The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - The Wow Factor

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Colin explains why Jalen Hurts has the "Wow Factor" and Brock Purdy does not Thoughts on players like SGA and Nikola Jokic being number 1s and why Jayson Tatum hasn't reached that level   Guest: Joel Klatt  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, it's hour two. We go to Joel Clatt in the Big 12 media days in a couple of minutes. Live in Chicago, it's the herd wherever you may be. However you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. I am off tomorrow and next week doing a little travel with my son. As we embark on the NBA finals, I think the Knicks are in trouble. Indiana wraps up tonight. I think OKC.

Minnesota last night. And so J. Mack will be here instead and we'll do a great job as always. I think J. Mack, you brought something up that's interesting during the last hour. You said I was a quarterback elitist. Do I look at quarterbacks who are taken in the first round or early second round is different?

I'll give an example. I think you can make an argument that every great quarterback in the league now, there is something that is wow. Mahomes. Arm talent, wow. I mean, throwing it left-handed. Josh Allen, about six different, six-six, two-fifty. I mean, just he is the wow

quarterback of my life. He and Elway. Lamar Jackson athletically, wow. I think Joe Burroughs' precision throwing, it's a lot like Jaden Daniels. These guys are so accurate, under pressure, bad offensive lines, Jaden Daniels, and Burrow, it's like, whoa, like right now. So, Herbert, size arm wow wow even Russell Wilson or a Kyler Murray though diminutive their elusiveness in their

prime is like it's next level like it's wow so Jalen Hertz though not a first rounder he was a second rounder his wow is strength he squats 600 pounds we have a play in the NFL that's unstoppable that doesn't work with any other team

because Jalen Hertz is so strong So Jalen does have a wow. It's a weird wow. I've never talked about a quarterback squatting before, but it's a wow. That is the knock on third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh round and undrafted quarterbacks. So let me get two guys who don't have a wow. They just happen to rank one and two all time in the history of football at the position of quarterback. Sixth router Tom Brady and third rounder Joe Montana.

Neither has a wow, but they're basically considered. It's the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Okay, so in that era, not everybody was allowed to play quarterback. There was a certain style and size and boxes you had to check. And over the last 10 to 12 years, 15 years, Michael Vic to me, really changed the game. That people went, oh, what if we put our best athlete at quarterback? And so high school coaches, college coaches, NFL coaches now, you have the best athlete on the team often as the quarterback. That was never the case in the Montana Brady drafting

era. So the world has changed. It's like trying to compare Babe Ruth to Bryce Harper, nutrition, nobody through sliders. The sport is global. So Brady and Montana are in a completely different era of what quarter, what coaches, GM's owners, what they're looking for and what's allowed to play quarterback. I suppose you could play that card, but it's weird because I don't hear you say about them. Well, they had two of the greatest coaches in football history in Belichick and Bill Walsh. You don't play that. They had stacked rosters.

Well, no, no, I have talked about that. There are no great quarterbacks without great coaches. Bradshaw had Noel. Fouts had Coriel. Brady had Belichick. Aikman had Jimmy Johnson. Montana had Walsh. So did Steve Young.

Farve had Holmgren. You see a trend here? Jaylen Hertz is one with two different coaches. Whoa, whoa, whoa. But let's, that's why let's, let's slow down on Jalen Hertz is great. He's not. What he's not. Greg CoSell knows more about this than anybody in the country, arguably, that goes on TV.

Greg CoSell said this about Russell Wilson in his prime. Colin, he misses open throws. It's exactly what he said with Jalen Hertz. He said, for the record, he was very critical of Aaron Ryan Ryan. for years saying he's like a jazz musician he plays to his own notes he leaves completions on the field jalen hurts is not a great quarterback burrow mohomes out if jalen hurts was on the market you think you think kansas city's calling Cincinnati's calling no they're not Baltimore they're quarterbacks better so though you're

you're you're you're getting because you're an underdog in life I think you view that so you love Austin Reeves And you, but realize that is part of your narrative, that you love the second, third, fourth, fifth. You can do that with Puka Nakua or a corner. Overwhelmingly, left tackles and star quarterbacks over, Marino. So is there anything birds can do besides, you know, outplaying Mahomes in a Super Bowl and then winning a Super Bowl MVP? Is there anything he can do to get into your upper crust of wow? Now, let's see six more years of PFF not saying the weakness of the Eagles is the passing game, which it is.

So there's nothing Hertz can do on the feet. No, no. Let's get better at the quarterback position. Like, Ant is an SGA in Yokic. I'm watching the games. He's not. He's not close to Yokic. I mean, Yokish could have beaten O'KC with an old banged up roster.

Guys just big and ran out of gas. Ant didn't run out of gas. Aunt ran out of stuff. He just doesn't have the elements needed. So that's what I said about PFF. They're right. The weakness of Philadelphia is, is Jalen going to be good in the pocket?

Because he's not regularly. It's not a knock on him. But remember, it's just like anything else. If you get admitted to Oxford over in the UK, there is something that the administration sees and goes, wow, it could be your SAT. It could be your experience. Generally, to get drafted in the first round, you have got, and I think scouting is better

today than it's ever been. I think it's smarter. I think fans are smarter. In order to get drafted at the top of a NFL draft, even if you're a bus, 30% of the first round is a bus, there is some, I mean, Quentin Johnson for the Chargers has not worked out. The dude is 6'5, and it runs world-class speed. Now, does he run the right?

does he always caps the ball? Is he consistent? No, no. But there is wow there. You see him in the hotel lobby. You're like, okay. You see the Boise State guy who's a better player, and you're likely small. He's not a burner. So you have to contextualize some of it is systems, some of it is who's the offensive coordinator. Can I ask you one more thing? And I love Justin Herbert. I'm a huge fan. I think he's going to be great. He has zero career playoff wins. He has Jim Harbaugh now as his head coach. And you're saying Jalen Hertz with the Super Bowl MVP. And total dominance can do nothing to get in just... Let me ask you this.

A trust fund guy has more money than you. Does that make him a better worker and smarter than you? What's around him? That $32,000 a month he gets from Gramps. By the way, last year, this is going to be a hard one. Last year, Jalen Hertz threw for fewer yards than Daniel Jones. Is it a passing yards contest? I would rather win Super Bowls than throw for 6,000 yards and win nothing.

Again, you're conflating. Super Bowls with better quarterback. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Joe Flacco, and Nick Foles have trophies. Marino doesn't. Fifty years. I mean, they're outliers. Would you agree? Those guys who want to?

To win a Super Bowl is not just loony. It's not rubbing off a lottery ticket. You have to beat multiple good teams, off and on the road. I mean, Nick Foles beat Tom, Brady, and Belichick. And Belichick had one of his best Super Bowls.

Belichick, Brady was flawless. They couldn't stop, but I don't think New England punted. I mean, Brady was flawless and he beat him. So again, you love the underdog. I don't. I just like talent. However, I don't care if it's a podcaster. I don't care if it's a quarterback.

I don't get anything out of, well, he came from the fifth round. Well, he's cheaper for a few years, but the guy in the first round's probably bigger and stronger. By the way, John Elway is the best quarterback prospect ever. He got blown out for years in Super Bowls. Why? He had no running game. He didn't have the elements. needed around him. But he was getting a pretty limited roster at times to the Super Bowl.

By the way, Buffalo, Jim Kelly never won a Super Bowl. Jim Kelly's an incredible quarterback. He was facing Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys. You know, they had one game against, I think, the Giants, and they lost that and the Scott Norwood thing. But the reality is, is that you can't, that's why I've never bought into this. Well, Jordan is six for six. Robert Horrie's won seven titles. We're not going to contextualize it. I mean, we're not going to contextualize that Robert Ory has more championships than Charles Barkley. We're just going to say, well, it's championships.

I don't think those are the be-all and all. So many things have to go right. Like, by the way, much easier now to get to the NBA finals out of the east than it is out of the West. It's much easier to get to the playoffs out of the ACC than it is out of the Big Ten or the SEC. So you could be a really good team in the Big Ten that you could beat everybody, you could beat the brakes off everybody outside of maybe Clemson. You can't even get into the playoffs out of the SEC. I largely agree championships aren't everything.

I have LeBron over Jordan. LeBron has fewer championships. But at some point, I think we've got to say like, hey, man, we've got to look at the quarterback position differently than we did 5, 10, 15 years ago. Jalen hurts just because he's different and a dual threat guy who squats 600 pounds and was drafted in the second round, it doesn't mean he's not better right now.

than Justin Herbert. No, this is what, Tim Tebow once came up to me and he goes, Colin, you and I just disagree. There's more than one way to win in the NFL. And I said, no, there's not Tim. And I told him to his face, no, there's not, Tim. You got to be better in the pocket. Greg Kosell says it every week. You can run around.

You can squat six hundred pounds. You have to have a stacked roster to win Super Bowls if you're not elite in the pocket. Joe Burrow got to a Super Bowl with an atrocious O line and a mediocre defense. That is A plus plus. That's taking a bad script and a bad director and getting Oscar nominated, even if you don't win the Oscar. To get nominated when the script's okay, that is acting. To take an average script as a director and get nominated for a Golden Globe, that is directing. It's not being handed Tom Cruise, the Mission Impossible, like if the director retired today for Mission Impossible,

getting that series, that inertia, that momentum and Cruz and saying, yeah, we made $480 million. You better because everything that surrounds you in the momentum with it. Remember, Hertz, though, he's essentially gotten nominated for two Oscars with two different directors. At some point, we've got to look and say, man, it can't just be the coach. It can't be the roster. The director in Philadelphia is Howie Roseman. It's not the coach. So it's now the GM.

Okay, got it. Well, he is viewed as the best GM, arguably in the history of the league. Yes, he is viewed. I mean, I don't think any of us deny the secret sauce to the Lions. Dan Campbell's done a good job. It's the guy upstairs that doesn't miss on draft picks. So Howie Roseman is a historic outlier that we look at the secret sauce. It's not quarterback.

And it's not, I mean, they stole Seguan Barclay from their rival. Like, that's different level GMing to me. Howie's in a different class. Philadelphia's story is about Mahomes, Reed, and, and Brett Veach. All of them are absolutely, and the Hunt family's solid. I mean, the RAM story is, you know,

it's a lot. McVeigh gets it, Stafford, Cronky, less neat. But I mean, in the Philadelphia story, is owner GM are really, really good. I hope Jalen Hurts is watching. Jalen, I love you. I'm sure.

You sound like you love him. I do. No, no, no, it's a GM. Well, I think the franchise isn't about Nick Seriani. I think we both agree. If you look at that roster, it's like, the hell. I mean, PFF's like they don't have a weakness. Well, I mean, other than the passing game.

And by the way, their passing game has lots of good Sundays. It's not like it's terrible. It's just not as good. I mean, again, when you have to pick a weakness with Philadelphia, that is the weakness. Joel clats around the corner. It's the herd. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Debates today. Joel Klatz's going to be joining us in about five minutes, but first Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. That was fun, by the way. I checked my phone, and let's just say, a lot of my friends in Pennsylvania for where I used to live are very upset with you for your Kailen Hertz slander. And I will leave it at that, Colin.

All right, let's get started with the Los Angeles Lakers. One of the best teams in the NBA this year. I think they finished third in the West, right? They are looking for bargain deals this offseason. Colin, are they going to be able to find one given, you know, they don't want a part with Austin Reeves, it looks like this should be a good offseason for them. Obviously, they're looking at center.

They need a rim runner, someone to join force it with Luca. Your thoughts on the Lakers bargain hunting is offseason. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bargans are going to beat OKC and Indy. Okay. Okay. I mean, that's fine. If you want to get a used car, 88,000 miles in the odometer, and you think that's going to be

a Bentley and OKC, knock yourself out, but it's not. Wait, OKC's all of a sudden a Bentley? J.J. Reddick. will not play Jackson Hayes. Well, he's unplayed. So they have one big, and JJ Reddick doesn't like him. And by the way, the Thunder have two bigs,

and the Knicks have two bigs, and the Pacers have two bigs. I mean, you got Miles Turner and Seyakum, really highly capable. Or I can get Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren. Or, I mean, look at what you're going up again. And this is both a Laker and a warrior problem, although I like the Warriors future better is

these teams now that are at the top they got two bigs I like. You don't have any. JJ Ruddick doesn't like the one big they have and you want to go bargain shopping. Come off. Mr. Anti-Laker, just keep it up. All right, let's go to Anthony Edwards, Colin.

He had a rough conference finals there against OKC despite only winning one game last year against Dallas and this year against OKC Ant-Man, who I believe is 23 years old, is not concerned. about getting back here.

I don't know what people think it would hurt. I mean, it's exciting for me. I'm 23. I get to do it a whole much of times. I'm hurt more so for myself for Mike. I came up short for Mike. Like I said, we tried last year. We couldn't get it.

We tried again this year. I want to try again next year. But hurting is a terrible word to use. I'm good. Now, there is this trend that teams look unbelievable like the Celtics last year and don't make it back. Denver the previous year and don't make it back. So are we hyperventilating here on OkC's defense? I would say, yes, if SGA got hurt. Yes, if you've got to eventually pay SGA and Jalen Williams.

I could see Jalen Williams at some point like the Harden OKC team. I could see Jalen Williams, you know, going somewhere because they just can't pay everybody. I could see, by the way, Janus going to San Antonio and changing, then all of a sudden the spurs look like with their roster, they can do it. So I do think we tend to recency bias fall in love, but SGA is the league's leading score and just going into his prime, and the roster's ridiculous, the GM's great, the coach is outstanding, and their number two and three players are only getting better.

It's hard to overlook that. I mean, I wonder if Janus is sitting at home, Colin, and looking at this and say, huh, where can I get a stacked team to take these guys down? Do you, because, I mean, going to the Spurs is interesting, but I don't know that that makes them ready right now to dominate. I think about this. I think the Knicks are way closer right now than the Spurs are

to winning a title in the next year. We'll see. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are eligible for rookie extensions. Between the two, it'll be $592 million. So, I mean, you can't, that's right, you can't pay everybody. My guess is they'll keep Holmgren because he's a little bit of a, you know, there's not many guys that can operate at that height and that can do the things he can do offensively, like a KD at that height. He's taller than KD. I would keep home green, size, rim protection, and a unique offensive body, and I would keep SGA.

So, okay, they won't be as good without Williams. So there are openings with a new CBA and the multiple aprons. There are openings that the league is not. built for dynasties. I think it is, but I will say of all the recent dynasties, OKC with two first rounders, is really, really set up to make a run. Whether or not that's good for the league, we'll talk about it at a later date. Final story, Colin, is that Houston Texans added a weapon for C.J. Stroudd, they signed former Jacksonville Jaguar. Christian Kirk. Houston number one receiver Nico Collins talked about the impact Kirk will have on the offense. Here's what he had to say.

Slop majestic, man. You know, he's a slob magic, man. He ain't, he had to stop going crazy. You know, that's one guy you need. Another playmaker. You know, need another guy on the offense. You know, that's going to make plays. You know, that's one of them. Yeah, I mean, last year, their receivers fell apart. So, a digs got hurt. Just two items. Number one, I saw on that PFF list, Houston had, like, the seventh best roster? That's insane. They are not that good of a roster. I think it's way overblown. And second, Christian Kirk underwhelmed with Trevor Lawrence.

This idea that he's going to be a game changer, I don't know. I'm kind of off Houston. I'm not feeling it. The offensive line, I just, I don't love what I see. The coaching staff. Remember. I don't know, man. What am I missing here?

I like the coach. I like the quarterback. Don't like the ownership situation. But we have to remember, AFC South. The Colts do not know who's going to quarterback. The Jaguars, regardless if it's Urban Meyer, if it's Doug Peterson, like it doesn't work down there. And I think Tennessee with Cam Ward could be really interesting, but he is a rookie.

So when people say, I don't know if I love Houston, I don't know if I love him either, but I don't know if I love Tampa. I like Baker Mayfield in the NFC South, playing the Saints who don't know what they're doing a quarterback, and playing Carolina. who hasn't proven they can win consistently. So a lot of this stuff is, you know, who are you playing? That's fair. Jay Mack with the News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. By the way, you know, I've been talking today about the PFF rankings, the best rosters in the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers are 21st, so their strength is defensive line. The X-Factors, Aaron Rogers, if he signs. And the rookie to watch is running back Caleb. Johnson, we'll see. Their weakness, a below average offense. So, you know, maybe Aaron,

I mean, maybe Aaron hasn't signed with the Steelers because he does his own research and he went to PFF and he's seen this. So there are certain big brands in sports, and I'm talking like these big all-time brands, that because of either a loopy front office, dysfunction, inability to evolve, I just don't consider championship teams, Dallas and Shoehl. Dallas, Chicago, and the Steelers. Now, I think Chicago's finally got the coach and the quarterback, but I would say the Steelers and the Cowboys sort of fall into this where, and the good news about the NFL, you can fix it quickly.

I mean, Detroit was a laughing stock, even with Matt Stafford, and then they hired the right GM, and they have a stacked roster. And for the years and years, like 15 years, 20 years, Washington was a mess. And they got a really cool owner, less dysfunctional owner, and a great quarterback. So the NFL does allow you to very swiftly change. Even in the NBA, the Knicks, they got the president Leon Rose, they got Jalen Brunson, their star point guard slash quarterback, and it doesn't take long to do it in pro sports. What's concerning about the Steelers is that they have stable ownership and they have stable coaching and they have a stable front

office and they still remain incredibly tone deaf to the current NFL. Like, you're alive. You're life basically is a product of your priorities. And in the NFL, your franchise and your roster is a product of your priorities. And the Steeders, once again, for the third straight year, maybe fourth, in an offensive league, led the NFL in defensive spending. Now, some of it is, we got to give credit where credits do. Some of it is this stuff all got to. really bad when Big Ben left. And I probably never gave Big Ben kind of the love he deserved because I was so fascinated with Brady Manning and then Mahomes is that I always felt like Big Ben was a notch below. But we have to be honest, since Big Ben left, he masked a lot of these

issues. Since he left, the Steelers average 19 points a game. And by the way, the red zone touchdown percentage under half. So they're 27, 27, 24th, 29th last three season. Some of this, I mean, listen, Brady left New England with Belichick, tone-deft offense, Big Ben leaves Pittsburgh, mess offensively. Not mess as a franchise, not mess as a coach. So maybe it's as simple as this. Brady masked a very defensive first culture, and when Brady left, it was a bit of a house of cards. And Big Ben masked a lot of the problems in Pittsburgh offensively. He was so gifted. He leaves, and you can see, they don't know what they're doing offensively. So it could just be that. You know, Green Bay never gets into that situation because Green Bay drafts quarterbacks three, four years before they're going to play.

But maybe I'm too hard on Pittsburgh and not hard enough on New England because the Star Hall of Fame quarterback leaves and both feel like they don't even get offense. I mean, New England is putting a defensive coordinator, an offensive coordinator. Like, what are we doing? And Pittsburgh, again, is just spending all their money on defense. What are you doing? So maybe it's as simple as that. But a PFF has the Steelers at a 21st best roster. We talked about to lead the show, and we'll talk about it more third hour.

But I think one of the things in the NBA, and I like Jason Tatum a lot, he's a great player all-N-B-A, but I think what Yokic did a couple years ago and what he's become and what SGA is doing is really the standard that we've all been told you have to do to be a number one. And that's my criticism of Tatum, which is, okay, you keep telling me for years and years when LeBron would occasionally not take the final shot. You preached. I argued you preach.

To be the man, you got to want the shot. And mostly LeBron did, but not all the times. So essentially, when I'm critical of Tatum, I'm just doing the standard that you have set. You've got to be the MVP of the conference finals and the finals, right? Sorry. There are exceptions, like when Durant came to the Warriors, and he was better than Steph.

But I think what you're watching with SGA, it's not just the ability to score points, but it's the ability to play well with a really deep roster. He is a very good teammate as well as being the NBA's lead score, and he talks about it. They make the NBA not feel like a job. And it can at times with all the travel and all the hard days, the ups and downs.

Now, I know I sound spoiled, being in the NBA and complaining about hard days. But these guys really make it feel like I'm a kid playing AU basketball and 15 years old again. Like, they make it seem like it's just fun. And I think that's what makes us really good. Like, we have so much fun

being out there together. It's interesting. So all year long, whenever they would do like a post-game show on their broadcast, they would all join in. It's very collegiate. Like, very, very collegiate. And it's funny because I've said this before, you know, to people in my business,

is that when we had, when I got a job in Vegas, I had no money, we all went out to drink beers together and pitched in to buy like chicken wings. And then everybody makes more money in TV and you hang out less and less and less. And now, you know, everybody goes home and goes their separate ways. It could be a tech company, could be a basketball team, usually don't win in the playoffs. But they have great chemistry. Your chemistry issues are Kobe and Shaq, and their prime are both stars, and they have entitlement and expectations.

But I do think SGA is very unique. I think he is such a likable personality, and he is such a collaborative kid that I don't see. And I mean, he's already won a scoring title. He's won a conference MVP. If he wins the trophy and they beat Indiana, I think, are the Knicks. Like, I don't know. He doesn't feel like the kind of personality that is he's not. chasing lebron he's not chasing michael like like and i think a lot of that that pressure on lebron

james the chosen one the king he's been chasing it feels like he's been chasing the ghost of michael jordan forever and i don't feel that i don't feel that with sGA i think he's really content on being a great teammate i mean listen the scoring championship's a real thing a conference finals MVP is a real thing so i i don't see it ending anytime soon for this franchise Joel clats around the corner, 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, is Steve Covino.

And I'm Rich David. And together we're Covino 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 Covino 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.

And 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 and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on 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 Covino and Rich. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? 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 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 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 notebook 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 s nl 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 guess s nl's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter where does your group perform we do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Genschen 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. 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 his story.

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 SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Friday night, it's a playoff preview. The two of the league's best. St. Louis Battlehawks take on Jordan Ta'amu and the D.

see defenders. Fox, UFO Friday kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern. Well, Joel Klatz at the Big 12 Media Days, as Fox is now presenting their biggest college football games of the year, and Joel Klatt is joining us live, and we love that.

Texas, Ohio State headlines at Ohio State Michigan as well, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa State. You know, speaking of rivalry games, and I've said it this year, is that, listen, I grew up with the Pact 12, and I loved it. And then it didn't exist. And it didn't take me that long to realize, well, if I get USC Michigan, that's pretty cool.

If I get Ohio State, Oregon, I watched that game at Austin, and I'm like, all right, I'll take that. That beats Cal, Arizona. Notre Dame USC does feel big. But I can see, I can see Lincoln Riley going, okay, so the only three teams that came with us are the Big Ten are Oregon, Washington, and our primary rival into a much better conference. not to mention the playoff where I could face George and Bama. I get them saying, okay, we'll play you, but it's got to be early, and it's every other year. Are you bothered by that?

Listen, they are doing what everyone does in this sport, which is they make decisions that are in their own self-interest. And I'm not against that, but I am saying that, like, the model is what's broken. being in a selection-based model for the postseason is going to lead to more of these types of games and rivalries going away because what the committee has done during the course of their tenure as influencing college football through the 14th playoffs and even now last year in the 12th team playoff,

Colin is that they have reinforced that it's better to just win than to go play a difficult schedule. They reinforce that time and time again year in and year out. Therefore, people are going to behave. that way. So if you're USC, which has traditionally played one of the more difficult schedules in the country, in fact, they're one of the few schools that if you look back at all, you know, the last decade or so, they would average more power four, power five games than anybody in college football. They would play 11 in a lot of cases. That was far greater than the

number of power four or power five schools that the SEC teams were playing. And so like when they make this decision, I can't fault them for it. I don't love it, but I can't fault them. for it. This is, would be my argument, would just be, we need to go to an access-based model for the college football playoffs so that we know the avenues of how we can qualify for the, the playoff spots, which will lead to these games not being as penal, in particular in the non-conference, and we can hopefully see these matchups more often. Listen, it's, Dion Sanders and Belichick now are getting attention to schools that don't get it much in football.

Belichick aside, Dion Sanders, now doesn't have his son or Travis Hunter. Going forward, what are they this year? What's reasonable to expect? It's nice when your son, who's an NFL quarterback, comes with you. That's a bonus, and I still think Shador is going to be a starting NFL quarterback. What are they now, though? I don't see them taking a huge step back, maybe a small one. So two things.

One, they've recruited at a very high level, and they've brought in a couple of quarterbacks. Caden Salter, a quarterback that transferred in from Liberty, I believe it was. And they also got Julian Lewis, Juju Lewis, who decommitted from USC and is now at Colorado. Like, Dion has done a really great job, whether it's been in the portal or in high school or recruiting to try to reload. They need to continue to get better at the line of scrimmage. The more difficult part for me, and I know this sounds crazy, even more so than replacing Shador and Travis, is that that league, the Big 12, and I'm here at these, you know, spring meetings, if you look at right now what Vegas says about the team that they think is

the worst team in the big 12, the over under is set at five and a half. If you look at the team that they think is the best team in the big 12, the over under is set at eight and a half. So you've got basically 14, 15, 16 teams within three games of one another. That's what I think is the most difficult part of the big 12 and why it's so difficult to predict. Could Colorado be a four-win team? Maybe. Could they be a nine-win team? Maybe. This conference is just, so deep and bunched together with a lot of quality programs. You know, Joel, I think the last couple of years, it's been pretty obvious when I watch Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon.

These teams at the top of the Big Ten are every bit as good as the SEC or in Michigan and Ohio State's case noticeably better. Explain why over two years. It probably has a connection to the NIL, but it felt like for years, SEC games look different. And it doesn't feel like it the last two years. I think my take is, I think Penn State's going to play for the Natty against Texas next year. That's how good I think they are. I think they have a top five, six quarterback. I think James Franklin's a remarkable recruiter. They got some NIL money. What has been this two-year shift? Why?

Oh, man. There's a lot of layers to this answer. And I think that you'll love all of them. I really do, Colin. The first layer is the layer that no one wants to talk about, and no one wants to bring up, which is now everyone is paying players. And so the dispersion of talent is going to be greater because now it's legal, NIL. Now, take that for what it's worth.

That is a sentiment underlying in college football that some conferences were more entrenched in that style, of behavior prior to when NIL became legal. Then you get to some of the other layers, which is transfer portal with NIL. What does that do? Well, the SEC, and in particular, the best programs in the SEC,

can no longer just stockpile talent and keep them as backups and even third stringers at time. If you look at the depth of the roster of like the 2017, 18, 19, LSUs, Bamas, Georgia's, even 2020, 2020, those rosters were insanely talented and deep. But now, Colin, rather than sitting as a backup at Alabama, you can go and be a starter at some of the program and make, you know, six figures.

Yeah. And so the talent is not sitting there. They're going all over the country. So the depth of talent now is kind of dispersing across the country. And then what you see is that when that happens, it rewards teams that can play quality football at the line of scrimmage and can attain the talent and get veteran, deep in veteran within their organizations.

And that's what Michigan did and that's what Ohio State did. So in part, it's just kind of the overarching shift of where college football has gone, which is allowed the talent to not get really bogged down in one region. Now all those players are going all over for more opportunity, more starting spots. You're not going to make money if you don't start so you can't sit as a backup. So those rosters got thin, and then the rosters up north, I think, got a lot better. And you're seeing that late in the season. Think about these games late in the season.

And I think five years ago you would have been shocked if you would have seen results like Notre Dame beating Georgia and handling them at the line of scrimmage in a college football playoff game. Ohio State running Tennessee out of the building, not even close, in a college football playoff game. Michigan beating Alabama not only in a college football playoff game, a national semi-finals, but a year later in another bowl game depleted with all of their starters not playing, beating Alabama again. Illinois beating South Carolina,

who we all thought was really on a run late last year. You start looking at this narrative that the SEC has built up over the last few years. And late last year, it started to crumble, which is why I point to that game that we announced today, Texas, Ohio State is a big game for the SEC because they haven't had a real marquee win since early last year when, who was it? Georgia, Georgia Bunglucent early last year. So all of those things I think are fascinating.

It was a great question. It really was, but lots of layers to that thing. Listen, Ohio State, I'm going to wait and see what they are at quarterback. I think they have arguably the two best players in Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith are unbelievable players. If they played quarterback, they'd be one and two next year if they were available. Smith still has a couple of years. So I don't know enough about Ohio State. I just have to watch them.

When you lose a quarterback, I mean, they'll be good. I know that. They'll be explosive. Texas, though, is interesting. The downside to Arch Manning is that it puts enormous pressure on Steve Sarkesian. Let's talk a little bit about that. What I've seen from Arch, I like, but I haven't seen a lot. I think Drew Aller got so much better at Penn State last year from the previous year.

Like, I can see the trajectory. Like, if he gets better, okay, that's an NFL quarterback. What is Arch at this point? I believe Arch is one of the, I rated him on my show, Colin, as the second best quarterback in college football going into next year. I'm a big believer. Maybe that's Kool-A drinking. I'm not sure, but when I watch him play, he threatens every blade of grass on the field

with a really strong arm, and he's accurate and smart with it, and he's better throwing the ball down the field than even Quinn Ewers was. And then all of a sudden, in those couple of starts that he got, he flashed this ability to run. That I was like, whoa, that looks like Trevor Lawrence. So that's my comp to Arch. I think Arch is a lot of what we saw Trevor Lawrence become at Clemson. Lawrence had a lot of success early.

Remember his true freshman year, they led him to a national champion. And I think Arch, the biggest question I have for Arch is not him, actually. It's more about rebuilding that offensive line. They get C.J. Baxter back and healthy. They've recruited and hit the portal incredibly well all over their roster. That is a bona fide top-in team in college football. They should start at number one or number two in the country.

And the question becomes like, what are they going to be on the offensive line? And if that unit plays well, I think Arch will be in New York. I think that he'll have a huge decision to make, whether he wants to come out and be a top three pick in the NFL draft, or if he wants to stay at Texas one more year and continue to develop. So I'm pretty high on Arch and I'm pretty high on Texas. Okay, this is only one minute left. Lincoln Riley had a transfer thing, and it didn't work because the chemistry and Brian Kelly at LSU had a lot of transfers, and it didn't work, and Dion did a lot of transfers.

Velocet goes to Carolina. It's a lot of transfers. In one minute, I don't know if the chemistry, you can do that in the college campus. What are they going to look like? I have no idea. I think it's a huge question, and it's boom or busts when you go in the transfer portal that heavy.

We've seen teams succeed like Indiana, and we've seen teams fail like Florida State. You know, so like trying to predict what's going to happen with Bill Belichick in North Carolina as a fool's errand. They could be an eight-win team. They could be a two-win team. I have no idea what to expect from the Tar Heels. Yeah, I feel the exact same way.

because I watched Lincoln do it with Caleb Williams. And in the end, it was just a bunch of disparate parts. And I watched Brian Kelly do it and hit and miss. And, you know, Colorado considered how bad they were. The quarterback is the biggest piece. Colorado, they had Chador. Caleb Williams, they had Curtis Rourke at Indiana. They had Curtis Rourke. He played well.

So, like, that's what allows it to succeed. If you don't have that guy at quarterback, boy, you know, watch out. And that's what Florida State didn't have, they didn't hit at quarterback. So all of a sudden, they're a two-win team after starting in the top 10. So notable Fox College football games with Joel Clatt today, Texas Auburn, a headliner. Auburn at Baylor is going to be unbelievable. Iowa, Iowa State, the ducks at Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan, and Mountain West and Big Ten Championship. All sorts of good stuff.

Joel, as always from the Big 12 Media Days. Great seeing you. Always good to see you. Have a good one, bud. All right. Yeah, some really, really good games. Obviously, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Ohio State. Iowa, Iowa State will be fantastic.

Really good. You know, Brock Pruy went to Iowa State, J-Mack. I'm not sure if you're aware of that. I'm sure guy. It's a nice, nice schedule there. Is Northwestern, I should know this, right? Is Northwestern, where are they playing this year? Don't they have a different stadium makeup?

I'm not sure exactly. They're redoing facilities and there's a lot of movement there. I'm not sure quite where they're playing yet. But the underrated game on that schedule is Auburn at Baylor. Yeah, their new stadium is going to open in 2026, so I don't know where they're playing. It doesn't really matter. Northwestern stinks at football, Colin. It's okay.

Well, I mean, they've had some rough years. Is that a win in Rome? You've got to pay attention to Northwestern now. By the way, the shock in college football last year without question was Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State he'll stop by. I mean, this kid, like a kid. And they were picked for, I think they were picked for like 15th in the big 12, and they want it. If Jonathan Gannon and fails with the Cardinals, Dillingham goes to the NFL next week.

Ooh. I like that take. Hour three next. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.

And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless.

And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French win. 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.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. 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 headline. 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 Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.