The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - 49ers, Packers, Steelers

Episode Date: August 26, 2022

Colin lays out what the realistic expectations should be for Niners QB Trey Lance Packers backup QB Jordan Love seems to be a bust despite what HC Matt Lafleur says The Steelers should start QB Kenny Pickett   Guest: Peter KingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It is a Friday. Lots going on. It's the Hurd. In L.A., we're live. Wherever you may be listening. However, you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Jason McIntyre is joining me.

Peter King this hour as well. We are loaded. Last preseason weekend. I guess Brady's going to play a little bit. Took that 11-day vacation or whatever it was. So, I don't know. You know, you hear this all the time. Don't make too much a preseason.

But then there's certain players you're like, well, I want to make something of it because he's a rookie. He's a young guy. So I'm not quite sure what the truth serum is with the preseason. I'm done hearing about how great Jordan Love is despite seeing that he's not great. But other than that, Jay Mack, how are things? Yeah, things are excellent. I'm looking forward to the preseason weekend because fantasy football drafts begin in earnest next week. I've got four of them.

Yes, I know that too many. Two are for my son, two for me. You got to watch a preseason. This week is a big one. All right. So let's start with this. I like this show. It's on the Smithsonian Channel. I watched it some yesterday or the day before. It was called Air Disasters. It's pretty dark, pretty macabre. What you notice is when there's plane crashes, it's always the pilot's fault. It's very rarely, very, very infrequent. We don't have many, first of all.

But it's usually the pilot's fault. But I still trust pilots when I get on planes. I overwhelmingly think they're qualified, capable, and they want to land safely. to every year you'll see a headline in the hospital you know hospital amputates wrong leg but i overwhelmingly think doctors in the last few years i've had to go to the hospital a couple times i think they're fantastic i think our medical profession is head and shoulders above anything else out there um but if the media makes a mistake fake news fake news it's a broad brush the media doesn't know what they're talking about i've been in it 30 years overwhelmingly i've been trust the people in the media to call it right. Some people have political agendas. That's obvious.

That goes without saying. But 95% of the media is really good. People make mistakes. Like pilots make mistakes. Like doctors make mistakes. You know, it's life, right? So San Francisco is a really interesting team. I have called them the most interesting NFL team. I think their roster, along with Buffalo, is the best in the NFL. I think their roster stacked. And I think they hit a couple of home runs in this draft to add to their roster. I think their coach is brilliant. I think Kyle Shanahan, even among other offensive coaches who are smart, like Matt Lefleur and Sean McVeigh, I think he's next level in terms of them schematics. I think he's brilliant. I think he's Belichick on offense. He's brilliant. His dad was brilliant. And so all these reports out of San Francisco,

because we don't get to watch practice, right? They close all the practice. All these reports of San Francisco with Trey Lance, he's the catalyst. This is a Super Bowl roster and a Super Bowl coach. He's the catalyst. Or that he's raw. He's inconsistent. Can he do it? He hadn't played much. And last night I watched him again.

And my takeaway is the media is 100% right. Seven for 11. Three drives. No points against backups for the Houston Texans. And he's exactly what all those media reports were. Or what my sources in the building told me. He's super talented. He's athletic.

He's got a big arm. He's willing to be coached. He's getting. better, but it's raw. He looks nervous. He misses layups. It ain't pretty. But he's a young quarterback. Joe Burroughs first year. Wouldn't know it's pretty. It was a lot of ugly. But he is going to be the difference between a Super Bowl, because this roster is a Super Bowl roster. This coach is a Super Bowl coach. And there's a lot of young quarterbacks that could struggle this year. Back Jones, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields. But in those cases, I have no problem

laying the blame on the coach Robert Sala, Belichick in that silly Matt Patricia move, or, you know, Justin Fields just doesn't have the roster and doesn't have the weapons. But you can't with this one. This is the one where there's no excuses. You put a top quarterback on this team. They're winning the Super Bowl. I mean, I think this roster is better than the Rams.

And we know what the Rams roster did last year. So this 49er situation, this is the perfect situation for you. young quarterback. Not just Belichick as a coach, but an offensive coach in an offensive league with a unbelievable Hall of Fame first ballot left tackle, first ballot hall of fame tight end, Debo Samuel, Brandon I, you can year two is popping. And I think they went out and found another good receiver in Danny Gray from SMU. This is really good. But we love, you know, we know there's plane crashes. I still trust my pilots. We know hospitals screw up. I still trust my doctors. I know it's easy to say fake news. Everything's fake. But the bottom line is,

I trust those reporters in San Francisco. Many have been at newspapers for 25 years. And these reports, they're accurate. You know, they get to see more than I do, but they don't get to see everything. But they see enough. And they tell me, it's a little raw. Last night, backups, three series, no points. It's a little raw. I do, however, think it's going to speed up. He's coachable. Smart. kid, learn quickly, make the playoffs, but fake news, outdated terms. Come on, stop. Trey Lance after the game, by the way, on his final preseason tune-up. Some ups and downs for sure. It never feels good to lose. But learn from it, turn the page. Not going to make a bigger deal out of it than we need to for sure. But, like I said, man,

never feels good to lose some ugly stuff out there for sure. Man, definitely wasn't our best night. Like I said, man, we're not going to make a big deal. Too big of a deal out of it. Watch the tape tomorrow, learn from it, get better. Yep, exactly the thing you should say. So there are three things you don't need to sell me on. And people are trying to sell you on them all the time. Movies, comedians, and young quarterbacks.

You got it or you don't. You don't have to convince me of a good movie. You watch it, you see it. You can tell you've never seen a great movie with a bad first 10 minutes. and you've never seen a great movie with a bad last 10 minutes. You know 15 minutes into a movie. This is a good movie. This is a good movie.

And comedians. You know, Bill Burr's a funny guy. Dave Chappelle's a funny guy. I think Bill Maher's a funny guy. Don't convince me they're not funny because they politically line up against you on something. Funny's funny. John Stewart to me is a funny guy. You're not going to convince me somebody is funny that isn't,

Or those guys aren't funny. Same with quarterbacks. This thing in Green Bay now just cracks me up. So it's over for Jordan Love in the preseason. These are the numbers in preseason. Three touchdowns, four picks, 55% completion rate and a 64 passer rating. Okay.

Matt Lafleur once again. You know, I like what I saw. I really like what I saw. Kenny Pickett. This is his first preseason. He just walked into the building, right? Kenny Pickett, year one, and then Jordan Love, and by the way, Kenny Pickett's got a bad O' line, a bad O' line, and a defensive coach. Kenny Pickett's numbers, 86% completion percentage, no interceptions, 138 passer rating.

If there was a movie about Jordan Love, it would be titled, that interception was not his fault. Can you stop selling me on it? it's funny with every other young quarterback in the preseason this is all you ever hear well don't take too much of the preseason Ryan leaf was great in preseason remember don't take too much with preseason you're facing vanilla schemes you can't get too hyped up over somebody like Kenny picket in the preseason with Jordan love you know what I've been hearing for two years we saw a lot of good things why you need I know he only completed half his throw But we've ever seen a lot of good things here.

Enough selling me on it. In college, two of his three years, he struggled with accuracy. My NFL scouts, when I talk to him, my sources said, we don't know if he's accurate enough in a consistent basis. But, you know, we crush Mike McCarthy of the Cowboys because we saw him butcher clock management multiple times last year. We saw it. I watched Jordan Love against Kansas City, 55% completion percentage.

I watched him this preseason. 55% completion percentage. I saw his college numbers. A lot of low completion percentage. Jordan Love is not an accurate thrower of the football. Maybe the greatest kid in the world. He's athletic. He can move around. He's got a little bit of a whip. He's not real accurate throwing the football.

So the more you try to convince me a movie's great or a comedian's funny or a young quarterback's a star, the less I believe it. Like we have now a lot. This is an offensive-leaning franchise, Green Bay, with an above-average O-line on average that's very, very supportive front office. Pittsburgh's got a O-line that's a mess,

an offensive coordinator that has no track record of succeeding, a defensive-leaning franchise, Kenny Pickett's tearing it up. Jordan Love, we're in year three now. He's struggling to get completions. So I just think it's funny. Kenny Pickett, here's all I'm hearing. You can't read too much into it. With Jordan Love, I'm hearing, I saw some good things out there. Which is it? Okay, which is it?

So Matt LaFleur, once again, he is selling me hard on Jordan Love. The one thing I loved about it is, you know, when it doesn't, the game doesn't start out the way you want it to, how do you respond? And I thought he showed a lot of resiliency. And I think that just shows the maturation process. that he's done over the last couple years. We'll take a look at the tape. I'm sure there's always something that you can clean up. But all in all, I thought Jordan did a lot of really good things out there. Okay.

By the way, I want to talk about this Kenny Pickett. That's my favorite Kenny Pickett rant I've ever done. I've only done like seven. I've done a lot of Kenny Pickett. I mean, I'm almost Kenny Picketted it out. But I'm going to compare Kenny Pickett in his situation, little bit to Joe Burrow. And you know I love Joe Burrow.

I think Joe Burrell's it. But patience is really important in that first year starting in the NFL. And I'm going to let's do a little story time, a little story time on the first year starting in the NFL. Okay, you come out of college and you get, because Kenny Pickett's going to get on the field here. But it's really funny going back and looking at Joe Burroughs career so far. It's really, really interesting. We'll talk about that going. Coming up next.

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. So I am a believer that sometimes you have to bottom out to really persevere eventually, to really be scared, to really be afraid, to really bottom out. I tell my kids all the time. They call me with a problem and I'm like, figure it out. I'm not going to be around forever. You've got to figure your own problems out. So I'm not going to bore you. I've told this story so many times over the years, but it was about 30 years ago, 30, 35 years ago.

I was in Vegas. I got a job out of college doing one inning of play-by-play, which was my dream for a minor league baseball team. And then I had to do a bunch of sales. And I was about a year and a half into it. And, you know, I felt like I was more of a sales guy than a play-by-play guy. and I had a terrible, terrible day. It was August.

I remember it being like 117 degrees. It was a steamer in Vegas. There was humidity and it was a hot, hot day. And I was in a suit in my car and I had a terrible day and I was driving home on a Friday. And I came to the Strip and Sahara Avenue and I turned the heat on in my car. I had a pacer and a blau punk AM radio. I turned the heat up in my car. As hot as I could make it, I was in this heavy suit and this bad suit.

You know, it was the only thing I could afford. And I sat there at the stoplight and I just flop sweat. And I always remember I looked to the left of me and there was a guy that looked at me and I think he thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke. And I motioned to the person. I'm like, I'm okay. I got this. So I was sweating. I wanted to, I bottomed out.

So the whole time I drove, it was about a 15 minute drive. I drove to my place. I'm sopping wet. I got out and I cut up my suit. I cut it up. I cut up my clothes. and I said, tomorrow, I'm a sportscaster. I'm no longer a sales guy.

And I started going every single day to KVBC. It was the NBC affiliate. Mike Cutler was the news director. I went every day for three months and waited in the lobby. And he didn't have time for me. And I just said, just tell him, I stopped by. Just tell him I stopped by. Eventually he let me in.

I talked a million miles an hour. They let me intern. Pretty soon a guy left. I was on the air, blah, blah, blah. But I had really bottomed out. And that moment, that day on the strip, August, is really something that will never leave me. I can remember the color of the suit, the color of my pants. I remember the dumpster I threw it in.

I remember the apartment complex, how sad I was. And you got to let young people fail. You can't always have a safety net. I didn't. Mom and dad were divorced. Mom didn't have any money. It was a really important moment in my life. to not have any help, none and just struggle and be a disaster.

And, you know, I think about Kenny Pickett. And obviously the Steelers and the Bengals are in the same division. But for almost all of my adult life, the Bengals have been a disaster, and the Steelers have been unbelievable. And so there's always a safety net, right? When Bradshaw gets the job or Big Ben gets the job, or now, if Kenny Pickett. It's a little bit of a safety net. They got Mitch Tribisky to save him.

You got Mike Tomlin. So if you go back and look at Joe Burroughs success, part of it is the Bengals were pathetic. Again, pathetic. The Burrow was talented. And the Bengals did give him some nice weapons. But he was allowed to fail. He was allowed to be awful. In year one, he went 2-7-1.

In year one, before he got hurt, he played about 10 weeks. He had two great games against the Browns. And Joe Burrell sucked a lot of Sundays. And he would tell you that. He made a lot of mistakes. He was great against the Brown. He made a lot of mistakes. But there was no Mitch Trubisky to save him.

This is a desperate franchise. Joe Burrell's got a hit. And Joe Burrow got hurt, but you could see it. You were like, man, he's got some bad Sundays, but that dude can play. Game two or three, you're like, he got something there. He got magic. He comes back in year two. And you're like, oh, he got to the Super Bowl.

Do you remember year two? I do. Remember that game against the Bears? He was awful. Do you remember in three games in year two? He had more picks than touchdowns. Had to get his way through it. He had to figure out a way to do it.

And with Kenny Pickett, I feel like they're coddling. He's got the first two qualities that Joe Burrow does. He's a talented guy and they got weapons. Now, I don't think he's his gifted as Burrow. I think Burroughs are very unique. But you've got to let Kenny Pickett fail. Start him and let him stink. He's going to have, if he starts this year, he's going to have four games, you're going to want to bury the tape.

He's going to have a fourth quarter rally. He's going to throw a pick six. He's going to be bad because he's not as good as Burrow. But like Burrow, he got some weapons. And like Burrow, it's a bad old line he's dealing with year one. It's bad. and he can be running around running for his life. But you got to let young people fail.

And sometimes it's a great advantage. You see all these stories all the time in life. 92% of millionaires folks didn't grow up with rich parents. They grew up in middle class or below. They had to do it themselves. I met with yesterday. I didn't interview with somebody who dropped out of college in six weeks. He said I was a terrible student.

and then he had a company that went bankrupt, but he was only 17 years old, so he can't file for bankruptcy. I don't think it's 17. He had a lot of stumbles, but he had a great work ethic, and he was allowed to fail. His parents didn't grab him and hug, bring him home and come live with a. He was allowed to fail. His name is Michael Rubin. And so I went and looked at Joe Burrell's first two years, and it's because of the Bengals. They were kind of desperate.

they needed burrow to hit. What are the other options? It's the Bengals. They're not a free agent destination. This isn't a rich franchise. They don't have a bunch of rings like the Steelers. You got to let Kenny Piggott have awful Sundays, a bunch of them. Don't put Tribisky in there.

Now, if you want to start Tribisky for the first couple games, fine. But when you put Kenny in, don't bring Trubisky back to preserve Mike Tomlin's. been under 500. This may be the year you go six and 11, but it's going to be invaluable experience. Albert Breer on what he's seen with Kenny Pickett. Kenny Pickett's reputation coming out of Pitt was that he was a gamer. He was a guy when the lights went on, he showed up and he was the guy. And I think we're seeing that dynamic coming to life now, like where he's had his ups and downs in practice where maybe he won't wow you, you know, Monday through Thursday, but then he gets to the weekend and to the game. And all of a sudden,

it's a different type of player. The guy who was the Steelers' offensive coordinator recruited Kenny Pickett to Pitt. And so he was running the Mac Canada's offensive pit the first couple of years he was there. And then he ran Mark Whipple's offense there the next three years, which is an NFL offense. Yep.

I'm excited for it. I don't know how good he's going to be. I really don't. But Justin Herbert, they tapped him on the shoulder. They said Tyrod Taylor's had a medical incident. I know it's Mahomes. Go play. Go play. I mean, I almost feel like with DAC, the Cowboys had Zeke in the offensive line and an unoffensive coach, Jason Garrett, that there was a lot of, let's not put DAC in vulnerable positions.

And I think, I think DAC this is going to be the first time. He's in an incredibly vulnerable position. And it's like, you're five for Dak, isn't it? Get that stuff out of the way. Let guys fail. Burrell had to get his way through this stuff. And I don't know if Burrell was that much more talented than Justin Herbert. Is he that much more talented than Josh Allen? I don't know. But I know he had to go through more crap than Mahomes and Justin Herbert. You know, the Chargers have had a good roster from day one.

Week O'Line in year one, but year two, good O'Line. So there's my message for today. The moral to the story. Gotta let kids fail. Often. It builds something. J. Mack with the news. No.

No. No. No. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, first up, Jimmy Garoppolo, still with the Niners, despite moving on to Trey Lance and San Francisco. The whole QB situation has kind of drawn the ire of Garapolo's former teammate, Richard Sherman. You know him well. Yeah.

As well as Tony Gonzalez, a one-time teammate of mine here at Fox. Here are their thoughts during last night's pregame, starting with Gonzalez. I don't like the way they treated Garapolo, not at all. He's on the field. He's going to win 70% of the time over his career. A guy of his caliber, let me go. Let me go there to another team. If I was Jimmy, I bet you're costing me money.

I could have been out there on another team helping them get better in my career. Now it's so late, it's going to be detrimental. I don't think detrimental, but tougher. Sherman added, it's the most awkward situation I've ever heard of. It's like a couple being divorced and the divorced wife staying in the house while the husband gets remarried. It's not fair to Jimmy. He was a great teammate, and he's being a great teammate right now. Yeah.

You know, it's really interesting. I thought about this with Garoppolo. So there's a story now. Mike Silver is a very legitimate reporter, and it's been sourced that Garoppolo signed a big contract with a Niners and kind of ghosted him. Did his own thing. Jimmy, the upside to Jimmy is he's a great locker room guy. side to Jimmy is he's not as driven as like an Aaron Rogers or a Manning. He's not. He'll disappear in the offseason. He's okay being a number two. And that's what makes Jimmy great. But I do think

what the Niners doing here is the right thing. I do believe that Garoppolo's health history, you can't go with a guy that has, he's had multiple injuries. And the Niners are so good right now, they need a healthy quarterback. So I do think they're making the right. move. I don't love that he's hanging around, but I also ask yourself this. He's been to a Super Bowl. Do you want to just give him away for a six-round pick? The Niners are basically saying, somebody is going to, they're betting on this. Somebody's going to get incredibly desperate in the next seven weeks. And they're right. History shows by October 1st, somebody is going to be three and one, their quarterback goes down, and they're too good of a roster to punt the season.

So like this is one of these situations I think is nuanced, complex, and difficult. But I trust Shanahan and Lynch. So I think they know what they're doing. And I'm going to say they know what they're doing more than I do with this situation. I don't want to be conspiracy theory guy, but someone floated this to me yesterday. Jason, what if the Niners wait until the last moment right before the season starts, cut Garapolo, right? Because they don't want to trade him.

You know who they face in week two, right? Seattle. Now, if you're Seattle and Pete Carroll, you don't even have two weeks. to get Garoppolo up to speed on the offense to face the 49ers. So what if the 49ers are holding him saying, listen, we know Seattle's going to grab you because you've been floating that for a while. We just don't want him having a month to prepare for us in week two. Seattle's in a weird spot.

They are. I like what they're doing. They're basically saying, we're going to go get a top quarterback. Well, to get Bryce Young or CJ Stroud, those are the top two. You've got to be in the top five. So if you could get Garoppolo without giving up picks, then you can give up a pick to move up. a spot. But what you can't do if you're Seattle is give up a second round pick to get Garoppolo.

He wins you eight games. Then you have to give up two picks to move up to draft a quarterback. So Seattle's in a situation where, you know, there's no such thing as tanking in the NFL, but it is strategic struggles. Yeah, it's a strategic struggle where they know Garoppolo's better than what they have. But they would run into the same ceiling as Kyle Shanahan. is with Garopplo, which is, can he stay healthy? Is he elite? And in both of those, a lot of people think the answer is no. Pete Carroll's history is, we don't want you throwing too much. Remember Russell, hey, hand the ball off.

We'll ride the defense. Let's not make mistakes. That's Jimmy G to a T. I mean, it could work in Seattle. I personally don't love it, but I feel like you hammering this for weeks has kind of convinced me maybe this is what happens with Garoppolo. Yeah, I think whether it's Garoppolo, Trey Lance are the Niners in that division. I feel like the Niners are the most interesting team in the league, especially early. All right, let's get to the second story. Aaron Donald, I don't know if you saw this video, Cowherd.

Wow. He was caught on camera in the middle of a brawl, Rams Bengals, a joint practice, a joint scrimmage or whatever it was. Following the incident, social media was calling for the league to suspend him, but reports indicate the NFL doesn't handle discipline at scrimmages like this. It'll have to be internally done by the Rams. Colin, do you think the Rams will suspend? their best defensive player, Aaron Donald, for week one against Buffalo? Listen, it's really dangerous.

It's like using a bat in baseball. That helmet is a weapon. There's a piece of video on the internet years ago with Aaron Donald slamming his helmet to the ground. It is violent. And Aaron has used that thing on more than one occasion. So I don't like this at all. And I don't know what the Rams should do.

But this is, listen, I understand football. Like, it's regulated violence. Like, I understand guys losing there. You know what. Like, I get it. but man, in baseball, you cannot take a bat to the mound. Remember one time years ago somebody, Clemens, Mike Piazza, threw a bat.

I mean, it's like people freaked out and rightly so. Like, that helmet is a nasty weapon. Well, Miles Garrett, remember Cleveland a couple years ago? Absolutely. Now, Mason Rudolph didn't have a helmet on at the time. And Garrett, I mean, Garrett could have killed him. I mean, with the power he's got, it was rough. I don't like it.

It's unclear if Donald ripped this off a guy and was swinging at that guy or if he was just swinging it wildly because somebody punched him or whatever, but no word out of the Rams yet. I don't know. It feels like a fine to me. It feels like it. You're not suspending him for the Buffalo. No, but it feels like a fine.

And also it feels like Aaron Donald needs to come out and apologize. I'm not a big apology fan. People do what they do for a reason. He was upset, ticked off and in the moment. But it needs to be, there needs to be something. It needs to be addressed publicly. the Rams have been so good at their public image. They've been really good about this stuff.

I mean, they do everything right. The salary cap, it feels, you know, even if it was Stan Cronky saying, listen, this is a bad moment for us. We apologize. Because I do think these scrimmages, when you scrimmages against the team for two or three days, I mean, they were in the Super Bowl. Yeah. So you know this is going to get ugly at some point.

Some of it was predictable. But once you grab that helmet, it's a bat in baseball. You got to be a fine somewhere. All right, Colin, final story. Obviously, everybody loves. Justin Herbert. But do people love him this much? Former NFL offensive lineman, Ryan Harris,

made one of the boldest claims in favor of Herbert we've ever heard yet. Here's what he said about Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert's the best quarterback I've ever seen, and I played with Peyton Manning and Ben Ruffisberger. This guy is unbelievable. I played with Peyton and Ben Roptersberger, and I'm telling you, he's Justin Herbert's the better quarterback I've ever seen. It's unbelievable what he does.

It is something that's only going to continue to increase, and he's got the most talented arm in the NFL. I'm sure you agree with all that. Well, I will say this. He's absolutely more athletic than Peyton Manning, and I think he, as a 4-2 biology major, he'll be better than Big Ben pre-snap and off-season. The one thing about Herbert,

if you go back to his rookie year, that offensive line was a disaster, and he set records. So, you know, this sounds ridiculous. He's absolutely significantly more athletic than Peyton Manning. And I think, frankly, he's, I think upstairs, he's different level than Big Ben. So he's a combination of both. You get some of Big Ben's athleticism and Peyton's brain.

This kid was a tutor in college. He was a 4-2 biology major. He tutored biology students. So he's completely next level. The other thing I like about Justin Herbert, this doesn't get discussed, and this is known inside the building. He doesn't like press. He's super quiet. He's totally into his teammates and his family.

He'll come on this show once a year, and he doesn't want that stuff. He is completely utterly into football, totally into team over self. He is, and again, they're the second biggest team in L.A., but they have hit a, between him and the left tackle, Roshan Slater, the Chargers have got two potential Hall of Famers, and not right now having to back up the Brinks truck for either. These guys are foundational pieces. You know, when the Chargers moved from San Diego to L.A., nobody liked it. But I believe I've seen three of my friends buy season tickets for Herbert.

Like, I think the kid's magic. And I think people just don't quite get how magic he is. I'm a Jets fan, obviously, but I went out recently. I was at like one of these stores, and I saw a cool Chargers shirt. And I was like, there's a chance I'm going to go see Herbert this year. Let me get a Charger shirt. Listen, I'm kind of all in on Herbert. Now, Colin, I know people will say, hey, math is the reason that the Chargers attempted the most fourth downs, the most two-point conversions.

A lot of it has to do with Herbert. He's a cerebral guy, as you said, between the arm, the legs, the brain. He's kind of the total package. That's a great point. That's what this league's about. What's the arm like? What's the brains like? And what is your athletic ability like?

He's an A and all of them. They're favored in 15 games this year, Colin? No. It's like the only thing that worries me about the Chargers, they're special teams. have already shown leaks in preseason and you can lose. I mean, the Green Bay Packers, by the way, they're special teams last year. They cost them the game, the playoff game.

No question. They're special teams, as good as Aaron is, special teams, you're not winning a Super Bowl. The Patriots always had solid special teams during that dynasty. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live News.

Peter King around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays, noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker

with Rob Parker on the IHeart Radio app. wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

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Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're 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

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To be clear, 84 is 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 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 Hardway 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.

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This weekend, your final chance in the preseason, Sean McVeigh ruined it. starters don't play much, but it is interesting. Cleveland, I'm interested, Peter, what is the atmosphere in Cleveland now where it kind of feels like the season is lost, the division's excellent now. What is the vibe, the atmosphere in Cleveland without Deshawn Watson? I think, Colin, what Kevin Stefansky has tried to do is to say,

none of that other stuff has anything to do with you guys. We need to go out and win games. And so I think he's done a good job on putting the Deshawn Watson events on mute around his team. I wrote in my column this week, I had a conversation with Jacobi Brissette Sunday after the preseason game that they played in Cleveland against Philly. And it struck me that Jacoby Brissette is blissfully unaware of all the mayhem on the outside. And I think Stafansky has done a good job in basically putting that in the cabinet and closing the door to the cabinet for all of his team with obviously the exception of Deshawn Watson.

I just spent about five minutes ranting and saying part of Joe Burroughs success is not only that he's talented and he had Jamar Chase, but it's that Cincinnati was desperate. They didn't have a backup plan. They needed him to be a star. And in year one, he was two, seven and one through ten games. In year two last year, he was awful against the Bears. He had three games with more picks than touchdowns. They lost all three.

He was allowed to fail because he, at some level, he was the savior. But Pittsburgh's never needed a savior. Mike Tomlin's never been under 500. So if you start Kenny Pickett and he struggles, well, we'll put in Mitch Trubisky. And my takeaway is, you know what? Failure for young people is how you build that toughness and that medal and that criticism. And Burrow had a lot of bad Sundays. There was no backup plan.

Joe had to hit. And I worry with Kenny Pickett, they're coddling him. I mean, God, Peter, he started four years in the same stadium in college. if he's not ready to go now, I worry about that. Maybe I'm reaching, but I worry that they're playing it too safe with him. I don't think so. I mean, Mike Tomlin, when I was there in preseason, it was clear that Tomlin is going to play the best guy. And look, he probably, probably thinks right now that deep down that the best guy is picket.

But the problem, Colin, unless it's. unless it's absolutely clear cut and Trubisky is struggling, which he really hasn't. He hasn't been great, but he hasn't struggled. You know, he entered training camp thinking that he's probably going to play the veteran. And so I just, there's no hurry. Let the process play out. And at some point, you think soon, because I think it will be too, he'll give the ball to pick it. I doubt for opening day, but at some point he'll give the ball to picket and Pickett will do fine.

I don't think we have to worry about the mental side of Kenny Pickett. From all reports and everybody I talked to when I was there, tough kid and is not going to be hurt one way or the other, whether he starts or doesn't start opening day. Listen, Brady's career is wrapping up. We can officially say it's getting closer. He retired than unretired. He took an 11-day vacation. The offensive line issues on the interior are real and are troubling. Tom doesn't like that pressure on the feet.

Did you take anything from the 11-day vacation? Bruce Ariens be reassigned. It's been a little bit of a choppy last several months. Do you make anything of it or do you expect them to roll through this division and into the playoffs, Peter? Oh, I don't think they're going to roll through the division. I mean, first of all, New Orleans beating them four games in a row in the regular season. Tom Brady in the regular season as a Bucks quarterback is O and four against New Orleans. That's not going away.

And so, I mean, I think the Bucks have a real challenge, even with Sean Payton gone with the Saints. Now, as far as his vacation goes, I shrug my shoulders at it, quite honestly, Colin, because if Tom Brady doesn't have enough currency in the bank after 100 years playing quarterback in the NFL, winning seven Super Bowls to say to the coach, hey, listen, this is important to me. I need to go away for a week and a half. I mean, you'd almost have to be cruel to say no, quite honestly. And so I'm sure it was important, whatever it was. and so I don't think it's going to be a big deal.

The only reason why I don't like the timing of it in this particular year is that he's got a receiver named Russell Gage, who is going to need to be a 70 to 80 catch guy in this offense, and he's missed a bunch of time building chemistry with Russell Gage. That would bother me a little bit. Missed chemistry with Julio Jones, that would bother me a little bit too, but I don't think the bucks are going to be way behind the eight ball because of it. Listen, Kyle Shanahan knows a lot more about football than I ever will, same with John Lynch.

So I generally trust people who know what they're doing. The Garapolo, Trey Lance situation, Richard Sherman said last night, it's like getting divorced and you get remarried and your ex-wife still in the building or in the house, which kind of made me laugh. But I kind of trust what they're doing. It's been a little clunky. What do you make of the last, the process with Trey, Jimmy's still in the building, What do you make of it? It's weird.

When I was at their camp and I watched Jimmy Garoppolo from 100 yards away on a far field practice with nobody else out there a couple hours before the Niners regular team practiced, it's just weird. I heard he doesn't have a playbook that he's not really got any relationship with Brian Greasy other than a hello who's the quarterback coach. It's just weird. It's weird. But look, I think Kyle Shanahan is going to build an offense.

I mean, for anybody who wants to know what to do in fantasy football, I say draft Elijah Mitchell and hope he doesn't get heard. Because if he doesn't, he's going to gain a boatload of yards and score touchdowns for this team. Because I think Kyle Shanahan wants an excellent running game this year, will invest and be patient with his running game to take the pressure off tray lands. Yeah. All right, Peter. Hey, by the way, a minute left. I got the Patriots at 8 and 9. I don't like this Matt Patricia thing. Greg Bedard, who I trust yesterday came on and

said the O line has been a real problem. Dante Scarnacki is not around the building. Without a running game, Mack Jones has to do more kind of pedestrian receivers. I think they're 8 and 9ish, 9 and 8-ish. Where are you in New England? I totally agree. I might even, I don't pick records, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were seven and ten. I think there are a clear third in that division. Miami's better. Buffalo is five or six wins better, I think. Or maybe four or five wins better.

And we'll see. They've got to build it back up. Belichick's got to build it back up. He needs to rely on his defense. He needs some of his lesser guys like Josh Uche, their second round pick last year from Michigan or a couple of years ago for Michigan. They need him to make a big splash at edge rusher.

And they need some of their draft picks to come through. Belichick just hasn't drafted that well. And obviously they need Mack Jones to be a top 12, 13 quarterback in the league. Because you're right. They don't have a great set of receivers and running backs. They may have a good running back in Ramandre Stevenson. But, you know, we'll see. Time will tell.

but behind a bad line could be very tough for them. NBCSports.com football morning in America. Peter King on a Friday. Great seeing you. Thanks again, Peter. Thanks, Colin. Take care. You bet.

Yeah. So I thought of the four teams that played last night, I thought the Niners were interesting. Boy, I really, I'll tell you what, I think they had a great draft. I watched them throughout the preseason. Niners are, I don't know what they're whole. They went and solved a cornerback.

issue. They got a corner from the Chiefs. That was like, I thought they were a little shaky on that. Good get. They went and got another power running back. It looks like they stole an offensive lineman or two in the draft. It's like... Can I give you my comp potentially for Trey Lance this year? Who?

So Kyle Shanahan had a quarterback who was mobile and a big arm back in Washington. His name was RG3. Is there a chance? Tray Lance pops and surprises the hell out of people like RG3 when he won offensive rookie of the year? Yeah. I mean, If they run the ball like I think they will, yeah, I think absolutely.

Hour 2 next. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor it? It signals to the world that you not have to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not.

not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 tauntons 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.