The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff - 3 & Out - Diminishing Cornerback Value; Front Office Training Camp Grind; Card's Bad Drafts; Around the NFL

Episode Date: July 30, 2019

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2.  In this episode, Middlekauff looks at the value of cornerbacks in today's pass first NFL, what it's like being inside the NFL front office training camp grind, and the Cardinals cutting former 5-star recruit Robert Nkemdiche, and how their bad drafts have set them back. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to www.theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to 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.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hiring. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Career Builder is made for people who have that thing. You know, those superpowers that make you good at your job, the skills you bring to work. And Career Builder knows those skills make you right for other jobs too. Higher paying jobs with benefits.

jobs you never thought of trying. Are you a people person? Work from home as a customer service rep. Are you organized and like driving? Become a delivery driver. You have the skills it takes, and CareerBuilder.com has the jobs to get you hired fast. Visit Careerbuilder.com.

CareerBuilder is made for people who have that thing. You know, those superpowers that make you good at your job, the skills you bring to work. And CareerBuilder knows those skills make you right for other jobs too. hire paying jobs with benefits jobs you never thought of trying are you a people person work from home as a customer service rep are you organized and like driving become a delivery driver you have the skills it takes and careerbuilder dot com has the jobs to get you hired fast visit careerbuilder dot com hey singles do you feel like a tourist in your own town too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer events and adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around town each and every month we do all the work So you have all the fun. Get started by visiting events and adventures.com today.

What is going on, my people? Three and Out podcast, John Middlecock, live from the Bay Area. Actually just got back, went to 49er practice on this beautiful Monday morning. It's actually Monday afternoon as I'm recording it. And football is in the air, baby. Pads for every single team in the NFL are now on. first padded practice for the 49ers happened this morning. Obviously a ton of teams all over the country, whoever your favorite team is.

In pads. We are going. It's July 29th. If you're listening to this, it's July 30th or 31st. Football is officially back. I think we got a game this weekend, the Hall of Fame game. Maybe that's next weekend. I don't even know.

But we got football, football, and more freaking football. Thank you, Jesus. You're back. Fantasy football. gambling on football for all my degenerates out there. I can't freaking wait. But a lot going on. An absolute lot going on.

One, I noticed something at Niner Prax today, and I think a couple teams the last couple years gave a blueprint of this, and I think it's kind of indicative to a way a lot of teams are going to kind of build their squad moving forward. You know, some people hit me up on the Middilcoft mailbag asking me to kind of go through what happens at training, camp, and I can kind of dive into some of the nitty-gritty, the things that happen, just from a

pro scout to the GM, to the way every day, you know, I think we all see it on hard knocks, right? The staffs get together, talking about players, talking about personnel, watching the rest of the teams in the league, just give me some insight on that. Because, you know, you don't really hear that many people talking about it. You know, something I spend a couple of years, you just spend all day, every day for the month of August, just grinding. And it's just kind of a unique time of year. really the rest of the season.

Robert Kim Dice was cut from the Arizona Cardinals. You know, I got a theory on underachieving five-star guys in the first round. It is a recipe for disaster. And God, Steve Kheim, he missed on a lot of first-round picks. I'll go around the NFL, just some stories, just kind of go rapid fire. Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecough is my Instagram handle. doing a lot of Instagram videos, a couple of day, just on different things, different things you guys hit me up on, talking a little bit about everything, you can always hit me up in my DMs.

I think I've answered all your questions through DM or either in the last Middilcoff mailbag, so you got anything, definitely anything pertinent like this happening now with your team, with a position group, with a coaching staff, whatever. Just slide up in those DMs. At John Middlecoff is my Instagram, same as my Twitter. and I'll answer your questions on this thing. Sometimes if I don't answer your question, the reason is because I've already answered your questions,

and when you re-DM me, it doesn't go to the file where I have to click on. It just can get lost in the shuffle. So I'm not trying to not answer your question if you resent that to me, but just keep hitting me up. But I want to start with this. And I think I take a lot of shit on this because people are like, Middlecoff,

you're just a millennial, you're always talking about technology. Well, the reality is with technology. I just said the middle cough mail bag. You guys basically, you don't have my phone number, but essentially you do. When you hit me up at a DM on my Instagram account and I either DM you back or answer your question here, that's really no different than someone's sending me a text. Because the only time I ever use Instagram is on my phone. So I'm directly messaging with you on Instagram.

That wasn't even possible. Hell, when I was in high school text messages, I think my first year text messages started, but like my senior year in high school, that was 2002, 2003. Now, I mean, I can interact with people all over the place. You just press a button. We follow. You follow me. Boom, you DM me.

And obviously technology with Facebook, Twitter, whatever. Just the technology, I'm out of practice today. And forever and ever, in the history of football, there were ladders. And the film practice, someone would have to climb up that ladder and tape practice. And obviously that terrible, you know, awful day with Notre Dame when the wind blew the guy over and he died. Well, now no humans, you know, go up the plank anymore. They just have an electronic thing that grows and goes up to however many feet and has like a circular camera. The technology has kind of changed the world.

And obviously analytics in sports have really changed the way we watch and think and talk about sports. Hell, the way the sports are played. I do believe in people like, Middle-Kive is just a millennial. It's always been that way. I think change happens now faster than it ever has, whether it's with people like forcing change through social media or whether it's with a sport because you can communicate with lower levels, upper level, so much easier.

Like a college coach, just the communication, the access to film, the access, all of you guys, if you want to get, and I highly recommend it. This is a non-paid plug. The NFL Rewind, you have access to every single game. That includes All-22. You're watching the All-22 on a game, no different than Kyle Shanahan would.

Now, he might have a cowboy clicker, but you have it in your hand with an iPad. And I think football is very symbolic of the world we live in. It's constantly changing. I mean, since I got into the league, and since I sit here recording this right now, about eight different things have changed. change. That's what makes football so fun. I'm a big believer of the three major sports, football,

basketball and baseball. Football is by far the most cerebral, but it also is, it's not even close, the most physical. It's the ultimate combination. It's a physical and mental sport. It combines them both. Like, it's a thinking man's sport, but it's also like, you've got to be a tough SOB to play the sport. It's why we all love it. It's the best. I mean, there's nothing like football, and it's the ultimate team game. But the one thing in football is when rules change, the game kind of dictates how you want to build your team. And the way these rules have changed, and for the best, you have to protect the quarterbacks. Because at the end of the day, this is a business. And the business of football is to put it on television and get the most people to watch.

And as we've seen late in the season, when you get games of backup quarterbacks versus backup quarterbacks, even if you love the sport, it's hard product to watch. But when I get Jimmy Garoppolo versus Patrick Mahomes or Deshawn Watson against Baker Mayfield, I'm just talking about the young guys. Sam Darnold plays Josh Allen in week one. That's really cool. I mean, that's why we watch the sport. Obviously, we love the whole thing, you know, catching, tackling, the coaching aspect. But the game is predicated on the quarterback play.

That's why they get the most money. No one would argue that. But the rules of when I first got in the media, and I, left the NFL, I remember going to Jim Harbaugh practices. And I just remember thinking like, one, this team is massive and two, God, this team is physical. Well, you can't

really quite play like they once play. Even Seattle, their big rival, I'm watching Richard Sherman today. His job, while he's a really good player, one, because he's unique in just in terms of his size. I mean, he's like a 6-3 corner. But he's also, and he's really smart,

but his main attribute, I think he's one of the best tackling corners ever, and he's clearly one of the best bump and run corners of all time. One thing he could do five, six years ago that he can't do as much anymore is hold down the field, because they throw that flag. They throw the PI flag now, much easier.

Your safeties, like the Cam chancellors of the world, can't really hit like they once did. The flag will get thrown. Hell, even at linebacker. Remember, Roquan Smith held out last year because if he got fine or had to miss a game because he was suspended on leading with the crown

of his helmet with a tackle, he wanted to be compensated for it. Basically, by telling the Bears, you're asking me to play fast, physical, and 100 miles an hour, yet if I get suspended because of the rules, I don't want to lose a game check. And I actually think he had a valid point. It's like, that's a pretty smart take by his agent. But just watching the sport of football, receivers don't have to be scared to go over the middle. Why? Because they're not going to get hit.

Because if that guy gets hit, it's a 15-yard penalty. That's just a fact. Receivers can release off the line of scrimmage because not as many teams play bumping run because it's harder to execute. The one area on the football, and for offense, it's just a lot easier to score points. Let's call it what it is. Like, yards and touchdowns,

like what Patrick Mahomes did last year was unreal. But 50 touchdowns was not 50 touchdowns like when Brady did it several years ago. I think it was an 07. Now, it's still really impressive, and what Mahomes did, I'm not diminishing anything away from Patrick Mahomes. He's a superstar. But we can all

say stats with football. on the offense are a little inflated in this game. And we'll be out of a better feel after like 10 years with this next rule. You know, maybe 50 is the old 45 if several quarterbacks do it. Now, that's probably strong. But like maybe 42, you know, is the old, I don't know, 34. So it's just we'll grow, we'll adapt and we'll understand the numbers. But I'm at practice today and I'm just watching the NFL last year.

The one area on the field. And if I was building a team, this is the way I would do it. And I think the Niners just kind of lucked into this because when Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch came, they already had a couple sweet defensive linemen and they had a couple sweet offensive linemen. But they've now drafted several defensive linemen and also drafted an offensive lineman in McGlinchie. You have to dominate the defensive and offensive line. And you can say, well, Middokoff, you always have. But I honestly think that it's rendering corners, not obsolete, but I don't know.

know if I'd invest much money in him. Because if I'm paying Jalen Ramsey what he wants, $17, $18 million, do you know how hard it is for him to do his job? Now, he might be an outlier because he's so good, but I'd say even the second tier corners, you know, a guy that might make $8, $9, $10 million, I would rather invest that money in a defensive lineman and then just draft corners. Because at the end of the day, people aren't really going to be able to cover in this league because the rules don't really dictate you being able to be physical with the wide

receiver. But the one area on the field that is still the same, like talking about these new school values, technology has really changed things, you could argue certain things still translate, right? Like being nice to people, shaking people's hands and looking them in the eye, meeting them in person if you're going to do a deal with them. Well, dominating on the offensive and defensive lines will always translate to success in the NFL. But it literally is the one area in the NFL where physical play is one million percent still allowed. The defensive and offensive line, but especially the defensive line. And it's the one place on the football field on defense

where you can do kind of whatever you want. And you look at the Kansas City Chiefs, their model last year, because we know it's a quarterback league. And there are a ton of quarterbacks in the league now. All the old guys that are still good and this crop of young players the last five or six years that have infiltrated the NFL.

So a lot of teams, in theory, think they have their quarterback and think they have a guy that they can invest in or either already have invested in. But your defensive line, like what the chiefs had last, year? Think about the Chiefs. When you think of the Chiefs in 2019 or 18, you went, God, their defense was terrible. But actually, they led the league in sacks. They just couldn't cover

anyone. And you know what? It didn't really matter. Because I think the philosophy, and I think kind of what the 49ers are attempting to do is the poor man's version of that is dominate up front on defense and just kind of let see what happens with your corners and score a lot of points. Because if you score a lot of points and sack the quarterback, I think it's going to be hard to suck. and when I say it's going to be hard to not be legitimately in the playoff mix because let's call it what it is. The day and age of Legion of Boom, and I love the Legion of Boom, but what Earl Thomas does, he's somewhat of a diminished player,

but what him and Cam really hung their hat on was they would destroy people. You're not allowed to do that anymore. And even Richard and all the other corners they had on the other side for all those years, they could just mean mug you down the field forever. Well, you can't do that anymore either. But you always, or at least still, are allowed to be physical up front. So the DeForest Buckner's, the D. Ford's, the Nick Bosa, again, in theory, just like the Chiefs last year, D. Ford, Chris Jones, Justin. They led the league in sacks.

But you go, God, their defense was awful. And it kind of was, but it kind of wasn't. Because if you're scoring points on offense, and if you have a quarterback, and again, the majority of teams in this league right now feel they have. a quarterback, and if you have an offensive coach, which it seems like a large majority of the teams do, and even the teams with defensive coaches, let's say like Belichick or Tomlin, they got explosive offenses, and I think the Steelers are a good example too. They should have been a playoff team last year. They blew a game to Oakland where Ben set out the second half and then came back with

an injury, was just a terrible loss. They right there were tied with the Kansas Chiefs. They could rush the passer. They couldn't really cover anyone, but they could score points. me that's kind of the new philosophy. I think most people, my age group, like in their mid-30s, and definitely older think like having a complete defense, having a complete defense, having good defensive backs, having good safeties. And if I could get a Ronnie Lott or an Ed Reed, of course I would take that guy, but I would spend less time worrying about that position and patchwork it.

Again, if I'm building a team based financially, because this is a cap league, so you have to invest in certain positions. Moving forward, I would invest less and less on the back end. and more and more in the front end. I think the Eagles are a good example of that. They've invested so much in their defensive lines. Because they know at the end of the day, if you can rush the pastor, you've invested a lot in a quarterback. They drafted Carson Wentz really high.

They think they can score a lot of points because they have an offensive coach. You can get by with people, the sports talk radio, and you guys hit me up in DM. 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.

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 live them. Listen to SportsSlic 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.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro

absolutely and that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app,

search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me,

he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Come out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your

podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting.

On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this.

At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Our corners are terrible. Our corners are terrible. My response will be simple. Can you rest the passer and is your quarterback good? Because if you can do those two things, your team's got a legitimate chance. I mean, the Chiefs were an off-sides away from being in the Super Bowl.

And they had, you could say, one of the worst collection of defensive backs in the league, at least in terms of execution. So I really think, and seeing it with the 49ers today, people keep hitting me up, like, who are going to be their safeties, who are going to be their other corner outside of Richard Sherman? My response kind of is, who cares? If Jimmy Garoppolo's healthy, he sure as hell looks healthy, and their defensive line is sweet, it sure looks sweet, they're going to be pretty good. Look at the Browns.

The Browns should have a pretty damn good defensive line. clearly their offense is going to score a lot of points. The more and more I think about the Browns, how are they not going to win 10 games? Freddie Kitchens would have to be a disaster. They're probably averaged 27, 28 points, and Miles Garrett, and that grew, should get 45 plus sacks.

That, to me, is the new formula. That, to me, is how you need to change. And I'm not saying you don't need defensive backs. I just not sure they're quite as, you know, as worthy of top dollar as maybe they won. worth. The rules just dictate kind of who you invest in in the NFL. Do you own or rent your home? Sure you do. And I bet it can be hard work. You know, it's easy. Bundling policies with GEICO. Geico makes it easy to bundle your homeowners or renters insurance along with your auto policy.

It's a good thing too because you already have so much to do around your home. Go to GEICO.com, get a quote, and see how much you could save. It's GEICO easy. Visit geico.com today. That's guyco.com. These days, it can be hard to find and hire the right candidates for your small business. That's why LinkedIn jobs made it easier to find the people you want to talk to, faster, and for free. Create a job post in minutes on LinkedIn jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of over 770 million people.

Focus on candidates with the skills and experience you need. Use screening questions to get your role in front of only the most qualified people. Then, use the simple tools on LinkedIn jobs to quickly. filter and prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. That's why small businesses rate LinkedIn jobs number one and delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates worth interviewing faster. Did you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn? Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash reach. That's LinkedIn.com slash reach to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. These days, it can be hard to find

and hire the right candidates for your small business. That's why LinkedIn jobs made it easier to find the people you want to talk to, faster and for free. Create a job post in minutes on LinkedIn jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of over 770 million people.

Focus on candidates with the skills and experience you need. Use screening questions to get your role in front of only the most qualified people. Then, use the simple tools on LinkedIn jobs to quickly filter and prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. That's why small businesses rate LinkedIn jobs number one and delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates worth interviewing faster.

Did you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn? Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash reach. That's LinkedIn.com slash reach to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. I'm in a training camp because I think it's one of the more fun times of the year, but also for the people that work in the league, scouts and coaches, and even players, not as much players, but definitely scouts and coaches. Now players trying to make the team.

It's one of the more intense times a year because there is a lot going on. I think I said this on the last podcast. I was playing golf last week, and a guy I was playing with a big football fan. We were talking about fantasy and just kind of fall in the league. And he basically said, geez, you know what? It's really hard. There's just a lot of information. It's hard to keep up with everything.

And I said, bro, I do this for a living. And I don't feel I'm as super locked in as definitely as I once was. I was always, when I worked in the league, insecure was probably the wrong word, but just always feeling like I was playing catch up. Because one, when you first start working in the NFL, especially if you come from college, there's just so many players and so many coaches you don't know. Now, granted, your first year in the league,

you spend so much time doing busy work. you just kind of get a feel for everything. But you ask like an Andy Reid or a Bill Belichick guys who've been in the league for 30, 40 years. Like it takes you three or four, five, six years to get a feel for every player in the league. Now a lot of these guys, the Kaufflins, the Andes, the Pete Carrolls, the guys that have been in the league for a long period of time, they know every player in the league because they've evaluated the majority of them either coming out of college or once they're in the NFL. But this time of year, if you like turn on CNBC in the morning, and I'm a CNBC guy in the morning,

I don't do sports morning sports talk until Colin comes on. And for me, that's at 9 o'clock. Like usually coward. Now I read sports sometimes. I read it in the morning. I don't watch any of the sports shows. I don't watch NFL network. I don't. I don't consume it. I try to be a little balance in my life. So I throw on CNBC. And anyone that falls the market, the market is a little like football. there's a lot of shit going on. A ton of different industries, just trying to keep up with everything is really hard. They probably took Jim Craver a long time

to get a feel on the majority of industries or whoever's working in the business. Football is no different. But the training camp for GMs, scouts, and pro directors is a very, very busy time. And I think you guys, and I thought it would be cool to kind of talk a little bit about

what everyone's doing. Because we never really talk about it. I'm going to write about it this week on the athletic. but I got a podcast, so I might as well talk about it right here. When you're a pro scout, usually got a couple in-house pro scouts, you got a pro director, you got a general manager, and you've got some hybrid guys in the office. You usually in training camp divvy up the league.

So you're evaluating every team in the league. Now, not every player on the team, but you divvy up the league and basically every guy from either the fourth, probably the fourth round on, every undrafted free agent, and then a large majority of bubble roster players, meaning their fifth and sixth and seventh wide receivers, meaning veterans that make too much money and might get cut. All those guys are watched over the next month,

and you need everybody you have inside your pro department. Some teams use college. When I was in Philly, they used college guys. I don't think they use college guys anymore with the Eagles, but sometimes you just have to help. There's so many players in the league. And now that that number went from 80 to 90-man rosters, there's just 10 extra players.

So I'm not a math major, but 10 times 32, that's 320 extra players you just have to account for. And so basically right now, in these last like three or four days, up until the first preseason games, if you have eight teams, let's say, let's say I have the NFC West and the AFC West. Now it's usually not broken up like that, but let's just say it for this podcast purposes.

Every day you get clips and your PR department gets clips. And when I say clips, that means articles on every single team in the league won. And then you divvy it up the teams that you're following. So if I'm following the AFC West and the NFC West, everything that's written on those teams gets kind of cut up into a folder and you read it. Now, you don't have to read verbatim. you kind of go lawyer style. Now, I've never been to law school,

but I've watched enough movies and read enough stuff to know that they kind of speed read, right? So you go through it, and you're looking for everything. And now, if you're playing the team, you're a little more in depth on it. But if you're not playing that team and you're just evaluating their bubble roster guys, you're looking at who's standing out

and who's not standing out. Now, granted, some of this is depending on, you know, for my example, if you're doing the 49ers, Matt Mayoko. Well before I ever met Matt Mayoko, I followed them on Twitter. Just because you follow beatwriters. Matt Barrows, followed them on Twitter.

You're keeping up with the beat riders of the team. Now, you're not necessarily using their eyes to dictate what you think. But if a guy's standing out and these guys have covered the teams for 20, 25 years, you can kind of dictate who's got a decent chance to make the team who doesn't. Also, the best beat riders, they're not just throwing shit at the wall and hope it sticks. They know the coaches and they know the executives, so they got a decent idea. So what late round picks have a chance to make it, what late round picks don't have a chance to make it,

and then those late round picks that aren't going to make the team are those guys, that team wants to keep on practice squad. You're highlighting all this stuff and somehow keeping it in a folder. So you have this database of information on every team in the league and every unit in the league. And it's time consuming. You need a lot of bodies. Like you're spending a lot of your day doing this stuff.

You get up early, you eat breakfast, you go to practice, you come back, you read the clips, you go to lunch, you usually meet as a staff, usually most staffs also, besides doing all that before the preseason games. You each as a pro scout typically get a position. And sometimes the college guys do this too when they're in-house for the, or they're in the building for a week or whatever before they go out on the row. They get a position.

So, you know, I got linebackers, the West Coast Scout gets quarterbacks, one pro scout gets defensive line. evaluate that position. And it actually is a good way for college scouts to one, know your team and just kind of get a feel for what's playing in the league, what your star player looks like, what your backup player looks like, what your fringe guy looks like, and what the guy that has no chance looks like. So it kind of iron sharpens iron.

So you spend a lot of time evaluating your own team, evaluating the teams that are assigned to you, and then just doing what other projects you have to do. Now here's the other thing when you're a pro scout. This time of year, a lot of players are getting cut every day. And I saw Bruce Arien said yesterday, or a couple days ago, when the pads came on, they had a lot of players that, quote-unquote, crapped their pants. And the pads separate guys in the NFL. If you're listening to this, you're a football fan, you know that.

There's a big difference between shorts and a t-shirt. I heard Kyle Shanahan today say, the first two days of training camp were OTAs. Until you get pads on, that's training camp. And he's right. You can't take much away. But you start having players that get cut. Now, here's the thing in these next couple weeks. when you have an undrafted free agent get cut over the next week,

you don't have any game tape on them. So you evaluate them and maybe you'll claim them. Maybe that was a guy that you tried to sign as a free agent after the draft that you couldn't get, or is a guy that you had good draft grades on. So you might claim that guy. And the claiming order as of the start of training camp up until week four of the NFL season is based on the draft order.

So the Cardinals have any one, the Cardinals claim, if you're after, you know, if you're the Patriots or the Chiefs or the Seattle, if they claim them and you claim them, they get them. And then so on. Now, once preseason games start, you might see some veteran players or guys that have been in the league get cut. Now, that's a little different. You might have a pro scout when, let's say,

I'm just going to try to use an example from the day. Like Jordan Matthews, who is probably going to make the 49ers. But he's a guy that's played on multiple teams, who's a former second round pick. he has NFL film. If he is cut by the Niners after, let's say, the second preseason game, now I don't think he's going to get cut. I'm just using him as a game.

Let's use this as a one. Marquise Goodwin, who won that 40-yard dash race thing for all the NFL players. But I think he's a guy that's on the roster bubble. Now, he'll probably make it, but he might not. Let's say about preseason game three, Powell Shanahan's down on him, they cut him. Well, every team in the league would probably be interested on claiming him, right? So they would go in and they would look at his previous film

Now some teams would have updated grades on them Some teams might not So when guys like that get cut Then it creates, then it's a different animal that has film So as you see, you're watching film on veterans as they get cut You're evaluating these undrafted free agents These get cut based on your draft grades Because you don't have any film to go off of

And then you have a small group of players That are just like out on the open right now that are street-free agents. I saw a guy today. Someone worked out. I forget the guy's name, but I saw he was working out for a team. So right now, you have some players.

I'll try to go back and find it. Alfred Morris, for example. Been in the league for a long period of time. Certain teams have injuries, like the Saints. The Saints brought in Alfred Morris for a visit Sunday and probably worked him out to gauge how good a shape he's in, to just maybe they've been interested in signing him,

maybe they haven't, but he's on the street, he's a free agent, any team can sign. So sometimes you bring two of three guys like Alfred Morris in and you work them out. You just put them through a workout. Like when you turn on pro days and you just see guys working out,

that's what you do with these street free agents that are veteran players. And if you have an injury, sometimes you just do it, even if you don't need them and you don't even sign them. Well, a week later, if you lose a running back, boom, you sign Alfred Morris. You're just constantly doing your due diligence.

So between keeping an eye on every team in the NFL, keeping notes on them all, and then once the preseason games start that bubble list, whoever was on your bubble list that was also on the teams, if I had the AFC and NFC West, I have to watch every single play that all those guys on my list, from fourth to undrafted free agents, and then the veterans all their game tape in the preseason games. And after about two games, I can put somewhat of a grade on them.

Ideally, you use three. So by going into week four, you kind of have an idea. And then the top graded guys of the four, fifth, sixth, seventh rounders that you think are going to get cut, you kind of siphon up to your general manager. All while, you know, working out these guys, seeing if any street free agents are a better fit than that guy, all while evaluating your own team. What guys make it? What guys aren't going to make it? What guys on your team do you want as a practice squad guy? and if another team is going to cut a player

and wants them on their practice squad, well, if you also like that guy and want him on your practice squad, you can kind of get a feel and target him and then offer him more money than that team. Like you can just guarantee his salary as a practice squad player. All while the coaches are just getting the team ready for the season. So the coaches are basically just 1 million percent focused on that day, while the GM and the front office is really more focused on the big cutdown.

and potential trade. So here's another thing. If you're a team and let's say you need a linebacker, well, the first thing I would do is I would go to all seven or eight of the new staffs in the league and look at holdover players that maybe they don't want, that maybe doesn't fit their scheme. And then that would be a player that maybe you could potentially trade for. Look at the good example of the Chiefs. Now this was before training camp, but did it with, I think it's Darren or Duran.

Duran Lee from the New York Jets, Adam Gays. That's a good example. So you can isolate players that that team is going to get rid of because they have a new staff, and then you can take advantage of it for kind of like a late brown flyer. Maybe you can trade them a player that you don't want that maybe they want. So you're constantly as a front office kind of worried about week one, where the coaching staff, while they're worried about week one,

they're really worried right now, especially in late July, early August, implementing the offense, implementing the defense, coaching certain coaching points of the scheme and just getting guys better and trying to get guys to separate themselves within their units and then within their groups on the team. And then kind of at the end of the month, it all comes together.

You start using the coaching staff maybe to evaluate some of the players that you may want to claim to see if they think that guy's better. And some teams don't even use their coaching staff. They'll just claim a guy and that coaching staff's got to deal with them. But the good ones, it's pretty,

there's a lot of, synergy between the two. That's the ideal way to run an operation. That's what makes Belichick so unique. He's dealing with all this shit. Can you imagine how much he works over this next month? Because don't get it twisted. He's watching every team and every player in the league. I don't buy that he's not for a second. I don't know how he has the time. Maybe he just doesn't sleep. But, you know, maybe not every player. But I think he's pretty locked in. And I think most of the good coaches are, especially as you get older and you can. can kind of, you know, not micromanage as much. You can allow your coaches to, you know, do what they've been hired to do. And I think it's hard when you're a younger coach, you try to have your hand in a little

bit of everything. You do micromanage probably too much. But in a perfect world, you delegate and you can lock in. Like as, especially the good teams, you start knowing exactly what you're looking for. Like, for example, the Chiefs, by about the third preseason game, they're going to exactly what their major hole is. So Andy and Veach, and their roster is relatively set, they can start locking in on the groups of players that their pro scouts have isolated or targeted that fit that individual target. Now, like the draft, you evaluate everyone. People

always like, well, you don't need a quarterback. Well, during the draft process, you might not spend quite as much time on the quarterbacks, but you evaluate all the quarterbacks. You never know when that guy's going to become available for you. So as you can see. Just a ton of time is spent. Now, you got to keep your health, so you got to mix in a workout and, you know, try to get some sleep. But these days as a scout are usually 630 to 7 in the morning till pretty late at night. And then you try to mix and have some scout bonding, you know, go to group as a unit, maybe, you know, get some beers once or twice, you know, over the next couple weeks. Because once the game start, there's really none of that. It's just full speed ahead.

And then the night of the big cutdowns is kind of an all-nighter. But it's not as much of an all-nighter if you have done all-the-work over these next three or four weeks. You are so far ahead of the game. And this is the last time of the season. The free agency, then the draft. Those are two places where you can add to your team. And then this time of year.

Because once the season starts, for the most part, the occasional trade deadline. and we've seen more of those with we uggard GMs. This is all she wrote, Phyllis. You know, the best thing that's ever happened to me, it actually has happened to me twice, in my life was failing. When I got fired in the NFL and my contract not renewed, and then when my radio show was canceled in the Bay Area.

Now, did I take some pride that Philly under Chip Kelly ended up kind of being a disaster? Sure. Did I take some pride that the person that they replaced me with and the main reason I was fired was, you know, me and the Raiders, I was with the Raiders station. They wanted me gone. They replaced me with a team employee. That show utterly failed lasted like nine months. But, you know, again, I'm not bitter.

You live and you learn. But it's the best thing that ever happened to me twice. One forced a media career and this one forced a progressive media career. I've gotten into podcasts. I've just gotten much more involved in the internet where the future is going. because if I hadn't, I probably would still be on the radio. I was pretty unhappy at the time. And again, it was forced upon me,

but it really made me grow professionally and personally. And I said this about Chip Kelly when he got fired in San Francisco. The worst thing that ever happened to him was the 49ers immediately hired him like three weeks later. Because when you fail and you don't have to look in the mirror and be introspective at all, how do you grow? And I think you see this a lot in the draft when players highly touted players go to big time programs

and either they underachieve or they get in trouble and they fall in the draft the second, third, fourth round, whatever. It usually serves at a motivating purpose, right? You kind of failed. Now, you quantify that failure internally but I think Honey Badger is a great example. He was this all-American guy,

his life kind of spiraled out of control at LSU, He got kicked off the team. He got drafted in the third round, completely changed his career, and it's kind of the benchmark for questionable character guys in college that completely turn their life around and go down as like every team he's been on. He's a team leader, team captain, just badass. I mean, he's one of my favorite players in the league. But most guys that, like Honey Badger, they get drafted in the first round.

And to me, I've changed my draft philosophy. If I was drafting in the first round, especially like after the top 10, I would not try to hit home runs. I would not mess with the Robert Kim Diches. Because more than likely, the five-star recruits who underachieved in college, who then you draft in the first round, are going to let you down. I would take those guys in the mid-round, in the late second, third, fourth round, whatever, because maybe it motivates them.

But I'm not messing around with drafting them in the first round, giving a four-year guaranteed contract, and giving them a bunch of money. And I think that it's a good example Robert Comdice was just cut for being fat and out of shape. Like, how's that even, how's that possible? Of course he's fat and out of shape. He's Robert Comdice. He's always an underachiever.

He has shown you, like he's established himself. Big five-star recruit goes to Ole Miss. Not really that good. Just kind of goes through the motions. And then he gets to the NFL. What does he do? Go through the motions. Go through the motions.

Then I don't know if you guys saw that video on TMZ. He got pulled over because he had a warrant and he had some cocaine on the center console. Like the guy's just the ultimate slappy. And I think Chris Ballard, I've read a lot about Chris Ballard. It feels like over the last couple months. He wrote that article for Peter King. The one reason I'm betting the house on him, because he doesn't go for flyers like that. He's not necessarily looking to hit home runs.

Now, you may end up hitting a home run. You take a Darius Leonard whatever in the second round. But I think Chris Bauer would tell you, I don't know if I knew Darius Leonard was going to be this good, but I knew he wasn't going to be bad. Like, I didn't know Quentin Nelson. I knew Quentin Nelson was going to be really good. I drafted him in the top 10, but I also knew he had zero bus potential. I'm taking high character, guys that love football, and they're tough and badasses.

When you mess with underachievers that you question their love of football, you usually have problems. I would say the number one way for a guy to bust in the NFL, Robert Conditiers has the NFL. He's 6,000, 300 pounds, can move. There's a long list of those guys, right, that meet every physical requirement. But the stuff you can't quantify, like, bro, how much do you like playing football?

If you gave that player true serum, they would say not that much. God just gifted me with these physical attributes, and I have to do it. I think you see it a lot in basketball too, especially with big guys. Why have there meant so many big guy busts in the NBA? Because those guys don't like playing basketball that much.

Where when you draft guys, maybe they're a little smaller, They really like playing football, it's going to work. Now, he might not be a star and their ceiling may be cap because to be a great NFL player, you need special physical attributes. But if you have the baseline of physical talent and you have the love of the sport, I think you're going to be in pretty good shape. And when I saw that Robert Comdice was cut, I thought, you know what?

Of course he was. Because he was, how was he ever going to succeed in the end? NFL. Guys like that just don't turn it around. And, you know, I think it's kind of an indictment of Steve Kine. A general manager that's now on his third coach, who last year had one of the most egregious errors a general manager can have. A DUI on the 4th of July in Scottsdale, Arizona. Like, I'm sorry, that cannot happen. That cannot happen. He was suspended for, you know, basically a month. But then at the end of the year, they had to fire his one-indexam.

done coach because he was beyond awful. It was clear he was not an NFL coach. And then you look at his drafting record, Jonathan Cooper, swinging a miss, DJ Humphrey, swinging a miss, Robert Kim D.J. Swinging a miss. Josh Rosen, he got rid of a year later. Now, he did draft Kyler Murray, but that's because he had the number one pick in the draft, and he had to hire Cliff Kingsbury who failed at Texas Tech.

It's not like, you know what, he went to college and he got his Urban Meyer, he got his Pete Carroll, he got his Jim Harbaugh. No, he got Cliff Kingsbury. Who was just fired at Texas Tech? I mean, I think when you take a step back, and there's a ton of hype right now on Kyler Murray and what's going on, I think the Arizona Cardinals are going to be awful. I think Steve Kime has done an abysmal job.

I think it's borderline insane that he kept his job, and he was allowed to hire this guy. I think it's got a chance to be an all-time terrain wreck. When is the last time a college head coach who had coached in college for whatever, five plus years, record whose teams play zero defense and then just came to the NFL and had success. For a GM that has not drafted very well recently, one, two, the personnel on the team is very questionable.

And look at the teams in the division he has to beat. I don't know, Pete Carroll, you know, a top three or four head coach in the NFL, Sean McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan, kind of the apple of every NFL GM's eye as offensive coaches. How is he going to beat these guys? Like, is there a chance they go 0 and 6 in the division? Is there a chance that he's worse than Steve Wilkes? As crazy as that sounds?

Now you'd be like middle cop, their offense is surely to be better. Well, you think, I don't know that for a fact. We will see. I just think the Cardinals, you know, Kim Dice is just such a great example of why you should not mess with underachiever, underachieving five-star guys that question and passion for the sport are questioned in the first round. I got no...

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 SportsSlice 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 Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade

of my own experience in the middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Come on out. Quarterback on office, blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise. the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about.

As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. No problem taking Comdija in the third round. You take flyers like that. Hell, even the second round I can live with.

But the first round, I can't imagine how many busts in the first round have been because the guy simply does not like football. For the most part, if you probably looked over the last 10 years of draft history, most guys that get drafted in the first round round have the physical characteristics to be first round picks. I would say the overwhelming majority are, yeah, that guy's a first round body, yeah, that guy has first round speed, yeah, that guy is first round power. but the guys that fail, not because of injuries, I would venture to say, and maybe I need someone to do a deep dive study on this, the percentage of people, and it'd be hard because you can't quantify it, just don't like football is like 90% of the guys that fail.

And we knew that. Like, that was the beat on this guy coming out, and he still took them. Now, maybe it was because they were feeling themselves out the Honey Badger and Bruce Ariens thinks he can fix everyone, but you can't. Thinking you can fix everyone gets coached, is fired, you know, creates first round bus.

Have you have a player that gets pulled over in a Chevron and has a line of blow on a center console. That's what you get. Now, you could argue some players that like football have a line of blow, you know, in the history, a lot of players have been popped for drugs. Yeah, it's true. But, you know, at the end of the day, if I'm going to swing and miss with a guy, Michael Irvin had some issues.

No one ever questioned his passion and love for the sport, right? Hell, Alden Smith had a ton of issues. No one ever questioned how much he liked playing football. And Alden has, I mean, still has issues. I mean, it feels like five DUIs in the last five years. But if I'm going to miss on Alden Smith, the guy's a train wreck off the field, at least when he's on the field, he tries. Like, Kim Dice didn't even try when he was on the field.

Steve Kime, it really is pretty wild, and I kind of had a conspiracy theory. One of the reasons so many GMs keep their jobs so much longer in coaches, because they're the one person that spends so much time with the owners and kind of has the key to their treasure chest of all the cash. They're the one person that can kind of talk normally to an owner about things that the owner can relate to. Money, paying players, paying coaches. Because let's call it what it is.

The general manager and the GM aren't diving too deep on the depths of routes and the 3-4 scheme for the cornerbacks and how to play cover 3. That's not really what they're talking about. They're talking about how much money to pay certain players, how much money to allocate toward this, what guys they like in the draft. Basically all the fun shit.

The in-depth nuts and bolt stuff with football really comes from the coaching side. The owner can only talk to the coach about so much. Like have in-depth conversations. Now the higher-level older coaches clearly can have those conversations. Like Pete Carroll with Paul Allen, Andy Reed with Clark Hunt. You know, Tomlin with the Roonies.

Like, they're having those conversations. But for the most part, when you see these one-and-done situations, that coach never gets to develop probably a good relationship with the owner. One, they just don't speak probably as much as you think. And two, they're not talking about things that they really can relate to. So I think at the end of the day, the overall takeaway from Condice getting cut, it's pretty crazy that Steve Kimes still is a job. Imagine fighting climate change every time you buy groceries or pizza.

Now you can. With the Aspiration Zero credit card, you can reduce your carbon footprint by making the same purchases you always make. Aspiration Zero plants one tree every time you make a purchase. Or plant two trees when you choose to round all your purchases up to the nearest dollar. Track your progress in the app and earn 1% cash back each month you reach carbon. For a limited time, earn a $300 bonus when you open an account at Aspiration.com and spend $3,000 in the first 90 days. Join the community that helps you fight climate change with every purchase. Aspiration Zero, one card, zero carbon footprint.

The Aspiration Zero MasterC is issued by Beneficial State Bank pursuant to license by MasterC International Incorporated. Beneficial State Bank member FDIC 2021. Terms and conditions apply. Visit Aspiration.com slash zero for more information. CareerBuilder is made for people who have that thing. You know, those superpowers that make you good at your job, the skills you bring to work. And CareerBuilder knows those skills make you right for other jobs too.

Higher paying jobs with benefits. Jobs you never thought of trying. Are you a people person? Work from home as a customer service rep. Are you organized and like driving? Become a delivery driver. You have the skills it takes and CareerBuilder.com has the jobs to get you hired fast. visit careerbuilder.com.

This clip is brought to you by State Farm. At State Farm, they know it's important to ensure the things you love. They also get that everyone has a budget. That's why they have options, like insuring your car and your home, getting you great rates on both. It's a good idea to consider State Farm. For surprisingly great rates, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call or go to StateFarm.com for a quote today. In high school, I never really was like dating around or anything like that.

And then I got into a long-term relationship and was dating someone for a few years. And then after getting out of that relationship, I think this past year or so or whatever, whatever has been like actually living life as a single person. It's very hard. And I think it's not like not hard, I should say, but like it's very different knowing nothing but long-term relationships. and then moving into like the single lifestyle that's like, quote, dating around and like feeling people out. That's kind of been something interesting to navigate. Listen to the My Culturda Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Let's go around the leak. There's just a ton going on. I'm going to do this every podcast during training camp for sure. Just jot down things that I saw and things are interesting. hit on each one, maybe a minute or less. And again, they'll probably know Middlecoff mailbag this week. Just, I need more of your questions.

Slide up in those DMs at John Middlecoff and I'll answer them on Friday's podcast. But for this one, it's just, we're just going around the league. And let's start with the Miami Dolphins. This story today broke, I think, rap sheet on Twitter. The Miami Dolphins have fired their offensive line coach.

How do you fire your offensive line coach on July 29th? Now, I get they had another guy on staff, someone that Brian Flores had worked with in New England, who Belichick fired in New England, and I think his name is Guilmo. I can't ever say his last name. But how can that happen? My only response was just SMH. Like, what the hell?

That makes no sense. It just feels very dolphins. Of course the Miami Dolphins fired their offensive line coach. before August 1st, about three days into training camp. What a joke? I mean, why'd you hire the guy in the first place? I didn't even look. Was he a hold or whatever?

That can't happen. That cannot happen. Dallas, Zeeke holding out in Mexico. My feelings are pretty well documented on this. I do not think Zeek's getting very good advice. You don't get to get in trouble and then dictate the terms. I saw Jerry Jones set on a local news channel or something. that, listen, you don't need a leading rusher to win a Super Bowl, and that's just a fact.

So, Zeke, he doesn't need you, one, two, he just, how do you do that to someone who supported you? Just show up, he's going to take care of you. I think it's a massive slap in his face. I get it's a business, but it was a business when the Cowboy signed him for all that guaranteed money when he was a rookie, had never played a game. It was a business when Jerry went to war with Roder Goodell when he was getting suspended. Like, Zee, come on, man. Carolina, they're trying to not limit McCaffrey's touches,

but just be careful about not giving him too much, which I would agree in theory, but here's the problem. He's probably their best offensive player at this point with Cam Newton coming off an injury. You need to give him between catches and rushing attempts. I would target him in the passing game probably 140 times. I'd like to get him over 100 catches in the passing game. I'd probably like to get them, you know, in a sweet spot around 900 to, you know, 1100 yards somewhere in there.

I think you could argue he's first 1,000-yard rusher, 1,000-yard receiver in a long time. Did he say he wanted to do that last year? Maybe, no, I don't think he did. But that's McAfry's a stud. Philly, Jordan Howard, basically taking all the number one reps. The kid they drafted from Penn State, I would imagine it's going to be the backup. They signed Darren Sproles. Jordan Howard's a good player.

You know, for whatever reason, him and Nagy just, it didn't work. But I think the Eagles for basically give up nothing to get him. Now, he's going to be a free agent. And, you know, Roseman's not in the business of signing and, you know, running backs to long-term contracts. Though, if he has a good year, I can see them doing a team-friendly deal with them. You know, why not? Running backs come cheap. Where else is you getting information from?

Okay, Cincinnati, the worst news of the weekend. Dick Green torn ligaments in his ankle. The backstory, the NFL wanted to go to Dayton, Ohio. The original place 100 years ago, obviously, you know, if you watch NFL Network, they're all wearing those 100-collared shirts. 100 years ago, the first ever NFL game or football game was played there, a professional game. But where they were going to build, there was an Indian burial ground that, I guess,

the local Indian tribe fought. Listen, I'm always pro-building. if wherever I'm buried once upon, you know, hopefully not for a while. You know, I'll be 35 here relatively soon, so hopefully I got, you know, 40 years left to keep... No, I mean, let's say 45, make it till 80. If I make it till 80, I've had a good run, but if one day you can build over my grave, you know, to benefit the community, go ahead and do it. You know, I'm always pro-growth and pro-building, but for some reason the NFL didn't fight it. They instead just went to this other field.

the field turned out to be terrible and AJ Green was the end result cost them their best player for, you know, I would say he's going to miss definitely a couple weeks of the NFL season that's a big loss for a guy that's going to be a free agent and a guy that's coming off a ton of injuries. I mean, you just look at his injury history.

I know Warren Sharp tweeted it out. He's had two or three major injuries and a lot of them have been lower leg and foot injuries. Not ideal. I like AJ Green. I would say he's negative. He's a little built like a track athlete. Got to be close to 100%.

And when he's not, he's kind of useless. And now he's definitely useless on the sideline. shitty deal all around for the Bengals. The Oakland Raiders, they got Antonio Brown, who's now only practiced like once of three or four practices. But we'll assume he's going to be healthy. Tyrell Williams, the deep threat,

they signed from the Chargers, also having a good camp. Hunter Renfro, I think, is going to be the starting slot receiver. everything you hear, read, and talk to people with the Raiders, he's crushing in camp. Feels like John Gruden is dying for a little white receiver to be like his Wes Welker, and I think Hunter Renfro is going to be that guy.

Hunter Renfro, if you've ever heard Davo talk about him, says he looks like nothing, and then all of a sudden you put him on the field and he just balls. The kid can just play. So I think at the end of the day, look for Hunter Renfro to not just be a Raiders, you know, make the team, but I think he's going to have a role

and a relatively big role in this offense. Another receiver that's kind of fascinating, same draft class, D.K. Metcalf. Word was coming out of Seattle. They're in the two wide receiver sets. Now, granted, you look at the depth chart, they don't have much. Obviously, Tyler Lockett is there one? D.K. Metcalf is there two right now?

Now, I think the question on D.K. Metcalf was he was kind of a one-trick pony. He could go straight, but he couldn't do anything else. Couldn't cut all of his short shuttle stuff at the combine and at the pro days was terrible. was like historically bad. I mean, it was like Tom Brady level movement. But that's why you pay your wide receiver coach, $3,000, $500,000. It's why you pay your offensive coordinator a million dollars.

It's why you pay your coach's so much. Coach this guy up. It's why you pay your strength and conditioning. Coaches so much, so much. Get this guy more flexible. Now, can't you get more flexible? Time will tell. But one thing's clear.

D.K. Metcalfe isn't just going to play for Seattle. He's going to be kind of like a key component for them. Now, is he good enough? I don't know. we'll see but you could also say who are the corners in in the NFC West the Niners have one Richard Sherman and then they don't really have another one Jason Verrett Verrett is just I mean he's played in one game in three years so I can't count on him yet you look at the like who are the Rams corners Talib you know he's a shell of himself Marcus Peters he's just

he's an off you know you can't really run he can make plays on the ball but he's a pretty flawed player. The Cardinals, they got Patrick Peterson, that's about it. No, Patrick Peterson is a good player. But all those, like Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, they got a account for Tyler Lockett. The Washington Redskins, this just shows you how high of a level this guy is. His career is over, Alex Smith, after his leg basically snapped last year.

He's still attending quarterback meetings, helping those guys out. I mean, just what a high-level guy. Could you argue that Alex Smith is the most appreciated NFL player of the last decade. Yeah, he's not Tom Brady or Ben Roethersberg or Rogers, but if you had a good team and he was your quarterback, you were going to win. And you were going to win relatively big. Like you were going to win your division. You know, when his first year starting with Harbaugh, they were the number one seed. Obviously with Andy Reid, they had several years of making the playoffs. Now, again, he is flawed because of his arm strength, but he was a winning player.

Now, your team had to be good, but you could win. And you could win relatively big. Like, To me, winning 11, 12, 13 games is winning big in the NFL. Playoffs, yeah, I mean, he was what he was, but I think Alex Smith's going to go down as one of the more underappreciated players of just, I don't know, the last decade. The Jets. Sam Donald, one, he's just got impeccable hair. The flow on Sam Darnal's head is unreal.

Two, I'm just such a Sam Darnold fan. Every time he talks, you just think to yourself, you know what? That's a high-level guy. I've been rooting for Sam Donald since he was. a freshman at USC. I guess he was a wretcher freshman. When he came in, he replaced Max Proud and the rest was history. Now he's got to work on the turnovers,

but adding Levion Bell, adding an offensive coach, I'm expecting to, you know what game I'm actually looking forward to here in late July? Week 1, Jets, Bills. Who's not looking forward to Sam Donald versus Josh Allen? I'm actually just, I'm getting fired up a little

bit just thinking about it. Here's a crazy stat. In Peter King's Monday morning quarterback, I think they might call something different. But Dan Quinn is the first head coach to fire all three coordinators, OCD, and Special Teams coordinator, and keep his job

since 1989. Think how unheard of that is. I'm not a math major, but 99, 2009, 2019, that's 30 years. That's unheard of. We see a lot of coordinators get fired one at a time here and there. But all three coordinators in the

same season, and the guy keeps his job I just thought that was an incredible stat. I don't really have a take beside. I read that, and then I had to read it again. I'm like, that is insane. That's pretty wild. Now, if you've been listening to me, you know I'm pretty high on the Falcons. Matt Ryan and their offense was awesome last year.

Their defense was a debacle. Their defense are getting all the players back. How are they not going to be better? But they are bringing in three new coordinators. Now, one, I mean, Dirk Cutter, he's been there before and he's working Matt Ryan, so that's a little unique. But think about that. The first time for something to happen with NFL coaches in terms of firing since 1989,

that tells you something. So I, not that I'm not as high on the Falcons, but when I see that, I'm like, God, there is a lot of pressure on these three new coaches and three units hearing a brand new voice. Because a lot of carry over with the same players, right? But they're getting three new voices. And we know sometimes, whether it's offense, whether it's defense, there's just some, it just takes a minute.

It just takes a minute. Now, offense for them should take a little less, but defense for sure. Appreciate everyone listening. Middle coffee mailbag question, slide up in those DMs, and I'll read them next podcast. Enjoy the week. Follow me on Instagram. I'll be posting videos. Follow me on Twitter.

I'll be talking to people, talking ball. You can find me easily on any social media platform. That's where I hang during the week. But have a good one, and I'll see you a little later this week. Do you own or rent your home? Sure you do. bet it can be hard work. You know, it's easy, bundling policies with GEICO. GEICO makes it easy to bundle your homeowners or renters insurance along with your auto policy.

It's a good thing, too, because you already have so much to do around your home. Go to GEICO.com, get a quote, and see how much you could save. It's GEICO easy. Visit geico.com today. That's guyco.com. Hey, singles, do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer? Events and Adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around town each and every month. We do all the work, so you have all the fun. On your schedule, visit places you didn't even know were places, and get to know the fellow singles you didn't know you needed in your life.

Fall in love with your hometown all over again by joining events and adventures. Get started by visiting Events and Adventures.com today. That's events and adventures.com. If you work in IT, you'll want to check out Changemakers, a podcast, profiling IT industry leaders. We dive deep into IT profiles and learn what it takes to drive large-scale IT transformations for successful businesses. Visit changemakers.freshworks.com. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in.

I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the 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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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

This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. And he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest. surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was calling you. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart

podcast. Guaranteed human.