The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - Playoff Pressure Predictions

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

Jason lists his top 5 NBA players under the most pressure in the playoffs Is Kyler Murray still built to be a franchise QB?Guest: Dane BruglerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, hour number two on the herd.

Very excited. We got an NFL draft guy coming up in five minutes. Folks, some of the notes they just gave me. Holy cow, my guy, Jailer Milro received a second or third round grade. I vehemently disagree, but I'm clearly in the minority. And just wait for this Kyler-Marie discussion later. I'll just leave it at that. Alex, how we doing?

We're doing great. Masters weekend, by the way. Haven't talked about that yet. That's a big deal. Oh, yeah. Masters. Yeah, I don't. You know the big golf fan?

I'm wearing down. I'm wearing down. This is some heavy lifting over here. I'm wearing, I don't even know if I'm watching golf today. You just need the updates. It was so cute. They had like family day yesterday and all the kids out on the course,

like dressed in the catty outfits. Yeah. It's adorable. It's fun. All right. Special time of year. Let me start this hour with the five players. under the most pressure in these upcoming NBA playoffs.

Okay? Now, this list, it was a difficult one to make because I had some guys in here and the staffs like, whoa, no way. No way, J. Mack. And, well, let's start. We'll count down. We'll go five to one. Let's start at number five.

I think Jimmy Butler is under a fair amount of pressure in these playoffs. Forces his way out of Miami, where he took the heat to the finals twice. Okay? Initially didn't want to go to Golden State. Then they ponied up big money and he's like, all right, I'll check it out. Initially, they're awesome. and Butler's kind of finding his footing.

Remember, this is a locker room where he's usually an alpha, and they already have one in Draymond Green. So how does Butler fit in? He has to step up. When Curry is held in check, they don't have a number two. Guys, Podzemsky ain't hitting A3s ever again in a game like he did against the Lakers. I think Jimmy Butler, who, you guys don't have a big fan of Butler. He's under a lot of pressure in these NBA playoffs.

Number four, Ja-Mor-Mor-R-R-R-Rant. Boy, just when you think John Moran has cleaned up his act. Okay, so, Last week he points at the Warriors bench with the gun thing toward Buddy Heel. And then they're told him, don't do it, he does it again. And then he pretends to lobber grenade after they told him, please don't do that anymore. It's like, bro, what are you doing? John Morant got them into the playoffs several years.

Then he's been hurt. Then he's got the off-court issues. Somebody pitched me the idea that John Morant wants out of Memphis, and he's starting to make noise. Was he involved in getting their coach fired recently? I don't know. I don't know what's happening in Memphis, but maybe John Morant's not long for that city. I think he's under a lot of pressure to at least win a series with the Grizzlies.

Next up, and this is a divisive topic, Jason Tatum at number three. Okay, Coward would have him number one. Obviously, you know that. I'm a Tatum guy. I know his trainer a little bit. I'm a big Tatum fan. Before I get to the negatives, I'm going to remind everybody. He's going to finish fourth in MVP voting.

He's going to be first-team All-NBA. And in the playoffs last year, he led them in the playoffs in points, rebounds, and assists. And in the finals, he led them in points, rebounds, and assist. So why is he under pressure, Jay? Well, there is the situation that happened in the Olympics last year, where Jason Tatum, the All-NBA guy, who's a perennial top five MVP candidate, kind of got benched. And then in the finals, he didn't win finals MVP.

And if you want to draw a parallel, Steph Curry, when they won their first title, did not win the MVP. It went to Andre Agudala for his defense on LeBron, which is a little suspicious because Curry still had a pretty damn good series. So then they lose the next year. Then Curry gets KD.

KD is the finals MVP, and then you have this whole like, is Steph Curry really the best player? Like, I didn't love that topic. Then he won his finals MVP and everybody backed off. He's a top 10 player all time. Listen, Tateham is still a young guy. He's the best player on that team,

no disrespect to J.B. But there is some pressure for him to act and show that he is an elite top five guy in this league, which I think he is. Next up, oh, Carl Anthony Towns, my main man. You guys know I'm a big Knicks fan. They're not going to run Brunson out of town if the Knicks lose to the Celtics in the second round. Bridges ain't going anywhere. They love OG and an OB.

There will be a fall guy if the Knicks fall apart. Now, if they get swept, it could just be Tibido. but I have to worry about Carl Anthony Towns, who lands in New York, couldn't defend this chair that I'm looking at here in the studio, can score a lot, but when you don't defend, he was benched in the playoffs last year by the Timberwolves because he can't guard anybody. So Carl Anthony Towns is number two.

And obviously, at number one, Shea Gilgis Alexander. He's going to win the MVP. I don't think he should. He's a great player. We know that. He gets to the line. He's Mr. Free Throw Merchant. But folks, you can't win the MVP, you can't talk all the trash and dance around like OKC's been doing all season.

You win 65 plus games and then you shrink in the playoffs. We'll see what the path looks like, but I'm just saying it now. You're not blaming J. Dub if they don't deliver. You're not blaming Chet Holmberg. This is going to be on the MVP. And historically, guys who win the MVP don't deliver in the postseason. SGA, without a doubt, under the most pressure of any player in the EMPR. upcoming NBA playoffs. By the way,

Trey Young just missed the list for me. All right, let's get to our guest. He is the Athletics NFL draft analyst. He just released The Beast, his annual draft guide, Dane Bruegler. Dane, how you doing, man? I'm good. How are you, Jason? I'm excellent. I'm fired up because, holy cow, you've got some hot.

I don't know if they're hot takes because you watch way more film than anybody. But let's start at the top. Cam Ward almost certainly will go one to Tennessee. but do you believe he's the best player in this draft? Best player? Not necessarily, but you can understand why the Titans have come to the conclusion that this is their best route to go. Because if it's not Cam Ward,

what is their avenue to a quarterback? And so with the improvements that Cam Ward has made year over year, because let's remember he was a wingtie quarterback in high school, what he did in Incarnate Word, and then Washington State, and in this past year at Miami, he got better year over year. year, 56.1% of his completions this year were over 10 yards. He has the arm. He has the looseness in the pocket so he can create time for himself, go make plays down the field. So a lot

of what you want in an NFL quarterback, Cam Ward offers. And he's still just 22 years old. So you think about by the time he's 24, 25, if he continues to grow at this trajectory, I think you're feeling pretty positive about the return on investment by taking him number one. Because if he didn't go number one. I promise you he would go number two to Cleveland or number three to the Giants. So you can understand where the Titans come to the conclusion that Cam Ward is their guy. Yeah, I agree with most of that. I guess the one thing I'm struggling with him, whether it's the frame, the fleet of foot in the pocket, the art where he's releasing the football. I don't have a great NFL comp for him. Who does he remind you of as an NFL quarterback?

He reminds me of a taller, not as fast version of Kyler Murray. Because you see all the different arm angles. You see him win in structure, but also out of the pocket. His ability to create and move is a big part of that. But, you know, he, when you're, we were talking about quarterbacks in the NFL draft. It's almost like you're making a bet, right? I mean, you're making a bet that this guy can be a top 15 quarterback in the NFL. and I think for most teams, they see Cam Ward as a guy that can be maybe a top 12, top 14 quarterback.

That's what you're looking for. The goal shouldn't be to find the next Patrick Mahomes. The goal should be, hey, let's find a guy that's going to help us compete and help us get to the playoffs. Because once you get in the playoffs, anything is possible. And I think a lot of teams believe Cam Ward can be that guy. So the Browns are at two. And about two minutes ago, you were like, hey, if Cam Ward fell to two, perfect fit for the Browns. So let me ask you, Brown's quarterback situation is murky.

I know there's Kirk Cousins possibly waiting in the wings, but why wouldn't they just go get Chador Sanders? Isn't Stafansky such a good offensive mind that whoever he gets is going to work? And that's going to be the big question. Where does Chador land? Is it number two to the Browns, number three to the Giants, or does he fall? And look, my evaluation of Chador has been pretty consistent since the season.

I think he's a late one, early two. I think for whatever reason, it's become you have to love or hate Chador. And it's okay to just like him. And that's where I'm at with him, where I think he can be an NFL starter. He's smart. He's tough. He's poised. He's accurate.

Maybe not as accurate as 74% completions would lead you to believe 28% of those completions are screen passes. So that's a big part of what inflated that completion percentage. But I just, I wonder about the way he likes to play. does he have the physical traits to get away with that in the NFL? The offensive line was bad. There's no question about it at Colorado, but there are a lot of times where he is running himself into sacks

and he's not making the right decision from the pocket. So there's things about his profile that really, I think you can start in the NFL, but is he really going to uplift everybody around me and carry a franchise? That's my hang-up where, okay, I like him. I think he can start, but am I taking him top five overall? because it's not just about if you miss on him, it's a top five pick.

It's, okay, you're passing on Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, one of these guys in the top five. So I wouldn't be surprised if we're talking mid-first round, maybe even in the 20s, and Shadur Sanders is still available. So last year you had Pennix as your 52nd best player, Bo Nix is 44th, and you have Sanders Shadur at 34. Those two guys went top 10. Is there a world where Sanders still goes top 10, or you think that that ship has sailed? Oh, no, there's certainly a possibility.

Because, again, he can be an NFL starter, and we know there's plenty of teams out there, desperate for quarterbacks. And, you know, it's always tough when you do it year to year like that because last year's draft was a much better draft in terms of overall talent. So in this class, those two guys, Pennix, Bow Nix, they would have been a little bit higher,

higher than even Chador is in this year's draft. And so, you know, that kind of messes with the rankings a little bit. But, you know, I understand why a team is going to look at Shador and say, you know what, maybe he's not check every box for us, but, hey, we need a starter. He can let's roll the dice on him. And so the Browns at two, the Giants at three, the Saints at nine. If I have to make a bet today, I say he gets through those three spots and he's outside the top 10. But, you know, we'll have to see what draft day comes.

How much of this has to do with Dion and all the noise and the chatter that's been around him and Shador all season. I mean, Dana, I got to be honest, I haven't heard anything about Cam Ward's parents. I don't know who they are, you know, I don't know much about him at all. I feel like Shadoor is just in our face all the time, and so is Deon. That's why I have the beast, right? So you can look up at, it tells you exactly what Cam Ward's parents do for a living and all about his background and all of that. But yeah, you know, it's obviously unique, right? How many quarterback prospects have we talked about where, you know, a dad is a high-profile athlete and coach like Dion is,

I don't, at the end of the day, I don't think it's going to matter all that much. I think, you know, there's been a lot talked about and said about Chador, and, you know, maybe he's too brash for some teams. Maybe he doesn't fit with, you know, the culture they're trying to build. At the end of the day, teams want winners. Teams, and you think about what happened at Colorado the last two years, they were one in 11 in 2022. And then the last two years with Dion and Chador there,

they went 13 and 11. So above 500, that's not easy to do. And so at the end of the day, the NFL, they want winners. And I think that will trump everything. And so when you look at Chador, I don't think the Dion thing is really going to factor in. Interesting. One last level on Dion.

So I thought I had read that Chador's offensive coordinator was his dad, like in high school, and then they go to college, and they were together, and then they go to Colorado and they're together. I believe he's been under the thumb of his dad for something like the last five or six years of football, maybe going back to youth football. You would know.

Does that matter? Because there's a GM saying, man, if I draft this guy, I know his dad wants his job in two years. Yeah, you know, it's, I think Dion is happy with where he's at at Colorado. Now, if Shador is drafted by the Giants and things don't go great this year and they clean house, you can bet all we're going to hear about is Dion to the is. But, you know, I think if you're a GM, you need to be doing what you think is best.

You need to be doing it. You can't really be thinking about, all right, what's 2025 and 26 and 27? Just draft the best quarterback. And if you believe that's Shador, then I think you have to do it. I just think when we keep it to the field and on the field, I think there are enough question marks with him that I think teams are going to look at it and say, look, let's get Travis Hunter. Let's get Abdul Carter. Let's get Will Campbell or left tackle. And, you know, let's look at our other quarterback options because this is a real this is the first year since 2008 we don't have a third year junior at the quarterback position it's just a really unique quarterback class uh we've got two juniors uh two underclassmen but jalen milroquin yuers are both four year guys so this is just

all around a really unique class all right day let me ask you about jalen milro so he's had his highs obviously that uh georgia game he looked phenomenal um and his lows the oklahoma game just the tape. A lot of questions comparing him to Anthony Richardson, which is not a good thing. I don't know. Is it crazy to say I remember college Lamar at Louisville? And I'm just, Jalen looks similar to him. It could just be that they're skinny, tall, fast dudes. I don't know. Do you like Milrow or not? I mean, I do like him. I would love to draft him on day two and develop him. But what's the price tag going to be? Do I have to draft him in the top, 40 in order to get him. That might be a little bit too early for me, but he's an exciting player.

So I think you can understand why a team would come to the conclusion that, hey, let's bet on a guy that has 4-3 speed. He's a decent size player. I mean, he is, he is thick. He's 215 pounds at, you know, just over six foot. So he has like almost like a running back build to him. And he has a really strong arm. And you set it up perfectly. You watch the Georgia game. You watch the Wisconsin game. And it's like, okay, I, I, I'm all in. I can, let's work with this guy. But then you watch Michigan.

You watch Oklahoma. And it's like, okay, his feel from the pocket needs a lot of work. And, you know, it's funny you bring up Lamar because this year for, for Milro, 12 of his rushing touchdowns were 10 plus yards. That's the most by a quarterback over the last 25 years. The only one that came close was Lamar back in 2017. He had 11. So Jalen Milro, explosive athlete with his legs.

And he's also explosive with his arm. He had 16 passing touchdowns this year. They average 33.6 yards per touchdown. So this guy explosive with his legs, he's exposed to through the air. And he's a winner. He was 21 and 6th and his 27 starts at Alabama. He won the academic heisman.

The comp that I keep coming back to is Jalen Hertz. One of the few second round picks that has actually panned out. Jalen Milder was kind of like a rocket-fueled version of Jailen Hertz, where, I mean, we went to remember, Hertz coming out of college was a little bit raw, and it's going to take time. And there were a lot of bumps along the road with the Eagles before he became the Jalen Milro

we're talking about now as a Super Bowl champion. So with Milro, if a team can be patient with him, they might have something in two, three years. But what's that price tag going to be where you have to draft them? That's kind of where teams are split on Jailin Milro. So the one I keep coming back to is when the Packers had Rogers, who would want, I think, two MVPs and they went and got Jordan Love.

And I'm sure you remember Jordan Love coming out, interception prone, but some of the traits were there. And the Packers took him and Rogers was ticked off. Can you see a scenario where, say, the Rams, who have had to deal with Matthew Stafford contract squabbles the last two off seasons? And the Rams say, you know what? Let's just get our guy Milrow, McVeigh, whoever McVeigh touches turns to gold, he resurrects careers.

Can you see a scenario where Milro sneaks into the first round? I think it's possible. If I'm a betting guy, I would say there's a better chance he goes round two. But sure, you could see an avenue where he goes round one. Right now, the over under on quarterbacks in the first round is two and a half. I'm taking the over on that. And it's not necessarily Milro, but Jackson Dart from Ole Miss. There are a lot of Tyler Shuck fans around the NFL.

The quarterback from Louisville, seventh year senior, he's going to be 26-year-old rookie. Teams really like Tyler Shuck. And so there's a chance all five of these quarterbacks, talking about Cam Ward, Dorr Sanders, Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck, and Jalen Milrow, there's a good chance all five of those are off the board in the top 50 to 60 picks. But how many will sneak into the first round? I think the Steelers are a possibility. The Rams are a possibility.

And then we have to talk about the Browns and the Giants. If they pass at two and three, we could easily see them move up from those early picks in the second round into that late first to get one of these guys. I think that if I had a bet right now, two weeks from the draft, I think that's probably the most likely outcome. Interesting. Well, we could close out on Jackson Dart.

And, you know, us college football fans, we see, okay, system, Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss. That's Matt Corral, you know, a white guy who's good. I don't know about this Jackson Dart hype now. I just remember watching the season. I was like, okay, he's good. Tyler Shuck, by the way. I don't remember anything impressive from him during the season. But again, you're watching the tape and every single snap.

are you really that high on dart and shuck? The two guys that I would love to draft on day two, kind of like Milro, but we know in the NFL and with the draft, there's a quarterback bump. There's a quarterback tax where you have to draft them 20, 25 picks earlier than probably you want to, just because there's so many other teams competing for these playoffs,

or for these quarterbacks. And you know exactly, we're talking about that Ole Miss offense. I came away more impressed with Lange. Kiffin and the way he sets up his offense and calls the plays, then I did with the quarterback. And that's not really a knock on Jackson Dart. It's just, it's such a scheme or quarterback-friendly scheme that it really makes things easy for him. Fifty-three percent of his snaps were play action, a lot of screens, a lot of one read. Okay, it's not there. Boom, I'm going to take off and use my legs and get six yards. And you know what? That works at the college level. But he's going to be

asked to do so much more at the NFL level than he was asked to do in college. And so I think he has the physical traits for it. And teams and his teammates as well rave about the intangibles, the competitiveness with Jackson Dart. So I think that those intangibles will help him throughout the process. But at the end of the day, how long is it going to take before he can get on the field? I think it's going to take some development time.

And then with Tyler Shuck, yeah, I mean, he's 26-year-old rookie, seventh-year-s senior, not ideal. This past year at Louisville was the first time in those seven years. He played more than eight games because of injuries. but he's 6-4, 230 pounds, a twitchy arm. He has a really explosive down the field. And he was actually the number two recruit for Oregon way back in the day behind Penny Sewell. So he's been in college football a long time.

But if not for the age and the medical concerns, we'd be talking about Tyler Shuck as a top 25 pick. Smells like Brandon Whedon. I don't know if you remember that name from back in the day. Last one, I forgot. Abdul Carter. So there was a report that came out. And I know as we get close to the draft, you get a lot of negative stuff about his work habits at Penn State.

And then you couple that with the injury and the surgery. And you're like, is there a world where Abdul Carter maybe slides to say five as opposed to two or three? That sounds like the team at five really hoping that happens. I'd be pretty shocked. I think there's a good chance we see Cam Ward go one, Travis Hunter, go two to the Browns, and then Abdul Carter, three to the Giants. Abdul Carter actually, I believe in New York today, meeting with the Giants who don't really have a need at Pass Rush.

They paid Burns last year. They still have Kvon-Tibodoh. But when you're drafting that high, you want to draft players, not positions. You want the impact guys. And so with Abdul-Carter, watching him what he did against Notre Dame in the playoff game with a bum shoulder and still they couldn't block him,

that's the type of guy you want to go after. And so I think that if the pay, the Patriots sitting there at four and Abdul Carter still on the board, they will be ecstatic. I just don't think he gets out of the top three when it's all set and done. Sounds about right. Dane Brugler, The Beast, you've got to check that out.

He's dominating over the athletic. Great stuff, Dane. Thanks for a great 15 minutes of NFL draft stuff. Love it. Yeah, anytime. Thanks, Jason. No problem. Coming up next, the Joker speaks.

Alex will tell us what the three-time MVP said about his head coach getting fired. That's next year on the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the third. heard weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. 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, how do we actually come up with

the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this

We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast For 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 Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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,

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Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay.

Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. She likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina 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. I know that song. Damn, I love some good bumper music. I'll never forget when I started out in radio, I had a Saturday morning show. and Ryan Music was the producer. And I was, like, so excited for bumper music. I had, like, a full list of songs I sent him.

And then the show comes, and, like, he doesn't play any of them. And I was like, oh, this must be how it works. I don't do the music. I'm not the music. And, of course, I realize he's not even the music guy, even though his name's music, whatever. Just stories from J-Max history in TV radio. Anyways, great stuff from Dane Brugler at The Athletic. I would check out The Beast.

That's my weekend reading ahead. Let's go to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Heard Line News. We're going to continue the draft conversation, J-Mack, because we're two weeks away from the start of the draft, and the top edge rusher in the class has shut down his visits.

Abdul Carter took his last visit to England, who has the fourth pick in the upcoming draft. Now, he is a hot pick. He is probably the best plug-and-play player in the draft right now. So it's going to be interesting. We were listening to Dane, who we just came on.

And he was saying, if Carter is available at 4, Pat will be ecstatic, but there's a good chance. He goes two, three. I don't get the Browns. They just sign Miles Garrett. Yeah.

You have no quarterback. Your skill position player stink. What are you doing? No, you definitely. I think you go Travis. Browns, yeah. Browns need a quarterback situation, but this was also something interesting that Dane said

and shows you how valuable that Carter is is it doesn't, at this point, when you have a player of this caliber and he's that good, even if you already have, like, you don't need, you don't necessarily like have as big of a need at that position. You take him because he is such a great player

and you've got to think about the future. But then do you get on the path to the Pittsburgh Steelers where we're just investing in defense, and we've got a great defense, and that just doesn't, you can't win with just a good defense. And I know people say with the Eagles. Eagles?

Their offense carried them. They scored like 50 against Washington and 40 against the chiefs. Like, their offense is a machine. But it's also putting in an importance on, yeah, like offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. Like you got you got to stop the other quarterback on the field. Is anybody, I guess the Eagles stop the homes. They just did it. They just did it.

Yeah. That's why I think it's such a hot topic right now because we literally just saw the Super Bowl champions do this. They also had a great offensive line, quarterback receivers. We had no champs. Personally, I would. They need a quarterback. They need a quarterback. Like that's the most important position.

Unless you think Kirk Cousins is the answer. Alex, you big Kurt Couss guy. We don't know yet. It's tough. It's a similar Aaron Rogers situation. Like they're older and coming off one of the hardest injuries to come back from an Achilles injury.

So it's, and they got re-injured. Like he got re-injured like kind of midway through the season. He was fighting through injuries. We still haven't seen a fully healthy Kirk Cousins. I still think the highlight of Kurt Cousins' career was when he was on the airplane with the viking and he had the chain on and he was doing that celebration. That is to me the highlight of his career.

I know he had some good moments in Washington and in Minnesota as well. Not Atlanta. But I just love that video. It's so funny. He just looks. How do you not love Kirk Cousins, especially after watching quarterback the first season? And you kind of got that behind the scenes look into his life. He's just such a kind human being.

Seems like a great guy. Got railroaded by the Falcons. I think he's on it again. And now he's got to go to Cleveland? I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. If he gets to play, I think that's what he wants to do now.

Have you ever been to Cleveland, Ohio, by the way? I covered, where's Ohio State? I've been to Columbus. Yeah, yeah. That's a bustling city. Okay, but I had a show on Big Ten Network, so I was doing, like, Tailgate 48. And that was the first game. Urban Myers' first game as their head coach was the first game I covered.

Yeah. So that's the only time I've really been and spent time in Ohio. It was fun. It was wild. So much fun. I see. I know, right? Okay.

Let's move on. Amun Rau-St. Brown went on Kevin Hart's cold as balls podcast and outlined his goal for the Lions this year. Now, St. Brown said he wants to win a Super Bowl going as far to tell Eagles fan Kevin Hart, he wanted to face the defending champs in week one. Now, I think this is a kind of a positive note for the Lions this season, is that they don't have as big of a target on their back like they did last year so they can fly a little more under the radar,

because people think they're going to have a stepback year. You talked about it yesterday when you were taking the under. Oh, yeah. I think there's also going to be a lot of focus on their offensive coordinator, who's now the head coach of the Bears and Ben Johnson, their former offensive coordinator. So I think they're going to get a lot of the spotlight in the division this year. And as long as they make it in the playoffs,

you just got to just make it to the playoffs. Anything can happen. But again, there's a lot of new this year. Both of their coordinators are now head coaches somewhere else. But it's still very much the same team. They just haven't been able to find the six-sex that they want yet in the playoffs. So, Alex, these are the road opponents for the Lions next week. Okay, let's go.

On the road. Let's go. At Washington. Okay. At Philly. At Cincinnati. At Baltimore. At Casey.

At the Rams. Every one of those teams had a winning record. No, those are like the toughest. Those are like toughest teams in the league. One, two, three, four. The six of like the top ten teams. Yeah. That being said, Alex and I are living in the same South Bay-ish community.

I saw Jared Goff recently. Yeah. Have I told you the story? No. So I was, you know, hanging out by the beach and watching my kid, you know, I'm at the age where my kids are like, Dad, don't come on the beach with us. Just be from a distance. So I'm in the parking lot with my dog.

And I'm blocking cars and Jared Goff is walking toward me with his wife. Yeah. And I was like, oh, am I in your way? they're like, no, we got bikes. I was like, that's a good thing, Jared. I didn't want to, and he's like, oh, you know me, you know. And he watches the herd. He's a super nice guy.

Yeah. And I didn't have the Cajonese to say, Jared, I got to ask, were you concussed against Washington in the playoff game? Because he got knocked out of the game, came back, had a rough one. I like golf. Like, he seems like a super nice guy. His wife is obviously very attractive. It fits.

Like, they have all the pieces in Detroit. They've been the best they've been in franchise history the last two years. They've been the Super Bowl favorite and have fallen short. So I think now, after falling short the last two years, losing their offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and a lot of other assistants, expectations are going to be a lot lower, which is going to be better for them in the long run because they're not going to have that huge target on their back, and they can kind of be that underdog fly under the radar again and surprise everybody. Yeah, they're not sneaking up on anybody this.

No. And I'll say this about golf. Listen, he won a lot with the Rams. He's won now with Detroit. Like, he's almost underrated. He's been to a Super Bowl. Yeah. You know, he knows what it takes to win.

But, yeah, I'm rooting for this Lions team. I like, I like Dan Campbell. I love their grit mentality. So we'll see. It'll be interesting. Okay, let's move to the NBA. The Nuggets took the court for the first time without former coach Michael Malone in a decade.

And Denver got the win. And Nicola Yokicch talked about the impact of losing his coach afterwards, saying that the firing woke the team up, adding people say, were vulnerable, but the beast is always most dangerous when they're vulnerable. I mean, we'll see. I still think it was a huge mistake that they fired their head coach a week before the playoffs start. And I don't know if you saw it last night, but Joker was like drawing up the plays on

the sideline. Like that's, that is a huge loss not to have your leader designing the plays. And so you could just go out there and execute. Now he's having to kind of pick up another responsibility. And I don't know. Someone needs to be in charge. But I don't know. It's a big change to have it to your star player drawing up the plays.

The narrative was, oh my gosh, Yokic is going to ask out, where's he going to be next year? I took the bait. That's fine. Okay. I wonder if that's right, that they are kind of sort of dangerous now because they have a new coach. I don't know. Is their offensive philosophy going to change? Yokic is doing plays in the huddle?

And oh, by the way, we talked about it. You think that's a good thing? Yeah. They started Jalen Pickett, who, like, Malone barely played him. Yeah. Played Russell Westbrook way less. Yeah. You know, Peyton Watson playing more like, okay.

So what the GM wanted, because we know the GM wanted to play the young guys. And the GM has to be ticked off. All of a sudden, now you're playing the young guys, and I'm fired. So I don't know, there is a world where the nuggets are like a little scary and unpredictable. Okay. Like, you know what you're getting with the Lakers, the Warriors. I don't know. Are things going to change?

dramatically. Can you change things dramatic? You played high-level soccer. If you fired the coach a week before the playoffs, can you fundamentally change a formation? I mean, you can because you know what you've been doing all season. But it's always, like, it's kind of one or two ways that it can go

when you lose your leader, right? It's all you all band together, let me prove you wrong and like you rise from it. Or it's like, what do we do now? We don't have the voice that's been leading us for the last decade. Like, it's insane. I still don't. think it was the right move at this point in the season when you're in a playoff position.

But again, like, Joker's saying all the right things. Alex with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping back. The Herd Lie News. All right, I've been teasing this for most of the show. But coming up next, Kyler Marie said he's making a big change to his game. Okay?

And I see the headline. I'm like, ooh, oh my gosh, can't wait to talk about it. We'll do that next here on The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right?

So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio in the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast,

and of course, on social media. That's Cabino and Rich. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to 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. 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 athletes 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelive 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris,

every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French 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. Saturday, catch the reigning ALMVP Aaron Judge as he leads the Yankees against the Giants at 3 p.m. Eastern on FS1. All right, so this is going to be a tough segment. I've just been a deal with prefaces. He's going to be a tough one. Because there was a moment in time where I love me some Kyla Murray.

That kid is so talented. He's fun. He's fast. And obviously, the backstory, let me hype him up before I say some not-so great things. So obviously, Kyleor Marie, in the history of storied Texas high school football, there's a case for him to be the greatest high school football player ever in Texas, which is saying something. Mr. Texas football twice.

I think he had like a 42-0 run, won a bunch of state championships. The guy was a legend in high school. Okay. In college, he wins the highspin, then he goes number one in the NFL draft, and in year two, Kyler Murray started running a ton, okay? The numbers in year two for him running in the NFL were, it was like, oh my gosh, is this the next Cam Newton, just a small guy? He had 11 rushing touchdowns and 819 yards rushing, okay? And that was the path to victory. It was like, oh, this, so the next year he runs a little bit less because he got hurt running, and they make the playoffs.

And then there was the fateful game against Aaron Donald in the playoffs where Donald was just bodying the hell out of him and he essentially sat on the bench and was like, no moss, I can't take it anymore. I don't want to go back in. And from that point, it was all downhill for Kyla Murray. That being said, the talent is undeniably still there.

However, the last couple of years, he's not running as much. He's getting hurt more. And you start to be like, is this guy a franchise? quarterback. So Kyler Marie came out this week and talked about running, something he has not really been doing the last couple years. It's like a break in case of an emergency. Run, Kyler, run. Otherwise, he's not running a lot. And how do I know this on a grander level?

Because I bet a lot. And I know when Kyler Marie scrambles, they're a great team to back. Because he is he is hella good on the run, escaping pressure, just creating plays with his legs. But he didn't want to run because of the injuries. So here's Kyler this week on the big change he wants to make this season. I'm open to running more next year. Just because it's such a weapon, I think for us, part of an emphasis going into the next season is conceptually on time, I feel like I'm one of the best in the league.

And, you know, I think where we get better is, you know, making things happen outside the pocket. That's where a lot of money's made, you know what I mean? Is scramble drill and making people hurt, making people pay when the play breaks down. I think that's something that we didn't do very. very well and I think we're very capable, especially with my ability to, you know, make things happen.

Hmm. Interesting. Saying all the right things. It almost sounds like he's challenging his coaching staff. Let me run more. That's what I heard. Now, you know, somebody says a quote, you might hear something different. So here's the problem with Kyler.

He went number one overall. He still doesn't have a playoff win. And I don't, I don't know why, but like, Cowherd really, really loves irrational. love for Kyla Murray. He throws a great deep ball. Whoopty damn do. You know, like, come on. Like, what is that worth? Is he winning football games? Is he making winning plays? And he really hasn't lately. That being said, I was challenged when I started kind of poo-pooing Kyler. And someone said, well, how do you know he's not Matthew Stafford? Like Matthew Stafford went number one overall, amazing deep ball thrower, great arm, goes to Detroit. You didn't win Jack Squat.

how do you know it's not the organizational failures in Arizona that's holding Kyler Murray back? And obviously the first counter is, well, Detroit never gave Kyler Murray an iPad to research the plays and look at tape and film, and he didn't turn it on once all season. That happened. That's why they had to write a homework clause in his contract. And then Kyler kind of stomped his feet like a four-year-old and whined, and they removed the clause. that didn't happen to Matt Stafford. That being said,

Stafford then leaves Detroit, marries McVeigh with the Rams and that offense, and he wins a Super Bowl. So the NFL's really, really tough to talk about sometimes because Matt Stafford was in purgatory, Detroit, one of the worst franchises in the league for decades, and he struggles there. Then he goes to a smart coach, innovative,

and they win a Super Bowl. Like, could you make that argument for everybody? And I keep coming back to, guys, Patrick Mahomes, your new goat? Like, nobody wanted him in the top nine in the draft. He had to fall to 10. What is Patrick Mahomes if he ends up in, I don't know, Jacksonville, where Trevor Lawrence can't win a damn thing?

What is Mahomes? Like, he's got the talent, but he landed with Reed. So maybe I need to take it easy on Kyler Murray. And we had Dane Brugler on earlier this hour looking at the draft, and there is a quarterback in this draft who reminds him of Kyler Murray. He reminds me of a taller, not as fast version of Kyler Murray because you see all the different arm angles. You see him win in structure, but also out of the pocket. His ability to create and move is a big part of that.

But, you know, we were talking about quarterbacks in the NFL draft. It's almost like you're making a bet, right? I mean, you're making a bet that this guy can be a top 15 quarterback in the NFL. And I think for most teams, they see Cam Ward as a guy that can be. maybe a top 12, top 14 quarterback? Because that's what you're looking for. The goal shouldn't be to find the next Patrick Mahomes. The goal should be, hey, let's find a guy that's going to help us compete

and help us get to the playoffs. Because once you get into playoffs, anything that's possible. So that's interesting. He essentially was like, yeah, Kyler Marie's in the 12 to 14 range, 10 to 14, whatever you want to say. And I thought about it, I was like, is he? He maybe paid like it, but is Kyler? And then you start doing the list.

You know, like, okay, maybe. And somebody challenged me this morning on the morning meeting. Like, who do you think is better, Tua or Kyler Murray? I was like, well, Tua has McDaniel. Tua's been an MVP candidate. The concussions kind of balance. They don't really balance out because he's missed more games than Kyler. But I would say I would rather have Tua than Kyler Murray.

And I know that's not going to be popular. And then I was pushed further. Jay, would you rather be the Jets right now with the Justin Field situation coming off Aaron Rogers, coming off like Zach Wilson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, blah, blah, blah. And this shocked some people, and they were not openly mocking me, but I was like, I'd rather be the Jets and just having bites at the Apple and getting maybe a new quarterback every year until I find that superstar that Dayton said, the goal shouldn't be to find Patrick Mahomes.

Yeah, you want to find the best guy, as opposed to having Kyler Murray, who is like in the 12 to 14 range, and maybe you'll be in a contender for a while. card spot. Maybe you'll make the playoffs. No. I don't want to be in the middle ground. I want to be awful to get a great quarterback or I want to be great competing for Super Bowls. I don't want to be in the middle. I don't want to be average. And my comp, and I know it's not apples apples, but the Portland Trailblazers for years had Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Every year, they were 50 wins, playoffs. Are we going to win the first round, second around, we made the conference finals.

Like, that's pretty good, but that's kind of the middle. I want to shoot for the moon. Or I want to go to the bottom and shoot for the moon. And I just, I'm sorry. I don't love sitting on Kylo-Marie as my franchise quarterback, but I do like that he's open to the idea of running more. And he almost sounds like he's pushing it. And he wants to get better.

Maybe it comes with age. He's 27. Remember, this is a guy who, I heard from some people in Arizona. You're going to, like, the kind of guy whose mom is still doing his laundry when he's a pro athlete making $25, $30, $40 million a year. Like, that's not normal. Now, maybe he's growing up a little. He's 27. And on second chance, Jason, Alex, I'm being a big boy here.

I'm giving Kyla Maria second chance. I'm going to stop the bombing. I'm going to say, Kyler, do you? I'm going to give him a second chance. Yeah. I think it needs to be soon, though. You know, he's back from injury. We got to see something fast.

Hurry up. Just like the Dallas Mavericks. We need to see something next. Coming up next. The Dallas Mavericks. Dude, you guys are running out of time. Lucas Cookin. You're not.

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 us. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman.

Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. is somebody coming after me. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicalif 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.