The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - Russell Wilson

Episode Date: August 18, 2023

Is Russell Wilson improving under HC Sean Payton? Were the Packers trying to get rid of Aaron Rodgers? How far off is Arch Manning from being game ready?   Guest: Shawne Merriman   #douggottliebshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making it as part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for Colin Cowhert. It's that weird tweener weekend, right?

Most of your kids are back in school. Two of your kids back in school. Some kids are back, some or not. Part of me wants, like, all school things to be uniform. but there was a time when my kids were in year-round school, and I thought that was dope, right? Because in your off for like three-week stretches, you're off when everybody else is on,

so then you can travel and go do some stuff. But the sporadic nature of some schools and some school districts starting, you know, last week, week before, and some not starting until the end. Heck, when I was a kid in Southern California, it was after Labor Day, back when we got our start. Anyway, you know, the thing I could never tackle when I was a kid was so the first day of school, you had your first day of school outfit, right? That was big.

The drip was always important. But my drip always included like a brand new t-shirt, but those brand-new t-shirts always had that real strong crease down the middle. And you didn't want to wash it because he washed it while it doesn't look like a brand-new t-shirt. And you couldn't really iron it because back then, you know, before things were like sublimated. They were, like you could melt and screw up the front. I don't know, music, you were always a well-dressed dude. How did you navigate that first day of school drip?

Yeah, I mean, I think you're right. But part of, and maybe this was just more my time in school was like, that made it like cool. Like you knew that teacher had to be new because it still had the creases in it. Yeah. So it wasn't something you wanted to get rid of. of, you were, like, hoping that your t-shirt had that on it. Yeah.

Yeah. The problem with, and again, I don't know what elementary schools you guys all went to, right, and what part of the country it's in. But in California, everything you do outside is going to be on blacktop. So if you have new sneakers, they are trashed after one. Oh, yeah. They are trash. It's like the greatest waste of money ever is new sneakers at a California elementary school because

They are just, there's nothing you can do. Whereas if you're in the Midwest or in the east, right, your elementary school, most things are inside. Now, you'll go outside to play, but it's not always on blacktop. It's not the same. Sometimes you have gym class, right? We actually can wear your nice sneakers inside in gym class. But California, like your shoes are gone.

Yeah, it's either the, you've got two options. It's either the blacktop just shreds them up or just grass stains on everything because you're out on the field. That's it. Yeah. Yeah, that's accurate. We're getting ready for week two of most teams, preseason games.

And it's generally progressed this way, right, where you play a little bit more week two and then week through you, you know, sometimes you play a half and then week four you don't play any. Obviously, it's changed with the schedules. But with the fewer preseason games or the fewer preseason looks, Russell had this quote, speaking to reporters after yesterday's practice,

Wilson said he believes it's all coming together as the team continues to gain more experience in Sean Payton's system. Quote, the best part is that we're really catching on everything we want to do. We're having consistency just coming out on the field, using walkthroughs, using practices, to get our minds right before practice. Now, Sean Payton said that they're going to get 15 to 18 snaps against the night, in their preseason opener, excuse me, he wanted them to get 15 to 18 snaps in the preseason opener against the Cardinals.

This week, he wants 20. to 24 against the Niners. What I've heard out of Denver is it is better, but we don't know what that better means. Like, well, is it better than it was a couple weeks ago with Russell Wilson? Yes. Is it good? That's a whole different thing.

And it's really fascinating because there's a lot of moving parts to any team. And as we stated with the Jets, like, look, if you can't block, it doesn't really matter what else you do. You can't block, you can't run. And if you can't run, you can't run, if you're one-dimensional of you, and if you're back there trying to throw and you can't block,

you're, it's not going to be good. But I would say that no team's success or failure is going to be blamed or, I don't want to do the acclaim. That's the, that's rhyming. It revolves, the discussion will completely revolve around Russ. And it's interesting.

like obviously Sean Payton's been really successful. Going back to his days, calling plays with the Cowboys. Fast forward to what he's done with the Saints. I mean, Drew Breeze became a Hall of Famer in New Orleans playing for Sean Payton. Now, part of it was Bree's personal improvement, part of it was building a system around a diminutive quarterback

who could see and had a unique way of being able to step up in the pocket. Now, Russ is different. He does not step up in the pocket. Like he gets really, really deep. he does like to run around back there and try and make plays. And I think last year it was obvious he's not the same guy because of the weight. Now he's lost some of the weight. But, you know, father time is like the 72 dolphins completely undefeated.

So the more reps shouldn't be a surprise. The volume of reps they got in week one and now the volume of in week two feels like, well, that's a bit heavier. Most teams, most teams have put those volume of reps in to the, dual practices. The Broncos want to do it in a real, or real, whatever, preseason game. Obviously, it opens you up to injuries, but I think Sean Payton's a little bit old school. We're like, look, if we have the legit discussion, guys are getting hurt at a similar rate anyway. And, you know, maybe one reason they're getting hurt is they're not taking a volume of reps in the preseason.

So you're not building up kind of a layer of resistance to all the physical pounding. Do I know if Russell ever get it back? No. Have I been told in Denver that he looks better than he did last year and better on a day-to-day week-to-week basis? Sure. Is that better good enough to be the second or third best quarterback in a division with two super elite young quarterbacks? I don't know. But I can't think of a better or more interesting watch.

Because remember, Sean Payton turned down the job the first time around. and then they came back around to him, offered him crazy amount of money, and then he took the job. But Payton has also done, he's done a really nice job of making it so much, not just about my way or the highway

with not having excess trainers and coaches in the building, whatever like they had for Russ, but also kind of making it about Russ. He gets a total pass. If their offense stinks this year, he gets a pass. If their offense is good, he's the one who fix it.

This is a win, win for Sean Payton. I know, yeah, by the way, if you look at his contract, Russell's not going anywhere anyway. So you better try and make it work with the guy. But I'm fascinated to see Denver and what it looks like with Russell Wilson this year because so many people have said they think he's done. And the only thing I can think back on is we were talking about the Michael Orson. story a bunch. And I don't know how much, how much has Colin gotten into that music in terms of the

Michael War story with the, we have not, we have not discussed it. We sort of let it, yeah, we let it be its own thing. There was much back and forth on many different perspectives and opinions on who received what and how it all laid out. We, uh, we, uh, no, I definitely think it was one of those, when the story first came out, uh, it was one of those holy cow, these people are the, are terrible human beings. But you had to sit there and go like, okay, well, there has to be something I'm missing here. Then they came out with their story like, well, that reads really differently than his story. And you start to understand the dynamics of movie, book deal, make a ton of money.

And yet Michael Ward didn't make much money. He's clearly blaming the family for what feels like signing a bad deal. But were there, did they have nefarious intentions? I don't know. From their side, it feels like that. My point is that in the great stories in the history of sports, Michael Orr and I think Kurt Warner are two of the best. But if you look at Kurt Warner's career, go back and track it, right?

Like Northern Iowa to Arena League to Europe to backup and then gets an opportunity with the Rams, greatest show on turf. Unbelievable, two and a half seasons or so, maybe three seasons with the Rams. And then it started to fall apart. then he goes to the Giants and he had like a hand injury. He could never. And they end up obviously having Eli and then eventually became Eli's job. He's almost out of the league.

Then he goes to Arizona as Linerd's backup, replaces Linerd when Linerd gets hurt, and then wins the job the next year and comes back and takes the carolina to the Super Bowl. The point is that in relation to Russell Wilson and they're very different players, right? Russell, you know, for the last decade, if you close your eyes or you think of a Seattle Seahawks game, most of your impressions are Russell Wilson at the end of the game running around behind the line of scrimmage trying to make a play and more times than not, it seemed like it worked. That's different than Kurt Warner, unbelievable quick release, arm strength, both intelligent guys, but a different way of playing the same. The point is that if you want to say, I haven't seen a guy fall off like that, I give you Kurt Warner fell off like that. And if you also want to say, I haven't seen a guy get it back after falling off.

I give you court warner as well. There are other guys in which we could Vinny Testa Verdi got it back. You know, he was a bust. And then all of a sudden he got it back late in his career with the Jets. But it's going to be interesting to find out because Sean Peyton, even though, you know, it's his job to fix it. If it doesn't get fixed, I do believe most of the blame will be. be on Russell this year.

Last year was on the coaching staff and a good amount on Russell. This year he loses the weight, which only tells people that he was too heavy last year. But I think because of the pedigree of Sean Peyton, there ain't no way the fingers are going to be pointed at him. Even the offensive line, it's kind of a no lose for him. And that's probably the biggest question that they have. But the game two reps, there's going to be a high volume of them, high volume of them for the Denver Broncos.

All right, coming up next. What do we make of Lamar Jackson and wanted to throw more? How come we don't even talk about the Browns anymore after dominating the offseason? And oh yeah, by the way, can the Jets win despite their offensive line? We'll ask lights out.

Sean Marion. Sean Merriman joins us next in The Hurt. One more HARD? The herd streams 24 hours a day. seven days a week within the iHeart radio app search heard 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 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross 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 Jay. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. At the end of your first year, Discover credit cards, automatically doubles all the cashback you've earned.

That's right. Everything you've earned doubled. Seriously, see terms. Check it out for yourself at Discover.com slash match. Doug Gowleyman for Colin. This is the Hurt. Fox Sports Radio. Iheart radio app.

Sean Merriman joins us. He's a former all-pro linebacker, of course. Lights Out 10 is this Saturday. The twin, oh,

is this to me, a week from Saturday at, uh, where's, Sean, where's the, the next event?

What Casasian is? Yeah, we'll be in San Diego at Casino Palmer. Um, Light Out of Trains fight. We're back, man.

It's our 10th one. Uh, first time in San Diego, man, it's a big deal for us at Casino Palmer. People can get their tickets at LightsoutxF.com. And, we'll be live on football.

We'll be live on football. TV, Fubo Sports, man. So if you guys don't have Fubo, get it, for sure. Okay, I actually want to start with the team your most famous for, which is when you're a star with the then chargers from San Diego, now the L.A. Chargers. I was at their camp this week,

and, I mean, a blind man can see, like, that is a talented, talented roster, right? And done, so far, knock wood, no issues. They got Rishan Slater back. Joey Bosa's healthy. Obviously, Derwin James. You got your quarterback signed up.

essentially for, you know, for the next six, seven years. Things appear to be good. What in your mind can mentally get them over the hump? Because you know how it is. Like, chargering has become a verb where you feel like something bad is always going to happen, like it happened in the playoffs. What gets a team like that over the hump? I think, honestly, man, and I hate to sound, you know, cliche or, you know,

just basic, but it's going to come down to injuries, right? and these guys' health. Last year, I think that most people can say that no one's seen anything like that in the history of football with that many of your big-name guys, your key guys, your starters, not only go down for a game or two.

I'm talking about six plus, eight-plus season injuries, right? If you look at last year, how often was Khalil Mack and Joey Bowes on the field at the same time? How often was Canaan Island and Mike Williams on the field at the same time? Very seldom. You know, even Justin Herbert,

Justin Herbert got the rib injury early on during the season. He was battling for about four to six weeks. And so we've never seen any thing like this. So I'm guessing this. And I know everybody's going to keep bringing up the Jaguars playoff game. I get it. They should have won. They took their foot off the gas.

In my opinion, they shouldn't have been there in the first place. They battle through. It showed a lot of adversity, you know, adversity, and found a way to get in the playoffs. So regardless of how it ended up last year, just for them to get there with those amount of injuries, man, was pretty incredible. It was pretty incredible, but the expectations are sky high. Let's get to Denver. We were just talking about Russell Wilson and didn't look good.

Week 1, offensive line issues galore. What do you think the likelihood is that he has a career resurrection this year? I think it's for him to none, to be quite honest. And I love Russell Wilson for everything he is, his faith, the family man he is, the leader, the positive energy he's just, exuberates to everyone. I get that. I love that part of him. Russell Wilson is not the same player he once was. He will never be the same player he once was. And people need to understand that. And then come to turn

that that's going to be the deal. We're not giving Pete Carroll enough credit for Russell Wilson's, you know, his career in general. You see what Pete Carroll is doing with Gino Smith right now? Gino Smith played what, four or five different teams? All of a sudden, he gets in Seattle with Pete Carroll. and now he's a Pro Bowl caliber caliber player. He's a really good quarterback. We haven't seen that. And we've seen what happens when Russell Wilson left.

He's not in that scheme. He's not under the umbrella of Pete Carroll anymore. And this has got nothing to do with Sean Page. I'm not saying that Sean Page is not a great coach. But I think that the best days for Russell Wilson is behind him now. I look, based upon what I saw last year, I would agree. But, I mean, we saw Kurt Warner have a career resurrection. seen Randall Cunningham career resurrection, Vinnie Testa Verdi.

So that part will be, that part will be fascinating. Let me go to the Jets. Offensive line issues appear to be like the one weakness. And Robert Sallel, their head coach, called out the group in a team meeting. Meanwhile, they signed Alvin Cook. There's not really offensive linemen on the market. How difficult is it to have a really good offense? even with great skill position players, if you're not good up front.

Very difficult. And why? Because they're playing the AFCE division where there's tons of deliming the past rushes. They're going to have to see week in and week out. If they were playing somewhere else where you don't have a couple dominant past rushes and a couple dominant interior guys, they may be able to get away with it and still possibly win a division. But last time I checked, you're not running a ball with an average or below average offensive line. You just won't.

and as great as Aaron Rogers is, he can't throw the ball from his back. And it looks like right now that's what he's going to spend a good amount of his time this year if they don't fix the offensive line issues. Now, I know that they talked about Bogotari and a couple of guys coming over, you know, to kind of give them some help. They need to make a decision on that now. Don't get to week three or four and try to see what a trade deadline is. You need to adjust those problems right now because it can get really bad for that offense quickly

if they don't fix that problem. Why would the Packers trade David Bacchiari? Well, for one, I don't see them doing a whole lot this year in general. And there's no knock against Jordan Love, but I think we've all seen enough. We've all seen that he's not going to be – Aaron Rogers. He's not going to be close to Aaron Rogers. He's not going to fill the shoes of Aaron Rogers. And I don't care how positive they're talking about him in the locker room because they have to.

That's your teammate you're supposed to talk good about him, but let's faith it. He's nowhere close. He's not going to be close to Aaron Rogers. So if you're looking at that, let's see what you can get for Bogotari right now, right? Let's see if you can get some draft picks. Let's see if you can get something right now because they're going to be in a rebuilding stage for the next couple of years, regardless of how Jordan Love plays or not. Dude, he hadn't started, I mean, he played one game in his life. You're waving the white flag already?

Yeah, I think, look, we've seen enough where, you know, what Jordan Love. When? Wait, when? Sean, help me out. When? We've seen it in a preseason games, right? Come on, man. Come on.

We've seen, like, what, what have we seen that he's going to step in and do anything in Aaron Rogers' place? Can he, can he start a couple of games first? Like, look, do I think, do I, hold on one second. Like, if he, look, they were trying to get Aaron Rogers out of the door years ago. They were trying to get Aaron Rogers out the door years ago. No, they were not. Hold on.

Hold on. Stop. Stop for one second. Let's have a legit discussion about this. You're talking about when they drafted Jordan Love? When they drafted Jordan Love, their objective was to get Aaron Rogers out of that locker room off of that game. No, no, it wasn't. No, it wasn't.

Jordan Love, okay, was a developmental prospect, right? He played two years in college, one good, one not good. Aaron Rogers was coming off a season where everyone who covered the sport said it felt like he was in decline. It was not a, they were not trying to get him out the building right away. They were trying to have a succession plan. And Aaron Rogers turned around and had two MVP seasons. Meanwhile, they tried to develop Jordan Love. So there wasn't, they were trying to get him out of the building right then.

They were trying to have a, they're never going to draft in the top 10 because they're the Packers and they're a good organization. So in order to get the next quarterback, they had to get one of the 20s, just like they got with Aaron Rogers. How do you, how do you draft a quarterback that high and he's not playing? I just don't You had Aaron Rogers They need it Listen they need it Okay so if you got a quarterback there

Who you know can go out and get it done Why not go get a defensive line In the parish rush or wide receiver Office line with somebody to help Aaron Rogers They were trying to get Aaron Rogers out the door And they couldn't because Jordan Love Isn't the player they thought he was going to be You don't draft a guy in the first round

Could they have drafted Uh What Not TY Hilton They could have taken T. Higgins. That's the guy. They were in the 20s, dude. And based upon their board, they felt like they could get the quarterback of the future. And the timeline matched up with this year. And it only got messy because it turns out Aaron still had juice in the tank, right?

But the idea that they were trying to get them, remember, they were coming off of playing in an NFC, they played in the NFC playoffs, the NFC championship game. I'd they consistently in the playoffs and deep into the playoffs. So the idea that they had to go out and get one rookie here, one rookie there just goes against what they've always done. Again, I'm not saying they handled it perfectly or Aaron handled it perfectly, but I would defend Jordan Love and that no one on earth Jordan Love included thought he was going to play in the first couple of years.

And this was supposed to be the year where he's the starter and he is. And I mean, I think we could give him a season or a half a season to see what he is. But he's not new to the system He's not new to what's going on How do you need that much time in order to figure out? Because he hasn't played in any games Well, he's played enough He's had enough game time experience

When? When he's got in the game? He was good last year against Philadelphia He was good last year against Philadelphia I don't think he's as good as he played But he was good last year against Philadelphia So I just don't I don't

I understand what you're saying You're saying like look They're not going to be that good anyway But I would guess that what the package is sitting there going like, well, let's, why don't we find out? We have all these young wide receivers. All of our money is tied up into Bakhtiari and Aaron Jones, right? Everybody else is on a rookie contract in terms of skill position guys. And let's figure out what we got, see if he's any good.

And if he's not, and we get to, you know, before the trade deadline, we can always move Bakhtiari and plan on starting over next year. But, I mean, the idea that we're starting over before we start, that I don't understand. Yeah, no one's ever going to admit it. I mean, the truth be told, no one's ever going to admit it. But I think they know what they got on the team. I know what they've got in the locker room. I'm just saying for the Jets' sake. I would go after Bocatar right now.

I'm not going to wait to the trade deadline. I'll make a move now. We know what the offensive line looks like for the Jets. So that move to me, in my opinion, has to be made right now by the Jets somewhere. A lot of pressure on Dak Prescott. Some people think they're going to be better than the Eagles. Some people think business as usual. what do you think of DAC at this point?

That, you know, he's back Prescott. Right, and he's a great leader, great team mate, says the right thing we're supposed to. He's just not a great quarterback. It's just one of those things, man, that I think because all of his other positive intangibles, that people are not really on him as much as they should be. But I'll say this, that if he doesn't perform this year or get the Cowboys in a playoff or deep in a playoff,

they should look at moving back Prescott, find a way to bring someone else in there because they have a great team in other positions. They have one of the best defense players in Parsons in football. Lawrence, one of the best cornerback hand up in football, if not the best. And the only thing, but you're just not going to win without a great quarterback in this league. So, and no, too, they're going to have to see the Eagles.

And, you know, the commander is probably going to be a better team this year coming in with new ownership and everything else. If they don't go deep in the playoff the Cowboys, they need to look at making a move with that Crescott some way somehow. The Eagles lost seven starters, their offensive and defensive coordinator, but Jalen Hurts's back, new contract, and he far exceeded anybody's realistic expectations of him last year.

He's got two absolute dudes to throw to. And defensively, even though, you know, you have some age up front, they've seemingly replaced them in the draft. But not having lost your coordinators, feels like on the outside changes you a lot. What do you think of the Eagles? Last year, easiest schedule in the NFL,

but they get all the way of the Super Bowl, nearly win the Super Bowl. What do you think of the Eagles this year? I think they got a chance to get back, but mainly because of the division they're in. There's no question about it. They're going to be hurting this year without the de-coordinator in those guys there.

They 100% are not going to look the same. But the addition of, like, Carter, their D-line right now, the way they can pass rush, they got a great pass rush out there. The players are still there. We don't know enough about this game of how they're going to put them in the position,

but I'll tell you, man, Cardin looks like a guy who's been in the league for five years already, the way he likes to get after it. So if they won another division, I would say they will probably have an uphill battle, but in the division they're in, you know, they got a shot every year until they find a way to,

to Dallas, find a way to compete with them, to be on it. for the commanders as well. Sean Merriman joining us here in the herd. I'm Doug Gottlieb, filling in for Colin. Heard on Foxport Trader, the IHeart Radio app. Are you a buyer into Tua and his ability to stay healthy? You know, he did some MMA stuff to learn how to fall

because he just kept getting ragdolled and hitting his head. There's questions, obviously. I think you were at that charger game last year. They opened up with the chargers. In terms of his ability to throw outside the numbers with arm strength, but they do have a talented rod. and they appear to believe in him. What's your level of belief in Tua?

Again, it's going to come down with health to him. I know he's been picking up from Jiu-Jitsu. By the way, I try to tell and talk to a lot of guys, obviously me being in an MMA space now and trained with some of the best in the world for 17 years and been around the sport. I think it's just healthy for you to pick up some kind of discipline,

whether it's any kind of combat sport. So I think that's going to help him. At the end of the day, he doesn't have too many opportunities to have the injuries that he had before, right? The big hit, we slammed his head on the back of the ground that we saw, you know, how scary that looked on TV, some of the other concussions were him just wobbling and going back down. Like, these are not injuries that you can say, okay, I'll try it again, I'll try to again. Like, he has those type of injuries have a hit count.

And at some point in time, if that happens again, someone somewhere, whether it's in an organization, his family, his friend, somebody, was going to have to figure out whether they need to pull the plug when his career, period. You know, he's had too many of those big concussions and too many problems going forward to keep happening. But it's no doubt about it. If he's healthy, he puts him in the best position

to win that division this year if he's healthy. Sean, awesome stuff, man. Again, the event lights out, lights out 10. That's next Saturday, a casino palma. That's live on Fubu. Of course, you can go get tickets in San Diego. You can watch it. First time, they're going to be in San Diego.

Sean, thanks so much for joining us in the herd. Thanks, man. That's my man, Sean Merriman. Let's get you to rhyme music with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I give a little back and forth there in regards to Jordan Love.

Listen, I'll tell you guys one thing. I'm staying out of it. I want no part of Gottlieb v. Merriman. I'll happily sit on the side. lines and let you guys settle it on the field like a bunch of tough guys. I'm not a tough guy to level of Sean. I mean, I want no part of that. You could realize that on your own.

I wasn't going to say it. No part of that one. I thought he was a challenge you Doug to lights out 10 next weekend in the ring, in the cage. A late add to the card, maybe, you know, the octagon. Hard pass. All right, let's kick things off here. You guys had touched on it. Cowboys, they've had an interesting.

interesting summer, including a few scuffles have been reported during their training camp, which isn't exclusive to the Dallas Cowboys, but something of note. Dak Prescott, the well-spoken statesman that he is, had this to say about the confrontations. That's a credit to everything that we've really put into this team into both units, feeling like we're nobody's little brother. I told the offense the other day I grew up being a little brother. That's not happening anymore. So how about that?

a little positive spin on training camp fights that we've seen from the Cowboys out in Oxnard, California. I can't get into the training camp. I struggle really hard to get in the training camp fights. Look, I'll say this. You got a bunch of dudes with helmets and shoulder pads on. They're hitting each other. They're hot. They just, I don't know.

What are you going to say? This, go ahead. Well, look, and it's just one thing, and I'm with you, I think training camps are mostly nothing. but in the larger picture of what the Cowboys have been this offseason and this training camp, it's just another piece to the puzzle that isn't necessarily seeming like they're firing on all cylinders. Obviously, there's no more Zeke, no more Kellynne Moore. You had Zach Martin's contract holdout, which is now over. You've had DAC continuing to struggle with interceptions after leading the league in interceptions last year.

And then you had the Trayvon Diggs openly and publicly talking trash to Dac about said interceptions and now several training camp fights. I'm not saying it's a disaster. I'm just saying it doesn't appear as though this is the most flattering of representations that you would want to have as a team who year in and year out has the expectations of trying to contend for a Super Bowl. Look, I believe if we went back in. track all the herds that I filled in on. I mean, you can go back when I was at CBS

Sports Radio. I was one saying during his rookie year, I was like put Romo in. Romo has a higher ceiling. But people love Dak. They love Dak the leader. But I think there's a, you get to a point. You're like, dude, I love you as a guy, but you've got to be better as a player. And I think that's the part that we all notice is that people are in love with Dak the human being, DAC the leader, but I don't think he has the goods to be an elite quarterback, and I think the realization brings frustration from a lot of people. That discussion is a real discussion in that

he was a lot better than where he was drafted, and he probably overachieved based upon his skill set with intelligence and toughness and leadership, but there does come when rubber meets the road, he's just, he's not an elite guy, and that's the elite guys, get your team buy those things that others cannot. Yeah, as Collins pointed out a lot, several times throughout this offseason, as you compare the numbers alongside Kirk Cousins, and they are almost identical in a very somewhat comical sense that we look at Kurt Cousins and bemoan him, but Dak Prescott has the star on the side of his helmet, and he is regularly celebrated.

We'll stick in the NFC East. One of the division rivals of the Dallas Cowboys would be the Washington Commanders, and one of the final quarterback battles in the NFL has come to an end, with Commander's head coach Ron Rivera announcing Sam Howell, as their starting quarterback, the fifth round pick out of North Carolina, started one game last season. Didn't necessarily go great, but most expectations were that he would become the starter.

Earlier this week, Ron Rivera had held off and was held off, hesitant to name him the starter, but he now makes that official this morning. Well, I mean, that's been a long disgust. I mean, the Ron Rivera thing is going to be fascinating, right? Like Eric B. Enemy, I think people are starting to see why Eric B. enemy hasn't gotten a head coaching job to this point because part of the head coaching being a head coach is you got to be a nighter, not a divider. And that thing's not going over that well. Sam, Al's a, he, there's a lot of Baker Mayfield to him, you know, and that I don't know how great or

talented he is, but he's a good leader and a good dude. And of course, taking the fourth round so he doesn't cost you a bunch of money. That's a team to watch because when they've had competent quarterback play, even when Ron Rivera is there, they've been competent as a football team. Yeah, I agree with that. It's interesting, like, they have good wide receivers. I mean, Terry McLaurin might be one of those wide receivers that doesn't get enough respect because he's had consistent production without consistent quarterback play. So if you get him a better quarterback, who knows how good he could be, they also have Jahan Dotson.

They still have one of the better defensive lines in the league. It almost feels like that Washington could be one of those like dark horse, Seahawks Giants teams of last year. No one's really talking about them. They don't really get discussed. us. Nobody really has expectations for him. And all of a sudden, in the NFC, you look up at the end of the year, they have 9, 10 wins, and you're like, how did they get into the playoffs?

But it could just be that. And we'll wrap up with this, Doug. Another quarterback situation, the league has their eyes on, Tray Lance. It's been well discussed on this show. 49ers have made it clear that a healthy Brock Purdy is their starter. Hall of Famer and former Niners quarterback Steve Young had this to say about what we've seen from Lance. who struggled in his first preseason game of the year. Quote, he's squeezed.

Every throw is a referendum on whether he's any good or not because he hasn't had a lot of college or even pro experience. The ability to go out and play and show people what he can do. There's this expectation, this fear, this anxiety. You're not free. You're not relaxed. You're pressing. You're pressing on every throw.

All of a sudden, you're late. You get sacked. You go down. It becomes this, holy crap, how many bad things can happen. you just end up in a really bad spot. That's a heck of a quote. Right? Yeah.

But I think it's accurate, right? You end up being late in life and being late in plays, like all of that stuff builds up and ends up being a disaster. I think that's maybe that's the takeaway. Yeah. And also, to add to this, Shanahan had some comments. He said Brock Purdy might be getting some reps in this week's preseason game. otherwise Sam Darnold will start and Trey Lance will then be taking over for Darnold.

So it would appear that that would mean that Trey Lance would now be third. And that's been discussed by a lot of people. I'm like the last remaining stockholder in Sam Darnold LLC. No, you are not because Colin Cowherd would be the primary stakeholder in the Sam Darnold LLC. I think you may be a minority partner there. I don't know. I mean, I thought he'd be better than Lamar, and he hasn't been. I will say, Colin, as of recently, I think, put out that, like, they could still contend for a Super Bowl if Darnold was starting over.

That I agree. Wow. I agree. Maybe he didn't realize you guys are equal partners in the Sam Darnold LLC. Well, I mean, you know, even when he had, even when he was in Carolina, he had Christian McCaffrey first three games, they were winning games. Granted, against bad teams. you have the roster of the Niners, you don't need a ton. And I think, you know, through attrition and through all the ups and downs,

like he's still got a lot there. And now he's with an extremely well coach put together roster. I agree. I mean, Sam Darn has way more talent than Brock Purdy does. Brock Purdy just understands the offense, does what he's told. But there's a ceiling there. I'm with Colin. I guess we still own equal parts stock.

and Sam Donald LLC. That's Rhymed Music with News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. How far is Arch Manning from being a big-time college football quarterback? Maybe further away than you think. We'll discuss next in The Herd.

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. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly. MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of Pipe and Hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'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, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The 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 on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Doug All the other than for Collins to hurt, Fox Sports Radio. The IHeart Radio app. Collins is back Monday. It's a game week Monday. Talk to some Jets and Dalvin Cook top of next hour. Plus take you inside the NFL.

Get all the comings and goings of the league with Jeff Howe from the Athletic. You're like our best for last. It revolves around something I've actually. done. I've actually done. You guys heard the quote from Tyree Hill that he doesn't watch tape instead he plays Madden. Night before games. Now, I don't do that for watching tape, but I will be honest with you. This is my 20th year in national sports radio. 20th year. And I will tell you unequivocally that

when I was at ESPN and I didn't have kids yet and I was working at night. I did a show from 7p to 1 a.m. Monday through Friday, Monday through Thursday. So like daytime, what are you going to do? So I played a lot of badden, but a lot of video games. And I would do it because in my head, guys change teams and I would play a different team every day. And so I felt like I had general knowledge of every guy in the roster more so than before. Real thing. We'll talk about what Tyree Kiel said next hour. Greg Toohey is our resident

Texas football fan, right? That's your squad. Those are your boys. That's where you overreact, underreact, no matter what's happening in Texas. Yep. Okay. So when I say Texas football,

friend, talk about Texas. When I say, Tui, talk about Texas football, expected to win the Big 12 in their last year in the Big 12, gigantic expectations on this team. And I mentioned Arch Manning. What are your expectations on him this year?

As we talked about with Colin this week, the expectations this year would be for Quinn Ewers to have an amazing season, be a top five pick, and Arch Manning only sees the field in blowouts. And it comes back and starts next year. Now remember Arch Manning, he's only 18 years old. And you're sitting there going like, well, he's a freshman. He turns 19 in April.

Most, most high-level college-bound athletes are older. We've reached the, maybe they all read Outliers. I was a holdback back in the day. Part of it was I needed it. I was a very late bloomer. But now most of them are older. He's only 18. He did not look good in the spring game.

Is that fair, Greg? He didn't look good, but he also didn't play much at all. But when he did play, it was bad. It wasn't. He wasn't good. Right? He didn't play much. He can't help himself, Doug.

He cannot help himself. But he also did graduate early. So that was during his senior year still technically. So sure. He looked bad. And it's almost like that's never happened in college football before, right? There have been plenty of other guys that have graduated early and gone in playing spring football. And the difference is the name, right?

It's going to be hard. And that's one of those like, when you're Texas, you've got to be very careful about who you take because the first time Quentin yours has a bad game. Because I was actually at Peyton Manning's first game. I believe Todd Helton was the starting quarterback that played UCLA at the Rose Bowl. I know my sister was a UCLA cheerleader and Introts Peyton Manning.

But there was a difference more so than he's not even Peyton's son. But that's not even the point. I just let people take catch a breath and let the key. kid get kind of acclimated to being a backup. Ewers was every bit the prospect of Manning, only didn't have the last name Manning coming out when he left a year early to go to Ohio State and didn't play. All right. Coming up next.

Will the Jets work? Will they work? Maybe not. Tell you why. Next in the hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman.

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends

on the 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. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the Fourth. 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 unfilled 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's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.