The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - JJ McCarthy is a cautionary tale, Robert Mays still sees issues for Caleb Williams

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Colin closes out the week discussing embattled Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy as the Vikings sign Kyler Murray. The Athletic Football Show host Robert Mays thinks the Bears are settling in better with coach Ben Johnson's offense, but there's a lot of work Caleb Williams still has to do in the little things. Bam Adebayo still has to defend himself and Colin supports his 83-point performance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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For listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, hour three and a Friday. Robert Mays 15 minutes. Good to have you in. Well, a couple of big stories. First of all, the big news in the NFL yesterday was in the Twin Cities as Kyler Murray, a former number one pick, signed a one-year deal, very inexpensive with the Minnesota Vikings.

and they're a great head coach. The big question is, oh, wait a minute, what does that mean for the quarterback you drafted a couple years ago in the first round? J.J. McCarthy and his future. J.J. McCarthy is a cautionary tale for every general manager in the NFL. Beware of two things. The game manager at the college level. And beware of when the number one trait for a college quarterback is,

he's a winner. That's what they said about Tebow. That doesn't mean anything. Okay. These game managing college quarterbacks usually come from Alabama or Ohio State, Georgia, these football factories where they can turn and hand it off, throw 23 times a game. J.J. McCarthy, he came from the best Michigan team probably ever. 13 guys were drafted, stacked roster.

And he only threw for 22 touchdowns. Joe Burrell played on a stacked. roster at LSU. He threw for 60. If you're going to plan a roster like that, you don't have to carry the team, but I better see like 45 touchdowns, 55 touchdowns. Every quarterback in J.J. McCarthy's class, everyone, Bo Nicks, Jaden Daniels, Michael Panics, Drake May, Caleb Williams, every other first round quarterback, every other one. USC, Oregon, North Carolina, LSU, some good programs. They had to throw for over 300 yards a game. J.J. McCarthy threw for under 200 yards a game. That's the first warning sign. And the second,

and I, you know, pat in the back time, I said he is the one quarterback coming in this first round draft class. I don't think it's going to work. The other thing was, first of all, he didn't have any great wow traits. Caleb Williams, wow, horsepower. Bow, Knicks, toughness, durability, athletic ability, Jaden Daniels, kind of a Lamar Jackson type player, Drake May, big size, big arm, Pennix, good arm. J.J. McCarthy's a winner. A winner is how you should describe a poker player or a lawyer. If you tell me a lawyer, the guy's a winner, it's kind of all I need to know. Poker player. Guys a winner sits down at the table. That's Phil Helmuth. That's all I need to know.

we don't talk about any other athlete and say he's a winner. We don't draft cornerbacks, left tackles, guards, running backs and say, well, you know, production was so-so, but he is a winner. Doesn't mean anything. Same with college basketball players. Nobody's drafting Darren Peterson number one because he's a winner. They're looking at his talent and his traits. So I just, I don't buy the he's a winner thing. Now you could say, well, Fernando Mendoza.

Colin, yeah, he won because he's a killer because he's great late because he beat Miami almost single-handedly in the fourth quarter. He did the same with Penn State on the road. That's different. He was asked to carry a good roster. That J.J. McCarthy, Michigan roster, wasn't a good roster. It's the best Michigan roster ever. 13 guys drafted. That's an Ohio State, Bama, Georgia, LSU level roster.

And did he carry it? Yeah, at times he did. He did against Miami late. He did against, you know, Oregon fourth quarter. So there's a difference. And, you know, you can say what you want about Kyler Murray. Again, he and Sam Darnold have been the two quarterbacks that I have always liked more than the market because they have wow traits. His elusiveness, A plus.

Wow. His deep ball, excellent. And for the record, since he was drafted, Kyler Murray among active quarterbacks, top 10 in touchdown passes. So he's actually productive with experience and elusive and a great deep. he's going to win this job, but it's a cautionary tale. Be very careful about he's a winner or game manager at college. It just doesn't translate to Sunday football. Okay, so Luke had 51 last night and the Lakers beat the Bulls, but that wasn't the story. And this is a real story. And it's, it's actually asking a lot of LeBron James. So we talked a lot before the season. I said, this is going to be

the strangest year in LeBron James' life. Every offense, even last year, with heavy Luca and Luca off an injury, LeBron needed the ball in his hands for the offense to be effective. I said this year is going to be different. The difference between in-shaped skinny Luca, Stone is prime and LeBron, the gap's going to be huge. And LeBron's going to have to learn for the first time in his career to play off the ball all the time.

Now he's having a bad shooting year. you're off the ball because his, let's be honest, his jump shot has always been streaky and inconsistent. But what really happened this year that makes it even tougher for LeBron is that Austin Reeves has popped. And now LeBron should probably have the ball as a third offensive option on the Lakers. So to ask a guy that was face of the NBA for 20 years, hey, we not only need you to be off the ball with Luca, but Austin Reeves as well. It is a big. I don't think Michael Jordan would have done that. I don't think most all-time players are going to do that. And the fact that LeBron's always been about winning and he has and I've defended him early when he

used to not take the big shot like MJ or Kobe. And I'd say he's a winning player. He makes the right basketball play. So this is a big ask. And LeBron's entire career was the opposite. He had to ask Duane Wade, you're the two. He had to go to Chris Bosch. Hey, get out of the paint, go in the corner. He had to tell Kyrie Irving, bro, I'm going to carry the ball. You have to play off ball. So everybody has sacrificed for LeBron and should have his entire career. Even Luke a little bit last year, but this LeBron is different. His usage rate, lowest of his career by a wide margin.

You know, field goals taken per game, lowest of his career, wide margin. So this is what we talked about all preseason. this is going to be a weird year for LeBron. Face the league to not only the second option, but net rating tells you the third option. He's going to have to set screens. He's going to have to rebound a little more. He's going to have to do the dirty work.

And, you know, this year, when LeBron shoots more than 20 times, Lakers are 0 and 3. When he shoots under 20 times, they're 27 and 15. The numbers don't lie. But I do think it's a big ask. I don't think MJ would have done it. I don't think a lot of stars that can still play at LeBron's level individually would do it. But LeBron's always been a winning player.

I just think he deserves credit for committing to this kind of basketball when he could score 24 a night for half the teams in the league or more. And here was J.J. Reddick after the win. LeBron and I we talked we had a great conversation over the last couple days I think again he wants to do everything possible

to help this team win and he he understands the importance of making sure Luca and AR can be at their best and you know that's that's incredible of him

the team is most important you know everybody's successful when we win so yeah it is some sacrifice I know what I'm capable of still doing as an individual but what's important for this team, I'm able to adapt to what's important for this team.

And that's the only thing that matters. And the win is the only thing that matters. All right, Robert Mays from The Athletic. We wrap up Free Agency Week in the NFL. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. St. Gaut's here.

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You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Twitter at Robert Mays. He's a regular on the show. We bring him in now. And to wrap up free agency, so I put out my top 10 post-coaching hires, post-free agency top 10.

I did not have Baltimore in it. I did not like the free agency period. I think Tyler Leonard Baum is a huge loss and a huge gain for the Raiders. I don't like losing their tight end of the Giants. or a kind of a speed back, an off speed pitch back to Derek Henry to the Chargers. So I didn't love what they did. I have them at 11, jaggs at 12, Niners at 13. Anything jump out to you in my 10?

It feels like the Bears are two. You're just doing this to mess with me. Like there's no way this goes well for me, you putting them as high as you did. I want to believe it, but it's also hard for me. I'm not sure the roster is better now than it was the day the season ended. After losing Dolman and some of the other things that they've had to do, I think the arrows pointed up. That one was a little bit surprising.

I still think Kansas City and Baltimore are probably in the discussion, though. I get what you're saying, but I still like the way the rosters look, even with some of the attrition from the Ravens. You know, let's stay on the Bears for a second. I tend to be a bleeder. Liam Cohen, year two will be good. Ben Johnson, year two. I didn't think the Bears, they were winning,

but I didn't think they were a great team in the first four to five weeks in September. I think they're going to start like they finished. And I take a lot away from that Rams game where the Rams went into cold weather and basically had no penalties, no turnovers, no drop passes, played a perfect game and had to beat Chicago in overtime. And I'm like, oh, wow, that is a great way to end the season. So what would be like Caleb made big leaps basically in eliminating the sacks a negative place. He was still a sensational talent first two years in the league over the top, big. plays. Where is his growth in year three with Ben Johnson, year two with Ben, year three with Chicago? I think it's just becoming a little bit more comfortable with the offense and the timing he plays

with. The words that I've used when it comes to Caleb, the calibration is still just a little bit off. There are moments where he's sped up a little bit too much. There are moments where he's seeing things a little bit slower than you want him to. The ball placement still is not where you want it to be. These are little tiny gaps. And I think the calipers. And I think the cal, Celebration being a little bit more fine-tune heading into next year and a second year within the system, I can see that happening. But I'll say that needs to happen for them to reach the level that you're talking about. Because without Dahlman and with the offensive line probably being more injured than it was last year, that's going to take a step back. The defense is still very much a work in progress.

They still need players up front. They still need another safety. And so I do think other elements of the roster are probably not going to be good enough for him. for them not to be the team you're talking about unless he takes that step. So when you put them at two, you're building that step in. I can understand that, but he's going to need to do that for them to be this sort of team when you take everything else around him into account. So if you go back to the Vikings, I'm very much in favor of Kyler to the Vikings,

making them very interesting. They won nine games last year. They were atrocious on third down. I think they led the NFL in giveaways. You didn't know who was starting week-to-week at quarterback. And people can say what they want about Kyler, but in a poorly owned organization like Darnel with the Jets, which had less talent than Seattle, San Francisco,

and the Rams on most meetings, he got to the playoffs. He's top 10 among active quarterbacks in touchdown passes. My take is, I mean, Minnesota is rarely great, but always functional with really nice pieces. I'm a believer that Kyler's going to walk in there and win 10 games, and it's going to be a little like Seattle. You're like, oh, yeah, on a functional team, this guy's really, really good. Or am I too high on Kyler?

I don't think you're too high on Kyler. I think Kyler's floor is higher than people are making it out to be. If you look at Kyler's numbers over the last few years, I think Kyler is a limited quarterback, but he's a very capable quarterback. Even if you drop Kyler into the Viking situation and he's the 16th or 17th best quarterback, in the league, which I think he's consistently shown the ability to do. If their offensive line stays healthy with the weapons that they have with Kevin O'Connell, I think their offense automatically becomes a top half of the league offense.

To me, the question with the Vikings is going to come down to, what does their defense look like? That has been an excellent defense over the last few years of Brian Flores. But when you had JJ McCarthy on the rookie quarterback contract, they were able to spend on all of these kind of luxury defensive pieces. They didn't all work out, Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, but the roster was more complete on that side of the ball. And so if Brian Flores can do as much as he's done with a little bit less this year,

and that can be a top three defense, and the offense can be just outside of the top 10, similar to Seattle, that's how you get them to be a playoff team in the NFC. But the defense has to hold up its end of the bargain for that to come together. So one of the free agent moves, I can like the player, but think to myself, good Lord of the Niners getting old. Their best seven players, McCaffey, Trent, Kittle, Warner, Bosa are all now out of their prime.

Mike Evans, injury year out of his prime. I feel the same way with Kansas City. The way I've always looked at Super Bowls, give me your top seven players. They should be like Seattle going into your prime, Gray's Abel, or be in your prime. right like they've but once you get old players get seasons or longer players get hurt more older players heal more slowly i know everybody loves mike evans i love the player did they need another old past his prime star i guess is my question i think they need that skill set within the offense and i think that was their best avenue to having that skill set

what mike evans gives you to me is just a supercharged version of what joan jennings has been for them over the last couple years. And I get what you're saying. You're adding a 30-something-year-old receiver to an already aging roster. But if this was a deal that had multiple guarantees into year two and you were really committing to him as like a multi-year option, then I would be a little bit more worried about it. In reality, this is a one-year $16 million contract for Mike Evans. And so all you're trying to do is bring him into what you were doing last year and seeing if a guy like this, which is giving you an upgrade with that skill set specifically, can help take you over the edge. This, the, the, the Niners ceiling is, is going to be about whether the young

defensive pieces they've drafted can take a huge step forward in year two. And so while a lot of the big names are getting older, the core of their roster has gotten younger and they're going to need to see the gains from those young players if they're going to be the team they want to be. Yeah, the, um, I, I've said this about the Raiders. I don't remember the last time I felt great about the Raiders. I don't have a problem getting Max Crosby back because they're so young. I mean, they've got 11 picks. Fernando's going to be the starting quarterback soon.

You do. I've had GMs tell me this. You want youth, but you need core veteran leaders. Well, Colton Miller and Max Crosby, there's not a lot of guys after that. It's a young team. So do you think the Max Crosby mess hurts? Are you ready?

I mean, do you buy into the Raiders and Spy Tech as much? as it feels like they're kind of moving out of dysfunction. Do you feel that? It's a wait and see for me because I think you can get excited about what Clint Kubiak did last year. It was one year with Clint Kubiak as a play caller in Seattle. I think he's still more of an unknown than we want to pretend he is. And I do think the roster is still incomplete.

They have so much cap space that throwing around that type of money on Tyler Linderbom just to make sure you have a solution there for a rookie quarterback, I understand that. But you look at the offensive line, and outside of him and Colton Miller, you still have three question marks. They drafted two guys in the third round last year. Hopefully one of those guys can step up. But I still think overall, outside receiver, right tackle, guard spots, there are still enough questions about this team where are they better than they were a week ago? Undeniably. But I'm still not sure I'm in a place where I'm overly excited about what their short term outlook looks like.

Do you think the RAM should be as big of favorites as they are? Do you think that Trent McDuffie get really is the problem solver? I think it's Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson. The idea that they went out and got two starting corners for big money over the last week. And that was the biggest issue with their roster. And then even bringing back Cam Curl, you know, resigning Cam Curl and adding those two corners. And now you look at the secondary combined with their front, there just aren't that many holes on the roster anymore. Even compared to what they looked like at the end of last season, when you can make an argument, them in Seattle were the best team.

in the league. The problem with projecting the Rams moving forward is we're just assuming that Matthew Stafford and the offense are going to play at the level that they did last year. And I understand where that's tempting. You just watched him do it. But we're talking a guy that's creeping closer to 40. He hasn't

hit he has an injury history. And so the fragility of the offense I think is really the only caveat to that conversation. But on paper top to bottom, yes, I think that the way we're looking at them is justified. And I guess finally, going back to Kyler Murray, I think JJ McCarthy is kind of a cautionary tale. Be very two things to be afraid of.

When people say a guy's best trade is he is a winner. That's very Tebow-esque. It's not a trait. I mean, we don't say that about corners, basketball players, hockey players, left tackles. it's just this quarterback thing. And it's like at the college level, Harbaugh gave him a stack roster. He turned and handed it off a lot. So beware of the game manager.

Beware of the leading trait is, you know, he's a winner. What do you think this thing in Minnesota looks like? I mean, it's pretty obvious that if these two guys, the rhythm that Kyler can get into, he's an accurate thrower, very elusive, nice deep ball, Tyler's going to win this job. How do you sell the JJ McCarthy pick? What do you do with that? I don't think you can sell it.

I think you can do as much massaging publicly as you want to and say that it's going to be a competition and say we're not giving up on JJ in order to keep him engaged. And also if you want to convince somebody to throw a pick at you for him because they see him as a distressed asset, like I think you have to say all the right things publicly by going out and getting Kyler, there's no ambiguity here. you went out and tried to find the best quarterback you could because you want him to be your starting quarterback. That's the reality of this situation.

Like they're pivoting off of J.J. McCarthy. And I think two things can be true at the same time. I think the idea that giving up on J.J. McCarthy after 10 games in a vacuum is crazy. Like we've seen all of these guys resurrect their careers deeper into it. At the same time, this can still be the right decision for the Vikings. You don't have time to wait around for J.J. McCarthy to become the next Sam Darry. given how bad last season was for you. You have to keep Justin Jefferson happy.

You have to win some games. So I don't think Sam, J.J. McCarthy is necessarily a lost cause in the NFL, 10 games at his career. But that doesn't mean that the Vikings were wrong in trying to replace him with Kyler Murray in the short term. By the way, I am pro Malik Willis. I've made this argument for years on these music shows. And I don't know anything about music other than I like it,

that I can watch 30 seconds on American Idol. the voice, and I can go 30 seconds, hack, lounge singer, star. I don't think it takes, I've seen six games of Malik Willis. I do football for a living. That is a franchise quarterback. He's going to be the 17th highest paid. Well, at some point in this season, can I go, that's about the 15th best quarterback in the league.

I'm comfortable after six starts. I appear to be on an island. What do I know about those five or six starts? Did you see enough? I saw enough for him to get this opportunity. When I watched him last year, I think a lot of people watching those games, the reasonable conclusion to reach was

that guy deserves a shot to be a starter in the NFL. And that's what he got. And with this conversation about, is he worth $30 million a year and how much money is he going to get? The contract that he got, which is essentially just an inflation version of the Justin Fields contract from last year,

this is a worthwhile swing if you're the Dolphins. This is a young guy with a lot of talent. If it doesn't work out this year, you cut them after the season and then you go back into the draft when you're likely going to be picking somewhere near the top half of the first round and you just say, eh, it was a risk, it didn't work out, we move on. So I think for a team like the Dolphins, where when you miss out on a guy that you drafted in the top five and that you paid a lot of money to, there are never clean ways to dismount from that situation.

Ask the Vikings. There's never a clean way to do it. this being the alternative where if it works out, there is still a pathway to him being your quarterback of the future. I think it's a worthwhile bet for Miami. And honestly, you drop him a weak Willis and the giddy up that he has as an athlete into that offense with Devon A. Chan and Jalen Waddle. I'm interested in watching it.

I don't know how it's going to go, but he has earned the chance. Yeah, no, totally agree on this. Robert Mays, the athletic. He's also got great food recommendations. our staff, myself included, can vouch for him. As always, have a great weekend. Good to see you, Robert. Good to see you, Colin.

Talk to you soon. All right. John Middlough with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. You know, Colin, speaking of Malik Willis, I don't know if I remember a player making more money based on two games in one season

than Malik did, but I'm with you. He showed a lot. He spoke about why. he is currently ready to be a full-time starter. I don't think I put a timeline on it. I think it happened when I was prepared. I think when I came in the league, I wasn't prepared. And that's not a knock toward my coaches or myself.

That's just what it was coming from the system I came from. And I've had a chance to learn the last four years since I've been to the league and went through four different offenses and seen a bunch of different defenses. And I just think I've grown a lot and I'm grateful for the opportunity once. again. I mean, I, I mean, you can see at the podium. He's a big dude. Like, he is a thick, he's a pro athlete.

And I don't know. I just, again, I judge guys at the podium, humble, grateful, appreciative, complimenting everybody, looks in the mirror and goes, yeah, I just wasn't ready. He said, I mean, that stuff matters to me. I'm sorry, when you're a quarterback, you step to the podium. He looks relaxed, confident, grateful, humble, and owned his early years in Tennessee. Owned all of it. I'd be, if I was a dolphin fan, considering the dead money for Tua and the situation you're in,

this is about as good as you can do in a bad quarterback draft year. Well, even if we remove the money, it's 100% an upgrade. There's not a GM in the league that would take two over, Malik Willis. So you upgraded a quarterback. And two, let's face it, he's with one of the more successful organizations in all of professional sports. These last couple years, every day in practice when he wasn't a starter, right? he had to go up against that defense, which the last couple years under Halfley has been one of the better

ones in the league. And then when he got the opportunity to start, it wasn't just running because that was part of it. He's a big time athlete. He was accurate. He throwed touch. We know he has a powerful arm, but the NFL is about more than that.

Touch, timing, rhythm. And that's what the Packers offense is. It's a timing and rhythm-based offense. And I thought he was fantastic. So if I was a Dolphins fan, I'd be pretty excited just to get the train back on the tracks and watch this guy play. You know, speaking of Team USA, they advanced the knockout round.

It got a little weird there for a while. It did. My San Francisco Giant Ace, Logan Webb, will take the mound tonight for the U.S. in a win or go home game. Colin, what do you expect for Team USA tonight? Well, I mean, so much of this tournament is pitching. And, you know, the American guys are starting pitchers. They're not giving you full outings because they're, they don't want to.

mess up, you know, the spring training is going to end here in a week or two. So a lot of it is can you get hits? You're having to score your way to wins in this tournament. If it was, if this was done, you know, and there was no baseball season coming up, I would say, yeah, Team USA is going to roll. We got more good arms. But what makes it interesting is, you know, our arms are good arms, like the Tigers pitcher. Yeah, I'm going to give you one outing. Now I'm going back to spring with my guys. So, you know, it just comes down. to who can hit their way to the championship. Yeah, I mean, the tiger guy shows up.

He pitches three innings, doesn't pitch again. It's kind of, I remember this was years ago when Otani was pitching against Mike Trout, and it was an electric moment. I think what we all want to see, like we got in hockey, USA versus Canada, we want to see USA take on Japan. That's what we want. Okay, last but not least, we have a team that you and I, differ on the 49ers. They signed Buccaneers legend Mike Evans. He's played 12 years in Tampa, Future Hall of Famer, three-year deal, but they only gave him $16 million. And Evans talked about

why he made this move to the 49ers. They always compete, even with the injuries last year. I think they went 13 and 4. I mean, I feel like they were one piece away, and I think that I'm that piece. And I look forward to coming here and improving that. I like his optimism. I mean, I don't know if he is the piece, but he is a good piece. I mean, you know who'd be excited? If I was Brock Purdy, I don't have the Brandon Ayup nonsense. And I have a Hall of Fame. I mean, Brock Purdy's the winner here. You get out of the IUC drama. I get a better, a higher end player than Joanne Jennings, who's very good. Yeah. So the winner is Brock Purdy. And I think also when you pay Purdy, you have to sort of justify doing it's like Dak Prescott. If you're going to pay Dak,

that kind of money, then you've got to sign George Pickens. Right? Like, so you have to protect your assets. And Brock Purdy right now is a very valuable asset. So they've got to make sure the old line's good and he's got ample weapons. Well, Kyle Shanahan has his career resume with big physical targets. Andre Johnson, Julio Jones, and George Kittle. I mean, we're talking Hall of Fame level guys. So you had Mike Evans.

Now, George is coming off an Achilles injury. And his game is predicated on explosion and power. That to me is a fair question mark. But if he's healthy with McCaffrey, maybe they add another running back. I'm much higher on this team than you are, Colin. I think Mike Evans, I'm thinking 10 touchdowns, Colin, in 2026, 10 touchdowns. Now, Trent McDuffie's in that division now. Devin Witherspoon's 5-11.

Okay. I was going to say it just became a great corner division, but okay. John with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. I do. I have to admit, I don't necessarily care that much about being right or wrong, but I do like, when I, like before a season starts, baseball, basketball, football,

I make kind of a bold prediction. And it's kind of a macro topic. And I, and I do think what I had said about LeBron James last night, Luke had 51, Lakers beat the Bulls, Bulls are kind of a mess, have been forever, but they're a mess. But I think what happened and what has happened LeBron this year is what we talked about before the season, is that Luca this year with the Lakers, unlike last year, was going to come in shape and not off an injury. So his ball usage rate was going to go way up. Uh-oh, that means LeBron for the first time in his career is going to have to play off ball a lot. Well, not only did that happen, but Austin Reeves has played so well with Luca.

There's such a good tandem net rating and above that now LeBron is a third option offensively. And that I didn't suspect. I thought I would go Luca, LeBron, Austin. Now it's Luca, Austin, LeBron. And LeBron can be very effective in spurts, but now he is setting screens and they need him to rebound more. And I think that's, and LeBron's always been team first guy. but in a career where you had to sacrifice for LeBron,

LeBron for the first time in 20 years, face of the league is he's now got a sacrifice, not just for Luca, but Austin Reeves, and Channing Fry earlier talked about that. Your best player has their best defender, then your second best defender guards Austin Reeves, and now who's guarding LeBron?

I think at the end of the day, we're having this conversation because he's 41 and because Luca is great, and Austin Reeves is turning into that dude, that I think everyone sees, but also I think LeBron is okay with, you know, you guys take this seat. When you need me, I got it here.

So if you give him a playoff series, he might not be so off ball, right? He may be the guy that wins you a series. Right now, the Lakers are beating the bad teams. They're not beating the good teams, but it's just something to keep your eye on it. And I give him credit for this. I don't think Michael Jordan would want him to do this.

LeBron's gone from face of the league for 20 years. Everybody makes a sacrifice for LeBron and should have to, dude, you're the third option offensively. And it's not because LeBron has deteriorated individually that much. It's that Lucas in shape or better shape and Austin Reeves has exploded. There's an argument, and I don't have the history in front of me, but Austin Reeves may be this year the best undrafted player in league history? I mean, the year he's having? I don't know. I don't have a list of undrafted players.

Not a lot of them. There's been only a handful of great second round players. Tony Parker, I think, was Manu Genoobli, Yokic, Draymond Green. There's been some really, really good second round players. To go on drafted and be what Austin Reeves has become is a credit to a lot of people, most notably Austin Reeves, who just go look at his numbers, better, better, better. That's a guy you can tell has put time into his game. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed

there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now

and actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, Just how long can their empire survive?

The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, BAM is just a big, strong, physical player, and 19, 20, and 21-year-olds,

college guys essentially are trying to stop Bam at a bayou who's I mean you see this guy in street clothes this is a large man who's been in an NBA weight room grinding for a year he's one of the hardest working guys in the NBA

so he drops 83 points and bam last night after playing a game is defending himself against all his critics on his performance first of all y'all are blaming me you should be blaming me

You should be blaming the head coach. Get that first. I was not the one letting me go one-on-one the whole game until I started, until I had 70, then you started to send a double. At that point, I got 70 with like, what, nine minutes left to go in the game?

You think I'm not going for it? Yeah, and again, when you, not only when guys, you know, in the NFL, three years minimum in college, most guys spend four years in college. What that really means is four years in college weight rooms. You come in physically out of college. You look the part physically.

A lot of these NBA guys that come into the league after a year in college, I mean, they're not the shoulders. You know, you can just see them. They're not built to defend NBA bigs. Even Wembe as great as he was. You could push him around. Remember Wemby's first year? Chet Holmgren's first year.

You could push them around. Bam out of Bayou is one of the strongest guys in the league. Take it on 19 and 20 year olds. Their bodies are not, they can't. And then these aren't great players. They're Washington Wizards players. He had 31 after a quarter. And Channing Fry earlier said, hey, don't blame Bam for being great.

I don't care if Jesus was on that court. Bam Etabio is getting that ball. What? You allowed, the Wizards allowed. him to get 70. I'm shocked they didn't go for a hundred. NBA players are greedy, especially a guy like Bam, who averages, what is he average? 22, 24. I watched every single shot. 62, I think after three-quarters, 71, whatever he had, man, again, I don't care how you got to do it, but the Washington Wizards are allowing you to do this. And the other thing to remember is Norman Powell who averages 22 a game

for the heat, he didn't play. And Tyler Hero, who also averages 22 a game for the heat, he didn't play. So you got Bam, who's got 62 after three. The two leading scores are out. And Bam's like got 19-year-olds guarding him. And it's like, I mean, we all played basketball with our, you know, brothers or sisters or something. When you're the big brother and you can back it in and dunk, you do.

And so heroes out and Norman Powell's out and Spolster's looking up going like, he's got 70. There's nine minutes left. What do you want me to do? He's getting, he's being guarded by guys that should be college sophomores. He's one of the, let me look at the picture behind me. The guy is jacked. It's like a defensive end. You're asking a 19 year old to stop him.

And Spoll last night said, I'm not apologizing. I apologize to absolutely no one. Period. I'm not losing any sleep over what other people are saying about it. What's ethical? What's not? All this stuff happened under two minutes, like I said. Like he had already broken a bunch of records. And we're going to go for it.

It was just an amazing moment to be a part of that. And I would do it 10 times out of 10. For the record, this is literally true. Bam was being guarded by wizard players that are closer in years to their high school prom than being of legal drinking age. And he's got 62 after three and you're like, it's time to sit down and watch the rest of your comrades play. No, it's not. It's time to go for it. And you got to do what you got to do to get to Kobe record. You got to settle down on this stuff. So, and again, I think the NBA

gets too paralyzed by dynasties and tanking. But the downside of tanking is, the Wizards, that you got kids, you're trying to get minutes, Utah, Indiana, but when you don't give teams, I mean, part of this is the tanking issue, you know, and a lot of people aren't, aren't like addressing that. Everybody's like blaming Bam, a lot of it's the tanking issue, which wouldn't be the case if the NBA wasn't as restrictive to bad teams getting better. When the NBA wasn't this restrictive, the Cavaliers went from awful to let's go get LeBron and let's go trade for Kevin Love and Kyrie now will have a legitimate teammate and they were in the finals year after year after year after bad to that. That's hard to do now.

The NBA is like, no, we don't like that. That funny business. Well, that business was good for ratings. You know, seven titles, seven teams, seven years. So, you know, some of the BAM thing is like, when you got a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds out there and Washington's trying to get a better draft spot. part of it. So all in all, I mean, Bam, I'm looking at this. Bam is, think about this, you're a 19 year old. Hey, go body up Bam. He's 6-9, 260, 7-1 wingspan, and I bet you less than 6% body fat. I mean, look at him. Look at the size of Bam to buy you. Dude, that is, that is a lot of years. In the Miami heat culture, you get fined if you're not in the weight room. they make you spend time in the wait room.

So, I mean, BAMs averaging 24 a night against 28, 30, 31-year-old Biggs. What do you think he's going to do with the pimply-faced, you know, kid for the wizards who's got, you know, no experience guarding a BAM? There you go. And I feel strongly about that. And I accept that message. So way to go. It is, you got to give BAM. credit. Like BAM's like, dude, I had 70 before they double team me. What, what, you think I'm

not going to go for it? Um, also Robert Mays, I don't know if you read his stuff. John, I do. Yeah. Yeah. I want to end our show with this. Here's, here's, here's Robert Mays on Kyler Murray to the Vikings. I, I think it's smart, his thoughts. If you look at Kyler's numbers over the last few years, I think Kyler is a limited quarterback, but he's a very capable quarterback. To me, the question with the Vikings is going to come down to, what does their defense look like? When you had JJ McCarthy on the rookie quarterback contract, they were able to spend on all these kind of luxury defensive pieces. They didn't all work out. Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, but the roster was more complete on that side of the ball. And so if Brian Flores can do as much as

he's done with a little bit less this year, and that can be a top three defense, and the offense can be just outside of the top 10, similar to Seattle. That's how you get them to be a playoff team in the NFC. That division, I mean, I like Chicago to win it. I kind of before this had Detroit, second, Green Bay, third, Minnesota, fourth. Listen, if Kyler's as good with the Vikings as I think, I don't know what the division looks like. John, if you had to pick NFC North, 1, 2, 3, 4 right now. I'd go Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings.

Packers are a little bit of a wild card. A lot of new players. Micah coming off the injury. I'd probably go Bears Packers or Bears Lions somewhere. I'd probably have Minnesota last. But again, last place last year was 9 and 8. So this is not the Jets.

You know, these are teams. Last place could again be nine wins. I mean, it would shock you at all if there were three teams from this division in the playoffs. Not at all. Same with the field. I have the same feeling with the AFC West. Tyler makes them interesting.

You know, Kyler makes them bust watch. I don't know. I'm not as bullish as you, but I definitely won't turn off the television when they're on like I did last year with JJ McCarthy. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.

And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it.

But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know.

I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jench can win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennarabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist, and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last?

Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.