The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - From college to the NFL

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

Thoughts on the Colts naming Anthony Richardson their starting QB for the regular season College players that didn't transition well to the NFL   Guest: Lance ZierleinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com Or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, hour two, hour one flew by. Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd, wherever you may be,

and however you may be listening. Thanks for Megan House. Part of your day. In a good mood today, J. Mack had to go to the ER last night. A guy's coughing up a lung, but yet fought through it. And here for the show, we do appreciate that effort. Yeah, this is my Jordan flu game.

I don't have the flu. All my tests are negative. I'm just hurting. I woke up Saturday and felt like crap. Now, the difference is I was out party until one in the morning. Oh, thanks for that. Oh, I was out of town, but you didn't hit me up anyway. No, I was Manhattan Beach all night with buddies.

How many, how many cock? Is that like a six cocktail night? Oh, it was a long night. Wow. Are you eating pizza at like 12 at midnight? No, I was stumbling around and finally got home in bed and went. Stumbling around. It was a fun night.

So you know, like Georgia? in love in the pocket, huh? You know, some friends came into town, hadn't seen it in a long time. You got to show people a good time. Yeah, I'm just trying to get healthy for my playoff game this weekend in men's basketball. Everybody's talking about it. You know, I'm thinking we extend an invite to you and the daughter who's an influencer for the championship game.

We're going to the championship game. Nobody in my family influences anything. So, Alabama Crimson Tye, the AP Top Ten came out yesterday. Alabama had its lowest preseason ranking in over a decade. and I actually think it's a good thing. I don't think Alabama's been great for college football. They've been great for Bama and Nick Saban. So Yukon Women's Dynasty was really good for women's basketball

because it's a sport that didn't receive a ton of credit and attention. It let everybody know we got the biggest dynasty in the history of maybe all sports. But college football in the 40s, 50s and 60s was arguably as or more popular than the NFL. It's always gotten attention. It used to be Army, Navy was as big as NFL. stuff. And arguably it peaked with USC and Texas two glamour programs. But I think there's an Alabama fatigue and an SEC fatigue that has hurt the sport.

And it's hard if you live in the South to understand that. But USC's dominance was great for the sport because it's a glamour program, celebrities on the sideline. Pete Carroll was the embodiment of joy and fun. And it was glamour. It was the Coliseum. It was a major market. And it was brief. It was very brief.

Firework show, big games, and they didn't duck anybody. Pete Carroll got on the phone. They'd go to Virginia Tech with Frank Beamer. They'd go to Ohio State. Bama mostly has ducked people for years, right? Citadel, you know, playing a lot of out-of-conference games. You know, they're just not competitive. And so, and Bama feels very southern.

You know, numbers on the helmet, squish individuality, not a lot of sideline theatrics or other than Sabin yelling at people. And I can think two things simultaneously. I respect Saban in the program, but I don't think it's necessarily been great for the sport. College football in the last 15 years has gotten like hyper-regional, two-SCC dominant, and maybe it does mean more,

doesn't make it better for the sport. This year, though, is different. USC's got its best team easily since Pete Carroll. Texas has its most talented team since Mack Brown. Michigan may have the best team in the country. it's easily one of the top two or three NFL loaded Big Ten rosters in years, and I think it's great for the sport. So not all dynasties are good for sports.

Michael Jordan's dynasty, the Bulls was amazing. It had glamour and drama and stars and glitz. Phil and Scotty and Rodman and Michael. It was great for the sport. The Spurs dynasty crushed the ratings. It was methodical, the big fundamental, a culture. I've said this about the Chiefs. The Chiefs dynasty is great for the NFL.

Andy reads a creative, and he's clever, and it's fun, and it's offense. And New England's dynasty wasn't. I think it's amazing how much the NFL grew when you had a 10-year dynasty twice with New England, which was all about do your job. It sounds like, you know, painting job. It was like do your job, clock in, leave. Again, like San Antonio, it's kind of methodical. Even Brady a Star wasn't really allowed to be a part.

personality. And so when, you know, when a dynasty has big personalities, the Yankees, when they had, you know, you go back to some of the great Yankee teams, big personalities. M.J. Golden State. K.D. Dremont, Steph, Kerr, personalities, opinions. I think Alabama's kind of been boring and has made the sport incredibly regional. They deserve it. I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but this idea, I thought Yukon women's basketball was great for the sport. It was like, wow. This is unbelievable. You had to pay attention, not just because I lived in the state. USC was good.

I also think fatigue sets in. People think I'm a patriot homer. But I have said this. Like I got Brady Belichick fatigue. Like, right? Like they didn't have star receivers. You know, sometimes I like smart football and analytics, but, you know, I like stars too. It's why I talk NBA.

And I think college football has gotten very regional. And I think this is the first year in a long time. I can see somebody out of the SEC. I think Michigan and Georgia are the two best teams. I think LSU, I mean, Brian Kelly sort of gave you a tell when he left Great Notre Dame to go to great LSU. The athletes are incredible. And by the way, you can get kids into school, JCs, transfer portals, the boosters pay money. It's the home of the best college football easily, and I've defended it forever.

But I don't think it's necessarily been great for the sport. So there you go. Oh, by the way, NFL note, Adam Schaefter reporting this morning that Anthony Richardson, will be the starting quarterback for the regular season. And so this is something we talked about yesterday. There are certain quarterbacks as rookies. You could say, listen, keep him out for a year, let him learn. This kid may be the best athlete on the team.

Just go let him play. Lance Zerline has been a draft analyst at NFL.com for a long time, eight years. He's outstanding. We bring him on before the draft. And I thought we'd bring him on today. He's a popular talk show host in Houston as well. with bench 97-5 in Houston. He does, his dad was a coach in the NFL, and this is what he does.

So I want to go back to the Trey Lance thing is I thought I'd met him. Smart, coachable, big moves raw. And then I watched him this weekend, and my takeaway is, shouldn't be this hard. It just doesn't, Trey Lance just doesn't, it doesn't feel like it's working. I thought Darnold looked excellent, pretty last year looked excellent. What was your evaluation of Trey and your takeaway on what you see now? Well, I love Trey coming out. I thought Trey is a guy who, you know, you could really, I thought grow with as an organization.

He was a guy who was well prepared from North Dakota State. I talked to their quarterback coach and offense coordinator who told me about the process that Lance went through on a weekly basis. And man, I was I was really impressed because it was like an NFL quarterback in terms of preparation. But I think one thing that happened, Colin, is, you know, this is a guy who sat down for a year. then he was playing. He had a really good season. Then came COVID where he played one year. Then he didn't play the very next year after he was drafted, not barely, just sparingly. Then the next year he was hurt. We're talking about a guy who's played football one time over the last four years. And just once since his college, his high school football days.

So I think right now with Trey Lance is he just hasn't gotten the reps he needs. And, you know, the mental reps, you can get those all you want. but he hasn't had the game reps that he really needs. And now, unfortunately, he's running out of time because if Brock Purdy's the guy, then he's going to be the guy. And I think you made another really good point, Colin. This is as quarterback friendly and offense as you're going to find. So if you don't start getting it done in this offense,

you know, there should be some concerns that start to melt. All right. So I watched Anthony Richardson, and my expectations are pretty low first year. Didn't start much. But man, his feet are good. his body. He had a terrible pick, and I'm like, okay, he's played 13 games. My takeaway was that kid, I would just let him play. I would just, you know what, kid, go out there and make plays happen.

What did you see? Because when he got drafted, I'm like, I don't know what he is. And then I watched him and I'm like, there's something there. Go back to the draft and what you saw this weekend. So I remember having a conversation with Chris Baller on the floor of the combine. there in Indianapolis. And he made a comment about how good Anthony Richardson looked. I said, yeah, but you can't possibly draft him.

He's not going to be ready for a long time. And he said, why can't we draft him? And I said, because, I mean, he's just too raw. He's got too long to go. And he said, Lance, I'm going to make decisions that are best for the Colts. If it involves drafting, you know, Stroud or Bryce Young or Huilevis or Richardson, I'm going to do what's best for the Colts. And I'm not worried about right now.

I want to get the best player. And I think what happened is if you go all the way back to week one, Colin, last year when they played Utah, you could see it on tape. The kid had great. His footwork was really good. He had repeatable process.

He threw with the decent accuracy. He was very comfortable in his offense. And then as the season went on, I think things broke down a little bit for him. And he, you know, he kind of got away from some of the things that he had really worked on in the off season.

But we saw it on tape, right? They say, if you can see it on tape, they can do it. And we saw week one, interestingly enough, was his very best mechanics. And I think what happened with the Colts is now that he's back in camp, the same thing's happening where he is a quick study.

He's an intelligent quarterback with amazing physical traits. And I think the Colts have been very impressed with the way that he's picked up on things. And I think he wouldn't even get this opportunity, Colin, if he wasn't mentally tough. You've got to be mentally tough to survive the difficulties of a rookie season. And I think the Colts are comfortable with where he is mentally. Now, I'll tell you right now, on tape, he's got a lot to learn as a passer. but because he's so talented as an athlete, I think you have a chance to at least hit a few more home runs than you would otherwise.

And you can fade the strikeouts a little bit than if you just had a pure pocket passer. If he was a pure pocket passer, he really wouldn't be ready to play at all right now. Okay. So I talked to a GM years ago when Jordan Love got drafted. And I remember him saying somebody's going to reach for him. He's not ready to play. He's not close. And I'm not sure he can play.

So the Packers who have a history. of doing pretty good with quarterbacks. I figured, you know, they'd figured out. So one of my concerns is I was told this in the offseason inside the building, there's not a lot of juice with him. He feels more like a game manager. And I watched their first preseason game. He missed Musgrave on a wide open underneath route badly with a clean pocket. Come on, you're in year four. You've got to hit that stuff. That's a layup for any quarterback. Secondly, they're very cautious with the play calling. And I'm like, they're telling me. me something like it's their their comments i'm watching green bay and i'm thinking they're handholding

shouldn't i be what was your evaluation of them what do you see with jordan love i when he came out i had some concerns to be honest with you he didn't come off a very good season i you know i'd heard that there was some maturity issues with him uh which isn't the end of the world for me i think there is for a lot of people when they're in the early 20s there was for me and certainly um you know i thought the talent was there he had much better junior tape than he had senior tape, but he's got the physical tools. But, you know, much of the NFL quarterbacking that goes on at a higher level is not going to be the physical tools. You just have to check basic check marks there. And he checks those physical tools. I think it's how

does he manage a game? How does he handle himself psychologically when things get very difficult? Does he, can he slow the game down so he can make those easy throws? I know exactly what you're talking about, the throw to Musgrave, who I think is going to be a terrific talent and a guy that's really could become a safety blanket there for Jordan Love in year one. I do think there are some concerns at the wide receiver position about, you know, there's some players who are talented, but they're a lot more talented when Aaron Rogers is throwing a football. And there's not the same recognition of window and timing to get it in the window

coming from Jordan Love. So I think it's going to be a real process to get him comfortable with those wide receivers, get them comfortable with him. And until then, I think what he has to do is not turn a ball over. And like you said, when easy A to B throws are there, a man, you got to do it. You got to have it happen. But if you're Green Bay, Colin, you got to find out, is this a year that he shows you who he is?

Because if you don't see it this year, then he doesn't get a year five and you move on to the next quarterback. Okay. Finally, you're in Houston, C.J. Stroud. I wasn't that harsh on him. Belichick, I think we had the numbers on it. Belichick historically against rookie quarterbacks, hold him to like a 61 passerady or something. So I mean, he just devours these kids.

But again, as somebody that does this and scouts and your stuff, this is Lance Zerline for our radio audience. He does, I track all of his picks. I lean on him. We have him on the show. C.J. Stroud coming in. C.J. Stroud opener didn't do much. What did you make of it? So I told people on the radio, listen, the C.J. Stroud thing is going to be bumpy.

Number one, he's going from easily having the best skill position on his offense. unit at Ohio State against any defense they faced to now being on the wrong side of that matchup. So I think number one, he's going to face a challenge that maybe Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, for example, they weren't always the best when it came to their skill position versus the defenses they're facing. Now, C.J. Stroud has not only got to learn a new defense or new offense, not only does he have to learn how to really truly read defenses, but he's going to be mismatched at the skill position players. at the skill position, rather, from time to time.

So I think learning the speed of NFL defenses and then recognizing the matchups in the NFL are not always going to be positive like they were at Ohio State. I think it's going to take them time. But once again, this is Bobby Slowick coming over from San Francisco. We talked about it's a quarterback-friendly offense. So I think it's going to happen for C.J. Stroud. But I think it's going to be bumpy the first six weeks of the season. But if you're the Texans, let the kid learn.

As long as your offensive line can protect them better than they did in week one, and they're missing starters in week one. So he needs to have some guys that can protect a little bit for him, Colin, so he can get through his progressions and they can truly get a good look at him because the same thing happened for CJ that happened for Bryce Young. They just didn't get much of a good NFL look at defenses this last week because of the pressure. Yeah, Bryce was totally overwhelmed. All right, Lance Zerline, NFL.com, Houston Radio.

Always appreciate your insight, man. Thanks. Look forward to, can't wait to come in studio with your next draft, man. Let's do it. I know you're a Super Scout now, so don't sell yourself short. Well, I've had a few misses in my day.

I'll say that. We all have. By the way, I was talking about this to somebody this morning. The Johnny Mansell, speaking of misses, and I didn't like Mansell at all, Saban loved him. It just didn't work for me.

And the minute I saw him in the NFL, I was like, no. And I was talking to somebody about this. There's a big, because Mansell had a lot of fans. Baker had a lot of fans. And my thing is, there is a difference. And I don't know why this is so hard for guys to get. Like a friend of mine, his wife was with him watching the Manzell thing. And she's like, yeah, you can't build a business around him. She spotted it immediately. There's something about guys. Maybe they struggle with their masculinity. They confuse cocky with confident. If you see cocky,

Will Levis, Baker, Mansell, Jay Cutler, run for your life. If you see confident Joe Burrow, there's a difference. And you say, well, what the difference is? It's just obvious. And that's the thing with Manzell that I sniffed. I like confident, not doing money signs. Like, okay, that's cocky. And I don't think it's that difficult.

So a lot of the whiffs I've called. Now, I like Darnold more than the fans like Darnold. But Donald, if he plays in San Francisco, is going to win a lot of games. But let's just be honest, it hasn't worked. But there is a line watching that documentary with Mansell. What part of that do you watch now that wasn't visible pre-draft? This is who he was pre-draft. You're getting some of the stories.

And so people are watching the stories now and they're like, man, he's cocky. You got all of this before the draft and people just, you know, it's weird. like a post-truth society. You can give people evidence and truth and video. And they will not move off their position. Like nothing about Mansell in the documentary. The stories are goofier than I thought and wilder. But this is exactly who he was. But didn't he also beat Alabama or played amazing against out? Alabama had played a couple back-to-back games in a row. A&M went to Bama. He had a great first half. He was unbelievable. And Alabama just came out beaten up and flat. and Johnny was off script and doing stuff.

Johnny, listen, you know how many great players in college don't make the NFL? Fair. Johnny's style, which is kind of ad lib and make it up, has always been very successful against Belichick and Sabin, right? Like, that's the way to beat Sabin. It's off script. You can't predict it. And Johnny came in, it was Tuscalo.

I remember he had a, he made a throw in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. They took a big two or three touchdown lead, and Mansell was. brilliant. If I recall, he wasn't as good in the second half, if I recall memory could fade. But we've seen this time and time again. There's a lot of guys who have been tremendous college running back wide receiver. It doesn't translate. It's okay. It just doesn't translate. And Mansell, one of the things that for years and years, if you said that guy's too small, it was like, well, what does size matter at quarterback? You're watching it with Kyler Murray and Tua. You watched it with Mansell.

They're just height is a real problem. I mean, even Russell Wilson is one of the reasons I believe that Russell Wilson moves around is to create passing lanes. Because at times I think Russell can struggle to see over the offensive line. So Russell's at his best dropping, moving around, creating lanes. Russell Wilson tends to hold onto the ball statistically a little longer. Is the reason, Jay Mack? is the reason because if you get the ball hike to you and you get rid of it quickly,

the offensive linemen do a basic drop. But as the play develops and they spread out, passing lanes develop and vision accelerates. Right? You get better vision. So Russell Wilson, one of the knocks is he holds the ball. Brady didn't. Brady was 6'5.

Peyton didn't. Peyton was 6'5. But when you're smaller and you take another beat passing lanes open up for you to see downfield. So you can say Russell's holding on the ball. A lot of it is he wants better sight lines. That's my takeaway. Don't know if it's right, but it feels right. I had to look this up on Johnny Mansell. Oh my gosh. So remember the SEC was the best conference in the country. It's been the best conference forever. Yeah. As a freshman. Yeah. He had 3,700 yards passing and 1,400 yards rushing. 21 rushing touchdowns. Yeah.

As a freshman quarterback, in the best conference in America. Now remember, he also, again, memory. Didn't he have Mike Evans? Didn't he have Mike Evans? He had the best college receiver. He had like two NFL tackles. Still, Colin. He had pros everywhere around him.

That's 5,000 yards of total offense and 47 touchdowns. Yes. That's staggering for a freshman in the SEC. Yes. Like, I can understand why somebody drafted him. I mean, clearly they didn't do the homework on the off-field stuff. Yeah. I mean, it's the Browns.

That's what they do. You know, there's Cleveland Browns. Well, you know, the owner at the time, Jimmy Haslam, his quote was, this is a quote, you can Google it. It was like, I talked to a guy on the street. And he walked up to me and he said, draft Mansell. I'm not joking. That's the story. You can go Google it.

So it's like that's kind of Cleveland. And by the way, when they drafted Baker, again, when you're in a division with the well-run Steelers and the well-run Ravens, what do the Browns do? They take these big over-the-top swings and they're influenced by ego and confidence. The Steelers aren't. The Ravens aren't. So Cleveland's the classic like stepbrother, stepkid, sort of they live in the shadow, the Mets to the Yankees, the Jets to the Giants, the Clippers to the Lakers. So Cleveland's in this division where the world-class respected Ravens and Steelers

just methodically win nine, 10, 11 games a year, Cleveland always has to try to take big swings to compensate for the gap in town or gap in culture. So they took a huge swing on Tiny Manzell and huge overdraft on Baker. And that's where are they now? And that's why they have to pay a guaranteed deal. I mean, by the way, the Jets whiffed on Zach. Every team is whiffed. Let's be real.

Everybody's with. You talk about you whiffing? Everybody out there's guessing. Everyone, including NFL GMs, owners, all of them. They all are. I don't think it's guessing with certain positions. I think quarterback is really hard. I'm trying to think of the quarterbacks in my life.

Caleb Williams is literally, I feel like that's a can't miss. Trevor Lawrence can't miss. Andrew Luck can't miss. I remember Elway a little losing record but can't miss. You know, it's funny. When Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf came out, I was more impressed. See, if I was a GM, I didn't know the behind the scene stuff. And there wasn't as much transparency than as now.

I thought Manning would be fine. But I watched him play in college. And I thought his feet were so nervous. nervous and he was kind of unathletic. Ryan was bigger, looser, carried like mediocre Washington State talent to, I think, a Rose Bowl or a lot of wins. And I was like, Ryan Leif's carrying the whole program. Tennessee won a national title when Peyton left.

With T. Martin? Well, they had Phil Fulmer. Tennessee was a football factory forever. Johnny Majors, Phil Fulmer. So I was like, that Peyton's throwing to first round players. Ryan Leap was leading a bunch of JC guys and two-star athletes. to like major bowls. So it's not easy.

Like there's Joe Burroughs junior year in college okay. One year later, six months later, it's one of the best college quarterbacks we've ever seen. Like it just stuff changes with 19, 20, 21-year-old athletes. 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.

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 IHard 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 you're 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 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket 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 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your Once your business starts to get to a certain size cracks or merge, you deserve a customized solution. NetSuite's where you go. Popular KPI checklist, absolutely free. Go to netsuite.com slash herd h, E, R-D. We go to our gamer. It doesn't feel that great a gamer.

J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Color me shocked to find out that Aaron Rogers is thrilled that the judge. Jets have added Dalvin Cook. Roger spoke today about how great his first few months with the Jets have been.

I thought that, you know, it was going to be a good ball club, but it's really been better than I could have expected, and it feels like sometimes that I woke up inside of a dream, and that this is my life playing out. I've, you know, pinch myself various times throughout the week, every single week that I've been here. Like, man, how cool is my life right now? How special

is this? But to walk in with a lot of respect from the guys, and now to start the friendships that we've made with various guys on the team, and then to just, you know, be a part of something special that has a chance, you know, late in your career, you know, to be able to come to work every day and know that you have a chance to be in the mix in February is a special feeling. Good for him.

It's a totally new guy. He's not going on podcasts and talking about conspiracy theories and ayahuasca. He's like talking about sports. He's into the Jets. He's a totally different person since that darkness. That's undeniable. Yeah, and I also think that sometimes people just need a change. and personal relationships or whatever.

It's okay. Like there's some things we're with for life, our kids, hopefully your wife. But jobs get stale. They come and go. Yeah. I mean, just, I think, and I also think Green Bay, and I say this respectfully, it's very weird. You can't get free agents. There's no owner.

You can't go to the grocery store. Like, I mean, literally Matt Stafford could go to the grocery store, put glasses on Mike Trout in Los Angeles. Nobody cares. people are just busy. And I just think being a quarterback in Green Bay is a unique cultural experience compared to the rest of the NFL. I mean, you think Buffalo is a small town? Buffalo is Chicago compared to Green Bay.

And so I think it's almost a high school town, a college town, and you're a superstar quarterback. And I think Aaron did a great job to engross himself in the community. But far of... thought could retire a Packer. I always thought Aaron would end up somewhere else. I just felt like sometimes he was too big for the room and he's a different cat. We've talked about this. Rogers is looking for something, a wanderer. I don't want to play amateur shrink, but do you think he was looking for love someone to someone a franchise to embrace him? The Packers front office, it was falling apart. I think the media generally criticizes ownership, right? Oh, the rich,

guy, there is an advantage to having an owner as a star quarterback. Like you can sit down, go to the house and say, hey, this is, can we get this deal worked out? So the Green Bay front office always gets into this sort of prickly situation with Farrv. And that's why I think Fav and Aaron Rogers both threaten retirement. It's just you don't have an owner to just sue things over and get stuff done. I think it's very, very difficult. So my takeaway is Farrv and Aaron Rogers have very little in common. But if you look at the way their careers ended in Green Bay, it's almost the exact same thing.

Like they were just done with the Packers and the culture of it. And I get it. On to the other big running back move. Zeke Elliott got a one-year deal with the Patriots worth up to $6 million. He tagged the Patriots on Twitter or X. I don't know what you want to call it, Twitter, X, whatever. He seems excited. He's going to wear 15 like he did at Ohio State.

But does this matter at all for the Patriots? He's like a backup running back. Good pass blocker can catch. I mean, I don't think it wins a game. I don't, I mean, he's like a, he is definitely a number two back. I don't feel. I feel like Dalvin Cook is a top six back in the league today. I don't think Zeke is the best back in New England.

I mean, I mean, if you, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but he had his best year was his first. year and he just declined every year until the last two years he had no fastball at all. But I do think he's a willing blocker. People inside the cowboy locker room said he was a good guy. He grew up. I always thought he had decent, I don't consider him a great pass catching back. Maybe he is.

I always thought he had decent hands. So it's something, but I don't feel he's the best running back on a team with no superstar running back. Ramandre Stevenson. He's okay. He's a BB plus guy. I think Zeke's like a B-minus C-plus guy. All right.

Final story. This James Harden, Darry-Barrie battle is getting interesting. The team is now in damage control, according to Woge, with Joelle Embed, kind of getting into it now. Embedd has gone on social media and removed Philadelphia from his location, and he has changed it. It was always, trust the process. Now it says processing.

Something's going on with Embed. Now, this could just be him trolling, trying to act funny. you know, misdirection from the Morrie Harden stuff, but we're just going to hear about Joel Embed and the Knicks for about the next 18 months. That's going to happen. By the way, his former agent who's now with the Knicks front office was at Embedde's wedding recently. So let me throw this out there.

Do you think Philadelphia, as constructed, is better than Miami if they land Dame Lillard? With Hardin? Like Hardin and Embed and Maxis? Hardin's not going to be there. Okay, so they're not. I don't think the Sixers are top six without Jay Bart in the East. I don't know if the Knicks tweak, they're better than the Nicks. They're not better than the Celtics.

And if Milwaukee is healthy, I don't think they're better than Milwaukee. Cavs, Donovan Mitchell. I think the calves are fun, but I think like Philadelphia, prove it. Although I do like a lot about the Calf. I think they're really fun. So my point is, my point is this. Daryl Morey's always been sort of star-driven. If you said today, we're blowing up the Sixers.

We're moving M-Bed. You could get a truckload for M-Bed, and oh, by the way, M-Bed has an injury history and didn't do anything in the playoffs in some of the biggest games this year. James Hardin has been stealing money for years. He never delivers in May. I mean, I like Tyrese Maxie. I like Tobias Harris. My takeaway in this whole thing is we had the process era.

Then we've had the M-Bid era. I can't get a second playoff win. I can't get a second-series playoff win in the East. I think it's topped out. I think they have topped out. Like, I think the Knicks are only getting better. I think Boston will rebound. I mean, Missoula should be better.

I think Milwaukee rebound. I think Miami, if they land Dame, should be the favorite. I think Cleveland's coming hard. Not to mention, the West now has a potential juggernaut in Denver. Phoenix is now an All-Star team. Golden State's going to reboot now with Chris Paul. Like, I look at the NBA. You know how we do a Super Bowl bubble?

If we did an NBA finals bubble, I don't have Philadelphia in it. So to me, when bigs get hurt early, they get hurt often. I would move hard and I would consider moving depending on what I get. Moving MB. R.J. Barrett. What am I? What am I? It's not like I'm moving off Steph where I got rings or I'm moving off LeBron in his prime.

Even Jason Tatum is in his prime, no injury history, been to a finals. What do I have with MB, what is it? getting me. He's the reigning MVP. That's probably worth something to some team. So was Westbrook. Should have moved off him that minute. A lot of guys are MVP. Doesn't mean I have to grow old with him. Knicks call up. We'll give you five picks. Nothing great, but it's a bunch of first round picks. R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson. Is that remotely interesting team? I wouldn't want to trade him. I wouldn't want to trade him down the street. I'd rather get Embed out West. Well, he wants to go. He wants to go to the Knicks. But I know this sounds crazy. What have you

gotten, and I like Embed the personality. I got a bunch of years here surrounded with Hardin, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Maxie, different coaches. Jimmy Butler one year. Jimmy Butler. What do I have to show for?

A lot of 50 win regular season. Butler left him and has thrived without him. I mean, Hardin led the NBA and sis without him. I like Embed, but what are you giving me for all the drama? I've said this before. I will accept,

OBJ can give you drama, but he walked into the Rams. I mean, he was eating people up. I'll take a little drama. You got to give me something for it. Like, Draymond Green, I can't believe. It's the best on-ball defender in the last decade. He's an offensive catalyst.

Kevin Durant gives me drama. Best catch-and-shoe guy in the league. I'm okay. I mean, you know, LeBron had his own sort of business drama. Jimmy Butler gives you drama. Playoff Jimmy. I got you. You got to give me something for the drama.

They've never won a second series, right? in the east. They've never been in the conference finals with Joel M.B. So what am I getting? Like, can you not consider it? Jimmy Butler's been in the conference finals three years in a row. NBA finals twice. Jimmy Butler is almost the opposite of Mb. He delivers when it actually counts. In the regular season, you're like, yeah, he's a B player. And all of a sudden, like, the TV, people start watching the league and it's like, it explodes.

Mbid is unbelievable, but in these big games this year, like against the Celtics, like, where did he go? James Harden had two better games than him. against the Celtics in that series. I don't think it's not to suggest it that you should take phone calls. We always say this about quarterbacks. There's five guys in the league you wouldn't take a phone call on maybe six. Jalen Hertz now is one of those guys.

You're not taking a phone call. After that, I'll take a phone call on everybody. How many guys in the NBA will you not take a phone call? Yokic, no phone call. Tatum, no phone call. Wembenyama. Wemba. Not talking rookies.

Guys that have been in the league for a few years. I'm not taking a phone call on Tatum. I'm not taking a phone call on Janus. Anthony Edwards or is he too young? Too young. I'm not taking one on Yannis. I'm not taking one on Devin Booker. Curry.

I'm not taking one on Steph Curry. There's about 7, 8 guys. I'm taking phone calls on everybody else. Austin Reeves? I had to. Come on Lakers fans are so excited. Austin Reeves. I'm taking a call on Austin Reeves.

J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live. Be sure to catch live editions of the Hurd Live. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard radio app. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk

featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor, listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHartRadio 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 put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle

great. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Cliverts 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross

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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. They're 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow morning on Fox, the Women's World Cup semifinals continue as host nation Australia takes on England with both teams looking for their first ever birth in the Women's World Cup final. Coverage begins at 5 a.m. Eastern with kickoff at 6 a.m. these turn on Fox and the Fox Sports app.

Colts have named Anthony Richardson as their starting quarterback for the regular season, which is probably the right move. Good old line, smart offensive coach, no Super Bowl pressure. He's just raw, moldable material. Let him go. Let him make mistakes. A little loose. Gonna make some big whiffs.

But the guy is, let him make plays. He's a great. He reminds me, I get a little Josh Allen. a little Cam Newton, a little big Ben. I think Cam was more refined coming into the league. But he's just, I mean, he's like to rush end. He's like six, four and a half, two 55. And I don't, I mean, Jonathan, I'm still not quite sure what you do with Jonathan Taylor.

Do you think he's going to gobble up about 20% of Jonathan Taylor's yards? That's their concern is that if he ends up being a 1,200 yard guy with 8 to 12 touchdowns, why pay a star running back? Move him and get a receipt. So I don't know. I know he's raw. You know, one of the things I like about the NFL and the draft is. The NBA draft does not give you a lot of good players.

And they're so young is that it takes forever to figure out if they're any good. Like you can make a prediction. But the NBA draft, after about the 15th pick, let's be honest, Dremont Green second round, Yokic second round, those are historic outliers. Manu Genoobli later. by and large, all your players are in the top 12 to 15 picks, and they're all kids. So you draft them, and they don't really matter in late season basketball until three to four years later, even if they're great.

I mean, think how great LeBron was. He'd give you 25 a game in the first year. I remember his first game against Sacramento. Like, he would give you big games, but he didn't know how to defend. They didn't have much around him. Like, LeBron was fascinating. He was a freight train. He was chasing people down.

but you didn't worry about him in the playoffs for years. The first time they got to the finals, they got swept by San Antonio. It wasn't even that competitive. In the NFL, guys come in three or four years. They're physically ready to play. Some are emotionally ready to play. And so you find out very quickly,

and I like making predictions, if you're right or wrong. And I don't mind being wrong. I knew very quickly. Johnny Mansell's not going to work. Zach Wilson doesn't look right. Anthony Richardson's different, though. I think there's going to be Sundays that he looks totally overwhelmed,

and this is not going to work. But he is, and Josh Allen had days like that at first year. But then Josh Allen would jump over people. And you're like, okay, both Mahomes and Lamar Jackson got to sit for a while. But remember, Baltimore is a winning organization and had some momentum. I'd flackoed won a Super Bowl a couple years earlier. And also, Alex Smith was making the playoffs for Kansas City. Cincinnati right now, or Indianapolis right now, they just don't have a quarterback.

and Jacksonville is a much better team right now. Tennessee's a better team right now. So my takeaway is let's just hurry up the process and get them on the field, play 17 games, make a ton of mistakes, win five or six games, and go for it. I don't know what exactly they're going to do with Jonathan Taylor. Just keep Jim Ursay off Twitter with Richardson. He's going to have bad Sundays. He's going to complete 51% of his passes probably three times this year.

He'll have a three interception game. He'll have multiple fumble games. He's just going to be a lot of activity and a lot of production. But he was fun to watch this weekend. I don't know what he was, but it was fun. And he's big, good feet, confident. I can't wait to watch him play. Some guys, Lance Zerlind said this earlier.

If you're a pocket guy, like if you're a pocket guy and you need the right protection, I can sit a guy and have no problem with it. But that's not what he is. He is a playmaker. Colts could use more playmakers. Let him go. Can't wait to watch it. I don't think they're going to be a very good football team for a while.

But I'm okay with Raw. I am. I mean, he played in the SEC. He played against the best college football players, a dominant defensive conference. He's seen NFL athletes and made them look bad, embarrass them. So you know he's got, I mean, Trey Lance played at a different level of football. This guy played in the SEC, the best Power 5 conference and was really productive. So it's like, I'm letting him go. What if I told you after Lamar Jackson's two heavy seasons with carries?

He was injured the following two seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a thing. I don't like this idea of Anthony Richardson gobbling up carries from Jonathan and Taylor. I don't like that at all. I mean, Justin Fields, by the way, last year, 160 carries. That's a lot. That's too many. Hour three next.

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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and hosts Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast.

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