The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff: Big time coaches won’t line up for the Browns; Pats/Brady MNF takeaways; Andrew Luck back to elite QB status

Episode Date: October 30, 2018

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. 3 and Out with John Middlekauff is part of the Colin Cowherd Podcast Network. 3 and Out is an unfiltered podcast covering the biggest stories in the NFL and college football. John brings his unique perspective as a former NFL scout, NFL analyst and radio host. In this episode, John looks at the Pats MNF win over the Bills, explains why the Browns will have problems landing a big-time coach, why Todd Gurley is a legit MVP candidate, and why Andrew Luck has returned to the elite QB ranks. John also answers listener questions from the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Back at it again, another Tuesday. We're doing two podcasts a week now during the football season. And we'll see how it goes. Maybe just keep it flowing. I got time on my hands. So we'll do podcast Tuesday. That's this one. Do another one Friday.

We've been doing that every week during the football season. Just got done watching Monday night football. I wouldn't call it a snooze fest. That it was a very physical game. But, you know, it was anytime you throw the bills in Monday night football. Not an ideal situation. But I'll give Buffalo and their home crowd one thing. I say this all the time.

Bad teams in the NFL. if you give them Monday night football games, especially home games, they're going to play well. We saw it a couple weeks ago with the 49ers. We saw it tonight with the Buffalo Bill at least until the fourth quarter, even with Derek Anderson as their quarterback.

You're going to play well. But I want to hit on the big news of the day. We'll get into it in a little bit. We'll be the Browns. And just everything that is going on there. I have several thoughts on them. I watched, because in the Bay Area, I had to watch the two Bay Area,

at games in the afternoon at 1 o'clock. I didn't get Rams Packers. I watched that back this morning. Have one kind of overwhelming thought, my takeaway from that game. And really the entire season, I watched Andrew Luck. Listen, it might be the minority on Twitter, but there are some people that have been anti- Andrew Luck. And I think it's human nature.

People resent greatness. people resent success, people resent wealth, people resented Andrew Luck from the jump, for whatever reason. Was it the hype was too strong? I don't know. I mean, he is just a remarkable player. So we'll touch on that really quick. But just really quick on Monday night. My one big takeaway is, listen, I live in the Bay Area.

I've been watching, actually, I was really more locked in on the Warriors tonight than I was the Monday Night Football game. Clay Thompson broke an NBA record. but one thing that I've really respected about their run now in this dynasty, they're going to win a championship. So this is going to be their fourth championship in five years. For the most part, a little bit last year they didn't as much. But they have kicked the living crap out of bad teams. When they play the East, they annihilate the East.

When they play bad teams, they destroy them. And in professional sports, good teams destroy teams they should beat. And I've heard this for a long, long, time. Like, listen, you can give me any stat that they've taken advantage of a bad division, whatever. I know this. I don't even know how to quantify this besides five championships. They've been to eight. They've been to however many straight AFC championship games. Feels like they've been in 10 AFC championship games the last like 15 years. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady absolutely destroy.

and take advantage and find ways to win, even when they're not playing well, a game like tonight, in their division. And that's how they maintain dominance. Now, you can say their division sucks, whatever, and it's not necessarily untrue. Their division does stink. It's really bad.

But you get credit for beating them up. And then I know this, like, when it comes to the playoffs, like forever. And I think LeBron's finding this out now in the NBA, like, oh, he sucks. Well, yeah, it does. And for the most part, he took advantage of it. But when he had to, he got the wins when it had to go down. Like, when Belichick and Brady need a win and they got Buffalo, Miami,

you know, I guess they've lost to Miami occasionally over the years, or the Jets, they take care of business. You know, a lot of teams do not take care of business consistently over this Brady-Belichick dynasty. Now, there is no disputing that the bills, I think last year when they made the playoffs were the longest 10-year team beside the Browns. to not make the playoffs. So again, I'm not disputing that the bills stink. But all I know is whenever I watch Belichick and Brady, they beat the bills.

And really, I think people forget the Jets haven't been that terrible over the last 20 years. Early in the decade, I guess it was two decades ago. They were okay with, you know, you play to win the game with Herm Edwards. And then when Rex Ryan got there, they went to a couple, you know, aFC championship games. Remember, they beat the Patriots in Foxborough. The Dolphins, the one year when Brady tore his knee, they won the division, and they've mainly been bad. Again, I'm not disputing that they play in a inferior division, but they take advantage of it.

Like, they don't blow games. There's a reason why they always have home field advantages, because they never have a season where they go three and three against the division. They sweep the bills. They'll maybe split one to Miami, and then they'll sweep the jets. Like, they're going five in one. a lot of teams would cruise through that and end up three and three. That's not what happens to the Patriots. So even the night, like they're not playing well,

tough place to play, it looked freezing cold, they just find a way. And again, I don't discount, but I don't put that much stock into, you know, when it's the Patriots at least, when someone gives them a good game on Monday night. You know, I thought several weeks ago, and I talked about it here,

is that when the Niners gave the Packers a really, good game. It was like, well, the Niners who are terrible are going to give them their best shot, but I thought it was a little more telling. Like, I don't know if the Packers are that good. Like, it doesn't really change my thoughts tonight beside. I'm not sure Grunkowski's quite the same player. Like, when I read Flag the Packers a couple weeks ago, I'm just like, I don't know, man. I don't quite see the talent. Devante Sweet. Number 83 is not bad. They got a couple dudes on defense, but this is not one of the more talented Packer teams. I'm watching the Patriots, like, they're really good.

They're going to be just fine. Now, I'd read Flagham, what might be their downfall is like, Gronk's still a difference maker? Is this it? Like, has he finally hit the point as they taught us in school the law of diminishing returns? Like, it's starting to come back the other way. I'm a huge Rinkowski guy.

Best tight end I've ever seen. Most dominant tight end I've ever seen. Absolutely complete play. but it does feel like, God, is this is going to be his last year in New England? You know, he'll just retire at the end of the season. To me, that would be my one big red flag for the Patriots, you know, heading into the playoffs where they're clearly headed, and they're clearly going to end up with a one or two seed.

Probably the two seed, but you never know. Like the Kansas Chiefs could drop some games down the stretch. They still have to play the Rams. They have a bunch of divisional games left. You never know. John Gruden could knock off the Chief. No, I'm kidding. Probably not. But you know what I'm saying?

I mean, it's, I actually think this team is pretty well set up for January, just in terms of if Sony Michelle gets healthy, they got him James White, they can use Corderoe Patterson like they did a night in the backfield. You know what's funny about 84 for the Patriots, and he was like this with the Raiders and liked this with Minnesota? He has no freaking clue the place. And this is what I appreciate about Belichick.

the most. He can't learn one play to save his life. He's on the field. He's looking around. They're screaming at him what to do. And a lot of coaches that would drive nuts like, get him out of my building. You know what Belichick says? Just tell him what to do. Figure it. This guy is that special with the ball in his hands. We will figure it out. And Bill has. And I'll give Bill credit. I don't think he would have messed around with that 15, 10 years ago. But at this point in time, a little bit of desperation. the guy is just that talented. You just work with them. You just get it done.

I mean, there were several times tonight. I looked up at the TV screen, and there was 84, like, looking at Edelman, Brady screaming at him to come across, you know, go in motion. He's got no clue what's going on. Literally none. And he was just like that in Oakland, and he was definitely like that in Minnesota.

He can't learn the playbook. But this is the great part about America. When your talent exceeds your ability to learn, ability to do whatever in an office setting, because you can produce, people will deal with you. And that's why 84, as long as he can run like the wind and is a threat with the football on his hand, is going to be employed in the National Football League. And it's why a coach like Belichick is probably one of the only guys in the NFL, and I'll

give Josh McDaniels credit, and I'll give Brady some credit for working with the guy and making sure that he can produce. I mean, he just put him back at running back, and he was gaining yards. And honestly, there were a couple times, I'm like, if they give him the right play, this dude might break it. I mean, he can fly. I actually think they have one. If Grancowski can just be 85%, and I'm a little scared, he kind of looks closer like 60%, but if Granckex can just be solid for them.

Not Hall of Fame, Granc, but not shitty Granc, just somewhere in the middle. With Edelman, with Gordon, with CP 84, as I call him, Michelle and James. James White, and their offensive lines playing solid, they have one of the more, it almost feels like their offense is underrated. Everyone talks about the Rams, everyone talks about the Chiefs, you know, everyone talks about the Saints. I think this New England offense, as this season goes on, is going to be as potent as you get. Okay, let's dive into the Browns.

In the private sector, when you are a terrible business, I guess unless my dad was in the farming industry, and I guess you could be a bad farmer, and because of the way regulations are set up, you are subsidized. But eventually that runs out. Like another farmer will just wipe you out and we'll steal your... It'd be impossible to survive forever. Eventually, even a bad farmer would go bankrupt.

And really most, I would say most industries, if you are shitty at your job, your company does not do a good job, it'll just eventually go out of business. Well, the thing about the National Football League is because it's a 32-team partnership, like anything in life, I think the stat is in California, like 85% of, or I mean, excuse me, like 12% of people, you know, pay for basically 85% of the taxes. Well, the NFL is not that much different. There's five or six teams and brand.

that carry the league economically. Teams like the Browns and the Raiders don't do anything for the league. Beside, give them sweet fodder for pro football talk, for me to talk about, for, you know, FS1 to talk about on the ticker. But those teams aren't generating, like if this was normal business, and they weren't subsidized by the league, like, would they go out of business? Now, the Browns somewhat unique because they do have a very loyal fan base. But, you know, it's a smaller market in Cleveland.

It's one of the great things about being an NFL owner is you can be absolutely terrible. Never win. I think Hugh Jackson was like, it felt like he was three for 100 the last however many years he's been in Cleveland. And they still get a $255 million check. I mean, it's pretty wild. But this notion, I got a couple things on the Browns. Let's start off with this first. This always happens in the NFL.

Especially when, because I'll get the Browns credit, their roster is solid. Like, oh my God, they are going to be the number one destination for coaches this offseason. That is the job people will want. Really? It is? The owner is an absolute clown. He's on his fifth head coach. He's owned the team for like six years.

He is going through head coaches Faster than I go through like bottles of water He has consistently had red flags him and his family I mean his brother is a governor of Tennessee His family is like third generation big time money As someone once asked me on the Middilcoff mailbag Which we'll get into a little bit later Slide up in my DMs at John Middilcoff

Imagine if Jerry Jones had been in the same scandal It would have been the number one story Not just in sports but in America because it was a Cleveland Brown owner we didn't, you know, pay that much attention. The dude defrauded blue-collar people of millions of dollars. Like that happened.

But he saw rich, he got out of it. Then John Dorsey, his general manager that is in charge of picking the players, also had a pretty famous divorce right before the season a year ago, working for with one of the easiest guys to get along with in the NFL and Andy Reed.

I mean, they got a good thing going. yet the owner got rid of them. So you're telling me, in NFL, and just football in general, when coaches now, like when you're a coach that is desired, you have the leverage. It's why a couple years ago, Kyle Shanahan, when he got the Niners job, he got to pick John Lynch. He's in charge.

Like Sean McVeigh, when he got hired in L.A., he didn't really have that much leverage. I mean, it's easy to say now, like, God, the guy's a superstar. Well, he wasn't, I mean, the Niners could have hired him. A lot of teams could have hired him. He was viewed more as a younger, he was nowhere near viewed. Like, I think when we say Sean McVeigh now, what we once thought of Sean McVe two years ago is completely different.

He didn't have any leverage to go to a team and say, I want to be in charge. Well, I'm seeing on Twitter, and again, it's Twitter, as Mike Gundy would say, that the names that I'm seeing from Lincoln Riley in Oklahoma, that's the first name I've seen. Lincoln Riley makes over $5 million and answers to nobody about his football team. When it comes to signing a player,

and obviously it's scholarships, not free agency, when it comes to hiring a coaching staff, he's in complete control. You're telling me that Lincoln Riley at 35 is going to risk his career to go to Cleveland, where coaches go to die and answer to John Dorsey, who just recently could not get along with Andy Reed? Are you out of your mind? Urban Meyer, who I like to call Fraudmire.

That's not because he's not a good coach. He's an elite coach. More because he's a tad bit fraudulent off the field. Hangs his hat on being a moral high horse guy. When on his resume, dudes were killing people at Florida, Aaron Hernandez, domestic violence with the coach at Florida and then at Ohio State. He's got some sketchy stuff in his past. But I'll say this for Urban Meyer.

If Urban Meyer ever wanted to jump to the pros, who don't give a crap about any of that stuff, I'm not saying that's right or wrong. I mean, it's wrong, but it's just the reality of a private sector job. They just don't care about that stuff. It's all about winning and losing and money. If you think Urban Meyer has waited all these years, had an elite resume and if turned down NFL jobs,

probably countless times, is going to answer to John Dorsey. Again, when you take the Cleveland Brown's job, John Dorsey picks the players. Like, what big-time coach is taking this job? Now, you can tell me John Dorsey has a resume of doing all this. Yeah, that's true. He did a good job in Kansas City.

Though how much was the influence of Andy Reed? We'll never quite know. But, again, he could not get along with Andy Reed. And now a coach is going to go, work for him. Someone will, but the names that are getting thrown around just because they have a good roster is insane. And also if, let's say Jimmy Haslam opens up his pocketbooks, and he's got some extra money because he's been defrauding people forever, he's got a lot of cash. Well, if he pays,

let's just say hypothetically he offered like Urban Meyer $12 million a year. Well, if you're paying Urban Meyer $12 million a year or you offered Lincoln Riley that or whatever, they would then no longer have to answer to John Dorsey. So the organization is just now in this weird place. In a perfect world, you just start from scratch. You either hire the GM first and then he hires the coach or you hire the coach and then he hires the gym. The problem with doing it the way they're doing it is Dorsey didn't really bring in a lot

of these players. He kind of worked with Hugh for a year, but it was really a fake relationship and now he's going to go hire a coach. I don't like it because I don't see big time coaches lined up to go there. And how, in your right mind, for all these guys, and again, if you're an assistant coach and it's your first opportunity, they're going to get a guy more than likely. But these big-time money guys that have leverage, that have options, are not lining up to work for Jimmy Haslam and are not lining up to work for John Dorsey.

I don't care how many good players this guy has drafted. The buzz around this guy is not that he's like, even Bill Pollitt, look at the coaches Bill Polian worked for in Indy. Tony Dungey, he was in full control of. Then he got Caldwell. You know? These guys don't get like Urban Myers. He ain't hiring John Gruden.

And obviously John Gruden is not a good coach. But like if John Harbaugh were to get fired, John Harbaugh is one million percent not answering to John Dorsey. Because I would imagine, let's just, again, this hypothetical, John Dorsey, I mean, excuse me, the Ravens missed the playoffs. John Harbaugh is fired. Well, John Harbaugh's resume, or he's, We can use Mike McCarthy.

You think they're going to work with John Dorsey? I can't see it. I don't see it. And I think it's going to be a big struggle for them to find a head coach. I also think this. When you draft Baker Mayfield, who, you know, listen, I like Baker a lot coming out of college. I thought number one pick was pretty bold. But they did it.

You take a guy number one overall, a quarterback. I was just texting someone about this tonight during the, the Monday night football game. I don't think, and again, you'd have to do a deep dive on this. It's got to be the first time in NFL history. Usually a coordinator gets fired or a head coach gets fired, right? I don't ever remember the coach who's an offensive guy and the offensive coordinator getting fired at the end of October.

Like, hey, Baker, welcome to the NFL. Think of what a shit show that is. You have a rookie quarterback. who you drafted number one overall. You just fired as head coach who's an offensive guy and the offensive coordinator, who's the only guy that's ever called plays. And you replaced him with a guy that has never called plays in his entire life. Like, that's pretty crazy.

Now, if you believe that adversity makes you stronger and better at whatever job you are and better man, which is true, it's only going to benefit Baker in the long haul, I probably don't disagree with that. But that is not what the Browns are thinking right now. They're like, oh, it'll be good for them. Like, that is insane. They are setting this guy up to really fail. And it just happens they play the Chiefs this weekend.

Like, I think the Browns are an all-time clown show. They actually make the Raiders look a little more normal. Like, and again, people always ask me like, God, can they force Mark Davis to sell? Like, can they get rid of Jimmy Haslam? You think Robert Crafts and the R Us? Roonies, and I say the Maras, but they ain't winning a lot lately. The Lurries, they want these guys gone. Paul Allen, R.P. before he passed away.

They love these incompetent owners. You got to beat somebody. You know, if you're the Seahawks, you don't want to play the Patriots every week. You don't want to play the Packers every week. You love seeing the Browns and the Raiders on your schedule. There's a reason these teams have been losing things. so long. It's ownership.

I watched that press conference a day and thought, you guys are firing your head coach and your coordinator? That is insane. I get you may dislike both these guys, but at least ride out the season.

It's got to be, listen, I don't follow every industry closely, but there can't be many industries where people consistently get fired and are consistently paid millions upon millions of dollars to not work. I one time in radio was paid thousands upon thousands of dollars.

And again, not hundreds of thousands, just thousands to leave. And it was a pretty powerful feeling. You know, I was three or four years. I was young. I can't imagine if it was like you paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars to go away. The feeling of being paid millions of dollars not to work And listen, people are listening. I'm not like lazy.

I'm an aspirational person. But just once in my life, I wouldn't mind one time being like, John, we are firing you. And knowing on my contract that I have seven figures, seven coming my way. I never, ever feel bad for these football, the head coaches, the guys making millions that are fired. In America, most of you, I mean, as most people you know, most people we all know, are at-will employees. You can be fired at any point in time, and at most, I got to give you like 14 days pay. Like, the football coaches are living in a bizarre world of wealth. Like, it's just not normal. And again, I do believe you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

They negotiated all these contracts. It takes two to tango in any contract, especially at that level of money. Teams know what they're signing up for, but clearly it shows you the amount of money that these teams have and generate, that they don't even flinch to do it. Jed York once fired three coaches in three years. Harbaugh, mutually departed, Tom Sulla and Chip Kelly, and then went on to sign Kyle and John to six-year deals. At Tim Kawakami's written it before in the Athletic Bay Area, over $66 million between the two of them.

Didn't even flinch. I mean, the money that's going on in the NFL is just stupid. Because you can continue to make just incompetent hires, and businesses like the Browns can just continue to do stupid things, and yet they keep profiting. I mean, there can't be many industries where just a guy like Jimmy Haslam can basically run the business into the ground, and they've probably never generated more money.

And they definitely never generated more buzz than they have. But I'm telling you, it's going to be a struggle for them to find a head coach, because the head coach is going to have to work for John Dorsey and work for Jimmy Haslam, where he just fires a coach every other year. And I just think they've set up Baker Mayfield to really, really struggle here the rest of the season. Okay, I have a couple life philosophies. The majority of them are sports related. And obviously, as you age and you experience things, you know, your mindset changes.

Like, I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Now, in my head of my mid-30s, I mean, I'm 34, is that technically my mid-30s? I can't go like pizza for lunch. I can't go Chinese food for lunch. If I want to have a productive afternoon, like the dirtiest thing I can eat is probably like a sandwich. You know, maybe a burger, but I don't even know if I can go fries. You know, when your metabolism slows down, you know, you can go whatever you want for dinner, especially if you catch a workout, but you kind of got to be careful for lunch.

because it'll really slow you down. You know what? With girls, I'm a single guy. I date. If you're a bad texter, like I, listen, I'm a millennial. I'm not big on phone calls. I am very, very dependent on our texting relationship.

If you're a bad textor, it's probably not going to work. When it comes to sports, like there are a couple things that stay pretty consistent, as you saw in the World Series. Like, if you're going to win World Series, you better be good with your bullpen. I'm a Giants fan. I saw it with Bruce Bochy.

He's a magician. There's a reason the Dodgers aren't winning anything. Dave Roberts struggles with the bullpen. Well, when it comes to football, I'm anti-taking a running back in the first round. I really am. I'm anti-paying running backs. Look at Levion Bell.

I saw a Twitter stat today that Levion Bell is up to almost $7 million right now in miss, you know, salary. and I mean, shit, it doesn't feel like he's coming back anytime soon. Maybe he's just throwing the white flag on the season. And I guess I'm okay. I've supported the Steelers. I would never take a running back in the first round.

And I love Zeke Elliott. Like, I like Leonard Fournett. I like Christian McCaffrey, but that was crazy, though he looks like a really good player. He's been a key for them for the Carolina Panthers. They drafted the Rams and Les Need. Todd Gurley number 10 overall when he had a torn ACL. I thought it was pretty crazy.

And I know a lot of people in the league that love Todd Gurley. I like Todd Gurley. He is so much better than I ever thought. After watching that game against the Packers, clearly Aaron Rogers is one of the greatest players ever. But the two best players by a country mile on that field, I guess three, you have to factor in Aaron Donald. But the two best offensive players in that game,

like they were just on a different level than everyone else, were Aaron Rogers and Todd Gurley. I feel pretty confident saying this. Like, I get the Mahomes. They're 6 and 1, probably going to be, you know, a first or second seed, first year ever starting. He might throw 50 touchdowns.

It's going to be borderline impossible for him not to win the MVP. But if you've watched all the Rams games, and I've watched basically every one of their games except one, Todd Gurley is so dominant in every element of the game. Clearly, as a running back, he is an elite inside runner. His vision is really improved. As an outside runner, like pitches and sweeps, because of his speed, if he gets a little crease, he can hit that hole and it's over. But where I've been just floored by how dominant he is is as a pass catcher.

Like, he's basically levy on bell, but a better guy faster, and you just feel better as, you know, in terms of having as, a teammate. Right now, if I had a ballot, I don't have a ballot, probably won't ever had a ballot. I don't know if the NFL would trust me to, I'd probably crush the NFL, but I would love a ballot because I watched a lot of football. I would easily, I think the last time there's been co-MvPs, pretty sure, I have to double check, hit me up if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this was McNair and Manning. And I was a little younger, I think I was like still in high school when that happened. But I am pretty confident. This is the first year in a recent memory where two guys, to me, there's no difference. And it's a quarterback league, but I do think with a

backup quarterback, the Rams would still win some games. Would they be as good without Gough? No. I mean, Gough's a really good player. He just had three touchdowns in the games against Packer. He's awesome. But a lot of his touchdown passes are coming to Todd Gurley. I'm just watching Todd Gurley going, this guy's the best player on the field every time he steps on the field. Listen, I love Khalil Mack too, but I'm starting to think Aaron Donald might be the defensive player of the year. I mean, he was unreal in that, especially in the second half, made some plays down the stretch.

But there are exceptions to every rule. Like, I wouldn't touch midget quarterbacks, but I'd mess with Russell Wilson. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer without question and is proving to everyone why Pete didn't kiss the ass of all the defensive players and went all in. with Russ because it matters the most.

And I'm not saying that if I had to pick one, he put a gun to my head for the next five years, you've got to go with a quarterback, Jared Goff. But right now, with what this team is doing, and clearly last year, this guy is the heartbeat of that offense. This guy is as good of a running back all-around player. I know he's headed toward 30 touchdowns. And I know he threw off fantasy and the point spread when he went down,

but I think that sums up to him. Gurley. Frank Gore did something similar years ago against Seattle, did the same thing hit the ground. Like Todd, what's rare and Todd Gurley's way better than Frank Gore ever was. That a talent is this special, this elite, and this good of a teammate, this explosive, this guy's a total package. I really think like he'll probably end up winning offensive player of the year if he gets 30 touchdowns. He should get MVP votes. He should be the MVP with Patrick Mahomes. They should split it. I'm not going to spend much time. on this because

I do think most people listening know this. You know, it's more just small minority on Twitter that just hated luck from the beginning for, I don't know, what reason. I think a lot of times, especially with social media, and it's just maybe it's human

nature that I've always felt like this. This isn't even opinion. Humans just resent wealth. Even though in this country, it is attainable. You know, in some places in the world, it's like, it's not even possible to it. any sort of wealth. And people, you know, resent just naturally in sports when a guy is drafted really high

and a hype on an individual player is really high. There is a segment of people that just root for that guy to fail. And the hype on luck was as strong of any recent athlete, maybe since like Bryce Harper or LeBron James. He was called the next L.A. He was the can't miss guy since his freshman year at Stanford. He was an elite player. And then he went to Indy, a team that had gone two and 14 the year before when Peyton

Manning's neck shattered or whatever and he just couldn't play. And they went to the playoffs for three straight years. He didn't just live up to the hype. He ran by it. Like Bryce Harper or LeBron was circling the hype. Like was way far by it. Then Ryan Grickson, the worst general manager in the history of sports and Chuck Pagano that had no business being a head coach, tried to single-handle.

ruin his career. And I got asked for the last year, what's going to happen to Andrew Luck? What's going to happen to Andrew Luck? Well, these aren't robots, you know? This isn't like my Apple computer goes down. I just take it to the local Apple store because I got the warranty and they'll just fix it.

You know, sometimes a shoulder just goes. Now, because of modern medicine and because of the, you know, just the progresses in technology with doctors and everything, it takes a lot. You know, we all knew a guy growing up, listen, I'm 34, so growing up, like in the 90s, family friends or whatever, there was a good athlete in college.

Hell, you know, the one friend that, you know, this guy played four or five years for the 49ers or wherever you live, you know, that local team had a terrible knee injury, and he's still like walking with a limp. I think there's going to be less and less of those individuals. Not that they won't one day walk with a limp, but their career, if they were a legit player. Now, sometimes looking back, probably, you know, we don't have the information to, like, question that. Like, if you were in the 80s and someone just telling you about this dude in the 60s that was like, that had made it, he would have been an all time great. Like, maybe.

But who knows? But ultimately, my point is that nowadays, because of the ability to fix human beings, more than likely they're going to come back. But you still never know if they're going to be the same. And because of Andrew Luck, he didn't just disappear. Like, he was gone for an entire season. And then he could not throw in the off season. And then it came out, I guess it didn't come out until the season, but that he had another injury snowboarding.

Like part of it was he had hurt his shoulder, and then he had another injury when he was snowboarding. So it is kind of crazy. Like there was almost a chance that this guy was going to disappear for good. But I got news for you. He not only didn't disappear, he's come back better than ever. His career high in touchdown passes. Career high.

was 40 in 2014. That was the best team they had. They got to the AFC championship game. They lost the Patriots. Right now, he is on pace for 46 touchdowns. Here's the other thing. I've watched them play multiple times. Just watched them play against the Raiders.

Now, the Raiders weren't good. He was awesome. And he's playing with Eric Ebron, who was a bust in Detroit. Chester Rogers, I'd never really heard of. Mack and Heinz is two running backs that actually are kind of intriguing. But again, they're Mack and Heinz.

He's not playing with Todd Gurley or Levion Bell. Jack Doyle, who I like, but he's still Jack Doyle, a solid tied end. But he's not Gradykowski, you know, or Travis Kelsey. What he's doing is just remarkable. He also has never consistently handed a full deck. Like his organization is his owner, long history of drugs, issues, and just kind of a nut job. This year, they tried to hire Josh McDaniels. Josh McDaniels turns him down.

Frank Reich. not only was he not their first choice, their first go around, they didn't even interview the guy. Now, clearly it looks like he's going to be a solid head coach and he's a good offensive mind. But I mean, geez, Luis, has anyone just been handed more shit and been asked to make chicken salad consistently than Andrew Luck

in his short career since coming into the league in 2012? I mean, Ryan Grickson tried to drive this guy out of the league. Then Andrew deserves some crap too. this snowboarding accident did not help, but he missed an entire season in his late 20s, in the peak of his powers. And somehow he's come back stronger and better than ever. Like this guy, I think we've almost forgot about him.

Again, he doesn't have Pete Carroll and John Schneider in his organization. He's never had a Belichick. He's never had a Pittsburgh Steelers. It turns out the Colts were kind of a joke organization and Peyton and Bill Polly and just kind of band. mandated Ursay. Like we saw Ursay's true colors the last two years with Luck's shoulder falling off, Grigsin, Pagano, and this old mess.

And Josh McDaniel saying kick rocks. Like I think we, it can't be overstated what Andrew Luck is doing. And just how good the guy is. He isn't good. He's elite. And I naturally talk about top five quarterbacks. I mean, the top two have been kind of set in stone in Brady Rogers. and then it's usually just Breeze, Russell,

maybe Rathsburg if he's playing well. We never talk about luck anymore. Now, granted, of course we didn't, he was gone. But I'm going to start mentioning him. Like, who else should I be mentioning? I mean, Mahomes, don't get me wrong, is unreal. But let's see him do this for two or three years. Like, luck has been banging out wins,

and they're not totally mathematically eliminated, though they're not going to, I mean, I think the Houston Texans are basically a lot to win that division. But if somehow he can get this Indianapolis Colts team to 8 and 8, which is not out of the realm of possibility. They're 3 and 5 now, so they have to go 5 and 3 in the second half. But if you can get them to 8 and 8, that is an incredible accomplishment. Again, this was a team that until they traded back with the Jets was drafting third overall. The coach was like their eighth choice.

And somehow that they're even this competitive. And they easily could be 4 and 4, 5, and 3 right now. They have been in some tight games they've lost. I think we all should tip our hat to this guy because he is awesome. Just an incredible player who is playing at an extremely high level this season. Okay, let's get to the Middlecoff mailbag. The way I do this, go to my DMs, my Instagram,

ad John Middlecoff, you slide up in those and I'll answer. You can ask me anything. I've been so behind, I've answered a bunch on Instagram, but I always make room for people here. here's a good one. Is Scott Hansen the best announcer commentator in football? Dude stands for seven plus hours without going to the bathroom or even eating and looks just as lively at the end as he does the beginning.

He's not human. I agree. I mean, I don't think he quite gets enough respect for how difficult that job would be. It clearly doesn't take any breaks. He might get a quick bathroom break to go pee. Maybe he's gone on a record to say he doesn't. For me, that wouldn't be possible. I just have to drink water to keep my throat fresh.

But he is, for all the hype of the broadcasters, like Joe Buck to me. I tweeted this out and people are like, Middle Cough, you love to go against the grain. No, Joe Buck's really, really good. He went in a three-day stretch, World Series, Thursday Night Football World Series, and did not skip a beat. was incredible. I watched about 13 of the 18 innings, and it was awesome.

I also watched the majority of the Thursday night game. Joe Buck is really, really good at his job. Now, Scott Hanson's job is different, right, than calling a game, because he's more calling highlights, kind of live, but it's really delayed. Like, he knows what's going on. But yeah, he is. In the broadcasting world, he's pretty good.

I mean, he is, he's very good. he's really, really good, actually. I don't think he probably gets the respect he deserves, but we'll give it to him here on the Middilcoff mailbag. For the mailbag, should USC look at Jeff Tedford after firing Helton? I find it odd he never got another packed Power 5 shot after Cal. I don't think they will,

because my longstanding theory, Lynn Swan, he's going to go after a pro guy, like a John Harbaugh, someone like that, like what Jim Harbaugh was several years ago. But he couldn't go wrong with Jeff Tedford. Jeff Tedford is the best coach in the history of Cal Football. They've been playing football for over 100 years. Was consistently the only team that pushed USC in Pete's heyday year in and year out.

Consistently landed elite players. I mean, first littered the first round. Obviously, we all know about Aaron Rogers, but, Alex Mack, Deshawn Jackson. I know Deshawn wasn't a first round pick, but that was because off the field, not on the field. Marchon Lynch, Cam Jordan. I mean, the list is long, like really, really good, impactful players. Keenan Allen, his recruit, like he can recruit.

He is kicking ass at Fresno. I saw someone tweet out, Fresno State's the best team in California right now. They're better in SC. They beat UCLA. Stanford probably would beat them. but if they played 10 times, Fresno State might win five. You know, they're definitely better than Cal. Like, Fresno State is a legit program.

Jeff Tedford is a legit power five coach. Now, I would imagine USC views him as old, but I know this. If they just wanted a guy to get the thing back on track, Jeff Tedford would be the guy. If you told me Jeff Tedford was the head coach at USC, I think they would be in the playoffs in two years. If you told me next year, they could win the Pac-12.

He's that good. I don't think it would be a crazy hire at all. I just think that it's unrealistic. Like, that's just not what they're going to do. Even though today, as of Monday, I think it was this afternoon, it was announced that Clay Helton had fired the offensive line coach, who's like one of his best friends,

and is taking over the play calling from T. Martin. Like, Clay, it's too late, bro. You're four and four. It's over. It's done. Adios. Okay, let's go to the, questions. Hey mate, Pat's fan from Sydney, Australia. Quick question. At what point do the

Pat start looking for the backup quarterback? I love Brady and I'm sure, maybe I've already answered this question. I don't know if I have, but I've answered similar questions. I think the one thing with their backup quarterback is they're in a tough spot. Like, they had Jimmy and I just think that they inevitably thought the transition was going to happen. And I saw Brady before I recorded this podcast, you know, with like Michelle Tofoya or whoever the sideline, you know, woman is for ESPN, before he says, by mom and dad, he's like, I hope to be playing for a long time because he's three yards away from rushing for a career thousand yards. I don't think Brady's going anywhere anytime soon. So it's not going to shock me if they take a quarterback sooner or later, but they

always draft at the end of the first round. You know, so that means our second round pick is not very good. They're just in a tough position. I just think they're kind of just at the point in time in the poker game where all their chips are in the middle of the table. And if eventually the flop card, you know, flops and it's not conducive to you, the equivalent of like Brady getting hurt, they're screwed. And they would just lose all their money. It's just they're all in.

And I can't really blame them anymore. I personally would have transitioned to Jimmy, though I would have been wrong if Jimmy would have torn ACL. But you got to give it. Tom, terrific TB12, an incredible amount of credit for just, I get the rules are on his side and he can't really hit him, but he's 40 freaking one years old. Like it is, it's starting to get to the point where I think we casually, oh, Brady's just still kicking ass at 41.

I mean, we've all been watching sports here for a long time, you know, usually in your late 30s, you see a dramatic difference. And it'd be one thing if, you know, like forever with baseball. It was like, okay, Barry Bonds is 38 years old and still has incredible power. It was clear he's on PEDs. Like you just watch Tom, you're like, well, the guy's not on PEDs. You know, just look at him. Like, yeah, he is on avocado ice cream and eating kale salads and eating chicken.

You know, it's just, just look at him. You know, it really is remarkable. But one day, someone's going to fall funny on his ankle. Someone's going to, something's going to happen. It's just inevitable. Now, it might happen at 45, but. he's still going. Hey John, I'm a Falcons fan.

And as a diehard, as it has been to watch this attempt to play defense, with so many injuries I can understand why we're struggling. The one thing I still can't understand is why Julio Jones can't have a single touchdown. Is there any reason you can explain such an elite receiver can't get a touchdown? That's a hell of a question. I haven't studied him. You've watched more of Julio Jones than me being a Falcons fan.

watch them play every snap every week. But I would say this. He's always had somewhat of a knock. He doesn't have, you know, like who has the best hand, like Marvin Harrison or just a player Antonio Brown, just elite, elite hands. Last year in that playoff game, that jump ball, he's not, what's weird is for being this physically superimposing wide receiver, you would think he would be a, like Gronkowski. Gronkowski has, you know, in the scouting terms, like plus, plus, plus hands. Like, his hands are as good as it gets. He might have the greatest hands in the history of tight end,

like him or Tony Gonzalez. That's why he's such an elite red zone player. Like, Julio is not the most natural catcher of the football. And in the red zone, when he throw that jump ball, like, I watched Forever Michael Crabtree, had a ton of fade touchdowns when he came to the Raiders. He used great hands, great tracking. the ball, but you're right, it's weird because Julio is so productive in every other element

of between the 20 to the 20, just running every route from go routes to slants to, you know, drags across the middle. He can do it all, comebacks. But for whatever reason, whether it's the timing, I do think it plays. He's just not comfortable the jump balls. Now, maybe that theory can be debunked back in the day. He used to run a lot of fades. I don't know. I'm just trying to pull something out of my ass here because it doesn't quite make sense. They don't do a good enough job going to him. Maybe it's as simple as maybe Dan Quinn would tell you over a beer if he was being truthful. Well, so often they basically double team them, you know, so we just go to someone else who's

open. It's maybe why Calvin Ridley's had, you know, a really good season. It's why they're running backs. The last couple of years have scored a lot of touchdowns. I don't know. It's one of the bizarre stats, you know, all time. I had a guy tell me at the Combine. thought for all the hype on Julio talking about him like he thought that Hopkins and Antonio

Brown just like when you really nitpicking the top guys because again we're talking about the elite you can still nitpick those guys that you know his hands were the differentiating factor why those guys were better even even Odell now Julio is a more complete player now he's obviously played with a much better at least regular season quarterback the last five years than O'Dell has with Eli, but if you told me for the next three years, if my quarterback was good, I could have,

like I would take Antonio Brown and I would take Hopkins over both of them. If you told me Odell or Julio, that'd be a tough one. I mean, people might say, I might go with Odell. I might go with Odell. And that's no shot at Julio.

I just think Odell's incredible. Now, the thing with Julio is he's just much easier to deal with, right? Just better guy. More consistent human being. Hey, John, do you think the Raiders should draft a top running back in the draft? If so, who do you see matching their scheme coming out of college? I was talking to a guy in the NFL. Like many of you, I watch a ton of college football.

I've noticed, like last year, it was so clear that Nick Chubb, Sony Michelle, Ronald Jones III, like all these running backs that were coming out, guys that were going to go really high. Royce Freeman. You know, there were running backs everywhere, all over the country. country. And it was like, God, I mean, you can get a running back at every level of this draft. I watched a lot of college football.

It's not a good running back crop. And I had a college scout telling me he didn't see that many running backs in the college market. So I haven't noticed. A lot of the guys are underclassmen or like sophomores and freshmen that I've noticed. I can't think of the top quote unquote running back prospect. I think it's a real, real down year for running back draft. which should benefit, actually, and that's hurt the running back market the last couple years.

In defense of Levi-on-Bell, and I don't think his agent or him are thinking this way, because how would they know? But it may just by luck of the draw, like last year, you would never pay Levian-Bel big money if you were Team X needed a running back, because you could just draft one in the second, third or fourth round, right? Well, this year, if you go, God, they were like five draftable running backs. You know, I'm just throwing out some arbitrary number. Well, you know, we have all this cap space. Why don't we just pay Levy on Bell? I did the math the other day because I was doing something about the Raiders and the Niners. The Raiders and the Niners were the six and seven team with cap space in the league.

Projected CapSpace. Now, obviously that changes as teams cut players. But projected right now, the top five teams, I think it's like Indy, Buffalo, Cleveland, and the Jets, and one more team, the Cardinals, or just another team with a rookie quarterback. They have over $550 million of cap space. There is going to be historic amount of cap space.

And then I think the Raiders were 70 and the Niners were like $63 million. So that's another, you know, I mean, we're talking, hell, almost $700 million of cap space of just the top seven teams. there is going to be so much money out there that maybe it's not crazy. Like if you're the Raiders or you're the Jets,

actually the Jets' run game's okay, but Indies' run game doesn't look that bad either. Maybe it's just the Raiders. Like it's not crazy. The Raider signed Levy on Bell. They're going to need something a little splashy. Gruden loves offensive players. They're going to have a lot of money.

Maybe they give them like $12 million a year for three or four years. Gruden clearly doesn't care about character. So, yeah, maybe they get a levy on board. Bill. Question. Is Sean McDermott a top 10 NFL coach? I think he'd be up there if he went Belichick, Andy, Tomlin, Pete, uh, who am I missing here? McVeigh. I still go Zimmer. I know people crush McCarthy, but you know, his resume speaks for itself. Tomlin's kind of fallen out of favor. Did I say, I said Andy. NFC West, not very good coaches.

AFC South, not a good year. NFC South. Sean Payton clearly is a top four or five coach. Might be the second best coach. I think Ron Revere is really good. Cutter, no. Who's the other South team? Oh, Dan Quinn, I think's really good too.

I know they're losing. Yeah, I'd say he's top 15. I think Sean McDermott's good. So I think he has the opportunity to become one. His team's tough. His team plays hard. The question for him is going to be he clearly like, his organization clearly liked Josh Allen, and they've gone all in.

All their chips are in the table when you take a guy number seven overall. I think that could end up being his undoing. Now, maybe he'd tell you they had experience with an inaccurate quarterback in Carolina when he was the defensive coordinator. I'm just trying to defend if I'm Sean McDermick. I'm not saying I agree with that. because Josh Allen isn't anywhere near Cam Newton. I just, at the end of the day,

I just don't think they're going to be able to win with Josh Allen. But I'm with you. Top 10, no, but he's a really good coach. He's actually done a hell of a job these last two years. You just watch them. They're well coached. They're tough. They play hard.

First time, long time. Big fan of Colin and big fan of you as well. Sliding into my DMs. What's up? What have you thought of the Colts so far? Is Andrew Luck back? Talked about that earlier. What would you rate Frank Wright out of a 10 so far?

Agree with, this is a lot of questions in this. Outside of the Chiefs, once the old guard falls off, retires, are the Colts one of the faves in the AFC? I will say this. I hit on Andrew Luck a lot earlier. If they can just continue to build this off season, they're not going to make the playoffs this year. They then gets a 7-9, 8, and 8, and maybe sign a levy on bell,

get some defensive help. Darius Leonard, the guy they draft in the second round, is really good. If Andrew Luck has four or five more years at a high level, it's hard to say he's got 10 more years because he's already had a major injury. But if they can keep protecting Andrew Luck, get another offensive weapon or two. And here's the other thing.

The great part about having Andrew Luck, and this is forever with Tom Brady or an Aaron Rogers or Drew Breeze, you can go pluck an Eric Ebron, who was a bust. And then all of a sudden you're like, every week I looked up, it's like,

God, I wish I would have had Eric Ebron on my Draft Kings team. He's excellent. So if Andrew Lucks good, he makes these no-nameers good. He has 23 touchdowns with Chester Rogers,

with Eric Ebron, with Jack Doyle missing a bunch of games with Heinz and Marlon Mack. You know, T.Y Hilton's missed a bunch of games and he's still producing. It really is incredible. So, yeah, if they can build this offseason, I don't see why they wouldn't be a playoff team next year.

Frank, clearly is a good offensive coach. Everyone I know in the NFL speaks very, very highly of Ballard. I'll give them a lot of credit because I know people that did not like Darius Leonard. He looks really good. He is a good player. But they need to keep adding offensive players. They need to protect Andrew. And if their defense is good, yeah, I mean, I don't see why next year they couldn't make the playoffs.

I don't think it's that out of the realm of possibility at all. Well, I know what is out of the realm possibility at all. For me to keep going. It's late at night Monday. Enjoy the pod. Thanks for listening again. And I'll see you guys Friday. After the Thursday night, for those of you don't live in the Bay Area,

you don't quite feel the buzz yet. Derek Carr, C.J. Bethard, Gruden, Kyle. You know, it basically feels like a Super Bowl, except the exact polar opposite. Terrible Thursday night game. but I'll record one after the Thursday night game and enjoy the week. Enjoy the Fox. Adios, John Middle Cop 3 and out podcast.

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