The Kevin Sheehan Show - Sam's Club

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

Kevin today with even more on Sam Howell's present and future in the wake of being benched in Los Angeles. Michael Phillips/Washington Times jumped on with Kevin to talk everything Commanders. Kevin finished up with thoughts on the Terps' comeback hoops win last night over Nichols. He also had thoughts on Taulia Tagovailoa opting out of Maryland's bowl game against Auburn and where Lia ranks on the list of all-time Terp QBs. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Michael Phillips on the show today from the Washington Times now. Michael writes for love Michael on the show. He will join me in the next segment.

A show presented, as always, by Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation. Go to Windonation.com. Mention my name. They'll take really good care of you. So I want to read a tweet and an email here in this opening segment of the show. I will talk some Terps hoops at the end of the show for those of you that watched Maryland last night against Nicol State. And I'll also weigh in on Talia Leia, Tungaviloa opting out of the bowl game and talk about where Leah ranks in the history of Maryland quarterbacks,

because he is the all-time passing yardage leader and holds a. many other records in Maryland football history as well. But this tweet and email to start the show. From Robin on Twitter. Kevin, Sam's lost confidence, and that's why he was benched. Some of it is his fault, and the rest of it's on coaching. Okay, that from Robin. This from a very honest Bart on Twitter.

Kevin, I am standing down, L-O-L. I'm one of those that you have referenced as being convinced that Sam Hal is a franchise quarterback. I haven't gone as far as some on the internet have gone, but I did criticize you on Twitter for not seeing what I thought was pretty obvious. I thought you were just in your go-opposite everyone mode or were just being stubborn. I think when he says go-opposite-Everyone mode, he's talking about sort of my contrarian view. that's more smell-testy, you know, gambling-related Bart. But he wrote, I thought you were just in your go-opposite everyone mode or you were just being stubborn.

I was not a Wents guy just so you know, so not all the Howl believers were also wrong about wence, as you've said. But the benching on Sunday is all I needed to know that I've been wrong about Hal. For Rivera to bench a guy that he was touting as much as he was, including trying to take credit for his greatness before he had ever become anything close to great when he gave his Give Me My Super Bowl Trophy speech before the season began was, as you said, telling. Yeah, I mean, he's referring, you know, referencing the, you know, if we go 8, 8 and 1 and I get fired and I've left 40 of 53 players that win a Super Bowl along with a quarterback, send me my

Super Bowl ring. By the way, I just want to interject something here too. Tommy and I talked about how telling it was that they had gotten to the point where they benched Sam Hal in a game. But I think we didn't emphasize, Bart, what you just emphasized, which we emphasized the idea that it was, you know, this season's always been about Sam Hal and the development, and it's always been, we're developing, you know, be patient. We let them play through it, you know, at the end of the Buffalo game, at the end of other games. We're not going to pull them. We're going to let them play through these things and work through those things. And then they didn't on Sunday.

But it's been more than that, Bart, as you point out. I mean, they've been, Ron's been pretty bullish on Sam all year. You know, he's been trying to wish this thing into existence. So to bail on that to a certain degree was very telling. Anyway, I continue with Bart's very long email, but I appreciate it, Bart. And then he writes, and then for him to answer the post girl's question, the post girl is Nikki Javala Bart, but obviously I think you didn't know her name.

So he writes, and then for him to answer Nikki Javala's question and admit that Brissette would be starting games if the games mattered, the door for me was slammed shut on how being the future of this franchise. I'd be lying if the benching was the only thing that slammed the door shut for me.

Sam hasn't been a good quarterback since the Seattle game, and it doesn't seem that much of a coincidence that the defenses have gotten better since that game. I've learned the following lesson that I'm willing to admit, Kevin, rushing to judgment on quarterbacks is a big mistake. Love listening to the show. Now, what about Forbes? Are you ready to say he was a bad first round pick?

Didn't you learn the lesson that you should? shouldn't rush to judgment? Well, you said on quarterbacks. Maybe he should throw in corners as well. No, Bart, I'm not ready to say Forbes was a bad first round pick yet, but I am ready to say that it's not a good sign as to where he is right now when in a meaningless game, the team's first round pick got six snaps. Something's not right there. I am willing to concede that it's not good that Emmanuel Forbes is barely playing at the end of what's become a lost season, and he's healthy, as far as we know, these should be the games he's 100% playing in. Anyway, by the way, a quick kind of off-the-topic turn, because you reminded me as something

with the Forbes comment. The Forbes conversation reminds me that this defense, which has been the most disappointing thing of the season for me. The most surprising and the most disappointing thing at the season for me. Remember in the preseason, it didn't play a lick of football, but Forbes did. Emmanuel Forbes, and I think Barton, you know, the newcomer, I think they played, but the rest of the starting defense didn't play at all. I mean, barely at all. Maybe that was a red flag on Forbes that we should have noticed. But, you know, I think we chalked it up to. He's a rookie. They're putting him out there so we can get used to playing against NFL players. And with Barton, he's new to the team. But, you know, maybe, maybe they were concerned and they were trying to get more of a

luxie on him. They were, you know, by not playing their starters in preseason on defense, they were very confident about their defense before the season began. So was I. And I was totally off on that one. So Bart and Robin. First of all, Robin on Sam losing confidence and that being on the coaches to a certain degree. Maybe they have asked him to do too much. Maybe that's part of it.

So maybe having him throw the ball more than any quarterback in the league, taking on a lot of responsibility. I don't know. I haven't knocked the strategy, given that this was more of a developmental year for Sam and not necessarily as we've really found out about winning. Because I think kind of if it was just about winning, I think we would have seen Berset earlier.

I really do. But maybe they asked them to do too much. I just, it's not that I have had a problem with the past attempts. I've had a problem with Eric B. Enemy not learning during the course of the season. from my perspective, a fan perspective, that the pure dropback stuff just wasn't something that they could do consistently and be competitive.

And I think some of that stuff perhaps led to Sam maybe losing some of the confidence, Robin, that you've suggested. Although Sam doesn't seem to be a guy that really wallows in confidence or, you know, down moments. I don't know, maybe you're right. It may be a part of the issue on why they pulled him on Sunday.

But the confidence loss, if true, is much more about, let's be specific, about the part of the game that we don't see as clearly as the coaches and players do, and that's the stuff that he's missing, the easy throws that are there that he's not getting to and perhaps because he's not seeing those things. you know, he senses frustration from coaches and maybe teammates and maybe that's affecting his confidence a little bit because it's not about his arm. It's not about his mobility. It's not about his toughness.

He's not sweating that stuff if he's sweating anything at all. It's the knowing what to do part as it relates to this is the design of the play. This is what you've got to be looking at. This is what you've got to process quickly. And this is where you've got to go with it based on this look, et cetera. and I think he's been lacking in that area for a while. And how much of that is on him versus the coaches? I'm not sure.

They could always simplify, but it wouldn't surprise me if they've already simplified. They could have gone to the run game more, but he was still going to have to throw the ball. Anyway, Bart, I appreciate the email and the admission. I do, but you're the aberration, just so you know. I've barely heard, and it's not surprising, barely heard from many of the people who regularly tell me and others like me how idiotic we are that we don't see Sam as a franchise quarterback. They always go silent after games like this. I mean, one of my favorites is just the consistent, he's the best we've had since Thysman, which has been a consistent sort of don't even try to put Kirk Cousins into. the Sam Hal Clashian.

You know, that's a joke. Sam's much more talented with much more upside than Kirk Cousins. I've just ignored those for the most part. So premature. More than that, though, it's just kind of a lack of even the most basic fan understanding of what's important to the position. I think Sam has talent. I do.

I think Sam's going to be a quarterback in the league at the very least as a backup. I do. I think I've learned that from watching him this year. but his flaws were and are serious ones. We've been talking about them all year long. We've been talking about the sacks and holding onto the ball too long all year long. It's why he got picked in the fifth round. It's why it was always going to be more of a longer shot than others that he would turn out to be that needle in a haystack, day three pick.

The offensive line, just as a matter of fact, is still, per next gen right in the middle of the league in past block win rate. A past block win rate. 17th through Sunday. Sam Cosmi per PFF was the highest graded player on the team Sunday with a 92 grade and has the second highest rated PFF guard number over the last five weeks. Do I think the line is great? No. I don't. I don't. But it has a highest rated PFF guard number over the last five weeks. Do I think the line is great? No. I don't, I don't. But it hasn't been as bad as some of you want to make it out to be. But don't beat yourself up, Bart, because I don't think the other side should be congratulating themselves right now either.

He's got three games left against excellent defensive teams. And it's been an up and down season for him through 14. I mean, more down recently, but he's going to get the chance to turn the time. things around starting Sunday. You know, at one point during the season, actually a few points during the season, I expected him to play well. I remember going into that Thanksgiving Day game. I said, I think that he's going to play well.

I thought he was going to play well against Seattle. That was one of the picks I had Washington where they were right this year, four and two in the smell test in games involving Washington, and that was a win. I expected him to play well a couple of times he delivered. That's how encouraging some of his performances. were, especially a few games there mid-season. Am I expecting that Sunday or against San Francisco or Dallas? Not really, but let's see what happens.

I'm a very strong lean at this point that he's not going to convince me over the final three games, 17 total, that he's a true upper-level franchise quarterback, or maybe even someone good enough to just build around. But these last three opponents, especially the last two, which they should be in position Dallas and San Francisco, to play those games to win those games for division or seating purposes. They'll be the toughest tests for him of the season. I'm not looking for arm strength or playmaking ability in any of those three.

He's got that. We know what he has, you know, and by the way, that's a lot more than a lot of guys who have been quarterbacking this year have. I'm looking for progress on process, you know, because he hasn't made much here recently. He's going to get sacked or if he's going to get sacked or nearly sacked a bunch in these final three games, then he hasn't made progress on the process, on decision-making. That's what you're looking for. You know, he's going to make some plays with his legs. We know that, even against good teams.

And that's why we know, I think I know, he's going to be in this league as a backup worst case. He's mobile. He can make plays. Jay's always said, you know, mobility you want in that backup quarterback. But if he's still got a shot to be something more than that, he's got to make progress on decision-making and process. You know, that's what you've got to see if you're evaluating him.

If he's where he was on Sunday against the Rams, all of these games down the stretch could get really ugly. Yeah, I did say I'm a very strong lean at this point that he's not going to be a franchise quarterback. That he's not going to be somebody that I always felt was best case, which wasn't elite or top tenish. But I always said my best case for him was Andy Dalton. I'm probably a strong lean against that as well right now. I think it's a combination of what we've seen over the last four games coupled with, you know, what Bart said, the benching. And then, you know, being very public about, you know, this guy that they've touted is the guy. And they took the, you know, they basically took a hit to that.

And they were willing to take a hit to that. Sunday was kind of a peek behind the curtains that we haven't had really other than, you know, our own. evaluations. It's a tough admission for a head coach who, as Bart said, you know, prematurely took credit, you know. He was way too presumptuous about what Sam would be. And I said all along that it was a lot of wish casting. And that wish hasn't been granted yet. But again, you know, it's it sounds like since the Rams game, we're piling on Sam. The bottom line is for a fifth round pick, he's proven a lot, a lot more than most fifth round picks about what he could be in this league. Like, I still think there's some Gardner Minshu in him. Gardner Minchus starting games.

He's been able to start games in a pinch, win games. He may start a playoff game this year for Indianapolis. But beyond that, you know, seems like those hopes are fading and they will be in the market for a quarterback come the April draft, assuming they lose these final three games. All right, Michael Phillips next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show brought to you

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Jumping on with me right now is our good friend. Michael Phillips, who now writes for the Washington Times. Tommy's paper at Michael P in RVA on Twitter. Nothing significant today, right from Ron Rivera or Sam Hal on Wednesdays when the quarterback speaks and the head coach speaks. We didn't get him to, you know, double down on if the game was meaningful on Sunday that, you know, Jacoby Brissette would probably be the starter. We didn't get him to make that mistake again, did we?

It did not. It was a gaff-free performance. Hopefully, Sam will learn from last week, knows he will, and Sam's excited to get another opportunity. A gaff-free day from Ron Rivera. What are the odds on gaff-free? Even money, you think? You know, the signs, like it's been two days since the workplace incident.

We'll throw another number on the sign. We're good until tomorrow. We're good till tomorrow. That was what we were saying. Tommy and I have been saying that for years with Dan Snyder. Because it's really, you know, from the episode when Michael Scott, if you're an office fan, is down tearing up the warehouse. And, you know, they walk over to the board that says, you know, 312 days since the last accident and they erase it and write zero. And with Dan Snyder, it seemed like every four or five days you had to erase it and write zero again since the last accident. I mean, amazingly, this isn't the craziest final days of a coach we've had in this decade. You know, may not even be top two, top three, if you want to extend it further.

It's pretty wild. Yeah, I mean, we've been through it. All of us, fans included, have been through it at the end of years. This is, you know, look, it became a lot more interesting on Sunday. So let's start there, because that's been, you know, the lead all week long. So what did you think when it happened? Yeah, and my question after the game to run was, did you or Eric make that decision? He said, this was my decision.

I wanted to get him out of there. I definitely think it was to prevent further embarrassment. You know, you didn't want to late pick six or the score getting out of it, you know, getting even wider, the margin getting even wider. It just so happened that Brissette has been sitting on the sideline taking notes like, oh, the offensive line is bad. All right, I've got, you know, a second and I have to throw it. Ah, this McLaren kid, he's pretty good. He went out there.

He put all those things together. He let a couple nice drive. Now, the other thing I was thinking in that moment, which kind of isn't, you know, the first thing, the quarterback for the first thing. But the second thing is, holy cow, how does it take you three minutes and a two-minute warning to score from the one-yard line? That was equally astounding. So Tommy and I talked a lot yesterday, and I've been on, you know, all week long talking about it. And I opened the show today reading a few different emails from people who said, because I think I titled the show yesterday, the benching was telling, something like that, whatever.

And we discussed it yesterday. And I'm curious as to what you think it said. Yeah, it said, look, the one thing I've got that I can leave here with is I found you a quarterback. And my quarterback's not performing well right now. I need to get him out of here before there's more evidence mounting that I haven't found a quarterback. That was my tell there, my take there from Ron's decision to bench Sam Hal. And, of course, to correctly recommit to him right away after the game. Monday, I mean, yeah, I don't know why he said the thing about the playoffs in the postseason.

That was a full head scratcher to me. I don't think that served anybody. But you look at this final stretch here. Jets, Niners, Cowboys, things are going to get worse for Sam before they get better. Yeah, I mean, you, I completely agree. I think it's interesting the way you phrase it. It was like, I don't want him out here any longer because people are going to start to catch on that I'm not leaving them with something I'll be vindicated for and they'll send me a Super Bowl trophy

or a Super Bowl ring for. Grant was on my radio show, Grant Paulson, with me today, and he said, that he thought that maybe it was an opportunity for Ron and or EB to show management that Sam's held the offense back a little bit, which is another way to look at it. That never occurred to me. Did it occur to you? Well, my alternative is right that EB's in the market for himself now, and that's why I'd be curious, his involvement here, he's not going to be here next year.

I feel pretty confident saying that at this juncture, just with the way things are going. The results are needed completely clean house. I don't know. I don't think I need to justify that any further. But I also don't think he's, you know, like, you know, he's going to get tossed out of the league or anything. Like, I think he'd look at what the Chiefs have done. The Chiefs have struggled this year offensively without him. Look at what he was able to inject into the team out of the gate.

I think there's a place for him. But the last, you know, he's still playing for something here. The last three weeks will be very telling for him. to will he get an offensive coordinator look somewhere? Will he get a head coaching look somewhere? You know, that seems increasingly doubtful. But these remain very important weeks for him. And I do think to Kobe Bressig's that the team the better chance to win right now,

that's not the goal and that's not Ron's goal. That's only Eric Pianney's goal. So we have a lot of conflicting goals happening at the moment here. Yeah. Well, we kind of did even before the season started in some ways. Yeah, we did. So I think it's fascinating that here we are just a couple of days after what was really a game with seven and a half minutes to go in it, that we were going to leave talking about, you know, constructively criticizing Sam for another off day, you know, talking about the defense being pretty poor once again, you know, a season spiraling out of control, bad team. I mean, you've covered this team for a long time.

This is truly one of the worst seasons. in terms of performance we've ever seen, and there are a lot to compare them to. But it then changed into this, oh my God, they just publicly for all intents and purposes. Unless people read it differently. I think most people who have been paying attention

read it the way you read it, the way I read it, and that is there was some frustration level, there was some fear that it was going to get worse for him and maybe, you know, whatever. But the bottom line is we went, from, you know, another bad performance during this bad performance stretch, not a good day for Sam. People who are convinced on Sam probably not being persuaded by another bad performance.

People who, you know, were Sam's not the guy, probably more persuaded that he wasn't the guy. People in the middle probably leaning heavily in the direction of maybe he's not the guy to, you know, as the email that I read in the beginning of this show today that was sent to me by Bart, Bart basically said I was a major believer, and Ron basically told me by benching him, and then the next day saying Jacoby Berset would have been the starter in a meaningful game, it slammed the door shut for me on Sam Howl. Now, maybe that's even an exaggeration, but it's kind of remarkable what ended up being the result, of Ron's in-game decision.

It is the way people, people, they told us publicly that he, in their opinion, might not be the guy, and that's not what they've been saying all year. Yeah, and their team has showed us that, that they may not be the team. They've showed us that all year. I'll throw one more long on that fire, Kevin,

and that is, I think it's going to be very important to them down the stretch that Sam Hal does not set the record for most stacks taken in one season. entering the game, he was on pace to tie. David Carr's rookie season 76 Sacks. That's the high watermark in the NFL. And certainly late game is where the Rams would have had an opportunity to log a couple more, although they seemed more interested at batting the passes down.

You know, two bats, which are situations that could have turned into Sacks. By getting him out with just one, he's now not on pace to set that record. I think you look at those tangible things as things that's very important for Ron, for these guys to avoid having that on ESPN, right? Having that on the ticker. Sam Howell sets NFL record most times back in the season. I think that that may have played a role and may play a role here in these final games as well if things get out of control. Well, that's a new twist. Why do you think that would matter to them?

I think the only thing that matters right now is reputation and image and, you know, anything that is shown, you know, these guys aren't breaking through nationally, right? This Jets game is going to get about four minutes on red zone cumulatively if they're lucky. And, you know, in Boomer's fastest three minutes, they'll just completely ignore it. It'll breeze over, right? Like, you know, these guys aren't moving the needle nationally at all. And I think that's probably the way Ron likes it right now. Just lay it low.

a quarterback setting the record for most times stacked in a season, especially if that Cowboys game ends up in any kind of national slot, that's pretty embarrassing, right? That's pretty embarrassing for the team you assembled an offseason you spent willfully ignoring the offensive line and a quarterback you've proclaimed to be the future of the franchise. That's a pretty bad headline right there. So I could see why they would want to work to avoid that. And part two, the corollary is if that is a factor here, we may not have seen his last benching of the season. That was going to be one of my next questions. Tom asked me yesterday, do you think it'll happen again?

I said, I don't think it will, but I can't. I think the problem, of course, is they're playing arguably three, well, per the DVOA metric, three of the best six defenses in the league, the rest of the way. And so, he was not in danger on Sunday. I think we would all agree. This was not one of those games where he was battered around and sacked, you know, it's many times. But that could be the case in one of these final three games, and it may actually be an honest, sincere response if they pull him that they wanted to protect him at that point. So I guess you've answered the question. You think there's a chance he'll get pulled again? I think there's absolutely the chance he might get pulled again. I do think, barring, you know, major catastrophe, he will start all three of these. You know, maybe for a second,

it's thrown a bone in the last one if things are just entirely out of hand. You know, thank you for being a good mentor here. We understand you're playing for a contract. We're going to draw some plays up where you see what you can do. I think on the whole, though, the goal will be to start, Sam, all three games. Definitely not ruling out another benching, though. And, you know, as you mentioned, very honestly, for his protection, right? Chets are good.

Niners are good. And the Cowboys' defense, of course, speaks for it. itself with what it's done as well. You know, this is a brutal schedule to finish with. Now, the thing I've always said, and I'll double down on it, Sam controls his own destiny for next year, right? If they lose out and there's a number three pick in the draft, we're going to be talking quarterback for four months, and that's going to be very fair. If he can scratch one out or scratch two out and they're picking at number eight or number nine, we're talking about left tackles and tight ends. It's a very different conversation. Yeah, I mean, Sam, for his future with

the next regime would love to figure out how to engineer two wins in the final three so that they're not picking in the top five, like you just said. I mean, that's, you know, therein lies like just the obvious answer to when people, you know, talk about teams tanking. Players are never tanking. Like, in the NBA, these are the tanking, these are organizational decisions that are made in terms of who ends up playing in these games. And the people that they play in the games aren't going to try any less.

they're fighting for contracts. In Sam's case, to your point, he's fighting to keep them from drafting a quarterback in the top five. If he believes he should be the starter and wants to be the starter next year. No, it's more subtle than that. It's like pulling Sam and putting in whomever the quarterback is on the practice squad. It's what the Eagles did in 2020. You know, by putting in Nate Sudfield. Nate Sudfeld.

Yeah. It's what they did it, you know, in-game because Jalen Hertz was giving them a chance to win that game. All right, so we don't know who the new regime is going to be. We don't know what their decision process is. So I'm not asking what you think they'll do. I'm asking you what you think Sam Howell's future in the NFL is. Well, you know, look, how many teams have played a backup quarterback this year? I don't have the answer off the top of my head, but I bet it's more than, more than half, probably.

Yeah, probably. I've started a backup quarterback at least once this year. That's an important position to invest in, and that's an important position to have in a 17-game season. And the modern NFL, with past rushers as good as they are, with quarterbacks being as mobile as they have to be now, which opens them up to even more opportunities to get hit, if there is a quarterback drafted by this team in the first round, I have zero issues and would encourage them to keep Sam around and continue to develop him and continue to have him on the roster and tell him, look, you'll probably get a chance to play this year. That's how this works.

Or even, you know, we're giving Sam the first six games of the season while the rookie learns and develops because that's proven to be a successful approach as well. I don't think it's the end of the line for him at all if he's not a starter next year, which isn't to say he won't be. He could turn it on here down the stretch. but if they bring in another quarterback for next year, I'd absolutely be in favor of keeping him around. I mean, they've got cap space.

I wouldn't mind keeping three good quarterbacks around. I think Bressett will probably want to go somewhere where he might get a chance, a la, you know, Heineke and Atlanta kind of situation. But if he's up for staying around, I'm cutting that check. It's the most important position in sports. I don't understand why teams like the Jets handle it as poorly as they do in terms of not having legitimate backup play. Yeah, and I think some of the conversation in the last couple of days, there are some out there that would probably deem it to be way too over the top critical of Sam Howl.

You know, it's like some of the Eric Beenemy conversation, you know, earlier in the year. It's like, well, Ron told us all that there was a problem with Eric Beenemy. And Ron told us on Sunday that there were issues with Sam Howe. But I don't want it to get what you just said is true. I mean, to me, there's still been over 14 games a lot of good, and I think on some level he's proven that he can play quarterback in this league at some level to be determined, but at the very least, a backup quarterback. And if they draft a young quarterback very high, I'd be thrilled to have Sam Howell be the backup quarterback.

In fact, it's interesting, right, that last year, one of the reasons some people thought it was best that Taylor Heineke move on, is that the people that were so in love with Taylor Heineke that couldn't see that he was primarily a backup NFL quarterback would be screaming in these games to have them in there when Sam Hal was developing. But I don't think that would be the case with Sam Hal sticking around if you draft somebody super early. There's a big difference. Huge difference.

And yeah, it's not to suggest the fans don't like Sam. I think Sam Hal has been well received here. But if Jaden Daniels is standing up at the podium for an introductory press conference, yeah, nobody's suiting or hollering for Sam in that. Right. By the way, I counted, I think I have this right. 17 out of the 32 teams have started more than one quarterback this year. There you go, more than a half. That seems high, but I bet you there have been years when you've had that much. I think what's made this interest, what might make this more noticeable is how many teams have gone to 30.

string quarterbacks and how many starters have literally been knocked out for the year. It seems high. It does to me anyway. Yeah, third's interesting because man, once you get to three, like, that kid has not gotten any a rep. You can't give them reps in

a two-hour practice day that you get on Wednesday. It's very hard for a team to succeed long term with the three. Yeah, I mean, the Jets, the Browns, the Vikings. The Vikings. There have been multiple teams that have gotten down to third

and even in the case of the Browns. I mean, Flacco, I think, is the fourth quarterback. And the Jets have started four quarterbacks this year. All right. Let's move to another part of the team. Emmanuel Forbes played just six snaps on Sunday in a game that was utterly meaningless for all intents and purposes. So what does that tell you about how they view Emmanuel Forbes

and his rookie season and maybe beyond. That was wild to me, and Ron cited the matchup as Binary Reef. And look, if he's still nursing the injury and say he's still nursing the injury, but they gave him the full clearance, he's good to go, and I've got no choice. But to believe that is obviously that's what's on the mandated injury report, that blew my mind. And for Ron to cite the matchup, I mean, that's a huge vote of no confidence here.

and I posted earlier this week that, I mean, four first-round picks have arguably all been misses under Ron. You know, not to say any of these guys won't have good pro careers, because I actually think some of them still could. But if you miss on four first-round picks and four years of coaching a team, you're not going to hang around for very long. And that's what we're seeing here, right? You draft a guy in the first round to be a playmaker and get your takeaways, and he didn't play and he didn't get takeaways. Yeah, and I mean, I think it's always too early, you know, even through a first year. But again, again, when you get to, you know, you're looking for signs at the end of the year in a meaningless game, if you're only playing your healthy first round corner six snaps, that's very telling as to what they think of him right now and his development.

which is kind of trouble. Discurging. Yeah, it is. I mean, yeah. Biggest disappointment this season, is it easy that it was the defense? Oh, yeah, because, I mean, after the numbers from last year, you think, all right, these guys are going to take a step forward this year, turnover luck generally, even to self out year over year.

The defensive line had four first-round picks. the defense had six first round picks out there starting on opening day to be this bad. And to be right, because you've got Jack and his schemes and they didn't work, and you've got Ron, they're going to simplify things, and then you've got the Cooper Cup touchdown that was just, I mean, there is no explanation for that touchdown that gives credit to Cooper Cup, not to disrespect him. I think he's a great receiver.

I think Matt Stafford's a great quarterback. There's no explanation for that play. where they outsmart the defense, the explanation is the defense, what the bad, on their own, essentially. And to have a group with this much talent be doing that in week 15, monster disappointment, only because I can't pick the long snapper's biggest disappointment. Do you think anybody else from the defense, I'm not talking about the free agents to be, the camcurs, the Kendall Fullers, because it's possible they won't be back? but do you think there's any chance that they continue shredding some of those first round defensive linemen,

John Allen, Duran Payne, would be up next for draft choices or not? Well, I think the next group's going to see in Duran Payne a really valuable nose tackle type player on a reasonable contract. I mean, you shed those contracts so you can go sign guys like that out on the open market. I don't think Duran Payne's going anywhere. Now, obviously, I left off Allen out of that answer. I think Allen's the kind of guy you want to build around. He really does have a great work ethic, great attitude, gets after it every day. He's the kind of guy you want to build around. But that contract is really good in terms of being able to trade it and be in a below market value situation. This is probably the year in a normal course of business where Jonathan Allen would ask for his extension and his raise because he's deserved that. He's been arguably underpaid over this two-year stretch since. signing the extension, I think the contract makes it much more likely that he gets traded than it would just on his own. Not to mention, and I don't know if you've heard some of the same things.

You know, I don't know that John would be against being traded, you know. Oh, you said that, yeah. Yeah, he did say that. He said that on the junkies about three. Oh, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said he's open to being traded. He wants to be somewhere where he can win.

And look, you know, and I said in the moment on that, like, this is the time of year, and you know this from being around football players. Every football player feels like crap right now. You know, it's December. You go out practice in the cold. The hits feel harder in the cold. You go play the games. Everybody feels like this is the end.

They're going to retire if they're on a losing team, that this is miserable. They don't want to go through this again or they want to be traded. those attitudes cool over time. You know, you get to March, get to April, infuse a little optimism into the building. He'll feel differently in terms of what he says publicly. But I do think the next group may explore that as an option for sure. All right.

We both agree that, you know, this regime's going to be gone when the Dallas game ends the next day. So are you hearing anything, or do you have a hunch on kind of the direction they're going to go in terms of structure? you know, GM coach, just coach-centric, or maybe a team president, GM coach. And then do you have any wild kind of ideas or information as it relates to names? Yeah, well, I think that you start with this. They've cast a very wide net.

You've heard about them talking with, you know, either available coaching candidates who they can talk to, you know, through third parties, of course, you can talk to guys, put the feelers out now, They're not at any competitive advantage by not, sorry, competitive disadvantage by not making the move right now. So we'll be very clear about that. They're definitely doing that. Explain that real quickly. Sorry to know. A lot of people think that they should be fired because it creates a competitive advantage in the hiring process.

Explain to everybody that thinks that why that's not true. Yeah, it creates a competitive advantage in the amount of PR you can do around looking for a new coach, but it doesn't change the amount of work you can do and looking for a new coach, right? You think about in college how so many times the coach leaves one day and the new guys there sitting down the next day. Well, they didn't just throw a dart at a board, right? You know, the teams, you know, Josh Harris, those guys,

are prohibited from talking to guys who are under contract with NFL teams right now. There's a whole orbit of people, agents, PR people, intermediaries, who could talk to anybody they want at any time they want. even some journalists, right? You know, you hear about, you know, journalists being in the middle of trades and stories and in the cases of people like Schaefter, kind of knowing who's on the market and helping to set the market. They're under no restrictions. They can talk to anybody they want.

Word gets around and word gets around freely this time of year. So there's zero competitive disadvantage to their position right now hanging on to Ron Rivera through the last game. Now, the other wrinkle is the NFL's been very adamant. They don't want movement when teams are in the playoffs. and with teams move through Super Bowl. I didn't see it with Jonathan Gannon. I think they kind of avoided a big PR hit on that, but they're pretty determined to make sure something like that doesn't happen

against. I think you're going to see them really clamped down on that this year and with the playoff teams in particular. That said, I think it's interesting. They've talked to a bunch of coaches. They've talked to a bunch of GM types, and you've got to decide which direction you're going to go, and that may depend on who you can get and what's available, right?

If you get a GM you love, you're more likely to go that, way and then build it through the coach. That's, I think, the lien a lot of people have right now. But if you think you can get a Harbaugh, if you think you can get a big name that's going to set the tone in here and come in and win right away and have a proven track record, you know, maybe you steer the ship in another direction than you thought you would. Do you think there's a chance that they would go the route of sort of football czar and then GM? You know, I think about Bill Parcell's Jeff Ireland years ago in Miami. There have been several other examples of that.

Is there any part of you that thinks that we may get two football overseers? Yeah, I'm going to be a pretty underwhelming guest for you here, Kevin. Yeah, sure. It's on the table. It's a pretty big table. I got a lot of stuff on the table here. And they've done a great job, the Harris Group, of not tipping their hand extensively on which route they want to go, in part because I think they truly are open to and considering all options,

including that. And I think you look at the people they've brought into the building, right, the Eugene Schenz, and then the player development people, and the medical side people, right, this is a group that's really committed to extensively overhauling the personnel side, bringing in people who are going to make a difference potentially in terms of signing a better roster, developing a better roster, and then treating that roster better once the players are here in Aspirin,

which is a very long and ethical way of saying, and I have no earthly idea which way they're going to go. I'm not sure they know which way they're going to go either, but there's very, very little that I'm taking off the table here. All right. Last two for you. Back to Sam and Eric Bienemy in particular, because I meant to ask this of you earlier. Does any part of you think that looking back over 14 games

that Bienami's offense wasn't the right fit for Sam, and maybe we'd feel differently about Sam in a different kind of offense, or do you think it was the right path offensively for Eric B. enemy to take? I don't know that I can tell you it was definitively the right path, but I completely dismiss the criticism that there could have been a better path. You look at what Sam Hound got, a fifth-round draft pick who got a full QB1 commitment, got paired with a Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator,

got a full endorsement from the state. at every juncture the entire offseason, got to play 14 NFL games with nobody questioning whether he would be bench. Sure, things of the system probably could have been tweaked to be better, but you know what? That's life in the NFL. The life in the NFL is he's going to be learning a new system next year, and he got more than he could have possibly hoped for in terms of a fair audition

and a fair shake to play. If I have any criticism, that they should have done more on the offense of line this off season, And I think that would have been immensely helpful to him in his young growth. But, you know, that didn't happen. And I think at the end of the day, and the final tally here, I'd say, you know, sure, you can critique what EB did and, you know, nip along the sides. But I can't think of a wholesale approach that would have definitively been better. And I think he was treated, you know, mighty fairly for what he was, a late round draft back.

The last question is this, and you may not have an opinion, but you are a Virginia guy, even though you are a... Yes, I am. Not a Northern Virginia guy. So what was your reaction to the news last week, the joint announcement between Ted Leonis and the state of Virginia, about moving the Wizards and Caps to Potomac Yard? Sure, I'll hit you with my bullet point, you know, my first slide here.

One is, you know, for them to just completely dismiss the city's $500 million, tells you exactly how much they're going to benefit from this deal and how much is on the table? Because you don't leave D.C. high and dry for 520 or 540. You're talking about orders of magnitude big. Right. And the post had the 1.3 number. I think we'll see it more and more as it shakes out. But it's very clear. This is a massive handout coming to Ted Leonis and his group. So that gives you some insight as to why they were willing to essentially do the city dirty because of how much they stand to benefit on the other side. look, these things, these handouts are traditionally to revitalize a neighborhood or to provide juice to a neighborhood. Help me if I'm missing it. I don't think Alexandria needs a juice. I don't think Potomac Yards needs development or needs people to say, oh, maybe I should consider moving to Alexandria.

That seems like a lovely place. That's not a neighborhood that needs that or was begging for that. So I don't see what Virginia's upside is other than giving a bunch of politicians a chance to stand in front of a shovel. and, you know, say, hey, look, we built this thing. We want a pro sports team over here. Now, I love downtown. I'm a downtown guy, so I'll always ride for a nice, vibrant downtown. I wish they had made it work. Billionaires are going to billionaire.

That's how they do their thing. It's a giant financial play for Ted. I don't begrudge his reaching out his hand for that much money and that nice of a facility. But as a citizen and as a sports fan, I reserve the right to tell him I disagree with it, and I think he's a poor steward of two of this town's, you know, Cornerstone Sports franchises, and I disagree. Well said. Thank you for that. Thank you for the time. As always, Michael Phillips, everybody, now with The Washington Post. You can read his coverage of the team. I hope not the Washington Post. The Washington Times, the other paper, the Washington Times.

Nikki Javala is still the beat reporter at the Washington Post. And I'm just thrilled, honestly, and I think a lot of people are that you're back on the beat. With the Washington Times, Michael Phillips at Michael P in RVA. Merry Christmas, happy holidays. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you. Same to you. I agree to be on. I really like Michael Phillips.

Always have liked Michael Phillips. I think he's done a great job covering the team. but I also think he has been an excellent guest on radio, on podcast. Not everybody that does what Michael does ends up being a good guest in this format, but he has always been excellent. Always appreciate his time and insight. All right, we'll finish up with a few things, including Maryland's comeback win last night at Xfinity Center.

We'll get to that and more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Thank you, Bobby and Rockville very much. Bobby gave us five stars on Apple Podcasts, wrote a review as well, a review that he titled Daily Escape. He wrote, great show, the only sports podcast I listen to Daily. I was even intrigued to try Magic Spoon, so advertisers should take note. I love Magic Spoon. Miss the Cooley segments, which are my favorite, but understand. Keep it going, Kevin, Bobby in Rockville. Yeah, the Cooley segments have been fewer and further between, fewer and further between this year than I had hoped. And it's real simple. I mean, he's busy, he's got young children, and he's not watching Washington every week. And even when I ask him and I say something like, well, I mean, just watch, you know, the condensed version and come on.

I mean, not everybody just wants the Cooley film breakdown. A lot of people just like to hear Cooley's voice and hear what he's up to and hear his thoughts on various things. And I agree with that. I mean, not every show we did, and we did a radio show together for nearly three years. Not every show that we did was a Cooley film breakdown. We had a lot of fun and we talked about a lot of different things. But he's just not paying attention enough. He does watch games, but typically, you know, just a couple every week.

I talk to him once a week minimum. Maybe when we get to the postseason and the playoff games are on and they're just solo standalone games and he's watching some of them. We'll try to get him on. But he even said to me recently, I don't want to come on and do true analysis if I haven't had time to really put the work in that I used to put in. And I understand that very much and appreciate that. But we'll get them on coming up here.

soon. But rate us and review us if you haven't done so. You could pause the podcast right now. Give us five stars on Apple if you see fit and write a quick one to two sentence review. It really helps us subscribing to the podcast on both Apple and Spotify and anywhere else that you can subscribe to the podcast is a huge help as well. And following us on Apple and Spotify is a big deal. These ratings and reviews really do help us in our effort to sell advertising so that we can monetize this podcast and make it worthwhile to do for you every day, Monday through Friday anyway. So do that if you have time. I wanted to also just give you a heads up. I am doing a show Tomorrow, Friday.

I will not be doing a show on Christmas Day on Monday, but we'll do a Washington Jets recap and an NFL weekend recap, because remember, there are three games, excuse me, on Christmas Day as well, on a Tuesday podcast. I'm taking a couple of days off radio, Friday and Tuesday off radio, but I will have a podcast on Friday with Jay Gruy. with the smell test, with a Washington, you know, Jets preview and pick. Tommy will be on tomorrow's show. He'll give us his Jets, Washington pick. And this week, I will listen to his prediction, his footnote, which I did play at the end of the show.

I did shorten up Tommy's Washington Rams prediction from last Thursday show, because he did say, I have a footnote, and he said, Jacobi. Brissette's going to play. He went on to explain that he thought that Sam would take kind of a beating and that he'd be pulled because of that or because he was injured. And he said, I'm not wishing injury on anybody. He wasn't, he didn't really predict a benching. He just predicted Jacoby Brissette would play, which by the way was still way out there and he was right. So stay tuned tomorrow for Tommy's Jets Washington prediction. Plus, any. footnote that he wants to give us. But a podcast the rest of the week, no podcast on Monday,

but there will be a podcast on Tuesday, the day after Christmas. So just a couple of things to finish up with here at the end of the show. First of all, to you Maryland basketball fans who watched the Terps last night rally from a nine-point deficit in the second half to beat Nichols State. Yeah, Nichols State, 73 to 67. Yeah, I felt the same way many of you did, which was I did not think they were going to win that game when they were down nine. They were struggling to guard a nickel state team that was not Alcorn State, and it's not Coppin State who they play next week. This team actually beat LSU on the road, and they had some competitive games against other teams and had won some games this year. And they had a coach who was on Maryland staff last year who really understood what Maryland was running, and the Terps were coming off the finals week. These are always tricky games this time of year. They play UCLA on Friday night at Pauly Pavilion.

UCLA lost a CSU Northridge last night at home to end their very long non-conference home winning streak. The Terps have one as well. But as far as the game goes, so I think after they beat Penn State, we talked about that win, and I had gone to that game. And I said, I think one of the keys to a season that ends up being successful, and look, a successful season for Maryland is going to the tournament. Anything less than qualifying for the NCAA tournament is a disappointing season for Maryland basketball. That's not an exaggeration, okay? Maryland basketball needs to go to the tournament, you know, every year. And when it doesn't, it's a disappointment if they don't.

They went to the tournament in Kevin Willard's first year last year and had a thrilling win over West Virginia in the first round before losing to a much superior talent-wise Alabama team. I think they've been to the tournament now. I think is it seven out of eight years if you include the COVID year because they were going to be a super high seed in the COVID year. and this year, the start to this season has put them in jeopardy because they have non-conference losses to Davidson and UAB. Davidson at this point is a good team.

They're like eight and three. Their only losses, I think, are to Clemson and to St. Mary's, you know, two good teams. But Maryland also lost earlier this year to UAB. Both of these games were in Nashville. UAB's lost several games since beating Maryland earlier this year, and they got blown out at Villanova and blown out at Indiana. They did get a win over Penn State, and Penn State followed up that loss to Maryland with a win over Ohio State in their next game.

This time of year is very sketchy in terms of trying to really put your finger on what kind of team a college basketball team is in November or December, but at the same time, you know, losing games that you shouldn't lose, especially against, you know, Tier 4, Tier 5, Tier 3 teams, put you in jeopardy when you get to March if you're, you know, hovering around that bubble. So they needed to get through the game last night. And they did. But to me, I know who Jemir Young is. He's really good. Jemir Young was a first team all Big Ten selection. I think he's having that kind of season. right now, where would they be, Terp fans, without Jemir Young and his, you know, 18 plus points a game. He had 23 last night with the game on the line. He consistently got himself to the free throw line. He was 10 for 10 from the free throw line. He's a 93% free throw shooter on the season this year.

He's also approaching fast approaching Juan Dixon's all-time mark for consecutive free throws, which I think is 42 or 41, I think he's at 35 somewhere around there. He could break it in their next game on Friday night. And Julian Reese, their center, these are the two guys that you kind of know what you have. Young, spectacular. Reese, a pretty effective big guy. I know there are frustrating moments offensively in particular. And certainly at the free throw line where he really had trouble last night after being really good recently.

He was three for 11, one for nine at one point last night from the free throw line. but there's not been a third player and you're not going to survive the Big Ten and you're not going to accumulate enough wins over the course of a season to make it to the NCAA tournament without being a 10 and 8, not 10 and 8, a 12 and 8 or maybe at this point Maryland's going to have to be a 13 and 7 type of Big Ten team. No worse than 12 and 8 to be. and it depends on who the wins are against, of course, but they're going to have to win a bunch of Big Ten games to sort of offset what's been a very subpar non-conference at this point. And they're only going to do that if they get contributions from other players, especially a third big-time score.

Because you know Young and Reese are going to be one-two in scoring. And I said last week, after they'd be, Penn State, you know, Dante Scott had a pretty decent game, and I said he's got to be the guy. He's got to be more consistent. And for whatever reason, he's played very much this year without a lot of confidence for a fifth year guy, a guy that's, you know, accumulated a lot of games and minutes and points and rebounds for Maryland during his career. And last night was big, because when they went down, they needed somebody to step up and Dante stepped up. He, he, ended up with 15 points. Actually got hurt at one point cramped up, left the game while he was on a run,

by the way, so maybe it would have continued. But he was four for eight from behind the arc, and those were all huge threes. A lot of them shot after the defense collapsed on Young or, you know, down on Reese. But he's going to have to hit those shots. He still doesn't look confident to me with the ball in his hands. We haven't seen that patented, you know, Dante backing somebody down. A lot of you hate it. I don't mind it. I actually think he's a decent passer from the post, has a decent jump hook, you know, has some moves. He's a big dude in and around the rim. But it was big for him. I still don't see his confidence all the way back. He seems, as Naki told me on radio this morning, to defer a lot. I see that. I don't want him to defer.

You defer to Jemir Young at the end of his shot clock, for sure, you know, but I think Dante's got to be the guy because Deshaun Harris Smith, going to be a good player. You know, four-star guy, one of the better recruits they've had in a while, you know, an absolute stud at the high school level at PVI at Paul the 6th. By the way, the Washington D.C. area right now, I think has five teams ranked in the national Max Preps top 25. I think it's five. Just a bunch of teams from the area. Most of them, yes, from the Catholic League in the national top 25. But Bullis has a really good team. as well this year out of the IAC.

But I'm not sure Deshaun Harris-Smith is ready to be their third score. You know, I'm not sure Jamie Kaiser, Jr., who can really shoot it, is ready to become their third score. I don't think it's Geronimo, even though I like a lot of what he does, energy-wise and athleticism-wise. I think it's got to be Dante Scott. And he was big for them last night. Jahari Long was big for them last night.

and they came back and they pulled away late and they won the game 73 to 67 and that's you know no one's going to you know look at the scorecard as you say in golf after you make a four on a par five or you know chipping in from you know 150 yards out or you know you chip in from 30 yards out to make par on a par three nobody's going to look at it and say oh you were in big trouble on that hole and you kind of got lucky there. No, they're just going to look at the score and that's a big win for the Terps. Now they go to Pauley. This is an opportunity and it's not going to be a super high quality road win because UCLA is five and five. They've lost three in a row including last night to CSU Northridge. And you know, this is not going to be one of those games maybe this year where you can point at it at the end of

year and say, you know, tier one roadwinner or tier two, you know, roadwind. But it's very important for Maryland to look much better on the road than they did at Villanova or Indiana. Then, you know, it's Coppin State, and then it's the Big Ten, the rest of the way, starting on January 2nd with Purdue, the number one team in the country at Xfinity Center. So that's what you got coming up. But I'm glad they won the game. Man, too much on the edge of my seat. they played well. I mean, I don't want to take anything away from them. They played a good basketball game and knocked down a lot of shots. They were red-hot from behind the arc. I just, Maryland's got to get Dante Scott to be consistent and to become that third score. And to me,

he's got to average somewhere between 12 and 14 points per game. Has to for them. And he's got to be more assertive for them on the offensive end. He had a bunch of energy. He had a bunch of energy, defensively, and when he does, he is a versatile defender for them. He's 6.8, he's 2.30. He's got a big strong body. He's a good rebounder, always has been, and he can guard every position. They're going to need him. I hope he can step up starting Friday night at Pauly Pavilion. But I am glad, very thankful that they got the win. By the way, Virginia destroyed last night at Memphis. Memphis is pretty good. They were ranked

in the top 25. Virginia got blown out in the second half and the who's lose just for the second time this year. They got blown out against Wisconsin earlier this year and they lost to Memphis by 23 last night. Georgetown lost a Butler 74 to 64 on the road. So the Hoyas had won two in a row including beating Notre Dame over the weekend in a matchup as well. But the Hoyas' drop to seven and five overall. And now, oh and one in the Big East after that Big East opener. It's funny to see them, you know, with Syracuse and Notre Dame on their schedule and Rutgers on their schedule earlier this year.

It's like, man, they played a lot of Big East games already. No, they haven't. They played their first Big East game last night against Butler and lost 74. Definitely a rebuild kind of a situation going to take, you know, a year or two for Ed Cooley to get it going. at Georgetown. Lastly, I didn't mention this yesterday with Tommy, but I wanted to just react to the news

that Leotung of I Loa, Maryland's starting quarterback, has opted out of the Music City Bowl, the Terps match up on December 30th against Auburn. I'm not sure, you know, those of you that don't follow Maryland football understand what Tua's younger brother did in College Park over the last four years. He became basically the record holder in every imaginable passing statistic at Maryland.

He holds the record for most career passing yards, most passing touchdowns, highest completion percentage, passing efficiency, touchdowns responsible for. He's the all-time Big Ten passing leader in history in the Big Ten, yardage-wise, with 11,256 career passing yards. He set that mark in the season finale at Rutgers. A Maryland quarterback is the all-time Big Ten passing leader.

Now, I know the Big Ten, for the most part, has been a league for much of its existence that was, you know, run heavy, three yards and a cloud of dust. But Leah, being the all-time Big Ten passing leader, I think would come come as a surprise to many of you. I don't have a problem with Leah opting out of the bowl game. This is happening all over the place. Players just don't want to risk any sort of future on a meaningless bowl game. Now, somebody could say, well, their season finale against Rutgers was meaningless too. True. But, you know, it was a game that was scheduled and he was going to finish out the regular season. Look, I don't think Leah is going to get drafted.

He's a good college quarterback. He's nowhere near the best Maryland quarterback of all time, despite the records that he's set. Boomer Osyison's the greatest quarterback in Maryland football history. Whomever number two is, is a distant second behind Boomer. But there are a lot of choices for number two, actually. Maryland's had quite the QB history over the years, you know, really starting with the Bobby Ross years and then once again with the Ralph Regian years. But Boomer would be number one. Number two would not be Frank Reich. Frank Reich just didn't start enough games. Frank Reich was

Boomer's backup and then ultimately became Stan Gelbaugh's backup. Now, I think he started the 84 season and got hurt, but Reich's going to be known for the comeback win at Miami when they were down 31-0 and came back and won that game 42-40, which was the greatest college comeback of all time. time at the time. And then will in the pros be known for his comeback in the playoffs in 92 against the Oilers and Warren Moon when they were down 35 to 3 and he came in for Jim Kelly. But Frank Reich's not the second best quarterback behind Boomer in the program's history. I actually think that the second best quarterback and there are some choices, man. I mean, you know, you've got the Neil O'Donnells and you've got the Scott Malanovitch's and

some of the guys that put up some big, big numbers, you know, over the years. For me, it would be Scott McBrion. I think Scott McBrion is number two behind Boomer. Again, a distant second. But Scott McBrion was sensational in 2002 and 2003 for Ralph Regions' teams that won double-digit games both years. He followed Sean Hill, who was the Jucco transfer, who Ralph signed when he got the job. Sean Hill was tremendous that one year, leading Maryland to an ACC title.

Sean Hill would not be on the short list of discussing the second greatest quarterback in Maryland history, but he had one hell of a season. McBrion's two seasons, look, he may not be the greatest passer or the second best passer behind Boomer in program history, but as a quarterback, as a dual threat guy, I mean, he was fast. He was a great runner. And he could throw the football, too. McBriand won some big games, quarterbacked in some tremendous. tremendous games during those two years. And they destroyed, destroyed Tennessee and the Peach Bowl

after 2002, destroyed West Virginia and the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day after the 2003 season. He was a really good college quarterback. And that would be my number two. Many to choose from. After that, I don't know, man. Leah, I love them. And he accumulated numbers. There's not one memorable game or memorable season with Leah here. He just was a really good quarterback who made Maryland competitive in a much more difficult Big Ten. You know, I acknowledge that, right? I mean, he was not quarterbacking in the ACC that some of the guys that I mentioned quarterbacked in. He was a really good college quarterback.

And the records are astounding, certainly. But he's not in the history of the program in the top two. anyway. And I think probably I could come up with compelling reasons as to him, you know, maybe just barely being in the top five somewhere around there. But I appreciated everything that he did as a player. I did. I don't know. Is Scott McBrion number two controversial for some of you? I actually can't think of anybody that I would definitively make number two more than him. I mean, are Milanovic's and O'Donels? You know who I loved as a quarterback and I thought was very underrated for the Terps was Chris Turner

in the couple of years that he played in the late 2000s? He was a really good pocket passer for Ralph. I don't think he ever had an NFL career. Maryland sent a lot of guys to the league. Boomer's number one. I mean, I don't care what records Leah has. I mean, nobody touches Boomer in terms of the number one quarterback. in program history.

All right. That is it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy. Key play here coming up for Maryland. They're down by 7, 3rd and 9. From the 15-yard line. Straight drop. Osiason.

Level clutches and throws to Bedonick who gets inside the Fiasin. Directful clutch you talked about is what really sets this up. A pump fete sets it up so that Badonic can come around the linebacker, catch the ball, And then he's got a lane to the end zone right there as this crowd has gone crazy here in Bird Stadium in the third quarter. Jess Atkinson with Asiason holding and they fake.

They're going to go for two and Asiocin throws.