The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jayden Daniels: All Boxes Checked Except One

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

Kevin opened with a bye week reflection on the incredible rookie season Jayden Daniels has produced so far. Kevin thinks all boxes have been checked except one. He explains. Jay Gruden jumped on to talk about last night's Lions-Packers game, revisit Commanders-Titans, and preview the upcoming NFL Sunday slate. Jay also gave out his "NFL Lock of the Week" which is 7-4 ATS on the show. Kevin finished up with five "Smell Test" picks. The "Smell Test" has won six consecutive weeks.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. It's Friday. It's football season. That means Jay Gruden will be on the show with me. He'll join me in the next segment.

Jay's lock of the week has been doing pretty well, seven and four on the season. So he'll have that and a lot more. My smell test has been pretty good recently. Six consecutive winning weeks. I've got five plays for you in the final segment of the show. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation. Give them a call if you need new windows.

86690 Nation, Windonation.com. Mention my name, they'll come out and give you a free, no obligation in-home estimate. If you missed it from earlier this week, Jaden Daniels for the eighth time this year was selected rookie of the week. this time for his performance against Tennessee on Sunday. That ties him for the most ever with Justin Herbert. He's got four more games, four more chances to pass Herbert for the most ever by a rookie. And I thought that this Friday during a bye week, we could just spend a little bit of time. I could spend just a little bit of time with you talking about his rookie season through 13 games,

been historic in some ways and in most others just really excellent. You know, I mean, it's pretty obvious that we can say at this point, 13 games into the season, that the first impression has been a positive one. I mean, it's been everything we could have hoped for and more. There are no guarantees. We understand that. You know, we've seen great rookie seasons. We've seen a guy like Carson Wentz have a really good rookie year.

and an excellent second season, and it didn't turn out well. But, you know, if the goal this year, really the major goal was to just get towards the end of the season or to the end of the season and be able to look all of you and each other in the eye and say they got it right, I think that goal has been met, if not exceeded wildly at this point. They got it right in April. He is completing 69.6% of his passes. That's the fourth best mark in the NFL, not for a rookie, for all quarterbacks. He's got the fifth best QBR in the league.

He's third in the league in total EPA, expected points added, behind just Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. He's eighth in the league in yards per pass attempt. He's 12th in total passing yards with 2,000. 8,819. He's the second leading rusher among quarterbacks with 590 yards rushing. He's thrown 15 touchdown passes to just six interceptions. He's also rushed for six touchdowns this year, so he's accounted for 21 total touchdowns. He's already tied an all-time NFL mark for being the fastest to reach 2,500 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in the same season.

It took him 12 games to get that done. Cam Newton and RG3 are the others to have done it in 12 games. He's led an offense that currently ranks third in the league in expected points added per play, fifth in the NFL in DVOA. The offense has been top five in most categories. for much of the season. And he's on his way to not only winning the offensive rookie of the year, he's potentially going to make the Pro Bowl in his rookie year.

You could easily argue that Daniels has had the most impact on wins of any quarterback in the NFC, because his supporting cast is nowhere near what some of the other Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks, you know, have. Jared Goff, Jalen Hertz, even a guy like Jordan lover, Sam Darnold, who's having, you know, a borderline pro bowl type of season. It takes time, I get it, to find out for sure on quarterbacks. And I'm not, I guess I am rushing to judgment a little bit, but I'm not saying that it's guaranteed Etchton Stone that this guy's going to be a superstar for the next 10 years. but no recent quarterback, you know, as a rookie other than C.J. Stroud last year has made it so obvious so quickly that he's going to be one of those rookie quarterbacks drafted highly, selected highly, that works out. His frame, you know, his ability to protect himself will be really important, as we've already seen, but his talent and skill for this level are, unmistakable. He makes every throw. He's an outstanding processor. He's really good in the pocket

and outside of it. He's accurate. His release is lightning quick. He can make different arm angle throws. We saw that last week on the third and goal touchdown pass to Terry. His arm strength is more than adequate. He throws with great anticipation with touch. And then of course, you know, his mobility is off the charts. It's also been pretty clear that the big moment doesn't seem to phase him at all. He never really is rattled. He never really seems to sweat it. The intangible stuff so far, based on what we've seen and what we've heard, is dreamy.

Did I just say that? Dreamy. He's smart. He works hard. And by all accounts, you know, he's very self-aware. and he's likable. He's also competitive as hell. I mean, what box hasn't this dude checked in 13 games? One, maybe. I'll give you this one.

Big game production. You know, those opportunities are coming and coming soon. You know, they've got to win at least two more games to get to 10, and more than likely 10 should do it. It should nail down a playoff spot. But to get there, you know, there might be. be a must-win game in the next month. Hopefully not. It'd be nice if they got wins over New Orleans and Philly and other teams lost and they locked it up early. But it's very possible that a game like

Atlanta at home in the next to last week of the season could have major playoff implications. And even the season finale at Dallas, even if it doesn't mean a lot for the Cowboys, if they get there, and I do think they will, the playoffs I'm talking about, A playoff game on the road, you know, January, the second weekend of January, what is that? January 11th, 12th, that'll be a huge moment for him. In the history of the game, and I talked about this earlier in the year when we were already starting to rush to judgment, only a handful of quarterbacks have ever started and won, you know, multiple games in the postseason. We've never had a rookie quarterback start in the Super Bowl or win a Super Bowl game,

and only a few, and I'm talking about three or four, have won two playoff games as a first-year quarterback. You know, it's a team thing, but if he's really what I think he is, you know, we've got to see it in a big spot, a really big spot. I don't think they've really had that. The Pittsburgh game was a big game. The Philly game on Thursday night was a huge game. But I'm talking about do-or-die games, right? And I think that I've seen enough to say he's going to give them a chance when they get there.

I mean, how nice, by the way, is it going to be to be able to sit down on January, I think 11th is Saturday, Sunday is the 12th. Could be a Monday night game. Remember that first weekend has a Monday night playoff game. but just to be able to sit down and watch Washington in a playoff game at Philly or at Detroit or at Seattle. You know, as I sit here right now, I would definitely feel like if they get into that spot, and I think they will. With him, there would be a chance, you know, even as a touchdown underdog or an eight or nine point underdog. With him out there, I think there'd be a chance. and that kind of nets it all out, right?

Because 13 games in, it's become pretty damn obvious that he's more than good enough to give us a chance every time he's in the game and under center or in pistol or in shotgun. And it's been years since we could say that. I can't wait for these final four games to see what they do, to see what he do. to see what he does. I got this from Chance. Chance writes, Kevin, I'm a high school football coach,

and I listen to your show all the time. I'm afraid that if Cliff Kingsbury leaves after the season, Jaden will have a tough sophomore year. There wasn't a more important hire than Cliff for this kind of quarterback. Air raid, BS. This guy designed an offense that suited his quarterback and surrounding talent. That's what you call a coach. I'm worried about when he leaves.

Thank you, Chance. I mean, I'm just living in the now right now. Losing coordinators is usually a result of success. They've had some, but I want more. I want it to be obvious that everybody's coming for Cliff because they finish this stretch 3-1 or 4-0 and won a playoff game. By the way, I totally agree. You know, the air raid claim by those that don't even understand or know what the air raid is,

it was never going to be a part of his offense in the NFL. It wasn't in Arizona. You can't really even run a true college air raid offense in the NFL because of things like, you know, hashmark differences, rules differences, like ineligible players down field, you know, for the RPO game, that's a big deal. College, it's much easier. You've got three yards before you're penalized in the NFL. You just have one.

But I do agree he's done an excellent job, especially with their run game and building that run game around a dual threat quarterback in Jaden. I mean, there's been so much that's been done in the run game. And then, you know, from a past standpoint, quick game, play action, you know, under center, shotgun, pistol, there's just been a lot. And I think Cliff's done an incredible job. I agree with you, Chance. By the way, you know, they hired a staff, and we talked about this earlier in the year.

They hired a staff that sort of gave indication that they were thinking of a successor plan. I mean, I think that's a bit presumptuous with a first year staff, but they kept Tevita Pritchard. They hired this guy, David Blow, who everybody loves. They hired Anthony Lynn. They hired Brian Johnson, who was Philly's OC last year. So I would love Cliff to, first of all, finish off this season successfully. but then also have him come back next year.

You know, if he's got an itch to be a head coach, there will be some interest. But, you know, you really have to, you know, get to the end of the year to determine how many openings are there really. I mean, right now, what do we have? We have Chicago, New Orleans, the Jets, right? And there are other possibilities. The Raiders, the Giants, the Jags, Dallas maybe, Browns, Miami maybe, believe it or not. And you've got a lot.

Look, Ben Johnson, I think, is going to be the number one guy if he finally wants to coach. Aaron Glenn, also on that Detroit staff. Belichick and Vrable as possibilities to come back and coach. I mean, there are other assistants on offense and defense that might be as sought after or maybe even more sought after than Cliff. We'll get there when we get there. Let's hope that there's a real desire for Cliff because if there is, that means that he probably had great success over the final month to two months of the season.

How about last night's Thursday night game? Wow, what a football game. The Lions beat the Packers 34 to 31. So much to get to, but I will keep it short. We'll talk to Jay about this as well. First of all, it's good that Green Bay lost for Washington. I think I mentioned this on Monday, that Green Bay schedule gets brutal. Detroit last night on the road. They've got Seattle on the road next weekend. They finish next to last week, actually, with Minnesota on the road. And if Washington catches Green Bay and they finish in a tie,

Washington will win the tiebreaker because of conference record. Washington's got two AFC losses. which is good for them. You know, they lost to Baltimore, they lost to Pittsburgh, and Green Bay's conference record is going to be worse than Washington's conference record if they lose, you know, another game or two. I think the best possibility would be for them to lose two more, and Washington to win three of their final four, 11 and 6, 11 and 6,

Washington ends up with the 6 seed, Green Bay's and the 7th seed spot. I am impressed with Green Bay, though. I am. I'm impressed with their defense, their run-stopping ability, their physicality defensively. I think Jordan Love has started to play better. He didn't throw a pick last night. They loved to run the ball with Josh Jacobs. I'm impressed.

I mean, they lost that game on a walk-off field goal, and Detroit had 31 more offensive snaps in the game. Two really good teams. Detroit's kind of been living. a little bit on borrowed time, meaning all of these close games that could have gone either way. They're really good, though. And with all of those injuries on defense, what a job Aaron Glenn's doing as a coordinator. But how about Dan Campbell, man?

He's something else. Like, I'm not going to sit here and be overly critical of the decisions that he made last night. If you watch the game, you know that there's been a conversation, especially about the final fourth down that he went for. This is who he is, and this is part of why his team loves him, and part of the reason they're successful. He's aggressive. He's a risk taker.

Yeah, he's a dude that, you know, if you're sitting at a blackjack table in Vegas, he wants to hit 17, you know, and you get the dealer that says hitting 17, and they come over and the eye in the sky all of a sudden is paying attention to him to make sure that he's not counting. He does take some risks that are head-turning that are definitely like, what? Why would you do that? Look, he blew with some of those aggressive calls in the NFC championship game. He blew a chance to win that game. Remember when they took three, the opportunity to go up, I think it was three scores with a field goal and he went for it and they got stopped. That was totally unnecessary. But last night, I mean, he went for fourth and one from his own 30 and failed with the lead.

Green Bay then went in and took the lead 2824, but the call that most people are talking about, I think the headline was the Campbell Gamble was with 43 seconds to go facing fourth and one in field goal territory in a tie game 3131. he went for fourth down because he wanted to run the clock down and have a walk-off field goal. He was concerned that if they kicked the field goal with 43 seconds left and they made it and they had a three-point lead, it would have still left Jordan Love enough time to go down field and get Green Bay into Brandon McManus territory. Yes, he's their kicker to tie the game and force overtime. And so he went for that fourth down.

And Jared Goff had his foot stepped on by his offensive guard coming back to hand the ball off to David Montgomery. And it was almost blown up, but they got it. And let me just mention that followed a third and one in which Montgomery was nailed at the line of scrimmage for no gain. So the context of the moment was they had been stopped on a previous fourth and one in their own territory. And on third and one, Montgomery got nailed. and, you know, Green Bay had done a good job all night long against the run. I think they held Detroit to 3.3 or 3.4 yards per carry. But he went for it, and it's far from the most egregious fourth-down decision I've ever seen,

because part of me is like you, if you're really confident in this play, you're going to have a chance to kick a walk off, but the risk is great, right? The risk is if you get stopped and you've already been stopped once and you were stopped on third down, they take over and then a field goal beat you in regulation. They went for it, they got it, they kicked the walk off field goal, and they were 34, 31 winners. I'm just going to say this about Dan Campbell. I think a lot of what he does is a big part of why he's been successful, not necessarily the results of the aggressive risk-taking nature of his decisions,

his fourth down decisions, et cetera. But it's this confidence that he seems to have and then instill in his team. He's a terrific leader. I mean, I also think, like in the San Francisco NFC title game, that there's a chance that one of these decisions that he makes that seems to be, you know, hitting 17 against a 10, hitting 17 in general you don't do. And maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration because I don't even know what the analytics said on last night's fourth down.

Probably close to a go-for it. I'm going to guess that it was not a go-for-it. But what I would say is his mindset is a big part of why he's successful and his team successful. And you take that as far more good has come out of it than bad. but I also think there's a chance like what happened in the NFC championship game last year happens again that he makes a decision where maybe going with a decision that's less aggressive and maybe an unnecessary aggressive move in the spot and he he makes it anyway and it fails. It could cost him a chance to win a Super Bowl.

But they're good and so is Green Bay. I actually, in watching Green Bay last night, I don't know if they're going to lose another two games. And I think it would take, I know Washington's one game back of Green Bay right now. But if Washington, if you think Washington's going to run the table and win all four, including Philly at home, well, then Green Bay only has to lose one more game. But I'm thinking Green Bay is going to need to lose at least two more for Washington to get into that six spot. because I don't see Washington winning out.

I think they could. It definitely could. But Philly at home is not going to be easy. And Philly's in a race right now for the one seed overall. But I was impressed with both of those teams. But I guess I was just going to say that I don't see Green Bay losing two more. Maybe one more, which would give them a 12 and 5 record. They're better than Minnesota.

I think it's Philly, Detroit, Green Bay right now. in the NFC. And then after that, honestly, Washington is right there. You know, with Minnesota, with Atlanta, with Tampa, with Seattle, with Arizona, with the Rams. And again, even against Philly, Detroit, or Green Bay in a playoff game with number five at the helm, I'd take my chances.

One last thing before we get to Jay Gruden. The Wizards lost a franchise tying record 16th. in a row. They got blasted by the Mavericks last night, 137 101. I signed up for this. Many of you did who were Wizards fans signed up for this. Let's just deal with it and understand that this is the right way to do it. You know, I think what's coming next is Kuzma pool being traded, accumulate more picks. Yeah, I mean, I'm not, let me just say, I'm not, the guy investing in the process here, in the rebuild, meaning sitting there watching every game and really Kulabali and Saar and Carrington and George and saying, you know, really analyzing

each night, whether or not they got it right on some of these guys. I watch occasionally. But I'm all in on this process. And they are certainly headed towards right now one of the worst regular seasons in NBA history. But they're only 20 games in, which is just about a quarter of the way through the season. That season's flying by as well. Rate us and review us if you get a chance, especially on Apple and Spotify. A quick one to two sentence review on Apple really helps us five stars really helps us on both. And follow us if you get a chance as well. Just hit the follow button or the plus button. That's big for us. And really helpful.

All right, Jay Gruden next after these words from a few of our sponsors. Is there anything better when you're a football fan than this time of year? It seems like there are games on around the clock. It's a changing time of year. The weather gets chillier. The leaves start to change color. And then those leaves, they fall from those trees. And they clog up your gutters.

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Hurry, sale ends December 31st. Don't miss out. Schedule your fast in-home free estimate right now at 86690 Nation or visitwindonation.com. Joining me right now as he does every Friday during football season, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden. Jay, I got this from Stevens. Stephen wrote, my favorite part of your show is Fridays when Jay Gruden is on. I really like most of your guests, but it's become obvious to me that the way Jay survived his time here in Washington was with a sense of humor. Must have been really dark on some of those days, but the way to combat it is by laughing at it. Is Stephen right? Yeah, yeah, I try to keep a sense of humor a little bit.

Try to anyway. Even towards the very end when I knew I was dead man walking, you know, I tried to keep a smile on my face a little bit. That is very difficult. Because you've got to understand how serious the job is to other people that work for you. But if you don't have any kind of sense of humor, you'll lose your mind. And I try to keep it kind of light. Was there ever a time, you know, when you were here where it really was super dark and you wanted out? Towards the very end, you know, I think right around the Giants game when Case Keatom hurt his ankle,

and we put in Dwayne and, you know, I got hammered for that because Dwayne wasn't ready, but he was the only quarterback we had on the roster, so I had to put somebody in. And then, you know, leading up to the Patriot game, you know, that was, I was ready to go. You know, and I came out that photo for about eight years ago. So, yeah, I was about ready to go then. You know, that giant game, I could not understand the criticism. I remember the criticism of you putting Dwayne Haskins into the game, and I'm like, hold on here for a second. He was the backup quarterback and the starter got hurt.

Would it have made you feel better if, like, Chris Thompson had played quarterback? Like, that was the dumbest criticism I've ever heard. As long as he was active, I mean, you've said to me before, he wasn't necessarily ready to play, but still he was the backup quarterback. You had to put him in. That's all we had. And I probably, you know, the criticism I should have for that game was like, probably should start at Dwayne. Case,

Cate battled through a pretty bad ankle. He's on a boot up until Friday or Saturday. He's one tough side of the gun now. He tried, and I saw him get hit up the sidelines, and I saw the look at his face. He can't keep doing it. I put in, Dwayne and, you know, it didn't work out very well, but he was the only guy we had, so I had to put him in. I felt like there was some linemen at times, too. You know, we had to line and go down. We had to put this guy in. We got to put him in. He's the only guy we got. All right, get in there. Yeah, I remember, you know, you took some.

some heat, not just from local people, national people were ripping you for playing Haskins. Haskins didn't play well. And I just couldn't believe the criticism, because remember, you know, it's not like in 2019 rookie quarterbacks, first round quarterbacks, weren't getting opportunities to start right away. I mean, this was week four or five, right? I think it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I had no idea what the criticism was all about. I mean, we're both for all in four, so you kind of want to see what the rookie can do, right? Right. I mean, he wasn't looking that great in practice, but, you know, some guys just turn it on on game day. You know, so it was a good opportunity for him. And, you know, he didn't play very good, but, you know, it was important to get up some reps. He's the only guy we could put in. Were Bruce and Dan supportive of you in that moment or not?

But they have no choice. He's the only guy we had. Right. Couldn't put case back in. He could hardly walk. Yeah, and Colt was hurt. I mean, Cole was hurt. He was inactive.

Right. Yeah, that was the whole thing surrounding that was strange. Who did you work with player-wise, coach-wise, that had your sense of humor that you spent a lot of time, you know, hanging out with? I got along with the majority of our staff pretty well. You know, our trainer and I were pretty close. Larry Hess because he was up in my office a lot. telling me about all the injuries that we had. Yeah, so, you know, all the coaches, you know, I like, I like all of them pretty much, you know,

Chad Grimm was a good guy, and I always got along with Randy Jordan pretty well. He's a great guy. Brian Angelico, the tight end coach is awesome. West Phillips is good. Obviously, Sean and Kevin O'Connell were good dudes to hang out with. So I was very, Ikelyer. I really had a good relationship with Ikee work with me in a U.S.L, and he was with my brother in Tampa. We had a long relationship.

So, yeah, I got along with that, about 90% of them. You just mentioned Kevin O'Connell. Of the two, Kevin O'Connell, Sean McVeigh, which of the two were you most convinced would be a really good head coach? Really, both of them were pretty equal. Sean had a lot more energy. He was more like my brother. Great memory, really getting after people.

Kevin was more of a laid-back guy, more like me personality-wise. Both of them very intelligent. You know, it all depends. Kevin, it all depends on the quarterback situation you walk into and the people around you. And both of them walked into a gold mine. Sean walked in with Jared Golf, the number one pick overall, and, you know, the defensive tackle. I mean, so he had some pretty good players. And obviously, Kevin walked into a pretty good situation with Justin Jefferson and some of the guys there.

So, but both of them are highly intelligent guys. They get along good with everybody. They're people, people. They get along with everybody and they're a good motivator. So get them around the right people. They'll succeed. Last night, by the way, the Lions went to 12 and 1. And when we get to just talking about the weekend games,

maybe I'll come back to this game in a moment and talk about some of the Dan Campbell decisions. But I think I saw that you tweeted out something to the effective, and I don't have it in front of me, but something like, you know, Stafford, Gough, who won the trade? So what's your answer to that question? Yeah, well, you won a Super Bowl. So right now you've got to give the edge to Stafford, right?

But God dang, Jared Goff has had an amazing couple of years back-to-back, and he's accurate and throwing on time, playing a lot of confidence. He's got a great team around them. I don't get me wrong. But still, you've got a hand at the Stafford winning the Super Bowl. I mean, remember, Jared Goff was part of that deal because they wanted him to, they wanted the Lions to take the Jared Goff contract back. Yeah.

I mean, I don't think they were super confident he was going to be the guy moving forward, do you? I don't know. I got to think they were because they picked up the contract. So I got to think they had... Brad Holmes... ...lead didn't lead him to a Super Bowl. Yeah, Brad Holmes had been with him in L.A., so there was some familiarity there. Yeah, like I said, they went to a Super Bowl. They had a horrible Super Bowl.

I think they punted 15 times in a row. But they had a hell of a year getting there. So he had to show something to Brad Holmes and Brad Holmes was there. So, yeah, I would think they took men to be the... starter maybe draft a guy and see if they could beat him out later on. But, you know, I don't think they drafted a guy either. Have they since he's been there? I don't think so.

Is it Hendon Hooker? Didn't they draft Hooker from Tennessee? Oh, maybe they did, yeah. He might be like a third round or something like that. Yeah. But they haven't drafted anybody super high. Did they really punt 15 times in that Super Bowl against the Patriots? Where's that just an exaggeration?

I think they punted every time they had the ball. I want to say it was like 12 times in a row. I know it was double-digit. Yeah. I mean, they scored three points. That was one of the weirdest Super Bowls of all time. But Stafford or golf right now in their, you know, prime, you would take Stafford, right? Yeah.

You hesitated there. You really are into golf right now. I mean, the way he's ripping the ball right now and the confidence he's playing. with he's pretty damn good. And some of the fourth down covert, I mean, he's, he's, uh, he's playing pretty good, but Stafford is an elite armed talent guy.

I mean, his arm is sick. I can remember we were playing. I was with the Jags, and I was out of midfield, and we're back-to-back warm-ups, and, you know, I'm watching, uh, Mike Lennon and Jake Luton throw. And, uh, all of a sudden I hear in the back room, here's ball come out, the guy saying,

whish, whish, whish. I look, I said, God, those Stafford just throwing these deep out-rout, just hitting guys between the numbers. I'm like, holy shit. I want to call the bookie then. and say, hey, I don't think we have a chance. Yeah, I don't know if that would have been allowed, but that's pretty funny.

I was just joking there. I know. Yes, I know that. Let's just make sure everybody understands. Jay did not call his bookie during pre-game warm-ups a few years ago. I always thought that he was just in the wrong spot, that his talent was outrageous and that it was elite level, and he finally got in the right spot. Yeah, and he always played with a tough physical play.

You know, he took a lot of hits and he'd get up, he'd play hurry. He still rip it and rip it. I mean, he was an impressive player, even though they weren't winning. So, yeah, I think it was a great move by Sean to go out and get that guy because of his elite armed talent. You know, they obviously had the ball off at L.A., but they needed just something to get them over the edge. And that was Stafford for them, so it was a good trade for L.A. Speaking of the Rams, but a completely different subject, they signed Emmanuel Forbes after the skins cut him last weekend. What's your gut on why it didn't work out for Forbes here?

He's little. I mean, I remember when he first got drafted, I was at D.C. Prime having dinner. And he walked in, and I thought it was a kid's a little brother. I mean, I was like, who is this guy? He said, that's her first round draft pick. I go, this guy, he's like 5-9-130. He must run out. He must be like Daryl Greenspeed, like 4-1-8, but he wasn't.

So he's just too little. Yeah. Did you see the story about Belichick getting, talking to North Carolina about their head coaching opening? Head coach opening? I heard about that. I'm interesting. I can't see that happen, but, you know, he just loves the coach, it looks like. And, you know, he's, I just can't see him going back to college when all these pro jobs will be open here pretty soon.

And dealing with the NIL money, I just, I just. I can't see that happen, but who knows? I got beats to his own drum, that's for sure. Did you know him well or not? Not really. Just I got to know him a little bit when we had the joint practices with him, you know, the three days that they were here. We got along pretty good.

He's a good guy. I do remember those joint practices. That and the Houston. Oh, the bloodbath. Yeah, that was a bloodbath. You know what really struck me? I'll never forget being there during those Richmond practices is how big, Brady is in person.

Yeah, how big, how much control he had over the offense. He just was unbelievable to watch firsthand. As far as what a quarterback, the success and the reasons why he had success, the control he has over the offensive plays, the players. I mean, he was yelling at receivers. Give me another receiver in here. It is unbelievable. Yeah.

The command he had on pre-snap and post-snap, I mean, he was awesome. my God, obviously. Did you ever want a college job? Was there ever any interest in you from a college program? No, never got a call, you know, never. I only coached one year in college. I was a GA at Louisville, early two years of students at one time, but that's it.

College football is totally different. You know, right now, especially with the NILs. You've got to recruit your own players and you've got to have money. It's just very difficult for these guys. but, you know, some guys like it, some guys don't. Do you think you, I mean, you could have coached anywhere, obviously, but the college part even before NIL and Transfer Portal of the last few years, recruiting would have been the biggest difference.

Would you have been a good recruiter? I think I've been a great recruiter, really. That's one thing I can get along with people pretty good, and talk to players pretty good, I think. Yeah, I think it would have been fun. Yeah, I mean, free agency is kind of, like recruiting in the NFL to a certain degree just an old way. My dad was a college coach, and recruiting isn't like what he, but he was gone all the

time driving on the road, going to all these little cities and going to these kids' houses. It's a lot different now, I mean, especially if you're the head coach, you just get on a jet and fly to the guy and meet them or they come to you. So it's a lot easier now recruiting than it was back in, you know, the 80s and 70s when my dad was a coach. But, yeah, I think I think I would have been good at that. they bounced back just in time before the bye week crushing Tennessee last week 42 to 19 I think one of the things you said on the show last week is you said they just got to get ahead

right away they got to jump on them early and it was 21 nothing before you know you came up for air in that game it was perfect what impressed you the most about their easy win over Tennessee everything really you know the first drive Tennessee comes out gets a false start loss of five, another false start, and a loss of three, they get the ball and go three plays touchdown, seven, nothing. Then they get the ball back, 14-n-nep-and-then-they get a fumble, 21-0-and-they get another fumble, 28-0. So I think offense, defense special teams all came out

since of urgency and jumped on them and didn't let up. The point of attack on the offensive line was the most impressive to me. You know, I thought the defense-line for Tennessee would give a little bit more resistance than that, and after it was 21-0-0-0-9, you could see that Jeffrey Simmons, those guys had no, they didn't want to be out there at all. They weren't really coming off the ball. They knew they were going to get double-team the whole day.

They're like, oh, God, here we go again. They couldn't get their hand in the ground and rush the passer like they wanted to. So I think the line of scrimmage for both sides was dominant by Washington, and that's a good sign moving forward. Now they get some breast. They'll be fresh going to their next game against Atlanta. They play Atlanta next, right? They play New Orleans next.

Or New Orleans? New Orleans, yeah. New Orleans on the road. Yeah. I wanted to ask you about Terry McCorn in the season that he's having. He's obviously having the best year of his career, already exceeded his touchdown total from year two in his career. You had him, you drafted him, and you recognized early on. You've told the story many times.

You knew what you had almost immediately, and you almost hit him during that preseason. And then in that opener with Case Keenham at Philadelphia, it was like, who the hell is this guy? But one of the things that I find interesting is he's not the only one, but I'm curious as to what you think. if there's a big difference between a hands catcher and more of like an arms chest catcher, which is what he really is. Well, you want a hands catcher, no doubt, because they can get the ball away from their body and snatch it and come back to the ball. And, you know, the outside the catch radius catches those hands catchers make are outstanding.

But Terry, you know, it does look like he does use his body more often. He always catches, though. He doesn't have any drops ever. Right. He makes the hard catches, the contested catches. He does use his hands at times, but sometimes as simple plays, he lets get into his body a little bit more than you would like. But, yeah, you definitely want a hands catcher out there at wider see where they can pluck it away from their body.

You had A.J. Green, hell of a hands catcher, right? Oh, yeah. AJ Green was sick. Yeah. Jordan Reed was a hands catcher, right? Oh, yeah, for sure. Jordan Reed was, yeah. All a good receiver are hands catchers.

And for the most part, there he is, too, just a couple times I look. It looks like he let it get into his arms and body. But, yeah, even when you're coming back to the ball, you don't want that ball to get into your chest. You want to still snatch it with your hands so you can protect it and make a move up the field. You know, once it gets into your chest, it can pop off your shoulder pads or whatever. So you definitely want to always use your hands to catch it. And Terry does that for the most part. He just has a couple where it looks like it gets in there.

Yeah, sure. I've noticed, and I'm sure you have, they seem to be getting Diami Brown more involved in the offense. what do you like about him or not like about him? I like he plays with a good physicality right after the catch pretty good. You know, I still think of sight unseen for me. I haven't really studied him a whole lot just individually, just when he does make a play. You know, I think he's had a couple drops here and there.

I don't know how fast he's. I can't really tell. I don't know what his 40-time was coming out. But they do need somebody to emerge at the receiver position, especially in these tight man-to-man-man, third down four to five, six plays. They get separation where Terry, might be doubled or Terry might be going against the number one corner for the other team and might not be a favorable matchup.

So they're going to have to have somebody, whether it's him or McCaffrey or the KS or whoever is, Noah Brown, somebody's got to do it because, you know, Zach Gert's a little bit older, he's not going to separate a whole lot. And they really don't have any running back presence now that, you know, what's the name's out, heckler now that he's out. They don't have really a third down back, which is concerning to me. So hopefully, Deaomi Brown is emerging as that guy. last week they had 12 third and threes or shorter and I was curious if that seems it seems like an awful lot to me

does it seem like an awful lot to you too like I can't remember a game in which a team had 12 third downs that were third and three or shorter that's a lot because usually like if I have a lift you know you have your short yard is third down or fourth at one list of about five or six plays. You usually only get through like two or three of them. And then you have your third and two to five or third and two to four plays. You have like six, five of those. Those guys would have been out of their, you know, you'd have been out of your plays by second quarter.

I mean, that was unbelievable. And that's what they need. They're so good on third and two, three, one with the ability of Jaden to run and the zone reads and the inside zones and the RPO's, they're tough to stop. And they proved it. You know, the last three games on a losing streak, I think they were, you know, they were three for 12, four for 15, two for 10, whatever it was, because they had third and longer. But when they're in third and three or less, these guys are dangerous.

When you've got that play sheet, you know, for a game, for a specific game, and you just broke it down your third and ones, your third and twos to third and fives, and you have a certain number of plays. When you do get through those plays, isn't it okay to repeat them? Yeah, you can repeat them or you can change up the formation. You know, you can run, let's say you want to run a choice route. you know, it's Jordan Reed or whatever. Now you can do the same play with James McRowder.

You know what I mean? You can change your formation of the personnel groupings and still get the same thing. I mean, you can always pluck from your base passes. There's a lot of base passes on first, second down, that you can move over to third down with the players know. So these are just usually just ranked the top ones. These are the ones we want to get to early on the call sheet. And then as a game goes on, you might have to pluck from, you know,

your regular game plan, which is easy to do. But if something works, are you more apt to just come back to it? exactly the way it was formationed with the same players, or is it too much of a giveaway to the opponent? Yeah, I think you can come up. I think you still run the same play a couple times. I mean, we're in that choice route,

but I have mentioned, you know, seven or eight times a game with either Jordan or Crowder. I mean, it's an option route. So you're getting at this, and man, you're going to get this, so it should work versus everything. And there's a lot of plays that are pure progression-type plays that you feel good about. You know, if the first read isn't there,

you go back to your backside, basic, wide here, the shallow cross. So there's a lot of good options on a lot of these plays for the quarterback. If you get quarters, you get cover two, you get man to man, you have good options for all these plays. You can run them multiple times, no problem at all. Would you think of Dan Campbell last night going for that last fourth down when they were in field goal range to try to burn the clock? You know, I don't understand it. It worked out great for them, and that's who Dan Campbell is, so you can't argue with the success. You know, I had said this before the season on another show,

I think the Lions are going to be one of the top teams out there. They're just going to have to overcome some of these plays that he goes for it at weird time. If they can do that, they'll win it all. But, you know, very similar to San Francisco game last year in the playoffs. They did it. They went for it said to taking the point, and it cost them the game. So, you know, I think it's going to be interesting when we get playoff time if he continues to do this, which he will.

But they better produce because that's what knocked them out last year. I may could have gone up three scores, I think, one time, and left at the two scores and San Fran came back and beat him. So, yeah, you know, good for him. The players rally around them. They trust him and Dan trusts his gut. So you can't argue with the success they've had. Yeah, I'm totally with you on that.

Like, it's not going to shock me if, you know, he makes a decision in one of these playoff games and it doesn't work and it costs them, you know, a potential shot at a Super Bowl. But, you know, it's also possible that they're good enough to just front run their way through the playoffs, you know, and never have or be faced with one of those big decisions. They're that good, aren't they? Yeah, they're pretty good. I mean, even the fourth and fours in the red zone where they got the touchdown of Jamir Gibbs early. I mean, that's a tough call right there.

Fourth and four is not easy to get in the NFL in the red zone. That's a tough down just so you know. And it worked out for them. But, you know, taking points off the board, going forward is very, very risky. But they've got the players to do it right now, but we'll see when they play. really good defenses like Philadelphia that can lock up the receivers and rush the passers. So it'll be interesting. All right.

Let's talk about a few of these games on Sunday. It's not a great card on Sunday. We'll get to your lock of the week as well. Maybe the biggest game involving two teams is the NFC West matchup late in the day. Seahawks at Cardinals, Seattle 7 and 5, Arizona. 6 and 6. Who do you like in that one? You know, I went back and watched that game. They played a couple weeks ago, and offensively, both teams were awful.

I mean, absolutely, a train wreck. The only touchdown was because they ran a release screened in Jigba for 50 yards on 3rd and 15. It got to the one-yard line, and they ran it. And the other touchdowns of pick 6. Arizona did not score. So I don't know where they're going to turn either offensive line can really block defense the fronts with either team. So it's going to come down to a field goal here or there.

But I think I'm going to go with Seattle just because Leonard Williams is blowing up defenses right now. He's playing at the highest level of any defense alignment out there. And I think Gino, if Metcalf will make some plays, and then Jigba, I think they'll make enough play to get it done. Are we sleeping on Seattle and their potential in the postseason if they get there? I think a little bit. I think their offensive line is not very, not good enough. I don't think offensively they're good enough to compete with some of these teams, but I love what McDonald does on defense.

I mean, it's a full documentary what he did at Baltimore, and what are doing now that the guys are getting healthy. They do a great job on the back end, and their fronts playing extremely well. They move them around a lot. Good blitz plan, good blitz plan, and he keeps you off balance. So I think defensively they'll hang around there offensively. I just worry about their offensive line blocking for Gino,

and then Gino's decision-making three or four times a game will cost them probably. It just drives you crazy. Yeah. at Rams. Rams have to win to kind of stay in the mix in the NFC West, though it's really all bunched up. It's not like they're going to be mathematically eliminated, but, you know, the bills coming off that snow game Sunday night win over the 49ers. Who do you like there? I like Buffalo. There's a better team. I'm not convinced that the Rams off the front of the line is good enough to do anything against anybody. The Rams have to run the ball with

Tyrone Williams a lot in this game, and they might be able to do that. Hopefully they can to stay in it and keep Josh Allen off the field. But overall, when it's all said and done, Josh is just playing at the highest of high levels right now, and I just think they're too much for him. Kirk had maybe one of the worst games of his career last week against the Chargers, and now he's in Minnesota against maybe one of the best defenses in the NFL. How do you see that one? Yeah, it's going to be tough for him.

You know, I think his interceptions weren't very good. You know, his receivers got to do a better job. They got to get Pitts involved. Where is he at? Where is this Pitt guy? I mean, God, does he ever show up? Is he get off the plane? I mean, he's got to play.

And Drake London's got to do a better job at coming back to the ball. I mean, the last interception is Derwin James. He's just standing there, let Derwin James undercut him. There's a lot of issues up there in Atlanta. So I think it's going to be a struggle for him. You know, and Bejohn's not doing a good enough job, you know, taking the pressure off of Kirk. So they have to get Bejohn going for Kirk can work to play actions in the quick game and all that stuff.

But if they become one-dimensional, they don't have a chance. Oh, boy, look at you. You're doing what I kind of did a little bit, but just barely because he didn't play well. Cousins didn't against the Chargers. But you're kind of defending some of those picks. And it is true. Some of those were not really his fault. but we won't even get into those.

But I do think that sometimes, you know, people, fans will just look at, oh, my God, the guy threw three picks or he threw four picks or he threw five picks. And very often, and only you guys know this, coaches know this, it really wasn't, and I'm not talking about tip balls that get intercepted or drop passes that, you know, get deflected up into the air and get caught. But very often it's a receiver who didn't cross face. or didn't run the right route or didn't come back for the ball or wasn't on the same page with the quarterback.

Right? I mean, it's not always the quarterback's fault. No, not at all. The one was really bad. The one out in the flat lake to be shot, it was a pick, six. That was a bad pick. And one in the red zone where he stepped up. He was expecting Drake London to peel out of there and go to the back of the end

and Drake just stood there. So that was a bad pick as well. Should have run it or just flipped at the Bijon. But there are some instances where guys, you know, they just give up on route. they're not precise in their breaks. And Kirk is an anticipation guy. He expects you to be or you're supposed to be.

And if you're not there, it's going to be a pick. So, yeah, this receiver's got to play better for him. Kirk's got to make a few better decisions. But the most important, thanks to them, is getting Bijan going. People are going to hate that. He had a bad game, people. All right, four picks. He had a bad game.

It's fine. All right. Jay came through last week. Once again, he's now seven and four on his. NFL lock of the week on this show. He had the Rams laying two and a half. I went against them, and I lost last week with the Saints. Who's your lock of the week Sunday? I bounced around a couple teams, but there's some bad games. Jags play the Titans. I think the Titans, as bad as they look. I think they're going to bounce back a little bit of Jags.

I think, you know, I said, I'm not going to play that game. I'm not going to play the Atlanta game. I'm hoping Kirk bounces back, but I can't really trust them. I think the one game that stands out to me, despite how good they're playing, the chargers without J.K. Dobbins, are going to have trouble running the ball. And they don't have any weapons other than McConkey on the outside. You know, Quentin John is absolutely awful. Palmer doesn't do anything as far as separation is concerned. I've got to take the Chiefs at home Sunday night's football. I just think it's time for them.

But Pacheco coming back with another week, I think they're going to start to separate from the field in the AFC, and I think it's going to be a good game for the Chiefs. I like that pick. By the way, so is Quentin Johnson that bad? He's bad, man. I mean, last year I read on PFF, I think he was the most covered receiver out of any receiver at pro football, number one guy, and he's got the drops. Yeah, he's not very good for a number one guy.

Those TCU receivers have not worked out in the NFL. You had one that the guy that the Eagles drafted. Rager. Jalen Rieger. Rager, Quentin, Johnston. I mean, Turpin, as a punt returner and a kickoff returner, great. But, man, those TCU receivers have not worked out in the NFL. None of them.

And all of them got picked in the first round. Turpin didn't he? No, I'm saying, Turpin is a kick returner. But Johnston, Rager, Doxon, I'm probably forgetting somebody. Yeah, you're right. They have not worked out. I don't know if it's the school or what. Maybe they just overdraft a little bit, the height weight thing.

jumping ability? I don't know. They just haven't worked out. Josh was an injury-related guy, and he's a long strider, couldn't really separate. He relied on 50-50 balls, and we just didn't have a 50-50 thrower that trusted the 50-50 ball. So he didn't really get the hop. Yeah, you would get on him for that. You got on, you know-who, Kirk Cousins, for not throwing enough 50-50 balls. You wanted him to put it up for Doxon and others. I just want to see him jump a couple times and jump up and catch a ball for God, He had a 40, I mean, you should see him jump. Jump, feet can jump over the guy's head.

But, yeah, it was good to get done. And then he had the injuries with his heels and his ankles and all that stuff. So it didn't work out. Did not work out. No, it didn't. He had that one catch against Seattle, which I still can't believe you guys won that game. That was thrilling. I don't know how it happened, but it happened.

Chiefs minus four Sunday night football at home against the Chargers. I'm just looking to see what the Chiefs. Chiefs record. The Chiefs are five and seven against the number this year. I actually would have thought it would have been, oh, here's what it is. They have lost, they have not covered six games in a row. Six in a row. They haven't covered. In fact, most of them haven't even been close, but you like them to cover. I do too. I think this is that they start to get rolling here. The issue is the Chargers has got a good defense and they're going to, I think they're fourth or fifth and the league in stacks, and that's where the problem is for the chief that left tackle's awful,

but I'm counting on Patrick to overcome it like he does every week. You're the best. Thanks for doing this. Have a good weekend. I'll talk to you next week. All right. Thanks, Kevin. Jay Gruden, everybody. I'll get to my picks right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Euro step around that hot take and make a play today with Robin Hood. With a 3% boost on your annual IRA contributions with Robin Hood Gold, your money starts working for you. That's an easy assist without the flagrant fouls. Official brokerage in Jersey patch partner of the Washington Wizards. Investing involves risk. Three percent match requires gold for one

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searching for and My Booky's offering one up. Right now they've got everything you need for college football's conference championship Friday night and Saturday and everything you need for the Sunday games in the NFL. By the way, looking ahead to next week's Washington game at New Orleans, my bookie's got next week's lines up right now. If you wanted to bet next week's lines, you could do it. And for next week, they have Washington as a three and a half point favorite in the Superdome next week. The Saints play the Giant Sunday in the Meadowlands. That game may be in my smell test selection coming up here in a moment.

MyBooky.ag, use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. A pretty good run over the last month and a half of the smell test. Six straight winning weekends. I'm now 10 games above 500 on the season. And man, did I need this run? because the season started off poorly. September and October were not great, especially college football.

Remember back a few months ago, so many of you were like, just give me your pro picks. And I'm like, no, you got to hang in there on the college. And it's actually been the college picks that have kind of carried the last six weekends. But let's try to keep it going. I was nine and six last week, six and three,

after Thanksgiving Day, I gave out, remember, three unders and three under dogs on Thanksgiving Day, and that ended up resulting in a three-and-three day, six-and-three after that. I thought I was going to have a lot more for you in college this weekend on conference championship weekend. I thought I was going to have at least three, if not four games, in the smell test. But I just have one. Penn State plus three and a half in the Big Ten championship game tomorrow night. against Oregon. Oregon is the most heavily bet public team of the weekend, pro or college. Why is that? Well, they're number one. They're undefeated. They're only a three and a half point favorite.

And I think even most public betters understand that James Franklin never wins these games, ever, which worries me from an analysis standpoint because I'm not a big James Franklin guy, but I actually don't think Oregon's overwhelmingly great either. So contrarian pick, Penn State against the public, there is sharp money on Penn State, there has been all week. It would not shock me if that number comes down to three. So maybe play it now.

I think if anything, there will be more sharp money coming in on Penn State. Oregon, first year in the conference in the championship game, laying three and a half, give me Penn State plus the three and a half. Before I get to the pro games, the games that I thought I was going to have in the smell test, I was pretty sure at the beginning of the week I was going to have UNLV. They play Boise tonight in the Mountain West title game. Boise's a four, four and a half point favorite. Ashton Genty is their running back.

You've probably heard of him by now. He's a projected first round pick. He's been chasing down the Barry Sanders single season, rushing mark all season long. He won't catch him, but he's had a hell of a season. And Boise on the blue turf tonight is playing UNLV. They beat him earlier in the year 29, 24. They're laying four, four and a half.

I thought I was going to give out UNLV. I may play UNLV personally, but it's not official because there's sharp money on Boise, even though there is a ton of public money on Boise. I also thought I was going to give out Iowa State in the Big 12 title game. Most of the actions on Arizona State, but there is some sharp money on both teams in this game. So I'm going to pass on that one. although I actually think I may personally play Iowa State. Passing on Iowa State for the smell test, but not for my personal wagers tomorrow.

I'll probably have a small taste on the cyclones, which I did last night on the Packers as well. And I think I mentioned yesterday, I liked Green Bay, leaned Green Bay, and they did get it done. Wish I'd given it out, but you can't win all of them. I also thought I was going to need Clemson. They're playing SMU tomorrow night. I'm glad that I don't have Clemson in the smell test because I really think SMU is a good team. But that line's short and the public's pounding Clemson,

but there is a lot of mixed sharp money on both sides. So again, just one play, Penn State plus three and a half as far as the college picks go. By the way, in these games, in the four major conferences, the Power Four conferences, you could get a champion that is also a first-time participant in the league this year. Iowa State, Arizona State, Arizona State's first year in the Big 12, Texas, Georgia, Texas's first year in the SEC, SMU Clemson, SMU's first year in the ACC, and Oregon Penn State, Oregon's first year in the Big Ten.

All right, let's go to Sunday. Sunday, wait, where's this? I got this from Jerry. Jerry wrote, I love the smell test, Kevin, but do I even need to listen? The Panthers, the Giants, and the Jags are givens to be in it. Yeah, that's spot on, Jerry. Last week, remember, I had the Panthers.

and the Jags in the smell test two terrible teams. And what happened, Jair? They both were winners. But yeah, no, I get it. You know, a lot of times when you bet this way, you got to bet on bad teams because the public's lined up on the other side. And when these lines are short, it really tempts the public better to bet the favorites. So let's get to it.

Yeah, the Jets. The Jets, I said, are. in Miami. By the way, the Jets should have covered last week. They were up 217, going in to make it 287 when Leonard Williams picked off the Aaron Rogers pass and returned it 92 yards, I think. And that completely flipped the game. Public loves Miami. Lang. Six is what the number is right now against the Jets at home. I'll take the Jets plus the six. They are a huge anti-public. play. You mentioned the Giants, Jerry? Yep, another terrible team. The Giants plus five at home against New Orleans. New Orleans has played well. They had a shot last week. I gave them out. That was one of my losing Sunday picks, but they were right there with the Rams, just didn't get it done. There's no reason to really like the Giants to keep it close except for nobody's betting them, and every sports book will need them. So give me the Giants plus the Giants.

the five in that one. I like the Rams plus three and a half. I'm actually surprised that the public is loaded up on Buffalo minus three and a half. If it had been minus two and a half, yes. But the Rams have been, you know, a good team. Buffalo off of that draining Snow Globe game Sunday night against the 49ers. Now they've got to go out west. But the public loves Buffalo.

And why not? They're a hell of a team with Josh Allen and company. But I'll take the Rams plus three in the hook at home. And then Sunday night, I'm with Jay Gruden on this. The public really likes the Chargers. They're sharp money on Kansas City. Maybe Kansas City opens up a cana whoop, you know what, for the first time in a long time. I'll take the Chiefs and lay the four. So five picks.

That's it. Penn State plus three and a half tomorrow night. And then on Sunday, the Jets plus six, the Giants plus five, the Rams plus three and a half, and the Chiefs minus four. I may like the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, but I'll have something on that on Monday's show. All right, that is it for the day. Enjoy your football weekend without Washington playing in it. I will be back on Monday.