The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Big 12 media day

Episode Date: July 13, 2023

Report from Big 12 media day with Bruce Feldman Tomorrow's headlines today   Guest: Bruce FeldmanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Bruce Feldon, Big 12 Media Days. Texas heavy favorite, Oklahoma only third concerns there. A lot of pressure on Sark. Now, at Washington, USC, and Texas, the team got big, fast, and aggressive very quickly. They have been about a

500 team in his career in close games. People knock him for the details. They're not always buttoned up. Say what you want. Jim Harbaugh's 500 in one score games, too. So as Bruce Feldman joins us, Fox Sports reporter, I've always liked Sark. I think he's a great recruiter, a great quarterback developer. There's a lot of things I like. Do you, do you, when you people say there's pressure on him, what if they, what if they lose four games? Is pressure fired? I mean, what, what does pressure mean? I think pressure would be lose five games, seven and five because the expectations are really high.

I mean, as you said, the preseason conference pick to win in the last year before they jump into the deep end of the pool, quite frankly, where you're going to the SEC up next. A lot of people look at this roster. The offensive line has matured after last year. He's got a five-star quarterback, and it's, you know, this wasn't as an archmanning. This is Quinn Ewers. I spent some time with Quinn Ewers yesterday. Nobody doubts his arm.

He's got himself in the best shape of his life, lost about 20 pounds. me. Everybody's talked about how he's matured. He looked great when he was healthy against Alabama. They probably should have won that game. They didn't. Yep. Then he was really up and down after that. As you said, Sark is really good with quarterbacks. He's really good with offense. I think the biggest challenge for them. And obviously they lost Bijon Robinson, who's phenomenal. The receiving core is really good. Their tight ends really good. I think it's a consistency for them. To me, that's the biggest issue with Sark. He took Washington when they were awful and got him respectable, but they didn't get much better than that until Chris Peterson took over.

You know, USC almost imploded right after he got there, and now we're waiting to see. He's never, for all the things you said, he's never out of 10-win season. So this is the time now to say, okay, can he do it? Can they have not just some moments? Can they sustain it? Can they not stub their toe at times? Because the Big 12 is just good enough where almost everybody's dangerous. Yeah, yeah.

No, you get on those Saturday night games. Everybody spreads it out four and five wide. You fall behind. You get into a shootout and crazy stuff happens. I want to talk about, I don't know what the future of the Pact 12 is, nor of Deion Sanders. When he first got the job, I thought it was a weird fit. And then I remember the weekend it happened. I'm like, well, he'll make him interesting.

People will discuss them in a big part of recruiting is getting noticed. So he's cleaned the program out. you're kind of, I mean, some of the stories are down to 40 players. What should I expect first year? What are they going to look like? What do they have besides a really talented quarterback who's Dion's son? Yeah, if it was a seven-on-seven game, I think they'd be pretty dangerous, right? I mean, remember, he beat everybody in the country, including his alma mater, Florida

State, to get Travis Hunter, the number one recruit in the entire country to get him to go to Jackson State. and he followed him now to Boulder, as well as a bunch of other guys. Like, there are good receivers that he has brought into this, some pretty good defensive backs. I think the thing to keep in mind was Colorado was awful last year. They were by far the worst Power 5 program. They won one game. So they're going to be a lot better. The question is four and eight.

You know, that's marked improvement. But considering the hype around the program, you know, I think, and look, we're going to have them on Big Noon in the first two weeks of the season. He has got everybody's attention. The transfer portal is the thing that has given him the flexibility to completely overhaul the roster, which needed a lot of overhaul. What I wonder about, though, is both offense and defensive lines, a lot of those bodies were not even in there because a lot of this overhaul in the roster is happening after spring football. So now all these things that go to really the continuity, especially with an offensive line,

there's just going to be it's going to be all on the fly adjusting right and so i think the question is going to be yeah there's going to he's going to get the the eyes and ears of a lot of big time recruits who are like hey i want to check out what dion's doing because he is way more charismatic than any head football coach in the country it's not even close so they're going to visit they're going to get on zooms hey it's dion i want to see what he's about and i think he will you will you know, get more talent in there. I think the first year, if they win five games, if they can somehow get to a bowl game, that would be huge.

But even if they get to four or five and don't get embarrassed in some of these games early when people are watching against TCU, against Nebraska, when that's another big TV game, I think that'll get momentum. Because after those games, then they have USC in Oregon, and it could get rough. I think if you can just sustain it and show, hey, we have a chance to be competitive and give some of the other pieces time to gel, it's going to be an interesting subplot in the PAC 12, no doubt. So Harbaugh has really changed the narrative.

Last two years, he's beaten Ohio State. They'll be favored again. It's probably his best team. And there's been some missteps. He's lost coordinators, the NFL stuff, but it's all sort of power of personality and it's worked. Now, it worked at San Diego. It worked with the Niners.

It worked at Stanford. It worked immediately at Michigan, but it really didn't connect until about two years ago, because you've got to beat Ohio State, and they've really found a clarity in their program. They are physical, whereas Ohio State's good, but I feel there's a little fuzziness around exactly their toughness. What are they? We never talk about Ryan Day. We talk about Harbaugh. If Hardball won another one, three straight, I like Ryan Day. John Cooper was a great coach,

but once he started stub at his toe against Michigan, the wolves turned. Is everything good at Ohio State? Is everything good there now? Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, the guy's 31 and 2 in the Big 10. It's just the two have been the last two years against the R-Trival, and honestly, they haven't been close.

I mean, I was at that game last year. It's in Columbus. Everybody thought Ohio State was going to get their revenge, and they got smashed in the second half of that game. just physically manhandled. And by the way, that happened without Blake Corum, probably Michigan's best player. And it happened with Donovan Edwards,

the other running back who's a really good player, but he was banged up in the game. And they still dominated it. Jim Harbour, what he has done is, much like he said he was going to do when Stanford was terrible, and Pete Carroll was running college football, he was like,

we're going to build the bullies of the Pack 10 at the time. And they did that. And he did it fast. This, he made Michigan good, but he didn't get them really over the hump until the last two years. Yeah. And they are the most physical team in the league. They are. It's beat Ohio period, and he embraced it.

Now, to me, the biggest question on that side of it is, can they beat Georgia? Can they do that where, you know, they have everybody back and all the leaders from the Ryan Day part of it, if they lose again, and I agree with you, this is the most talented team Jim Harbaugh's had at Michigan. It's going to be in Ann Arbor this year. You don't have C.J. Stroud now. You're going to be breaking in a new quarterback. Obviously, I have Marvin Harrison, Jr., the great receiver, maybe the best player in the country, and a bunch of other talent. But it's going to be an uphill. Like, they'll probably be an underdog in that game.

If Michigan beats them again for a third time, I think there's going to be a lot of apoplectic Ohio State fans. But also remember this, they came within a missed field goal in the last second of beating Georgia in the playoffs. And then they probably win the national title even in spite again. that's right. So I don't know how you can run Ryan Day off, even if he loses a third game. I mean, he's not losing to anybody else. I mean, he's a terrific coach. It's just, you know, they, if you're in Columbus, you've got to figure out how do we match their physicality. And that's, that's got to be the only thing that really matters to them. So Nick Saban goes to the podium about three times a year. Regardless of the question,

he has something to say and he finds a way to pivot to it. So he's been cranky on this NIL stuff. And my takeaway is he's losing recruiting battles to Texas money. And it's ticking him off. So now all of a sudden he talks about fairness and parity, which he didn't care about for years. So when he's cranky about the NIL, what is your take on it? I think he's also concerned about locker room dynamics and how do we manage this? I talk to a lot of coaches, and he is in this boat where it's like it can create a lot of significantly more imbalance than there already is. And so you're talking about a lot of recruits coming in to programs where they're basically

getting paid huge amounts of money where they haven't done anything yet. But I know you follow recruiting probably way more than you should. But there are guys you know of and it's like, wait, this guy's getting seven figures. He's done nothing. And they come in and now all of a sudden how do you manage that in the locker room? Look, Nick Saban is a guy who I think thinks about a lot of that stuff. up and he hears a lot of stories and he has become a, not just a mentor, but kind of the conscience of a lot of college coaches and football coaches. And I think he knows, because he's heard the

stories and he sees it coming. And that's one of the issues that I think that he is trying to sound the alarm on. And I think a lot, you know, a lot of his colleagues are also concerned about it because it also gets into like roster management and how did, you know, which affects the coaches because they're trying to control everything. And now they can't control that. So that's that's something that bugs him. But I think he also knows players see these things, and now they're going to be more inclined to jump into the portal rather than stick it out and battle through it.

Finally, unfortunately, I'm viewed as a bit of a USC Homer. It's very hurtful, but that said. Who thinks that? Who could think that? Everybody in the world. Okay. So I think USC is really good. they may not have a dominant singular receiver, but they're deep.

They're deep at running back. They're defensively, they've gotten bigger up front. So it's a real, the guys that transferred in this year are like all conference-ish, NFL body-ish. Last year they were just taking bodies. So I do believe that they're in the top five or six. I think LSU, USC, Michigan, Clemson could be good, obviously, Bama, Georgia. when you talk to coaches,

there are a lot of people saying, oh, L.A. hype, or in your world, is there a belief, because it is mine, that I think you can score your way to the playoff. You can score your way there. I know if you'll win it,

but you can score your way. I think USC's a viable contender for that. Your thoughts? I agree. I mean, they feel very much like the Baker-Mayfield team that OU was when Lincoln, and they lost to Georgia in a shootout in the Rose Bowl.

That's right. They had, you know, like I agree with what you said. USC took transfers last year, and some of them were okay, but they got better caliber of athletes and players now on defense this wave. Yes. And I think it's year two for the defense. They were imploding and melting down in the fourth quarter of games. I talked to Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator.

He was with Lincoln at OU, and he knows exactly what he's getting into. I think the biggest challenges for them are upgrading their talent, which I think they've done, you know, getting more physical and their body's bigger and stronger, which is a process, but I think they're getting closer to that on defense. But I also think it's the mentality of knowing we cannot just rely on, oh, Caleb's going to save us in a shootout in the fourth quarter, because it didn't work against Utah both times. And honestly, it didn't work against Tulane in the bowl game. And I think that fixing them mentality is the thing that I think will keep them from being,

if they can show they can do that, they go from being a top 10 team to a legit playoff contender that can be to do damage. Because I tell you this, after watching Ohio State against Georgia last year, I don't think anybody wants to play Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams in the playoffs. Because if that guy gets hot and he usually is, you got to feel like you may have to score every possession. because I don't care how many five stars Georgia has on defense. You know, he's going to be a problem. And if he's healthy, and last year at the end of the year, right, his hamstring kind of gave in against Utah in the Pacto title game.

But you have a puncher's chance when you are that good on offense. Now the defense just needs to, I don't want to say hold up its end. They need to be competitive. It cannot be, you know, at the giving up 17 points in the fourth quarter, you know, in the last month of the season every time out. Bruce Feldman, Fox Sports, Big 12 Media Day. A lot of heat this year on Sark. Can't wait to watch it.

I like them. I like their athletes. We'll see. Bruce is always good to seeing you. Good to see you, Colin. It's going to be fun. Yep. Texas is big.

They got some guys up front, offense and defensive lines, some Sunday bodies. So can't wait for it. Tired to take a nice cold showers. Navian tankless water heater provides endless showers. Save money and your energy bills. It's Navian.

Go to TanklessMaidSimble.com. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in New Neon, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clipper 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, Untax. filtered 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot.

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we'll start with that breaking news on Quinn Williams' new deal. Four years, 96 Mill, which will take him through the 2027 season.

He's worth it. I think that's a reasonable deal for a top five deal on. He got the exact same contract almost as Jeffrey Simons, the defense tackle of the Tennessee title. And he's also great. It's only second behind Aaron Donald's $31.7 million per year. No big deal there. I mean, if you look at the five or six great defensive linemen in the league, there's a Bosa, Miles Garrett, Aaron Donald, Chris Jones. He's going to get paid next.

Quinn and Williams. He will probably eclipse Williams. I mean, if you're going to spend money on defense, because my thing. theory on this league now is Kansas City spends money on offense and one great disruptive defensive lineman. If you look what the Rams are doing right now, they'll pay Aaron Donald. The rest of the defense is young. Yeah, that Jalen Ramsey trade. So anyways, yeah, I mean, listen, there's not much to say the Jets defense was exceptional last year. Everybody's back now. The one thing is they had there are no health problems at all last year. Everybody was playing. I think their two starting

cornerbacks played every game in almost every snap. It was ridiculous how healthy they were. Obviously, that is tough to sustain year to year, but this defense should definitely be top 10, probably top five next year. One of Williams is back. Next up, we've talked about Otani a lot recently as we approached that August 1 trade deadline. The Angels will have a big decision to make.

According to Buster Olney, the Yankees are the team most motivated to make a deal for Otani if the Angels make him available. Now, this is interesting because apparently the Mets have more money to spend now. throwing the Yankees in there is weird because Otani is rumored to want to stay on the West Coast to be close to the region where he came from, whether that's Giants, Seattle, Padres, Dodgers, of course, leaders in the clubhouse. But Yankees make it interesting. I'll remind people, they haven't won a World Series in a while.

I don't think they, I don't buy this at all. He's going to be a Dodger or an angel. Well, okay, fine. Where's this coming from? And why? Because the Dodgers for a year have great contacts and his agents, and they moved off Cody Bellinger, one year deal with Kershaw, they moved off.

No, no, no. I'm saying, why is Buster only saying the Yankees? I'm not saying Buster only. Buster's saying they're the most motivated to trade for him. I'm not denying Buster only. I'm saying the angels are reluctant to move him. They think they have a chance to get him.

They did get Trout. And if he doesn't stay with the angels, he'll be a Dodger. Yeah, it's still difficult for me to wrap my head around. I would be shocked. I'm very rarely shocked. If he's not a Dodger, I'd be shocked. But it's tough for me to

wrap my head around the idea that Otani could just be like, oh, I'll stay in Anaheim and we'll continue to lose. But man, I'll put up great stats. I think that's about 25% and then I think the remaining 75 is Dodgers. I don't think there's, first of all, it's 700 million. You eliminate all but about five teams. The Mets could afford him. The Yankees, I think, could afford him. The Dodgers could afford him. Uh, Anaheim could, they'd need a home, they'd need like the home team deal a little bit. Well, I mean some. Home team discount. But I just don't. I don't think the market for Otani is as grand as everybody's saying. I think it's staying angels going Dodgers and maybe one other team in the mix.

Now, maybe it is the Yankees. But I still can't believe the Angels wouldn't move him, but I don't think they want to. Baseball's weird. All right, final story. This is still a tough one. The U.S. men lost a brutal penalty kick shootout to crushing. Panama in the Gold Cup semi-finals. The offense just looked anemic.

They didn't look super excited. almost looked like they overlooked Panama. We're thinking about Mexico. Panama played aggressively. I think they had a cut. I had one or two goals called back off sides. Panama was better last night. US, I think going into the game was like a minus 370 favorite. They were heavy favorite. It felt very early. First 20 minutes, I felt like Panama's locked in. We're not. The vibes were not good. Matt Turner had a couple of amazing saves. Yeah, by the way, Hes-Ferreira did have an incredible

equalizer. Oh, wasn't that nice? And then what's his name with the assist? Kid Jordan Morris I thought it was a really clever header over to him Anyways the US loses 5-4 in penalties Listen we had Alexei Lalas on here yesterday

A lot of excitement for Team USA This was those are a little bit But this was not the Christian Pulitzer Adam's West of McKinney group Our six best players weren't there That's sort of a lot It still hurts though Our goalie was

But it was a lot of They're using this tournament To figure out who else they can trust that's what they're using this. They know the seven guys they can trust. They got to figure out the next five and four or five. So that's what this is for.

JMAQ with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So last week, J-MAC provided his NFC playoff teams. And we mostly agree you're a little higher on the Cowboys and the Falcons. I'm a little higher on the Carolina Panthers.

Coming up next, the wildly competitive. AFC. Tomorrow's headlines today next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben. Host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour?

I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnight. on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will a world when we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, 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 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, 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business

sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, he used to make headlines for a living. he was a newspaper guy blogger i think they call him and uh man a lot of that stuff is very clicky so he kicked it to the curb uh made a bloody fortune and now he's with us but he still creates headlines and last week it was nFC teams so these are your seven nFC teams last week this week it's your seven aFC teams this was this was difficult okay say the least so we're going to start with the division winners,

tomorrow's headlines today. The number one seat in the AFC, this would be a buy team, the only team that would get a buy a week off. Yeah, you know, I wanted to go with the Chiefs, but I feel like there'll be a little bit of a pullback. So the headline will be all the smoke. Marlboro men light up the league.

Give it the Bengals as the number one seat in the AFC. I know they lost a lot on defense, but I do believe, three starters in the secondary gone, but I do believe their defensive coordinator, Lou Amaroon. is one of the best in the league, maybe the most underrated, big upgraded, left tackle, bringing in Orlando Brown. And I got a great stat here from one of my buddies.

With Jamar Chase in the lineup, the Bengals have gone 23 straight games without losing by more than three points. You cannot blow this team out when they have Chase and Higgins and Burrow. They're just too stacked offensively. Bengals, number one, seen the AFC. Don't have a problem with that. Okay, all right. Tomorrow's headlines today.

number two seats so they would have to play. They don't get a buy. Probably, you know, they'd play at home. That's the good news. Well, they're not falling far. The headline will be Kelsey and the Sunshine Band. Pat puts on boogie shoes. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey and Company,

they're still one of the top teams in the league. I'm not ready to sell the Chiefs. I know a lot of hot take artists out there are going to try to make waves by saying, oh, Kansas City's going to miss the playoffs. Like, short of an injury, they're going to be fine. offensively just absolutely loaded, Reed and Mahomes. They're going to be there every year.

So I have them number two winning the AFC West. Yeah, and we tend to, we've been very high, people have been very high in the Chargers for years. People or you? No, I love them, but I've pushed back. The Raiders are bad. We still have to figure out if Brandon Staley is the guy.

What if they go four and O against those teams? So I think what we keep waiting for challengers, Kansas City goes on the road in that division, they win the games. It's incredible. All right, now, tomorrow's headlines today, the number three seed in the AFC. All right. Not much controversy here. Bad division.

Somebody's got to come out on top with 10 or 11 wins. The headline will be Lawrence of Aherbia. Jags go on a fantastic journey. Your guy, Trevor Lawrence. Harrabia. Yeah, I can butcher that movie, obviously. Now, listen, this is interesting because last year we looked at. love Jacksonville. Trevor Lawrence Peterson.

Colin, they were three and seven at one point last year. They had to win a bunch of games down the stretch. One of teams they beat was my Jets on Thursday night football. I remember it was an awful game in the rain. And then the final game, they beat a backup quarterback. Remember Josh Dobbs pulled off the street? Like, they had some good fortunes. And

if you look at their offensive line, they lose their right tackle. The backup is now starting Walker Little. I think he's played 20 snaps in the league. Their left tackle just got suspended for four games. So there is some questions on the offensive line. The defense not very good last year, but I do like the Calvin Ridley edition. He will be big in that offense. I think Trevor Lawrence wins the division once again. All right. And round out the

division winners. Tomorrow's headlines today. Number four, see, there'll be a division winner. Who is it? Okay. Well, AFC East not represented yet. I thought long and hard. We've done this team a lot. The headline will be getting diggy with it. Bill's Sean, top of the world. Give me the bills winning the AFC East. Not by a lot. Probably will win a tiebreaker of sorts against the Jets. But listen, I can't see them falling that far, Colin. Like the idea that, yes, Miami's better.

The Jets are better. We don't think the Patriots are good. It's just tough for me to see this Buffalo Bills team, which other than that blowout loss to the Bengals, they just don't, they led the league in point differential last year. Yeah, they don't lose a lot. They don't lose a lot. And you can't blow this team out because of Allen.

I do think there's a little regression from last year. They're not going to be as good. but I do think the Super Bowl window is closed one and done for the bills in the playoffs. Yeah, well that's Super Bowl window is different. But, yeah, I mean, they have upgraded. They went out and upgraded their D-line, upgraded tight-end, upgraded running back.

Offensive line, did that get upgraded? I'll just say we asked Mr. Dawkins about that during the commercial. They have a good left tackle and a good center. Then there's some questions. It's not great. No. All right. Now, to the wild card teams that squeeze into the playoffs.

Tomorrow's headline today, the number five seed in the AFC. Listen, folks, they're going to the playoffs. The headline will be Salakazam. Rogers makes playoff woes disappear. The drought is over. The jets are going to the playoffs. First time in over a decade. The longest streak in the NFL ends.

I'm sorry, Aaron Rogers will have this team in the playoffs. Book it, Colin. It's happening. The defense, we just saw the Quinn and Williams edition today. Breece Hall will come back. Alan Lazard added to the wide receiver. I mean, Garrett Wilson put up great numbers catching from four different

quarterbacks last year. Now you got a great one in Aaron Rogers. I know the schedule early is tough. Just weather that storm with a three and three. Two and four is probably not going to cut it. Left tackle is an issue. If it was, if you told me Mikhail Beckton worked, I totally agree.

I just don't know if their tackles are going to work. Now that Quinn is settled, that's the biggest question on the team. Number two has to be Nathaniel Hackett. I don't have a lot of confidence, but he's a Rogers guy. We'll see. But Jets get the first wild card spot. Yeah, that old line worries me. It sounds like you don't have them in your playoffs.

Well, just because a team doesn't make the playoffs, like I don't have right now chargers or borderline. I still think they'll win nine or ten games. I think the Jets are in the – I've said this. I think they're in the nine-ten-win category. But I think in the AFC, 10's a guarantee in nine is one. I mean, it's just different. All right, so let's go to another wildcard team.

The number six seed, who's it going to be in the AFC tomorrow's headlines today? All right. I like this team a lot. very good last year, then tailed off because they had a massive injury. The headline will be pie la Modell. OBJ, perfect topping for that Raven Craven. Baltimore Ravens. Listen, man, some of these numbers were ridiculous last year.

They were eight and four before Lamar Jackson went down. Like an offense was good, not great. Now they add an offensive-minded, offensive coordinator in Munkin, who's very, very good. Some of these guys they've had, like Zay Flowers should be a guy to pop. Odell, obviously. Mark Andrews, Baitman, is. back. Some of these prognosticators are saying the Ravens

offense could be top three in the league. Well, it will be one of the fastest. If O'Dell Beckham stays healthy, it's absolutely going to be one of the fastest three off at, yeah. They're going to be one of the best watches in the league. Now, the question is, can they outscore everyone? The defense

is not very good. Can they stay healthy? They're eight best players. I think seven of them have injury history. Yeah, and their best defensive player might be, after Humphrey is like a lineback, a Roquan Smith? Like overpaying for linebackers. We don't really believe in that. Pass Rush, anemic. I can't wait to watch Odell. I mean, I think they're going to be a fascinating watch. I've wavered on Baltimore. I thought no playoffs and you start to look into some of the numbers

and like, okay, all right. So Baltimore, six. Now the coveted seven spot, Colin. Now this is tough. Let's just talk about this for a second. So I, I think Miami's hardest team in the league for me to pick. Because if two a start 16 games they're in, he could start eight because once he gets hurt if it's a concussion they will pull him there's going to be too much media speculation so he could have a shoulder issue but if he has a concussion issue at any point they're shutting him down for like six weeks mike white's fine you're not one of those games so i'm i'm a miami guy somewhere in this mix obviously chargers still alive broncos okay yeah tomorrow's headlines today the seventh and Final seed in the AFC.

I lost sleep over this last night. I had to think about it deep and hard, but I have pumped up this team a lot. I hyped them last week, filling in for you on the herd. The headline will be no more pit stains. Steelers, clean up act. Jimmy, Kenny Pickett, going to the playoffs with the number seven seed. I like T.J. Watt. I like this defense.

I'm just telling you right now, one of my favorite bets, week one, Steelers over the Niners. Yeah. Okay. And then I think the schedule kind of softens up after that. they can get hot early. I love Tomlin in the underdog role. And if you talk, look at who's being talked about, hyped in the AFC. A lot of dolphins, okay?

A lot of Cleveland Browns, man, they look good. Justin Herber, Sean Payton. Not a lot of hype around the Steelers. I think that's perfect where Tomlin likes it. Offense, very good. Offensive line improved. If you take their 10 best football players, dude, they are a top three, four, I mean, they're right.

They're not far from Philadelphia. If you gave, if you put Jalen Hertz on the Steelers, Kenny Pickett there, I think you'd look at it the same. They got like nine elite players. They're a little weak at corner. Now, I already feel bad for my Chargers buddies who are watching and are just despondent. This sends them into a tailspin when you've got to fire the coach and you got to start a new. What if the Chargers win nine games?

Listen, you got to get to the playoffs, man. What are you talking about? They went to the playoffs, choked away at 27-0-0 lead, I think it was, lose to the Jags. Well, you know who's going to get? get that offer? Well, I think they're going to have to... If Brandon Staley goes, they'll go offensive coach. You know who's going to get that offer? Well, I think they're going to want to go after DaBull. Giants fans hate the idea of the coach being poached. Who's right around the corner.

Is there a guy at Lincoln Riley at USC? Yeah, it's not bad. I'm just saying, if Brandon Staley can't get him in, okay? Right? And the USC drags its feet on its new facility, $300 million facility? I'm not saying it's happening. I'm saying he'll get the first call. Now, Spanos family has never paid big money for coaches. You got Justin Herbert. You got to pay $15 million for Lincoln Riley. I don't think they will. So then the Denver Broncos, our guy, Sean Payton.

You know, where are they on the list? Like, I like the team a lot. And then it leaves questions. Like, if Peyton doesn't love Russell Wilson in year one, I mean, does he try to move off of them? Like, what's the market for Russ? I don't know. And then the Miami Dolphins. You know, I just too much uncertainty.

But I will say this. You mentioned it. that Dolphins roster is pretty sick. No, it's, it's, it's got a lot of guys, a lot of dudes. Pittsburgh and Miami's rosters, if you have misgivings about the quarterback, I don't think either are A, but they're capable.

Miami's roster, you look at Pittsburgh's roster. Pittsburgh's defensive roster is dudes everywhere. And by the way, Nasha Harris, the tight end, decent receivers. It's not like their offensive roster didn't have players, too. And we didn't even talk about Cleveland. Listen, Stefanski is a good coach.

I know it was a little wonky with Deshawn Watson, but a lot of the analytics are saying look at how Watson finished the season remember he is suspended and put a lot of that stuff behind him there's a world where Cleveland is great and the AFC is as tough as I've ever seen it honestly one through 11 is stacked

only weak teams are like Colts I mean the Browns have a star quarterback the best arguably the best pass rusher in the game top three running back and show top 15 receiver top five offensive line

and an offensive coach, and I have them fourth. That tells you about the FZ. It's really, really difficult. They would be a division challenging, a division winning or challenging team in the NFC. And it's just the way it goes. And college football, same thing. You could be the third or fourth place team in the SEC.

LSU could finish third and could win most other conferences. We'll see with the expanded playoff. What happens with the third team in the SEC to get in? They might win the title. All right. JMAX in for me tomorrow. He's going to be awesome. He's already, I mean, he hid most of the last.

the good stuff today. He buried it. Stop today. He's got like nine leads tomorrow. First Things First Around the Corner. Live in Los Angeles, 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 Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app,

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