The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - The trends in the NFL

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

Doug Gottlieb in for Colin Bryce Young: How trends live & die  Brooks Koepka is embracing the Villain roleGuest: Pat Garrity   #douggottliebshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie. In for Colin Cowherd on your IHeart Radio app and on your Fox Sports Radio stations. Welcome in. It's a Friday, good Friday, which coincides, obviously, with Easter this Sunday. You celebrate, good Easter to you, if you celebrate Passover, or you want to go hardcore and go Pesach? I'm all good with that. That's fine.

Whatever holiday you're celebrating Ramadan, also all good, man. All right? Can't we all just get along? Rodney King said that, right? Don't want to be the messenger. Message. Let's, um,

let's get the sports, shall we? You know, there are certain things in sports, which are a lot like, in life and in business, they're the grand experiment. Right? The grand experiment. And I wish I could tell you that

we should take percentage chances of if things hit or if things don't hit. But the truth is that in many ways, there can be one item, company, or player, or coach, or style, where we make an overall determination as to, will an idea actually work? Will an idea actually work? we've seen it with the wildcat offense right if you remember that actually was I mean that's a lot of that comes from old style football it came into college football when Houston nut was the head coach of Arkansas right it's real story Houston nut was and they had I think the wild hog offense right and then it became the wild cat offense

and we started seeing it the dolphins used it in the NFL but what's interesting interesting is that at some point that that tipped that jumped the proverbial shark right and it was when teams would use it in a big spot it would be seen as too much of a gadget you couldn't throw the football and you didn't have confidence in using in big games in in basketball coaching there's always been the question of can you press in the NBA can you can you can you can you play all out and Press in the NBA. Rick Petino came to the Knicks and he tried it after it worked at Providence. And maybe the league wasn't ready for it.

They also shoot a lot of threes. He was the first to truly embrace the three point shot, both in college and in the pros. And it didn't work. I bring it up because we're in this new era of quarterback. And by new era, I don't mean mobile quarterback. Obviously, we've been trending that way. But the reality of it is, you still have to do it from the pocket.

You just do. To win games, as much as Pat Mahomes is unbelievable, it's still throwing the football. The threat of him running is a legit threat, but it's the threat of him making a play with his arm and he can make every play from the pocket as well as out of the pocket. That's allowed him now to win two super bowls and to get to the AFC championship game every season,

he's been a starting quarterback. The new age starting quarterback is not just mobile, but he's mobile in the pocket. and can throw in the pocket as well as hopefully outside of the pocket. I know we're looking for guys that can run for first down and that's become all the rage, but the fact is go and look at the guys who have won the most Super Bowls, and what does Tom Brady have in common with Peyton Manning having common with Eli Manning having common, right? Those dudes are not, it's not that they're not fast.

They're slow for professional athletes. So if you have to do your damage from the pocket, the question has always, always falls back on, well, I mean, your skill set, right? Can you do it? And then two, with these diminutive quarterbacks. And we've gotten smaller and smaller and smaller. When I was a kid, right? This is a real thing. When I was a kid, I was a quarterback growing up. And believe it or not, I stopped playing football into high school because, well, you're too small to play quarterback at college when you're six feet tall. So what everybody said, too small. Do you remember, do people remember that Mark McGuire's brother was a quarterback?

You remember that? He was like six, eight. You're like, oh, my God. Like, these guys were so big, they block out the sun. And size was everything, size in arm strength. And the truth is that there's still, there's still a size quotient. But we've, in many ways, in basketball, worked the way of size doesn't matter as much. versatility, toughness, skill, be able to shoot the basketball? Pat Mahomes is not a huge dude.

He's actually, he's wider and thicker than most people think that he is. But he's not like 6-5-66. We've been working the way kind of back to where it's like, doesn't really matter. Pat Mahomes is not huge. Aaron Rogers is not huge. You know, Russell Wilson obviously is not a big guy at all. Like you meet Russell Wilson. You're like, that's it?

Yeah. and then, you know, Kyler Murray, number one overall pick. Now we're at Bryce Young. Bryce Young is just not a big dude. There are guys that can be big guys. Usually quarterbacks walk in the room and most of them for years have looked the same.

White or black, it doesn't matter. They all have like a, just a presence about them, right? They all have a presence about them. And they also have, you know, usually they're six foot to six three pretty good looking. They smell good. Okay, maybe that's too much, but they look like they smell good, right?

Bryce Young, we talked about it. He's tiny. Just not a big dude. No other way to get around it. And yet he checks every other box. And so I just wonder, maybe I don't wonder, maybe I know, like this is the grand experiment. Because we've had, Mike Vicks not a big.

dude, but he's like a track star. And even Mike Vick, obviously some of it was off the field, but remember, he got hurt on the field, that DeRiel part of his career. And, you know, I wonder what he would be like in these offenses. But I thought this was interesting. Jeremy Fallon wrote a piece. He asked at least 20 NFL personnel people, and the votes are evenly split between Bryce Young and Ohio State's C.J. Stroud.

and there might be a slight edge to young, he wrote, but it's too close to Decipher, who is the true favorite right now. It feels like this is where the trend of smaller quarterbacks live or die, right? Wildcat was cool for a moment, then it died. It reminded me of, like, remember a lot of the things we did during COVID? You know, there were just people like, you know what, I'm just going to pack up, I bought an RV,

and I'm just going to travel and set up shop and see the country. And it was great, and it was healthy. and it was healthy. And now you're like, wait, you're living in an RV? Are you homeless? How do you work? The rest of society has gotten back on track. Whereas there are other companies that, you know, we start with MySpace.

You end up on Facebook. Facebook has evolved and lasted. It's still there. I mean, they changed their name to meta, but it's still Facebook. It's still there. Not every trend dies. YouTube. Now YouTube is evolved where now you can watch TV on YouTube, but still the idea that you can build your own channel, produce your own content, put it out there, and people can select it or

not select it and make money upon it. That has made people millionaires and has found its way to sustain itself. So this is not me saying that Bryce Young won't be a sustainable trend for smaller quarterbacks. I'm just telling you, he's the, he feels like he is the last big test case. because I want you to think about to take a snapshot of now. We were convinced a year ago that Russell Wilson, or some were convinced, that Russell Wilson was the reason Seattle had been able to sustain being solid, right? And now you look back and you're like, well, they maybe had to hide him. They always had a great defense.

They ran the football. They limited. And then end of the game, he would run around and try and make a play. And now when you don't have to. have the great defense, the great running game, and you're not in close games. Now we have to win it on your own in the pocket. Like, yeah, I don't know. It's very fair to say, and I'll be admit, last year when the Broncos got him, I was like, wow, trouble.

Trouble. And these two things, just like we said yesterday, can coincide. Nathaniel Hacking can be an abject disaster as a head coach. But Russell Wilson also has a lot of questions to answer after his performance. because you look back and you're like, wait a second, he was kind of bad at the end of the Seattle run. And then at the start of the Seattle run, he just handed the ball off.

Right? He didn't win without Marshawn Lynch. He didn't win without the Legion of Boom, win big without the Legion of Boom. Okay, what about Kyler Murray? He's smaller. How's that working out for you? He got hurt, as we told you,

athletic running quarterbacks, have a tendency to get hurt more. And now he's a great thrower, unbelievable thrower of the football. But in addition to, and we'll get later on questions about his work ethic, there's questions about, like, can he actually see what he's doing? Is he too little? Now you have Bryce Young, who's smaller and thinner and less of a big man presence. And Michael Lombardi's been doing this for 30 years at the very highest level.

And his saying is, there's place for the little. little man in football. It's just not behind the big man. This is the test case. That's why it's fascinating. We all have reasons while we love sports. Some people love sports because of the physicality and the contact. That's cool. Some people love it for the trash talk. Some people love it because it's my town or my team versus your town or your team. Some people love it because, especially pro football, hey, I saw that guy in college and I called it he was going to be a star before everybody else. One of the things I like best about sports is the stories and trends,

just like any other business. Right? And when a new business launches, everybody wants to be the guy who calls it. That'll work. That won't work. That'll work. It's the old elevator pitch. All right.

Give me the pitch. Nope. Give me the pitch. Nope. Okay, here's the pitch. Super, super talented. Bright, athletic. quarterback who checks every

box. Here's the only problem. He's at a position that generally size is a factor and he might be the smallest we've ever seen projected at this level. Because remember when you're the number, if you're the number one pick,

there's a completely different way that you're evaluated even if you're the number two pick. Especially in this year's quarterback draft where there are other options. So if you screw it up I mean, that's the thing. And that's the thing with Baker Mayfield. Or even Tua. Right?

Like Tua hasn't been terrible. But in comparison to the guy drafted directly behind him, right? Justin Herbert is demonstatively better than Tua Tua of Ioloa. Everybody knows that, well, except for one person. But everybody else seems to know it. I just think it's a fascinating case study. It's one of those things I love about sports, right? You know, there was, it hasn't been tried at the NBA level,

but remember Vivek Renadeve, who's the owner of the Sacramento Kings. He actually wrote a book. He was coaching his daughter's AAU team, and they pressed the whole game, but they left somebody, do you call it, what was it called? I mean, cherry picket is what it's always been called here, but it's also called Snowburden in parts of the Midwest and the South. Where they literally left a player was like four on five on defense, and then they throw it up and lay the ball in.

And would that ever work in the NBA? Right? Would it ever work to shoot all three point shots? Like there's all these kind of hypotheses become theories. Well, the hypotheses, which is now theory of the diminutive quarterback, has the maybe, maybe biggest and most interesting and possibly last true case study. Five, ten and a half playing weights probably one 90, one 90, big man's game

can he be what he has always been at that next level? I don't know the answer, but we're going to find out in the next three or four years. And it may well set us on a different path in the national football league. Got a chance to watch the Sons take on the Nuggets last night.

Anybody watched that game on TNT? Of course, Yokic didn't play. Aaron Gordon didn't play. Jamal Murray didn't play. Kevin Durant did play and did you guys see this? You know he's undefeated since he started playing with the Sons? What's that mean? I'll tell you next in The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app.

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Doug Gottlieb in for Colin, this to heard, Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio app. Here's what I want to do, okay? Last night I was watching the sons take on the nuggets. And again, you have to factor in. This is where it's really hard to use the regular season as your guide. The sons are taking on the nuggets, but the nuggets don't have Aaron Gordon. They don't have Yokic. They didn't have Jamal Murray.

And like, look, to Kevin Durant's point after the games, like they didn't have their guys, but those bench guys, like, they played really hard. And so, okay, what does it look like against the real nuggets? On the other hand, do we diminish what they do? did and how they did it and coming from behind and remaining undefeated because you're playing against fresh and rested bench guys that they're literally giving you all they got. It's something really difficult. On the other hand, when you've played in the league, when you've worked in the league, you're

looking at things far differently. Pat Gary, of course, was a former first-round draft pick in the NBA and played for a decade. was head of the Players Association during one of the CBAs. Of course, then he went from there to the private sector, then came back and was the assistant GM with the Detroit Pistons. He now works for Stadium.

They do a daily show on Stadium, which is an online streaming channel, and it's outstanding. He joins us now in the herd on Fox Sports Radio. PG, how do you determine how good the sons are when they're playing against like backups last night, hard playing backups, but backups last night of the Denver Nuggets. You know, Doug, it's a good point.

And I think with them, I think they're two complicating factors. One, when you get down to the last 10 games in the season, and you're especially like a team like Phoenix, which is locked into the fourth seed, I mean, they're really just trying to get to the end of the season healthy. Like, it's really hard to make a determination. And then on top of that, you just don't really have that much sample of when Kevin Durant's been with him. And so I think you have to really fall back on kind of just looking at what type of team that they're going to be in the playoffs. And to me, it's a team that number one is a strong half-courts defensive team and has two of the best mid-range scores that the game has ever seen in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

And so I think more than anything, when you look at them, you say, okay, they're going to be able to get stops. They're going to be able to score in the half court when the game slows down. And I think a solid all-run team. And I think the question that I have for them is that if you look at them in the last couple of years, they had those complimentary guys that when the defense was able to take away Devin Booker or take away Chris Paul, the ball was finding guys like Cam Johnson and McHale Bridges. And so my question to them is now is, do they have? enough perimeter shooting

with some of their complimentary guys where they're able to, they're going to be able to make shots and score when defenses inevitably are going to be able to game plan and take away and limit some of what those two other guys are able to do. Per example, is Chris Paul, right? Who's playing off the ball now.

And he had 12 threes last night, made seven of them. A change in role. And he's going to have to make those, right? They need Terence Ross to be able to play. They need, what's the kid from... Well, it's a... Ish Wainwright. It's Josh Akogi.

Landry Shaman. Landry Shannon. Langer Shaman. Exactly. But, I mean, you know, like defensively, they're going to need a Kogi and they're going to need, you know, some Ish Wainwright. And just because those guys match up so well, it gets those bigger forward. But they can't be liabilities on the offensive end.

So, and for Chris, like, they're a team that doesn't shoot a lot of threes. That's always been a little bit of, you know, kind of a knock against them. Is, are they going to run into, like, a little bit of a math problem? And so if Chris Paul did it will knock those downs off the ball, obviously, that addresses a lot of that. I actually think, and you tell me if I'm wrong, Pat Garrity, our guest here, Doug Gottliebun for Collins, I heard on Fox Sports Radio, IHart Radio app. I actually think, like we talked in the first segment of Bryce Young being like a case study in the small quarterback, right? Isn't, aren't these playoffs a great case study in? Can you win if one of your best players is a traditional center? Because we haven't seen it in forever.

It used to be you had to have a dominant big guy in order to win. Jordan changed that, right? Now it's can you win with them? Because Yokic hasn't done anything in the playoffs. And B'd hadn't done anything in the playoffs. Aiden hadn't done anything in the playoffs. You can't have those guys in the game in crunch time because you get so spread out with small ball. Is that a fair question to ask?

Because the sons were ready to move on from Aiton last off season before kind of begrudgingly resigned them. And the reason was, like, it's hard. to play them in the big minutes in the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, I really think that you have to look at the type, obviously, of center, like so, you know, and B's not going to get played off the floor, right? Like, you know, and I think that they've done a lot to kind of address the perimeter spacing around them, and they've actually improved defensively, you know, from last year, they were a good defensive team last year as well.

So, you know, I think there's a couple of, like, to your point, I think there's a couple of fascinating teams to watch. And I hope that Stephen Adams is going to be able to come back. And, you know, it's not looking great. But they're a perfect example. They play two bigs. I mean, their best lineups are with Stephen Adams and Jaron Jackson. And when those two guys are in the game, if you look at those lineups, those are some of

the best lineups in the NBA. Same with Cleveland. And they're two big guys. So I think that that's really an interesting thing. I think obviously all eyes are on Yokic and Embed, because there's a lot of the two MVP candidates, two of the best teams in the NBA. But I think there's a couple other teams, too, where I think you could see a little bit of a philosophical change

in some of the pairings if those teams are able to be able to have success. I feel like the whole MVP discussion is really, it feels very ESPN, right? And stick with it. And honestly, this is not me. I worked there for 10 years. I like the place. I have nothing bad to say about the place. but I also know that when you spend a ton of money

to get the rights of the NBA, many people thinking you overspent to get, and you have all this time, and there's got to be a real, why should I watch the regular season when guys aren't playing and the MVP debate is a great reason to watch, right? So I think a lot of this is generated by, now we have these daily debate shows

and it's really easy to talk NBA because it's very nonspecific and it does, it helps their product because it may bring some people to watch specific games. You played in the league. Then you worked in the front office in the league. How much of the discussion on a daily basis was about the MVP?

None. I mean, especially when you were like, you know, I was working at the pisses. We were trying to get the eight seed. So that was all of our focus was on that. But no, I mean, just within teams, it's not much of it. Obviously for the players, and especially in beat, it's a big deal. It just because of the type of season that he's put up. because I think this season, the great thing about him was like the longevity thing

and the missing games and the missing time was against him. And if you look at E and Yokic's minutes, they're basically even up to this point in the season. And so, yeah, from a team perspective, not at all. But, you know, I think it's a fun, you know, it's a fun thing to debate. I just wish, you know, I think to kind of disentangle, like, who should get it, you have to dive in to some of the advanced metrics. And I think that that's been one of the most frustrating parts is that I think very little time is given to that stuff when you're talking about kind of the public discourse.

Like obviously people writing about it online. Look, look, this is, this is, you're the perfect guy. Okay, you're the perfect guy. Okay. So let me, can I read your resume for just a second without even, because I, and if I, if I miss something, you tell me, okay? So you, you played in the league, you see you were starter in the league, right? and on playoff teams.

Then, and you had a degree, was it engineering degree, or is it chem engineer? I was a pre-med guy. Pre-med guy, sorry, pre-med from Notre Dame. Meanwhile, you're the head of the Players Association, head player rep. Then...

Secretary Treasurer. Okay, so you're regarding the money. You're Bing County. You're regarding the money. Okay. Then, did you get your MBA from Duke? I did, yes. Okay. So then, and then you go in the private sector.

now you actually worked in front offices. People's perception of analytics guy is got to be a D3 player, super nerd, no talented hack, who uses metrics because he doesn't actually know the game and just does it on a spreadsheet. You've done both, right?

You've done the spreadsheet, you've done the actual play. All right? So based upon advanced metrics, who's the best player in the league? Well, no, I think that that's the point. I think it's really close because I think when you look at the offensive end of the floor and just things, it's simple, and it's not even that, it's an advanced metric, but like on off. Like, Yokic is plus 26 when he's on the floor with them.

Okay. Embed's like plus 12 and a half, I think. But I think that when you got to go to the defensive end of the floor and then you see the impact that Embed had there and how he changes the game. And then his individual offense, a lot of that being kind of self-created stuff, his ability to get to the line and get the other team in foul trouble. I think that when you weigh all those things against each other, it's a very difficult, I mean, to me it's a toss-up.

I don't know who I would choose. I think because of the defensive end of the floor, and especially how that, and I know it's a regular season of war, but how that translates into the playoffs, I think I'd give the edge to Embed, but, you know, I think both sides can make really strong arguments. I made an argument yesterday for Jalen Brunson. and and and and and mine is there is a little bit of romance to it okay and probably a little anti-analytics

but I mean look he's a very efficient player so it's not about his efficiency it's just those numbers pale in comparison uh in comparison to a center who has who's challenged at the rim so often based upon how you know defense has played these days but like 24 a game um and the numbers are ridiculous. He's shooting 49 from the field, 41 and a half from three, 83 from the line. And more than anything, like, they haven't changed personnel. They haven't changed the coaching staff. All they changed was a point guard. And they go from last year limping into the playoffs. Everybody's miserable around Julius Randall. He's miserable. They're miserable with him. To Julius Randall's having the year of his life. R.J. Barrett looks great. Tom Tibado's

completely solidified. And they've already wanted. like 10, 11 more games they won last year, and we still got a couple of games to play. Could I make the argument that when you combine culture, team trajectory, other players, you know,

and maybe what's happened to the Mavs? It's... I would say that too. Is there an argument there? I mean, you know, I don't think when you kind of, you stack up the total level of productivity and the fact that

even though they've improved as a team, you're talking about the difference that's kind of that improved. But, you know, jumping from kind of middle of the league to like upper middle versus being kind of a championship level contender team. I think that there is a pretty big goal

between those two things. And so I think for me that's really where you know, those other two guys probably have a better case. But no, you're absolutely right. And I think that the Brunson point is just it shows even when you have the guy in your own locker room, sometimes it's hard to evaluate just how important and impactful guys are.

And you don't realize it until they're gone. And I think he's a perfect example of that. Pack Yardy, join us. He works for Stadium Sports. Of course, it was in the front office of Detroit Pistons, long-time pro, mostly with the Orlando Magic. Okay, so help me figure out the West. I know it's been kind of a mess all year,

but a lot of it, a lot of it comes down to the fact that guys haven't played most of the year together. We just haven't had consistency. Andrew Wiggins missing massive amounts of time. Anthony Davis, LeBron, James. You know, you go on, gone down the list. Everybody's had reasons.

Now, Paul George hurt with the Clippers. Who do you actually like? Wow. You know, it's hard. I think for me, the default really goes to the sun. You know, I think that they have a best chance because you can really kind of, the top three teams in the West,

you can really pick out flaws for them. And the sons are the ones where, you know, we talk about some of their flaws, but when they're healthy and kind of the experience that they have and the fact that, you know, those guys have been there before, I really like them. And I think, honestly, the Lakers, I would be terrified if I were Sacramento or Memphis playing them in the first round. And they're going to play probably one of those two teams. I don't, you know, I don't really even know if they want that six-seat.

to go up against the Clippers. Let's see, no, the Clippers' sons, that would be the four or five game. But I think the Lakers, I think there's a really good chance they get out of the first round and could get to the Western Conference final. That team makes a lot of sense to me right now. I just, I don't know, I watched the other night, and I'm like, man, you know, the attrition of the playoffs, you know, the attrition of the playoffs, I think would, like, second round, you're going to start breaking down.

and you really start those guys, when you get to that level of age with LeBron, and he sometimes struggles to move, especially early in the game, I wonder what that looks like in the playoffs. What about the East? Who are you a buyer into? I am buyer into the box, absolutely. I think that they're the favorites of me, just because, again, talking about a team who's so well-rounded,

both defensively and then what they can do in the half-court on offense. to me it's them and i really think i really think the sixers too i i really like their team this year especially what they've added and guys like the anthony mountain um you know tobias harris talk about a good fourth option yeah um you know to me that's another team and and even though i like the selfics the thing i worry about with them is is that when you kind of start going into the playoffs the ball has a tendency to stick with them yep yep and And that couple with the fact that a lot of their success this season has come down to their ability to make threes. And if those shots aren't falling, the ball starts sticking, I could see them run into some trouble.

It's called Inside the Association. It's a great show on Stadium Sports. You can check it out, streams on a daily basis, and you get the talented Pat Garrity. PG, thanks for joining us, man. I appreciate it. Great being with you, man. Take care. All right, that's Pat Garrity.

Of course, former assistant GM of the Detroit Pistons, a long-time, 10-year vet. in the NBA. Let's get to rhyme music with news. This is the herd line news. It is an interesting, like, so oftentimes if you say like, hey, I got a guy for you who's great on analytics. And then you're like, oh, who is he? Right.

Okay, nerd. Nerd. Yeah. Who is he? Oh, just a 10-year. Can I share my real quick, Packerity story? Sure. A real one.

You're hosting. I'm just here, hang. So we played together my one year at Notre Dame. He was a sophomore. I was a freshman. The famous Fat Garrity story is after his first semester. as a pre-med major. Fran McCaffrey,

who's now the head coach at Iowa, was our assistant coach. And Pat got all A's and a B. And Pat called him in the office. I mean, Fran called him the office. He's like, Pat, we didn't bring it in here to get peace. He's like, I'm sorry, man. I don't think he ever got another B.

Oh, wow. Yeah, he's a little different. Oh, yeah. A little different. Totally different. Let's turn our attention to the NFL, Doug. We continue to monitor the Lamar Jackson situation and his pursuit of a new contract and possibly a new team.

NFL reporter Charles Robinson says, keep an eye out for the Colts as the draft approaches if Lamar is willing to reconsider his fully guaranteed demand. The Colts could be real players on the Mar and given their ability to offer up the fourth overall pick. Could be leaders in the clubhouse if they choose to head that direction. I think if I'm indie, I pass on the Mar. It just feels like another shot.

short-term answer and that's basically all they've done since Andrew Luck suddenly retired. Well, okay, so here's the issue. Okay, here's the issue. If you get Lamar, what are you going to pay him? You would imagine considering all the reported demands, you're paying him somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 million per? It's how many years guaranteed are you getting him? I would imagine he's looking for, he's already turned down three.

No, you're not imagined. You know, he wants Deshawn Watson guaranteed money. It's very obvious here, okay? We don't have to, well, this guy reported it and maybe, no, dude, he wouldn't be, wouldn't be, they wouldn't have reached a breaking point unless he said, I want Deshawn Watson guaranteed money. And they're like, no one else wants to give Deshawn Watson guaranteed money. I want to be traded. Okay, no one wants to trade for you because they know to trade for you.

They have to give you Deshawn Watson money. So the first thing is like, none of this matters unless we know the culture are going to go there or he's willing to negotiate. And the reason I bring it up is because do you want Lamar Jackson? Like, yeah, of course you want Lamar Jackson. But, bro, do you know what that does to your salary cap for five years? And what if he gets hurt? You know?

Forget about if he's not that good. What if he gets hurt? You have a head coach that's been great with, I mean, let's just be honest, Lamar Jackson is better than what we got in Philadelphia. Yeah. Okay? I mean, he's way better than we thought. thought he would be. Jalen

Hertz is way better than we thought he would be. But I don't believe his ceiling is that of Lamar Jackson. I just do not. I think most would agree. Okay, so if the idea is if you could, but the reason Jalen Hertz was great was not just the offense. It was they got dudes all over the place.

Right? Pro bowlers and offense the line. I mean, you got star wide receivers. And the problem is that when you're a team that's still trying to figure out how to get personnel running, you're great. You got that big, bright, shiny But your team stinks and it's really hard to rebuild it because one, you don't have the cap space and two, you're not going to have the draft picks. So if it's me, I pass not because I don't like Lamar, but I can't give that kind of money and give up the draft picks.

I'm just not in a space where put in a quarterback and win now. Those are the team. Not there. Right. Those are the teams that work. Yeah. All right. Let's go to Russell Wilson, who struggled with big time in his first season with the Broncos.

A lot of blame placed on head coach Nathaniel Hackett. who was fired before the end of the season. Denver went all in, landed Sean Payton. Here's what he had to say about what he saw from Wilson in his first season in Denver. It's probably a little bit of dirt on people's hands. When you win five games, it is what it is. I don't think I need to elaborate anymore.

It wasn't good. It wasn't good on offense. That's for sure. It was hard film to watch. This feels like a legacy-changing season for Russell Wilson. People had their questions in Seattle with his teammates, everything like that, were willing to say, hey, let's see what happens in Denver.

If he can turn things around with Sean Payton, people are, again, it changes everything. But if he struggles, the gloves are off. I think people are going to question everything. No question. This is a no lose for Sean Payton, right? Turn down the job, then they circle back to him, whatever. I love Sean Payton's answer when he's asked about his private throwing coach being, you know, he's like, I'm not familiar with that.

It's foreign to me. But he, like, used it like five or six different times. Like, wait, you were asked about it like three days ago. you're still not familiar with it, but obviously that was... So, yeah, I mean, the beauty to Sean Payton is, it's kind of a no loser, right? It worked playing call and plays with Tony Romo. It clearly worked Colin plays with Drew Breeze. If it doesn't work with Russell Wilson, it's on Russell.

I mean, even when Drew Breeze was out, at times, it worked with Teddy Bridgewater. They won games at Taysam Hill. Yes. He's got an extensive track record, so it does not... You know, when people say, like, it's not you, it's me. Yeah. Like, no, no, it's not him. It's not me. It's definitely you.

And that's right. Music with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. You know what people always say? I could be the villain. I can be the villain. Some people can't.

Some people can. Tell you, somebody in sports, and wears the black hat better than others. That's next. I'm Doug Gottlie, but this is The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me. Rob Parker.

Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of piping 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, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tick.

TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. Doug Gottlieb, in for Colin. This is the herd. Happy Friday to you. So, um, here's the thing. Colin has a deal and I don't know if he's talked about it's Ryan on air. Is where he'll say,

hey, you know, social media is not for everybody, right? Social media is not for everybody. And, um, when he's allowed to expound upon the point he'll say like look at the people who have kind of I don't know if imploded or gotten super sensitive or overreactive and it's because and I think this happens to a lot of people

social media is is not the shallow end it is the deep end everything is extreme either support or backlash the rest of the world is gray you know the rest of the world provides context you know because honestly like in social media if you see something

it's political in nature at all first of all everything becomes either political or racially biased and it's really not but if you see anything you know Ryan you and I used to talk at Ryan Music is the producer

of this year radio program with or without me but he used to be my producer we talk about this all the time like kind of both of us grew up sort of left leaning right left leaning I consider myself like a radical centrist but on

any given topic, like, again, I don't, I don't believe in aligning completely with one thought or idea. Like, I have my own thoughts and ideas. That's the whole beauty to where we live, was we're allowed our own thoughts. Um, but if you, some of these conversations, if a super far left Democrat said something like, yeah, I don't know. They make you feel like you're this most staunch conservative. Likewise, if a conservative person points something out and you're like, yeah, I don't know. They're like, oh my God, you live. Like, yeah, I kind of live in the area, the gray area, right? But I can take the social media thing.

Like, I get it. I'm built for it. It's okay. Some of you aren't built for it. You know, some of you aren't built for it. Like, I cannot believe that you can put yourself in social media, put yourself out there with the things that people say, like, whatever, dude. I've had way worse said to me.

No matter what I say about your. team somehow it's going to come back to 27 years ago. I used three kids credit cards. I stole three kids credit cards at Notre Dame, right? Like, okay, I got it. Whatever. There's been a long time since. I've done a lot of actually good things since. Not all good things. I've said stupid things. Like happens. That's, that's human beings. Anyway, bring it up because is there any athlete better at accepting the role of being the villain, of being the villain, then Brooks Keppka? Right. Like, look, the Masters is trying the best they can to go like, look, dude, we have to let you in here.

But we have to be where what you did struck at the core of who we are and of our alliance with the PGA tour. And, you know, they tried to bury these guys. I mean, Phil Mickelson playing with guys that I've literally never heard of in my life. Never heard of in my life. And yet, Brooks Kepka is lapping the field a bit. Right. Is he still 12 under through 17? I mean, look, Jason Day is in Chase and Victor Hovlin's at 7-under, and he obviously hasn't just now teeing off like in two minutes. So you can score on this court and John Rahm is 7-under. But not everybody is built to wear that black cap of being a being a villain.

LeBron James, his first year in Miami, dude, he may have, he didn't like it. LeBron likes to be liked. Kobe, he didn't care. Cubbies, I want to be respected. I don't care if I'm like. Shaq wanted to be liked. Even now if you're critical of Shaq, you know, Shaq said, well, I made him when it count it.

Like, no, you didn't do. You didn't make free throws when it counted. He made half your free throws. You were great. Shaq wants to be liked. That's why he was the greatest Shaq he could be. Could have been the greatest player in the history of the NBA. Bruce Keppka is perfect for this role.

And he's embracing it in Augusta. We knew 100% of the time what was going to happen with Kyla Murray. Don't believe me. I'll prove you to you next in The Hurt. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.