The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - What to expect from Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers, hot NFL trade rumor about Micah Parsons, Greg Jennings

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Greg Jennings stops by The Herd to talk about Aaron Rodgers being voted the most annoying player, realistic expectations for the Steelers, the Packers being interested in Micah Parsons, 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.

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Listen to SportsSlic 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. 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're. know is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Back here on the herd. Next guest is Greg Jennings, Fox Sports NFL analyst. He's over at First Things First today.

Actually, after this show, he's also, you know, an all-time great wide receiver for the Packers. He had a good run with the Vikings as well. He's a bodybuilder. Greg, how are we doing today, man? I'm excellent. You are. I was going, Rachel.

I haven't seen Rachel in a long time. I know, Greg. Jennings, how are you? Rachel's very popular around here. You get out in the trenches with these guys, Jason, you've got to come to more practices. Absolutely. We sweat on those fields in Green Bay.

It's interesting, Greg, because last time you were on with me, it was like we ended on a sour note because I asked a question you didn't seem to love. Maybe you already forgotten it. You do a lot of interviews, you're famous. But I'm going to start here with a tough one. Your boy, Aaron Rogers, was voted the most annoying

player in the NFL. According to a recent poll by, I believe it was Action Network. Greg, I know you're tight with Rogers. I'm sure you guys are texting about this. How was he holding up after being named the most annoyed? First of all, do you agree with that sentiment? He has been a little annoying the last

few years. Well, I think anytime you're in the media as much as he's in the media and your popularity is where his is, and the expectations everywhere you go is to compete for a Super Bowl and him giving you a chance in that not happening in the past few years, yeah, you start to get a little annoyed with that and the excitement starts to dull in the locker room and around the league.

But to say somebody is the most annoying, typically it's because of number one, how you feel about them, how they portray themselves. and they're probably not winning games. Not a lot of people are going to say, if you are winning and having success, that you are an annoying player. It's interesting because Kelsey and Mahomes are two and three, and they're winning a lot.

Aaron Rogers, not as much. By the way, have we talked about this? Do you think in Pittsburgh Rogers is going to thrive and make the playoffs, as you see the list there? Look, I'm not sure if they're going to make the playoffs. I wasn't high on the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. Now, they surprised a lot of us and probably a lot of their fans, based on what they had at the quarterback situation.

I don't see Aaron Rogers being an extreme upgrade. And I understand we fall in love with the resume. I play with the guy. He is a spectacular quarterback. He was a spectacular quarterback. He's not that version of Aaron Rogers that we've seen in years past. Can he show flashes of that? course but the level of consistency of having that be sustained I just we we haven't seen it we

have not seen it since it second to last year in green Bay orders yes second to last year in green Bay so I'm not I'm not picking the Pittsburgh Steelers to do anything this year and it doesn't have a whole lot to do with Aaron Rogers is just I've seen this team in years past just barely get by because of other teams in that AFC conference not living up to what the expectations were for them. Your Packers made the news this week. Now, listen, it's a little suss that this started from some random on social media, but the Packers were then linked to Micah Parsons in a possible trade and Goudicunds was asked about it and was like, I can't talk about it. It's all very coy.

I cannot envision a scenario where the Cowboys trade Micah out of the Packers or the Packers being like, hey, we'll give Michael all the money after giving up draft picks to get him. I don't see it, but maybe I'm missing something. Where are you on this? Look, in a fantasy world, and that's where we all try to like to live in our imagination sometimes. This would be unreal if this happens for the Green Bay Packers, because they've struggled with getting after the quarterback. Obviously, Rashon, Gary and Luke Van Ness, who their main passwords are,

Luke Van Ness has not lived up to the hype. Roshan Gary, since the injury, has been good. He hasn't been great. And just when you have a name like Michael Parsons, and you know what he can provide, and you have a defense that's really good and may have some troubles in the secondary, we will see that's pending.

You need guys that can get out to the quarterback. And so everyone in Green Bay would love this until you start to talk about what you get. got to give up to getting. Yeah, there's no way there's a Hershal Walker package. That's just not, I don't think. That's not what the Green Bay Packers do. Right.

That's just out of character for them. I do have to ask, you know, about the Parsons stuff. And I know a lot of the audience is like, why are you guys talking about Dallas? Because they haven't made a conference championship game since 1995. You might as well talk about the Saints or the Panthers. But I am curious, do you think that, you know, Dallas is kind of still an interesting team? or are like are they relevant? As a player, as a former player,

there was always noise around and surrounding the Dallas Cowboys because of the star, because of the history and America's team and whatnot. But then you see them play and you're like, man, look, they're just like any other team. However, they have an owner that is loud, that draws attention, that is going to have us talking about this team

for one reason or the, other, whether they're having success on the field or whether they're making noise because of situations like contract disputes or what have you. We're going to be talking about the Dallas Cowboys because that's how he has orchestrated this thing. So are they relevant? Yeah, they are relevant. And their team, look, we look at the Cincinnati Bengals as a team that has a chance

because they have a great elite quarterback. And we call Joel Burrell and elite quarterback. Dak Prescott has his work cut out for him. Regardless of what takes place with Michael Parsons in that defense, Dak Prescott is healthy. You have added another receiver. Let's see what you can do. Can you live up to this elite quarterback status that you are being paid to be?

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino 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 I Heart Radio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world?

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We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... 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 did 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 for 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 Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funny.

This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. 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 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. Are you a good person because you're a good person? free. 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, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about

healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 Levin 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 Levin, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaking of elite quarterbacks or wannabes, Caleb Williams in Chicago, I'm coming under fire right now, Greg. Just because I had to take that, like, it doesn't seem like Caleb and Ben are on the same page.

the messaging out of Chicago. I don't think is great right now. We had Albert Breer echo some of that earlier. Where are you on this first year relationship? Remember, Caleb was basically freelancing his final year at USC, just doing whatever, run-around guy. And he did a lot of the same from Chicago last year, where he didn't get a lot of structure

and he was running for his life, took 68 sacks. All of a sudden, he's going to be a drop-back passer like a Jared Gough? Is that what Ben wants? Do you think that's feasible? Look, we had a chance to talk with Ben, Johnson earlier this week and a lot of the questions were like where is he from a maturity standpoint for me because the talent I believe we all can agree it's there we know he possesses the skill set and the talent however the acumen the understanding of what is being asked in certain situations and then once you get that down okay put your spin on it spice it up a bit but until you get it you can't just go out there freelancing and I think that's the messaging that Ben Johnson is trying to get across to his young quarterback and he knows there's going to be growing pains. There's going to be

moments that he does it and he executes it well and it looks great and we're going to expect to see that moving forward the moment we see it because of the talent that we know he possesses. However, Ben Johnson is trying to be realistic and understanding he is a very young quarterback that probably didn't have this type of discipline structure around him last season. And he understands that. And so I talked about the first play of the game of their preseason game against Kansas City and the jet sweep. And that being on your quarterback.

And how frustrating it is as a play caller, offensive coordinator mind to see your quarterback not be able to time that up knowing that's all on you. Those are the types of things that I feel like Ben Johnson is trying to suppress a little bit because it's like we can't have those type of mistakes when we're trying to be a team that's competitive. We have all the weapons that we need. We're building all this stuff around you to support you. You can't do those types of things. There are certain mistakes that you can take.

We can handle that. We can correct that. But when you make mistakes like that where it's on your case, to time up a guy that you put in motion and we work this play all week. And it's the first play of the game. Those are the types of plays that just stay with you as a coach and as players. And you can't let that go. Yeah.

So you see on the screen, the Bears host the Vikings on Monday night football in week one. That's J.J. McCarthy in his first start with the Vikings versus Caleb Williams, who started last year and now has Ben Johnson. Listen, when you were playing in the NFL, Greg, I'm sure you would see the media overreacted. You guys in the locker room would laugh. Now you're on this side with the media. You know there's going to be a big overreaction to whoever loses this game. If J.J. McCarthy flopped, oh, he wasn't the guy.

You know, they should have kept Arnold. If Caleb flopped, well, when's he getting benched for Tyson Bayesian? I mean, honestly, we're probably headed there in week one. Do you think that this is fair to the young quarterbacks? It's where we are, Jason. This is where we are. Number one, Caleb has come in with so much expectations surrounding him and then to not deliver or to make it look like, man, did you see what he was able to do? Even though he had a really good rookie season, it was good based on rookies coming in and playing at the quarterback position.

However, it wasn't Jane Daniels. It wasn't C.J. Stroud. We have this, we have this sense of always desiring to compare to what we last saw or what we're seeing in current moments. And for JJ, we just saw Sam Darnold. Take this team. And nobody believed in Sam Darnold. Nobody believed in Sam Darno. And so for Sam Darnold to do what he was able to accomplish with that offensive unit, there's going to be pressure for J.J. McCarthy to and, expectation that, you know what, if Sam did it, why can't you do it? You are a first round pick. We know that you won a national championship at the University of Michigan. You are supposed to come right in and keep it rolling. And that's just unrealistic. Both coaches understand that, but fan bases are a little more impatient, and we in the media are even more impatient. Greg Jennings, first things first, man. Greg, it's good to know you as a human.

You're a good dude. I like your analysis. Enjoy the NFL season, buddy. Absolutely, you too. Take care, Rachel. All right. The great Greg Jennings. Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Greg Jennings, class X. That's all I got to say. All right, let's talk a little Travis Kelsey, because as I make, mentioned in the last hour, his jersey sales have topped 200% since he and Taylor Swift announced their engagement. The song Swift put on the Instagram announcement called So High School,

that surged 400% in Spotify downloads. Meta said the post of their engagement has been reposted more than a million times, which is the most in the history of Instagram. That's not all. Yesterday, Kelsey announced a clothing line collab with American Eagle and those clothes are already flying off the shelves. So Jason, I wanted to get your take on this because we heard Kelsey say earlier this summer, too many distractions last season, right? I'm cleaning up the distractions. And he put his money where his mouth is. At least he seemed to over the summer with the workouts. You've heard several of our guys who've come on for interviews this week say they've never seen him in such good shape in years and he's clearly, you know, ready to go. So which side are you on?

Are these distractions going to continue through the season? Or do you feel like when it's football time, he knows he's got to buckle down on football. Yeah, I mean, as is usually the case, is both, right? He knows it's time to buckle down. Let's get this stuff out of the way. Let's get the engagement out of the way. The big podcast with the wife and the clothing line. Is this the same one with the Sydney-Sweeney recently did?

Great jeans, or is that different? It's the same company, but it's a different. I don't even know the clothing brains. You know, I think it's going to be okay. I'm just this Rishi-Rice suspension kind of twists things, because now there's more pressure on. She's early. Yeah, exactly.

Because Hollywood Brown's still not a definite go. I can't believe you just say get the engagement out of the way. Yeah, let's get, let's get. You must be such a romantic at home. Well, listen, trust me, the wife is not happy during football season because I told her, listen, Sundays, I got to work. Saturdays? Saturdays, well, you can watch the college on your phone.

Yeah. But NFL, you got, I need multiple televisions, Red Zone, fantasy gambling. Like, it's a scene, and I'm ordering food every Sunday. So you're going to be buckled down, not distracted during football season. And I'm of the opinion, Kelsey will too. I think it's not a coincidence this is all happening in this dead week before the season. Probably. I've been agree with you. Yeah.

We'll see. Let's talk a little lions, right? They lost offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson. We've just been talking about him in Chicago. Defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, to the Jets. Now, some people have been doubting if they'll have that same level of success. But the guys over in Detroit say they are motivated by all this talk. Rob receiver Amon Rae St. Brown said they are looking forward to seeing Ben, right, twice a year.

And he actually told his former OC, quote, we are going to F you. Oh, and I don't think he just said F. That's just me reading into it. But I believe he said more than one letter. That's just my guess. Anyway, do you feel that this is going to motivate them? Or if you look at this list of teams that have had coordinators leave, it hasn't gotten great for. for them. So which way do you think it's going to go? These are teams that lost both their OC and their DC in the previous season. Oh my. You had one AFC championship appearance from the Chargers, but otherwise, you're talking about wildcard losses. Yeah, that's not great. You know, remember I asked Greg, hey, whoever loses between McCarthy and Caleb, it's going

to be open season on the loser. Well, that Lions Packers game, if the Lions lose that, see everything everybody said all summer, they didn't look crisp, not buttoned up. See, I give up 34 points and they lose, and it's like the lions are headed to a disaster. We'll try not to overreact, but it's tough not to, right? I mean, you've been doing this long enough. You know there's going to be overreaction. Of course. I mean, everything with the NFL is like that, and that's good for the league in general, right?

I think that in the first month of the season, you will see a different Lions team than you will for the rest of the season. I think that it will take real game, live games, real decisions, real in the moment things, for everyone to get on the same page, for guys to start trusting the coordinators they did with their old guys, right? That's a relationship that requires sort of having been down there and doing it together.

But I think that comes. I think it comes pretty quickly in the NFL because you're in a lot of those situations right away. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little disorganization or a little bit of not being on the same page in the first month. And then I think this is too good a team

to fall apart because they lost a couple guys. I do like that this motivation you see on the screen. And let's say they're seven and two out of the gate, Rachel. Yeah. And my favorite is when then they'll take online your take on them from the summer. See, this guy was way wrong. We used it as motivation.

Rachel, I'm happy to help and motivate these guys. You're doing public service, Jason? Exactly. Hey, I don't think much of the Lions. I don't think they're going to the playoffs. Use that as bulletin board material. Call me out in November. I'm happy to help.

Is that fair? Well, hey, we'll play this clip in a lot. Remember. See, I'll text Colin and tell him. Play this in November. Let's talk about Chicago. You were just talking to Greg a little bit about Caleb Williams and the Bears. Look, there's been plenty of conversations about problems he may be having. But Caleb himself recently told the media he is back to finding joy in his game. In fact, he said one of the ways you can tell is that he's painting his nails again, J. Mack and that his body language has been different. And in fact, that's something that came a little bit from Ben Johnson, that they sat down and looked at tape. right when Johnson got there. And one of the big things was you've got to show confidence. You've got to just, you know, the body language, the parts of your personality that are you, you can't just slump and lose all of that. So Caleb said, quote, I'm just back to being myself.

I'm being unapologetic about it. I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm going to be me. Do you buy all of this? Do you think that makes a difference on the field? Do you like seeing this parts of his personality or are you one of these, buckle down and play football young man? What is back to myself?

I don't know what that means. That he felt he was filling a role and not being put in a position to be who he wanted to be out there. I mean, there's certainly, you know, this idea in sports, and we've seen it over and over again and in life, basically, of I tried to conform. I tried to do what I was supposed to do. But, you know, being 80% of someone else is not as good as being 100% of me, right? We've heard that expression. Yeah. So I think that's the idea of what he's trying to say, but just with a lot of I'm not apologizing, I'm unapologetic.

I know the Bears fans think we're hating, specifically me. I don't hate Caleb Woods. I like them. I'm rooting for them. I just don't see a lot of positives right now. And that's okay, but I know that doesn't translate well on the internet for the gibronies. Uh, Rachel, with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. All right, coming up next. We're going to Big Ten Country, Ohio State, Texas. You can't get enough of that. That's next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day.

seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? 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 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

For 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 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.

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 Levin this went 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 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 athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reaction, 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. show is just flying by as we head into the final 20 minutes. Let's bring in a guest from Big Ten Country, Anthony Heron, college football analyst at the Big Ten Network. He's got Wisconsin in action tonight. I mean, Anthony, it feels kind of like Christmas, right? I know Week Zero was a soft launch for college football, but I know you're excited for this weekend, starting tonight. Yeah, man, cannot wait. And the idea that at Camp Randall Stadium, going into year three for Luke Fickle and all the implications of what a program like Wisconsin have in store

for that. But then, of course, not the biggest game of the weekend in college football. But yeah, I got a game in night. I'm at Purdue on Saturday. I'm rocking and rolling, man. It's college football season. Jeez, Purdue. I call them Perdome, but don't tell him I said that. Listen, man, we got to start with the big matchup. Ohio State hosting Texas. Everybody wants to weigh in on archmanning. And, and his... kind of real debut. I know he started a couple games last year against some, you know, lesser foes. This is a tall order for him to go into Ohio State against the defending champs, no? Definitely. Really, when you look at both lineups, there's a lot of new personnel for each

of these teams that they have to deal with. And just getting to talk to Ryan Day a couple of weeks ago, he seems excited about that. He's kind of using that as an additional way to invigorate him coming off of the national championship. And he even mentioned it shortly after the season last year that it's great. And there is some exhale, some relief. He did the rubber chicken circuit for a little while on various shows. But let's go into that opener and see how things go if we're not playing well against Texas.

And then the pressure will be right back on. That's just the pressure cooker that it is when you're the coach in Columbus. But both these teams, of course, have their first time starter at quarterback. you know, being a full-time starter for either of them. And it's odd because Arch Manning, even though he's still really young, and to your point, we haven't seen him start a full season for Texas yet, but he is the more experienced between the two. I do feel more certain about what Julian saying in Ohio State will have available in playmakers,

in O-Line, the continuity there with the play callers. And Ryan Dan has just sort of matured this program with this combination of finesse and physicality that wasn't always there. And I can't imagine a player to be able to handle the pressure, the scrutiny that Arch Manning is under better than a young quarterback has through a couple of seasons

of sparingly playing major college football. So he seems ready for it as a personality and with his maturity. I'm just not certain his game is there yet to just sort of annoy him as the number one pick in this coming draft. I got to watch that play out first. I totally agree.

It's interesting. Obviously your bio, you played high-level college football. You were in the NFL. Now you're on the other side doing the media stuff. Is it fair or unfair that in the NFL, the Eagles are the defending champs, but all we hear about is Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes, Dallas Cowboys, blah, blah, blah. And in college football, it's the Arch Manning story.

We're not even talking really about the Eagles or we're not talking about Ohio State, the defending champions. Do we need to do better in the media mixing it up? Or what's your take on that? 100%. And, you know, I suppose to some extent we're all, at least many of us are guilty of it, but

especially when you're talking about the National Football League and the Eagles, even though Jalen Hertz is not some magnetic personality. He's not a guy who you see all over social media, being out of the club or anything else. But he is a guy that carries himself

with this maturity, both mentally and emotionally. And we saw that play out in college. That's seems to be what wins in the NFL. Of course, Patrick Mahomes. He can have a circus going in his family sometimes, and that tends to be a little more interesting than when you got one of the great tight ends of all time, dating one of the most famous women on the planet, now engaged to one of the most famous women on the planet. That's going to include a lot more folks into that conversation. But if you just want to talk ball, how can you not be passionate

talking about the Eagles and what they do on the line of scrimmage? I mean, that to me, It just kind of depends on which audience you try to appeal to. The broader audience will come with some of the more charismatic personalities. But if you're just talking ball, man, yeah, the Eagles are where it's that? Yeah. You know, let me quickly ask about Penn State. They're almost kind of written off as like the team that cried Wolf every year. It's Penn State, they're close.

They got it. And then James Franklin drops a bag in a big game. It feels like, hey, this is probably the year. Aller returns. They got a great backfield. you know, preseason top five, but it really comes down to can James Franklin win a big game?

Because I'm not bashing the guy. The reality is he has struggled against elite competition. It's fair when you look at the record. There's no doubt about that. But what he's done extremely well at as elite a level as any program in the country, Penn State doesn't lose those question-mark games

to teams who shouldn't beat them. There's a skill in that. There's a preparedness. that goes into that as well. And I mean, years ago, one of the first appearances I had with Colin on this show back in the day, I wasn't a believer in James Franklin and Penn State. When they were going into a game against Jim Harbaugh in Michigan, they had Sequin Barclay and weapons all over the place and a fantastic defense.

I just thought Michigan was going to show up at Beaver Stadium and punch him in the mouth. That didn't happen that week. They blew Michigan out and Penn State fans were all in my mentions and everywhere else. They did a couple of weeks ago falter from that point. But my point is, I do believe this version of Penn State, especially after what we saw last season. Now, if you want to say being an eyelash away for an appearance of the national championship game, he didn't win any big games on the way there. I'm going to disagree with you on that, Jay.

But what we saw now is a very similar model from this past off season to what Michigan won the national championship with two years ago, and what Ohio State won the national championship with last year, roster retention, especially on the line of script. This has the potential to be the best unit on the offensive line that James Franklin has had at any point in over a decade that he's been leading things for Penn State. And Drew Aller, he is one of the more physically gifted quarterbacks that's going to come into this draft cycle. And now he's got back-to-back years with Andy Coddlenicki as his offensive coordinator. That should be extremely exciting to every Penn State fan out there and frankly kind of scary to the majority of college football because the size, the mobility, the arm strength. You're looking for it.

Drew Allen would have been a first round pick in this last draft cycle if he decided to go out. He didn't. He came back to continue to mature his skills for another season. And they finally got him some playmakers on the outside. So all that man coverage that Notre Dame was locking down folks with all last season, and they effectively did against Penn State. It'll be a tougher task for anyone wanting to man up on the Nickney Lions this year. I mean, it just feels like the last time we saw Aller throw a pass,

it was that disaster against the Irish. what are you doing, kid? And listen, I don't want to come off like I'm bashing Franklin. But, you know, what was it? Jerry West was like 1 in the NBA finals or something like that, maybe 1 in 9. But Franklin, it's not just, oh, he's struggled.

One in 16 against top five of, I mean, Anthony, that's like, you can't argue like, well, this was in the rain and this was a misfield goal. And 1 in 16 is kind of like, oh, that's a problem, right? And it was a problem for that. until he broke through and got it done at Clemson and Mark Rick had an amazing run going to Georgia. And then they just said, well, this isn't good enough. And now, you know, we see what's able to happen with Kirby Smart.

But to be amongst the top 10 programs every single year, now over the last couple of years, amongst the top five programs in college football, there's certainly something to be said for that. And what really I was impressed by is the way that James Franklin and Drew Aller and the folks who came to Las Vegas for Big Ten football, media days. I was interviewing all of them for Big Ten radio with Sirius XM and sitting down with James Franklin, he did not shirk the responsibility of leading Mitteny Lions football and certainly didn't shirk the expectations of Penn State fans. And I'm sure you've seen the clips on occasion, whether it's the spring game or a regular season game last season when Penn State's coming out with a victory and it would be some fan in the stands wanting to say something to

James Franklin. He knows what the expectations are for his role while he's also realistic about what's been accomplished during his time there. And, you know, there's very few programs who win at the level the Penn State does, but that's why the expectations are so high. It's a part of where, you know, the game I'm calling the night, the Wisconsin game, Luke Fickle, Matt Rule, both going into year three. There's a different feel from each fan base, though. More positivity about where Nebraska is because they know they've got a young,

budding star as a quarterback. There are more questions about where Wisconsin sits along those lines. so it hasn't necessarily eased the bellies of Wisconsin fans so much. So Billy Edwards taking the field tonight at Camp Randall for the first time in the transfer portal, that's going to be a big part of whether or not Wisconsin fans are going to love that. But having Drew Aller for a third year as a starter and the receivers like Trevor Pena and Kyron Hudson that they brought in with Penn State, and they're still going to be deep at tight end, by the way,

and so much NFL talent returns on defense, it doesn't even have to all be on the shoulders of Drew Aller to be a similar team. to what they were last year, but this should be the best version we've ever seen of him as well. So yes, expectations are high and they should be, but let's not ignore the results that have been there. They've been amongst the elite in the country for a decade. All right, Anthony, we got about a minute left. Miami, Notre Dame, historically a great battle. All eyes on Carson Beck against the defensive guru, Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame. Your quick thoughts on that game.

Well, Carson Beck, like I mentioned, you know, a guy who had potential. potential go to the NFL. Of course, a year ago, Carson Beck was the presumed number one picking that next draft cycle. And then 2024 happened. So now he's got a fresh start. He's got a new opportunity here. And for what happens with manned coverage, Notre Dame on the back end, they're going to be salty in the secondary yet again, the approach that Marcus Freeman takes there to just man everyone up across the board. There's going to be opportunities for Carson Beck to show development. Because throwing into tight windows or even extending the play when it's necessary. Those haven't been his strengths to perform in that way

consistently during his previous stops. Now we'll see whether or not, not only his approach has matured, but has his game matured as a quarterback because he's going to be tested by Notre Dame. So with Mario Cristobal, he doesn't mind the game coming down to cold crust depth late. So I do think that this is going to be a low scoring affair and whichever squad, whether it's a young quarterback for the Irish or the experienced guy in Carson Beck, kind of make that key play late. Well, beside it. All right, Anthony Heron, Big Ten Network, great stuff.

Good luck tonight with the Wisconsin game. We'll talk to you soon, buddy. Thanks, sir. All right, great stuff from Anthony Aaron. Listen, it's a college football weekend. Your last respite before the NFL consumes your life for three plus months.

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