The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Colin plays GM

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

Colin gives a shorter version of his NFL mock draft Why we value star power in sports Which NFL QBs would have a better career with a different team?   Guest: Eric ManginiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here we go. Hour three. Live in Los Angeles, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be. Thanks for Megan House part of your day. J. Max's on vacation this week. He'll be back next week. Ryan's filling in on the herd line desk.

It is great to have you in. Congrats to Yukon. It was interesting. They won their fifth national title last night. I thought, and I lived there for a decade, so it's a great program, men's, women's. I didn't think it's interesting. The discussion of a blue blood.

Folks, Alabama is the best college football program ever, and they've had major dips. I mean, they once hired a coach who didn't coach a game because he got caught in the strip from. Even the greatest program, Michigan has taken big swings and misses on coaches. Alabama, big swings and misses. Kentucky basketball, big swings and misses. They have won, Yukons won, five titles with three different coaches. That is the definition of a blue blood, where it's not.

just one coach or one system or one culture. They just find a coach who's capable and they win national titles. And there was a stretch in this country where you could argue that Yukon had the best men's and women's basketball program simultaneously in America. But this idea that we should punish Yukon as a blue blood because they weren't as consistent as Duke. You start looking at blue bloods in all sports. Alabama's had big dips. Big dips. I mean, Oklahoma, a great program. They've swung and missed on a coach or two. It happens. Michigan, it happens. Notre Dame, Blue Blood, swing and miss. They once hired a high school football coach out of Ohio. Big miss. Billy Gillespie at Kentucky basketball. Big miss. Doesn't mean the question is,

can you rise again with a different coach? Oklahoma is a blue blood in football. Why? They won with Barry. They won with Barry Switzer. They won with Bob Stoops. And they won with Lincoln Riley. I think they won with Bud Wilkerson before Barry's switcher. They won. They win with everybody. I don't see Brett Venables being of that cloth yet, but they win with everybody. That's a blue blood. Doesn't mean you can't have down years. Everybody's got down years. I mean, Ohio State's very unique, where Luke Fickle just wasn't quite ready to be a coach for a year. Ohio State, I mean, even their misses, John Cooper won like 10 games a year. That's Duke. I mean, Shoshavsky stays there for 40 years. Duke and Ohio State, that's not, that's not, no, Clemson disappeared for years.

Now they're back. That's a blue blood. If you can win two or three different coaches can win your national title, that's the definition. Yukon is officially a blue blood. So Kentucky has won one title in 40, or 24 years. Kentucky, one title, 24 years. Kansas two titles in 24 years. Connecticut's, what do they got, five titles, three coaches, 24 years? And you're arguing they're not a blue blood? Of course they Congratulations. Too big, too deep, too well-coached. I picked Duke to win it all after a couple of games watching Yukon. It was like, yeah, they're going to overwhelm a lot of college teams.

San Diego State's really a good basketball team. They were fun. They made a good late push. Connecticut was the best team. I mean, they won, what, six games by almost 20 points per? There you go. Okay, so I gave you my mock draft last hour. I'm going to do a shorter version now.

And I said, everybody does these mock drafts. And, you know, who knows what teams are going to do. So I said, I'm going to make mine based on what I would do if I was currently a general manager for a team. Because I've always said I would love to do that if I didn't do this for a living. It's obviously never going to happen. But at the number one pick, if I was the GM of Carolina and Frank Reich is my coach, I would give him the most talented quarterback Bryce Young. Why would I want to give my coach a former NFL quarterback anything less than the most talented quarterback

going to draft. He's a little small, but he's absolutely got the best field vision, pocket sense, second most accurate, refined polish. I'm a GM. Why would I give my new coach, the second best quarterback talent? If I was the Texans in the GM, I would go with C.J. Stroud. So, D'Amico Ryan's is the coach of the Houston Texans. He's a defensive coach. He's a new coach. What he can't have is mayhem. I don't want to give him a raw quarterback. That's not his expertise. His expertise isn't taking a raw kid at quarterback

and turning him into a pro bowler, but he can take a mostly polished quarterback who doesn't make mistakes. Keep games close, create stability within the franchise. I'm the GM. I draft C.J. Stroud. Number three, I'm the GM of the Arizona Cardinals. I take defensive lineman Jalen Carter.

Bottom line is, we got a defensive coach. I got to replace J.J. Watt. Kyler Murray's going to come back mid-season so he could be a wreck offensively, but I do think this kid's arguably the best player in the draft. And again, I've got a defensive coach. I'm trying to replace a star, and there's not a lot of bodies over the course of five or ten years like Jalen Carter. I know he's got some personality issues or character issues, but our franchise is PR tire fire. He's not going to make it worse. I'd go Jalen Carter.

If I'm the Raiders GM, I move up to the number four spot. And if I'm the GM of the Colts, I move out of the four. I'll explain the Colts in a second. So if I'm the Raiders at four, I take Will Levis. My coach is an offensive coach. I got Jimmy Garoppolo, who lacks arm strength and athleticism. Will Levis doesn't. So I'm going to draft what my current quarterback doesn't have,

which is a big arm and can run around a little bit. Will Levis isn't a perfect quarterback, but you know, Josh McDaniels has worked with Brady and Garoppolo and Derek Carr and Tim Tebow. He's worked with a lot of different styles and a lot of different personalities. So I'm going to give up some picks, get a quarterback at the number four spot. Number five, the Seahawks. I got Pete Carroll on the GM. Pete's a defensive guy. I'm going to get him Will Anderson, the Edge, who was the number one pick a month ago before the big trade.

Everybody thought Will Anderson, who led college football the last two years in Sacks by six. Also, Pete's history, he loves pass rushers. That's when he went and got Jamal Adams. Jamal Adams doesn't cover anybody as a safety. He blows plays up. He gets to the quarterback. He's a playmaker. Pete loves playmakers.

I'm going to not saddle Pete with a quarterback from Florida who's unbelievably raw and try to polish it. That's not Pete's expertise. His expertise is young players playing fast. Blowing stuff up on the defensive end. I'm getting Pete Carroll, Will Anderson, at number five. Number six, I'm the Lions, Dan Campbell. We got Ben Johnson. I'm a GM.

The offense, I'm fine with the offense. I'm going to get Miles Murphy, the edge from Clemson. Again, I want to give my coach a fighting chance in the NFC. If you're facing a Jalen Hertz or a Sean McVeigh, you're facing a Kyle Shanahan, how do I disrupt those offenses with pass? pressure. Aiden Hutchison last year, Miles Murphy this year, I'm good. Number seven,

I'm the Colts. I'd trade down because I don't want the third or fourth best quarterback in the class. I'll let the Raiders take a chance. I need to rebuild four or five key positions. I would take Parris Johnson, the tackle from Ohio State. It's a position of need.

We don't think in the AFC, Will Levis or Anthony Richardson is going to get a Super Bowls. We don't want the third or fourth best quarterback in a draft. We don't want to move up. We got too many holes in our roster, three or four key holes. I'm going to get the best left tackle and extra picks. And maybe I'll talk about Lamar Jackson after the draft. Number eight, I'm Atlanta. I'm a GM. I've got an offensive coach. I already got you tied in and a wide receiver as the GM. I got an

offensive coach. We need playmakers on the back end. I'm going to get Christian Gonzalez the corner from Oregon. Special teams defense. He's a playmaker. Big tall, lean athlete. The kid just makes plays. In the bottom line, we don't. Atlanta last year, 17 takeaways, second fewest in the NFC. I've got my offense not figured out, but I got you a quarterback last year. I got a tight end. I've got your wide receiver we like. I'm going to go with a defensive star at corner. Number nine, I'm the GM. The Bears have a defensive coach. They do not get to the quarterback. I cannot ask my defensive coach. to win games if I don't give him a legitimate pass rush.

I'm going to take Tyree Wilson, the edge rusher, Texas Tech. And again, last year on the GM, I got him a corner and a safety with the first two picks. They were both home runs. He's a teacher. He's smart. He knows the defensive side. We also loaded up at receiver. Claypool last year.

DJ Moore this year. I went and got Robert Tanya to tied in with Cole Comet. I'm going to get him an edge rusher. There's about three to five good ones a draft. I'm going to get him one for the next five years. And finally, I'm the GM of the Eagles. I've got my running back, my quarterback, my tight and my receivers good. I'm going to take Peter Skoronsky.

O. lineman plays all five positions from Northwestern. That's what they do. What I worry about is Jalen Hertz safety. He moves a lot. So my O line's getting a little old at center and right tackle. I'm going to go fix the O line with the second best offensive lineman in the class. I've got very few things I worry about. I like my corners.

I like my receivers. I like my tight ends. I like my backs. I love my quarterback. I am worried about the health and the age of my offensive line. Let's go get the second best GM, second best O lineman in the class. And there you go. Put it on the board.

Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud. Jalen Carter. Raiders move up. Will Levis. Will Anderson to the Seahawks. Miles Murphy Lions. Colts get picks and Paris Johnson, Falcons, Christian Gonzalez, Bears, Tyree Wilson, Eagles, Peter Skoronsky. That would be my top 10.

A lot of SEC schools and powerhouses. Oregon, Alabama's, Ohio State, Clemson. Not saying it's going to happen, I'm telling you, if I'm GM, that's what I would do. And I know you're like Colin, Colin, Colin, you always bang on the Bears for going defense. Well, that's because they did a really good job to upgrade tight-in-in-in-and-wide receiver over the last six months. So one of their primary needs now is edge rusher. They just don't get to the quarterback at all. So if I have a defensive coach and I'm a GM, I got to give them a fair shot.

Last year I solved the secondary little bit, got a corner and a safety, both big hits. Now I got to get them an edge rusher. So if you spend some money as a GM in a free agency on one side, for instance, Detroit went out and they got their corner solved. Okay, now I can go to the edge rusher. Chicago got their receiver set and their tight end solved. I thought they needed another tight end, another receiver. Got both. Okay, now I can go get the edge rusher.

This league is about quarterback, edge rusher, left tackle, couple weapons, maybe a great corner. And I'm not even sure you need a great corner. A defensive line presence really helps. So there you go. Eric Mangini's around the corner. My mock draft. Well, I care about it. Ratings may indicate tomorrow that nobody else did, but I,

really deeply cared about that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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, 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,

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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. Endless hot water that's easy on the environment. Go tankless with Navi and the leader in green technology. Tankless made simple.com. Eric Mangini, Jets, Brown's head coach, now a Fox Sports analyst, joining us. So I saw a story this week, which is really interesting. I've said before is I've seen a lot of executives in my business through the years that the kind of culture changes and they don't get less intelligent,

but they get a little outdated because they've lived in this world and then the world changes. And I've seen it in football. And Belichick's no less smart today than five years ago. But the league is sort of pivoted to a very offensive league. They've taken a lot of rules and given the offensive. huge advantages. I saw a story the other day. He still ticked off at Mack Jones for seeking help outside of the organization.

And my takeaway is, you made Joe Judge a quarterback coach and a DC and OC. Mack felt trapped. He was taking all the heat. He was getting ripped. And the kids looking for help. So as a coach, I side with Mack. I don't think he's their biggest problem. How do you view Bill still being mad at Mac seeking outside help in last year's mess?

Yeah, look, I'm a guy who understands grudges by Bill Belichick, but in this situation, I'm definitely siding more with him. And I've always had an issue with the way that Mack Jones has treated where he was lucky enough to get drafted. I thought it was a perfect situation for him. I thought having Josh McDaniels and that offensive staff that he had and the system that they had was incredibly fortunate for him and a really good fit. and it never felt like he appreciated it. I remember when Josh left and he was like, well, that's it. That's fine. I've had a bunch of offensive coordinators.

I'll just deal with the next guy. And I get what you're saying. Bill's getting up in age, but one thing that you can't accuse him of is being status quo. He tried something that nobody else would try. He took a chance that nobody else would take. And typically, that's the trademark of younger executives to push limits like that. It didn't work. It didn't work out great, but he was still trying to do something that

he thought had a chance to potentially be really successful. And he's always worked at staying ahead of the curve. I didn't love that Mack Jones went outside the building. That's not what you do. Tom Brady didn't go outside the building with as much success as he had. They got into a little bit of a beef later on in his career because he wanted to bring his own trainer. But this was after what, six Super Bowls? I don't love Mac Jones approach and I get why there might be some resentment on Bill's part. So, although wouldn't you argue that as an adult, you got to get over stuff? I mean, right?

Like I understand 12-year-olds holding grudges. If you're a 70-year-old guy, the grudge business is a little petty, is it not? Well, look, we also hear one small part of the story. Who knows what else has gone on in the building? and who knows how deep the level of undercutting the guys that were there took place. You know, maybe Mac Jones was fighting the decision from the beginning, which made it a lot more difficult for the decision to be successful. So, yeah, on a very superficial level,

if you're looking at it as holding a grudge where he's at, and it's just that simple, then you do need to be. move on from it. But I'm guessing there's more to the story and there's probably more than one incident that that showed up over the course of that last season. Yeah, you and Bill had your issues. Kraft and Belichick apparently

at odds. I read that story. It seems to me here's my knock on Belichick. You can't forever tell the room and the culture. It's not about stats. It's about winning. And then I hear that Belichick really cares about the

all-time win total. that's that's the opposite of what you preach bobby knight had that tendency to preach you know i want you to play under control and bob was never under control isn't that the hypocritical message by bellichick if that is true that the schula record means a lot to him yeah i i don't think he ever imagined he was going to be in the position where where he was going to have a chance to get the shula record and i i didn't think that Bill would coach this late into his career. We used to talk and he'd say, yeah, you know, if I'm still coaching when I'm ex-age, you know, make sure you're talking me out of it type thing.

Like he didn't see himself as being a lifer, but now he's here and now that that goal is within reach. I'm sure it's something that would be amazing for him to get. I don't think it's front of mind. I don't think that every day he wakes up and says, you know, I got to, I got to get this goal. I'm sure he's more interested in making sure that, you know, he can win and win on a consistent level without Tom Brady. That, to me, is more of a threat to the legacy than whether or not he gets the Shula record. Okay, I want to ask you about Bryce Young. My takeaway,

I did it earlier. It was my kind of opening rant, which is moving is hard and it's expensive. So you don't move for just a slightly better view or a slightly better school district. You move because you're making an upgrade. It's going to cost you money. Carolina gave up their best receiver, two seconds and a first. I don't think they're moving up for a good prospect. I think they look at Bryce Young and go, listen, he's short, but he is by far and away the most polished, accurate, big game-ready quarterback.

That's my takeaway. You don't make that move for a raw guy. that you hope can turn into something. That's just giving up too much money and too much work for, without knowing, am I nuts? I think you're, I think you're, there's good parts to your point,

but typically you don't want to move into a smaller house, you know, if you're moving, and that's the situation that you're facing with Bryce Young. And you look at what San Francisco did, they moved, and they gave up a lot, a ton of future draft picks to make the move that they did,

and it didn't seem like there was total consensus on who they wanted to take at the end of the day between Trey Lansing and Mack Jones. And I think the move more, Colin, is if we're going to go and get a quarterback, let's make sure we can get the quarterback that we want. I don't necessarily know or are convinced that they had a guy in mind. They just wanted to make sure whenever they made that decision on who the guy was going to be, they didn't have to wait for somebody else to pick to see whether or not they got their guy. So that's the conviction I thought they had.

We need a quarterback. We want to get the quarterback that we want. The only way to do that is go to number one. I'm just not sure they were convinced that it was Bryce Young or whether it was, you know, C.J. Stroud or whoever. Does C.J. Stroud, anything about him worry you? I was trying to think of which Ohio State quarterback in the last 20 years is. been really successful. None. That worries me. When you've got a program that's been as good as Ohio state's been year after year with a lot of really good quarterback candidates that have come out of there

and they haven't had that level of success. And look, that could be a little bit unfair to C.J. Straude to say that he's going to fall the way that the other guys have fallen or not rise the way you hope they'd rise. But that's the track record. And there's some concern. when that happens with a program over time and you think, you know, maybe it's the sum of the parts as opposed to that guy being able to raise everybody else up. Yeah, well, I mean, Ohio State, I've said this before. Alabama may be the best team in the SEC, but they'll face four or five powers,

so your quarterback will face NFL bodies everywhere. The difference between Ohio State and every other Big Ten team not named Michigan is not even close athletically. the Purdue's, the Illinois. As good as Alabama is, there are years, Georgia and LSU have more talent. There are years Auburn's had as much talent. So you do get a truer barometer, a quarterback in the South. This is what he is.

I've seen these Ohio State guys. Those are a lot of wide open, wide receivers on drag routes, turning him into touchdowns against Purdue. And I'm like, I don't know. So that part worries me. And I think it's easy to say you can't blame. am C.J. Stroud, but when anything happens for 50 years in a row, there's probably a reason, right? Yeah, you look at that. And look, I drafted a lot of Ohio State guys, and sometimes I got fooled by that because the other thing that happens with programs like Ohio State or

Alabama, a lot of those guys are at their ceiling because the program's so good, because the development's so good, that by the time they get in the NFL, there's not a huge jump that those guys make. So you ideally want a player that not only is really good, but they're not at their ceiling because when they come into the NFL, they're going to face a lot of challenges that they never had to face. And especially at Ohio State, you're not facing the most complex defenses week in and week out either. Yeah, I mean, go look at wide receiver. The best one in the league is arguably from Fresno State. One of the other ones is from Maryland. One of the other ones is from eastern Washington.

So the truth is, those guys got double coverage at their colleges because they were by far and away the best athlete. So they faced double coverage by the time they're 18 years old. If you go to Ohio State, you can't double any of those receivers. And you're playing, you have such I mean, it's like a left tackle at

Ohio State. It's never facing his equal outside of maybe Michigan. Whereas Cooper Cup, the entire game plan was designed to stop Cooper Cup. And I do think there's value to this. I really do that wide receiver is crazy to me. You'd think all the best

wide receivers came from all the powers and it's remarkable how many don't. Right? And it's it's not only that they've had to deal with so much coverage, but there's also that those programs typically aren't as developed. They don't have the resources. They don't have the strengthening staffs. They don't have the

off-season programs, a level of coaching, all the other things that go into getting a guy to his maximum potential. If you bring in one of those guys that's little bit more raw and he takes a jump, you've got a chance to really hit it big. All right. Eric Mangini, good seeing you, coach. Great seen you, Colin.

Yeah. No, it makes complete sense. You can find a lot of these guys, you know, they're great talents, but they don't have the training staff. They don't have the coaches. A couple years ago, Dion Sanders was at Jackson State, and he landed the number one cornerback in the country. And I said, I got nothing against Dion, but it's a mistake.

Because if you're the number one corner in the country, you want to go to a Georgia-Bam, Ohio State, where you're facing first-round NFL receivers. You don't want to face guys at Jackson State who are not even going to play in the league, and you're going to dominate. You want to go face the very best wherever that is. It could be Oklahoma. It could be. But usually if you're a great high school player, what you don't want to do is dominate average competition. You want to go to a football factory.

That's why these same schools over and over dominate, because a lot of kids are like, Like, you know, I'm in high school. I'm dominating the bad guys. I know I can dominate that guy. Can I challenge myself and dominate another freshman from Georgia? So it's nothing against Dion or Jackson State. But it was like, wow, you're going to dominate competition that's not even close to you. I didn't think it was a great move.

No, I mean, Dion's a great salesman. And that doesn't mean you can't go to these other schools of Minnesota and Illinois and not have a great career. That's not the point. But there is a reason most great high schoolers. Go to Great Powers. It's the ultimate challenge. Ryan with the news. No.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Some of those teams looking at some of the quarterbacks you're talking about, the Colts worked out both Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud on Monday in California. With a fourth pick in the draft, they'll likely miss out on a chance to select either of those players, but they are still doing their due diligence on all of the top quarterbacks. expected to work out Will Levis and Anthony Richardson before the draft. All right.

My mock draft. They trade down, get more picks, take a tackle, then after the draft, go into the Lamar Jackson sweepstakes. If they don't land him, they kind of are average and get Caleb Williams. It does feel like this is the offseason that the Colts take that big step towards finally shoring up the quarterback position for the first time in a long time, whether it's taking a chance on one of these young quarterbacks or, as you said, going for somewhat proven veteran in a Lamar Jackson. But the revolving door of quarterbacks has taken its toll

on the Colts over the years. Yep. The Cardinals have been searching for a trade partner for their star-wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins. Arizona reportedly wants a second round pick, plus something else of value in return. The market for Hopkins has not been great so far, with reports suggesting that the Cardinals are asking for too much. According to Albert Breer, many teams believe the Cardinals will end up cutting Hopkins instead of finding a trade partner. I'd love to have him on my team. I think he's a great player. Oh, absolutely.

It's just he's expensive. But I, you know, there may not be people that have that much cap space, but I'd figure out a way. Yeah, I think it's sort of an age and a cost thing for D'Anjorda Hopkins at this point. How old is he? Is he 30 yet? I like him a lot. I mean, if I told you this, if I told you now, the Rams figured out a way to make him their number two with Cooper Cup, it would transform the offense. You'd be like, oh, all right, all right, they got, they just got to get a tackle in the draft and they're solved. Like I, and Hopkins is 30, by the way. Yeah. So, I mean, generally the cutoff, it's about, I think it's years 33, 34, when a guy craters,

wide receiver, you kind of go down. But I, I don't know, I think, you know, I, I don't think, I don't think of age when I think of DeAndre Hopkins. I think a big catch radius, big play guy, changes in offense, often have to double. I don't know. Yeah, I, it's hard to see. It's I guess it's just Arizona's in a weird spot where they're clearly trying to turn the page on taking it down to the studs and rebuilding it from the top. But I think their issue is the market of the rest of the NFL teams are looking at them and know that that's the spot that they're in. So why am I going to help you out by giving up a valuable asset for a player that you may end up having to cut?

So the rest of the teams are just standing by waiting for their opportunity to sign a star player like the Andre Hopkins. And we'll finish up with this, Colin. Binyama had a highlight real putback dunk following his own missed stepback three-pointer over the weekend. Not too often you see that happen with a guy who's 7-4. Just some crazy athleticism. Those around the NBA were so impressed. One Eastern Conference exec said, it just shows you how easy the game comes for him

and why he has a chance to be one of the best players we've ever seen. A Western Conference exec said, I wish we wouldn't have won so many games this year. We're going to all regret not tanking every game to go get this dude. Well, he's a kid that's going to score. over 20 a game, year one, and barring an injury. Like, he's, he's just going to get a shot. When you're that tall, you shoot from that high of a space. Like, he's going to score. Now, will he get pushed around? Will he succeed within six feet of the rim? No. He's like

Chet Holmgren for Oklahoma City. You're going to push him around. But the ability to score the ball, he's going to score. Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's a reason why, you know, in last year's draft, whether it was, as you said, Chet Holmgren or Apollo, as effective as Bancaro has been, there wasn't a whole campaign around tanking for Bancaro, whereas Wembenyama, we've been hearing about this guy for years and teams willing to get to the bottom of the league for him, as the Western Conference exec has mentioned. Ryan with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. For the record, I just saw this this morning, that the men's, not the women's, the men's final for the ratings were not great. and this goes back to something, I used to preach this at ESPN all the time, this nonsense that everybody loves underdogs. Underdogs can do very well early in March Madness. You know, it's fun, it's drama, but the problem with underdogs winning is you're left with underdogs.

And so it's like, oh, I really don't want to watch Florida Atlantic. I don't know anybody on the team. So what happened was, you know, when you get a star, Caitlin Clark in women's basketball, ratings up. When you were sort of starless in men's basketball, ratings down, where Yukon was really the only Blue Blood program. So I know everybody, people say a lot of things. I'm going to get in shape

this year. I'm going to start eating right. I love underdogs. You never watch them. You never watch them. They're fun on the first weekend of the tournament, but you don't want to be left with 11 Princeton's because it's going to hurt you. In the end, ratings are voting. They're like politics. You vote every day for sports. What did I like? What did I not like? You vote. And people spectacularly and perpetually and habitually like the big brands and the big

stars. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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

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 which 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. 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 what 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-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 kill? 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're calling today's final segment Jersey Swap. So if you took quarterbacks from different. organizations and they swapped organizations, who would you take? Some are way closer than you think. Ryan's here. We're going to play jersey swap. Let's start it off. This will be interesting. All right, Colin, who would have more wins, Justin Herbert with the Chiefs, or Patrick Mahomes with the Chargers?

Okay, this is way closer than people think. Justin Herbert with Andy Reed. So look at Justin Herbert's now. I'm going to take Mahomes only because the Chargers landed Kellynne Moore offensive coordinator. Last year, I didn't like the coordinator play offensively for the Chargers. Not creative. But let's be honest here.

Herbert with Andy Reed, you think his numbers are good so far? How do you think that look? Really good. Who would have more wins? Josh Allen with the Bengals or Joe Burrow with the Bills? Joe Burrow with the Bills. is, let's be honest about this, he is a much more efficient passer.

68% completion percentage to 62. Also a major decrease in turnovers. Josh Allen led the NFL with 19 giveaways. So you would get fewer giveaways, more efficiency, as much as I like Josh Allen. I think you'd be looking at a Super Bowl team in Buffalo. All right, who would have more wins? Jalen Hertz with the Jaguars? No, that's not it.

Hold on. Which one is it? I got Lamar with the Saints and Derek with the Ravens. All right, Lamar Jackson with the Saints or Derek Carr with the Ravens? Lamar with the Saints, because you would now have the best run game in the entire league. You would have Lamar Jackson, Alvin Kamara, and a backup Taysam Hill. Lamar Jackson, fast turf, warm weather. They are not a good big play team since Drew Breeze left.

So, again, I don't understand Atlanta, New Orleans. Well, I'd just say Atlanta and Tampa not making a run on Lamar Jackson in the NFC in that division. I think he would literally, and I think Derek Carr could win in Baltimore. I'm not saying that. But what that

run game would look like in New Orleans tomorrow, it would be historically wild. All right, who would have more wins? Kyler Murray with the Bears or Justin Fields with the Cardinals. This is going to make people go insane, but Kyler Murray with the Bears.

He's simply a much, much more accurate passer of the football. And I do think in a different scenery, he could reboot and go win there. I like Justin Fields, but we're not sure he's a franchise quarterback yet. We know Kyler Murray is. He got Cliff Kingsbury in a tough division of the playoffs. All right, who would have more wins? Dak Prescott with the Vikings or Kurt Cousins with the Cowboys. Because Dak would have the best receiver of his career and the best tied-in.

Justin Jefferson and T. J. Hawkinson. And then Dak Prescott, or in Kirk Cousins, would have the best defense of his career with Michael Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Trayvon Diggs. So I've said this before. They're kind of the same guy, is that Kirk Cousins is a more accurate, efficient, consistent thrower of the football. Dak is a little bigger, moves a little better. I don't ever think Dak shrinks in big games.

I just think there's limitations. Kurt is not exactly a primetime guy, but if you gave Kirk a better defense and Dak better receivers, I think you'd have playoff teams. They'd both be a playoff team. Just swapping one for one. No real difference there. Who would have more wins? Jimmy Garoppolo with the Giants or Daniel Jones with the Raiders?

New York doesn't want to hear this, but Garoppolo with the Giants. Again, he gets the ball accurately to his weapons. And Garapolo had more touchdown passes 16 in six fewer starts. than Daniel Jones. And now, now, you give up some athletic ability. Daniel Jones actually moves really well. So, but, you know, Garapolo delivers the ball accurately. And not a big arm, but he'll put it into tight spaces inside the hash marks.

So Garoppolo doesn't get the love I think he deserves. I watched him go to Lambo and outplay Aaron Rogers in a fourth quarter in crappy weather. Cold weather. Jimmy's better than you think. Who would have more wins? Matthew Stafford with the Titans or Ryan Tannihill with the Rams. Oh, Stafford with the Titans.

It'd be the best run support of his career. He didn't have a lot of run support in Detroit. And Cam Acres was fumble prone in L.A. So you can tell the Rams are kind of trying to move off Cam Acres. Although we had a little resurgence late last year. It was pretty good late last year. It was a receiver and a running back. but listen they're both really expensive the difference is one is considered an elite quarterback

and he would have by the way a better defense and an elite run game that titan team with stafford would be interesting all right Colin who would have more wins Aaron Rogers with the Broncos or Russell Wilson with the Packers look how sad Russell Wilson looks with the Packers look at that picture I think it's a toss up because I both think they could use a change of scenery. I think Aaron, you know, reboot in Denver would have success. And I think Russell Wilson, with a very good Green Bay roster and an offensive coach, would have success. I think Russell's going to have success this year. I think he had it early in Seattle. I think we're going to look back on Russell Wilson's

career and say that last year was a blip due to a coach not ready to be a head coach. I think Aaron, frankly. I think the whole thing is, I just think it's time. I think Green Bay is over Aaron. Fresh start for everyone involved. And who would have more Wrens? We'll finish up with this. Tua Tunga Vailoa with the Patriots or Mack Jones with the Dolphins. I think Mac Jones. First of all, he would get a not just a competent offensive coach, a really good one, and he'd have great weapons. And then Tua with no weapons and Belichick's culture, I've always thought Mack Jones is a right-handed Tua, two is a left-handed Mac Jones, and they're both going to be as good as the coaching and the weapons. Well, there is no question. Offensive coaching and weapons,

Miami significantly higher than New England. We've talked about this. Belichick doesn't get offense. I mean, they have the worst receiving core in the league. That's with Juju Smith-Schuster. Now that Chicago has gotten theirs together, I don't think the Texans are great. But I mean, now that Chicago's got DJ Moore, Mooney, Chase Claypool, Cole Comet, and Robert Tonion, I would say that's above average in the NFL, and that they'll probably draft another wide receiver. So that's a good receiving tight-in group. I mean, you're talking about Juju Smith-Schuster is a three who cannot separate. So Kansas City is like, got him for a year, a lot of bonuses.

He worked hard. Distracted player historically hits him. They move him to New England. And yeah, I just, I think, you know, earlier today, Eric Mangini was on. And I disagree with him on this. I made this argument about Michael Jordan. I was speaking to a group of people about three weeks ago, is that a lot of people say Michael Jordan was kind of a jerk when he broke into the league.

but could you make the argument that Jordan had to be because the Pistons had better players and were tackling him and the Celtics had a deeper roster, better players, and were pushing him around. And the only way for Michael Jordan to get through that tunnel of physicality was to be demanding of his teammates, not a nice guy, not a finesse guy, not Kevin Durant. He had to be ruthless.

There's an argument to be made, and I will say this with Mac Jones. So he goes and has a really good rookie year with Josh McDaniels. Josh leaves. So you get kind of one chance in the NFL as a quarterback. You get one chance to be a star. The Drew Breeze is the outlier. That doesn't happen. And he's an all-time great.

We don't think Mac's an all-time great. So Matt goes to New England, has a very good rookie year, and then they give him an incompetent boss. What is he supposed to do? Just sit there. If Fox gave me a sales guy to do my content, I would complain. And if they wouldn't listen, I'd probably complain anonymously to media that would leak it that I was ticked off if my management wouldn't listen, which I would hate to do and have never done historically. But you get one shot at this.

You mean, Mac Jones gets one shot to be a franchise quarterback. If the coach won't listen, if the owner won't listen, how do you create pressure? Make everybody understand what you're going through. At least protect yourself. Because who was getting blamed for all the inefficiencies? It was Matt Jones. He was taking all the hits. Like, did you see my rookie numbers?

You saw what I did with nothing. Now you're blaming me. So, like, it's, I don't know. There are, generally speaking, you know, you want to be a team guy. But if you're a quarterback in the NFL and you're young, the team's only going to win based on how much support you get. So, like, him complaining wasn't selfish. It's, hey, guys, we're not going to win if this is what I'm given.

Joe Judge. You can say it selfish. It's not selfish. Mac Jones is like, yeah, I was in Alabama. Like they gave me Steve Sarkesian, I think was his offensive coordinator. And it was really good. And then I go to the NFL and my college coordinator is significantly better than my NFL coordinator. So Mac Jones had two great years, college and pro back to back.

Then he stunk. What do you think the issue is? It's not Mac Jones. Discover credit cards automatically double all the cashback. You've earned first year doubled. Go to discover.com slash match. Discover.com slash match. We'll see you tomorrow.

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 helped 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. Does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Care Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor.

It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.