The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - NFL Draft Combine, Mendoza A Lock To Raiders At #1, Eagles Drama, Chiefs Rebuild?

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out”. They start with the NFL Draft Combine & discuss the behind the scenes wheeling & dealing nature of the coaches and executives at the combine, and John’s experience speaking with legendary Seahawks GM John Schneider and what the defending champs will do with Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker (3:00).  They move to the Chiefs and GM Brett Veach and the challenge of fixing the offensive line for Patrick Mahomes and discuss how much of a true “rebuild” the Chiefs need after missing the playoffs for the first time in the Mahomes era (5:45). They debate whether there’s a market for Kyler Murray to have a second act and what teams may be interested (9:45), and what positions the Bears will look to solidify in the draft (13:30). They pivot to the Eagles & discuss the rumors that Jalen Hurts isn’t particularly well liked in the locker room and John offers than despite noise on the outside… AJ Brown is very positively viewed by his teammates (24:00).  They look ahead to the draft and Colin argues that the Cardinals should offer 3 first round picks to move up from #3 to #1 to draft Fernando Mendoza and John says that based on the combine chatter… Mendoza is a lock to the Raiders at #1 (28:30). They discuss why the made-for TV nature of the combine has made top prospects not want to participate and why the current combine process is probably on its last legs (34:30). Finally, Colin asks John about the most tasty rumors he heard at the combine and John offers up that it’s 50/50 that Giants GM Joe Schoen survives beyond the draft with John Harbaugh now there, and the surprised reaction to Sean Payton giving up play calling duties in Denver (37:30).  (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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All right, I thought I'd bring in former NFL Scout, John Middlough, three and out, who spent a couple of days at the Combine. And it's real deal-making. for the three days people are in, the executives are in Indianapolis. It is a lot of late nights. John, can you confirm that it's late nights and early mornings? Yeah, it was a lot, Colin. These guys are letting it rip.

You know, in fairness, it's not a normal life. They lead, especially the coaches, the six months. You get to the combine, which, by all accounts, has tamed down dramatically from where it was, I think, three cell phones. it's nothing too crazy, but I mean, it's an event unlike, I mean, you have every NFL head coach out to dinner, out to cocktails, out with each other, every GM, every assistant GM. Think about all the coordinators now that used to be head coaches that are pretty famous walking around. Indianapolis isn't exactly London. I mean, there's not that many places to go.

So safe to say the JW Marriott is, is ripping every. night. So I had to get out of there, Colin, because I couldn't last more than 48 hours. Let's talk first, John Snyder. I saw you sat down with him, the Seattle GM. I think he's being now fairly regarded as maybe the best drafting GM in the league. There's a lot of different skills. There's free agency, there's trading. Howie Rosen's probably the most aggressive. I don't think you can deny that John Snyder's the best drafting GM if you look at his track record. really since Pete left and he completely absolutely took over the entire draft. But he's got some tough decisions to make.

Kenneth Walker is, you know, there's going to be a market for Kenneth Walker. Teams like Kansas City in the AFC need a running back and it's a bad running back draft. But give me your kind of sense of how John's feeling and the kind of the crest he's kind of riding now. Yeah, I think his personality feels the same whether he won the Super Bowl or whether you would see him. when they would get bounced in the first round. Obviously, he's pretty elated coming to this to this combine. One thing he mentioned is he's because they just went. I mean, they were playing two weeks ago.

He's behind on the draft. He spent all of his energy getting ready for free agency. They have a ton of money. I personally would probably let Kenneth Walker walk. Yeah. Unless it's a relatively, I mean, two years, $15 million or something. But when you start bidding for a running back, they draft him in the second round. But up until the second half of the second half of the,

this year. He's kind of had an underwhelming career. And you bring in Flurry from the Niners, who the Kubiak-Shannahan system, you can kind of find running backs. So my guess would be, they're definitely not franchise tagging him. Like, whenever I see, the Jets are going to franchise tag, Breece Hall. It's like, the Jets are going to franchise tag a running back. Not even the Jets would do that. Come on, guys. Let's use some common sense here. So Seattle's riding high. I got to meet Mike McDonald, talk to him. He's, really, really impressive. I mean, they got something pretty special going in Seattle

because they have a ton of cap space. They have a ton of young players under contract. I would say their confidence in Sam, the person, I mean, you've talked about this. You know, clearly the player, like most players not named John Elway or Peyton Manning, aren't going to be great 99% of games. But I think they are all in on the human being. And I think what they learned down that stretch, that Thursday

night game against the Rams when he flipped it and then up until the Super Bowl, I think they're feeling pretty confident in their quarterback. So a team that's, you know, the difference, John, between winning one Super Bowl and getting to five is having to move off players. I mean, the Chiefs moved off Tyreek Hill and return to the Super Bowl. So Seattle's got to make those tough choices, and I think they will. But let's talk Kansas City and Brett Veach, where offensive line needs help. they've got an early pick. They'll probably attack that. Running game, it's a weak running back class,

so they may have to pay for that. You know, you saw Brett Veach. The first half of Mahomes and Reed 1.0 is five Super Bowls and three trophies. That was the same for Brady and New England. But the difference is Brady and New England played in the division with the dysfunctional jets, dolphins, and bills. Well, Harbaugh, Herbert,

Bo Nick, Sean Payton, Mendoza should be pretty good. And now the league only allows John one buy. So New England and Brady for those years won their dysfunctional division, got a buy, got two home games. You'll win them here in the Super Bowl. I mean, if there's an easy path, that was it. Kansas City's path is different. One by, brutal division. And they got holes to fill.

A lot of them on offense, what do you gather from your combine visit? I think if you remove a motion, it's probably time to divorce Travis Kelsey. You know, I mean, unless he would come back basically for no money. And that's the NFL, right? It's like, well, he's one of the greatest players in the history of the league. And he's, you know, one of the poster childs of this dynasty. And it's kind of what Belichick and Bill Walsh do. So that's going to be a tough decision as they negotiate with Travis Kelsey.

I think Chris Jones could be a trade candidate. His cap number is huge. And he had a down year. Yeah. Yeah. It can be very hit or miss. games. Obviously, his good is great, but he can also disappear for a Hall of Fame player. Trent McDuffie is definitely a trade candidate. You know, a guy they drafted in the first round,

got these extensions for these DBs get enormous. So I think they got a lot of moving parts. You know, I saw Veach, he was a little under the weather. He just looked tired. You know, part of it is they have a cocktail at the end of the day because they're 18 hours of talking to agents and going back and forth. I mean, it's exhaust. These are really tough decisions. And I think the chiefs, Belichick did this. They kind of have to pivot beside Mahomes off the majority of those guys. Andy Reese said last year, Joe Tunney,

any reason he's been coached for like 45 years? He said Joe Tunney is one of the favorite players he's ever coached in his career. They just traded them. Isn't that football? Isn't that the NFL? They couldn't afford to keep them with the cap. They didn't want to get rid of them. Like they downgraded by losing them.

I think it's a little different with Kelsey. Obviously, the swift effect. He's so famous. He's relative to what he was. I mean, kind of a shell of himself, right? And so when you start asking for $15 million a year, Jason Light, same thing with Mike Evans. It's these emotional decisions of these great Hall of Fame players

who you love their character and what they mean to your, that's, you know, Bill Walsh, let Roddy Lack go. You know, I mean, it's kind of what it is. So I think fans in football, wouldn't you say understand it a little bit more, but still, I do. It can be pretty eye. opening when you see. Mike Evans is signed with the Jags. Travis Kelsey is signed with the, who knows, JJ Watts signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Travis, you don't just automatically go to a good

team because sometimes football, they offer you more money and you just go, well, maybe they can turn around and that's where you go. So I would say you're going to see some potential legendary players throughout the league on different teams. I mean, that's just kind of the way it works. You know, what's also interesting now is because there are so many good offensive coaches that you are seeing quarterbacks like Baker and Darnold have a second life if you can land your Liam Cohen. I mean, Trevor Lawrence made a big leap this year. And I think, you know, these guys off the Sean McVeigh tree,

the Kyle Shanahan tree, you know, they go places and they change the arc of quarterback's career. Sam Darnold Bust to star to Super Bowl champion. Baker Mayfield resurrected his dip. Kyler Murray and Tua are different. Tua can't stay healthy and is really limited physically. Kyler, as a story out this week, he hasn't talked to the GMs since the end of the season. So he's not terribly verbal. Their commitment issues, their health issues.

And even though we're in a league now, where you do get second teams and second runs. You know Arizona well. Does Kyler have a market? I mean, there's such bad PR. Someone told me this week that Kyler Murray and his camp, they want to go to Minnesota. Well, Aaron Rogers wanted to go to Minnesota too. Most quarterbacks do. I can't imagine Kevin O'Connell wanting Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray is at the point. If he truly wants to resurrect his career, he's made a ton of money at this point, right? Number one overall pick, got this huge deal that is now an albatross, makes him untradable. If he gets cut, which he's going to, why not surely, you know, the Ravens, the chief, one of those type teams would be like, hey,

we'll take you for the veteran minimum. If Andy Reed calls or something, you would be crazy not to make a decision to go there and potentially maybe rehab your image because he does have a branding problem right now. I would say throughout the league, he's not viewed very highly as a player on or off the field. Not like bad, like some of these guys that get in trouble, but just, yeah, we don't want to deal with that. I would say the number one thing you hear talking to these guys, yeah, we got to deal with this with our defensive linemen. You've talked about this forever. They do not want to deal with the quarterback room. I mean, the quarterback room better be like your coaches, better be like your executives, just high level professionals. I never even think about you. I have to deal with immaturity and some other.

positions, not the quarterback position. Imagine if you just go to Andy Reid for a year. You know, Kevin, Sam Darnold did this. Daniel Jones kind of did this when he got cut by the Giants and just rehab his image. And then by the end of the year, maybe you play, maybe you don't, but you have an Andy Reid type guy. And I'm just using him as an example. You could do Sean Payne. You could use whoever would be interested that's established and go, we love that guy. That was a great experience being around him. Then that changes the arc of the way the league thinks about you because being there, the league is one, it's like a high school. Everyone knows everybody and everybody talks to everybody.

And you could probably play one degree of separation. You just put Mike Silver in the middle. He knows everything. They all know each other and all the information on what a guy is and isn't as a person. You know, one of my big takeaways is we can get into draft, why this pick makes it, why this free agency or, you know, guy didn't work. this is a people business. And the teams that are good have just really high-level people.

Right. On the coaching staff. I mean, I hear some stories, Colin, about position coaches making millions of dollars that get title stripped in the middle of the season and throw a hissy fit and won't go to meetings. It's not just the players. These assistant coaches, egos are enormous now. You've got a lot of personalities. And the best teams are just, I hear stories.

about Kellyn Moore or Kubiak. And you're like, I see why these guys are having success. Just easy to deal with high level guys, get along, high EQs. You know, and clearly, you know, the league has kind of been defined of you need a few crazies on your team, but you better have a high character operation from a football character standpoint or you got no shot. Speaking of a high level coach, Ben Johnson and Mike Vrable turned it around in one year. I saw that you ran into Ben Johnson.

I mean, he's got to be, they have a really interesting situation where they know exactly what they need. They need some help in the linebacker core. They're not fast enough. And they need a rush end. But, I mean, they've really, John, they could literally use every draft pick on defense. They don't have a hole offensively, maybe another tackle in the building. But receiver, tight end back, quarterback, interior old line, really good. I mean, was Ben walking on Cloud 9 in a pretty,

pretty good mood. Well, I use you because sometimes, you know, it's easy if you know the guy to start a conversation. When you don't, you got to come with a little material. So I had you in my back pocket. I dropped your name early and he said that he'd seen you, he thought at a restaurant. And I said, Ben, I can't believe you didn't go talk to him. You guys would have been breaking down offensive football. He started laughing and people like, I'd never see Ben Johnson smile. I'm like, well, I got that magic touch because I used you. And we'll have to link you up. Bears, I talked to Ryan Poles. You know, they feel like they got a pretty good, those two guys.

You know, Ryan had some bumps early, right? He did. No, I've said that Chase Claypool thing didn't work, but receivers are a hard acquisition. It's just a tough position. Then he redeemed himself with a DJ Moore deal. And as a GM, you look way better with a good coach. I mean, you just do. So now you get a guy who, I mean, I think one thing you're,

being at this combine, the status of Ben Johnson and Mike McDonald in a 12-month span, like if you would have been there last year to where they are this year, it just couldn't be any higher. The way they're thought of in terms of coaching on the field is extremely high. And

I would expect DJ Moore is going to be a name that we're going to see over the next week because they're going to have to move an offensive piece. They don't have many draft picks, you know, to kind of retool this thing. And they let in one of their linebackers I saw seek a trade. The other thing is that division, you know, I make fun of the Vikings because of their

quarterback situation, as most people do. We talk about the Lions taking a big step back. Both those teams went nine and eight. I mean, both those teams, the Vikings and the Lions are pretty well-established culture with really good players. Their floor is extremely high. And if the Packers just can keep some guys healthy, clearly they're one of the best teams in the league.

So that division from the bear standpoint is really, really difficult. And the bears who have been atrocious, now we're going to get a first place schedule. It is going to be more challenging. And they're going to sneak up on nobody, which when you see Ben, he's wired for that. Like, I don't think he's, he's not resting on his laurels. He is, you can just tell a lot by the way guys carry themselves. You know, the Harbaugh brothers or Vrable, like they're so comfortable in their own skin. But some of these new guys, the newfound fame, like when my, when when when, when Ben

Johnson walks in somewhere. He's really famous now. And to me, he just carries himself. Like, he looks the exact same as he carried himself a year ago. And I would say the same thing with Mike McDonald, their personality, like this, the no ego. I was talking to him last night and just going, this guy won a Super Bowl like three weeks ago. And you would never know. If you brought some guy off the street that didn't know football and you just met this guy,

you would have no clue that this guy is the Super Bowl champion and the toast of the town right now in the NFL. So I would feel pretty confident if I'm the Bears, but they do. Like there are a lot of, because the cap is so big right now, there are so many options with trades. And I talked to Howie about this. When I first started working for Howie in 2010, he was on the forefront of the NFL forever. Wasn't that trade heavy?

Oh, God, no. Before the Jimmy Johnson trade, the Hershal Walker, teams didn't trade. Yeah, the historic trades stand out so much in like the 80s and 90s, because they didn't happen that much. Howie was ready to trade like an NBA major league baseball GM. But the rest of the league wasn't. And then now you fast forward 15 plus years in the mid-2020s, all these GMs or the majority of them are kind of like him.

They're ready to trade. So people are willing to, hey, you want this guy, you want to trade draft picks, you want to do this. So there is just a lot of action, which I think stalls some deals because they get so expensive. It's like a house. If you only have one guy bidding on the house, you know, you probably can dictate the terms a little bit. You got seven people waiting out on the front of the street to buy the house.

That price is going to skyrocket. And I think that happens with some of these deals. I've been saying this about Max Crosby. Like, Breer told me, he's like, I don't think they're going to get two ones. I'm like, well, he's under contract. And there would be minimum five high-level playoff teams who would be bidding on them. So, yeah, in theory, you'd be like a one and a two. Well, if five teams are bidding against each other,

like the reason McAfrey went for a two, three, and a four is because the Rams also wanted them, so the Niners had to put it a little bit more. That's the way it works. So that's where I think that historically 20 years ago, yeah, Max Crosby probably just goes for a one. But now you have all these GMs that are good teams lined up to wheel and deal.

And that's cool. Like you're there. This is a Wheeler and a dealer league. This is a league where, you know, the John Schneider types, You've got to be great at identifying personnel. You've got to be dynamic wheeling to deal. You've got to be willing to make moves.

It is much more, I would say, complicated now. You got all the money. You've got to lean on your salary cap guy. It's a pretty intense environment when you're there. You just realize the pressure cooker of this thing. I mean, I'm watching Aaron Glenn do a press conference. I'm like, God, I wouldn't want to be that guy right now. He's got to be thinking, like, get me out of here.

I mean, this is, even Beach. You know, you could just say there's just a weight to all this stuff. I mean, this is a long, intense week because it lays the foundation for next week where that, you know, that tampering period, it's just full go. And these Drew Rosenhouse, these guys are ready to just do a deal and get moving. Today's show brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Best Sports Book. I know it's tough with no football. But like the song says, I will survive. Hard Rock Bet, always something to bet every single night.

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Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

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And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. You know, it's interesting. You talk to Howie, and, you know, he wouldn't divulge anything on Jalen Hertz,

but I was told during the summer by a source very close to the Eagles front office that people were pointing to A.J. Brown, and some of it's on Jalen Hertz. He is not well-liked in the locker room. He's not a galvanizer. He's not one of the guys. Now, not everybody is. Brady was unique, Peyton Manning, Mahomes. Not every quarterback is.

But over your course of, you know, your 48, 72 hours, where everybody's drinking, everybody's talking, everybody's, rumors are fact and facts become rumors. What do you hear about Hertz? Because I've heard it this past summer. I also heard it from a different executive during

the season. And now you see it reported that he's just, Hertz is a different cat, even the representation team. What do you hear? I would say, if you went back three months and you just asked people that watch the NFL, they'd be like, oh, AJ Brown's a problem.

he's a diva. Everyone hates him in Philly. Just a casual fan. That is not the vibe I got. He's emotional, right? Yeah. But he represents, I think, a lot of guys on their team, what they want to say. He's just willing to say it. And I think Jalen is a pretty polarizing player in and out of the locker room. But he's also on an enormous contract. So he's kind of a made man right now on their team in the sense that they can't really get rid of them. So it's not even an option. Like he's their starting quarterback. they are changing their offense to the Shanahan kind of operation with Sean Mannion, who played at Oregon State as a pro-style background, Kevin O'Connell. I think they're going to ask Jalen Hertz to play in this Brock Purdy, Sam, like, I don't know.

I don't really see it coming. Yep, either do I. And I don't like they part and part of the reason they would tell you, I think, is because they want the, you know, it's a great running game system and they want sake. Kwan to shot. They want to get back to where they were two years ago, where they ran for 2,000 yards. I just think a lot of people go, well, Jalen spent it to two Super Bowls. He's been great in those Super Bowls. It's a little like Seattle, the Richard Sherman group never embraced Russell Wilson. They never believed. They believed they were carrying him. Yeah.

He wasn't one of the guys. And they never believed that like he's getting way more credit than he deserves. And I think, you know, when it comes to the Eagles, there's some of that. And there's some of he just doesn't ingratiate himself to the group of the Eagles have a lot of high level guys. Like, they have done a good job over the last couple of years, minus Jalen Carter of just elite character, you know, Devonte Smith to Jordan Davis. And obviously they had a core group of older guys like Lane Johnson and Kelsey and Fletcher Cox. If you can't get along with those guys, like and have them really, really think highly of you. Everyone's going to say, well, if the Eagles don't win this year,

Siriani's in trouble. And maybe that's true because I think they really like Siriani in the building, How he likes him, Jeffrey Lurie likes him, like he's good with, because Nick's good with people. Like when the, when no one's watching, when they're working Monday through Friday, people like that guy a lot in the building. I don't think the same can say for Jalen Hertz, which is crazy because all the good quarterbacks, I would say one of their best traits,

is like extremely well-liked by the group, right? And I'm not even just talking the Great Hall of Famers. You just picked a random guy. Like, go to the Cowboys locker room. Ask him about Dak Prescott. Go to the Niners locker room. Ask him, Jared Goff, Brock Purdy. I mean, these guys are extremely well-like.

Like Kirk Cousins, conservative, religious, still really well-liked. That could easily be a polarizing personality trait, you know, kind of conservative. people love Kirk Cousins. He's one of the guys. He's a very good supporting team. You know, obviously Mendoza is the best quarterback in this class, and he's also going to go number one. I do think if I was Arizona, I talked about it, John, on the air today, that Arizona has such a stink in the building that the opposite of Kyler Murray is Fernando Mendoza. Big, strong, committed, humble, grateful. He's like, he'd be an air freshener in the Arizona car. car because there's a stink in the building. And I do think they should call and give up three number ones for him. I mean, if first round picks matter that much, why are the Jets and Giants awful,

and the Titans awful, and the Brown's awful? They're always drafting the top seven or eight for years. And the Rams have only had one first round pick in the last nine drafts. So like, it's, I would make that move. I don't think the Raiders will move off it. Did you hear anything about Mendoza that hasn't been printed? I mean, Cam Ward, last Last year went number one. He was a zero-star recruit. Fernando was a two-star recruit. And I think both have a certain gratitude, you know,

when you come up through the ranks and you're not Arch Manning or Peyton Manning. Do you hear anything about Mendoza? Anything about the Raiders? Well, I think it's a 100% lock. Mendoza is the pick. One thing I struggle with is everyone compares him to previous drafts. You know, he wouldn't have gone against above Caleb, Drake May, Jaden Daniels. He wouldn't go above Cam Ward last year, had a more physical skill set.

We're not playing like universal generic football. Every team has specific offenses and thing they asked the quarterback. They just hired Kubiak, who just won a Super Bowl with Sam Darnold, who came from the 49ers where they had Brock Purdy and also coached Derek Carr, where before some injuries, the Saints were actually pretty good two years ago. They looked for specific skill set with the quarterback, and Fernando Mendoza checks the boxes. accurate, smart, rhythm timing is one of his skill sets and is mobile enough.

So they're not looking for him to just sit back and throw the ball 50 times again. That's not how Kubiak is going to play. Right. So I know people struggle like, I hear this Jared Goff. He's compared to Jared Goff. It's almost said like it's a negative thing. Yeah. Like, guys, Jared Goff is going to have a 15 year career.

He's going to make $400 million. He'll get several Hall of Fame votes. He'll go. I mean, there's a decent chance in the next couple of years. They keep their core together. They win a couple of playoff games in a season and the Lions have a good, like, he's a high-level quarterback. Like, that is a compliment in my book, right?

He was in the NFC championship a couple years ago. He was starting quarterback on a Super Bowl team. Like, Jared Goff's career has been a raging success. So if this guy's a more athletic version of that, I'm very interested in that player. I just feel like he's kind of getting nitpicked like he's a mid-prospect. I just don't buy it because this gets back to the character stuff. Like, I know the Chiefs guys really well. They swear by Mahomes football character.

Right now, the buzz is like, this guy's rehab is going great. He's attacking it. It's like he is not messing around. He's motivated. He's pissed off. He's got a chip on his shoulder. And like that matters in this league. Like Josh Allen, what he takes every offseason, how pissed off he is and how driven he is.

Like, that's got to matter. The person matters as much as the player. Obviously, you have to have the. requisite skill set, but all these guys do. So what defines Tom Brady was all the stuff that you can't quantify in PFF. So Fernando Mendoza, he's goofy or whatever comes up. None of that matters. Players, there's a million different type personalities in the locker room.

Unlike Twitter where everyone hates each other, you go into most locker rooms, side of the Eagles, everyone kind of gets along. These are young guys, they have a lot of common interests. It's just, it's an easygoing group. It's not that polarizing in the locker room. Fernando Mendoza, you see the, Indiana, where they had a million transfer portal guys, when they're winning national championships, everyone's galvanized around him and like defensive linemen, so I think people are too low on Fernando

windows. I think the rest of the draft kind of sucks. I think the rest of the draft kind of sucks. I think he's a really impressive prospect. Is he Elway or luck? No. Do you feel very good about drafting him number one? I know the Raiders do.

I know they feel very good about it. Part of the reason they're kind of torn on Max is they go, well, what if we kind of rehab this offensive line? We already got Bowers. We're going to have a good run game. What if we could be more competitive next year? So I think that's where they're torn because I think he could be a huge upgrade over, I mean, let's face it. It's not all Gino's fault, the offense, and they had a lot of issues going. But they were an offensive disaster last year.

Yeah. Okay. one thing Colin is before is the combine one thing I've consistently heard I went out a couple nights ago with a couple GMs and some other executives and they were just floored that every meeting they go to with a guy that's going to get drafted in the first or second round just goes yeah I'm not working out it's one thing like Fernando Mendoza no big deal you played a month ago you played 16 games like you don't need to throw but a guy will be going like the third round it's like yeah I'm not going to run it's like yeah I'm not going to run run or do any activity. And I think a lot of these guys, one thing that you hear is with the money getting so big and the pressure from these agents, the power they have now and these guys in college, and we're seeing it with Darren Peterson, you know, in college basketball. But this has been happening in football for a while.

That this combine could be in a little trouble in terms of like these guys just might stop going, let alone when they do go, they do nothing. And part of it is the league turned it in to a made-for-TV event. Yeah. And now the players are like, we're not doing it. So it's kind of in a weird spot right now. It's so important for the press conferences, the medical and some of that. But I think the on the field work, the combine is coming down the home stretch going.

Yeah, no. And, you know, listen, I heard the story. I remember when Johnny Mansell aced the interviews at the combine, you know, because he's a good bullshitter. And it's like, and that's not a terrible quality for a salesperson, you know, he can talk to talk or a podcaster, you know, but he fooled people. You know, let's ride, let's go. And then he didn't want to watch film. I mean, literally, you know, they were testing him on what film he watched and how far into the film he watched. And they found he didn't even turn it on. And he acknowledged that later. So I think, I think that my problem has always been, it's like a first date when you go on a first date.

People say the right things. People dress perfect. You know, the hygiene's great. By the seventh or eighth date, you get a real feel for what a person is. The problem with a combine, it's got a first date feel. People are in the best shape of their life. They've been prepped by their agents and consultants how to interview. And it's kind of inauthentic that you, you know, I was saying this the other day on FS1. By week six, even the fast guys aren't as fast. Everybody's dinged up. Everybody's got bad hips. You know, everybody's, everybody's dealing with a second or third injury. The four three guys are four or four guys. The four or five guys are four or six guys. Everybody's hurt. Even quarterbacks. Kickers get dinged up. And so I think it's, I think the combo, like, I know that I

watched less of it now than I did five years ago. I just don't watch it as much. It just doesn't matter. I think the people who cover it do a good job. But I just, I, when I move off stuff, like I moved into baseball two years ago. Like, I moved way back in. The games were faster. The Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Padres, the teams I liked were better. I've moved out. I moved off college football for several years because it became too regional. I'm now way back into baseball, way back into college football. I'm kind of out on the combine.

I just, I just, I think it's an inauthetic exercise overly prepped. Yeah, and you use the dating analogy. These guys, you only have 20 minutes in a formal interview with the guys of the combine. And at this point in time, all these agents have a pretty good idea depending on their client, what the questions are going to be veered around. And one thing I've heard is they're all so prepped and it just feels so fake. Where when you bring them to the facility and you get 30 of those where you're able to fly them out or go meet them in their, you know, in their home or their college facility, if I spend five hours with you, it's hard to fake some stuff, right? If I only get you

for 20 minutes, you could fake some stuff. If I get you all done. say, take you with my coordinator, take you with my PR guy, take you with my trainer. It's going to be hard for you. You're going to break character and we're going to get, like, it's going to be really hard to fake. And that's where it's like, I think some of these teams, it was probably more genuine 20, 25 years ago. Now, I think with the 20 minutes, you can get some con men because they're coached up on the outside by the, because there's so much, I mean, there's so much more money. The difference of getting drafted 20th and 50th, you're talking.

and millions of dollars. So there's just so much on the line. And yeah, I think the combine when it comes to, I think it's in a little trouble, big picture. Like, do I, if I was a betting man, does it have over under 10 years is currently constructed? I don't know. Okay, finally, best rumor you heard. Doesn't have to be true. It could be four cocktails in. Did you hear anything? I mean, the J.J. McCarthy thing, people are talking about Tua. Did you hear any tasty rumors may not come to fruition, but you heard. That's a pretty good question. I'm trying to think there's some pretty good coaching rumors.

There was a lot of moving parts with some of these hires and these coaching rumors. You know, I think Joe Shane, a lot of people go 50, 50, he survives after the draft. Wow, Giants GM. John Harbaugh, he, but then I have other people telling me that there's rumors that he got an extension. I think he's one of the biggest mysteries right now in the NFL. I mean, the Giants historically have done things for one way and one way only. And then John Harbaugh said, if you want to hire me, you answer to me. John Harbaugh has developed like an operation, right? This Donna Ponte, she's a former executive, now runs the contract. She answers to John. That goes up

that food chain. Joe Shane, just like every Giants GM, used to do everything. The training room, the cafeteria, they were kind of in charge, the locker room. John Harbaugh is now in charge of all of that. And he's just in charge of keeping the scouts, grading players, who then he funnels to John. So that is something to keep an eye on just that situation. I know there were some rumors about George Payton, Sean's GM in Denver because Minnesota fired their guy.

I heard they have a good relationship. George likes Denver and they're a good spot. That is no lock for him just to like jump ship and go back. No, Sean respects him. to Minnesota. And I mean, I'm sure you saw the news yesterday of the Davis Webb now calling plays. I was with a couple coaches last night that said, understood, you want to keep this young hot shot, you like him a lot.

That is an extremely tough. I don't think Davis Webb, he is calling Sean's playbook that Sean has been calling plays for 30 years who knows that playbook better than anybody. And then you're just going to get to call plays in a we're, losing by 10 points to the charger. That's a tough gig. Sean's an intense guy. I think that that opened a lot of eyes around the league that like,

buckle up, young fella. That's going to be a typical thing. You know, Sean's like, you call it what? I mean, it'd be like calling plays for Kyle or McVeigh when they're standing right next to you. The difference is Sean's way older and been doing it way longer. That was a story I thought yesterday being talked a lot about like, what did John Payton do, gave up play calling for this guy?

I don't think many people saw that coming. I definitely did. I thought that was one of the newsier things. It's a little inside baseball, but, you know, we talk a lot of coordinators, you and I do. So that was one of those that had people talking. And honestly, people like Davis Webb, they're like, I hope you realize what you're getting yourself into, because this thing is going to be intense. Yeah, and Sean's also one of the most outspoken coaches in the NFL or baseball or the NBA. Yeah, I mean, he is.

He wears all of his motions. He leads with his chin. John Middletoff. Good to seeing you, buddy. Nice work. You too, Colin. Love all you. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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