The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Hierarchy, Top 100

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

Colin's first Herd Hierarchy of the NFL season Thoughts on Russell Wilson's ranking in the Top 100 NFL list   Guest: Mark SanchezSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. 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. 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, 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 Clifers 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 IHeard 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.

Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. Now let's get this party start. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, hour one absolutely flew by.

Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. All new lineup on FS1 today. It goes Craig Carton. It goes Skip and Shannon. Our show with J. Mack now. You're going to hear Nick Reich, Chris Brousard, Kevin Wilde, after, and the man you watcho, Joy Taylor. running back

how in the world he just signed with us Shady McCoy Shady McCoy my bad just signed with him I had a fun conversation with him a couple weeks

It's always been a funny guy I like him a lot so he's the new guy he brought in and it's the best lineup since I've been here the most talented lineup very excited for it

JMAX so Thursday's the opener Buffalo opens up with the Rams NFL's always done a really good job with their schedule more than any other sport they understand

you know the NBA Christmas Day stacks them up So the NFL does a really good job with their schedule. So on Tuesdays, all football season, at this time, I do something called the herd hierarchy. Now, I do a couple in the off season. I do one after free agency in the draft. And then you go through camps and you wait on injuries. And then I do one a couple of weeks ago.

But we've had some developments over the last couple of weeks, including Trey Lance is annoyed that Jimmy Garoppolo got re-signed. He has struggled in the preseason. So here we go. This is our pre-NFL season, Heard Hierarchy. Heard Hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go.

The top 10 NFL teams, according to college, number 10. I think the Niners may have the first or second best roster in the league, but you and I and everybody wonders, can Traylands do it? And Kyle Shanahan has been brutally transparent, saying multiple times, he's inconsistent. I wish we had more practice time. so for that reason I put him at 10. The good news is between Debo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell, and their draft pick from LSU, they can run the football and give him time to grow slowly, but their schedule is rough.

And Kyle Shanahan is brilliant, but he's only 8 and 28 in San Francisco without Jimmy Garapolo. So every coach in this league, asked Bill Belichick, is limited by the talent of their quarterback. Zach Taylor was going to get fired, then Joe Burrow were wrong. So I have the Niners at 10. Number nine. I think Minnesota is the most underrated team in the league. They go from a defensive coach to an offensive coach. I think that helps Kirk Cousins.

Between Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson and Irv Smith and Adam Thielen, I think they have one of the best groups of talent in the NFL. 14 of their 17 games were decided by one score. And they lost a lot of those. And I think they'll now turn the corner and win those. They improved their pass rush in a division. with Aaron Rogers. That's crucial. Zadaria Smith comes Green Bay to Minnesota. I like this team a lot. I think they beat the Packers in week one, Vikings at nine. Number eight. It was a noisy offseason,

but you know what? I still like a lot about Arizona. Seattle's now tanking in the division, so there's two wins there. James Connor, Marquise Brown, Ron Dale Moore, Zach Ertz, offensive coach. Now, you may have your questions about how this season ended, but they were on fire the last couple of years in September and October. Maybe Kyler Murray's size gets beaten down. Maybe it's Cliff Kingsbury. Same thing happened at college. But I know in September and October, Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray, when healthy,

are going to score a ton of points. Don't forget. We thought they were the best team in the league last year through seven games. They were blowing good teams out. So I have Arizona, despite the noise, at 8. Number 7. Tampa Bay. I do not like what's happened to the interior of their O line.

but the NFC is weaker. Their division's really weak, and they're going to win a lot of games through that defensive front and Tom Brady. I don't think they're as good as last year, and I didn't think last year they were as good as the year before. Todd Bowles will tighten up the defense,

and Tom will run the offense. But the injuries at Guard, Center Guard, and the retirement of Alimar Pett is absolutely, absolutely suboptimal. So I think Russell Gage helps no gronk on third down, no A, B. We know Brady likes his comforts. They're a very good team.

Can they be special? I have my doubts, but I have them at seven. Number six. I like the Bengals. I know Super Bowl losers. Everybody bails on them, but they have three new projected starters on the interior of the O line, and I like all of them. They were leading the Rams with two minutes to go in the Super Bowl.

Okay, this is a really good football team. They can play from behind. They can play with the lead. They're returning 10 of 11 starters on defense. I don't love their second. secondary, but in this day and age, you're not great everywhere. Last year, let's be honest, the Rams weren't real good at linebacker. I like the way they're built. Jamar Chase T. Higgins, Tyler Boyd, new offensive line, and I think Burroughs got an it that, you know, it's hard to

quantify, but he's just special. He's just a special, confident kid. Dad was a coach. Let's put the Bengals at six. Number five. I'll put the Chargers at five, although they're special teams, once again, it's a harrowing preseason experience with their special teams. But God, I love the O-Lon and Justin Herbert and the weapons. They add Khalil Mack as an edge rusher, J.C. Jackson at corners. They're probably the best number two corner in the NFL. He couldn't stop Stefan Diggs, but he's still a really good corner. I think this is a Super Bowl potential team.

There's like some bad luck hovers over this franchise. I swear to God, there's special teams, meltdowns. Nobody's lost more games in the last decade you thought they had won. But in terms of roster, I know people in the NFL that I trust, personnel people, that think it's a better roster than the Rams who they share a stadium with. And Herbert is just a stud getting better. I have them at five. Number four.

Kansas City. Now, here's what worries me. They gave up about six yards of play last year. Third worst in the league. You can move on them. I mean, Buffalo moved up and down the field on him. Brady's done it multiple times. I worry about that, but they bring back all their offensive line.

Remember, last year they were rebuilding it. Well, they did. They're all back. They're healthy. And they're an overtime loss in the AFC championship away from three straight Super Bowls. You can get to the Super Bowl without a dominating defense. Cincinnati is a great example. You can even do it in the AFC.

So this is an Andy Reid-Mahom's vote and an offensive line vote. I think they're going to have to win some shootouts because I don't love, you know, losing a honey badger matters. He's an incredibly instinctive play. but I have them at four. Number three. Basically, I'll give Denver, I think Denver's defense, the most underrated signing in the NFL this year with DJ Jones in Free Agency and then Randy Gregory.

So you had Bradley Chubb on the D-line, and now you added two really high-end defensive linemen. They have a much better pass rush than Kansas City is going to have this year that relies heavily on Chris Jones. So I think the pass rush for Denver in a great quarterback division is highly underrated. They also have two excellent,

corners and a stud young safety. So we know Russell Wilson's good. I do worry a little about losing Tim Patrick for the season, but they're deep at wide receiver. They're also a little young and immature at wide receiver, but they got talent, speed, size, Broncos at three. Number two. Buffalo, I had them at one three weeks ago.

I worry about close games. I worry about their offensive line, and I worry with a defensive head coach in an offensive leaning league, is that the difference between beating a Kansas City? losing to a Kansas City, beating the Rams Thursday and losing to the Rams. Not much I don't like about them. Their top corner will be back soon from an injury. O-line's a little wonky, but they just keep adding pieces. They're a little Josh Allen-centric, but Josh Allen's great, so I'm okay with that.

I think they're pretty buttoned up. Ownership, GM, coach, quarterback, all get A's for me. I have them when in the Super Bowl. But... Number one. The Rams had the best camp. They had a really good camp. Two different people, including Jeff Howe yesterday, said of all the camps they went to,

nobody looked better than the Rams. The Matt Stafford 10 to 9th story was overplayed. Van Jefferson's a number three receiver, and he's not going to be around for the first week. They're good at tied-in. Alan Robinson, Cooper Cup. I don't think their O-line will be quite as good without Andrew Whitworth. So they won't be as good up front. But they're still fine.

They're excellent at right tackle. They're excellent at center. And they'll be okay at left tackle. So I think it's a really good football team. Repeating is really tough. That's why I have them getting to the Super Bowl. But again, I think owner, GM Les Sneed, coach McVeigh and Stafford, Buffalo and the Rams are A in all of those. And also, the number one defense in the league last year was Buffalo and Aaron, Donald, and Jalen Ramsey are the best-de-tackling corner in the league.

So you have stars on the defensive side as well. All right, Jay Mack, your thoughts on that? I have questions. Go ahead. Mr. Coward. So, first I keep looking up there, I'm like, Green Bay Packers. Third or fourth best Super Bowl odds, according to every sports book in Vegas. I don't buy.

That's the team. Okay, time out. We know that cultures change. You know, 20 years ago, you're a young guy. If you would have come up to me 20 years ago, and I would have said to you, I don't really get tech, you'd have been like, it's okay. You should, you should get on it. But today, if you walked up to me and I'm like, dude, I just, I'm not a lot.

on Twitter. I don't get technology. You look at me kind of like, dude, you're vulnerable. You cannot in 2022 go into a season without a number one or a number two receiver. I don't care how good Aaron Rogers is. I don't think you can, you can now if you put them in the AFC, I'd pick him as a second third place team. I don't think Green Bay is going to have to run the ball to win and I think they can do that. But you, Alan Lazard, three roars. Three Roared. cookies, old Randall Cobb, and often hurt Sammy Watkins. By the way, the bucks are loaded with weapons. The Rams are loaded with weapons.

Philadelphia increasingly can move the ball. I just don't think they have enough, they don't have enough juice. That's fair. That's extremely fair. They were my first question. I'll just say the Packers' defense, arguably the best in the league. So my second big question, were the Baltimore Ravens? Didn't I talk you under the Ravens?

Ravens are 11. Okay, fair enough. And then the final one, Arizona, Colin. Listen, I like this team a lot. You talk about number one receiver. Hopkins suspended for the first, what, six games? They're pretty deep at receiver. Christian Kirk was their number two receiver last year.

He's now in Jacksonville. And, oh, by the way, this defense, have you seen the cornerbacks on this team? They just signed Trayvon Mullen from the Raiders. I mean, he was like, could barely get on the field for them. Arizona's one of their starting cornerbacks had like a cooking injury. He's out for the first four weeks. The Kansas City Chief's line is going up in week one. They could get destroyed in week one.

You sold on Arizona? Well, I'm sold at eight. I don't think they're off. Above the Packers? This Packer story is going to be fun. By the way, Alan Luzard, I just got the text. Questionable may not play this weekend. So Romeo Dubs, our guy, remember him for three weeks ago.

Yeah. Could be wide receiver number one for Aaron Rogers against the Vikings. By the way. And he may eventually be a legitimate number one. Out of Nevada. He's a 22-year-old kid. He's not a number one now in the NFL. It's going to be interesting.

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. 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. 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 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. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the 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. Trip 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The NFL is back with a huge week-one doubleheader on Fox.

First, the Trey Lance era begins as the Niners take on the Bears, then in America's Game of the Week, reigning MVP Aaron Rogers lead the pack against Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. It all kicks off Sunday on Fox. One of the interesting things about September, whereas you can see big gaps in college football between the halves and the halbs. You can see it very, very quickly. You know, Notre Dame hung around Ohio State. Those are both halves.

But Ohio State's second half, the better team, more dynamic offense. In the NFL, you will see in September, kind of limited teams that are rebuilding, like a Jets team that's rebuilding. They're not quite there yet. They'll knock somebody off. The Jags will knock somebody off. You know, the margins in the NFL are much, much closer. So until teams know they're bad and they're one in five or two and four and you start

losing six or seven guys in the locker room, people start patting their resumes, getting selfish, you know, going for sacks over playing in their lanes. But in the first month, the opening week, we're going to have a massive upset. Somebody, there's going to be a massive upset or two in week one, and I love it. Here's J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Let's get started with the 49ers.

They did not obviously make a trade for Jimmy G in the offseason. Instead, they reworked his deal to keep him and Sanfran. It's going to be the backup. And his teammate's left tackle superstar Trent Williams was surprised. No team made a move for Jimmy Garoppola. Yeah, I was surprised that no. Nobody made him, you know, stepped up and made him their guy. That surprised me more than anything, but him knowing what he was looking against and choosing to come back here,

I thought that was probably the go-to answer. I would assume that he would do that if I knew the circumstances. But, yeah, I expected him to, you know, be somewhere somebody starting quarterback. Well, here's the good news for the Niners. They have the best backup quarterback in the league easily. So, I mean, say what you want. How many backup quarterbacks have been to a super basketball? So they have the best bullpen.

Their starting staff, they're not sure. But they've got a great bullpen. And when a coach knows that he's got a playoff game winning quarterback in the bullpen, the question becomes, how patient is the coach? So they should win their openers. Chicago, even though I think it's on the road, is a team that's really bad up front. So the defense of the Niners should control week one. It'll be a low-scoring game.

It won't be pretty, but you think the Niners' defense will create some problems or turnovers. Week two at Seattle. And they get them on a short week because Seattle plays Monday night football against Russell Wilson. So you should be 2-0. Then the grading curve gets really interesting. I mentioned this on my podcast, Colin. When you look at the Tua Ryan Fitzpatrick relationship in Miami a couple years ago, remember, Tua looking over his shoulder, all of a sudden they yank him.

Fitzpatrick makes a comeback. And now you've got just a weird scenario, young quarterback looking over his shoulder. shoulder. You know the first pick six that Lance throws. They're going to be like, oh, time for Jimmy G? You know that's coming. You have them where on the herd hierarchy. Well, I have them 10. But the truth is, if it was a roster herd hierarchy, I'd probably have them at two behind Buffalo. I think they're that good. Poor Tray Lance. All right, next story, Colin, the Packers, already rebuilding the wide receiver room without Devante Adams. Now, Alan Lazard, I kind of teased it. He may not be around for Sunday's game. Look at you.

your chops at the Vikings. So they're going to have to rely on more rookie additions. Aaron Rogers, of course. Yeah, you know, he's gassing up. Christian Watson. Here's what he said about the rookie from North Dakota State. This kid might be the new baby giraffe or more like a deer because he's just prancing and flying around on the field.

Dude's got incredible stride length. And really, for a man who's 6'5, his speed is legit. Nice having it. Different type of receiver than we're used to. A guy big with that type of stride length and speed. Colin, Aaron Rogers, really excited about Christian Watson. I think he's a converted quarterback. Well, here's the issue.

The young receivers will probably hit their stride in Thanksgiving. The old receivers will be good early, but get hurt by Thanksgiving. So the truth is you're going to have to rely on the veterans early, and then mostly, because the young kids won't be ready, most of them, Dobbs maybe. And then late you're going to have to rely on the kids because Sammy Watkins can't get through a season. And Randall Cobb, you know, as you age, the injuries pile up. So what you're going to have, I think, in the receiving court, it's going to be, that's why Lazard not being available and Watson not being available.

So you're going to rely on the old guys for the first six to eight weeks. Then you hope the young guys take the baton. Because Sammy Watkins hasn't played an entire season, I think, since year one. I could be wrong. Look it up. He's always hurt. He's always hurt. So, and Randall Cobb was a really reliable player, but Randall's not going to give you.

He'll probably give you 12 games. Sammy gives you 12, 11 games. So you hope you can rely on the veterans early, but don't depend on them post- Thanksgiving. Remember, last year, Lazard was like their number three guy, Adams, MVS, and now Luzards hurt. This could get ugly in week one for the Packers. All right, final story, Colin. Steve Sarkesian and the Texas Longhorns host Top-ranked Alabama on Saturday. The line is soaring.

We're nearly at three touchdowns already. This will be the toughest test of the season for Texas. I cannot believe Sark said this. Are you ready for this, Colin? here's what he said about their game plan for Alabama. It's one game, you know, it's a chance for us to do what we love to do. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is like, this is going to be the game that's going to define our program.

It might. It might not. I'm not that concerned about it. I'm more concerned about just the way we play the game, you know. I'll be honest with you, this game plan was done probably about three months ago, and I'm sure their game plan was done probably about three months ago. I don't think either of us thought going into week one we were going to see something new that was going to drastically change what we were going to do. That doesn't bother me because remember in Nick Saban's second year, so Nick Saban took over a bit of a mess,

first year Nick Saban lost a Louisiana Monroe at home. I think second year he went and played Utah and got completely dominated. Sark took over a mess. It's year two. They're not going to win this game. And by the way, Alabama's on a 10-12-year recruiting. role. They've got more good starters. I think Texas over Sark's tenure here has really improved the talent, but it's a

lot of freshmen. So they're not going to win this game, and they're not going to be competitive. And if the line is 18, I take Alabama. I don't think it defines them. But you've got to be fair about this. Pete Carroll was six and six first year. They didn't hit. Pete didn't at USC until about week five of year two. So my thing, Alabama is a really rough opener. In about four weeks, when they bounce off the Alabama loss, what do they look like? Because I do think with a transfer portal, you can solve issues much quicker. But you can't solve Texas what he inherited in 12 games.

Like, they're not ready to beat in Alabama. It just surprises me that the game plan for an Alabama game would be drawn up three months ago. Is it possible the staff saw something in Alabama's first game? They said, you know, we could exploit that. We could take advantage of that. Maybe Sarker, this is just gamesmanship. I don't think Alabama has a lot. to exploit. There's got to be something.

Here's what you have to do. Block Will Anderson. Then try doing that. Bryce Young, by the way. Oh, yeah. Will Anderson's the best edge. He's like the Chase Young. Has no chance to bust in the NFL. Top five, lock. Could be number one if it wasn't a quarterback need.

He is a great, great can't miss player. Jay Mackle of the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lye News. Fox Sports, deck it in the NFL. Love him on. Mark Sanchez is joining us. Oh, Jets legend. And if he's got a little bounce in his step, you can hardly blame him. So listen, Marky Mark, I was at that USC game. My USC vision was locked in.

And I'll say this. When you watch a game on TV, you miss certain things. Like you can't see the safeties, right? Watching Caleb Williams in person, the feel for the pocket. So you can, talk about this. I've seen quarterbacks in my life. They're talented. Not a ton of feel. That kid just, you could, I don't know if it's the steps, what he hears. He is better than I

thought, and I was told by the USC staff, you're not going to believe how good he is. He was, now it's rice. I get it. But man, his feel mark is something. It's the consistency. The same voice from last year, same plays, same concepts. All that kind of stuff

matters. And now he's year two into that language and he had a plan you could tell he knew the game plan specifically now granted we said it's rice there's a lot of guys open but when it wasn't open he made the right decision with the football and he knew what his contingency plan was going to be just getting the ball out quickly understanding there's pressure coming right there boom just ball out easy he's done it before a million times in practice and he's doing it for his second year with the same coordinator and in my opinion better players so he's only going to get better. Now, I don't know about this team yet. Loved what I saw. Don't get me wrong. I'm not down on them at all. I love it.

I mean, we're sitting watching the game and there was, oh, what about the defense when Rice, you know, goes on their first drive? Everybody's freaking out. I'm like, hold on, guys. I mean, new scheme, practice, new guys. Yeah, like new scheme, first game in the season. You don't think they're amped up ready to go. And Coach Blumgram got them ready to go. He was one of our coaches with the Jets years ago. He was the one actually responsible for that, him and Devlin, responsible for that wildcat package. which we did with Brad Smith. It was pretty sweet.

They were really good. But I think these next two weeks, Stanford's going to tell me a lot on the road, young team after a big win, season opener, a big win at home. Okay, great. Now show me what you got against the methodical, strong,

always tough team on the road. And then again, Fresno State, not a bad squad, at home again. I'll know a little more in these next couple weeks. All right, I want to shift to the jet. So Zach Wilson got hurt.

I will say this. I really like Joe Douglas. new GM, I thought they had the best draft this year and a top two or three draft last year. I think Joe's really sharp and my NFL guys love him. And there's some teams that don't draft well. New England's one of them. The Jets in two years would Joe have drafted well. And a couple of their receivers are really interesting.

So Zach gets hurt in camp. Would you play them at 90% in the opener? We have an extra game in the NFL, Mark. You don't have quite the urgency. What would you do? until he's 100% healthy, don't mess with it. You don't want to, everything is trending in the right direction. Everything you just mentioned is trending in the right direction.

The draft picks, the head coach, handling all the media, all that. These guys are starting to gel together. They got some wideouts. They got some talent for this young stud quarterback and Zach Wilson. Don't do the yo-yo thing. Avoid risk, you know, avoid that urge and that need to be, oh, just trot them out there. We'll be fine. And besides, you got a stud behind him in Joe Flacco.

And you don't think he wants to go beat the Ravens? Like, give him his chance to do his one game, but don't do the back and forth. You need Zach for the full season. Don't mess with just a one game, quick fix. Okay, he'll be fine. And then it's like patchwork the rest of the year. He don't want to do that. Not for him, not this year, not for his confidence.

He's got to be strong through the year. This thing's a marathon. Okay, so listen, you told me one time, you said, listen, just bringing Tebow into you. It's like, it's annoying. Like just give me the reps. I don't want the press. So Trey Lance reportedly was a little annoyed. I just said, well, the Niners have the best bullpen in the sport.

The problem is the schedule's packed. After about week five, it's just Herbert, Kyler, the Holmes. And if I got the best bullpen, I got Mariano Rivera as my closer. I've been to a Super Bowl with him. I'm not going to be terribly patient. Is it tough? Do you think Trey's thinking about the bullpen? If you have the multiple quarterback situation,

In some ways you have none, right? It's so difficult at that position. But I think, yes, his leash probably got a little shorter. Yes, it's a little uncomfortable. But I think for Trey and a young quarterback's confidence is you want somebody like Joe Flacco, like Mark Brunel towards the end of his career, somebody who's that, like, you know, competes with you in a professional way, but he's really on your team, right?

And like even when the team has something tough to say or coach has something tough to say. They kind of filter that, you know, and they're your buddy, and they put their arm around you in. And they also pick you up and tell you what the truth is of, hey, your body language has got to be better, whatever it is. But they're really on your side. It's the complete opposite of like the whole Cortez analogy when you landed here in the new

world, right? Like burn the boats, this is what we got. We got no other options. Well, we kind of have another option. You know what I mean? And it's, that's hard. That's hard to overcome. Now, the most important thing for Trey is just kind of put that.

out of his head. He can't go there. Similar to Daniel Jones, similar to other guys. There's just so much outside noise and they got to just dial it back, get it back to basics. What can I control right now? And for Trey, all he can control is playing well. Avoiding that, being as professional as possible.

And I'm sure that, yeah, that eats it to you a little bit. You know, we were saying this earlier today is I'm a big fan of Russell Wilson. He was ranked 61st by a vote of the players. He's never gotten an MVP vote. and a lot of quarterbacks who I think have less talent have. But Nick Wright came on and said, you know, one of the things that doesn't do him a lot of favors,

one, he initially inherited a legendary defense. Okay, Pete had come out of USC. Pete built a great defense. Everybody's like, yeah, it's kind of Pete's defense. That's fair. Secondly, that Russell's very, there's a lot of Russell on his feed.

And you know, when you went to New York, you did a GQ spread or something, it's no big deal, but in the locker rooms and players are like, it is. Come on, kid. So, so, but I, but it's an interesting, it's an interesting sense because Brady does a lot of stuff now, but he's got a lot of pellets, right? With Russell, he's very pro Russell.

It doesn't bother me. But do you think it turns off, I mean, 61st best player voted on by players? Doesn't that feel like it's, I don't know. Some of that's opinionated. Some of that's a little bias here, there. I don't totally know who votes on that. Is it like only players or like, you know, I don't know. I've never seen the ball as nor do I care.

Oh, I think he's an absolute stud. I think he's one of those guys who's so good off script. I think he's learned how to play within, you know, his skill set and understanding like, okay, I got to get down. Talk about a guy who never gets hit. I mean, runs around a ton and never, like nobody's ever just absolutely just drilled him and taken his head up because he's two. smart for that. He's too elusive. He's, you know, sometimes when he's running around, he reminds me of

Marvin Harrison where he'd like split defenders and just get down and like slide for five more yards. You're like, what the hell? You know, I thought it was third and nine, not third and three. How did you do that? So, um, he's been incredible. And in big moments, I think he's learned a lot from Coach Carroll and understood that he's had this ability to eliminate, once again, eliminate this outside noise. Everybody's building up this stage and this game and this is so big. And he's just had this ability to calm, keep it calm, have a, have a, you know, a steady, low heart rate. You know what I mean? Just like, they say that about race car driving.

Yeah, like he just has this ability to keep his mind quiet and focused. And he's worked at it. You could tell. But of course, when you inherit a defense like that, you're, you know, then it's like, well, what can you do on your own, you know? And it's, it's never that easy as a quarterback, right? You're dependent on a lot of other factors. You can only control so many, but I thought he's done a great job.

But you're right. You know, he does put himself out there quite a bit. You know, when he was talking about the focus group on Let's Ride, I thought that was so funny. But, yeah, you know, he's calculated with that kind of stuff. I think it's packaged well and delivered perfectly at the right time. And, you know, I think, you know, he just has that way about him. But that's fine. I mean, everybody's different strokes, you know, different kind of guy.

But you want to talk about ultimate competitor. and I think a lot of that was him innately and, you know, just God-given and that competitive nature. And I think a lot of that, the best of that was brought out by Coach Carroll. I think they, you know, obviously there was a shelf life on that relationship, but they got the best out of each other. And it was, that was fun to watch. A couple of questions, one on Kenny Pickett. The second one is, Dak Prescott for the first time in his career due to injuries and players moving,

has a bad old line. I want to talk to you after the break about how it, gets in your head. Does it change your rhythm when you quarterback when you know you got about 1.8, not 2.8 seconds. That's more with Mark Sanchez. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, 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, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, 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, 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 a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, care games. And in recognition of mental health awareness,

this month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip 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, or 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now.

Think about your happy place. Sof on Game Day, fishing boat, wherever you're, happy places. Driveway.com. Let you buy or sell a car from there. Go to driveway.com and browse. Mark Sanchez, joining us Fox Sports NFL analyst. 10 years in the NFL, one of two rookie quarterbacks to win each of his first two playoff games. The other is Joe Flacko. So, who's still in the league, by the way, Joe is still chopping wood. He's about to ball week one, baby? Let's go, Joe. He's actually a very funny guy when you watch him on social media. He's got a great sense of humor. He's hilarious. But he's so stoic, like publicly. But you see him. Oh,

he's the best. He's one of my favorite guys. Really? Oh, love him. And just, I mean, I've always been envious of a guy like Carson Palmer, Joe Flacko, like they just look physically so imposing. And Justin Herbert, you know, like, you let those guys get off the bus first. And you're like, that's just our quarterback. So just wait, guys. You know, like, so fit. They were put on this earth to play quarterback in the NFL. And they just look like it. Yeah. I think it's cool. So in your career, there's always been this story about you don't want to damage a young quarterback upstairs. So the Chargers get Herbert, second year, get the O line fixed.

That ended Andrew Luck's career, is that you don't want to get into his head. Dak's pretty mobile. Dak moves well, but this is the first time in Dallas with Tyron Smith's injury. It's a bad O line. They have a Hall of Fame right guard, and it's suboptimal, left tackle, left guard, center, right tackle. It's the first time he's had to overcome that. Take me upstairs. Now, you had to Brickshaw Ferguson.

You never had to worry about. Well, similar. I mean, those first couple years, it was the five blocks of granite. Mangold. Yeah, mangold and brick and Alan Fanica. Then Slosson takes over Fanica. Then it starts eroding. And then it starts eroding.

Dundie, who was, you know, now on TV. But incredible player, won a Super Bowl in New England as a center. And now he's playing right tackle. So, I mean, those guys were incredible. You're the beneficiary of that. And this is like, oh, sweet. Here we go. We got time and then some.

Plus, the run game was insane. Now go to your worst. Then later on, you start getting hit a couple times. And you're like, whoa, my time clock needs to speed up a little bit. My feet got to be solid. I can't afford to drift on my drops at all. Where other guys, you know, you play with really good players, they eliminate some of that gray area. And you help each other out with an excellent throw.

on some tight coverage because the guy was a little bit off on his route and you put the ball right exactly where it needs to be great. Well, they kind of get you back when you throw him a back shoulder and they make an incredible catch. That's how it works. There's like a give and take to all that kind of stuff. And so unfortunately for DAC, in some ways, it's going to be, it's going to be fast. It's going to be really fast. And he's just going to have to get that ball out quickly. But this is definitely the year where he's going in with the least amount of talent. It's going to be him and Kellan, like driving that thing. You know, they're going to run it like jerry jones says with zeke i mean they got they got to really go now

and get those guys together and some consistency and continuity up front and we're kind of running out of time right like it's it's time to go so um you know that the thing that gives me hope for dack one i just think he's a stud and a baller but two he's in year six whatever it is for him he knows he knows enough now it's not like his first year and he's going through every single re. Like he's eliminating guys on the way up to the line of scrimmage just based on the way the defense breaks the huddle, knowing who's running with who. Okay, that's out. Boom. We got to go. I know exactly where I'm going here. Just because you have five options on every play to throw the ball to doesn't mean you really have five options. You might have eliminated two or three of those

guys pre-snap. And I know Dax smart enough to do that. So they'll put them in the right situations and Kellan's going to do a great job with that game plan. But it is, it is a little alarming. You know, you don't want your guy back there with less time than he needs. If anything, give him a little extra time. Probably shouldn't bother people, but pro athletes are competitive. That's why they're pro athletes, right? There's the difference between not making a league and making it. A lot of times is competitiveness.

Kenny Pickett is listed as the third quarterback. And I think... I think he got moved up to two, no? Oh, did he not? I thought yesterday it was three. Well, as soon as you blasted him, the Steelers watched the show and then... Oh, so the Steelers watched the show and then... Oh, so the Steelers.

Steelers got call out. Well, the media was like, wait a second. He's third on the depth chart. And then they bumped him up like box. Okay. But that's like a very Steelers old school. We talked about that. Right?

Like that's the way it was with Rathesberger. He wasn't supposed to play, right? Like, and then everybody starts going down and boom, he's on the field. He gets thrust into this whole thing and excels with a great team around him. So that's just a very old school right of passage. It's very Pittsburgh. Blue collar very Pittsburgh. And I love it.

I have a great deal. respect for that. Yeah, I don't know. We talked about this this morning, is that the one thing the NFL does and baseball doesn't, the NFL is very fluid. I mean, good God, they change the rules every year. They change their scheduling. They change. NFL's the fluid league. And baseball is more steeped in tradition. That's fine.

But in the NFL, and now they've got streaming on Thursday night, now they got the catch rule. And there are industries like tech, you can't be slow. It moves. Streaming. You got to be fast. They haven't won a playoff game against a starting quarterback. It feels like in a decade. They didn't move off Ben forever.

They haven't gotten a coordinator right since Bruce Ariens. It feels like ripped the Band-Aid off. In some ways, sure. I just think that's our new age, impulsive nature to want that. And there's nothing wrong with wanting that. I just feel like they're just so classy, so old school. and, you know, classy never goes out of style, man. Is that right?

I don't think so. That's what they say at Brooks Brothers. That sounds better. You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it. Okay. It's men's warehouse, sorry. I want to pivot back to the most important thing with Mark Sanchez.

We can talk about this NFL stuff, but I want to end it back to USC. No, there's no reason. The old USC sandwich. The old USC sandwich. It's grain bread, little NFL in the middle, and then, bang it. Back to our sweet spot. So I said this earlier is that the transfer portal allows you to go to a big brand. USC's a top eight, nine brand, whatever it is, and fix stuff faster.

So when I watch them, my takeaway is Lincoln fixed the offense in eight months. Like Sabin with a transfer portal, if he went to Bama today, first day, he'd fix the defense in eight months. They'd at least be lined up properly. They'd, you know, alignment assignment. Like, let's just get that down. Let's get the basics down. You could watch the multiple sets, the personnel, kind of how they marginalized rice on their personnel packages, the substitutions, no penalties, didn't gobble up timeouts. Like, it was real smart, real fast.

I mean, they scored 66 points and they had the ball 26 minutes. Defense scored like 21, though. But when I watch them defensively, my takeaway is in that front seven, they have one NFL player. So what is realistic for them, in your opinion? Well, they need some juice up front, that's for sure. they're going to have to get those guys to play out of their shoes a little bit. But I feel like this is a team that after these first three weeks, I'll know a little more. But Utah and Notre Dame, those are the big ones that you circle.

UCLA, of course. And if you can nail two of those, you might be sitting pretty. And really in that Pac-12 championship discussion, and then who knows? And in some ways, like getting to the playoff this year, would that be incredible for USC? Yes. But would it almost be like too soon, maybe a little early almost

so you can't really like ramp up to it? Now it's like an expectation. I think that might be a little much for the school right this second. If they do, that's awesome. But now what? And so it's important to understand too.

That was a great tune up game. No disrespect to Rice, but you know, I think we knew how this was going to end up. That was a great tune-up game because a lot of these guys hadn't played as much. Like, they're transfer guys, but they weren't like, you know, starters. Other than Caleb, like a lot of these guys had to come in and get their feet wet a little bit. Yeah, there's incredible transfer, but, you know, they got some reps, but not a ton. It's not like they were three, four-year starters somewhere else and then show up and it's all expected.

We know exactly what to think. This was a good, you know, spring game of sports, preseason of sorts for these guys to feel what it's like, to get, you know, acquainted and assimilate a little bit and feel what the Coliseum's like at 105 degrees. Holy cow, cooking out there. Brutal. But it's really those three games. It'll come down to those three games.

UCLA, Utah, Notre Dame. And wherever they land on those, if they can steal two of those, that's huge. Huge. Final question, 10 years in the NFL. Opening week. Play football your whole life. Were you nervous?

Oh, of course. But those were like the good nerves, you know, and openers always felt so good because you had so much work done in that training camp. You just made it through training camp. Like you're feeling ready. You've gone over this game plan so many times. And the haze in the barn, man, just go have fun. Running out of that tunnel, just feeling, you know, kind of the hair on the back of your neck stand up a little. And it's time to go, man. These guys are juiced up, ready to roll. And it's going to be a fun one. Jay Mack, well, we got to go. I was going to say, I was going to give you guys some Jets love. But like always, there's no time for Jets talk. Hour three is coming up, Mark. Thank you so much. Live in L.A., it's the herd. 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-song 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. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J.

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. Before it 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.

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, 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, unfiltered 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.