The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - LeBron James rumors
Episode Date: July 17, 2025Colin points out LeBron James remains in total control and rumors about his future continue swirl as he’s the only player in the NBA with a no-trade clause The WNBA needs to do a better job with... its officiating Thoughts on Shedeur Sanders as he heads into training campSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Here we go.
It is a Thursday.
We are live.
It is the Her.
Lots of choices out there.
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Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
So there's a lot of news out there.
A lot of news out there.
Some of it herd generated.
And we'll react to all the things.
But J-Mack, I swear this is the last time I'm going to talk about this story because it's going to go away.
I think it's going to just like disappear and vanish into the ether about LeBron James being traded.
The odds have changed.
So I want to just say for them, I hope this is the final time I talk about it.
But something that's not being discussed.
I saw The Athletic yesterday acknowledged LeBron James in a buyout,
LeBron James in a trade has not been discussed by the Laker.
So this to me has always been a nothing burger.
It's July.
It's slow.
Bread crumbs become stories.
Folks, LeBrona has a no trade clause.
He's still in control here.
Year 23.
Michael Jordan was not in control like this.
Michael Jordan had a bad contract his first 10 years in the league.
Bird magic, they weren't in control like this.
I don't know if Brady was until the end.
Right?
I mean, they drafted Garoppolo.
They wanted it out sooner.
LeBron's in year 23.
He's the only NBA player with a no trade clause.
Now, I would go to Dallas in a trade.
If I could play alongside Anthony Davis again,
rookie Cooper Flagg, and Derek Lively,
I'd go in a heartbeat with a better coach and Jason Kidd.
But LeBron's not going to get traded unless he says yes.
And where are you going to put him?
Where would LeBron outside of a Dallas lineup?
If he could play with Kyrie and AD again in Cooper Flag,
Derek Lively, they'd have to involve the third team.
That's interesting.
But because the Lakers were such a circus,
when LeBron arrived in L.A.,
they have been caving to him
and should be since day one.
Again, Jordan didn't have this kind of power.
Brady didn't have this kind of power.
He was taking pay cuts.
So honestly, the Lakers for the last 15 years,
a lot of them have been poorly run.
I mean, if you look at the five years before LeBron
arrived in Los Angeles,
I mean, it's hard to get your arms around.
They had the worst record in the NBA, worse than the Wizards.
Much worse than the Washington Wizards.
And so the one advantage of going to a poorly run business,
and that's what the Lakers were when LeBron arrived is you get a lot more power.
I mean, Aaron Rogers with the Jets, got him to hire Nat Hackett as the OC,
overpay for Alan Luzard.
you're not doing that with the Ravens.
You know, you're not doing that with the Rams.
I mean, Matt Stafford didn't have that kind of control when he came to the Rams this year with the Rams.
And Stafford, they're like, here's the number.
This is it.
But when Sean Payton goes to the messy Broncos, power, LeBron goes to the Lakers, ultimate power.
So I think that's the one advantage.
Now, generally, it doesn't work out well because the player takes advantage of it.
But Sean Payton didn't.
Aaron Rogers did, and LeBron hasn't.
I didn't like the Russell Westbrook move.
LeBron said it wasn't mine, but we all know what kind of was.
But just think about this.
There was one player in the entire NBA.
One.
Not Yolkidj, not SGA, not Ant, not Steph Curry.
There's one player in the NBA with a no trade clause.
LeBron James.
40-year-old LeBron James.
So people can talk about this all they want, about it.
He's going to go here.
He's going to go there.
The Oklahoma City.
Thunder. Sam Presti
runs the organization.
One of the reasons LeBron left
Miami, because Pat Riley
ran the organization.
So LeBron has largely
been running this place for years.
And thankfully, he
generally makes the good basketball decisions.
He and Rich Paul got Anthony
Davis in here, and in the COVID year,
they won the title. They're not going to
win the title this year.
But this idea
that there's going to be a trade and there's going to be
buyout, LeBron has a no trade contract. And I think the only place that he would look at
and go, all right, that's interesting. I believe it's Dallas. If he could play with a rim
protector and Derek Lively, a phenomenal domestic rookie in Cooper Flagg and AD again,
I think he'd have to sit down and listen to that one. Because that team, I think,
because LeBron's still a top 10 player and still in year 23, has more power than any NBA
player ever. All right. Speaking of power, Nick Saban had a lot for a long
time and still does. So Greg McElroy, a pretty smart guy, he is a big radio star in Alabama.
And he said this week that people he trusts are telling him that Nick Saban is going to come
back and coach. He is hearing that Nick Saban could come back and coach. So I believe this is true,
but it's not Alabama. So let me squash the Alabama rumors. They're not going to happen.
Alabama doesn't have the money. They're struggling to stay a full.
float in NIL.
They can't compete with Texas and Oregon and Ohio State in the NIL world.
They'd have to buy out Kalin-de-Bor for about $70 million,
and Nick would cost them $15 million a year.
They are, I got news for you.
They're a mid-sized bank, and Ohio State, Oregon, Texas are J.P. Morgan.
They're Deutsche Bank.
They don't have the money these days to buy out Kalin-Dabor $15 million to $18 million for NIL and buy
Nick Sabin.
they are a credit union where grandma still puts her money in Texas is Rockefeller capital is blackstone
so that's not happening now as I talked about yesterday Nick Sabin to the NFL just do the numbers
seven coaches annually on average get fired seven okay secondly coordinators hit 30% of the time
and the other thing to think about is like Pete Carroll,
Nick Saban may be older,
but he doesn't look, act, or feel old like Belichick does.
He's always been an innovator.
I mean, he literally, when he got to Alabama,
it was all about defensive ends, defensive tackles,
linebackers, and corners.
Lane Kiffin shows up,
and from that point forward,
they were about wide receivers, left tackles, and quarterbacks.
a lot of old people age well.
Nick Saban is one of them.
Andy reads another one.
And I told you this.
This is an innovator.
He's not going to college.
Remember, because of the NIL,
to buy out these coaches,
which used to happen all the time,
you write a $40 million check.
Well, now coaches, that check is like $60 to $70 million,
Lincoln, Riley, or a Brian Kelly, or a Kallin-Divore.
And you've got to raise $20 million.
a year for the NIL stash.
And you'd have to pay Sabin 15.
It's not happening.
Bama does not have those kind of boosters.
They don't.
Texas does.
And Nick Saban knew two years before he left college football.
He was grumbling about the money that Texas and Austin was raising in their billionaire donors.
The NFL thing with Sabin, I think he'll get frustrated with being an analyst.
I think deep down he's always felt he's every bit the coach of Belichick.
But we don't mention him as one of the all-time great coaches because he's a college guy.
Albert Breer yesterday on the always innovative, maybe old but feels young, Nick Saban.
The one thing about Dallas that people misunderstand is, yes, Jerry's involved in football,
but the coach is involved in scouting too.
Like the coach is involved in putting the team together,
And that's always been the way that it's been run there.
And in that, like, they've got a really good personnel department.
Wilma Clay does a great job.
But they've always involved the coach and how the team is put together.
If Jerry was going to do this, part of it would be, are you willing to take a backseat
and move away from the spotlight for a little bit to see if Nick Sabin can come and do it?
Okay.
And the reason we talk Sabin, the Schottenheimer thing is not going to work.
Jerry's now 82.
I think he's much less patient than he was 15 years ago.
And Saban and the Cowboys feels huge.
Just think of what Jim Harbaugh to the second most popular team in L.A. felt like.
Harbaugh of the Chargers changed their ticket sales, advertising money, merchandise sales.
Changed everything.
It felt like a quake.
It was huge.
Sabin plus the Cowboys.
Just how does that, right now, did Dallas Cowboys have a problem?
problem. I mean, they really do. For free agents, they have a problem. They have a credibility issue.
Like, free agents, not that interested. Sabin gives them instant credibility. So Albert and I talked
about this yesterday for almost 10 minutes. I think Saban, and I don't think he's wrong here,
I think Saban, and for years and years, I said about Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh is as good a football
coach as the history of football has ever had. But we mentioned Shulin, Belichick, and Andy
And that's why Jim Harbaugh wanted to go back to the pros with a legitimate quarterback.
Is that I think Nick Saban, like Harbaugh, feels like, yeah, I dominated college football.
And if Drew Brees would have been given the physical OK, I would be viewed among the greatest coaches of all time.
But if you dominate college football, you can be Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant.
You don't get mentioned among the greatest coaches of all time.
You got to succeed at the highest level of coaching.
And I think Saban, like Pete Carroll, feels 10 years younger and thinks like he's 10 years younger than he is.
A lot of old guys don't age well.
Sabin does.
I'm telling you, this is my summer prediction.
KD to the Warriors, that was nuts too.
Belichick to North Carolina.
That was nuts too.
Mavericks trading Luca to a rival Lakers in the West.
That sounded nuts too.
This is my boldest prediction of the summer.
You've got to have one, and this is mine.
I know, Jay Mack, you're not rolling your eyes necessarily
because there are seven openings annually in this league.
And by the way, just say it out loud.
Sabin to the Cowboys.
Gary loves his team being talked about on TV.
Romo on CBS, Aikman on ESPN, Michael Urban Forever on the NFL network.
He loves that.
You can say what you want about Jerry.
but a lot of times there's been a criticism.
He cares more about the marketing than the actual Super Bowl winning.
He's got those.
So I think it's in play.
Yeah, Colin, I'll say that's a spicy take to start the show.
But what's the saying, right, church, wrong pew?
I'm sure you've heard that.
I do think Sabin to the NFL makes sense.
But remember what happened in Miami when he went to Miami.
He wanted Drew Breeze.
He had Drew Breeze locked in and the doctors didn't clear Breeze,
so he had to settle for Culpepper, got the hell out of town.
Quarterback matters for Sabin.
Colin, unless they go three and 14 and can get Arch Manning,
I don't think the Dak Prescott gets Sabin to the Cowboys.
But I think the team to watch would be the Buffalo Bills.
If they slip up in the postseason, they are favorites,
and they want to run out McDermott, Sabin plus Josh Allen in Buffalo,
getting the bills, finally that Super Bowl that's been elusive?
So think it's really interesting.
So Jim Harbaugh, there were rumors about Harbaugh of the NFL for years.
Why did he wait for the Chargers, Justin Herbert?
Right?
Because when he came to the NFL, it was Kaepernick, it was Alex Smith, and he could never really get the quarterback position to be super elite consistently.
So Harbaugh kept waiting.
He figured it out.
I got to have the right quarterback.
We've talked about this with Sean McDermott.
I think Sean's good, but he can't get past.
It's like Mickelson and Tiger Woods in his prime.
Like, there's difference.
And I do think
I think that's out there.
I think Dallas is out there.
Remember, never forget this.
Next year's quarterback draft class is really strong.
So if you're going to go to a Dallas,
okay, Buffalo, you've got the quarterback.
If you're going to get a job,
next year is a perfect year.
And I do believe Dallas is a six-win team this year.
I really do.
I think they're a six-win team.
That puts them top ten.
So you wouldn't have to give up a ton of
a draft capital to get your quarterback your choice.
Is there a potential?
This is a little goofy, but Cleveland Browns have no quarterback this year.
Coach gets blown out.
Hey, we got the first pick.
Arch Manning, I don't want to go to Cleveland.
Well, what if Nick Saban goes to Cleveland?
I think he spent some time there in the past.
Is there a world where Saban says, I'll take Arch Manning as my future quarterback in the NFL
if I can get him?
Well, the Manning's known Nick Sabin very well.
Yeah.
I'll just leave it at that.
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Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.
What's the news, huge news?
We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?
Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast.
Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.
But this one's extra special.
So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?
I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a conference.
call about what we should call it.
We were thinking I'm originally calling it
one of the early names of our band
before Jonas Brothers.
This is how you guys remember it going down?
Yes.
I have a very different memory of this.
We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast
where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.
And then I wrote down on my little notepad,
Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.
But thanks for remembering that, guys.
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Those people are starving for banter.
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Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay.
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She's an outsider to win the French for me.
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Others say it's unleashing human potential.
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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.
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and none of the both.
We're in Chicago today.
So I missed Monday's show.
I couldn't get out of the Northeast
because of thunderstorms
and flight cancellations and delays.
So punishment for that,
the staff is punishing me,
forcing me to do a Sodor Sanders story.
According to Mary Kay Cabot,
she does think when camp starts today
that he has a legitimate shot
to be the starting quarterback.
So in my life,
kind of being around the NFL,
30 years of doing this talk show,
stuff covering the NFL having sources and reporting on it. I don't think there's ever been a
player where there's a wider variance of opinion between the media and NFL executives.
The media, myself included, saw him as a B prospect, a good solid in a very, very weak
quarterback draft class, certainly arguable first round prospect, maybe a second, third round
talent, but, but, but you know, solid, good family DNA, moved well, historically accurate,
a good kid, not a bad kid.
Certainly a better prospect than first rounder Kenny Pickett by far.
I think a much safer prospect than Will Levis, who went second round of the Titans.
You know, again, I thought he was a solid B prospect, crazy accurate, bad offensive line in college,
no run game, and against good teams was always productive without a lot of mistakes.
And yet he slid to the fifth round.
and there's an argument, I don't know,
sixth or seventh round or undrafted,
if not for Jimmy Haslam,
the impulsive and meddling Cleveland owner.
So how he is viewed by the NFL
and the professionals there who I respect and trust
and how he's viewed by everybody else,
it's an incredible gap.
Bailey Zappi got drafted higher.
So it's like Nomad Land that won the Oscar
and the public had no interest in watching it.
It made like $3.7 million.
And not every Oscar winner is Oppenheimer or, you know,
you name your Oscar winner that gets big gate.
But like Nomadland was Hollywood loved it,
the public, not remotely interested.
So I don't know what to make of it.
I mean, listen, the fact that Louisville's Tyler Schock,
who is 25, going to be 26 when the season starts,
he had a singular throw at the combine
that just a singular moment,
a singular throw, the one where he's backpedaling,
sidearms it, that to me,
seventh round.
Like that play alone,
indoors,
no pass rush.
And he went second round of the Saints.
So I don't,
I don't get it.
I'm really interested to watch it.
Because I think generally I'm within
half a round of where a guy goes.
I saw Jackson Dart as more of a mid-second.
He went late first.
That's okay.
Will Levis, I thought I liked him initially and then, no, he's got third round.
I mean, I get surprised from time to time, but late first, early second, falls to the fifth and may have been undrafted.
If you fall to the fifth, you can fall further than the fifth.
So we'll wait and see.
Mary Kay Cabot, who I've trusted for years, says nobody's blown anybody away here.
nobody's blowing anybody away.
J. Mack with the news.
No, no, no, no, no.
Turn on the news.
This is the herd line news.
Titanic and Oppenheimer.
They were both box office smashes and the critics loved them.
Not so much for Nomad land.
I can blow you away with this herd line segment, Colin.
Let's start with Micah Parsons.
You know, he's still angling for his big contract.
He's only making $24 million this season.
Only, Colin.
He's severely underpaid.
position but he knows the Cowboys will pay him whether his number is impacted by other edge
rushers or not I was going to get mine no matter what you know I mean like the markets change
every year their salary cap went up like another 18% this year they numbers got nothing to do with
mine and my numbers ain't got to do with them like I'm younger Henderson I mean uh hudson is coming
off the injury like everyone's circumstances is completely different hutch is coming off his
Every year, usually guys wait four years.
So it just all depends why.
I mean, he's up there with miles.
So, you know, it's different.
Everyone's circumstances different.
Yeah, he'll get his.
I would move him and get a bunch of picks for next draft.
I would move him if I had to and get another first round pick.
And so because I need a quarterback potentially if you get a new coach.
I know that's crazy talk, right?
But I, again, I, there's seven offensive tackles, eight quarterbacks, maybe tops,
that I would never take a call on.
And then I would not take a call on Jalen Carter.
I would not take a call on Jared Verse, Miles Garrett,
virtually everybody else in this league I'd take a call on.
Maybe not Jemar Chase, maybe not Justin Jefferson.
Everybody else in the league I'd take a call on.
Listen, Colin, not to push back too hard,
but isn't it less about who I would take a call on
and where I am in my team building?
Like, let's be real.
If Dallas went to him and said, dude, Miles Garrett is making 40 mil per year on average.
We can't pay you that and be good.
The Brown stink.
If you want, say, $41 million a year, we're not going to be good.
So you have the choice.
You can take less and run with us and we can make up for an endorsement.
You're a Cowboys guy.
You've got your podcast.
Or we can just move you.
I feel like that's the better discussion as opposed to what I take a call on Micah Parsons.
Because I just don't see a path to success.
The way Devin Booker just got his extension, he's making $72.5 million.
Collins, their vaguest win total is going to be like $32.35.
What's the point?
I know Devin Booker's got to get his, and so does Micah.
But do you want to be good or do you just want to get paid?
I don't know.
Well, I mean, again, I think college football furnishes the NFL with a lot of receivers,
a lot of edge rushers, a lot of good linebackers.
There are certain positions I'll pay a fortune.
for. Quarterback, you get about two good ones a year out of college, great offensive tackle,
you get about one a year who is great out of college, and a great interior defensive lineman,
like a Chris Jones or Jalen Carter, Aaron Donald, you get about one of those a year. But edge rushers,
wide receivers, corners, backs, linebackers, safeties, I don't care. I'm just, I'm not,
I'm not going, Miles Garrett, Jared, Gerard verse to me on the edge are different. They are,
They are just, you, now some would say T.J. Watt, but he's now 30.
So I go look at Micah.
Micah's been around for how many years.
Has he made a difference when it matters in December and January?
And the answer is no.
He hasn't.
It's just a tough one.
But, you know, Jerry Jones, this is what he wants.
He could have done this months ago, but he likes to just drag it out so we shows out there,
talk about the Cowboys.
It's kind of goofy, and then he's going to sign a bad deal and not win a Super Bowl again.
All right, let's move on to the NFC East.
another team with a situation.
That's Jaden Daniels, Colin.
This guy had such a good rookie season, capturing all the awards.
They got to the NFC title game.
We'll enter in year two.
His tight end, Zach Ertz, is confident that Daniels will continue to progress and impress his teammates.
He has such high confidence in himself because he wants to be so great that it really resonates with the rest of the guys out there on the field and on the team with them.
So, yeah, from the outside looking in, you can say he had a phenomenal year,
but in the back of his mind, he's saying, I can be better this year.
And it's crazy going into his second year, how good he was last year.
But he's going to have that mentality for the next hopefully 15 years.
By the way, another thing the Cowboys have to think about is that Washington now has the best quarterback in the division,
whether people want to admit that, and they're not paying him for four years.
He's free for the next four years.
So that's another thing to think about.
They can load up and go get your Debo Samuels.
So that's another thing for Dallas is you get top heavy with CD,
Dak, and Micah Parsons.
They have a free quarterback who is significantly better than Dak Prescott today.
So I'm telling you, Dallas feels a lot like the Lakers pre-Lebron.
Oh.
They feel like they are increasingly,
and I said it two years ago, and it went faster than I thought.
I said, never forget, Mike McCarthy left them.
That doesn't happen in the NFL where a coach leaves a seven or eight-figure salary on his terms.
Mike McCarthy said, I don't want to be here.
I'm telling you, Dallas is about to get really bad, really quickly.
It's interesting.
You mentioned McCarthy.
I was just thinking, like, oh, where did Mike McCarthy land?
Is he coaching anywhere in the league?
because he was so good with Dallas, and no, he's not currently coaching anywhere.
Is that a surprise?
No, sit on the beach, take every penny of it.
No, I would not, I would sit.
I'd go up in Milwaukee and the Dells, and I'd go play golf for the next 15 months.
I mean, you're all over the place here, the best quarterback in the division.
I had to check, is there a memo that I missed about Jalen Hertz, the Super Bowl MVP?
Is he dead?
I mean, did you forget about the Super Bowl MVP, Colin?
Anyways, you're on a hot street today.
Here we go.
Final story is the Detroit Lions.
A lot of talk about this offense.
They lose Ben Johnson to the Bears.
They replaced him with former past game coordinator John Morton.
Well, they're tight end in Detroit.
Sam Leporta believes the offense is going to stay humming.
We promoted Hank Freely to our run game coordinator.
So fortunate for me, we have the same run game system this year, the same verbiage,
which, as you can imagine, is a lot.
But Johnny Moe, past game coordinator his entire life,
brilliant mind.
I think he's going to call the offense great.
Brad Holmes has been the best at finding guys in the league
that fit the culture in Detroit
and our damn good football players at the end of the day as well.
So it starts with Dan, Brad,
and then it works its way down to the players.
Yeah, I know you're a big Ben Johnson guy.
You guys are probably going out for drinks tonight.
I'm just going to say,
I know Lions fans are.
upset that I keep coming after.
Colin, if we could get the schedule on the screen for Detroit, okay?
They opened against Green Bay, always a good rivalry.
It is in Green Bay.
I would say it's a toss-up.
Then they play the Bears.
They should be fine there.
Colin, look at the games after that.
They go to travel to Lamar Jackson.
Forget Cleveland.
At Joe Burrow, at Patrick Mahomes.
They have to play three of the four best quarterbacks in the NFL in the first like
six weeks of the season.
there's going to be a bit of a wake-up call for Lions Nation here.
I think before Halloween, and again, you look at this schedule, even the back end.
They got the Rams.
They end at Minnesota, at Chicago.
Those are going to be cold weather.
Sorry, the Chicago games outdoors, obviously.
I don't know, man.
Nine wins, 10?
Well, they also lost an elite center.
So then they try to address that in the draft.
So I think the odds makers, your draft kings,
They're going out there and pulling back on the over-under.
I think everybody sees what you see.
So I think everybody, nobody thinks this is a 14 or a 13-win team.
The schedule is tougher.
They lost the interior star of their offensive line.
They lost the best offensive coordinator in the sport and a great defensive coordinator.
I think everybody's got a beat on the lines.
I would say this.
If you told me there is one division in the NFL that I don't really know what it's going to look like
Because there's so much competency in certain areas with all these teams.
Love the Bears roster.
Think Ben's going to hit.
Kevin O'Connell and that offensive line and the wide receiver group and Minnesota.
Green Bay is incredibly well run.
And Detroit, best offensive line.
Top five in the league, top four.
So there's so much competency in the division.
That's to me is the one division.
I have no idea how it's going to finish.
I really don't.
And we don't know what J.J. McCarthy is.
There's another mystery element.
Well, I would say the Packers, if you're listing teams that I just don't know what they could be.
Like, if the Packers won seven games, I wouldn't be shocked.
If they won 12 games, I don't think I'd be surprised.
I don't really grasp the Packers.
I like McCarthy.
Bear schedule is too tough.
Lions are coming back.
I don't know what to do with the Packers, Colin.
And you often have a good beat on them, given your deep history in the region.
Well, I would say this.
how many games did they win last year
and they didn't get consistent quarterback play?
So that's a pretty good
that's when you're they
I mean Jordan Love was hurt early
didn't play great late
and the Packers were still a really good football team
that that's when you know it's a well-run
organization in the NFL when you don't
get consistent quarterback play
enter a double digit win team
and they address the wide receiver issue
which we've said for the last two years all sorts of talent
but it doesn't feel quite right
So again, I will probably talk myself into the Lions and Packers getting to the playoffs out of this division because I just, Chicago's the wild card.
But again, I don't know what I haven't seen.
Jay Mack with the news.
Well, that's the news.
And thanks for stopping by.
The Hurd-Ly News.
By the way, I don't play fantasy football.
I'm not opposed to it.
I think it's great.
I think it's a relatable, connectable thing.
But I don't know the value system, who you should draft.
I mean, obviously draft Josh Allen.
and that feels like a good one.
Or Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase.
But here's my fantasy.
I know value.
You want to get somebody that nobody quite knows, like a rookie pops.
Let me give you a couple people.
Now, Naji Harris has an eye injury, a Fourth of July fireworks incident.
He will play in the regular season.
They do have Amarion Hampton, the running back, so he'll split some carries.
But let me give you an example of the NFL's always been about who you play for and where you land.
Keep your eye on Naji Harris and Devonthe Adams, and not just because they play for the Chargers and the Rams.
So think about this.
Both come from defensive cultures, defensive head coaches, and dysfunctional offenses.
These Steelers had the 27th ranked offensive line.
PFF has the Chargers where Nagey Harris is at as the 10th best offensive line.
Joe Alt, second year, Roshan Slater, top five left tackle, Jim Harbaugh, the head coach.
watch these two guys pop.
And I'm not talking Sequin Barclay pop,
but last year,
Najee Harris was 14th in the league in rushing.
If he plays, again, the iron injury,
Fourth of July fireworks mishap,
he's going to be top ten.
And think about Devonthe.
I mean, and again, this was the number one high school
running back in the country,
starred Alabama, and he goes to Pittsburgh,
and all we hear is,
he doesn't have much of a burst.
They're a totally tone-deaf dysfunctional offense.
acknowledged. He came out and said, we didn't really have a plan. And it's not like
Najee Harris is a flamethrower. He's like a team guy. So I think he's going to go to the
Chargers, and I think he's going to pop. The other guy is Devonthe Adams. He goes from the Raiders
and the Jets to Matt Thafford, Sean McVeigh, an excellent run game, and Puka,
Nakuwa, who is often doubled on the other side of the field.
So, I mean, Devante Adams, people forget, even with Aaron last year in the messy jets, at the end of the year, he was like a real playmaker.
So at the NFL, we always talk about this with rookie quarterbacks.
You're as good as where you land and who your head coach is.
Here's my fantasy football prediction.
You want to get value, watch Najee Harris for the Chargers, and watch Devante Adams.
Devante Adams got the Willie Wonka Golden ticket.
He's going to walk in there.
Puka on the other side, Matt Stafford,
Kiron Williams, excellent run game, a productive tied end,
McVeigh calling the plays, and Matt Stafford.
Would you be surprised if Devante Adams had eight touchdowns and 78 grabs?
I would not.
And Pucca, by the way, love him, but he gets dinged up.
So Devante could very well be a number one receiver for stretches throughout the season.
Here's, by the way, here's Pooka Nacua on adding Devante Adams this year.
even more fun to be in the offensive meetings with coach McVey and coach the floor because they're cooking up the best place possible so we're making our defense sweat for sure the motions the routes
devonte is coming in with new things that we're thinking about Matthew wants to say he i want to put the ball on this part of the field so
the trifecta that we have of great football minds is is keeping everything super interesting
all right fantasy football players you've never relied on me for value or in
Naji Harris, especially Devante Adams, watch them pop.
Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.
Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.
What's the news, name?
Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?
Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.
We're the first people to do podcasts.
Pretty, yeah, pretty wide.
range of podcasts throughout there.
But this one's extra special.
So how do we actually come up with a name
Hey Jonas guys?
I honestly don't remember.
I think it was on a call about what we should call it.
We were thinking I'm originally calling it
one of the early names of our band
before Jonas Brothers.
This is how you guys remember it going down?
Yes.
I have a very different memory of this.
We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast
where people could call in and say, hey Jonas.
and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.
But thanks for remembering that, guys.
Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.
Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.
Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and Headwere
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.
The French Open is
one of the toughest tests in tennis,
and I know firsthand because
I competed there myself.
I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the
Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down
everything happening at Roland Garris.
Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay.
Genshin won.
I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.
She's an outsider to win the French for me.
And she likes Clay.
Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,
and I actually can win on any surface.
Because if she's serving, well, good luck.
Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.
Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.
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.
Saturday, it's baseball night in America on Fox.
The Red Sox take on Rising Star, Pete Crow Armstrong and the Cubs.
For the Cardinals battle the Diamondbacks,
check local listings for the game in your area.
Saturday, 7 Eastern on Fox.
Sports is humming right now.
British Open.
John Rom, Rory McElroy,
big favorites at the British Open.
We've got the baseball season is humming.
College football is around the corner.
Camps are going to be opening up this weekend.
So I saw a story this morning where Ohio State lost like a four-star recruit to Bill Belichick in North Carolina.
And I've told you I'm fascinated with this story.
I mean, he's a grumpy 73-year-old who never really showed any interest in college football.
all. It doesn't exactly scream
home run higher.
You know, Belichick at Carolina feels like Donald
Trump's first term in the White House.
I'm not really sure what it's going to look like,
but it's going to be interesting.
It could get messy.
I think if Belichick was in the SEC
or the Big Ten, he'd get absolutely rolled.
He'd get rolled. But the
ACC is so god-awful
outside of Clemson
that he may just coach his way
to a lot of wins. So,
And if you look at the schedule, it looks like one of those annual U.S. news and world report lists of the best public universities.
Like it's not exactly powerhouses.
Cal, Virginia, Syracuse, Stanford, Wake Forest, and Duke.
It's like that list of your really smart nephew told you schools he applied to.
That's what it looks like.
So I don't know what I'm going to get.
Like when Belichick left the NFL, he didn't have any momentum.
He felt old and archaic.
college football is changing rapidly.
So the odds makers do not buy.
I was told this morning by Greg on our staff,
the odds makers,
they've given them the ninth best odds
to win the horrible ACC.
Somewhere around Duke.
And they don't have a great quarterback.
And if you look at Belichick in his history in the NFL,
he didn't win.
In a sport he loved and was great at and manipulated,
he didn't win without great quarterback.
play. So they lost their best
player in Memorial Hampton, the run game.
So I think that
this thing could be Cirque De Soleil.
This could be a circus. This has
the potential to be just a mess.
And again, I think the saving grace
is his schedule looks
like a bunch of academic powerhouses.
It's just not very good.
But there's nothing here
in this hire that says
home run. Not good at quarterback,
lost their best player,
never really had an affinity or interest
the sport. The bad conference thing is what gives it legs. If you put them against Michigan,
Ohio State, USC, Oregon, Washington, they're an eighth place team. Illinois this year would
house them. Illinois is going to be really good. So, okay, here's another story. Justin Jefferson
of the Vikings, probably the best receiver in the league, has been talking about J.J. McCarthy
and how much he loves J.J. McCarthy.
And I was thinking about this this morning.
There's not a team in the league right now in the National Football League, where you love the head coach.
There are parts of the team.
You love the defensive coordinator.
The offensive coach, brilliant offensive guy, the defensive coordinator, one of the best in the league, top six roster, maybe the best receiver.
And we don't know what they're going to look like.
it's a little Jordan love to the Packers
where we used to complain
could somebody, I see more video
about Bigfoot.
I don't have a piece of video
with J.J. McCarthy in camp that's notable.
And here's the other thing.
Just think about this.
We all know that first round
quarterbacks are about
a 50-50 hit rate.
One's a star, one's not. You get about
one to two a year that are really good.
So in his draft class,
Jaden Daniels is already an A-plus.
Bo Nix and Drake May are clearly at least B plus.
I think both will be better this year and year two.
Caleb Williams is really talented.
My prediction, he'll bounce.
And then the people in Atlanta like Michael Pennix.
Are we really going to have a six for six that every single first round quarterback hits?
Even a five for six would be unprecedented.
So remember, the Vikings and Publisher.
reports, they were interested in bringing Sam Darnold back.
Published reports, they flirted with Aaron Rogers.
And again, there is so much about Minnesota to like.
Everybody loves the head coach.
Everybody knows how great the defensive coordinator is.
O-line, major upgrade.
Roster, top seven or eight.
Last year, they were top 10 offense and defense, and I like their draft.
wide receiving core.
I mean,
J.J. McCarthy only needs to be one J.
he doesn't even have to be great.
If he's like Bo Nix,
they're a playoff team.
I mean,
Denver did not have Minnesota's roster
and made the playoffs in the tougher
AFC in a division with Andy Reed and Jim Harbaugh.
So if J.J. McCarthy is a slightly lesser
version in the NFC of Bo Nix,
that is a playoff team.
team and I have no idea.
J. Mack, I think, is this not one of the teams you're really high on this year?
You're higher on them than I am.
So, Colin, you know the drill.
You've been doing this for like 30 years.
You pick a team that you feel is your team of destiny.
You latch on to them.
You believe in the coach, the quarterback, all of it.
And you kind of ride them.
And you're either right or wrong.
You know, sometimes you pick a winner.
Other times you pick a loser.
I have, yes, hitched my wagon to J.J. McCarthy.
Now, since I did that, I heard from several people very close to the league or formerly in the league
who were telling me be cautious about McCarthy for a variety of reasons.
I'm not going to get into one air.
I'm still a believer.
I love Kevin O'Connell.
You've heard the stories from people here at Fox.
They love him.
We know Flores is great.
I think they have a very talented roster.
I think they overachieve with Donald last year.
You'd agree, right?
They're not really a 14-win team.
And I do believe McCarthy, I don't care if you want to call him game manager or what.
I think he does enough to get them to the playoffs, and I think this is a dangerous team with a great coach.
If, if factually, if he hits, then we're going to have to say if Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy hit in the same division.
It's the best quarterback draft class, arguably of all time.
Well, it's early. Can we get him a couple of playoffs wins before we give him hitting?
Listen. Six for six.
Define hit. What's a hit for McCarthy this year?
He's as good as Bo Nix.
What does that mean?
Numbers-wise, getting to the playoffs, stats, the look, or whatever they call it?
Playoffs.
Okay.
Yeah, if they go Darnold 14 wins and playoffs, and then they go McCarthy, nine wins and no playoffs, then yeah, it looks like they picked the wrong horse, right?
There are a lot of things that tells you he's Bo Nix.
He got an offensive coach.
He gets a roster that has some strengths.
I mean, Denver, there were things about Denver we liked.
Boonex didn't have a Justin Jefferson.
That's for sure.
No, no.
But he had very quickly, Sean Payton rebuilt the offensive line.
And the defense was getting after the quarterback.
I mean, they led the NFL in SAC.
So there were things about Denver.
I think we said this last year when they were playing.
Their roster is better than people think.
It's like a real old line or real pass rush.
It's, they got the best corner, I think, in the NFL.
There are things about Denver that were very playoff feeling in Sean Payton.
I think you could argue, like Minnesota has a better offensive line,
better running backs, better receivers than Denver, right?
I think their rosters are very even
and they're both playoff rosters.
So make the playoffs.
Bo Nix did.
Our two next.
Hey guys, it's us.
The Jonas Brothers.
I'm Joe.
I'm Kevin.
And I'm Nick.
And guess what?
We created our own podcast called,
Hey, Jonas.
Nice.
We invented a podcast?
Well, we didn't invent it.
We just contributed to it.
We get to ask other people to do podcasts.
We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.
Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it.
But, you know, tired and sick.
tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy
guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob
Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer
Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group
perform? We do some retirement homes.
Those people are starving for banter.
Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends
on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Winning on Clay is an art.
The rallies are relentless.
And at the French Open, only the toughest survive.
I'd know.
I competed there for decades.
Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the
biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.
She can win.
She's an outsider to win the French fame.
And she likes Clay.
Listen, Leonard Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,
and I actually can win on any surface.
Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the IHart Radio app.
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports.
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 are armored. It signals to the world that you
not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to,
listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.
