSU. You know, I want Texas playing Bama, Texas playing Georgia. And the numbers bear it out. That's what the audience wants.

but the people who love the regionalism are loud and they're on platforms and they say it's great, but the numbers bear out that people aren't that interested in bowl games unless there's two big brands there or regular season games. But there is one thing, and this probably illustrates the weakness of the NCAA now, where there's a guy that's going to get cut in the NFL, and reportedly he's going to Lane Kiffin and LSU to play. And I'm like, okay, what are we doing here? I just, I mean, to me, there are certain things that happen in sports and you're like, wow, that doesn't work. Right. Like, we all know that you watch certain sports and something happens and it's allowed.

And then very quickly, like leagues tend to at least in a year, like put a stop to it. There's all sorts of rule change. I mean, the defensive shift in baseball shockingly lasted years and years. And we're all like, I don't want my second baseman in right field. This is stupid. I mean, I appreciate Joe Madden's creativity, but it's like it's bad for baseball. Like I want guys to get on base if they had a line drive to right. I don't want, I want to see a base hit.

I don't know. What do you make of what's happening now? Well, there's a lot to unpack here. I would say on its surface of saying that you can go to a training camp and then return to college feels like we're crossing a line here that most people are going to agree upon. like this is insane. The problem is every time these guys sue, they win. And there just becomes less and less like deterioration of any sort of structure

that doesn't exist. I will defend Lane Kiffin here for doing this because I would imagine over the next week, he's an easy target is going to take a lot of shit for doing this. Because there's another guy currently on Tampa that's a pass rusher that's also in this lawsuit, potentially going to come back to L. you if he doesn't make the team. In the first preseason game, this guy had two sacks, was a starter there last year. Lane Kiffin's just, these are the rules that he's handed.

It's not like he's doing this when everyone's saying this is not a rule. You're going to get in trouble. This has been adjudicated or whatever in above in the court of Louisiana. I had a scout tell me maybe two weeks ago that he was in a Big Ten program. First, he had ever heard of this. and a top 25 program and they said we're leaving a couple spots open because we got a couple guys that we don't think are going to make teams and we see this coming down the pike here. These guys are going to be available at the end of August. And they've been our team and we're going to bring them back.

And even he thought like, this is crazy. And then he went to another place and they were all talking about it. It had been since training camp started in college football, this was a hot button issue with all these big programs. But Lane or any other program that does it, remember there was a famous clip. of like Trump and Clinton in a in a debate. And she's like, did you take a billion dollar write off or whatever? And he's like, you know what? I did.

And the reason I did is because those are the rules that you made for your friend. You guys want these rules there because all the people that fund politics love these rules. I'm just following the rules that you've created. And all these coaches now are just like the transfer portal. It's like Pete Golding. They gave him shit. about, you know, tampering with that kid at Clemson. He's like, what is everyone's doing it?

What am I supposed to do, not do it and get lapped? So I just, you can't have this, but these courts are given these guys the ability to come back. And this kid that went back, the Eagles cut him, I think, two weeks ago. And then he went to Cleveland. So this guy is not the next Travis Kelsey here. and I think he would tell you, well, I wouldn't have come out if I knew I would have been eligible. I would have stayed in college for the NIL.

But I saw Dan Lanting went on a rant because I, his, Colin, his resume goes Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, LSU. What are we doing? But again, I'm going to defend Lane here. Like this is not, wait, Lane's just, he's pillaging, uh, training camps. No, this happened in these courts, all these other programs. He is not going to be the only program. He's just following these crazy rules.

Like, yeah, there should be some write-offs you shouldn't be able to have. But if you ask your accountant, he says, this is the rules. You'd be like, well, then write it off. Well, also, this is the unintended. And you get these, you know, you get unintended benefits. You know, you buy a company and they're like, oh, my God, this company helps this other business I'm in. And this happens all the time.

And then there's unintended failures. and liabilities where you create something, hey, we're going to pay the players. You know, California was the first to kind of broker this and pass it. We're going to pay the players. Everybody's like, this is great. Well, here's the unintended negative aspect of that.

These NFL guys get cut and they can go back to college and make a million dollars. So, I mean, you know, the players like, I'm a football player. I've never really played in the NFL. You know, so I've been in camps. And, you know, I think I'm going to go back. And that's the downside to making college football now for elite players, all college sports, very lucrative.

So it's really the responsibilities on the NCAA, which never wins a lawsuit ever. So this is the responsibility of others. You know, it's like a tax loophole. Or if it's legal, I'm not blaming anybody, but it feels wrong and it feels gross. This guy's an easy example that is currently doing it to back to LSU because he's, you know, this guy's probably not going to be an NFL player. But what about the guys, the guy at Tampa is a good example. I forget his name, but he started at LSU last year.

Todd Bowles, after the first preseason game was like, this guy's been making plays in practice and he just had two snaps. What if it's like, hey, you're not going to make the roster. We want you on the practice squad. You could make a little bit more at LSU, but I, AI did the, other day. Like about 40% of guys that start the year on a practice squad as a rookie end up playing in NFL games.

And just think about it. How many guys by the time you're in November and just several rosters are churning like this or get hurt, get cut, get benched. You know, there's constant move. Half the teams in the league are out of it. So they're just kind of, you know, throwing guys in, pulling guys out. I think you do have to think a little, oh, yeah, you can go back to college and make a little bit more money or you're one ripped hamstring away from all of a sudden playing on Monday

night football the next week, making a name for yourself, and your clock starts faster for your next contract. Think how many undrafted free agents or late round picks go on to make big money. I do think there's a little bit of a risk. And the other thing is, I guess if you had played for the program, you know, everybody, but, you know, there's a huge turnover. I think LSU has 40 guys. 41. Yeah. So, okay, you go back. Well, it's not like all this isn't Matt Liner, Reggie Bush, the team we all knew these guys' name. It's hard to keep up. They're all looking at who's this guy. So this isn't as normal. I do think if you're a fringe, like, hey, I didn't make the roster,

but I'm clearly these guys like me, not everything has to be. Yeah, you could make a couple hundred grand more, but in the big picture, look what the NFL pays compared to some of these NIL deals. So it's like, hey, I think there's going to be a balance for some of these guys. Yeah. The guys that are just good college players totally get it. But I bet we see a story where a guy turns down the opportunity to return to Iowa, LSU, you name it, Ohio State, one of the big programs and go, you know what, I think I'm just, the coaches told me I'm a couple plays away, and he's going to know he spent the last six months with these guys.

The other thing is it, let's say you're in Tampa, and Jason Light goes, listen, I've been here a decade. I'm probably going to be here a decade longer. I'm telling you, we like you. I'm not making this shit up. The Browns I get, maybe jump ship. But if you're at some of these programs, if Harry Roseman goes, listen, we want you here, you got to pick and choose to go back because it can also go the other.

What if you go to LSU and get hurt against Texas State in week two or whoever. Exactly. Exactly. It's pretty risky. At least if you get hurt on the NFL's dime, you've been there with that GM and that coach and they're kind of invested in you. So I think there are going to be some individual. I guarantee we hear a story of a guy that goes, I could have made a little bit more to go back, but it's like I don't want to go back to campus. I'm all about football. I want the opportunity to play in the NFL. I'm already here. Right. So it's interesting. Of the top 100 players in the NFL, the Seattle Seac's only have three players in the top 100, JSN, Darnold, and Witherspoon in the corner, who is just a tremendous

player. And it was funny this week. So obviously, Seattle is more of a collective than like the Rams who have dominant Puka, dominant Stafford, you know, now dominant Miles Garrett, like really high-end players. But it was funny this week because the athletic had a story. I thought it was crazy. Of the top 25 players under 25, Jared Verst came on. He and I were laughing. We thought it was so bad. But it was fascinating because J.S.N was like 15. And Witherspoon, I think, was 60. And I'm like, okay, I'm not saying I'm smarter than GMs. But, and I like Trent McDuffie, but Witherspoon, it may be the best corner against the run in the league. And he's also, now Stingley may be better. Again, whatever the data says, Stingley may be better in man

coverage. He's Stingley's so long. But I saw that list. I mean, Jemir Gibbs 14. And I, And like Will Anderson, who to me is probably, in my opinion, the best player under 25. I think I would put like Penae Sewell's dominant, but he's moving right, tackle, the left. Puka and Jalen Carter, I would put it a little lower just because of the red flags and both have been injured. Puka gets hurt a lot because he's such a great blockery, so physical. But I guess the overarching, the macro question for me is there does, it does feel like. I'm looking up the list because I remember looking at it and thinking, I think McDuffie was ahead of Will Anderson. I could be getting that wrong.

He was. Again, the chiefs love Trent McDuffie the human. They love him as a slot corner, but they didn't think this guy's not stingly or those guys outside. He's good. So it's like, hey, they gave him $100 million. Again, they value him, but they did, it's not sting. It's not a no-brainer. You can't let him walk out the door.

Will Anderson to me, you could justify having Will Anderson at number one. If you told me Will Anderson, the defensive player of the year, do you know how good Will. That was insane. And listen, Padais, if you want to have him won Will Anderson, too, I'm not going to argue with you. I thought they had Caleb Williams a little. I thought they had a couple. They were just like, what are we? Where do we make this list?

Well, yeah, they had. I just, I thought it was such a bad list. And like, generally, you know, I know what I am. I know what I'm not. But I said on the air, I'm like, it made me feel like, could I be a GM? I mean, if you can't identify guys already in the league, I thought it was so big. But I guess my point is, when you, after a team wins the Super Bowl, Philadelphia, Kansas City in recent years, there's almost an understanding was a, there's a lot. likelihood they could get back to the Super Bowl. That's kind of an understanding. When you suggest,

and I think the fans are like this outside of the Northwest, when you suggest, I think the Seahawks could win back-to-back Super Bowls, there is a real pushback. And it's like, guys, one team matched up with them all year, the Rams, right? And they weren't as good on special teams. And they weren't as good at corner. And of the three Seahawk losses in the offseason, they replaced all of them with their top three picks with the best GM, the best college drafting GM over the last five years in the National Football League. So my takeaway is, it is interesting. I mean, I went into the last 20 years and said, okay, the Patriots will win another Super Bowl. The Eagles will win back to back. The Chiefs went back to back. You wouldn't get a ton of pushback. If the Rams won this year,

you'd be like, oh, they may win again. But the idea that Seattle could win again, you get tremendous pushback. And I wonder if it's a darn old factor. Well, he didn't have a turnover in the postseason. We know the coach is great. Like, we know, I mean, it's just fascinating to me that like GMs look at JSN and Witherspoon and think that's about the 15th and 16th best player, 25 and under. Well, if you think that 25 and under, then where do you put them in the league? Are you saying JSN is not a top five receiver in the league? They had, I just pulled it up, Tyler Smith, above J.S.N. Jimere Gibbs, Devin Witherspoon, and Quinyon Mitchell.

I like, you know, I like Tyler Smith of the Cowboys. You're talking about some of the, I mean. Well, Trent McDuffy was the one. Trent McDuffie was the one. I'm like, I like Trent a lot. But Stingley's a better pure cover corner. He's a better athlete. And you could put Stingley anywhere on the field.

And Devin Witherspoon, I mean, Cian. Seattle lets guys go. I mean, they signed him up. Like, JSN and Witherspoon, John Snyder did not wait. It's like, you're, I mean, I don't know. I just, I looked at that list and I, and I like McDuffie, but I don't think he's in Witherspoon's league. He's a little high. He's a little high. I mean, Bejohn Robinson is, I would say, if you just pull GMs, one of the most talented players in the league. Yeah, he's going to waste, I mean, the Atlanta Falcons, I know he likes Tofansky. They're going to be terrible. Terrible. They've already They've already lost players or quarterback situation.

Listen, I think that Seattle, you know, you've been beating the Sam Darnold drum for a long time. But once you become, like, J.J. McCarthy is a good example. He's going to get multiple other opportunities. Sure. Because he's a highly drafted guy. If J.J. McCarthy played like he did and he was a seventh round pick, it would not be the same.

And I think sometimes when you're, like once the chief started winning, Patrick Mahomes became face the league, they just got, or the. Warriors and Steph Curry or LeBron, I think it's hard to battle the perception. I mean, Sam Donald's gone back-to-back years. 14 wins, which they were really 60 minutes away. With different coordinators, coaches, locker rooms, receivers, staff, cities. Well, think about this, Colin. His Minnesota team, I remember texting a buddy who had just played them like week five or six.

He's like, holy shit, they're pretty good. Because remember, a lot of people didn't quite know what they were getting when Sam Donald, they draft JJ McCarthy. By like week three or four, they were humming. And he's throwing touchdowns left and right. And a lot of people like, I don't know. And he has this great season. And then all people remembered of that season really are the last 120 minutes of the season,

specifically the last game to win the division to be the one seed. He doesn't play well. Like, I've been watching football for 30 years. I've seen a lot of better players in Sam Darnold have awful games. Well, remember and remember, first of all, the Rams game, he was sacked eight times. He was under complete duress. And the Lions game, that was the biggest game in Detroit, maybe in 30 years. I mean, it was one of those you walk into it.

It's like, oh, this is not going to be our day. I think that it was a double knock. He obviously, yeah, great environment. But their entire team was missing. And he was just getting blitzed. He just played bad. But it's like that just erases everything we saw. And then he comes back.

I give you more credit in like the Rams game last year when he threw all the touch or all the interceptions and still finds away. Like I'm more impressed when you look like crap. Remember the game where they beat them? I guess that would have been Seattle. They're down 14 points. He's not playing well. Shaheed returns.

And then he just plays really well the rest of the game. It's like mentally he's really, yeah, he's going to have bad games. He's going to throw some picks. But to me, when he was whatever he was on the list of Sando 14 or 15, like he's, he's just too low the way he's played the last couple years. I was even texted. I text Schneider the other day because I was watching the Hard Knocks. I said, the team you've built, which if you just watch Hard Knocks is clear, they're not only really good.

All these guys like each other, which is what the Chiefs had going and the Patriots had going, like really good team chemistry. This is not baseball where it's like your first baseman doesn't need to like your left field or they're all kind of individuals. Football chemistry matters. They got it. But I was watching Sam Darnold two weeks ago do this sideline interview. and I just went, this guy is just a pretty good face of the team. And then you watch him in the hard knock highlights, like, this guy can really sling it.

So it's like physically he's really talented. Teammates really like him. Oh, yeah, he's really grounded and well-liked. He's like a way better version physically of like Alex Smith. Remember whenever you saw Alex when he was starting to turn, you're like, God, this guy just gets it. He's just really impressive. Everyone likes him.

He plays hard. He just was physically limited. Sam doesn't really have physical limitations when it comes throwing the ball. So I just think that their team, they have one of the best GMs in the league who has put together. I mean, they got some crazy guys, but they're like crazy. And Richard Sherman, did you see the clip of him talking to Mike McDonald? He's like, God, I'm really impressed your guys. He's kind of like really like each other around here.

And he's like, sometimes you win the Super Bowl. Half your team wants to get paid. I remember John Lynch doing like an NFL Films interview on this. Like after Tampa won it, he said we had like three holdouts, four other guys showed up to camp. in a car way nicer than they should have been driving. He's like, I knew we had some issues. Because it goes to your head. And I don't know.

Maybe all these guys have been rich for so long. I don't know what the factors are. Maybe they have some guys like Leonard Williams who's bounced around. Their head coach, not a big ego guy. But yeah, I think they're going to be excellent. I don't know, win the Super Bowl. You need a little luck. But they're easily, if you're just doing like the equivalent of college,

they're a lock top three or four team. going into the, the Ravens and the bills, every single year of the Super Bowl favorites. I mean, the Super Bowl favorites again this year. It's like over these guys who just won the Super Bowl. I mean, won the division with two other playoff teams. That's the other thing. It's not like their division's got four, three Arizona Cardinals. It's got Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh. That's who they got to play. Well, look at what they did the last two times they played the Niners. I mean, that's as badly dominated as a Kyle Shanahan team has been dominated for years. I mean, San Francisco just didn't have the depth, the players, the talent.

I mean, it was really ugly games where they... Massacre. Massacre. Just could not compete. All right, NFL on Netflix is back. Week 1 of the upcoming season features the division rivals Rams against the San Francisco 49er. Just a great rivalry.

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Green Bay Packers, visit the improved Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, one Eastern, followed by the Buffalo Bills against the Denver Broncos from Empower Field at Mile High 4.30 p.m. Eastern. Then in week 18, with playoff stakes on the line, catch the final game of the regular season live on Netflix. Watch week one of the NFL on Netflix starting with the Rams against the Niners live only on Netflix Thursday, September 10th, 8.35 p.m. Eastern. There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at fellar direct.com. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months.

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The Joe Burrow comments this week, this is the third year in a row. Burrow, he was quoted this week at the microphone saying, you know, I'm just tired of saying next year. He's missed the playoffs, I think three years in a row with Cincinnati. despite the fact that data tells you he's a top three quarterback in the NFL. And I have been saying this for a couple years is that about three years ago, Joe Burrow, and I think it surprised most of us, like when the season ended, like he went to Europe. He was in fashion shows. He just removed himself from Cincinnati and football.

And my initial thought, the first year, I'm like, oh, okay, well, I was just interesting, good-looking guy, goes over there. But part of it was he was really committing to another industry. Like he was really into fashion, like really, really into it. If you read some of his quotes and you see a lot of the videos. And I thought it was a protective mechanism that he just felt like, listen, I'm knocking my head against the wall. I have bad offensive lines. It's putting my career in jeopardy. And just for sanity sake.

And I know people like this that I've talked. to people where really talented people work at a company and they're really well compensated, but they think the CEO's a crook. They don't, you know, they don't like the company. They don't agree with it. And they, you know, all of a sudden they're like, you know, I'm going to take up golf or I'm going to get a really great second hobby because I just need it for my sanity. I'm totally committed. I'm great for my company. This company sucks. And then people get into these traps, John, where they have a high profile job. They have income. They got a mortgage, but they hate the company.

They don't like either what it stands for, the product. And so what do you do? Like, what do you do when it's like, God, I'm just beating my head against the wall? I'm better than the company. And I think a lot of times what people do, especially competitive people with an entrepreneurial streak, is I'm going to get a big hobby. I'm going to invest in my time, my energy, and maybe my money and some other things. I really believe that's Joe Burrow. I'm not saying, but I mean, I honestly believe if Joe Burrow,

would have gone to Sean McVeigh. I'm not saying he wouldn't like fashion, but it felt so stark. It felt so obvious. Like, I'm just going to shut football down for a while. And Brady did a lot of this when he retired. Like Brady became much more entrepreneurial when he retired. But he was all in. So was Peyton Manning. And I mean, Mahomes has his family, but you don't see this big second, like, massive second part of his life that is, you know, pretty clearly of major interest. I don't know. My take is Joe is doing this to protect Joe. I totally support it. I feel bad for him. I mean, I said it last year. I think it's time where he's got a couple more years of guaranteed money, but it's time to have strong, like I would not resign with Cincinnati.

to me, if you're going to go all in the fashion thing, I mean, I'd like to, you know, you'd be consistently on the field, you know, Brady's hard to haveling. You know, I think there is a hardcore as a quarterback. I think there's hardcore pressure on Joe Burrow this year. I'm going to defend the Bengals a little bit this time around because everyone, they're an easy punching bag. I think this individual team, they've done everything they want or he wanted. You know, he did go a little LeBron on them.

right? Because I think a lot of the high level GMs would not have kept Higgins when they already had Chase. They would have flipped that. They would use the money other places. They would have utilized picks to get sweet wide receivers and other rounds. But Joe didn't want them to go.

So they kept them. And then this year, did you see the quote the other day from the Bengals Center? I guess they joint practice, the Bears and I guess Dexter Lawrence was just destroying the defense line. Dominant. And the Cincinnati Bengals center said something, you know, like, you know, it helped validate my concerns. Some of my insecurities have now left me.

I feel a little bit better. I thought I was going to get cut or this guy's an unblockable player. That move has a chance to be really, really good. And what have they left? They blast some physicality in terms. But their team, they have been really aggressive, Colin. So, I mean, he signed the contract. No one put a gun to his head when he signed the contract.

I don't feel the sympathy for him being stuck there. Yes, he was drafted there. And then when they put a lot of money, he said, yeah, I'll take it. So once you take the money, like, and then, listen, they had a little rocky time, but they have invested. The chargers are good. No one's spending less cash this year than the chargers. Nobody.

Like, I mean, nobody. So it's like, I just think sometimes the Bengals because of who their owner is, it's, we talk about them because they have it. have a past. They have a resume. But I would say this individual team looks pretty good on. I mean, I think they have a chance. Again, some pressure's on Burrough. I had a, I had a scouting buddy a year ago tell me, he's like, the easiest punching bag in the league for a unit is the Bengals O line. Of all the, good with the top quarterbacks. The Bengals O' line sucks. The Bengals O'Line sucks. The Bengals, this was the Seattle thing a little bit. Now, Russell would just take off. He said a lot,

And I think they would have said, like, Seattle's offensive lines not as bad as the way it gets talked about. It's hard to play with Russell. Joe, while he doesn't take off, he holds the ball to the last possible second. He does. He holds it too long. Now, again, it creates greatness. But he's not last year when he got injured. He's just, he holds the ball, which you respect.

You know, for a guy into fashion, toughness is a huge part of his. He's some of these fashion shows. I don't know if they're toughness scale. The guys he's sitting next to are quite Joe Burrell's. But I would say that there's pressure on Joe this year to stay on the field. If he stays on the field, does what he did two years ago and they missed the playoffs, coach will get fired, things will change. But their team on paper, Colin, is no excuse not to win the division.

Well, Dexter and Allen, they went and got Allen as well. So their interior D-line was an issue because you could run on them, therefore take the ball away from Burrow. They couldn't stop inside run game much. So Dexter Lawrence, I think they traded the number 10 pick in a pretty soft draft. So that was a pretty smart move. It was like a Dexter did not have a great year last year. So I think John Harbaugh was like, it's expensive and I'm going to move off him.

But in the end, it's not a Chris Jones situation where you kind of think we've seen the best of him. Dexter Lawrence just had an off year. But this happens with, you know, players, especially like, often defensive lineman. Like they can roll roller coaster a little bit in the middle of they can get banged up. We don't know if he's playing hurt. I read the same story as you did. Like people are saying like unblockable.

He is just something. And by the way, when you get traded, when you're a dominant player for the New York Giants for years, you're a dominant collegian. You're a dominant player and you get traded. It probably pisses you off. And you're like, oh, you're going to send me to the Bengals. So, yeah, good for dexter. He was created in a lab to play in cold weather division. You know, he played with the Giants against the Eagles, against the command, like outside and these cold, I mean, he is tailor made.

Honestly, when you look at him, you think he should have been playing for the Ravens or the Steelers in their heyday. Like that's, he has got a chance to be a, I mean, it wouldn't, his sack numbers won't be high enough to be like defensive player of the year. But like first team all pro, wherever guy that blocks him says, this guy's the most, you can't move them. And the Bengals just, they haven't had that in a while. So I commend him because you talk to a lot of these GMs. Take some stones to trade the 10th pick for, you know, a detackle. Who's not exactly Aaron Donald as a pass rusher. And not cheap.

Yeah. And they gave him an extra. He was already under contract. They gave him 20. He's making $25, $27 million a year. So this is where I defend Mike. That's, you know, Jerry, what did he say a couple years ago? We're all in.

And then everyone's like, Jerry, you're lying. Like these guys truly have gone all in for Joe Burrell. So he can, you know, powder whatever. the fashion square in France, but I do think, and I'm pro Joe Burrell. He's a great player. But like last year he was gone for three months. You know, it wasn't, I don't, I think it's easy to blame the organization, but it was two years ago on their defense.

They were losing games. Remember to the Ravens? I think he threw like nine touchdowns in the two Ravens games. They lost them both. I mean, that's two years ago. I completely on board. Last year, I mean, he just, he was just gone. And injuries have been.

kind of a part of a story a little bit. Well, wrap it up with this. So I watched like you, I watched the half dozen, you know, preseason games. Then I went to YouTube on the games I didn't watch and watched highlights. I'm always blown away by how many good players you see in the preseason that were not drafted. A kid for the Bears made a catch up the left sideline.

It was just a great play. I looked him out. It was like, undrafted. I'm like, good God. When I went to Bears practice, you know, I had my program. They handed me the GM did. And they handed this program.

Yeah. So I can just figure out who these guys are. And it's, I mean, first of all, the Bears have a six-round defensive tackle from Georgia Tech who's just been so far at the practice I want he was good. I've just always kind of blown away.

And maybe it's at skill positions, but there's so much football talent in America. I remember a few years ago, CTE was a big discussion, right? years ago. And people were saying, I can remember like very credible people in the media say, you know, football, it's not, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, and I remember saying this on the air, you, you just, you've never lived in the south. If you think the

NBA is going to be bigger right, you know, like football is so big in Texas and southern states. Now, in California, I have a friend whose son played a college football. He's like, I, I, I, people look at me crazy. He's west of the 405, and it's, you know, it's a pretty liberal part of California. He's like, people just look at me crazy when I say my son plays football. They're like, why? But I hear you say that, but isn't modern day one of the best programs and Folsom and Sacks, a top 25 national program, like the best high school programs are there? There's a lot of talent because it's such a, you know, it's 38 million people in the state. And L.A. is a massive second biggest city in the country.

But in a lot of parts of California, the turnout's lower. The high-end talent's great, but the turnout's lower. And that's California. But in terms of most Midwest, South, I think in the Northeast and maybe California, the turnout's probably lower. But I'm always kind of not just impressed, kind of it's it's a little jaw dropping at times, the quality of player that you look at. He played at Texas A&M and wasn't drafted. I mean, look at Brock Prudy, the last player in a draft. I mean, so when anybody questions the future of football, start looking at what the Rams have been able to secure and develop in the fifth round.

In the sixth, Jordan Whittingham, Pooka Nakuwa. I mean, Amaran St. Brown was a fourth round pick at wide receiver. It's just, I just, I guess that's my take on the preseason. One of the things I enjoy is watching it and then going online and going, how, what does this could go to college? Well, one thing I learned because like, like any young fan, I use. used to be like draft grades and can't wait to watch the first or second rounder. And then I started going to these camps working in it. And then I started doing this and go into it more from a content standpoint.

And you'd get there and the second rounder would just get beat out by the seventh rounder. Within like a week, you know, or all of a sudden the guy you had drafted in the third round who had just started at USC for four years is running behind the undrafted free agent from North Dakota. And I think the greatest part about football in the draft process and the team building aspect is you're dealing with human beings and you can never quite know what they're going to be like once they get there in the hunger that they have. And the most well documented because he's done 10 million interviews on this because of Pick 199 was Brady. But the way Brady talks about the drive and wand it, a lot of guys have. Now, they're not as good as Tom, but that guard that makes the team and plays seven. years as an undrafted free agent. And year one,

did a guy right now all around the league, right, if you played the last couple days, East Coast, maybe they've already done it, but like our West Coast teams, they're meeting as a staff. The coaching staff and the GM and a couple of his guys and maybe the trainers. And they're going position by position.

And they're getting to some guys and it's like, hey, we got Colin Coward, our starting right guard. He makes $11 million. If he's on the roster week one, if we cut him, where we get out free and clear. This undrafted free agent, I'm not saying he's as good,

but he makes one 11th of what this guy's make, and the O line coaches goes, I believe by Halloween he'll be just as good. In four years, he can be better. So you start thinking, and it's like, well, that undrafted free agent from, you know, pick a random Kansas state. And it's like, yeah, we didn't think it.

And I think sometimes in the draft process, think about the draft. It happens at the end of April. Well, most of the, I mean, the colleges are done playing by early mid-December. So you have this huge gap between. And I just think it's easy to overthink human beings.

You can't. What Brock Torty was the player the year in Arizona. And he was the player of the year in a state, you know, in their player of the year. But he's six foot one. So Nick Savans like, yeah, he can walk on. And he was, yeah, he was in a small school guy, if I remember. Yeah, he was not at Chaparral or one of these powerhouses. Yeah, he wasn't throwing to four and five stars.

guys. He was at an average high school. And I think if he had been my age, you know, back early 2000s, Black Purdy might end up at UC Davis. But I do think the internet age, those guys get opportunities now because people can find him. But you're still Alabama's, Georgia's, Ohio states, they're not as likely to take them, right? Listen, Gray Zabel went to North Dakota State. Gray's able is better than any offensive lineman USC has had in a over a decade. And I watched him at North Dakota State because they're on TV a couple times a year and they were talking about him. And then I watched him with the Seahawks, you know, the team I grew up with. By the first week, he was pancaking people. Gray's able

out of North Dakota State. And I mean, just think about all the four and five star offensive linemen USC, for example. They have not had an offensive lineman as good as Gray's Abel from North Dakota State. That is the gift that keeps on. giving is that you just don't know where the talent's going to come from. Well, the Chargers, where's Jake Slater? He went to Florida. So he's not nobody. But I don't think he's second round picks.

That's okay. He was okay. It was not a great interior O line year. But he's a good example. If he goes on to be, who knows? I mean, who's to say he can't be a Pro Bowl? Or you just look around that's like, this guy goes to make three Pro Bowls. He's taken at the end of the second round and half the guys

taken above them around the league within four or five years. So it's just there is no exact sign. There never will be, as someone told me, who's like the number two for a team. He's like, you know, we bring in a lot of other sports, specifically, like our GM's friends with baseball guys. And he's like, we talk to him about the wiring of those, like they're just fascinated by or the wiring of our guys. Like, yeah, our guys are kind of, they kind of got to shift their mindset and to become like a barbaric warrior. he's like when you play left field for the Yankees like can you hit the curveball or you can't you know do you have enough energy today or do you not it's not like you know they don't even

care if you run out to you know you pop fly bounces you end up at first base the announcer's like should have hustled but what nothing really in football I mean if you don't hustle everyone's screaming at you when you come off the field I mean it's it's a there's a violence to football that factors into the draft thing why it's so difficult yeah I remember Years ago, I read, somebody told me this or something about UFC, like every UFC champion had grown up with brothers, like more brothers than sisters. Because, and often, you know, you get young boys beat up on each other. Young boys are physical. Like, that gets, you're wiring to be physical and tough.

Yeah. You know, that stuff starts really young when you're a young boy. And I think in the same in football. I just think there's, you know, you see a lot of fans. families, the Matthews or the Watts, and you know, you're just around. I mean, it's not like, it's not like, by the way, J.J. Watt was a five-star athlete. He walked on to, you know, he's got a big dad, but he's got a bunch of brothers and all of a sudden, you know, you look up and you're like, God, what a legacy this family has. And it's, I just think it's just, I just watched preseason.

I'm just got blown away by the layers and levels of talent that goes undrafted or late round guys. So John Middlkoff, as always buddy, great seeing you. Take it easy. I survived nine months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

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