The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Breaking down rookie QB performances, the Miami Dolphins issues, thoughts on the 2024 QB class, Greg Cosell

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

Colin talks to Greg Cosell from NFL Films about the rookie quarterback performances and why Jaxson Dart of the Giants was impressive He looks at the top team evaluations and questions why the Dolphins are ranked as high as they are Colin goes into detail as to why the 2024 NFL QB class might be the best everSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, hour two, flying through it, Greg Coasell. It's going to be joining us in a couple of minutes. Joint practices, never been bigger. I guess we were talking during the break. The Milwaukee Brewers were on fire. If you look at the last 11 years in Major League Baseball, the Royals of Wonder World Series,

the Yankees and the Mets have not. is that when you get money involved, everybody freaks out. So everybody, you know, we all know that college sports and individual sports, I mean, tennis was dominated globally by four people for 20 years. Serena Williams, Federer, Djokovic, and it all, like they dominated tennis for 20 years. The reality is some people are more talented, more aspirational, more driven, more obsessed. Brady and Mahomes, Belichick, Andy Reid have dominated the NFL and they have a hard cap. baseball doesn't they have a real floor but there's a bottom of college sports bottom of the NBA I mean the bears have been

bears have never had a 4,000 yard passer they've got poor ownership like like they and that's a big city we don't have a problem if the giants or a Washington DC team or a Chicago team struggle but if Cincinnati struggles or or Baltimore struggles oh that is not fair the NFL is dominated by small markets may a lot of people think the brewers are going to win the world series I mean, how many baseball managers could run for governor? I mean, Dave Roberts, they're furious with him in L.A. Pat Murphy, they love. So this constant fear of, oh, I mean, I remember when Barry Switzer took over Wisconsin. Wisconsin was a god-awful football program.

He ended up going to three Rose Bowls and going three and O. It was the same state, mostly the same stadium. I mean, how did he do it? So, I mean, Barry Alvarez, I mean, there was one guy that coached Kansas State Bill Snyder football forever. They were awful. Bill Snyder made him great. He left. They were awful again.

Now they're pretty good. I mean, Kansas football has been, in my entire life, a laughing stock. Then they get this Lance Leopold guy overnight. They're good. So I don't worry about small markets or downtrodden program. Milwaukee didn't have a ton of money, but it's a great place to work. their R&D is successful. The minor league system.

They got a manager. It's so much fear. Baseball has no salary cap. The Mets, the Yankees, and the Dodgers are all in the first place. The Dodgers just got swept. The Brewers, by the way, went 6 and 0 against the Dodgers this year. Oh, the world's ending. Baseball's in a great spot.

And the Tigers, finally, for the first time ever, great brand. The Tigers are now great. with that Greg Kossel, 46 years NFL films joins us. Okay, my guy, Shadur Sanders. Boy, the PFF grade had him just knocking it out of the park. I will say this about Shadur when I watch the game, Greg. I do think he moves better than, you know, you said this last week. Bo Nix moves better than people give him credit for.

And it just, he just does. I think Shadur's movement is pretty good. It's not Bo Nix. But what did you make of his chador's overall performance last Friday? I thought he did more good things than bad things. To me, the movement was more critical when it came to pocket movement. That second touchdown he threw, I thought it was a really good example, where he moved to his right in reaction to the blitz pressure.

And what I really liked was the way he reset his throwing platform, reset his feet, and then delivered the ball at the front of the end zone. You see it right here. you want to throw low at the front of the end zone. I thought that was a really good play. I think one of the things that he'll need to work on, because you don't see this a lot in college football, Colin, and there were a number of plays like this, and I guarantee that the organization saw this is he's not a naturally anticipatory thrower. And there were a couple of throws that he clearly left on the field that require anticipation. And that's something he'll have to

improve if he's to become a quality NFL starting quarterback because yes he moved better but i think you and i both agree if he's to become a quality starter his game is not going to be built on a playmaking dimension it's going to be built on his ability to play from the pocket yeah that was more good than bad certainly in his performance so j i've argued this that if jackson dart ends up being really good the giants have a number one receiver a very good left tackle an offensive coach and a tremendous defensive front. Abdul Carter, and very few snaps, has looked dominant. So my take is if Jackson Dart can play,

I think they're an interesting team. Here's my argument why he should. Three years with Lane Kiffin, 41 college starts in the toughest defensive conference. Lane could coach in the NFL today. My take is I don't want to hear about, well, you know, he's young. 41 starts in the SEC,

for Lane Kiffin, you watch the game, you watch the film, I thought, is he an anticipatory throw? I thought he looked good. Yeah, the issue that none of us know is what happens on a daily basis. You know, we sit and watch the games and we see some good plays, some bad plays. We just see the touchdown, which was a really good play, by the way, because he saw the safety rotation pre-snap, and he signaled to Humphrey on the outside to change his route, to convert his drought to a fade. And that was a really good play by Dart, a mental play. And that's what you want to see from young quarterbacks. It's not so much the physical. They all have physical ability. But, you know, Dart, you're right. He has a ton of college experience. You know, again, to me,

we're not there every day. I personally would look to Dart, assuming he's done well throughout camp. I would look to him as the starter, but we don't know how that will play out. You're right about their defensive front. They've got a really good defensive front. Dexter Lawrence will be back. So we'll see. But, you know, again, DART, there were some really good plays and what you would expect a couple of plays that I'm sure he'd like to have back. So Cam Ward may be the quietest number one quarterback pick in the last 20 years. Part of that is the Titans are not a big brand. He's a quiet kid. He's really easy to root for, like Lamar Jackson. He wants to win. It's all about football, his teammates like him, they don't have much on the perimeter to help him. So I don't

look at him. I'm not going to look at him this year and go, well, they went eight and nine. Listen, the kid has very little to work with. We've got to contextualize this. He had an 11 play drive. Did you see anything with Cam? The tempo, the accuracy, the movement. What did you see? Well, I've been around Cam Ward because I was down at Titans training camp, and he is a very impressive kid and I got a chance to talk to him and one thing that really stood out to me just to tell a quick anecdote when I met him um fortunately I was set up beautifully by the organization as someone he should talk to and the first thing he said to me and I thought this was really impressive Colin he just met me but I was set up beautifully and he said to me okay so what do I need to work on

I thought that was really impressive he had just met me um yeah but he's very impressive in person. Now, again, his performance, there was a third and five on the first series where he went through his read too fast. Okay, that's something you expect to see. But he throws a really good ball. He's an impressive kid. You're right about the team. There's really good give and take between he and Jeffrey Simmons, because Jeffrey Simmons knows that if there to get to the promised land, it's going to be because of Cam Ward. I would expect that he'll be a good player. Now, the thing is, early in the season, they open at Denver, they're home to the Rams, then week four, they're at Houston. You know, this could be a tough start simply because the Titans have some holes on their team

that need to, you know, be dealt with, and they may not be dealt with year one. So I think people are going to have to be a little patient simply because the team is not quite good enough at this point. Yeah, I agree. You know, speaking of Denver, I saw where Bo Nix, they do this, Mike Sando does this quarterback tiers thing where he talks to 50 GMs. I saw it all. Yeah, yeah. And my only complaint was I said, you know, Bo Nix below Tua, he's a better runner. He's healthier. I think he's got at least as good to arm maybe better.

But whatever, we don't know a ton about Bo Nix. When I saw him ranked 20th, my take was it was telling me that executives in the league think very highly of Sean Payton, that he's squeezing every ounce of talent out of this. Do you believe the Bo Nix success is mostly at this point Sean Payton? Well, you know, I've always struggled with that, Colin. There seems to be a sense that if a quarterback is well-coached with a really good coordinator and a really good scheme and a well-designed system, that's somehow a knock on the quarterback, I don't really understand that because that's kind of what the coach is supposed to do. You know, and I think that Bo Nix showed a lot last year with the kinds of throws that he made.

I mean, he made a lot of big-time throws between the numbers. He showed more arm strength, quite honestly, than I thought he had coming out of Oregon. I mean, you couldn't make the same argument. You know, I've spent a lot of this off-season re-watching a lot of quarterbacks because I can really do that. I can watch 250 plays in a row, which I can't really do during the season. I've just done that with Jaden Daniels. And I think Cliff Kingsbury does an outstanding job with his route design, really presenting

clean, defined reads for Jaden Daniels. Is that a knock on Jane Daniels? Are we supposed to say Jane Daniels isn't very good because the offensive coordinator does a really good job with his route concepts? Are we supposed to say Jared Goff isn't any good because Ben Johnson's really good with his route spacing and cleanly defining reeds? I mean, are we supposed to say Joe Montana wasn't any good because Bill Walsh was really good? You know, I think that's such a silly argument. I mean, that's what the offensive coordinator is supposed to do. do he's supposed to present it so that ideally the first read is clean and then you work through progression concepts so i don't really understand why that's a problem um so in that tier one through five

that mike sando athlete at the athletic did there were a couple of quotes about caleb williams and a defensive coordinator said it was alarming to watch his process a head coach said it that word was used more than once. So you have said that you love me stocky, he's strong, he's a power thrower. When you, when they say his process is alarming and you've watched the same film, what do they mean by that? Well, that means he's not seeing the field with a needed clarity. In other words, you can see the route concepts. I've been doing this for a lot of years, Colin, as you know, there's not a thousand route concepts. So I see the route concepts, versus specific coverages.

And when you see, it depends on the nature of the philosophy of an offense. There's a lot of different ways routes are taught. There's something called pure progression where you're not really worried about the defense. There's a primary, there's a secondary. When the quarterback drops back, he looks to the primary. If it's not there, it doesn't matter what the defense is. You just go to the next guy. Then there's other systems where you're actually reading the defense.

reading whether it's single high or two shell or you're reading a particular defender to decide where you throw the ball. So there's different ways that past game is taught. But what they're saying about Williams is he's not seeing that particularly clearly at all. So throws that are there where the ball should be released, he's just not seeing it the right way. So he's holding the ball. He's not getting a clear picture. You know, the term that's always used is processing. He's not processing it the right way. And that's one reason why he holds the ball. The film shows that.

But what's interesting is that it's always been my knock on Zach Wilson and Justin Fields. And they've never gotten great at it. I mean, you can absolutely make a quarterback more accurate. Not all, Anthony Richardson has regressed. But there are things in, I don't care if it's broadcasting. I don't care if it's in any business. There are things that are solvable. but one of the ones that doesn't seem to be terribly solvable is he doesn't see the field well.

Like Mahomes? It's a great point. I don't know if that's solvable. You tell me somebody that didn't see the field and a year later did. Yeah, it's a great point. And I would say the majority of coaches think that's tough to solve. And I'll answer it this way. You can help a quarterback in normal down-and-distance situations where you,

the defense is a little more predictive in what they do. The probability and tendencies tend to favor the offense more than the defense so you can help a quarterback with your play calling on first and 10, second and four, maybe third and three. But when you start getting into long yardage, pure past situations, whether it's second and nine, third and nine, now the defense very often has the tactical advantage and the quarterback has to be able to see things really quickly and really clearly. And at some point, if that can't happen, then you're going to have a quarterback that's very inconsistent and erratic in his performance. And I don't think we could say 100% for sure that Caleb Williams can't do that. He's only going into a second year and he's

with a brand new coordinator. I mean, Ben Johnson's essentially the coordinator. So we want to wait and see on that. But if that starts to show up more and more, then at some point, you might say that that's not solvable. You know, Patrick Mahomes wins a lot of games, and they're not going to go 11 and 0 and 1 score games, but he didn't have a great year. He had bad games. He had bad halves. He had really bad series. He had a bad Super Bowl.

Some of it was lack of offensive line competency. Sure. But when you looked at Mahomes struggles last year, did he develop bad habits? Was he relying too much on certain things? Did he trust his own line? Patrick Mahomes didn't get poor. He didn't get bad, but he didn't play necessarily well. What did the film say on his regression?

Not winning regression, but his mechanics or his performance. Well, it's funny you say that because every year, and I've had this conversation with people in Kansas City, every year he does go through that where he starts to lose his mechanics, because that's sort of the way he naturally plays going back to Texas Tech. You know, he's that kind of player, where he's sort of. starts to drift, he starts to lose his mechanics, and then they have to sort of rein him in and get him back on track. But last year, and I think because he just did not have confidence, and he would never say this publicly because he's a class act, but I think because he just didn't

feel comfortable with that O line, I think it took a little longer for him to get his mechanics back, and he didn't play with the same precision throughout the course of the season that we normally see. But you're right. It's not as if he's suddenly not a good quarter, but It's just that he has to be reigned in at times. And I think the O line last year caused some issues for him, caused a lack of confidence, caused him not to play from the pocket with the same, and I'll use the word precision again, the same kind of precision that we've seen in the past, but it's not as if his traits or his talent level has dropped.

Now finally, we'll go back to one of the young guys. This has kind of been a theory of mine for years, is that you would think, right, that the best quarterbacks in the NFL would all be from power schools. They are five-star high school guys. They go to Texas, Bama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and then they all go to the NFL. But if you look at the history of the NFL, they've often gone to Cal and North Carolina State and Miami of Ohio and Texas Tech and Wyoming, because that is preparing you for the NFL. Shaky O'lines, have to carry teams, have to make quicker decisions, you don't get comfortable windows. So I do think, as the of us go to college to prepare us for our work. It's the same in the NFL. You think Ohio State

would be better for you, but you are very rarely in discomfort with Ohio State's receivers in online. So when I look at Jay J.J. McCarthy, he never threw 40 times a game. He always played with a lead. He had great protection. And I've said, I worry that it's like these Alabama quarterbacks. He's not ready for the NFL. Then he gets hurt. and that sets him back another year. So I do think the choice college kids make often doesn't necessarily, I mean, Matt Ryan goes to a school where he's got to throw guys open. He has to be anticipatory because nobody's wide open.

What do you see with that, is there anything about J.J. McCarthy that you worry that he's just not quite ready for this life of somewhat duress and discomfort in the NFL? Well. Yeah, and I'm not sure we know that. I mean, I think you and I would both agree that Kevin O'Connell is really, really good in terms of defining reads and throws for the quarterback. Look what he did with Sam Darnold last year. So, you know, that remains to be seen, but I imagine there'll be a learning curve for J.J. McCarthy. Obviously, in college, he did not throw the ball a lot, but he's got a good arm, a plus arm. He's got mobility. He's got traits. He's a good size kid. So there are traits that are there. I mean, even last year when he played in the first preseason game and then

he was done for the year, I noticed an immediate difference in his drop and set in the pocket from when I watched him at Michigan. So obviously, Kevin O'Connell, through the offseason as a rookie, really worked with him and really tightened him up in a lot of areas. So you have to assume that that continued. But now, once you get into the regular season games, we'll see. He'll be under a lot of pressure. They'll be duress. They've revamped their offensive line. That often takes time to come together. So we'll see. You never know the answer to that question. Then it depends on how the games are played. Is he going to be in games where he has to drop back 40 times? Can the team be good enough, Colin, where he only has to drop back 25 times? You know, there are so many variables.

It's not very often for a young quarterback, it's not solely dependent on the young quarterback. It's the way in which he's able to play based on the rest of the team. Yeah, I would argue he's got a top three left tackle, a top two receiver, and a top three offensive head coach. They revamp the O'Line. And he may have the best team. He may have the best defensive coordinator in the sport. So the truth is, before the season starts, he got the keys to a really nice car.

He's not going to have to win by shootouts. Yeah, yeah. And like I always have with Brock Purdy. If you look at Brock Purdy in his first 21 starts when the team was younger and less expensive, boy, he was good. His last 15 starts, he's like 6 and 9 or 9 and 6, and his pass are writing has dropped because now the Niners are old and they've had to let Hufunga go and green. And the defense isn't as good.

And he has to throw more. So like Brock Purdy's opening into the NFL was like Dax. There's a lot of comfort. Zeke. O'Line was great. Des Bryant was a touchdown machine. So I think JJ, here's my hunch, is that J.J. McCarthy, like Brock Purdy, will be able to engineer a wildly smart and talented offense. They'll be good. I think when you draft him that high you want great, but he should be at least capable. Is that fair?

But you make an interesting point. Is Brock Purdy's talent any different than it was a year or a year and a half ago? No, there's other factors that are involved. And with 99.9% of quarterbacks, those other factors often dictate, you know, how a quarterback plays or certainly how he's perceived. You know, he hasn't changed in his traits. It's just that there are other factors that impact how he plays and how the games turn out. And, of course, all we do is look at wins and losses, and then we decide that that's what a quarterback is. Right. Great stuff. Greg CoSell is always, my man. Appreciate it. Thanks, Colin. Really appreciate it.

Yeah, I mean, let's be honest about C.J. Stroud's rookie year. He had Laramie Tunzel, and they ended up hitting on a couple of mid-round wide receivers, and he had Bobby Slowick who at the time was like a hot coordinator. And so generally rookie quarterbacks, mean Herbert had a great rookie season in terms of that. He had Shane Steichen. You know, he had Keenan Allen. So you got it for a rookie quarterback to work, you got to give him something. J.J. McCarthy has a top two receiver, maybe number one, a top two, three left tackle, maybe number one, a top two or three offensive head coach. That is a huge benefit. That is a massive, massive benefit. Last year, Caleb had none of that. Left tackle was a swinging door. Coach was defensive. Keenan Allen was past his prime. DJ Moore was good, but he was on his back or running for his life. So JJ's got some of those Brock Purdy,

First starts gifts, he should be capable. I don't see great, but he should be capable. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Pauli and Tony Fusco show. Usually in these promos, they ask you to listen to the show.

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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 do 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. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it

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I can't wait for that. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we're finally talking about Brock Purdy again, Colin. One of my favorite players, not just in the NFL, in all of sports. He got his big contract.

The former Mr. Irrelevant went on a podcast with Richard Sherman and talked about continuing to prove himself after getting paid. I've always felt, you know, this like, you know, underdog kind of story. And that's been my story, man, from high school college to the NFL. But for me every single year, all that matters, man, is if, you know, I'm leading these guys in this locker room and this building, this organization, and they trust me here. That's all that matters.

Everybody's going to have something to say. That's the nature of the sport, and that's fine. but I don't buy into or listen. If I were to listen to criticism and everything, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I've had the chip on my shoulder and I go prove myself right every single year. And so that's just where I'm at.

That's leadership, my friend. Very workable schedule. Yeah, can we talk about Brock for a moment? He just sounds like what you want your franchise quarterback to sound like, right? Yeah, he's a good kid, bright kid. Absolutely. Almost senatorial, if you will. Well, measure. Remember, he doesn't shotgun beers on stage with the tight end.

I like that take from you earlier. You have, no, I mean, he's a very good kid. His family probably thinks I don't like it. He is all NFL Intangibles team. But you have made the argument that this schedule is just cinchy. So they go at Seattle's the opener. Then they have to go cross-country. The Saints aren't any good, but it's cross-country.

Oh, yeah, that's tough. Oh, yeah, Tyler Shilts. Then it's your surprise team in the NFL, and you may be right. Arizona. Oh, then it's Trevor Lawrence and the improved Jags offense. Oh, then your Rams, Baker, Stafford. You've made this out. Oh, at C.J. Stroud. And you've made this out to be Cupcake City. That first eight weeks, there's some L's there, baby, if you're not ready to go. You guys see what he's doing, right? Listen, I'm not going to get into it with you. But bottom of mind, just to go back to Brock Purdy for a second. Colin, I love the mentality that he's a career. The guy just got $50 million a year, whatever the number is, and he's still treating it like an underdog. That's what I want from my quarterback. And you know that's how I view myself. I see myself as an underdog, step on the basketball court, step on this show. And I think

that's a great mentality. Remember, there's a decent basketball player named Michael Jordan who would continually pump himself up by telling him, hey man, I'm an underdog. I didn't make the JV team, blah, blah, blah. Like, that's not a bad mentality to have, Colin. No, I, the The intangibles for Brock are all pro. I'd like more tangibles. He does, like Sodor Sanders or a Bo Nix, he moves better than people think. Garoppolo was a pure pocket guy. Brock can move.

Brock can run. Wait, can you, and let me just drill down. What are these tangibles that you want? No, I mean, listen, I like my quarterbacks like I like my furniture. Hard to move. Big, stable, and hard to move. That's what I like. Big, big coffee table weighs 800 pounds.

Can't move it. Oh, but, but brainpower, intangible, coachability, movement, he does a great job. And he's, he's, I think you push me into a corner where I have to just say slow down, but he's a very solid B, B plus quarterback. And, you know, now, as the team's gotten old and McCaffrey's hurt and Trent Williams is Noah's there, the numbers change. That's all I'm saying. And Dak, the numbers change when you don't have the best O-line in the league.

I'm just saying. Keep it score, Colin, is an elitist and a heightest when it comes to quarterbacks. I am a little bit. Let's move on to Terry McLaurin, who is still holding out. Now, Colin, this is not great. According to an NFL insider, when negotiations started between McLaren and the team, McCloren's camp stunned the commander's front office with their contract asked and almost broke down the negotiations entirely.

The insider adds that the way he understood it, McLaurin was looking for Tier 1 ride receiver money. And by Tier 1, that means Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Jamar Chase, that level money. Now, my first question to you is, where is this coming from? Who leaked this? Is this Washington? We've had enough with Terry. We're going to put this out there so everybody knows. Is this coming from Washington? Because they've been negotiating for a while, and I did not know what was this bad.

Like, you and I are honest. Well, I think he deserves. He's just not a CD Lamb guy. He's just not a CD Lamb. Listen, he's not Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, or CD Lamb, but he's better, more consistent than D.K. Matt Calfe. He's proven at this point to be consistently better than Garrett Wilson. I would pay him kind of Amaran St. Brown money. That's the kind of money I'd pay him, which Amaran St. Brown, 30 million large. That's what he is. Which is he's not, he is a hardworking, highly productive, very mature, dependable, pro-bowl-level, wide. receiver. He's not going to change your defense like Jamar, Justin, C.D. Or A.J. Brown. Like, you don't have

to roll coverage over all the time. You can put a good corner on him and feel somewhat you know, you can't single cover Justin Jefferson. You're going to get smoked. CD Lam's a hard single cover. But I think, I do think

in a position with a lot of immaturity and a lot of ego, he is a Mature, reliable, Amar on St. Brown grown up, and I would pay him $30 million and not worry at all about it. Yeah, it sounds like he's going to want a little more than that. 30 mil is 10 mil per year off of elite top tier receivers,

which is what he wants. Now, remember, he's 29, probably his last huge contract, and your quarterback's on the rookie deal. I think, you know what changes, Washington, is if somehow this screws up and goes sideways and they don't have him. Because without him, I'll tell you right now, Jaden Daniels is going to struggle. They don't have the weapons behind him, Colin.

Jane Daniels, as much as we love him, beat one playoff team last year, Philadelphia, and that's when Kenny Pickett took a majority of the snaps. Thank you. Well, that's a good nugget. Final story is, again, I like this team a lot. We're going to be doing headlines, and they're going to make an appearance. Cam Ward and the Titans, Colin, give it all to me. He's got great chemistry with Calvin Ridley, as they showed in their last preseason game. And here's the first overall pick, Cam Ward, believing Tennessee has a potential to be a high-powering.

I think we also have the ability to be a top-gen offense. But also going, it goes on every guy in that huddle, including myself bringing the right mindset every day. And us also playing together. I think that's the biggest things that we always play together. We never point fingers at each other on both sides of the ball. And we just got to always have that mindset that we can be the best office in the NFL. And then it really just comes with just us caring about each other on the field,

off the field. And I think a lot of that stuff will translate to the game. You know, if you noticed something with Brock Purdy and Jalen Hertz and Cam Ward and Bow Nix, if you notice something, there's almost two qualities you see with all of these young men who, you've seen it with Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Mahomes, humble and kind of obsessed and focused on football. You ever noticed that? So whenever I push back on a, you know, big personality quarterback, and everybody freaks out.

Folks, are you noticing a trend with all the young quarterbacks that they're not always the biggest. Cam Ward's not that big. Jalen Hertz is not that big. The guys that are football focused, C.J. Stroud, Justin Herbert, Cam Ward, Jalen Hurts, Dack Prescott early. Football focused and humble almost always. Those are two signs you've got the right guy. Football focused and humble.

Will Levis came in? little bravado. Jotty Mansell. I mean, it was my big knock on Baker Mayfield. A lot of bravado. Bro, I don't mind if I see that in year six. Year one, Cleveland, I don't want to see it. But when I watch Cam Ward, it's like, this is what I saw with Jalen Hertz. This is what I saw with Justin Herbert. This is what I saw with Lamar Jackson. Like, humble, always about the team, not talking about himself, always willing to say, I've got to play better. Check that out on the screen. All the stuff. All, Brock Purdy deserves. Brock Purdy's about the team.

It's not about me. There is a clear, obsessed about football, humble for that position are the two boxes you've got to check. You've got to get buying from coaches and players and you don't do it when you're cocky and distracted. And you see that image on the screen there. Cam Ward addressing what appears to be the entire team. I don't think it's just the offense. Colin, he walks in. He's the leader.

He's the alpha. And like I know people want to mention Shador Sanders. That's fine. Shadur can't do something like this because he's fourth on the depth chart. You just can't roll up and before he can't do that. We can like Shadur, but he's a little distracted, and he's a little unsurious and legendary draft room and lack of self-awareness. Cam right now is above Shadur, like a long leap ahead of Shadur in the like maturity.

Like, again, football addicted, obsessed with football and humble. I would not say those would describe Shadour at this point. That's absolutely Cam Ward. Everybody says the same thing. Humble, all in on football. All about football. All he talks about, thinks about, and recreates with it's football. Jay McElner News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. I can't figure out. So, though, the NFL came out, Forbes magazine has come out for the NFL team's valuations. And there is one team in this league. I never understand why they're always undervalued. And we've talked about them a lot in the last few years.

It's 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 IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us to 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. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

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

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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. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lena Rubakina 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 IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Bryson, Kepka, Ram, Phil, and DJ. Some of the biggest names in golf are teeing it up in Indy for Live Golf, Indianapolis.

Catch coverage of round one tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern, with weekend coverage of round two and the final round starting at noon Eastern only on Fox. I have never been able to figure out team valuations. So Sportico, not Forbes, my bad. Sportico came out with a list of NFL team valuations. Now, there's obviously the size of the city matters a lot. You know, number one was the Dallas Cowboys. They are kind of the Yankees.

Although I tend to think America's team right now is the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City, San Francisco, and then Dallas. There was a time in my life. I thought the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 70, 70s were America's team. So for our radio audience, I'm not going to read all of them, but it goes like Cowboys, Rams, obviously L.A. SoFi

Stadium is a magnificent facility, Giants, Patriots, Boston, San Francisco, Eagles, Dolphins, jets. I get all of them. Here's what's amazing. Now, Chiefs are only 16 because the game day revenue, it's just a smaller market. I am always amazed at how

overvalued the dolphins are, and I'll tell you why. It's a distracted market with the world's best beaches, arguably, a transient market, and the average incomes are $55,000 per fan. So that's not a lot of, that's not a lot of money for game day revenue. I've never understood that. It's a very distracted transient market that doesn't necessarily always draw well. It's not a corporate hub. So when you look, this is why I don't get valuations. It's not a knock on Miami, but where is where are the Minnesota Vikings? They're not in the top half. It's a corporate hub. No competition

from a beach or even a college football program to take, you know, money away or people away. It's not a highly transient market. They have the Vikings below Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Miami. Has anybody ever been to Minnesota? It's like some of the highest, most educated people, highly corporate, good annual revenues. you're not distracted, maybe the best stadium in the league. Every seat is taken. They have very good local, you know, radio revenues.

I have never figured this out. Like I lived in Tampa. It's not a corporate hub, meaning Minnesota can go to its corporations and sell tens of thousands of tickets and suites. You're not doing that in Tampa. When I lived in Tampa, there was only one Fortune 500 company. It was Raymond James, the investment bank or investment firm. So Tampa's not a corporate hub.

Miami's bigger than Tampa in terms of corporate, and Miami's also exploding in terms of tech growth. But, I mean, you're telling me Minnesota and the Titans are close. I don't understand it. Same thing in baseball. Everybody's low as like, Minnesota is a small market team. Look at the corporations in Minnesota. It's right in the middle of the country, one of the best airports,

and there's all sorts of corporate money there, meaning there's a lot of executives, there's a lot of money. I don't get it. I just have never understood this. The Minnesota Vikings are essentially the Kansas City Chiefs without Mahomes. They've always been well run, always been well capitalized, had a lot of great coaches. I mean, my staff put this down. Just these alone, Target base there, General Mills, United Healthcare, they're all headquartered in Minneapolis.

an average salary for fans, it's got to be one of the top ten in the league. I don't get it. I don't get valuations. I do get Bo Nix, who was only ranked 20th among NFL execs in the Mike Sando annual athletic poll. I asked Greg Kossel earlier, is he ranked 20th because executives in this league hold Sean Payton in such high regard. If a quarterback is well coached with a really good coordinator and a really good scheme and a well-designed system,

that's somehow a knock on the quarterback, I don't really understand that because that's kind of what the coach is supposed to do. And I think that Bo Nix showed a lot last year with the kinds of throws that he made. I mean, he made a lot of big-time throws between the numbers. He showed more arm strength, quite honestly, than I thought he had coming out of Oregon. Yeah, yeah, I don't get the shade with Bownex. But I will tell you, if Caleb Williams can play, and again, I'll show it at the top of the hour, if you got 15% improvement with Caleb Williams, it's, I mean, the numbers will be, he'll complete 71% of his throws.

But Bo Nix can play. Drake May can absolutely play. Jane Daniels is a star. I'm a strong believer in Michael Penix. I have my doubts on J.J. McCarthy, but he has such a strong support system. With the Vikings and O'Connell and the receiving corps, we may have a six-for-six class if Caleb Williams can play, a five-for-five or a six-for-six class. Cam Ward's going to work. I don't know to what level he'll work.

And what's interesting next year is Cade Clubnick for Clemson is the real deal. folks he is big he can move he doesn't turn the ball over he's really good five star high school kid been great at clemson archmanning can play drew aller can play to some level we got three guys i absolutely believe are franchise quarterbacks i don't know about the kid at south carolina i'm not quite sure about nussmeyer at ls u let's say they improve they get 15 more starts and they improve and they become first round picks that means like two out of the last three years We could have five to six first round level quarterbacks. And I'm going to tell you, when I watch the kid at Clemson,

I watch Arch Manning and Drew Aller, there's a lot to like. There is a ton. And listen, Bo Nix, people have doubts on. Bo Nix can play. Absolutely can play. Eric Mangini is going to join us last hour. Are you on the show tomorrow? J. Mack, I'm off tomorrow.

Are you on the show tomorrow? Are you doing it? Oh, yeah. Firing for an hour. I was just cooking up some takes. There's some interesting stuff out there. Quick note, Cade Clubnick 6'2, and you know college measurements,

they sometimes skew taller Brock Purdy at the Combine 6-1. So Clubnick probably checks in closer to Brock Purdy's height. Nuss-Myers also in that 6-1 range. But can we go back to the valuations that you did? I was trying to draw a parallel between the Sportico

top half of the NFL valuations versus bottom. half and you made a great point that like why is minnesota lower than like atlanta how are the atlanta falcons value no but atlanta's got four and a half million people it's a corporate hub delta coca coca i mean if you're just going on corporate hubs well no that matters because i can charge six times as much in minneapolis you know or Atlanta as i could maybe a carolina although carolina is a banking hub i mean the Atlanta hawks are there their valuation is garbage in the nba i I don't think there's a direct world.

Minnesota is home to 15, 15 Fortune 500 companies. And you're telling me they're worth less than Tampa? Seattle? Vegas? But Seattle's at least a corporate hub. 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 Smigel 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 acapella band with they're 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. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

Genschen win. She's an outsider to win the French frame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

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