The Josh Innes Show - Football Is Back!

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

A full weekend of preseason NFL kicks off tonight! I have watched two episodes of "SEC Football: Any Given Saturday" and it's been pretty good. The people continue to hate Brian Kelly. I don't really see what he does in this show to garner so much negativity. After watching an episode that featured LaNorris Sellers, I'm kind of of the Sellers For Heisman sleeper train. Speaking of, lets look at the Heisman odds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's going on, buds? It's Josh. How are you? It is Thursday, and it is football day. Let's go. What a day it is. I don't have the data in front of me here, but this is one of those days where you're like, we are now officially in a stretch where we will not be without football for like 30 weeks or something like that. I don't think it's that long. But it's pretty close, I guess, right? We got some preseason football today. that's exciting because we can gamble on it, we can watch it, and more importantly, just you don't gamble on it. And boy, what a day. What a glorious day it is here in Detroit. What a glorious day it is in the world when you have got preseason football to bet on. It's like, look, I'm all about baseball, especially if you've got a good baseball team. It used to be a really big baseball guy.

I'm not as big into baseball anymore because baseball pretty much bores me now. because my favorite team sucks, although it's nice to be in a city where the team is in the race. But if I'm being fair about the Tigers, I do not believe the Tigers are going to win anything. I don't believe that they're as good as their record would indicate they are. And their recent slide has kind of proven that. I believe they are 30 and 30 in their last 60 games, very middling team, just lost a series to a team in Minnesota who is actively trying to not win. and they gave up their whole goddamn team and still took two out of three from the Tigers.

The Tigers are in a whole heap of trouble. I don't believe that they are a team that should have done more at the deadline. That's kind of the consensus here in Detroit as people are bitching that the Tigers didn't do enough at the trade deadline. I don't really know what kind of moves they could have made to make up for some of their deficiencies. I don't think that there was one cure-all move. Like their big thing was, we got to go out and get Ahuania. Suarez, and I'm like, do you really think that Suarez is the missing piece?

Like, your lineup is not overly impressive. There are a lot of guys that were kind of shooting over their skis early in the season, and now you kind of see who they are and see who they really are. So, and they're not going to sneak up on anybody either this year. Last year, they snuck up on the Astros, and they snuck up on baseball. They got hot late in the year. They played the Astros, and that dinky two out of three, and they were able to beat them. They're not going to surprise anybody because they've been one of the best teams in baseball record-wise all year.

But it is important to note that for 60 games, which is a large chunk of the season, this is a 500 baseball team. So the Tigers do not scare me as a team that's going to make a serious push in the playoffs. It'd be fun if they would because it's fun to be part of playoff baseball. But I don't believe the Tigers are going to do that because I just don't think that they have the oomph. I don't think the Astros are either, but I'd give the Astros a bit of a better chance, although Detroit, you've got Scoobel. So if you put him on the mound, you feel pretty good about getting a great start and at least giving your chance, a team a chance to win, you know, a two to one type game. But since I've been here, I've watched them lose these types of games with Scoobel. Games that he's pitched his ass off and they still lose.

So I just think they are too flawed and they have too many holes in what they do to be a serious contender. and I'm not someone that believes that they could have picked up somebody in the deadline that would have made that much of a difference. Anyway, let's play some commercials. And now that we've broken down Detroit Tigers baseball for you, let's play some commercials and look at some of these preseason games. Like, yes, we're going to talk preseason football because it's football. God damn it, let's go.

Actually, before we get into the preseason football talk, I have watched two episodes of the SEC football show on. Netflix. And it's pretty good. The first episode focused a lot on LSU and Brian Kelly. And maybe he gets less likable as the series goes on. I don't know. But everything I read was this series shows that Diego Pavi is an asshole and it shows that Brian Kelly is really unlikable. And I don't see that. Let me put it this way. If you already don't like Brian Kelly, this is not going to do anything to make you like Brian Kelly. but there's nothing if you're kind of like in the middle of it or you're kind of undecided on

Brian Kelly. There's nothing in there that makes you go, oh, you know what? Now, I just hate Brian Kelly. Now, that could change, but I don't see that. Like, I watch this and I'm trying to see what it is about Kelly. I don't know that he's just kind of a, I don't think he's pompous. I don't know if it's just because he's kind of like a know-it-all white guy that people don't like him. I know that he coached at Notre Dame so people don't like him.

I know that the kid died at Notre Dame, so people use that against Brian Kelly and they don't like him. They use the recruiting video thing where he was doing the dance with the kid as a reason that people don't like him. But when I watch him, I don't see a guy that I dislike. And I get it, I'm an LSU guy, but there have been plenty of guys from my school that I hate. Plenty of guys from my school that I watch and things suck, right? so I don't know I don't come out of that disliking him anymore now I don't come out of it

liking him more either it's not like I watched it and went you know what Brian Kelly totally likable dude and now I'm really like I'm just kind of in the middle on Kelly like in my opinion on Brian Kelly varies based on who is criticizing him

and what the criticisms are is that that's basically what it comes down to when people start ganging up on the dude and talking shit I get my back up a little bit and I'm like wait a minute dickhead. That's the coach of my football team, and I got the dudes back, and I will find ways to defend him. But when I watch them lose the opening game of every season, which could happen again this year at Clemson, that I fucking hate the guy, you know? It's just like,

it's like you can rip your dad for being a drunk, but other people who rip your dad for being a drunk, they're dicks, right? Like, that's how that plays out. So I'll defend the guy to the Auburn people and the national media people and the Bama people and the Ole Miss people. we're just kind of hanging out by ourselves in our own insulated LSU world, I'll talk a lot of shit about Brian Kelly. I think he's a smart guy. I also, I love getting the behind the scenes on Nussmeyer, who has a very good chance of winning the Heisman.

Like, I'm looking at the Heisman odds, because when Julie and I were watching this, the other main focus in this season so far, and again, I've watched two episodes. The entire second episode was all about Florida, which Graham Mertz, bless that kid's heart, who now is a member of the Texans, Graham Mertz was supposed to be a guy that was going to throw for a lot of yards for me last year, betting-wise, did not. Turns out he sucks. It wasn't just a thing at Wisconsin that he sucked. He sucked at Florida, too. So a lot of the story in the second episode of this series was about Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway and Billy Napier. Now, you talk about a guy that I am annoyed by, right? Billy Napier was the head coach at the University of

Louisiana, Lafayette, and then got to you. the Florida job. There were a lot of people who wanted him to get the LSU job after O got blown out. There were a lot of people who wanted him to get that job. Louisiana ties was coaching in Lafayette. They wanted him to end up going to Florida and barely hanging on. They won like four in a row to end the season last year. He would have been fired. They had allegedly raised all the money like $27 million to get him bought out. They didn't end up buying him out and he's still there. There's something about this dude that annoys me. Like I think it's kind of the shave down hair with the beer.

Like, there's something about the look of this guy that I don't like. Like, everybody dislikes Brian Kelly for whatever reason they hate him. Look, I admire Brian Kelly. My man's got, like, a giant fucking, like, wine cellar in his house. Like, again, I care about alcohol, right? But then, like, you look at the money that the guy put up. He said, look, I'm putting up a million dollars. I'll match whatever you guys put up to raise NIL money for LSU.

he's a dude that realizes that LSU must win. He's got this fancy $10 million a year job, this big-time SEC job. There's only, what, 18 of these jobs, and he's got one of them, and he knows that he's got a freaking win. 9 and 3 ain't going to do it. 9 and 3 is not going to get it done for LSU. LSU has been to four national championships in the last 20 years. LSU is not going to settle with these. Like, it's amazing.

LSU is like the poorest state, like the second or third poorest state in the union seemingly. they're a notch above Mississippi, yet somehow they got a bunch of rich sons of bitches that will gladly come up with $30 million to buy your ass out if they think you suck. They will gladly buy Brian Kelly out if Brian Kelly sucks at his job, and he knows this. So he put his own money where his mouth is and said, screw this. I'm going to match whatever money you guys put up. Let's go. And LSU's got a quarterback this year.

They had the same quarterback last year. and if Ness stays healthy, I think they got a legit shot. I'm looking at the updated Heisman odds here. When is this from? Someone posted this a couple days ago, so this is probably legit. So Archmanning is plus 750. I have a hope. And this is not an anti-Arch-Manning play.

It's an anti-Texis play. It's an anti-media hype play. The Texas people don't deserve Archmanning to be good because they treated U-Uers like shit. And here's the thing about Texas football. And I get that Texas is a big brand name and Longhorn Network, all this shit. Texas football, for the most part, is not a powerhouse dominant program. If you look at the results, particularly of the last 15 years, the results are certainly not there. Actually, really, for the last 20 years, the results are not there.

Yes, there was a trip to the national championship game in 10. But since Vince Young, it's not like this has been a dominant program that's in the national title discussion every year. yet they carry themselves like they've been Alabama the last 20 years and they treated Quinn Ewers like shit. They don't deserve Arch Manning to be good. So fuck you, Texas. You don't deserve that. And I hope Arch Manning ends up sucking. Not for Arch Manning's sake and not for the Manning.

This is not an anti-Manning play because with football coming back, you know what that means? It means we get the Manning cast. So I'm very pro-Manding. I like Eli. I like Peyton. I like Cooper. I like Archie. And I have nothing against Arch.

But I hope he fails only because these people at Texas don't deserve it because they had a guy slinging last year and they constantly fucking waited for Arch Manning instead of celebrating the fact that Quinn Ewers could sling the hog and they don't deserve it. They deserve Arch Manning sucking. I don't want to see the kid get hurt or anything like that. And I'm not rooting for him to be a bust. But I kind of am. But not for him. So that makes it okay. It's not like I'm like, hey, Arch Manning.

I hope you suck because you're Arch Manning. I hope you suck because I don't want the people of Austin, Texas, to have joy for their shitty football team after they treated Quinn Ewers, a gunslinger like shit. So Arch Manning is plus 750. I will go out on a limb right now and say that Arch Manning is not winning the Heisman. I don't believe it's going to happen. Let's see, Kate Klubnick. Like, I just don't believe first full season is a starter. He's going to go out there and win the Heisman at Texas.

They've got obviously an SEC schedule. I just, I don't buy it. Kate Klubnick and Garrett Nessmeyer, both plus 900. They play each other week one. So the better quarterback in that one will rise, the lesser will fall. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, not a bad play in there, only because we've seen wide receivers win the high has been lately. Carson Beck, now that's not a play.

Maybe Carson Beck will shock the world and reemerge as someone who's a viable player. He was fine at Georgia at one point, then sucked very much ass, a very big ass sucker last year, and that's why he ended up at Miami. I don't buy that he's going to go out there and be new Cam Warren throw for 500 yards a game. Plus 1,800 is not value for Carson Beck, because Carson Beck ain't going to come close to winning the Hizman. The value, and maybe I'm just buying into the hype. Lenores Sellers at Plus 1800. Maybe I'm buying into the hype, and I've bet a lot of people are probably watching this SEC show

and now putting the, they're penciling Lenoris in. Maybe I'm just, I've bought the hype, but last year I watched him and I loved him. If he wouldn't have got hurt, and I forgot all about this watching this show, but if he doesn't get hurt last year against LSU, they probably boat race LSU. They're up 17-0-0 in that game. Lenoris gets hurt. LSU gets the benefit of a call on an interception that should have been a touchdown, and they get the ball back, and they end up winning the game.

So, look, the sleeper pick of Lenores, I don't believe he's going to win, but if you're looking for a sleep or he could fall in there. Like, if you've got, if you give me Lenora Sellers at plus 1,800 or Drew Aller at Penn State, who feels like he's been there for 17 years, Drew Aller ain't winning the fucking Heisman. No quarterback at Penn State's going to win the Heismans. So, like, if you say, Josh, you have to pick one of these three dudes who's plus four dudes. There's four dudes who are plus 1,800 on this site. Carson Beck at Miami, Lenora Sellers, Drew Aller, and Ty Simpson at Alabama.

I don't know a fucking thing about Ty Simpson. I would take Lenora Sellers because I don't believe Drew Aller is going to throw the ball enough and put up enough numbers. Like there were a lot of games, and maybe this will be different this year for Penn State, but there were a lot of games where early in the game my man is throwing, they get a big lead, and they just sit on it and go. I think Lenores is going to be in a situation where they have to throw, so he's going to have to put up numbers, and he's mobile. So if I had to take one of these plus 1,800 guys, I'd take Lenores.

Sam Levitt at Arizona States plus 2,000. Like there's nobody here that I would really jump in on. Like Marcel Reed at A&M is plus 3,000. Eh, like to me, the best, I'd say the best long shot, and they're all pretty much long shots. If you're plus 900, it's not like that's a heavy favorite. There's good value on all these guys. Like, honestly, like Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State,

if they can get him the ball. then I think you'd have a legit shot at Jeremiah Smith being one of the what's his name from Alabama ilk that can come out and win the Heisman is a wide receiver. I think that's a possibility. That's not a bad sleeper at plus 1,300. But like Aller ain't going to do it. Simpson and Alabama ain't going to do it. Beckett, Miami ain't going to do it. If Nuss stays healthy, I think Nuss is just built into that offense is going to throw for a bunch of yards.

And if LSU can win 10 games, I mean, LSU proved it when with J.D.5, Jaden was a beast. was the running game and the passing game and was able to win the Heisman, despite the fact LSU lost three games that year. Did they lose four? I forgot how many they lost. And he was still able to win the Heisman despite that. Ness Meyers not going to run for a thousand yards. So he's got to throw for, you know, 4,500 yards or something.

But, boy, I'm excited. Football. We've got football tonight. We got football all weekend. The football doesn't stop. Let's go. More to come.