The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - J-Mac on Dalvin Cook → Jets, ‘Gran Turismo’ True Story w/ Jann Mardenborough,  Trey Lance Bust Dissection w/ Middlekauff

Episode Date: August 19, 2023

It’s Prime Cuts. The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First Colin’s top takes of the week, including his reaction to Belichick signing a declining version of Ezekiel Elliott, why the Jets had to add Dalvin Cook after Aaron Rodgers signed a discount deal, the Cowboys and Zach Martin agreeing to terms after a brief holdout, and the numerous ways how Colin’s real life has improved since disengaging from Elon’s dumpster fire Twitter. Then, The Herd co-host - and host of the Straight Fire - Jason McIntyre joins Colin to discuss how the Dalvin Cook signing impacts the Jets offense, why it’s so important the Jets get off to a good start to the season, if the Niners should go with Sam Darnold over Trey Lance as their backup, and which team could Jim Harbaugh could target for an NFL return. Next, Gran Turismo race driver Jann Mardenborough on his improbable path from  gamer to competitive GT driver, how gaming has influenced his racing, and the true story behind the new Gran Turismo movie. Finally, 3 and Out podcast Host John Middlekauff  on the upcoming college football season following a summer that saw the B1G finish its decimation of the Pac-12, why so many people massively overrated Trey Lance and the 2020 QB draft class, if Jalen Hurts will regress without Colts HC Shane Steichen as his OC.  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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The Volume. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast. J. Mack, Jason McIntyre stopped by. Thoughts on the Dalvin Cook Jets deal? John Middilcoff on why the Trey Lance situation. Is it a disaster now? Grand Turismo's a new movie. I liked it.

The story of a kid who's a gamer becomes a race car driver. It's really interesting. But first, my top takes of the week. You know, I was thinking about something today because Ezekiel Elliott, Zeke signed with the Patriots, is that there are things in life that I seek value with. I've got very flat, wide, size 12 feet. I'm looking for comfort with shoes. I'm not going to spend a lot on shoes.

I want comfort. And I'm not looking for the ugliest pair available, but comfort trumps style and fashion. Same with cars. Cars to mere transportation. I know many of you have that testosterone car gene. Nothing wrong with it. My wife's a Michigan girl. She loves cars.

I don't care. So I seek value in cars. I probably own, you know, 10 cars in my life. Eight have been used. And then there are things I just won't go cheap on. I tell my kids all the time. Education and experiences. You know, if we have to pay for an expensive college, prep school,

we were going to do it. And experiences. If I want to go on two vacations a year, you know what? We're going to stay at a nice hotel by the beach, walking distance. So that's important in my life, education for my kids and experiences

because when dad's gone, you know, I want those to be great memories. And I think most of you, you know, there's certain things when I go to the store, I'll do value in paper towels. I'm not going to do value in certain things like coffee. And I think it's interesting.

that the Patriot sign Ezekiel Elliott, again, going for a guy they can get value with, past his prime. He can be a three downback, but he's lost a lot of his horsepower. And, you know, they signed Devonte Parker. There's not a big market for him. Signed him to three years. Juju Smith-Schuster, not a huge market for him. I just think in 2023, Kyle Shanahan's not seeking value.

He went and he spent a lot of money to make a move for Christian. McCaffrey and they signed Debo Samuel and George Kiddell and left tackle Trent Williams. They're not seeking value. They're seeking greatness because the game has changed. And I think if you start looking at the teams at the top of the AFC, O'Dell Beckham wasn't cheap. Baltimore went and got him. Go look at Cincinnati, running backs, wide receivers, Joe Burrell's going to cost money.

I think if you're going to seek value in the NFL, safety, linebacker, interior offensive line if your quarterback's got a little bit of mobility. But I think Zeke is fine, but he's not close to Dalvin Cook. Dalvin Cook is still got, I think, traces of his prime left. And I don't think Zeke is a bad signing, but I don't think it's a significant move. I don't, I think Dalvin Cook's a better player. But we've seen, it didn't matter if it was Hunter Henry, Nelson Aguilar at one point, Bill's always seeking value, and there's just not a lot of it

on the offensive side of the football. The best talent evaluators, you're never going to get Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase or Devante Adams. You're never going to get those guys on the cheap. Certainly not in their prime. So I don't think it's a bad signing, but I feel once again, in New England,

And I feel like they have most of their offensive weapons have moved out of their sweet spot athletically. Now, Dalvin Cook to the Jets. My gut feeling on this, and he's a guy that can catch, he can run. I think he's just out of his prime, but close to it. He can also block. So he's a three down back. But I think when Aaron Rogers took some money off the table, of this contract. It wasn't just altruism. You know, Aaron was like, okay, I'll give some money back.

What are you getting me? Get me another weapon. So, you know, it's, I do think it was a bit of a brand pivot for Aaron Rogers who always sort of took the most money in Green Bay. And I do think it's, it shows real growth for Aaron Rogers and kind of a community team feel that's cool. But he had to get something back in return. And this is it. Dalvin Cook's a one-year contract. These are really good player. I don't think it's their number one need, but it does allow them to bring back Breeze Hall slowly.

And listen, we have an extra game now. There's 17 games. You don't want to give any single running back 275-300 carries. They age fast. So I do think over the course of a season, Dalvin Cook allows you to bring Breece Hall back a little more slowly. if they could, you know, they both get over 100 carries, but neither gets to two. That's probably a very good thing.

The Jets now have Aaron Rogers. I still think the offensive line is the primary issue. I don't think running back's the number one issue, but you got to give Aaron something, a toy, a weapon for him taking a fairly profound one-time pay cut. The Cowboys also ended their holdout with elite offensive guard, Zach Martin, kind of surprised that they cave. Now, they didn't give him top of the league money. Top of the league money is about 20, 21 million for a guard. He got about 18 from 13. I thought he'd been very well compensated. You know, the cowboys get into a space, and I think they know the reality with

Dak is the more you ask Dak to do, the more mistakes you have. And last year, again, Zeke passed his prime, offensive line in a rebuild. Michael Gallup was slow in the rehab coming back. They asked Dak to do more, and he tied for the NFL leading interceptions. And so I just don't think the offensive line is good enough now to lose their primary offensive guard. And Zach Martin's a first ballot hall fame guy.

He's arguably the best guard in the NFL. Certainly has been top one or two for the last eight, nine years, eight-time pro-bowlder. So I'm a little surprised they caved. Jerry has often done that with older players that he or star players that he likes. Jalen Smith, the linebacker, it didn't work. Zeke, they paid him two years early, probably shouldn't have.

So, you know, the Cowboys, you got Brandon Cooks is new, Dalton Schultz has gone, Zik is gone, Zach Martin out, kind of a drip, drip, drip, leading you to believe, are we putting more on DAC's table than he's comfortable with? Also, Kellynmore, the offensive coordinator's gone. So there's a lot of things you've taken away from DAC. My guess is they sat down. down Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones and said, you know, a lot of things have been taken away. Let's insert something back into the mix, the best interior offensive linemen the Cowboys have had since Larry Allen.

Been a long time. You know, I was thinking about something. I had a conversation recently with a friend. And he was going through a tough time. And I said, you know, there's a old saying about there's always a silver lining. And I think about this stuff all the time is I remember when my daughter was a, you know, not great, but a pretty good athlete, volleyball player, basketball player.

And she started playing volleyball and liked it more, kind of the community feel. She liked the girls better in volleyball than basketball. And, you know, I had talked to her coach one time. She was doing like summer league where you, you get in the van, travel all weekend and play it within San Bernardino. And her coach, a former college player, said, you know, your daughter's pretty good player. She could play.

And then about a year later, six months later, my daughter comes to me and says, I don't want to play sports anymore. And my ex-wife was a jock, played college sports. Now I'm kind of jocky. And I remember there was a day or two where, you know, I kind of pouted and thought, this is no good. I really was looking forward to kind of, you know, traveling with her and watching her games. But what came out of it in that little moment of didn't get my way, was actually the greatest thing that I think that had happened in our relationship is that our

relationship changed. We got out of the sports realm into a more social realm, traveling realm, was like an adult to adult. It was like an adult to adult relationship. She was aging and I didn't have to be a sports parent, right? Just a taxi cab driver taking your game to game tournament to tournament. And it goes to something that I really believe, in that the moments in my life that, and you see it in sports all the time, that you think are the pits, there's always a bright side. I remember when Michigan football was struggling with Brady Hoke. And I remember saying this on the air. Michigan is never bad for a long time in between Rich Rodriguez, Rich Rod, and Brady Hoke, I said, they're going to go spend big boy money. And they didn't.

They got hardball. And this is the best Michigan roster this year that they maybe have ever had. It's loaded, potentially 15 NFL draft picks. So, you know, the Colts got Andrew Luck, the Cavs, get LeBron James because they're awful. Victor Wembenyama to the Spurs because they were awful. There's always some sort of silver lining. It's the great duality of life. Life's never as good as you think or as bad as you think. And I was thinking about this the other day in that in what I do for a living, I have a very large team of

people that support me, assist me, and just sort of lubricate either my broadcasting at FS1, IHeartRadio, or the volume. So I'm very thankful for that. And we rely to some degree on social media, TikTok, a platform we're growing quickly in, Instagram, Twitter. And so initially, when Elon Musk took over Twitter, my takeaway was the media has an agenda. There'll be anti-Elan Musk, I'm just going to go in and just watch it develop. I'm not going to take aside. Immediately, too many annoying ads. Soon after that, too many violent videos. And I had filters on, but just too much stuff was getting through that was gross. And I didn't think it just would put you in a good mood watching it. So my point is, what's the good news? I am never on social

media anymore. I have somebody else run the accounts. The addictive quality of that account has disappeared. And that the truth is, I have now worked out for 13 straight days for at least an hour, mostly 90 minutes. I've got a little passion project on the side, which I won't disclose now, but I probably will soon in a few months, that I developed just because I had more time and have reconnected with a couple of people. I haven't seen it a while.

And I thought to myself, Jesus, I was wasting a lot of time staring at my phone. And so I guess my point being is that we live in this outrage blender. You know, everything's the end of the world. And virtually nothing is. And if you have a bad day or a bad team or a bad moment, I see Yankee fans freaking out now. It's like folks. It's your first bad season in forever.

Your standards are high. Your expectations are through the roof. Braves are great. Dodgers too. Houston's viable. It's a bad year for the Yankee. Yankees. How'd you like to be the Mets? And it's the standard. It's normal. It's consistently bad or underachieving. Stuff's never as bad as you think. We're going to go into a football season.

Everybody's going to overreact on Sunday nights and Monday afternoons and Monday nights to the results. Take a deep breath. Enjoy life. If you're outraged on a regular basis, put down the phone. There's a lot of good out there. All right, we bring in Jemak. So how fitting Dalvin Cook signs with the Jets, he can block, he can catch, he can run. I still feel like he may have one more year of his prime left, whereas Zeeke, I feel like is three years out of his prime, at least two. I feel like Dalvin Cook, it feels like he's closer to his prime. Is that fair?

Oh, certainly. I mean, Colin, listen, let's be realistic, okay? and I'm not just saying this as a hyperbolic Jets fan. You know, we had this interview schedule before the Dalvin Cook news. Tell me who has the best skill position players in the AFC East between the bills, the dolphins, the Jets, and the Patriots. I've looked at the Cook numbers. There wasn't a drop off last year.

The reason the Vikings had to get off of him was because of salary. They simply cannot afford him and to build a team when you've got to pay just to Jefferson, the salary of Kirk Cousins, the offensive line. They could not afford Dalvin Cook. I don't think it had anything to do with the numbers and the drop-off. He instantly makes the Jets have the best skill position players in the division. And if you want to zoom out and look at the conference, I mean, we're not far, I can say we, right? We're not far behind the Bengals who are obviously elite at receiver and Joe Burroughs better than Rogers.

But you look at that Jets team, Colin, I'm being real here. Dalvin Cook, Garrett Wilson, Air Rogers, they're stacked. Okay, who's your number two receiver? So when you look at the depth of the Jets receivers, I think their depth far surpasses anything Buffalo has. Buffalo's top heavy with Stefan Diggs. Miami's top heavy, the top two guys are great. The Jets depth, Alan Lazard, big 6-5 guy can go up and get it in the red zone.

Nicole Hardman, a gadget guy who they can do a lot of things with you, line up on the slot outside. Like, I know, we know Gary Wilson's the one. After that, there's a lot of threes. But, Colin, like I like the depth idea above, you know, you've got a one One of those guys goes down. You don't have depth. The Jets are so stacked at receiver.

And this Delvin Cook thing, listen, we don't know how Breece Hall is going to react coming back from injury. And Breece Hall, if he can sit out the first three, three, four games, if he's on the pop list, you know, Michael Carter was good, but let's be realistic, okay? Delvin Cook is a massive upgrade. And I'll challenge you, Colin, to find a team that got better at quarterback and running back in the NFL this offseason.

It just doesn't exist. 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 what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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. Yeah, I mean, Breeze Hall, Dalvin Cook, Aaron Rogers, Garrett Wilson, Corey Davis, Alan Lazzard.

I don't like it as much as you. You know, I think depth at receiver sounds good, but I like really great playmakers. My argument for receiving cores is when your one goes down, Jamar Chase, can your two be a one? You know, if Mike Williams goes down, Keenan Allen has been a one. Jamar Chase went down. T. Higgins looked like a one for Cincinnati. I don't think the Jets have that.

I mean, if Cooper Cup goes down, Rams don't have a two. Van Jefferson's a three. So, you know, my takeaway was that Aaron Rogers took a pay cut. It wasn't all for altruistic reasons. In the end, he made a deal with a team. You got to get me a toy.

You got to get me something fun. And this is, you know, they could use another tackle, but there's just none on the market. But there are running backs on the market and Dalvin's the best running back. This feels like one of those handshake deals all take less. You got to get me another playmaker. That's what it feels like to me. Certainly. And listen, I'll just remind you, the Jets went in the last season with, hey, our guy,

Zach Wilson and our running back is Michael Carter. Like, they just did not have a lot last year offensively and still managed to win seven games. Like, you've got to feel like the arrow's pointing up with the Jets. There's only, the only way it could be pointing is up. And I just cannot stress enough. You're going from literally bottom three quarterback situation in the league, arguably 32nd, to instantly one of the best with Aaron Rogers. And I know he wasn't amazing last year, but he was very good.

And Wilson and Cook, this is the most exciting time for any Jets fan since Rex Ryan was dropping F bombs on hard knocks over a decade ago. You know, I talked about this on FS1 today about I couldn't tell you the last New York team that overachieved. Like, I mean, I guess the Giants last year making the playoffs. But, I mean, the NFC was so weak. I don't feel like it was a triumph of any, you know, great historic standard. But the Yankees and the Mets, not good. Brooklyn Nets KD. Mass.

Jets, underachieving. And I said, maybe it's just coincidence. But I tend to believe that as the media has gotten bigger and louder is that a lot of the front offices in New York are weaker. And a lot of the ownership groups are weaker. And the Yankees farm system now is, you know, nobody has the patience for it. And that I do think there is a unique volume and pressure in New York. And I do think it makes it harder on athletes. That it's just, I mean, you and I are not people that hang out in social media.

I've worked with people who hang out on social media. And so they hear the noise and they react to it. You and I don't. You're more into our families. But I do think young athletes, average GMs, I don't think I'm unfair when I say this. You lived out east. I lived there for a decade. Sports radio, they actually talk sports.

I live in Los Angeles. Sports talk radio doesn't even talk sports. It's all guy talk. You can't do that out east. People care more. It's louder. It's more. tense. They call you out by names. I mean, like WFAN is calling out people by names and those guys hear it.

So like that my thing with the Jets is they've got to start three and three. They go two and four. It's ugly. Am I wrong? I think it affects teams. Yeah. You never want to go overboard. But that Buffalo season opener is extremely important. And we touched on this on the show. Colin, Jets offensive line is the biggest weakness. Buffalo bills have a top five defense in the league. If Von Miller plays, we don't know if he's going to be back. And they obliterate the Jets' offensive line, the way they did the Rams last year in the opener. You saw the ram season just snowball and corin into a disaster. Well, in week two, the Jets then travel to Dallas and Micah Parsons, who's maybe the defensive player of the year. Colin, this is setting up as first two weeks, you have to get a win.

There's no O-N-2. That Buffalo game under the spotlight of the New York media at night, Monday night football, I believe. Connell, that game is going to be enormous. Now, luckily, Aaron Rogers, he's not the kind of guy who gets worried, right? He's used to the spotlight in the prime time. But I cannot stress enough how excited I am for that game. It's still a month out. But Colin, you know if the Jets lose and Roger Stings throws a pick six, it's going to be, the media is just going to kill him.

That's just what's going to happen. I was watching the Raiders, Niners, and I was really paying attention to the Niners, although it was interesting to watch this young Purdue quarterback for the Raiders. It's like, is he this year's Brock, He was actually pretty interesting. I don't know. But, you know, it's funny. There's this old saying in the NFL or this belief is that when you get a new GM, you know,

he's not loyal to the previous GM's mistakes. That sometimes the GM to preserve his picks, like Les Need, Wift on Tutu Atwell. If they had a new GM tomorrow, he'd bail on Tutu Atwell, right? But, you know, less need is going to be more loyal to him. Logan Bruss looks like he can't play guard. They drafted him be a guard in the third round. Now they've moved into tackle. So, you know, there's this sense is you're more loyal to your picks to preserve your reputation.

And, you know, when I watched Trey Lance, it just doesn't work. Like, he's just overwhelmed. He's not accurate. He's not as twitchy or as letic as they thought. And I think Kyle Shanahan is ready to just completely move off him because he didn't want him anyway. Whereas John Lynch is John Lynch, but it was funny watching that game. Sam Darnold looked really good. And I thought, they're going to go with Brock Purdy because he's a more accurate thrower.

But when I watched Darnold and you know I love Darnold, I thought he, there were moments when he was with the Jets. He made some incredible plays. Do you think Sam Darnold could start and win games if Brock Purdy's elbow didn't recover? Do you think Darnold, like Baker, we kind of believe. leave, it's over. Nobody's going to, do you think Donald, as a Jets fan, do you think he has anything left in the tank if he was a starter? Yeah, what is he like, 26? I don't even know how he's in his mid-20s. He's got plenty left. I think the scary thing, just listening to you break that down, Colin, it's like, wait a minute, Purdy got hurt in January, okay? Even if it's a seven-month injury,

the season was still nine months away. You're telling me that they had to go pick up Sam Darnold. it's almost as if, hey, hey, what if we got Sam Darnold? And this tray thing doesn't work out. Oh, no, Sam was just insurance for Purdy. And then Sam picked it up and we just looked into Sam Darnel. And that's an easier way to kind of write off Trey Lance. Like, Trey Lance and his agent should have put his foot down. Why are you bringing another quarterback?

I'm ready. I'm back from injury. It's my job. You guys drafted me. Why wouldn't Trey Lance put his foot down? And I think it's because he's like a young guy. You know, I think somebody put up the stat, I don't know, on social media if you saw this, that Tray Lance, when you look at his college in NFL, has like fewer pass

attempts than Gino Smith had in like the last two years, something obscure. Like, he just hasn't played a lot of football. And Colin now opening his third on the depth chart? Yeah, I don't think loyalty exists in sports. I know you and I kind of defer on this. What's the saying you're only loyal, as loyal as your options? Yeah. I don't know that Tray Lance has many options right now.

and I think the headline that I did was Trey Lance to the Vikings. Let's just keep an eye on that as this Viking season unravels. From Minnesota. Stuff I've been reading. Yeah, stuff I've been reading on Minnesota, maybe not looking as great as we thought. Like 13 wins, okay, they'll go down to 9 or 10. Will they?

I don't know. You just start to looking like Dalvin Cook, I get to the Jets. You start looking at his numbers? You think Alex Madison can really replace those numbers from Dalvin Cook in the past and run game? I don't know. Madison's a good. I play fantasy football. He's a good handcuff guy. He's not a great starter. Like, I don't know. There's a world where the Vikings are like, oh, eight and nine. Yeah, let's move on from Kirk Cousins. Who can we put it in here on the cheap and then rebuild and fortify around him the way the Niners have really built what is kind of a blueprint for the NFL right now?

I feel like I've got most of my divisions down. And in most instances, I'm just taking the best quarterback. And I think you've talked me into taking the Saints, although they're going to be thin at running back, probably take the Saints to win that division. I'll take Carolina as a wildcard team. Is there a team to you that won't make the playoffs and it will shock people? Because we generally, you and I are both sort of more optimistic early in a season. Nobody wants to be a downer.

After watching the Broncos, I don't know if it would be a shock, but watching them struggle. in the first three series against Arizona, I'm like, man, this is not plug and play. Like, this is, this is really choppy. But that wouldn't be a surprise because I think we all understand that Chargers and the Chiefs

are really stacked rosters. Yeah. Do you have a, oh, crap, they didn't make the playoffs team? I was going to save this for the herd. It's probably too hot for the volume audience, Colin. But, you know, you look at the Chargers. And year one in Brandon's Daily,

They were in week 17 up against Raiders, National Television game. All they needed was the tie to get to overtime. Game ends in a tie, and they both teams go to the playoff, right? And Staley messes that up, calls timeout, Raiders kick the field goal, Chargers missed the playoffs. But everything's looking great. We got Justin Herbert. Year two, Herbert's injured.

Staley gets less aggressive. This is kind of an underplayed story. He started to get more cautious. Remember first year, he was a head coach, led the NFL in fourth down conversions. One of the most aggressive coaches was very good. But the media got on his case. He started to dial it back last year. Started to coach maybe a little scared.

They make the playoffs. He blows a huge lead. He enters year three. And they drafted a receiver who you seem to like, the kid Johnson from TCU. Quentin Johnson. Yeah. We like the offensive coordinator in Kellynmore.

But as you said, the division is loaded. The schedule is not easy. And the AFC is a gauntlet. If I'm picking a team to miss the playoffs, here's a crazy scenario. Chargers miss the playoffs to say, man, we ruined Justin Herbert's rookie deal. We have no

playoff wins, one playoff appearance. Staley, you're out of here? We're going to make a run at a big time coach. And you happen to talk about a coach Monday on the herd that, you know, is facing some battles with the NCAA and had dabbled in the NFL last summer, I think, last February. He interviewed with the Vikings. And he was, you know, I guess

chatting with the Chargers, the Carolina Panthers owner. Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh, obviously loves California. It's time with San Francisco. What if the Chargers miss the playoffs? Seven and ten, eight and nine. That's not going to get it. You're not getting to the playoffs and $5 and $8.

Nine and eight's probably going to miss the playoffs in the AFC. So they miss the playoffs. Chargers do. They say, you know what? Sorry, Staley. The ship has sailed. Oh, Jim Harbaugh is on the market. And Jim Harbaugh is, I can get Justin Herbert.

you're telling me that's not getting Jim Harbaugh to the NFL in a heartbeat. Now, the only hiccup here, and you know the owners of the Chargers have been kind of notorious cheap skates. Maybe one of the kids gets his dad. Hey, dad, open up the book. We got to get Jim Harbaugh in here. And Chargers miss the playoffs, but it's a blessing in disguise. They bring in Jim Harbaugh.

So there's a new movie coming out that I just watched. My producers and I watched it. They sent us a link, Grand Turismo. It is a hard story to believe is true, but it is actually true. We're a middle-class gamer, an optimistic motorsport executive, and a failed race car driver, team-up in what is one of the more inspiring, unique sport stories in one of the most elite sports in the world. The movie, August 25th is when it opens up. Get your tickets now.

It's called Grand Turismo. It is a true story. And I was told that. I watched the movie. I had to Google after. I'm like, give me a break. I never heard about this story. And it's all true, August 25th.

And we bring in the actual gamer who pulled this off, Jan Mardonboro, joining us on the volume. When you're a gamer and there was parts in the movie, and I understand it's Hollywood, so not everything in the movie is true, about your dad, you know, like all dads, is thinking to himself,

my son's playing e-sports, he's an e-gamer, I want you to get a real job, and I thought to myself, is this Hollywood? Or could you tell us, was there doubts by your family? Your mom supported you, but your dad was like, you know, I understand, like I'm a dad.

Was there conflict with your dad, Or was that a little bit of Hollywood? Well, it wasn't really, e-sports wasn't a thing back then in motorsport anyway, 12 years ago, 2011. I've had it all my life. I guess any millennial born in 90s has had the same thing with PlayStation,

all the games. I've had it in school. Coming up from school, you have to do two hours revision before that thing even gets turned on. Forever, go outside. No, I want to play PlayStation instead. It's, uh,

it's, uh, it's forever been a thing. So when I was talking to the producers and script writers back in, well, this was 2019, I mean, it was, I just told my experiences.

It's like, yeah, my dad wanted to be to go outside and have a childhood like, like he did, but he didn't quite understand that I'm also socializing online with my friends, with my microphone. And it's,

now it's kind of normal, whereas back then it's, you have different generation, not really understanding the current generation. So, no, it's not, it's not Hollywood. It's that's how it was. You know, Jan, it's interesting you say that. How old are you now? Because you sound like my 16-year-old son who says, dad, I am socializing.

I'm socializing on my computer. I'm 31. And even now, it's another level because not only, well, 12 years ago, I guess, I don't know what if Twitch was a thing back then, YouTube was barely a thing, but certainly online streaming wasn't a thing. Whereas now you could have, I don't know, like millions of people,

hundreds of thousands of people, watch you play a game and also socialize in the chat. That's something which is, again, for me, I don't do that because I mean, my thing is in real life. But when I look at it to these content streamers, and it's like,

yeah, they're talking to so many people at the same time. It's like a social event. So I had never heard of this story. And as I watched the movie, it's very compelling. I literally had to Google. Okay, is this real? So you're basically a gamer. You get invited to the GT Academy. You win it. And because of an aspirational, you know, motorsport executive and a driver who has real doubts about you. Um, did you? Did you have, you come across as very confident. But, I mean, let's be honest, this story, there's a reason Hollywood wanted to make this story.

It doesn't even sound true. Did you ever have a doubt? Gamer to getting in a car before that first race starts. Were you anxious? Were you nervous? Or did you have this sort of inner scoreboard and believe, no what, there's advantages that I have over these drivers? Never thought that. But I'm someone who's very headstrong.

and I'm somebody who I think who has a good building blocks for my father telling me for my young age, you know, do something in life which brings your purpose

and that you're passionate about and that for me is cars. So I'm a headstrong person so that is all I want to do. So when the opportunity presented itself of this is a chance of becoming a racing driver, I was all in and that.

I didn't think I could win. I didn't think I could lose. It was this weird frame of mind during the whole process of entering it at home on my PlayStation and also getting to the finals of the academy where I was like a blinked racehorse, where I didn't want to think about winning or losing me. It was just like, okay, what's next? Let's do the best we can. Learn from my mistakes in the previous instructor's comments.

And the next time in the car, don't make that mistake again. or let's improve. It was this weird mindset. I never thought that I had advantage over anybody else because I went in, I would be understanding that I'm to be a sponge. That was another thing I remember thinking like. It's like all the information that's going to be told at me

during this academy process at GT Academy is going to be good information because all the drivers, all the instructors are currently, current racing drivers, all the ex-professionals. So whatever they're telling me, is going to be correct. I have no preconceived ideas of how to race a racing.

Right. So I was just absorbing all of it. And I never thought that I had an advantage over anybody else, really. It's not, I was very much aware that I'm the first step of the ladder

because there's people that were there at the academy who'd had drifting experience, had done track days, had been carting. I was the least experienced person of everybody there. and it was the same thing

entering motorsport after the academy I'm very much aware that I'm here to all I cared about is my progression I didn't care about anything else I want to make sure that my progression is exponential for as long as possible so I never I was all I am is very headstrong

and it's like okay that's what I want to do and I'll do it I don't think of I'm no confidence in showing it egotistically it's not really my scene even now it's like I don't say what I've done it's like the people that put

I guess you know their school accomplishments MBAs and stuff in their bios I'm just not that I have receipts of what I've done in the past and the movie thing is fantastic I never thought it'd be a thing because it's so random so when it first got told to me I didn't believe them and I thought why me

I'm just racing my racing car that's what I've been doing So it's interesting, and you're a gamer and then you're a driver. Once you'd succeeded at driving, did you go back to gaming sometimes and think actually it helped you as a driver? So you transition from gamer to driver when you went back to gaming. Are there things gaming in gaming that actually are advantages that drivers probably could use? Well, the main reason why drivers and I still use Sims is because of the limited time you have on circuits. So in the off season from, I don't know, November until March, there's no real drive.

And it's called here in the UK during those months. So the next best thing is being an assimilator. So, yeah, it's just laps. It's time in the seat. Yeah, it's that. that's what it's currently used for. That's what I still use as simple. So, yeah, I've been in a race car twice.

Now, more of a stock car American version, which is not as slick as what you drove. My takeaway is, wow, it's really hot in here and you better be in shape. So in the movie, the first time you were in that car, take me to the physical I mean, did you come out of that thing and wake up the next morning and you were a wreck?

Was it physically more daunting than you thought it would be? It was an acclimative, like, sensation really, because during those academy days, day one, day two, day three, you know, kind of feel fine. But then in the later days, I was aware that my hands were starting to get quite sore, my forearms, my even, even, my neck to a little bit to a point. And then certainly when I transitioned to really quick racing cars after the academy when I'm actually racing, then it became a thing.

It became a real thing. Like there's muscles behind your ears, which you don't really work in normal day-to-day life. But when you've done two days testing in a Formula 3 car, at a track where five of the corner is out of seven a full throttle and you wake up the next morning you lift your head off the pillow

and your neck is just is in bits and you've got another day test and it's yeah it's a thing it's really GT cars they get very hot it's quite hot in there it's you have to be

lean you have to be aerobically fit I train it every day and not only because of my job, because I actually enjoy training. It's part of my lifestyle. But yeah, you know, I've recently, I never did it before because I never wore the technology,

but I had a race in May at Fuji in Japan. It was a 24-R race, and I have like this fitness tracker, this, my wrist, and I left it on during the race. And over two hours, I think I burnt 870 calories. It was an average 150 weeks of minutes. It's got a peak at around 175, I think. So it's like it's your stress for a long time.

It's mainly the heat in a GT car. The heat really makes your body work. Yeah, I was going to say a 24-hour race like Le Mans. How, I'm just a novice. How do you get? Obviously, there are probably mechanisms to keep you hydrated. But you're burning three. 800 calories every two hours.

How do you eat? I mean, are you, do you go into a race? No, you don't want to go into a race like heavy and tired. So you want to go in fairly lean. How do you eat in a 24 hour race when you're burning those kind of calories? I think for me, I've always ate at normal times. So I still stick to my during just before the race and during. I still stick to my normal plan.

I'll eat when I'm hungry. eat my three meals a day. But it's not so much when I get out of the car, you know, I need to grab food immediately. It's more when you wake up in the middle of the night and then you know you're in the car like, I don't know, 4 a.m. And then it's planning your times of eating in really unusual hours because then your body's like, I'm hungry, but it's four o'clock in the morning. This isn't normal. It's, it's an interesting experience because you're hungry at weird times. all I've felt, all I've done really is whenever I'm hung, just make sure I'm not hungry when I get in the car, then I'm fine.

So you dominate a game like Grand Turismo, right? And that gets you on a track. Are there other games, as a gamer, are there other games? Does it transition in e-sports that you're just good on almost any gaming platform you crush? Well, it's, I think now I would never put in the hours required to, be at a level where I'm the best because I don't find that enjoyable, but also whatever I do on a sim now is for my real-life performance in the car. So I never go into that detail anymore, but I can jump on other,

they all have their nuances, they're all slightly different, but I can jump on another sim, whether that be on PC or another title on PlayStation, and be quick, it's like the racing game, It's what I've been doing since I was eight, so I'm kind of all right at doing them. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, untrower. filtered 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 Clivert Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. You and I grew up, I think we spent a lot of our formative years as Pac-12 fans. And you know what's really happened with all this realignment?

Is that if you were precious or idealistic or snooty, you got kicked in the head. Stanford has tried to win at football. They've spent money. Cal never really has. They did the basics. They got better facilities. And with that, they've still put a lot of good NFL players, quarterbacks in the league. But the programs out west that said, and they're good academic schools, USC, Washington,

you know, those are real schools. Texas. The schools that have said, wow, there is one athletic program that makes a lot of money and we're going to commit to it. If you have a good football program, you had multiple suitors. Like, it's hard for me to feel bad for the PAC 12 when in a world where pillow fighting is on the air and slap fighting is a business that you as a college football conference could not get a television deal. I work at a TV network. We're dying for content. But arrogance, too precious. I mean, when you hire somebody from a tennis channel to run your conference and they consider the Sears Cup as viable as the Rose Bowl, you get what you deserve.

And so you either commit to football as an athletic department or you're lost. You just don't understand the way the entire pyramid of college sports works. The most embarrassing part of this whole deal is that I think the Big Ten and definitely the SEC understood. that football not only pays for everything, but the more success it has, everyone benefits. Yes. It's why in the SEC,

their basketball programs, now pay coaches, elite money. I was watching the USAM golf tournament. It's full of SEC kids from all over the... They're great at the college baseball tournament. And Larry Scott viewed this as some equitable endeavor. And that's not the way college sports has built.

Football pays for everything. And then everyone benefits. And what I wonder, So is how do they ever get to the point when the top 50, however many programs under the umbrella, you know, fighting to get to the 12th team playoff, all abide by the same rules, same amount of conference games, no more playing Weber State and UC Davis. Those days, how do they ever get there? Because essentially, you're going to need a commissioner or a governing body that mandates basically universal rules that Alabama, that Ohio State, right? Oklahoma State. And it feels like we're still a little bit far away from that.

Yeah, I've always felt you need a scheduling czar in college football. I mean, why did the UFC and mixed martial arts, but UFC overtake boxing? Because they had a commissioner, strong-willed, a definitive, Dana White, I'm going to lease an island. And boxing continually ripped off fans. Once a month, you get a UFC card. Even my wife enjoys going. You always get quality entertainment. money's worth. Where college football has struggled to me, John, in my life is not passion,

is not branding. It's too few great games. Everybody's avoiding an out-of-conference loss. So to me, the bigger the tournament becomes 12 to 16 teams, the more willing Texas and Alabama are this year to play each other, USC, Michigan. Now, they will play each other. But But those are the games. I mean, go to starting next week until the first Thursday of the NFL. There's about 15, 20 days there. And there's like three good college football games. So the sport's going to change.

The tournament, like college basketball, is going to become the focal point. It's not going to erode the sport. What's eroded college basketball is in the tournament. What's eroded it is the one-and-done culture. The teams aren't very good. The players aren't very good. So college football still has the three-year minimum rule. But the sport's going to shift, and it's going to shift to a, the tournament is the centerpiece of it.

More teams will be allowed in. A little bit of an arms race. But I do believe more than a commissioner, because I'm not sure if you'll ever get that. I think we need a scheduling czar. Everybody plays minimum 10 conference games, one out of conference game to help. Like Ohio State can help out Youngstown State. Washington could help out eastern Washington. Bama could help out Troy.

if there's a regional team you can help out. But I think the sports changing and pivoting. I'm here for it because I believe it will deliver more really big games. Yeah, I mean, 100%. That's the best part about the NFL, right? Week one, you get Steelers, 49ers. That's like the equivalent of Georgia, USC. Let's rock and roll, baby.

Bill's Jets. Yeah. Giants, Cowboys. You know, that's really, that one o'clock window, that red zone window, there's always four to five games in the one o'clock window are down to the final possession. Then you get the Fox window. Then you get sunny night and Monday night. Now, Thursday was, you know, it was awful.

But by and large, the NFL's quality, every window, you get great games. We may go through Labor Day window. I think LSU plays Florida State. It's like, I can live without seeing any other game. You have this huge three-day weekend. to just own the world. And it's a bunch of teams afraid to play each other. You know, one theory I have going back to the 2020 college football season that was all out of whack,

you know, from a training regiment, from a scheduling regiment, beside Trevor Lawrence, who had a long resume and was destined to be a good NFL player, the other four quarterbacks, we got two in limbo right now in Fields and Mac Jones. We'll see. I mean, by the end of the season, they could be not viable for their team anymore. and then you got Zach Wilson and Tray Lance not even close to seeing the field. I think we look back and that's an outlier for quarterback because it was built as great quarterback draft, but Zach Wilson played nobody.

And BYU typically does, right, on a normal season. But remember the Pack 12 didn't play any out of conference games. I think the Big Ten did too. They play all those teams. They didn't that season. Obviously, Tray Lance didn't even have a season, right? And Mack Jones, one thing in the scouting circles I always heard is, you know, Alabama didn't exactly tap out and go home for the summer in 2020.

They were lifting. They were ready to roll. They obviously are already talented. And they had a huge advantage that season. And you clearly see it when you get to the pros. Some guys, another theory is some of these quarterbacks, like a Brock Purdy or, you know, Mahomes that don't play on the most talented teams in college are used to figuring out ways to win. Or some of the Ohio State and Alabama guys have, they're rolling in with like Kevin Duran

and Steph Curry on their right and left shoulders. and it's just not even fair. Right. They have a stacked team. So I think you see 2020, that college season, all out of whack for the quarterbacks. And I do think you see with the quarterbacks, you don't have to go to the elite school. Sometimes you learn going to the second tier power five school. You kind of learn how to play, learn how to win.

No, this has been something. I think I wrote about this in my first book is that it's amazing that the greatest quarterback, there's a quarterback from Miami of Ohio better than any Ohio State quarterback ever, Big Ben. At one point, North Carolina State had Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, and Mike Glennon in the league, and USC had like, nobody. If you really look, I believe this, you should go to the college, and not just sports, you should go to the college that best prepares you for your first job out of college. What prepares you for the NFL? never getting touched as a Buckeye quarterback, throwing drag routes that go for 70 yards

to wide open five-star receivers with perfect protection, or playing at Purdue, or NC State or Boston College, or Miami of Ohio, or Cal, where Jared Goff got the you-know-what kicked out of him for three or four years. So if you look at where quarterbacks come from, you know, Lamar Jackson, Louisville's

basketball school. I mean, go up, go up and down. If you go up and down the league, like Josh Allen, Wyoming, like Mahomes, nonpower. It's almost universal if you go up and down. And even the guys that went to the big schools, Jalen Hertz, got kicked around, had to transfer. Joe Burrell, Joe Burrell had to transfer. So getting pushed around, roadblocks, duress, not getting your way is a huge component. What job prepares you for the NFL at quarterback?

One, throwing into small windows, running for your life, often the second best coaching staff on the field. Drew Brees, Purdue. You know, Tom Brady goes to Michigan, but was battling for snaps at Michigan. So I think that Peyton Manning for a long time was the only quarterback for long time. Number one high school, number one college, number one pick, great. I mean, he was for a long time.

Elway was that way. High school, college, you know, pro, and he delivered. But it's usually, I mean, even Justin Herbert goes to Oregon, good school. Totally doubted. You know, three-star recruit grew up right next to Oregon. They were not loaded with skill guys on offense, which historically they usually are. Yeah, he had good old linemen, but not good receivers. One thing I thought when Trey Lance was drafted by the 49ers, and I've 100% changed my thinking, and I've seen it with James Wiseman and the Warriors, is, you get this raw product on a great team and it's actually easier.

I actually think it's the opposite. And you look this year with the rookie quarterbacks, Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young, right? I'm a little different than you on Carolina. I think it could be a little bit of a rough year. The other two teams for sure, but it doesn't matter. Like if all three of them are drafting in the top five next year, it's a big picture play where Trey Lance came into a spot

where it was like, we're competing to be playing late in January, anything less is unacceptable. And the core guys on the team, they're not into losing. They're not into you figuring it out. Like, who on the Colts is really going to get super mad if he's struggling? Right. I mean, they're going through a transitional period right now.

So I think when you are a young quarterback who's raw and the expectations are super low for your team, it's actually way easier. You get to figure it out. And that doesn't mean you're going to become a good player. But, you know, it's very rare. Like, look at what Kansas City did. They gave him some breathing room.

And he's turns, that Mahomes an all-time outlier. Like, Mhomhomes is not someone to be used as an example. Even Josh Allen, they had blown the place up. They ended up making the playoffs that year, but it was a little lucky. Remember, I think there was like an Andy Dalton thing that got him in, beat the Ravens or something. They were a wild card.

But the expectations were low. And he got an easy transition into the pros that if a top team drafts you and the expectations are high, if you're not like ready and especially clearly Tray Lance wasn't, it can be overwhelming. and probably derail your career. So, you know, I was thinking about this with Trey Lance. A four-year jet scout came out and just said, like, this doesn't work. He doesn't, he looks overwhelmed.

And it just goes to show you how hard drafting a quarterback is. And I'll give you an example. So Mack Jones came in with several red flags, not athletic, had a temper, one-year starter, surrounded by great players. then lands in New England with a defensive culture. Yet he had an excellent rookie season. Trey Lance comes in, winning culture, big kid, mobile, Kyle Shanahan. It's bad.

Like, one of the reasons I bought into Trey Lance was Kyle Shanahan will figure it out. So I was like, oh, this will work. So does it show you that if Kyle can't make it work. It was just a whiff. I mean, part of me is like, like, like, I understand James Wiseman for the Warriors not winning. And it's not because Wiseman can't play. He doesn't, he's not synced up to Steph Curry's timeline. Right. Like, like I get them just saying, hey, we got to get guys who can win now. NFL's different. Like, if Trey could play, they would just figure it out. And I watched Sam Darnold with the same personnel play in Trey Lance, Sam looked like.

Sam looked excellent. And I'm like, we all talk about Lance. Purdy has not a great camp. Is it possible you live and spend time in the barrier? Is Sam Darnold potentially the starter? Well, I've heard that Kyle's had a long love affair would be strong, but he's always liked the player. And he saw what his strengths are in his offense.

And let's face it, he views the quarterback position. If you remove Trey Lance, I would say a little different than most. like what the Andy reads of the world and some of these you know coaches in the league want a little different than what Kyle Shanahan wants and some of his stuff you know he's never had in all of his successful years

you know they had success with Matt Schaubb in Houston obviously Matt Ryan Jimmy Garoppolo Sam is the best arm of any of those guys yes and I think Sam fair or not was in shitty situations that if you put let's just say a tray or guy it would have been worse I mean no one was winning in the situations he was in with Adam Gase and even in Carolina.

And I do think that Brock Purdy is not going to get treated like some top 10 quarterback. And if things are rocky and don't look like last season, he won't go to the bullpen. It was no different than last year. If Trey Lance hadn't broken his ankle and gone four, five, six games, I don't know the exact number. And been up and down, he would have gone to Jimmy Garaplo. He was not giving him 17 games because that's not how this team is built. I think there is tangible pressure on Purdy, who, as he stated, over and over, is going to be his lock starter for Pittsburgh.

But he doesn't get to just go like 0 and 3. If they lose week one, which is a very loseable game on the road, they're a favorite. So that means Tomlin's an underdog. It's just going to be a tough environment against a really good defense. I just, he will go to the bullpen. Now, I don't know if that's week two, week four, but Purdy doesn't just get the leash of most of these blue chip, highly paid,

quarterbacks. And that's, you know, part of this conversation. Have you ever seen anything like a conversation over these backup quarterbacks for an elite team? It's, it's, they're an outlier situation, right? A Super Bowl contender who does not have a 40, 50 million dollar quarterback. All the other teams, even in the NFC, DAC and Jalen, and then the top teams in the AFC, Mahomes, obviously Josh Allen and Burrow, right? I mean, these are the premium players in the league. And then you got the 49ers, it's like Purdy and Sam Darnold. So it just, but we all kind of believe in them because we saw what they could they could have beat the the eagles if purdy doesn't get hurt the way they were playing but there is like this kind of elephant in the room weirdness with their quarterback and that's just kind of the way it's been since cow's been there because ultimately tray lance didn't work out because they were hoping that he would become that guy so i think an interesting situation um um um i had a buddy steve kime used to run Arizona yeah he was at the eagles camp last several days and he texted me the other day he's like they They are really good.

And, you know, Shane Steichen is one of these guys. This was Brian Daible. So Brian Daible was being talked about. I was getting comments about him like three years. When he got the Buffalo job, I'd get guys or like, watch this guy. And then everybody figured out like when Josh Allen exploded. It's like, oh. So I thought the Chargers were going to hire Brian Daibble because he had a relationship.

Daibald did with Tom Telesco, the GM. I think they roomed in college or they knew each other somehow. And they didn't. The Spanos just actually said, hey, we want Brandon Staley because he was with the Rams. You know, you take somebody that's valuable away from the Rams. Maybe he'd already been on the West Coast, whatever. So, and you get the situations like this. Well, the Chargers also told me several years ago, Shane Steichen is really good. And Justin Herbert behind the 32nd ranked offensive line with Anthony Lynn, literally through 31 touchdown passes. Then he goes and he kind of resurrects, and that's the wrong word. He takes Jalen Hertz's talent and essentially makes him co- MVP of the league. So he leaves, much like Dable left Josh Allen. Josh Allen's still good, but the mistakes go up. There's a drama this year and you could sense they miss Dayball a little.

No knock on Ken Dorsey. I'm really interested. I think Jalen hurts like Josh Allen. he's a franchise guy, moves, throws, great leadership qualities. But, you know, you work with them and you still have contacts. I look at last year's Eagles team. They played a bunch of injured quarterbacks, backup quarterbacks, and weak quarterbacks schedule is much different this year.

And I am interested. I'm really pro indie because of Stuyken. And I remember, when Siriani called the plays, it was a bit of an show, he handed it over to Stuyken, and instantly, next week, they were good. What do you expect from the Philadelphia Eagles this year, the offense? Well, a lot of players in the history of the league have had great seasons, right? But to be a great player, it's doing it year in, year out, especially a quarterback, right? That's what separated Brady, Manning, Breeze, whoever, all the top guys every year.

So there is pressure now on Jalen. They didn't have a choice they had to pay them. Listen, one thing I've learned from in the scouting world talking about players and seeing guys that you've kind of bet against that failed, you bet on the person. And these guys, I think they didn't think three years ago he was going to be this good, but they hammered home how impressive this dude was. Yeah. How coachable he is. Like, Siriani can yell at him. He's a coach's kid.

Doesn't mind it. Sabin, Lincoln Riley, he can handle it. This is a tough mentally driven. football is his life. Teammates love him. That's why they Wally Pipped Carson went so fast. Everyone gravitated to this guy. And this is when he wasn't even that good.

And so to me, you don't bet against. Now, is he going to maintain like the Super Bowl game every single game? Of course not. But I have, I'm betting on him because I think he proved last year. He's a much better thrower. And like Kimes sexy, their team around him, elite offensive line. Him and A.J. Brown are perfectly,

this guy is kind of like the younger version of Russell Wilson. Jason Kelsey says he throws like one of the best deep balls he's ever seen. So he's a great go ball thrower. Devante Smith's a stud. They have a tight end. They always got a million running backs. You're right, though. Anytime you move the coordinator,

and if Syken, to get to him, I mean, he could be the next McVeigh, Shanahan. That's right. If you take a day ball, you take a quarterback as a coordinator, and then you take Anthony Richardson. I mean, this guy would be a legend around the league pretty quickly. Right. But, you know, I think the coordinator, Ben Johnson,

I think that's his name, the longtime Utah guy and bounce around the league. By the way, this is a good point. Stafford was at his best with Jim Bob Cooter, the coordinator. So they got a lot of guys in Siriani. There's a lot of cohesion there offensively. So the schedule is going to be harder, right? I think the NFC East is the Cowboys. Those games are going to be more difficult.

The Giants, the mismatch last year was pretty evident when the Eagles play the Giants kick their ass. I think that will get a little more competitive. Washington beat them one game last year. They play the Niners in the regular season. They play Seattle in the regular season. So it's just going to be a little bit more difficult. But I think when you get a guy that's proven that he can play in his lineage shows, Alabama, Oklahoma, right from college, blue chip guy. And he's such an elite character, football, intangible stuff.

That's who you bet on. So is he going to be an MVP every single week or year? I don't know. But is he going to be a damn good player? I would say, yeah. You know what? You made just a great point. You said in scouting, you bet on the guy.

and I think with quarterbacked especially because you asked so much of that position and that guy, but I didn't like Will Levis. I didn't like his attitude. I didn't like Baker. I didn't like Jay Cutler once I learned about it. Nothing against Baker Mayfield, but I didn't like the hutspe and the cockiness. Cam rubbed me the wrong way. James Winston, I thought, was silly.

I liked Bryce Young. I liked Andrew Luck. I liked Trevor Lawrence. I remember meeting Russell Wilson as a rookie. It's such a great point. never thought about it that way. The guys I have been hypercritical of. I mean, I had somebody tell me about Will Levis between the girlfriend on Draft Night, the gun show at the combine. They're like, this guy loves Will Levis. Bryce Young loves football. And just because you're a great guy and

love football doesn't mean, I mean, this is pro football. It's hard, right? The 49ers bet a lot on Trey Lance. Part of it, he just doesn't see it when he's playing. Right. It's a fine line. This is one of the most competitive industries, probably in all of America, to be a high-level quarterback. But I do think Jalen proved last year of just seeing the field being much better as a passing quarterback and clearly benefits. You talk to the guys with the Colts. What was a big part of betting on Anthony Richardson? They like the person. My scouting buddies were like, he's really impressing.

These guys seems like a good guy. So you kind of bet on that with a talent. No guarantee because you're taking a big flyer on the talent, but you kind of bet on the guy you feel better about it. 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 podcast. 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. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.