The Herd with Colin Cowherd - OBJ to Pats trade rumors; Gruden's Derek Carr/Kyler Murray decision; Belichick/Saban down the home stretch

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

In this episode, Middlekauff explains why an Odell Beckham to the Patriots trade shouldn't happen, why the Raiders should trade Derek Carr and take Kyler Murray in the draft, why the Giants are a fit for Carr, why Belichick and Saban are coming down the home stretch of their dynasty runs, and answers questions in Middlekauff Mailbag. 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.

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You know, just another week. I woke up this morning, for those not in the media, if you have a radio show or do, you know, a podcast that's not sports specific, this is the slowest week, arguably, besides probably the middle of the summer between the ending of OTA. the ending of the NBA finals, and then football picking back up, week's terrible. And I got up this morning, I'm like, God, should I just take the day off, President's Day, you know, going into this week, maybe just do one podcast. And I thought to myself, what would Belichick do? Hashtag no days off, got to figure out something.

Then I started looking around and I realized there actually were some football stories that came out over the last 24 hours, really this weekend, that I found pretty interesting. So I'm going to dive into, I think Chris Sims, Phil Sims kid, who actually worked for the Patriots, now works for NBC Sports. He used to work for Bleacher Report, had a good story today on the Pats. And O'Dell Beckham Jr., I'll dive into that. The Raiders, Peter King wrote this morning that they're fascinated with Kyla Murray. I really think that if I'm Derek Carr, I would root to be traded, and I got the perfect team for that to go down. and why Kyla Murray just makes a lot of sense for the Raiders.

And then probably the two biggest dynasties in my lifetime in football, this is going to be a big year for them, Alabama and Belichick, which they both probably had more coaching turnover than they've ever had during this run. But let's start with the Pats. The way I've was always taught by people I admire in business, you have to be open-minded and willing to do a deal with. with anyone. That doesn't mean you have to do the deal with that person, but you're crazy if you don't even talk to them, if you don't listen, you know, to what they may offer you. And most good business people all have a price, even if you really liked, you know, whatever, maybe a business you own, your house, whatever asset you may have, you should be willing to at least part with it if it gets to a point where, you know what, this is just too good to turn down. I also never blame someone. If you love your house, and it's worth a million dollars

and someone knocks on your door and offers you $8 million and you're an older person you don't want to leave your house I get it, not wanting to leave. So you don't always have to do every deal that's presented to you though if your house is worth one

and someone offers you eight you kind of be nuts not to just take the eight because then you could buy a house a nicer house for $2 million and then have you know what $8 or $6 million in the bank but I do think when it comes

and you see it all the time right now all these network television like especially cable networks, Fox, Sports One, ESPN, they're all doing deals with YouTube television, Hulu, even though technically I'm pretty sure that if you cut the cord and you go to them, big picture, that's going to cost them money.

But how can you turn down YouTube's cash? How can you turn down Hulu's cash? Hell, Dame Lillard in the NBA just took Hulu's cash and put a tattoo of Hulu on his arm. So, money talk, shit walks, I get it. But if I'm the Giants with Odell Beckham, even if I'm open to trading them, clearly most teams, I think, if they think the player is still really good,

but they're going to move on, you never trade them within your division, unless you think the player's crappy. When I first got to Philly, Andy Reid had just traded Donovan McNabb to Washington. He thought the player was shot. So it wasn't a big deal. But the Raiders last year would never traded Khalil Mack to the Broncos or the Chiefs. That wasn't even an option. So if you're the Eagles and you have Odell Beckham Jr., it's okay to be close-minded.

You would never trade Odell to the Eagles, to the Cowboys, or to the Redskins. Those are not options. But what Chris Sim said today, I think with Florio on the Pro Football Talk radio show, is last year the Patriots aggressively tried to trade for Odell Beckham. To me, they can basically do the equivalent of the million dollar home for $8 million. And I don't think if you're the Giants, unless they offer you like five first-round picks, which we know Belichick is not going to do. I don't care if they blow you away with an offer.

I don't think you can trade Odo Beckham, Jr. to the New England Patriots. To me, they fall in the category with the NFC East. You just cannot trade him there. Because two things. You know he will look good with Tom Brady. He is not, if Belichick really is willing to give you a pick 32, next year's one, and a three. I don't care. I would say no.

I would much rather do a deal with another team that either one, is if it's in the NFC, it probably have to be on the West Coast, like a Seattle or the 49ers. I would prefer trading them to like the Raiders, you know, or the Broncos, just somewhere out of sight, out of mine,

and I'm not really going to have to deal with it. If it's the Patriots, I know it's not in your backyard, but they're the biggest dynasty right now in sports. He is going to look good there, and Brady, they're going to win. So it's a double. Whammy. One, he's just going to play well. He's going to play the best football of his career,

because that's usually what guys do when they go to New England that are good players. They play the best football of their career. And two, they're going to win. And right now, the Giants are not going to win. They're not going to be in the playoffs. So when your season ends and you turn on the television and you see Odell Beckham, even if it got you picked 32 and it gets you next year's one, here's the thing about the Patriots picks. Their first rounder is never good. Look at this year. It's picked 32. I got news for you.

It's always pick 29, 30, 301, or 32. You know for a fact, for eight straight years, it's been one of those picks. Because they've been to eight straight championship games. So the pick sucks. Relative sucks. It's never going to be a good first round pick because they win double-digit games and play in the championship game every year. And that means you have to watch the best player you've had in the last 10 years,

play in the playoffs. So when I see that the Patriots aggressively tried to get them, they can try all they want. It's not an option. It was reported last week, and we talked about Antonio Brown, that Antonio Brown,

who's kind of going nuclear right now on social media, if I was his agent, I'd recommend to cool the Jets a little bit. It's not a great look for a guy that's trying to get traded. Just don't say anything. Let the process play out,

get out there, and then say whatever you want, once you're with the other team. If you want to go scorched earth on the Steelers, just wait till you're traded. But if you go scorch earth right now on the Steelers, teams that would think about trading you,

and this is where I give Odo Beckham Jr. credit, he's kind of just stayed under the radar. So whether you're going to get traded or you're trying to get paid, just be quiet. Because all these general managers, if you and me are talking about Twitter, you better believe someone interested in acquiring you when your salary's 20 plus million

is going to check your Twitter account. So when you're looking at O'Do Beckham, and this is where I get with the Steelers, the Steelers have said if they do trade Antonio Brown, I think this was reported a while ago. They would not trade them in the AFC North, like they're not trading them to the Browns or the Ravens, and they're not trading them to the Patriots.

So the problem for the Patriots is they're so damn good, and some of these teams, like if you're the Steelers or you're the Giants, these teams can't trade their player to you. It's one thing if you're the Tampa Bay Bucks and you trade Revis to the Patriots, no one cares about there is no connection. But if you're the Giants, you beat them twice. They're in your little area of the North East,

and you just know you'd have to watch them and your fan base is not going to be happy. So when I see that the Patriots aggressively tried, I don't blame Bill. I would also try to aggressively get Odo Beckham Jr. If I was a team that felt I was a player or two away, I would be all over OBJ. He's young.

There are some inherent risk. He gets injured a lot, but he's under team control. His number is not that crazy. It's not like he's making $30 million. His guaranteed money was, I don't even think, 60 last year. So I don't blame Bell. check at all. He's smart. He tried to get him. It's just, it would not be an option. If I'm John Mara, if I'm Pat Schumer, if I'm the general manager, I'm just not trading in New England.

So we can talk about it all we want. And it's a fun little combination. It'd be cool to do if you were on Madden, but I think this is more fluff than actually something that's going to happen. The other interesting story I saw today in Peter Kings, it's not called the MMQB anymore. It's called Football Morning in America or something with Peter. He's at NBC. now, which I appreciate. You know, yeah, got to get paid. So Peter wrote about Kyler Murray. He interviewed, he talked with Lincoln Riley, I think over the phone.

Maybe he was on his podcast, not sure, but he put a bunch of quotes in there. And one thing he wrote was that he had heard that the Raiders are fascinated with Kyler Murray. And one thing that I wrote in the fall, like sometimes, and Derek blocked me on Twitter because I don't even know why, even though I. I've been one of his bigger supporters over the years. You know, I'm not bitter. I've known him since high school, but, you know, it is what it is.

I was saying in the fall, sometimes, and you don't know it at the time, because whenever you work in something, yeah, I've been fired a couple times. Both times it was the best thing that ever happened to me. And that's the only thing I could ever relate, because most people in business aren't ever going to get traded. but I do think change for high-level people, and I'm not saying I'm a high-level person. I'm just saying for a quarterback and anyone,

any really good player in sports that's with a team that's not winning. And the business I was with the last time I was fired in radio, you know, I wasn't happy. I wasn't getting along. We did not see eye-to-eye. And a lot of positive things have happened since. I now work with Colin Coward.

I never would have imagined that. when I was on the radio station. But again, like, if I'm Derek Carr, who makes way more money than me or most people, who also has proven in a stable environment, the one year the Raiders kind of had their stuff together, he can be really good. Right now, the Raiders are terrible.

Awful. You could argue they're the least talented team in the NFL. They got three first round picks for a reason. Two of them came because they traded two of their best players. Their best player, Khalil Mack, and Amari, one of their best. best players. So they are going to stink next year. Just look at the AFC West. The Kansas Chiefs are going to be really good. The Chargers are going to be really good. The Broncos won't,

but it's not like the Raiders are going to beat the Broncos twice. So best case, they split. And they'll probably get beat in the other four games by those other two teams. The Raiders are going to win three, four, five games, even with Derrick Carr. So if I'm Derek Carr, I'd want to get traded. Now, he's a diehard Raider guy and he feels loyalty. But I do think that if it's true, he's true, he's And we'll get into the Kyler aspect of it. If Gruden is smitten for Kyler Murray, Derek should hope he gets traded to the Giants. And if he got traded at the Giants,

he should then hope that O'Dell Beckham does not get traded. Because if I was the Giants, and I could get rid of Eli for Derek and have Derek with Eli, Sequin Barkley, the tight-end Ingram, I get Ingram and the dude for the Giants, Nogoku kind of get mixed up.

But both those two tight ends are clearly two of the special young, just difference-making, past-catching tight-ins in the league. Sterling Shepard's still a really good player. Pat Schumer is proven when you give him good weapons that he can dial it up. I would want that. The Giants have a history with the cars.

David was Eli's backup. I think in, uh, was it the second Super Bowl or 07? Might have been 11. Probably was 2011. He definitely was the backup for one of the Super Bowls. And he was there for a while. And Tom Coughlin used to rave about him. Really liked him just around Eli.

It was 2011. Liked him in the room. So I, I, I, If I'm Derek, I'd keep my fingers crossed and hope that happens. Also, if I'm the Raiders, I need to do something. If Derek bounces back and is really good, he would have the star power going into Vegas. But right now, the Raiders really have no star power. If Derek doesn't dramatically improve and get back to 2016 form, they're going into

to the college, or excuse me, to Vegas in a year. Probably, they just won four games, probably win four games again. That's like eight wins and two years going into Vegas. That's not ideal. You do want some momentum as you go into the new stadium. The Raiders have a good example of the Niners. They didn't fire Harbaugh before they got to Leibis. They did it the year after they got there.

Look at what the Chargers and the Rams are doing right now. They got really good teams, especially the Rams. I don't really count the Chargers because the Rams building, going into this new stadium. You need to get some hype and some Star Power to get people to pay a premium and just be interested in what you got going on. So if it is true that they are fast, with Kyler Murray, and I don't know why you wouldn't believe Peter King, he's usually on this stuff.

You would have to entertain then trading Derek Carr. I think the Giants would make a lot of sense get their second round pick. Then you could get Kyler Murray. You'd still have a bunch of picks really high. If you got the Giants second round pick, maybe they give you two twos for them. So this year's second and an extra second, you would have Kyler Murray, two first round picks in the 20s, two picks in the top 40 in the second round. then you would have multiple twos next year with multiple ones

because the Cleo Mac trade. So you could really kind of rebuild this thing on the fly quickly with 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.

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But one thing we've seen with Gruden, and I get a lot of people think like, why do you, why are you saying all this? You're crazy. We saw last year. No one in a million years, when I even brought up around Dr. draft time, like, I don't think it's crazy. They should trade Khalil Mack right now if they're not going to extend them. That was during the draft. I had no clue that it was going to get to where it did, and then they ended up trading

him anyway right before the season. And then they traded Amari. So nothing can be discounted with John Gruden. He traded a third-round pick for Martavis Bryant, who didn't even make the team. Then got suspended. So I think you have to be prepared with anything with Gruden. Even if Mayak is now in the building is kind of a somewhat of a calming force. a calming influence, which I think he will be for Gruden.

But I do think Gruden's a little bit like, you know, one of those Western movies like Billy the Kid, just kind of wow, wow, West, just kind of firing. And whatever he hits, he just lets it go. He's open to telling you he's really impatient. So if I am, and I do love Kyler Murray, I would trade Derek, and if I'm the Giants, I try to get Derek, and Kyler Murray immediately gives them a little box office heading into Vegas.

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But in my lifetime, the best dynocies in sports, one would probably be the Bulls and Michael Jordan in the 90s. That's my personal favorite one, the best one. The Lakers with Kobe and Shaq was pretty special, but it was kind of short-lived. The 49ers were pretty special. The Eddie de Bartolo, Joe Montana to Steve Young, you know, I think had basically from 1981 to 2000, they won double-digit games every year. They were an incredible dynasty.

Belichick and Brady have basically done the same. And there's been a lot in college, so I wouldn't say Sabin's necessarily that big of an outlier, but he won five titles in 10 years. Been to the playoffs every year since they made it. It feels like the championship game, he's in it every year. He's kind of like Belichick.

And the Warriors in the midst of one right now, if Kevin Durant leaves, we'll see if it kind of comes to an, I don't think it would come to an end, but I don't know if they would just consistently keep rattling off championships, but, you know, Steph and Clay have proven that they can win at a high level. So we've seen four or five, like, would I even count the Cowboys? I guess if I'm going to count the Kobe Shack Lakers, I got to count the mid-90s cowboys. So there's been, you know, not that many dynasties in my short life of watching sports. I don't really count the 80s.

I know the Celtics and the Lakers, just because I was born in 84, I didn't really live it. So just in my lifetime, to me, the two most powerful ones, and maybe it's recency biased, would definitely be the Patriots in Alabama football. But I think this season is really going to kind of put both the two guys who I think Belichick, to me, is clearly the best NFL coach in the history of the sport.

Sabin, is he the best college coach? he's right up there. For my money, and again, I didn't experience the Bear Bryant's, some of the other guys. I know Jimmy Johnson was clearly excellent in the 80s with the U, Tom Osborne, Bobby Bowden, there have been some legends. Say you've been, when you factor in the internet era, when you factor in recruiting, it's been pretty impressive. But this offseason, both guys lost a ton of coaches. On maybe it was Saturday, I got a tweet. I just follow Alabama football on Twitter, and it just announced all their new hires. And I had forgotten that they, and I guess someone told me, because I just asked the question,

when did Alabama hire Sark? Is this not a bigger story? I guess it kind of leaked out like a month ago he was going to be the offensive coordinator when he was fired from Atlanta. But I think they had eight or nine brand new coaches because a bunch of guys left. And he kind of pushed a couple guys out, like Tosh Lupoi, the linebacker slash defensive line coach. It was the co-defendantz coordinator.

Went to the Cleveland Browns. to be the defensive line coach. They got a ton of new coaches. Belichick, for the first time in what seems like forever, maybe over this run, maybe since Bill O'Brien, hired an outside source to be a coordinator in Greg Shiano. But he also lost Brian Flores. He lost Chad O'Shea, the wide receiver coach,

that went with Flores to be the offensive coordinator. And I read that he lost a bunch of assistants too. He's going to have to, for the first time in a long time, just hire a bunch of assistant coaches. So both these teams that have been, now Sabin hasn't been the model of consistency in terms of coaching because he loses a lot of coaches. But this is the first time he lost a defensive coordinator,

he lost an offensive coordinator, he lost just a ton of position coaches, which either he forced out or sneaky fire, whatever. And Belichick, in the first time forever, lost, I guess, a defensive coordinator, which he did last year, but he just elevated Brian Flores that was already on the first.

the staff. Chad O'Shea has been there forever. He's had a pretty consistent staff. He's having a lot of turnover. It's bound to give one of these two programs. And it's probably not that likely next year. And it's going to be as hard as long as Sabin is there because they are so good at recruiting. Like Nick Sabin with Tua and every, they're going to be good. And as long as Tom Brady is there and Belichick's there, they're going to be good. I think both of them. though are somewhat of a tipping point? Like, how long are both guys going to coach? I guess Nick has somewhat of a desire to prove,

he just got his ass kicked in the national championship game, so you're not going to go out like that. Belichick just won a championship. Now, he's coming back, but we are kind of coming down the home stretch. Both these two guys are not going to deal with this type stuff that much longer. How much longer is Nick Saber going to have to hire eight new coaches every offseason? Belichick eventually, let's say Greg Shiano, they have a good season, they win another Super Bowl,

he'll get a job and he'll just leave. Belichick's going to do this all over again next year. Now, it never gets, you don't get tired of winning, so I don't blame them for not leaving. The analogy I used a long time ago about Belichick and Brady, there's a reason Warren Buffett doesn't retire, it's never been easier for him to make money. It's never been easier. Now, it's not easy like it is Warren Buffett to make money for the Patriots to win every Super Bowl, but it is relatively easy compared to the rest of the league.

But I do think you're just going to see these guys are both in their mid-60s. How much longer are they going to go through the grind of interviewing people, of going outside kind of their program? Sabin got a little lucky that he'd go back to the well with Sark. But to me, Sark's a pretty big, he's just a walking red flag. I can't imagine that was Nick Sabin's first choice, but who else, what was he going to do? He needed to get a guy with some comfort with their program that recruited a lot of these guys. It was kind of an easy hire, even if it wasn't the hire that he wanted to do. But just keep an eye on this.

Both these two dynasties, and that's what they are, had as much turnover combined as they'll ever have. And I just think eventually they're so well run. They still got so many good players, both teams. There's not like a law of diminishing returns. But I think the end is in sight. I would imagine 2021, both guys are gone. Belichick, I think, 66.

He's got six championships just in New England and two with the Giants. He's got eight Super Bowls. Bend to nine. I mean, once Brady kind of calls it quits, which you'd think will happen in the next couple years, you'd think. Both these guys,

we're coming down the home stretch of this bad boy, and I've enjoyed both dynasties. I think the more impressive one would be the Patriots just because in free agency you only get one draft pick they've had multiple draft picks snagged over the years from deflategate to SpyGate to just different shit that's happened with Belichick and Brady in the league it's easy once you get a program rolling to win big

now to win that many national championships to be in the national championship every year is still an incredible accomplishment but I'm going to miss these two when they're gone. I don't know how much longer, because if I put myself in their shoes, how much longer am I going to want to deal with having to do that type stuff?

Now maybe they're both, football is their crack and their crackheads, they're football junkies. But I don't know, man. You hit a certain age, and it just, both guys have more money. I mean, both guys are worth hundreds of millions, maybe not hundreds of millions of dollars,

but have both made over a hundred million dollars. in their life just coaching football just in the last 10 years. So I enjoy it while we have it because it's not going to be there much longer. Okay, let's go Middle Cough Mailbag. Keeping this podcast a little shorter, not as much going on. President's Day weekend, ending, if you're listening to this, it's over. You know, I just thought I hit you with a little quick football pod. Let you get out of here.

You know, we'll come hopefully. I'm a little dependent on some good shit happening here. This is kind of a slow time, but don't worry. I might have to dive in deep and come up with some deeper topics. But I'm not trying to manufacture stuff right now in the offseason because usually there's a lot of good buzz. Once we get the combine, it's just like football porn with stories, which is leaks about trades.

I mean, we are right. We're a week away from the really, really good stuff. So bear with me this week. And then we'll just, I mean, for two straight months, there's nothing better from the combine till after the draft of just rumors. And I love a good football rumor. So we will have that. And people hit me up.

Like you don't talk college football. I do. I just probably do it a little more in season than I am off season, just because I'm much more locked into the NFL than I am. You know, Jim Levitt just left Oregon. That's a pretty big story. But I don't know what to tell you besides Jim Levitt left Oregon because Mario didn't really want to them.

there anymore as a league insider not a league insider but a guy on the agent's side explained it to me just two meatheads not getting along this was in the works for a while and you know the SEC has covered a lot like the NFL but I don't live and breathe the SEC every day

recruiting and stuff but once the season we'll talk a lot of uh do college football in the fall for sure so I'm not I'm open to doing both you can always hit me up on the middle cough mailbag at John Middlecoff is my Twitter handle, my Instagram handle, my everything handle. But for this mailbag and every mailbag, I do it every podcast, hit me up on Insta and just slide up in those DMs and ask a question.

I got a bunch this week. I've banged out a lot in the last month. But John, question for the pod. Okay, we'll start with this one. Why don't more teams run offensive sets with two running backs, with one being a third down back? of a scatback like James White and Sony Michelle on the field at the same time. Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson. Something like that that would give you so many options.

That's a pretty good question. Probably a better question for a coach than me. If I had to give you a good explanation, in my opinion, would probably be because of the rise of the rules. It's never been... Because it feels like it used to happen a little more. Two running backs. Not even just a full back and a run.

running back, but just two running backs on the field. You never see that now. I also think because most times your scat-back, to be a really good running back in the NFL in 2019 or just the last several years, probably post this new CBA, you've got to be a three-down back. Look at all the best running backs in the NFL. I'll catch the ball really well. Gurley, Levion, David Johnson, Zeeke, all the young guy,

Sequin, Devante Freeman. Most of them, the Patriots are unique. They use guys for specific roles. Most teams, when they go all in on a running back, Forever, Marshawn had really good hands. Shady McCoy, excellent pass catcher. Most teams running back, like their bell cow running back is a pass catcher. I'm not a big Lamar Miller guy, but Lamar catches the ball really well. Forever with the Niners, Frank Gore, three-down running back.

So if you're going to go in on a running back and really value them, most of the guys can do all three things. So I think that's a big reason. When I first got in the NFL in 2010, there was a big line of delineation between your two-down running back and then your third down back. The irony is we had Shady McCoy on the team,

we just didn't quite know then, and then what he became. And then all these guys in the league. So I think the league has just really changed. A lot of these guys, whether it's seven-on-seven camps, I don't necessarily know the reason why they're all good pass-catchers.

But name me a really good running back that can't catch the ball, and I'm kind of like, ugh. You know, Adrian Peterson is the last of that generation that's just like a between the tack, just a running back, not a pass catcher. Now you have to be able to do both. I'm not really messing with you if you can't do both if I'm a team. I'm definitely not paying you if you can't do both.

So I think it's more that not many teams have Sony and James White. Most teams, when you just look around the NFL, they're starting running back is their pass catcher. Like all the guys I listed, hell the Niners paid Jerich McKinnon last year. to be there starting running back. His best attribute is a pass catcher. The Colts, look at those two guys they have. Mack. I'm just trying to go around the league in my head.

That's the problem with Leonard Fournett is he's not a very good pass catcher. It's why he's the most overvalued player in the recent memory of drafting that high. Look, Christian McCaffrey. He's basically a receiver who can also run the ball. So I think it's more just with the personnel. The kid from Florida State with the Minnesota Vikings, Cook, from Florida State. pass catcher, Dalvin, all these guys can catch the ball.

And that's what you want. You know, look at the, that's the problem with Jordan Howard right now with the Chicago Bears. Can't really catch the ball. That's why they like Tari Cohen. Because you just, it makes your offense much more dynamic.

And if my running back can do both, then I can get a tight end or two on the field or three wide receivers. So I actually think when you're running back and do both, it gives you much more options than doing with two. because instead of having two guys on the field when you know one can't catch, I have my one running back on the field,

let's say it's Zeke, I also have a tied end, and I got three wide receivers. Who am I going to throw it to? You don't know. I can throw it to any five of the guys. So that's off the cuff. Coach Middlokoff's thoughts.

Let's see if I can find another one. Question for the pod. We hear Johnny Mansell, Baker, Mayfield, Russell Wilson, but why don't we hear more Michael Vick comparison to Kyla Murray. That's a great question. I think we should hear more

Kyler Murray and Michael Vick comparison. I'd say the difference is, because they are similar athletes, Kyler is a superior thrower of the football from an accuracy standpoint, hard to get tongue twisted here,

than Michael Vick. Michael wasn't a very accurate quarterback. Now, he was a bigger, probably, I don't know, faster as fair. They might be the same speed, but he was just a bigger version of Kyler. and he probably had a stronger arm.

But he was not a very accurate quarterback. The one thing Kyler Murray really hangs hat on is accuracy. He's a really accurate player. So I like that. I would not compare Kyler to Johnny Menzel at all. I would not compare him to Baker Mayfield at all. I would do like a combination of Russell Wilson and Mike Vic. I think if you could kind of mold those two together,

that's kind of the comparison. I like that. Because the one thing Michael Vic, Ryan Grixon told me this once, and people think I'm a Ryan Grixon hater. I just don't think he's very good his job. But he did make a great point about Michael Vic was it was the one guy he ever scouted that could have played like seven NFL positions. You know, he could have played quarterback, could have played running back, could have played

wide receiver, could have played outside linebacker if he put on a little weight, outside linebacker like in a 4-3, like a will outside linebacker, could have played safety and probably could have played corner. Look at Kyler. He can play quarterback. He could definitely play wide receiver. he could probably be a scatback type running back, the ones we talked about if he could catch, he could probably play corner or even free safety.

So I think you're looking at a similar athlete just on the scale of elite, elite, elite. You know, he's going to immediately, when he comes into the NFL, be one of the best athletes in the league, if not immediately the best athlete in the league, kind of like circa Michael Vick. So I like that. To me, Michael Vick is, you can't just say Michael Vick because Michael Vick wasn't that accurate. So you got to use like Michael Vick and a Russell Wilson. Or Michael Vick mix with Baker Mayfield.

Because as Lincoln Riley told Peter King today that 89%, or maybe Peter looked this up, 89% of Kyler Murray's passes this year came from within the pocket. So I think the notion, and we all just naturally do it whenever we have a runner, oh, he's throwing on the run. Just another, Kyler's throwing on the run. No, he actually threw most of his passes from inside the pocket. Could you see the AAF becoming a sort of developmental league to the NFL, just like the G League is the NBA,

I think it would be a good thing. What's your take on it? My take is this. Here's what I would do if I was the AAF. I would have, there are eight divisions, right? The NFC, North, South, West, and East. Same with the AFC.

So you got, I think you got eight teams in the AFC. If you don't, I'd get eight teams in the AAF. And I would have every division combined for one team. Because in basketball, it's just easier, there's less players. But in football, to get a football roster, you're going to need 40 or 50 guys. Well, every practice squad now is 10 guys.

So if I get, and you could throw in a couple futures. So every team in a division, so let's say the AFC or FSC West gets the San Diego team. And the other team, either the AFC or the NFC gets the Arizona team. Both teams are littered with all their practice squad guys. Now it'd be a little difficult because every team runs a different scale.

but you could just kind of run some generic schemes, right? You just run some basic plays. You could throw some wrinkles in there, but it would just be to get these guys live reps. So let's say the San Diego team was the NFC West representative, or that was their team, the San Diego fleet. So the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers, the Rams, and the Cardinals would litter that team with all their practice squad guys. They'd get a couple quarterbacks, they get players at every position, and that would

be their version of live reps. Because when the season starts, the practice squad guys don't get any reps. And you get to evaluate the guys. And if for whatever reason, if I'm the Niners, I don't want that guy, I can cut him. And another team, he's available to another team. Or you can do something like maybe you could trade AAAF players. I don't know.

You could do, it would just kind of turn it into somewhat of a G league, which I think is there, but you'd have to combine some teams. Or maybe you could do it regionally like the Niners, the Raiders, the Broncos, and the Chiefs, or one. you could enter division. I don't know how you do it, but you set it up, it'd be easy just to separate divisions.

And you let them play together, you let them fill out the roster, and you let your guys develop. Imagine, I've been saying this forever on Twitter. Imagine if I told you, because the quarterback should not be the guys that are the quarterback. Hakenberg shouldn't be the quarterback.

The quarterbacks in this league should be C.J. Bethard, should be Deshaun Kiser, should be Brett Hunley, should be who just late-round picks from Nick Mullins. I don't know. just using these guys at the top of my head. Connor Cook, guys, Kyle Luleta, guys like that should be the quarterbacks in this league. And then fifth, six, seventh, and undrafted free agents, there were kept on team should be in this league. Instead of guys, I saw a clip yesterday of Keith

Riser, the Niners drafted him back in the day. He played for the Chiefs for a while. He was drafted in like 2012 or 2013. He was drafted so long ago. Maybe it was 2013. Like that's not who the league, now a couple of these guys are going to get shots. but imagine if all these practice squad guys were playing. Think how much differently than you'd evaluate them in training camp when you're watching them. You go, God, this guy made a couple of plays. Let's look at his AAF film. God, his AAF film is awesome.

We've got to be all over this guy. If the Seattle Seahawks cut him. This guy could be our backup offensive guard. Look at his AAF film. That, to me, is where it's headed. Give or take, something like that. Because I was texting with an agent this weekend. I said, why couldn't you double dip?

If you're a practice squad player, here's how it works. The moment the season ends, your contract ends. And then they resign you to what's called a futures contract. So the moment you sign a futures contract, let's say you're on the Niners. The Niners do not make the playoffs. That's why usually the Monday after week 17, you see they've signed 15 guys. A lot of those guys are usually their practice squad guys and a couple other guys on the street. that contract, it's not guaranteed, but only runs through training camp.

So if you make the team, then technically you'd be under a veteran's minimum deal or a league minimum deal or whatever. But if I cut you and I want you on practice squad, I end that contract and then I resign you to a practice squad contract. So you could be a practice squad player. And instead of when the season ends signing a future contract, because you're not getting paid right now if you're on a futures contract and you're a practice squad guy.

But you're a practice squad guy, I think you make 95,000 or whatever during the fall. Then the season ends, you should go playing the AAF. And as the agent told me, the moment you go to training camp with the AAF, you have to stay through the finish of the league. Well, they pay you $70,000. So you get $90,000, $70,000. That's, I'm no math major here, but what's that $160 grand? So instead of just making $90, I'd rather make $160. It's not like in the fall you're playing because not only you don't even travel, let alone really practice.

you only get 14 padded practices. It'd be one thing if you're like, I'm just so tired. Tired from doing what? You're not playing in any games. You might as well go get the reps. It's not like the AAF plays a 20 game schedule. I think it's seven or eight games.

So to me, if I was an agent, I would have had my practice squad guy double dip, and I think we're going to see that a lot next year. So instead of just not being able to resign my practice squad guy, I think teams will be like, shit, I'm losing a lot of guys I want to keep to develop. We got to connect with the AA. and I think that's with the AAF,

there is going to be connection. I can already see it coming from a mile away because next year a lot of guys are going to try to double dip. And if I was a practice squad guy and I love my money, I would 100% do both. Who do you think has a better chance of winning the Super Bowl in the next couple years? Atlanta or Indy.

Whenever we talk about Super Bowl teams, the first thing I always think about is who's your coach, who's your quarterback. So Atlanta, Dan Quinn, Matt Ryan. both solid. I think Dan Quinn is a solid, probably between 8 to 12 coach in the league. And Matt Ryan, same thing.

Somewhere between 8 to 12. The Colts. They started 1 in 5, they ended up making the playoffs. The year before that, Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator. Now, he wasn't calling plays, but clearly played a big role in the Eagles winning in the Super Bowl. He's one for one, made the playoffs. We know when Andrew Lux healthy, what he is.

He's an elite top five quarterback. So it have to be the Colts. Now, both playing tough divisions. When you look at the Falcons, the Panthers might come back to Earth a little bit, but with Bruce Ariens and Tampa, they're going to be a lot more competitive, and the Saints are clearly really good.

When you look at the AFC South, the Titans are just solid. I mean, every year they're going to be competing for a wild card. The Houston Texans are also just pretty solid. They're going to be a fringe playoff team. So it's going to be harder to win the AFC South. But I do think the Colts just high-end because of Andrew Luck, because of how well they drafted last year,

they have multiple second-round picks this year because of the Jets trade. I'd go indie. But someone Instagrammed a question to me. You can always do that too if it's not even for the podcast. I'll just answer the question. What I thought the biggest need was for the Falcons this off-season? Like to me, it's just health. You saw that first game that when they're healthy, they're a playoff team.

They got Julio, they got Ridley, Devante Freeman when he comes back, so offensive weapons, and Matt Ryan is just good. Now, he's not great, but he's not bad. He's just good. You can win 10, 12 games with him and get to the playoffs and get to the Super Bowl with him as your starting quarterback. Defensively, they had a ton of injuries. I mean, that first game, in the first month, lost their Starunk safety. They lost their middle linebacker, like, who were two of their better players on defense.

Their middle linebacker was their best player. You could only lose so many blue-chip guys. and still maintain it. Because last year, say what you want about Sark, their offense did score points. Their defense was a joke. So their head coach is a defensive guy, fired the defensive coordinator,

he calling the plays now. I think, I'd expect both those two teams to be playoff teams this year. Is it possible for the Giants and the Steelers to make a trade, OBJ, and Antonio Brown? I kind of like this question. I would say, I can't see it.

Kind of a cool Madden type question or a cool question for a podcast. But to me, if the Giants are going to trade O'Dell Beckham, they already have some solid wide receivers. They have a receiving tight end. They have a star running back. They got to get draft capital. Offensive lines a joke. Their defense needs help.

To me, and same with the Steelers. The Steelers produce wide receivers. You know, they do it with ease. I mean, they got juju two years ago in the second round. They drafted James Washington last year at Oklahoma State in the second round. They found Antonio Brown in the sixth round. Look where they got Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders. Both, I mean, the Steelers do not need help finding wide receivers.

So if they're going to trade Antonio Brown to me, like the Giants, they need to get draft capital because they need help on defense. So I'd say, no, that's not a possibility. Okay, last question. Do you see the Green Bay Packers getting into the Levion, Antonio Brown sweepstakes? Start with Levion, the Williams Kid, the running back. I actually showed some signs. I know Packer fans were always getting mad that they didn't give them the Rockmore.

I would say you can't discount it. You know, a much more aggressive GM. But I'm pretty sure they got two first round picks, right? They got their own, which I think is pick 12. They got the Saints pick, which is not great. It's pick, what, 29? So, I don't know if you ever want to pay a running back. just, I don't love the business of that.

Antonio Brown, I don't think you can discount, because I would imagine they're going to cut Randall Cobb this offseason. They do have a star wide receiver who's, he's not Antonio Brown, but he's a legit top 10 guy. I'm biased. I love Devante Adams for a state guy. Probably top six or seven guy, really, at the end of the day. Like, he's your guy.

But if you could get Antonio Brown for a third or fourth round pick, why not? You know, you got, you're paying Aaron Rogers all that money. You might as well go in. to look at the cap numbers. Do they have the room to take on a $20 million contract? The thing about the NFL is you can always cut players to make room. If I was agreeing with a Packers, I'd be much more aggressive and much more interested

than Antonio Brown than I would levy on, just because of the history, how easy it is in the league to find running. Hell, look at the Steelers. I mean, they got, until James Connor got hurt, I think, you know, early December, he was kicking ass and taking names. I think his production from the previous year of Levion

was basically game for game yard for yard, touchdown for touchdown almost is equal. And he was what, a fourth or fifth round pick that overcame cancer? So I would not... I'm not in the Levion business and I think Levion's a great player.

It's just too easy to find running backs. It's just too easy to allocate your resources to other players. So that's actually my last question in my inbox. Hit me up. Middlecoff mailbag, as always, at John Middlecough. Thanks for listening.

Hopefully you guys enjoy your week. We're not that far away from the combine. Like I said, we're going to start having some juicy, some juicy stories coming out. I would imagine the next couple weeks. And I'm excited. So talk to you soon. Talk to you a little later this week.

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