The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Anthony Davis speaks about his trade from the Lakers, breaking down the NFL Draft,

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Colin gives his thoughts on Anthony Davis' comments about being traded from the Lakers to the Mavericks Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to breakdown the top prospects in the upcoming draft and why Alabama QB Ty Simpson is better than reports are suggestingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here we go. It's a Thursday hour two live in Chicago, the herd. Greg Kosel is going to be joining us in about two to three minutes. He's looked at the tape. I'll show him my mock draft. He can mock my mock draft if he'd like. Um, so Anthony Davis apparently has a new show. It's a practical prank joke show. He had Draymond Green on it the other day and then AD went on Draymond's a podcast. He didn't love, um, the way he was treated by the Lakers. I have known a couple of people in my life.

My wife used to be in HR and I've known a couple other people in HR and obviously people lose their jobs now for AI and a variety of reasons. But when I talk to HR people, I'm always fascinated by they're very, very powerful people inside of a company

and they've always said sometimes, you know, a lot of the times people fire themselves. People put themselves in position and when you go and tell them you have to let them go, they kind of know it's coming. Now that doesn't that doesn't mean it's always the case. But Anthony Davis does not like sort of the way the Lakers moved him and treated him. Here he is. I had no idea that this was happening, right? And I couldn't make sense of it because I'm like,

why? From the business standpoint, like, I can't be mad, but like, why? I think I deserve much more respect than that. You know, what I've, you know, all the time I've been here, I was there six years. You know, all the time I've been there and all the time, like,

we won a championship, like, all this stuff. And I can't get a phone call or a text that tell me like, look, this is what we're thinking. I don't think it's that complicated. After they won the COVID title, Anthony Davis came to camp out of shape. LeBron wasn't overjoyed. with that. He was looking to pass the baton to some degree reduce minutes slightly to extend his career.

By the way, Luca and Anthony Davis, throughout their career, they've been dogged by this reputation. Are they in great shape? Is it a coincidence? Luca and AD are heard a lot. You know who wasn't? Isn't Mikhail Bridges? Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Jalen Brown. It matters. AD had about a season to maybe a season in a third where he was in unbelievable shape for the Lakers. Best maybe of his career. He played 76 games. First team all defense, all NBA. And how do I know that?

Because with Anthony Davis, you can point to that year. Oh, that was the year he was in great shape. Right? So that's why it's that the injuries are piling up. And by the way, when he got traded to Dallas, what happened? Hurt again, shows up the following camp, 15 pounds overweight. The Y was always right out in front. He just didn't understand the why.

The why is, why aren't you always in great elite shape? That's the why. The why isn't why you got traded. Pelicans moved off you. Lakers moved off you. And by the way, Dallas now has moved off you. The why isn't why they get traded? It's why aren't you in consistently good shape?

it's been the knock on AD. I don't think it's a coincidence that players who are in marginal shape or play themselves in shape get hurt more. And I love Anthony Davis as a player. But he's aged quickly. He went to Dallas. It's like, well, he put on six years? I don't think it's a coincidence.

All right, Greg Kossel. We bring him on throughout the football season. And we also bring him on a couple times before the draft. And he is now joining us live. So I'm going to put. up my mock draft, and this is based on not what I would do, what I think will happen. And the reason I put it up is I think the draft starts with the second pick in Arvel Reese. I think Reese is a remarkable athlete. I probably watched eight Ohio State games. I do not trust the Jets with

Arvel Reese. I think they should take a safer, easier plug-and-play guy, David Bailey, who's also excellent but doesn't have the ceiling. So let's start talking about Arvel Reese. He played a variety of roles at Ohio State. There is no questioning he's talented. I mean, he'll come off the edge and just beat good tackles. Your thoughts on Reese going second, which I'm projecting. Yeah, again, I'm not a big Mac draft guy, Colin. I don't do that. But I'll tell you what I think about Reese. Number one, he played about an equal number of snaps on the edge and off the ball as a linebacker in a pro-style defense with Matt Patricia at Ohio State. So I'm sure he learned a lot. about the mechanics of how to play. I personally think, and I know there's disagreement on this,

I personally think that as he develops, you have to remember he's only 20 years old. I think as he develops, he can become a somewhat dominant edge pass rusher. And in today's NFL, for the most part, there are some exceptions depending on scheme, but for the most part, an edge pass rusher with potentially dominant traits is a more important and a more premium, player than a stacked linebacker. Now, the only reason I made that a little bit of a caveat, and again, this is scheme specific, is that the Vic Fangio School of Defense, not that they don't want great edge pass rushers, but in his school of defense, stacked linebackers are extremely important. And there's more of the Vic Fangio School coordinators than they've ever been.

But for the most part, an edge pass rusher is a more premium position. And I think Reese has a chance to be really, really good. And I reiterate, he's only 20 years old. Okay, so it's a draft where the understanding is Carnell Tate is a one. And then there's a lot of guys like McCoy Lemon, Concepcion at Texas A&M, Jordan, the Tyson kid at Arizona State. A lot of people that I've had people push back and go, well, in this draft, he'll go 12 to 15. In a lot of drafts, they won't. So let's take Carnal Tate out. We know he's. he's good. Let's talk about like a Mackay Lemon, a KC. Concepcion, the kid out of Arizona State. Are these guys being overdrafted simply because the league has changed maybe?

Well, there's a couple of factors here. Number one, it's not a quarterback draft. So a lot of players are going to be drafted probably higher than they're rated by teams simply because it's not a quarterback draft. But I think in the receiver position has changed in the league for this reason. There's more pre-snap movement. There's more formation variation. There's more reduced splits. The idea of having a true number one is not the same as it was years ago. If you do have the special guy like Jamar Chase and there's no Jamar Chase in this draft, then yes, you say, hey, this guy's a number one. The idea of that dominant boundary X, that single receiver to the short side of the field, would every team love that guy? Absolutely. But there's not many of those

guys. So now you get into a situation where a lot of these receivers will get drafted, and you know what, because of the way offenses change, as I just discussed, they can still be high volume targets in the NFL. And I think McCoyle-Lamond is probably a great example of that. He did most of his work in the slot in USC. He's a good player. He's not, I don't think anybody would say he's a top 10 pick in a draft and a normal draft, but depending on where he goes, he could easily catch 75-80 balls, and we'll be talking about him as a very good receiver. I mean, they're totally different players, but think about Drake London. Drake London catches 90, 95 balls for Atlanta, and no one would say Drake London is a top five receiver in the league, but it's the way in which these receivers are

now deployed in the league, and that allows them to be high-volume targets. It's interesting because Kenyan Sadiq is a tight end that is, I don't remember the last time anybody discussing a first round tight end that's 6-3. I watch a lot of Oregon games. He's explosive. He's dynamic. He's unique. It's a bad, bad tight-end draft by recent standards. Do you worry about, people talk Rubin Bain's measurements.

Do you worry about Sadiq's lack of size? Well, then I think it comes down to deployment again, and I think that's become, for me, the biggest catchword in the way the NFL is evolving, really on both sides of the ball. But on offense, look, you're not drafting Sadiq if you draft him. You're not drafting him to put him as an attached player. Now, will he do that once in a while? Of course. But you're drafting him because he's an offensive weapon. He's a playmaker, and you use him accordingly in terms of how you align him in your formation.

He's explosive vertically, which not many tight ends are. seeing it right here. He can run this seam extremely well. He's a playmaker. You know, I think what's happened is we, and again, different people have different points of view and I'm one who understands all the points of view. I'm not, hey, I'm right, you're wrong. But I think the same, Sadiq and to me, Jeremiah Love fall into the same category. They're playmakers and a lot of people would say, oh, never draft a running back in the first round. Oh, you don't draft a tight end this high. But what you're doing is you're drafting playmakers. And I think that that's what's going to happen in this draft. The same thing's going to happen with Jeremiah Love. He's going to get drafted high,

and you're going to hear everybody say, or a lot of people say, never draft a running back in the first round. He's more than a running back. He's sort of like a combination of a Bijon Robinson and a Jamir Gibbs and the way he can be deployed within an offense. So to me, he's not just, oh, I'm drafting a running back. I'm drafting a playmaker. Okay, the other guy that has measurement issues is Ruben Bain out of Miami. So I go down to this. Did you play in big games against elite players? And how good were you? He was dominant against tackles that are going to play on Sunday. I watched him against Indiana. And I'm like, is he the best player on the field? But there's that measurement thing. It's historic. He has, I guess, short arms. What does the tape tell you?

Yeah. Well, first I'll say, can I be honest, Colin, no one knows the answer to the arm length other than the track record. And the track record says, guys, with those kinds of short arms don't make it at that position. That's the track record. So that's why there's a discussion. But when you watch his tape, here's what you see. You see a sawed-off, hyper-competitive, hyper-tenacious, really good football player whose game is based on power and physicality. And there's a competitive toughness that stands out. He plays hard all the time.

He's a tempo-setter for a defense. That's what you see on tape. So now when you balance that with, oh, history says guys with short arms don't make it at that position, then you have to decide. But the tape is really, really good. And it's against good competition as well. So, you know, believe me, I wish I had a brilliant, I wish it was a mathematical equation and I had a brilliant answer. I don't. And you're going to get, you know, you've to talk to people, you're going to get a different answer from different people.

You know, it reminds me of Will Campbell. Joe Thomas, who knows more about offensive tackle play than I do, said that his problems down the stretch had nothing to do with arm length. I spoke to an old line coach who's been in the league for 35 years. He said it had everything to do with arm length. So you can have as many conversations as you want, and you just have to decide how you feel about it and then go with it. A GM friend of mine said Sunny Stiles is the cleanest player in the league,

comes in, plays, defined role. You know, people say, well, he's a linebacker. I remember a couple years ago, the Ravens took a center and a safety in the first round. Everybody's like, whoa, they're both great. They were both Linda Baum, Kyle Hamilton. They're really good players. Sunny Stiles at Lye have the Giants taking him because Harbaas preached toughness. He's, you know, he's an Ohio State kid playing in big games, and he was great in big games.

What does the tape say on him? Yeah, he's a fascinating guy because I remember watching him last summer, his first year playing Stackbacker in 2024. and I called up a friend of mine who is a scout who covers the Midwest and I said, this Sunny Stiles guy's ridiculous. And he said, oh yeah. And then, of course, I watched him this year. I mean, the guy's a freakish athlete at his size. He's 6.5.

He's 2.45. We all saw when he did the combine, he's a really good player. He was better this year. I thought he had a better sense of understanding what he was seeing. So much about playing Stackbacker has to do with what you see, not just being a great athlete. But he's seeing it much better. And as I mentioned earlier, I think that the stackbacker position in this league is becoming a little more important than people would have said five, six, ten years ago. So another player that's likely to go in the top ten simply because there's no quarterbacks that are going to do that really.

So, but he's a really good prospect, a really good player. Yeah, he'll go in the top ten. He's a fun watch. All right, let's talk Ty Simpson. Fernando Mendoza. You know, sure. I'll get to him in a second. But Ty Simpson, my take is, I feel better about him than a Kenny Pickett late in the first round.

I don't, Dick, he's nearly, you know, but Greg, I always have a rule with quarterbacks. You got to have, you got to give me one wow trait. Just one. That's why I always love Kyler Murray. I said, his elusiveness is a one. What's the wow trait with him that I have to be blown away by? Well, let me ask you this. And this is a great conversation, which I've had with many.

Have we lost, do we no longer celebrate quarterbacks who play the game the right way as opposed to just looking at physical traits? In other words, you know, we look at guys, remember last summer everybody was on Lenore's Sellers, okay? Big, he can run, big arm. do we no longer celebrate the guys that for the most part snap after snap play the game the right way they throw the ball to the right receiver at the right time with the right kind of throw has that been lost a little bit because those kinds of quarterbacks that by the way is a wow trait if you can do that i'm certainly not comparing simpson to you know tie to um tom brady or drew bees and

i don't want people to think i am but you know at some point being able to play the right way the position the right way from the pocket, that's a high-level trait. And what you saw on tape with Simpson at Alabama is, because their offense had a lot of NFL route concepts in it, you saw him being able to do that at a pretty high level. Now, he hasn't played a lot of games, so therefore the ups were really, really good. He had some downs that concerned you, and he didn't have enough games to work through all the downs where you felt like, oh, those were more aberrations, than part of his game. And I think that's the concern right now.

And the other concern is he just doesn't look that big on tape. He's not a big guy. No. So that's a little bit of a concern. But I think, just to make a final point, I think we do have to get away at times from thinking that every quarterback we evaluate has to be Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes because it's not going to be like that. Okay.

So Fernando Mendoza came to his pro day, and I don't even care about pro days. It's one of the few pro days I went, wow. he put on like 12 to 15 pounds. He looked bigger in a t-shirt. He is big. And he looked bigger in a t-shirt than he did in the uniform at college with shoulder pads and thigh pads.

And I keep, I'm not argued, but I've said this before. I think he's Matt Ryan, bigger, true weight, thicker, and ball accuracy, similarly to Matt Ryan, very, very good. I know everybody thinks,

you know, he doesn't, you know, I remember hearing Justin, Herbert was stiff. And people saying, CJ Stroud couldn't move. I watched him this year. They could have lost four games.

Iowa, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami. He was so good in the red zone. He was so good on fourth down. I think he's in a prospect. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, I think being highly efficient, playing the position,

being an outstanding ball distributor, and an executor of a well-schemed offense, is a good thing, Colin, and we've lost the ability to celebrate that because more and more quarterbacks are great athletes than ever before. And every sport guys are better athletes. So we've lost the ability to celebrate guys who play the position like a Mendoza, theoretically like a Simpson. And I'm not here advocating and saying, wow, these guys are going to be Hall of Famers.

That's not the point. They haven't played it all in the league. So we don't know. And so much is situation-based. There's very few transcendent players. So much is dependent upon team, scheme, coaching. And you talk about coaching all the time, so I know you agree with me. But Mendoza, and by the way, that size is a trait.

People have to understand that. Being that big is a trait. That matters. But Mendoza, just to me, plays the position the right way. He plays the position the way you have to play it to be consistent. Not to be flashy, not to be on highlight shows, but to play it the right way, snap after snap after snap. And by the way, that's a trait too.

So it's, he doesn't jump off the tape like a Dorel Rivas or maybe a sauce gardener. But Manzor Delane, the LSU corner, my take is the guy didn't have a penalty this year. And when you watch him play, you're like, I mean, that's a, that is saying something with all the great talent in the SEC on the perimeter. And I, again, sauce gardener was so good. like, I remember Brian Kelly's like, we're not even going to throw to his side of the football field. Maybe he's not that. But a lot of the best corners in the league, I mean, Richard Sherman is Hall of Fame level corner. He wasn't a burner.

It was a, he just knew how to play the position, the angles, the shoulders. He knew how to disrupt your route without getting called for it. When you see Delaney in the corner from LSU, is there a comp? What do you see? Well, two things really stand out to me when I watch them. number one, and this is incredibly rare. I don't say this very often, because I mean, I've done this for a long time, but he almost looks effortless playing corner. Every movement is so smooth and fluid. It doesn't look like he's working hard to play the position. And the other thing that really

stands out, and this is what will get defensive coaches and secondary coaches in particular excited, is he's a physical player. He tackles. And that means something in this league when you can tackle on the perimeter. And coaches love that. But he is just so fluid and so smooth. And I know at his pro day, he ran better than I think a lot of people thought. So now speed, the recovery speed, the vertical speed is not going to be seen as an issue. I really liked his tape. I don't make lists, as you well know, but if I had to make a list, he would have been my number one corner prospect in this year's draft. So the difference between Jeremiah Love and the second best back, maybe greater than Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, he can catch him. He can catch

it. He's explosive. I think Tennessee is going to grab him. I mean, Robert Sala saw what a star running back does to a young quarterback with Christian McCaffrey and Purdy. When I look at Jeremiah Love, I see a little Jemir Gibbs, a little. You know, running back's one of those positions, high school to college, college to pro. You can plug and play a lot. You know, see hole, hit a hole.

Who's the go? What do you see when you look at him? Well, as I mentioned earlier, I think he's kind of. of a mix of Bejean Robinson and Jemir Gibbs. And the reason I mention Robinson is because 20% of Robinson snaps last year in Atlanta, he lined up detached from the formation. Love is an outstanding receiver. You can move him around the formation. He's not just someone you have to line up in the backfield. And obviously he's got the same kind of explosiveness as a Jemir Gibbs. So he's a playmaker. He's a weapon for your offense. And again, that's going to be a major discussion for people. and there are a lot of people who automatically just reflexively say never draft a running back in the first round,

much less than the top five or whatever it is. But he's a playmaker, and that's what offenses are looking for. You know, you talk to a lot of coaches, and you know what I hear, you probably hear the same thing. On defense, you want to stop explosive plays, and on offense, you want to create explosive plays with playmakers. And love is a playmaker who can take it to the house from anywhere on the field. Yeah. All right, that's good stuff. I tell everybody my, this isn't really a sleeper.

I think Chris Bell at Louisville at wide receiver probably goes third round because of his college injury. But if you go watching, but holy Macra, he could be like, he could be a star, right? Very explosive when he catches the ball. He had a touchdown this year against the University of Miami when he caught a glance route, and he just ran away from the Miami defense as if they were standing still. So he's got that kind of ability. We'll see. Maybe he'll go higher.

I mean, he'll be ready to play, I'm sure, by the start of the season. Yeah. Yeah, that's the highlights that really jump out to me. I remember there being a guy named T.Y. Hilton. He played it like Florida International, and they played Alabama. And I saw Highlight, had a friend on the Alabama staff, and I watched them, and I'm like, he was taking Alabama corners to the woodshed. I mean, he was just doing whatever he wanted from, like, Florida International.

And when you watch Louisville, when you watch this kid against Miami, you're like, I mean, look at that. He's just pulling away from corners. That's the play I was referring to, I think. Yeah. Keep this name in mind, Colin. Ted Hurst, Georgia State. Ted Hurts? Wide receiver, Ted Hurst from Georgia State.

6-3-plus ran a 4-4-2. He'll get drafted on day two. Georgia State. I don't watch a lot of Georgia State football, so I have. appreciate that heads up. Greg, as always, it's great. See ya. All right, Colin. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. You bet. Here's my mock draft one more time. What I'm hearing, what I'm thinking, you know, usually middle cough is just going to jump up and carve this thing up. But I think a lot of it is if the Jets go R. Val Reese, then I think, I think Arizona looks at it and you know Arizona

well, you live down there. I think Arizona goes, all right, we finally can draft a pass rusher, not have to acquire it. And I also think a lot of this. this stuff is, you know, for instance, John Harbaugh's preaching toughness, Sunny Stiles, you know, Cam Ward at Tennessee, they've got no weapons. Well, Sala just watched McCaffrey. So I think a lot of this is based on not just best player, but, you know, a lot of times you come from somewhere when you're a young coach and you saw it work with Kyle Shanahan or you saw it work somewhere else. Yeah, I watched so much of Mackay Lemon at USC. He's Amaran St. Brown. That's what it looks like to me.

I think if Bain was longer, you know, the old adage is, you know, if you draft an exception, eventually you'll have a team full of exceptions. So teams get very, you know, hesitant to do that. But there's no disputing. He's a great player. I think he would be in the mix at four. You know, Robert Sala was quoted last week at the owner's meeting saying that defensive linemen are playmakers too. It was kind of like the hardball quote with offensive linemen.

The problem is it'd be a pretty risky pick when Jeremiah Love sitting right there. who can kind of be, let's face it, you know, when they were humming 20 plus years, Eddie George, Derek Henry. It's kind of been built historically on some great, big, powerful, all-around running backs who are great guys. So I think that franchise needs, you know, solid bring some juice, right? Just some. They need a star.

Yeah. And I think that, and it takes a lot of pressure off the young quarterback. Dayball, right, long time in New England, Alabama and Nick Sabin knows how to use a running back. So that's a good pick. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube.

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Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Let's start with the NBA and the controversial stance of the 65 game rule for League Awards. And Cade Cunningham, he just returned to action. But here's the problem, Colin, is he's going to fall one game short of the 65 game threshold. They also have a minutes threshold. This rule was clearly established for Kauai Lenther types. Like, he's just not playing for because he's not really hurt and the load management.

Luca, Kate had a collapsed lung. Luca's hamstring might have ripped off the bone, you know. Those guys are all NBA players. Aunt Edwards might, you know, fall short. Devin Booker won't meet the ministry strict. These guys are all NBA players. I think Adam Silver on the fly is going to have to

tweak this a little bit because you can't have an all NBA team without Cade and Luca. Just because of a hamstring and a collapsed lung. Those guys weren't load managing. Well, as a parent, I made rules, no exceptions. So Luca Donage, you could say, well,

I mean, he should be eligible. Well, he missed a game because of too many technicals. And injuries happen. They created this. The players forced their hand. And because of it, unfortunately, some players who do like to play nightly are paying the price. But there's a reason this was created. And it wasn't because of owners or the commissioners.

It was, guys, 65 games isn't even asking a lot. We play 82. It'd be like the NFL saying, can you play 12? And so, like, injuries happen. I feel bad for the player. But I don't think it's asking my. And listen. injuries happen as well. It's a bad break.

But you start making exceptions. And then the next guy goes, well, I miss games. And it's like, well, it's not as serious as C. I think you just open up, you know, the Pandora's box. If you start making exceptions, I think when you made the rule, you're like, listen, a player who gets hurt is going to get jobbed here. But sorry, guys, when you negotiate a CBA, all the players negotiated, not one. And so the downside to this new minimum is it's for all. the players, even though we know there's about 10 star players in the league that forced us to do this.

I don't disagree with you that Adam Silver was putting a tough spot on this one because the load managing thing had completely jumped the shark and become an embarrassment for the league. The problem is, and this is Adam Silver's issue, every time he tries to do a tweak, it backfires in his face. This is a year. I mean, Kate had a collapsed lung, right? I mean, it's something that's a freak. Victor Wimbunyama is a good example. I didn't. quite realize this in this week. You know, you got the staff just pumping out numbers and giving me all the...

The amount of minutes. He plays in games, but he plays like 21 minutes just to hit the threshold in every game. Wouldn't you agree it's kind of cooking the books a little bit? Because Yokic, who missed a bunch of time, has way more minutes than they basically have played the same amount of games. Because when Yokic plays, he plays like a normal game.

37 minutes, 38. Wembe Nama does these like 22 minute games. But when Binyama argues, argument is he only has to play in 29 minutes and he puts up 37 minutes stats and because of his unique size 7.4 and a half, when Chet Holmgren came into the league, they were like, we got to monitor minutes early. You know, the human body is probably not built to be 7.4. It can't take the beating or the duration of other bodies. So I think, I think Wemby's entire career, he'll be mid-30 minutes or less?

I just think that's how they're going to play. And I think he is so effective in the time he plays. I don't want to get down to it. Well, he plays more minutes. He plays less minutes. Does your team win? Are you dominant? Hopefully on both ends of the floor.

Back to your point really quick before we move on is there are a lot of guys, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Kauai Leonard. In the low 60s, they play 82 games. That's a business problem. for the NBA. They got to fix that somehow, some way. Yep. To the NFL where the Raiders added Fernando Mendoza's older brother, Kirk Cousins, this offseason with the idea that they can have him as a mentor for Fernando.

I mean, they aren't calling the exact same human. Obviously, I think Fernando's a better prospect coming out of college, but in terms of their wiring, a lot of similarities, Cousins had all the right things to say about the potential quarterback battle. I don't want to start unless I'm the best option. And I told Clint that the best players should play. Certainly, as long as that's the case, you know, I have no qualms with however it plays out. I do think Fernando is going to be a great addition to our team.

I think he's going to have a great future in the league. I have no problem, you know, being a voice in the room to kind of help him. To the degree that I can, he's going to have great support all around him from the coaching staff. But to the degree that, you know, being able to watch a veteran quarterback, you know, go through his habits and routines and process. You know, that can be a great asset for him. and he was here yesterday on his draft day visit.

We were able to watch film together. I think he'll be a great addition to the room. The dude's already watching film. Fernando Mendo. I mean, he's already locked in. It's just incredible to me. And maybe this is commonplace. I have not heard a lot of number one picks

already watching film for a team a month, two weeks before they're drafted. That feels so rare to me. The Raiders have been the butt of a lot of jokes over the last 20 years. I don't think it was random that Brady was in the building, building, Kirk Cousins was in the building on Fernando Mendoza's visit. So from a quarterback

standpoint, they feel a little bit more buttoned up than in years past. The other thing, Colin, is when you get a guy like Cousins, who's made hundreds of millions of dollars, who's been a pro bowl level guy who's been a starter for a decade plus, sometimes at the end of that guy's career, he still views himself as a starter, and that can be a little weird. Cousin's comments right there was like, I'll do whatever I have to do. They need me to mentor. I'll mentor. If he's ready, he should start. If they need me to start, they got him in the right man. Look at Flacco.

Do you see his comments a couple weeks ago? I believe I'm still a starter. That's where it gets a little weird. So I'm high on the Raiders quarterback situation. Okay, really quick. Speaking of the draft, we all love a good comp. Anonymous Scout recently said that Ty Simpson is a mix between Jared Gough and Mack Jones. Colin, Greg Cosell just said, being big is a trait.

I don't know if you've ever met Jared Gough. I have. He's really big. he's tall. I mean, the size is a trait and an attribute. Mack Jones, a little bit of a smaller quarterback like Ty Simpson. Yeah. I would not compare Ty Simpson to Jared Goff.

At all. First of all, Goff is a number one pick. Goff played with no talent in college, got beat up, had to carry a fairly talentless roster at Cal. Three-year starter. Three-year starter. I mean, God, never gets hurt in the NFL. I actually think Ty Simpson's a better athlete than Jared in terms of movement.

Oh, he is. Much better mover. I don't think there's any similarity. Max Jones, and Mac Jones isn't a mover. I think the comp, Dane Bruegler said this yesterday, and this is what I believe, is that Mendoza is like a bigger, thicker, stronger Matt Ryan, and I think Ty Simpson is a less, a smaller, less athletic Daniel Jones. that feels like the real comps. That feels fair.

And look at Mac Jones, or Daniel Jones. Both those two guys, especially Mac Jones, who was drafted 15th overall, probably should have gotten like the third round. Yeah. And he's going to play in the league for 12, 15 years and be a backup. And that's probably what Ty Simpson is. Hey, Daniel Jones, when he wasn't banged up last year early,

I watched that Colts team go to L.A. and outplay the Rams. I was just like, you know. But then he got hurt, Colin. And Daniel Jones has been a guy got hurt in New York, I mean, that's a little bit of a concern. Yeah. John Middlecough with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lye News. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing. bit for the podcast for people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for

remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 helped make you funnier. This This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the Eyeheart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Coming up Sunday, NASCAR hits the last great Coliseum.

The best of the best looked to slow down Tyler Reddick's red hot season as the Cup series hits the short track at Bristol Sunday at 3 Eastern with pre-race coverage starting at 2 only on FS1. Mel Kuyper said something, and I think Mel lives in the D.C. Baltimore area. He said something that he could see if things don't go well for Lamar Jackson. This seemed implausible, impossible two years ago, year and a half ago, that he could see the Ravens drafting a quarterback even next year. It's a great quarterback draft.

It's interesting. His cap hit is going to go from $34 million to $84 million next year, which basically is a Super Bowl eliminator. And two things can be true. I think he's really talented. I think he's a good guy. Works hard. Super competitive.

Really, really talented. And I can also believe that seven of the tape, seven of the top eight quarterback cap hits did not make the playoffs. All I care about in the NFL, making the playoffs. Everybody retains their job unless you're Sean McDermott, and you make it all the time and can't advance. John Harbaugh, generally you make the playoffs, you're safe. Everybody's safe.

So seven of the top eight quarterback cap hits missed the playoffs last season. I couldn't pay Lamar Jackson $84 million. I don't know. And here's the thing. Lamar's been okay in the playoffs, but he's so good in the regular season. And then you look at his playoff numbers, and it kind of gets into a Case Keenum category, where it's like 83, 84. I mean, regular season superstar, playoffs back up.

Now, people will say, well, well, I mean, what about Josh Allen? No, Josh Allen has lost playoff games. But Josh Allen has a winning record in the playoffs. And the narrative on Josh Allen has been, Sean McDermott did not do enough considering how well Josh Allen played. So Josh Allen, and I don't expect any quarterback to be better in the playoffs, but Lamar is half the quarterback, regular season to postseason. Josh Allen's great to very, very good in the postseason.

And that's, with, let's be fair, not a lot of great wide receivers in Buffalo. So Jesse Mentor, this is why, to me, You know, when John Harbaugh's job was in jeopardy, they draft Lamar Jackson and everybody in the building, including John knew. Lamar kind of saved his job. Theoretically saved his job. Well, Lamar knows that all his allies do. Now Jesse Minter's in the building, and Jesse Minter is talking about these camps that Lamar doesn't like to show up to. He's talking about their next camp.

We're excited about the off-season program. I know Lamar's excited. I think he is excited about some of the changes. We've had a lot of good connection points. But, you know, the off-season program is voluntary, and we're excited to get a chance to work with all the guys, whoever wants to show up. We feel confident that a lot of guys will be there.

Okay, so this is right in John's wheelhouse. John has a golf podcast. John lives, breeze, eat, sleep, golf. So Mark Calcovecia, a very, very good golfer. won the Open Championship, like in the 90s, 80s, 90s, very, very good golfer, got kicked out of Augusta. Because he had a cell phone. He got kicked out. Now, first of all, when you say Augusta, there's certain things that you connect to it.

Amen Corner, the azaleas, green jackets, no cell phones. They kick people out for cell phones. So I'm not, I know a lot of people, especially club members, don't like phones on a golf course. I have made a call at a private club. I try to do it and say, I'm going to go find a lost ball or go to the bathroom, but I've had to make a few texts. On the weekends, a Saturday, Sunday golf, I don't take my phone. If I'm, it's Monday through Thursday golf, in its afternoon, I usually take my phone. if something breaks.

Now, in this instance, you've got to know better. You absolutely got to know better. And I'll also say all these crypto bros at the gym that are staring at their phones, I'm trying to get on a machine, and they're sitting there staring at their IG account, drives me nuts. But I will say, if you take out Augusta, I have made calls on private courses. And I know that's a no-no, and I don't like to do it. And I don't do it on the weekends.

John, are you a non-starter, never make a call on a cell phone and a private club? Well, somehow yesterday afternoon, Colin, I finagled my way into what many would consider the nicest club here in Los Angeles. And they have a rule. No phone calls. And do you know what I did? I didn't make a phone call because it's not my club. When you walk into my house, my wife has a rule. No shoes.

It's her rules. You know, when you go other places, now I understand if you're a member at a person. place. Obviously, I would imagine Roger Goodell is probably snuck in a phone call at Augusta over the years hiding behind a tree. But like, not every place just has no rules. You can do whatever you want. If you want to be there inside their grounds, you got to follow their rules. I defend Augusta to the ends of the earth. We know pomeadow sandwiches, Allman Corner, azaleas. I was looking at it. I was Google earthing, you know, that this morning, Augusta. That's a, that's a given. Calquebecke has got to know better.

I'd be honest. Sometimes I got, sometimes things are happening in my life. And I need my, I need my phone. I know it's obnoxious. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Tolodano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was part of it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they have? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do.

Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.