The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - The top 10 NFL teams

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Danny lists his Top 10 NFL Teams Shedeur Sanders told Deion not to come to Browns camp. Will he start this year? Baker Mayfield has come a long way since leaving the Browns   Guest: Nick WrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Hour number two of the Hurt. I'm Danny Parkins from FS1 and soon to be First Things First coming at you from L.A. I'll be in for Colin tomorrow from Chicago. We have Nick Wright of First Things First joining us for his normal appearance coming up in just a couple of minutes, which is truly surreal, I would say for both of us, given that the first time we ever hosted together was doing a Syracuse Providence basketball post game show on WAER. in college radio.

So we'll have some fun coming up in about five minutes, where I assume Nick will just agree with every brilliant thing that I say, and we'll keep it moving, or not. But before we get to Nick, we will begin with my top 10 teams heading in to the upcoming football season. Because, if not now, when? And we'll see if Philibians made me feel a little better. Number 10, the Chargers of Los Angeles.

You know what I think of Justin Herbert? you know what everyone thinks of Jim Harbaugh. Did you know they were the number one scoring defense in the NFL last year? If they just get a little bit more explosive on offense, and I think Hampton and Harris, their two draft picks will help, and year two under Harbaugh will help. They take the leap offensively.

They get a little bit of health luck, which every team needs. The Chargers, I expect them back in the playoffs, and maybe to be rising up this list over the course of the season. Number nine. The Washington Commanders. I think better team, worst record. Nine one score victories last season. Jaden Daniels is a superstar.

I like the Tunsell edition. We'll see about Debo and how he fits. I don't know if you can win that many close games again, but I think they got the right coach, the right quarterback. Obviously a tough division with Philly and Dallas will be better. I think they're a better roster and a worse team. Number eight.

the San Francisco 49ers. It's time to bounce back. Brock Purdy to me should not be quite as polarizing as people make him out to be, but he actually impressed me when he lost some of the stuff around it. He's not a superstar,

he's not a top 10 quarterback, but in Kyle Shanahan's offense, he's got good post-snap processing. He can get the ball out quick, and I think that's enough, assuming the rest of their stars stay healthy. Kittle, Trent Williams, and namely, Christian.

McAfrey who's the key to everything and frankly a cheat code in Kyle Shanhan's offense. Number seven. Just be competent on defense Cincinnati Bengals. Your offense is Super Bowl caliber. You went three and four in games where you scored 30 or more points last year. Figure it out with Hendrickson, have Shamar Stewart hit, you upgraded at defensive coordinator because you just had to. In the Super Bowl era for teams that lost five or more games, the Cincinnati Bengals, most points per game in losses any team they scored 28 points per game in their losses last year just be the 20th best defense in the NFL and you'll be fine number six i can't quit this rams team i think them and the niners is going to be a great battle all year long offensive line health concerns me stafford's a stud macvay's a stud the devante adams ad is great and fisk and verse they didn't have a first round picked this year but their draft hit

tremendously last year. If they're the linebacker or the tight end they hit in the second and third round, if they can just add one more piece, they were the team that gave Philly the best challenge, really, the last four and a half months of football, I think they're right there as a contender.

Number five. Maybe this is too low, but it's the Baltimore Ravens. It was a historic offense last year when you combined running and passing, but their inability to get it done consistently in January, once you get up to this level concerns me from the quarterback on down,

but this team has a legitimate argument for being the best roster in the NFL. Hopefully for Ravens fans, this is the year they break through. Number four, but I still have the bills in front of them, both because of their playoff history. I happen to think Josh Allen is better than Lamar Jackson, and they just have been bludgeoning people. It's the team with the best point differential in the NFL, fell over a sample of five years, and it's not close.

You'd say, oh, I would assume that would be the Chiefs. The Chiefs are third. The Ravens are second. They've outscored opponents by 555 points in the last five years. The Bills have outscored their opponents by nearly 800 points the last five years. Their regular season juggernaut, can they break through in January? Number three. Speaking of a team, I can't quit, I think we were robbed of a Lions Eagles' NFC Championship

game last year. The Detroit Lions come in at number three. This offense should be electric. I think Ben Johnson was a bigger ad for the Bears than he was lost for the Lions. If they just had normal bad luck for health on defense, we would have seen them in the NFC championship game last year. They gave up 31 points per game their last six games of the year. Injuries caught up to them. Number two, the Kansas City Chiefs, their defense is electric. They've got the best quarterback. They've got the best coach. They've improved their offense of line, especially if they can stay healthy. They now have a little depth.

Rishi Rice, Hollywood, Brown, Xavier Worthy, played zero snaps together last season. If the explosiveness can return to the Chief's offense, I expect them back in the Super Bowl. Number one. The Philadelphia Eagles are the best organization with the best roster. My guess is Eagles fans will not be nearly as happy about this ranking as they were upset about the Jalen Hertz ranking. But winning more than 17 games and rushing for more than 3,000 yards, it puts you in company with the 85 bears, the 72 dolphins, the 98 Broncos, and last year's Eagles team.

It's a tough combination. It's one that's going to win you a ton of football games. There's your top 10 teams heading in to this football season, which now allows us to be joined by my friend. And now, coworker and colleague at first things first, Nick Wright. Hey, buddy. What's up, how's it going? It's going well. I really liked your top 10 teams. And I think it's really cool that you were able to just run back the exact 10 teams you loved last year. Just add the Washington to it. That's all your teams.

Yes, every single one. You're doing the same thing everyone's doing. You know who's going to be good? The teams that I thought were going to be good last year. This is your same list as a year ago. At this time of year plus Washington, 100%. I did not have the Eagles at one. I did not have the Eagles winning the division last year.

I was very wrong about Dallas. So the number one team, you know, I'm going to honor the Super Bowl. I do have a lot of respect for the Bengals and the Niners to bounce back. You can admit it. It's a perfect list. Okay, so let's talk about the two teams, because I do find it interesting. The two teams that weren't good last year that you think are going to be good this year. Okay.

Because I have different teams that, and your total abandonment in faith of the Bears is a total topic for another day. Why will this season be different for the Bengals than last year? What's one reason? New defensive coordinator? I don't know that it's an upgrade. I mean, I guess that's the hope. I just feel like the Bengals, I don't know how their offense can't be better than it was.

That's right. And so maybe it stays equal. I mean, you are more in the. the mainstream than I am on the Bengals this year because most people seem to think they're a real threat. Last year was an aberration. They'll get back to being a contender-ish. But I don't see why I would believe that. I think the defense is maybe going to be worse than last year, having with Trey Hendrickson not there right now. I don't know that they had an upgrade at D coordinator. And the offense played basically perfectly last year. So I don't, I feel like,

like the Bengals are doing, have the exact same plan they had a year ago, except now the guys are more expensive and we're supposed to think that's going to make them better. I don't buy them for real. Well, listen, that if you score that many points, historically, you're just supposed to be much better. I'm not saying that they're going to win the Super Bowl with a terrible defense, but if you've got a great offense, you're supposed to be a better team than last year. I figure your biggest beef was going to be with the Niners because of your just unrelenting, unflinching stance and hatred of Brock Purdy. Well, listen, it's not hatred, but I, you know, there are certain things.

It's so interesting where, and I asked this question this morning on what's right, the podcast, which is, at what point does someone's, like public perception shift from being a hater to being correctly skeptical? So the reason I did not buy into Brock Purdy when he nearly won MVP and got his team to overtime of the Super Bowl in 2023 was very simple in that, you know what? I thought it was such a stack team with such a brilliant play caller that I had real questions. What would he look like if some of those pieces chipped away? And then by the grace of the sports gods, we got to see exactly what he would look like if he didn't have all those weapons. And the team finished what in last place in their division, second of last in their division, one six, seven games.

And now everyone's like just wants to pretend that didn't happen. And you are more optimistic about the Niners this year than I am. You're right about that because I thought they, one of the reasons people and credit you for not being one of them, it seems, are buying into the Broncos so much is because of two Niners defenders that they took. The Niners defense lost massive personnel at each and every level. The wide receiver room right now is super banged up and they're desperately relying on Christian McCaffrey, who's awesome, but a huge injury risk. And the oldest tackle in the league. And so a lot of folks' rationale for the Niners is they won't be as injured as they were last year. And my answer is, well, they're not as deep as they were last year.

And I do think they're one of the more injury risk, you know, higher injury risk teams. So no, I'm not a Niners believer for the second consecutive year. With Kyle Shanahan, Christian McCaffrey, when they play together, not the Kyle Shanahan plays, but when McCaffrey plays for Kyle Shanahan, you know what I'm saying. They win 75% of their games. They're 23 and 8. When McCaffrey is out, they're 8 and 12, and he's worth about 4 points per game. It feels to me like that coach with that player is a cheat code,

which is why I am going to still believe in them. But if we're going to just react to my lists, I know you want to, and I know we've done it on FTF, we've done it on your couch, we've done it via text and group chat. explain to me why Justin Herbert isn't the fifth best quarterback in football because he passes my beautiful eye test. I mean, just because when you are as close to year 10 as you are your rookie year, when you're the same college recruiting class as Nikki Bosa and the same draft class as Justin Jefferson,

you have to be judged on what you've actually done, not what you theoretically could be. and what you Justin Herbert sick of fans, and I think he's a good player, what you guys all refuse to admit is, for most of you, three or four of the last five years, you have gone into the season, not just talking about how good Herbert is, but how good the team is. That's true. How dangerous the chargers are. How stacked it is.

And then the year ends, they're mediocre. he's bad in the big spot and everyone's like he needs more help he right and so and you said it last year they had the number one defense in the NFL they had the good offensive line with now the highest paid left tackle and football Joe Alder right tackle a great coach and he could not get out of his own way against a Texan's team that was dying to be beaten interceptions off his guys hands Nick You're not kidding. You're not serious. You're not serious. Two of them were. He was awful. He was awful in that game. He was bad.

And here is to me, and I'm not known as a Jalen Hertz guy. But what I do think is fair is last year, the Chargers asked Justin Herbert to be the quarterback that Jalen Hertz was for Philadelphia in 2022 when they made their first Super Bowl. We're going to run the ball. We're going to throw it sparingly. We're going to play great defense. Don't turn it over. And three or four times a game in the playoffs make big plays. And Jalen Hertz executed that exact playbook almost flawlessly to the tune of playing neck and

neck to Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Justin Herbert was asked to do that and had one of the worst games of his life against the Texans. And folks just want to pretend. It didn't happen. We've seen Herbert play in three either playoff or winner take all games because the Week 18 game against the Raiders a few years ago. And he has been bad in all three of them and he's five years into his career. I know he's talented.

I know he throws a beautiful ball. But at some point it has to be about what you've actually accomplished. And even though I'm not the biggest Jalen Hertz guy in the world, having Herbert, ahead of Hertz and Stafford is mortifying. And it makes you question, why do we actually play the games? Hold on, hold on. Real quick.

Real quick. If the trade was offered, Jalen Hertz for Justin Herbert, the Eagles would say no. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. The guy is more talented. He would be able to hand the ball off to Sequin Barclay just like Jalen Hertz can.

And instead of the one-year-old quarterback schemes, they would just throw the ball to A.J. Brown and DeVante Smithmore. Can I ask you, can I, let's stay here then. Do you think if we're going to play in this make-believe world that last year if Jalen Hertz was the Chargers quarterback, they would have beaten the Texans. Because I do. If that Texans, no, hold on. because the only reason they lost was the four interceptions. Would they have... Justin Herbert, that was an outlier, terrible game. The guy threw over 500 passes in the regular season and had three interceptions.

Right, but Danny, that doesn't mean something. Danny, if you went before you, go back to the first time you were filling in for Colin. Oh, here we go. If you had never dropped an F-bomb in your entire, the entire, the entire, year of doing live radio. And then, and then in the first hour of doing the herd, you dropped three. Would that be bad luck or would that be, ooh, the moment got to him? You got to work on your cowherd level analogies.

That's not. Okay, that's fine, but you follow, like, and so I don't agree with you that they, now, I do think that if you didn't have a team built yet, like you were, that's a different question. With the Eagles trade Herbert for Hertz, it's a different question than I am starting a team from scratch. What player do I think is more malleable? Wait a minute, though. Okay, but if we're doing a top 10 list, if every player was available to be drafted, 32 general managers, just in Herbert.

I wouldn't take Herbert fifth. But you would take him fifth. You would take it before Jalen Hertz. Maybe, maybe. Then he's better. Then he's better. Okay, so he at some point, again, the accomplishment must matter. That's first of all.

And second of all, you can't, by that metric, Danny, though, who would you take ahead? I don't know if anybody would take him, if we're talking about for long term, would take him ahead of Jaden Daniels, and if we're talking about for short term, would take him ahead of Matt Stafford. So, like, you just love him. I do love him. I do love him. I do love him. And just the audience needs to know, like, for some reason, you're a Justin Herbert.

guy. It's a weird thing, but it's fine. All right. Speaking of a guy who is one of your guys, but I feel like he should be everybody's guy. Professional athlete works out in offseason I didn't know was worthy of a cover story. Why are people rushing to bet Luca Dantches for MVP? I've seen the guy carry a team to the NBA finals an average 33, 9, and 10. I didn't know that public opinion on him had slid so much that we were doubting luca donchich that i needed to see him intermittent fast i i guess i missed that oh you're watching too many old justin herbert oregon clips because that's where the whole media's been that's insane i took that lucca donchich in the span of 10 months went from in like the probably the first person named in the after joker who's the

best player in the league discussion to basically a past his prime fat alcoholic in the public eye. And it's really unbelievable. Twelve months ago today, not a person in the world thought Shea or Anthony Edwards was better than him. And then prior to this cover story, it seemed like everyone had just decided Shay and Anthony Edwards were better than him. I, listen, Luke the amount of, Luca had a down year. It coincided with the first major injury of his career, a truly, I think, traumatic event in being traded that shocked him and threw him off, and he was out of shape. But it came on the heels of the best season, regular and post of his life, where, as you mentioned,

he won the scoring title, average 34, 9 and 10, single-handedly led a team. You shouldn't say single-handedly. he was good. But, you know, led a team to the NBA finals and made his fifth All-MBA first team, which for the record is more than Steph or Chris Paul have in their career and is only one less than Kevin freaking Durant, who's been unbelievable for almost 20 years. That's how good Luca is. But I do think it's noteworthy that he took it to heart that last year he was a little out of shape. It didn't go the way he wanted. And for the most notable part of that story,

other than the fake news about his 42-inch vertical, was that the gym he has worked in every summer since he was a teenager, did not have weights in it until this year. He just went there and fall, and so now he brought it weights. So I think that is good. And now, listen, is there a bit of osmosis of spending a few months around LeBron and realizing he needs to get in shape? Probably, but I'll give Luke a credit for it anyway.

We've come a long way from Syracuse Providence postgame shows on WAER, my friend. I cannot believe that coming up soon. Yeah, but I think your takes were better than. I got to tell you, I think we need to go back and get some of those tapes, unless there was some lacrosse player who had never done anything in his five-year college career, and you're like, he's better than Gary Gates. I don't know. But yeah, I can't wait.

It's going to be really cool to be working with you every day for the first time, since, you know, in 20 years. It's going to be great. I'm going to love it, and it's going to be even more exciting when Herbert goes 8 and 9, and you're like, but actually, you throw such a tight spiral. It is a very tight spiral. Nick Wright will be watching on First Things First.

Thank you, my friend. See you, buddy. All right, that's Nick Wright from First Things First, of which I will be joining when they expand to three hours this upcoming football season. That show will be 3 to 6 Eastern. Coming up next. And by the way, I got Nick to concede that he would draft

Herbert over Hurst. I'm chalking that whole thing up as a win. There's a massive disconnect on this show and elsewhere. On Shador Sanders. We'll get into it. Next, The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of The HARD weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, we're Kavino and Rich.

Fox Sports Radio every day, 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern. But here's the thing. We never have enough time to get to everything we want to get to. And that's why we have a brand new podcast called Overpromised. You see, we're having so much fun in our two-hour show. We never get to everything. Honestly, because this guy is overpromising things we never have time for. Yeah, you blubberlips.

Well, you know what? It's called over-promise. You should be good at it because you've been over-promising women for years. Well, it's a Kavino and Rich after show, and we want you to be a part of it. We're going to be talking sports, of course. But we're also going to talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called Over-Promised.

Well, if you don't get enough, Kavino and Rich, make sure you check out Over-Promise. Also, uncensored, by the way. So maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's going to be the best after-show podcast of all time. There you go. Overpromising. And remember, you could see it on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen to Overpromised with Kavino and Rich on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. People to Do Podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, 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 Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the 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 athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters, to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-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. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now.

And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome back into the herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd. It's a true honor to do this yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Jeff Schwartz will be on the program a little bit later on in the show, which is also kind of surreal, given that when I was covering the chiefs and doing radio in Kansas City, he was the first guy I ever talked to covering an NFL locker room. So known AJ Prisinski a long time, Jeff Schwartz a long time, no one longer than Nick Wright, who was just on. So it's been really fun to be able to do this here, sitting in the big chair for Colin Cowherd. And I wanted to talk a little bit about what I think is maybe one of the bigger disconnects between media and reality in the sports world that we've seen in a long time.

And I know Colin, he makes fun of himself when he's like, I don't know if everyone else is as fascinated by the Brown's QB situation, but I am fascinated by it. And I'm like, I don't know that I am quite there with you, Colin, because Shador Sanders was a fifth round pick. You know, a fifth round pick. Famous dad, interesting prospects. We thought he was going to be a higher pick.

But the NFL said, fifth round pick. And Shador Sanders seems to know that. And I'm not sure that the rest of the media world has completely caught up to it. I'm going to play a couple of things for you here,

and then I'll start to unpack what I think's happened. But first, his father, Dion Sanders, was on Michael Irvin's podcast, talking about how and why Dion Sanders will not be attending Brown's training camp anytime soon.

He didn't want me to come. He's like that. I may get three, four reps at practice. I don't want you seeing that. Like, oh, no, I'm not where I need to be. Let me get where I need to be. And it's so funny because this is the first time, man. Yeah.

And he's dealing with it like a pro. Like, he ain't mad. He ain't bitter. He's like, I got work to do, and I'm going to put in his work. One thing, they're going to have to let me play. Preseason going to come. and win pre-sons and come. Watch me work.

Okay. I hope he's right. That sounds like a former coach and current and always dad, rooting for his son. But he's right. Shador Sanders will at some point play in the preseason. And in theory, the Kenny Pickett injury opens up some reps for him to move up the depth chart.

But not all, but some of the reporting or the reaction to the reporting more accurately he's been like, man, Shador Sanders hasn't gotten any reps with the ones yet. Yeah. He was a fifth round pick. Say what you want about Joe Flacco. We're not that far removed

from Joe Flacco in NFL playoff games. Say what you will about Kenny Pickett, but he's a young quarterback who was a first round pick. And say what you will about Dylan Gabriel. But this team, the team that drafted Shador Sanders in the fifth round, took him in the third round. And this was from this morning, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam.

Maybe he's surprised, but he's also being asked questions about his fifth round pick at quarterback. If you just told me, he said, we picked him on Saturday, right? Friday night driving home, you all are going to pick Shadur. I would say that that's not happening. We had a conversation early that morning, and then we had a conversation later that day. I think we had the right people involved in the conversation. At the end of the day, that's Andrew Berry's call. Andrew made the call to pick Shador.

So Andrew Barry also made the call to pick Dylan Gabriel. And I think we just need to come to grips because it seems like Shador Sanders has understood it. He made some mistakes with the speeding tickets that put himself back into the news. But by all accounts, he is showing up on time, doing the work, not complaining, trying not to be a distraction, fulfilling his media obligations as asked. I was reading a story about how when he came in to a media tent off the side of a practice field, a veteran on the team was doing his media responsibilities, and the reporters started to leave that players to go over and kind of camp out to get the best microphone space for Shador's. And Shador told the PR guy, you know, I'm not going to talk to the media until the veteran play.

is done out of a sign of respect. So it seems like Shador, who by all accounts was a good kid at Colorado, is doing the right things in terms of being a professional. Again, notable exception of the multiple speeding tickets, but to me, those are very little minor transgressions that are just little blips. They're not anything to really get my antenna up here. But the disconnect to me is fascinating on this level. we messed up.

The media messed up. And when I say the media, I am including quote unquote draft experts. The Mel Kuyper's, Todd McShay's, Matt Miller, Joel Clats, Dane Bruglers of the world. And I'm not saying any of them are bad or anything about it. It's an unbelievable industry that has been created where we watch college football and we watch the NFL and then a segment of the industry

can make a 365 day a year job out of figuring out the transition of some players from college to the NFL. And I eat it up. I like drafts coverage too. But I also don't really pretend that I know anything because I think that at least when I am talking about a player in a game, I can watch the game. And then I can have my NFL game pass and I can watch the all 22 and I can get access to the stats and I can feel relatively informed.

You still have what was the play call, what was this, what was a guy's health, you still have plenty of things you don't know. But we don't know an immense amount compared to the draft. And there's just so many information gaps that it's hard for me to really put much stock into any of the pre-draft process. What happens in draft season is if your team is picking 20th and you get a guy who in the consensus mock drafts was slated to go 14th, the reaction the day after the draft is you got to steal. And then if you're drafting 20th and you took a guy who in the consensus mock drafts was slated to go 29th, you got a reach and you got a bad grade. So we are, the media is judging your successes or your failures off of our rankings. Shador Sanders is the best example we've ever had of. The NFL doesn't agree with our rankings.

Now, normally the media is not as far off as they were with Shador Sanders, and it was a boring draft, and the Titans had the number one pick, and he is Dion Sanders' son. Like, there was just an element of celebrity and a desire to fuel the, coverage of post Super Bowl leading into the draft, which is normally a football rich time, we've got to make a story. And so this kid got built up into something that the NFL clearly did not think that he was. And then on draft night, the story became, the story that the media created, the build of Shador Sanders became the fall of Shador Sanders. And athletes have

complained about this all the time. You build us up to tear us down. You build us up to tear us down. Shador Sanders is the perfect example of that. I would bet he doesn't play a game this year. Fifth round picks sometimes get cut. There is no guarantee that Shador Sanders ever plays a game in the NFL. Will he? Probably. But Joe Flacco is now the favorite to start. And I think Kenny Pickett, coming back from a hamstring injury, is a kind of co-favorant to start. and Cleveland's going to be really bad. And next year's quarterback class is supposed to be really good. So if they take Aller or Manning or Nassmeyer or whoever they take in next year's draft,

that guy will slot in ahead of Shador Sanders if he's even still in on the team. And my guess is the Browns want to see what they have from Dylan Gabriel before they see anything from Shador Sanders because judge them by their actions, not their words. They drafted Dylan Gabriel in the third round and Shador Sanders in the fifth. But Shador seems to get it. Hey, dad, don't come to practice. You're not just a normal dad. You're Deon Sanders.

I don't want to be more of a distraction because I am fourth on a bad quarterback depth chart for a bad organization that has done a bad job of developing quarterbacks. But it's like because in March, we believe that this guy could be the second pick in the we have to be like, you know, the next, the next Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy or Tom Brady is just sitting there in Cleveland. The overwhelming likelihood is that the media was just wrong. And we fell for group think. And Shador Sanders is not going to be an NFL quarterback for very long. And he will be out of the NFL in a couple of years.

Like that is the overwhelming likelihood. not what I'm rooting for. I have nothing against the kid. In fact, I kind of feel bad for him. I think he got some bad advice. I think the legendary thing was a little bit of a mistake, being in the shadow of Dion Sanders, coming into the sports take industrial complex

and getting overrated to then where now you've got no shot to live up to those expectations. I feel a little bad for the kid. So I'm not personally rooting against them in any way. But the NFL's actions have said, he ain't an NFL player. And my guess is, if you're dying to see Shador Sanders

playing an NFL game that matters, you're going to be waiting for at least a year because if you're fourth on that depth chart, you're a long ways away from actually playing meaningful football in the NFL. So I don't think that's that big of a deal for the Browns. But there's another one. Oh, boy.

I don't know how you could be a fan of this team and then watch this player. And actually, it's really three teams if you think about it and not just have pain every NFL Sunday. I'll tell you who I'm talking about next. Danny Park is in for Colin. This is The Herd. 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, 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... 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 did 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... Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers... This is how you guys remember it going down. Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends,

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 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 I-Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. In 50 States, NMLS, Consumer Access.org, number 30, 30. Danny Parkins in for Colin here on the herd. And, you know, we were just talking to Sodor Sanders and the desert that is the Browns quarterback. One of those pictures that always goes viral as that fan with all the names of all the different quarterbacks that have started there, going back to Tim Couch and beyond.

and it's just a quarterback wasteland in Cleveland. I don't know how a Browns fan could watch what Baker Mayfield has done in Tampa and not just throw the remote against the TV. Like rage quit in a video game and just turn it off. And I know in Cleveland they gave Baker time, right? I mean, he was there for four years. He started 13 games, then 16, then 16, then 14.

I'm not saying that they shortchanged him a number of games. But Baker Mayfield did win a playoff game for them in 2020. Baker Mayfield was a guy who, in Cleveland, did have an 11-5 season his third year. And then it was like, well, Baker's the problem. I mean, Baker and Odell Beckett, we got to, there's a breakup here, we got to choose. you chose poorly. And since then, right, Browns, Panthers, Rams bounced around, former number one overall pick.

Was he too cocky? Does he do the, you know, show me the money? Do you plant in the flag at Oklahoma? Is he the wrong type of guy to translate? Is he too small to really put up anything in the NFL? Well, he gets to Tampa and he consistently improves

in every statistical category dramatically, immediately, and consistently. 2021 and 22, Browns, Panthers, and Rams, he goes 8 and 16 and completes 60% of his passes.

Last two years of the bucks, 19 and 15 completes 68% of his passes. Pass a rating over 100 with the bucks and he's found a home. And he got some contract stuff worked out here. We can play him on it in just a second. And he's under contract with Tampa through next year.

But more so than just Baker and Tampa, I think there's a lesson for the Browns and probably about 15 other teams in the league. But we'll start with the news on Baker's contract. Right now, it was, you know, I'm under contract through 26. So it was really just about getting guaranteed money. for 26 and they did that and that's that's all I can ask for I signed the contract I knew what it was you know it's right now it's winning and I know good things will happen after that but I trust this

place I love being here obviously used to bouncing around I've done that before but I don't want to leave so it's how can we win right now we have a team that's really really well built and Jason those guys did it and so if we win right now good things will happen Bucks are probably the best organization in the NFL that people just do not give credit for. They brought everybody back on offense. They've been consistently a top 10 offense the last couple of years. They've had coordinators get hired to be head coaches, Liam Cohen, most notably, this past year. And they just keep on humming.

And Baker Mayfield is the single biggest reason why. No player in football has more passing touchdowns than Baker Mayfield the last two seasons. He's thrown for the second most passing yards in the NFL. the last two seasons. He's got the fourth best passer rating in the NFL the last two seasons. Like Baker Mayfield has been performing and producing statistically like a top five quarterback in the NFL when he's got a good support. Tristan Wirfs is elite. Evans and Godwin is a great duo. Bucky Irving's really talented. But no one would say he's got the same supporting cast as Detroit or Philly or some of the teams that we put up in that upper echelon of total roster talent

in the NFL, and then Chris Godwin went back to Tampa and took $30 million less than the Patriots were offering him reportedly. Like, they're building something special down in Tampa, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But when I see Baker, I think about the Jets and Sam Darnold. How badly do the Jets wish this version of Sam Donald was their quarterback? And I know sometimes you need to break up. change of scenery, right? If you see your ex happy on social media when they get married to

somebody else, if you're not jealous, you're like, well, I know that they weren't going to be able to be happy with me. I was going to be happy with them. Fine. Sometimes breakups need to happen and change the scenaries need to happen. I understand that. But there are so many teams that I think for a long time, oh, it's a sunk cost, we've got to cut bait. If I was the Colts, for example, and I had Anthony Richardson, and I had Anthony Richardson, and I I drafted him fourth overall, and I knew he was just this like unmolded piece of clay that we had to develop, that it was going to take time because he had played so little in college, and he's just this really talented athlete who's arguably the best athlete of any quarterback in the NFL,

and he does these unbelievable things, and he could Uncle Rico it and throw the ball over the mountain, but he's struggled with his post-snap processing. He's struggled most notably with staying healthy and staying on the field. seems like maybe he only has a fastball, doesn't take the velocity off the throws so much on some of the shorter and intermediate routes. I will be floored if the Colts, even if Daniel Jones starts this year,

and even if Daniel Jones played all 17 games this year and had a monocum of success, I will be floored if the Colts move off of Anthony Richardson, cut him, trade him for a mid-round pick, whatever it would be. Because I think they believe in the talent and I think good teams, good organizations, smart organizations are paying attention and being like, it takes a while for this to work. It takes a while to develop.

Not everybody is Jada Daniels. Not everybody is C.J. Stroud. Those are outliers. Two things can be true. It can be getting easier to transition from college to the pros because the pro offenses are more like college offenses. I think that is objectively true. But it is still the pros, and the rar you are as a talent or the worse of a situation you go into, the more instability, the worst coaching, whatever it may be.

Baker Mayfield should be the poster child for patience, because he's 30, and he just got 30 million more guaranteed for next year, and Baker now looks like he's going to be a starting quarterback in the league until he's 37, 38 years old. which a Browns fan, a Panthers fan, must be impossible for you to believe. But coming up next, I'm consciously optimistic about the Steelers this year, but I've been wrong many times before,

and I don't care how much Nick Wright makes fun of me. I'll never quit you, Justin Herbert. Next, The Hurd. Hey, guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick, and guess what? We created our own podcast called,

Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. on this. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy is fantastic. But once again, it does not have a monopoly on healing. That's why I create the resources and that's why I create the community because I really just want you to have more access. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom, and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. It's tough because we're suppressing our emotions and so many of us are like high achieving individuals. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your

podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.