The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Tony Romo Comps

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

Kevin today with Fred Smoot followed by ESPN's Stanford Steve. Both of Kevin's guests landed on the same answer when it came to answering a question about Sam Howell's NFL comp. Plenty of other talk on the Commanders and lots of College Football with Steve including his thoughts on James Madison not getting the waiver to compete for the Sun Belt Championship and a bowl game.   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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Two guests on the show today. Fred Smoot followed by my good friend Stanford, Steve, from ESPN. And I'm going to give you a little bit of a tease on this.

I recorded both of these interviews before recording this opening segment to the show, which will be a very short opening segment to the show. And I asked both Fred and Steve, the same question about Sam Howl. Steve was a big Sam Hal supporter long before the season started, and Fred's always been a Sam Hal believer. And I asked them after 10 games now of actually seeing him play in the NFL, give me an NFL quarterback comp based on how you see his career progressing. And they both gave me the exact same answer, which I found for me. Very interesting.

Smoot coming up in the next segment, followed by Stanford Steve. We'll do a lot of college football with Stanford, Steve, including talking about the JMU situation. They did not get that waiver for bowl eligibility or eligibility to play in the Sunbelt championship game. That seems brutally unfair. The show, as always, is presented by Windonation. Call them at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com.

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86690 Nation or Window Nation.com. So I wanted to play something for you real quickly. This was Jack Del Rio. Today was Coordinator Day. Eric Bienomi spoke and Jack Del Rio spoke. Jack Del Rio had two things that I thought were interesting. One, he went back to Sunday to ask about, to answer, I'm sorry, the question about Emmanuel Forbes getting ejected from the game.

Here's what he said. The penalty I understood. I mean, you know, it was a deserving of a penalty. but the ejection for a first time offense on play six or whatever it was of the game that was shocking and the fact that he wasn't ejected by the officials

on the field he was ejected by somebody sitting in an air-conditioned room in New York and that's troubling I think that's troubling for the league but that's they're going to have to work that out but that's not a good look you know I don't think that's healthy

for the league to have those type of things happen. You know, Emmanuel, young player, good player. He's not a guy that's like notoriously known for like head hunting people or stuff like that. So I did not think it was warranted. It wasn't my call, obviously. I agree with him clearly on the ejection. I thought that was ridiculous for all of the reasons that he mentioned, but definitely a penalty as he agreed with. I disagree with him on the New York thing. I don't have a problem with New York or even the on-site replay booth, helping out the officials on the field.

I think it's actually helped speed up areas of the game in which we would be delayed for three, four, five minutes to see a challenge flag come out on an obvious missed call. We get a lot of those obvious missed calls corrected before a coach even has. the ability to challenge it. I think that's been helpful to the game. I wanted you to listen to something else that Jack Del Rio said today. He was actually asked about Sam Howl and what he thinks of the young quarterback. Here's what the defensive coordinator, long-time defensive coordinator, and a several-time head coach said about their young quarterback. Unflappable, you know,

certainly tough. And I think he's got great arm talent. I think he can layer the ball. I think he can throw the deep ball. I think he can throw with touch. You know, so he's a good player. I mean, you know, he's doing a nice job. I'm excited about the way he's trending, you know, for us, you know, right now. And certainly for him and his future.

Jack Del Rio on Sam Howell today. I played that because I didn't think that we had heard anything from Del Rio and Sam Howell this year. Maybe we had. And for some of you, you don't care what Jack Del Rio thinks anyway. But I was interested in what a guy who was a, you know, multi-time head coach in two different spots and longtime defensive coordinator. I was interested in what he would say about him. I didn't expect anything negative, but I like the way he described Sam as a guy that could make every kind of throw. And the first word he used, unflappable, is certainly something we have seen. All right, before we get to Smoot and then to Stanford, Steve, this email from Ben, Ben wrote Kevin, Belichick to Washington.

This is what's so bad about you and the rest of the DC media that report on things like this. It divides the fan base and forces them to talk about things that have nothing to do with this team right now. Why not just talk about Sam Howell's incredible season and keep it positive, please. Thank you in advance. So it's the perfect segue into something that I wanted to play about Belichick to Washington. Albert Breer, longtime NFL reporter, was on the Dan Patrick show yesterday. Most of you know that Ben is clearly off with his email. I think most of you who have been paying attention know that this has not been a DC media thing or reported by DC media.

Mike Floreo from Pro Football Talk was the first to kind of bring it to everybody. attention. And then Dan Orlovsky, you know, intimated that he knew that, you know, where Belichick was going and a lot of people surmised maybe Washington was one of the destinations. Gary Myers, who we had on this show a month or so ago, the guy that wrote the book on the 86 Giants, the guy that presented Jake to the Hall of Fame Committee, Gary Myers, NFL historian, longtime NFL writer. He actually reported that he had a league source tell him the Chargers are the favorites for Bill Belichick if he leaves the Patriots. I have said since, you know, we first got wind of this from Florio, I just don't see Belichick coming here. But I do want you to listen to what

Albert Breer said to Dan Patrick on his show yesterday. This is about a minute and a half to a minute 45 long, but it is very interesting because Breer believes Washington's in the mix for Belichick. And he explains why. I mean, I don't know if a destination has been determined. I would say this, though, like, you know, the Washington stuff has been out there for a while. And, you know, it's something that's been talked about in NFL circles for more than the time that it's been out there in the public. And, you know, that one's interesting to me, just because, you know, if you look at the history of things, Dan, like, when we've seen, like, owners bring in older coaches with a track record, it's generally a credibility play.

You know, like Shod Khan needed credibility in Jacksonville. So he brought in Tom Coughlin. At the beginning of Steve Ross's ownership, you know, in Miami, they had Bill Parcells there as the football czar. So it would make sense if you're trying to restore credibility to your organization and you're Josh Harris. And Josh Harris, by the way, would be able to negotiate this with the Patriots because he went to Harvard Business School of Jonathan Kraft.

And they've had a relationship going back over 30 years. years. So there are some dock connecting you can do there that would make that one make a lot of sense. I do think Bill still wants to coach. Now, that's just my opinion based on what I've heard from people who know him really, really well and who've been around him. You know, that's the record is sitting out there. He's 16 wins away. I think at one point we thought it was likely that he would get there in 2024. That looks a lot less likely now. So if you're the Patriots and you're talking about hanging on to him and he's pursuing that shul record you'd be talking about another two years maybe now um so there's a lot of things there you know like where you can say it would

make some sense um so you know the two teams you hear most connected to to bill have been at least you know from my perspective been Washington and Dallas and um both in the NFC East both historic franchises both with owners that badly want to win um you know obviously in different spots in their ownership. But it should be interesting going forward. Albert Breer talking about it with Dan Patrick, actually to me is more credible than Mike Floreo, who was sort of offhandedly saying this is part of some of the chatter

in the league going on right now. But I'm not buying it, although I thought there were a couple of things that Breer said that were interesting to me. First of all, the Dallas thing at the end, because Dallas hasn't been mentioned. Washington has, the Chargers have for Belichick, but not Dallas. So, you know, I would think, by the way, as an aside, if the Cowboys don't win two playoff games and get to the NFC championship game,

that McCarthy and his, you know, 17 penalties a game are going to be gone, I would think. And maybe Belichick would go to Dallas. You know, there is something about the NFC East and, you know, sort of these marquee, you know, Washington, not as much anymore, but these longtime NFC brands that would probably be attractive to Belichick because, you know, this is where he became Bill Belichick as a defensive coordinator in the NFC East for Parcell's giants. And he's familiar with that ground. He's familiar with the history.

And I think he thinks like Bill Parcells does, like Sean Payton had talked about, you know, over the spring when he was referring to the Washington job. Like, I'm sure there's some allure to coming back into the NFC East and maybe resurrecting this franchise, you know, in Washington. He certainly is familiar with what happened here over a long period of time. Don't forget, too, as Tommy and I talked about, he was raised in Annapolis. You know, his father was a Naval Academy guy. But Breer said a couple of other things. Number one, the relationship with Jonathan Kraft and going to Harvard, how many of these owners have contacts in the league or around the league from Harvard or Wharton or Stanford or Michigan or wherever?

And so that was unremarkable to me. What was interesting is his mentioning of Tom Coughlin, being the go-to guy for Shad Khan, for Bill Parcells being the guy for Ross and Miami, who came in and sort of oversaw the whole thing. And, you know, he didn't even mention the most recent ownership, the Walton Penner group in Denver hiring a guy like Sean Payton, who is a proven commodity. Like, I wonder if, you know, there is, the reason you see that is because a lot of these owners feel like it's the safe move and it's the move that gives them instant credibility being able to attract somebody with sort of a longevity track record. I guess I will come back

to what I've said before, which is Josh Harris wants to hire analytically inclined, edgy, data-driven, I think, you know, guys like Hinky, and and like, you know, Daryl Morey. And, you know, even though he's hired, you know, a veteran coach with the Devils, longtime guy Lindy Ruff, even though he brought Doc Rivers back to Philadelphia, I don't know. I hope that I hope that Belichick, if he was interested in coaching here, that they, of course, would entertain that possibility.

I'm not for Belichick coming in in a coach-centric situation. I'm really not because I think Bill Belichick in recent years has hurt Bill Belichick, the coach, is the GM. He has not constructed his roster very well. Of course I'd be interested in Bill Belichick as a potential coach with a GM. I see it being the Chargers or elsewhere. But Breer bringing it up and bringing it to the forefront yesterday, Breer is not a DC media member, Ben.

He's a national, long-time national report. border. And that's how this thing got started. And by the way, Ben, look, if you just want Sam Hal conversation, you're going to have to go somewhere else. We just don't talk about Sam Hal on this show ever. And certainly when we do, it's not very positive. Recently, especially. No, there will be plenty of Sam Hal conversation per usual coming up with Fred Smute and then with Stanford Steve as well. Wind donation, great deal right now. Zero percent interest for five years plus buy to get to free, no limit. So if you've been thinking about new windows to save big on energy bills, 30% you could save on your heating bill and your air conditioning bill. And you

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Give them a call at 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com. Fred Smoot next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Fred Smoot coming up in this segment, but before we get to Fred, thanks. Thanksgiving Day a week from today. How does apple cider brine smoke turkey, cornbread stuffing, shallot, and time gravy sound? Well, with Thanksgiving a week away, due South in Navy Yard wants to make your holiday way easier. Their home-cooked dinner packages can serve 2 to 200 and will serve as a delicious, easy, and crowd-pleasing option for your big day. Don't feel like cooking this year.

Give them a shout. Check out their menu and learn more at do-southDC.com. Jumping on with us right now, back by popular demand, and I mean overwhelming popular demand, is Fred Smoot. And I was thinking about you this morning, knowing that I would have you on the podcast today because we did a segment on the radio show that I knew right when we started this segment, this would be the first question that I was going to ask you

because I think you're really good at this, so here it goes. give me the quarterback, past or present, give me the quarterback that you think Sam Howell is tracking towards in terms of a comp. The career that a quarterback had, maybe it's a career that a quarterback is in the midst of, but who does Sam Hal remind you of? Who do you think he's going to become in terms of a comp? Hey, first of all, Professor, you're going to love the new nickname I got for him first of all. And I think you're going to really love the comp that I have for him. Okay. His new name, because once you store bawling, you earn nicknames, you know,

Eric Jordan, you know, like everybody give you a nickname because you earn it. So I feel like I've got to call him Sam Snow, the fifth round bastard. Like, nobody can stop him. I listen to me. Yeah, but here's the problem with that. The problem with that is, is that John ended up bending the knee. We can't have Sam bend the knee. But he was, at one point, the NFL will make all of bend the knee.

Like, we all have to bow down to the NFL at one point. But he'll come for him. It's two people, because I always believe that people are a mixture of two people. When I see him at his arm's talent, the way he move around the pocket, he's more athletic than people think he is. That's when I see the Tony Romo in him. I see the tone of Romo in him when he make these effortless throws like he made in Seattle. And I say, that's the same thing.

I had to take those shots from Tony Romo. He reminds me by the build of his body very much like Tony Romo. But then when I see he got the it factor and then Moxie, then it puts me with Kurt Warner. I know people are going to be like, why Kirk Warner? He has that same thing that Kirk Warner had, that silent confidence that I can make every throw. I'm going to get the ball out. I'm going to let my ballless ball.

He has that when he has to do it off track of the play. He has that when he had to do it in line of the play. He has the impact, and he has a lot of moxie. I think we got us one. All right. So I'm going to spoil something for everybody because I'm recording Fred. after my next guest, Stanford Steve, my good friend from the Scott Van Pelt show,

who Stanford Steve is a big Hal guy, all right? And I asked him the same question, and he said Tony Romo. He gave the same one. And I think, look, first of all, Kurt Warner is a Hall of Famer, okay? Kurt Warner has one of the quickest releases and is one of the great pocket passers throwing with anticipation in the history of the game.

To me, and I want you to comment on this and disagree with it if you might, the reason we have seen some consistency from Sam over the last three games, which I have been very encouraged by as well, is that we've seen a West Coast quick game quarterback, who they are trying to not turn into the pure dropback guy, five, seven steps, and hang in there and read the field and throw with anticipation, which is what we saw too much of over the first seven games, which is why my comp, actually my comp was Andy Dalton,

but I threw out Jeff. Oh, my God, the water pistol? But I also threw out, okay, Jeff Garcia. I don't think people realize how good Jeff Garcia was. I played against Jeff Garcia, and I don't, what part of Jeff Garcia's game do you see in Sam? Okay, couple of things. Number one, size, okay, he was a smaller quarterback. Number two, perfect West Coast quarterback, much more of a distributor,

and part three was excellent off schedule, excellent in the creative, extend the play kind of a game. I would never vote the professor to do a beauty page. your votes will just be all over the board. No, no. Like, here's what you got to understand. You say Kurt Warner Hall of Famer, but when Kurt Warner starts first start playing,

nobody thought he was a Hall of Famer. He developed into, he became over time to the Kirk Warner that we know. And the thing about Kurt Warner. Well, actually, his first year he was the MVP. Let's not forget that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But guess what? If you want to throw facts and numbers around,

His first 10 games, he didn't put up the numbers they're saying how I'm putting up right now, all right? So at the end of the day, I tell people at all the time, we're looking at the mediation of a young player. This guy is 10 games old. Like, we're judging him like, we got a retread that's been in the league for four or five years. This guy and Eric Beehemone has been together for 10 games, and what he's doing is exceeding your expectation and you're afraid to love. See, that's your problem. See, we didn't have our heartbroken so much by the RG3s of the world. And the Kirk Cousers...

We've been traumatized. We've been traumatized too much. You are afraid of love right now. And love is staring you right in the face. And the thing about it is, this is scary part about it. He's only going to get better. We're looking at the baseline, Sam Howe here. You're saying, all right, well, now he stopped him from doing the seven-step

drops where that's what you do when you learn in the player. You figure out what's working and what's not working, and then you work through these things. You tell him, tell me what you like. He's going to tell you what he don't like. And if you figure these things out, he's going to get better and better and better. And that's what I'm saying. Like, if you're going to get anything out of this season,

you want to see, do I got that one thing that matters most? And that's a quarterback. Because if you've got one of those, you've got a chance each and every week. And for the longer, you've got to say this, Professor. You don't ever feel like you out of a game when Sam Hyland is on the field. And for so many years, we knew if we was down seven, it's pretty much over with. Look,

you're portraying me right now in a light that isn't consistent with how I've become very, very optimistic over the last three games. I love what I'm seeing over the last three games. I just, I also don't forget what happened

three games ago, which was the giant game in the Meadowlands. So I just, I don't, I'm not rushing to declare. him the next Kurt Warner, who by the way, I just have to tell you because I love you dearly, here are Kurt Warner's first 10 games as the Rams starting quarterback, all right? 309, three touchdowns, 275-3, 3-10-3, 3-23-5 touchdowns, all right? Then he had 111 touchdown. He threw 41 touchdowns his first year.

He was 41 years. I got this literally. He's young. Like, he's the benefit of the doubt right now. He's leading in league in passing yards. The guy is growing in front of our house. You're one of these guys that just like to go to the grocery store and get your fruit. You don't want to see you grow.

Like, I was thinking from the old school where grandma put love in their cooking. I don't have to see it go anymore. I don't have to see it. grow. I can go to the grocery store. What are we in? You're part of this microwave society that you want it now, and it's killing us. The bad food is killing us. And what I'm saying is sometimes, believe your eyes. Believe your eyes. You're seeing this guy go out here on some top defenses, like one test that I really want to see, and that was the Belichick test. I want to see him go against a Belichick defense

because one thing I know he's great at is dismantle. and young quarterback and showing them so much. And I watched their film and broke it down. He showed him over 17, 18, different coverages and mixture of coverages, and Sam processed it all. I'm telling you right now, we have something here. I ain't just jumping the gun and trying to say we got a Hall of Fame. I'm just saying, in this league, if you've got a top 15 quarterback,

you've got a chance if you've got a risk of the roster and the coach staff that can hold them up. You are the best investment in time. You are the best investment in time. But again, let me just say that you got off the track there. All I was saying to you is that Kurt Warner played his, he plays differently than Sam Howl, and he was actually brilliant from the jump. So we don't want to go back and compare 11 games to 11 games because Kurt Warner was brilliant from the jump.

But I want to go back to because you originally, when I said Andy Dalton, I mean, you couldn't wait to jump all over that. Andy Dalton was a consistent for several years, a top half of the league NFL starter at 6-1, a guy who could make every throw, a guy who they ran some dual thrift, Rett Zone Reed stuff with him with Jay and Cincinnati. He was good off schedule.

I mean, you just, I guess what you're saying is, oh, he's going to be much better than Andy Dalton, is essentially your point. Andy Dalton is a top model with a dead tooth in her mouth. Like, it's incomplete. Like, we knew what Andy Dalton feeling was when he was drafted. We don't know what Sam Howe's filling in, And that's the most intriguing part about Sam. The one thing about Sam compared to the water pills,

Sam can make every throw on the field, every throw on the field, not limited by anything. The one thing about Andy Dalton, if I'm a corner playing him, he's limited by the hash. If he's on the left hash, he wouldn't dare throw out-rots on the right house. Really? You don't know. He wouldn't throw.

Three-fourths of the field is what he has to work with. And me as a cornerback, I could die of no step. If I'm playing against the Sam How, the whole route tree is available, and I have to play honest. I got to make an honest living that day only because of, one, he ain't scared to pull the trigger, two, he got the arms going to make every throw, and three, he throws it with touch. And that's something that you don't get with young players. Like, you use a young quarterback going to show you how strong his arm is.

This guy is putting the ball in the basket, and then nobody ever talks about all the drop passes he's had. Like, yeah, he got some games. He could have went over 400 and two, three people catch the ball. Yeah, I mean, I can think of Dotson, certainly at the end of the giant game. I mean, that should have been a catch in a first down and you got a chance to win that game. By the way, you know, if Andy Dalton's a top model with a broken tooth, we just tell him not to smile. We just tell him to keep his mouth shut. And we can't make no money with that.

We can't make no money with that in the model way. And the thing is, you know, you know, we just tell him to keep him. You're coming off as little finger right now. You're coming off as you believe, but you don't want to believe because you got, like I said, because I think you've been hurt by, you know, jumping on and saying, nah, this might be the guy. But Sam is showing you tell me this. His weaknesses early was he gets sacked because he's holding on to the ball because he really wants to make these throws.

So then he starts to work through that process. And now he's starting to process stuff a little faster. And they call and plays that's making him getting the ball out of his hand. and now you're starting to see, oh, this guy can throw on schedule. Oh, this guy can throw off schedule. Oh, this guy can come back in the clutch in the fourth quarter. Like, I'm telling you, when the last time have you set in your seat and watch the Washington football game, down for a team in the fourth quarter,

and knowing your heart, this is still a ball game. We haven't had that feeling for a long time. Sunday, I came in here on Monday, and I said, I actually really believed when they got the ball back there going down the field to score touchdown. I did. Let's just hope that he's a little bit more trustworthy than Lord Baylish. Please. Hey, all I'm saying is going to be stored hard to stop the fifth round bastard if he continues to grow the way he's growing right now.

I love the way you just put fifth round before Bastard. Because that's pretty much what John was. I mean, you know, he was a little bit underwere. rated there to start. And by the way, remember, he had a difficult time fitting in with his other siblings, and he had a supposed mother figure who couldn't stand him. Nobody liked Sam How. Do you remember in the out of TV? When everybody, we were like, we're going to start saying how. And everybody all around the United States, they were like, what are they doing? They were like, ah, they just like the Falcons with Desmer Ritter, not even

close. Okay. You know what? The last three games, if this is who he is, and this is the kind of offense they're going to run, which I think is perfect for him. I'm really, look, I'm, I had no opinion before the year. You know why I had no opinion? Because I'd never seen him play in the NFL. Is that okay to not have an opinion before he plays an NFL game? Oh, you know, a pair of lips to tell a lie, don't you right there, but that at the end of day you did see him play.

You see him play against the Cowboys while they were headed to the playoff last. You got a taste of who he was, and you got guys. They've been watching him practice like myself just telling you, hey, it's something about this guy. Sometimes you need to trust what the inside of the scene. And I'm seeing this guy make throws that I hadn't seen a lot of guys make. Now, I'll tell you who else he got a smidgen of. And I don't know if they're saying, in a good way or a bad way, but this guy was talented, he just had attitude problem.

He has a little Jake Cutler in him also. Oh, man, you, I mean, see, I don't even see the similarity in. styles, though, although, I mean, if you're going to say Cutler, why don't you, why don't you just dial it back a little bit and say Rex Grossman? Well, he's better than Rick. I agree. He's got a better arm. He's got more mobility and everything else.

But in terms of the mentality is, I think, where you were going with it. Yeah, yeah, most definitely the mentality, the gunslinger mentality of a Jay Cutler, the arm's sprinted over Jay Cutler. Jay was, they're not so different in size either. If you really just look at him and the only thing that really stopped Jay Cutler was Jay Cudler. Yeah. Well, that's the other thing, too, about him that we have definitely learned and we

heard even before. Look, what we knew before other than you people who had all the whole thing figured out, just like many of you had the whole Carson Wentz thing figured out a year ago. But I think what we knew is the guy can really throw it. He can really sling it, especially if you watch them at Carolina, and that by all accounts, this was a guy with the intangibles. And we've had some quarterbacks around here over the last 11, 12 years, where, you know, in terms of the intangibles, very questionable.

Sam Hal loves football. He's coachable, and all of those things matter at that position, right? Yep, and he's a coach's son, adding that he's used to being coached hard and he knows and understands football. all. He's grounded. And the one thing I do love about him, like Jalen Hurts, he's very unemotional. He throws a pick. He doesn't go up and down. He throws a touchdown. Not emotional, not ups and downs. And I love the fact that he doesn't smile on the sideline. He's just very in-tuned. And I liked that. I liked that. And that's why I wanted to see him. I didn't not, I was not going to judge him on five, four touchdown games. I was going to see the three picks, the two picks, the four-pick games.

how do you bounce back from that? And he showed me, yeah, I got the mentality to bounce back from that and keep throwing the ball. I'm telling you, it's something about this kid. It's more than just how fast you run the 40, how far you can throw the ball. Football is who can seize the moment. And the one thing about saying, the moments are never too big for him. I've asked everybody this over the last week and a half, two weeks after these last three games. How much credit do you give Eric B. Enemy for

not only the production from Sam over the last three weeks, the improvement on things like sacks, and then just the overall offensive production. I mean, they're averaging 430 yards and 25 and a half points a game over the last three. How much credit does EB get? Oh, 90% of the credit. Listen, I always tell people, it always, if you're going to have greatness, it takes more than just one person.

It's always coaching player. It's never one without the other one. And the one thing about it is, I don't lean who I get credit the most. I say this is a great partnership. This is Batman and Robin. You need to keep it together as long as possible. People don't understand how unique having a coach that understands your game. You've got to realize, E.B. is still learning who Sam here.

They only been together for 10 games. So it's remarkable that they've got this production. I know officers will tell you 10 that games into the year. We're still installing and we still trying to get on the same. same page, because we got a new offensive coordinator. This thing has been running from day one. It has been churning from day one. You have

to understand, like, for example, Josh Allen, had his best year with Coach Dayball. Now he's gone, and now he's trying to fire his track. So I tell people out of time, do not take these unique things for granted. The thing we had with Coach Gills and we had with Greg Williams,

we had a top-five defense every year, because we had a unique players and coach situation. And and they can coexist. You don't have to give one more credit than the other one. Like I tell people in the LeBron, Michael Joy and Ghost conversation, why can't we just have two ghosts? They are both great.

Like, sometimes you've got to say one is great as what he's doing. You can say this. If he's doing this with Sam, what would he be doing with, let's just say, if we signed Aaron Rogers in our season, he was our quarterback. Like, you can only wonder what the offense will be doing on a whole other level. So, yeah, I've got to get Coach.

he'd be a lot of credit here. All right. Well, let's just hope that ultimately, as a man with a nickname that entitles him to the Iron throne based on lineage, let's hope he doesn't end up back, you know, with the Knights Watch working the wall. All right, let's just hope that doesn't happen. All right, I want to flip it to the other side of the ball because this has been the biggest disappointment. I think all of us. I mean, nobody experienced. defensively for them to have this kind of a season. Let's talk about why.

It's clear that the big explosives, the big chunk plays, have been the Achilles' heel. But can you explain why they're happening? Basically, it's like taking a walk through flea bottom. It's terrible. Nothing to, like, at one point you've got to ask yourself, What do we do well? And it spots. Like, it ain't like we're going out there each and every drive

and just getting blew off the balls, drives where they show up. And like, all right, this is the standard. And then they come out and they're not on the same page and they make mistakes. And the one thing I can really say about great defenses, they have identities. Like, we just played Pete Carroll and that cover three. And we know, like, you know it's an aggressive cover three.

They don't be into you. They make you be into them. They make you adjust to the cover three and how fast they play it. They probably have six or seven calls. They play. They have simple calls. They play very fast. And that's what you want.

So simplicity is most definitely the key. And I think we got so many plays. And we try to do so many things. And we adjust to so many teams that they're not adjusting to us. We're not the dictator. The defense I played on Green Williams, we were dictators. We made sure you understood we're going to play one way and that's going to be fast and wrinkless. And you're going to have to adapt to it.

And that's what we're not doing over there. And the thing about it is, our guys, the guys that we expect to make plays, like when I watch Pittsburgh and I turn my TV on, I know T.J. White, if he's on the field, he's going to impact the game. I need to run pain to impact the game. I need John Allen to impact the game. So at the end of the day, I ask myself, I know everybody on this team ain't in a slump. So if nobody's doing well, what's the common illness?

on the defense because it's like nobody, it's no pro bowlers on this defense. It's like nobody having a crazy year, but Jamie Davis actually making plays and nobody's talking about it. But back to the fact that the matter is, it's one of them things where everybody don't stink on this team. And I was always taught a fish stink from the head down. So it's got to be what's being called and then not being on the same page. By the way, you know, you do know that in Flea Bottom, there are no grocery stores,

and you can't grow your own food either. It's hard living and flea bottom. It's really hard. It's not a pleasant place. All right. So, all right. The secondary. Here's what frustrated me on Sunday.

I, and I talked about this this morning on radio, I think Benjamin St. Juice is a good player. Am I wrong? Am I wrong? You're not wrong. He is a good player,

but he's an incomplete player. He's a guy that's never out of phase, very Carlos Rogers like where they never really beat. The one thing he has to get better is finishing, and they're finishing with the ball. The one thing that scares people about him is you can't teach ball skills and taking the ball away. Ain't one thing that he does. He's a nullifier. He stays in between while receivers in the ball, but he also has weak points and blind spots

where he can get lost. And the one thing about him, with him being six, three, two hundred and ten pounds, you would think he'll be physical at the point of attack when you're talking about pressing people. Because when you get up at the line of press people, it's to get that clock going, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, to disrupt people. He's not disruptive when he's jamming people. And the one thing about it, people, like, yeah, he got 13, 14 breakups. Well, he also gives 70 passes through his way.

It's really very well done. I actually, 15 PbUs. He leads the league with 15 pass breakups. he's also third in the league in terms of corners being targeted. It's funny that you bring that up because I talked about that this morning on the radio because I have a friend of mine who's a football coach in the area who said, you keep talking about St. Juice, but you do realize he's been targeted more than any corner in the league. And I looked it up.

It's the third most. But I think he's been targeted that much because more times than not, I could be wrong. He's been on the number one guy. You think long. That's what you do, Professor. At the end of the day, no, listen, you will compare his numbers to South Gardner's numbers, and South Gardner's head. But you intentionally throw away from him.

No, no, no, no, no, I'm just saying. Okay. But what I'm saying, like, when you're a good corner, they stay away from you. You just said it for yourself. When you're a great corner, they find ways not to have to go against you. And I can stack this to Marcus Peters. I can stack this to pretty much any corners in the league. So what I'm saying is volume.

It's like going to Texas tech. It's hard for me to tell if you're a great quarterback when you're throwing the ball, tell him 100 times a game. So it's what it's... 700. Yeah, so it's one of these things, it's paralysis by overanalysis. So now you've got so much information, but are you really looking for the information for what it really is?

If I got a guy that's got 70 attempts against him, and he got, what, 15 break up and one pick, I don't know if the numbers lean your way. I know. I hear you on that. that. I do. I'm not trying to compare him to Sauce Gardner. That wasn't the point. I understand why Sauce Gardner has one of the lowest targeted against percentages in the league because you go into a game like you did with Dion or like you did with Daryl Green and you're just, no, we're not thrown in that direction. But he is, I just think ultimately our defense ends up putting him on a

lot of the time, whether it's in the slot, which is where he's been when Forbes is. on the field or outside. He ends up... By the way, I want to... You mention another thing. Your greatness is consistent. It's not just a three-week thing. But in terms of being physical at the line of scrimmage,

the play that drove me the nuts, the most nuts on Sunday, was 26-26. It's third and four. This is the field goal drive. And he is playing on the line of scrimmage against D.K. Metcalf, it looks to me like he's got help. I could be wrong. And there's no contact. And he's playing outside leverage. He gave up a free release. Is that coaching or is that

him? First of all, watching the film, they were in two men. So if I'm Jack there, Rio, my head is exploding. First of all, he was supposed to be inside technique. Right. And playing and playing under that guy. So now anytime I hear two men, that's the license for me to get as rough as I want to at the line of scrimmage. I got help over top. And then this guy comes off and run an inside dig route. No way that's supposed to be caught. And there go to stuff that I'm talking about. It ain't what plays you make. It's at what point in time do you make the play. And the one thing about him, he's not a closer yet. He hasn't developed into a closer. And that's what great corners do. That's what good corners do. They close at a high level. And when you get a layup like

That's supposed to be a pick if Gino Smith throws that into their coverage. Yeah. Okay, good. You mentioned Jamie Davis. There's one other player on defense that, now he missed a tackle on the long touchdown run. And they catch and run by, by the way, don't you love their backs, Charbonne and Walker? Oh, man, they got some backs over there. Walker, man, he's been impressive since he got in the league and Sharvonee watching him at UCLA.

He showed that he can basically do everything. And what I'm hearing about Walker is that Chauvinet is better than him in Paz Block. And that's why you mostly see Chauvinet on third down. So I think 35, Percy Butler, I think he actually, other than that one play, had a good game. And I think he's been getting better, am I wrong? No, no, you are right. He had the best game of his young career. Yeah, beyond that Miss Taka graded pretty high.

He was in the right spaces. This is what he done. because one problem he had was he played too fast. I know people like, what you mean too fast? He was overrunning plays. He was moving to himself. He wasn't manipulating the quarterback, and now he's starting to slow down.

He's starting to have his eye discipline and look at the right things and react to these things. Now I see a player that's out there that's not thinking. I see a player that's reacting. So, yes, sometimes that's all it takes is reps to make a player better. Percy Butler wasn't getting those reps. So now he's in the game. he's getting better week in and week out and cam curle has been the study guy too like you know

sometimes when you just get used to people doing their job people take it for granted but cam curle continues he just be cam currill he just need more splash plays all right last one in the defense because i'm i was clearly i'm i think i'm wrong about their defensive tackles um because i'm the biggest duran pain fan there's been i thought he was you know i thought he was great even when he was inconsistent but something ain't right this year with both of them. Tell me what it is. If I had your hand out, I cut mine off. I have no clue about, you know, what's truly going on in that situation.

To me, when I like... He had a good start to the year. He had a good start to the year. Yeah, and it seemed to have been wanged off. He has been getting double-teamed in there. John has a lot. John kind of looks gifting to me, but he ain't one of those people to tell you if he heard or not.

I think he's probably playing through something. But the drum pain thing is, you know, that's the question that you've got to ask. That's the million-dollar question. Well, where are the production? Where's the plays? Where's the penetration? He's getting close to making plays. But, you know, finishing is a whole different thing.

And I don't even really need you to put up the numbers. I just need you to be disruptive. And that's what I've really been soured on. Like, the one thing he's always been is disruptive. And maybe it goes back to him. Maybe the calls. You know, I don't know. But we know he can play the game of football.

I don't know what's going on. in that situation. All right. Since I haven't had you on in a few weeks, what was your reaction to them trading sweat and young? It's a business. I think I'm numb to that part of the NFL. I've been in the NFL, played in NFL.

I'm never shocked. And if you're going to lose some guys anyway that you don't intend on paying yourself, you might as well get some assets from it to move forward. So I thought that was very intelligent move right there. I think San Francisco 49ers should be sending us Christmas cards for the next 10 years. For the people we've sent them and we want to talk about caliber of player. But as you see, Sweat has already got signed for $100 million.

So he's a mainstay in Chicago. The question is, is Chase Young or rental in 49ers? And if I say so, I think he would be because Bebo makes $16 million next year. Trent makes $21 million next year. Bosa makes, I think, $13 million next year. The other deep tackle, I think he makes $21 million next year. And Fred Warner makes $13 next year. So they couldn't probably pay Chase if they wanted to.

You know, not only have we, should we be thanked by the 49ers, the one player that we could have sent them for a number one pick or the number two overall pick, we hurt ourselves by not trading him. You know what his name is. He was the last good quarterback that was here, but we won't mention him by name. We refer to him as you know who. All right. Clearly, Sunday, they can't lose to Tommy DeVito and the Giants, right?

Listen, I call this guy who he remains. He who remains at home. Wait, hold on. He who remains at home, are you talking about the? fact that he lives at home? Yes. Yes. That's why I call him he who remains.

Listen, we cannot lose it. Listen, the football guys have served it up to us on the platterson, and I'm tired of the Giants beating you all no matter what's going on in the situation. Here, I'm going to have the veto-ed quarterback, 15% of the roster hurt, traded Leonard Williams.

If you can't beat them now, we will never beat them. And the only thing that gives me true faith that we can go out there and beat them. It's Sam how. And maybe the Giants was a blessing because since we played the Giants, we got gates out of there at center, Moe Lawson in there, CP, to the guard position,

seen it solidified a line of scrimmage. So maybe the Giant Games was a blessing. Let's see how this one turns out. Yeah, I mean, they're going to go ahead and play it anyway. That's what they do in the NFL. And every week, we're wrong about half a lot. the games that looks so obvious. Let's hope this one isn't one of them. All right, one more for you, and then I will let you run, and I appreciate this as always. Who's the NFL MVP going to be

this year? Wow, great question. It's another one of those years where you can't point. So now you have to point at the usual suspects, and is it Pat Mahomes? You've got to ask yourself, have we got numb to what he does, especially considering him not having a true number one wire receive over there. Josh Allen has did everything to make sure he's not in the race. Trevor Lawrence is another

guy that having good numbers, but Lamar Jackson, to me, is having one of those years. I think he's having a great year over there. That's why he's running and throwing the ball. What about Hertz? What about Hertz? I think where Hurts is, I would say he is the front runner right now because of team success.

But he hasn't had that MVP moment this year, if you know what I mean. What about Sam Snow? Sam Snow. Now, the one thing about it, he's going to suffer from the fact that he live in the wrong village. See, the numbers were they're like, think about it. If we were six games, if we won six games right now, seven games, he will be, he would be being talked about for the MVP right now. Like if we were.

In all seriousness, C.J. Stroud is. I mean, C.J. Stroud's like the fifth favorite right now, which would be really amazing. Did you think he was going to be that? Well, I thought he was going to be good. I don't know he was going to be this good, this quick. I didn't think he was going to adjust this quick, but they're going to another unique thing about having the right coaches around you. and the rest of those guys are doing a great job with him.

He could make every throw in college, but he had the Ohio State quarterback cloud hanging over his head. I'm glad he got that out of the way. But, yeah, I always thought he could be a good quarterback in his lead, but he turned out there would be great. But I knew Tankdale, wire receiver from Houston was going to be a player. I told people before the draft that kid right now. You told me, I remember.

Yeah. You know who the best player in the league is right now, in my opinion? And he's not going to win the MVP because defensive players just don't win it, not since L.T. anyway. Yeah, of course not. Miles Garrett's the best player in the NFL. He's the scariest player in the NFL. He's dominating games from the defensive side doing things that I guess what we expect

to get from Chase Young or what they expect it from Davey Young clown. And he just, Miles Garrett is a alien. Like the things that he does at his side is, special. He's literally changing the line of scrimmage when he's out there. T.J. White, the same way. It's certain guys that can control a game from the defensive side of the ball. You're the best. Thanks for doing this for me. Let's do it again soon. All right, brother. Anytime. Thanks. Fred Smoot, everybody. Love them. Really fun to have these conversations with Fred on this show.

All right. Up next, Stanford, Steve will jump on with us. We'll talk a lot of college football, but as I teased in the conversation with Fred, Stanford Steve wants to talk about Sam Howell as well. We will get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.com and mybooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and they will give you a cash bonus on your initial deposit, the current line for the Washington game on Sunday at My Bookie is nine. So if you were listening to the show yesterday, we talked about how the line had come down, and then at My Booky, it was back up briefly at 10.

Right now, Washington is a nine-point favorite at My Booky over the Giants, and the total in that game is 37. For tonight, Baltimore, a three-and-a-half-point favorite over Cincinnati. There's no smell test pick for tonight. I do like Cincinnati a little bit tonight, plus the points. I think it's a desperate spot for them, and I'm wondering if the Ravens off of that, you know, draining game on Sunday.

Not that Cincinnati didn't play in one of those as well against Houston, but man, the Baltimore Cleveland game was off the charts physical. These teams have barely the capacity to recover for a game a week after a game like the one Baltimore played against Cleveland. let alone four days. So I kind of like Cincinnati tonight. It's not an official smell test pick, a full-fledged smell test pick tomorrow on the show.

MyBooky.com, my bookie.ag. You've got to use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. All right. Jumping on with us right now is my friend Stanford Steve from the Scott Van Pelt Sports Center show at Stanford, Steve 82. on Twitter. Of course, he is on the college game day set every single Saturday. They are headed to JMU this weekend. By the way, kind of a shame, right, that the NCAA didn't waive the rule allowing JMU to compete, not only for a Sunbelt title, but for a bowl game this year.

I thought they were going to actually approve that and was surprised by the result. What did you think? I did, Kevin. I thought they would change it. I just thought with the new regime at the NCAA with Charlie Baker coming in, like I really thought this was a chance to change, you know, the narrative, the image of the NCAA that everybody has loved to come and hate. And like a decision that's just all good in every way.

I think it would help up the Sunbelt conference, which is a really good football conference. It is. Like you go through those teams, man, there are some good ball teams. down there. And then they could have set up a JMU Troy Conference Championship game that would have two ranked teams. And, you know, it turns to be the same old NCAA. No fun, no fun at all allowed. And no exception.

So we're going to go try and pound the drum, though, for JMU. They've been as loyal school to game day as there is. there is a factor of of them still being able to go to a bowl game if there's enough five and seven teams where they could get in there. So it's one of the best stories in the sport this year. I know everybody, now that the rankings are all,

wants to talk about playoff rankings, but I still am all about the good in the sport to see a team that was a power at the lower level and then come up and be undefeated and make the noise that they have. have, and knowing at the school pride that that school has, it sets up for an awesome, awesome atmosphere Saturday, and I can't wait to get to campus. Well, it's actually a great campus.

You and I were talking about JMU a little bit before we started to record, but it's actually a great campus and a lot of alum in the D.C. area and plenty of JMU people that I hear from who listen to this show. So big day for them. You know, one of the things I was thinking about is just, you know, the decision had they made JMU eligible was, you know, potentially a many, many millions of dollars decision for like a Tulane as an example or a Liberty even. You know, those two schools being the ranked non-power five New Year six schools. And JMU could have easily, you know, jumped either one of those two. By the way, just in all seriousness, how good is JMU? Like, would they be able to pull off what Tulane pulled off last year against SC?

In the right matchup, they leave the country in rush defense. Like, no, they average giving up two yards to carry. They lead the country in sacks. I don't care who you're playing against. When you're doing that against the talent we see at the FBS level, you're doing something right. And Cignetti's just a lifer. I mean, he recruited me at Pittsburgh in the mid-90s.

He was there. Yeah, and he's got a great record. I can't wait to see him and just chat it up, knowing that it's been so long. You know, those old recruiting calls where, you know, they're trying to get you to come on a visit and all that fun stuff. He went down. He put a lot of good time in with Nick Saban and Alabama.

And now he's got this, man. To be able to have, like, that guy, he's been coaching since the early 90s. and now to be at this position, just really, really happy for the guy. No one who he's built, knowing what they've been through. There's a lot of hoops and holes. You've got to jump through as the head coach

when you're making this transition. That's not the fun stuff. And now to be able to showcase your university and this type of deal, I think that's big-time stuff, and I couldn't be more happier for the guy. All right. Let's get to what has been a very exciting season

and per usual promises to be pretty wild down the street. stretch here as we head towards hopefully the last year of just four teams in the playoff. I'll get to the whole one-loss scenario with Texas and Alabama in a moment. But of the two teams in the PAC 12 and in the ACC, who's more likely to get beat, Florida State or Washington? Washington. I think Washington's up against it this week, Kevin. When you look at what they've done. And, you know, this road, every, you know, being 6 and O, I think it was,

a game day goes to Seattle, and you get Oregon coming to your place, and you put forth that effort, and you get that win, and then you have that low. Supposedly the flu went through the team. You struggle to beat Arizona State. You struggle to beat Stanford. Then it really ramps up, where you've got to go to USC and score 50 plus to win. Then you come back home to Seattle and face it totally different. up with Utah and the physicality that Utah brings, and the idea of the way that Utah

travels with wanting to be that run game and play that defense. And then Washington comes out and shuts them out in the second half after, you know, high score in first half. I really wonder what they got, what they got in store here, because on the flip side, you got Oregon State and, you know, the court stuff this week with them in Washington State, you know, ultimately winning. I don't even know what that means. but Oregon State to be able to be shun out like they have been,

but now you look at that schedule. They have Washington and they have Oregon. They're two most hated teams. They're the ultimate little brother when it comes to those three schools, and you get a chance to knock them out of all, you know, title shots and all that. And then if you were to win both, you got to spot to win the last backboat championship. That's a lot and a lot of stuff there. And playing in that stadium, I mean, I remember playing in Reese.

It was $17,000. And now it's up to, I think, 40. And those people are as loyal. They also have a nice mean streak at them. And with that being a 4.30 p.m. Eastern game, that place is going to be live. And I just wonder about Washington being able to bring it. Because when you look at the matchup specifically, Oregon State's beaten Washington once in the last 11 years, in the last three years, it's been a six-point game or less.

So I think it's on the table for Oregon State. The style of football they play, their defense is always better at home with that crowd. I think it's a lot to ask for for Washington to go in and win this. And you study that with the points per of Oregon State being the favorite. So I like the big, I like the Beavers. Yeah, for those not paying attention, Michael Panix Jr. in Washington, undefeated on the road in Corvallis, they are two and a half point underdogs against Oregon State. That pretty much tells you what people think will happen, the people who know will happen.

I'm pretty sure I will have Oregon State in my smell test tomorrow. So to Florida State, I don't think it's clear sailing for them. I actually think the game against Florida and the swamp won't be easy. And I think an ACC title game against Louisville, although I think Louisville's in a little bit of a dicey situation Saturday as well. But if it is Louisville, they're good defensively. I think Florida State could go down between now and selection Sunday. What do you think? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Louisville and that trip to the swamp. That's going to be a big spot for Billy Napier. That was a great game last year in Tallahassee. They played on the Friday night in between. I wish they kept that.

We got the Civil War there instead. But no, I think Florida State's up a against it because when you break it down, you know, the quarterback is great. I thought he was really, really too risky last week against Miami, though. And if they were to fall behind, I really wonder how much pressure they're going to feel against a team like Florida in the swamp and knowing how good that building could be. And then, you know, Louisville, I worry about Louisville this week at Miami. That's a weird spot. You know, they're barely favored against Miami. So, yes, I would be worried if I'm Florida State, but if you take care of business and you run the table,

you've got to feel really good about your chances. All right. So let's jump to what I guess is sort of the, not the nightmare scenario, but the one that would create the most discussion, which is if Florida State runs the table as an undefeated ACC champion, if Washington runs the table as a Pac-12 champion, and we, We both said that we think there's a chance both of them could fall. And, you know, Michigan and or Ohio State. And then Alabama runs a table and beats Georgia in an SEC title game,

and Texas wins the Big 12 as a one-loss team as well. Who would be the fourth team? I am still a guy that's not going to be Texas, but I would put Texas in. Why don't you think it would be Texas? That's the most impressive win of the college football season. Do you agree with me on that or not? Not at Alabama Beach, Georgia. I mean, being on the field last week, Kevin and Athens,

that Georgia team is insanely talented. And for the first time, their offense is better in their defense. And that's saying something because they got NFL guys all over the back end of that defense. but just watching that and just seeing, I mean, Mims, the right tackle comes back. I mean, that kid is as impressive as specimen as I've seen, and then Bowers coming back. And Carson, Beck, I just feel like everybody, I mean, I didn't assume he was going to be this good. And I go back to the game in Auburn.

They're down on the road, middle, late third quarter, and he looks as comfortable as ever. What that kid has done in the situation where guys have just not played well, or met the standard that was the position from the before guy played. I don't think enough has been made at him. He's been as steady as there's been in the country. And if Vama's defense could beat that team, that to me is the best win, in my opinion.

Yeah, but you would still have Texas being able to say, we went to Tuscaloosa and beat the team that beat Georgia. Yeah, I still favor Texas because of that head-to-head. You know, I just, the momentum of Alabama is going to be out of control if they were to do that to Georgia. I mean, we've seen this in years past. It's something that's a problem. The momentum is going to be so strong that people will have short memories and come up with every excuse. in the book about how Texas beat Alabama, and they throttled them pretty well being there.

So I just want to make sure I'm clearing this. When you said I would favor Texas, like you would pick Texas, but you believe that if Alabama were to run the table, beat Georgia in the SEC title game, that the committee would actually take Bam over Texas as one lost team? Yes. Okay. How about this one? How about Oregon beats Washington and undefeated Washington in the PAC 12th?

championship game. Texas runs the table and Bama runs the table as well. If it's Oregon, Texas, and Bama, who would the committee vote in? Oregon would have. Assuming Florida State, well, no, at that, so at that point we'd have Florida State and Michigan, so it would be two spots. It would be two of the three. Yeah, that's where I wonder about Florida State because they're not going to have any, like if Louisville were to beat loose to Miami, you know, and I don't even know what could happen in the ACC scenario. I know Louisville has not clinched yet they do with a win over Miami,

but they were to lose that. I just wonder what Florida State's resume would be undefeated. I'm still a believer in undefeated team should be in from the ACCC. So I put Florida State in. I would still go Texas because of that win. And that's stronger to me when you have that win and you avenge the loss, whereas Oregon, that resume is not going to be great. You know, they're going to have, they're going to avenge the loss against Washington,

assuming, you know, in this scenario, like you said, they went out. So I think I'm in the minority, but I would go Texas. going to be really interesting down the stretch for sure i test i test only not resume who are the four best teams in the country right now uh i test i would say Georgia Michigan um Oregon it's between Ohio state and Florida state so you don't think Alabama is you don't think Alabama right now would be a top four team eye test-wise? Right now, no. No, I don't. I want to see them, I want to see them go to Auburn in that rivalry in that atmosphere and see what they are. It's easy to get up for that LSU game. You're at home. You're off a buy. You had everything planned

and saved. At the time, he reached a great job and having some keys for Jalen Miller to actually run and pick the right spot to run the ball there. So no, how in there, that could change in two weeks, and obviously if they were to win the SEC. Give me just some sort of a wild

scenario that we haven't even thought about. Like I was thinking about if Louisville were to run the table and you get a couple of losses, would Louisville as a one-lossed ACC champ have an opportunity? You know, they did beat Notre Dame pretty handily at one point this year.

That was, you know, for Ohio State a while, for a while, a reason that they were the number one team along with the Penn State win. Give me something kind of lurking that nobody's thinking about right now over the final two weeks of the regular season and then championship weekend. It's too far, Kevin, but like I talked on it before, with what Oregon State is, look at these two games they have left. No one will have two better wins. now they have the two losses, obviously. But if they ended the season, you know, beating or beating Washington, beating Oregon and winning a Pac-12 title, I get it. It's two losses.

And, you know, they're both on the road. But that's a pretty darn good resume. If you want to start talking about momentum, man, like that, that's going to be super present. And I really think they're capable. But what I really am taking out of this and watching it now, and seeing that they move Georgia to one, they are begging for Georgia to win the SEC title.

You know, like that takes a huge headache out of there because that eliminates one of the one-lost teams and makes Bama a two-loss team, and that's the one everybody wants to compare to, right? I mean, when you look at that scenario in this last year, it's also amazing, too, that we just haven't had this type of possibility, you know, with multiple teams from multiple conferences. That's what's so fun, and I think that's what everybody had envisioned at the beginning.

So it's, it's, it's, you know, the Ohio State, Michigan's the deal like that, that's, I think it's the elimination game. And the other, the other idea is people, the way they look at Georgia, everybody brings up the wind streak from the previous two years. and you can't do that. I get it. They're the face of the sport, but if they were to lose the SEC championship, they're out. They are out.

When you're going to look at that resume and actually see what it really is, I don't see them in the playoffs. Although the schedule turned out to be more difficult than we thought it would be. Yeah, better than Michigan. Before the year, everybody picked apart Georgia's schedule how easy it was going to be,

and nobody's ever brought up Michigan. Michigan hasn't played, I mean, a soul. Right. When you look at the ineptist of Penn State, and, you know, it was a team that I was high on and picked to go to the playoffs, but should learn my lesson on that one. But, no, when you look at that strike, I mean, going in the last week, Michigan was 111th in the strength of schedule,

and now that being a two-lossed win, I don't see that helping out. So, no, what Georgia has happened in their schedule was a major surprise to me. Yeah, Missouri being the biggest of the two surprises of Missouri in Ole Miss. Awesome story. Awesome story. Yeah, great story. Good team, really good team. I mean, they actually probably, well, they did.

I mean, I know the Auburn game at Jordan Hare was super competitive, but Missouri was legitimately in that game against Georgia in Athens. No, no. Down six with the ball and they threw a pick. I know. The one thing about the rankings, and it all will solve itself here for the most part, unless we get down to this one lost debate between Bama and Texas and maybe even Oregon. I just don't know how Oregon is ahead of Texas right now.

It's at six. I know we all feel, I say we all. I think a lot of us who watch that Oregon-Washington game still wonder how the hell Oregon lost that game. They looked like the better team on the field. I get that. But, you know, other than the Utah game, they just don't have anything resembling Texas's wins, which I would also include a win over K-State as being impressive. I actually think a rematch with K-State could be problematic for Texas if they play them again.

But whatever, you know, it's like, you know, the resume thing over the eye test. I mean, Texas's resume is better than Oregon's. they should be number six. I totally agree. Texas resume, the strike to schedule, everything. Oregon has gotten an unbelievable benefit in the eyes of people that look to be making the decisions after going to Utah and beating a Utah team that's not that good.

Right. You know, I had a great win against USC, but look at what USC has become. Yeah. So I'm totally in agreement. in Texas. With what they have done, it just, it kind of seems forgotten, and everybody just brings up on how they haven't looked impressive. There's a reason they've won those games, though, it's because Sarkeesians is that good on offense, and he's built these leads, only to see them, you know, diminishing the second half of game. So I totally am in agreement that Texas should be

the top one lost game. By the way, would you give Iowa any chance in a Big Ten title game against Ohio State, not Michigan. And I say Ohio State because I'm just not impressed with Ohio State offensively at any point this year. You know, you talked about how Georgia's strength is their offense, not their defense. Ohio State also is kind of flipped their strength is their defense, not necessarily their offense. Would you give Iowa any prayer with that defensive competing? Not with the corner getting out and turning in turn his ACL. No, that kid is an NFL DB and not a safety.

He's a corner. Dejean. Yeah, he's phenomenal. I mean, he's going to be a first-round pick. He's that good. So without him, I just don't see him. And just the total lack of offense against that Ohio State defense could cause major problems, turnover, defensive touchdowns, that thing.

They could also pick off McCord three times and score on two of them. They could. Yeah. All right, real quickly, because I don't want to take up so much of your time, even though you're always very generous with it. All right. Number one, what happens to Harbaugh tomorrow? Does he coach it, Maryland or not?

I don't think so. Okay. I don't believe so. I just feel like they're going to take this and take the blame finally. But I would not expect to see Jim Harbaugh in college park. Do you think you'll see Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor next year? No. Okay.

Will he be in the NFL? No, I just, I believe so. If he wants to, he will be, right? Yeah. Oh, there are plenty of people that would hire him. Who replaces Jimbo at Texas A&M? Oh, great call. I'm having this conversation with Scott, actually.

I actually like the pool of candidates for a Mississippi state job, Kevin, better than I like the pool for Ann. If I'm A&M, they're in a huge predicament. It's not even, it's, it's the third best job in that division. And these people just have, they can't face the reality of that and think they are in the upper echelion of jobs. It's not a top five job in the sport. I don't know if it's top ten.

So if I'm an A&M fan, I am super happy, super happy with Mike Elko for Jeff Traylor. but the majority of that fan base is going to want to win the press conference, and those guys are not going to, but they are damn good football coaches, and you should be happy with those hires if you get one of those two guys. Trailer from UTSA, for those of you who don't know, that's University of Texas, San Antonio, and Elko from Duke. Does Franklin survive even, I mean, they don't have Texas A&M money, and they've got a lot of years left on his deal, but does he survive?

This offensive coordinator is a monster hire because you have all the goods. And when you look at their roster and their staff, I look at, now you don't have an offense coordinator, you've got to hire a new one. Your wide receivers coach, Marcus Hagan, who's thought the world thought of him coming from Virginia as a recruiter. He didn't recruit any of these receivers. You know, so the dynamic of that, like a new offense coordinator, and if they could go porter on and get wide receivers that are difference makers and Aller as grown up, I just, I do, I ask too much of Drew Aller, you know, before the season.

I thought he'd be able to step in there and they would rely on that defense that he would make the place he needed. He has to grow up under the fire, and we see that a lot of places this year, which is what I think fans are having such a tough time with. You know, you look at Carson Beck at Georgia, you look at Kyle McCord, Ohio State's not pretty, but that's the only way to do it. I mean, hell, look at Jalen Milrow at Alabama. He got bench. Yeah. And he had to go through a humbling experience.

But these guys have to get experienced. If you're going to play the young guys, they have, in the date of bringing in a transfer quarterback, I mean, that hasn't worked out well this year for the majority of spots, except maybe Bow Nick and Pennock. I mean, Kentucky's failed by it. NC states failed by it. Plenty of teams have failed using that.

So I think these fans have failed. bases are getting a little crazy with their expectations, but I think Franklin does. I could see a fix there with a new OC, getting some difference figures, that wide receiver, and that offense matching how good that defense. Because I think that defense is absolutely tremendous. Awesome. When you go down that depth chart, there, I mean, that's going to be the most forgotten group of this year and how good they were. I mean, they battled and battled being on the field in Columbus with the offense turning it over and bad puns and field position. That team battled for 60 against Ohio State, and they battled last week.

I mean, they're on the field the whole damn game. So I was super impressed with that unit, but I do think Franklin's okay. Who wins the Heisman Trophy? I don't, you know, we talk about this recency bias, Kevin, and can Daniels win it playing Georgia State and A&M and then being nowhere to be found on championship Saturday, I find that hard to believe. I tell you, the guy that's still sitting there,

he's got games in monster stages, is Carson Beck. I mean, he really could do it. They go nuts at Tennessee with a brutal place to play. And if he's the difference, they beat Alabama to maintain this undefeated season. He's laying in the weeds. The winner of the Pac-12 title game, depending if Pennix is undefeated in that spot, if Pettix runs the table, he should get it, in my opinion.

So I look at that. I think the best player, I mean, everybody's talking about Jayden Daniels is the best player. The best player is Marvin Harrison Jr. If he were to do what he did against Penn State against Michigan and they win, I can see Marvin Harrison Jr. winning that award because if people are going to throw the best player argument,

that's my counter. Is Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best player in the country? All right. Great job, as always. Appreciate it. You'll be at Madison tomorrow on Saturday, excuse me, on college game day, which starts at 9 a.m. with Reese and all the guys. You're doing a great job on that show. We both need our picks to do better. But we still have some season left. We still have some season left. All right, I'll talk to you soon. We're not going to talk, Sam Howell? Come on.

Go ahead. Give me your thoughts on Sam Howell. Am I the closest to who was right and who you've had on since they drafted him? You and Sean King, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback, Sean who works with my guy Tim Murray out in Vegas, they do a show together. Sean, from the day they drafted him, I've had him on, I don't know, three times probably, and he was Hal's biggest fan, and you were a big fan as well.

Here's my question for you, because I did this on radio earlier today. He's played 10 games this year as a starter. Who do you see him becoming comp-wise? I'm not going a Hall of Fame level, all right? So I'll take all the Hall of Famers off the board. Yeah. I mean, I had a caller. I had callers calling in saying Drew Breeze and Russell Wilson.

Bree is obviously a Hall of Famer. I actually believe Russell Wilson's career is a Hall of Fame career. Not everybody agrees with me on that. But if we're taking Hall of Famers, which I think is wise at this point after 10 starts this year, but who do you have in mind? You want me to give you mine? Yeah. So before the season started, I said high end Andy Dalton, low end.

I gave out low end Charlie Batch. Colt McCoy. I don't know where I came up with Charlie Batch. But I still, now I think his trajectory, and I don't think this is a knock at all, is Andy Dalton, who for several years in Cincinnati, was a top half of the league's starting quarterback. And I think they play very similarly. Do you have Andy Dalton in the same class as Derek Carr? I actually have always liked Andy Dalton more than Derek Carr, but my producer, this morning said Derek Carr, if that's what you were going to say? No, I would say better, higher. That's the problem. We get in these tears, and it's a tough deal

to cheer everybody. I'll say better at Tony Romo. Wow. Well, that's a much better, that's a hell of a lot better than Derek Carr or Andy Dalton. I mean, Tony Romo, I don't think we'll end up in the Hall of Fame. Cowboy fans think he deserves it. Oh, no, no. No. But it's a hell of a lot better. But it's a hell of a lot better. But it. least, you know, at least the size on Romo and the build and the whole thing is more similar, because Carr's a bigger guy, you know. Uh-huh. Romo would be incredible.

Uh, if you end up with Tony Romo, if you end up with Tony Romo, you've got a top 10 quarterback at some point for multiple years in his career. That's high. Yep. All right. Um, all right. Good job. I saw Legler last night. He said he owes you a text. I forgot.

That's all right. We chase each other around. His daughter got married, so he's been busy. I'll give him a back. Yeah, no, I remember him telling me that. I saw him earlier this year. All right, good job. Have fun this weekend. Enjoy Harrisonburg. I'll talk to you soon. We'll do, my man. I appreciate you having me on. Steve's the best. Smooth was great. I enjoyed the show today with both of them. I hope you did as well. Oh, I did want to mention, I talked to Kooley today. He's not watching any football.

He said that he will watch the game on Sunday and maybe come on next week. We shall see. But he was literally in the midst of a 26-hour three-day bus trip to some place in Colorado for a wrestling tournament. You know, he's coaching that Powerhouse Juko program out in Powell, Wyoming, 26 hours, three days. He sounded thrilled. All right, that's it for today, back tomorrow.