The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - The possible end of the Chiefs dynasty, the Cowboys drama, the AFC battlefield, Tyler Dunne

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

NFL reporter Tyler Dunne stops by The Herd to talk about the possible end of the Chiefs dynasty, the Jerry Jones-Micah Parsons contract drama, who will be the last team standing in the AFC, and moreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. 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.

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And she likes Clay. Listen, Leonard Rabakina 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio

and noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com. or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back to the herd. Got a great guest coming up right now. So he left the traditional media to start his own deal. GoLongtd.com.

You know me as a guy who started his own website. I appreciate that. Wait until you see his setup. Let's go to Tyler Dunn here on. the Cowherd Global Network. Looks like he's in like a log cabin in Antarctica. I love it. It looks very rustic.

Tyler, how you doing, man? Summer's ending. Heck yeah, man. Building a house down here about an hour south of Buffalo, New York. Salamacca, Ellicottville, Great Valley, if anybody out there's familiar. He grew up like on 400 acres in the woods. This is like my dad's old office. So it's our temporary office when we talk in the future.

I'll be about, you know, an ancient. of a mile in the woods that direction. We'll have a better setup for it. Let's keep it rustic. I can't get past the 400 acres, bro. Are you like Jerry Jones with the oil money? I mean, really, sir, 400 acres is insane. Maybe you'll have your own football field there,

and you could, I don't know, get Jordan love to drop by. Let's start with the Packers, Tyler. You used to cover the team. He obviously had this small surgery. Packers laying a little bit low. We're hearing a lot about a lot of other teams, but I'm getting vibes that the Packers could be a sneaky Super Bowl contender, Tyler. Your thoughts?

Totally agree. I think that this is the year that Jordan Love, the Green Bay Packers take a gigantic leap. When you really kind of look at his development, this is year six, right? Three years with Aaron Rogers, Matt LaFleur, and it took time. It took time for Brian Gutickinson, Matt LaFlorter, got to move on from the Aaron Rogers business. But I think his third year as a starter, everything I'm here in, Jay Mack is he's ready to really take the keys of this offense.

I think that this has really been a golden opportunity. for Matt LaFleur to kind of build the Packers in his image, build Jordan Love in his image. And for the first time this offseason, this summer, Jordan talked a lot about those injuries last year, the knee, the groin, how much it really affected his ability to improvise, to create. And the run, the dude's six four.

He's got that long stride. He can be a playmaker if he wanted to. He just kind of tapped the brakes, slam the brakes out of necessity last year. So I really do think this year, Jordan Love takes a huge leap, and they've built a nucleus of talent around him. It sounds like Matthew Golden has scar potential. They've got a top three running back.

They've got a solid line, and the defense year two in that system, I think it only improved. It's interesting. You seem very bullish on this team and going into the vision of the head coach. What do you think that vision is? Because I'm assuming you mean, we're beyond Favre, or beyond Rogers. This is a new look, a new vibe, a new vibe. feel what is that what does that look like for lafleur you know he can be hard on players he can be hard on coaches and you know we really kind of dig into the lineage of matt lafleur and who he's

been around kailashanahanan and mike mcdaniel shan mcbay that whole fun bunch and you know it's wild it's fascinating but i i do think that that that demanding nature is something that works with a young roster right if you're um you know coming in and you're around 33 and 34 and 35-year-olds that have kind of heard every type of message that you can imagine. Maybe it doesn't kind of resonate that well. But I feel like in Jordan Love, he has as a young quarterback who's hungry. This is a big reason. They drafted a quarterback in the first round when they didn't necessarily need a quarterback

after Aaron Rogers took you the NFC championship game. They talked to guys like David Yost at Utah State. They knew how Jordan Love would respond to hard coaching, respond to an offense that can be complex. and I think that in year three, if he's healthy, and I'm not worried about the thumb. Non-throwing hands, right? I know, play this clip months in the future. We'll see.

I think that health-wise, if he's where he needs to be, this could be the best quarterback in the NFC. He has everything you could possibly want. I'm sorry, best quarterback in the NFC? Is Jalen Hertz dead? With Matthew Stafford just retire? Jaden Daniels is still breathing. You're that high on Jordan Love?

Absolutely, man. I'm posted up on that hill. We're dying there. We've talked about it. We've argued about Jordan Love on your pod. That's right. There's all the athletic stuff. There's all the physical stuff.

It's all there. But so much of this position is what you don't see. It's those other six days of the week. It's everything other than those three hours on a Sunday. And I'll tell you what, there's a lot of really talented quarterbacks across the NFL who we think are going to take that huge step and ascend and be superstars. But they're not putting in that time.

And sometimes those stories kind of leak to the public and we learn a little bit more here and there. But I tell you, everything that I know about Jordan Love, people close to Jordan Love, this is somebody who is dedicated in a way that will allow him to potentially be that superstar. And Lamar, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes. They're all in the AFC. That's what makes the NFC fascinating. It's totally wide open for a quarterback and a team like Green Bay to win a Super Bowl. Get to it. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays, and New York.

Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Covino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, and of course the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world?

We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio.

Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Covino and Rich. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. 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 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

was... 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 on Humor 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose

on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. 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 athletes 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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. So you just mentioned,

you know, putting in the time for Jordan Love and maybe other quarterback don't. Are you maybe alluding to a guy whose name rhymes with Trevor Zorrence, by any chances? Who are you talking about? Do you want to put a specific name on there? I'm just saying in general, man, you hear it all the time. Like they're putting homework clauses in Kyle,

Tyler Murray's contract. And I'm telling you, we really do, I think, assume that all of these starting quarterbacks across the NFL work hard. That's just not the case. I mean, it really is. I mean, not everybody needs to be Tom Brady eating the avocado ice cream and, you know, dedicating themselves to unhealthy extremes. But I think that's so much a modern football with how defenses are playing you, right?

It's one on the fringes. I mean, the two deep safeties and defensive coordinators studying every one of your minute, nuanced tendencies that you don't even know you possess over these last seven months, you better have a counter. And I just think that Jordan Love is one of those players that was. have a counter this season. All right, let's pivot to the AFC. Buffalo Bills, another team you've covered

very extensively. You know them well. This kind of has to be it for McDermann and Allen, right? They keep knocking on the door, getting super close. You know, you could blame the coaching last year, the lack of tush push practice, which failed miserably.

But I think I have Buffalo with the team winning the Super Bowl this year. I'm curious, do you think they finally get over the hump? The chiefs are dealing with that that little wedding thing that was announced yesterday and the Ravens still have Lamar Jackson who hasn't figured out what to do in January or, you know, Mark Andrews fumbled. But where are you on the bills? Yeah, right here in Western New York.

And look, we've been critical of the Buffalo Bills. You know, we talked about it with Colin a couple of years ago, Sean McDermen, that inability to get over the hump. There's a reason for that. There's a reason this team tightens up in big games. But I love this offseason for the Buffalo Bills. I'll be the first to admit it. But they lost to the Chiefs again at Arrowhead,

AFC Championship game. I'm thinking, you know what? You can't stop a nosebleed. Patrick Mahomes, you know, doesn't even break a sweat. You might as well load up on weapons and try to win 45 to 38 against this team. And Brandon Bean basically did the opposite.

He went out there inside Michael and Joey Bose and Larry Oak and J.obie. And then he drew Maxwell Harrison, T.J. Sanders, Dion Walker, Landon, they loaded up on defense. And I think the message is, okay, Sean, here are all the menu of options you could possibly want on the D-line at Lacker in the secondary, young guys, veterans, all over the place. Let's see some different results. Because the player you're showing on the screen right now with Josh Allen, he shouldn't have to be perfect. Look, look at the past quarterbacks in the past Hall of Famer all-time great.

You know, guys that were trying to win a Super Bowl when Tom Brady is annoyed himself at the goat. Peyton Manning, Aaron Rogers, Drew Breeze. You look at their Super Bowl runs. Peyton had a terrible game at Baltimore in 06. Aaron Rogers, his defense was giving him pick, sixes, and Nick Collins is whacking Ben Rutherstberger's arm. Ryan Pickin and Clay Matthews are forcing that play on Richard Menonohm the Super Bowl. And, you know, Drew Breez had help, right?

He's got the on-site kick. He's got players Tracy Porter making plays at DB. The Bills never have any of those plays. They're never able to give Josh Allen any of that. help. So any criticism of Josh Allen in January to me is just absolutely absurd. I get it. They had the ball last and they weren't able to score, but he shouldn't have to be perfect. I think that was Brandon Bean's message to Sean McDermott to the defensive coaching staff. Here you go. Let's create a turnover, right? Let's force a punt. Show some type of resistance this time.

Wow. I did not expect a Richard Mendenhall reference. Well done, Tyler. Let me just ask you, though, about the Bill's wide receiver depth chart. I'm going to name their top three receivers. Khalil Shakur, a very solid slot receiver, Keon Coleman, second year guy, and Josh Palmer, who the chargers are like, meh, that's the receiving room. Is that enough to get it done in January? Absolutely. This team's leading receiver in the AFC championship game was Matt Collins, right? Oh, God. Somebody knows it. There he is. They know him more for, you know, showing up barefoot and dressing up, like, puppet characters to play the Chiefs. He was a fun story.

Like, I guess it was cool for a while, but that shouldn't be your leading receiver in that game. And you still came that close in the Super Bowl. I sat down with been beat over the off season. We got into all of this. And I thought he made a lot of really good points. They did score 30 points in eight straight games. They were able to field an MVP player and Josh Allen.

So that tells something about the players around him. It's going to come down to Dalton Kincaid, Keanu, you're back-to-back, first picks in the draft, they've got to produce. And I think Brandon Bean would admit this too. Look, if you want to judge him three years from now, and if you see that Aladdin McConkey's a star, if you see that Xavier Worthy is humiliating your team in these playoff games and Keon Coleman isn't producing, then we can have that conversation.

But I think right now this is a team that's scoring 30 points a game, and they had to kind of evolve. Think about where the Buffalo Bills were a few years ago, Jay Mack, when they're hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs. They've been wanting this home playoff game forever. And wouldn't they got it? They couldn't win in that kind of climate. They were a dome offense.

So now you do have an offense with a line, with a running game. You got James Cook lined or locked up long term. I think that they know that the toggle between play styles. And that's more important than maybe loading up salary into a couple of receivers. Because, hey, you know, Miami, Cincinnati, they kind of went that route. And as you see with their roster construction, that leaves you vulnerable in other spots. Listen, we haven't done a lot of cowboys today.

I'm sure you're sick of this story, but the very latest on Micah Parsons, somebody took a picture of him at the airport, and people like, oh, he's probably leaving town. Apparently he's getting a second opinion on his back. It seems like Jerry and Micah are both dug in here, neither side willing to budge. How do you think this one ends,

given the history of Jerry Jones, and also the kind of the impact that Michael would have, on this defense we all know where this is going right like this is headed toward opening night jerry jones is going to know all eyes are on the NFL his NFL he's the most powerful person in the NFL and then that's when the news breaks that he resides i don't i get it there's a lot of noise around micha parsons there's a lot said publicly especially on jerry jones's side i mean even my jerry jones standards the amount of podcast appearances and public statements has been uh pretty pretty pretty pretty high level here, but they don't, they don't care about winning. They just, they just don't.

If the Dallas Cowboys prioritized winning, they would have locked up DAC a year ahead of time, C.D. Lamb a year ahead of time, Michael Parsons a year ahead of time, and then figured out a way to get three or four different starters to bolster a team that's won 12 games three years in a row. I was talking to a source who brought up a moment for Mike McCarthy at a last season. He said that Mike McCarthy's in the team cafeteria. You got all these marketing people in I mean, right, all the tours are going all over the place at the Star in Frisco. But he sees all these people walk in all these different directions. And he turns to somebody and in so many words, says he's fed up that he wouldn't have taken the job if he knew if it was this bad.

I think every coach going into that situation knows what they're getting into with Jerry Jones. But nobody knows it's as bad as it is inside Jerry's world. And winning is just not priority. Number one, when you're the richest sports franchise in the world, it's not hyperbole to say that. So, yeah, they just jerk around their best players because they can. They think they're the smartest people in the room. They don't modernize the franchise.

And if you're a Cowboys fan out there, I don't know. I guess the only thing you can do is not show up to the stadium, but even that isn't going to matter to Jerry and Stephen. One more thing. Jerry and Stephen have different philosophies. Like Stephen Jones, he does not want to spend. He does not want to get caught up into dead money. He abhorred money.

He tells his pro scouting staff during free agency, just go bottom feeding. We're not going big fish, you know, big game hunting here at all. And you see that the last three to five years. I think Jerry would still be that wild card, but they've kind of rained him in. And I think the answer is somewhere in the middle.

All right. Final one, Tyler. Brock Purdy, a quarterback near and dear to my heart, dead last round pick, but it has really delivered for the Niners. Overrated, properly rated or underrated? Your thoughts?

I think he's properly rated. Again, coming back to all of the stuff that you don't necessarily see those three hours on a Sunday, and it's damn good for Brock Bird. He knows where the ball has to go. He processes quickly. He is a Kyle Shanahan. Think of all the quarterbacks

that Kyle Shanahan has been through, back to his days as an assistant coach. It's been a long, winding journey to this point, but I think he really did find a quarterback who thinks like him, who is going to go from one to two to three to four like him, and that's Brock Purdy. Is he going to blow you away with four or three speed? No, is he going to stiff arm people like Josh Allen?

Absolutely not, and he's not going to be tightrope in the trapeze and doing all that Patrick Mahomes stuff either. But he is one of, if not the smartest quarterback in the NFL. As long as they're not decimated with injuries all around him, which was the case last year, San Francisco is the team that we are not talking nearly enough about. I think if they're healthy, I've been critical this team too in the past.

And Kyle Shanahan, and that arrogance has tended to bite him, you know where. At the worst possible moments, he's still the mind on Correel that every other coach in the NFL is copying. All right, Tyler Dunn, go longtd.com. And I'll just say NFC fans are going to want to tune into a site for sure next week. tease something to me during the break i can't reveal it but uh it's a big one coming next week so tyler good stuff enjoy the log cabin life bro and uh for the 400 acres hey thanks so much if anybody wants to go hunting come on down let me know we had a bear we had a bear on the trail cam just yesterday so we could give you some assistance no thank you uh i'll

pass on that one all right tyler done uh coming up next year on the herd oh boy rachel's got some spicy trash talk ahead of Texas, Ohio State? Cannot wait for that, that's next. 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, nice?

Huge news. 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 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. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... 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 Headwere writer Street or 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. 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 athletes 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience

in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so rapidly. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about.

All healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Great stuff from Tyler Dunn. GoLongtdh.com. Definitely check out his stuff. Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Well, you and Tyler just had quite a love fest about the Packers, But I've got to put a little bit of question mark there. All right. So you, of course, remember Love injures his thumb, Green Bay's preseason game. He ended up getting surgery. He returned to practice just six days later,

and the team has been outwardly maintaining there's no problem there. But now, Jason, a Packers insider, is saying that the thumb surgery, quote, is not insignificant, adding that the team is heavily dependent on the health of their starting QB. So, Jay Mack, you remember a few days ago, we're talking about Matt Stafford,

I said, in my opinion, there's no minor back issue, right? I'm not sure that to a quarterback, there is a minor hand injury, even if it's not his non-throwing hand. What do you think? That's fair. I haven't had a surgery in a while. I'm not a professional athlete, shocker. But I cannot imagine having surgery on my thumb and then going and playing with two weeks later.

Like, that just sounds insane. I mean, it's his non-throwing hand, but obviously you take snap. I mean, we've got him up on the screen right now in the studio. I mean, he's got both hands. They're on the ball. And, you know, when he first came back from surgery, they had him taking snaps off a stool, so nobody would injure the hand on the way back. That doesn't sound good. You know, got to be careful.

I don't, I mean, so how do you see that division shaking out? Are you still lions at the top, or do you think there's? I like Green Bay, too. Okay. But I do think you have to account. I mean, Love had three separate injuries last season, remember? I just think you have to account for the fact that that's a danger. Now, they still had a top four offense last season, and they're supposed to have a top five offense again this season.

LeFleur is pretty damn good. He's almost underrated. No, I mean, when Love went out, he completely changed the offense. And then he changed it back for Jordan. I mean, it's very impressive. He's a McVeigh guy, right? McVe, Shanahan. He's in that crew, that like posse. The Coal Kids Club? Yeah, they're the smart, smart offensive guys club. Let's talk about the Vikings. They were looking for wide receiver help with Justin Jefferson coming off that hamström. injury. Jordan Addison, as we know, suspended for three games.

Mondale Moore, suffering a season-ending knee injury. Well, they got their guy. They brought back Adam Thielen. Remember, he spent nine seasons in Minnesota. They got him back from the Panthers. This to me is a huge win, both in terms of who this guy is and also what he can do for them on the field. What do you take out of it? Yeah, he was in witness protection in Carolina, right? I mean, I don't remember. I mean, he was struggling. They didn't have anybody. Well, they didn't have anybody. And he's not a one. He's a three, I guess.

But Minnesota, I didn't realize their depth chart was this bad at receiver. Obviously, they have Justin Jefferson. Addison, as you said, suspended, but Jalen Naylor, Ty Fenton, Tim Jones. I don't even know those guys. Rondell Moore got hurt. So, yeah, this was a smart move. They needed him for the young kid McCarthy. Do you like McCarthy, by the way?

I do. I think he's promising. I like that switch at quarterback. I like that he is going to have feeling there because he's just a steadying presence. He's been in the organization, he knows the locker room. He and Jefferson played together already for three seasons, so that relationship is really good. And even though he might have been a witness protection a little bit with the Panthers, he

really helped develop Bryce Young to some extent. So just sort of, you know, just keep working with the young quarterback. So I like all of that. Yeah, those are actually feeling highlights. He did do things. He did do things. I just know he was like a fantasy god. It was awesome.

And then he goes to Carolina and it's like, bro, what's going on? That might have more to do with Carolina. Yeah, yeah, I love that. There's another video, by the way. I don't know if we have it, but it's very sweet. It's his kids celebrating going back to Minnesota. Yeah, because they just daughter there. So it's just a nice, it's just, you know, when someone wants to be there that much,

the whole family's there and settled, I think it's going to be a good influence on the young guys. Yeah. That looks like my wife and kids celebrating when I have to go to work in the morning. Oh, he's finally leaving. Goodness, he's such a distraction. Out of here. There you go. All right, let's talk college football.

Well, we're getting so close, Jason. I feel like I've been looking forward to this for months, and here we are. We have the matchup of the year Saturday on Fox. Texas, number one, heading to the shoe to take on number three Ohio State. The Buckeyes, of course, named sophomore Julian San as they're starting QB for this season. Texas Edge, Colin Simmons, having a little fun with that. He posted a picture to his Instagram story. It's just of the quarterback.

There's no context, which to me makes it absolutely creepier. Here's Simmons on why he made the post. Honestly, I'm just excited that they chose a quarterback, you know? There's really nothing major behind it, I'll say. You know, there's no target for him and nothing like that. I'm just glad that they have a quarterback that I'm ready to sack. Just glad they have a quarterback that I'm ready to sack. It is strange.

I mean, where do you rank this kind of trash talk? It's not quite Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma-style trash talk. but where do you rank this? I mean, let me ask, I started to answer a question with a question, but like, aren't you glad you didn't have social media in college? Oh, God, yes. Like, he's doing this and it's on TV shows.

He just posted a picture, and it's going to go viral all over the message boards. And, yeah, I would have stepped in it a lot. His answer was kind of choppy, but I don't know. If I'm Ryan Day, I'm like, guys, nothing on social. Zero dark 30, LeBron style. Yeah. Let's focus on the game.

I don't care what's happening on IG or Snapchat or wherever the kids are, TikTok. Yeah, I wonder if Sark is not thrilled with this. You just don't want to say anything. Yes. And look, I will say that just posting a picture when you said, oh, he just posted a picture, that's creepier. That is a bigger deal.

No context. It's like Hannibal Wector, like, staring at Jody Foster when she comes in, just like sitting there with like no comment. I thought that was a strong statement. Yeah, Silence of the Lambs. That those scenes with Jody Foster and him in the, or the penitentiary or one. whatever it was.

Very creepy. Yeah, my kids, I tried to watch a little of silence with them, and there's no, no, no, no. We want nothing to do it. Yeah, there's a post. It's just, it's like a promo-fric photo off the website. It's pretty good. All right.

You know, our coverage starts off at 9 a.m. Big noon kickoff. We're getting closer. I can't write. Yeah. Oh, it's 48. No, today's Wednesday. So we're like 72 hours away.

All right. Rachel with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. All right. Coming up, you know, our staff just sent me something on Archbanning. I really like it.

But also we talked Brock Purdy earlier. We're going to do all that here to wrap up the show next year on The Herd. Oh, we are going to stay here. We're not going to commercial. Yes. Surprise. So we talked earlier about Brock Purdy. Yes, surprise indeed.

We talked earlier about Brock Purdy. And I defended Brock like staunchly, probably too much. Steve Weish came on and had some interesting thoughts on Purdy in the Niners. I could see him trying to over-extend himself last year because there's a certain standard with the 49ers. This just wasn't the same team. So a lot of times, guys are going to try to do more than what they're not necessarily capable of doing, but do more than what they should do to live up to the standard that's been set. I think this is a reset with some of the changes on that roster on both sides of the ball,

with a new receiving crew, and with CMC back, the opportunity is there for Brock Purdy to do some big things. I think this is kind of a refresher for the 49ers. I don't know if they'll be dominant early, but we'll see if they gain some traction and get going as the season goes along. But I think Purdy is the least of their worries. I think he's kind of the North Pole that everybody can kind of look to to guide them. Yeah, it definitely feels like I like his choice of words are reset.

They purge four or five defensive starters who had gotten old. They move on from Debo Samuel. There were some reports he was a bit of an issue in the locker room about wanting to get paid. but just simply having a healthy McCaffrey is going to be huge. They need Joanne Jennings healthy. They need Brandon Ayuk back. I mean, the table is set for the Niners to crush. As I said earlier, 15 of 17 games, their favorite next season.

And for all this, well, Brock wasn't great last year. We showed the numbers earlier, guys. He had a better season statistically than Stafford, than Herbert, then Stroud. But those guys, you know, they were either number one or number two or what I've heard, where it was like five or six, they were high top ten picks,

so they get the benefit of the doubt. Brock Purdy was the dead last pick in the draft. They're never giving him the benefit of the doubt. However, Greg Kosell, coward's guy, really likes some of the things he's seen from Brock Purdy. In terms of being what we call a post-snap operator, in other words, when he takes the snap, he has such an intuitive feel for what he sees,

and therefore he's really, really, really good timing and anticipation thrower it's just innate to him he sees it really quickly so purdy is a high level post snap operator he's a really really good player purdy is a really good quarterback he's just not a dynamic athlete who's necessarily going to make those kind of special plays on his own but as a pocket quarterback he's pretty high level so obviously cossell studies all these guys you know Rachel, when people talk, oh, who's the best quarterback of the NFC? We heard Tyler earlier. Sure.

I like Jordan. I like Jordan. Love. You ask Cowherd, it's going to be Stafford or Gough. Other people may lean toward. I don't know, Dak Prescott's the highest paid quarterback in the league. Sure. I'm a Jalen Hurts guy.

Brock Purdy's name never comes up. The narrative around him, it annoys me to no end. It irks me. I feel like I'm an underdog. Brock Purdy's an underdog. Where are you on Purdy? I think he's better than people think. I think just being the last player in the draft is always going to shape people's opinions of him,

no matter what he accomplishes. Even if he wins the Super Bowl, people will say, oh, can you believe it? Mr. Relevant won a Super Bowl. I mean, it will always be there for him. I think that he is underrated. I don't know if I would go so far as to put him the best quarterback in the NFC. I think some of the other guys you've been naming certainly just have more credentials, right? And there is a point in sports for me where it's always, okay, do it.

And if you've done it, then I'm going to grade you hire. We forget he was in the Super Bowl against Mahomes and led them in overtime for the game Go ahead drive they had to settle for a field goal Spagnolo dialed up a great blitz at the right time And then the vaunted defense couldn't stop Mahomes And they had kind of a great play to end the game and win Purdy wasn't bad in that Super Bowl

Absolutely not again I think he's way underrated I just to me unless until you like your point about Jalen Hertz Who I think I think some of the criticism is fair about Jalen because, you know, if he gets over a certain number of plays a game, I think it's actually only like 30 when the average is 32, but they don't have his good a record. So, and he threw the least that he has since his rookie year last year when they won the Super Bowl. So that's a little bit of why there's a knock on Jalen.

But to me, to your point, this guy's been into Super Bowls. He's won one. I mean, he's been an exceptional quarterback. I got to give him more credit than the guy who hasn't done it yet, but the guy who hasn't done it yet's pretty good. I got to side with you there. maybe if we were to rank do you think

Purdy's top 10 in the league or no because those numbers I was very moved by those numbers you put up at the top of the show that sort of blind taste test thing because I mean striking when you look at those numbers and they're not cherry picked sometimes those are cherry picked

those comparisons you put all of the major passing stats all of the major quarterback stats he's ahead of Stafford he's ahead of some of those other guys and remember it's not like he had McCaffrey. Brandon Ayuk was down. He was working with not total backups, but like second tier guys.

Now, Stroud was missing digs. He went down with the injury. Herbert really didn't have receivers other than Ladd McConkey. Stafford did have his guy, Puka, but Cooper Cup was kind of hurt. So you can split hairs there, but quarterback is just so fascinating. I love ranking these guys because it's subjective. Like you might have C.J. Stroud top seven. I might have him like 10 or 12.

I'm worried that this year is the year that Matthew Stafford, just because of his health, just because of his health. There's no minor back injury. He's going to get beat up. I just think we're going to see that ranking fall a bit. It could be a tough one for the Rams, or they could go to the Super Bowl. They could.

The range of outcomes for the Rams is crazy. All right. Now we're actually going to go to break, and we will come back and wrap up the show. It's Wednesday. This was a good one. We did have more breaking news, folks. It just happens every day.

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