The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Where it went wrong for the Broncos

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

Colin details the Russell Wilson and Sean Payton break up and where it all went wrong for the Denver Broncos He talks about the Lakers win over the Thunder and why LA is constructed for the postseason after they take down one of the top teams in the West Thoughts on where Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson could end up   Guest: Mark SchlerethSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's a Tuesday. Live in Los Angeles, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for Megan has part of your day. Well, well, well, we told you this week could get busy, could get frenetic, there could be things moving. Our show ended a couple hours later. Russell Wilson now is released by the Denver Broncos.

So, J-Mack, a lot of rumors about Kirk Cousins. Not much of a market for Justin Fields, but the Russell Wilson thing, we kind of expected it. Didn't waste any time. Big show today. Very exciting stuff. So I want to start with that. Russell Wilson, not real happy with Sean Payton. How do I know?

Because in his farewell message to the Broncos, he thanked a lot of people. He thanked the lunch ladies. Wendy and Brandy. He thanked a video guy Lamar, and he thanked warm-up guys, Harry and Cole. Hey, he thanked teammates. You think coaches. You know, he didn't thank Sean Payton.

Well, it was never going to work. Remember when Sean Payton very early on criticized him? Seth Wickersham had this quote. Stop kissing babies, Russ. You're not running for office. Which, by the way, is what players have often said, behind closed doors about Russ, too much of a politician. And Russell Wilson may not like Sean Payton.

That's the way it works when things don't go people's way. But let me ask you, weren't you saying Russell was washed the day before Sean Peyton got there? I know you were because I pushed back on it for an entire year on this show. You kept telling me he's washed and I said, there's no precedent for it. You can't go from a B plus quarterback, A minute's quarterback, to wash. without a major injury. There's got to be something. And you were absolutely sure he was washed.

You would not listen to me. I'm just a hot take artist. You have insight. Yet, Sean Payton took washed quarterback to 26 touchdowns, eight picks, 98 pass a rating, and completing 66.5% of his throws. That's somewhere between the 12th and 15th, best quarterback in the NFL.

26 passing touchdowns, by the way, is ninth. His passer rating was eighth in the league. And for the record, he only had one fewer touchdown pass. Then Patrick Mahomes. And you had him washed. Russell Wilson with Sean Peyton finished the year with a higher passer rating than Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Matt Stafford, Mahomes, Goff. Russell Wilson, pre-Shon Payton, was cringy, expensive, and your words washed.

And then he ended up finishing with the same number of total touchdowns as MVP Lamar Jackson. MVP Lamar Jackson. So you can go ahead and thank the video guy and the lunch ladies. But you know what last season in Denver was? It was bar rescue, NFL style. And John Taffer may piss a lot of people off, but your bars better when he leaves. Russell Wilson had no market done, really expensive. Seattle Seahawks, former teammates pouring in one after another, bad-mouthing him.

Pete Carroll, the team got better with Gino Smith. That's who Russell Wilson was a year ago. That's who he was. and Sean Payton came in and he had the same number of touchdowns as the MVP Lamar Jackson. So if he'd have had one more season like the Nat Hackett season,

Russell Wilson's next team would have been ESPN as an analyst. He was done. He was expensive. He had no market. Now, don't be shocked if the Pittsburgh Steelers make a call. Or Atlanta. Minnesota, if Kirk Cousins leaves. So you don't have to be happy with how it ends

and Sean and Russell are totally two different people. We said from the beginning, Sean is raw, outspoken, some would view at times a bit of surbic and blunt. Russell is like relentlessly optimistic, which has not curried a lot of favor through his career with a lot of his teammates, who think it's phony, who think it's Tebow-ish.

Fair or not, that's the reality of it. highly religious, highly optimistic. Tebow never got expensive. Russell became most expensive. And the numbers tanked. And he was washed according to you. I didn't buy it. You did.

And now he's got to market. Be shocked if Pittsburgh's not interested. You're going nowhere with Kenny Pickett. So again, take a deep breath. Washed to. Dude's going to cost somebody a million dollars and be a B quarterback. Maybe not B plus. But a B, for no money, he'll have a market.

So we've been saying this regarding the Lakers. I have not always a couple years ago. I was kind of anti-A-D. Couldn't stay healthy. And I was like, this is not a championship team. And they ended up having a pretty good year. But AD is now healthy. He is hot and cold offensively, but he's a great defensive player.

And he gets along very, very well with LeBron James. Always available to the media. AD steps up. Bad game, good game. always there, same with LeBron. And I think this team last night was a statement win. And I said this the other night when they lost to Denver. It was a

statement loss. It's like they can play with the champions. They've played them 11 times in two years, average game ends, four and a half points. They don't win many of them, but that's because Denver's the best basketball team in the world and the Lakers aren't. But so last night, coming to town was O KC.

OKC, great in the regular season. Youth, depth, shooters. But in the playoffs, as I've told you, refs swallow the whistle, physicality is rewarded, and OKC is a skinny jeans team.

Stiles make fights, and last night the Lakers did what they would do to them in the playoffs. They bullied them. They dominated the glass. The Lakers had almost 50 points in the paint. They had 20 more rebounds, dominated the defensive boards.

They got to the free throw line more because they created contact, and they held OKC, the great shooting team, to 39%. OKC, talented, excellent GM, Chet Holmgren, quite a future. SGA, top 10 score in the league.

But they're free throw differentials near the bottom of the NBA. A lot of jumpers, a lot of finesse, a lot of depth. The Lakers are first in the league in free throw differential. They create contact, Austin Reeves, LeBron James, Anthony Davis.

They create contact, and they get to the free throw line. So, you know, that's how they want in the bubble. That's how the Lakers want in the bubble. Size, power, strength, veterans. And I've said this multiple times is that what's missing from the Lakers is really DeAngelo Russell. And you're like, how? Because if LeBron and AD are your best two players, and Austin Reeves is your fourth, a first round former pick, DeAngelo Russell, who's more gifted naturally than Austin Reeves, but is inconsistent, if he was a consistent, an 18 a game six assist guy, this team could go toe to toe, two seven games with Denver. But he gives you that about every third or fourth game,

and rarely infrequently in the playoffs. But last night, again, DeLo was excellent. Why? Because they didn't put a body on him. O'KC doesn't do that enough. And Austin Reeves was excellent. Didn't put enough bodies on him. And so what happens? Lakers hammer a young, gifted, talent, team in the West because DeAngelo Russell plays like a number three.

So, depth, smart GM, young players who can score and hit jumpers, does not win in the playoffs. It's not going to. O'KC's fun. Great story. Did you notice how the Lakers played?

If you watch this game, did you watch how the Lakers after the first quarter started playing defense? Really physical, very tenacious, very aggressive. because the Lakers, Darvinham calls a timeout and says, guys, we know how to beat this team. You bully them. You got to get physical with them. You got to create contact.

You got to intimidate. So I thought last night, to me, I thought the Denver loss was about as good a loss as the Lakers could have. And I thought last night is why the Lakers are a threat to get to the Western Conference finals. It's not about having the deepest roster. Lakers don't. It's not about having the most shooters. Lakers clearly don't, but they match up with Minnesota. They match up with Boston.

They match up with the best teams Denver in the league because of their physicality, their size, and their two best players, to me, are the second or third best duo in the league behind Yokic and Jamar Murray. And here was after a win that I think was a statement win, here was LeBron. We did a good job of keeping bodies in front of bodies. We know they're one of the best one-on-one teams in the league. They live in the paint, but they also have been shooting the ball extremely well from the out. side as well. So I'm just trying to keep bodies on bodies. And then if there was, you know,

we get them to miss, we can clean glass. And we didn't give me any second chance points. And that was keep. Yep. Not a lot of second half points. So that was when you watch that game, you could see the Lakers saying, okay, in the last 20 games of the regular season, they start feeling like playoff games. And the last two for the Lakers, they played the best team and the fastest rising young team. And they went toe to toe with the champs and beat the fastest rising team. Now, they're both at home. That helps. But the Lakers have never been a team. Veteran team. can go on the road and win. We saw the Warriors do it in the finals against the Celtics.

Young teams tend to be highly emotional, better at home than on the road. Lakers can win home and away. It won't really matter. And I thought last night was something. J. Mack, there's a lot of stuff floating out there. More on Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Nick Wright, top of next hour. So Russell's gone. Yeah, where do you think he lands?

Come on. I know you got a good spot. Pittsburgh feels like a natural. But again, hold on. The athletic is claiming the athletic. just one reporter saying Pittsburgh's not interested. I know Ocho Cinco said otherwise. Who else you got besides Pittsburgh? Come on. Atlanta's going to take a look, although I think they prefer Kirk Cousins.

Right. Okay. So what else you got? Raiders or my pick is the Minnesota Vikings? Well, I don't think that's terrible. I think Minnesota and Kirk Cousins feel like they work together. But I think I think, you know, I guess I think Minnesota would say we know what Kirk Cousins is. we've never really had Russell Wilson in the building.

We don't think there's a huge gap. Russell's obviously not, he's more athletic, not quite as accurate. You give a little, you take a little. So, Kurt Cousins at 40 mil, or Russell Wilson at one mil? Because he's getting 37 from Denver. That's a no-brainer to me. $1 million for Russell Wilson versus 40 mil for Kirk Cousins. Yes.

Then you pay Kurt, then you pay Justin Jefferson. Go get a couple defenders. So is that your dark horse team? I think they're the favorite. I don't think there's any. It's Raiders to meet Raiders or Vikings, right? And I just, why would you stay with the Raiders? You've got no chance in that division.

Well, listen, if you go to Minnesota, you go to the weaker conference. And by the way, you would have, if Minnesota is true, you'd have Russell Wilson with an offensive coach, Jared Goff with an offensive coach. And you'd have Jordan Love with an offensive coach. And you want to stay with Justin Fields. Like that, that's why you have to go get Caleb Williams. they have to Chicago has to get explosive, restart the clock, go get some free agents. That's going to be, if Russell Wilson went to Minnesota, that is one of the better offensive divisions in football. Yeah.

I mean, think about it. Kevin O'Connell, great coach. You got Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, Hawkinson, a really good left tackle and Derosow, who had an outstanding season. He's a great year. They find a couple guys on defense for Brian Flores, and Vikings steal the division from your Packers. I think they'd be really, it'd be really interesting. That's a good take. All right.

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

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast

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double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So Adam Schaefter at the other place is saying, do not rule out Washington with the number two pick going and getting Kirk Cousins. Okay. So one thing about Kurt Cousins, he's guaranteed to work in the NFL. You got 9, 10 wins with Kirk Cousins. Of the five drafted quarterbacks, none of them, although I think Caleb Williams is close, are guaranteed to succeed. If he wasn't going to Chicago, I'd say Caleb Williams is guaranteed to succeed. So last year, Kirk Cousins, before the injury was lighting it up. His ceiling is lower, but his floor is incredibly high. Nine and eight, 10 and seven with Washington, with a the most salary cap space, and they've got a lot of it, is not out of the realm of possibility. So just think about this.

Dak Prescott finished second in the MVP voting last year. He had a 99 passer rating. He completed 67% of his throws, and he had a two and a half to one TD to interception ratio. And if the commanders were going after Dak, you'd be like, whoa! Kirk Cousins has the exact same career numbers. He just doesn't have a star in his helmet or the Jordan brand. They are the same quarterback. I think Cousins is more consistently accurate and Dack moves better.

But it should be noted that Cousins has had significantly weaker offensive lines through his career and two of those were in the train wreck called Washington and he even made the playoffs one of those years. So it's very easy if you have the number two pick to fall in love with what could be. You fall in love with that. Oh, Drake May could be Justin Herbert. Jaden Daniels could be Lamar Jackson. I saw that story this morning.

How about falling in love with what is? Kirk Cousins is a B-plus quarterback. And you and I know if a story came out this morning that Minnesota was landing Dak Prescott, it would be major news. news. The difference is he's played for the Vikings, not the Cowboys. So acquiring cousins is like taking the freeway to work.

You're going to get there. Get in line. You're going to get there. Drafting a quarterback is the ultimate detour. And if you're the Jets with Zach Wilson or the Niners with Trey Lance, that detour got ugly, took you to the precipice of a cliff about 15 yards into it.

So, listen, Caleb Williams, the only quarterback I think good enough in this draft class. He's going to succeed to some level, regardless of where he goes. You know it, I know it. All these guys. All these guys. Come on. Outside of Andrew Luck, even Trevor Lawrence, couldn't do it with a coach from college, did it the next year with a coach with a Super Bowl, and then last year got injured

and regressed again. So I saw a story this morning, Kirk Cousins seriously considering moving his family to Atlanta. And my first take was, oh, I would pick Atlanta to win their division. just like if DAC was going to Atlanta, I would pick Atlanta to win their division. So again, you can fall in love with what could be, but what is true is if you like DAC, you have to like cousins. They're both B to B plus.

They're going to get you 9, 10, 11 wins. Just like if you bring golf to town with good coaching or cousins to town with good coaching or Dak with capable coaching, they win 9, 10, 11 games, 12 games. That's just what they do. Not what they could do. It's what they do. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I wonder how that take is going to land in Dallas. I mean, some of the numbers are spot on. I didn't realize it was that dramatic. Yeah. Dack moves better. Both have had one major injury now.

Dack moves better. Dax had much better offensive lines on average. Both were mid-round picks, right? Third or fourth. I would say, Kirk's had better weapons, but Kirk also had a defensive coach for a while. Dax had offensive coaches, way better offensive lines. His weapons have been good. Zeke, Amari Cooper, C.D. Lamb, Dalton Schultz.

But there's no question. The better offensive lines, the better protection and the offensive coaches consistently has been Dallas. I think Kirk has one playoff win and Dack has two. Is that what it is? Something like that. Pretty similar guys. That's not great. All right, let's start with Dack Prescott heading into the final year of his deal.

Jerry Jones, who doesn't stop talking about his quarterback? I said he wants a new deal with Dak, but, you know, don't need to if both sides can't come to an agreement. Dak has asked about his contract at a charity event this week, and he said he feels good about it getting done. I'm definitely confident. Obviously, it helps the team. It's important for the numbers. So I think it's Jerry, I've heard Jerry said that. It's kind of helped me over here and told me that part, right? That is a process. Both sides understand that. Everything's great. And it'll happen. new look for DAC, huh? He's always wear suits all the time.

No, no, I meant the bald. Right? Doesn't he usually have hair? Look bald there with the goatee. Tough. Well, he's always had the look. The square jaw, well-dressed, looks into the camera.

He's always been, and I've said, his intangibles, A plus, plus, plus, plus. Sometimes the tangibles, B. But in terms of saying the right stuff, acting like a franchise dude, textbook. I think last week you said,

could it be 50 mil for DAC? And I was like, get the heck out of here. I said 55 million and you could not, you lost your breath. So here's the thing. 55 million for DAC. 40 for Kirk, off in Achilles, or one million for Russell Wilson because he got paid by the Broncos.

Now, we don't know that Russ is going to accept just one mil, but you should if he wants to be a starter. Like, that is so dramatic, Colin. Yeah, no, no. 55 million for Dak? Yeah, no, there's no question. If that's the case, if it's just one million, and it makes Russell Wilson very attractive.

No question. I think your Minnesota takes a really good one. Because if they don't go, because I think basically, Russell brings you a lot of what Kirk does. I think Kirk's better from the pocket. Russell's much more of a playmaker. But there's some similarities.

Great religious conviction. They're good guys. They're grownups. They're adults. You don't have to worry about them. They're optimistic guys. Not a lot of cynicism or negativity. So they're very similar.

The difference is Russ moved. better. And I think Kurt from the pocket is a really good quarterback. I saw Tua and 50 mil attached to it. And I just hear these numbers. And again, go ahead and get paid guys. I'm rooting for all of you. But if I'm an owner looking at this and I see, I'm paying a guy 55-milly has two playoff wins. What are we doing? Let's try something else. Well, I don't know. That's not going to be popular, but somebody's got to try it, Colin. Well, I think when you, if you step back and look, Like in the NBA

You're paying a lot of average guys Outrageous money Zach Levine's getting a massive contract Yeah yeah yeah And that feels really punitive For a basketball player But to pay a quarterback 55 And you know you'll avoid chaos

You're not going to have to fire your staff It's worth a lot There's something to be said about paying the quarterback First for his productivity Also his maturity And ability to keep you out of Wicksand, with Kirk Cousins, with Dac Prescott, with Tua if he stays healthy, you're always viable.

Some of what you're paying Tua and Dac is viability. I know when Tua and Dax step to the podium, grownups. If there's an issue, they'll put a blanket on. They'll be productive. It's fair. They'll hold team meeting. I mean, there's something beyond judge. Jay Cotler had a lot of talent.

Aaron's got a lot of talent. I don't want a lot of drama beyond my talent. So I'm paying for more than just, hey, throws a good. out pattern. So I don't know, you and I both know Woj Naurowski who covers the NBA. I'm friendly with him, we've known each other for years. He told me many years ago that Portland

had Dame Lillard and C.J. McCollum, right? And they clearly had a ceiling. Yes. They weren't going to the finals. But they were going to get you 45 to 50 wins every year. They're going to be professionals on and off the court in the community. Fill the arena. And like, listen, you're not going to win the title, but you're relevant. Okay? They're both now gone from Portland.

How are the Blazers doing, by them? Well, but they've got, Blazers have draft picks in a ton of young talent, so you step back for two years, as we've talked about this, three years. I'd say two and a half years from now, you're going to look up and go, oh, that's like, they're going to look like a young Sacramento. They're going to be a playoff team. Maybe if those guys pan out.

And you know how many coaches they'll cycle through in that time? Well, hopefully not many. Hopefully not many. Yeah. Sam Presti did a pretty good job in OKC, rebooting. Pretty good job. Okay. All right.

Let's get to the NBA with a bucks. I cannot believe. This result last night, most shocking in the NBA to me. They're starting to turn it on with Doc Rivers. No Janus, and they storm back to beat the paper clips. Colin, I was shocked. Dame Liller was on fire, 41 points. Bobby Portis went off, 28 and 16.

Kauai Leonard had one of his worst games of the season. This is a bad loss. You know what it is, though? Remember when LeBron Nadee didn't play against the Celtics, and the Lakers went to Boston and won? Yeah. There is this theory in the NBA. Ryan Rosillo has told me about this,

that NBA coaches will tell you, when your star doesn't play your team when you're the star doesn't play for the other team guys are like you can't ignite the fire I mean the Celtics are looking at the Lakers thinking Rui Hajamora Austin Reeves Dilo they're at home and the Lakers totally controlled the game you take Janus out and you're like who's going to beat us Bobby Portis yeah he did so if this happens in the NBA law you know who's played best against Denver this year the New York Knicks like so why because that game for the Knicks

especially at home here come the world champs he's huge Denver's like it's an average team out east we'll save our energy for Phoenix Golden State Lakers so a lot of times in this styles make fights in the NBA because the season's so long you get these games

by the way the other day Warriors play the Celtics so for the Celtics that's a prize fight we get the guys that beat us in the finals here That's the last game of an East game road trip. No Andrew Wiggins, I don't think he played for Golden State. They weren't ready to play. They had no legs on defense. They settled for terrible shots.

That doesn't mean Boston's not better. They are. These guys that bet NBA basketball, they are looking at who'd you play last. How many games on the road trip? What's your rotation like? A lot of work required there. I'll stick to college hoops. All right, final story.

Listen, I don't know what to believe on the J.J. McCarthy stuff. I've liked him for a while. A while. But not even I liked him this much, Colin. His stock apparently is through the roof, and there's a report that J.J. McCarthy could challenge Jaden Daniels to be the third quarterback taken. There's reportedly a sense that Daniels is not locked into an early draft spot,

McCarthy is a strong candidate to be taken before him. Now, you and I love to kind of decipher what's really going on out there. There's almost been so much smoke around J.J. McCarthy that a lot of it's starting to feel like BS. Okay, so there's two things that have happened that are really important. When Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnel were being drafted, what happened in the pre-draft stuff is that Baker Mayfield was great on the whiteboard. Oh, the whiteboard. Because of Lincoln Riley, and Baker's a smart guy.

So Baker went to the whiteboard, and he, you know, Darnold had Clay Hilton, the coach, and Darnold was kind of a make-it ad-lib guy, and coaches are like, oh, Baker's like a, he's like a coach out there. That was big for Baker. So J.J. McCarthy, who's had a great coach in college, just like Baker did. So he had a great coach in Harbaugh. McCarthy's reportedly great on the whiteboard.

Secondly, and this matters. So I've got to be honest about this. I was very critical of JJ when I heard, because I thought he looked kind of light in college. He was 6.3202, and I said, I'm sorry. I'm 6.1.5, 195, 196. And I'm thin. He's taller than me. then the report came out this weekend he's 6-2-22 that's Aaron Roger size that's a whole different

ballgame so if that weight is more natural and he's as good as they're saying at the whiteboard that's just not osmosis or random stuff that that is that I do think if he's as good as the whiteboard as two people who I read yesterday I forget who it was but two people had stories about dude was good at the whiteboard okay that's interesting by the way Baker mayfield's now want a playoff game in both conferences. It's not because Baker has the best darner can run around. It's because Baker's good at the whiteboard. Baker's fast.

Baker is twitchy, right? Like he's a smart dude. Just Jaden Daniels, it sounds like he did not even weigh in. He refused. Is that accurate? Well, again, so a lot of these quarterbacks aren't Roma, Rumba Dense, the receiver for Washington. He's doing, you know, 600 cone drills. That's very impressive.

J.J. McCarthy went there and he was going to show off. He wants to move up. So a lot of guys are protecting their draft status. J.J. McCarthy and Roma Dunzee, they're going to this thing to move up nine spots. And you can do that if you impress GMs. The underdogs. It's like in the NBA draft process,

the guys who are in like the 10 to 20 range. They want to work out one-on-one with the top 10 guys. I want to show you, and I'll never forget that one of the best stories ever. Steph Curry worked out against Tyreek Evans. Remember Tyreek Evans, the guard? And Curry got obliterated. They played one-on-one. Curry got destroyed.

Memphis is like, that's our guy. We got to get Tyreek for Curry. He can't defend one-on-one. Like Curry not going to handle Evans. And they made a horrible mistake, obviously. So some of these quarterbacks, this whole Jaden Daniels thing. Well, I still go back to what's your college table? Well.

It really, to me, what were you like in the biggest games in the loud of the stadium? He scored seven touchdowns against McNeese State. I don't care. I'm sorry. Well, by the way. Okay. So you're banging on Jaden Daniels. I'm not banging on him.

I'm just saying like, okay, put that over there as one data. I realize that J.J. McCarthy had half his touchdown passes against East Carolina, Michigan State, and Indiana. All those teams won like three or four games. It goes back to yesterday's production versus work ethic and traits. Well, I like production, but where does the production come from? Michael Pennickson, but Bo Nix was good in big games. That's why I like Bo Nix. He was good against the best team, even in the loss to Washington.

He was very good. So, you know, to me, I've said before, when I watched J.J. McCrack, McCarthy, how much is Harbaugh, O-line, run game, defense, weak, big 10, and how much is him? I don't know the answer. You look at that Ohio State game where he was awesome last year. Harbaugh's not in his headset. Harbaugh's not on the field making the decisions in the reads. He was doing all of it.

I mean, I know that he had the interception early against Alabama that they kind of did not go well. But overall, like, I thought McCarthy made plays in the fourth quarter of that playoff game. I like, I just don't know if I like a play. third overall of them. Well, I... So let's... Third overall would be New England. I wouldn't love it.

I don't think they're taking it. By the way, I don't buy... I don't know what to believe with New England, but this Baker-Mainfield stuff, that feels like bunk, right? I wouldn't go. If I'm Baker, and I'm Mike Evan signed, stand Tampa. Baker's trying to drive up his price. Right.

Oh, the Patriots want me. Give you $45 million. Well, he, you know, he... But I'm... Baker really works in Tampa. Like, that feels like the place. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hur. Lie News. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben. Host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show,

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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need. to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George

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

so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When your business reaches a certain scale, challenges surface. Check out netsuite.com slash heard. KPI checklist absolutely free. Mark Schlerath, three-time Super Bowl chant multiple-time pro-buller.

When stuff happens with Denver, he's a popular radio host of note in Denver in the morning. We always bring him on. start with this. I thought, you know, there was a moment early, there was a quote by Seth Wickersham had it in an article that basically Sean Payton said to Russell Wilson, stop kissing babies. You're not running for office. And to me, that like, that was a moment of clarity. These are not the same guys. Sean's the anti-politician, sometimes inappropriate, harsh, and Russell's the ultimate politician. That stuck out to me is the moment that I kind of thought, it's not going to work. Was there a moment for you early that stuck out where you thought, yeah, this is clunky?

Yeah, I think for the most part for me, Colin, it's when you actually start to break down the film and you see so many of the throws in the middle of the football field, anticipatory throws in cutting routes where you've got to throw it with timing and anticipation that are there that are going to come open where Russell decides to pull the ball and scramble around. And those are the things that will drive you crazy as a coach who wants it to be thrown on time with a purpose. And so that lack of schematic fit, right? That ability to pull the ball down when you are protected and scramble around and you end up taking sack after sack and you're putting yourself behind the chains.

Those are the things that don't necessarily jive well with, obviously, with Sean Payton. He wants precision. He wants execution. He wants a Drew Brees type of quarterback who can function and who can process information in just a split second and make the right decision. And those are not things that are part of Russell Wilson's skill set. So when you started watching the film, you realize, wow, this does not mesh very well. So if somebody, let's say Kirk Cousins leaves Minnesota, let's say Pittsburgh can look at tape, what would you give me some positives with Russell? because I never bought he was washed.

I just think he's the latest mobile quarterback. Donovan McNabb's an example that aged quickly. Cam Newton aged quickly. Sometimes more mobile guys do. What did he do that you looked at and thought, oh, that's serviceable. That does move. Because he did finish right up there with Mahomes, in terms of total touchdowns, up there with Mahomes and Lamar.

I mean, he was up in that class. What does he do that you liked on film? well he still throws the deep ball exceptionally well um his ability to extend plays scramble around and he's still got you know he's still got athleticism he still has big time arm talent so none of that stuff um is a derogatory statement on russell wilson he's still got all those abilities so i think to me what you have to be able to do is you've got to be able to play stellar defense you've got to be able to run the football exceptionally well and when things break down, your initial read is done, you've got to give him opportunities to

scramble around and make plays. You've got to have a great kind of second schedule throw, meaning, hey, when things break down or your quarterback pulls it and scrambles around, now you've got to get on the run. You've got to go make plays outside the parameters of the route combinations that we actually put in. So those things he still does really well. And in that style of offense and in that style of football team that's got a stellar defense, I think you'd be very successful. You know, they have a 12th pick. I always think Bo Nicks because of the way he plays.

He's Drew Brees with mobility, highly accurate. At Oregon, a lot of stuff was schemed up for him, but that's what Sean Payton likes. All scheme it up. You deliver it. Move if you have to. But you like J.J. McCarthy, the Michigan kid, who is flying up the draft boards, according to multiple sources. Now, what is it about McCarthy you like and know?

Well, he's one of one when it comes to pre-snap recognition and an NFL-style pre-snap offense. So you have to understand that college football has gotten to the point where it's very static formationally, right? They're going to get you in spread three by one, three-by-two empty, whatever the case may be, and you're going to basically not have progression throws, but you're going to pick your number one target,

and you're going to say, that's the guy I want to throw it to. He's my best matchup, and you're going to throw it to that guy. And so there's no real progression. You know, I talked to Bill Laser, who's with the Houston Texans, about quarterbacks and picking quarterbacks. And he said something very poignant to me.

It's not about who the best college quarterback is. It's about who's the best college quarterback with the most transferable skills. So, J.J. McCarthy is probably the only guy that runs an NFL pro-style offense at the line of scrimmage, meaning he's got different personnel groupings. he's calling plays. He's not just looking at the sideline going, okay, what do those cards say? Oh, it's barn chicken rooster.

Let's go. Barn chicken rooster on two. That's not what they're doing in Michigan. It's a pro-style pre-snap. You're motioning, you're in charge of flexing tight ends and motioning them across the formation and using that information pre-snap to understand where you want to go with the football.

This is why, in my mind, he's climbing up draft boards because he's the only guy that's responsible to the line of scrimmage. And you've got to think about how it works in the NFL. Your ability to call a huddle and your ability to make that call so you may get into, hey, we're going to fly to Trips Right, nasty, H-left, outside, two-jet, you know, two-jet branch, Buffalo, can that with 18 handoffs, 18 hand-off strong. And to be able to spit all that stuff out and to know exactly what that is,

and then to be able to change that formation and fly into that Trips-Rite to see what the defense and how they respond to that. He's the only guy in this draft that's doing that pre-snap. So he's got that advantage coming into an NFL offense or the other college quarterbacks, like I said, look at the sideline pictures and say, hey, bar chicken rooster on two, let's go. It's a different deal.

And he's the one guy that has, to me, the most pre-snap transferable skills to the National Football League. If you could take, if I sized all these people up, And I said, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, you know, and I put some of these guys out there at Baker Mayfield. We were talking about it this morning. It's possible that Russell Wilson would take like $2 million a year. If you were a team that watched Denver, you see a regressing sort of, you know, ad-living quarterback that can't ad-lib quite as much. Again, very much Donovan McNabb.

Never considered great pocket guy, but an athlete is the athleticism dips. It's not quite the same feel. but for that kind of money, would you, if you ran a team say, I'm paying $2, $3 million, Kurt would be $40, I'd take Russ. Would you do it then? Yeah, I think if the other,

like if you don't have the cap space and you can't make, you can't pull that off, and you have a great team around him, like I said, that you can take pressure, you can run the football, you can set up your play pass and your play action stuff, you can boot him out to the edge, and then you've got guys

in that wide receiver room that are big-time beasts that have the ability change and alter their routes based upon when things break down, then yes. Like I would say, yeah, that would be the style with which you're going to have to play. But also the thing you're going to have to understand is we've got to play these close games because Russ is going to put himself in arms away at least half a dozen times a game. He's going to take four or five sacks that are his responsibility off a three-step drop where he decided, no, I don't like that slant. I'm going to pull out here and I'm going to take a sack.

Not that he's trying to take a sack, but the edge players in today's. I mean, look at the draft. The edge players in today's game are running 4-440s, right? Like you can't outrun the edge like you did even 10 years ago. So there's a different dynamic there. So you're going to have to be okay with, hey, we're going to play good enough defense where we can manage some of these negative plays where some teams are just flat not good enough to overcome those negative plays because they're,

don't have enough defense or offensive weaponry to do that. All right. Mark Schlarith, as always, checking in Bronco stuff. Russell Wilson now, open market. Thanks, Mark. You got it, buddy. By the way, what is Russell's legacy? Now, one of the things I've always said is I like Kyler Murray a lot.

And people say, well, Kyler is Russell. They move around a lot. No, Kyler's a better pocket quarterback. Kyler Murray's pocket numbers, 98 passer rating from the pocket. 70% completion percentage from the pocket. I never thought Cam McNabb or Russell were great pocket quarterbacks, great athletes who could throw from the pocket. I think Kyler is a great athlete who's great from the pocket.

And that's the difference. All that said, in his prime, what's his legacy, Russell Wilson? In his prime for about eight years, 24 to 32, eight, nine years, he was excellent. I mean, if you think Pete Carroll's a good coach, and he's been to two Super Bowls, and you want a national championship or two in college, if you take the eight prime years of Russell Wilson out of Pete Carroll's career, and Pete's a good coach, do you know what you're left with?

Pete had a sub-500 record and was excused from his duties three times, and I think Pete's a pretty good coach. So I think for eight years, now he may be a little relentlessly optimistic, very Tebowish for some people, but there was an eight-year stretch. I think Russell Wilson got a lot of guys drafted. I think Steph Curry's gotten a lot of guys drafted because of his style, guys that could shoot and couldn't do anything else. I think Russell got a lot of smaller guys drafted.

Well, if you're getting a lot of Johnny Mansell type guy, Baker's a little small, but he, and so for eight years, he threw one of the best deep balls in the league. He was one of the great late game make play quarterbacks. He was always okay from the pocket, not his strength, but I think his mobile, that's the difference with Kyler Murray. I think he's great in the pocket. But it was mobile guys age and can't make the plays and are reduced to more of a pocket quarterback. And I think that's what Russell is now. There are limitations. Nick Wright is around the corner, hour one down on a Tuesday hour two.

Live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the Fourth. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at a podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends,

fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed humor. in.