The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Burning NFL Questions with FantasyPros, Kevin Clark on Fields Pressure, Rodgers O-Line Issues

Episode Date: August 26, 2023

It’s Prime Cuts. The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First, Colin’s top takes of the week, including why he can’t wait to see Aaron Rodgers take his prickly media approach to New York, why he supports SEC Commish Greg Sankey’s call for expedited expansion of the CFB Playoff format, and why Jim Harbaugh’s 3-game suspension shows the waning power of the NCAA. Then, Colin is joined by Fantasy Pros Podcast host Joe Pisapia and football analyst Andrew Erickson to discuss 10 Burning Questions heading into the NFL season, including if the Lions can handle real expectations, if Justin Fields can break through with the Bears, if Geno Smith is due for regression, if Aaron Rodgers can lead the Jets to the Super Bowl, if Jordan Love will pan out with the Packers, and which team is the NFC South favorite. Next, Ringer Senior Football Writer - and host of the Slow News Day video pod - Kevin Clark on whether Justin Fields can become the first true franchise quarterback for the Bears, if there’s any place for defensive minded head coaches in today’s NFL, and potential landing spots if the Bills decide to trade Stefon Diggs. Finally, 3 and Out podcast Host John Middlekauff on if Sean Payton’s first year with Broncos and Russell Wilson will be the NFL’s best storyline, if the Jets bad o-line could turn Aaron Rodgers first season with the Jets into a disaster, and if Rodgers is equipped to deal with adversity in NYC. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Kevin Clark tells us how Justin Fields could end one of the most bizarre streaks in the NFL. John Middletkoff and I discussed the big difference between Russell Wilson and Aaron Rogers and how it could change everything for their teams. But first, my conversation with the guys. on one of the new podcasts we've added to the volume, fantasy pros, know their shit. I think you'll love it. First, though, my top takes of the week.

You know, I was thinking about if you go look at the quarterback position in the NFL, it almost feels corporate. Even Tom Brady's personality was suppressed when he was in New England. It was suppressed. He got a little lively and added some personality in Tampa. But that's the league. It's very corporate. And what's interesting to me, if I said to you big personality at quarterback,

most of the guys I would mention, Baker Mayfield, Cam Newton, Jay Cutler, Johnny Mansell, don't work. The guys that are kind of cliched and coach speak, it's been through the years sort of Brady, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, is that personality is wonderful. But what you're basically doing, the more power you have in life, the more you will suppress information, because you'll have more information and it'll be more vital information. I told somebody once, when I was in my 20s and 30s, I wanted to pretend I knew everything. And then I got to my 50s, I have more access to stuff and I suppress more information. Well, when you're a quarterback in the NFL, there are discussions you're having with the coach, the coordinator, and the GM that are not shared with other players.

And so what makes Aaron Rogers very unique, he's a star quarterback, and he's sort of like a rogue independent personality. Like most guys that have that, Jeff George was outspoken, Cutler was outspoken. It mostly goes sideways. This is, you are the face of the. franchise, you do that Wednesday press conference, you stand in front of the media. You're not here to be glib and funny. You're here when they ask tough questions to be a cooler, to be a blanket, a wet blanket on a possible inflammatory story. I mean, they did a sketch in the 80s on Saturday night live about Joe Montana and Phil Hartman was involved. And the whole joke of the sketch was

Joe Montana was great, but the most boring man in the world. Because quarterbacks are paid to suppress information. You want to bring the temperature down in the room and concentrate on football. That's the opposite of Aaron. Aaron is R-E-L-A-X. And now with the New York media, who was, you know, they're created to inflame. I think it's a fascinating relationship. And the schedule is tough enough and the O line is.

is concerning enough that the Jets could get pushed around in the opener against Buffalo. And in fact, one of my favorite bets in week one is Buffalo minus like one and a half against the Jets. I think their defensive front will give the Jets trouble. And I think you're going to be able to identify very quickly what New York's problem is. That's why it's really important. Mackay Beckett and Aaron Rogers, the right tackle, the quarterback playing against the Giants. It's interesting. If it's a turnstile, it's a problem because the Giants have a good pass rush.

You know, this is why for years and years I've said, I don't mind personality. I don't want it at quarterback. Like Mahomes is funny. He's able to compartmentalize a lot of moving targets. But if you really listen to Mahomes, he always says the right thing. Aaron often says the most interesting thing. It can be with Pat McAfee. It can be at a press conference.

He can be direct. He can be passive aggressive. So that's who he is at his. core. Never married, no kids, independent thinking, $150, $250 million net worth or more, probably $300 million. So I think that's, it's not necessarily going to be volcanic, but if you look at the big personalities at quarterback, most implode. Aaron at the end of Green Bay certainly didn't implode, but regressed. It just didn't work even in a small media market. Like, it didn't play into his favor. So this is who Aaron is, right? He's,

He's not had to sacrifice a lot in his life due to his talent and his lifestyle. So I can't wait. I absolutely cannot wait to watch it. And I think very early, they will struggle to protect Aaron against Buffalo. So we're not going to have to wait very long. That Monday night opener, Bill's Jets. From that point forward, we're going to have ourselves a very prickly, bumpy story. SECC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

says the entire playoff structure, which is going to expand to 12 teams in 2024, needs to be reconsidered because of expansion. And I absolutely agree. This is what I have proposed and this is what I believe is the truth of the playoff structure. I think it needs to go to 16, 18 to 24 teams. I think there is so much money left on the table in college football because of so many of these dreary small town bulls that nobody attends, nobody really wants to play in. It's just a way to

get practices for some of these coaches that, you know, half of them nobody shows up to the games. They're awful. They're optically bad. Players could get hurt. Great players going to the NFL, don't want to play in them. Get rid of those things. I think we now have to consider not just 12 teams, but 16 to 18 because I think college football needs to take a page from college basketball and have a dramatic, long playoff scenario to cap off the season. It's the icing to the cake. College basketball's primary issue is the cake isn't very good anymore. The best players don't want to play college basketball,

and if they do, it's briefly one year and they're gone. College football will maintain a high level of integrity and competitiveness and quality because you have to stay in college football minimum three years. Most players stay four, some even five with redshirting. So, I mean, you see some of these quarterbacks coming out. 24, 25 years old now. And so the quality of college football will remain high. I've never bought into this argument that it'll kill college football rivalries.

Really, Auburn, Alabama, both know they're getting into a 12 to 16 team playoff. You're not going to watch the game. In Alabama, that game won't mean anything. You'll just skip it and go to the Falcon Saints game in Atlanta the next day. That's so stupid. You love college football or you don't. rivalries will always matter. Duke Carolina is still a great rivalry. And we know they can meet again and again and again down the road. It doesn't matter. Great is great. So Greg Sanky, who is the most

powerful person in college football, the SEC commissioner says, hey, we're expanding all these conferences. Let's reconsider the playoff structure. I'm all for it. What the SEC has done better than any conference, they've been willing to evolve, be aggressive annually. And Greg's right. Jim Harbaugh self-imposed three-game suspension at Michigan. We heard it was going to be four, right? And then Harbaugh and his guys couldn't agree with it, right? Then it was none. Now it's back to three.

The NCAA has always been fairly toothless. They depend on the reporting of newspapers and media to upend programs. They really don't have the ability. Very rarely, the staffing or the ability to go into a program and monitor these closely. And now with name, image and likeness, what's cheating? Harbaugh can be a difficult personality. He's strong-willed. He's forceful.

And he's not going to get pushed around by anybody. I think in the end, this is probably self-imposed three-game suspension. It's probably those are weak games. Michigan all roll. Big picture is that Harbaugh is just not somebody you can push around. When his athletic director a couple of years ago asked him to take a pay cut, what did he do? upended the staff, interviewed with NFL teams, and has had back-to-back great seasons. So big willful personalities are not to be effed with.

And Hardball is not going to go quietly into the night because you didn't like his answer when you're the NCAA, the toothless NCAA. I will always defend these coaches. They have to run these programs, deal with nonsense from the NCAA, deal with boosters. Yes, they're highly compensated. but there's a reason they're highly compensated. They create $90, $100 million in annual revenue to athletic departments. So Michigan's athletic department has been revamped due to Jim Harbaugh's recent success. There's a total momentum shift.

There's a total cultural shift. It is a great day to be a Wolverine. These days, not so much a Buckeye. That's because of Jim Harbaugh. I think the self-imposed penalty is probably the way to go about it. but we're learning time and time again. Don't try to push around hardball. He's going to have a strong opinion.

We had a discussion after last football season. I said, you know, we really don't have a fantasy group. And I said, I've always been a better over fantasy, but I said, my friends are fantasy over betting. And I said, anytime I've done a remote and said, how many people play fantasy, a hundred hands go up. And I'm like, how many people bet? And hands go up, but fantasy, I believe in America is still.

It's more popular. And so we were looking for a group that had personality that was accurate, that was fun, didn't take themselves too seriously. And we listened to a lot of tapes and that you guys were the obvious choice. And it's really exciting for us because, you know, as our company grows, we've got so many different shows. Like we have a, you know, Daniel Cormier was an actual UFC fighter. He's ringside. Shannon Sharp can do pop culture and sports. We just didn't.

Your space, we thought we did a port. job on it our first two years. We're like, we're just not doing a good job. We had gambling talk, but not fantasy. And I didn't think you guys would be available. To be honest with you, I was like, well, to be honest, Colin, if, you know, if Colin Coward called you, you pick up the phone. That's what I would say. Let's be honest. I wish my wife believed that. Well, that's another show. We came on a time for that conversation today. That's for sure. But Daniel Cormier, by the way, came on with me on the betting pros podcast. And he was fantastic. We did a whole preview of UFC 291. We talked WWE, he and I, because we're both big fans. So it was a great time. And again,

I encourage everybody, I'm sure you already know about the volume network, but the shows they have on there, phenomenal. You got all the athletes who have their own shows on there. And the myriad of different content you guys are doing is just tremendous. And I guess we're just excited. And I'm excited that you're excited. So let's talk about football because we've got questions here. And we're going to land this up for you. The first burning question, I think these are important because this is, I always say, you know, we love to talk about fantasy stuff, but real football and fantasy that intersects. Everything's coming here together. The numbers come around, obviously the same thing with some of these situations and how they impact fantasy. First question I want

to ask you, Colin, will the lions crumble under expectations? It's one thing to be the plucky underdog every single year and all of a sudden you're building this thing. But now you look at Vegas, they're telling you they believe in the lions. You're telling the rest of the league believes in the lions. Do you think that the lions are ready to believe in themselves as a favorite? I am as long as the expectations are 10 to 11 wins and not 12, 13, or 14. The NFC is the weaker conference. If you look at Jared Goff's career, it's pretty clear when he has a clean pocket and protection. He's a really good quarterback.

He's not as good outdoors. He's not as good under duress. He's not as good forced to run. But the Lions have a top five to six offensive line, more than enough weapons. Jared Goff with time to throw in Los Angeles. When he struggled against the Niners, the Rams O line couldn't block the Niners D-line. He struggled, right?

And McVeigh saw that. And so there's a way great quarterbacks don't have to win a certain way. Good ones do. Goff does. But this team allows him to play the way he's very successful. Time in the pocket. I think they'll have a very good run game. Jared Goff throwing on third and two or second and five is a really good quarterback.

Yeah, I like the expectations too. 10-11 wins. We start pushing 11, 12, and we start having a bad conversation. Justin Fields, everybody's talking about him. Well, Justin Fields take the next step forward or we fall backwards in 2023. I know they gave him DJ Moore. They've given a Rocheon Johnson, Deonti Foreman, some upgraded offensive line pieces. Is that enough, are we ready to finally see Justin Fields from Ohio State?

or we're going to see Justin Fields, who has been hit and miss at the quarterback position. Great in fantasy, but that's not everything. Yeah, I think he'll be a hit because they were last in the league last year in yards after catch. And so between the upgrade at wide receiver, tight end, and I think the kid they got out of Texas, the running back is one of the steals of the draft. He's going to get much more support yards after the catch. That's what makes Kansas City and San Francisco so good. Brock Purdy gets it out to D.

McCaffrey, Kittle, to yards after contact. It's yards after catch. And so this kid, he was asked to do way too much last year. He just outside of Mooney and Cole Comet, he just didn't have a lot of next level players. Tonyon's a really good pickup. Claypool I'm hit and miss on. DJ Moore's good. Yards after catch will allow him to throw on third and short and second and five.

It felt like last year he was in third and nine constantly. So yes, I think if you look at his splits last year, he was better in the last six games. In the first six, he's getting better. It's time. It'll work. Erickson, your thoughts on Fields here. I know we've had a lot of conversations on the fantasy side. Do you see these new pieces and this renewed optimism here for Fields to take a step forward?

I do. You know, last year he was QB6 and points per game. 11 games played from weeks five through 17. He was QB5. And that was with no weapons to throw to you. So it's much harder to get completions when you're throwing to Chase Claypool, who has just joined the team. But now you have DJ Moore. you have done all right added to the offensive line.

I think that he's set for stardom in year three, specifically in fantasy football. Yeah, well, certainly the rushing equity off the charts. We saw that last year. If you added him as single quarterback league, even he got you to playoffs. I mean, that run was just spectacular. Let's go to another one too. Last year, feel good story.

Colin, I love feel good stories. The problem is sometimes they don't always last. Can Gino Smith replicate his 2020 season, which was really good from a fantasy perspective? And let's be honest, from a Seattle Seahawks perspective, if they were very pleased. So do you think that this is just the new version of Gino Smith or was this a one-off? You know, I'm split on it.

The O-line, young O-Line, I thought deteriorated a little at the end of last year. The running back got hurt. So they drafted Zach Charbonnet of UCLA, which I thought was a really smart move. So Walker's a really hard running kid from Michigan State, but he gets banged up. So they went and said, you know what? Gino needs a running back. a top running back. So when Walker left, the O-line deteriorates, it's more on Gino.

So I think Seattle saw that and said, you know what? We're going to get a running back 1A. So we're always going to have a top running back. They also went and drafted a slot receiver with Lockett and D.K. Metcalf. And so I think they know what Gino is. It's a little like Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins. With a run game, with support, they can manage you to a lot of wins. they can't carry you with no run game.

They can't carry you with a deteriorating O line. So my guess is he dips a little bit. You regress to the mean a little bit. But I do think Seattle is smart enough. I think the O line will be better this year. It's year two in the league for those tackles. So I think he's going to look pretty similar to last year. Passer rating last year was near the top of the league.

I imagine that pulls back a little. But he won't embarrass Seattle. He falls into the camp of quarterbacks nine through 14 in the league. You know, they can win. They can't carry. He can win. It's Kirk Cousins is very much in that, but they can't carry you. And I think that's what Gino is.

Well, and you've got to have that offensive line ready to go in that division, too, because you've got guys like Aaron Donald in the front. And obviously what you saw last year from that San Francisco pass rush. We'll see how. If Dick Bosa wants to side, he wants to come back and play, we'll see how that works out. Erickson, I want to ask you this one here. This is a fun jet question. You know, we keep talking about all we need for the New York Jets is what a quarterback.

That's it. That's all we need. Well, they got one. They got a Hall of Fame quarterback. He's not quite the same guy who was a few years ago, but obviously a huge upgradeer over what they had. Is Aaron Rogers really the only thing the Jets need to make a run to Super Bowl? And I know that sounds lofty, Andrew, but in your opinion, do you think that you could take

this offense that was ranked 29th opponents last year, put Aaron Rogers there with the pieces they have with these now two running backs with Breeze Hall and Dalvin Cook and actually run through the AFC? I think in theory it makes sense, you know, why the Jets made the move. They wanted to get the veteran quarterback in the build into upgrade, pairing him with his elite defense. But the other issues at hand, the brutal schedule over the start for six weeks, no one has a tougher schedule than the New York Jets. Offensive line issues on the New York Jets is specifically at the tackle position. Like, that's scary. You have a, you know, Aaron Rogers Rogers is no spring chicken. Like, he's going to be entering his age 40 season. They got to make

sure he is protected. We saw him get banged up a little bit last year with a finger injury. thumbing. Like, if that influenced his play, which was not great last year, then there's potential issues here. So they need good Aaron Rogers to make the Super Bowl run. And I'm not so sure of him at this age, he hasn't passed for 300 yards since week 14 of the 2021 season. So for me, I'm on the side of really fading the New York Jets hype and an ultra-competitive AFC East. And I bet the under on their projected wind total. So I'm not in on the Jets, but I'd be interested to see what what Collins take is. Yeah, Colin. I want to ask. you about the Jets because with hard knocks on top of it, you're talking about, I mean, as much

press as you could possibly get in a situation, and it had enough press on the offseason, and now you're adding hard knocks to the fire. Is it going to get to a point here where the Jets that people are going to start believing too much in the Jets and should people pump the brakes? Well, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of blinking red lights here. Corey Davis now retires. So you have Garrett Wilson, a 23-year-old, your number one receiver, Alan Lazard's a three. They want to make him a two. Andy Reid bailed on McColl Hardman. The tight. in position isn't highly productive. It's like, and we don't like the tackles.

Does that sound like an AFC championship team? Like there's just, you know, everybody bangs on the giants, but we love their tackles. Waller and Saekwan Barclay are veteran weapons, offensive coach, quarterback in their prime, good defensive front. The jets are flashier. You can argue the giants have really key pieces left tackle. You know, quarterback prime, offensive coach.

you know, giants playing in the same MetLife Stadium are getting dragged by everybody. And I'm like, I'm not so sure that the offensive coach with a quarterback in his prime who had a higher pass rating than Aaron Rogers last year may not be the play in New York and not the Jets. Yeah, the defense certainly on the jet size working in their favor. It's whether or not the offense can meet the expectations. And just like the Lions now, they've got expectations. Let's get to another burning question here for the NFL season. This is a fun one here, Colin.

is Jordan Love the next great Packer quarterback and this historic run that they've had of going from Farr to the aforementioned Aaron Rogers and now Jordan Love starting to show some flashes here. It's only preseason. But I'm sure people all over Chicago and people all over Minnesota are starting to say, oh, no, not again. Do you think we're getting to that point with Jordan Love where people are going to start buying in on the hype? Well, Farrb and Rogers are arguably top 12 quarterbacks ever.

I feel pretty confident. Jordan Love will not enter that space. Agreed. The question is, there's a lot of boxes he checks. He's big enough. He's mobile. His arm's fine. I think we have to be honest that outside of an occasional Trevor Lawrence or Andrew

Luck or John Elway, where you land is about 80% of your success as a quarterback. Mahomes landing in Houston is not going to be. be hoisting trophies. He gets Andy Reed, the Hunt family, Brett Veach. It's a whole different reality. Matt Stafford, Detroit, Matt Stafford, Sean McVeigh. Trophy, struggling for the playoffs. So my takeaway is the Packers O-Line, excellent, run game, excellent, offensive coach, wonky division. He's probably going to be successful. But what is success? What if he's Kirk Cousins with better mobility? I think Green Bay would sign up for that. today. And that's what I think you're going to have. Kind of a DAC cousins with an athletic kid who can move. They can move the pocket. By the way, Matt LaFleur likes to move the pocket. Couldn't much with Aaron as he declined in mobility. So I think they're going to move the pocket a lot. The offense is going to look different. It's going to look more youthful. And I think they'll be successful as long as we keep expectations more toward Kirk Cousins and less toward Far of Aaron Rogers.

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 I'm 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Andrew, when we're talking about the athleticism of Jordan Love 2 and his ability maybe to get out and do some other things, Aaron Rodgers wasn't capable of doing, what does that mean from a fantasy perspective?

Because I know we have expectations they're going to rely heavily on that run game that Colin was talking about with A.J. Dylan and of course, Aaron Jones. But Christian Watson's a piece that's coming relatively cheap still in drafts. And that guy is a huge playmaker. I know there's still some questions about the consistency. But we saw the playmaking ability. We saw the speed. We saw you could change a game. is he somebody in fantasy you're investing in in 23.

Yeah, I love Christian Watson. And the fact that Christian Watson can also, he's a dual threat in terms of he can win after the catch. So he can take a screen or a slant to the house. And he can also win downfield, which takes advantage of Jordan Love's big arm. So Jordan loves moving around the pocket, making off-script plays. I think Christian Watson is going to be that guy that delivers splash plays down field. Now, here's a fun one. Andrew, I'm going to give you a shot at this one first because we had this conversation on betting pros.

I've had it with a bunch of people. I've already made investment. And it seems to be the one where everybody's got a different answer. Who's going to win the NFC South, Andrew? Go ahead. I'm going with the Atlanta Falcons. You know, Arthur Smith has handpicked top 10 overall offensive players are running back, wide receiver, tight end over the last three seasons.

Got Pitts, London, Bejohn, defense has added key players through free agency and the NFL draft with their sights that are winning now. Like people are joining this defense because they're not reboat. Like Callais Campbell bringing him in, he wanted to come to the Falcons because I think this team can win. And when you look at the division they play in, it's the worst division in all football. So I think that the Falcons can run the table here. I'm not afraid of Derek Carr. Like if it's Derek Carr and the Saints, that is the biggest thing standing between the Falcons and NFC South title, I'll take that all day. So for me, I'll see the question mark comes

around Desmond Redder entering year two, but I think in a similar way to a Jordan Love where all he needs to do is facilitate an offense with all of these skill players around him, some or two, a Ryan Tannenhill that Arthur Smith had so much success with in Tennessee. So, Ritter wasn't a perfect prospect coming out of Cincinnati, but the one thing that he did do was win games. Third most wins by a quarterback in college football history, including NFL in college. Ritter is 28 and 0 at home. The Atlanta Falcons opened the season at home, Panthers and Packers.

They're starting 2 and 0, so I'm back in the Falcons. What a fun, meaningless trend that you threw out there, unless if that somehow means anything for anything. Look, I'm already investing the Falcons, but it's. mostly a Bijon Robinson reason. Like, that's the whole point that I keep making. Like, this is a head coach that knows how to run the football, wants to run a football, needs to run the football.

And an offensive line, they got Tyler Algear over 1,000 yards last year. Yeah. Colin, there's some questions here about this division. So when you look at it from your perspective, who do you think is really the front runner in the NFC South? Because once again last year, it was disappointing. Yeah, I mean, Derek Carr is the best proven quarterback. The Saints, I think, have the best roster.

That's probably where I'd lean. Their schedules weak. a lot of betters like Atlanta. Arthur Smith, good old underrated O line, a lot of first round, you know, tight end running back players. So I think in a league that has pivoted in the last eight to nine years to offense,

they've got really high-end offensive players with a very nice offensive line. I don't know anything about Desmond Ritter. I watched them in college too. So, I mean, I would probably go car in the Saints roster, but there is no proof that the head coach of the Saints is more than a defensive coordinator. He bombed with the Raiders.

And I mean, Sean Peyton to him was an ugly first year. Sean Peyton won with Bridgewater, James Winston, Drew Breeze, Taysam Hill. So it's like I'm putting stock that the Saints coach finds his, he finds himself. He pivots. He somehow finds this magic, but there's no proof it's true. Atlanta is so hot with all the betters. Sometimes you have to acknowledge, I didn't see it. So I still have a week or two to make my picks.

Atlanta, I really thought Carolina would be interesting, but they have been so overwhelmed up front offensively in two games. I mean, it's not even, it's like, oh, my God, this is potentially Bryce Young small, a disaster. So I think Atlanta is what the smart money, that's where the smart money is going. But I'm not smart money. I'd go saints. Well, now I feel even smarter Monday because now you're talking about everybody else in it and I'm in it and Andrews it.

So that's good. So we feel good. Let's leave on that high note. And I'm glad you brought up the offensive line issue there in Carolina because that's another thing too that really starts to concern me. That size of Bryce Young concern me anyway. And if you can't not protect this guy, you have to protect him more than you would, your normal quarterback. If you were going to keep this kid upright and playing 17 games in the NFL. All right.

You know him. You have to. It's essential. Kevin Clark, senior football. writer analyst at the ringer host of the slow newsday podcast a friend of the herd so i'm gonna throw something at you uh years ago i'm not i'm not sure who said this it could have been jerry signfield he talked about uh he called it the comedy jet stream Seattle Minneapolis Boston like New York this northeast sort of maybe a little higher brow sort of a lot of times

you know, this educated understanding. We get the joke. And I think it was Seinfeld or somebody said, people are funnier in places where the weather's lousy because life's too easy. It's life's too easy in Miami, Tampa, and Phoenix, right? It's always sunny. And so I've always had a little bit of a theory that in the north, northern football team, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York,

Even the Giants teams, the Parcells teams, you know, that very successful Super Bowl, they were tough, Phil McConkey, Mark Bavarro. And Chicago, I always think about this, it's almost hard to explain how Chicago can never have had a great quarterback. It doesn't make it's ridiculous. And you think to yourself, why? And my theory is that some of these kind of cold weather towns, they have romanticized defense. It's toughness. And it's not that, and I think Chicago's had multiple options in their franchise history to draft a quarterback.

And they went for the rush end or the Mike linebacker. And that it's a somewhat explainable why Chicago, I can't even name their best receiver ever. Al-Shon Jeffrey? Like, it's, you know, so my takeaway is when I look at Chicago this year, we may finally have a dynamic quarterback for the Bears. I'm hoping so. But that's my theory on the bear's inability to land one great quarterback ever. Is it horseshit? Do you buy it?

I buy it. First of all, do you know who the single season passing leader is for the Chicago Bears all time? Currently, 2023. Johnny Lou Jack. It's Eric Kramer, 1995, 3,838 yards. They have never had a 4,000-yard. passer in an era where you can accidentally do that going, you can walk to the gas station

in the NFL right now and accidentally pick up a 4,000 yard season. I mean, that's like asking a town if you have indoor plumbing. Have you had a 4,000 yard quarterback? I mean, it's really easy to do in this era. And the fact that the Bears haven't done it is stunning. Dustin Fields, by the way, came out and said he will be the first 4,000 yard quarterback over the season on a podcast. Maybe that was tongue-in-cheek.

I don't know, but I would hope so. There's a high floor here. I interviewed Justin Fields a couple months ago. I said, does it put more pressure on you? the fact that there have been these big misses and they passed on Patrick Holmes, Deshaal Watson, all these guys who could have been quote-unquote franchise saviors. And he said, it's not my fault that this happened. And I thought that was exactly the way to do it.

And I think he liked his expectations. He said to me that however high the fans' expectations are, his or higher, which I think is the exact way to do it. And there's a floor here that I think the people say, oh, well, Luke gets you in the offensive staff, they've got a lot of work to do. And I say, no, it's just the opposite. it. There was a stat last year, Colin that blew my mind, which is his consecutive games with 50 yards and a touchdown of rushing was the most since Gail Sayers. Okay, Gail Sayers.

There's a name that actually was good in their past. And when you have that kind of production on the Russian side, it doesn't take much to open up those passing lanes. I think we're going to see a massive step forward. I think that we're going to see an improved team. And I was, I was joking with you a couple weeks ago where it's a people saying, oh, in the first preseason game, gave the ball to Herbert and to DJ Moore and they did the work. Yeah, good. That's the point. That's the point of Orion Poles been able to do. The roster is much improved. They had a bunch of money to spend. They spent it. So I'm expecting a lot. I totally agree with your theory that I remember being at a Miami-Nordid end game at Soldier Field, which I don't really want to bring up because

Miami lost five touchdowns, as they're want to do in the old golden era. But I remember just some random Bears fan at the concession stand just arguing about whether or not the 85 Bears defense was the best of all time. That's their identity. That's what Bears fans want to do. They never want to talk about the quarterback. They always want to talk, as you said, they want Khalil Mack in the first round. They want that kind of guy, the big beef. They want Mike Didka calling into local radio shows and saying, here's what we're going to do. When you have those sort of voices, they never really go away. You see that all the time. And the opposite, I grew up in Florida. When the dolphins have a good quarterback, they immediately get Compton Marino. That's in a weird way held them back. So I just think a team can get buried

under its own history. And I think that's when you get in trouble sometimes. Yeah. And I think, you know, when I when I look at this league, it's really fundamentally to me, there's been a cultural shift. And I've seen it in basketball where the power forward went from essential to a complete liability on the floor. Like Tristan Thompson was valuable and you can't play him in a three-year period. In baseball, it used to be Dave Kingman. You don't remember Dave probably. He was like a six six, six home run hitter who struck out a bunch. He would be Cody Bellinger today. He was viewed as a complete liability. Now it's the ground ball. And in the NFL, if you look at the top spending teams on defense, it's Buffalo, it's Pittsburgh, it's the Chargers, it's this, you know, it's these

defensive coaches. And I've said this before is you'd have to really, really, convince me to hire a defensive coach in the NFL. So you recently did an article coming out on the bingles. And it's interesting. When everybody was bailing initially on Zach Taylor, my takeaway was, no, no, it's the right side of the ball. You just can't win in this league with an old Andy Dalton, whoever it is. And the minute he gets Burrow, he completely embraces him. Flores, struggles, with Tua, Zimmer with Kirk Cousins, Pete a little with Russell, Belichick with Mac. I find when the coach is offensive, there is a happier, more joyful experience. Offense is celebrated.

Mistakes are tolerated. Like I feel the locker room feels different. What was your vibe from Cincinnati? It was unbelievable because it's not just Taylor, it's Burrow, it's Brian Callahan, and their coordinator. And there's no football ego there. And Colin, we've talked about this before. But if you're going to have a culture changer like Joe Burrow, the number one step is to let

him change the culture. And there are coaches who would say, no, no, no, this is my show. Zek Taylor didn't do that. He adapted the offense in myriad ways. I mean, at one point in 2019, some of the coaches were saying they were trying to run the McVeigh, outside zone stuff. They were terrible at it. They gave up on it.

Joe Burrow comes in and says, you know what? We're going to do this, this. I want to get five guys into routes. They said, great. And what the piece that I did that I reported on, I spent a long time talking to the coaches and Tyler Boyd and Teagans and some of these guys down in Cincinnati,

basically the angle was they've mastered the easy play. Because last year, NFL defense is sold out to take away the deep ball. And basically, his deep ball numbers were halved last year. Went from 13 touchdowns to 7. Guess what? He was a great quarterback anyway, because there's no football ego on that staff

or even from Joe Burrow. And I think that what's interesting is that modern defense dares you to be uncool. They say, you know what, go ahead and do whatever you want to do, but it's going to be a checkdown to P. Ryan. It's going to be a checkdown to Joe Mixing. It's going to be a checkdown to Hayden Hurst. And it's not going to be a 50-yard bomb to Jamar Chase. And Joe Burroughs said, deal, great, we're going to do it.

And that's why they were able to win last year, especially after week five. I basically had half time over a week five game against Baltimore, and they started to make those changes. But that's not normal. Mahomes said it took him a couple of months to figure out to just have that patience, have that foresight. And what Taylor told me was basically he'll check, Borough will check down and say, you know what, I know Jamar might be open 50 yards down the field. It doesn't matter because 10 yards wide open is great. He gassed Buffalo out like that with Hayden Hearst and some of the backs out of the backfield.

They doubled their targets to running backs last year. And I think what we're seeing is, I thought Brian Callahan and the OC said something really interesting. He said, it's a type of football maturity unfolding in front of our eyes. It's just him saying, this is what I have in front of me this year. I'm not going to force it, even though I have the three, I have the best receiving, in football, doesn't matter. I'm going to let those guys run down field, open up the rest of the defense for me.

I think it's really astounding because, Colin, as you know, when a young quarterback, a young quarterback is almost like a boxer, right? Their career changes so much from year to year. Style, you know, one fight can change your entire trajectory, all of this stuff. And so to go through a year where you're not doing the things that you're used to and you're not going. And the chemistry between Jamar Chase and Joe Burrough is as good as any two

young players ever seen in my entire life. And the stories that Chase told me last year about how Burrow will underthrow a deep ball because he knows he can throw in a double coverage and all of this stuff, it's crazy. And they say, you know what, I'm just not going to do that this year. That to me is a sign of a guy who's going to adapt every single year for his career. And by the way, now that he's successful for it, the deep ball opens back up. And that's the most amazing thing that they can do it again. So the fact that Burroughs and the cutting edge of this chess match shows me that not only is Zach Taylor, a good coach,

not as Brian Kahnland and a good OC, but the Joe Burroughs, capable of anything I've got off of yours. So Stephen A. Smith reported that Stefan Diggs wants out. And I've said there are two kind of quote what you call diva receivers. And you don't see it as much today because I think there's so much money in it. Players want to win games. They don't feel like they constantly have to fight for the ball. The game's more wide open. They get the ball. But there's like the Des Bryant, who was difficult from day one for Dak Prescott, was just loud. Now he was just, Jason Garrett once told me he fought like hell to keep him because he gave you eight to ten touchdowns. And then there's the Randy Moss, Stefan Diggs, which is they're highly productive for three years. And then it's their personality.

They want more. Diggs has been targeted a lot, highly productive. It's just his personality. And I've said, I would go make the move for Randy Moss and his peak and I'd make it for Stefan Diggs. I don't feel they're problematic. You get three years of productivity. and then their personality comes out. I can live with that.

In this league, three years is forever. Legacies are formed. And so let's just play the game. Stephen A. Smith says he's unhappy, wants out. If that's true, is there a team or two that you just think of off the top of your head where you're like, gosh, they just... I mean, obviously New England's clear,

but I think they're trying to get value on every offensive player. And there's not a lot of those with cap space, so you'd have to make it work, some trade. Is there any place digs would work to you? Wow. It's a great question because unfortunately, if you take him away from his current team, one of the best places that loves to go all in right now is the Buffalo Bills. I mean, that's a strange thing, right? It's like, if you were just saying, taking the team out of it, you know what? The bill signed bond.

They already which contract. They've got, you know, certain cap situations where they need to win right now. They're the kind of team that does it. So if he's unhappy there, he's going to be unhappy in a lot of places. A couple other teams like the Miami Dolphins. They love making aggressive moves. Well, they're full. and wide receiver. They can't add another piece. And so you get to kind of the dregs a little bit. And he's going to go to a play. Does a team with a bad quarterback when a trade for Stefan Diggs? I don't think they do. So it ends up being, you know, a couple of different places. But I just don't, I don't see a place where he'd be happy. You know, does he want to go and play,

you know, would he have taken the Chicago Bears slot, you know, to be their star guy and try to resurrect that? I don't know. I mean, and if it's if it's a quarterback, can't get in the ball, does that make the expiration date on his happiness that much shorter? And maybe it's a place like Carolina if he wants to reboot and play with the quarterback. I don't know. But when you're going out of a winning situation, there aren't a lot of options for you. And the NFL is going to set your market pretty quickly. And I think that, you know, Buffalo in general has a lot of blowup potential, but they could also win the Super Bowl.

And I think there are real questions. I was just listening to some of their beat guys at the athletic. talk about how there's still questions on the offensive line. Kair Elam, who's the first round pick from a year ago, was just not taking the job the way the coaches want. There's some real holes in that roster, but then there's top, top, top, top end talent. And that's why you need Stefan Diggs there.

If I'm Brandon Bean, I'm doing nothing to move Stefan Diggs. I'm not going to ask for a trade. I'm going to try to do a last dance situation because you need that top end talent because you've missed on a handful of big roster decisions in the last couple of years. And you went all in, maybe on guys like Von Miller, we shouldn't have.

And so if I'm the bills, I'm standing pat, I'm doing everything I can. I'm putting it on Josh Allen to make it work. Everybody needs to be happy because Stefan Diggs is the type of talent you have to have if they're going to win. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

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

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm 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

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The team I want to watch the most, and because the NBA is very much about the Shield and corporate. It's not a drama league, right? Like in the NBA, a lot of times you don't care about the team, but the story's good. You know, like KD leaves Wold. Westbrook. Westbrook wins the MVP. It's a good story. You know, can the Philadelphia's 76ers finally win and get to a second playoff series? The story's better than the team, right?

In the NFL, I just kind of like winners. I do think the Broncos with Peyton and Russell Wilson, I think it's the best story because if it doesn't work, they're kind of effed. I mean, because Russell, I mean, Josh Allen's cap hit next year, and you can manipulate it by the time it arrives. It's going to be like 18% of the cap for the bills. Like, they have to win now. They can't screw around with Stefan Diggs. Like, the reason the dolphins are interested in Jonathan Taylor is like two is only four and a half percent of the cap. Dax 12, right?

Josh Allen's going to be 18 and a half. They have to win this year. So I think that's really interesting, the drama around Buffalo. But I also think it's, there's a weird thing in sports. If you asked how many players believe in God, it would be 90%. But Kirk Cousins, Derek Carr, and Russell Wilson wear it on their sleeve. And a lot of people view like Russell as inauthent. And I'm like, you know, he's very religious, great conviction.

I always thought that's just who he is. Now, people say Kirk Cousins is soft and corny. And I'm like, he's a family man. He's religious. It's who he is. I've had two different Raiders say, you know, Derek Carr wore some guys out. And I'm like, that's who he is. You know, he's a man of faith.

And I asked Kevin Clark this yesterday. Do you view Ross as inauthentic or just religious? I view him as inauthentic, but I've talked to enough people that is, he's kind of robotic. So this version that everyone makes fun of is actually who he is. Because, you know, I would say the thing that I value the most in any human being is just be yourself. Right. It's why I think people in the medium were in having the most success or the most honest and just act like, or you don't pretend to be something they're not, can just be very authentic

to themselves, whether you agree with them or not. And I think Russell comes off too often, or at least has. I haven't been locked into all his press conferences. Sean Payton got there, but it's just kind of a phony. And, you know, I heard a story once that he had a golf tournament and invited everyone to the golf tournament, right? Everyone at the golf tournament was an invitation from him. So he knows a lot of former players, coaches, whoever.

And he had security when he showed up. So there's an element, like one of the things that Patrick Mahomes, you know, FAR have had this forever. I think Peyton and Tom were the biggest stars that kind of were able to play both sides of the fence perfectly on this, is they always felt one of the guys, right? Tom always felt like, even though ironically he was a health nut, could drink beers, slam cheese burgers with his offensive linemen, same with Peyton.

You go back throughout the history of the quarterback position, Joe Montana was friends with all his teammates. Now, I also think that players, if you are true to yourself, like Derek Carr's married, he's got four kids. Kirk Cousins is very, very religious. So is Derek. If they think that you're being authentic about it,

I don't think it bothers guys deep down, especially if you're playing well. I think once you get the poor play and you have the weirdness, because I remember when I was scouting. I ran into a dude from Denver and they had just signed Peyton Manning or maybe maybe it was during the season. So Peyton had been there for a while. And he was like, Peyton's a lot, man. We had to dedicate a couple scouts for him. He got his own office. So all

the stuff last year with Russell, they had done before. But what happened? Peyton got there superstar MVP. They start kicking. No one cares. Payton was not easy to work with. Right. But when you're winning, when you're playing at a high level and everyone knew they needed Peyton more than probably he needed to help me. It could have gone a bunch of places. I think last year, Russell, everyone opened their arms immediately, and then he started playing poorly. And then the story started leaking about him making the Seattle,

it just imploded. And obviously Nathaniel Hackett over his head. And I heard you talking about this, and I agree, he's definitely slimmer. He moved better the other night against the 49ers. But the pressure, I think the pressure on him and the pressure on Rogers, every game is going to be just treated probably 5X most of these other games. It's just part of it has to do with who they are, how famous they are, how much money they make, the trades, how much power they have over coaches and owners.

It is just, you don't see it very often, these Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I mean, Rogers is older, but Russell, in his prime, I mean, that's what makes the Pete Carroll angle. So are they just going to be really good? Is Pete just going to win this trade seamlessly? I don't know that in Jigba got hurt today, but obviously if they're healthy, Seattle's going to be good again. We don't know. I mean, Denver easily could be seven and ten. And Pete goes 10 and 70s in the playoffs.

Like, I'm sorry, he wins the trade. Well, I think here's my take is that if you look at Aaron Rogers and the Jets and Russell Wilson with Denver, there's a lot of similarities. They're both in the AFC. They're both in good divisions. They're both veterans. They both have, you know, declining athleticism, but both still good athletes. And they're both going to get a lot of Hall of Fame votes. Both have a new coach.

Both have, I would say, intense coaches. Peyton and Sala are intense coaches. And there's pressure on both. This is where Russell's optimism could be very beneficial. I think at his core, Aaron's more agnostic, Aaron's more cynical, a bit more snarky. I think that's who he is at his core, a little bit more of a hipster. That's who he is. And that's okay.

I can be a little bit too snarky. And so I think when fit hits the Shan, Aaron's who he is is a little cynical and a little little snarky. I think when fit hits the shan for Russell, he tends to be optimistic and we'll get through this. And I do think that placebo effect, the power of the mind is valuable. And I do think they're going to have both of these quarterbacks this year, John, are going to have turbulence. And what I know, you know, Russell will be highly optimistic if they're five and five. We're going to get through this. There's a brighter date. That's the messaging. If the jets are five and five, there's a chance. Aaron bails on his right tackle who can't

protect him. Call on, that could happen like week one. The difference, too, is in Denver. The head coach is going nowhere, right? I mean, he's, he's on scholarship for a while. He's, he's the boss. Aaron, let's just say it's always easy in football, probably more than any other sport. Things are so optimistic in general in the offseason and then in training camp. And then all of a sudden, it's middle of September and you're 0 and 2 and things are getting tight. And listen, I was a big believer in the Jets. And then I'm not trying to do all my scouting on hard knocks, but their offensive line is a disaster. Right. Now, can they make up for it with an elite defense? Like, they're the number one defense. And Rogers just understands how to kind of manipulate it

all, but that's probably still best case nine or 10, not 13 or 14. You cannot, if your offensive line is bottom 10 in the league, I don't care if you got Montana, Rogers, Manning in their that's a problem, right? And they got to figure that out. And I'm sure they are going to be claiming guys off the waiver. They're willing to make trades. But that, that is to me the current biggest problem for all, a team that has the upside. If they had a good offensive line, I think everyone would pick them to be like an AFC content, right? A real one. Yeah. Right. But, If Rogers, who I was reading Peter King earlier, he's the oldest quarterback in the NFL by a pretty wide margin, right? He's about to turn 40, all the other guys, even the older guys, cousins and Daniel, they're 35.

What's Russell? 33, 34. That's a pretty big gap when we had a long stretch, you know, with the Eli, the Carson Palmer's, the Payton Man is the top. Obviously, Tom's a little bit of an outlier. But got Rothusberger, Guy, Drew Brees, 39, there were a ton of them. Now he clearly is the oldest. And let's face it. And I don't blame them.

And you saw this definitely last year with Tom. And I think you kind of saw it for two years with you. You don't want to get hit anymore. That's right. Check your bank account. You got, you know, nine figures. You're already a Hall of Famer. You want to win, but there is a level of, I'm not going to get, I'm not going to play like Archie Manning here and just get driven into the ground every play.

Right. And you already kind of, you know, if you watch Hard Knocks episode two, Rogers is, and I don't blame them. I mean, the huffins of line. This is the pros. The expectations are high. We've invested a lot. We've drafted guys high. But if they're not good enough, the thing in the NFL, this is not the NBA where you're kind of stuck.

You will just bench a guy. You will remove a guy. You'll move other guys through. But that's probably the hardest position group to just running backs I can rotate, wide receivers I can rotate. DBs. Offensive line, if you got a constant rotation, you probably got a tire fire in your hands. Well, and the other thing, and I'm not a psychologist, but there is a reality is that if you're married, you have kids, your life's a series of sacrifices. I know. I live in that tunnel.

You know, Aaron's in the Kevin Durant, never married, no kids. He kind of gets his way a lot, right? So, you know, when again, when stuff unravels for me, I got kids, I got a wife, I make sacrifices daily. It's just part of my existence. But, you know, Aaron's in that Durant tunnel where it's rich. He's the sun in his galaxy, kind of gets his way, wants to take a nap, wants to take a nap, wants to go on a hunting trip, fishing trip.

I had this thing years ago, I told the scout, I like my quarterback's married. And he joked about it. He said, there's value in this is because when you're married, you get very responsible very quickly. You have to learn to compartmentalize your life, school with the kids, recital, practice, film. He goes, single guys don't have to compartmentalize stuff.

It all mushes together. What do I feel like doing? Whatever I want to do. And I said, I think quarterback being married, You know, most of the great ones, even ones that drove me nuts, Big Ben sometimes, he was married. He had kids. He had sort of a hierarchy of things, you know, a pattern of life. And I guess my point is, if shit goes sideways for Aaron, it didn't a lot in Green Bay.

Most of it was Aaron inflicted and Aaron created. I mean, no chaos front office, good offensive lines, never whiffed on drafts. media was kind of in a sidecar, you know, they were your buddy. And what, I mean, the, the turbulence for Aaron in Green Bay was kind of Aaron created. He's never had it land in his lap, not of his own creation. Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely something to the way the scouting community, but just human beings, right, a lot of guys, even if you are career driven, I know for me, up until about my mid-30s, I was always like, you know, no serious relationships.

these last, I'd say three or four years, I've been in two serious relationships, and I've gotten better at every aspect of my life. I've had to give up things that I used to be able to do, but you become more balanced, you become more relying on other people, they become more relying on you, you drop bad habits. And like you said, Tom Brady, when he played the best football of his life, when he got married Giselle for the next whatever decade, right? Peyton was married the whole time.

So I think part of this just gets back to the Jets are just not the most consistent organization. And they have, and this gets back to the difference between Sean Payton and Russell. Like if it doesn't go well, Robert Saul is going to get fired, right? Joe Douglas is in major trouble. It's just the way the sport works, right? If Aaron were to want them gone, they would go. This is where the other problem is like he's got way more juice than anyone in the organization now. And he's shown before he can be a little selfish.

And he's doing all the right things. I am through what we've seen out of Rogers. Clearly, he's going above and beyond eating lunch with all these different guys every single day, poaching the defensive backs up. I think he understands it, but like you said earlier, it's easy to do when everything's going well offseason, start one and three. And everyone talking shit about you everywhere you look

because all of a sudden you start slow in the AFC, there is no making up for it, right? None. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.