The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Joel Klatt on USC to B1G, Baker Trade with Mike Silver, 'Sharp or Square' Week 1 Bets

Episode Date: July 9, 2022

This is Prime Cuts! The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First, (3:00) Colin explains why Kyrie to the Lakers makes sense in a crowded LA sports market and the bottom line on the careers of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Then, (11:00) FOX Lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt discusses the major repercussions of USC & UCLA joining the Big Ten, and if Notre Dame joining is an inevitability.  Next, (29:00) longtime NFL writer - and host of the Open Mike podcast - Mike Silver reacts to  Baker Mayfield being dealt to Carolina, if there’s any chance the Niners hold onto Jimmy G as insurance for Trey Lance busting, and if the Bears are already thinking about moving off Justin Fields. Finally, (52:00) the Action Network's Chad Millman tells Colin if he's sharp or square with his early Week 1 bets, including the Eagles at Lions, Raiders at Chargers, and Packers at Vikings. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #Herd   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Fandul-Sports book app, sign up. This is Prime Cuts, Best of the Colin Coward podcast, Banner Week. What's new? Joel Clatt and I discussed the Big Ten Pack 12 shakeup and the big schools that could be moving next. Mike Silver and I react to the Baker trade and talked about the Niners' concerns with Trey Lance. They're real. Chad Millman stopped by the latest news. How's it affect the betting odds?

But first, my top takes of the week. So here's my takeaway in Baker Mayfield. Donald and Baker Mayfield. I was a Darnold fan over a Baker fan. Darnold was a bigger athlete. He was stronger. He was more athletic. And I thought he was a better guy.

I think all of those are true. The question about Darnold was his delivery, slow, methodical, not T-Boh, slow, but just inaccurate, kind of reckless. That's proven to be true. Baker Mayfield was considered a better thrower, but he was a two-time walk-on, chip on his shoulder. In those instances, he's become exactly what we thought. But he has a better delivery system. He gets rid of the ball quicker. He's got a little more zip on.

it and historically he's been a little bit more accurate, although his accuracy has dipped in the last year. You know, my takeaway is Darnold and Baker-Mayfield, regardless of who's right or what do you think, we know what they are. There is no quarterback in the last 10 years that has come into the league. And after four years, we radically change our mind. It doesn't happen. Name one. Very early, we said with Lamar Jackson, whoa! But we had issues how he threw the ball and can you play from behind when you're more runner than thrower? That's what we think today. People often use Josh Allen as an example.

Boy, he struggled in year one. Yeah, he wasn't overly accurate, but he was still 6'6 and leaping over people with the best arm arguably in the NFL. There is no way you could look at Josh Allen in year one and bail on him. He was simply too talented. He was literally too talented. He would be like a great wide receiver that had the drops. You're going to coach the drops out of him. But if you're running a 4-3, you're 6-4, you're on great routes.

You just have a drop issue. Nobody's bailing on you. Okay? Nobody was bailing on Josh Allen. It's different. Baker's small. Sam's big, but he's not strikingly big. He didn't have a great arm.

He's not wildly mobile. The bottom line with Baker and Donald, We know what they are. One's a little snarky and immature. Limitations with size. Limitations athletically, Baker. One of them's a good guy. Pretty athletic.

Decent size. But his delivery system stinks. He just gets rid of the ball slowly. And that half beat that works in the Pac-12 kills you in the NFL. So what I've found through years of doing this for a living, everybody wants to. to be right. A lot of me was right on Baker.

A lot of me was wrong on Sam Darnold. But the truth is, we know what they are. If you're clinging to the Sam Darnold's going to be a franchise quarterback and a good one, it's not going to happen. If you're clinging to Baker, he's going to prove coward wrong. You're wrong. Cleveland had excellent offensive personnel. And he was never spectacular with it. Carolina is a bit of a mess.

They had the 31st ranked offensive line. I like Christian McCaffrey, but he's never healthy. Robbie Anderson's good, but not spectacular, and we don't even think he likes Baker Mayfield. Matt Rule, who knows if he can coach at the NFL level? So in our insistence to be right, that's right on Baker, that's wrong on Darnold. But we all know the answer now on both.

neither is good enough to carry a franchise to multiple playoff wins. Baker won a playoff game, surrounded by at the time, the highest rated offensive line and the best running back duo. We know what they are. So the Kyrie Irving to the Lakers rumors and the Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warrior rumors, I don't think those deals are going to happen in the next day or two. And I'm not really sure. I bet 80-20, KD to the Warriors will not happen.

They're not going to give up the farm. And I don't think deep down Katie wants to be a warrior. But Kyrie Irving is in Los Angeles, is not leaving. It's been said until a deal is done. And this is something to think about that I know a lot of people that listen to my show, say, you know, Colin, you talk about L.A. and California teams a lot because they're all winning. The Warriors, the Dodgers, the Rams, the Lakers won a title three years ago. They're winning.

Our soccer teams are good. People are good. Now, Lincoln Riley at USC. When I worked at ESPN for a decade, you had more viable teams in the Northeast. The Giants won a Super Bowl. You know, the Yankees were the Yankees. The Red Sox were for some of that time. Excellent.

Right now, New York's going through a terrible state of their sports where their NBA teams. teams and their NFL teams are a mess. One of the things that's really happening in Los Angeles is that when the Rams moved to town, the NFL is so powerful, it is taking market share and big suite owners and advertising revenue from all the other teams. And when the Rams win the Super Bowl, it's put the fear of God in Jeannie Bus and, you know, the Dodgers group that the Rams are here. They're winning.

They're becoming the model of the NFL. And they're not going away anytime soon. And I think this is a big part of Jeannie Bus of the Lakers willing to say, yeah, Kyrie's a headache. Kyrie is selfish. It seems absurd. My father wouldn't have done this. But it makes sense right now in Los Angeles to get Westbrook out of town and get Kyrie in. You'll become a playoff team and you'll become relevant again.

Inside the walls of the Lakers, they are very aware of. the media criticism. And Jeannie is very aware that Steve Balmer and the Clippers have more money, more net worth, they're going to build a new arena and they're going to be a team that is like the Warriors

willing to pay a heavy, heavy luxury tax. The Lakers would rather not do that. The Buss family's wealth is all with the Lakers. Steve Balmer's wealth with the Clippers is not. It's not just with his pro basketball.

team. And so I think there is a sense of, if not desperation or panic, a little fear you've got to make the Lakers relevant again. They'll always sell tickets. You can give away tickets. You can paper the crowd with freebies. But right now in Los Angeles, if USC wins nine or ten games, Rams, Justin Herbert, Dodgers, Clippers, I think have to be deemed as a top five team in the league next year, Paul George and Kauai, for the first time, maybe ever in the last 30, 40 years, the Lakers are in danger of becoming the fourth topic of conversation. Because the Westbrook thing just does not work. It does not work.

Kyrie works. And you can talk yourself in as a fan as an owner as a player. You can talk yourself in to Kyrie A.D. LeBron being a championship team. I don't think they are. You can talk yourself into it. You can't if Westbrook is on this roster. Let's get to Joel Clat. So Joel Clad is the voice of college football on Fox.

And we do a lot of deep dives, although we have our TV segment every week where I try to mentor him and he doesn't want to listen. That's true. I love it. But I, this is interesting, Joel. about three months ago, Mike Bone and I were on the phone. I was in my backyard. And he was talking about the challenges

of Southern California. It's a very distracted market. And, you know, he was saying, hey, do you have any ideas? And I said, you can't play rice in L.A. When Pete Carroll was here, there was no NFL. There was no L-AFC.

The Dodgers weren't as dominant. The Clippers were a joke. I'm like, the world's changed. You can't play rice. I said, what I would do, Mike, I would call Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, and I would have one to two home and homes every year, Big Ten. Because the PAC 12 is so weak, Lincoln Riley is not going to be challenged by year two. He's just not going to be challenged on a weekly basis.

And it was funny. There were other things talked about during the call, but we were just talking. Mike's always called me and just asked questions. You know L.A. And so when the moment happened and I got the. call on USC moving to the Big Ten, my thought was, well, I don't know if he was teasing me, if he was, but I wasn't shocked by it at all. Were you?

No. Well, let me initially, yes, because I had not heard anything. And normally, and you know this. And you and I talk about this all the time. Like, when there are things going on, like you hear little ripples, right? Like little things like, oh, okay, that would be interesting. This was, I felt like very well kept by everyone involved. And so when I initially heard it, I was surprised and I was shocked.

And then three minutes later after that wears off, it's like, well, yeah, you know, like, of course this happened. This was. and I think if you really have any semblance of 30,000 foot view, this was inevitable in some way. So to me it comes down to, and the conversation I'm sure what he was talking to you about is economics and exposure. And in the PAC 12, that had degraded both of those things drastically. since the beginning of the century, really. You know, since since the liner Bush days at USC, when the Pact 10 at the time was a viable and very healthy and great conference.

And it has deteriorated to a point that it has become a punchline. And I've thrown that line out there and people think it's unfair, but it is fair because the Pact 12 is literally a hashtag now, called Pact 12 after dark. Like, it's, no one watches them play. Right. And when you look at the economics of where the SEC is about to go with their media rights deal and where the Big Ten is about to go with their media rights deal,

and what's on the horizon for the conferences like the Big 12, the PAC 12, the economics weren't even close. Those conferences were going to start to double up the others in terms of the revenue distribution per school. And you can't sit in that situation. So in some ways, USC's hands were totally forced. And I know that I'm going to talk a lot about this in terms of USC's because this was USC driven. UCLA is along for the ride.

And I know that they'll bristle at that, but they are. And that's kind of the truth. Well, you know, I've said this before. It's easy to beat up on Tom Hansen and Larry Scott. And I don't think either was a visionary as a PAC 10 or PAC 12 commissioner. But there's something I've tried to tell my friends for 20 years because I've lived in all four corners of the country. The PAC 12 is at a disadvantage.

Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver slash Boulder. A lot of these teams are in professional sports markets. That's right. SEC's not. Big 12's not. Big 10's not.

So USC and UCLA, University of Washington, Cal, Stanford, Arizona State, are competing against pro teams. It is hard to create the fervor and the interest when there's a game tomorrow with professional players, often in the same stadium or same area code or vicinity. And so it doesn't mean as much out here.

I've noticed since the NFL arrived in Los Angeles, UCLA USC, watch, read the LA Times, listen to sports talk radio. They're not on it. They're just not a topic at all. I do still believe. And I think you'll agree with this. I still believe that USC has that potential. USC captures the heart of L.A.

Maybe more so than any other team that's here, even professionally. Maybe other than the Lakers. Yeah. And maybe I'm being too college-centric. But boy, when the USC is rolling, they desperately love it when USC gets going here. It's, you know, everything about it, the sunglasses on the pan, the Coliseum, the scene. I still believe that USC can be kind of the focal point of the sports world in their market. And no other Pac-12 school can really do that.

Yeah, no, I do agree. Lincoln Riley, you know, it's funny because I got a lot of this. Oh, Lincoln Riley doesn't want this. but when Lincoln Riley took that Sunday morning call with Rick Caruso, Carol Fault, Mike Bone, I don't know every word of it, but I do know they sold him on moonshots in the Olympics and big and expansion and playing the best.

So he's got two years to load up this roster, two more transfer portal cycles, two more recruiting classes. So by the time he gets into the Big Ten, this team will be ready to play against anybody. I think at home against Ohio State, maybe not in Columbus, but they'll be able to go toe to toe with everybody else in that conference. So, you know, when I look at the Lincoln Riley situation,

and I say to myself, I don't know if he knew going forward, but he's not a guy to me. I think he left Oklahoma because a reality set in. Oklahoma is decreasing in terms of viability the state for high school recruits. Texas has oil money, Sark and Jimbo Fisher,

harder to apply pry players out. He's moving to the SEC and going to go up against SEC schools that have been recruiting those high schools for a hundred years. And I think he looked in the mirror and thought, I got to get to a state with more players because it's going to be harder and harder with the NIL

to pry away players from Texas, oil money, there's just more money in Texas than Oklahoma. So that's always been my takeaway, why he left. He just looked at the reality of his program, Texas, the SEC, and thought, I got to get to a bigger state. It could be a Florida school. It could be a Texas school. It could be a California school. If Kirby Smart was struggling, it could be the Georgia job.

But I got to get to a state that is mine where the NIL money generated by my state can compete. I think that there's only four schools in the country that. can open up their back door and be within an hour's drive, not flight drive of a recruiting base that could finish number one in the country. I think it's Miami. I think it's Georgia. I think it's probably LSU or Texas or a combination of those and then USC. Yeah.

So, you know, and maybe you throw A&M in there because of the proximity to Texas. but my point is that it is a really small number and it does not include Oklahoma. It doesn't even include Ohio State. You know, they've got to be a national recruiter. It doesn't even include Alabama. They can't sit in Alabama. They've got to go out. They've got to win battles in Texas and Louisiana and Georgia.

I mean, you know this, right? And so it's really made what Nick Saban has done even more remarkable. But USC is one of those places where you can open up the back door, you can get in your car, you can drive south on the five for an hour, you can. drive north on the five for an hour and you can have a roster that can finish this in number one class in the country. That's, I mean, that's the truth of it. I think that was a big reason why. And I think that he saw, I'm going to get crushed for this, but I don't think Oklahoma is totally tapped out, but I think he saw how perfect it had to be in order for Oklahoma to win a national

championship. And I think that USC probably has more wiggle room in that because of what I was talking about in recruiting. And that is not a knock on Oklahoma. So I want to be abundantly clear here for everybody that listening to this. I believe Oklahoma is a top tier blue chip program in college football. I think that they will win. I like preventables a lot. I think they can win at the top level. I believe they'll win SEC championships in the future. And I think that they still and can win a national championship. I do believe that it's harder there than it can be at USC. And, and I believe that even more so now after this move with U.S. you go on to the Big Ten.

I was told by somebody who I trust the Big Ten will only add Notre Dame. And I think it makes a lot of sense. I would agree with that, by the way. I'll jump in. I completely agree with that. I don't think they expand any more unless it's Notre Dame. I agree. I think it's harder and harder to be independent.

Let's touch on that because Notre Dame was independent forever, then conjoined with the ACC half the way. Why can't you be independent and viable anymore? Explain that. Oh, that's a great question. The revenue is too great from conferences? Yes, because there's only six or seven games that you're selling as an independent. You've got to find the revenue out of your road games.

Okay, when you're in a conference, so Ohio State, let's just bring up Ohio State and Notre Dame. That's the difference. Ohio State is essentially in the Big Ten selling both their home games and their away games. So they're maximizing their brand regardless of where they're playing. Notre Dame doesn't do that. So Notre Dame is maximizing their brand in their home games because those are the ones that they own. But they have to have some sort of other arrangement for a grant of rights for their road games in order to supplement the rest of the revenue that a time.

seem like Ohio State would get from their conference. Now, the tradeoff is that Ohio State then has to go and share evenly amongst the other schools in their conference. I do believe that it is getting to a point where Notre Dame is sitting there and they're thinking to themselves, we are leaving money on the table by being associated with the ACC in our loose affiliation with them in a football set. and then obviously with the other sports, versus potentially two other options.

So let's let me walk through the options. Here's what I think Notre Dame, this is what's on the table for Notre Dame. I do believe that they can stay independent, maybe not for a long time, but at least for the near term. As long as they were to leave the ACC scheduling partnership that they have, they leave all their other sports.

They basically leave the ACC, join the Big Ten in every other sport but football, and then get the loose scheduling agreement with the Big Ten. I believe that they would garner enough revenue at that point where they could stay independent. There will become a time when that just is going to be moot and they're going to have to fold themselves into the Big Ten. There is an air of inevitability that Notre Dame

will at some point be a Big Ten member. I just don't know if that's in the next three years, five years or 10 years. This baseball season turn K's into cash. Big hits into big wins with Fandall Sportsbook. Okay, right now, new customers. Step up to the plate. No sweat first bet. Up to a thousand bucks. Here it is. Sign up. Place your first bet. Fandul will give you. Listen to this. Up to a thousand bucks back in free bets. If you don't win. You get paid fast. It's safe and secure. Great promotions every day.

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Visit 1-800-Gambler.net in West Virginia. 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'll say it. 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 what 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the

Hell does George Bush got to do a little count? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

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And with that, I bring in the newest member of the volume. My friend Mike Silver, longtime NFL reporter, open mic is his new podcast on the volume already interviewed rams head coach sean mcvay cowboy star receiver cd lamb all right mike so this morning i'm hosting my show and right in the middle of it i'm talking about there's seven eight teams baker mayfield could land with and in the middle of my rant he lands in carolina my first takeaway is this they paid five million dollars for him meaning he could have been had by anybody in the league, and Carolina was the only real team interested. Is that reasonable?

Well, they were more interested, or they got interested enough to the point where they wanted to remove any possibility that he'd go elsewhere and or, you know, there's a real advantage in getting going, getting them the playbook, having them, you know, giving them a little time before training camp to start acclimating to all. all that and talking to his coaches. But before I was officially part of the volume family,

and by the way, I'm extremely elated about that. But you and I did one of these. And literally, we heard the Devante Adams trade news in real time. And I think it became kind of a joke on Twitter by reaction, because I was like, you know, like, whoa, man. So I do love when that happens. You know, one of the things I reported a few months ago is that owners were so bitter about the Deshaun Watson guaranteed contract, A, that it was a guaranteed deal, B, that it was a player with, you know, going through so off the field stuff, that knowing that the Browns were also on the hook for Baker's 18 plus guaranteed, that owners were saying, we're not

bailing you out of this. We're not going to, it's not that we don't think $5 million for Baker Mayfield is a good deal for us this season, even with leverage. It's that you guys made your bad and we're going to make you lie in it. Now, it would stand a reason that the one owner willing to buck that sensibility would be David Teper, the guy who enraged his new peers earlier by paying Matt Rule so much money when he hired him. So, I think it made sense, though, for the for the Panthers. Look, if you want him, if you think he's better than what you got, and especially if you're Matt Ruhl and you really need to win this year,

what are you waiting for? It's interesting. Bucky Brooks came on my show and he said, I think Sam Darnold's going to beat him out. He said he's more impressive physically. He has relationships in the building. Baker's going to have to learn a new offense with a new coordinator, has no relationships.

In fact, Robbie Anderson badmouthed him. And he said, I think it's going to be a quarterback battle. I don't think Baker Mayfield's been given the starting job. What's your take? Well, first of all, I think the Robbie Anderson who bashed him was R-O-B-B-Y Anderson. He's now R-O-B-B-I-E, which is in fact the better way to spell Robbie. I have a son who would agree. But so maybe we'll give Rob B, I-E, Anderson, the benefit of the doubt.

But yeah, I understand what Bucky's saying. He's so smart about, you know, the intricacies of playing the game and scouting the game. But I also, you know, I harken back to what I think it was a commander's related quote with Taylor Heineke said about him and Carson Wentz, which is they asked him, hey, do you think you can compete with Carson Wentz? He's like, dude, look at what he's making and look at what I'm making. No. Now, it's not quite that pronounced, obviously, with Darnold and Baker, you know, in similar situations. But the Panthers went out and got Baker for a reason.

It's not insurance in case Sam Darnold doesn't beat him out. They've seen Sam Darnold. They've seen Cam Newton coming back. They've seen Teddy Bridgewater. They think they need to get better. And they are absolutely intending for Baxter. Baker to be that guy. And in fairness to Baker, you know, last year, he probably wasn't right. He did have the shoulder injury. He got it out. He tried to help the team. And now it's being used to

get some. The year before, he had a pretty good year. So he's been uneven, even when healthy. And it's going to, you know, it's not any sure thing, especially as you alluded to with your conversation with Bucky, new playbook, got to do it in a compressed time. But I do think he's got to. He's got a chance here to seize this and get it rolling a little bit. Yeah, one of the, my takeaways was, you know, he's not going to have Cleveland's offensive line, but he does get another offensive coach. And if you look at some of the defensive head coaches, Belichick struggled with Brady at the end.

Pete Carroll struggled with Russ. Zimmer struggled with cousins. Flores struggled with Tua. It's not the worst landing spot. It's a pretty wonky division, Mike. Brady retires in a year. Baker, an argument can be made in a year, will be the best quarterback talent in the division. I mean, is that crazy? I mean, I might argue James on talent. You know, James has his scars, too, right? He threw all the interceptions. He has had some off the field stuff. He's coming off at ACL. But really, once Sean Peyton got a hold of him, he's looked better. And he's, he's, He's an ultra-talented guy.

Probably if you didn't know anything about, you know, their performances and you just line the two guys up to former number one overall picks, you'd go, I'll take the tall guy with that arm coming off the knee. But, you know, the thing I wonder about is Baker's Edge, right? Like he's done better when he's been the aggrieved, afflicted, you know, underdog. no one believes in me. And that is clearly going to have to, you know, he's going to have to recalibrate that. It probably is. You know, he's definitely has to have some humility now. And, you know, look, we've all, we've all had moments where that's happened to us in our careers.

And, you know, you have to deal with it. It doesn't work out the way you thought it would somewhere. And, you know, you have to kind of process that within yourself. But he kind of thought when he got to Cleveland, I'm taking over. This is my thing. And it was going on a good trajectory for a while uneven. But two years ago, when they were in the playoff game in Kansas City, it was like, whoa, they just beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs. And now they're fighting tooth and nail with the chiefs.

We're here to stay. In Baker's eyes, I'm sure, he's thinking, I tried to be a team guy and sucked it up and played hurt. And now you turn your back on me, but it's really hard for me to shed too many tears for Baker, knowing how he behaved early on in his career. And I know you and I were two of the only people even daring to say these things back then. But, you know, as someone who's pretty close to Hugh Jackson, I thought it was ridiculously disrespectful the way he acted in the wake of Hugh Jackson's firing and then hiring by the Bengals and then showing him up on the side.

sidelines and just going out of his way to try to, you know, torture a guy who had just had his career implode in a really disadvantageous situation in Cleveland. And we could relitigate that. And there are a lot of reasons who didn't do well there. Some of them are because of who. Some of them were institutional. But as I said at the time, you know, there was talk that same year that, say, John Harbaugh could get fired during the season.

And I said, imagine if John Harbaugh gotten fired and landed with a division rival was standing on the sidelines. And Lamar Jackson was just blatantly taunting him and disrespecting him during the game, after the game. I think that would have played a little differently in society for obvious reasons. Yeah. No, I mean, listen, Baker's got a maturity issue. I know when he was coming out, I met somebody, knew somebody who interviewed his dad. And he said, oh, boy, there's a lot of stuff there. a lot of there's a lot of ego and pride. And so I think Baker's been exactly, you know, I do a segment called Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. I think one of my rights was Baker Mayfield,

who I always said, this ego, this snark, it's not going to play at the professional level. It just doesn't. Jay Cutler's more talented. It didn't play. It wore people out. Jeff George, more talented, snide and snark, wore people out. It's a whole different ballgame. Well, you're always connected to the Niners. My takeaway, I think you and I probably disagree on this is my takeaway is you can't own the room as a quarterback if another guy is in the room who everybody likes. And Garapolo is really a dude's dude. He's a guy's guy. And to me, you've got to find out if Tray Lance can play.

And you can't ask him to own a room when the world's best looking coolest dudes. two cubicles away. I think the Niners have to just move off of Garoppel and get a six-round pick. I completely hear you, but this is the counterpoint, and this is the conundrum. So you've got a team that is built to win now. This is the window. George Kittle, you don't know how long he's going to do this. You know, you've got guys signed for this moment, and you were good enough to win now.

If Jaquistee Tart, you know, catches the interception, you might have won it last year. one at two years earlier. Yes, you are all in on Tray Lance, whether or not that was the person when you traded those three first rounders that you were envisioning. Could have been Mack Jones. Again, I won't relitigate that, but whatever it is, you did that for Tray Lance. So you are all in. You are built to win now. Let me add another weird element to this. You are constructed offensively to take advantage of Jimmy Garapola's unique gifts, incredible accuracy, willingness to hang in, the guts to deliver a ball in tight spaces, and the uncanny ability to do that accurately.

So Jimmy's not perfect. We can talk about what he doesn't do great. He does those things great, like elite. And you've got Debo. You've got Iyuk who's an after the catch guy. You've got Ushik on the backside. you've got Kettle. All these guys can get the ball in tight spaces and go.

So that's what Jimmy does great. And so if you've seen Trey Lance practice now for a whole year, I believe this is what you think if you're Kyle and the Niners coaches. In fact, I know you think he is really smart. We love that. He is athletically awesome. He has a great awesome. arm. We're not sure that he can take that great arm and throw that ball in those tight spaces

really accurately. And if and so that's the only reason I think deep in his heart, Kyle may want to hedge because your team is to belt now. I don't think he's going to because of what you said, which is very logical. And I don't think even if he wants to, he'll be able to because I think Jimmy will force the issue, as nice a guy as he is. And I think all of that's right. But if you're a nitre fan, it's a little scary because you were, you know, you were sitting there nicely at SoFi Stadium, watching your team with a 10-point lead of the NFC championship game against the rival and thinking, we're in the Super Bowl and Jimmy.

This is amazing. And now you're going, okay, so we're basically playing Russian roulette here. We are either going to be in awesome. shape with this young guy eventually and hopefully the window's still open or we traded three ones for a guy who's not able to do what our team was constructed to have the quarterback do and by the time we fix that everyone's going to be gone that's a scary feeling well you and i may have the same source and may not but i've i've said when i saw trey lance play aesthetically it's ugly it's not philip River's ugly, but it's not a pretty delivery.

It's really rough. Secondly, what you're saying is what I'm hearing is that he's not, his delivery is, they're kind of rebuilding it. He gets arm fatigue. It's not an easy throw. He's had, he needs days off. And they're worried about his accuracy. You and I are hearing the same things because you and I know, Annie Reid moved off Alex

Smith, who got into the playoffs, because they were at. practice. They saw Mahomes, right? By the way, Buffalo, even though Josh Allen struggled first year, was all in because they were at practice. And I want to caution fans here. What happened with Josh Allen is a, as far as I know, such an anomaly that it is a once in forever thing, that a 55% passer could be a 70% passer like that. They say you can't coach accuracy. Brian Daibald apparently can and is a head coach because of it now. But that was weird what happened with Josh Allen. For the most part, it is, you know, it's tough to get way, way more accurate.

Now, the arm fatigue is a really interesting thing. And I have heard that too. And I just would, again, like, so people don't think this is just the two of us, you know, doing our conspiracy theory. Yeah. Let's just look at some facts. You know, last year, they were going to use. the Tray Lance package, they were thrilled about it.

Yeah. They were, that was going to be a big, big weapon for them. They started out doing it and then they just stopped. So something happened to convince Kyle Shanahan, I don't gain by putting Traylants in situationally. Another thing that happened is they were three and five. And I went to the game that dropped up to three and five at home against the Cardinals. They looked flat. They looked done.

their playmakers weren't making plays, they look like a dead team. And usually when you look like a dead team and you traded three first round picks for a promising rookie, the March before, we know what happens. Jimmy, you're on the bench. Trey last, let's see. Now they hung with Jimmy. They beat the Rams. They got well.

They made the run. So maybe Kyle was a half away from doing that anyway. But the fact to me that they stopped using Tray Lance at all, and they didn't put them in when the season was crossed up, tells me they were seeing something that was concerning. Let me throw a source at you. There's a lot of attention paid to Tray Lance. But so far in that quarterback draft,

we know Trevor Lawrence had a bad first coach but has real talent. We know Mac Jones may have a low ceiling, but he's been pretty effective. The two that we think are talent, but we don't know, are Trey Lance and Justin Fields. Well, Zach Wilson, I think fits in there too. Yeah, Zach Wilson, we've seen more of. But Zach Wilson had size issues, competition issues. Like Trey and Justin are big, strong, mobile, push the ball down the field, guys. Yeah.

How about this? the current GM of the Bears did not draft Justin Fields. The current coach of the Bears had no reported fondness of Justin Fields. I have been told they're not necessarily sold on Justin Fields. They don't know. They don't know. That's a that I would do nothing to, you know, to dispute that. because it's legit, right?

I mean, it's legit that that could happen, right? They didn't pick them. Now, I presume they had the discussions with ownership before they were hired, and I presume ownership wanted to hear, hey, you drafted a winner, we're going to make them great. But we've had that before. Jay Gruden came in, it was like, I can fix RG3. Her cousins is the guy, right? So I would say this.

we don't know about any of them. I mean, Trevor Lawrence had Urban kicking his kicker in trading cap, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We're going to have to give him a mulligan there. And people think he's talented. Zach Wilson is supposed to have incredible arm talent now. Yeah, they said, oh, he's cocky. Now, by the way, only time that all the top quarterbacks were being called smart by

everyone. Usually it's like half and half. Like apparently all these guys are smart. So, Zach Wilson didn't look great. We're going to have to see. They got him a better roster this year, but jury's still out on the top two.

Trey Lance, absolutely. We just covered that. Justin Fields, absolutely. Chicago is a graveyard for quarterbacks. We're going to see. And, oh, by the way,

back Jones. Now, Mac Jones' most celebrated win of his rookie year was when he threw two passes, I think, or three, whatever. Yeah, whatever Bill did that game. And look, I know everyone says low ceiling on Mac Jones, and I think this is part of why Kyle may have talked himself out of taking him. But the real nerdy talent evaluators that I've talked to at high levels think that he has the ability to be. elite in terms of pocket movement and awareness and able to deliver the ball, ability to deliver the ball at weird angles and tough angles under duress, that that's not just good, that that could be special. So there are a lot of different ways a quarterback could be special.

It's possible that Mack Jones will become special. And everyone will go, well, Bill and them just saw it. And nobody else did except Kyle, who talked himself out. Oh, there I go again. But we really don't know. They could all be good. They could all suck. More likely than not, one or two of them will be good. One or two of them won't.

One or, you know, someone will be in the middle. But make no mistake. The clock is ticking on all of them. And, you know, some may be under more pressure than others. I would think Tray Lance would be under the most pressure because of the stake. because that team is that good. But there's a lot still that we don't know.

And I think if you and I come back in November and do this, you and I both have really strong opinions about all fun. Yeah, my guess is Trevor Lawrence has the trust of the staff, as you put it, a mulligan. But he's just, he really looks the part on some throws. I would put a question mark on Trey, on Fields, on Zach, and on Mack Jones. Yeah, yeah. And really, Trevor, and we think Trevor, we think Trevor's good, but I mean, you know, yikes. And look, you know, I don't want to rip on Trevor. He could end up being great. But like, he kind of took a step back as all that clown show was going on. I'm thinking what Peyton Manning would have done as a rookie even when he threw all those interceptions. If Peyton Manning had walked in his rookie year to that, I think he would have strangled her.

and Meyer on television. 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, Clivert 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 Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or where you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we, are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. All right, Chad Millman, chief content officer of the Action Network is stopping by for a little

summer discussion. For the record, I just got back from Turks and Caicos, which is very warm in June and early July. But I will tell you this, Milman, I'd never been to the Caribbean, spectacular, leisurely, wonderful local people. Not sure if you've ever taken your beautiful wife and kids to the Turks. I highly recommend it. What say you? I have not been to what we like to call T&C, but I have been around the area and it's phenomenal.

It makes you feel like you can see to the end of the world and you're never going to reach it. and you don't care because you're so relaxed because you're just having a drink. You're sitting by an infinity pool. You're reading a book. In your case, you're posting Instagram videos every 30 seconds responding to the news, usually shirtless with someone in the background, either looking at you funny or wondering why is this guy talking to a camera or it was one of your family that was wondering,

why is he still working when we're on vacation in Turks and Keko? but I will say vacation generally has never been more important and restorative. Yeah, no kidding, right? Jesus. All right, this is our segment called Sharpen Square.

So I thought this week, the week one lines are out. I'm going to give you three games I really, really love, not like, love. And then you can give me a couple you like. And I want you to respond to mine.

So I'm going to give you my three and you respond to it. Yep. First game I like, Detroit plus four against Philly. I think by the end of the year, Philly's better. But I thought last year, Detroit was about as competitive as a bad team could be. I like their offseason between T.J. Hawkinson, Amarron St. Brown, Penaes-Soul, D'Andre Swift, Jared Gough, more than a competent offense. Philadelphia's got some new pieces.

I think eventually they gel. But week one, you know, Chad, average teams don't think they're average in September. They know it by October. There is no way I can lay four points. I love the Lions plus four, sharper square. Look, the Lions as a dog, the Lions as a home dog, that's going to be a theme for us throughout 2022. I love this play.

The wise guys love this play. The line in a lot of places has moved in the lion's direction, meaning it's gone from four and a half down to four. The lions are a team that believes, right? And the lions are a team that also knows who they are. The lions are a team that got more talented. And the Eagles are a team that is already starting to have to defend against ideas that they are an all-star team. what did AJ Brown say last week? You were on vacation.

You might not have seen it. Then again, you responded to everything, so you probably did. Yeah. He's saying, we're not a team of all-stars yet. And look, everyone thinks Jalen Hertz. They're talking about how Jackty is, how much better he's gotten. I'm a believer on the Eagles. If you ask me, do I like the Eagles over nine and a half wins?

100%. I like the Eagles over nine and a half wins. Do I like the Eagles to cover in week one on the road at Detroit against the coach, who the jury is out? whether he's good or not. But I am a huge fan of Dan Campbell. And I do think getting this team jacked for week one as a home underdog, that is the team I want to play.

All right. Here's the second one I love. I'm going to go in order of love. I love that one. I really love this one. Raiders getting over a field goal at the Chargers. It'll be a 6535 Raiders crowd. Devante Adams to Hunter Renfro to Josh Jacobs to Darren Waller.

Josh McDaniels is a very clever offensive coordinator. Is he a great head coach? I don't know. But I thought the Raiders, and I think they had a great off season, making the playoffs. I think there's a lot of really positive energy around this team. It's going to be really a home game. And the verdict's out on, I think the Chargers have a really good roster. There is no proof that they win big games.

there is proof they're talented. But in games like this, they're not good enough to give over a field goal. I like the Raiders a lot here. Yeah, I agree. Like, look, you've got an intra-division game against two teams that a lot of people would say are relatively evenly matched. The Raiders got better on offense. The Chargers got much, much better on defense just by virtue of getting some players back,

plus some of the trades they've made to improve their pass. rush. Games like this, they shouldn't be more than a field goal. Like it should be a field goal. And when it's a field goal, you should pass. If it's minus three and a half, you should take the underdog. If it's two and a half, you should take the favorite. And that's it.

So right now, this number is sitting at four. You got to take the Raiders in this spot. Okay. Here's my favorite pick, week one. Minnesota at home getting points against Green Bay. So here's why I like it. First of all, I think the Vikings will be the most improved team in the league. Kirk Cousins has a new contract.

He's in a good mood. He also has the taller Sean McVeigh coach. The league is changing. Defensive coaches who are legends. Pete Carroll in trouble. Tomlin. Hasn't won a big playoff game in a decade. Bill Belichick feels mediocre.

Zimmer fired. Fangio fired. Flores fired. Revere again. getting heat. There is one ascending defensive coach in the league. Sean McDermott. And that's mostly because of Josh Allen. The league has changed. Offensive coaches win. That's, they have a relationship with the quarterbacks. Brady couldn't get along with Belichick at the end. Tua couldn't get along with Flores. Zimmer couldn't get along with Cousins. Pete couldn't get along with

Russell Wilson. Vic Fangio couldn't get along with any of his quarterbacks. It works. Kirk's got money. He's got security. He's got an offensive coach. We both like their weapons. They have nice players all over the offense. Green Bay could be good. But there's no proof that Aaron Rogers in week one is going to trust a rookie college receiver from an FCF school, or Alan Lazzard being his one, or Sammy Watkins being dependable on a flag route. That may develop, but Aaron has trust issues with his own family. We saw it in a playoff game with teammates for years. Minnesota early, they're bringing a new offense.

Green Bay is going to be guessing. We know what Green Bay is going to do. And Minnesota's got tape on what they do. Love the Vikings here. You are 100% correct about the Vikings in this spot. A short home dog against a very public team is always going to be the side you want to take. I do feel like you've got a little vacation brain

if you're trying to compare Mike Zimmer and Vic Fangio and how Vic Fangio did with no quarterbacks or how Mike Zimmer did with Kirk Cousins and their defensive pedigrees as assistant coaches with Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick and the history they have as Super Bowl winning coaches. Entirely different conversations. That should not be a factor in why you're betting on the Vikings against the Packers. I agree with you 100% about the Packers in this spot.

Who are their offensive weapons? Who will Aaron Rogers trust? How are they going to build a game plan about anybody and how can they get downfield? I also kind of disagree about Kirk Cousins being comfortable. I think the reason you take the Vikings here almost has nothing to do with the talent on the field. If you're professional better, you're looking at this number and you're taking it because of the percentages, because of what the precedent tells you, because you know you've got a matchup of a Vikings team that is very competitive, that lost close games last year, and has experience beating

the Packers and beating Aaron Rogers. And you're getting them as a short home dog. You know the public is going to be on the Packers. You want to be on the Vikings. Make sure to check out the Dramon Green Show. I brought Dramon Green into the volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective, understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Dramon Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the volume podcast network.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite unhumor. 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 encourage. 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. On the Look Back at a Podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me I'm Sam Jay

And I'm Alex English Each episode We pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense Of how we survived it With our friends Fellow comedians

And favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill On the 80s It was a wild year I don't think There's a more important year for black people Listen to look back at it

On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts A win A win is a win I don't care what you'll say Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford.

Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.