The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - Is it too much hype?

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Jason McIntyre talks to NBA Insider Ric Bucher about Duke's Cooper Flagg NBA prospects and why JMac might be giving Flagg too much hypeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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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 can win. She's an outsider to win the French fame.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any service. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put it. on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard

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All right, one of the great NBA analysts out there, Rick Buecker, Fox Sports NBA superstar. Rick, nice little win for the Lakers and LeBron. It's crazy. I did the whole opening rant. Oh, I know I heard it. Did not mention LeBron. Trust me, I heard it.

And then Alex is like, oh, yeah, LeBron didn't even do anything. I was like, that's right. He didn't go to the free throw line. I don't want to say too much great stuff about the Lakers, but go ahead. What do you mean? It's too late. Go for it.

Your thoughts on the Lakers' smash. O'KC? Well, look, I always thought that they were legit in terms of being able to face them. There's still a lot of questions to be asked. It's just hard for me to know how much to take from this game, because as I watched it, first of all, I saw the score before I watched it.

I didn't watch it live. I saw the score, and I was like, wow! Now I have to watch it. And then as I'm watching it, I'm like, oh, they made eight of their first 10 threes, and you're talking about Oklahoma City Thunder, Thunder the best defense in the league. They're not making any adjustments. They go down by 16, 18. They stay with the regular rotation. They're not closing out. They're not defending. They're not

doing it. They're not making any adjustments. Now, I don't want to take anything away from what the Lakers did, but it was a clear reflection of one team that is locked into its position and the other one that is still fighting tooth and nail to stay out of the play in and, and for the seating. So I think that's a lot of what you saw in terms of it being lopsided. But there are some elements that the Lakers present, their size on the perimeter, and how you're going to match up, how are you going to match up with Yokic and LeBron size-wise? Luca. Yeah, Luca. And that remains to be seen. So I think there are some issues that that Oklahoma City has to resolve. But they also, like they didn't throw

their best pitch at the Lakers defense either. And when guys did go, I'm like, oh, wow, like, he just went by Luca. He just went by Austin. He just went by LeBron. And so that all of that is going to play out. So Thursday, Lakers lose to the Warriors. Pod Zemsky hits 8 of 10-3. Yep.

So is that similar in that, hey, man, that ain't happened in the playoffs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, look, once you get to the playoffs and you can really kind of drill down and you can say, okay, this is the thing this guy doesn't like to do. We're going to make him do it. As opposed to, and then part of it, too, is, like, I don't know how serious, it was a meaningful game.

I just didn't get the sense that the Lakers were, like, we can win this game against the world. We don't have to give them our A game. Like, we can give our A-minus game, and we still might get this done. And the Warriors are on one right now. So it's... Taking something from these regular season matchups at this point and taking them as a referendum on how a seven-game series is going to go, I think is very dangerous. Yeah, I'm fairly certain last year the Suns beat up the wolves in the regular season. I fell for it and then Minnesota smashed him and eliminated them.

So I don't want to overreact. I will say I like Lucas accountability in that Warriors loss. He was terrible. Defensively, offensively. I mean, and afterward he's like, that is an unacceptable performance. And I applaud that. That being said, this whole Lou Dork defensive player of the year, he couldn't check Luca yesterday. Chet had no chance. SGA, J-dub.

I mean, if Luca, I don't want to say Luca owns them, but he kind of sort of dominated them last year in the playoffs. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the trick for Oklahoma City, and this is going to go to matchups, is it's not about like just stopping the Lakers when they're on offense. It's exposing their defense. It's making them play fast so that they don't have the same energy on the offensive side of the ball. That's your offense being part of your defense. And we didn't see that in this game.

But you've got to make Luca work so that he's not just coming down and feeling as comfortable as he did. And look, with a great player, I'm sure. He felt like he lost that Warriors game because he was so off and everybody else was relatively on. I still, when it comes down to it, when we're talking about long series in the playoffs, and we're asking Luca, Austin, and LeBron to play hard at both ends of the floor, are they physically going to be able to stand up to that? That's my, given what they are, health-wise, one game, I would take them against almost anybody.

in multiple seven-game series with those three guys having to play as hard as they're going to have to play at both ends, that's where I think that physically they could start to break down. And if they lose any one of those guys, it's curtains. All right, let's get one thunder question out of the way. The free throw merchant. Ha-ha-ha. SGA, no free throws.

Did you see when he went baseline on Luca, kicked his leg out, got the whistle, Lakers challenged it, and no foul. And SGA, look, listen, Rick, at least three times he drove, but we don't have that highlight. But he missed the shot and he's like, looking to the ref, like, where's the call? Zero free throws. Redick made it a point. Yeah, I see him smiling.

I see his smiling, Rick. Come on. This is not. Look, Nicolioch is my MVP far in a world. Agreed. All right? But that said, we're making way too much of this free throw merchant thing. Like, that's the only trick in his bag.

He is a phenomenal player. And the fact that he didn't get to the free throw line, he still, what, had 26? I think. 25 on 25 shots or something. Okay, all right. Look, shot wasn't on. He's missing shots that he normally makes. I'm not, again, I'm not taking anything on his performance in this game as a reflection

of what he'll do in the postseason. All right. Let's finally move on from the Lakers. We have to, audience, sorry. I know you want more Lakers content. Hey, what's going on with Russell Westbrook and the Nuggets? A lot of saltiness from Russ. He's hurting them.

No, Jamal Marie matters. Okay, go ahead. Wait. Russ is no different than he's been all along, and particularly when it comes to the media. Like, look, he could not have screwed up more ways the other night in whether it's fumbling the ball out of bounds. And then that was against the Warriors.

It looked awful. And then the previous game where he's missing the layup, he's fouling on the three, like just a series of errors. And then he goes, he ghosts the media. media. And he takes great pleasure out of doing that. Like, you can tell. He's, it's a game for him. And I, and I look, this goes way back. Like, I remember being in the locker room and he had, remember he was like he started the crazy outfits. I think he was the first guy that started doing really wild fits and going to the podium, right? And, and I was, for whatever reason, I was in the locker room early, and he was going to the podium late. And, and I can't remember. now who it was that was next to him in the locker, but he goes, he goes, watch them react to this. And he was, he was going out in some crazy outfit. And so it's a game for him. And, you know, the reality is with the Denver Nuggets, you would think that when Jamal Murray is out,

that Russell Westbrook is your point guard. He's your ball handler. They do not have anyone that I can completely trust with the ball other than Nicola Yokic when Jamal Murray is out. And that is the great Achilles heel of the Denver Nuggets. Nicola Yolich is playing the best basketball of his life. Without a question, the best player in the league right now, right? And you see where the Denver Nuggets are, because the rest of that team has either flatlined or they're playing below what we've seen them play before.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the... the I Hard Radio app. 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 podcast. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, 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, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the 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. Jench and win. I mean, she went down in three to Rovachina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now and 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, you're Mr. Bay Area. You know the Warriors as well as anybody. They had an amazing week. Memphis, Curry goes off, they went over the Lakers, then they beat the nuggets on the road. I saw some of that Friday night. Impressive. And then last night, they go home and get body bagged by Amen Thompson,

Ime Udoka, who was chirping at Curry. I'm sure you saw that. Listen, I don't, I'm not worried about the Rockets, but they put on a clinic last time. I know, Curry, one of ten shooting three points. This is the best Jason McIntyre day ever. Because everything in the present is like, Oh my God, hair on fire.

I can't believe it went this direction, right? Look, they just beat Memphis, the Lakers, and Denver. Three wins, three big wins, three big emotional wins in four days. And now they're playing the Houston Rockets at home. They were so ready to take a step down, and you're playing against a young team, athletic team, athletic team, physical team, they took advantage of that. But I'm not, like, again, I'm not going to take this as a referendum on either team.

Love the Houston Rockets. Love Emey Udoka. Love that he chirps at guys. Like, he's still the same as he was as a player. Yeah. I mean, he's done this with LeBron. He does it with Steph. He was in.

If you just, I swear, if a reporter came in to the press conference and was acting soft, he'd probably say something. That's just the way EMA O'Doka is. So listen, I know there's a lot happening in the league with the West and the jumbled standings. Alex broke it down earlier. You had a good take during the commercial break.

I'm like, maybe the Lakers should be nervous about the Warriors. Should the Warriors be nervous about Houston? Yeah. You know, should OKC worry about the Lakers? And your take was, I don't want to steal it, but... I don't think anybody should be worried about anybody. Like, I feel like it's wide open. And it really comes down to matchups, and you've got what?

I mean, we're talking about, I'd throw the clippers and the timber wolves in, not necessarily as title contenders, but teams that could pull an upset. You look at that, and, I mean, compared to the East, the East feels like a foregone conclusion. Never mind that you've got some teams with losing records that are probably going to make the playoffs in the East, and you're going to have some teams with some really impressive records that are potentially not,

ultimately going to get there. And that's where I just feel like you go down the board and it really is a matter of who is going to see who when they're going to see them. Every single team has some sort of flaw or Achilles heel

that if they get up against the wrong opponent is going to get exposed. We saw the Phoenix Suns on the outside looking in. They're not mathematically eliminated but they've lost six in a row. KDs hurt, blah, blah, blah. I know it's speculative, but this is going to be the summary. Kevin Durant again.

Yeah. It's early. There's Houston as a potential landing spot. Some people are floating the Knicks. I think Cowherd is. I don't know. You want to give us an outside the box take on KD? I know it's tough to project what he's going to do because he's kind of a crazy person.

But he could go anywhere. I don't know. Do you unite with Kyrie in Dallas? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know that I would bring him into... Houston seems like a natural fit. Yeah. Right?

They got the picks. They have the picks and they need like a real Bonafifference. go-to score. I don't that like Jalen Green. I think if your aspirations are to play for a title, you might need to, and you want to do it sooner than later than you need to upgrade. I just, the, his committed lack of leadership, his committed, I just want to hoop. Yeah. And you play, you take a player of that talent and bring him into your team. It just, it screws up the dynamic. And I love this dynamic of the rockets. And yes, I do think they need to upgrade there, but I wouldn't sacrifice that for a roll of the dice on a Kevin Durant.

That's a great point. We'll wrap up with Cooper Flagg. I am irrationally high on him. Yeah. What does that mean? The irrational part I totally get. Yeah, because I'm irration. But the... I don't mind the Kevin Garnett comparisons. He's going to be better as a rookie than Kevin Garnett was, which is not saying much. He went high school to the pros Cooper Flag at a year at Duke. That being said, over under one and a half MVP awards in the NBA for Cooper Flag. What? Come on. Slow down.

I go over. Oh, what? I think you can win two MVP. Oh, wow. You can check around picks got to. Look, where's the producer? I need to be prepped when he's going to come with a take like that. I got it right here in the NBA comps for Cooper Flagg.

And I'm just extended question. Come on. What's wrong? What? Look, I love everything about Cooper Flag. My concerns about us internationally in terms of the way we play basketball and having guys that we can count on to still make us competitive in the international game, he answers a lot of that. Because he is, my comps for him are international. Not the area of Kirolenko.

Because he has, sort of a cross between Kirolenko and Tony Kukoge. Oh, come on. Uh, I, he can play on the ball, he can play off the ball, he's got some grit. He's, his basketball IQ is huge. But, like, I don't know if he has that individual game or he has that, like, I don't think he's the score that KD is. KD. Coming out of Texas, KD, yeah, much better.

Like, I mean, I just, the thing that kind of scared me a little bit is when I see him go one-on-one with certain matchups at the collegiate level, he has to work really hard. You're talking about a guy who is usually longer and a little more athletic than most of the guys that he's going up. Just remind a Rick, he should be a high school senior. He's 18. He's not even like close to 19. He's like 18 and a half.

I know, but here's the thing. When you have a guy that has the basketball IQ that he has and he already has like the fundamentals that he has, then the growth isn't the same. same as when you take like a Janus Anta Ticumpo who is wildly athletic, but really not developed. And you bring him in at 19. And you're like, oh, like if he learns how to play the game, game over. He's just going to skyrocket. Like Cooper's already one of those guys that he's sort of a made man already coming in. So I don't, like he's going to get better. No question. He's going to get better. But how much better is he going to get? So you think he could be maxed out already. Interesting.

Now, listen, I'm not saying Max. I'm not saying Maxed out. I'm just saying, like, multiple MVP. I just think, too. That's reasonable. Wow. You are on one today. I'll wrap up with this.

So I didn't, I just thought of this on the fly. I don't want anybody to freak out. But, like, there were stories about Kobe as a young guy going toe to toe to with pros. We saw the video, Cooper Flagg at USA Basketball Camp, Drew Holiday, Anthony Davis, going at them. And the quotes coming out of there were like, this guy can play now in the He was 17.

Here's a video. Like, you're facing up AD, y'all. Let me splash a three in your eye. Just unafraid. Yeah. I mean, the kid could do everything. Rick, I gotta just say, when you hear about these high school guys doing this, torching NBA players, it's like, oh, snap. I mean, pull up three, look at this, transition.

Look at that. Just yam out of bio, he's soaring over. Was there a box out there? There is in the post against two holidays? Mouse in the house. So I'm watching this, and I'm watching the level of intensity. level of intensity from the national team and I'm and I'm not quite seeing what I need what I need to see. That's a that's a lazy slow close out in the corner, okay? So look, you're putting me in this position.

I hate this. I love everything about Cooper Flag and I hope you're right. I hope it is. But if I'm looking at what I'm seeing right now, I think he's going to be really, really good. I'm excited to see him play. Just what are you doing? You put the bar that high, and then it's a disappointment. He can be a really, really good player, and he's like, yeah, but he's not a league

MVP. I'm afraid we got a Michigan guy on staff Martin, and I was like, you know, I know you're a C-Web guy. I love Weber coming out of college. Speaking of guys who played well against the national team once upon a time in those scrimmages. This is Weber phenomenal. Didn't win an MVP. Nope. I mean, I love C-Web.

I think Cooper Fly's skill sets like at least Chris Weber maybe better. I mean, he's bringing the ball up against pressure. Yeah. Like, I don't know. No, I'm not. I'm not. I love his skill set. Can we do Rick every day?

I just love chopping it up. We love going at it. We might have to revisit a Dame Lillard debate we had like two years ago. Probably not. But anyways, all right, Rick Buecker. Good stuff. Save it for the podcast. We'll go to break.

And after that, Alex Curry with the news. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Hey, is Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich David. And together we're Kavino and Rich. Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, and of course the IHeart Radio app.

Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. 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 & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media.

That's Cabino and Rich. Hey, it's us to 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 it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how 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 was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand, because I don't. 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. Jenshin won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all.

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

I love a good debate. It makes for good TV. And I know you're going to love this because you love Ben, betting and odds as you just mentioned. The NFL draft betting odds have shifted after Colorado's pro day. Travis Hunter is now the odds on a favorite to go second to the Brown. Previously was edge rusher. Abdul Carter was the betting favorite to go to Cleveland.

So I think everyone knows Cam's going to go first overall to the Titans. So you've got Browns at second. Right now you got Travis Hunter at minus 130. Abdul Carter at plus 100. And Chudora Sanders at plus 750. So, I mean, Browns still need kind of figure out their quarterback situation. There were the rumors of the Kirk Cousins meeting trade when he was at Chippole. Things going down like that.

But it just depends. You know, what are they putting a higher need for right now? I think it's quarterback. It has to be quarterback. Discussion we had earlier. Everybody should take a quarterback every year. Yeah. That being said, quickly on Abdul Carter.

So, again, I was locked in on 12-year-old girls volleyball all weekend, my daughter. But I did get sent a couple of items on Abdul Carter. We'll probably get to it tomorrow. Some not great stuff floating. It's not bad. Interesting. It's just not great. Now, it is smokescreen season, so I don't know what to make of it.

But I will say this, Travis Hunter, too, makes a lot of sense if you can then get a Milro if you like him. Or Jackson Dart, if you like him. Or should do her later, Brownstreet. trade back in because I don't think you can pay Miles Garrett to keep him and then not figure of quarterbacks. Well, the interesting thing was Miles Garrett made it seem like he knew exactly what the Brown's plan was when he signed. Like, I know what we're doing and I like what we're doing.

Well, what are you doing? What are you don't? You do not have a leader of this team right now. So it's, it's probably one of those deals where the Browns are settled. They know what they're doing. They just have to put out all these smokescreens to keep everybody guessing. And the league loves drama, like not knowing everything at the top. I mean, we know the Titans are going one cam work.

Yes. They had like an entire film crew at his pro day. Yes. Not just for social media stuff. Like there's something big going on. That's happening. And they, like, they mutually canceled their meeting with Shador. So, yeah, no, that's happening.

So it's just going to be interesting who the Brown's going to go with. I just say whoever picks up Travis Hunter, I hope they allow him to continue to be a two-way player. Like, be on the right side of history here because if it works out, that's incredible. Oh. So you're pro. I want you playing offense and defense? Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. Okay. Your spiciest take out. Yes, I am. Saving it for the third hour. I think that's a hot take. Okay. Well, let's move to another team that needs a quarterback.

The Steelers and Aaron Rogers have been flirting all off season. But there's been no deal yet. And with that in mind, take a listen to Steelers GM, Omar Khan, open up about his draft strategy. Our goal is always to put ourselves in a position, but we don't have to take a guy, a specific position. And I feel like we've added some key pieces to what we're trying to accomplish. And this draft is, you know, there's some really good players in this draft that can help us at various positions. And, you know, we've been working hard at trying to make sure we set our board right.

And there's more work to come. This is the next, was it, three or four weeks, are going to be really important. But we're right in the middle of it and feel good about it. Nice mindset to have, but you also don't have the most important position on your team. Phil, you do not have a driver of your ship. Like, yes, okay, there's been conversations with Aaron Rogers, but he has taken his time and he's going to. Like, it's, he was throwing with D.K. Metcalfe at UCLA a couple weekends ago,

and we heard Tomlin say he's not worried about the timeline and what's going to happen. This is also a defensive led team defense wins games like Tomlin, one of the greatest defensive coaches. He's never had a losing season. But you don't have a quarterback. You need a quarterback. And they have the 21st overall pick

in the first round. So what do you do? Let me ask, are you a proponent of take the best player available or draft a need? Because there's two ways to look at this. I'm curious of your thoughts. Okay.

draft a need. Like you got you got to, what is your biggest need is what you should be going for? So let's say we have a huge gaping hole at cornerback. Yeah. We got to take the best cornerback on the board. But what if like, I don't know,

Ashton Genty or Travis Hunter still, I don't know. You know, like do you just say, that's a better player? I think that's different. If it's like a top five player that drops that low,

like how did this just fall into our lap? I think like Adolton Connect in the Lakers is an interesting, like just fell in. to his lap. It's like, how did we get such a great player this low? You take the best at that point available, but obviously it's a lot different in football. You need a quarterback. And like, you don't know what Aaron Rogers is going to do. No one does. Like, is he going to play? Is he going to retire? Is he going to be here? You are literally putting the most important position on his decision. And we know how much he dragged this out. It kind of sort of a little bit

feels like they, you're right, they know what he's going to do. Yeah. And they're not showing their hand. They're trying to play poker really well here. I just, you know Rogers would be ticked if he signs. Yeah. And then they draft a quarterback first round who falls to them. Yeah. Should do her.

I doubt he'll slide that far. But what if he does? Yeah. Rogers is going to be livid. You don't need that. But Rogers is there for one year? But if anyone can deal with all those personalities, it's Tomlin. Can he?

Yes. Yes. You got the wide receiver, perpetually unhappy. Uh-huh. And then you'd have Aaron Rogers. Uh-huh. And Matt C. I don't, we had the reports of Russell Wilson and the O.C.

Budding heads quietly behind the scenes last year. Yeah. That guy has now butted heads with, could butt heads with Aaron Rogers. I don't. That's just a lot to deal with. Like Alex, I like low maintenance. I don't want drama. But that's not what Mike Tomlin deals with in the Steelers.

They always have the drama queens. And he somehow figures out a way to like, rain them in. And then when they go to other teams, you're like, how did he do that? How did he like keep everybody at bay? We don't know. Okay. Let's switch gears to a legendary wide receiver, Julio Jones, who has officially announced his retirement. Julio was drafted by Atlanta with the sixth overall pick in 2011 and his 10 years as a Falcon.

Julio led all players in receiving yards, set 10 franchise records, and surpassed Jerry Rice as the fastest player in NFL history to reach 12,000 receiving yards. so I'm going to name off some of his milestones. Two-time first-team all-pro, three-time second-team all-pro, seven-time pro-bowler, two-time NFL receiving yards leader, NFL receptions co-leader, NFL 2010's all-decade team, and all-rooky team. So is Julio the big question a first ballot hall of famer? Oh, football's so tough.

It is. You know, basketball, everybody kind of gets into the hall of thing. Yeah. Baseball Hall of Fame is very numbers. driven and debated. On the surface, I thought Julio Jones was the best receiver in football for at least two seasons. Yeah. Maybe more.

He was first team all pro, like you said, twice. Yeah. 2015, 2016. Three times. So from 2015 to like 2019, he was one of the three best receivers in the league. Yes. Is that enough to get you first ballot? I mean, I guess it's like Carmelo Anthony was first ballot NBA Hall of Fame.

And it's tough to compare. But like, he didn't want anything. Now I know it on the global stage you won the Olympics and college basketball. Yeah. This is just pro football haltsy. Right? Yes. Yes.

I would give him the vote. I guess you got to see who he's up against. But he's got to be a haltsa. It's got to be a halteramer. I think so. I mean, I remember when he came out, it was him and AJ Green were the two guys, both from the SEC. And Julio Jones had the better career. AJ Green was awesome.

But like, I'm a huge Julio Joe. Yeah. Seems like a great guy. The best story I heard about him. Okay. The Super Bowl, were facing the Patriots. Obviously he was like near the apex of his career.

Uh-huh. And he was approached with like all this like free marketing money. Just do these commercial social media ads. And he just was basically like, no, I'm focusing on the Super Bowl. This is free money. Wow. Right? Like I'm talking like high six figures.

Just come do that. And he's like, no, I got to lock in on the Super Bowl. And I totally respected the man a lot for that. Interesting. Good dude. Yeah. Committed to his craft. Opposite these days.

Yeah. Opposite these days. Very rare. Divas. Yeah. Alec Curry with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lie News. I'm going to go back to a quote from earlier. Jordan Schultz had a great take on Shador Sanders. Here's why he canceled his visit with the Titans. Cam Ward is probably going to go number one, which we've been saying for the last month or so. And secondly, it means that Shador Sanders actually had a fantastic pro day. And why would they cancel? Because they saw everything they needed to see.

If you look at where his ceiling is, I think it's potentially two or three with Cleveland and New York. And then you have New Orleans at 9. And then you have Pittsburgh at 21. So there are some scenarios in which he doesn't go in the top five. That's possible. It's because he has been typecasted, fair or not, throughout this process, as not having maybe the strongest NFL arm. But what we saw in Boulder was an added velocity. 5, 10%, and that's going to help him when it comes to the draft process.

Jordan Schultz on Shadur Sanders. So it seems like Cam Ward is a lock to go one to Tennessee. I don't think he's minus 10,000, but he's very, very favorite to go number one. Two, seems like now it's the wind is blowing toward Travis Hunter, too. What does this mean for Shadour? Does he go three to the Giants? Is he trying to steer his way to the Raiders at six, I believe? And, of course, there's speculation.

What was the other? Nine to New Orleans. I don't know that that's a fit or he'd want to go there. Saints need a lot, chiefly a quarterback with cars struggling. I don't know. I guess I would still lean towards Chador going in the top five or six. I'm mystified that the Browns wouldn't take him to unless they have a plan, Alex, to say, hey, if we can get Travis Hunter at two and we know these other teams do not want

Shadur. But you don't know that. Like, even if you think you know and teams tell you they don't want it, like that's a smokescreen. You think the Jets would draft Soudoir Sanders at 7? Because they made it clear they do not want to trade up for Soudoir. They're not trading up. No. I mean, they just signed Justin Fields.

They just signed Justin Fields. They told him he's the guy. They think he's going to be the future. He's a mobile quarterback. And this is kind of his like, prove yourself you're a starter situation. But like Cleveland needs a Cleveland needs a quarterback. I think it depends, like, if that trade is, I don't know, if they really want to try to go for Kirk Cousins.

There is the Kirk Cousins. You know, it's interesting. Listening to you and some of our guests today, I've got what I think is maybe a hot take tomorrow for the Browns at two. But I got a couple buddies in Cleveland who are hardcore dog pound fans. They have some takes. So yeah, anyways, great start to the week, Alex. Yeah, let's go.

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