The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - NFL tier list

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

Colin talks about where he was right and where he was wrong Thoughts on some of the top QBs in the NFL   Guest: Mike SandoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for making a nice part of your day. I was encouraged, not encourage. I'm always impressed by all the crowds, the training camp crowds. I think sometimes it's, we all know fans like certain things and don't like other things. I always feel the most underrated large crowds in American sports are NFL training camp crowd. And I have never understood. I have never understood if I would do red zone for training camps. I'm dead serious. I would do red zone for training. I would call every team. I'd say put a play-by-play guy and a color guy up there for some of the

scrimaging. There may be 40 plays that matter 20 plays and we'll bounce around the league. I think it's one of my smartest ideas. I know you're an entrepreneur, but let's just dial back the idea. You really think that's a good sell? Somebody's going to watch that? I watched. I flew back. I was on a plane for 90 minutes.

I sat and watched the NFL network. They had Kevin O'Connell, the coach of the Vikings, mic live. 90 minutes. That dude, if he gets tired of coaching, he went like 90-minute radio show, no commercials. He went 90 minutes. He was talking to players. He was talking to analysts. It was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen the coach do.

I was blown. I'm like, this cat is somebody hire this guy at Fox. Just riveting, huh? Well, it was. He was great. Wow. I can watch Kirk Cousins back up all day. You should have heard.

You know what's more riveting? I should be miced up from my men's league basketball games. Nobody wants that. So much trash. We won't buy 32 yesterday. Oh, yeah. Nobody wants to see that. A guy made a three.

He goes, talk about that on the herd, Jay Mack. I'm not even kidding. Say that during the game. It's like, come on. No. No is right. We shouldn't discuss it. Forget the trash talk.

All right. Colin right. Colin wrong on a Monday. It's a weekly tradition. Here we go. Where Colin was right. Sean Payton came out and said it whether you like it or not. He said Nathaniel Hackett was one of the worst coaching gigs of all time.

They were 29th in the NFL getting plays in offensively and defensively. And it wasn't on Russell Wilson. We had said this. I thought last year was 75. 80% on Hackett. Whether you agree with Peyton coming out and criticizing, you know, in a very insular world of coaches, he said what we said. This is not on Russ. This was one of the worst head coaching gigs of all time. Where Colin was wrong. Aaron Rogers not only took a massive $35 million pay cut, he signed a seven-year deal with no voidable years, meaning he is not only refusing to talk

retirement, which became tedious. He's basically saying, I'm a jet, and then I'm shutting it down. So he's really done a nice job to correcting what I would call missteps in Green Bay, where, you know, took the off season off, always talked about retirement. Nobody wants to hear that in any sport. I mean, Devonte Adams left. One of the reasons, he didn't know if Aaron Rogers was going to be around. Don't talk about retirement.

So I think Aaron has hit it out of the park. and the fact that he took a $35 million pay cut, I didn't see that coming. Where Colin was right? Well, I've said before, you can buy pressure and you can buy expectations, but you can't buy a World Series, and the Mets are proof.

They are now at the trade deadline tomorrow, bailing. They just got rid of a closer to the Marlins who wasn't happy. Max Scherzer, I thought he was pretty good last year. He regressed this year. He's an older guy. He'll go to the Rangers and probably crush

and save a lot of money in taxes. But this is what we said. You can get better, but if you look at the Padres and the Mets, they went and tried to buy a World Series, and it just doesn't work that way because baseball and golf, there's a lot of downtime. The game gets into your head mentally. And I think, by the way, the Mets have really good players, and a lot of them, the game is in their head right now. Where Colin was wrong. The Angels said, no, we're not going to move, Shohei Otani.

We're going to get as much as we can. Last week, they went to the White Sox, got an elite closer and starter. And then over the weekend, they got more help. C.J. Crone and Randall Gritchick, two more bats. So the Angels have said, we're not moving off him. It comes with some danger. Can they afford $650, $700 million? But they're going all in.

I give him credit for having guts. Mike Trout stayed there. Ichiro stayed some players. They don't want the pressure a plan in New York or a Boston or a Philadelphia. They like the laid-back West Coast, so good for the Angels. Where Colin was right? I've said this now for two years. Jim Ursa is basically Jerry Jones without the prestige. He's really gotten into meddling, which I think makes it very difficult for Chris Ballard, the GM.

Listen, I agree with potentially not signing Jonathan Taylor early to a massive extension, because I think Anthony Richardson could end up gobbling up a lot of his rush yards and being a thousand yards rushing quarterback with 10 plus touchdowns. I think that's very possible, maybe probable. Anthony Richards said is a world-class athlete, but you can't say stuff publicly to bang on employees. I don't care if you own a football team or a bakery. Where Colin was wrong. I have questioned sometimes the awareness, self-awareness of Justin Fields, but I got to give him credit here.

He said he was offered the Netflix quarterback documentary series and he passed on it, and I loved his quote. He said, I'd rather keep everything the way it is around here, having cameras around the building. it would change the vibe. I want to keep it real, natural, organic, and focus on what's going on in the building. Three words. Smart, smart, smart. I was a little worried last week

when he put himself in one of the all-time great athletic quarterback class. Don't do that. You're 5 and 20. But I think this is really smart. Understanding that a docu series is going to, cameras are going to change the temperature. I've seen marriages unravel.

I've seen bands unravel. You put cameras in a building hovering around you for three weeks. This is not the time. Mahalms, fine. But even Joe Burrell said, not interested. Dax said not interested. Good for Fields. Where Colin was right.

I like the NBA, warning not only Dame Lillard, but Aaron Goodwin, his agent, that they will not tolerate both the agent or the player, and it's been the agent saying, we're only playing for Miami. That's not fair. The NBA said enough is enough. Dame signed an extension and took the money,

so he's going to have to deal going somewhere that's not ideal. I think the Blazers would love to send him to the Eastern Conference in Miami. And I would love to see it because I think Miami and Dame are literally a perfect fit. But I also think he could fit in Philadelphia if they move off James Harden. I think he could fit in Boston, though I think it's unlikely with Jalen Brown's deal. In the end, I don't think it's fair for players to sign an extension a year earlier and take all the money and then be unwilling to be a trade partner with multiple suitors. Don't take the money then.

Colin Wright, Colin Wrong on a Monday. Mike Sando is a senior writer for the athletic. Every year he comes out, talks to 50 coordinators, coaches, scouts, executives. It's broad, it's deep, it's layered, it's smart. It's his quarterback tiers, and he joins us live. He's a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, covered every Super Bowl for 25 years.

Okay, so I said earlier, The biggest difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 is not talent. It's that everybody in Tier 2 has a butt. I love Lamar, but he gets hurt a lot. I love Trevor Lawrence and Jalen, but it's been one great year. I love Stafford, but he's aging fast. I love Kurt, but he shrinks in big games. I love Dak, but he's not an elite arm talent.

Is that a fair difference? When you talk to all these executives, there's just apprehension. There's something with everything. everybody in tier two? Yes, Colin. I feel like for the most part, the guys that are in tier one, one and two every year, you feel like you can win the Super Bowl with them. You might have to have certain things random, but you feel like you could do that.

I do feel like the difference in tier one, that's a great way of putting it, the way you, the butt part of it, but I think there's another gear in tier one, another level of confidence in the ability to put the team on your back in pure passing situations. because I think a lot of the other stuff, the play action game of Kyle Shanahan, the rushing of Lamar Jackson, it melts away in the toughest time. Yeah.

Where it's playoffs or whatever. And then you've got to be able to drop back and win from the pocket. If you're Mahomes, you can do that on one leg, hop one around, and you're super elite. But those other guys can kind of do that some of the time. You just don't know how much you want to bet on it. So Russell Wilson ends up in Tier 3

along the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, did that surprise you and what were some of the comments? It's the biggest one-year drop in the 10-year history of doing this. Wow. And it's the third year in a row that he has dropped, so there's been some acknowledged decline. I don't think, though, that people just absolutely buried him. The comments were not overly negative. I think there's been enough of that. I mean, I think he sort of took his lumps, and now people feel like he's a diminished athlete.

he's declined, but it almost can't be worse than it was last year. Right. And so if he has some semblance of athleticism left and some pride, you'd think he'd have, you'd think he'd have great respect for Sean Payton. He's got to be a little bit better. Now, I think the other component of this, Colin, is we acknowledge Sean Payton is a great offensive coach, right? Right.

And Sean Peyton was five and two with James Winston. He's 5 and 1 with Teddy Bridgewater, and he's 7 and 2 with Taysam Hill. So he's won with guys who weren't Drew Breeze. But did he make those guys good quarterbacks? He showed an ability to win like great coaches do other ways with the defense. But I don't think we saw all of those other guys get on the Drew Breeze track, right? And Russell's more talented than those other guys, for sure. But that's the part I want to see.

I want to see, okay, it's not Drew Breast's. now who's an amazing worker and gets a lot of the credit himself too and was an established player who'd probably been to a Pro Bowl before he came to the Saints. Can Russell Wilson climb out of this and enjoy a second act? Not sure. So I did think the one player I looked at and thought, come on, Jared Goff throws a much better ball than Kirk Cousins. I trust him in a much bigger game. There's some numbers that tell me, I mean, good God, 25,000 yards, only two-quarter I don't know what it is about Goff. I think he's a better quarterback than Kirk Cousins.

I just feel like he feels. I saw him go toe to toe with Mahomes. I've seen him in a Super Bowl. What is it with a Goff disresc— The only guy I looked at and I thought, God, that's almost disrespectful. What do you make of that? He's Tier 3. I agree with you in relation to Cousins.

I think Cousins coming into the bottom tier 2 is probably, if we get to biggest surprises, that's probably it for me. But to me, most of those guys that are legitimately, strongly, solidly in Tier 2 can do more off platform than Jared Goff can do. I think there's a limiting factor with him that things have to really be right around him. And then you throw in the extreme swings of his career. He comes into the Jeff Fisher offense and looks as bad as the quarterback can look. Then he looks really good with a good team, talent, and with McVeigh. so McVeague gets disproportionate amount of the credit.

Probably deserves a lot of it. I think Ben Johnson's getting that credit now. It's like siphoning off the credit from Goff. But I'll say this. If he does it this year again, I think he does come into tier two. What was the gap between Mahomes at number one and everybody else? There almost should be a super category of one.

Because really, Joe Burroughs one vote behind, but think of this, Cohn. Let's just go bigger pitch. picture than who's in tier one now. Let's talk historical football. The legacy championship quarterbacks of you and my lifetimes, okay? Joe Montana, amazing, but guess who allowed the fewest points in the 80s? The 49ers. Hall of Famers throughout the defense, right? Tom Brady, great quarterback, great winner. Top 10 defenses all over the place when he was winning those championships. Patrick Mahomes can have a mid-defense at best, the worst special teams in the league.

He can high ankle sprain himself, and he can put it on his back and win the Super Bowl. I'm not huge on hyperbole. Usually I'm the trying to be the voice of reason here with 26 years covered in the league, but we can't find this. Yeah. Right? You can't find this. It's really remarkable. So I think he's in a whole middle league of being able to do this without the defense, without things being right. They get rid of Tyree Kill. They're better statistically on offense. Who does this?

Yeah, you know, a player that's interesting, and I think he's such a fascinating player, so he gets overlooked in high school, goes to a second-tier college, really struggles first year, day ball elevates Josh Allen, and he's remarkable, and he's wildly productive. Then last year, more mistakes, situations. I don't feel he's sort of as good as Burrow or Alan. When you talk to your 50 executives coaches, where is everybody? He's still a huge talent. Are there any concerns about the bills, Josh Allen?

I didn't feel a lot of concerns this year. I thought people might be talking more about style of play and taking hits and all of that. But I think that he just had another solid year. And the team disappointment stuff is real, but it's probably a little premature to be holding that against them. the only guy since I've been doing this who has been in it, I think, five years and his quarterback tier average vote improved every year. He's the only guy. He's really a remarkable guy that way. It was even a little better this year. Now, Burrow passed him because that's fine.

But yeah, I think people are still all in on him. I think if he starts missing a bunch of games, I do think there's a usage issue there longer term. I mean, we've seen that with Cam Newton and some other guys. But I think his, I think people really like him. Herbert, the knock on him is, well, he doesn't win enough games. My takeaway is Kansas City's in his division. The AFCs loaded. Once his rookie year behind the worst statistical offensive line in the league, he went 31 and 10. I was like, all right, case closed. The kid's remarkable. I've seen offensive lines unravel Andrew Luck and careers early.

give me the average opinion on Justin Herbert who I think everybody in the league gets but I do hear the pushback is close games. When a playoff game, what are the experts say? Yeah, absolutely. I think there's an acknowledgement in the Chargers situation that they've been a bottom five team on defense and he's been one of the main reasons they've won. If you look at the last two years, they're 28th and combined EPA on defense and special teams. 28th, okay? So the four teams that are, the four teams below them over the last two years are 51, 84, and one, okay? And the charges are 19 and 15. And they had guys missing all over the place on offense. We know their injury history. I think people, when people see Justin Herbert in

person, they are wow. Yes. They are like, this guy is different than I thought. I mean, I've had guys just say things like our linebacker was chasing him on the edge and this guy out ran I'm looking at each other on the sideline, like, holy, you know what. Like, this is, this is guys different. I mean, he's just a commanding big guy who can do everything. I think he played through the injuries last year. And the team success thing will, will hurt him eventually if it keeps going this way. Yeah.

If that happens, I think it's an organizational deal with the Chargers. Yeah. And we've seen it. Philip Rivers should be a Hall of Famer. And, you know, they didn't exactly go deep every year either. So you've been doing this now 10 years. Has there been, because sports right now is going through a bit of a renaissance, analytically in baseball, basketball, and now football.

You can't pay a running back because I can contract. Has there been a big change to you in the decade you've been doing the quarterback tiers? Two changes. I think we are all smarter about talking about quarterbacks. We're not having the Joe Flacco elite discussion anymore. We have a greater understanding of what it is that makes these guys elite. And being able to do it in the peer passing situations is a component. That's the thing I've learned the most in the last 10 years.

I think that's come in the conversation. The other thing is what I mentioned earlier. The off-platform ability is such a, it's the standard, it's the norm now almost for the top guys. Whereas if you go to the top guys 10 years ago, it's Breeze, it's Brady, it's Peyton Manning, right? It's a different type of quarterback. So I think it's evolved and gotten better in some ways. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of these quarterbacks, to be honest with you, Mike, I think it's the whole quarterback industry.

I think it's a cottage industry. And I think all these guys come at a high. I have two friends whose sons are quarterbacks. They had 10,000 snaps by the time they were 12 years old. I mean, they're just, it's a different world now. These guys can read defenses like never before. There's also a lot better coaching. I mean, I think there's just, there's smarter coaches everywhere.

We immediately criticize the coach because when we recognize they're not putting. this guy in the right situation. And we see it now when the good ones come in. And it's like, Andy Reed is still the exception and still exceptional. But there's a lot of guys sort of who can elevate their guy now. There's way more of the ability to change to the player. And I think we used to have the whole thing, well, this is my system. And if you can't, if you fail in my system, you failed. Well, guess what, coach? You're going to be fired if you don't involve your system. And the player's going to get guaranteed money. And even Daniel Jones is going to get a $40 million deal. So you better tailor the offense to Daniel Jones.

All right. So Jared Goff and Daniel Jones in the same tier I don't love. But Mike Sando, I do. Senior writer for The Athletic. It may be my favorite football column of the year. Check out The Athletic. Subscribe. There's great stuff everywhere.

Mike. It's always a pleasure. Continued having fun. Good luck on the golf course. Thank you. All right. Yeah, it's a fun column. If you have a few hours, download it.

It's one of my favorite. Reddit this morning. Read it tonight. You know, before I go see Barbie. I think I will. I went and saw Oppenheimer. Totally worth it. Everybody in my family and on the staff has seen Barbie.

Everybody thinks it's funny. So I'm not going to wear pink. Maybe I should. Maybe I should get into the spirit of it. How much pink do you own? One shirt. Like a salmon? Does that kind of count as pink?

Not really. That's not pink. I have some pink is a money shirt. Oh, for me. It looks really good. But quick question. Daniel Jones 19th in quarterbacks. Justin Fields is close at 21.

Well, Fields is more talented. Fields is going to have a better year than Jones. By the way, where's Goff rated? All right. Goff is 15 right behind Derek Carr and Kyler Murray. I don't know how we... Kyler Murray is, for me, one of the toughest ones on this list. Yeah.

We're basically going off one year. So basically, Jared Goff is just inches above Daniel Jones. Do you believe that? He's above Russell Wilson and Tuah. Well, I mean, Russell... It's funny. People just bailed on Rush Fast. I mean, by the way, Aaron did not have a great year

last year, Aaron Rogers, nobody bailed on him. Russell has had 10 good years. He had a bad year. Everybody bailed on it. I mean, I don't know why. Maybe it's because he's never been the kind of perfect prototype quarterback, but everybody bailed. Aaron's had bad years.

And he's still fourth on the list. How does that work? Well, Aaron throws a prettier ball. So what? You can't have him a tier quarterback, two tiers higher because he throws a prettier ball. Come on. The other thing that I took from reading it this morning is there is, there is, still a lot of apprehension with Trevor Lawrence.

I don't get it. I think he's got a good arm. He moves. He's mature. But he's tier two in this thing and kind of middle of tier two. You put him tier one? Well, I've always said there's only five quarterbacks in the NFL. On the planet, there is five professional quarterbacks.

If I ran a team, I would not pick up the phone. Well, that's a different discussion. Well, no, but it's still, it's pretty darn close. Mahalmsboro Allen, Herbert Trevor. Now, if Jalen Hertz does it again and Lamar can stay healthy, there's two more. I'm not taking a lot of calls on Lamar, but I do have an injury concern. I have a Shane Steichen left concern with Jalen, but if Jalen had another good year, I'd put him in the six.

I'm not taking a call. But there's not many of those guys. Most guys are... I just want to remind you, the immortal Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars were three and seven last year before they rallied, beat a bunch of bad teams and the Cowboys, and snuck free word, snuck into the playoffs beating Josh Dobbs in the final week of the season. I think Dobbs like vomited up of turnover in the fourth quarter. Doug Peterson came in.

They had to kind of clean up. They had to rebuild the culture. They did not get off to a great start. So a lot of that to me is rebuilding the commitment. Remember when Brian Flores got the Miami job in the first month? They were awful. The second month they were okay. in the third month they were good.

You got to get, even Nick Sabin's first year at Bami lost to Louisiana Monroe. Okay, Lincoln Riley lost to Tulane. You got to give, in pro football, you got to give me to Thanksgiving to get the culture right. I believe, and you can check this, the Jags drafted first back to back. They got Lawrence and then Trayvon Walker.

I think that happened. Walker's a good player. Again, we're talking about, like I like Trevor Lawrence a lot, and I would not take a call on him, but to put him already ahead of some of these other established guys, It seems a little premature. He'll be there, but not yet. Want 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what 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-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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 I-HeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, J-Mack. Show sponsored by BetterHelp, B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P, BetterHelp.com, 10% off. It is therapy, flexible, designed to you. your schedule, private, entirely online, 10% off today. BetterHelp.com slash herd J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Let's start with your Rams. It can't be mine. I've been bagging on them lately. And a new kind of neighbor, Matt Stafford, I'm not going to get into it. But he now lives kind of near me. As Jared Goff lives super close to me, I might see him walking my dog, so I'm going to start to dial back the criticism. of golf. Okay. That's not the way it's supposed to work as a journalist. You can't be

influenced by neighbors. Okay. Well, cross me off the journalist list. I will be influenced. Anyway, McVeigh is very excited about the rants. He's going to face the doubters and turn things around this season. I do think that we're in a position to attack an opportunity with some freaking balls about us. Some stones where it's like, I'm not naive to the narrative externally, but all I need to worry about is being the best coach of this team and not being afraid to cut it loose and compete. For me, it's just getting back grounded, reestablishing a purpose, having the principles and values in your everyday approach and the way that you handle the ebbs and flows that are inevitable. Boy, has he been hanging out with Aaron Rogers? Did you hear that? Establishing a purpose.

How about that? You know, selfishly, can I just say this? So we both reported that Matt Stafford was asked about restructuring his deal. The Rams, one of their front office people, went public denying it. Stafford last week acknowledged you and I right. Folks, we don't sit up here trying to get clicks. We actually do reporting. So it was nice that Stafford acknowledged, yes, they came to me and we talked about it, which is all you and I ever reported.

There's a growing sense within the Rams that it's a really important year. They've upgraded the O line. They've drafted high to protect Matt Stafford. That the O line will be significantly better because they can ill afford another year where Matt's getting beat up. A lot of people think kind of a hovering around the Rams that this is the last year for Stafford.

I think they're going to draft a quarterback next year. My guess is it won't be a first round pick. They're going to go get a left tackle. I also think they need somebody in their front four, front five, Aaron Donald's aging. But I believe that Matt Stafford, this is my take. They've never talked about trading. Ever, I've been told that.

They're going to go two more years. full years with Matt Stafford, they're going to draft a quarterback somewhere next year and just let him develop behind a real pro. I think there's a chance there could be a third year with him because I think he's really good when he's healthy. A lot of his issues, bad line play and Cooper Cup got hurt. Nobody was winning with that team last year. So they're going to score some points this year. Assuming Cooper Cup and Stafford are healthy, I think they'll be in a position like trailing a lot because the defense won't stop anyone. And Stafford's going to put up, Stafford could be a good fantasy. I'm starting to get fantasy football.

Are you doing it this fall? I do not. I bet games. I don't do fantasy. Stafford's going to be a sleeper because the Rams aren't going to be good. But if he's healthy, they're going to be chucking the entire game because their defense is not stopping anybody. I'm just telling you right now. Let me throw a quarterback.

I don't play fantasy football. I have fantasies. None of them about sports. How is Lamar Jackson in fantasy football? Definitely a top five quarterback. Because the rushing touchdowns are worth more than passing touchdown. Okay. So my guess is people are sleeping on Lamar because it got ugly last year.

I think this is the best receiving core potentially he's ever had. And Mark Andrews is great at tight-in. Yeah, yeah. He's got a stack team, new offensive coordinator. Everybody's talking Cleveland. I think Baltimore is going to be really interesting. You know, we can all make excuses for quarterbacks. If you go look at him, his running backs are never healthy.

He's lost Ronnie Stanley. They've never drafted receivers well. He's finally got a group. This is a really good offensive group. Now, Odell Beckham stays healthy. Save flowers as good as a rookie receiver. Watch out. Yeah, I got some guys.

Bateman, remember, I like Bateman. Not as the number one. Next up, sticking in the NFC West, Kyler Murray continues to work his way back from that ACLTere. There is no official timeline for his return. That to me is eye-opening, but we'll see. Kyler knows his current limitations and is trying to get over his hesitancy going forward.

Here's what Kyler had to say. Listen closely. First time I'd jump, I was hesitant. But, you know, we're preparing the body, preparing the mind to be able to do those things. So I do think the first time I'm out there, maybe I might be, but with the reps, I think the confidence will grow and grow. I wouldn't want to go out there and hurt the team or hurt myself.

You know, the advice that I've gotten from a lot of people around me, you know, is obviously to go when you're ready. You know, don't listen to outside noise. Don't feel pressured to come back because of this situation or that situation. You know, whenever you're ready, you'll know you're ready. And I think that's what obviously, you know, like I said, I haven't dealt with this. But when that time comes, I feel like I'll know. If he comes back week six, then they're not going to be in the quarterback lottery.

They're not. Do you think he's that much of a game changer with those weapons around? I think he's really good. I think he's really good. But listen to what he said. He's hesitant to jump. Well, I get that. This is a guy who makes his living running.

That's when he's at his best, outside the pocket scrambling because he's so quick. I get it. And now he doesn't really want to. want to run off an ACL? Well, I get it. When you have an injury, it takes a while to get back on. I get it. We talk a lot about Russell Wilson falling and Aaron Rogers had a rough year after two MEPs.

When he's small quarterback start getting whacked, they don't want to get hit anymore. I get it. They're famously against the Rams in that playoff game where they got smashed and Aaron Donnell was throwing him around. He basically didn't want to go in the game late fourth quarter. They're getting blown out and he's like, I don't want to go back in. I get it. Think about NFL.

Think how big Big Ben is and how big Cam Newton. These are giant men. Yeah. I've stood next to Cam in an event. I've stood next to Ben in a golf shop. These are giant men. 6-6-260. Look how fast they aged, taking shots.

He's 5'10. He's 215. I mean, these guys get pegged a couple times. Mike Vick told me that. Well, Mike Vick said about year three, he ran out and got smoked by somebody. He's like, yeah, I don't want to run as much. So, like, I get the smaller athlete getting hit.

You watch Jalen Hertz now? Watch Jalen Hertz peel back this year and he'll run, but watch Jalen Hertz run a little less appropriately. Let's do that fun game where I tell you the opponent, you tell me who's winning. Arizona starts the season in Washington across the country. Sam Howell will be enemy, Ron Rivera. Well, that's a coin flip. I'd probably give it to Washington at home. Do we even know who the Arizona starting quarterback is?

I don't. So what's the next game? Colt McCoy looks like is going to be the starter. So week two, Arizona, another NFCE's team. They host the New York Giants and Daniel Jones. Very winnable. Then they host the Dallas Cowboys. Probably a loss.

At San Fran versus Cincy. Those are losses. At the Rams, at the Seahawks versus Baltimore. At Cleveland. All right. This is spiraling quickly. You're right. That's what I'm saying.

We talked about this. Tampa, the Raiders in Arizona. These teams go one in five. That's when, because of Caleb Williams at USC, that's when you have to, I think Tampa's fascinating. because Tampa's in a weak division. They may be able to win games and not be very good. Arizona is going to get smoked by Seattle.

By the way, they're going to get smoked by San Francisco. They're 0 and 4. Rams, I think, are better than we think. They could lose both of them. So what's interesting with Arizona is they don't have a ton to give you. Either to the Raiders, they're not going to give you Max Krosmere or Devote Adams. Tampa's the kind of team that's got some dudes. If they go 1 in 5 or 0 and 6,

there are going to be teams out there, good football teams at the trade deadline, that can go grab an elite corner. Tampa's the team to keep your eye on because most of the teams we think will be in that like quarterback derby, they're in really good divisions, and if they're bad, they're going to lose. Tampa could go toe to toe to with an Atlanta, and, I mean, that's what's going to be interesting. This is how powerful the NFL is. The bottom three teams are fascinating. because of what they can get in the draft.

It's fast. The race to the bottom this year is going to be unbelievable. The problem is, do you want Baker and Tampa winning six or seven games? What does that do for you? Nothing. Well, they have real players. That's what I'm saying. Tampa could win.

Tampa could go six and 11 this year and end up like drafting four. Not be great, but Baker's good enough with that defense and those players. Todd Bowles will have the defense, right? Remember a few years ago, the Jets were one of the worst teams in the league, won a meaningless game in November or December, and then miss out on Trevor Lawrence. and they have to settle for Zach Wilson. That's right.

That's useful. What are we doing? Final story, Buffalo Bills, never won a Super Bowl and haven't appeared in the big game for 30 years. That hasn't stopped Sean McDermott from visualizing it from both himself and the team. Manifesting it. Giant banner with the Lombardi Trophy on it in the team's indoor practice facility saying, it's just a daily reminder of what we're here to do and what we're trying to accomplish.

It's just a standard for us. We're trying to accomplish every year. And more than anything internally is to keep. focused on that through the course of the season. We get clouded with the journey. We're here to win a world championship. It's trying to keep our vision and one of the goals that we have as an organization in front of us at all times. My daughter always uses that word.

Dad, you've got to manifest things. You've got to think about Aaron Rogers uses that word. A lot of manifesting, thinking about things. Do you have a vision board? I do not have a vision board. The first time I heard someone, my brother mentioned a vision board. I thought he was joking. And I started laughing.

I'm like, come on. vision board? What do we do it? And he's like, no, no, this is like a thing. Young younger people are. Wow. No, I write stuff. My vision boards all up here.

Well, no, I get, I have those yellow note pads at home. I always tell my kids, write stuff down, stare at it, go to bed, wake up, see things, write it down. Just don't keep stuff in your head. Write goals down. Write things down. Look at them. Kind of manifest it. You just stare at the piece of paper and, like, their goals will come true.

That's not, you see, then you're mocking me. I'm joking, come on. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Well, they say you can talk yourself into being sick. You can't talk yourself into being successful?

I think a lot of it's above the shoulders. That's just my take. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Hi, this is Jay Glazer, and you may know me for the world of football or fighting or even shows like HBO's ballers. What you don't know is for my entire life, I have lived in something I refer to as the gray, depression, anxiety.

So now I'm coming out with a new podcast, Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazer, where each week, while we talk about mental health, I hope to describe it. Give it words. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what 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 a 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 pick a 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 all 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 Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. Thursday, it's a special night of baseball on Fox as Alex Breggman and the Astros battle Giancarlo's Stanton and the Yankees. Or the Pirates take on Christian Yellich and the Brewers. Catch the action Thursday at 7 Eastern on Fox. Steve Sarkesian, Texas Longhorns head coach. Big year for Texas. Some All-American, the most talented Texas team since that Vince Young, Mac Brown team that won the Natty over USC.

you know, there's always one of the things about sports that's fun, there's always surprises. And we've talked about what teams are going to be bad next year. And we kind of got a feeling that Arizona, Tampa, although Tampa's got a lot of good players. You know, some people question Houston. I don't. I think they'll be better. Vegas. So there are very few really bad teams.

But if I said, do you think about a team that you don't think could be bad because they've been so, solid for so many years, but it could get ugly fast. So this is a winning franchise, well run. They've got some, I would say, to their constitution, they've got some built-in disadvantages. Are we overlooking a potential one-year bad team? The Packers. Give me a second. So in Mike Sandos, Tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 quarterbacks.

Jordan loves in Tier 4, toe to toe with Baker Mayfield and Sam Howell and Gardner Minshue. The comments on him are, he doesn't have it, doesn't process the game. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him. He's the Loch Ness Monster.

I'd have no tape. I've got like photos. I can't quite make it. I have no idea if he's any good. I know out of college, people thought he was a bit of a project, but he's got good size. He can move. I don't know.

But could we all admit this? Detroit's significantly better. And didn't they sweep them last year with Aaron Rogers? Minnesota is a better team, especially they re-sign Hunter. In Chicago, J-Mack is one of many who thinks Chicago's going to make a big leap. So Green Bay's got a couple of rookie tight ends, one dependable super young receiver, Christian Watson. And their defense has been, let's be honest, average, and their special teams have been average for the last several years.

Aaron Rogers could not take this team in this division when the Bears were terrible. And the Lions were good, not great to the playoffs. Aaron couldn't get him in. Immediately goes to the losing jets. They're over unders, nine and a half, and the juice is on the over. What if Green Bay is really bad? This is the best Detroit team I can ever remember. I have to wait and see on Chicago, but they have made major upgrades to their

offensive personnel. Minnesota's not going to go 11 and 0 in close games, but they're not going 0 and 11. They probably go 6 and 5, and they re-sign 100 to a one-year deal, so they got their best defensive player. It's like, Green Bay could be a three-win football team. You start looking at their schedule. If Chicago is as good as people think, you start dialing that thing up, that, you know,

again, you say, well, it's Atlanta. Well, it's at Atlanta. That's a go-e-e-e-e-e-way game on the road. Jordan loves first big roadie out of division. A lot of tough road games. Chargers. I mean, they got Steelers, Ravens, Chargers, Chiefs. Denver, those are Ls if Jordan loves not at least a B quarterback.

So, I mean, any Packer fan would tell you over the last several years, I don't think this is a stretch. Their special teams are cross-your-fingers territory, like the Chargers. Like, it's cross-your-fingers on their special teams. their defense has been, some of it injuries. Jaya Alexander's great, but it's been disappointing. Offensive lines good. It's not as good as it's been.

And Aaron couldn't get this team to the playoffs. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but if you look at that tier stuff where it's 50 execs, coordinators, coaches, scouts, nobody likes Jordan Love. And we can't get video of it. And I got news for you. You go to Herbert, you go to Burrow,

you go to Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, and you were getting comments in camp. Whoa, wow. Justin Fields is 5 and 20, and anytime I criticize him, I get major pushback because there's moments where you're like jaw-dropping stuff. No video is out on Jordan Love. And I had a source, I told you this, a very trustable source. Somebody I've trusted for years told me.

Somebody in that building recently told me there's no juice. there's nothing special. It's just pedestrian underneath stuff. There's nothing special here. I don't know. I'm not even going to have a strong opinion. I do not know. But I think you could be looking at Green Bay.

If they don't win that Chicago game on the road, that's going to be a big game for Justin Fields. First seven games. Do you know how many times are favored? Once. Correct. That's not ideal. But I will point out,

they lost like four starters on offense. So what if there's a scenario where this is like LaFleur saying, finally, finally. I don't have to cater to Rogers. I get to do my thing, my quarterback, my receivers. And LaFleur is as good as we thought. Their receiving and tied-end grouping is the youngest in the league. They could be good outside of Christian Watson.

Who is? 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, S&L'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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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

A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen. the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices

that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.