The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Cowboys A “Super Bowl” Team, Brock Purdy’s Proved It, Broncos A Playoff Team, Jayden Daniels #2 Pick?

Episode Date: December 11, 2023

Colin weighs in on the Cowboys beatdown of the Eagles, why the Eagles look tired after a rough part of their schedule (3:00) and why Jerry Jones was vindicated in trading a late-round pick for  Stephon Gilmore (6:30), John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” joins Colin to break down week 14 in the NFL.  They weigh in on the officiating controversy and coaching issues in the Bills win over the Chiefs (19:00), and why this just isn’t the year for the Chiefs (23:15). They dive into the NFC vs AFC debate and why the top of the NFC has separated from the top of the AFC (26:00). They make their case for the Broncos as a playoff team (27:30) and why Brock Purdy has more than earned the job as the 49ers quarterback going forward (36:00) They also debate whether LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels could go as high as #2 in the NFL draft after an incredible season and taking home the Heisman trophy, (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. In the NBA, the games can change in an instant, but no matter how the action unfold. Do you know that Draft King's Sportsbook has you covered? This week, new customers can score $150 instantly in bonus bets by just betting five bucks on basketball. How good of a deal

is that from Draft King Sportsbook. Win or lose, you get the instant. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Now, please use the code, Colin, C-O-L-I-N. New customers, $150, instantly in bonus bets. For betting just five, the code is Colin, C-O-L-I-N, only on Draft King Sportsbook. Download the app, code, Colin. The crown is yours.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800 Gambler or visit www.1-800 gambler.net in New York. Call 8778-N-Y or text Hope N-N-Y. 467367369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-777-7 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort, KS, licensee partner, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, 21 plus age varies by jurisdiction.

Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome in everybody. We'll have an hour-long podcast tonight. I'll start with about a 10-minute thought on the Eagles and Cowboys, then John Middlkoff stops by. Obviously, we're going to talk about the Kansas City game against Buffalo, a lot being made of that Cadarius Tony,

off-sides ruling. He was off-sides. And so they call it much more now than they've ever called it. And I just think this has been a year where it's been over-officiated. Not always poorly officiated. I do think this year's been over-officiated. that play on Tony, that call, was the 11th or 12th time they've called it this year. According to the analyst on television, it had been called only a couple of times last year and only a couple of times the previous year to that. So they're just calling it more often. I don't think anybody watches these games to see flags.

In fact, nothing is more infuriating is when a former head of officials, former head of official for a network comes on and says, yeah, there's really not a penalty there. Or referees pick up a flag, which you see more and more often. So I've always had this feeling that referees anticipate calls instead of seeing an infraction and calling an infraction. Now, in this case, Tony, the wide receiver, Giants got rid of him very quickly. He was too immature. I think Kansas City will get rid of him very quickly after the season. but it was worthy, the officials felt, and appeared to be of a flag.

You know, I was watching the Cowboys, and listen, they've played the kind of schedule where they've had several blowout wins, most at home. And so when you have a blowout win, you know, the snap count for some of your starters is lower. You can rest guys, whereas Philadelphia just looks tired. I thought Dallas tonight looked fast and fresh, and they've had a lot of their players, stars and starters that could rest second half and later in games this year. And there is something to be said about a heavy snap count. So you start looking at Philadelphia. I thought they'd

really show up tonight. It'd be a very, very physical, kind of a 2420 game. But, you know, they play the Cowboys in Kansas City and then San Francisco and then Buffalo and the Cowboys again. Those are tough matchups. Those are grueling physical matchups. There's no Carolina in there. there's no New York Giants. Your defense doesn't get to face the jets, whereas the Cowboys have half a dozen games like that this year. And so it does matter. And so I think it's just fatigue. I think tonight, Philadelphia looked old and tired, and Dallas looked young, fast, and fresh. And right now at this point in the season, they're a better team than Dallas. But the Eagles' schedule lightens up. They get the Seahawks. I think it's next Monday, so they get an extra day off. They need it.

But, you know, I was thinking watching that game. So one of the Cowboy players that had a very good night was Stefan Gilmore. And they only used a fifth round pick to get him. And so, you know, it's when they went out and spent a fifth round pick on Stefan Gilmore, I thought it was a good move. Gilmore's passed his prime, but still, you know, in big spots against big receivers, really smart player, been around, knows how to manipulate it, create fumbles. So a fifth round pick has about fifth.

15% chance of, you know, 15, 18% chance of even making the league. And it's interesting. I've always thought if I was a GM and I could go get a really good player on a good team. I wouldn't waste it. Or if it was a position of need, I would make a lot of moves like that. So Montez Sweat went to the Chicago Bears for a second round pit. Now, you have to pay him, but Montes Sweat's a really, really good defensive lineman. And every good team, the Super Bowl champs last year, Kansas City paid one defensive lineman, Chris Jones, the Rams Super Bowl team. At that time, they had Von Miller kind of renting him and Aaron Donald. But generally, NFL general managers, I want to pay, spend most of their money, the good franchises, on offense, on a weapon or two, quarterback left tackle. You know, I mean, if you look at San Francisco,

they pay Kiddell and Debo and McCaffrey and Trent Williams. That's what you want to do. And you want to have your defense to be pretty inexpensive, young, you're not. You You want a young defense. Young defenses are faster. They're hurt less often. And when they're hurt, they're back on the field more quickly than an older defense. But Stefan Gilmore was a good player for a fifth round pick. Montez Sweat.

The Bears needed an elite defensive lineman anyway, and they gave up a second rounder. Well, how many players are going to be as good as Montez Sweat in the second round? Not many. Do you realize only about 30 to 32 percent of players drafted make the roster? Yes, that's true. only about 30 to 32 percent somewhere in that range of NFL players make a roster. Now, it's much higher in the first two rounds. It's not linear.

But when you get to the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh round, those numbers go down to 8%, 10%, 15%, 17%. And so, I mean, go to last year's draft. The first player taken, Bryce Young, many think looks like a bust already. The first player. Another top 10 player, Tyree Wilson, defensive lineman for the Raiders, not very effective, could be a bust. Two in the top ten. 30% of the first round is usually ineffective, a suboptimal, or a bust. That's the first round.

So Montez Sweat has absolutely helped the Chicago Bears defense for a second rounder. Now, they did that for Chase Claypool, but that's a position of need, wide receiver, not as crucial as an elite defensive lineman, but college football also gives you on an annual basis lots of good receivers. So that's a riskier move. But Montez Sweat has been worth it. Stefan Gilmore, fifth round pick, been worth it. I mean, Christian McCaffrey went for a second, third, fourth, and fifth.

But San Francisco's second, third, fourth, and fifth round picks are late round picks because they're so good. So the first pick they really gave up would be a late second rounder. That's somewhere between like the 57th pick, 58th pick. You're out of guaranteed stars by the 58th pick. Average NFL GMs believe that most I've talked to that you usually have 16 to 7. elite players in any draft. After that, mid-first to late second, all about the same. So Christian McCaffrey is a generational player. And I remember when San Francisco made that move. I'm like, this is a home run. You just gave

Kyle Shanahan, Picasso, an open canvas and fresh paint. It was a great move. He didn't give up multiple ones. You give up a late second, a late third, a late fourth, and a late fifth. Late fifth probably doesn't make the league. Or if he does, it's 7, 8, 10 percent chance he makes the league. So I'm surprised that more teams don't roll the dice on this stuff. Giving up first round picks is tough because, I mean, you take a look at left tackle. Most great left tackles in my lifetime have been first round picks. Very hard to find a great sixth round. Who left tackle?

Goes back to what they call the planet theory. Former NFL GM George Young, the New York Giants years ago used to have this theory. There's just only so many six foot seven, 330-pound men with great feet on the planet. you know, you get these enormous defensive linemen that are gifted, Jalen Carter. You get Trent Williams, Jonathan Ogden, these kind of first round left tackles. They're usually first round picks. But Dallas looks like a very good football team. They've got several things that Super Bowl winning teams have. A good quarterback having a career year, a veteran coach who's been to a Super Bowl, certainly knows the playoffs, an elite pass rusher.

a star weapon, which C.D. Lamb has become. And this will be their eighth blowout of the year. That's about the average. Seven, eight blowouts per year for a Super Bowl champ. So Dallas, and they also have a great kicker, which it matters in close games. You know, we always worry about Mike McCarthy situational football close games. Chris Collinsworth pointed it out tonight. When you have a great kicker and you kick those 57, 58, 59-yard field goals, and they're good, you look so much smarter as a head coach. So this is the first time I remember really looking at the Dallas Cowboys differently. I thought tonight's game would be close, but Dallas, a little bit of a frontrunner.

They're a great home favorite, a fantastic home favorite. They love playing downhill. But you know what? It counts. Now, Philadelphia wins out. They still win the division. Their schedule is pretty light. Seattle, I think they faced the New York Giants a couple of times.

But Dallas deserves a lot of credit. And I, you know, I said this last week on FS1. Packers play tomorrow against the New York Giants favored by about a touchdown should win. Christian Watson, I do not believe plays, but they should win anyway. The Green Bay Packers right now, from what I've seen in the last three weeks, are better than the Green Bay Packers last year with Aaron Rogers. Mike McCarthy, Dallas looks like they can play with anybody in the sport. San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys look as good as anybody in the sport. Isn't that interesting? Green Bay has not lost a step with Aaron Rogers leaving. Mike McCarthy's career?

Never been a better brand than it is right now without Aaron Rogers. Usually the great all-time quarterbacks leave a wake. Aaron has left no wake. Green Bay is good. Mike McCarthy's fine. Devante Adams, by the way. Now, Raiders didn't score today, but Devante Adams last year led the NFL and touchdowns. I think he had 14. So it's not that Aaron wasn't talented. and isn't talented. But the great quarterbacks, Montana, Elway, Brady, Mahomes, tend to have these skills beyond talent,

like leadership, resilience, toughness, Aaron threw a pretty ball. Aaron Rogers threw a pretty ball. Denver, when Elway left. Miami, when Marino left. You know, there's a wake. It's like, wow, we take a step back as a franchise. If Green Bay wins tomorrow,

and I suspect they will over the New York Giants, with it without Christian Watson, They're a better team. One year removed from Aaron Rogers. And Mike McCarthy, and I've been critical of his situational football, this is a really good team with a lot of components. And DAC looks really comfortable. You know, talking about draft picks,

my only criticism of the Cowboys really this year is I thought they should have given up a draft pick and traded for Derek Henry of the Titans because I thought to myself, they're going to have leads in some playoff games and want to burn the clock. and they don't have that pounded running back. Pollard's kind of a two, not a one. I thought Dallas could have made another move. And boy, is Jerry Jones going to be obnoxious if this is a Super Bowl team. But they look like it for the first time in a long time.

They look like a Super Bowl team. Let's talk to John Middletclough. Listen, we've all had fender benders in our life. Sometimes it's even more serious. People between the ages of 25 and 34, in fact, have the high. amount of drivers involved in car crashes. Be careful, but even if it's somebody else's mistake, you can lean on Morgan and Morgan. If you've ever been injured, check out Morgan and Morgan. It's the nation's largest injury law firm, 100 offices and over 800 lawyers, with over 15 billion,

that to be, billion dollars recovered with over 300,000 clients. Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting for you to get full and fair compensation. Fighting for people for over 35 years. Starting for an entire football franchise as a rookie quarterback is hard. Submitting an injury claim with Morgan and Morgan is easy. If you're ever injured, check out Morgan and Morgan. Their fee is free unless they win. For more information, go for the people.com slash Colin or dial pound law.

That's pound 529 from your cell phone. That's for the people.com slash Colin or pound law 529 from yourself. This is a paid advertisement. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need.

to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome in Colin Cowherd alongside John Middlkoff, former NFL Scout.

He has a podcast for the volume called Three and Out, very popular podcast. We do this YouTube Live, becomes a podcast for the volume sports. let's start with kind of the game of the day, which is in the early windows, which is Buffalo holding on to beat Kansas City, some coaching malpractice down the stretch by Sean McDermott, who did not have a good week when a story leaked that he did a couple years ago, a pregame speech to incentivize his team with some 9-11 references without going into detail that were horrible and embarrassing. And, you know, everybody makes mistakes. Yeah, I get it. But when I watch the end of the game and him throwing the ball and not bleeding the clock out.

And maybe that's maybe that's a defensive coach, not respecting offense, but to do that in Kansas City against Mahomes was like, timeout. Sean, I know the 9-11 story was a bad week. I know you're off. I just couldn't believe what I was watching. Now, they get away with it. But when you have a coach on the hot seat and you're a GM or an owner, you love. look for these moments sometimes to go, how do we pull the rip court on this? Like, how do we get out of it?

I honestly thought if they lost that game, John, maybe this is hyperbolic. You could have made a decision upstairs. End of the year, we're getting rid of him. I thought the moment that Travis Kelsey threw the ball back and the guy walked into the end zone before the play was called back, that was going to end Sean McDermott's Bill's career. You couldn't end on the week that he had like that, especially because when the game started, bills came out. They looked like the Super Bowl contender that we all thought they were coming into the season, at least some of us. And then the game just kind of unraveled from there. And they were in a position where it looked like they were going to lose.

So, yeah, I mean, listen, I've known Sean since I worked in the NFL. He was in Philadelphia, and I text a bunch of people that worked with him as well. From a character standpoint, I always thought, like, his character was pristine, high-level guy. Now, I think some of the tight, defensive stuff, you can't argue that. but some of the stuff that, you know, at least in my experience, and other people that I know said that wasn't the guy that they were ever around. I'm not talking about Buffalo. I can't speak to that.

I'm just saying in my experience. But today, I mean, he is just so dependent on this quarterback pulling plays out of his ass. I mean, that play, when he scrambled to his left, threw it to Latavius, who ended up fumbling. I know they got a little lucky that they recovered the ball because it went out of balance. But that play sums up the Josh Allen experience. Like, no one else in the NFL can even do that. that and obviously his ability to run, you know, with a violent nature.

He's just a unique player. Listen, we know what coaching does. Look at Denver, Nat Hackett to Sean Payton. Same exact players. So we know coaching matters. If you put Mahomes in Buffalo and Josh Allen in Kansas City, you know who has the rings? Like, we know quarterback 65% of it. But we've seen Jeff Fisher and Sean McVeigh with Jared Gough.

We've seen Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel with Tua. We know quarterback. can be elevated by coaches. What you're watching is a defensive coach who cannot create a run game. Today didn't throw the ball down the field virtually at all. Josh Allen is carrying this franchise. It's a little bit like what's happening to the Chargers. The difference is Josh Allen's better than Justin Herbert.

But I mean, I'm to the point now where I feel sorry that the prime – and he's probably got three prime years left because he's getting the hell beat out of him. Josh Allen has about three prime years left, and then he's going to be Big Ben and Cam. He's going to hit about 32 and start aging. I would say, I mean, McDermott, I couldn't compare him to Staley. He is a playoff level coach, but clearly it feels like a lot of people are going to act. Like this team, don't let them get hot.

I'm not buying it. I mean, that we just witnessed. I mean, they easily could have lost the game if the guy's cleat is six inches, you know, behind the blue line. So they are fly by to the seat of their pants. Hope Josh make some plays. They come out strong and then they just kind of hold on for dear life. They've played in that same game 10 times this year.

They've just for the first time lost a lot of them. Obviously they play Dallas next week. But I'm not buying that because a lot of people are going to say, if they get in, watch out. Like, I don't know. I do not see it with this. I don't even. Too much going on. Just because you win a game like this, which is important for their playoff chances,

I don't think it changes kind of the talk. around the coach, the franchise, everything that's going on, right? I mean, he was, there was a microscope on him coming into the season, and then obviously they're going to struggle to get to nine wins. So I think this franchise, it's just in a very, very weird spot right now. Let's talk Kansas City. So when you pay your quarterback a lot of money, you have to get cheaper. And to get cheaper, you have to get younger.

Tony, by the way, the Giants let him go. He was inconsistent. He was immature. Kansas City picks up Tony, his foot's offside, or they win the football game. And so what I watch with Kansas City are some coverage breakdowns with young defensive players and drops and mistakes by young receivers. So what I think Kansas City is suffering from is just youth. And this is the reality is when you pay your quarterback, what you pay him.

You just got to get, John, you got to get younger. And, you know, there's that fine line where the Rams go all in with old guys win a Super Bowl. Now the Rams have a bunch of kids. By the way, young teams, Green Bay, Houston Rams, you've seen the Rams get better as the season's gone on. Houston was bad today, but they've gotten better. Green Bay has gotten better. So young teams generally over the course of a season,

they have these milestone games, these big jumps. Like an old team, kind of you know what you get. San Francisco, I kind of know what I get. I saw it against Dallas. I saw it, you know, again. But I do think, you know, the Rams, Green Bay, you're like, oh, these teams are making big leaps. And I feel with Kansas City today, they lost because of Tony.

They lost because of youth, a dumb play. Well, Andy and Brett Veach have a little Al Davis to him. They will look past some stuff. I mean, Tony was a walking red flag. There was a reason he was available and they got him, I think, for a third round pick. And he's let him down multiple times this season, right, with inconsistencies because he's not a reliable player. But they had to do it because they're somewhat desperate. Offensively, right, they've lost to Green Bay, Philly in Buffalo over the about

the last month, right? They scored 17, 19, 17 points. Now, I think, big picture, if you're a cheese fan, you got Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes. Over the years, you're going to be okay. Kind of feels like this ain't their year, Colin. I mean, they cannot generate anything offensively with the wide receiver. Rice is a good young player. Yes, Rice is nice. They're going to need more to go. I think this offseason, they'll be talked about with the Mike Evans and the older guys who are available. I think you've got to ask yourself also big picture with Travis Kelsey. He's no longer just in the prime of his career. And I think when you look, it's so easy to game plan.

Like with the Niners, it's like, we're going to take away Debo, you're going to take away Kiddle, you're going to take away McCaffrey. It's like, we're just going to take away Kelsey, who else is going to beat us? Right. We'll live with giving Rice a touchdown every once in a while, whatever. There's not kind of that dual, you know, opportunity to hit you from every angle with him and Tyree Kill. It was like that last year. They were able to just squeak by and figure it out.

Remember, they barely beat the Bengals in the AFC championship game. They barely won the Super Bowl. and this year it's kind of coming back to, you know, kind of the mean a little bit. Offensively, they're just not very good right now. Yeah. One thing to support Kansas City, they're not very good right now. But boy, you look around Jacksonville's reeling, Joe Flacco and Cleveland, there's limitations. Baltimore's leaking a little bit.

They won today, but there's some leaks with that team. Jake Browning's a nice story. He's not a great quarterback. Miami is a team that Buffalo is always. matched up well with, and I think Kansas City actually matches up well with. So I would say this, we viewed the AFC as superior to the NFC. But between San Francisco, Dallas and Philadelphia, the top of the NFC to me, John, is better than the top of the AFC. So I think Kansas City's got a shot just on Mahomes and coaching. Well, they're just going to have to win these games like today,

right? In the playoffs, they're going to have to win a game 20 to 17. But for the first time, and honestly, it was like a lot like this last year, they could easily lose that game too. Like, is anyone going to be surprised if they lose a game 19 to 14 in the playoffs? Like that's what it's going to look like to the Baltimore Ravens to, you know, I would say that they're not going to lose the Cleveland Browns,

but if that defense is on and Mahomes and they're struggling to score points, it's not inconceivable. You lose 17 to 14. I mean, this Chief's team is probably not having back-to-back playoff games of 28 and 35 points, right? Right. Now, they know how to play this way because their defense is pretty solid.

But their guys have been through the wars, and they'll just need, you know, if Kelsey's gets six catches for you, two of those might have to be touchdowns. All right. Let's segue. Because I want to talk Niners, Seattle, but not yet. Let's talk Denver, Los Angeles Chargers. So this was one of my bets of the week. I had a winning week on Blazing Five. And one of my bets was this was a coaching mismatch.

And I figured if you take away the Denver game against Houston where they had a lot of turnovers for six of the six of the six. seven weeks or five of the six weeks. Denver just plays good defense, doesn't turn it over, and Russell picks up first downs on third and four running around. They did it again today. They had one big play over the top, Russ to Cortland Sutton, who made a hell of a one-handed catch. It was a great one of the plays of the day. But so Pete Carroll, defensive coach, one of my knocks on defensive coaches. They don't understand the urgency and importance of quarterback. They say they do, but they don't. Sort of like guys who say, hey, I work hard for a living. They work 42 hours a week.

Now, 55 to 60 is working hard for a living. So defensive coaches tend to say, hey, I take quarterback seriously. You don't really, if you think Gino, you can leave Russ and go to Gino and Drew Locke. And Pete has trumpeted both, right? So right now, Seattle's six and seven, and they're done. I mean, they're basically, their offense is praying that no offense, D.K. Metcalfe, or one of their backs make a big play. There's no creativity to it.

But so Denver's interesting. go look at their schedule. They have reeling Detroit next, the Chargers, New England, which is like a soft tank. Denver, John, I think Denver's going to make the playoffs with 10 wins. And it shows you the value if the Denver Broncos hire Peyton immediately. Seattle never won this trade. It was always a bad idea. Couldn't I argue that?

Yeah, I mean, I do think it was time to pivot if you're going to keep Pete. like they had run their course, those two, Pete and Russ. And I think watching this game today, and I'm sure we'll get into some of these defensive coaches, you know, we've been talking about it forever with Bill. You're seeing it with Tomlin. Isn't it just kind of time? Isn't it just kind of time? Like, listen, I have nothing to say about Brandon Staley.

It's been said over and over. Like, that's done. My whole take on the Chargers is it doesn't work in L.A. It just doesn't. It really does not. I mean, it's just, and I know they're not going to move. They just built, but it's a disaster. Yeah.

They're never going to have fans. Their ownership, they're always going to be second fiddle. Just to the other NFL team, let alone the Dodgers and the Lakers are dramatically bigger. If USC ever has a pulse in the Big Ten, they'll be bigger. It's just never going to work. I don't care if Justin Herbert has 10 straight years that don't quite look like this year, that he gets back on track and is awesome. Even if they were to hire Jim Harbaugh, they're the Steve Ballmer Clippers.

Like, you know what I was thinking about this during the game? Do you know Balmer's mistake? He should have just gone to Vegas or Seattle with the team. and bend the big fish in that pond or been the only basketball team. It's never going to work with the Clippers, but he has more of a fighting chance in the NBA. It's a little different in the NBA. Football, they have no chance. They're never going to have fans.

It doesn't work. It's a freaking disaster. And today, like you said, I mean, Sean Peyton and that team is just more buttoned up. I don't think Denver's that great, though he gets a lot of credit for just figuring out what they do well. They kind of dink and dunk, like you said, Sutton's a really good player. Defensively, the way he stood by Vance Joseph, whether the same. storm. They've played really good. They're only one game back right now of the Chiefs. Now, I wouldn't bet on them to win the division. The Chiefs got the Patriots coming up.

Right. But it's, if I would have told you that five, six weeks ago that come right around a couple weeks before Christmas, it's going to be a one game separator. You would never, no one would have believed you. Well, I mean, Simmons on defense, Singleton, DJ Jones, Sertan. There's some real players. Bowles is a very good left tackle. I like both P. Ryan and Williams, the running back. Javonte Williams is good. Yeah. Barton Sutton's a really good player. Their tight ends are capable. I think Jerry Judy's a bit of a miss, but he's enough of a speed threat that you have to

defend him. And Russ is about 80% of what he did in Seattle. You get one big play a game, one tier drop throw a game, and about six scrambles for first downs, and it's a lot of dink and dunk. But what I will tell you this is that I don't think Sean Payton loves Russell. I don't think they fit. He's like, not as athletic as Taysam Hill. not as accurate as Drew Brees.

He's like 70% of both. So you get a little bit of both. And I think Sean would rather have the great athlete and the great thrower. He's got like a B plus at both, B to a B plus. But I will say, I looked at Denver's schedule. Here it is, John. Lions, New England Chargers, Raiders. John, they're going to win 11 games.

They just won. They're seven and six. I think Denver's going to make the playoffs. Yeah, he would definitely throw his hat in the ring if they win. out and win 11 games for coach of the year. After the way it started, you could not deny it. Not in a million years what I thought, obviously today, I thought they were going to win, but just the way this is gone.

Crazy. It's pretty crazy. I also think, and you've been on this side forever, and I thought it was on full display today, offensive coaches. And really started on Thursday night. You know, Mike Tomlin, he just lost the two teams with a combined coming into their games four and 20 records. Like, that's embarrassing.

Like it's over. Pete Carroll today. His offensive player, D.K. McCaff's out of control, always causing fights. He can't do the offense. He has no impact over. Obviously, we've seen it with Bill. You look, Shane Steichen, I know they lost today, but having his team seven and six with Gardner Minchu, what Kevin Stefanski's doing with the group of quarterbacks he's had rolling

into Joe Flacco, Zach Taylor was Jake Browning. I mean, all these offensive coaches, a lot of these guys are dealing with backup quarterbacks. Yes. and are being very functional. Yet these defensive guys, Harbaugh got a little lucky today. I mean, Lamar pulled some crazy plays out. McVeigh screwed up the timeouts.

But listen, they have a high-level organization. He's part of that. But most of these defensive coaches, especially the older guys, like it just feels kind of over. I mean, we saw it with McDermott with the article, and then you see it all over the league. It's very, very difficult when your offense sucks, and you can't do anything. John, in the AFC, these are playoff teams. Miami, Kansas City, Jags, Cleveland, Sincey,

all offensive coaches, 5 of 7. On the bubble, the Colts, Denver, and Buffalo. Now, Buffalo won, so they may be in, but Colts and Denver on the bubble, offensive coaches. In the NFC, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, despite their loss, Dallas, Minnesota,

Green Bay, 6-7 offensive coaches. By the way, on the bubble, Rams, Atlanta, both offensive coaches. Like, I've been on this for years, and I know it's probably tedious to my followers, but it's like a tidal wave now. And the only reason Buffalo is going to get in if they do is because Josh Allen's a freak. I mean, he's literally physically.

He's he's Cam Ben, but more talented than Big Ben and Cam. That's what he is. Yeah. I mean, I think we're going to see, I think Schfters a couple weeks ago said potentially 10 openings. You know, we'll see how it all breaks. Obviously, the AFC and NFC South, depending on who, you know, gets in and doesn't, who they fire.

But how could you hire? anyone but an offensive coach, right? Because obviously the most important guy in your organization, whether you draft him high or whether he's already on your team and you're going to pay him a lot of money is the quarterback. So wouldn't you want the coach and most of these guys that you listed are all the play callers as well. So they're not only the head coach, half the game, they're on the sideline impacting the game. Like, let's face it, Tomlin, P, all these guys, even Vrable, who I like, but he's having some offensive issues lately. Just kind of call timeouts and give some Rara speeches. Yet you watch Mike, or I mean, Kyle, McVeigh, Stuyken, all these guys,

they are impacting half the game at minimum. Just with the, and a lot of these guys, they've got backup quarterbacks. Obviously during the week, they're in with the meeting rooms. The impact they have on a weekly basis, even separate from Sunday, it's hard to even quantify, especially the way the sports played now, right? The rules are on the side of that guy. Dramatically, I mean, and it's only shifting, it's not like we're ever going back to the barbaric hits. that we all grew up on. Those days were just over. So the offensive side of the ball, the offensive play callers,

even these backup quarterbacks are proven like, you can function with Jake Brown. Jake Browning is one of the craziest stories I've ever seen, Colin. I thought he was a mediocre college player at best. He looks really solid. And it shows you high-level guys in probably any industry. Football is no different than anyone listening to this and whatever you do in the private sector.

You can improve. And high-level people constantly work at it, especially when they're passionate about what they do. And he's a great example. Chris Peterson, smart guy, he has gotten dramatically better than when he was the quarterback for a college football playoff team. Yeah. All right, let's go to the Seahawks losing in the Bay Area to San Francisco. The Niners average 9.9 yards per play.

So I have said before, and people see it as a criticism with Brock Purdy, and I'm like, I think he's good. Which, by the way, if you told somebody, my kids are good students, that would be like, oh, B, B plus. If I said, my kids are great students, those are A students. But in no industry is good. He's a good pilot. That means he's never crashed. Is he top of his class? He's a great pilot.

That's Sully Sullenberger landing on the Hudson. But good in every industry is a nice thing to say. So I've always said Brock Pretty is good. But he made about three throws today. And I'm like, okay, do I got to go to very good? So now, Debo's a matchup nightmare for Seattle's Young Corners. It was just a problem. But he made throws today.

And these were, you know, John, so much of this league, you see it all the time, even with San Francisco's clever offense, you get about three throws a game or kittles behind the corner. Yeah. That doesn't happen that often. You get about three a game, maybe two, and Pretty makes those every time. He doesn't miss much on that stuff. So as somebody who knows the Niners has been around the Niners, I wonder, I really do, they're not going to pay him now. but if he stays healthy, I don't know if you can move off him with Kyle's offense.

Yeah, Colin, he's going nowhere. He's turning into the mobile, Drew Brees. You know, I've been saying this now for a couple weeks. He's everything that I think the Browns and John Dorsey thought they were getting when they drafted Baker Mayfield number one overall. The accurate explosive arm, but kind of the, you know, he's not as outspoken, but he's got a little cockiness in the way he plays. And, you know, the big difference, this Niners team,

under Purdy and what they were when they were successful and won a lot of games with Jimmy Garaplo. Well, a lot of those games were like 2321 because Jimmy never hit that guy wide open. Yes. He never did. He could hit the slant route. He could hit the quick screen, but he never made the explosive play. The other thing that Purdy brings to the table that I don't think a lot of people want to give him credit because he's a little white guy.

He's a really good athlete. He is quick. He can move. And he is a very accurate playmaker when he scrambles. So part of it is like, and this is a very accurate playmaker. what Andy Reeves always had. Great scabatic guy, but he likes his quarterback from Favre to Donovan to Michael Vic to now Patrick Mahomes. Sometimes you have to make a play outside of what I call, and that leads to greatness. Like Josh Allen is what he does is insane. But Kyle, like not every

play call he's going to call is going to work perfectly on time. Sometimes shit hits the fan, a guy slips, a defensive lineman gets through. I need the quarterback to bail me out. And Jimmy could not and Pertie really can. Like I don't even see how anyone could argue, Like, Brock Purdy's physically never going to be Josh Allen. He's never going to run down the field like Lamar Jackson. But if we all watch football, depending on how old you are, most of your adult life, and you watch that guy play and go, that's a really good quarterback. I don't know what to say.

Is he headed to the Hall of Fame? We've got a long way to go. How much they're going to give them? They can't even pay him after the third year. So they got all this year and all the next year. And they honestly have the fourth year if they want to run it out. But this version of Brock Purdy, I mean, he's a lock NFC pro bowler. Right there, you know, him and Dak Prescott are the only the clear guys in the NFC now that

golf's kind of falling off and Jalen's banged up. Probably be Jalen, but like he's no doubt about it. And you could argue, I mean, you look around the NFL, we'll see how it, like, is he one of, was he a top five guy this year, this year in a vacuum? I think you could make the argument when it's all said done if he keeps going like this, because like you said, he's not some Alex Smith, Dink and Dunk guy. This guy is pushing the ball down the field. Down the field.

No, I mean, Debo today, they had 527 yards. So, I mean, this is, and again, when you watch, what my takeaway, on this game and they're just such a well well run operation. The difference between a defensive coach, Pete Carroll and an offensive coach, San Francisco has players wide open, is constantly fooling Seattle's defense. Seattle's big plays are Drew Locke hits D.K. Metcalf, who just is so physically big. But Pete didn't get along with Russ. D.K. Metcalf is, I love him, but he is out of control. I start looking at Seattle. John, they're going to draft about 15th. That does give them a shot for quarterbacks. And at the very end of this, we're going to talk about Jaden Daniels, the kid from

LSU who won that Heisman, because I want to spend five minutes on that. I have a theory on that. But I look at Seattle, and my question to you is, what are they now? They're not clever. They don't have a quarterback. They had no real legitimate, no offensive coach would have moved off Russell for Gino. That's not what an offensive coach. would do. You'd have to have a better game plan. No coach I know that I respect offensively, and I've talked a couple, is a Drew Locke fan. So like, what is Seattle now? There's six and seven, and I look around the NFC and I'm like, Green Bay looks like a playoff team to me with an offensive coach and some twitchy athletes. What is Seattle? The ramps? I mean, the ramps surely look like a

playoff team as well. Again, we can talk about that, but that first half that Sean McBay put up today. John, it was one of the best first halves by anybody. Like, I watched Seattle and I'm like, what the hell are they? Well, I look at Seattle the same way I do the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Mike's, you know, a lot younger than Pete. So if he, you know, is looking for a job, it'd be much easier for people be lined up to hire him. I just think it's over both places. It's just over. It doesn't mean they're bad. I don't think they forgot football overnight. But don't things run their course. Like Andy Reid once got fired in Philadelphia, right? things just end.

And I watch Pete Carroll today, like he has no answers. He's done, he's had an incredible run. I think Greg Olson, who was just awesome, by the way. I mean, what an easy guy to listen to on the broadcast. Yeah. You know, his, his resume in Seattle speaks for itself. He resurrected the franchise. He's gave them a competitiveness that they did not have.

But it's over. And I think, and now obviously financially, he makes a lot of money. Tomlin never had the losing season. Like, if I'm both those two teams and I'm Seattle and I look at Sean, I'm McVey and Kyle Shanahan. Like, how are we beating those guys? We're not, because we've invested a ton on defense. It's not like they have a bunch of seventh rounders making no money on defense.

I mean, Jamal Adams has to play, and he gets cooked. And why do they want Jamal Adams? Because Pete Carroll, you know, thinking like 1990, a guy like that, you can't play. You can't cover a soul. Can't cover anybody. You got to be careful when you're tweeting about Jamal Adams. He gets very edgy. He goes after, you know, significant others.

And I look the same thing with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like, it's just, it just run its course. truly, even if both of them squeak into the playoffs, I don't think that changes at all. You wouldn't bet on them to go anywhere. They'd be a one and done. They struggle to score. Even the Gino Smith, it was an incredible story,

but that had a shelf life. To me, they got moving up in this draft, being aggressive draft, and not one of the top two quarterbacks, but whoever they like as the third guy, they got that written all over. I just wonder, you know, just get rid of Pete and let John, you know,

hire a young offensive coach. All right, let's talk lions. going to Chicago, Bears should have beaten them twice. They hammered them today. So it's interesting. Four or five weeks ago, both you and I would have said, Iber Flues gone, Justin Fields move on. But what's interesting, and you and I both talk about this, as a coach, like USC's Lincoln Riley, the offense is fine. So I know I have a coach, right? It's the defense. If you watch the Bears defense now, can't run on it. Number one in the league against the rush was going into the day. Excellent on third down. Only, out 13 first downs with Jared Gough, that old line, that tight end, Leporta, and Amaran St. Brown.

They had two picks. So you can say what you want. But this year, when they got a Montez sweat, who had like four quarterback hurries today, now he's got some interesting defensive personnel. Well, now the defense is pretty good. Justin Fields, 19 or 33, a touchdown, 60 yards rushing, a touchdown, eight different targets. So now, I don't think, I think Caleb Williams is too good to pass on. But what I do believe that Justin Fields has played well enough now, John, you could move him to an Atlanta and get a first round pick. Easily. I don't think you get a first round pick. What do you think? There's still some inaccuracy there to invest a first round pick into a quarterback. I couldn't trade a first round pick for Justin Fields.

Second. Though I definitely could because I'm desperate, but he's going into his fourth year. The contract matters in football, right? Yes. So he's already used up three years of the chief contract. fourth year, if you trade for them, the fifth year option's on you. So let's say you picked that up. I mean, we saw what Green Bay did, right? They gave kind of that fake extension. Do you really, the part of the fifth year option, I don't know what the number would be in a couple of years, but the reason it's big.

You know, it's not $10 million. It's $35, $40 million or $32, and it's all guaranteed. It's a little like the poor man's franchise tag with a quarterback. So he's a little complicated that way. To me, I still see more of an athlete who, and I was a big fan of him coming out. Now he hit the DJ Moore on a nice touchdown pass. Ideally with the Bears, like, could I just turn Iber Fluse? Because he took over once that defensive coordinator got fired and that weird, just into the

defensive coordinator and just hire like a Shane Stiking level guy to be my head coach. Because I'm Eber Fluss is a pretty solid defensive coordinator. Yes. Clearly. But we've just been talking about this. How could you let him make that decision? I'm out on it and I'm still like, to me, if I get the number one pick, I'm moving on because one, Caleb's just a better player than Fields.

And the contract is such a game changer, right? And you get to recoup your second round pick that you gave up when you made a trade this year for Montes Sweat, Justin Fields, and you kind of rehash. I mean, if you get a good offensive coach there, they definitely have some pieces. Like you said, defensively, I didn't love the trade for Montes Sweat. Now, it happened, whatever. They paid him. He's not going anywhere. Jalen Johnson has turned into an all-pro level corner.

He's making plays nonstop. Yes. DJ Moore is an excellent player. I mean, what the Carolina Panthers would do. to probably redo that trade and trade one of the defensive linemen and kept him with the with the quarterback. But I'm still, to me, Fields is still gone and the coach is still gone. Now, I have a lot of respect for him. Neither of the guys went in the tank. It would have been really easy, right? Because it was, it was fucking ugly. And especially Justin Fields shows a lot of mental fortitude this year. I actually

think he's earned a lot of respect around the NFL. Like, Zach Wilson had a good game. Like Fields is kind of, you know, he got injured, he battled back and came back better, didn't complain. Just kind of just acted like a grownup. So I think, I don't even just think Atlanta. I mean, there would be several teams, I'm sure, sniffing around. Yeah. Quarterback desperation of the Raiders. I mean, Minnesota's quarterback situation is kind of, who knows who's running the Patriots

next year. So maybe, you know, all takes is two people bidding to drive up the price, right? So, yeah, maybe you can never discount a quarterback, especially these next three weeks. He continues to just put up good numbers. They keep winning. Yeah, I said this about Sam Darnold. He's more athletic than Sam Darnold. But Sam was, you could put together a.

a four-minute YouTube reel on Sam Darnel, if you're an agent, and he got a second chance in Carolina. Justin's too talented not to get a second chance. Somebody's going to get – well, he's an elite runner. He's an elite runner. And he has gotten better. He does make plays. Now, he had about 35 fumbles and 37 starts, so he gives you about a turnover a game,

which Andrew Luck gave you a lot of turnover. And by the way, Brett Fav did different era. Like, I can live with some of that if you give me something on the other end. Today he did. Detroit's also not a very good defense. But I do think Iber Fluse would be a great defensive coordinator. But I think I'd go Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, and then the second pick I would go get the best, they have tackles they'd like.

I'd go get the best defensive player in the draft like Houston did with C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson. Just go get the best defensive rush end. There's not a great corner this year. But I went watching it today, I looked at it and I thought, here's the good news, is that Justin Fields will get another shot, good for him. but Chicago's going to get a real draft pick. He's a real playmaker.

No question. I think on the flip side, and I think you and I are both pro-Jergoth guys, but he does look dramatically worse when it gets cold and he has to go outside. You know, he just, you know, listen, I'm from not far away from where he grew up. It's understandable. You don't, he played at Cal then he went to the Rams.

He now plays in a dome. I think Derek Carr, who he's a better player than fell under the same thing. You put them outdoors. I don't know what the temperature was there. It wasn't like crazy frigid, but it definitely wasn't a beautiful day. He's just not going to be good. And he looks dramatically worse. And they're a team.

I think a lot of people, you know, they're going to end up being the three seed, I would imagine, are going to bet against them in that first playoff game. The difference is they're way different in a dome. Look at last week against the Saints. They had 21 points like that. They're much faster. They have a bunch of offensive personnel. Their defense sucks, but they can score so many points in the dome.

I actually think the time to bet against. against them will be the second week on the road where they probably get demolished. But I think a lot of people are going to pivot, right? They play the Rams, let's say, in the first round. Everyone's like the Rams are going to kill them. Detroit's a very different team just in a dome, in a controlled environment because of their quarterback. And their skill guys are so fast.

You put them outside. If I said week one, they got to go to, hypothetically, they're not going to, but like at Green Bay or at San Francisco, they'd have no shot. They'd have none. But they might just win a playoff game based on their quarterback is so good. you know, in a covered stadium. I do want to talk Rams Ravens because I thought it was a wildly entertaining game. Might have been game of the year from an entertainment standpoint.

It was fantastic. And I got to say this about Sean McVanahana loss. Nobody's healthy. Cooper Cup is limping. Pooka Nuccah has banged up ribs. Matt Stafford grabbed his chest twice. The offensive line, they're just putting that thing. We've watched NFC teams go out early window, Detroit, Seattle, get you.

humiliated. They should have won that game. I mean, they really should have won that game. They lost in a punt return between Puka game planning, Stafford play calling, Cooper Cup, Williams, the running back. They had a backup tied in. The kid, their draft pick in the fourth or fifth round, a fourth or fifth round, Davis Allen from Clemson. Yeah. I just sat there and I thought, this is one of the best called games of the year by a coach. I thought it was a master class. Now, McVeigh had some clock issues. This stuff's not easy. Andy Reid had those in Philadelphia.

But I'm talking about in terms of execution with an offense where virtually, John, nobody is healthy. They got 11 guys out there banged up. Congrats to Baltimore. The Rams feel like a playoff team to me. Well, I clicked on McVeigh's post-game press conference because I wanted to hear about how they guys screw up at the end. And he didn't really. I wondered if their headset went out, sometimes on the quarterback as well. when you throw down the field, you don't get back, because that really killed him.

It killed them in regulation when he had to burn the timeout because then they couldn't throw over the middle of the field to have a chance at a touchdown. They had to just throw at the end zone. And then even in the overtime on third and four, when they got the delay a game, it set them back. I actually felt pretty good about them making a run. They had a lot of momentum. They had just stopped a three and out. And you could tell Sean was heated.

That's crazy. Those two guys were so awesome today. I mean, what a year, McVeigh was. I wrote down when I thought they were going to win. What a year for McVeigh? He turns down Amazon $20 million here. He comes back. He has a kid.

He leads a terrible roster to the playoffs. Like, what a superstar. But even in the loss, they feel like one of the hotter teams right now in the NFL. When Stafford is on, there were times today where you're like, that's what a $50 million quarterback looks like. No question. The toughness. Because we know arm strength. We know the dots that he's throwing to Puka.

And he threw a plate a cup. Cup made an incredible catch. But his toughness to me is he's got a far-vian. quality to them when games like this in the rain. It's wet, ugly, on the road in Baltimore, and they went toe to toe. If they won this game, I thought, like, this is going to be one of the hotter teams going to the playoffs. I still think they're going to go to playoffs, right? Because this was, I mean, they were a seven and a half point underdog. But those two guys, who wants to see McVeigh and Stafford, right, in just a big game? And, you know, sometimes Sean, and I thought

when they had that delay a game penalty, he can get too cute. And they had like, they had like, a jumbo set. They were moving into, it was a very complicated play. And I'm like, Sean, you're on the road. Just get this thing snapped and move the ball down. Stafford's hot, and he's getting good protection. But one of the things we've talked about before, defensive coaches struggle with offensive line play. So Annie Reid has rebuilt that O line twice, right? Belichick did twice, three times with Dante's Carnegie. But offensive coaches are very good at this. This offensive line's not very good. They've got Dotson's a very good guard. Havenstein's a very good right tackle.

They got note boom playing right guard. They have an undrafted guy at left tackle. They had a really good protection today. And in this league, when everybody's going to backup quarterbacks, a lot of these defensive coaches using backup quarterbacks is because they can't manipulate the offensive line. Did you see Justin Herbert get smoked today? Brandon Staley, defensive coach.

Brandon Staley is 6'5-240. He got the blank kicked out of him today. And I mean stuff like Ragdolled, looked like 1980s, Joe Montana getting thrown around by like the New York Giants. So McVeigh is really done and it's under the radar and you're a former scout so you know this. They have made that a very good run blocking O line with tackles playing guards. Dotson was signed, if you recall, at the very beginning of the season. Yeah, personnel-wise, they deserve a lot of credit. Obviously with the offensive line, but how good Nakua is.

I mean, that kid is a stud. And the Kerwin Williams move, I mean, that guy's a really good running back as well. I mean, you watch part of what makes the Ravens, right, is they've been for 50, 20 years under the Ozzy run. They, beside a couple players, like a Lamar Jackson, right, or when they had Suggs, they kind of cycle everyone out. They love those comp picks. They let everyone walk. So they always have new players beside the guys they draft, right, to then stay on that rookie contract. And then maybe one of the five guys that you think they should keep, they'll keep,

but they'll let the other four go. And they've just done an incredible job personnel-wise. I think the Rams, I bet against them. Because I was like, who are these random guys? I wouldn't have, if you would have said, Puka Nakua, I'd be like, who the hell's that, you know, seven months ago? But then you watch them, personnel-wise, obviously from a schematic standpoint of the coach.

And I do think this gets back to you. You watch that game, you know, in an NBA game, like when Stefan LeBron are going, it's clear. You watch those two quarterbacks, you're like, yeah, these are two guys, these guys, like, you watch Jared Gough, you know, it's like those guys are in a different planet. And Jared Gaff's a solid player, right? And that's, but you watch that game in the environment.

Lamar made some plays today that, you know, part of, I think McVeigh was very positive after the loss. There were some plays with the Ravens and him that just, what are you going to do? You tip your cap to. I mean, he's getting sacked. He's throwing the ball. He's just like, what is going on? Yeah, and Lamar's done this, John. If you remember in his first two to three years, he would go to his first look and then his second and then he was off.

there were multiple times today, John, when he moved left and right. He didn't want to run. He was, his head was on a swivel. He was on a third guy, a fourth guy. Lamar has gotten much more willing to go to your third, your fourth receiver. Now, he can always run, but his maturity in the pocket, he moved out one time, and it was, I think it was the fourth quarter. He moved left, and I'm like, run. And he was just set on throwing the ball.

that's a completely different mindset than three years ago. Yeah, the touchdown late in regulation of Zay Flowers, so he was scrambling back and he hit him on the move was just his, you know, if you were going to be bullish on Justin Fields, I think if you were another team trading for him, you'd go, you'd want to find out how they have worked on Lamar's touch over the years. Now, his arm, he's not as dependent on like a power arm. It's never really been his deal.

You know, Fields is much more of like a power pitcher. But Lamar's touch, like that's what is Purdy Hang has had on, touch, touch. Lamar now, if you can move like that and have the touch, they easily could win the Super Bowl, right? I mean, they play the dinners in a couple weeks, the way how good their defense is, how dynamic the quarterback is, because even say the Niners or Dallas

or whoever plays them in the Super Bowl, you can do everything right. I mean, absolutely everything. I mean, Aaron Donald today probably is on the flight home as we speak thinking, I could have 10 sacks. He was all over him. But he would just maneuver,

he would dive, another D-Lyman would hit him. Lamar's doing 360s. And usually you're like, Like, what is going on? But you have full faith that he's going to keep it alive, and he often does. Back to the Ravens, the draft pick is A. I mean, is that just, we talk forever about, like, the Patriots and just every time they draft a receiver, like, this guy's going to stink.

The Ravens looking back, I should have been immediately. Yeah, this guy's probably going to be like a Hall of Famer because that guy is just, what a perfect fit for him in the court. And those two guys, the next five, six years, watch the hell out because they have immediate chemistry. They Flowers is a really good player. Yeah, and it's, you know, for some, there's some reason, I've had them number four in my top 10 for weeks. And I don't know why I have any misgivings because I love the coach and I love the quarterback.

But for years, you could argue they didn't, they didn't get receiver right. They'd been great at tight end back. And they just couldn't quite, they had a couple misses. Zay is a game changer. And sometimes those small guys, they become gadget guys. You know, like Tyler Lockett became a really good. receiver but was viewed kind of into the league as a gadget guy, and then he's more than that. But a lot of times, it was at Tavon Austin, the guy that came in.

And they just, they can't really. John Ross, you know, they just can't do much beyond. No, Zay Flowers can go into traffic. He can make all sorts of catches. So, all right, let's close it out. Heisman. So, um, I'm a big fan. I think Michael Pennix throws the best ball.

Caleb Williams is the most talented. Drake May's talented, but inconsistent. Bo Nix feels like more of a system quarter. back. So Daniels, the kid that was at Arizona State, Dean Daniels, and LSU. So I remember when LSU, Brian Kelly, got him. And I remember going on Twitter and saying to people, I'm like, okay, I watched this kid. He may weigh 160 pounds, but I'm like, he's really good. And I couldn't believe the pushback I got. Now, I'm thinking to myself, well, it's Arizona State. They play night games. You're down there in Scottsdale. People just hadn't seen him play. So nobody likes

ASU play. Right. So they don't win games. And a her. he turns a defensive coach. But I was like, I watched him enough on these late Pack 12 games. I'm like, shit, this kid's good. He just needs to put weight on. So now he goes and he beats Joe Burroughs numbers and they don't have nearly the team that Joe Burrow had. My argument is, John, is he the second pick? Is he the quarterback? He moves? I don't, I don't worry about his weight because he's got height. Bryce Young is short and small. If he weighs 195, but he's 6-3, I don't worry. as much about it. I'm with you. I watched him last night on stage, you know, while he is thin, he's not small. And to me, he looked like a guy that you're never going to be, you know, Josh Allen, 245 pounds. But definitely, if I told you by the time he's 28, he's 215 pounds, I bet it's hard for him to keep on weight right now. And so as he ages, I also thought about it today or last night watching those guys on stage. You know what's crazy is all three of those quarterbacks were transferred guys. And we often, everyone freaks out,

ever something changes in college football. Yet all the good teams always benefit the most from anything that ever changes. Like you just, Dylan Gabriel, they do the changes. A transfer from Oklahoma is going to Oregon. Right. So the other thing all those big programs have is the good coaches. So he goes to Brian Kelly. It changed his life.

Right. I mean, it changed the trajectory. If he had stayed at Arizona State, probably no one's ever talking about him. And he just has an up and down career. And maybe he's like an undrafted free agent. Instead, I would imagine no player, because let's face it, Bo Nix and Pennix had really, really good seasons last year.

So they were high on, this guy, not that he wasn't on people's radar, but no one was discussing him as a first round player. I think he's going to end up going in the top 10. We see quarterback inflation. He did it in the SEC, the athleticism. That's the other thing. Like part of, like Brock Purdy, if he's the modern day, Drew Brees, you've got to be able to move. I don't want a stagnant quarterback. Like Matt Stafford's kind of a dying breed, the way he plays, right?

And he has a little, Jared Gott is a relic. So to me, I need a guy. Now, I want them to throw. That's what Lamar's really turned into, scrambled to throw. It's what Russell and his prime was always great at, move to throw the ball down field. And that's what this guy became. And he also, he had some of those runs at LSU or he's running like 80 yards and no one could catch him. So he has the high end speed.

He has good arm strength. He's accurate. He's clearly not intimidated. I remember Phil Savage told me one time when he was the GM of the Browns. He had all these guys before the game, all the rookies. They were all nervous, like sweating. They're like, you just came from Alabama, LSU, and Georgia. Like, you've played in bigger games than this.

So you get used to going in those environments. Right. He's played Alabama against LSU. He's played against Georgia. Like, he's played against where everyone an entire region cares. So he knows the pressure. What does Bo Nix really have, right? He came from Overt.

So he goes to Oregon. I mean, it's a big deal up there, but he's been playing the SEC for three years. He can handle the pressure, which I really like. You know, Caleb has been under the microscope. Probably the knock on Drake is how many of his games really mattered that much? And I like the guy, but, you know, that would be something that some of these other guys are just going to have. It's a good point. And the other thing about Daniels that I like is that he doesn't have a red flag.

So height, not a problem. Penix has injuries, not a problem. Can't really move either. Drake May, inconsistent. He's not. Bo Nex feels a bit like a low. ceiling kind of a system quarterback. He's not. So, I mean, if you're asking me, height, he's taller than Caleb, moves, arms strong enough, played in two schools, one in both. And again, I think

there's an SEC, there's something to be said about having to go on the road and face. Georgia, there's just more NFL players in that conference. And there's Kirby and Nick are defensive coaches. So you're facing the best two defensive coaches in college football. I think to me, And I love Panics. I think Panics throws the prettiest ball in the sport. But I got to tell you, I wouldn't be shocked because he's also incredibly gracious. He was so good at the Heisman speech. And all these kids are really good. They're all, first of all, you've got to be a really, mostly you have to be a good kid to go to a major program and deal with a lot of crap. You deal with media. So if you're not a great kid, you're smart enough to know what not to do. You know the temperature in the room. But I'm going to, and Brian Kelly, John, is not easy on quarterback. No, no, he's wrong. I think that's really going to benefit him a lot. I didn't know that much about him, honestly, besides, you know, watching play a little bit at ASU and then last year.

But to go and have that toward a type of season, their defense was atrocious. I mean, if he wasn't good, they would have been six and six if he wasn't a Heisman-level player. And like you said, a lot of NFL guys have had a really good careers playing for Brian Kelly. Why, it's very, very difficult. He is on your ass. I mean, he's wired like an old school 1980 Bill Parcells. So you did it at quarterback and had success when things in the program weren't really going well. Here's the other thing.

How do you handle adversity? Well, what happens early on game one against Florida State? They get boat race. He doesn't play that well. And really, the next whatever 11 games, he's just on fire. And he's the only reason, I mean, honestly, they were so bad on defense, which is kind of weird for an LSU team. But yeah, I mean, I think he is going to be, there's. There's not much to nitpick, really just his history because this season, so it's like, why did he transfer an ASU?

Well, no one really cares. The transfer thing, all these people in the NFL are very numb to it now. It's just part of the deal. You know, back in the day, it was always a little weird. Like, why did you transfer something go wrong? Right. Now it's just kind of the price of admission, way to do business. That's right.

So I don't even think it really comes up. You wouldn't even talk about it. It's kind of irrelevant for all these quarterbacks, right? I mean, they transferred and it changed their, look at the Washington State quarterback. To me, he's got a chance to be the next. I don't know if he's going to have Jane. Cam Ward. What if he goes to Ohio State?

I mean, he's got a chance to everyone watched him, all of a sudden become a first rounder. Well, years ago, in the NBA, if you left your team, you were a sellout, people question your character if you wouldn't stick it out. Now, if you don't at least consider Bradley Beale moving, people are like, or Dame. We're like, what are you doing? You've got to move. It's like a character flaw. It's the same thing with transferring. Like if you don't transfer to a better program, there's sort of a, you don't want to compete.

You're okay being at Arizona State. And so it's like there's been a cultural, to your point, a cultural change where I think, forget the stigma, I think transferring is, oh, you want to play with the big boys. Big time. Yeah, you want to go to the, the only one that's been strange is the kid from Oklahoma transferring to Washington, because it's two defensive coaches. They're both great programs, arguably, I mean, Oklahoma is the bigger national program. To me, it's like, why? It's money, Colin. It has to be.

It's just purely, you know, this Lane's been complaining about this for a little while because technically you're not supposed to, quote, unquote, be able to buy players. I mean, it's just this is going to be, you know, an issue for Lincoln Riley. And I think he knew with the SEC, their financial just backing is not on the level of Texas. I mean, look at Texas roster this year. It's bought and paid for. And rightfully so, it's stacked. I mean, you look at Dylan Gabriel.

Oklahoma was like a top five offense in the country this year. His offensive coordinator did leave to Mississippi. He did. But I think that when they call you and they go, hey, we got $1.5 million for you or $2 million. And this is where Oregon, and this is why if you were betting on them moving forward, their financial ability to take advantage of the exact guy they want is going to be like, why wouldn't USC have been all over them? Right.

I mean, why wouldn't all these teams? I'm sure they were. Yeah. No, I heard this is a number that was thrown out that Phil Knight gives about $15 million to, you know, you know, there's, there's a number that he gives to the collective, you know, and that's what it takes. Yeah. Now, I don't know if that number is right. I mean, Phil, again, Phil's one of the richest, smartest people.

It's probably the richest, smartest person I've ever met, he and Mark Cuban. But there was a number somebody, because Oregon's got the best collective by far in the PAC 12, by fall. Yeah. It's USC can't. But most guys aren't, most guys don't cost that much money, right? No. Besides the quarterbacks, I might cost a couple hundred thousand dollars.

So if you had, honestly, if you had five million dollars, if you can, allocate maybe two to a quarterback and then spread around a couple line men, maybe a DB, you'd be fine. You don't need some of these. I don't know if you saw that Marvin Harrison Jr., like someone would pay him. That's bullshit. Zero chance. That is not true.

That's not the amount of money. Even Caleb, whatever he made this year, was not as much as Bryce Young's making with the Carolina Panthers. But Oregon, like a year ago, paid for a left tackle up in the Washington State area. USC thought they had him. Oregon came in, and I, you know, I heard the dollar figure, and it was a couple hundred thousand dollars and I'm like, it's a high schooler. So I have been told that Oregon's collective is more dynamic than others. Not a surprise. They, they, and by the, for the record,

you know, Phil Knight, if you go look at college football in the last 50 years, there's only one new power. It's Oregon. It's Phil Knight. And by the way, T. Boone Pickens and Oklahoma State, they were a blip on the radar. He was committed. Well, you know, they were winning eight and nine football games a year. They had a good college basketball program. So there are the these rare individual people, Phil Knight, totally committed to athletics in Oregon. But I don't begrudge anybody. It's not a criticism. It's all legal.

It is what it is. All right. John Middilcoff, former NFL Scout, three and out at the volume. We do about 50, 55 minutes every Sunday. John, as always, money, great stuff. See you, Colin. Have a good night. The volume.

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

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.