The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - Defending Caleb

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

Colin talks to Nick Wright from First Things First who defends Caleb Williams from criticisms about his rookie season and slow start to training campSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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So Men and Blazers is a very popular sports podcast. And they had Tom Brady talking about soccer. It's interesting. I always feel like I'm defending soccer. And there's just a percentage of guys that are never going to buy into it. But I always feel soccer in America. is appropriately popular. It happens every fourth year, the World Cup, right?

And so it's like those relatives you see every four years. They're not real family, even though you're related. It's not like your own kids that you hold much more responsible. You get the highs and lows of the daily rituals and routines. And that the truth is, when the World Cup was here in 1994, it broke records that stand today in attendance. and the World Cup, the next one in the United States, will shatter those records. And Tom Brady was talking about, I don't think soccer needs anything in America.

I think it's as popular as it's ever going to be, and I think it's really popular when you consider that we have massive infrastructure of college football and college basketball. We are an overstimulated, distracted country. It's bigger in Europe. Europe doesn't have our college football or basketball. They don't have the NHL like we do. I mean, we've got MLS, NHL, NASCAR, NFL, NBA. Canada, by the way.

Canada's got NHL, NBA, CFL. They don't even have our college system, this labyrinth of, you know, 350 Division I basketball programs like we have here. And so here's Tom Brady talking about a little bit what soccer needs. We need the youth in America in soccer. We need a young phenom, like a Yamin Lamal, a young Lionel Messi to take over. And I believe that there will be the most amazing kind of cultural revolution for soccer here in America. We love rooting for winners.

We love rooting for the best of the best. The World Cup is coming to America in 2026. You can't imagine the fanfare when that happens. Every stadium would be sold out. The American audience loves it. I always feel like hockey feels like Canada. The NFL and college football feel like us. but soccer

you know 1,700s 1800s there's 400 year old pubs in Europe they're older than us soccer's old

there are 400 year old you know if you walk around Europe it's like you're walking in an outdoor museum I mean just just go to Vienna

go to go to these European cities I was in Florence a couple years ago I felt like the whole trip was walking in a museum I love Seattle. It doesn't feel that way.

Right? I like Denver. It doesn't feel like a museum. So I always feel like soccer is appropriately popular. It's the relatives you see every three years. And you love them, but they don't feel like your kids. And that's not a knock on soccer. I think Fox is going to break records.

I think we still hold the 1994 World Cup, still holds the attendance records. And I do think we have, I think Pulisic, I don't know where he ranks globally, but he's our best player ever. I think we have more skill than ever. I always feel like I am defending soccer, and I don't think it needs defending.

I think it's really popular here. But if you show up every four years, you're not going to be football or the NBA or college football. You're not going to be Ohio State Michigan. That's the reality of it. And I love it. My friends outside of the NFL, the guys I hang out with, soccer is their number two. They'll watch the English Premier League over everything but the NFL. seriously so I and I remember when I recently it was 17 18 19 years ago not recently got married

Anne's young boys in New England Josh and Riley did not watch baseball they watched the English Premier League downstairs in the house I was like I remember watching that and thinking wow I'm in New England and they're not watching the Red Sox they're watching soccer so I never think soccer needs defending. Now, sometimes Nick Wright does, and he now joins us live. Nick Wright, first things first, is joining us. So, um...

Hi, what's up, buddy? Good to see you. Um, you know, you don't want to make too much of little stuff. But I do think little stuff. I always call it the drip, drip, drip becomes a faucet that's leaking.

And I've got last year. And I've got mini-camp and OTAs. Now I've got the net video with Caleb Williams. And I'm like, shouldn't I be a little uneasy with the moodiness, the accuracy? I mean, I watched Shaden Daniels and Bo Nix. They were good immediately. Can I have questions about what I see with Taylor Williams? Mac Jones, good immediately too. I mean, the good immediately is not always the right answer. Here's the thing. I do not care about him missing these passes, especially because either the day before or the day after this video,

I'm not sure the sequence of it, in this exact drill, he went five for five right into the bucket. So it's not, we know he can make that pass. The only part of this video that is bothersome to me is that part, the reaction. I do think that Caleb as an emotional guy needs to recognize his responsibility as the leader of the team and the quarterback and needs to a better job of keeping his cool. So when he was in college, people made a big deal of after the loss, I forget to whom, when he was with his mother and appeared to be crying. I kind of stayed out of that because it felt like a lot of the criticism there was a wink and a nod criticism of he paints his nails, he carries a purse, now he's crying, and I felt it was unto Ward. What I do think would have been fair criticism and is fair criticism is whether it would have been him crying or if he had flipped over the gatorade table and broken a cooler, we want our question. quarterback to be level-headed, to be, you know, calm in the storm. And I think that, I do think

that is an area he needs to improve. But I saw you yesterday, Colin. You, you know, you sold just a few of your Caleb shares. And let me tell you, I had my brokers scoop them up. I was like, you know what? He's going to, he's going to sell the dip. I'm going to buy it. I'll take more of the Caleb stock. And so, and we'll see. I think he's, I think he's. he's going, I think Ben Johnson is trying, not in that drill, but trying to throw a lot at him, is fine with him struggling, is fine with him being frustrated so we can build him back up. I still believe in the transcendent talent, and I think Ben Johnson's a sharp coach. So I think it will work, but I just need him to be a little more even keeled.

Okay, so I'm going to bounce around here, and I want to get to this topic. I said that, it's a basketball topic. I didn't have a problem with LeBron James or Brawny, because we all know the deal. here. If they're on a yacht and San Trope with Savannah and they don't make a press conference and they do a video call, I'm okay with it. LeBron is messy.

He's Ronaldo. We're talking different ball game here. It's Brad Pitt. He can't make every, you know, carpet. I get it. But I said, Luca being in the kind of shape he's in, it's year two and three, Luca.

And last year I got Lumpy Luca. This year I get lean Luca. And I think LeBron, and maybe he can handle it or maybe he can't, I don't want Austin Reeves to have the ball.

I don't want, I think old KD, you could argue, will play better with lean Luca than Lumpy Luca. Last year he couldn't beat people off the dribble. He needed LeBron who still can. I think the struggle isn't

whether he's at a press conference, is that you're going to get now, year two and three, Luca, where he not only beat people off the dribble, he finished dunking at the rim, that guy is back. And his usage rate in those years was the highest ever, is that I think LeBron's numbers, for the first time in his career, you will watch Luca and LeBron, and there will be a noticeable gap in performance. And we've never seen that with LeBron. We've never seen it, but like there's, listen, LeBron last year, you know, year got the sixth most MVP votes and the sixth most all-MBA first team votes. He finished sixth in both of those categories. He was, according to the voters, the sixth best player in

basketball last year. Let's assume there's a little atrophy from there going now into year 23 of his career and where he's going to be turning 41. And let's say he goes from that to ninth or 10th best in the league. Luca is one of unequivocally the four best players in the league. I think he's one of the three best players in the league. I understand that it's a harder argument to make now because of what Shea accomplished. But I think Luca is better than Shea. Everyone thought that nine months ago, now seemingly only I and maybe Zach Lowe think it. But I think Luca is a top three player in the league.

He's supposed to be much better than whomever his next best teammate. where I disagree with people about how LeBron will take that, I think LeBron, for the better part of the last five years, had been hoping that he would be able to make this transition because of Anthony Davis. I think LeBron, as we saw in the Olympics, and once they got Luca last year, relishes the opportunity to be able to give more of his energy on the defensive end because he doesn't. doesn't have to carry all of the load on the offensive end. LeBron's issue has, and I know this, has nothing to do with Luca or whether or not Luca has superseded him in the NBA player hierarchy at this point in his career. LeBron's singular issue is, is my timeline and the Lakers timeline now totally misaligned? or are they still at least kind of together?

Where the Lakers, yes, obviously, they need to have a long-term vision, but do they also think we can win a championship right now and we are going to go for that because this might be my last year? And here is why I would argue for the Lakers they should, unless they have a secret handshake agreement that Yannis is signing there in two years. The overwhelming odds that if we were to in three years when this extension for Luca's over, say, hey, who's the single best player Luca ever played with with the Lakers in his four years with the team? The answer is likely going to be LeBron.

When LeBron leaves, the idea that they're going to get one of the six players in the league or seven players in league better than LeBron as a running mate is unlikely. So if I were the Lakers, I would treat this season. And as we have Luke who can win MVP, LeBron's coming off a great year, we filled out the roster a bit, maybe add one more wing or maybe a backup center, and why can't we go win four rounds? That's what LeBron wants them to do. I don't blame him for that. Okay, this may be below your standards of a topic choice, but I have had kind of a thing, and there's a lot of truth in it, although sometimes just to be obnoxious. I go a little over the top and a little theatrical.

Oh, tell me we're doing the visor. Tell me we're doing the visor right now. So I'm honored. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. So my thing is, there are dress codes in life. There are members clubs. There's golf courses.

There's events where you have to wear a collared shirt. It's one thing to have a hat on backwards for a wide receiver and an interview on the field. To be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, a backwards visor, I had a general manager text me to morning, he goes, you're going to get nothing but crap and you are on target. A general manager in the league said, don't stop on this. Here's a guy that nobody believes can coach and he looks like the guy that when you call 1,800 junk picks up the boxes and that stuff from your garage. It's the Cowboys. It's Bank of America. It's the biggest brand in the National Football League. That look bothers me. It does. I know it does. I know it does. So a couple of

things, just one clarification for the audience. I don't know who you get on the other end of the line if you call 1-800 junk, but I wouldn't call it and that's not the number, Colin met. But the point is taken. So here's the thing, Colin. You have always been right about this, and deep down, everyone knows it, but because you are maybe a touch hyperbolic or theatricality. people attack you. But we all agree that every single day, we are all making choices with how we present ourselves to the world. We all agree that Bill Belichick was the reason that his gruff, cut up, dirty hoodie was considered cool, was purely because, A, he was an all-time winner, and B, it fit the theme that he was trying to present.

Everyone knows that. Now, is a backwards hat across the board necessarily as much of a faux pa as you seem to think it is? Probably not. But is a backwards visor a good look on anyone? I'm yet to see it. And does everyone, even the biggest critics of you on this, does everyone, you know, Everyone agree, it's a matter of degree that we are arguing about. Right.

Because everyone agrees that if he came to the press conference with mustard stained all over his face and shirtless, but said the exact same stuff, we'd be like, yeah, the presentation's wrong. We all agree that there is a level. Your level just happens to be at orientation of the cap or visor in this case, which again, I've never cared about quite as much as you, but I also think if there were a Hall of Fame on 20 years sports topics, this is a first ballot entry. People now see people wearing backwards caps and they're like, oh boy, okay, we're going to get four-minute masterclass from Cowherd today. I mean, it's kind of your legacy. It might be a little sad thing, but it's in the first page of the obituary.

Tell you that much. It probably is. Yeah. I probably need a second good take after a third. Okay. Final. Final thing on this is that the media does this

with politics and they do it with personalities is that they pick people they like. And they just decide, we like this guy. There was a Stephen Colbert. The media is like, he's a good guy, and my take is the show is losing 40 million. It went heavy political. The demographics got

69 years old as the average age. Nobody's going to do a $40 million losing show on network TV in 2025. Maybe 30 years ago, they're not. But the media decided they liked him, and that's fine. But the media has decided they like Mike McDaniels. We're three years in.

Brian Flores, the two years before Mike McDaniels got there, they had a better winning percentage than the last three years with him, and that's with the Patriots being a disaster and the Jets being a disaster. that the media has decided they didn't like Brian Flores. They didn't like him. They like Mike McDaniel. If I had an opening today, what are the dolphins? I knew it Flores.

After about eight weeks, about week nine on, those Flores teams were nasty. It took them a while to develop it. I'm three years in with Mike McDaniel. Is this a case of the media deciding he's smart? We like him. Where's the there there with the dolphins? Okay, so a couple things. First is, I think this is a take I agree with you on, unlike the Colbert take, which I vehemently disagree with you on, and we can save that for the next time I'm on the podcast.

Probably not the time and place for it right now, but let's put a pin in that. We'll talk about it on the volume at some point. On Mike McDaniel, you are correct in that he reminds a lot of sports media of themselves. Yes. Like, that's just flatly true. Like, the smaller, rye humor, you know, at sign kind of very almost dark humor yesterday, analytical guy, I think there are a lot of people covering football that see themselves in him, which then makes you want to root for the guy to succeed.

You then also, I do think, objectively, he is a very smart. an inventive, offensive play designer, and I also think he got the absolute most out of Tua. I think there are some things to like. But where I think there is, and whether this is not just about Mike McDaniel, this is about how football is covered today as analytics and as smarter people start having larger voices in covering a football. I think there is a experience gap in how physically brutal the game is and the type of people that actually play it at the highest level and therefore how hard it can be to actually lead that group of men. Yes.

And so to me, this is a cousin of sometimes I see some of the smartest people. supposedly smartest people covering football, who I think truly believe the way they present it, every time you run the ball is stupid because the EPA per play on a bad pass is higher than on a good run and this, that, and all of it makes sense except for the fact that there is when for 80 years, every person that's ever played the game

has one of the first things they have talked about is the importance of being able to run and like the way it can, you can kind of sap the will of your opponent. And some way you just got to be like, they probably know what they're talking about. Like I haven't been out there, but like, I don't know.

It seems like if like you can make the D tackle frustrated, there might be a value that doesn't show up in the numbers. So that's a long explanation to get to McDaniel, which is I think there is some of the reason that the media loves him might also be related to why his team pretty clearly. does not fear him the way they seem to some of the more effective coaches. And I like McDaniel, but it seems like it's gotten away from him a bit with the dolphins. And I want to make this clear.

I'm not an anti-analytics guy. I'm not an anti-kind of smart learning the game thing. But I think that there is an arrogance to the idea that in some ways that football has talked about when it comes to the actual physicality and toughness of the game that it's lost in some of the math. No, this is something, I had an executive tell me years ago. He said, and this was years, and I was at the other place, and he said, the hardest part about the draft is you just don't necessarily know on tape.

Am I drafting somebody who is willing to impose his will and soul on another equally big, strong man? And Ray Lewis could be smaller and slower. you turn the lights off, put Ray Lewis in a room with any other player, Ray's coming out of the room. And there is value in the NFL in just toughness. Well, can I add to that real quick? I know we have to go.

But I have said, and again, I'm not an anti-McDaniel guy, but I think people should go back and watch the Chiefs Dolphins playoff game two years ago. When the Chiefs were, came limping into the playoffs, They, you know, I think I'm, you know, they were, it was when they had the first road games. Now they, of course, ended up going to and winning the Super Bowl because they're the Chiefs, but they seem to be a vulnerable team. And that was the third coldest game in NFL history. And Andy Reid came out and he looked like Andy Reid.

He was dressed like Andy Reid is dressed, even though by halftime he literally had icicles on his mustache. And Mike McDaniel came out as. bundled up as you've ever seen a human being. And I said, I said on the air that week. I was like, because the dolphins had no interest in being there. They, you know, they got annihilated from the very beginning. And I said, I can't prove it.

But I feel like the chief saw their coach acting like, this is a normal game, normal business, and they were, and they internalized it. And the dolphins saw their coach acting like, this is the coldest I've ever been in mind. entire life and they internalized that and I just think there are little I think football's so different because it's so physically painful it's so dangerous it's so brutal that there is just a lot of magic in the indefinable toughness stuff and I think that's kind of what I'm getting at here you know I'll

close it on this years ago I was sitting watching it was Peyton manning and tom brady in a playoff game in foxborough and Jim nance is doing it and he's going to a commercial and they they show a pre game shot it we're coming back with a kickoff next and they show peyton manning and he looks like he's with a i think it's a colts at this point he looks like he's freezing and i'm like it's over brady's out there high five and and and patent manning who plays in a dome and indy looked and i thought oh that's just terrible body language and i think we agree on that all right buddy absolutely great to see you see you colin all right we'll get to that stephen cobert thing on a podcast you, I swear we were. No, I think it, there is something to be said is that I'm not anti-analytics

ever, but I've said this before about the NBA. Those analytics go out the window in the playoffs because you just coach differently and the NBA officiates differently. Analytics in baseball, it's built for the volume of 162 games. You go into the playoffs. Dave Roberts is going to use his bullpen differently in the playoffs than he does any other time of the year. So all the analytics are built for volume of games, but what happens when you get down to a five game, seven game series? Well, in the NBA, the games are officiated differently. You don't get the whistle. You don't get the regular season whistle. So I like analytics in football, but a lot of it comes down to mental and physical toughness.

and I mean, Philadelphia's best play is gaining half a yard. All the analytics of football. Tom Brady was unstoppable on quarterback sneaks. If it was fourth and one, Brady got the first down. He mastered it. So with all the analytics with football, sometimes it's like, Philly and Tom Brady have mastered getting a yard in January. And Buffalo, by the way, with Josh Allen, was a circus.

to get a yard. Sometimes the game is just that. The will and the toughness to get a yard in lousy weather. Well, one more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,

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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 was... 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, S&L'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 René. a 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. Jenchen, I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source. the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Joel Klatte, Texas Ohio State. I still think I take the points with Texas. Ohio State has the two best players.

They're at home. I think I would take the points with Sark and Archmanning. I just don't know what I get with Ohio State at quarterback. I have no ideas. Really talented five-star kid. That's a tough opener. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News. All right, Con, let's bust right into it. A team, I believe you're sleeping on the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think this offense is going to go to the moon. They just announced that Travis Hunter, the intent is he's going to play both ways. On the first depth chart, Jacksonville released, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver and a backup cornerback, which is pretty much what we expected, right?

Situationally, he would probably appear in some dime packages. He's just too athletic to not get the ball to 12 times again. I want the ball in his hands. I don't want him on an island, and the team decides not to throw to his side of the ball, and he's baking in the Jacksonville son and never touching the football. I want him to touch the ball. Sounds like Liam Cohen is going to scheme him up a lot,

and here is Cohen, the new head coach, talking about his offensive and defensive rookie of the year candidate. These guys are challenging him every single day. He doesn't get a free pass. because he was the second overall pick in these Travis Hunter. Like they are in his grill trying to jam him up, trying to hem them up, trying to make it as hard as they can possibly make it for him in a great way, like in the most healthy way as possible, where they're going at it and chirping at each other.

And by the way, you know what I like about Travis Hunter? From what you can tell, just a nice kid. He's a football kid. He's into it. Like, considering how gift that he is, is he going to be the Otani of, of football. I mean, you say what you want.

You don't get a lot of guys that are like elite receivers and elite corners. Like, we freaked out with Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson wasn't playing linebacker. Like, this kid has a chance to be

all-time stuff here. Like, not just receiver parmer turner. Elite corner, Pro Bowl receiver. Like, I don't think that, I mean,

it's usually, the people I trust that I've, talk to about him. They're like, listen, this is just different. He's going to be the best athlete in the NFL very quickly. Think about that. That's bold. I just want to reinforce. So Liam Cohen's very sharp offensive mind in Tampa.

That offense was awesome. They had Evans and Godwin. They've essentially recreated that with the young kid, Brian Thomas, who was awesome last year. Yes. And now Travis Hunter. And remember, in Tampa, he had a flotilla of backs. He's got E.TN. and Bigsby. They were a good combo last year. I'm just telling you, if Lawrence can stay healthy. This is an offense that should be a top 10 unit in the league, Colin. I don't know about the defense holding off people,

but I think they will challenge Houston for second in the division. I can't wait to watch him. It's very rare. Usually I really want to watch rookie quarterbacks. I can't remember the last time there was a non-quarterback that I really want to see play. I think he has a chance to be an all-time special kid. I know we don't want to relitigate Trevor Lawrence every single. year, but he came in as the next Andrew Luck caliber quarterback hasn't totally lived up to it,

has had a couple injuries. He's had like a half a dozen coaches. Colin, he's still a young quarterback with major upside. I'm gobbling up all the Trevor Lawrence stock I can find. Are you interested in that at all or not really? Well, he, I will say this. If you look at Indy and if you look at Indy, let's see the Texans have an established quarterback

Jacksonville I think if you look at Tennessee and Indy I don't know if they have the offensive firepower to just keep up with Jacksonville and Houston if Houston's healthy if Jacksonville's healthy it's an offensive league and I mean it's probably the smart play to go Jacksonville Texans top two in that division either order they just they have more established quarterbacks and more dynamic players around the quarterback.

Yeah, too many questions for the Colts. Let's move to another team in the AFC. Hey, man, nobody loves the Patriots like you. This is your team that you've stuck up, you know, you've planted a flag in the New England Patriots. You love them. Well, new head coach Mike Vrable has been putting a lot of stuff on Drake May's plate and May's been delivering.

Here's Vrable just so geeked about his quarterback. There's protections. I mean, there's, when he sees something that he can help. he sees it a lot better than I think than some other players or alignment or if you see something say something and don't assume that everybody's seeing it the way that you're seeing it. I see him get guys in the right formations or tell guys, hey, you're off the ball, you're on the ball, or hey, you're over here doing that quickly. As before, sometimes young quarterbacks, they're just focused on the plate or focused on the cadence

and not focused on sideline to sideline. And I think that that's starting to improve. Mark it down, 10 wins, buddy. Oh. That's an easy one. So, that's an easy one. Let me challenge you on this Drake May stuff. So I loved him coming out.

I thought he'd be better than Jane Daniels. We call that a bit of a whiff. I am curious. Who will have a better season, Drake May or Caleb Williams in year two? I think Caleb faces a tougher schedule. I think I think Drake May as a proven coach I think it's an easier schedule

and I think I'll be honest with you it's tough I like Drake May I thought I thought he was kind of Justin Herbert just not as polished coming out of college if I had to bet my 401K

I would say that Drake May will be more consistently good than Caleb. Caleb will have more flashplays and will be more spectacular. But if you're just talking 17 starts, who's more consistently B-plus? I would say Drake May. So I am going to read off the wide receiver depth chart for the Patriots.

You're talking 10 wins, okay? Number one is Stefan Diggs, who's coming off a major injury, getting up there in age. More of a two now. We know his off-field habits are questionable to say the least. Number two, to Mario Douglas? Okay, number three on the Deptart, Matt Collins. That's the guy that Buffalo was like, hey, man, you occasionally showed up.

Thank you for your service. You're out. Number four, Kyle Williams, Kishon, Booty, Kendrick Bourne. Colin, that is a weak wide receiver group. Probably the weakest in the division. I will say Kyle Williams has a potential to be very good. Kyle Williams could be one of those guys that you look at and go, who's Kyle Williams? The rookie out of Washington State, right?

No, he sees a really good player. I don't think they have a great receiving core, and I don't think they're a dominant team. What I do think they are is 10 and 7, and they make it in as the dolphins don't really have an identity, and the Jets are once again in a rebuild. I'm not saying they're a 12-win team. I don't think they're going to be a team that wins playoff games, but I think they're going to get in as a wild card team. Listen, if Drake May takes that pooh-poop-plotter of receivers to the playoffs,

I mean, you might as well just say he's the seventh-best quarterback in the league. Final story, Colin, college football. Your boy, Dabo Sweeney. I feel like he has been irrelevant since you guys went toe-to-toe a few years ago. He's talking tough right now, okay? He finally hits a transfer portal, and now all of a sudden, he told a reporter, I've had one undefeated team in 2018. We were the first 15-0 team in the history of major college football.

And I think we're going to be the first 16-0 team this year. It's a race to do that. Now, Clemson is the class of the ACC, no doubt about it. They do have an early landmine against LSU and what should be a very good game on August 30th. But after that, I mean, the ACC is largely a joke. FSU's not very good this year. They're going to run through this schedule. Yeah.

They're going to run through it. He's got a great quarterback. I think they return like 15 starters. They went to the portal a little. I think they went and got like three guys. They didn't really use. the portal. He's a believer in build it with high school football recruiting. They have great connections in that region for high school football. They are going to fly through this schedule.

This is going to be a, this is going to be a top three or four team. Like I like Ohio State, Texas, Oregon. They have my Penn State. They have much tougher schedules than clubs. Yeah. I'll just say I do like Dabo, Dabo, Dabo, whatever you guys want to call him. I just, in recent years he's been so standoffish. I've kind of been off him. But now he's talking tough again because he's got a great hand. Like, I mean, Bruce Feldman was telling me this defensive line is the best of the country. Well, and they're stacked. He, I think he needed to use the portal more than he did.

Yeah. But in fairness, here's teams that really use the portal a lot. USC, LSU. How did it work? Well, don't forget Indiana and SMU and TCU. Yeah, but Indiana is a non-Indiana. Indiana, it doesn't matter in college football consistently. They made the playoffs.

Who cares? And we're awful. Like Clemson recruits at a very high-level high school football. They get a lot of four-star guys, and his take is, I'm not going to use it. Now he's using it a little, and I don't think he used it enough. But it's okay if one program that's good says, we're not going to, you know, like for years, I mean, Kentucky led the world in won and duns. Oh, right.

They got one title. So what? Well, how is it bad? Well, no, it's not bad. But everybody knows Calipari was pushed out of Kentucky. He was viewed as underachieving. So this idea that the portal is this magic elixir for success, no, it's not. Colorado, LSU and the USC have lived on it.

It's not. I think DaBo should have used it more. But when you're Clemson or if Ohio State used a portal for three players a year, they would still be winning 11 games. as long as the guys they got were Caleb Downs level. But I think the portal, to me, is a little overvalued at this point. It's a little overvalue. The analogy I like is the portal is like Major League Baseball's salary cap, right?

You can spend all you want. It's not going to guarantee success, but it is certainly going to help your chances at getting to the postseason if you spend more money in Major League Baseball, as opposed to the bottom feeders who don't spend money and have no chance. If you hit the portal hard, keep an eye on the mic, Texas Tech Red Raiders. need to them to send me some swag because I'm all in on them making the playoff this year.

Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Is Jerry Jones negotiating with players directly just really the smart way to do it? Next, the Hurd. 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, 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. 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 was... 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. Jen she went. 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, Lina Rabakina 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 IHart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience. in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase 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, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. You know, it's interesting just to show you that the NFLPA has never been terribly strong. Jerry Jones, basically, and he's done this before, he's trying to negotiate. with Micah Parsons directly. The NBA would never allow that. Like baseball wouldn't allow that. The players' unions too strong. NBA wouldn't allow it.

But that, you know, Jerry's done it before he's doing it again with Micah. I think the whole thing's a bit of a mess. I've said this. I think the Cowboys have just gotten very insular. The schedule is interesting for Dallas because there are a couple of teams in this league that I think are in big trouble, but they get soft landings early. like you know i mean the cowboys get the giants at home early they get you know the jets carolina and the bears early though those are all winnable games i think by week seven here comes

washington denver uh philly kansas city detroit i think it's going to get really ugly i think i think up to the buy it'll it'll feel okay then i think you're going to start getting into week 11 and on and and i think they're going to be in big trouble but the whole the whole micha parsons again, like as the league has gotten smarter and modernized, the really good teams just get ahead of this stuff. They don't get trapped. The Rams, and I don't say this just because I spent nine years in L.A. The Rams are, they don't get into these weird situations.

They keep their players. You know, Matt Stafford, we're going to keep him out of camp. He's getting bruised. And they just, they know how to work all these situations. where Dallas feels like they inflame all of them. This Micah thing should not, he's been fairly compensated. He's a great player. But he, I mean, he's one of the highest cap hits.

Even this year, he's going to be one of the highest cap hits for his position in the league without getting the big contract yet. So he's been fairly compensated. Matt Hasselbeck yesterday on the whole Micah Jerry contract on and off. Jerry Jones seems to like be fine with this kind of conflict, fine with this kind of drama. But he also doesn't seem like the kind of owner that wants to get like pushed around publicly. So, you know, there's a part of me that says, hey, this is Michael Parsons, figure it out, close the door, include the agent.

Then there's another part of me that says, hey, why don't you just punt on this year anyway? Go out and get like the most amazing draft package for next year and really start focusing this team on next year because I really don't know that you can compete with Philly and that you can compete really with Washington and then the rest of the NFC. Well, I mean, the Cowboys have the longest NFC championship game drought. It's going to turn 30 years this year, and they're not going to make the NFC championship this year. But you can blame a lot of factors, and, you know, I can just blame Jerry Jones. We can all blame Dak, but it really comes down to this. How do you draft?

I mean, the reason the Rams in Philadelphia, the lions and the Ravens, you know, are consistently good in Buffalo, is they mostly draft well. and Belichick at the end of New England last seven years. They drafted poorly. Brady saw it and left. I just don't think Dallas drafts consistently at a high level and a lot of that is Jerry views himself as a GM and he's an owner.

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 at

Ask 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 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 name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina 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 IHeart 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, 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.