The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Symbolic Mogul, Edgy Odell Beckham, Baker May Play

Episode Date: August 7, 2018

In this August 7th, 2018 edition of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, we see Los Angeles Laker forward LeBron James taking on new side projects and endeavors--Colin expects that from a superstar like LeBron as he enters the "mogul" stage of his career. Is LeBron's symbolism in Los Angeles going to be too bright and distracting for his Laker coaches and teammates? We will see just how much energy is required from LeBron to make the Lakers a winner again while satisfying the demands of being an LA mogul. Also, New York Giant wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is like very few players to have passed through the Big Blue Apple. Colin weighs the pros and cons of a buttoned-up franchise like the Giants extending a long-term deal to "edgy" Odell Beckham Jr. Finally, Colin sleuths through clues coming from Cleveland: Do Browns coaches separate quarterback and top draft pick Baker Mayfield from the rest of the quarterbacks on Cleveland's roster? Guests include: Peter King of NBC Sports, FOX Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb and FS1 NFL contributor T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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T.J. Hushman Zada. Joy Taylor is joining me on a Tuesday. Good morning. I can smell the grass this morning. Football's back. When I can smell the grass and it's hot grass because we're going through a heat wave out here on the West Coast, it is football season, but I have to start Joy with this. LeBron's added a new show to his repertoire of shows. He is now doing a three-year- part documentary series on showtime called Shut Up and Dribble. It's about LeBron and it's got a little bit of politics in it. That's set to do in October. Yep, in October it is due to air.

He is also doing a show on an HBO in August called The Shop. And I'm not worried about the time these shows drain from him. I'm not worried about the energy these shows asked. He's not doing a 10-part series like Ken Burns on the Civil War. Other people will do a majority of the work. I am not in the least bit concerned about the time he would put in for these shows. What it once again shows is LeBron is an asset. And right now, L.A.'s number one asset.

And people are lining up. Showtime, HBO, production companies, movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio, lining up to work with LeBron. and I am not in the least bit phase by the time and effort these little projects will take. Oh, but I am concerned about symbolism because symbolism matters. Here's my concern with LeBron now. He's battling Trump, HBO, showtime, politics, production company, pizza chains, clutch sports, representing Ben Simmons. asked two weeks ago or two days ago or maybe two moments ago,

would you think about running for president? And you do realize what is happening as all this is transpiring. LeBron is shrinking other players in the league. Jimmy Butler, Kauai Leonard, Clay Thompson. LeBron James would not be your teammate. He'd be your boss. nobody wants to play with their boss. I'm a big fan of LeBron.

But the basketball culture in America from AAU on is you the man. LeBron is creating a culture that if you play with him, you know man. Kevin Love average 25 and 13. He was a perennial all-star in elite power forward. Playing with LeBron, he became his valet. Chris Bosch, first time, first ballot, absolute lock for the Hall of Fame. Playing with LeBron, he became the other, other guy. LeBron, the kids are outside, they want to play.

You're looking at yourself flexing in the mirror. Why don't you join the kids outside? Michael Jordan waited primarily until his career was over. Kobe Bryant won an Oscar after he quit shooting, jump. I'm all for business, and I don't think it gets in the way hours-wise of LeBron James. But symbolism matters. And while you're battling the president, everybody else is battling Darren Collison and Rudy Gay and their basketball players. And that's what they should be.

We've seen what's happened to Tom Brady when he's gone non-football. We have the weakest New England roster and the worst chemistry between coach. owner and quarterback in its 18-year run. I'm not anti-Lebron. You know I love him. And I'm not anti-business. But the reason the Golden State Warriors work is because Kevin Durant's pulled back and given time and the ball to Steph.

And the reason Steph works because he's come, a little down, pulled down, less commercials, fewer shots, more about everybody. The reason the Warriors dynasty works is because it's. communal. It's supportive. It's about us. And we not. HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Pizza chain, production company, clutch sports, represent Ben Simmons. Will you be president? It's all good, bro. And L.A. does this to people. It feeds their vanity. That's what L.A. does. It wrecks half the people. The other half make it. Survive. And when I say survive it, I mean survive it.

L.A. plays to your vanity. They build you up. You're the man. And everybody in basketball culture in America wants to be the man. You used to have a high school coach that barked at you. It's not the way basketball culture in America works anymore. You have an AAU coach that flatters you. You used to have a college basketball coach for three or four years like Michael Jordan and Dean Smith kept him under 20 points.

Now you have a college basketball coach for a year, and he begs that you stay. used to have an NBA coach. No shootarounds. Practicing hard in the morning, flying commercial. Now you fly jets, private. And the basketball coach just hopes that the star player likes me. Paul George is a five-time all-star. He said, no thanks.

Chris Bosch, in the end, was tired of it. Kevin Love, it was a struggle the entire time with LeBron. And I liked the guy. but Laurent symbolism matters. You win. You're the guy. You're the man. You are shrinking the profile of every player in the league.

And this Laker thing, which I think will work, will not win titles and will not work to its fullest. If you don't get another great player. And great players, ask Kyrie Irving, who hit the biggest shot in basketball a couple of years to win a championship for Cleveland. And 15 minutes later, nobody cared because they wanted to talk LeBron. And I like him. He's the best overall basketball player I've ever seen. Jordan was a better pure score. But symbolism in basketball is a thing.

Shoe deals, a thing. Getting credit, a thing. Getting love, a thing, adoration, a thing. You the man, a thing. With LeBron, you know man's becoming. a thing. You know when you're driving on the freeway? Somebody's got the brights on.

LeBron, turn the brights off. Be one of us. We for a second. Let me shift gears to this. People often say they want to date edgy, be edgy, hang with edgy. I don't. I don't like edgy. I am not edgy. I'm as edgy as a boiled egg.

I am not into edgy. In fact, it's funny in my house. My wife's edgy. I'm not really edgy. My kids are edgy. I'm not really edgy. But a lot of people say they like edgy. They like the idea of edgy.

But they don't really like edgy. ESPN. We're going to put that show on Barstool on our network. It's going to be, whoa, I'm not comfortable with bar school. Whoa, whoa, whoa. The Oscars. We're going to put Seth MacFarlane on. Seth MacFarlane is edgy.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! The New York Giants for the last four years have never been comfortable with Odell Beckham. And there's a reason they've never been comfortable. They like the idea of being married to Odell Beckham. But they have been and they've been uncomfortable. The New York Giants in a city of stars are the most boring great franchise ever, four Super Bowls.

They even got the most boring manning in the United States. the family. I mean, if you look at the history of the New York Giants, look at their stars. Mark Bavarro, Phil Mankin, David Tyree, Jeff Hostetler, Phil Sims. Anybody got an espresso? Even your stars are boring. O'Dell Beckham is everything the New York Giants are not. Flashy, crazy, unpredictable. I mean, if I say O'Dell Beckham and you start listing the things that come to your mind, one-hand catch, the boat, blunt, model and blow in a hotel room in Paris, peeing in an end zone, proposing to a net.

That's his brand. And by the way, the Dallas Cowboys probably comfortable with it. L.A. Rams probably comfortable with it. A lot of teams comfortable. Miami Dolphins comfortable with it. The New York Giants are an accounting firm in cleats. It is the most boring, conservative, great franchise in American sports. In New York, usually your stars are like Walt Frazier, Ruth, Garrig, Arad, Mantle.

They're stars, right? The New York Giants, stars, even they're boring. Great, but boring. But the story today, they want to make him the highest paid wide receipts. in the league and then, gang, you're really in a marriage. Every year, Notre Dame says they love Brian Kelly, but his face turns purple as he screams at a quarterback, and they're uncomfortable with Brian Kelly.

And the Oscars thought they wanted Seth MacFarlane until they had Seth McFarland, and then he was too much. And ESPN wanted barstool sports, and then they had barstool sports, and they don't like it. and the giants for four years have been completely uncomfortable with Odell Beckham. And now the story is, we're going to marry Odell. This is like the most conservative family marrying Marilyn Manson. Good luck.

Because the idea of edgy, the idea of edgy is one thing. Married to edgy, committed to edgy, long-term, relationship with edgy is quite another. Coming up next, I don't think he meant to say it, but an NFL coach, in fact, Baker Mayfield's coach, just called him out, and I don't think he meant to. That's coming up. Huge fans of Hyundai's new Shopper Assurance Program, transparent pricing, flexible test driving, streamlined purchasing, so much more, Hyundai, USA.com slash shopper assurance.

Learn more for yourself. have you in today. Doug Gottlieb is joining us in 35, 40 minutes. Peter King's joining us in 10 minutes today. Ice Cube, T.J. Hushman, Zata, Joy Taylor, of course, on the show. It is a Tuesday. There's a ton going on NFL camps. I can smell the grass. That means it's football season. This is something that was said yesterday. Everybody's talking about the Browns are going to be on hard knocks and how's it going to affect the team. And I don't really care about that. I don't think that's good for a team, but I don't think the Browns are going to be great anyway. so I don't think it's going to be the difference between, you know, 10 and 6 and 6 and 10. I think this is a 6-win team.

And, I mean, I don't love Hard Knocks for teams. I don't love Baker Mayfield doing documentaries. Like, just do football before you, you know. Before you're a rock star, just be a star, okay? But anyway, the head coach Hugh Jackson said something, and it was unintentional. He by no means was trying to be critical. He was by no means trying to say what he said. I've done this.

You've done this. You unintentionally say something and the meaning of it comes out, lands differently for somebody else. He talked about Baker Mayfield not starting this year. And he said, listen, I've had two players here in the past who never played in the National Football League, and we put him out there and didn't do anybody any good. So why take a guy who we know is going to be in a situation? He's our future and put him in that situation. Of course, the problem is he's comparing him to Cody Kessler and Deshawn Kaiser.

Does he think number one pick Baker Mayfield is comparable to Cody Kessler, the number 93 pick? And to Sean Kaiser, the number 52 pick? Let me ask you something. If the Browns had drafted Cam Newton number one, 6-6-250 led Auburn to a national title, do you believe Hugh Jackson would have globbed them all together? Has there ever been a time in your life that you included Cody Kessler in a sentence with Cam Newton? or 64-228, Troy Aikman, or 65-230 Peyton Manning. This is what I've always said about Baker.

He can play in the NFL, but he doesn't look, feel like a number one pick. He looks small. He's a two-time walk-on. Hugh Jackson came out and said, you know, we don't want to play him initially because I've seen what happens when you put Cody Kessler out there. This is a number one pick. if Cam Newton, if Peyton Manning, John Elway, Dan Marino, 6, 5, 2.30 guys were drafted number one,

would you be lumping them into a sentence with Cody Kessler and Deshaun Kaiser, whose own college coach said, dude's not ready? I don't think this was intentional. I think it's the reality of the optics that Hugh Jackson sees Baker Mayfield. And he looks like Cody Kessler. He's six feet tall, two feet. 15 without a huge arm, can run around a little.

Cody Kessler was a good high school basketball player. Remember when Sam Darnold last Sunday was it this past Sunday? Sam Darnold was standing next to Baker Mayfield on that documentary. And what did I say? Which one looks like a franchise quarterback? Who looks bigger? Who looks bigger and stronger? Sam Darnold looks like a franchise quarterback.

I saw a story yesterday. Sam Darnold is going to beat out Teddy Bridgewater and Josh McCown. they're already saying to Adam Schaefter, yeah, he's going to be number one. Hugh Jackson inadvertently saying, you know, Baker, Cody Kessler, it's all the same thing. That's what he's saying. I mean, again, Cam Newton, say what you want,

the smile, the look, the size, the arm, the athletic ability. Cam Newton walks into a room you would not say, listen, I had Cody Kessler and Deshawn Kaiser here. I've seen what happens to them when they haven't played in the NFL. No, you'd say, have you seen Cam Newton? Have you seen John Elway? Have you seen Peyton Manning? Yeah, because no rookies have played in the NFL.

That's the whole point of the draft. But if you're Peyton, if you're Cam, if you're Andrew Locke, if you're Carson Wentz, it's understood. Right, but Baker hasn't been walking around in platform shoes this whole time. Everybody knew how big he was when they took him number one overall. And this is what I've said. he doesn't look or feel like a number one pick. He looks and feels like Cody Kessler. Well, what it looks and sounds like is this wasn't Hugh Jackson's choice for number one overall.

I mean, when Vaughn Miller came into this league, Indomac and Sue came into this league, they look different than other players. Would you have compared Vaughn Miller to the 93rd guy? You know, we like Von Miller, but, you know, I started the 93rd pick a couple of years ago in his first year. It just didn't. No, Von Miller, you don't make those comparisons. Indomac and Sue broke into this league, you're like, yeah, he looks different than even the NFL guys. I'm telling you.

Hugh Jackson's talking about Baker Mayfield, like he's been running around in this Scooby-Doo villain costume or something this whole time. He just lumped him in with a couple of guys who are just guys. You just don't lump a number one pick in with guys. That's why he's a number one pick. Cody Kessler? You just put him in the same sentence. Nobody's ever put Cam in the same sentence. Andrew, look in the same sentence.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, well, the L.A. Rams don't expect to see Aaron Donald anytime soon, especially after he was in no show today at practice during today's deadline. They had a joint practice today with the Ravens in Baltimore,

and Sean McVeigh address this very dicey situation. I don't think anything's going to change with that in the near future. You know, I've had a little bit of dialogue with Aaron and, you know, we're hopeful that we'll get something done. But I don't think that dead. I don't think there's any real, you know, realistic deal to kind of that August 7th being a date that changes really anything. But you never know. And, you know, things remain the same. I'm looking forward to trying to connect with him later on today.

And, you know, kind of we'll see where we're at. Well, he didn't show today. So that August 7th thing is done now. So that means that since the deadline is up, he will be. be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Yeah, and I think you're seeing this around the league. Rule changes, pro offense, Khalil Mack, nobody's talked to him.

Earl Thomas, nobody's talked to him. Aaron Donald's, nobody's talked to him. And wide receivers are getting guaranteed money that is massive. You know, I personally, I'm a defense girl myself. But I, so I don't love that it's trending this way. But people like offense, it's the way it goes. You're seeing it in the NBA now, too, these ridiculously high-scoring games.

That's what the NBA wants. You want more scoring than a defensive battle. And also analytics and rule changes kind of dictate how you play. I mean, it's not like people just decided one day in the NBA. They hated centers. Analytics came into the sport and said, shoot threes, not twos. And so, like, people said, even our centers, if you can't shoot a jumper, Dwight Howard, you're not going to play.

So I think if you look at the rule changes in analytics, nobody can stop anybody. The Super Bowl, Philadelphia, New England was two of the top five scoring defenses. They punted once, 800 yards. Nick Foles was unstoppable. I mean, at the end of the year, all the good defense in the NFL, Jacksonville was getting gash, Minnesota got gash, Philadelphia got gash, New England got gash, Pittsburgh got gashed. You can't stop anybody with the new rules.

I'd rather have a balanced team than a ridiculously great defense. You know what I mean? Like, if you're going to have to pick one that's more in balance, you want more offense, obviously. But to build your team around being just great defensively, you better hope that they don't ever give anything up, which they're obviously going to. It's a matter of numbers. And that's not to say that Aaron Donald isn't

incredible. He's just not going to get the money that's going to handicap a team when you have to pay someone like Jared Gough in a few years. So just talking about Baker, the Browns are coming off a winless season, as we know, took Baker number one overall, as they know. And according to Hugh Jackson, they're going to start with Tyrod Taylor as their starter. And he was

asked this morning if Baker will play a lot during Thursday's preseason opener. This is what he I haven't totally talked to the staff entirely about what I want to do, but I do plan on him playing quite a bit. You know, now what that looks like, I don't know. You know how games go, but we'll work through it, but I do want him to play. You're going to see a lot of Baker, obviously, and it's going to be... I get to you something. Generally, preseason football doesn't do anything for me, Joy.

I loved watching Lamar. I can't wait to watch Darnold and Baker. I'll tell you something. this preseason, by preseason standards, to me is fascinating. Well, I think it's more interesting this year because you really don't know what to expect from all of the quarterbacks that were taken in the first round. I totally agree. I mean, I think Donald's going to be eventually the best. And I think the kid in Buffalo could end up flaming out.

But there's a lot of mystery going into these games. Nobody really knows. So it's going to be very interesting. Finally, LeBron James is apparently a cycling enthusiast. Do you like to ride bikes? I don't. I love biking. I'll swim and jog.

If I, I do the triathlete, I'd do the dual athlete. No, not like Lance Armstrong, just like a nice little bike ride on the beach. Not really? No? No. Well, he talked to the Wall Street Journal and explained how his love of bikes translates to his new city. He said, I've seen a few bike paths around Los Angeles. I know Santa Monica has a great bike path down there on the beach.

I'm looking forward to that, to smell the air, kick back, and remember the days when I was much younger, and there wasn't much of a scene. It was just me and my friends. Yeah. Well, here's not. Here's the thing, LeBron. Well, I do totally agree. I love the Santa Monica boardwalk ride right up through Venice, past Muscle Beach, go all the way up and, you know, turn around and come back.

You get the sea breeze, and it's lovely. However, my bike ride down the Santa Monica Pier is not going to be quite as eventful as LeBron's is. I don't think you're going to make it very far down the Santa Monica boardwalk, LeBron, on your bike. Yeah. It's quite crowded. It's a scene when you're just a regular person. So I don't think that that's this place for you. And I would not recommend doing the biking on the city streets because that is a disaster.

I don't know if he knows about L.A. traffic, but... Oh, God, no. Not so great with the driving out here. Can you imagine if you were texting and driving and ran over LeBron? That'd be quite a story. Yeah. I don't want to burst this bubble, but this probably isn't the city that you want to do your biking in. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. By the way, Peter King NBC Sports was at Packers Camp. He's been bouncing around the NFL. Actually, yesterday I was in the locker room. After the show, I go work out and stuff, and I was talking to a guy, and he said, God, there's so many stories this year in football. And he's like, there's a John Gruden's story.

There's the rookie quarterback stories. Carson Wendz comes back. Aaron Rogers comes back. And I said, like an Andrew Luck. Like Andrew Luck was the, he was Carson Wentz two years ago. And then he got obliterated. And we don't know what Andrew Luck is. Well, Peter King was at Colts Camp and talked to Andrew Luck recently.

And here's the tape. I think I see light at the end of the tunnel. And I know I'm not torturing myself in a sense. And I don't want to dwell too much on the past. But I think I really struggled about being honest to myself about how I really felt and how things are progressing, which in turn did not allow anyone to help me in a productive, efficient manner. I'm a far cry from where I want to be, Peter.

I am, but I feel myself improving every day, and it's fun. And with that, via the coward, Global Satellite Network, Peter King, NBC Sports, joining us NBCSports.com weekly Monday morning column, so I'm watching to talk to Andrew Locke. I defended Chris Bowler when he went heavy offensive line in the draft. but they just had a tackle retire. Okay, it looks like when you watched him throw, Peter, you sat there and you watched his eyes, and you watch him, you can see if he grimaces.

Like, what did you see that he looked like he was in pain? Not at all, Colin. He looked like you would never have known he was hurt if you didn't, if you just watched that practice and didn't know his history and didn't know that he hadn't played in the game in 19 months. but he looked absolutely normal. I think the biggest thing for him is how he's being managed.

You know, normally in an average football practice in the summer, a quarterback's going to throw 100 balls. That includes serious warm-up throws and things. I mean, he threw 68. And so they're documenting every throw he makes. And Frank Wright, the coach told me they want him in every practice that he throws to throw between 65 and 70 balls, and they were right on it that day. But the one other thing is, look, he's probably not going to feel perfect on opening day in five weeks.

But I do think, I mean, there's no question in my mind he'll play opening day and barring anything structural going wrong. He should play 16 games. You know, I said to open my show today that a lot of people like edgy. The Oscars thought they wanted Seth MacFarlane, and then they had him host it, and they got really, really uncomfortable. And my former employers thought they wanted barstool sports, and then they hired them, and then they got really uncomfortable. The New York Giants are an accounting firm in cleats.

They are mostly conservative, not over the top. Even their stars, Phil McConkey, Mark Bavarrow, have not been flashy players, Jeff Hostetler, Phil Sims. Well, I read this morning they want to make Odell Beckham. They're going to go long term with Odell. I look at this relationship. the Giants brand and Odell's are the opposite. I think they've been uncomfortable for three years with him. What do you make of this?

You're the highest paid guy. We're all in. Do you think in their gut they're still a little uncomfortable with some of Odell? I think they were uncomfortable in the 80s with Lawrence Taylor at times. And he gave them reason to be uncomfortable. I covered that team in the mid-80s for four years. And they had some sleepless nights at the top of the New York Giants. I mean, they love Lawrence Taylor to play or they were very worried about Lawrence Taylor off the field.

And I think there's some of that with Odell. But I mean, look, here's the way I look at it. You know, if you are going to be great in the NFL today, you've got to take some chances. Everybody isn't a Boy Scout. And at this point, I think it's important that the Giants, barring any future incidents of stupidity by O'Dell Beckham. junior. I think they got to sign him. We talked about Andrew Luck, and I think sometimes we forget

with the emergence of Goff and Garoppolo and Dak Prescott and Deshawn Watson. We just forget how good Andrew Luck was. Well, JJ Watt hasn't played in a while. You were in Texans camp, and I know you remember just how devastating

he was. There's all these young players now and Vaughn Miller's getting the cover of magazines. So in Houston, What kind of J.J. Watt are we going to see? Well, you know, J.J. Watt over his four-year period when he was truly great, a transcendent player, 2012 to 2015, had more sacks in any four-year, in that four-year period than Lawrence Taylor ever had over a four-year period than Bruce Smith ever had in a four-year period. Wow.

And he was just, he was unstoppable. And he was also very versatile. He had three touchdown catches as a tight end. And so I go to camp and I'm looking for every sign. And I see the JJ Watt that looks like he wants to rip my head off when we're talking. And I'm exaggerating a bit. But he was intense when we talk. And to me, I really think that his situation right now is that he knows. He has been invisible for two years because of injury.

And he knows now that, okay, it's, it's, it's getting to be just a memory of how great he was. And so he knows that, and he told me, hey, look, I've told my family, I'm not going to tell you, but I have my goals for this year. And I think he absolutely, his goal is to get back to NFL defensive player of the year form. I mean, he's won it three times. He's won it more than the great players who play the game like Reggie White at his position. And I just think he wants to get to.

back to that level. There's no sign so far in Texans camp that he's not going to be able to play opening day and play a full load of downs. That's exciting. Peter King joining us NBC Sports weekly Monday morning column NBCSports.com football morning in America, three-time national sports writer of the year. He's got the Peter King podcast, which I listen to and is great. So this is by most standards, I watch a little bit of the preseason, but I'm not enamored with it. But I got to tell you, Peter, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen. I cannot remember John Gruden. I cannot remember a preseason where there were more of these mysterious, enigmatic, hopeful

stories. So Baker Mayfield, what am I going to get here? You know, I was at Brown's camp last week, and Hugh Jackson pulled me off to the side after practice. And we were talking, and I've talked to Hugh many times about this subject and others about the quarterback position. And he said to me, and I quote, I am not changing my mind. And, you know, about starting Tyrod Taylor and Tyrod Taylor is going to be his guy, I think, barring something weird that happens, which it might. It's Cleveland. But I think what was interesting is he said to me that one day Baker Mayfield, you.

is going to thank me. And because I think some of the best quarterbacks ever, you know, basically have been in the freezer in that first year. Brett Farve didn't play. Aaron Rogers didn't play. Carson Palmer in 2003 was the first pick in the draft and the Bengals gave him a redshirt year. And I, you know, I talked to Tim Couch last week whose, you know, career is an example of what you shouldn't do with a young quarterback.

And he said, just patience, patience. You know, don't force this guy into the lineup. And I think Hugh Jackson realizes that, and I know this is going to sound strange, Colin, but even if it costs him his job, he's going to do the right thing for this kid. Finally, Peter, you're in New York all the time. You have been at camp. But I saw a story yesterday. Shefty tweeted it that Sam Darnold could play.

Now, I think Bridgewater's capable of playing. I thought Josh McNaugnown last year surprised me. and he's also a great mentor. Gut feeling, Darnold, does he start week one of the regular season for the Jets? Gut feeling, no. But again, they don't sell insurance for this kind of stuff. If he's the best guy he's going to play. Yeah.

Because I think they think he's precocious enough to learn everything and to play opening day. But look, every one of these teams is handling it differently. The number one pick in the draft is not playing right away. you know, the number three pick in the draft, Sam Darnold, could play right away. You know, Josh Rosen, I mean, Josh Allen, they're competing for the job. Josh Rosen probably starts the year on the bench, but Sam Bradford can't stay healthy for any length of time. So you never know. Every team is handling this differently personally.

Right now, I mean, it's going to sound silly. I think the Browns have the best idea. Peter King, NBCSports.com. Great having you. Enjoy the camps, Peter. Love you. Stopping by our show. Thank you, Colin. You bet. Coming up, Dallas Cowboy fans and media, take a deep breath.

Who you are concerned about is actually your savior. That's coming up next. Hyundai's got shopper assurance program, flexible test driving, streamlined purchasing, no paperwork, transportation, transparent pricing, three-day worry-free vehicle exchange, be part of a team. Hyundai. Go to Hyundai USA.com slash shopper assurance. Doug Gottlieb, T.J. Hushmanzada will both be in today. Enjoy Taylor's joining me on a Tuesday. Getting very excited at Fox. We have the new Thursday night games. We've got great college football on Saturday, amazing NFL football on Sundays. And the Dallas Cowboys are the number one team. team in the country. And of course, we have them at Fox because they're the NFC. I saw another story. My God. Dak Prescott, Cowboys Passing games, still has a long way to go.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I read this story. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, a reminder, I whiffed on Dak. I thought he was a better version of Tebow. I have no problems at all saying it took me about week five, week six of the NFL season, his rookie year to go. Okay, the guy can play.

maybe week eight. It took me a while. I whiffed on him. I said I thought he was Tim Tebow, but a better version of Tim Tebow. I didn't like his throwing motion. Little Dinkin' Dack didn't blow me away initially. In the end, he had a great old line, Ezekiel Elliott, play action stuff, but I buy in because I think he's a leader, sturdy, mobile, smart. But when I read these stories, this is about the 28th in the last month that Dak is a concern for the Cowboys. Let me give you a list of cowboy concerns. Okay, these are things that worry me about the cowboys. Ezekiel Elliott can't stay out of trouble.

His dad yesterday was leading the Urban Meyer rally. Oh, brother. Oh, brother. I'm worried about the whole Ezekiel Elliott family and immaturity. Number two, Sean Lee's hamstring. What there's left of it. When he plays, their defense is good. When he doesn't, their defense is like, you know,

not good. And he gets hurt regularly. My third concern is they're cornerback depth. They're young, so-so talented, weak at safety. I don't like their secondary, which is problematic because in the NFC you have Carson Wentz twice and now Alex Smith twice. And somebody's got to guard Odell Beckham. And there's Aaron Rogers and Kirk Cousins has great wide receivers and the Rams.

I'm amazing offensive talent. And oh, boy, the way, here comes Jimmy Garoppolo and I don't like their secondary. The third thing that worries me. situational coaching. Jason Garrett doesn't call the offensive plays. Jason Garrett doesn't call the defensive plays. I like him. He's not Sean Payton.

He's not Bill Belichick or Randy Reed. He's not Sean McVeigh. But I do worry situationally. I always feel like Belichick is making every big decision in games. With Jason Garrett, I don't know if he's making any. And finally, here's a cowboy concern. Jason Witt in 15 years, safety valve, caught everything. He's gone.

And let me tell you something. Everybody pays attention to the deep threat. You know who quarterbacks throw more often to? Their safety valve. Jason Whitten has been 15 years of an insurance agency. He covered everything. Any time it was a third and four. He knew where the first down marker was.

You threw the ball in his catching radius. He caught it, got down, got to end zones. Everybody falls in love with wide receiver. No, it's these safety valve guys, Julian Edelman for Tom Brady. I mean, don't get me wrong. The Randy Mosses are fun. They make it to the Hall of Fame. But it's that slot guy, that dependable tight end that you throw to and target 11 times and hopefully get to seven.

So those things concern me. Does everybody remember that Dak Prescott saved the franchise? Does everybody remember what happened in 20, what was it, 2016? Tony Romo got hurt. You were four and 12. And then the draft, you had the number four pick. You tried to move up to get Paxton Lynch. Now, I just want to say this again. You're four and 12. You had the number four pick.

Jerry wanted Paxton Lynch. Have you heard lately from Paxton Lynch? His parents haven't heard from him. He has disappeared in the Rocky Mountains. Denver brought back Brock Osweiler. That's how bad it's been. you would be, if not for Dak Prescott, the only NFC team without a legitimate going forward franchise quarterback.

He saved your franchise. Just like undrafted Tony Romo saved your franchise and made your relevant. So when I read about the cowboy concerns, Ezekiel Elliott, Sean Lee's hamstring, cornerback depth, situational coaching, Jason Witten's gone, those worry me. Also, the NFC, I don't remember a. time in my life. I'm serious. I've been watching football for four decades. I do not remember a time

in my life not once where every single team in a conference, AFC or NFC, had a quarterback. You know, when the dolphins had Marino, New England couldn't quite figure out the quarterback thing. And then Buffalo couldn't. And then Buffalo couldn't. And then Buffalo got Jim Kelly and the Jets couldn't figure out the quarterback thing. And Marino retired and they couldn't figure out. That's the way it works. The way it works in the NFL is there's just. usually one great quarterback in a division, one pretty good stable guy like Alex Smith and maybe a Phil Sims. And then there's another guy that's promising and then there's a guy that can't play. Dallas, you would have been guy that can't play because Carson Wentz isn't

going anywhere. Eli's around for two more and Alex Smith can win a lot of football. Ever notice with Alex Smith, he wins everywhere he goes. He went in San Francisco. He won in Kansas City. He's going to win in Washington. He won in college at Utah. So these concerns about Dak Prescott, But he's not even top five to me. Again, last two years, 22 wins. Only the Steelers and Patriots have more than Dallas. And that's what Jerry Jones making noise, Ezekiel making noise, injuries making noise, Des making noise.

They're going to be fine. You know, just because he's not a good fantasy quarterback. Sometimes I think this stuff is driven by a fantasy football guy. He's not a great fantasy football quarterback. There's Russell Wilson. Russell's going to end up First Ballot Hall of Fame. All right, Doug Gottlieb is around the corner. are loaded today.

LeBron's got a new show. Shut up and dribble. What is he really saying? That's next. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Doug Gottlieb in five minutes for hour number two.

A couple years ago, you were in Miami, Joy. LeBron James was a villain. He did the decision. he left for Miami, and for a year he was a villain. And he embraced it. And then LeBron told us, I don't like being a villain. It's not who I am. I like working with people.

And so that's what his natural DNA has shown us over the years. He's not into being the villain. Yet yesterday, there's an announcement that LeBron's doing a new show for Showtime called Shut Up and Dribble, which is a political show, taking a shot at a conservative political commentator. So therefore, now to half the country, you are a villain. Hello. LeBron, you didn't like the villain thing.

Here's a little tip for athletes who don't want to be a villain. Don't be one in politics. Because whatever side you take, half the country hate you. So LeBron told us, I don't want to be a villain. I've always had this feeling with LeBron that, you know, back to 2011. So LeBron breaks into the league and people are saying oh my God, high school

to the pros, is he the best basketball player of all time? And after about five or six years, we start looking at his stats and we're like, holy hell, he's going to blow past Michael Jordan. And then, well, you've got to win stuff. So then he goes to Miami and you're like, okay, he's going to win rings. But in 2011, he went 0 and 2 in the finals. And I think LeBron knew at that moment, okay, MJ is 6 for 6. I could have gone 6 in

one. I could have gone six for seven, seven for eight, but I'm 0 and two. And the very, very next month and the month after that, LeBron started getting political. Trayvon Martin's support, Hillary Clinton support, dropped McDonald's wanted to start his own brand, his speech at the ESP's, I can't breathe T-shirts. Now he's opening a new school. Now you're saying, Colin, why is he doing that? And again, I'm just theorizing because in 2011, when LeBron was in high school, he was a better high school player than Michael. And then unlike Michael, he just went right to the NBA. His first game, he was an all-star. And he looked like an all-star.

And then everybody starts saying, look at his stats. And then he goes, 0 and 2 in the finals. And LeBron realizes six for six not going to happen. And I can't get past that barrier. But I can shrink Michael Jordan's profile by doing something that has always made Michael feel smaller. As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, Michael's always chosen commerce over his conscience. Oh, absolutely. And LeBron even said, now that his son is getting older, these stories have resonated with him more,

starting with the Trayvon Martin situation. That's really what started propelling him. That was the genesis of this version of LeBron. So is it a coincidence that when Michael... Jordan and LeBron's compared to him. When LeBron goes O and two from that point forward, not able to shrink Michael's basketball gravitas. He goes into politics and makes politics crucial. And what is the one criticism of Michael? He's apolitical. I don't know that it's, I don't, I don't think it has anything to do with the basketball side of things. I think that

the culture and the temperature of the country wasn't the same when Michael was involved in that. Because now there's a there's a big outcry for michael to to speak out i mean he was just he was in that tweet that donald trump sent out about lebron i mean he he dragged michael into it people want michael to finally drop that and it does it not though make michael feel a little smaller that he won't completely completely because when you look at the entire picture of who they are as superstars you can't help but to always mention that lebron has gone out of his way to be involved in the community and michael for the most part stays quiet i don't think it has anything to do with basketball that LeBron

is doing any of this. I think this is who LeBron is. He's always wanted to be involved in the community in Akron and he's, this is not the beginning of what he's done for kids in Akron. He's sent hundreds of kids to college before he started this school. So none of this is new. I think this is who LeBron is. I think it's just now the climate

is so divisive and he keeps as you mentioned the other day, keeps getting dragged into this with Trump. I mean, if Trump tweets you and you're LeBron James, what are you going to do? Ignore it. You have to engage in it. So I think that he's almost being forced into this role. Whereas before it was more social issues, now it's become political because Donald Trump is a political figure. Yeah, and everything's political. Doug Gottlieb,

let's bring him in. Yes. Oh, I see here he's a contributor with the athletic now. The Doug Gottlieb show, weekdays after mine, Fox Sports Radio. Contributor, holy moly. Okay, here we go, Dugger. I started my show saying, I don't think any of this stuff. Let's roll, let's scroll down the things LeBron's part of right now. And our staff put this together today. These are just like things now LeBron that are part of LeBron's resume. I don't think they're time consuming

and time sapping. This is not a Ken Burns documentary, a 10 part on the Civil War. But I do think this is something. Is that basketball culture has changed in the last 20 years. From 16 years of age on, you the man. You start looking at how big LeBron

is now and you know man. LeBron's your boss. He's not a teammate. Jimmy Butler looks like a pedestrian basketball player, not what he is, which is one of the top 20 basketball players in the world. Is it possible? It's not the time and the energy that LeBron's projects take, Doug. Somebody else does most of the work.

I got a big staff. You've got a big staff, right? But it is... I don't have a big staff, right? Just for the record. But it is shrinking everybody else in basketball. And Paul George is like, he made Kevin Love into his ballet. Kevin Love was a 2513 guy.

Well, there's a bunch of stuff coming together because this is weird. I guess it's Tuesday because Monday was LeBron Love Fest, right? Yeah. Yesterday for you with the jazz and how there's no chance the jazz will ever be the Lakers in the playoffs. Today, it's like, wait, you're cautiously, I can't tell if you're optimistic or pessimistic about LeBron. I think LeBron, the kids are out in the yard playing and he's inside flexing in the mirror. Turn the headlights down, dim them a little. Be part of a community and your teammates.

Well, it's a great point. Look, LeBron has always been a look at it. me guy. And I understand that Michael Jordan somehow catches the wrath because he once said Republicans buy shoes too. But it's like we don't even point out the fact I think it was last year he gave $7 million to start two health clinics in Charlotte. Like he's been Philanthranic. Yeah. Philanthropic, yeah. Long before LeBron ever was. You know, he gave a million dollars to help a fund in terms of, you know, for the, when they had the riots in Charlotte for police officers. The difference is that he has never been willing to be front and center.

At the face of controversy, he's written checks and supported people politically in a different way. But I think what you're getting at is something that Chris Bosch pointed out a long time ago. When LeBron left Miami and Chris Bosch was left behind, remember kind of like Kevin Love, he got a new deal. He said this, you know, you still have to go through things. You still have to figure things out in your own. It's extremely difficult, extremely frustrating. He's going to have to deal with that. He was talking about Kevin Love at the time.

Yeah. He nailed it. Being the third wheel is the worst wheel to be on LeBron James Carter's success. Because Chris Bosch caught all the heat. When they played poorly against the San Antonio Spurs. Bosch. Bosch stinks, right? Oh, his supporting cast is awful.

When the Cavs played poorly, it was Kevin Love. Trade him. How do we hide Kevin Love? Trade him. We talked about trading him around the trade deadline. And so I do think that Kyrie Irving exposed something that Chris Ball, talked about that I'm sure Kevin Love feels, which is, no one's

disputing the fact he's one of the all-time great basketball players, but it's not easy. And while I agree with you, there's not, look, some basketball players in their off time, go looking for chicks, some play video games and Fortnite, you know, the young guys in the Lakers, Josh Hart, they play Fortnite.

LeBron James likes to delve into movies and the TV shows, and he actually likes to show up at his kids' events, which I think are a great thing. Yeah. You got plenty of it. There's only so much time in the day that you can, that you can dictate to basketball. That's the truth of it. You know, Michael Jordan used to play 1836 holes of golf,

then go play hands of poker all night, still have energy for basketball. These guys have a well of energy that most average human, most civilians could only dream of having. But it's a lot. And as you pointed out the entire year talking about him, he's a mogul, right?

He wants to be a mogul. There's a lot that comes with it. He's used to things being, so the questions are, can he get along with others? Can he fit into a system? He's never fit into a system. He's been the system. True.

You know, how will he evolve as a basketball player as he gets into his mid and at some point late 30s? Can he legitimately recruit players? Everyone says, I want to play with LeBron. Right. But do they actually want to play with LeBron? Good point. And then how does he deal with all of the different people pulling at him now that he's in Los Angeles? Everyone says you can do it, but like, dude, you've been in Miami?

That's cute. Okay? Miami's cute. In comparison to Los Angeles, it is night and day in terms of the, amount of people, amount of people pulling at you, and you can surround yourself with your crew, but there's still others that get in the way of it. In addition to the fact that he's playing mostly with younger players, and now their attention is going to be divided because they're part of the real Lakers as opposed to that group that's

been playing the last five years, frankly, embarrassing the name of the Lakers. Doug Gottlieb is joining us. That was a lot. No, that was good. Sorry, I got to catch my breath. That was a lot. Yeah, you unpacked a lot there. So I said this to start the show.

people, you know, the girl wants to date the edgy biker and the rock star. And then the rock star doesn't come home at night because he's a rock star. Right. You know, our former employee, Barstool Sports is edgy. They were there an hour. Okay, we're uncomfortable. Oscars with Seth McFarland. We want edgy.

We're getting too old. Ooh, he's mean. We don't want Seth MacFarland. Everybody says they love edgy. The New York Giants are boring. They're the greatest boring franchise ever. Their stars are boring. Correct.

Phil Sims, Hostetler, Bavaro, Carl Banks. They have been uncomfortable for multiple years with Odell. Now they're saying, we want to marry. We're putting a ring on that finger. We're going to make him the highest paid player. And I look at that and I think, his brand is the opposite of your brand. You are marrying somebody you have been uncomfortable dating for four years. There's a lot of truth.

Now, it should be pointed out the most popular giant. arguably the greatest giant ever is Lawrence Taylor. True. He was a lot to deal with all the football field, and that was back in the 1980s. As for O'Dell Beckham, Jr., here's the part that I find fascinating. You go back to right around the NFL draft, and we're talking about April, May, June, July, so we're talking four months ago.

Yeah. And there were talks that they were going to part company with him because there was the video of O'Dell Beckham, Jr., in a hotel room with a woman with what looked like cocaine. Right. And John Merritt comes out, and he's like, look, enough is enough. enough is enough. There was no commitment even from Dave Gettleman that he'd be on the roster,

be on the roster this year. So look, he's been on his best behavior for two months. Anybody can be on their best behavior in two months, especially when they're under contract. And it's in a contract year. I would disagree with you in terms of the value. And yeah, he's the party girl that you want to be very cautious in marrying. My only thing is, like, live with Odell Beckham.

you live with this version of O'Dell Beckham Jr. This is not the 1950s, 1960s where you got to pretend like you haven't spent the night at each other's house and then you get married so that you can know you're not living in sin. You can live in sin if you're the giants for a couple months. Let's see how he

deals with adversity. Let's see what happens when he has a big drop. Let's see what happens when Josh Norman is in his grow. Hell, let's see what happens when Jalen Ramsey talks trash to him and he has a big drop around the goal line. Or Eli Manning looks like the 37-year-old Eli Manning that many of us think he is in which he doesn't nearly have the talent that he used to have, and there were always

some flaws with Eli Manning. Eli throws five picks in two games, and the Giants lose a couple of games, and all of a sudden the papers are writing about him, and all the local radio hosts are on him. Let's see how he deals with it then. If he is then a great leader, if he is then a perfect spokesman, if he is then still a breakthrough wide receiver above the fray, then sure, give him a long-term deal. Fine. But you're under...

Dave Gettleman, their general manager said it'll happen in due time. at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is not before he's actually proven it. All right. Finally, you were at Cowboy Camp. I like Dak Prescott. He's not one of my concerns. You're not high on Dak Prescott.

Well, look, I think that we, I think you're overvaluing Dak Prescott and his leadership and how he handles the media. He's incredible with it. And if you ask every Dallas Cowboy, and I interviewed, I think, five of them yesterday, they'll all say the thing. I said, well, it's different,

Jack Prescott, year three, as opposed to Jack Prescott, year two, year one. And I asked them the same question. Off Air is on air. And they all say the same thing. The thing about Dak is he's never actually changed. Like, it was never too much for him. He always had good balance. He doesn't freak out when things go bad.

He just, he has a good, he has that quarterback presence about him. He is solid. But I'm just not sure how good he is. And then you look at their plan in terms of wide receivers. Do they have an alpha? I'm not saying they were wrong to park companies with Des Bryant, but is Alan Hearns that guy? I mean, is it, and then you throw out a bunch of mighty mites that have a ton of speed.

Like, do they have a dude? Because I think their plan is to find the mismatch and to create space with their speed. That sounds really good. But, you know, I love Blake Jarwin. He's replacing a legend. And I know that Jason Whitten, you know, raised a pregnant woman came in third. That's how slow he had become. But he still found a way to make it work.

How do the Cowboys make it work without an alpha wide receiver, without a true leader? at tight end is Dak Press got good enough. I think the offensive line is better. Zeeq is a magnificent talent, but do they have anyone who demands a double team from a cornerback and a safety? No, they don't. And the answer is no. So that means you better hope that the offensive line can demand eight guys in a box because he's not deadly accurate. That's just not who he is. Like there's a reason they don't like the back shoulder throws that they had with Romo as opposed to with Dak because he's just not that accurate. He's a really good leader.

He's very athletic. He's solid as the day is long. But I'm not sure he's as good a pure quarterback as you think he is. And case in point, when Ezekiela went down last year with the suspension, not down, when he was suspended for six years. They needed Dak Prescott to carry them, and he was not capable of carrying that team to the playoffs. Doug Gottlieb, good stuff. He is now a contributor to the athletic, which is full of the enemies of the people, the media. Well, you actually work for a measles.

organization. You two are the enemy of the people. I'm the enemy of people. You're the enemy of people. Joy's the enemy of the people. Joy, I've always thought you. I mean, well, you were specific about what people, but yes. Doug Gottlieb, everybody. Coming up next, we did some digging this morning. Why are wide receivers suddenly making a

fortune? Two new laws in America. Wow, that's a good tease. That's a good tease. Coming up next. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of terms. Dealer price. Invoice, list price. Here's what's not saving three grand off MSRP, new or used cars. So suddenly it has become a thing in the NFL.

For years and years, most of your smart NFL execs didn't want to overpay for wide receivers. There was a lot of holdouts with wide receivers. There was a lot of reluctance with wide receivers. We're not going to pay a ton of money. You can be divas. You get hurt. But here's what has happened in the last couple of months. Mike Evans, 55 million guaranteed.

Sammy Watkins, who gives you about three to four big catches a year, got a, I mean, that's a lot of cabbage. Jarvis Landry is a slot receiver. Got almost 50 million guaranteed. Brandon Cooks has been on three teams in three years. Almost 50 million guaranteed. Stefan Diggs, who I like, he got 72 large. What's happening? What in God's name is happening with all these execs that for years were raised?

reluctant to give wide receivers big money. Let me tell you what's happened. At the football meetings, there have been too big, we'll call them not just rule changes, but to the average person, they're like laws being changed. The catch rule was an anti-wide receiver rule. It took away great plays from wide receivers. That's been changed. So GMs are looking at the rule change with a catch rule that was an anti-wide receiver rule.

wide receiver rule. It will be now a pro wide receiver rule. And another new law slash rule. The late, the helmet hit rule. It's eliminating the crushing safety cornerback hit. Translation, wide receivers now can run unobstructed, no fear over the middle. And there's going to be the belief in NFL front offices. There's going to be an abhorstructed. There's going to be an abundance of helmet hit penalties. Translation, automatic first down, more balls to the offense.

So this is what happens in society. In 1996, you couldn't run pharmaceutical ads on TV. They passed a law you could. By 1997, pharmaceutical stocks skyrocketed. This is what smart accountants do with big corporations. They find loopholes. New laws, legislation. What general managers in the league are doing. there have been two rules changed and they are both very pro wide receiver rules.

The catch rule will give you 300 more catches this year that were eliminated. And those will be sprinkled through the league. And an even bigger one is the helmet hit rule. That's going to be automatic first downs throughout the league. Four more downs, three to four more opportunities for wide receivers. In fact, if I was a betting man, bet the overs. in Vegas the first couple of weeks of the NFL season. Scoring is going to be, this is my big prediction for the year.

Scoring is going to be dramatically up this year. How many touchdowns, first downs, and big catches taken away by the catch rule? All gone. How many times a big hit, jar a ball loose? No, penalty, first down. Look at the numbers on those receivers. Those are quarterback numbers a couple years ago. I mean, I like Mike Evans.

I don't love him. I mean, I like Sammy Watkins. He was the Rams' third most valuable receiver last year. Jarvis Landry's a slot guy. Brandon Cooks, I'm sorry, but he wasn't Gronk and he wasn't Enelman. I mean, Brandon Cook, he won Danny Amandola against Jacksonville. He never got open. Stefan Diggs, I like him.

Forty million guaranteed like him. Isn't that what you gave quarterbacks three years ago? Laws change. And the smart people, the smart accountants, the smart stock brokers, the smart people in business, jump on rule changes. And Andy Reid, who knows rules better than anybody, he saw those rule changes coming. Gimmie Sammy Watkins. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, JJ Watt has played in eight games in the past two years, but he appears to be making some progress in his recovery from a broken leg. He told Peter King he is confident that he will be able to return to his previous defensive player of the year form. He told him I don't expect anyone else to be convinced. I don't expect anybody outside to have a reason to believe that.

The last two very bad years. There were some dark moments in there. But I've always come out the other side of it better because of some of the experiences that I had. Think about this. Two years ago, the biggest young star quarterback was Andrew Luck and the biggest young star defensive player with JJ Watt. They've gone Bermuda Triangle for two years. So they're both returning this year.

And I think both are going to come back to a Pro Bowl level. I agree. I find the Texans would be very interesting because they're also getting Deshawn Watson back. So I'm going to be keeping a close eye on that team to begin with. But there's so many storylines that have been added back this year because of just the injuries alone. Not even the new rookies in this quarterback class. Nobody really knows what to expect from any of them or who's even going to be starting. But JJ Y is a significant star in the NFL. So it's good for the league that he's back.

Especially with all the talk about how defense is being devalued. God, he was just looking at him. him. Yeah. Okay, those people he's running over weigh 320 pounds. He's treating him like Legos. He's just flicking him. Do you think you could tackle anyone in the NFL?

The worst player in the NFL? I could tackle Baker Mayfield. What? He's my size. He's nine pounds heavier than I am. Are you telling me in a tackle drill I couldn't tackle Baker Mayfield? Colin. Well, I mean, I couldn't tackle.

Cam or Big Ben. Oh, you couldn't tackle him? I couldn't. Well, he's 6.6. He's 260, but I'm 1090. Extremely athletic. If Baker Mayfield was running down the sideline and I'm a free safety and I've got an angle on him, do I think I could cut his legs?

You think I couldn't? No, I don't. And listen, that's not, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. I don't think I could tackle him either. Okay. Cody Kessler. Okay. Poor Cody Kessler is just wearing it today, huh?

Not a good to be Cody on the show. He's a wonderful kid with a great family. I apologize. But Colin thinks he could tackle you. Okay, so it's speaking of Cam Newton. It's no secret how you feel about Cam Newton, although you don't think you could tackle him, which is, I think, wise to say.

NFL Networks, Dave Damshack discussed this morning why he thinks Cam will be a Hall of Famer. Say, listen. He is a distinct talent, the likes of which the NFL has literally never seen before or even since. He is the biggest player on the field. He is nearly unstoppable running the football. He is the greatest running quarterback of all time.

It's vexing to me that people don't seem to understand how special Cam Newton is to watch. If you've watched football for any amount of time, you understand that he has never had an equal. He's sort of like LeBron James. We've just never seen anything like him. No, he's not sort of like LeBron James. No, he's not even close.

He has championships and Cam doesn't. I also love a day when you can work in vex. I'm terribly vexed. It's a good word. We don't use it about it. He's never, Cam's never had back-to-back winning seasons. He's not LeBron James. But what, but I do think a comparison that Cam and LeBron do have is that they, well, physically, but also they're very polarizing.

Yeah. As you can hear in, as how vexed he is, that Cam will, Cam will, Cam has just zealots. People, he has zombies. You can never say anything bad about Cam. Cam is the greatest of all time. He is, he is to be protected at all costs. He doesn't do anything wrong. It's always the pieces around him.

Can we stop with this, though? You know, he's just never had good players around him. Greg Olson's going to go into the Hall of Fame, arguably. They have two elite offensive linemen. They have two good backs. He's had good enough wide receivers. And their front seven defensively is the best in the NFL, outside of maybe the Vikings. Like, let's stop.

That's a very hard argument to make for a lot of quarterback. If you have just an abysmal offensive line, everyone agrees on it. Or you go to Cleveland in the past 20 years. Aaron Rogers has had one great defense. Peyton Manning had one year of a great defense. Tom Brady has won Super Bowls with average everythings. Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl with no great wide receivers. He had Percy Harvin, who had migraines and couldn't get into games.

Let's stop with Cam never. That's just the weakest. First of all, this organization for Cam's careers had stability everywhere. Until recently, owner, coach, coordinator, defense. This is a well-run franchise. Let's stop making Carolina sound like the Jets. Carolina's well-run. And that's to be clear.

I like Cam Newton. I find Cam Newton very interesting. He is fun to watch. He can be inconsistent, but I think you can enjoy a player without being considered a hater for being critical of them. Yeah, I've said before.

I have him listed as my 12th best quarterback in the NFL. He's a great quarterback. 50 NFL executives two months ago listed him as their 11th best quarterback in the league. That's about what he is. You know where it started going wrong

for Cam really was the Super Bowl press conference, which I defended. I like grab anybody in the after they lose the Super Bowl in that fashion expect them to be in a great mood he's allowed to be emotional he's an emotional guy you knew that though anyway finally LeBron's arrival in L.A. has

created a lot of speculation about Ronnie Jr. About where he was going to play high school basketball and he is reportedly committed to playing at Crossroads High School in Santa Monica there's some talk about him going to Sierra Canyon because that's where Scotty Biffin Jr. plays and Kenyon Martin Jr. and Cassius Stanley but he's going to be going to crossroads

or reportedly he's going to crossroads. Can I bet crossroads high school basketball games? Can I bet them? Because I'm going to take them. From this point forward, I've got crossroads. I got the over on their win total. What is it? I don't know.

I don't think there's any sports. I like to see them play, actually. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is just, this is a reflection of LeBron's superstar of this nature that we're talking about where Bronny Jr. going to play. But it is closer to Brentwood, which is where LeBron has his house. Why are we

call him brawny? Brani? I think that's what everyone calls him. Brony. We didn't make that up. Everyone calls him Brony. Like the paper towels? Like can you just call? No, not Brony like Bronny. Bronny like LeBron. Like short for LeBron. Brony. I don't love Brony. I don't want my son. I don't want my son to be called Hurdy. Hey, there's a little Hurdy Jr. Yeah, but Hurdy, you're not, you're not literally hurty it would be like Collie Collie?

There's Collie Jr. Poor kids. Hasn't quite the ring. That's his family calls him. All right. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Lie News. T.J. Hushmanzada, one of my absolute favorite guests in the world. What do you do with Odell Beckham? A little bit of a diva? Pied in the end zone. Married a kicking net?

What do you do with him? T.J. Hushmanzada. gives me answers. I love him. Coming up next. Hyundai's new shopper assurance, transparent pricing, flexible test driving, streamlined purchasing. Learn more for yourself, HyundaiUSA.com slash shopper assurance. By the way, the elephant in the room,

the giants apparently want to offer Odell Beckham Jr. Like the biggest contract in the league. Like here's the elephant in the room on that. he's a small athlete who in four years has missed 17 games. Like, that's a lot of games to miss. That's like over four games a year. Larry Fitzgerald, huge athlete, has missed six games in 14 years. Calvin Johnson, nine years, missed eight games.

Julio Jones has been hurt once in his career. Mike Evans, no major injuries. DeMario Thomas hasn't missed a start in six years. Like I say the first thing joy I always look at with athletes is body. I like bigger, stronger athletes. Sam Darnold's bigger and stronger than Baker Mayfield. Sam Darnold's bigger and stronger than Josh Rosen or Lamar Jackson. He's a bigger, sturdier, truncier, stronger athlete.

If you look at quarterbacks in this league through the years, Dan Marino, thick, Aikman, Ben, you get very few Matt Ryan's, who's kind of thin. Matt Ryan and Alex Smith are the exception, and neither guy is a big vertical thrower. I like big, strong athletes. It's been the one thing about Jared Goff that worries me. He's kind of angular. He's kind of thin. He's not a world-class athlete, even though his dad played Major League Baseball.

Like, Odell Beckham's tiny. And by the way, he entered the league hurt. He got hurt in his first camp. So it's like the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about. You want to pay this guy a fortune. He got hurt last year. He's missed 17 games in four years. He came into this league, hurt with injuries, hurt in college, I think.

So it's something. Nobody wants to talk about it, but it's something, right? I mean, it obviously depends on the position, you know, but he just has this star factor. I know that you say that it's not that important because it's the Giants and it's New York and they can be all right without him. But someone is going to pay him despite the fact of the agent. And again, we show this.

off season. Aaron Donald can't get a discussion with the Rams. Kaleel Mack can't get a phone call from Gruden. Earl Thomas, Pete Carroll's ignoring him, and wide receivers are making a fortune because there's two new rule changes. The catch rule now favors receivers, used to be anti-wide

receiver, and the new helmet rule is going to have six penalties a game, giving more teams first down. So the NFL's legislation, their laws, are now pro-wide receiver. And with that, I bring on T.J. Hushmanzada, who played 11 years in the NFL. And I think because of those two situations, because of those two things, the catch rule now helps receivers.

And the helmet hit rule now helps receivers. They're making a lot of money. Let's go back to your career. Did the catch rule change for you during your career? No, it didn't change it. So you entered the league and the catch rule was in effect? When I came in the league, remember, you had to have, if you had one foot in and they were pushing you out, it was kind of a judgment call. That was still a catch.

came into the league. And that got eliminated. That got eliminated. But as far as, to me, if it looks like a catch, it's a catch. Okay. So that is now back to what I grew up with. Right. So my theory on this, TJ, is why the receivers are getting massive money now. The helmet rule is now a pro-wide receiver rule. You can't hit anybody. They're important now. They're going to give, there's going to be over 300 penalties this year easily on helmet hits. That's just automatic first downs. There's going to be 300 catches granted this year that would would be taken away last year. So you're going to have 600 plays in the NFL season that benefit wide receivers.

And my takeaway is that's the best argument for Kevin Odell Beckham. The worst argument is he gets hurt a lot. He's a small player and he's a diva. Would you as a GM sign him? I would sign him. You look at, number one, he's young. He's still really young. Number one.

Number two is you look at the Giants' offense without him last year. They could not move the ball. They could not move the ball. they did not perform well without Odell Beckham in the lineup. And so you put him in a lineup and create matchups. You're going to get single high coverage

opposite of him and you're going to get cloud coverage to him, meaning there's no run support. There's no safety support to his side. And if you do do that, he's going to each one-on. Sequin Barclay's emergence for them is going to leave him single covered. No.

I'm saying O'Dell Beckham, him being on the field is going to help Seekoine out because they will not stack the box. They'll say you're going to run the ball. And then once Sequin shows them that I can do this, then they'll show. Now it's a cat and mouse type of game where it's a guessing game. Is a coordinator going to play the runner? Is he going to play the pass? Okay, I'm going to talk.

Now, this is a real alpha male thing, but how tall are you? 6-2. And you're a tall, 6-2. And you're about 2-10? 2-10, yeah. Okay. Okay. Now, by radio standards, I'm very muscular.

But compared to you, I'm just nobody. So here's my thing. In the room, it matters. When Calvin Johnson walks into a room, you're like, when Larry Fitzgerald, size matters. When Cam Newton walks into a room, guys are like, brough. Yeah. So Hugh Jackson didn't mean this to be a negative. But he was asked about Baker-Mayfield yesterday.

And he goes, well, listen, we had Cody Kessler. And we tried to, and I thought to myself, time out. When you look at Baker, he looks like Cody Kessler. If Cam Newton was their number one pick, would you ever in a sentence put Cody Kessler in camp? No. They've never been mentioned in the same sentence. Here's my knock on, Baker. He's a two-time walk-on.

He's no taller than me. He's not impressive physically. He doesn't have a cannon like Wentz. That plays in the room. And Hugh Jackson was inadvertent when he said, you know, I've had a couple players here in the past, didn't play on the National Football League. Why put him out there? If 65-25-pound Peyton Manning was drafted number one, you wouldn't make those comments. But I think physically, Baker Mayfield doesn't blow you alpha males away, doesn't blow Hugh Jackson away.

And I think it matters. Do you think Cleveland Brown guys right now look at Baker and think, that's John Elway, do you? I mean, when he obviously walks in a room, you're not going to be wowed by his size. But Tyrod Taylor isn't very big either. Yeah, but you played with Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer is a monster. Okay, that's my point. Joe Flacco is a big, yeah.

Okay, so my whole point to you is, doesn't that matter some among alphas? It really depends on how he looks on the practice field, to be honest with you. As soon as training camp starts, everybody wants to prove a point. Baker-Mayfield is no different. And so if he's playing well,

you'll overlook that size immediately. If he's not playing well, you'll say, damn, why they draft him, man? He's small too. And so it really depends on how he's playing in practice, how he performs in practice. But if he struggles in the back of your mind, of course you're going to say, why we draft him? Because by the way, Cam can make mistakes, never had back-to-back winning seasons, always has support.

But Baker Mayfield, I'm eager to see how he plays because he's a winner. All he does is win. And his mind must process information very quickly. You can't see that. You can't, you're not able to judge that unless you're in a meeting rule with him. You can't. He must process information very quickly because he's had a lot of success in college. Yesterday I saw another story on the Cowboys' concerns with Dak Prescott.

And it's really funny. I didn't like him in college. I thought he was a better version of Tebow. I called him when he broke into the league, DAC and Dunk underneath stuff. And didn't have a big arm. And, and but I look at the Cowboys' Concerns, and Ezekiel Elliott, Sean Lee's health, cornerback depth, situational coaching, Jason Witten's gone as safety valve.

What do you see when you see DAC? Now, just put yourself, you're a wide receiver for the Cowboys. What do you see? What am I missing or what am I seeing? I see a quarterback that we can win with, but I don't see a quarterback that is going to get me to the Pro Bowl, help me get to the Pro Bowl that's going to game in and game out

if need be throw for 300 yards. I don't see that. But he's still young. he hasn't played a lot of football. I mean, it's his third year. He started as a rookie. And so if they can keep the offense the same, it will make it easier for him because he won't be thinking.

Now, they'll start adding little wrinkles to certain plays because he knows the offense inside out. But he's not the type of quarterback where you're going to say, okay, I'm going to get 100 and catches 12 to 1,300 yards. At least he hasn't presented that to me yet. So you see him as good. Yeah, he's a good player. He's a guy that he's going to,

Take what the defense gives them. He's not going to really. No big mistakes. Not going to make many mistakes. Doesn't make a ton of those. He'll check it down when he has to. He won't force the ball down the field unless he needs to, but he hasn't shown that he will do that thus far in his career.

By the way, when you get to an NFL season, so we're just starting now, a couple minutes left, we're just starting in the games. The Hall of Fame game almost doesn't count. I mean, you don't even have a third of your playbook in. But how did you as a veteran play? player go into a preseason. What are you trying to accomplish?

If I watch the games this weekend and I see a veteran on the field, do you even, what matters to you now? Number one, once you play four or five years, you just want to get through the game healthy, number one. And you're trying to figure out. Sometimes if you've had a good camp, the team, the coaches will kind of tell you how long you're going to play. But if camp has been horrible, they won't tell you.

And so you just kind of go to the quarterback like, hey, Carson, how long are you going to play too? because if you know he's going to be in two series, you're probably going to be in two series with him. And so it's really just get out of it healthy. As the preseason starts to go further, you've got to start really honing in on game planning and their tendencies defensively down in distance.

But the first game, you just want to get out of it because you're sore. You're really sore. By the way, how many plays would you go into your first preseason game with? 8, 12, 15? No, we'd have the whole playbook pretty much. Wow. We'd have the whole playbook, We wouldn't call.

We would call our base plays. Because you got to understand, you go through the offseason OTAs, you go through training camp, and you're installing everything. You're installing everything. But especially for the younger guys, it's the base plays. For us, we have the entire playbook. We will not use it, not the first game. So of all the young quarterbacks, Darnold, Rosen, Baker, Lamar, Josh Allen, 15 seconds.

Which one do you want to watch the most? Oh, man. I want to see how Josh Rosen plays. I just, Josh Rosen is my guy, so I want to see how he performed. I'll tell you what. He throws the best football.

He throws the best looking football. Oh, yeah, Arizona lost their starting center yesterday. So whatevs? Listen, Sam Darnold, or Sam Bradford and Josh, that's a bad O line. They're going to have to deal with that. T.J. Husbandata, great stuff.

Hour number three is coming on. Live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. This is the herd. wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Hour number three live.

You got to go see Mission Impossible. I know I was on that yesterday. Oh, my God. Top 20 movie of all time. Have you seen it yet, Goulet? Top 20 movie of all time. I may go to it again tomorrow. It's better than the Godfather.

What's so funny about it's better than the Godfather? Father. It's not better than Goodfellas, but it's better than The Godfather. LeBron is in the news again, but it has nothing to do with the Lakers, so let me start with that. LeBron's added a new show to his repertoire of shows. He is now doing a three-part documentary series on Showtime called Shut Up and Dribble. It's about LeBron, and it's got a little bit of politics in it.

That's set to do in October. Yep, in October it is due to air. He is also doing a show on an HBO in August called The Shop, and I'm not worried about the time these shows drain from him. I'm not worried about the energy these shows asked. He's not doing a 10-part series like Ken Burns on the Civil War. Other people will do a majority of the work. I am not in the least bit concerned about the time he would put in for these shows.

What it once again shows is LeBron is an asset, and right now, LA's number one asset, and people are lining up, Showtime, HBO, production companies, movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio, lining up to work with LeBron. And I am not in the least bit phase by the time and effort these little projects will take. Oh, but I am concerned about symbolism because symbolism matters. Here's my concern with LeBron now. He's battling Trump. HBO, showtime, politics, production company, pizza chain,

clutch sports representing Ben Simmons, asked two weeks ago or two days ago or maybe two moments ago. Would you think about running for president? And you do realize what is happening as all this is transpiring. LeBron is shrinking other players in the league. Jimmy Butler, Kauai Leonard, Clay Thompson. LeBron James would not be your teammate.

He'd be your boss. Nobody wants to play with their boss. I'm a big fan of LeBron. But the basketball culture in America from AAU on is you the man. LeBron is creating a culture that if you play with him, you know man. Kevin Love averaged 25 and 13. He was a perennial all-star, an elite power forward. Playing with LeBron, he became his valet.

Chris Bosch, first time, first ballot, absolute lock for the Hall of Fame. Playing with LeBron, he became the other, other guy. LeBron. The kids are outside. They want to play. You're looking at yourself flexing in the mirror. Why don't you join the kids outside? Michael Jordan waited primarily until his career was over. Kobe Bryant won an Oscar after he quit shooting jumpers.

I'm all for business. And I don't think it gets in the way hours-wise of LeBron James. But symbolism matters. and while you're battling the president, everybody else is battling Darren Collison and Rudy Gay and their basketball players and that's what they should be.

We've seen what's happened to Tom Brady when he's gone non-football. We have the weakest New England roster and the worst chemistry between coach, owner, and quarterback in its 18-year run. I'm not anti-Lebron. You know I love him. And I'm not anti-business. But the reason the Golden State War

work is because Kevin Durantz pulled back and given time in the ball to Steph. And the reason Steph works because he's come little down, pulled down, less commercials, fewer shots, more about everybody.

The reason the Warriors dynasty works is because it's communal. It's supportive. It's about us and we not. HBO, showtime, Netflix, Pizza game, production company,

clutch sports, represent Ben Simmons. Will you be president? And I like the guy, but Laurent symbolism matters. You win. You're the guy. You're the man. You are shrinking the profile of every player in the league. You know when you're driving on the freeway,

somebody's got the brights on? LeBron, turn the brights off. Be one of us. We for a second. Let me shift gears to this. People often say they want to date edgy, and be edgy, and hang with edgy. I don't like edgy. I am not edgy.

I'm as edgy as a boiled egg. My kids are edgy. I'm not really edgy. But a lot of people say they like edgy. They like the idea of edgy, but they don't really like edgy. ESPN. We're going to put that show on Barstool on our network.

It's going to be, whoa, I'm not comfortable with Barstool. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. The Oscars. We're going to put Seth MacFarlane on. Seth MacFarlane is edgy. Whoa, you offended everybody. Whoa, whoa.

The New York Giants for the last four years have never been comfortable with O'Dell Beckham. And there's a reason they've never been comfortable. They like the idea of being married to O'Dell, Beckham. But they have been, and they've been uncomfortable. The New York Giants in a city of stars are the most boring great franchise ever. Four Super Bowls. They even got the most boring manning in the family. I mean, if you look at the history of the New York Giants, look at their stars. Mark Bavarro, Phil McConkey, David

Tyree, Jeff Hostetler, Phil Sims, anybody got an espresso? even your stars are boring. Odell Beckham is everything the New York Giants are not. Flashy, crazy, unpredictable. I mean, if I say Odell Beckham and you start listing the things that come to your mind, one hand catch, the boat, blunt, model and blow in a hotel room in Paris, peeing in an end zone, proposing to a net, That's his brand.

And by the way, the Dallas Cowboys probably comfortable with it. L.A. Rams probably comfortable with it. A lot of teams comfortable. Miami Dolphins comfortable with it. The New York Giants are an accounting firm in cleats. It is the most boring, conservative, great franchise in American sports. In New York, usually your stars are like Walt Frazier, Ruth, Garrig, Arad, Mantle. They're stars, right?

The New York Giants, stars, even they're boring. Great, but boring. But the story today, they want to make him the highest paid wide receiver in the league. And then, gang, you're really in a marriage. The idea of edgy is one thing. Married to edgy, committed to edgy, long-term relationship with edgy is quite another. You know, by the way, you know, I was thinking, talking about LeBron, business, and O'Dell Beckham. It made me think of Michael Strayhan.

Strayhand's really in the business, got into it mostly after he played. And O'Dell Beckham, you know, you say, well, what about Strayhan? Strayan was never controversial when he was with the team. So, again, I'm not anti-business with LeBron, but he's getting to the point now. He's producing like 40 shows. He looks so big. and he's shrinking players. Kevin Love, Chris Bosch, like shrunk. Paul George said, I don't want to shrink. Is Kauai Leonard thinking, I don't want to shrink? Is Jimmy Butler thinking, I want mine? I don't want to shrink.

I'm just saying, you know I love LeBron. I'm not anti-business. But you get to a point where you start to be political. You start to be, and I understand causes. You start to be business. You're on this, show. LeBron's getting to the point where nobody wants to party with their boss. Nobody wants to play with their boss. Nobody wants to play hoops with their boss. That stuff, it kind of matters. Coming up next, the strangest diet in the NFL. We'll play a game. The strangest diet in the NFL. And Hugh Jackson says, Baker Mayfield's not playing. He's not starting. And I'm not changing my mind. Peter King had thoughts on that coming up next. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of different terms, dealer price, list price, invoice.

Newer use, go to Truecar.com, look up their true price. You could save $3,000 off MSRP. My big prediction, I don't have Blazing 5 for another month, but my big NFL prediction this year, if I have any, is scoring is going to be way up. It's going to be way up for two reasons. Well, three reasons. Number one, Aaron Rogers is back. Carson Wendt is back.

DeShon Watson is back. Andrew Luck is back. We have four elite quarterbacks. I believe I haven't seen a ton of Deshawn Watson, but I think he's elite. We have four great quarterbacks coming back. So that's the first thing. Scoring's going to be up.

Brett Hunley to Aaron Rogers, that's a different style of football. The second thing is the catch rule is in. So we're going to have 300 catches this year, minimum. I mean, if you take how many games in an NFL season? 32 teams, 16 games, do the math. Will there be one catch a game that is allowed that would have been overturned? So let's just say, I've been saying 300 all show. What is 32 times 16?

That's like 400 something. So let's say you have 450 more catches this year. Some of those 12 to 30 will be touchdowns. So I get four great quarterbacks back, Wentz, Aaron, luck, Deshawn Watson. Those are difference makers. Those are high passing touchdown quarterbacks. They're in.

Number two is you're going to have 450, somewhere between 3 and 500 catches that are allowed this year. Many are going to be touchdowns. because of the catch rule. And the other one, and this is not a small thing, and this is why we're seeing, I showed this earlier, this is why we have all these wide receivers getting quarterback money. This was quarterback money four years ago.

Jarvis Landry's a slot receiver. He's getting 47 million guaranteed. Brandon Cook's three teams, three years. DeFawn Dick, Sammy Watkins can't stay anywhere. Mike Evans, I like him. I don't like him for 55 million guaranteed. Here's the third one. This is why they're being signed.

Catches are now catches. Quarterbacks are, star quarterbacks, not just quarterbacks, star quarterbacks. And the third thing, we have this new helmet hit rule. There are going to be three penalties a game on this. And what happens when you have a penalty? Automatic first down. You're going to have more possessions, extended drives.

So that's my theory on why O'Dell Beckham now is getting phone calls from the Giants. And Aaron Donald is not from the Rams. Is that this is what smart businesses do. They find loopholes. They find changes. and in legislation and laws, and they buy stock. This is what people did in the mid-90s with pharmaceutical companies. For years, you couldn't put a pharmaceutical ad on TV.

If you watch a football game now, good Lord, Seattle is everywhere. I mean, it's all about, you know, irritable bowels. You have a bad heart. You've got a bad ticker. You've got skin lesions. I mean, it's just one pharmaceutical ad after another. Why? Because in 96, you were allowed after years of disallowing it.

You were allowing pharmaceutical ads. everybody buys pharmaceutical stock and it's all exploded. This is what's happening in the NFL. Catch rule change, helmet rule introduced. Offense, offense, offense, offense, offense. Rogers back, luck back, wen's back to Sean Watson back. There you go. So, I mean, and I don't think it's a bad thing.

I mean, but I think the NFL this year, my big guarantee in the NFL scoring's way up. And, you know, we've seen, you know, we've seen over the last couple years, ratings are down, and I think a lot of it's been overplayed. the Pro Bowl last year beat like NBA playoff games. The Pro Bowl, which is unwatchable and I'm a football fan. Do you see the Hall of Fame game number? The Hall of Fame game number, which is the worst football game of the year.

I mean, it's just bad. Nobody really plays that can play. Flacco plays a series. Then it's RG3, then it's Lamar. That beat game like six of the Stanley Cup finals. So, you know, you've got to take everything. Linear TV numbers are coming down. You've got to take everything in perspective.

Here's what I know. at Fox we have the NFC. Every single team has a franchise quarterback. I've never seen that in my life. We get Stars, Wentz, and Aaron are back in the NFC, and then Luckin to Sean in the AFC, and we've got five new quarterbacks. All those stories are captivating.

I can't wait to watch Darnel with the Jets. I can't wait to watch Baker. I think Josh Rosen and Arizona is going to start really soon, and I think by November Lamar Jackson's going to get inserted into the Ravens' Offenses quarterback, at least in series. So all interesting stuff. When you're ready to buy a new car, Hyundai Shopper Assurance program, flexible pricing, streamline purchasing.

Makes it easier. Stress free. Go to HyundaiUSA.com slash shopper assurance. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Colin, you've talked a lot about the Giants today. Sequin Barclay.

He played an offensive system that always lined up in the shotgun, and he's getting ready for something different in Pat Schumer's offense, which includes lining up behind a fullback. Yes. He told New Jersey Advanced Media, honestly, I've never done that in college, but I've been watching film and seeing the great backs set up their blocks, seeing how key the fullback is. So I continue to grow in that role and build a relationship on the field with the fullback. I really feel like I feel like I can help take my game to the next level. Now, that position is obviously the easiest to transfer from college to the pros. but a lot is riding on Sequin in this offense and this particular year.

Joel Klaat came on my show six months ago and said something that is indisputable. Sequin Barclay at the college level was not a 28 carry running back. Like everybody in New York, everybody around the NFL, I read all these stories. They're like, oh, it's going to be a bell cow. No, he's not. He's way more Reggie Bush than, you know, Adrian Peterson. a home run hitting running back. When he was at Penn State,

you know, he was carrying the ball 16, 18. You wasn't a 30-carry guy. Right. So he's going to be a nice, complimentary piece. If you think he's Ezekiel Elliott, he's not Ezekiel Elliott. He's not, but I think a lot of people have those kind of expectations of him. Oh, no, I think you're right. Especially because of the giant season last year.

Listen, Ezekiel Elliott's a bigger, stronger guy who's a better blocker. Sequin's a home-run hitter. Think about it like this. You know, there's lead-up. hitters. There's cleanup hitters. Like in baseball. Everybody, Tony Gwynn's going to hit singles. Wade Boggs going to hit singles. And, you know, Bryce Harper's going to jack it.

Cody Bellinger Dodgers is going to jack it. This is a guy that can come on, the little swing pass, make people miss. He's going to be really exciting. But people slow down. In fact, I think, and I like, I like Sequin Bartley, I think the kid that's going to

blow up in the league initially is Nick Chubb at Cleveland. And he's... Oh, I think he... Now, I don't I think Sequin Barclay is flashier than Nick Chub who went to Georgia. My prediction, I should do tomorrow my five upset predictions than the NFL. Nick Chubb will win the AFC offensive rookie of the year. See, Nick Chub, to me, can take more of a beating than Saquan Barclay. And in this league, it's all about can you take the hits.

So I think Barclay is going to be a 12 to a 15 carry guy. Do you think they can do that? He can win that while the Browns win six games? Yes, because you know why? Because people are, first of all, people are going to be paying so much attention to Cleveland because of Baker Mayfield. They're going to be watching Cleveland Brown games. And I think Nick Chub's going to be the rookie shock of the NFL is Nick Chubb running back from Georgia to Cleveland Browns. And the Giants are your sleeper.

Dark course. I like him. But to your point, I think we're overstating Sequin Barclay's role. He's going to be a 12 to 16 carry kid. It's not to say he's not going to be great. I just don't have Ezekiel Elliott expect. expectations of him. So the other New York team, Jets took Sam Darnold with third overall pick, and they've repeatedly made it clear. It'll be an open competition for a starting job.

And Todd Bowles is apparently hoping to keep his choice close to the vest. It's going to be revealed once his team takes the field week one. Stick listen. You got to play preseason games. I'm not in the hypotheticals and nothing that hasn't happened yet. But we don't let them play. And then after the fourth preseason, sometime that week, I'll make my decision and then go from there. I'm not pinpointed to any decision. When the guy runs out on the field Sunday, on week one, you'll see what the start is.

Kind of like him, you know? I like top balls. It's very easy to rip a coach when the team loses. I can absolutely say last year, the team that overachieved more than any of the National Football League was the New York Jets. I, they won, what did they go, six and ten, and they had two games stolen from them. one at home against the Patriots. People in New York are impatient to fast-moving city. I think Todd Bowles is good.

I think Jets fans have a little more patience than Giants fans. Yes. But I don't know. I guess I like him waiting until week one. It's going to be Sam Darnold, though. It feels like it. It feels like it. And I think it should be.

Finally, speaking of rookie quarterback controversies, I feel like I can't say that enough. The Browns are coming off a winless season. they took Baker Mayfield number one overall. Don't plan on starting him. And New Brown's offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, told Diana Rossini that the current starter, Tyrod Taylor, is going to prove this year he's not just a placeholder. He's a long-term quarterback.

All right. Do we have a bite with that? No. This is just me, this is me seething over the fact that the Browns took Baker number one overall and are now planning on making or at least talking about Tyrod as if he's the future of the franchise. They're doing hard knocks, you know? Yes. Let me tell you something.

It premieres tonight on HBO, Hard Knocks Cleveland. So I'll be watching that tonight. Ask yourself this. Name a relationship that has had a reality show that's ever strengthened the relationship. Have you watched that Jay Cutler, Kristen Cavalieri thing? Boy, he is grumpy. Well, I mean, it was probably grumpy before they got married. I'm sure she was aware of his grumpiness.

If we're that aware of his grumpiness, I'm sure she caught onto it. I just don't, I don't, I'm now of the belief that Hugh Jackson did not make this decision. That this was made above him to take Baker, number one overall. In the same way that the Mansell choice was made without the coach's consent. Like, it's very obvious that he was trying to win games and he feels like Tyrod is the one to do that, which he may be completely right about that. But when you take a quarterback number one overall in the draft, and you don't start him. That either tells me,

A, that the coach didn't make that decision, you very much overreached and picked him because he's already a superstar before he came into the league. Or, I forget what I'm doing, numbers or C, I'll just go C or three. You don't know what you're doing. And you didn't make the right decision

that you really needed another position that high up and you just swung for the fences. But if you're not starting him, if he's not ready to go with the number one overall pick, you made a mistake. That's just how I feel. Joy, tell her with the nose. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. People know that, and I've never tried to hide this. There are certain quarterbacks. They come into the league and I'm with them or against them. I've been very much a Russell Wilson guy from day one. Very much pro-Russell Wilson. I've said I've always pushed back on Cam and Matt Ryan a little bit.

Matt Ryan's good, B-plus, you know, 10th best guy in the league. not go crazy. Cam's about 12th best guy in the league. That's not go crazy. But the two guys that I like more than most, I think Russell Wilson will be a first ballot Hall of Fame, or he should have been MVP last year. He had nothing to work with, nothing, and let the NFL

and touchdown passes. And the second one is Andrew Luck, who came in and did something that Tom Brady could not have done. Took a bad offensive line and no running game to 11 and 5, 11 and 5, 11 and 5. And Peter King, we had on earlier, travels around the NFL, and he talks to all these, he talks to all these camps and all these people.

And he had, he went to the Colts camp and he talked to Andrew Luck. And I asked him, you watched him, Peter. You saw him throw any concern with Andrew Luck after you saw him, Peter, at Colts camp being ready to play week one. Not at all, Colin. He looked like you would never have known he was heard if, if you didn't, if you just watched that practice and didn't know his history and didn't. and didn't know that he hadn't played in a game in 19 months.

But he looked absolutely normal. I think the biggest thing for him is how he's being managed. You know, normally in an average football practice in the summer, a quarterback's going to throw 100 balls. That includes serious warm-up throws and things. I mean, he threw 68. And so they're documenting every throw he makes. And Frank Wright, the coach told me,

They want him in every practice that he throws to throw between 65 and 70 balls. And they were right on it that day. But the one other thing is, look, he's probably not going to feel perfect on opening day in five weeks. But I do think, I mean, there's no question in my mind he'll play opening day and barring anything structural going wrong. He should play 16 games. You know, I said to open my show today that a lot of people like edgy. The Oscars thought they wanted Seth McFarland, and then they had him host it, and they got really uncomfortable.

And my former employers thought they wanted barstool sports, and then they hired them, and then they got really uncomfortable. The New York Giants are an accounting firm in cleats. They are mostly conservative, not over the top. Even their stars, Phil McConkey, Mark Bavarrow, have not been flashy players, Jeff Hostetler, Phil Sims. Well, I read this morning they want to make Odell Beckham. They're going to go long term with Odell.

I look at this relationship. The Giants brand and Odell's are the opposite. I think they've been uncomfortable for three years with him. I think they were uncomfortable in the 80s with Lawrence Taylor at times. And he gave him reason to be uncomfortable. I covered that team in the mid-80s for four years. And they had some sleepless nights at the top of the New York Giants. I mean, they love Lawrence Taylor to player.

They were very worried about Lawrence Taylor off the day. field. And I think there's some of that with Odell. But I mean, look, here's the way I look at it. You know, if you are going to be great in the NFL today, you've got to take some chances. Everybody isn't a Boy Scout. And at this point, I think it's important that the Giants barring any future incidents of stupidity by Odell Beckham Jr. I think they got to sign him. Well, J.J. Watt hasn't played in a while. You were in Texans. And I know you remember just how devastating he was. There's all these young players now and Vaughn Miller's getting the cover of magazines.

So in Houston, what kind of JJ Watt are we going to see? Well, you know, JJ Watt over his four-year period when he was truly great, a transcendent player, 2012 to 2015, had more sacks in any four-year in that four-year period than Lawrence Taylor ever had over four-year period than Bruce Smith ever had in a four-year period. Wow. And he was unstoppable and he was also very versatile. He had three touchdown catches as a tight end. And so I go to camp and I'm looking for every sign and I see the JJ Watt that looks like

he wants to rip my head off when we're talking. And I'm exaggerating a bit, but he was intense when we talk. And to me, I really think that his. situation right now is that he knows he has been invisible for two years because of injury. Yep. And he knows now that, okay, it's getting to be just a memory of how great he was. And so he knows that and he told me, hey, look, I've told my family, I'm not going to tell you, but I have my goals for this year.

And I think he absolutely, his goal is to get back to NFL defensive player of the year form. Peter King joining us NBC Sports, weekly Monday morning column NBCSports.com, Football Morning in America, three-time national sports writer of the year. He's got the Peter King podcast, which I listen to and is great. So this is by most standards, I watch a little bit of the preseason, but I'm not enamored with it. But I got to tell you, Peter, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen. I cannot remember John Gruden. I cannot remember a preseason where there were more of these mysterious, enigmatic, hopeful stories.

So Baker Mayfield, what am I going to get here? You know, I was at Brown's camp last week, and Hugh Jackson pulled me off to the side after practice. And we were talking, and I've talked to Hugh many times about this subject and others about the quarterback position. and he said to me, and I quote, I am not changing my mind. And, you know, about starting Tyrod Taylor and Tyrod Taylor is going to be his guy, I think barring something weird that happens,

which it might, it's Cleveland. But I think what was interesting is he said to me that one day Baker Mayfield's going to thank me. And because I think some of the best quarterbacks ever, you know, basically have been the freezer in that first year. Brett Farrv didn't play. Aaron Rogers didn't play. Carson Palmer in 2003 was the first pick in the draft and the Bengals gave him a redshirt year. And I, you know,

I talked to Tim Couch last week whose, you know, career is an example of what you shouldn't do with a young quarterback. And he said, just patience, patience, you know, don't force this guy into the lineup. And I think Hugh Jackson realizes that, and I know this is going to sound strange, Colin, but even if it costs him his job, he's going to do the right thing for this kid. Hard Knocks

on HBO with the Cleveland Browns. Coming up next, we have a brand new game that I and Tom Brady, I'm told, will be absolutely

terrible at. And Joy will play along. That is coming up next in Best for Last. When you're ready to buy a new car, Hyundai is on your team. Shopper Assurance Program, flexible test driving, streamlined purchasing, transparent pricing, three-day worry-free vehicle exchange, HyundaiUSA.com slash shopper assurance. Well, we do it every day at this time.

Joy, we call it Best for Last. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last. Well, we know that Tom Brady-Joy has the most famous diet, most famous diet in the NFL, TB12. Right. But that's not like muscle building. He's trying to stay lean and healthy and live longer.

But what about, we know now, we think we found the grossest diet in the NFL. So the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a defensive end who's talented, but they're trying to put weight on. They put them on a 9,000 calorie a day diet. Now, that is 9 to 10 meals a day, 9,000 calories. He drinks seven protein shakes per day, and that's just 10% of his diet. He had a quote here. When asked about 9,000 calories a day, He said, quote, I don't really look at food like I like it anymore.

I'm just eating, man. That just sounds so sad. Now, my staff knows how I eat. Because of what I do for a living, I cannot eat big meals during the course of my show or day. Right. Because, what is it, red blood count, your body crashes and you get tired. So I can't eat during my show. I can have half a cup of oatmeal in the morning, half a power bar.

half an apple and I just had three bites of soup. I would like to eat more. I'd love a big sub sandwich. I'm a picker, as John says. You are. Yes, you are. And you'll travel back to the little snack table in the back. You are a grazer.

I'm a total grazer. But you'll grab like a handful of Cheerios and then come back. That's it. I could not tell you. Now, do you actually put your hand in the charios? Yeah. Okay, so the point is. That's an announcement to everyone that works here.

Okay. So the point is I don't have any idea what 9,000 calories is as we play this game. Get ready to play the one game show guaranteed to make Tom Brady sicker than when he watches highlights from the last Super Bowl. It's time for is this 9,000 calories? All right. Joey and I are playing. Let's go ahead, John. Okay, so remember this is a question if this is at 9,000 calories.

It's not an over-under situation. Everybody watching right now is this 9,000 calories? 30 cheeseburgers. Okay, can I do just a little bit of math? Go ahead. 30 cheeseburgers. Hold on just a little math. Now, so you're saying...

Would that be 9,000 calories? It has to be exactly that. Yeah, is that exactly 9,000. So if I feel like it's over, I would say no. Correct. Okay. What are you going to say? I'm going to say, I think it's over, so I'm going to say no.

I think it's under. John? So you both don't think it's 9,000. Calories. Right. Wrong. 9,000 calories is 30 cheeseburgers. Now, just think about that. I think... 300 calories each, you know, you can do the math. Oh, my God. 30 cheeseburgers. I was thinking that, well, I guess it depends on where you're getting cheeseburgers.

I'm serious about this. I'm a grazer. I couldn't eat two in one day. If you give me a big cheeseburger at lunch, I couldn't eat one for dinner. You can't have two cheeseburgers? No, I couldn't either. Man. All right, next one. 13 large fries. Oh, that's under. That's... Isn't that one? Large fries?

Oh, God. 13 large fries. Yeah, I'm going to go under. Under. You are both correct. That is only 6,200 calories. So that's 70. You would need to have 19 large fries to get to 9,000.

Okay. Is it 9,000 calories? Five gallons of whole milk. Oh. Oh, my God. That is over. Oh, my God. That is over.

You're going over 9,000. Okay. So you think it's not. Not 9,000 calories. Joy? My hand just got sweaty at the thought. I'm going to go, I'm going to go yes. Joy is correct. Five gallons of whole milk is 9,000 calories.

Colin, you were wrong. A gallon of milk is 1,800 calories. Even with a big box of Ovalteen, I couldn't do that. Oh my God, it's so gross. Okay. Is six large pizzas 9,000 calories? Yes. No, it's under. I think that's,

You think that's 9,000 calories. I say no. I say it's probably about 7,000. Okay, so it is not 9,000 calories, but Colin, you were way off. It is 14,400 calories. How many pizzas? Six large pizzas. A large pizza is 2,400 calories itself.

I could easily get closer to eating six large pizzas in a day than 30 cheeseburgers. I could eat two pizzas in one day. If you gave me a pizza in the morning, like that's the first thing I ate, A whole pizza to start your day. I would be sick. A large pizza? No, but I would just go to the steam room. I'd work out.

I'd do sit-ups. There's no amount of workout you could do to burn off a large pizza for breakfast. Okay. Is 67 scoops of vanilla ice cream 9,000 calories? No. It's a face full of pimples. Ice cream's terrible for your skin. I did not know that.

So she says no, Colin? I think you did a very obvious. random number. I say for the first time that is 9,000 calories. Colin, you are correct, Joy, you are wrong. Sixty-seven scoops of vanilla ice cream is apparently bad for your skin and 9,000 calories. Each scoop

134. He has to eat. No Spence has to eat this every day. Okay. Is 74 hot dogs with buns 9,000 calories? Yeah, that's about it because you have double hamburgers. I'd say yes. You know that I despise hot dogs, right?

Oh, do you really? Yes. The spies. Most of them are made from floor mats, so I understand that. How many? 74. 74 with buns. Yeah. I'll go yes. Yeah.

That feels like a yes to me. Colin, you were very sure, but you are very wrong. That is 20,128 calories. So basically, if you ate like 30 dogs, you'd be closer. The reason we used 74, by the way, was because that's what Joey Chestnut ate to break the world record. Yeah, but he throws up an hour later. 20,000 calories. All right.

Okay, last one. $1,500 celery sticks. Is that 9,000 calories? No, that's not even 1,000 calories. Celery sticks are the only thing you can eat and lose weight. I love celery sticks. So do I. Especially when you put cream cheese in them.

Oh, my God. The best. My favorite snack. In the world. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. The cream cheese is kind of piece of a healthy snack, but it's delicious.

Way below 9,000 calories. $1,500? Yep. Yeah, I'm going to go under on that. I like, Colin, when you are very sure about your answer, because you are always wrong. 1,500 celery sticks is 9,000 calories, 6 calories per stick. Of what? It's water. That's why it's only 6 calories.

I think that one's wrong. I think I'm right on that one. I feel bad for him. I mean, it's completely taken the joy of eating away. Which one of these would you not even come close? A lot of them. I feel like five gallons of milk is really tough. Five gallons of milk is the furthest off I would be.

I could not put down a glass of glass of milk. You know, my family is a non-milk family. I'm not going to get into the theory behind it because we could have dairy companies as a sponsor. We do eat cheese. I eat yogurt. I love cheese. I do coconut milk now a little bit. Yeah, I do coconut or almond milk.

You were an almond guy. I'm an almond milk guy. Then almond, now you're to coconut now. I'm back and forth. Okay. I did soy, but it's got somebody told me a lot of estrogen. guys. So I am already very much like candles and artwork. So I wanted to get a little more rugged. Yeah, more testosterone. Yeah. And so I went with almond milk. I went with almond milk over

soy milk because I felt I started to like fabrics. Almonds are good. They're good strong, you know, nut. You started like fabrics? I'm just making crap up. So anyway, I just wanted to be, you know, sports guy. Right. Well, you should get on that 9,000 calorie diet. Now I drink almond milk and play fireworks and I feel just more masculine. That is an unbelievable. I go to Home Depot. Sometimes I just hang out by the hammers and stuff. I just get a little dust on your shoes.

Yes. Joel Klatz on the show tomorrow. Awesome. Very excited for that. I don't do really a top 10 in college football, but I will tell you we'll have, you know, my gut feeling Urban Meyer survives. They suspend him for a game. The media is outraged. They start calling him Urban Liar.

Ohio State wins 11 games. I mean, their first two schedule games for Ohio State is like Oregon State, and they'll win by 100. Rutgers, their first tough game is against TCU, which is they'll be favored by a touchdown. It's in Dallas. They'll be a, you know, they'll be favored to win, but that'll be Gary Patterson's a great coach, good defense. But by and large, I think we're going to find out, Joel Clad will have more on that tomorrow. My guess is Urban Meyer survives on this stuff. It's just, you know, unless there's some bombshell that comes out.

I thought he had a really bad press conference. He looked really bad. He got caught lying over and over and over and over. Had to retract some of it in a PR statement, but I think he survives. I will say something's happening in college football, which is a real, to me is a really good thing. College football is at its best when it's not regional, when it's national. That's why the NBA and the NFL, we talk about them a lot on our show, Joy. They're national.

people in Buffalo can talk about the LA Chargers. People in L.A. can talk about the Houston Texans. Colts fans will watch the Packers. Packer fans will watch the Saints. Baseball's gotten very regional. College football to me is in danger of becoming very regionalized. Clemson, Bama. Bama Clemson, Bama. I think this year, Texas is good. The Miami Hurricanes are good. USC could be good.

Northern teams are really starting to. Michigan's good. Penn State's good, Wisconsin's good, Ohio State's good, and Notre Dame's good. That's good for the sport. All right, we're done. That's it. We're back tomorrow. Speak for yourself later today.

Joel Klatte stops by. More on Odell Beckham. Thanks for watching us. In L.A., it's the herd. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

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