The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - NFL predictions

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

Colin unveils his predictions for the 2025 NFL season and explains why the league is becoming more predictable with fewer “new” playoff teams year after year.  He makes the argument the Lakers should look to put the ball in Luka Doncic’s hands over LeBron James for the first time in his storied career Bo Nix was quietly rather good last season.   Guest: Seth WickershamSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first 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. 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 IHeart 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's an outsider to win the French win. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I, actually can win on any surface. 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 IHart Women's Sports. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Markeep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast.

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Ready to roll. Joel Clatt, Nick Wright. It's the herd. Wherever you may be. However you may be listening. Thanks for making us. J. Mack and I part of your day. You know, J-Mack, I was thinking about something this morning.

An overarching theme to start the show for the first 10 to 12 minutes. And I eat basically the same breakfast. I have the same routine. every day. I get up, I have a strong coffee, I'll get in the treadmill, may have an English muffin, have a smoothie before the show. And I live as much as everybody's searching for new stuff, if I, for instance, want to watch sports on TV, I go to NBC, Fox, CBS, I know where to go. I don't go to Netflix. I don't go to Hulu. I go to the standard places where I've always watch sports. And I have this theory about the NFL that we think you never know who's going to

win these games. But I believe for two reasons, the NFL is going to get starting three years ago, you're seeing a trend much more predictable. And that's my jumping off point today is this. So when I make NFL predictions, now I have two more tweaks to my predictions. I'm always looking for new teams to make the playoffs. And the one team I've looked at is, Joe Burrell is going to make the playoffs, right? So I want to go to a quote from the Washington Post about a general manager talking about the bingles. And he talks about Mike Brown, and he says, it's the same old Mike Brown BS said one general manager condition of anonymity to avoid violating the NFL tampering rules. It's the same crap that's been going on since Boomer Oscein and Carson Palmer.

History always repeats itself. And I've said this before. If Carson Palmer would have gotten like a Sean Payton or an Andy Reeve, we would consider Carson Palmer a top four or five quarterback ever. And I worry that Joe Burrow, same organization, same ownership, it's going to be the same thing. If Joe Burrow gets an Andy Reid, he's hoist in the trophies, not Patrick Mahomes. And I really firmly believe that. So I've thought about the Bengals a lot because I'm always looking for new playoff teams, right?

Because there's like seven a year, right? Well, not actually. Last three years, it keeps coming down. Why is that happening? So we have many camps, OTAs, and the first week or so of training camps. So I have new information. So I looked over my predictions. I've got one more tweak.

This will not be the official tweak. But I looked over my predictions that I made a few months ago. So in the AFC, for instance, Josh Allen's going to win the division for as long as he's in his prime. The Patriots are the safest double your win total bet in the league in five years. Dolphins Jets. I wouldn't change a thing. AFC North prediction. Ravens are the class of this division and I mean really one of the top three organizations in the league

I think because of all the noise around the Bengals all because of ownership I'd probably move the Bengals out Steelers Brown's just not good enough. AFC South is weak. Texans are going to win the division. They have arguably the best coach and absolutely the best quarterback. In the AFC West, Chargers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, if I move Cincinnati out, because I predicted they'll make the playoffs. I would put the Broncos in.

I mean, they added Greenlaw, Pofunga, Evan Ingram. They're over under on draft kings. It's nine and a half wins. So if I was to make an AFC West prediction, my final big tweak, I'd get the Bengals out and I'd move Sean Payton in. I'd get noise out, and I'd get a guy I've relied on for 25 years in the league Sean Payton in.

If I go to the NFC, it's the same basic theme. I like most of my picks. NFC East, Eagles, commanders, class of the NFC East. Not close. Eagles, commanders, class of the division. Giants, Cowboys, a Mess. In the NFC North,

here's where I would make my change for the same reason I'd get the Bengals out. I probably, because I think the Bears have been very noisy so far in minicamp OTA and training camp, I probably move the Bears out and the Packers in. Again, noise out like the Bengals,

reliable Sean Payton, Green Bay Packers, in Vikings, J.J. McCarthy, feel like a fourth place team or a third place team. In the NFC South, weakest division, in my opinion, in football, bucks class of the division, best GM, best quarterback, and, you know, I'll take the bucks. NFC West, again,

I'm not as high in the Niners as JMAQ. I go Rams, Seahawks. The Niners have an easy schedule. I think they're old. I think the roster has holes. I think they wanted to keep Greenlawn Hufunga, I do think Robert Sala coming in helps. So again, like the AFC, where I move the Bengals out, Sean Payton, I'd probably move in. I would probably move the noisy bears out and the Packers

in. But it's very interesting because I have spent, as my staff knows, I spend considerable amount of time trying to find new playoff teams. And if I made these two changes, I'd only have two new playoff teams. New England and the AFC and Seattle in the NFC. Wait a minute, I can't do that. Or can I? So there's more games than ever, right? They added a game and they're going to add an 18th game. And the league's become more quarterback-centric.

So those two things, in my opinion, are making the NFL a bit more like the NBA. I talked about this last year. The bottom of the league is really bad and feels miles of. away from the top of the league. You're seeing more spreads that are like 9, 10, 10, 11, 12, 13 it feels like to me last couple of years. That was always a college number.

An NFL mismatch was like 8. Eight and a half. Now you're getting double-digit spreads. A lot it feels like to me. So last year, there were only four new playoff teams. That's tied for the fewest in 20 years. We're on a three-year

trend of fewer new playoff teams. And I believe as much as everybody, myself included, wants change, the NFL is going to become the NBA. You kind of know, I mean, go look at the AFC. I was looking at this this morning. If you go look at the AFC, who's made the divisional round the last two years? Oh, Ravens, Bills, Kansas City. Isn't it feel like it's the same teams every year?

So my take is everybody says they want change. I think going forward when we go to an 18th game, and I've said this is the danger of extending the NFL season, two more games from several years ago, and making the league incredibly quarterback-centric, you're going to have a clear top and a really ugly bottom, and it's going to become very predictable. So I don't think we're going to have six and seven new playoff teams this year.

I am struggling outside of maybe Joe Burrow and the Niners. I'm struggling to find new playoff teams. Now last year, because of Bo Nix, who was exceptional as a rookie in Jade and Daniels, the Broncos in Washington, whoa, surprised us. But that was a really good quarterback draft class. This wasn't. and from that I'll talk about another part of football that we thought we were going to see major changes in

and I think the opposite is true so when the college football playoff was created here's what you heard oh finally the little guy can compete I mean when you only have four teams it's always going to be the big dogs so there was this supposition this belief of that you would have a lot of little guys

that would have a chance to knock off the big dog actually now with teams playing up to 16 15 college games same thing is true in the NFL the deeper rosters have a much greater advantage i mean ohio stated the in the playoff was rolling through teams they just had more good players they had more NFL bodies and this morning i looked up the coaches top 25 pull the first seven teams tech Texas, Ohio, State, Penn State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson, Oregon all made the playoff last year. And eight and nine are Bama and LSU, football powerhouses. Where are all the new teams? It's the same old, same old.

In fact, I'll make the argument in the last 30 years of college football. There is only one new top 10 powerhouse, one, Oregon. And it took Phil Knight's money and vision. one new program. And by expanding the playoff to 12 teams, 14, 16, that doesn't help the little guy. Because a team like Arizona State, Cam Scadaboo, great story. But they emptied the tank against Texas. Texas right now has two five-star freshman wide receivers.

They're like fifth and sixth on the depth chart. They'd start for SMU. They'd start for Arizona State. And you'll get the occasional upset. But when you watched Indiana and Notre Dame playing the playoff, did you think the little guy had a fighting chance? That thing was over two series in. You watch the SMU game.

So the old system, which Boise State could have one big bowl game against Oklahoma, Chris Peterson uses a trick play, and they knock off the Sooners, and the season ends in Boise, Idaho on a great note, unbelievable TV game, everybody in Idaho feels good. Those days are over. you're going to all those teams that have not are going to end their season with losses and often ugly losses so this idea that the NFL you extend this season you expand the playoffs in college football you expand it no folks everybody is trying to engineer parody and it doesn't exist people always separate businesses always separate. And so that's kind of my theme is

college football now can have up to 15 games. And the NFL's expanding to 17, and now they're going to expand to 18 games, many believe next year. It's not going to help the little guy. It's going to help the deeper roster, the richer organizations, the better quarterbacks,

and a handful of great owners. All right, Jaymec, I know that could be a downer, but my guess is you basically, watched football in the same three channels you did 20 years ago and you also eat the same thing for breakfast most days. And that we're all creatures of habit and everybody's seeking new stuff. But you know, in New York, if you could get a ticket to a concert for a lot of people, it'd be a Billy Joel concert.

Which was in the case 20 years ago for New Yorkers. It's funny you bring that up. I mean, you know, like I'm, we're very similar in terms of creatures of habit. Like, you know, last week on vacation, I didn't wake up and go on Twitter and see what the news was. And like, that's kind of one of the first things you do, right? You've got to see what's up on sports and what's happening. Yeah, I just, I think, I understand people seeking new.

It could be a mayoral race in New York. Everybody wants new and new and new. But in the end, people basically go back. What makes people happy psychologically are certainties and habits. That's what makes you happy. Not waking up every day with no idea what's going out. People like want to work out. out. They want to walk their dog. They want to have their coffee. They want to play

wordle. They want to read the local paper. We are creatures of habit and we're all seeking, we think football, college and pro, adding more playoff teams, expanding the playoffs and adding more games. That all benefits the big dog. That all benefits the big, that benefits Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Texas. That's who it benefited. It doesn't benefit SMU. It benefits the Longhorns. I do wonder if, you know, we briefly discussed the Packers yesterday as a team that's going to probably rise up. I'm surprised you're not on the Falcons. I got some really interesting data when we eventually talk about Atlanta. And I think, remember when you were on Tennessee earlier this summer? And you suddenly backed off off the Titans. What happened?

Well, I didn't love them. I had them as a wild card team. But when they're their supposed number one receiver gets hurt, they get rid of him. Now they've got a roster for the number three and four receivers, Cam Ward is acknowledged, you know, they're saying in camp, they're struggling. It's become more and more of a wide receiver quarterback league. They're struggling. I mean, it always feels like they're light offensively. So I didn't love them. New England's my guaranteed double your win total team, but I did think Cam Ward would

add some electricity, but, you know, it's C.J. Stroud is the best quarterback in the division. C.J. Stroud made the playoffs. My guess is C.J. Stroud will make the playoffs again this year. So just, just for the record, your C. Jay Stroud is a better quarterback right now than Trevor Lawrence, correct? Yes. Okay.

I would disagree, but what? Well, I did not believe that two years ago. I believe it now. I think CJ, to me, I don't buy head an off season. Tunzel to left tackle didn't play well. They were missing two of their top receivers. He had a lot to overcome. I think CJ Stroud's really, really good.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives

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you get your podcasts. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? 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. We're starting a trend. 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.

And 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 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.

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. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Rai, top of the next hour, Joel Clat, too. You know, this is a story that's had tentacles. So LeBron James did not show up for the press conference when Lucas signed his new deal. Brony James wasn't apparently there either. And my take is we all know the deal here. LeBron is a global superstar.

He's like in the Rinaldo Messi level. They play by different rules. If LeBron and Savannah and Brony were on a yacht in Santropay, I don't have a problem with it. I really don't. We all know that the Lakers drafted him and there was behind the scenes working on that deal. It's the offseason. It just doesn't bother me. And reportedly LeBron called him. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me going forward into this season is that it was okay last year when LeBron often dominated the ball with lumpy Luca. But Luca, and I'm looking at men's health

like everybody else in the video clips, Luca is in the best shape of his career since like his rookie year and his second, third year in the NBA. And his usage rate, I discovered this morning, is the highest in league history. So I didn't have a problem LeBron sharing the ball a lot with lumpy Luca. That's not what Luca's going to be. This new relation, I would make an argument, this Luca, in shape Luca, fits better with KD. Old KD than old LeBron. because LeBron's always had to, you have to reshape your basketball ecosystem with LeBron.

He always has the ball in his hands. He doesn't play as well off ball. He's also a great passer, but so is Luca. So the problem with the Lakers now, Austin Reeves, LeBron and Luca are all much better with the ball. But in shape, non-lumpy Luca should have the ball 80% of the time. Last year I was fine with sharing. He's been injured in camp. The trades mid-season.

he worked his way into shape. He just looked big and puffy and lumpy. And a lot of times LeBron was the twitchier athlete. He will not be this year. LeBron's average keeps going down. My sense is it will go down more this year because he just won't have the ball in his hands much. So the whole thing about LeBron, you know,

not showing up for a presser or even brawny. It doesn't really bother me. I think we all know the game. There are certain athletes. I mean, it was great that Brady was as obsessed as he was. But Aaron Rogers has a lot of defenders when he goes to Egypt in the offseason. He's got a lot of defenders, teammates. Like, it's Aaron, he's been around.

I wouldn't do it, but he's not the first guy to do it. But my take is this year is going to be different. I said this yesterday, I think you're going to see a huge gap in Luke and LeBron on the floor. One will look like a top three player in the league, and one will look like he's sporty, good, but not nearly as consistent. And what's going to happen statistically is LeBron should not have the ball in his hands like last year. Absolutely not. Lumpy Luca, no problem with it.

The Luca I'm seeing on these videos at the presser, men's health, that's like year two, three, and four, Luca, when he led the NBA in usage rate and was virtually unstoppable as a kid. unstoppable. Hey, by the way, here's Rob Polank of the GM last week on the new contract for him. Make no mistakes. We're in win championship now mode always. We've been very intentional with keeping our optionality to make now moves, if there's good now moves to Maeve

or to have sort of our flexibility in the future. But I say all that, that the optionality is is there for us to use now if the right move comes its way. We want to make smart moves. But to be in a position of flexibility versus being stuck is really promising for how we're going to build this team moving forward. Just look at how thin in a suit, Luca looks compared to last year in a uniform. So he's got a heavy suit on.

He looks 30 pounds lighter. And just remember that Luca, like early Luca, totally ball dominant. and completely unstoppable. Last year, he couldn't beat guys off the dribble. He couldn't be in attack mode. So I was okay with LeBron, LeBron beating guys off the dribble. But you go to young Luca, rookie Luca, I think we talked about this once, had 25 dunks. LeBron last, or Luca last year had one dunk.

Like, we're going back to 20 dunk Luca. Lean Luca. He's got to have the ball in his hands 80% of the time. and Reeves can't have the ball in his hands. And LeBron shouldn't have the ball in his hands. Lean Luca is not lumpy Luca. And Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's go to the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Colin. Big news out of the Vikings camp is that J.J. McCarthy, he is going to start Minnesota's first preseason game. You know, no point in waiting. Let's just throw him right into the fire. Here's Kevin O'Connell talking about JJ starting a preseason game. You'd love to play them as much as possible,

but I think with those two days of joint practice, the type of repetition that the other guys on the offense will get from a physicality and workload standpoint, we'll more than likely use those two days as our real days, obviously subject to change based upon how those practices go, how we feel coming out of those. If we need to get a little more work, we will. And then we'll assess that final preseason game when it comes.

Okay, am I a little over the top saying, I really want to watch this game? I want to see J.J. McCarthy play. This is a classic. Okay. Remember a couple years ago we used to joke that you had more footage of Bigfoot than Jordan Love backing up Aaron Rogers.

Like, they hid the video. You know, they only let you look at so much in camp. to begin with, but we've gotten real glimpses of Shador Sanders and real glimpses of Caleb Williams. I can't wait to watch J.J. McCarthy play. Well, more interesting, is he going to have his starting offensive line? Is Justin Jefferson going to be on the out? Like, are they going to play everyone? Or, I mean, I can't imagine they put McCarthy back there behind, like, backups and guys trying to make the roster.

So now you're talking about playing a lot of starters? Because I know you were overreacting a little bit to the Lions. I don't know if they played any starters, Colin. Now, you're talking about J.J. McCarthy starting QB starting for Minnesota. So kind of crazy. I will say this. Do you want to guess what their win total was last season? Okay?

Last season, Minnesota was Sam Darnal. Huh? Eight and a half. It was seven. They won 14 games. Okay, that's absurd. The more you look into the schedule, they were 9 and 1 in one score games, Colin. You know what that usually mean.

Remember Kansas City 11 and 0? Minnesota 9 and 1 and 1 score games If you really dig in deep, it seems like maybe I overreacted this summer on the Vikings and they profile more like a 9-ish win team as opposed to 11. Well, and also something about Green Bay, and I talked about this to start the show.

How many games did Green Bay win last year? And they started and they had a backup quarterback, Jordan Love wasn't great at the end of the year, and the division was pretty interesting. Lions were great, Vikings were outstanding, and Green Bay still won double-digit games. So my take is, if Jordan Love is just healthy with their draft and additions,

Green Bay is about as predictable as your morning coffee. You kind of know what you get with Green Bay. I don't know if we can get the Vikings schedule on the screen, but I was looking at it here during the commercial break, Colin. It's really rough. A lot of early standalone games for the rookie quarterback. The lights are bright. And then they have back-to-back.

international games in Dublin and London. I'm starting to pull back a little bit on my Vikings love, and I think the Packers are zooming past them in the end of the season. How about that game at Sam Darnold hosting J.J. McCarthy, week 13 at Seattle. That is a great. That is a great. Yeah. Yeah, that schedule, look at that.

Eagles after the by, Chargers, Lions, Ravens, Packers, those are all teams projected to be playoff teams. I'll make the argument. that the schedule gets really rough about week seven it gets i mean it's jalen hurts into herbert jared golf lamar jackson green bay at seattle jaden daniels but i would say in the first few weeks we don't know if atlanta or chicago or any good we don't know if pittsburg's any good if you're going to make hay and you're the vikings you can make it in the first five weeks you better there's some doubles there because i do believe they have an argument to be made

It is the best coaching staff in the sport right now. If you look at coordinators and head coach, I mean. I love Kevin O'Connell. Can he win a playoff game? Like, I just won. Well, it's hard. I like him. I like him a lot.

I'm bullish, but you're right. Flores is a monster. Vikings. It's going to be a good season. Interesting for sure. Next up, let's go to the Steelers and new wide receiver, D.K. Metcalfe. He's saying all the right things since joining Pittsburgh. Most of the attention has been on his connection with

Aaron Rogers, QB1 there. Metcalf has really been impressed with the other side of the ball as well. And you don't want my opinion because I think they're the best defense I don't ever seen. Yeah, like there's some dogs everywhere on the field and I tip my hat to them because

they come to work every day and, you know, we don't have any choice but to get better. Yeah, we'll see. Let's settle down there. I mean, you face the nine. You played the prime Niners when you were in Seattle, bro. Stop. It's really interesting. Look, go look at the athletics piece about the four things at camp that had been a bit of a struggle.

And I said this yesterday, it's the jet. You could have written the article about the Jets. I think the Steelers are a more organized, better run version of the Jets. They don't have a number two receiver. Aaron won't trust the offensive line. They won't consistently be able to run. And the O-line in New York and Pittsburgh, despite draft capital and money spent on it, isn't very good. and Aaron at this point does not want to get hit.

He has no interest getting hit. I think they're going to look and it'll feel. And New York and Pittsburgh both have really good players. They don't have a ton of depth offensively, but they, you know, Nogie Harris last year, Breece Hall, you have a Garrett Wilson, you have a D.K. Metcalf. They just don't have depth at running back or wide receiver. Mark my words. Aaron's going to look a lot like, like, week 10 on Jets last year.

a lot of short stuff and doesn't have a second receiver he can trust. That's not bad. I will say for as bleak as it looks in Pittsburgh, and I would agree with you, I would definitely take Mike Tomlin on the Jets. The Jets have had like 10 coaches. Yes. You know, I trade owners in a heartbeat. Yeah, no, much more well-run, buttoned up organization than the Jets.

But players win and lose games, and it's, they're a glossy, well-constructed version of the New York Jets. with Aaron. He's just one year older. Final story, Colin, is let's go to the Jets. And new head coach, Aaron Glenn. He's trying to revamp the culture in New York. The Jets led the league with 137 penalties, 1,034 penalty yards. And they had five games with at least 10 penalties last season, Colin.

Five. I mean, that's just undisciplined. I think some of that had to do with Robert Salah getting shoved out. Glenn hopes to make that change by having as many officials, yes, officials, zebras, refs, attend practice as possible. Colin, this was all bad for the jets. But what do you think about the officials at practices?

I don't know how common that is. I don't think that's new. I think teams have done that before. I think college teams have done that. Where you invite officials in for practices? Yeah, I don't think that's, I don't know if it's customary, but NFL officials have been at camp. forever. Again, it's a story because it's a New York team, but I don't think that's a big

deal. It just further illustrates the lack of discipline this team had last year. I mean, so many dumb penalties at inopportune times. The ownership doesn't have any, the ownership doesn't have any discipline. Why would the players? Yeah, top down, it's an embarrassment. Jay Mack with a news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So there was a, it was funny, we were, I was doing some homework on Bo Nix this morning, and Sean Payton came out and said, we're looking at a superstar, which can sound crazy on its face, but what is really interesting about Bo Nix? So Denver's in, I mean, Denver gets overshadowed by Mahomes and Annie Reed, and then last year,

Jim Harbon- Herbert, and they're in the Rocky Mountain, that weird time zone, whereas Washington's in a big media center and Jaden Daniels were the commanders. So the thought is, but Jaden Daniels was unbelievable, and Bo Nix was clearly second, but It's fascinating if you really look at what happened. Bow Nix in a better division against arguably the two best defensive coordinator in football, Steve Spagnola twice, Kansas City, and Jesse Minter, who took the chargers from 32nd to 1st in defense. Bo Nix had more completions, more touchdown passes, more total touchdowns, more passing yards. And we were talking about this this morning as a staff.

If you go to week four on for Bo Nix, it's like a top six quarterback in the league. was 29 touchdowns, eight picks. A 101 passer rating. So we were talking about Bo Necks as a staff, and Seth Wickersham, great writer, came out with a piece on Sean Payton and Bo Nex, and I want to bring him out on the show next. Trustandwill.com makes it easy.

You don't want estate controlling your assets or documents when you pass away. Go to trustandwill.com today for total peace of mind. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. Well, 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, podcast 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 IHeart 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. Genschen win. I mean, she went down in three to Rovachina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

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that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Austin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid?

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leads to Cubs against the Cardinals or Bryce Harper and the Phillies battle the Rangers. Check local listings for the game in your area Saturday, 7 Eastern on Fox. Seth Wickersham has been a senior writer and a great one at ESPN for more than two decades. A New York Times bestseller. He writes books, we put him on the air. He has a new book coming out September 9th. I can't wait. Kings, a biography of the quarterback, Arch Manning, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Warren Moon,

John L. Wait, not Johnny Unitas, he talks about that. He's got stuff on Archmanning, Caleb Williams, and I want to bring him on because we were talking as a staff this morning about Bo Nex, Seth Whitaker Ham joining us, and you got some access to Bo Nex, and I've made the argument before that Jane Daniels is remarkable. But in the division with the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, he got a lot of big market press and bo necks quietly in a better division in a better conference from about week four on was fairly stupendous um you got access to sean peyton for this book i don't know if you got it pre-drafting bo necks we can talk about that what is your takeaway on why paeton is so fond of him he just called him this week a superstar in the making did you see that a year two years ago when

start of this project? Well, so thank you, first of all. And I think that like anytime you're going to write about quarterbacks, you have to write about that age old question, you know, how do you know a pro quarterback when you see one? Is it possible to know? We always talk about how difficulty it is, the difficulty in predicting college performance to NFL performance. And I sat down with Sean Payton.

And this was in March of 2024. Everybody knew that the Broncos were in the market for a quarterback. And he looks me in the eye. And he says, do you promise with every, you know, shred of your integrity that you won't share this with anyone? And I said, sure. And it was, you know, obviously don't share it before the draft. And he said, he opened a folder. And there was all this data on the folder.

And Bo Dix was at the top of the list. And I was like, what is this? And Sean Payton had developed his own analytics formula to try to judge processing speed of college quarterbacks. and he started it back when he scouted Patrick Mahomes in 2017. And when he ran the 2024 quarterbacks through the formula, Bo Nix was by far the most efficient. And it wasn't even close. And Caleb Williams, by the way,

was one of the last ones of the first round, of the guys who ended up going in the first round. Wow. Well, that is interesting because your book, you know a book's going to be successful when it makes news well before it comes out. You already made news and confirmed stuff that I had said about a year ago. I think we about Caleb Williams, his dad, his nervousness about Chicago.

And after many camps and OTAs, there is video, Seth, of Caleb struggling. His reputation in college, accuracy issues and a bit moody. In the NFL, we've seen both. Are you surprised when you talked about Caleb with multiple sources? do you think these are not just brief hiccups and maybe this is what Caleb's going to be as a pro quarterback? I mean, I think that a rookie year is about survival,

first and foremost, and I think Caleb not only survived, he showed a lot of flashes of a pretty rare skill set. I think that, you know, what Carl and Caleb wanted was some agency over his future employer. Same thing that Jack Elway and Archie Manning wanted for their sons. And even though they didn't get it

when they wanted it, I think they got it now, which is, you know, what they wanted was an innovative offensive mind who is really invested in Caleb Williams. And I think that trying to draw too much from training camp, you know, I think that like that's often a mistake that we make. I think that Caleb Williams is a pretty special quarterback. That doesn't mean he's perfect. I think that Bill Belichick had a point when he said that there were open receivers on the field,

especially over the middle that Caleb either failed to see or failed to pull the trigger on. but, you know, it was only his rookie year. I think that he flashed some pretty special quarterbacking potential. And I think that now he has a chance to kind of realize his potential with the new head coach. So Archmanning's a fascinating story. I said the other day, in a world of the transfer portal in NIL, when the minute a quarterback doesn't think he's number one on the depth chart, they bolt. And here's Arch Manning, who in my opinion is more talented than Quinn Ewers,

not a peep, never disgruntled, and I said that is so Manning. He's got just the Manning quarterback Gene in the transfer portal, the ability at Texas, and maybe you're the better player to sit as a backup. That's all I needed to know about his maturity. Now, I think the media has been pretty responsible with Arch that we're all saying, can we at least see him play Ohio State? When you did your book on Arch, what should we expect? What did you learn about him?

Well, I think that the interesting thing with him is exactly what you mentioned. And that's that when you're hyped from such a young age, and in the book, I go into the very first moment when he was in eighth grade, when everyone was looking at each other going like, oh, my God, this is for real. And, you know, people think that anything other than being the first pick in the draft and having like a very solid, if not Hall of Fame NFL career is a disappointment, which is insane. You look for little things like that to gauge, you know,

where this person's head is at. And, you know, I think you're right. You know, Tom Brady didn't come into college, Tom Brady, of course. We know that he was broken and then had to rebuild himself at Michigan. And the fact that Arch, who picked Texas, you know, for two reasons, among many, one, that the head coach was the offensive play caller, so he wasn't going to go anywhere and there would be continuity. And two, that in Austin, he might be, it might be a big enough town for him to kind of blend in, and he wouldn't be as big as he was in, like, Oxford,

Mississippi. Those two things have held relatively true for him, and the fact that he was willing to stay and sit and learn and be patient, I think is a good sign for him long term. I think that if he had tried to get out, it would have been very understandable, but I think that the way that he's handled it, I think is a very, very positive sign. Now, I mean, look, he's got to go out and play. We'll see how that goes. But I think that, like, the way that he's handled his career so far, I think is pretty impressive. So you have, you're, you've got Arch and Caleb and Bo Nix, and you've got the old guys, Elway, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Warren Moon, who I always thought was historically underrated. And, you know, there's been this kind of narrative that the NFL

is flipping a coin on quarterbacks. They don't know who's going to be great. And I push back on that. Take out Brady, most of the great quarterback, Elway, Marino, Aaron Rogers, Lamar Jackson right now. Even guys like Big Ben that played at non-traditional powers, most of them went first round. overwhelmingly they go first round but Mahomes is fascinating because he may be the most talented ever and he didn't even have a winning record in college that when you did your homework on this book

which comes out September 9th American Kings are there stories I mean his dad was a baseball player in the big so he's got some athletic jeans were there stories about Mahomes that surprised you and that I mean Andy Reid Brett Veach Gruden what did you take away

from the Mahomes journey college to pros. Well, one of the main things that I hit on with Patrick Mahomes is him and his religion. I mean, obviously, he's very much into this Christian religion. And I think that that's fascinating within the context of his gifts, his God-given gifts, and his success as a quarterback and his notoriety as a quarterback, I think as a player, I think one of the most interesting things is that his career at Texas Tech, like he was under the radar. He didn't even make it to Elite 11 finals. I mean, Elite 11 is like a beauty pageant.

for physical skills with quarterback physical skills. He didn't even make it to the finals. And at Texas Tech, he was a little under the radar, and he got to have the quarterback equivalent of free play, where he could make mistakes and keep going without worrying. Whereas like Tom Brady, of course, when he was at Michigan, he was conditioned that one bad snap in practice might mean that he doesn't even play that week.

So it's a really interesting case study. And I think that when Sean Payton was first looking to, replaced Drew Brees in 2017. He came up with this formula, again, to try to understand processing. And it's kind of like a failure index. It's really interesting. And Patrick had a great score on it. And he was going to pick Patrick.

Obviously, the chiefs traded up with Buffalo, took him away. But he kept the same analytics formula. And when he used it this time around, Bo Nix's score was the very best since Patrick Mahomes. I mean, even though Patrick Mahomes threw a ton of passes and put up a ton of points was under the radar, he didn't have a ton of turnovers. And I think that like the formula that he developed, he had a lot of confidence in it. I think a lot of that had to do with Patrick Mahler. So Seth Wickersham, senior writer ESPN, been there for a couple of decades. American Kings, let's put it up again for our TV audience, a biography of the quarterback book

releases September 9th. It is already made news. Listen, you're going to be sitting on the couch watching a lot of football. This is what you should have next to you as a constant reference point. Seth, I appreciate you. You basically text me this morning. We got you on within an hour. I totally appreciate your flexibility on this. And thank you so much and good luck with the book. Hey man, great talking to you as always. I appreciate you. So isn't that great? He got access to this formula. And the Bo Nix numbers from weeks four to 18. Again, you're a rookie quarterback, you come into the league, it's a great division. That kid's 67% completion percentage, 29 touchdowns, eight picks, pass a rating of 101, 2.

And remember, Denver's spending their money on defense. Like, even this show, Hofunga, Greenlaw, they're doing it again. They're doubling down on defense. So they don't have a number one receiver. Cortland Sutton's a great, too. They don't have a number one back. They don't have a number one tight end. I think Garrett Bowles a very good left tackle.

But I'd argue they have a majority of their elite talent is on the defensive side. And then again, Jesse Minter, Steve Spagnola, a big lift for a rookie quarterback. And that kid by week four was on one. Was on one. All right. Nick Wright's around the corner. Tom Brady's actually talking soccer. And we'll, yeah, I know.

he actually got interesting comments. We'll talk about both on a Tuesday. Yeah, I'm sorry, Chicago. I think I have to demote you and put the Packers in the playoffs. I know it stings a little, but them the truth. 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. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first 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 Smigel 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 acapella 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. Jen, she's an outsider to win the French name.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar 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 podcast on the IHart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my. my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was calling you. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.