The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD – HOUR 1 – Cowboys Are Overrated, Fernando Mendoza Should Start Week 1

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

Jason McIntyre steps in for Colin and talks about all the Cowboys hype heading into this season. Jason explains why Dallas is not a serious Super Bowl contender despite all the love they are receiving during training camp. Can Mike McDaniel make Justin Herbert elite? Thoughts on Fernando Mendoza last night.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It's Friday. Here we go. Welcome to the herd. It's me, Jason McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd. I'm joined by Rachel Nichols. We've got a lot of football lined up today. It is a big weekend. Yeah. I'm trying to talk the family into seeing Spider-Man.

Rachel tells me she saw it. It's amazing. I can't believe you still haven't seen it. You have children and you haven't seen this movie. We were on this little vacation in Spain. Oh, I'm so sorry. I was in Spain so I couldn't watch Spider-Man like the rest of you. And then last weekend I needed to catch up on sleep. This weekend, I think I have three fantasy football drafts.

Do you play fantasy, by the way, Rachel? Not anymore. No. I don't play fantasy on the sports I cover. I feel like it. Oh, wow. For me, I just like to have a more non-personal view of things. I like that.

Very nice. We got a great guest lined up. Rachel's got some spicy herd line stuff. I want to dive right in, though. Speaking of journalism, which Rachel just touched on, I saw a great piece of journalism in The Athletic last night. And instead of everybody else who writes about Jerry Jones, the athletic decided to target Stephen Jones

and make a profile about him in regard to the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas, of course, looking at a third straight losing season. Now, if you told me, hey, Jay Mack, Dallas went 7 and 10, I'd be like, yeah, that sounds about running. And if you also said, well, no, Dallas, what, 10 and 7? I would say, yeah, sure. I see them as like a middle of the pack team. But I read this article in The Athletic with some unbelievably eye-popping quotes that I'm going to read for you here shortly.

And I start to wonder, hmm, this could really, really go sideways as in not even 7 and 10. Folks, listen, Stephen Jones, obviously the son of Jerry Jones, they've got like a good relationship and they work together. But what the article essentially tells me is what everybody's talked about for the last decade as Dallas scuffles and tries to get back to a conference championship, something they haven't done in 30 years, is that Jerry Jones has a hero complex. He wants to win, yes, but he wants to do it his way. This is an actual quote from Jerry Jones's son, Stephen Jones. Dad's a dealmaker. Everything he's ever had his hands on, he's overpaid for. If my son said that about me publicly, I'd be like, B, what are you doing, buddy?

That sounds a nice thing to say. But here's the thing. It's on brand for Jerry because that's what he's done. He keeps botching these big contracts. He could have paid Dak Prescott early. Nope. Wait until the last minute ends up making Dak the highest paid quarterback in the league. And as good as Dak has been, he was a runner up for MVP a few years ago.

Guys, Dak Prescott is not worthy of being the highest paid quarterback. Jerry did this with C.D. Lamb, made him the highest paid receiver, waited too long. He did it with Micah Parsons, but he botched that one so badly that they had to end up trading Micah Parsons on the eve of last season. Right? And they ended up having a worst defense in the league by a mile. Okay? So Stephen calling out his dad for bad deals. And then you threw out the article, they find these quotes that are just amazing. Forget about players. What about the coaching situation? How about this one?

I could work for Stephen Jones at any time. Jimmy Johnson has said over the years, Bill Parcells has echoed the sentiment. It's almost like both those guys, you know, coached for Jerry, and it did not go well for them working with Jerry. Obviously, Jimmy Johnson won Super Bowls. Bill Parcells had a lot of success and was like,

yo, that's enough for me. I'm out. And it's like Jerry could easily hire a good coach and he could hire a good GM, how he rose with type, and get the Dallas back on the path and get to a Super Bowl. But he wants to do it his way. He's one of these guys. I've got to be a maverick.

I've got to do it my way and show everybody. Yeah, I'm going to make this blockbuster trade. I'm going to surprise everybody. Jerry, dude, what are you trying to do? None of it is working. You're putting undue pressure on the franchise. Here's Brian Schottenheimer talking about the expectations for the Cowboys this season. The one thing I think we're all on the same page of is this statement, which is we want to build a great team and not just collect talent.

And I'll say that again. It's a great quote. Marty Schottnheimer, 2005, 4 in San Diego. You know, it's not about just taking the best players. It's about taking the best people that fit into what you're trying to do, therefore building the best team that we can have, which gives us the best chance to win a Super Bowl. That's interesting wording from Shottie. well said, former Jets offensive coordinator. That's how I know Shoddy. But that last part of the quote leads up to what I think is the piece de resistance of this entire athletic article.

Folks, they dive into a story from the 2014 draft, the Dallas War Room. No surprise, Jerry Jones is all in on Johnny Football. Yes, Johnny Mansell, who was pretty exciting and fun at Texas A&M. and according to this article, Jerry Jones was all in on Johnny Mansell. And then Stephen Jones comes in and says, nope, we're not doing that. There's this guard over here who's going to be pretty damn good. Let's take him. And the Cowboys end up drafting the guard. His name is Zach Martin.

He ended up being a seven-time all-pro. And by many accounts, he is going to make the Hall of Fame. It was a great pick by Stephen Jones. But Jerry wanted Johnny Mansell and didn't get his way. Folks, I'm going to read you what Jerry told his son in the war room in Dallas in front of everybody. I hope you're happy. You don't do special things in life. I would have never bought the Dallas Cowboys making middle of the road decisions.

And what you just did is down the middle. You'll never be great. Can you imagine saying that to your kid in front of other people? You'll never be great. Meanwhile, Zach Martin ended up being great. Johnny Mansell flamed out in two years. the dysfunction in Dallas is just embarrassing. And I don't see greatness.

Now, listen, again, they could win 10 games, make the playoffs, sure. But I think the more likely outcome is an 8-9 middle-of-the-road. Damn. You know, it's just the same old situation in Dallas. Remember, this schedule is absolutely brutal. Look at it, folks. On the road at Green Bay, on the road at Houston, on the road at Seattle, on the road at the Rams.

Those are four of like the seven best teams in the league. This is one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. Good luck to Dak Prescott and company. All right, let's move on to what we saw in the preseason last night. It wasn't pretty. It was my guy, Fernando Mendoza, the number one overall pick. Folks, it's the preseason. I'm not freaking out.

I know Colin loves to watch preseason and be like, oh my gosh, this is it. It doesn't mean that much to be. Fernando Mendoza, remember, he was solid against the Texans, but ended up throwing a pick six. Well, there was nothing special last night. A lot of checkdowns, nothing over 10 yards. That's what happens when you're playing with backups. It's not like the starting offensive line was out there for Mendoza. So yeah, is he protecting his moneymaker, i.e. himself?

Yeah. So he didn't really do much last night. And as a result, everybody, the media, you know, the sheep out there, well, that's it, Mendoza, he's got to sit, he's got to watch, he's got to learn, let's sit, let's have him sit for five or six weeks, you know, we don't want to put him out there week one and get him get the snot knocked out of him. But if it happens in week six or seven, well, he, he studied for six weeks, so it's more palatable. Here is a stern, Mr. Kubiak, the new head coach, talking about Mendoza's performance and the quarterback situation. We didn't score at all, so we didn't

help the team get victories. You know, I think, you know, he has a pick, but I think it was a drop, ball. We have a couple sacks, so plenty that I can do better for him as well. He needs another three preseason games. All those rookies do. And now that the season's starting, you know, the practice reps get smaller, and that's just life.

But us as coaches, we've got to get him ready to play, keep developing him. Yeah. It's a bummer. There are three more preseason games. I'm sure Mendoza's just crestfallen. But you know what? Hey, he's going to be practicing now for two months. I mean, yeah, sure.

You can replicate disguised coverages, the speed of a real NFL game. You could do that in practice, backing up Kirk Cousins. I mean, essentially the Raiders, they're going to trot out, you know, they're reliable, good old reliable, 12-year-old Toyota Camry with 100,000 miles on it when they just got a Ferrari and parked it in the garage. You know, they took the Ferrari for a few spins there in the preseason. Yeah, let's just put it in the garage. Let's not force anything.

Let's save it for a sunny day two months from now. Yeah, just because in two months, all of a sudden you're going to know how to handle the Ferrari in action, right? With the turns and the reflexes, all of that's going to be fine in two months, right? That's just going to solve everything. Watching tape and watching Kirk Cousins get the snot knocked out of them, that's going to help Fernando Mendoza. I mean, again, I get it. The media likes Kirk Cousins to start. You know, this is a 3 and 14 team last year.

They're going nowhere this year. I'm of the belief you just put him out there. or swim, baby. The best way to learn is on the job. You're going to see disguised coverages in the opener. You're going to see some exotic blitzes from the new head coach in Miami. Great. Deal with it. It's not like things are going to change come week eight. Okay. This is not a Jordan Love Aaron Rogers situation. Okay. This is not a Patrick Mahomes, uh, Alex Smith situation. None of those are analogous. Uh, by the way, if you want analogous, I mean, the guy has 35 college starts under his belt. 35. You know, the Niners traded up to draft Tray Lance. How'd that work out? He had like

17. The Colts drafted Anthony Richardson. He had 13. Those guys still can't play. Mendoza's got double those starts. Put the Ferrari out there. Take it for a spin every day. Our staff had some great numbers. Number one drafted, number one overall quarterbacks in their rookie season since 2015. Look at that. They've been bad. You know what else? Kirk Cousins is not leading you to a winning season. He's not leading you to the playoffs. He's not leading you to any more wins than Mendoza would. So what's the point? You're just wasting time, wasting reps that you could have given to Mendoza. Again, I get it. I'm in the minority on this. And that's fine. You know, we're going to have a couple guests on today. They're probably going to bash me and say,

shit him. That's fine. If I were running the org and, you know, Tom Brady, our teammate here of Fox. I'm sure he's going to have a say. I don't want to hear the Tom Brady sat though, guys. Like, he was a sixth round pick. Fernando Mendoza is the franchise. They drafted him as the franchise. I want him out there if I'm a Raiders fan. And, you know, obviously his season opener against Miami,

that is a huge game for Fox if Mendoza starts. You know, you track Kirk Cousins out there. It's like, well, Kirk Cousins. All right. Can't wait to see that guy in action. You know, haven't seen it the last three years when he's been basically a tackling dummy in the backfield and can't throw a 12-yard out. in Atlanta without getting picked sixth.

So Kirk Cousin's really nice guy. I'm sure he's going to teach Mendoza the Ropes. But Raiders, good luck. Wake me. Wake me when you start Mendoza. All right. Coming up next year on the herd, oh boy, do we have a good topic?

Because you know who looked good in the preseason last night? Justin Herbert. Nice old 65-yard TV pass. Boy, it looks sharp. How good are him and McDaniel going to be with the Chargers? That's next year on the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard radio app. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday.

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You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm J.J. Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football. podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends,

and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback, data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late-round fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, everybody. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here from the Amy and TJ podcast with midterm elections just around the corner. We're breaking down the biggest political stories leading up to November. And some of those big political stories aren't just what's happening on Capitol Hill. Yes, we just saw Lindsey Graham, the death of a long time. Senator. Also, we've got a couple of missing members of Congress.

Also, we got a lot of members of Congress behaving badly. We got accusations, allegations flying all day long on Capitol Hill. It's just like a reality show. We're going to cover everything you need to know during this heated political season. And it starts with our morning run. Yes, go for a run with us. Maybe you can take us along when you're on your actual run outside. Or if you don't feel like going out, still, you get what we're saying.

It's our morning run. It's our daily news rundown of the top stories that will get you going before you even finish that first cup of coffee. Listen to Amy and TJ on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Jake Brennan, and on my podcast, Hollywoodland, I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history, separating the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath them, like how the story of Marilyn Monroe isn't just the story of a Hollywood icon. Marilyn Monroe has become so iconic that her death can only be explained through conspiracy theories. And for some fans who can't let go, these stories have

metastasized from conjecture to accepted fact. So on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started, and she died again. And now, we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died, the third way. Learn more about what happens when fame, media obsession and conspiracy collide. Listen to Hollywoodland on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You are now entering the No Bull Zone, sponsored by credible great rates with none of the bowl. Again, I don't put too much stock in the preseason, but can we just show you this Justin Herbert bomb last night? Oh my gosh.

Justin Herbert, you know, I had him sixth on my quarterback rankings. I get it's the preseason. The Rams look like they're basically playing two-hand touch out here. no pass rush whatsoever, clean pocket, Herbert, looks like 51 air yards to Quentin Johnston, who's just basically running through the middle of his own, wide open. Listen, that's incredible.

Justin Herbert is spectacular. I get it. Preseason Jay, you're going overboard. Justin Herbert, I said yesterday, Jalen Hertz is the most polarizing, or one of the most. Herbert is right up there with him. A lot of people are like, ah, come on. What does this guy won in January? Well, again, football's a team sport for winning.

Herbert has done a great job getting them but there. By the way, back-to-back 11 win seasons. Last year, their star running back, the rookie Hampton, fractured ankle. Both tackles out for the season. Herbert somehow manufactured this team to get 11 wins. Harbaugh, all he does is win 11 games. I think he's coached six NFL seasons and five times he's won at least 11 games. The guy's a winner, and Justin Herbert is spectacular,

and now he gets paired with Mike McDaniel. Folks, I know we make fun of Mike McDaniel. You've seen all the memes, South Beach Mike. He showed up as like this nerd from Yale in Miami, and by year three, he was South Beach Mike with like the Capri pants and the cool shades. By the way, the shades are cool. I have a pair similar. And he was like a totally different guy.

People were joking that, oh yeah, he looks like a Molly deal. who's in the bathroom at clubs in L.A. Because he just has like a cool, funny look. But what you forget is, Mike McDaniel got the dolphins, the woebegone dolphins, to the playoffs twice, okay? With Tua.

One year Tua got hurt, and somehow they got into the playoffs, and they actually covered the spread, I remember because I lost that bet, against the bills. And then, of course, Tua couldn't do anything in the cold weather in Arrowhead. I shouldn't say cold weather.

It was like minus 30 degrees or whatever. But bottom line is McDaniel knows offense. Go ask Sean Payton. And the time they hung 70 on Denver, I'm just telling you, this offense is going to cook. Now here's Harbaugh last night talking about Herbert and how good he looks.

It was good. I mean, it was like, it was wow, double wow. The route, the get, the throw, the protection. Week two to week three in the preseason, You know, many of the things that we were working on. I saw some real strides.

I get it. You know, he's got to win a playoff game, and he doesn't want, there's only like two quarterbacks. The staff gave him to me. I think Andy Dalton's one of them and like Y.A. Tittles, the other one or something like that, who have lost their first four playoff games. You don't want to be in that territory. But let's not go to January 1st.

Let's call up the old schedule for the Chargers. And I'm just telling you, they will start out 2 and 0. That's undeniable. They are the largest week one spread. Since they get to face Kirk Cousins in week two, that's a layup, give me the dub. That cross-country trip to Buffalo will be challenging, followed by Seattle. So two of the best teams in the league. And then, oh, by the way, Denver, and then Kansas City.

And now suddenly you come out of the buy, and it's Rams, Texans? Folks, find me a tougher six-game stretch than Bill's Seahawks, Broncos chiefs, Rams, Texans. And oh, by the way, let's go to Week 10 and it's the Ravens. I don't know how they're going to survive that, but fortunately the games are early. Maybe the offensive line will not be fully injured by that point. Obviously, you know

the center that they spent, I think, $30 million on in the offseason. Tyler Beiotich already hurt, already out for the season. So the musical chairs begins on the offensive line. But I do want to remind people. The schedule is difficult for that stretch. The back half,

more manageable. All Harbaugh does is win 11 games. If the special teams is better, if the tackles stay upright, and we've seen other quarterbacks without tackles, go ask Patrick Mahomes what life is like when you don't have tackles. I'm just telling you, this McDaniel Herbert Perry,

I was going to rank the play callers and quarterbacks around the league. And you start looking and it's like, who's better than McDaniel and Herbert? It's like, okay, Reed and Mahomes is obviously up there. I think you've probably got to put Ben Johnson and Caleb up there. But Herbert and McDaniel have a strong case for top three. Do they not?

I mean, Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence, great. Nice. Give me Herbert any day of the week. And I'm a huge Trevor Lawrence guy. So I think everything lines up. Folks, you know, I do a lot of gambling on the show. I got the newsletter. I'm just saying I am of the belief that this Chargers team will be putting out points on points on points.

Go look at the offseason acquisitions. They picked up guys to full. fit the McDaniel offense. There's a world where Hampton is like the third leading rusher in the league. They've got multiple tight ends. They don't really have a true number one receiver. They've got a lot of good players. And I think this could be a lethal top five offense with a really good offensive coordinator.

Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I am so excited for guests to come on today and tell you how wrong you are on Mendoza. It's just going to make me so happy. I thought you're going to say chargers. Stay tuned, friends, to this show because I will have backup in my Mendoza argument with Jason McIntyre.

But let's talk about the Eagles a little bit first, please, Jason. Look, the team posted a video of Jalen Hertz throwing an interception in practice recently. And a lot of people question, why are you doing this? Why are you hanging your guy out like this? I know it's a good highlight for the defense, but come on. they are of course implementing a brand new offense under first year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. It features Hertz Hunter's Sender. And it's just going to involve a lot more aggressive play is what a lot of the Eagles players have said.

They really have never played this aggressively. And kind of doing those things that defenses can't decipher quite as well as they did last year. And look, left tackle Jordan Malata. He recently spoke about the quarterback. And this is an interesting quote. I'm going to read it to you. He said everyone's talking about his picks and stuff because he had a number of picks in a public open practice recently. But it's not about that. Before, Hertz would be a little

hesitant to be like that, but now there's no fear this year he's not afraid of making mistakes. I thought that was super interesting. I like that approach. It contextualizes what I'm seeing because I see these picks in the open practice and I'm like, I don't know how well he's adjusting. Do you take that view as, okay, this is actually a good sign? Or do you sort of feel like, oh, this isn't working so well in this new offense? Well, I'm definitely out on the engagement farming of the Eagles social media staff. I would hate it if the herd folks went on social and were like, oh yeah, J-Mac messed this stat up or this name.

I'd be like, why are we doing that? To them, they said they portrayed it as a highlight for the defense. You couldn't find one in the preseason, guys, come on. This is a good question. I don't know. Shocker, Rachel, I never played quarterback. So I don't know what it feels like. Yeah, I threw an interception.

That's a good mistake. Like if I miss a shot in basketball, I'm angry. I miss a shot. But that's totally different because the possessions are a million in hoops. And in football, you can't turn the ball over. Ask Sam Darnold, who led the league in turnovers. I agree. But a lot of the criticism of Jalen Hertz about last season was that he was afraid to try things,

that it had to be a very narrow definition of his way. It was part of the seed of the dispute with A.J. Brown last season. Obviously, they had some issues before that. But that was the big criticism last season. There's been investigative reporting with people quoting, like 20 sources inside the Eagles and there's a lot of criticism of him in that particular way. I think that if you are getting a new coordinator coming in, installing a new offense, being willing to put yourself out there and try these new things, it's not going to work if the quarterback

doesn't do that. And we're hearing last season he wouldn't do that. I compare this a little bit to the Caleb Williams situation last year in Chicago, right? I don't know if you remember, you and I were on the air last summer and they announced, okay, he's not playing in the first preseason game. And all the other strutting quarterbacks around the league were playing in the first preseason game. And there was all this, oh, clearly he can't handle Ben Johnson's offense, right? He's not ready. He doesn't look great in practice. They're holding him out of the first preseason game.

And Ben Johnson was like, yeah, he's not ready yet. He is still learning. It doesn't mean he's not going to be ready when the season starts. This is what it looks like when someone's learning something. from scratch and I don't want to put him out there before he's ready. This is a call back to Mendoza, but we'll talk about that later. And I think this is kind of similar. I'm okay with this now that I've heard this quote.

That's not a, I mean, that's not bad logic by you. I largely agree with it. I mean, the problem is that, you know, Ben Johnson was doing amazing things in Detroit. Yeah. Sean Manny hasn't done a damn thing. So I don't, I mean, if he's all of a sudden telling me to do stuff that leads to a lot of interceptions, it's like, do we want to be doing that, Sean? This is a tough one.

This is why there is some question about the Eagles. I mean, again, you've got Super Bowl winning quarterback, Super Bowl winning MVP, and a guy who's never called plays before. Like, at some point, is Jayland going to be like, this guy, I don't like this? I'm going to call my own number. Yeah. I mean, look, that's certainly the danger. If Mannion's offense doesn't work after a month, you know,

we're a month into the season and they're struggling, I think you will see some sort of, you know, kind of fallback of Jaylen Hurts being like, I'm just going to do what I know. But I like that they're trying something new. I like that Nick Siriani was like, it's good, it's okay, but I need to make a change. And again, he kept saying defenses have figured out what we like to do. So it was time for a switch. And you can't have a switch without a being significantly different.

And you can't have a quarterback who can hit everything exactly right if it's significantly different. It just all follows the same track of logic. You either buy in that they needed to change their offense or you don't. But if you buy in that they did, you're going to see stuff like this, I think. It's just you can't say it week one. No, you told all against your Washington team. Actually, you want to see it. I mean, I'd like to see it week one, but I'd like to see all kinds of things week one happen to this team.

But we're not going to talk about that. Let's talk a little bit about what's going on in San Francisco with age. Oh, sorry, I've already flipped over. Let's talk about the Patriots trading for A.J. Brown in June, and he's instantly become Drake May's favorite target. According to Patriots insider Mark Daniels, quote, May wasted no time getting Brown acclimated this summer and that overall May has looked, quote, much more comfortable with Jack Smith-Daniels offense this summer compared to last summer. May, of course, led the NFL and pass a rating and completion percentage last season.

So saying he's much more comfortable this year is saying a lot. Jason, how confident are you in May this season, especially with A.J. Brown now bolstering him. I mean, he's gotten a lot more touches than Stefan Dix did last training camp. But also, he's going to be playing in different circumstances. Yeah. Well, it's interesting. So they must love the connection, right? They just traded Booty to Houston.

Yep. And I'm looking at the depth chart. Number two is Romeo Dobbs? Wasn't he in Green Bay last year? Yeah. Okay. And then DeMario Douglas, kind of like the small slot guy. Yeah.

Matt Collins, Kyle Williams. Yeah, it sounds like they're going to force feed A.J. Brown. Yes. Yes. He's already gotten more than double the amount of catches in the training camp in preseason than we saw with Stefan Diggs, who he's ostensibly replacing. Plus, he's out to settle a score with Jalen Hertz and the Eagles, and so he's going to want to put up some numbers. But a tough draw in the opener against Witherspoon.

It's a tough draw all season. So they have one of the easiest schedules last year over the last 50 years. I know Patriots fans are sick of hearing this, but it's just a fact. You don't have to give it a lot of value. It just is a fact. They also had extremely good health. That is just a fact. It's not a rip on anyone.

It is a fact. You cannot guarantee that you're going to have that good health. this coming season. And you know for sure you're not going to have one of the easiest schedules in the last 50 years. They're right in the middle of the pack

in terms of strength of schedule. So I just don't know how to balance out, yes, Drake May is probably better than he was a season ago. And yes, he is A.J. Brown who absolutely could be an upgrade at wide receiver the way we expect him to be.

And still, football is not about one player. I say this all the time. It is more of a team game than anything else. any other sport we cover on this show. And Drake May being better, and A.J. Brown being an upgrade, it just might not be enough considering that health might be a factor and strength of schedule may be a factor.

It is what happened to my beloved commanders last year, right? They went from really good health and an easy schedule two years ago to a much harder schedule and really terrible injury luck. Yeah. I just looked at that schedule. So Patriots have to play the Packers. Then they go to, it looks like Munich, Germany to face the Lions. Is that Munich? Yeah. So they go Packers, Munich against the Lions. Then they get a by week post-Germany. Then they have to travel across

the country to the Chargers and come back and play the bills. That is a brutal four-game stretch. And that's an early bye-week. A lot of coaches don't like to have the by-week that early. They want it later in the season when their guys are more banged up and they need the rest more. Yeah, I don't know about this Patriots team. I forgot if I had them playoffs or not, but I don't think it's a slam dunk that they're like 11 wins. No, I don't think so either. again, that's probably not going to be Drake May's fault. I absolutely believe that we will see a fantastic Drake May this season. He's clearly, you've said it since he got drafted. I mean,

he's clearly such a talent and AJ Brown is absolutely going to elevate him. It just might not matter as much as it would have, say, the previous year. I'd take Drake May and AJ Brown in the Super Bowl last year, and I'd be curious to see what happened there. I think it'd be a more, I'm not saying they would win, but I think it'd be more competitive game. So I think it's an upgrade. It's just, will it matter? And I'm not sure it's going to. All right. Now let's get to the the 49ers, Christian McCaffrey. He was ranked number six on the NFL's top 100 players list. This was voted on by the players themselves, as we know. McCaffrey just turned 30 years old. He is battled injuries a little bit off and on, but the talent as a runner and a pass catcher,

it's just undeniable. Now, this was interesting, though. He's ranked three spots above Jamir Gibbs, who a lot of people feel he's the best back in football. This also means Bijon Robinson is going to end up being, he's the one. left right of the running backs on this top 100 list. So he will end up somewhere in the top five, which will make him the highest rated running back, according to the players. I don't know.

How do you feel about McCaffrey being number six on this list? This list is so weird because McCaffrey had a great season, but I don't think anyone thinks he's better than Gibbs right now. Do you? I understand why players may think that. Interesting. I mean, I'm a huge McCaffrey fan, obviously. He's won me multiple fantasy leagues.

The guy's an incredible talent. But Gibbs is next. Bejohn's next. And I would have, you know, the numbers last year were ridiculous. I mean, insane. Not listed are the touches, which were, oh, they are listed. I'm sorry. 413.

First, folks, there used to be a rule where it was like, listen, if you have 270, 300, it's pushing it. You have 413. They needed it last year. They needed him last year. Look, again, I think you have to take into account. This is the players voting. I actually put more stock in the players voting in this than I do and say players voting for the NBA All-Star game because it's a lot easier when someone hands you a piece of scrap of paper after practice and says,

hey, write five guys down and a guy's like, oh, this would be funny. I'm going to put my guy who's like only played two games. I'm going to vote him as an All-Star. This is different. The NFL does a really interesting thing. They have a group of people, three or five people, who have been doing this for years. And they go from locker room to locker room across the entire NFL, talk to players face to face.

You're not going to do something stupid and goofy when you've got an NFL official in front of you, right? So they are actually voting for real in this one. And I understand, think about a lot of the players voting are under 25. They're in high school, and Christian McCaffrey's a god, right? To them, you've got a lot of young running backs around the league who feel like, man,

I want to be Christian McCaffrey when I grow up. They don't feel the same way about Gibbs because he's more of their peer. So I'm not surprised to see Christian ranked where he is on this particular list, and I hope he has good health and a great season this season. But yeah, I do agree that Robinson and Gibbs are better. Yeah, for anybody who thinks I'm bagging on McCaffrey,

he's got some of the best workout videos of any running back. And yes, I nerd out and think I can get twitched up by watching McCaffrey do ladder work for 10 minutes. Like his videos, honestly, are pretty sick. Rachel, with the news. You need to see Spider-Man earlier to not be watching that stuff. All right. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. I know we spent a lot of time on the Cleveland Browns this week, probably too much. But you know what? We're not going to talk about them all season. I do wonder there's an article out saying, huh, if Shadur Sanders can't beat out Deshaun Watson, who hasn't played football in two years, how bad is Shadour and what's his NFL future like? That's next on The Herd.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. Oh my gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish, right inside the free IHare Radio app. Gets the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus.

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You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends, and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback, data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy.

Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, everybody. Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes here from the Amy and T.J. podcast with midterm elections just around the corner. We're breaking down the biggest political stories leading up to November. And some of those big political stories aren't just what's happening on Capitol Hill. Yes, we just saw Lindsay Graham, the death of a long time. Senator. Also, we've got a couple of missing members of Congress. Also, we've got a lot of members of Congress behaving badly. We got accusations, allegations flying all day long. on Capitol Hill, it's just like a reality show. We're going to cover everything you need to know during this heated political season. And it starts with our morning run. Yes, go for a run with us. Maybe you can take us along when you're on your actual run outside, or if you don't feel like going out, still, you get what we're saying.

It's our morning run. It's our daily news rundown of the top stories that will get you going before you even finish that first cup of coffee. Listen to Amy and T.J. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. into your podcasts. I'm Jake Brennan, and on my podcast, Hollywood Land, I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history, separating the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath

them, like how the story of Marilyn Monroe isn't just the story of a Hollywood icon. Marilyn Monroe has become so iconic that her death can only be explained through conspiracy theories. And for some fans who can't let go, these stories, these stories are not so iconic. have metastasized from conjecture to accepted fact. So on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started, and she died again. And now, we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died, the third way.

Learn more about what happens when fame, media obsession, and conspiracy collide. Listen to Hollywoodland on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And on Fox, the stars of IndyCar take on America's legendary Oval, the Milwaukee Mile. We've got two races in two days, first ones tomorrow at 2.30 Eastern, and then again, Sunday at 1 o'clock Eastern, only on Fox. All right, so the Cleveland Browns are moderately interesting. Can I say that? I usually don't care about this franchise. I mean, trading Miles Garrow was a big tell in the offseason, right? Our best player by a country mile, we're just going to ship him out.

Jared V's a nice acquisition. But, you know, now you got the quarterback situation. It's settled. Todd Munkin picked Deshaun Watson, who hasn't played in 22 months after tearing his Achilles twice. To any untrained eye out there, Deshawn Watson looked horrible in the preseason, and yet was still named the starter. So, you know, there's conspiracy theories.

Well, I think the owner put his thumb on the scale and said, we're starting this guy that I spent all this money on. And then you could argue the opposite is actually true. Hey, we like Shadur. Let's start Watson. He'll be terrible. And then we'll turn to Shadur and he'll save the day and the city will love him to be happy. And you might think that's crazy.

But I don't know if you guys saw there was a preseason game this week. And last night, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who I think of, I know some people are like, oh, Harvard's Ryan Fitzpatrick, former quarterback. I think of him as a Jets quarterback. who had a brutal week, 17 game against the Buffalo Bills and we missed the playoffs. Yes, I can say we back off. Anyways, Fitzpatrick and Kirk Herbstre had an exchange last night over Deshawn Watson and Shadour. Please turn up the volume and listen to this.

He's going to make a jump from his first two to his second year. And I actually think we've seen it a little bit in the preseason. I thought we saw it last year in the Pittsburgh game at the end of the year. Just being able to run a play like it's cold. and like it's supposed to be run. This is set up here for Chador. I mean, if Dachon, once he fails, Chador's going to jump into this thing,

and he's going to be the guy, and this city is going to be behind him. Yeah, so you think he'll fail? Yeah, and it's going to happen. Wow, you don't hear a lot of announcers say, yeah, the quarterback's going to fail, and it's going to happen. Now, I do get asked a lot,

hey, would you ever, have you ever, why wouldn't you try announcing games? Because I would do exactly what Fitzpatrick, I would just call like I see it, and then I would say something that it ticked off somebody and I'd be out of a job. That being said, I think this is the best commentary I've heard in any telecast of the preseason. And even if I'm not hearing preseason telecasts fully, you're hearing clips online. Ryan Fitzpatrick, thank you. Now, here's where it gets interesting.

CBS Sports wrote a piece speculating with league sources. Well, if Shedur can't beat out Deshaun Watson, for the starting job, what does that say about Shadur's future in the NFL? Because as we know, he is a celebrity, he is an influencer, he's got over two and a half million Instagram followers, which is more than like 95% of starters in the league. And I know who cares about Instagram. Guys, this is a dude who had a draft party where the motto was be legendary.

Okay? He's got his own YouTube channel. He gets it. He's your modern quarterback. I'm going to be big online. and I'm going to make money off the internet and social media. That's not a bad job by him. The problem is that isn't really the profile of a backup quarterback.

The role of backup quarterback in the NFL for the last 40 years, whatever you want to say, has been hold a clipboard and say nothing and then be ready to go in. I remember when Chase Daniel worked here at this network, he was a former backup of Mahomes for a while. I would always ask Chase Daniels questions about being backup and other people would say to me like, oh, that guy was in the league forever. I'm like, yeah, that's the prototypical backup quarterback.

Say nothing. Don't make it about you. You're not involved in any headlines ever and you're ready to go with the drop of a hat. You'll make a lot of money and say in the league a long time. Does that profile is Deshaun Watson's understudy? No. The media in Cleveland, as if Watson struggles in week one,

and according to Ryan Fitzpatrick, he might. The media is going to go right. to Shadur Sanders and ask for his thoughts. Now, Shadur may shut it down, but then you've got old Dion Sanders out there lurking. You remember Deion Sanders, the Hall of Fame cornerback, who I loved as a player back in the day. I mean, dual sport athlete, play with the Yankees and the Falcons,

prime time. Love Dion Sanders. This is also the same Dion Sanders who asked for a meeting with the new head coach earlier this summer. Then he met with the head coach. Do you want your backup quarterback and his dad asking for meetings with the head coach? So it is an interesting article.

On one hand, you've got an announcer saying when Deshaun fails and the other saying Deshawn's already failed. He lost the starting job to this Deshawn Watson who's been horrible and injured. So if Shadur can't be a backup or it can't be a starter in Cleveland, is he going to be a backup anywhere? And we had this interesting discussion in the meeting like, oh, well, he needs to go to like a strong organization where he's not going to be the focus, like Kansas City or, you know, maybe not Philadelphia. But Josh Allen's backup, you know, or Lamar Jackson, where there's no doubt you ain't getting on the field. That's not your jam.

And maybe he would work there. But is Dionne Sanders going to be happy about that? His son not playing? Remember, this is a guy who. What, two years ago? No, no, a year ago was drafted, expected to be like a first round pick and he doubles to the fifth round because he was telling teams, don't draft me unless I'm a be your starter.

Like there is so much here, it is such a wacky story. And I do wonder, like, Johnny Mansell flamed out in two years. He had off-field issues. Josh Rosen was a top-10 guy, flamed out in one year of Arizona, and then was a backup elsewhere. You probably couldn't even name the teams he was a backup. because it wasn't like a story.

Josh Allen, again, holding a clipboard quietly, I'm ready to go. And he never got called on. And now you wonder, should do her. I don't know what the future holds. Because Deshaun winning the job, when you think about it, it's kind of a really bad sign for Sanders. Now, he could easily pivot from this and be an influencer, and he could probably get a podcast and talk about his experience

and talk about NIL and make some money off that. I'm sure he's going to be fine financially. But as a quarterback is his run over in the, the NFL before it even started. And then our staff noted that Dylan Gabriel threw three TDs last night. Remember Dylan Gabriel? He started last season. The coach loved him.

Here's Tony Grossey earlier this week on the Shadour Watson situation. Both have been unspectacular. Don't get me wrong. But if you consider Watson's coming back from 22 months of not playing after two Achilles tendon surgeries, athletically, he looks as good as I've ever seen him, at least in a Cleveland Browns uniform. They tried to make it an open competition. And, you know, the splitting reps for four weeks.

And both of them need a ton of reps because Shadur is only, you know, seven game starts. And Watson, although he's got seven or eight years in the league, hasn't played in 22 months. So I think Munkin decided I got to make a decision because we need to get ready for the season. And he chose Watson. So the easiest way to boil this down is. as Fitzpatrick said, when Watson fails, Shadur will be called on, and this is an easy answer to the test.

Go out and play football and win games and look good. That's it. That's all you got to do. Forget about this side show stuff. Forget about the social media, the YouTube page. Deshaun, you failed. Shadur's turn. Shadur, go out and make plays.

Show that you're a professional quarterback and ready to be here. My guest, Rachel, and I'll have the Browns in my five-bolt predictions in the NFL here shortly at the top of next hour. But I don't think either of these guys has a chance. I would not be surprised if Munkin is won and done,

especially if they get the number one pick. I mean, Munkin looks way out of his depth here. And the quarterback situation is anemic. I mean, if I ask you for the five best players on the Browns, it's like, okay, that linebacker from UCLA and Dinsa Ward and Jared Verse, and I got nobody. They're not going to be good. Well, that's bold about Munkin, although you do remember,

Everyone thought he was going to stay in Baltimore, I'm sorry, go with John Harbaugh and be his guy in New York. And it was kind of a surprise he got the Brown's job. We were talking about it all summer as if, of course, he's just going to go with John, you know, wherever he goes. So I don't know if he's over his head or not or if he's just learning about how to do this. I thought the best line there from Tony was they're both been unspectacular. I think that is exactly the right analysis. I just think if they are both kind of unspectacular, you've got to start with. with Deshaun and then go to Shadur because you really can't do it the other way around.

If you message your $236 million quarterback, you're not even good enough to beat this guy who was the sixth round pick and, you know, it was kind of only came in after three other guys failed and all the other stuff. You've lost him. You just don't have an option. If Shadur gets hurt, if Shadur doesn't play well, then you go back to Watson with what we've seen of guys in that position making that much money, they rarely say, okay, great, now it's my turn. They tend to say, oh, now you want me? Whatever, I'm done with this stuff. So I think just in terms of if you've got guys where neither one of them is showing that, oh man, this is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL, you go with the vet. And then to Ryan, the Stratrix's point, yeah, I think you will see

Stradur Sanders starting a number of games this season. It's not because I'm rooting for Deshaun's failure. It's just because we haven't seen consistent play for him. and he's been injured. And I also think that all of these conversations are always a little bit hilarious because starting quarterbacks tend to get hurt in the NFL. And the backup, you'll see him, I promise. You'll have time to see Mendoza.

I promise, you'll see him this season. So what's your best guess as when Watson loses the gig? I have to look at their schedule about what the natural point is. I think the staff can pop it on the screen. Do you know when, like, in an NBA season, when everyone's like, oh, that looks like six losses in a row. That's when they're going to fire the coach. so the next guy can come in and uplift them.

I think it's probably pretty similar. I'm looking over here at my screen. What do you think? I don't think they're going to wait until the buy. That's way too late. I will go week three. I can see it being a buy decision, especially if they lose to the tech.

I mean, they will obviously lose some tech. I don't think they're going to give Deshaun Watson 10 weeks. I think the first two weeks, and if he doesn't deliver Shadour at home, week three. We'll see. Against Carolina. Oh, that's a Fox game. Coming up next year on the herd.

five bold predictions about the NFL. Last year, I think I hit four of these. No, I definitely did not. Hey there, everybody. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here from the Amy and TJ podcast. A lot of times the story of the day is what we're all talking about and buzzing about. And yes, sometimes it's Love Island and sometimes it's Serena. Robs.

Coming back to the U.S. Open, sometimes it's obsession. and Spider-Man making box office history. Hopefully, Rose, people get our point. Listen to Amy and TJ on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You gave everything you could give, and now it's time to take the next step. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman,

and this season On She Pivots, the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference, so I'm going to be a difference. keep going.

And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives. Listen to She Pivots on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On August 4th, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started, and she died again. And now, we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died. The third way. I'm Jake Brennan.

And on my podcast, Hollywoodland, I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history, separating the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath them. Hollywoodland is part of the Exactly Right Network. Listen to new episodes every Monday on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author Patra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died. suicide. Dear honeies, this is goodbye. By the time you get to Shletter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to Death of an Artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.