The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - New Herd Hierarchy, the state of the Kansas City Chiefs, Nick Wright

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Plus, Colin reveals this week’s Herd Hierarchy, ranking the top 10 teams in the NFL, including why the Green Bay Packers fall out of the list and what’s fueling the Chicago Bears’ rise into the top five. Then, Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to debate the state of the Kansas City Chiefs, explaining why Patrick Mahomes and company remain close to Super Bowl contention despite missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 yearsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, Howard, too. It is a Tuesday, one of my favorite 15-minute segments of the week. We are live. It's the herd, wherever you may be, however you may be watching, listening, whatever the platform is. Thanks for making us part of your day. So, Nick Wright will be on in about five minutes.

Tough decision this week on the herd hierarchy, and I said this about the Green Bay Packers. Tucker Kraft out, Micah out, Christian Watson out, Kenny Clark in a trade out. That's four of their top six players. They're not the same team. They are not the same team. They don't make the herd hierarchy. Sorry. Well, what about last week?

What about it? They got two of their top three stars hurt. Maybe their top two stars hurt. Here we go on a Tuesday, the herd hierarchy. Heard hierarchy. Time is now, let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10.

I'll put Philadelphia in. Seven of their nine wins, though, have come in one-score games. They're three and five when allowing 21-plus points, and in the playoffs, you're going to face better quarterbacks. Their defense, it's excellent. The roster is excellent, but I don't trust Jalen Hertz or Nick Seriani in big spots. Again, they play the commanders twice in the next three weeks, so they're going to flex and look impressive,

but this offense feels like it's been broken since week one. Number nine. The Jags. You can't run on them. And Liam Cohen has done wonders for Trevor Lawrence's confidence. He's running more. They have the number one scoring offense and number two scoring defense on their five-game winning streak.

Do I trust them in a big spot? No. But this is the closest version of the Trevor Lawrence. We all fell in love with at Clemson. I have the Jags at nine. Number eight. The Bills. Listen, they got totally worked for the first half of that game after losing to

in New England. Everybody thinks, well, they scored on five straight touchdown drives. Okay, they do run the ball, but are so overly dependent on Superman at quarterback. Yes, Josh Allen has been very good in December games. I'll give you that. And in the last couple of weeks, they have almost 600 total yards, you know, Josh Allen does. So I'm not saying he's not great. Don't trust them situationally. Don't trust anybody with a ball in their hands other than Josh Allen. I have them at eight.

Number seven. Elite coaching. Maybe the best coaching staff this year in the league. Sala on defense, doing it with Smoking Mirrors in Kyle Shanahan. Four wins in a row all by 10 plus points. Brock Purdy finally, I thought this week, finally looked totally healthy, had a lot of juice, a lot of energy. I mean, there are four losses have come against.

good teams, the Rams and the Jags and the Texans and the Bucks. So they beat the teams they should. And right now, on third down with Brock Purdy, they move the chains. So this is a very dangerous team. Number six. But Seattle's got a big boy defense. Sam Darnold. Yes, he leads the NFL in giveaways, but he also leads in yards per attempt. It is a big play offense that can also play with a lead. They can play conservatively and win because they can run the ball. Well coached defense. Second best odds right now to win the Super Bowl. 23 straight games, not allowing somebody 100 yards rushing, meaning if you beat them, you know, Sam Darnold's going to get his 13 possessions, JSN's going to get 13 possessions. That running game's going to work. I think they're going to be a

really tough out Seattle at 6. Number 5. I still like the Patriots. They had a bad half. It happens. They're a young team missing their left tackle and their left guard. Their issue is they're not very good in the red zone on either side of the ball, and that's why I don't think they're a Super Bowl team. They're not good defensively. They need another draft. I've been saying it all year. They're ahead of schedule. They need another draft. They need more help on the offensive line and more help in the secondary. Number four. The Bears, tell me what they don't do.

They play in bad weather very well. They run the ball. They're dynamic. Great offensive coach. Excellent O line. Take the ball away. What don't they do? They're built for January.

Well, you know, there can be Caleb's completion percentage. Oh, Lord. He's so gifted. I'm just going to, eight and two over their last 10 games. Number one, rush offense since week five. Number two in big plays. They feel like a team that could end up in the conference championship. Tell me what they don't do.

Complete bubble screens. Okay, you got me there. That's what college quarterbacks need. I have them at number four. Number three. I think the Texans defense is the best unit in pro football. They're eight and old if they can just score 20 points. Number one scoring defense.

I mean, they face that Rams offense early in the season, held in the 14 points. And I've always liked CJ Stroud. I don't get the criticisms. If you give him two and a half seconds, he's outstanding. I really like Houston. I think they're going to make the AFC championship. I'm not sure who they're going to face. Probably Denver, but I think the Texans right now are a bye, by, bye.

Number two. Denver. Listen, can we stop arguing about Bo Nix? I've been comparing him to Caleb Williams for weeks. I wish he was a little more consistent, but the guy is an unbelievable. He doesn't take sacks. I said he's a right-handed Steve Young. He was dreadful for about a four-week period earlier this year.

Well, Caleb couldn't get the operations down in September, but between Caleb and Bo Nix, we've got to stop doubting them. Opposing teams, by the way, are 3 in 10 after facing Denver. So they beat you and they beat you up. Number one. Listen, the Rams. Most complete roster in the NFL, although I don't love their corners outgained their opponents in the last month by over 500 yards but blake quorum has

now popped at running back so they have a one-two punch they have four tight ends who are capable devonte will probably be out for three weeks they don't get the pass rush i think they should for the talent they have but some of that is none of their pass rushers outside of puna ford who's a run stopper they don't they're all kids they're not in their prime yet i have the rams at number one No Packers. I'm sorry. They're not the same team today. Take out Watson, Micah, Kenny Clark in a trade, and Kraft. I have him at 11, Chargers at 12. With that, Nick Wright, first things first stops by. All right, hurt hierarchy. What don't you like? Well, listen, I really like a lot of it. Most notably, I feel like the Niners have flown under the radar all year long. They're alive for the one seed right now, just. despite all the injuries. I think it's Shanahan's best coaching job

to date. So I like how high you have them. Ram, Seahawks, Niners, that division, them all having 10 or 11 wins is remarkable. I think the Texans are that might be a tiny bit high, but I think the Texans are a terrifying team right now. So I agree with you.

I only really have one real great. Why are the Patriots ahead of the bills? Because we just tell me. This is not the college football playoff committee. Head to head isn't to be all end all. They played six quarters. New England was better significantly in in six of the eight quarters they played. New England was significantly better. I like New England's coach. The game meant more for Buffalo. The season, Sean McDermott's

job could have been in trouble. This game at halftimes, like we beat him the first time, we outschemed them in the first half, and then the Patriots missing their left tackle and left guard really struggled to sustain drives. And that's my reason. Man, I feel. I feel I guess I just feel very differently. The first matchup is 20 to 20 with 90 seconds left. So I don't know how we got the Patriots thoroughly outplayed on the first four quarters of the season. That game came down to the wire. And the second matchup, Buffalo systematically walked them down.

And they did it because they have a great running game. And now that Patrick's hurt, they have the best healthy player in football, Josh Allen. I just think in a wide open AFC, the bills are very scary and deserving. And I trust them more than I trust New England, particularly after this matchup. But other than that, Colin, and I'm

not sure about Philly. Let me add one other thing. Philly, did Philly fix things or did Philly face the Raiders? I'm not sure. So, Philly would be maybe Green Bay in place of Philly, but otherwise, I think it's a really solid hierarchy. Yeah, I think it's like when a college

powerhouse faces like an FCS team. You're like, oh, they won 48 to 7, you're like, they play Alabama next week. Before I get to Mahomes, and I will get to the Chiefs, so I said this earlier, and

if you had a gifted child that was on the spectrum a little bit, not Rain Man, but on the spectrum a little bit, and they were literally doing Beethoven on the piano at eight years old, I wouldn't lose a ton of sleep if they wore their pajamas backwards, five days a week. I'll live with that. I'm going to live with Josh Allen Mahomes and Caleb

throwing some picks, lower completion percentage. They're Beethoven at nine-year-old guys. Caleb made throws this week that looked like optical illusions. I don't care. I don't care that he's 59%. I've watched the DJ Moore play 20 times. I don't even understand how he threw it. So my thing on Caleb is, guys, it's like Josh Allen. I would take less of a completion of presenters this year if he ever threw the ball down the field, which he doesn't, because he doesn't have a receiver. Where are you on Caleb in the argument that, you know, he's just not accurate enough? Well, listen, all you could have hoped for this year was month over month progression over the course of the season

and see, could he get better? at the layups while keeping the spectacular. And that's what he's done. And there are, listen, his, he is still at a place in his career, Colin, where his low lights are going to be really grisly. When a player like Matt Stafford take him, the polar, you know, opposite example, Stafford's 10 worst throws of the year, none of them are like, what the hell happened there?

It's like, oh, it's just he thought he either got tricked or he thought he could fit it in, trust his arm too much. Caleb's 10 worst throws, it's like, did that miss its target by 12 yards? Maybe. But his 10 best throws this season can go up against any other player in the league. And when you marry that to a dynamic, dominant running game, a really sharp head coach. coach and a defense that I honestly think is not that good, but it's opportunistic. And maybe that's lucky, but whatever it is, they force a bunch of turnovers.

That's a scary team. And if the NFC playoffs, if they can keep winning and make it so a team like the Rams, who I think have been the best team in football, have to come to Chicago and deal with that rushing attack and then Caleb doing, pardon me, four or four or four. five spectacular things a game, that would be really scary. Like, I am fully confident that Caleb Williams is going to be a very good quarterback in this league, and I think he is bordering on almost already being there. And this year, we are seeing more of what we didn't see as much as rookie year of the moments

where you're like, wait, he can be a superstar quarterback in this league. He still needs obviously to clean some of the stuff up, but I feel like he's gotten better in that regard. But it's hard to watch that throw through four defenders into the back of the end zone against Cleveland and not be like, man, this is a special, unique talent on our hands. So, and I've said, if you like Caleb, you have to at least acknowledge Bow Nick to something because they're both uneven, both great late, both really athletic. and I was saying this about Bo Nix. Sometimes you'll see this in a lot of different businesses that a coach finds a player that he loves and not everybody else loves him.

There's not a unanimous agreement. Sean Payton before the draft loved Bo Nix because he had a little bit of Bo Nix, little smaller guy in Drew Brees, and he's like, oh, that's a more athletic Drew Brees. I thought this game was one of those games, like when the Bears went to Philly and all the doubters went, okay, maybe they're good.

I think all the doubters on Bo Nix. I think he's so much more athletic than he gets credit for. I said he's a right-handed Steve Young. Like he just, he is fast. I watched him twice. A right-handed Steve Young. Steve Young's one of the 12 greatest quarterbacks ever. This is where you and I, Colin, are just different broadcasters.

Because a month ago, you and I were in lockstep on Bo Nix. We both thought he wasn't very good. And now you've got him as a right-handed Steve Young, and I feel pretty tethered to my previous take. But you have none of you're like, hey, new information, new games, I've changed my opinion, deal with it, America. I don't have that ability the way you do at least in that regard. Here's what I will say. In defense of Bo Nix, in fairness to Bo Nix, I thought the Chief's game that he played was up to that moment, the best game of his career. And then two weeks later, I thought the Washington game was the best game of his career.

And then this game against Green Bay was hands down the best game of his career. So in the last month or so, I think he has played the three best games of his career. He obviously is not too scared of a big moment. And the team obviously has been excellent all year long. I still, my gut tells me that that Packers game is more. of the aberration than it's going to be the trend. But I have to be fair and be open to the possibility that I was wrong about him. Thus far, I have been dead wrong, obviously, about the Broncos.

They've been excellent. My gut still tells me, quarterback is their weak link. And even though they're going to be the one seed, when they don't make the Super Bowl, it will be because of failings at the quarterback position. But he has an opportunity, and Sean Payton has an opportunity. opportunity to prove all the doubters and skeptics of which I was one of the loudest wrong, or we're going to look back on these last four games and say that was a positive blip, but a blip nonetheless, and he's more the player we saw the first 10 weeks.

But the game against the Packers was stunning and he was excellent. Can he do anything close to that come the postseason? We'll see, but he's trending in the right direction. That's as far as all go. You on the other hand, having passed Fran Tarkington already and approaching Steve Young. So it's just different. New information, as you said. New information.

So I think there's a difference. This league allows 40% of the teams in the playoffs. And Pittsburgh is when one of these teams like, hey, we made the playoffs, we're inches away. I think Kansas City missing the playoffs a good thing. It's cold water to the face. It's like 40% of the teams get in. you couldn't make it. And like in the last three years, they're like 24th in big plays.

I think they've got to take the boat back to port and rebuild it. I don't think it's a tweak. I don't think if you look at the last three years' numbers, it's a tweak. Chris Jones, Travis Kelsey, they let go of Joe Tunney, left tackle still, you're not sure. And this is a great league. You can do New England. You can literally go awful to really good fast, but I don't think it's a tweak. I think they need their fourth best player.

Mahomes, Creed Humphrey, Trent McDuffey, and you get to, well, okay, Travis Kelsey had some drops. Dude's retired. Chris Jones is still an excellent player. Chris Jones is too far on Chris Jones. So listen, this is, all right. You said they were 24th in the league the last three years in big plays. Again, I know nobody wants to hear this for me right now, and I wasn't going to go here. Where do they rank in Super Bowls in the league in the last three years?

I understand that, listen, this Chief's season, let me be. very clear. Even if Mahomes hadn't been hurt, this season was a failure. Okay? They are, they, they, they, I had held out hope that the team they showed they could be against the Ravens and the Lions was the team they were going to be. And then after the buy, they were bad every single week. They were bad against the Broncos. They were bad against the Cowboys. They were bad against the cults and lucky to win that game and then bat against the Texans and against the Chargers. They have a 13 to 3 lead going into halftime and then give away a touchdown right for half like a bad team. So they deserve to take their medicine here. And you are correct in this regard.

I think we are going to see over the next few weeks, Colin, where numbers be damned, how much Patrick was holding together on his own. I think they're going to lose to the Titans. I think with the offensive line, with four starters, or four tackles down, with no running game, with the issues they're having right now and Gardner Minchu playing quarterback, you're going to see how much Patrick was carrying,

even though his numbers had been suffering the last month and a half as well. With that set, I don't think it is a complete overhaul. They have rebuilt the offensive line. The left tackle they drafted in the first round was excellent. He got his wrist broken and was out. The left guard is a second year player who's fine players. Not great players, fine player in Suamataia.

Creed Humphrey, you mentioned. Trey Smith is that center right guard. Right tackle will be a question mark. That's one spot. The wide receivers need to develop. They have spent, and I've seen Rishi Rice be great, and Xavier Worthy has great traits. They need to develop.

On the other side of the ball, they need a pass rush other than Chris Jones. So it's by no means, you know, a flawless team, right now even a great team. But they're about to have the 10th, something like that, pick of the draft and a third place schedule. And Patrick is going to come back with a vengeance. You address pass rush in the draft. You sign and or draft a running back. You continue to develop your secondary the way they have ever since Spags has been there. they'll be fine.

But listen, this is the end of a chapter. It is as good of a seven-year run as any team in NFL history has ever had. Seven final fours, five Super Bowl appearances, three rings. Nobody's ever done better than that over the course of seven years. You could argue the Steel Curtin Steelers. That's kind of a tomato-to-motto thing. They didn't make as many Super Bowls, but they did win one more. But this is now a new chapter, and they need to see how they take it.

advantage of a better draft pick than they've had in a decade, a potentially softer schedule than they've had in a decade, and Patrick Mahomes post-injury. It is the exact same process. Tom had to go through win in his eight years of starter. He blew out his knee. The next year, they won 10 games. They weren't that great. The year after that, they were a 14-win juggernaut once again. We'll see what the Chiefs look like a year from now. But I think it's more significant tweaks than it is total overhaul. And if he's back week one next year, they will be the AFC West favorites again if Patrick's back. So that's how I look at it with chapters. There was the Bo Nix. I'd bench him chapter and Bo Nix is now Steve Young chapter. So we both

talking chapters. I mean, that's one way to do it. I suppose that's one way to do it. That's why you're the greatest. It's why you're the greatest. Okay, Nick Wright first things first. New information. Bo Neck stunk in the first month, and now he looks pretty great to me. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio? Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino Enrichs

live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away. 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 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. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the

early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

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Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lulman, create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health.

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They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole. lot easier than it is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering

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We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree.

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That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever, because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Great to have you in Drew Bledsoe last hour. It is a Tuesday. Here's Jay Mack with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. You know, we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, Colin. Only good teams from here on out. So this is probably our last Cowboys update for a while. Let's start with the Cowboys, Colin. It feels like it's over.

Everybody got excited, myself included. After a couple wins and Quinn and Williams popping up, unfortunately, the loss of the Vikings nearly seals their face. here's what DAC has to say about their future this season. Definitely surprised, especially, you know, after the bar week, the trades, get rolling like we did for those few weeks, and then watch the confidence just skyrocketed. It's tough. I mean, I'm definitely surprised.

Definitely hurt, pissed off, frustrated. But all I can do is get better tomorrow. It's not on him. Pass pro is not great. I do think their future is actually pretty bright. I think those two first round picks. What if they got Caleb Downs at safety and the number two edge rusher in the draft? Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Caleb Downs, how are they getting him? Well, if you see, there's three tackles everybody loves. There's two quarterbacks potentially everybody loves. It's a great edge rusher draft. There's a defensive tackle or three in the top 15 picks. There's a couple of wide receivers. It's a, somebody's going to fall. Somebody's going to fall.

Caleb Downs falls, arguably the best total player in the draft. or second, third. There's a lot of, there's a lot, it's a very good. Okay, so let's say they get down. What do you think happens with Pickens? Do you think they keep him, tag him? Well, wide receivers, the one position, and we know this to be true. College football gives you about 20 a year that can play immediately.

I don't know, man. They're hosting the Chargers this weekend. I'm on the Chargers in this one. I love Herbert in this spot against this awful, awful secondary of Dallas. I think this eliminates them if the Eagles beat Washington. out. So Dallas is done. Dallas, a very good home team. Oh, really? They just lost to the Vikings. Your boy, J.J. McCarthy, on Sunday night football. They couldn't stop JJ.

Who you think is rotten. And I don't know, he's looking pretty good if I saw the last couple games. All right, let's move on to the Kansas City Chiefs. You know, I don't know what Nick was drinking this early in the morning, but he seems to think this is a quick turnaround. Listen, Mahomes is down. It's not only the ACL, but it's also the LCL, Colin. Long road back. maybe nine months at best case scenario. Anyway, here's Tom Brady's advice to Mahomes. The one you could do is focus on what's ahead of you and not look back and just say, okay, this is part of what my career is going to be, and a lot of people have gone through it,

and a lot of people have overcome it. You've just got to put as much diligence into the rehab process, and I always feel like the faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that, you know, you love. Yeah. I know the optimism is out there for the chiefs. fans, but let's be real. Colin, I'm looking at their salary cap situation next year. Their third biggest cap hit is

Joanne Taylor, who's one of the lowest rated right tackles in the league. Like, I don't know if you get off that contract. I mean, Chris Jones, what do you do with him? He showed up like every other half for a few plays. Like he had a rough, I mean, he's 32 years old. You go look, Jaylen Moore. Remember they got him from the Niners?

Oh, we got our swing tackle. Didn't quite work out. I mean, Christian Fulton, the cornerback, he was not good. Michael Dana. Pass rusher. I think you nailed this. They just don't have a lot of good players. I'm sorry. And Reed and Mahomes cannot continue to mask the stench of this roster.

And Mahomes has spent some of his career limping, now his first major surgery. Yeah. You think he'll be just the same player. But it's, Mahomes is what, 31 years old now? I mean, and he's gone through a lot of football and taken some hits. And he hasn't had a good old line in the last several years. this game sneaks up on you. You get to the end of your prime real quick.

Yeah, so I floated to Kyle Pitts to the Chiefs, and Chiefs fans are like, no, thank you, no. They're trying to tell me, and again, they're all over me on social media. They want Justin Jefferson from the Vikings. He's unhappy with J.J. McCarthy. Like, how the hell are the Chiefs getting Justin Jefferson? That's how desperate they are.

They know, let's be real, Colin. The Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelsey, prime years with Mahomes. Those were the best Chiefs team. without question. Since they lost Tyreek, they've had to win different ways. I think they're kind of out of ammo. I don't know. Do you think there's a big trade in the offing for a pick-ins?

No. I think Mahomes gets healthy. You know, I think Travis Kelsey retires. And I think they, you know, they're more than capable of nailing four good draft picks. I don't, I do not believe next year, Denver's out of the Russell Wilson's cap hit. They're going to get better. Oh, yeah. The Chargers tackles come back.

Oh, yeah. They're going nowhere. I think they come back next year. I think their current reality is they need about six more really good, not great, six more B plus players in their prime. Some through the draft, maybe one through a trade. But it's, again, I don't think it's a tweak. Yeah, I don't.

The fact of the matter is the bears, your bears, last year needed offensive line help. They just went and got a couple guys because they can afford them with Caleb Williams. The Bears have better players. The Bears have elite center, elite right guard, elite right tackle. Yeah, they stole Tuning. Remember Tuny? The Chiefs are like, oh, we couldn't afford him. We had to lose them.

He's great. That's a huge loss for them. Yeah, Chiefs, listen, guys. The receiving core for the Bears, DJ Moore is better than anybody Kansas City has. Oh, wait a minute. Rishie Rice? No? You trust Rishie Rice?

I don't trust him off the field. Forget on the field. Yeah, let's help he stays out of trouble this offseason because it's a long one. All right, let's go to the final story, Colin. I love this. Hey, great night in the NBA last night. And Cooper Flag went off. What a game from the 18-year-old.

He had 42. No, he's only 18 for another couple days. Unbelievable performance. 42 points breaking LeBron's record. LeBron put up 37 as a rookie back when, you know, 2003. There was no chat GPT. There was no Instagram. For the record.

He averaged 13 a game in October. 18 a game in November. he's averaging 24 a game in December. You are watching a star. This kid in December right now, 7, he's shooting 54% from the field, 24 a game. We always say this about quarterbacks. Like they catch up to the speed. He is now playing at NBA speed from college speed.

He's going to end up this year averaging 21 points a year, 22 points a year. as an 18-19-year-old. That's unbelievable. Here's Flagg talking about the record that he set last night. I mean, I'm not really focused on, you know, a lot of that stuff. I'm more just focused on being present, you know, day-to-day and trying to get better and get as many wins as we can. Because obviously, we didn't win, so that's tough for me to want to be happy or any of that.

But obviously, it's, you know, success and, you know, we're going to try and keep getting better from here. I've said before, his comp is a more aggressive, Jason Tatum. Look at Cooper Flagg's free throw. attempts. As a rookie, he gets to the line. He is a more aggressive Jason Tatum. That's always been the knock on Tatum. Like he had Marcus Smart and Jalen Brown, you're like, where'd Tatum go? Cooper Flagg on, I'm telling you, he is, you're looking at the best domestic rookie in a, probably since LeBron. I mean, he's, he is a real player. For the radio audience, most points before turning 19, LeBron 625, Kobe, 5.5. Kobe,

539, Cooper Flag 479. That's the class season. Before turning 19 years old. Listen, man, he's amazing. I'll just say this about Dallas. They're going to be bad this year. Nobody cares, but they're on Christmas against Steph Curry. That's going to be fun to watch Cooper Flag.

Colin, they have to figure out how do we get rid of Anthony Davis. I want to build around Cooper Flag. You can do that pretty quickly. And then Kyrie's back next year. I'm just telling you, buy all Cooper Flag stock. If you sold it, I'm sorry. That's like selling Tesla. the early days, you made a mistake.

Colin, this kid is special. Yep. No question. He is, I mean, my thing about him that I really like is that he is a really aggressive basketball. He's aggressive defensively. He's aggressive attacking the basket. He's aggressive creating contact.

A lot of what made Michael and Kobe great was, you know, they had that, like, instinct. They wanted to bang up against you. They wanted to create conflict. I mean, that's a big part of the NBA. I've seen so many good players come into this league, and they're finesse players. They don't want to be uncomfortable. Cooper Flagg from Maine, he's out there fighting cariboo. I mean, that kid grew up.

Nobody in Maine is soft. He is an aggressive player, and I love him. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. You're not living on green smoothies at 16 years old in Maine. You're eating trees.

You're sawing trees. Lumber. Caraboo. I mean, you're like a 15-minute walk to Nova Scotia. You're just trying to survive. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to our first people to do podcasts. A 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. Well, 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.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,

and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share room with anybody.

Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing.

That's not realistic. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed.

And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the civil war. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal.

personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else. else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy.

But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secret. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever,

because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We got a Big East, Big Ten battle on five. Fox College Hoops Friday as Villanova takes on Wisconsin. It all tips off Friday night at 8 Eastern on Fox. I'm going to give you in just a couple of minutes something that will blow your mind. So the NFL offensive rookie of the year odds have skyrocketed toward second round pick to the Patriots, Travian Henderson.

So he was the fourth running back taken, which I did not understand. And he was great this weekend. So this is what I said when he was taken. This is what I said immediately on Monday after the draft, Travion Henderson being second round pick, fourth running back taken. Trevion Henderson, the running back out of Ohio State, he may be the steal of the draft. So of the two Ohio Statebacks, he's a better receiver.

He's a better pass blocker. He's a better runner. They've got themselves the steal of the draft, a home run. I would not be shocked if he's not a top five or six running back in the league. That guy's smart. For the record, anybody else noticed how well New England's now drafting offensively since Belichick left? Running back, check, quarterback, check, left tackle, check.

Belichick, for the record, was not a fan of Drake May at Carolina. Complained about his footwork. How's that working out? I mean, Bill can still spot talent. it's just a different kind. It should also be noted that Nick Casario left Belichick, where Belichick had his thumb on him, went to Houston. Look at how well Houston's Nick Casario has drafted without Belichick's influence.

It's unbelievable. C.J. Stroud, first round, Will Anderson, Nico Collins, Derek Stingley, Jalen Petrie, Kamari Lasseter in the second round. Kaelin Bullock, third round, Steele. safety out of USC, Woody Mark Steele. Houston has crushed drafting. Nick Casario has crushed it in Houston

once he moved away from Belichick. The Patriots for eight years could not draft offense. Belichick out, Vrable in, left tackle, quarterback, star running back. The hood was getting in front of his draft vision, and that when I hear, well, Belichick is up for NFL, jobs. Okay, he better not have any say on personnel. Look at Houston and look at New England now.

I mean, Houston has been one of the best draft teams in the league for three years. We pay attention to the coach and the quarterback. Nick Casario is crushing it in Houston. Okay, so I'm going to throw this stat at you. So we all know that nothing works with the New York Jets. People have been with the Jets. They leave. I mean, Robert Sala now is the best coordinator in the league, doing it with smoking mirrors.

So if you take out Sam Darnold's New York experience, and you go to Carolina. So for the first time in Sam's career, he did not play. He sat the first 11 games in Carolina that season. That first season. If you start November 27th, 2022, he's had 38 starts. In those 38 starts, his win percentage is 76% higher than Brady and Mahomes. The percentage of games, Darnold, has had 100 plus passer rating in those 38 starts. 66% higher than Brady or Mahomes.

Okay. For all of you terrified that he's going to throw interceptions. The Jets are quicksand. I mean, look how good Aaron Rogers looks this year and how good he was in Green Bay. None of it worked in New York. It's funny. Look how good Brett Farve was in Green Bay. Then in Minnesota.

It didn't really look good in New York. Nothing works in New York. Nothing. I'm not saying Aaron Glenn would be Lombardi somewhere else, but, I mean, you kind of look at it and go, whatever. Take New York out of Darnold, goes to Carolina, sits.

Late November plays that point. So Carolina, Minnesota, Seattle. Three different coaches, three different staffs, three different rosters, 20 different receivers,

seven, eight, nine, ten different backs. Sam Darnall is a winner. It gets a little reckless. All right. Okay. Throw some picks. Not everybody is,

can play this position and be, you know, Aaron Rogers all-time, most sack quarterback. Once of my staff got me today. How is that possible? Green Bay had good offensive lines. Also, it's interesting. The college football playoff, Jay Mack and I were talking about this during the break. It starts Friday.

If you remember last year, same thing. I think Notre Dame played Indiana on the Friday game, and Indiana just was overwhelmed. I was a chasm, I think, watching that game. And the takeaway was, there was no buzz for it. I think the college football playoffs should start on Saturday because that's when the season is, you know, on Saturday.

Like I tend to think NFL playoffs should start on Sunday because that's when the season is, but the NFL is sort of bulletproof. I would say Friday is a dead zone for television. Like Friday you work hard, you go out beers with buddies. I don't watch a lot of TV on Fridays. I mean, I just don't watch a lot of TV at all on Fridays. I'm a Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, TV viewer.

But it'll be interesting in the college football playoff because you see that Miami, Texas A&M line has come way down. Now it's a field goal game. I like Miami at four and a half. Now it's down to three. Home field for Texas A&M, maybe the difference, but I really, really like Miami in that game. At least I did it at the first number. I like Alabama to beat Oklahoma.

Not a lot of people do. I think they'll be fine. But I got to tell you, the. two best teams I've seen this year are Ohio State and Indiana. And the third best team is Georgia, a little less consistent offensively. But it's going to be interesting. Here's what is interesting to the playoffs. What if Ohio State or Indiana, or let's just say Indiana now wins the Natty.

And Indiana is absolutely good enough to. Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana. And don't tell me about your sixth best team. I think Oregon may be the most underrated team in this thing, along with Texas Tech. They could potentially play. But it's going to be very interesting. For 20 years, the SEC ruled this sport. If Indiana is the one to keep your eye on, if Indiana wins the Natty,

and it's the second or first best team I've seen, three straight years, three different teams from the Big Ten winning the national championship. The team that nobody's talking about is Texas Tech, which would be a big big. dud, you know, it wouldn't feel as big, you know, and I guarantee you the Texas Tech staff and players, all they're hearing about is all these other great teams. Watch Texas Tech actually, you know,

go and win the whole thing. But, um, I can't wait for it. I think Indiana's for real. I think if they met Ohio State again, I want to see, I want to see Georgia in the mix with Indiana and the Buckeyes. 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. 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time. the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season,

and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was probably. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents, soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.

With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, Rory and I welcome a very special guest. When I did podcasts, I wear my sleep masks. I like where this is going. So if you guys will indulge me. That's right, the incredibly talented and hilarious Will Ferrell on an episode dedicated to crimes committed by people named Will Ferrell. You're good for 300 crimes?

We're doing it. We got two. I'm ready to go right up to present day. Listen to Crimless on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.