The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Reaction to Dolphins-Chargers, 49ers-Steelers, Packers-Bears, Raiders-Broncos

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

Colin Cowherd reacts to wild NFL Week 1. He explains why Tua Tagovailoa had the upper hand against Justin Herbert in the Miami Dolphins' win over the Los Angeles Chargers, why the Pittsburgh Steelers were totally outmatched by the San Francisco 49ers, why Justin Fields blew an opportunity in the Chicago Bears' loss to the Green Bay Packers, and why there are already big problems showing for the Denver Broncos after their loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Then John Middlekauff - host of "3 & Out" - drops by to break down all the NFL action and highlights the college quarterback whose NFL stock has risen the most through two weeks.  Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #Volume #3andOutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but the show. celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. The volume. Football is officially back. No more preseason games. The regular season is here. Listen, we all like watching football

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Game Time app. The Redeem code is Colin. That's my name, C-O-L-I-N, $20 off if you do that. No matter where you live. Get out and have some fun this weekend, baby. Download the Game Time app today. Last-minute tickets. Lowest prices guaranteed. Game time. everybody, welcome in to our Sunday night Colin Coward podcast. I'll always start this every Sunday night with about a 12-minute rant on three or four games I saw. One of our themes today is making it look easy. Rock Purdy, Tua, Jordan Love, offensive coaches. Didn't they make it look easier for their quarterbacks? There is something to be said if you're taught or trained by somebody on your side of the ball. you make it look easy. And that's what Morgan and Morgan does, America's largest injury firm. If you have an accident, go to for thepeople.com slash Colin or dial pound law. That's 529 from your cell phone. I'm going to start with a late afternoon game. I watched the Miami Dolphins edge the L.A. Chargers. And I've been on this now for several years that a quarterback

that has an offensive coach has a decided advantage. There were multiple situational moments in that game when Mike McDaniel, that offensive coach, dialed up wonderful, clever, smart plays for Tua, many coming on third and long. That really helps the quarterback. Meanwhile, Brandon Staley, defensive coach, supposed to be a brilliant defensive coach with good defensive personnel, has yet to figure it out. Remember that lead they lost in the play? playoffs, the Jacksonville? How many third and longs do they surrender to Tua? Brandon Staley, to me, appears over his head. At the end of that game, Justin Herbert twice, goes back to throw. The chargers are completely ill-prepared as Vic Fangio, which he's not

prone to do as a defensive coordinator, dials up big blitzes. He doesn't do that a lot, not his style. I thought it was a great example of a really good coaching staff, Mike McDaniel and Vic Fangio, completely working the Charger staff. Brandon Staley, to me, was not viewed as the logical choice. Brian Daibol was, who was friends with the GM, Tom Telesco. The Spanos family took the cheaper head coach available, Brandon Staley, and I think he's completely, absolutely over his skis. Go back and watch the replay of this game, multiple situational moments,

where really good coaching and Miami's side won the game. I feel bad for Justin Herbert, but so much of this league is where you land, what coach you get, what owner you get, and what franchise you get. The Chargers have so much talent. Very few whiffs in free agency or the draft. It's a stacked roster, at home, favorite.

But in the last two drives with each team, you saw obvious examples of superior Miami and inferior charger coaching. Speaking of offensive coaching, Mike Tomlin, how many years is it as the Steelers put out an embarrassing effort and get not only vanquished, get rolled at home against the Niners? So here's another example. Brock Purdy, seventh rounder, offensive coach. Didn't he look comfortable? Played with a purpose?

Played with tempo? Hasn't he just gotten better and better? Kenny Pickett appeared to regress. More frenetic. I thought at times he was lost, panicked, and hurried. With a defensive coach, the Steelers now for five years are trying to figure out their offensive line.

And they can't. Listen, I don't think Brock Purdy is a star. I don't think he's gifted. He's more than capable and clearly coachable. But I talk about this all the time. If you look at the Niners and the Steelers' rosters, there's not that big of a gap. Obviously, Christian McCaffrey is better than the Steeler running backs, but I don't see one offensive line as staggeringly better than the other,

and yet Purdy had time to throw, Purdy again played with pace and purpose. Kenny Pickett looked like a kid who needed help, and you can't tell me it's a lack of weapons for Pittsburgh. This roster for the Steelers is stacked. They look ill-prepared. And this was another example where I feel a quarterback, two for the dolphins and Brock Purdy for the 49ers, have a really, really smart offensive coach that gives them such an advantage, such an advantage.

Those just two examples with the young offensive coach, I thought really worked the defensive coach. And it becomes part of the culture. I thought Miami and San Francisco had very clever game plans, both going on the road, both San Francisco seizing opportunities early, dolphins doing the same late. San Francisco, you know, Tony Romo was undrafted, Kurt Warner was undrafted, Brock Purdy in the seventh round, Brady in the sixth. Tom Brady never had the best arm or was the best athlete. If you go in the seventh round, there's limitations, maybe it's size, maybe it's arm strength. And with Brock Purdy, it's probably both.

But this offense in Miami and this offense with the San Francisco 49ers, it's built for guys that get it away, quickly and get it away accurately. And I got to tell you something, when you watch the Niners, I was sitting there today counting players I thought had the chance to be Hall of Famers, McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Fred Warner, George Kittle. It almost feels like in the NFL. There's two ways to win in Super Bowl, superstar quarterback or later round quarterback on a rookie contract. But that Niner roster, I think Pittsburgh is good. San Francisco's is probably the best in the league. Pittsburgh's top five, but San Francisco best in the league. I want to talk about Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers. Once again, Jordan Love has an

offensive coach. Justin Fields has a defensive coach. I thought Greg Olson made a really good point during that game, is that for Justin Fields running has to be a complementary part of his game. It can't be the overwhelming part of the game. And I still don't feel that Justin Fields is entirely comfortable sitting in the pocket. He tends to stare down his first receiver. And if his first receiver is covered, he's off to the races. And again, it can be very productive. But again, Jordan Love, offensive coach, better protection, solid running game from Matt

Lufluor. I don't think Jordan Love is a special player. But I thought he looked very comfortable. He felt supported. He looked comfortable. And the theme with all these games is offensive coach against defensive coach. I got nothing against Matt Eber Fluse. But you can't say now Justin Fields, he's 5 and 21 as a starter. Lost at home is a favorite.

This was a big game for Justin Fields. I said this before the game. If Jordan Love loses, you're like, well, he's on the road. It's his first massive start, maybe a second. For Justin Fields, this is year three. he's at home. He's a favorite. They got him better weapons. And I thought the bear's offense looked very disjointed. Again, I'm looking, and Luke Getz, he's a good coordinator, but I just feel like, I feel like it's just a series of plays. There's no theme to the bears. It's just a series of plays.

And many of those are Justin Fields doing something remarkable because he's an absolutely remarkable athlete. But in the end, three straight examples, Miami over the chargers, Niners over the Steelers, Packers over the Bears. Young quarterbacks with offensive coaches that are growing, steady,

playing with pace and tempo. Then you watch on the other side. Kenny Pickett. Phrenetic. Phrenetic. Basically, let's be honest. It's like the Chargers

could not block the dolphins in those last couple of snaps. Ill prepared. Would they be with an offensive coach? offensive culture. I have my doubts. Final game, Russell Wilson and Sean Payton at home as favorites. Lose to the rival Raiders. I will say this. I know nobody loves Jimmy Garapolo, but he does have a quick release. He's accurate. He gets rid of the ball. You know, Garapolo, there's some limitations. You know, he doesn't throw the ball terrific up the sidelines. Doesn't have a deep ball. Not super

athletic. But Garoppolo, again, Josh McDaniels has a system. He worked with Brady for years. Get it out. Get it accurately placed. And Garoppolo does that. But I was really paying attention to Russell Wilson and Sean Payton. Now, Jerry Judy was out and they're a little bit banged up. But I just, this was a big game for them. You're sort of setting up the season. Denver historically is very good at home in September because of the high altitude. It's considered a big advantage out of camp. And I got to tell you, the league has so many tall, mobile, gifted, accurate quarterbacks. And maybe I'm wrong. I don't think Russell Wilson has washed, but boy, there's the it that he had two or three years ago in Seattle. And I just don't see a lot of it.

He did move more. He was more willing to move. out of the pocket, but I didn't see a ton of special. He had a nice touchdown where he rolled out and hit a receiver in the back of the end zone, Cortland Sutton, who's a really good player. But, you know, he's not as accurate and decisive as a pocket thrower as Drew Breeze. So he needs to give you juice on the perimeter, give you juice with his running. I didn't see a lot of it. And I also think that Peyton's personality is raw, authentic brusque. immediate, urgent, intense. Russell's more polished, more optimistic, not really cynical, not really negative.

You know, sometimes coaches are negative for a reason. They're trying to get to the point quickly in meetings on the sidelines, in games, in between plays. And Sean is very passionate and very urgent and very critical. And I don't know how Russell Wilson's going to take that. I don't know how this relationship's going to work. It works if they win games. but if this team is average and starts losing games, I can see Sean Payton and Russell Wilson really, really struggling.

Sean is going to tell you how he feels every minute of the day. Whereas with Russell, the criticism is, you know, sometimes he's overly optimistic, polished, not authentic. You got to win those games. You win today, you move on. You lose today. You start second-guessing decisions, second-guessing your quarterback, second-guessing play-calling. I don't think it takes NFL wisdom to figure out that. I think it's going to be a turbulent relationship.

A lot of rough patches, Russell Wilson and Sean Payton. Can you believe we've had seven months without an NFL game? That's crazy, right? Well, good thing that's over. The NFL is here. And Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the National Football League, is giving you an offer. I can't miss offer for week one.

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and deposit restrictions apply. 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 I'm 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,

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

And I feel this way about Daniel Jones. If everything's in place, he's got time to throw, the play calling works. He doesn't have to, he's not sped up against the Vikings twice, no pass rush. He's not sped up. He can work. but the Cowboys D-line just engulfed and overwhelmed the Giants O-line after about that first drive. You could see the Giants in the first drive running right at the Cowboys to take away their edge. And then eventually they fall behind.

You have to throw. I thought the Giants O'Line, though it's young, could sustain some sort of pocket shield for Daniel Jones. The Giants were completely overwhelmed up front. and Daniel Jones is just not the kind of player that can overcome that. He just can't. It's funny. You know, you have these strong takes for six, eight months of what you think's going to happen. And then week one, you know, I thought the Giants might have a similar record to the last year, nine or ten wins, but be much closer to the Eagles and the Cowboys.

And tonight, at home, the gap looked wider. Now, one thought I had is that game just separated by the snap was the Cowboys, and we'll get into the Niners a little bit, have a similarity in the sense they have a lot of high-end players on defense. Dan Quinn is like a three or four million dollar a year defensive coordinator currently. And they have all their guys mainly are in their prime, right? And they dominate at the defensive line and they have a ton of good DBs, where if you are a little off, they can really expose you. I mean, my take coming into the season, Colin, I don't know who, did you pick the Eagles for the East?

I picked the Cowboys, just trying to mix it up a little bit. Yeah. You know, I think it might just come down to a field goal here or a fumble here. here between those two teams. I think the Cowboys, now it's hard to judge Dack. He didn't have to do anything. Their defense has a chance to be the best in the league. And anytime that's the case, I don't care what year if it's the 70s or 2023, you've got a chance to win a lot of games. Yeah, they didn't ask much of Dak tonight, and that's when he's at his best. I do want to pivot. I would be, you know, whenever we talk, I like to talk about the Niners because you're

so connected to them. And that, you know, this is the difference. Brock, Kurti has an offensive coach, a brilliant offensive coach. And every time I watch him, he's just a little better. Kenny Pickett, behind an O-line under Mike Tomlin, that for five years can't sustain the run game. Kenny Pickett, I thought, looked frenetic and panicky. I thought it was the difference in two young quarterbacks. I don't love either's talent.

One has the ecosystem, the offensive, I got to be honest on Brock Purdy. I don't think he's gifted. But John, he delivers the ball. I mean, I think we, do I have to just come to terms with this is going to be a, this is going to be an NFL starter for a while? Yeah, I mean, I think anytime that a guy gets drafted because of, you know, late, because of limited physical skills, if he's going to have success, it's going to be a lot of intangible stuff, right? His intelligence with football, his drive and desire. And then instincts. right? It's hard to really quantify. You're not going to see that him on a bench press or at a combine. But when you watch him, you kind of see it. And I think historically we've seen that in guys, you know, Tony Romo, just guys that just have a natural feel for playing football. Now, it doesn't mean they're ever going to be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. But the kid has something special. And I also was thinking today watching Anthony Richardson, why you take a swing? Because

you've been talking about this now for a while. The hit rate on quarterbacks is hard. It's not even close to 50-50. So the chance that you're going to, when you draft the Kenny Pickett's, I know Max's numbers look better. I'm still not a huge believer. For them to hit their ceiling, which is actually lower than most of the high-end guys, probably middle tier floor, everything has to go right. And I think you saw with Kenny Pickett, the Niners, like the Cowboys, are an elite defense. So they're going to get after your ass. But he, to be good, accuracy, timing, rhythm, under control. If he plays frenetic, he's not Josh Allen.

He's going to look atrocious. I mean, what did he look like today? A bottom five quarterback beside like one drive? Because his physical skills are not there. A lot like Mac. When Mac plays outside of it, you're like, what is going on? That's where Purdy can kind of playmake a little bit, and he has it. Right.

But because of the infrastructure that they have, the offensive play caller that they have in Kyle, and let's face it, their offensive weapons. You could argue the top four-niners, McCaffrey, Kittle, and the two receivers, IUC and Debo, are as good of a four as any in the league, and probably the best, top to bottom, those four. I want to touch on this. We'll get to other stuff, but I kind of led my Sunday rant with this. Years and years ago, when I worked at another company, and I just had left it, one of the people at that company, ESB, had called me about a certain host and said, hey, what do you think?

We think he's really smart. And I said, well, I said, I don't know how smart Charles Barkley is. I'm sure he's pretty smart, but he's good on TV. I said, I don't know how smart Terry Bradshaw is, but he's good on TV. You run a TV network. Like, make sure that's the lead. Is this person good on TV? The person got a show.

It didn't work very well, blah, blah, blah. Brandon's Daly's smart. I always hear how smart he is. He always wins the press conference. I don't think I've seen a defense in three years, give up more third and longs. And it's not like they have atrocious defensive personnel. They've got a bosa. They're active.

Everybody was healthy today. I thought you could see such a gap between McDaniel's clever offensive coaching, especially when they got into tough third and longs with Tua, who's not mobile. Justin Herbert's a big, strong physical player. But as I watch that game, Vic Fangio dials up a couple of late blitzes, which he's not prone to do. Chargers are not even equipped to block it. And I look at Brandon Staley and I think, I'm sure he's a smart guy. I don't see the coaching.

I always worry, John, when your side of the ball, you can't master in the first year. Dayball fixed Daniel Jones to some degree, right? But the defense, you hire a coordinator. What are the people inside the league saying on Brandon Staley? You know, watching Tyreek Hill today, who's not just one of the best players in the NFL, he's one of the truly great players of all time. If Steph Curry's going for 60 on you, by the time he gets to 40, you throw a couple guys at him, right? Have the safety cheat.

Do not put him in one-on-one situations. Honestly, today was pretty embarrassing in that situation. If he's going to beat you short and run around guys, whatever, but to continually beat you deep, when he is truly, I'd say him and Randy Moss are the two greatest deep receivers I've ever seen, uncoverable, unstoppable, and if you don't put another guy over there, you have no chance. And, you know, it's funny you bring up the intelligence. I remember when I was scouting, I was hammering a guy for low GPA, but the football coaches all said that he was actually a football genius.

And it goes back to like Jason Kidd. It took him like five times to get the minimum amount of SAT scores to get in the Cal. He's like the smartest basketball player ever. They're not playing school, right? they're playing football, just like coaches. Andy Reid would tell you he's not a Harvard grad, but his football intellect is really, really high. And I think, I've always thought Brandon Staley talked like a guy who watch YouTube's of coaches the way they were supposed to speak. And listen, no one disputes like his ability on a whiteboard to tell you what you should do. But eventually

in these situations, you have to call, and he's the defensive play caller, that today was, Tyreeks going to get his. But the relentless, nature of that over and over and over. If Jalen Waddle or some of these other random guys on the team are going to beat us, we'll tip our hat. But we're not going to let Steph Curry go for 70 points here once he gets to 48. And that's what it felt like. And listen, I'll defend Justin Herbert.

He can have his moments, but I think Justin Herbert's a stud. I think he's a better player than Tua. But I, and I heard you talking about this, you know, on the open about, you know, Tua and the play caller. I mean, he just has a huge advantage, right? That's what made the 49ers kind of unique. A lot of teams, if they would have lost the equivalent of Mike McDaniel, who played a big role in their scheme, influenced the offense,

worked with help Debo a couple years ago become kind of that running back, they would have been screwed. But Kyle's the play caller, right? So Mike goes on and they both kind of can thrive, where you get Brandon Staley, it's like, what are you doing on defense? It just, we've watched it now, two and a half, two years plus this opener. it doesn't feel like anything's changed because it can't be disputed the talent,

the players they have, their ability, I mean, they should walk to 12 wins. Today I go into a game. I mean, I do a Blazing 5. It went over 5. So I've said this. Last year,

I had a winning week, opening week, opening week. I couldn't recall ever having a winning week opening week. I tend to take underdogs. And today, some teams like Baltimore, of course, they were better. They flush them out. Tampa.

Dallas is more talent. Yeah, Tampa. I mean, there's just a lot of weird stuff. But I got to be honest, to watch the Rams, not just beat Seattle, suffocate their offense and almost get 400 yards. Seattle's one of the toughest places to play. The defense is Aaron Donald and I mean just a bunch of 21-year-olds. Like they drafted 14 guys. They all made the team.

Like, they just need players. That wasn't second half. That wasn't close. I mean, three and out, three and out, three and out. Yeah. Again, offensive coach, talented quarterback, Rams veterans outside of Cup are healthier. Is this the Rams or is it just sort of a one-off that, you know, they're not terribly deep. They'll get banged up. But I watched the second half that game, I'm like, okay, this isn't competitive. This is not a competitive football game. It was almost, Niners beating Pittsburgh the way they did was surprising.

The Rams hammering Seattle to me was one of the shocks of the day. How was it for you? Turns out Stafford's been studying that scrapbook of all the guy's names, huh? Because here's the reality. If he is healthy, he can go to toe to toe to with anyone in the league on a given game. I don't care who he's playing with because he's used to playing with inferior teams for, what, a decade plus in Detroit. I know they had some years where they were talented, but he played with a lot of bad teams. Every time I looked up, Stafford was clearly awesome today.

I mean, he was throwing seeds all over the field. the number one thing I thought about Seattle coming into this season and everyone just chalked them up because he has a great story he's easy to root for and we're all humans when you see a guy kind of go through the mud and then come out and the perspective that he has who's not rooting for Gino Smith when you hear him talk but in the history of the league most guys they might have a year like that they usually don't go on

to resurrect what Rich Gannon did in Oakland is like an all-time outlier situation right so and most people and I'm guilty of this too I just chalked Seattle I got there'll be 10 10 wins. Their roster's pretty good. If Gino's just solid. Well, what if he's not solid? What if he's bad? He's 3 and 7 in his last 10 games. And a lot of those games, several against the Niners, he has not looked good.

He looks overwhelmed. He's not a great athlete, so he's not going to make plays out of nothing. And if they're not blocking for him, as they did today, he's in major trouble. I mean, he was atrocious. He was really bad. Stafford is, listen, as you said a long time ago, they tried to trade the pay cuts. He makes a lot of money. But he does make a lot of money for a reason.

Yeah. You know, when they gave him the contract, no one thought it was that crazy. His talent, when he's on and he's healthy, when Matt Safford is healthy and playing well, he's a high-end pro-bow level guy. I do think it's a little bit of a red flag, though. What if Gino comes back to Earth? And what if he's the 23rd quarterback in the NFL this year, not the 14th? Yes, and the Seahawks, one of their tackles got hurt.

So it's like, uh-oh, uh-oh. Now it's Gino without the pressure with pressure and not the protection he got last year. So it's like, yeah, I mean, I think you said it best to start. We all have these storylines. We're all filling time during the baseball season. And then week one, and you're like, oh, you know, Sean McVeigh is a really good coach and they actually have some pretty good offensive personnel. I do think you've got to be careful. And I'm guilty of this, just like we all are overreacting to week one, right?

Everyone will write off the Giants and you'll look up and they'll be four and two. The Steelers next week, playing the Browns. everyone's going to take the Browns, I'm sure, because of what happened the day in both games. And it usually kind of plays itself out. Same thing with the Rams, right? Is he going to look like that every game? They play the 49ers this upcoming week. Is Matt Stafford going to look like that against that defense?

Probably not. Roku, I don't even know who this guy is. Every time I looked up, 17's catching a ball over the middle making plays. Cooper Cups on IR. Eventually some of this stuff catches up to you unless they hit on some of these players and actually, we know they have a high-end coach. Maybe they're scrappier. And if Matt Stafford can play 17 games as a healthy player, maybe they're closer to an eight-win team than a four-win team.

Because part of my thing was like, you know, his elbow will creep up, he'll get banged up because they won't be able to block. Today, it looked pretty perfect when you looked up. Now, historically, right, the last three or four years, Seattle hasn't exactly had Nick Bosen, T.J. Watt running after you. So we'll see how it looks this week with the 49ers, seven, eight guys that they're going to be chasing them all game. So, obviously, we're all. all judged by certain things. In my business, it really is ratings and revenue. If you don't get them, you're off radio, right? For pass rushers, I need sacks and quarterback hits. That's where you get the big money. For coaches, it's all about wins. Nothing else matters. Personality is irrelevant.

Quarterbacks, it's mostly about winning. But if you do have talent, people will stick with you longer and see if they can turn it around. But Justin Fields is now 5 and 21. dragged as a home favorite, Jordan Love, I thought, was more composed. And as I watched Justin Fields today, and Greg Olson said this, like, it's supposed to be running to complimentary piece to a quarterback, even Lamar.

You've got to sit in the pocket. And I still don't see a really truly comfortable, consistent look around the field, go to a second, third read quarterback. He is incredibly dynamic. I almost feel like it's a curse. He is so dynamic athletically that it's just he can get yards every time he runs. But I mean, where are you now in Justin Fields?

And again, it's not like Jordan Love tore everybody up, but Jordan's got a better old line. Jordan had a better run game. But I feel like it's the curse of being gifted. Cam Newton had some of this where it's like, I can run and get yards. Josh Allen, by the way, until Daibol got that. I can run and get yards. where are you now on Justin Fields because he didn't look you know that was an ugly loss at home I had the volume on that game let me just say I think Greg Olson is the best young former player

on TV right now I mean he's he's really good he really is uh he's he's a stud listen I going back a couple years I lean with guys like Justin Fields coming out in a draft right the size the arm strength he did it at a high level in the playoff game obviously the athleticism the the blue chip pedigree but let's face it a lot of coaches in the NFL. And listen, they don't always agree with with us to talk about it, with scouts. Sometimes they can, you know, see, don't see eye-dye. But with quarterbacks, they view a lot of the intangible stuff, the processing, how they see it. And that was a huge knock on them. For example, Kyle Shanahan wanted nothing to do with him. It was between Mack and Trey Lance because he didn't think he could process. So when you watch today, he looks exactly to me like he did in the middle of last year. This is the same exact player. It's not there. He's just kind of run around, right? Makes a couple plays in the flat. Now, going into this game, I love the Packers, and I had no clue what Jordan Love was going to look like, and I assumed Justin Fields wasn't going to be great, just because I think their team is a lot better than the Bears. Ultimately, the Bears are not very good. You know, they're, there are lines terrible, their defense.

The Packers, these are all businesses. The Packers are a well-run business. The Bears aren't. No, exactly. But I think I said this to you last time we talked. I do think the Bears are going to be in a good position if this doesn't work out, because they won't be good, so they're going to have high pick, and they have Caroline. who's going to have a very long year. So if sometimes you're in a position where it's like, oh, we're going to end up with a six pick and we had this guy that we traded up for, that's not going to be the situation. It's going to be an easy pivot.

But today was not a good day for him. Just in terms of the I test, obviously statistically it wasn't great. As an athlete, he is remarkable. I mean, remarkable. He is Michael Vick, Lamar, but he's got a little more power. He's got like Jalen Hertz power to him. He's a special athlete. But to be good at that position, especially what they're kind of looking for.

And think where Ryan Poles come from. He was around Patrick Mahomes for years. He didn't draft the guy. So the clock really was on all offseason when they added DJ Moore. I think he's going to be in major trouble as the season progresses because I don't think their team's that good. And honestly, he just has some flaws that maybe a lot of the coaching staff around the league that he evaluated him would say he's always had. Now, what did you make of Jordan Love's performance? Again, better protection, nice run game, mostly hit the throws that were available.

I thought he was, I would just say, steady, and I thought he had a certain pace to him that was comfortable. That was my, you're a former scout. Yeah, I mean, he missed a big deep ball. I think they called a PI, but he overthrew him by a ton. Obviously, the play LaFleur schemed up on the throwback that I think was a touchdown. Yeah. He definitely has some athleticism. And clearly, he's not terrible. I think it's hard to judge.

I think I'm going to need about three or four more games to feel like, okay, they got something there. By no means am I putting the stamp of approval on it. But today was definitely a positive. I think he inherits, and this was always talked about with Trey Lance Forever with the 49ers and why it's easy for Brock Purdy now. The team is pretty good, right? Watson, who had eight or nine touchdowns last year, was on the sideline and streetclose.

He'll be back. Now, we'll see what happens. Aaron Jones had a hamstring or whatever. He's excellent. They have a good offensive line. they have a ton of highly drafted defensive players. The beef with Aaron Rogers, like, wait, you do understand you got it pretty good here. You got a lot of good players around you.

You're not playing for the Houston Texans here. And I think Jordan Love got pretty lucky in the sense that that's the team that drafted them and the way this all played out. Now, it's going to get harder, right? When you start just playing the Lions are a much better team, right? And then you have to look at their schedule. But the Bears, decent chance they're one of the worst teams they will play all season, even though it was a road game.

Yeah. All right. Finally, Jets, Bills. I, you know, I talk to somebody, Chad Millman's a real sharp better, and he said, you know, and who else that I talked to? It was Eric Mangini said this, is that Aaron Rogers on a Monday night in New York, he's going to be dialed in. And when Aaron's dialed in, now we've seen times when he's not dialed in for the off season. He can, you know, we've seen what he's not completely committed. He's not as good. And he has aged. But I just have. have this feeling he's really been really laser focused. My guess is we have ourselves a really fun game tomorrow night. Is there any side you like any? What do you expect to see? I've come around on the Jets. Now, we've got to see how Bexton, if he can just stay on the field and if he can just be a functional right tackle, because the 49ers have a bad right tackle. You can function with a questionable right tackle, right? Most are not Lane Johnson. I think their formula, just big picture, is going to be pretty simple.

Elite defense have a dominant pass rush, which they have a ton of them, sauce takes away half the field, and then offensively lead the league in rushing, or be a top two or three team. And then let Aaron have a little magic in there, make some big plays, but it's not going to be the McCarthy

or even the MVP version of Aaron where they just put it all on his back. And it'd be much more of a team effort, mainly starting on defense, where it's like, you're not going to score many points on us. And I think that pass rush, they've drafted several guys the last couple years high,

Obviously, Quinn and Williams, that was a home run from several years ago. It could be overwhelming. And just the random guys they have coming. It's going to be a lot like some of these 49er teams over the years. And then you just got to hammer the run game. And we'll see. I mean, there's going to be a microscope on Nate Hackett, right? I mean, he's going to be talked about a lot.

Every play that he calls him and Aaron, does Aaron override him? Because Aaron, you know, likes being in the shotgun with four or five wide. That's where he's most comfortable. And historically, he's had a lot of success. But I think for this team with the way they're built with their questions and offensive line, get him under center like LaFleur did right when he got there and hammer the run and can the one question with Buffalo right which is weird because they're this cold weather blue collar city it hasn't really been a tough team they've really been more of like a run and gun score a lot of points squad right right and that hasn't translated for them you know in the playoff so it doesn't get much better right 9-11 it's going to be a pretty powerful night I think Aaron Rogers met life the whole thing it's going to be cool all right we week one as of tomorrow night will be in the books. John and I will do this every Sunday night. We'll chop it up for about 30 minutes on Sunday nights. I'll do my 15 minute opening rant.

We'll put that out early on YouTube under the volume. And then John and I'll come in and usually we'll let the Sunday night game play to completion. But the Giants Cowboys was so awful at the end of the third. We decided to saddle. Colin, we got to do 30 seconds, though, on Dion's who somehow after week one feels like he impressed me more in week two. He is, Chador is beyond, he's unreal. He really is a pretty special. He layered a couple throws in that game. And I tweeted this out.

One of the things that knocks out quarterbacks from college to the pro, it's not big arm, even every guy misses some throws. It's that layer throw, the intermediate throw over a defender, which takes a lot of touch. we know he has all the physical attributes to throw bombs and throw lasers. He can layer it. Caleb can layer all the great prospects. Trevor Lawrence,

he's got that. I thought we too was a pretty wow game for Shador Sanders against a much better defense in Nebraska. And Nebraska was getting a great pass rush early. Like just, you know, again, it was Cowboys Giants, like overwhelming, you know, Colorado's O line. If he comes out, I would say it's. Caleb Chador Sanders and Drake May. I agree. And that's about as strong as a top three.

And listen, the next three are probably Pennix, Riley Leonard, the kid out of Duke, maybe Bo Nex. You know, it's funny, Bo Nex at Auburn didn't do a thing for me. And then he goes to Oregon, and it looks like he's his arms stronger. He moves a little better. Now I'm like, okay, you got to, you can't judge a kid on a freshman year at college. NFL community is much higher on him at Oregon. And I think he's matured as a human.

And I think people are much more bullish on the player since he's better. How about, I'll be honest, Quinn Ewers could not hit a deep throw his entire career. Holy shit. He against Alabama, I thought, like, I had to just say, okay, it's a new kid. Like last year, he couldn't, even early in that game, he missed on two deep throws. That's been the knock on him. He can't hit the deep throw. He hit four against Alabama.

I thought Quinn Ewers took his stock from falling to rising. You're more dialed in to the Rivals.com and maybe even the transfer portal, but you don't need to know rivals to just watch that game and go Texas has as much, if not more talent. Except for the quarterback than Alabama. Hey, let's be honest about this, is that Bill O'Brien, Nick has run through offensive coordinators and he kept hitting. He just kept Kiffin, Sark, and Bill O'Brien. But Bill's not a, Bill's not probably the great recruiter. Bill was there to clean it up and get back to the pros. So he may not even have been an active recruiter, right?

No chance. I feel like Alabama, I feel like they miss Sark's creativity. Like they just, there wasn't a lot. I mean, they literally had a 1988 passing game. I think they're in trouble. I just, I don't think you can, I don't think you can win at the highest level. in 2023 and be just an athlete that can't throw a quarterback or bad at quarterback. I don't care what your roster is. I watched Clemson and Duke. How many players does Duke have that Clemson recruits?

And Clemson took the woodshed. Five max. But one team had a great quarterback and it's a difference. I had an NBA guy text me yesterday if NIL leveled the playing field in college. And I said a little bit, but I think it's the combination of the ability to transfer to the NIL, which I think has directly hurt and just lessen the power of Ohio State, Alabama, because now even the other five or six teams that can easily be on their level that have more access to the money, USC, Texas, Oregon, I don't really know what's going on in Miami. They've always been up in it, but they just kick Texas A&M's ass.

I just think they get a guy in the Port Florida State cutting big checks and gets you to play. and I can promise you the NFL, where those guys might not have left the program before, especially to sit out. So it's college football's fun right now. There are a lot of teams in the mix. That's really fun. All right, buddy, John Middlecough, three and out is the podcast, former NFL Scout. Good seeing you.

See you, Colin. Have a good night. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests. from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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