The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - Live from the NFL Combine

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Colin talks to Bruce Feldman who is live from the Combine to talk about the NFL draft, possible trades, Fernando Mendoza, and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Well, Bruce Feldman's at the Combine. He wrote a great piece in the athletic on Mendoza's journey. And it's interesting. I remember when Indiana started winning this year, I went back and I started like going to Cal footage on YouTube and all the numbers. And it's not a Trevor Lawrence situation with Mendoza where, you know, his freshman year, you're like, I mean, I saw Trevor Lawrence in high school.

I was like, my God. It's over a Matt Stafford where Mel Kiper once said he could have been drafted out of high school. It's been more slow growth, but I'm for that. Aaron Rogers was slow growth. You know, Andrew Luck jumped off the television set as a true redshirt freshman or true freshman. With that, Bruce Feldman joins us live at the Combine in Indianapolis. You wrote this piece on him about his journey. It's a great article and give the audience some understanding.

And I tend to think, you know, these, Caleb Williams is so dynamic. The first time I saw him at Oklahoma, I'm like, wow, what is that? That's great. That is an outlier. Most kids are like Drake May. They've got Justin Herbert. Herbert took a long time to develop into something. So was there a time that people had doubts about Mendoza?

What do you make of his jersey and journey? And it says ascension over the last, you know, year. Oh yeah, there was a massive amount of doubts. He was a at one point a two-star quarterback recruit in Miami, which is obviously South Florida as a college football hotbed for talent. And one of the coaches who had tried to recruit him at FIU, it's not a powerhouse. But Mendoza grew up just a few miles away from their campus.

And this coach said he was begging for us to take them. And our quarterback at the coach at the time just didn't say, see it. And he was like, basically it was like 20 pounds less than he is now and a little goofier, but that was basically him. But you saw something he led them Miami Columbus High School, which by the way is Mario Cristobald's old high school. He led them to some wins over some, you know, national powers that he played. And still, you know, he was committed to Yale. He had no FBS offers until right before signing day of the senior year, Cal took a chance on him. And he went there. And as you said, like he had some promising moment.

and I think he kept developing and then big credit to Kurt Signetti. He saw something more than what a lot of other people saw. And Signetti had a connection to the family because he had signed Alberto Mendoza, Fernando's younger brother and felt like,

all right, this is a really special family. This kid has a lot of work ethic. We're going to see it. And I think you look at some of the kind of arcs of this. Former two star guy with zero sense of entitlement, you know, high academic guy. And he's not, he's not Justin Herbert in terms of the, you know, he's not quite, he's big, but he's not that big.

He moves pretty well, but doesn't run like it. He doesn't have that, you know, cannon for an arm. But Justin Herbert, as you said, Colin was like not a big recruit. He was in Oregon's backyard and really blossomed. Yeah. Also really high academic guy, you know, like a four to in biology. This is a high academic guy. And so Chandler Whitmer, who was, uh, worked with the chargers when Justin Herbert was there and was the quarterback coach last year.

for Indiana, he saw a lot of similarities and kind of their wiring. And I think those are the things, it doesn't mean that this guy is going to be a can't miss. This is not a good quarterback draft. He is not, you know, Caleb Williams and the wow factor. But in terms of the intangibles and the biggest thing that I would say is in his favor is one of the coaches who played him this year in the playoffs said, you can affect him, but you can't rattle him. And what he meant by that is you may get him on a play and he may throw a pick, but he'll come back the next. series and it's going right back to work.

He's dwelling on it. And that's huge because you go back to the Oregon game. Throws a pick six in the fourth quarter, gets on the field the next, you know, the next series and it leads him to a 75-year-t touchdown drive. Did it against Penn State? Did it against Iowa. And I think that kind of resiliency and that mental focus, that does bode well if he's going to be the first pick of the draft with the Raiders.

Listen, and it's easy for me to say this, right? Because I work at a network that has the Big Ten. but there is growing evidence between Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana winning titles in succession that the NIL, and we kind of predicted it, that these are bigger universities than the SEC, the endowments are greater than a lot of the SEC schools. But, I mean, I look at the top of this draft, and the top two SEC guys are just corners. I mean, it used to be Georgia, Bama, it was linebackers, defensive tackles, Those are all Big Ten in Miami guys now.

I mean, that can't be lost on you, right? It does feel like we've had a complete sea change in a sport we both love in like three years. It is remarkable. I mean, and you see it in the postseason game results, right? And I think what has happened is the Big Ten is, and it wasn't, you know, Ohio State's been super talented. They were when Urban was the head coach there. but I feel like you look at Oregon, right, what they've got. Obviously, Signetti worked miracles in Bloomington,

but you go through, there's other talent that now has been cycled to other places because of the NIL, also because of the portal. And I think that the ability to transfer, you know, Georgia's still really good. They're not what they were a couple of years ago. Alabama's not what they were a couple of years ago. LSU certainly wasn't. And so you're right. I mean, it was eye-opening when I think I was in the airport on the way to fly down here.

And Dale Jeremiah, you know, our friend from NFL network, who does a great job evaluating in draft, he put out his like top 100 list. And I'm looking and I'm like, there's not a lot of SEC guys. I was expecting maybe there'd be four in the top 20. There were only two. There was 10 from the Big 10. There was more from Miami than there were from the entire SEC. There was more from the Big 12.

That was something that nobody would have expected. But obviously, Texas Tech is spending a lot of money, and they're making shrewd evaluations too. But it's like, this is eye-opening. You know, there's a bunch of other SEC guys further outside of the top 20. But to see where it is now, it's pretty staggering. Yeah, it is. You know, there's a couple players in the draft that are fascinating.

the kid at Oregon, the tight end. So he is such a different shape as a tight end. So when I watched Oregon this year, I'm like, he doesn't have the, I want my tight ends to be like six, five and a half or taller. Your takeaway on the combine, are there a couple of players in this combine that we need to watch over the next couple days that could be really important? You know, Combine doesn't matter for quarterbacks, especially Mendoza when he's the top of the class. are there a couple of guys though first round-ish guys that the combine really matters yeah and i think the guys who will really like the combine up that tight end you're talking about kenyon sedique from idaho you know not like it's a hotbed there but there are some good players

colston love another good tight end who was at michigan came from idaho as well and this guy he was on my freaks list in the summer we did a combine freak story at the athletic yesterday he's the number one guy. I mean, he is, as you said, it's not 6-6, but he's about 250 pounds. He vertical jumps 42 inches. He's really explosive. He was a matchup nightmare. You look at seeing some of the things he does.

Now, the consistency as a receiver could be better, but he really blossom there. He's a willing blocker, and he's going to be an interesting chess piece. He's more, I don't want to say he's along the size of Brock Bowers, but Brock Bowers, also isn't that, you know, 6-6, Greg Olson-sized guy or certainly not Gronk's size. But I don't think he's quite as good of football players, Brock Bowers, but he's every bit as explosive, if not more explosive. And I think there's a bunch of offensive coaches who would love to get their hands on Kenyon, Sadiq.

Yeah. Another guy on the other side of the ball who fits in that freaks category is Sunny Stiles from Ohio State. Yes. I mean, he looks like he was created in a lab. You know, he's a guy going to broad jump 11 feet. He's a guy who's going to vertical jump over 40. He's big.

He's 6'4 plus. He's 240 plus. And everybody loves, you know, he's really versatile. There could be four Ohio State Buckeyes going in the top eight, or at least in the top 10 in this draft. I mean, to speak to the talent that Ryan Day had amassed there. And three of them are going to be on defense. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays and noon Eastern. 9 a.m. Pacific.

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We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. 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. And 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?

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Yeah. The Ty Simpson's interesting. A lot of people have, I don't know, projected that the Rams have, you know, they never have first round picks. now they have two, and Stafford's probably off this year MVP-level season. He was the MVP. That Stafford's going to, I mean, he was healthy, he was great. He'll probably sign another two-year deal. He loves playing, and the team is great, and they're in the Super Bowl run, so why not play?

So Ty Simpson could sit, because he didn't have a lot of college starts. He could just sit, and that would, in my opinion, most of the time, they should sit. What do you hear about Ty Simpson? I mean, he just doesn't have enough starts, but he does have a good arm. He had Kalyn DeBore's a great coach. So he's been learning like kind of a pro style offense. Didn't have a run game, so he had to carry the offense. What do you make of him?

There's been some good buzz here about him, Colin, in Indy. You'd mentioned the Rams. That's been some chatter out there. There's been a couple other teams where you hear they're going to probably take him in the first round. He has a good arm. He made a lot of really pressure. throws. And I think he had no run game, by the way. None. I mean, that was a huge piece of it. He started to wear down later in the season.

He's also a really more dynamic athlete than I think a lot of people realize. Again, he was a one-year starter. Last year, I think he started 15 games. He got pounded by Indiana in the playoff where they were, Alabama got embarrassed. I like him, though. This is not a deep quarterback draft at all. He is one guy, I think, has first round talent. And again, if you put him in the right environment where he does get to learn behind somebody. He's a coach's kid. A lot of people really like him. I think, you know, he came on pretty fast and then it kind of fizzled out a little bit.

But I think there's a lot to like. I mean, there's no, you know, I don't think anybody's talking about it. Like, oh, he could go in the top eight. That won't, I don't see that happening. But I think somewhere later in the first round is somebody sits there and goes, you know what, we can work with him and develop him because I think he'll do well in interviews again. His dad is a head coach at an FCS school. A lot of people really like the makeup. And the

athleticism is actually really good. We've had a history. I mean, obviously Tom Brady gets drafted in the sixth round. Brock Purdy in the seventh. Dack Prescott in the fourth. Kirk Cousins in the fourth. Russell Wilson was remarkable. Wisconsin and he went in the third. Like there's going to be an undersized quarterback or a small school quarterback. There's a kid Cole Payton and a really good pro. That North Dakota State program, which they're on my TV about three times a year, and they are big

and physical. Is he the gem? Is he the guy that's going to go, you know, third round? I mean, it feels like about every second to third draft, Bruce. There's a guy that we didn't spend a lot of time talking about, and you look up and he can play. Is it this kid? I don't know if I would, in terms of, he's not a really polished quarterback.

He's more in the mode, quite on. honestly a Taysom Hill where he's a big athlete. I mean, he will test very well. He made vertical jump around 40 inches. He was really more of a running quarterback, but he started to blossom a little bit this past year. It's funny because maybe the best prospect from North Dakota State is actually the former quarterback, Trey Lance's younger brother, Bryce Lance, who's a big receiver and he'll test great.

And he was a big play guy in that. that offense. But I think you'll see Cole Payton end up. Maybe he'll be in the, you know, fifth or fourth fifth round range. And I'm interested to see how people use him because he is a really big athletic guy. He's still really raw. And as you said, in this draft, I don't think there's a ton of quarterbacks people get too excited about. You know, I could see Garrett Nussmeier from LSU, again, a coach's kid who had a disappointing senior year at LSU and everything went wrong. I could see him generating some buzz here because I know people are going to like

him and like his makeup. The question is like consistency. So you're going to probably see some of these teams end up maybe reaching a little higher for some of these guys who maybe didn't do that much in terms of to help themselves on the season, but probably can in the

post season in the post in the draft run up where people are just kind of reaching going, you know what? This is not a. a deep draft. We're going to take a flyer on somebody in the third or fourth round. Yeah. Teams need backup quarterbacks too. Bruce Feldman, NFL column. Go read his Fernando Mendoza piece. It's fantastic. As always, Bruce, I appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you, Colin. Good stuff. Good stuff on Fernando Mendoza. So, yeah,

it doesn't bother me at all. You often get, it's pretty consistent when somebody like Cam Ward is a no-star quarterback or a two-star quarterback, they're incredibly grateful. They're incredibly driven. They're pretty humble because they didn't get anything handed to them. So, I mean, half of the five-star quarterback recruits and I follow this dorky recruiting, half of them never pan out. Now, 90% of the two-star recruits never pan out. But when you do get that two-and-three-star guy that pops, there's almost always humility and gratitude.

And I, you know, I think personality is a quarterback trait. Jay Mack with the news Turn on the news This is the herd line news All right let's start with everybody's favorite quarterback CJ Stroud Except when it comes to the postseason He had a dreadful one

Turning the ball over seven times in two games Colin just terrible showing from him But rumors have been flying I don't want to say this show started them But his agents David Mulligetta We remember how Mulligetta got Marka Parsons out of Dallas. Now there's chatter.

Is Stroud going to be on the move next? Will GM Nick Casario the Texans shut all that down yesterday at the combine? Like, we're not trading. He's a quarterback. So he's going to be playing quarterback when he's the Texans in 2020. So, and maybe on that, I mean, again, like, that's,

that's your world. You guys expect that. But we're not trading season. That's obvious. He's not going anywhere this offseason. That's obvious. But you have a source. Don't you have a source on this? I'm not saying anything like that. If you just start putting some breadcrumbs together, Colin,

you can start to see, like, something could be a foot. I'll just leave it at that. I'm just curious, where are you on Stroud? Has he been a top 10 quarterback in his first few years? It was troubling. He just really bad turnovers. He wasn't as accurate. I mean, I never thought he was super accurate when he moved.

I think he's a guy that, you know, if he moves a little bit in the pocket, I think he throws a beautiful ball. But listen, you can't. In the postseason, he struggled. They can't seem to get their O line right or their run game right. If Woody Marks isn't playing, they don't have a run game. So, I mean, the numbers don't lie. He did not have a very good year.

He helped get them back to the playoffs. I think, I believe they started 0 and 3, climbed out of that hole. Now, the backup quarterback did show well a couple games. But like Nico Collins in and out of the lineup, remember due to his injuries and the concussion, C.J. Stroud himself was concussed. Like, it was a trying season. The fact they got to the playoff.

and won a game, I thought was impressive. But his touchdowns have gone down every year, and it's, I mean, he was interesting. Like the season ended, he went and got a new look and a new haircut and a new look, and he, you know, he's cycling through some stuff here. I like his coach. They've struggled to keep wide receivers and running backs healthy, so not all of it's on him. Yeah, no, no, I still think, would you say he's top 15 quarterback in the league? Oh, absolutely.

But top 10 is a bit rich for your blood. based on the regression over the last two years, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Interesting story to watch here in the coming years, Colin. All right, let's go to the Vikings. Obviously, they are still catching heat for dumping Sam Darnold who then went on to win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy, my guy, bit of a struggle bus.

So he missed his rookie year. Then he came back in year two and was kind of up and down. It was a soft benching, as they're calling it. Anyway, the GM gets fired. That was McCarthy's guy. and their new EVP of football operation spoke about how the quarterback situation is being approached us offseason, saying the team needs a level of baseline quarterback play, I would say that's a shot, and said he will be casting a wide net when it comes to improving the quarterback play.

That's another shot. So which veteran do you think they go after? Kyler Murray, Tua, Kirk Cousins, Second Tour of Duty in Minnesota. A quarterback I'm not aware of the Mac Jones, Malik Willis. What do you think they're doing? I think the Niner connection to San Francisco is pretty strong. I would guess Mac Jones. Do you have to give up like a three or a five?

I need more than that, bro. Come on. He's on the cheap, and he could be your starter all season. And oh, by the way, you're in the NFC. The last thing the Niners need, Mac Jones to go there, thrive with KOC. They win 11 games that make the playoffs. I'm sure you saw the stat. the Niners have the most travel of any team in NFL history next season.

Because they got to go to Australia. And like, we don't know what's going on with the receiving room. You're the Niners. I don't think you can give up Mack Jones. Yeah, because Brock Purdy gets dinged up. Yeah. Being honest. Stop taking unnecessary jab at my guy, Brock Purdy.

But in all seriousness, Tua? No. If the dolphins cut him, you're telling me eight games of Tua? If he has to start eight games? I'm not going to pay that salary. No, no, no. The dolphins are going to have to cut him. I don't think anybody's straight.

I would take Mack Jones over to him. What about Kyler Murray? If the Cardinals cut him, you're not paying, you're paying bargain basement deal. No, I don't think he fits what Kevin O'Connell wants to do. I'm not sure Kyler Murray. I think he has a market. It's not a good one. It's not good teams.

I think the good teams are, I mean, it's, I think people that have worked with Arizona, people like Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Kheim, I mean, they've left Arizona, and they've been frank about what it's like. You know, it's not ideal. It's not a great football operation. My only concern with McCarthy is Kevin O'Connell is clearly entering this season, you know, on a warm seat. You go playoffs. You move on from Darnold.

You regress. You got to bounce back. There's a big year for KOC. I like him. I know you like him as well. They got to make the right decision. Final story is a guy we haven't talked about on the show in weeks. Shadur Sanders, Colin.

Yes, Shadour back in the news. Because apparently, according to new head coach Todd Munkin, it sounds like it's Shadur Sanders against Dishon Watson for the starting quarterback job. And here's what Munkin had to say about Shadur. What you see is elite playmaking ability. That's in him. You've seen it.

We've seen it. You saw it in college. you saw it on tape last year. Sure, there's a ways to go, but what rookie isn't? I mean, what first year player doesn't have a long way to go? I think it's an open competition. I mean,

I don't know why it wouldn't be an open competition. I don't mean that saying it harshly, but I don't think there's enough on film over the last couple years one way or the other to say, boy, we have a starter quarterback yet, whether internally or externally.

I don't love hearing that Chedure has elite playmaking ability when the tape from last season shows none of that. You even said he looks slow trying to escape, right? I mean, where's he getting elite playmaking ability? Maybe in Colorado. I would give him the starting job because I think you want a quarterback in a year

and I don't want any excuses if they move off Shadur. So I would give him the starting nod. I don't think he's going to be a great quarterback. He doesn't have any great traits. He's not a great athlete. He's not big. He didn't have a huge arm. He didn't have any trait.

He didn't have a wow trait. But I do think he can make plays. I don't think his judgment's always great on or off the field. But there's something there. So why not play them? I mean, everybody in the world knows. They want to get Arch Manning. Their owners connect them to the Manning.

Everybody in the world knows it. So let's shoot or play. Have some fun. Stink. And see where it lands. So now, now you earlier said the NFL does not have a tanking thing. We now have the Browns. You're saying go get Arch Manning.

The Jets. go get Archmanning. Yeah, but that's not tankings. The jets are going to be bad because their coach is incompetent. And the Browns are going to be bad because they don't have a quarterback. So why not play Shadour, the popular kid, who has more big play potential than Dylan Gabriel. That's not tanking. What about Arizona?

That's what we have. Aren't they in the same boat? Like, don't pay Malik Willis. Go out there, trot out Quinn Ewers or whoever and stink and go for an elite quarterback. That's not tanking. That's just, listen, we're not going to commit to Malik Willis isn't tanking. It's just, we're going to. going to wait for a quarterback.

Well, wait, if you don't have a quarterback and you don't want to chase Malik Willis, isn't that like a soft tank? No. That's like saving your resources for one year. You can remember, it's $30 million. I think this is a great idea, by the way. That's what Sam Darnold's making. Okay.

$30 million for a singular player is a commitment. Just because I don't want to commit to that, doesn't make it tanking. Well, I guess the argument would be if you get. Get Malik Willis at 30 million. He's going to win you six, seven games. Exactly. And that's not the goal. Arizona's been winning six games forever.

Thank you. But I guess we quibble over the word. I just feel like what they're doing is similar to the NBA, not Apple's to Apples. NBA saying we're sitting our guys. Tanking. Tanking would be Cleveland not playing a healthy Miles Garrett. That would be tanking. Not playing Shadoor Sanders, but not playing your top.

three players. That would be tanking if they're healthy. Just late scratches. That's tanking. They're not doing that. No, I'm scared. No way. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lye News. In Chicago, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? is 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. 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. Well, 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,

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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in 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. on everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen, she won. 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, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I 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 Eyeheart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Yep, new Laker ownership, already pushing the Lakers in a new direction. Lon Rosen has come from the Dodgers. He's back to being an executive with the Lakers, and they hired Tony Bennett, not the I Left My Heart in San Francisco singer. It's Tony Bennett, the coach of Virginia, that built a very successful program despite never scoring in the 70s. But, you know, Brad Stevens worked with the Celtics.

I could see it working, you know, knows the college game. Lakers have multiple draft picks. And as Rachel Nichols talked about, you know, she talked about this earlier, is if you want to be in the Luca business, build around him, you probably can't be in the LeBron business going forward. Here's Rachel. There is a big sort of let's go to the summer, let's get there, let's move forward. And while the Lakers have said LeBron is welcome back in the organization, it's very clear that

building around Luca does not involve LeBron James. I don't really blame some sort of the lazy plays or the not getting to the rim as much or some of the falling apart that we've seen because I think everyone's mind on that team is we're going to fight as hard as we can, but we all know we're not finals content. right now. Yeah. No, I mean, the other thing that has not only surfaced, but it's become true, and we remarked on this multiple times this week is it can't take a year for something to work.

Like, it can't take a year. Duane Wade and LeBron worked 15 games in. 15 games in, you're like, oh, crap, they're really, really good. And their styles weren't perfect fits. KD worked instantly. We're a year in. The net ratings are bad when LeBron and Luca are on the floor together. You can't tell me you believe in data and analytics and then just not use it for Luke and LeBron.

They're the worst Laker tandem. The worst on the team. The worst tandem. So the net ratings, the plus minus. Now, when Luca, and we've been on this now for six months. When Luca's on the court with Austin Reeves, actually it's fine. Because Luca is the clear attacker. He is the clear centerpiece.

And Austin plays off him. But asking LeBron an inconsistent deep shooter to play off anybody at this point in his career, it's not going to work. I remember the first game back, remember LeBron didn't start the year. He was injured. And then he came back for a game. And everybody said, oh, my God, they play together great. And I said, take a deep breath. game. Is LeBron, over the course of the next 50 games, going to be fine being Lucas valet?

And the answer is no. Austin Reeves has no problem, undrafted guy, grateful, humble, he had no problem being the valet to Luca. LeBron's not going to do that. And the other thing is they've got draft picks. LeBron's game, it would have fit much better. It would have never fit ideally with D. Wade or Luca. But it would have fed much better. it would have fit much better with Lucas seven years ago when when LeBron was still in his pride because he was still seven, eight years ago, an elite defender. He's not. Go look at how many LeBron games he's best in the first quarter.

I mean, he's really a very effective first quarter player, but he doesn't have the juice and the energy to give you those 40 plus nights on both ends of the floor. So it just doesn't work. And you want to be somewhat, you don't want to be. You don't want to be classy and elegant and little artistic on the separation, but nothing should take a year. It's like if you're married, if you're in therapy three times a week, that's too much work. Marriage and relationships shouldn't need therapy three times a week.

I got a year of Luca and LeBron. I've got out of shape Luca last year coming off an injury in shape Luca this year, and Austin Reeves was available both years. So I've got, well, they've only played so many games together. That's because Luke is hurt and LeBron's old. So I've got more than enough data that tells me, yeah, LeBron and Luke on the floor together. It's not great. It's bad defensively and it's not exactly a great fit offensively.

So the highest scoring duo on the Lakers this year is Luca and Austin Reeves. LeBron and Luca are the seventh highest scoring Laker duo. Now, try to figure that out. How the hell is that possible? So the future of this franchise is J.J. Reddick, Luca, and Austin Reeves. Outside of that, I'd move everything, including the furniture. I'd move everything. It's J.J. Reddick, Luca, Austin Reeves.

And I would move Austin Reeves if I got the right offer. But it is nice to have a second shot creator when, Luca goes to the bench. And Austin is a bucket getter, a free throw getter, hustles is butt off, limited defensively, but the whole damn roster is. But I'm not anti-Austin Reeves. I think you can win a championship if Austin Reeves is your fourth best player, and I think you can get to a conference final if Austin Reeves is your third best player.

If he's your second best player, I mean, let's be honest, if you moved, if you let's LeBron go and you moved Austin Reeves and a bunch of picks to get Janus. Wouldn't that feel better? Janus and Luca? That's actually a great fit because you can protect Luke on the

back end. That's actually a really good fit. But, yeah, I mean, the numbers are in. The numbers, Messi goes to Miami. Instantly works. Katie to the Warriors instantly works. It can't look

like this. Randy Moss to the Patriots worked instantly. LeBron and Luca, seventh best Lakers scoring duo? I mean, it's not much of an argument. And Austin and Luca, number one scoring duo. So there you go, Jay Mack. Sometimes, Jay Mack, I just got to sit you down and say, listen to your mentor. Here's how the world works. Self-appointed mentor.

If we're being real, remember, a year ago, the Lakers were like, oh, shucks. you want to trade us Luca? Well, of course we'll take him. We'll figure it out later. They steal Luca from Dallas. And then now they're figuring it out. They're seeing LeBron and Luca doesn't quite work together. That's fine.

LeBron has an existing contract. It ends at the end of this year. I don't think there's anything to worry about. I mean, again, like you said, go get Janus. Figure it out, find the role players. Well, they brought in Tony Bennett. You know why? Because they're draft picks.

They're realizing what the leagues become is what San Antonio, Detroit, NOKC are. draft and develop teams. That's the new CBA. And so they brought Tony Bennett on like, we need to nail these three draft picks. Assuming you keep them. Fair.

Fair point. All right, we're done. Check out that Fox Sports. 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 get to ask other 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 IHeart 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, the moment's set to find Roland Garris. Jen should win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.