The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - Latest NBA news

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

More on Cooper Flagg's debut last night Update on the latest news in the NBA Do the Chiefs have a chance to make it to the playoffs despite what Jason McIntyre thinks?   Guests: Joe Vardon, Chris FallicaSee 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.

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.

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 Acapella 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IH Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian.

I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from Hippocrite Wednesdays on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The HARD podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Yeah, all right, let's welcome in. Joe Varden, has covered the NBA, LeBron, for a long time. Has seen Cooper Flag up close and personal last night, Joe. Let's hear about it. How good was Cooper Flagg last night? I don't care that he was fired for 21. I thought he looked great. I was going to say, he stunk.

Five of 21 stinks. You know, these Summer League debuts can be so fun, and you think about the year when Zion debuted out here, and there was an earthquake. They stopped the game, and then you think about the hype when Victor, and he had his first game and he actually wasn't very good. I was thinking about those things last night watching Cooper,

and I also thought immediately to this idea that Jason Kidd wants to put the ball in his hands, and that had been broadcast, and so on the first possession, Cooper's got the ball over the timeline, and he's immediately seeing a double team. I remember seeing Cooper here last year against the Team USA stars, and he was awesome. And so I feel like that was a little bit more indicative of the player that he's going to be than what we saw last night.

Like there's so much going on with these summer league games and who your teammates are. And obviously they just wanted to get the ball to Cooper last night and get out of the way, especially in the first half. So, you know, I thought he was kind of all over the place. You know, I bet he'll be much better the next time he plays, and then he probably won't play much after that. But, you know, you just have to remember that whatever goes on out here, there's a lot more that goes into what makes these players, you know, have the kinds of expectations that he has,

and I am as excited as you are about what we're going to see long-term from Cooper. Oh, sure, yeah. So on some of those drives to the back, The whole defense is collapsing on him. Like, good luck trying that with Clay Thompson on the perimeter and PJ Washington. You know, there's no chance that teams will defend him like that in the league. I'm just curious, do you think he starts in some kind of hybrid point guard role or do they bring him off the bench as like a sixth man just to ease in the 18-year-old? No, I would be surprised if he doesn't start.

I am concerned about this point guard thing. And, like, you know, I'm a journalist. I covered politics for six years. I'm not a Hall of Fame point guard like Jason Kidd is. So I will defer to him. But just having, like, covered this league now for 11 years and seeing the things that I've seen, a rookie who is certainly versatile but is not used to playing that position, all of a sudden being under the pressure cooker of the NBA,

where teams are designing defenses to try to stop you. I think that's a lot of pressure for him. And you're exactly right. Like Dallas does have options on the floor. Like Clay is out there. AD is out there. You know, I don't know about Kyrie, but soon enough he'll be back.

You know, they have players, but there's still something about being able to run an offense and get the ball where it needs to go and do it without turning it over. And, you know, I just, I question this. Like, I'm so excited for Cooper because he's a number one pick and he wound up on a team that does not stink. You know, they've already built around him.

And so that puts him at such an advantage. To ask him to be a point guard puts a level of pressure on him that maybe he otherwise wouldn't have to face because of the rest of the situation around him. Totally agree. All right, Joe, let's quickly pivot to LeBron. And there's been, you know, you know LeBron well, covered the calves for many years. We know when he gets passive-aggressive on social media, something's up. And now you've got this report that he's just unhappy.

The Lakers aren't really showing him the difference that they used to. And now it's all catering to Luca. And so LeBron's kind of gone radio silent. I don't know. Is there something here or nothing? Is this normal LeBron? Is he really ticked? You see, you know, I keep trying to draw this parallel.

Like the Warriors have done nothing in free agency. And it's like, all right. Is the Warriors a potential landing spot for LeBron? I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud here. Is it possible? Because I was, you know, I was watching the previous segment before you brought me on, which was so good.

Thanks. Is there a way for literally everything you've just said to be true? Like, can it be true that LeBron, is feeling a little bit frosty because, you know, this transition to the next superstar is actually happening. And when that transition occurs, whoever is in LeBron's position, you know, it feels a little personal. It feels a little raw. Is it possible, but that at the same time, the Lakers are probably his best option to try and win? They were third in the West last year with just LeBron and Luca and no discernible big.

now they have DeAndre Aiton, you know, Larivia, and then a roster that was already pretty good. Is it possible that when you're the Lakers and you're talking about Luca Donchich, and yes, he's 26 years old, and you hope he's on your team for 14 years, but you don't really have time to punt on the year. So you have in LeBron a second team all-NBAa superstar who's still averaging about 25, 8, and 8, how do you get rid of him and still compete? Like this idea that the Lakers don't want to compete this year is assinine. And the suggestion, like that suggestion coming from LeBron's camp is as silly as when it comes from anybody else. Like, they could trade him.

They absolutely cannot buy him out right now. That would be, that would, like, I can't even wrap my mind around that because they're going to try to compete and they're going to try to win. If they were to try and trade him, there's only a couple of teams that could realistically come up with $52 million in assets without ripping up their entire team. So then you have to ask yourself, you brought up the Warriors. Would you rather have LeBron under contract for this year with, Luca, or would you rather have Jimmy Butler on his deal as he's getting older?

Or do you want Carl Anthony Towns? No. From New York and playing on the same team with Luca, and they're both locked up for a long time. I don't know. I don't think so. So, you know, like, I think all of these things are true. I would also add, because one of the things you said was, is like, is this like normal, LeBron? The answer is definitely yes.

You know, I've been playing this game, you know, like when I'm on shows, like I'll, I will ask the host to guess who wrote this. And I read something that basically says, LeBron is taking his time this summer to see if the team is serious about building a contender. And everybody guess, and, you know, somebody will say Sean, somebody will say Brian, somebody will say somebody, one of my colleagues at the athletic. And the answer is me from 2015. This happens all the time. And they almost say this exactly. The only difference is, is LeBron had to pick up his option.

Why? Because he was going to be paid $52 million. And if he had declined it, there was one team, one. the Brooklyn Nets who are not ready to contend that LeBron would have no business going there at this age. They're the only team that even had that kind of cap room to pay him the money that he's worth. So financially, he had to do this, but he wants to still feel relevant. He wants the team to go all in. And I just, I just, the idea that they aren't, I just don't agree with that.

I think they traded for Luca Donchich. Like he is one of the top five players, top three players probably in the NBA. Like the Lakers are trying to win and having LeBron on the team probably gives them a better chance to do that. Totally agree. What a take. That was powerful. Joe Varden, the athletic, knows LeBron well, knows the Cavs, knows the league, the Lakers. Hopefully you internalize that, Joe.

Thanks a lot. Enjoy the rest of the Summer League and have a great summer, man. Great to see it. At me, Alan, anytime. All right. Joe Varden, listen, that was really smart stuff. and I don't know if you guys have seen this movie King Richard about the Serena and Venus Williams and their dad, Richard Williams.

He had a line in that movie, and I had to look it up. They're trying to attribute it to like Ben Franklin or something. But if you don't have a plan, plan to fail. And if you just let that sink in, it's actually pretty damn good. And I just wonder if the Lakers got Luca and they started to formulate a plan and that plan is something that LeBron's just not part of going forward. We need like a multi-year plan. Look at how OKC's built.

They're ready to weather anything for like the next two years. And they have a billion draft picks in their war chest. They're built really well. Some of these other teams, the sons, the worst, they're not in as great as shape. So I think the Lakers have a plan. It just doesn't include LeBron. All right, we are moving to the Fox Sports app for the final half hour. Next up on FS1 is soccer.

The Women's Euro 2025, Portugal versus Belgium. So catch us on the app. We'll have Chris Falika dropping by the bear to talk gambling. Dude, he's gambling on the women's euro. I love it. Catch us on the app. 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, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called Up on game. What is up on game, you ask? Along with my fellow pro bowler, T.J. Hushmanzada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right.

Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on game. We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J. Hushman Zada and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever. you get your podcast from.

Hey, it's us, the 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.

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, 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.

Jen Chinchin 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, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 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. Back here on the herd, final half hour of the week. I hope everybody has a good, safe weekend. But before the weekend begins, let's go to Alex with the news. No, no, no, no. This is the herd line news. Well, let's start in the NBA, and we've talked about this a bit. The Warriors have yet to make a big move this off season, but reports indicate that they could land Al Horford soon heading into the season.

Golden State's core of Steph, Draymond, and Jimmy Butler are still there. They're all over 35 years old. Now, despite the older age, Vince Carter isn't concerned, but believes their wisdom will be key. A lot of knowledge. Yeah. They have an advantage because of knowledge. because of knowledge. Like we always look at age and we think, oh, we think can't do it, can they do it, will they do it, this, this, but like look at the knowledge. To me, the expectations for Steph, Draymond, you know, even buckets to have to do it early, that's not what I need you for. Yeah. You see what I need you for later. Yes, I want to build, build up my young guys for the playoffs because those three guys know what it takes and know how to handle it. you can't forget, like they were a dynasty, not that long ago.

Like, their last, their last chip was in 2022. They won four championships in eight years, but it's not the same, it's not the same championship court. And it's always tough at the end of a dynasty when you still have some of the big names on your team because you remember how great you were and how great you could be if everyone was still there and still in the prime. But, I mean, Vegas doesn't. think they have great odds this season. We talked about it earlier.

Their odds to win the NBA title are tied for 10th best with the Hawks at plus 2,500. They're just an old team. They're just an older team. So I'm looking at their stats from last year. Their leading score was Curry. He's 36. Their second leading score was Jimmy Butler. He's 35.

Then there is Coominga. He's going to be gone. He's one of the young guys. Dennis, Trudeau 31, he's going to be gone. Draymond Green's 34. Like I said, Kavana Luni's gone. He's on the older side.

Buddy Heald's 32. Like, they don't have a lot of young guys. Pods is the only young guy who's Moses Moody, but he's like the seventh or eighth guy. And as we saw, if Curry's out, like they're, they can't win. I don't know. I guess there's probably a way LeBron is hoping that he could go out with Curry or something as opposed to. You think? You putting that out there in the universe?

They've been friends dating back for years. Yeah, there's respect. There's mad respect between the two people. Where are they going to do it? What, LeBron? Yeah, why are the Lakers taking on the Jimmy Butler contract? They're not. No.

So I don't see that. Now, if you could reroute Butler to Milwaukee and get Janus to the Lakers. In his contract, though, does Butler have a no trade? I might have to check that. Yeah, because I'm like, I know they just signed it. Milwaukee would want a lot. I feel like that's something that he would have,

considering how he left. heat. Yeah. It's just kind of weird. The no trade clause, you know, the Bradley Beale thing is really, it's tough. Interesting. Yeah. It's going to be interesting. They're going to have to, they need to make a little more younger depth moves, the Warriors, if they want to move up with their odds. But let's move to the NFL, where Aidan Hutchinson is fully cleared to return from a broken leg that ended his season prematurely in week six. And the lion's best defender came eligible for contract extension this offseason, but is yet to sign one. Meanwhile, he discussed where he's at entering his fourth NFL season. I'm exactly where I need to be, and every year

I've been able to improve on my own physical attributes as long as the, or along with the mental ones. So I feel like every year I take a step, and despite having that rehab this offseason, I feel like I'm in the perfect spot and exactly where I need to be going into year four. Yeah, the Lions need him to be the best that he can be because they have a lot of new this year. They lost both their offensive coordinator, their defensive coordinator, a lot of assistance along with that. Their fourth-time Pro Bowl Center and Frank Ragnall retired, which like, that's a really big deal. That's a lot, a lot of new and changes on this team. And they've fallen short the last two years after being the favorite.

They lost to the commanders in the divisional round last year, the NFC title game to the 49ers the year before. I mean, that's kind of their brand is like the grit. Like, don't believe in us. We can prove you wrong. But they've fallen short when they had everything the last few years. And now they have new coordinators losing their center. You hope that Aiden can get back to his top form. But do you think he can be one of the NFL's elite edge rushers again?

I certainly get back to top five, no doubt about it. I mean, we've seen guys bounce back from injuries at the edge rusher position. I think he's certainly right there with Miles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, whoever you want to put in there. He's a superstar. He just needs him back badly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's stick with the NFL, J. Mack. You have the 49ers as Super Bowl contenders, but they already have one potential roadblock to their ultimate goal. Reports indicate that Brandon Ayyuk will likely start the season on the physically unable to perform, the PUP list after tearing his ACL and MCL last season. However, the report does add that San Francisco isn't ruling him out for week one. They obviously have a very easy schedule this season because of how bad their season was last year.

However, I know you're hot on them and you have them what in the Super Bowl six-pack. Did you also have Rams in the Super Bowl six-pack? So you had two NFC West teams. That division is loaded. It is. I don't think they're going to win the NFC West. I think the Rams take the NFC West, but they should be a playoff team.

I mean, they did trade, Debo to the commanders, so Ayuk is going to be more of a target. He needs to get back to what he was two years ago, yeah. He does. It's just... They open with Seattle. That's a tough one on the road. But they do have one of the easier schedules for a PAC.

Saints are horrible. Arizona is, I think Arizona, as a plucky team. Jacksonville, we don't think is going to be great. See what their third place schedule. Yeah. Now, without Iyuk, this would be their wide receiver grouping week one. Joanne Jennings, who's pretty damn

good as a three. Yeah. Is he great? Is it one or two? I don't know. Ricky Pierce saw the guy who got shot and then bounced back last year. And then their third wide receivers kind of open to Marcus Robinson maybe. But I do think we'll see a lot of two tight end sets from them, Kittle and Luke Farrell.

And then McCaffrey back. So they should be good. I think three and one starts. They have a lot of weapons, but not as many as they did last year. You're high on them. I think they'll do well. I don't think they're going to be. They shouldn't do better

because of their strength of schedule because it's not as strong as everybody else because of the bad season last year. But I'm not as high on the 49ers as you are. All right, Alex with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news.

All right, our next guest is a really good one. Chris Felica, the bear. He's going to drop by to tell us why, I hope I'm reading this right. The Chiefs are going to continue to dominate the EFZ West. What? We'll talk to Felica next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeard radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman, help make you funnier. This week, my guest,

SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

Jen, she went. 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, Lennar 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting. the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the herd.

We have a great guest coming up. Chris the Bear Felica, you know him well. Big Noon kickoff. The Bear Betts podcast with Jeff Schwartz. Felica, how we doing, my man? How's everything going on? We're doing all right. We're getting ready for a little match day three here of Whitman Zero here in a little while here.

Spain, Spain, Italy, so we're getting ready to lock in for that. I see you dropping bets on social media about the women's euros. I'm like, this guy is an animal. I love it. He is just, by the way, how is the tournament going for you? It was great up until yesterday when, like, an idiot, I got involved in bet under two and a half in a match that had seven goals scored. So outside of that, it's been pretty good.

Okay. All right, well, is it? Hey, you jump in there, crushing it. Let's get to football, though. You know, they made me tease this old Chiefs win the AFC West. I'm out on the Chiefs this year. We did have Brewer come on yesterday and say, listen, the offense could actually be better with a healthy Rashie Rice,

Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy. I still question the offensive line, but you seem bullish on Casey. I do. I mean, you get a lot of expectations and hype now in that division for what the Chargers are going to do in year two under Jim Harbaugh for year two under Sean Payton, what the Broncos did now with Bo Nix. Look, I get it. same time with how badly the

Chiefs were embarrassed in that game. And Albert Beer kind of outlighted for you. You're going to have healthy one. You and I basically, that's who Patrick Palms was throwing to last year. The Checo should be healthy now. You draft Josh Simmons to kind of sure up that offensive line some.

I know the schedule is always going to be difficult, and while I think the Chargers and the Broncos will certainly be better this year, I think it's very, very dangerous to count the Chiefs out here. I bet the minus 120 to win the West. And if you're kind of correlating some things, I think Patrick Mahomes in a big bounce back year,

plus 700 to win MVP, isn't necessarily a bad look either. I'm sorry, can you clarify that bounce back year for Mahomes? Are you saying he was not great last year? You look at the numbers and you look at everything compared to the great numbers and career that he has throughout the course of his career. Last year was certainly not a fantastic year in terms of a lot of the things you look at for Mahomes. And I think even he would admit that with all of the issues. that they had on the offensive line and receiver.

So I think things are setting up for a very big year from him and that Kansas City offense. Yeah, listen, I understand it. I'm just leaning into my chief's hating rule. Let's go to the commanders. That's okay. Commanders, listen, they were phenomenal last year. A lot of people are comparing them to Houston who had a shocking rookie year with CJ Stroud. Then they pulled back a little bit.

But I thought Washington had a good offseason. I like Debo. I like Tunsel. They retain their coaches. I'm assuming McLaurin's going to get sorted. You don't seem as bullish on Washington. Yeah, anytime you see a team that pulls out a bunch of miracle wings, the way they did against the Bears, the way they did against the Eagles,

the way they did against the Falcons, I worry about those things kind of going against them the following year. Look, they are going to be a very trendy team, a very popular team, to not only win the NFCs, but to win the NFC and get to the Super Bowl after what we saw them do in the playoffs last year in Detroit. They had three other wins besides those games that I mentioned, besides five points or fewer. You'll lose Dante Fowler and Jeremy Chin on that defense.

I think that's a big deal. You'll look at the schedule. Road games, Green Bay, Chargers, Kansas City, Detroit and Denver come to D.C. Those are 10 games against some really, really good teams. So I don't know. Could they get to 10? maybe, but under nine and a half seems like a good wager to be.

I know a lot of people who I respect kind of reviewing things the same way. And I know it's funny because when you set these win total season win total for teams, the odds bakers know it and they see the schedule too. So all this is kind of baked in. But just seeing how the commanders came from kind of nowhere last year, expecting them to win 10 games again this year with the fortune that they had last year. And by the way, Jaden Daniels being relatively healthy for the entire year. year. I think it's kind of

kind of I'm looking for. I'm very optimistic. I think that they're going to get the same kind of fortune they are this year. They do open Giants at Packers versus the Raiders at Atlanta. So that's a manageable start. Obviously it gets much

tougher than that. But yeah, that's a good point. I like that. Now, your coach of the year pick is interesting because I'm actually bullish on this team as a sleeper in the NFC. Yeah, you look at Jonathan Gannon at 20 to 1 to win the to win the Coach of the Year award,

and that's a division with the Rams, everyone in there, the Seahawks and the Niners. It might be a division that's kind of in flux and a little bit of transition. I don't think there is a real clear favor. We think Kyler Murray is going to run a little bit more this year. That would certainly help. And the way the schedule shakes out for Arizona,

you just mentioned the Washington schedule. Arizona has quite the same thing. A very favorable schedule early in the year. They could be looking at like a five and two type start. Marvin Harrison back, obviously, for his second year. You added some big pieces on that defense with Walter Nolan and Will Johnson. This could be a very surprised team this year. They made the playoffs a few years ago.

And the one thing that I like about Arizona is there wasn't really much expected from them the last couple of years, and they played hard. every single week for Gannon. So they clearly in the locker room like him and want to play hard for him. And at 20 to 1, basically, if you think Arizona has a chance to win that division and or make the playoffs, you're going to get a much better bang for your buck on betting on Gannon to win coach of the year than you are on the Cardinals to win the division. Yeah, the Cardinals' first five opponents, okay, these are the quarterbacks they have.

Tyler Shook, rookie, Bryce Young, maybe on his last legs. Brock Purdy, that's a loss, probably. Then Sam Darnold in his new Seattle home and Cam Ward of Tennessee. And then you go to the sixth game and it's against the Colts. We don't even know who their starter is going to be with the Anthony Richardson thing. So great point. Way to look ahead on Arizona. Now let's go to college football real quick, Bear.

By the way, the Dion Sanders stuff this week about how he wants like a salary cap. I know you're a big college guy. I am just curious. Where do you stand on that with Dion thinking, hey, we need a salary cap? it almost feels like Texas Tech is loading up so much, and he sees them. He's like, we can't compete with them. You know, and I don't, yeah.

Isn't this what everybody wanted in college football or open market? Yeah. Pay the players, make them employees, money galore, everybody gets paid. And he's like, which way do you want? I'm with you. You know, I think it's a good thing, but at the same time, it's going to be difficult to pull off. Now, some of these picks that you have,

Oregon, obviously, they have one of the biggest, I.L. Budgets. You'd like to over on Oregon, even after losing Dylan Gabriel? I do. I think there's an assumption that there's going to be a massive step down from Dylan Gabriel to Dante Moore at quarterback. And I don't necessarily see. I know they lose Evan Stewart potentially with an offseason knee injury, but I think people are kind of just judging Dante Moore on one season as a true freshman on a bad UCLA team. This guy was one of the highest thought of quarterback recruits in the country a couple of years ago. It's a bad. now in an offense that should really kind of use his strengths and make him a very viable college

quarterback. And the way I'm looking at over 10 and I have with Oregon is, I don't know why we're just going to assume that they're going to go to Penn State and lose in September. I mean, Penn State is a program that for everything that they've done under James Franklin, these games against big-name opponents are games that they don't seem to win. So I think there's a ton of pressure on Penn State in that game to win. And even if Oregon does go there and lose, you look at the remainder of the schedule, you've got a road trip to Iowa, you host SC, there really aren't a lot of roadblocks on that schedule for Oregon, from maybe losing at Penn State, running the table,

finishing the year 11 and 1. All right, well, we've got a minute left. Let's, I can't believe this. Carson Beck Heisman odds, 37 to 1, you'd like that? I thought everybody was out on Beck. Well, I don't know why. I think people are out on Beck because they saw the injury at the end of the year. They saw last year all those young Georgia wide receivers dropping balls,

offensive line that was injury. People forget how good he was in 2023. Now, a lot of people, I think, are putting that on the presence of Brock Bowers and Ladd-Makaki. But I think with Elijah, often, he's got a weapon at Miami that can be very similar to that. Jojo Trader is a young wide receiver that Miami likes. The offensive line should be one of the top three to five in the country. they've got a deep running back room that can help. And oh, by the way, he's going to be playing a bunch of ACC defenses,

not a bunch of SEC defenses anymore. They got a game opening season game against Notre Dame where if Miami were to win that, and I think it's basically right around a pickup type of game, two, two and a half points of bread maybe. That price is going to come down dramatically, and you're not only going to see Beck's price to win the Heisman dramatically come down,

but Miami's price to reach the college football playoff come down. So Beck is someone that I think people are really sleeping on this year. It's funny, you see a lot of these top 10 lists for quarterback, and people will forget about Beck. Yeah. Well, now, you should admit, you are a Miami guy, right? I am. Deep ties to the U.

Anyone who knows me in Miami knows that I am tough on them in the past, and I called their defense out last year. I'm typically not rose-colored glasses with my teams. Yeah, so how many Ferraris does Beck have now? Is he, is it two or three, or did I lost? No, just. I think he's got maybe a couple of Ferraris in a Lamborghini, maybe maybe a LAMBO as well. That NIL life is nice.

All right. Chris, the bear Felica. Great stuff, Chris. We'll talk to you in August, buddy. Absolutely. Jay MacBee, we'll have a great weekend. Chris Felica. Like Carson Beck. I like that.

That's not bad. 37. I have forgotten about him. Anyways, what a show. I mean, we got Alex Curry. We're giving her books for the newborn that's arriving soon. Collins's back on Monday. Thanks to all our guests, Joe Varden.

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