The McShay Show - Moore’s Tape, Mateer’s Decline, SEC Playoff Long Shots, and Rookie Receipts

Episode Date: September 21, 2026

Todd and Steve go back to the tape from Week 3 and share their biggest scouting takeaways, starting with Michigan’s dominant defensive line, why Dante Moore still looks like the best passer in college football, USC’s defensive problems, and what the tape says about John Mateer. Plus, which SEC team is making a real CFP push, Faizon Brandon vs. Jared Curtis, stock checks on Princewill Umanmielen and Emmanuel Oyebadejo, and NFL rookie receipts.Check out the guys’ top 50 big board and Todd’s mock draft at TheRinger.com/McShay.(00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show!(02:09) Week 3 Tape Truths(04:40) Michigan's d-line is one of the best in the country(09:15) Dante Moore is still the best passer in CFB(15:28) USC's defense is a liability(18:00) This is John Mateer(23:46) Which SEC team is crashing into the CFP? (33:30) Better Freshman QB: Faizon Brandon or Jared Curtis?(37:27) How far has he moved: Princewill Umanmielen(40:55) How far has he moved: Emmanuel Oyebadejo(46:43) Receipts: Browns WR Denzel Boston(52:50) Receipts: Bengals OT Amarius Mims  Score big with Dr Pepper Tic Tac. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a tape trues Monday here on the McShay show. All right, match, I got five for you. The SEC currently has five teams in the AP top 10, but there's an SEC team not ranked in the top 25 that will steal one of the college football playoff spots. No. USC's defense will keep the Trojans out of the college football playoff. I'm worried. I'm going to go yes on that one.

Iowa's defense is better than Michigan's defense right now. No, but it's closer than I thought. Yes or no, Steve. If starting a college program today, so you're starting a college program today, are you taking Phazon Brandon, Tennessee, or Jared Curtis from Vanderbilt? I'm going, Brandon.

Denzel Boston is the best rookie wide receiver in the NFL, and you got it right. Yes. Just 220 days until the NFL draft meant you good. I'm great, man. Roll the beat, Tuck. The McShea show is presented by Fanduel. College football Saturdays are here,

and it's your most rewarding season ever on Fandul. With the all-new Fandual Rewards Club, every eligible bet can earn you points, win or lose. The more points, the bigger the rewards you can unlock. Head to fandual.com slash McShae to start earning with Fandual Rewards Club. 21 plus select states 18 plus D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming.

Gambling problem, call 1-800-gambler. Call 1-888-7-8-9-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Canada. When Westchap first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, in-line skates were everywhere,

and two out of three women rocked the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, One thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to WestJetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. It's only taking three weeks for us to get to a comfort zone. It's a tape trues Monday again during the college football season here in the McShay show, and I love it. All right, what a slate we have upcoming.

I just want to show you. I was looking through the top 25 games and beyond. Take a look at this slate, Munch. It's unbelievable. We get ranked opponents, six of them, going head-to-head. Texas, number one versus 14, Tennessee. Ole Miss, number four, bumped up. Was it far enough?

We don't think so. But they're going on the road to the swamp. Underdogs. Underdogs in that game. No. Yes. Yes. Last time I checked, they're underdogs in that game.

Get on your fan duel app if you need to. I just tell you, too. they asked summer all about it. They asked the head coach Florida, some are all about it. And he said there's a lot of good drugs out there. 17 versus 18 is another one. We got Iowa, Michigan.

I know you've spent a lot of tape prepping for that one. Texas A&M at 23 after that brutal loss, going against number 10, LSU, also a brutal loss. Talk about a must-win game for both programs. Then you got Oregon, USC. That's 20 versus 12. Then Missouri versus Mississippi State. My gosh, I mean,

You talk about talent and quarterback and explosiveness. Then there's these desperate road dogs mention the right side of your screen. If you're watching on Netflix or Spotify, we appreciate you doing so. Oklahoma's got to get a win, but they got to do it between the hedges at Georgia, number two ranked team of the country. Wisconsin, this little fickle team just kind of lurking around. Is Penn State ranked too high at 13? And then South Carolina, Lenora Sellers.

We had some thoughts. Go back to our Saturday night recap show, the reaction show. Interesting to see if South Carolina can bounce back, but they got to do it, Tuscaloosa, against number eight, Alabama. Okay. We got a slate, but we've also spent a lot of time since those Saturday night, early Sunday morning, thoughts, reactions after we watched all the games. We're going to break it down this way.

A little bit different this year. I think it's more concise. I think it's more interesting. Hell, I think it's a better show. First thing, first topic, you ready? Yep. The tape take, I'm ready. to defend.

Basically, now we make some aggressive statements on Saturday night. We're watching the game. We got five games going on. We're shuffling around, four box on the screen. But now you've had time to watch some tape. And is there something out there that you're ready to defend?

Michigan's defensive line is one of the best in the country, if not the best in the country. And we'll get the better of that great Iowa offensive line this weekend. There's two first rounders on that offensive. I think. Yeah, I got you. Cade Piper the right guard. Trevor Locke, the left tackle, who every time I watch them, I like more and more and more.

This is just a group that plays well together. George Barnett, the offensive line coach for the last six years, is outstanding. I mean, he is just one of the best in the country at developing these guys. They're going to, you know, they'll pound you with that zone run game and then work play action off of it. I get it, man. I love, love, love that Iowa offensive line. The more I've been watching this Michigan front, the more I am blown away. Look, we know they have two of the best edges in the country, maybe the best edge tandem in the country.

There's other guys that are more talented, but these two together are unbelievable in John Henry Daly. They complement each other well, too. Yeah, right. John Henry Daley is like the more power guy from Utah. Dom Nichols is more of the speed guy, but he's also got some violence to his game. Those guys, I mean, Michigan's been having some success getting, home with three-man rushes because those two guys are coming off the edge. But what really blew me away is when I watched the film, I didn't know how good they were

on the inside. This kid is, is it 95? 95 and Trey Pierce is really good. Okay. I was going to get to him in a second. Enoeta is 17. Looks kind of funny because he's 328 pounds, man. And he looks like he moves like a much smaller man.

He is powerful. He is disruptive. He is an absolute handful in the in the incident. side. And then Trey Pierce keeps popping up on tape, man. Violent hands, great motor. You look at those four, they're starting four, and then you add the depth that they have. I'm telling you, I love Locke at left tackle and I love Piper at right guard. I think as a group overall, that Michigan defensive lines is going to get after Iowa a little bit. You know, I talk to you a little bit in between, you know, in between Saturday night, Sunday morning and now. I feel like I feel like you've

been kind of hedging back and forth, if I'm going to be honest. I know you're in love with Iowa's offensive line. I think you fell more in love with Michigan's defensive line than you expected. Let me ask you this. Yes. I know this, you're not expecting this. And I'll get to my tape take that I'm going to stand on. But Iowa's defensive line, are they in the conversation with Michigan's defensive front?

We now know how much you love Michigan's defensive front. How good is that Iowa defense? Because, come on, like, what they've done so far is, like, suffocating. Right. Listen, they have the best scoring defense in the country right now. You know, you could say that's a product of their schedule. And you can also go into, you know, but they played Iowa State, man, has put up points against lesser competition.

It's interesting. I think there's a guy that they have a defensive tackle named Luke Gaffney that people are sleeping on that really, it popped. You know, they have Espinessa at defensive end. I mean, they have some really good guys. It's more of a no-name defensive front. They don't have that elite. talent that Michigan has, but I will tell you this.

As an overall defense, Iowa there's not that big of a gap between Michigan and Iowa. I'm telling you. The Iowa defense is so gap sound, physical, everyone's swarming to the ball, discipline. They're not going to beat themselves, right? Again, they don't have the kind of athletes on the back end that Michigan has, but this is a very good defense.

And Zach Lutmer, the guy I've talked about a bunch who plays everywhere you want him to play. He's been playing more free safety this year. And he's just doing an excellent job of roaming the middle in coverage, cleaning up things, and run defense. That Iowa D is for real. This is going to be an, this feels like an old throwback Big Ten game where it's just going to be Haymaker

after Haymaker, and it wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being like a 1410 game. All right. Now I'm kind of fine. I mean, it's Big Ten. It feels Big Ten, right? And Iowa was my sleeper team. in the big 10. So I'm pumped to see. Like, this is kind of a, we knew that we'd get off to a good start.

But this is a, this is a moment of truth game for the hockey. By the way, by the way, Bryce Underwood didn't look bad last week. Is he starting to figure it out? I don't know. I don't know. That game is, that's must watch TV for me. I cannot wait for that game. I'm sticking in the Big 10 and I'm going to go with Oregon. Okay. And I know we're now a week, a week plus removed from from that Oklahoma State debacle. And I know we've covered it a little bit, but since then I went and I've made, I dove into that tape on the offensive side even more.

Here's the tape take I'm willing to make for you. Dante Moore's not Superman. And I don't know if he's ever going to be, but he's just fine. And he's still the best pure pastor in all of college football, even with Darien Mensa doing what he's doing in Miami and some other guys who are shining, some other guys who were having like Superman roles and halves of games, right?

Dante Moore is still the best pure passer in college football. Here's what I want to say. That Oklahoma State game, man, like let's talk about Dante specifically for a minute. The base, the mechanics, the footwork, it's impeccable. The urgency without being rushed is outstanding. The release, the softball he throws, the leading receiver. It's what I expected to see coming into the season and what I was worried that I wasn't going to see

based on the result, especially the first half struggles. Now, there was one throw he makes to Jeremiah McClellan. Yeah. It's like it's this seam throw, right? Where like it was the best pure throw of the gate. It's like top of drop, plant foot in rhythm, just drills it, the rhythm, the timing. Like it's the energy at the end of the throw.

And there were a lot of really, really good throws in the game. Now, there was one, from just charting it and looking through it and reading through all my notes, there's one throw early on, very early on, one of his first throws. It's a sale concept to the left, left intermediate throw. He just, maybe the wide receiver wasn't that proper depth. It appears like he was, and he just kind of overthrew this one. It wasn't a mechanical breakdown. It was just a miss, okay?

We all have misses. Yeah. Other than that, like, I don't, I had nothing to complain about. It's not like he was rushing. It's not like he would, you know, things where he was struggling. So he was forcing throws or forcing his mechanics or getting hurried or looked out of sorts. He wasn't. Now, the thing is with him, we got guys like Arch going out in the second half and doing what he did against Ohio State.

We got guys like Chambliss coming out in the first half and doing what he did against that. vaunted, talented LSU defense and then doing it again when they needed it late in the game, right? And this is a question that's going to have to be answered A, from this point on the rest of the season, Dante Moore to kind of show that he can be.

But as of right now, he's not Superman. He doesn't have a cape. No. Mendoza was not nearly as efficient and pure and like precise and all the things that Dante Moore is. And that's why the Raiders were considering him at number one at one point in the process before Moore came back. But Mendoza had a cape.

Josh Allen has a cape. Lamar Jackson has a cape. Mahomes has two capes. So Joe Burrow, interestingly enough, even though there's not that one physical trait, whether it's the mobility, speed, twitchiness, or the big arm to get out of trouble or the strength to break. He kind of doesn't have any of those cape qualities,

but I consider him one of those guys when he's healthy that he can absolutely put it on. Like go in the telephone booth, grab, get out. Can more become a borough or is he always going to be stuck being a CJ Strout? That's a question that we have to evaluate wait the rest of the season, kind of see how he takes over. The problem is when you don't have a cape and you got an offense that's not where it was

a year ago, watch Will Stein. We'll get to Kentucky in a little bit. I mean, there were problems everywhere. The passing game was uninspiring and it was too predictable. The route combinations, it didn't look like Stein from a year ago. I had multiple times. Two receivers are literally running the same route in the same zone or running different routes in the same zone, like almost running into each other.

There was one time that Moore had to throw a ball and he completed it to one of the two receivers, but there was another receiver there inexplicably. Running the exact same route, yep. Like, pooh. Then there's, then like the receivers really hurt him. I'll say this. In the second half, it felt like everyone settled down

and the receiver started becoming assets, not liabilities. But in the first half, DeCorean Moore, perfectly thrown ball. Could have been 30, 35 plus yards. All these yards have to catch opportunities. just a flat out drop. Then Jeremiah McClellan, number three, who I just mentioned, made that tough catch down the seam.

He had another drop on a shallow crosser, also early, like a back shoulder where the timing was off because of him. Protection was inconsistent, flat out, like at times flat out bad, man. The tackles, especially that, the tackle, both of them, the right tackle especially. I don't know how you get that fixed right away. To Oregon's credit, we talked about the halftime adjustments. shouldn't have taken that long, all those things.

But this was a Oregon coordinator problem. And in Oregon, both sides of the ball, it doesn't look like Stein and Tosh Lepoy. No. But let's not lose sight of the fact that this guy, this guy, Dante Moore, is playing at the highest possible level, even though he may not have a cape. That may never be his thing.

But he is playing at an unbelievably high level. and now he gets to go against this USC defense, I think we'll get to in a little bit, that's pretty atrocious right now. So I'm expecting a big game for me. All right, second place I want to take this. In contrast to the first one, we're going to stand and ready to defend, you know,

the positives on this side. Now let's get to the negative. The tape take, we're afraid it might be true. Well, you just hinted at it. My concern is that USC's defense isn't good enough for the game in the playoffs. And this game against Ruckers, man, like look, you could say if you're an USC fan, I think there's some reason to be optimistic and some arguments you could make.

Let's start with the arguments. Hey, like Munch, we just played some complimentary football. Jane Miava was really good in this game, but not as good as he's been in the past games. And we had Profit Brown, the safety take a 99-yard pick six and scored a touchdown for the defense. Ruckers went for it on fourth and one in the fourth quarter, and USC stepped up and made the play. you know, Gary Patterson, whose resume speaks for itself. The old TCU head coach is now the defense coordinator there is a really sharp defensive mind. We're still getting you to the scheme.

We've got some young guys up front that are still adjusting. You can say all of that stuff. But at the end of the day, my response to that would be, Jade Mayava wasn't at an elite level. He was still really good, but not an elite level. And you got into a dog fight with a Rutgers team that's lost to UMass and Boston College. That is really, really concerning to me. And the other thing I'll say, and this is the biggest thing, you know, there's an inconsistent pass rush, the secondaries, you know, they're giving up some plays, all of that stuff.

I was stunned at how much they're getting pushed around at the point of attack. They've given up 12, 10 plus yard runs according to college football stats.com. They played one extra game than a lot of other teams, but this is that, that defensive front, man, at the point of attack against power is you can move those guys. and when you really need to do it, you can do it. I don't know. I don't know. It's going to take, again, you can make these arguments, but I just don't think they're going to be good enough defensively to get in.

Yeah, and that's one of the primetime games. We get three prime time games this week, Texas A&M, LSU, Oregon, USC, and Missouri, Mississippi State. That final five, we get some updated news later this week. So check McShay 13 and check, and at you good mensch on on x and we will we'll get you an update on where you can find the final five we'll come watch the final five minutes of i don't know which game it's going to be whichever one i mean the final five minutes of all three games before we tape our show for netflix the reaction show

for netflix and spotify apple and everywhere else you get your podcast okay um the tape take i'm afraid is true this is john meteer oh Yeah. I don't hear it, but yeah. I don't either. I don't want to talk about it. Listen, I think they average 1.9 yards per carry against New Mexico. And so, like, maybe the truth is this is John Mateer and the OU offense, but at the end of the day, it's John Mateer and it's Ben Arbuckle.

And they came from Washington State where they were just shredding everyone in the world. It felt like 40, 50 points a game, man. And he would make a mistake here and there. Maybe he'd make two or three a game. And you'd be like, oh, it's a material moment. But then he would just, like just unconscious, just ripping it and flying around. I don't know if it's the thumb injury still, if it's the changing of mechanics, if it's the lack of ideal weapons on the perimeter.

We did a whole breakdown last week. I thought that Ben Arbuckle did a great job in the, the second half of adjusting. But against Michigan, I also thought it took them way too long to adjust. You know, so like there's a lot of factors here. But John Matier was brought in to take this Oklahoma offense with Ben Arbuckle to another level. And you can blame the thumb.

You can blame anything you want. At the end of the day, and I always preface this, he's one of the most, he's in my, I think of guys like Tim Tebow is. the standard setter. We talked about Haynes King last year, the willing teams to win, willing to give every ounce, every fabric of theirs on the field

and the toughness and everything. And materials that. But I just like, we're now what, like five years into his career, the mistakes are still showing up, the two interceptions against New Mexico. He has a good day,

1925, 238, two touchdowns. But I just, I'm looking for, him to elevate it and for it to start to feel like Washington State again. And I'm worried that this is John Mateer in Oklahoma's offense. And that sucks because I have, coming to Oklahoma, I had such high hopes for him. And that start they had last year, Michigan and Auburn when you broke his thumb.

But prior to that, I just felt like this is the home. He's going to take off. He may even play himself into round one. And I'm just, I haven't seen that since. Yep. Prove me wrong. I hope. I hope.

It turns my stomach to say it, man. But I'm starting to worry. I don't know. Did you see the press conference where he talked about not seeing Isaiah Satania until he heard the reaction from the crowd? And then realized because the crowd was reacting that Satani was running wide open. I was like, man, that's not great. It's not great. It was interesting.

It was, I don't, yeah. The first interstate. he was hurried, you know? Yeah. And it seems like a lot of, like when he gets hurried, whether it's self-inflicted, whether it's the count in his head, he's just like,

he plays a hurried, frantic game. And then when other elements start to hurry him, like that's when decisions or ball placement are not where it should be. And then later in the head, they both were damaging later in the first half, damaging interceptions.

and it kind of gave New Mexico, like it gave New Mexico possessions in Oklahoma's territory, and that's putting more pressure on our defense. You know, so I don't know. I'm hopeful, but this is going to be a test, man. And we don't know what Georgia is yet. But you don't, but that Arkansas,

I feel a little bit different after Arkansas than I did the first two games of the season. I mean, they handled Arkansas. The McShay Show is brought to you by Fandul. College football fans. It's time to prove you know the game. With college football pickum from Fandul, make 10 free against the spread picks every week. If you finish with one of the week's top pick totals, you'll win a share of $500,000 in bonus bets.

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score big, try Dr. Pepper Tick-Tac today. Who you taken? Nice and simple. Who you taken? I'm going to throw one. Yes. I'm going to start. No, no, no, no.

I won't be able to focus. I won't be able to focus. Like you come out swinging in your little intros. You think you're so sly, so slick. Who is the SEC team that is currently not in the top 10? And by the way, there's five. Five of them in the top 10. And by the way, you didn't even say not in the top 10.

You said not even in the top 25, correct? Yeah, I did it in the intro. All right, who you taken? Who's that team? I need to know. Well, you gave me in the intro, you gave me Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi State, and Missouri, right? I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that, yes.

That's okay. I'm taking Kentucky. I've been a will stuff. If you can transform that bone nicks at Auburn, turnover machine mistake laden ball placement erratic into that at Oregon if you can turn Dylan Gabriel

who I loved him in Oregon right home like the Matrix like whatever it was yeah into a third round draft pick right if you can turn Dante Moore

into a guy who it just didn't work out freshman year too much going on let him sit for a year. He's the quarterback whisperer, right? Let's start big picture, though. But I've always been a Will Stein fan is where I want to, is where I want to, like, Willstein was asked.

Why is Kentucky going to be something that it never has been before? I forget the specific question. I think, why is Kentucky going to be in the college football playoff? Will Stein was like, because of me. You know? A little signetty right there. A lot of signetty right there. Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Bama and LSU are the five teams you were referencing, okay?

You get me four teams. Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State. Florida's strength of schedule remaining is seventh in the country. Missouri's is second in the country. Mississippi State's is 10th. Kentucky is 18th. But it ain't easy. They're all 18 of the hardest schedules.

and there's plenty of pitfalls. We talked about, what, five ranked teams in the next five weeks? All those other teams are ranked right now. I know that you said that a team. I said which team outside of the top 25, you're picking the one that's unranked, right? I just want to make sure. I don't want people at home going like,

oh, Florida's ranked McShay. We know that. You're saying that the one team is unranked. Essentially, we were saying teams outside of the top 10, but I'm doubling down and picking the one team that the AP poll is absolutely absurd, not putting in the top 25. Yes. Right.

All corrected. Minchie went 14 of 18 for two with two touchdowns in that third quarter of the game. All right? Four of his complete, when by the way, they went back to the half and they against Texas A&M this past week.

They went back in the half and came out of halftime with a plan that was just like, that's what a coordinator turned head coach should be able to do. Can do for you, yeah. That's what, so you, mind you, they're on the road against a Texas A&M team. I've read this nugget. A Kentucky football team has never won a game in front of that big of a crowd.

It was like 110 plus thousand or whatever it was. It was absurd. And so to do it against that crowd coming off of a week, right? One week earlier against Bama, Minchie was 18 of 31 for 136 yards, took four sacks and threw a pick six. Yep, they got their ass kicked in the second half. Ass kicked. So now you got this quarterback. And even the head coach, like, is it the right guy?

Are we ready for this? Can we make that? In one week, you go from that to, like, and Kentucky only gained 209 yards in that game against Bama. They come out the next week, and he's, right? And they wind up with 408 total yards. They average 7.5 yards per play against that A&M. That's that's Elko.

Yeah, it's not nothing. That's not nothing. So to see one week to go from that to this is encouraging, right? That's on the offensive side. The defensive side, I sat here and sort of breaking down. I'm in love with this defense, right? Is it, look, is it Bateman? Who's the defensive coordinator now?

He was with A&M for two years, which obviously is very helpful. He was the defensive coordinator at A&M for two years and wasn't really calling the plays. Jay Bateman, yep. Yeah, thank you, Jay Bateman. So he comes over and now he's calling the plays at Kentucky. And he inherits two defensive linemen who are like day two grades coming into the year. No, sorry, 94, Tavion Gadsden and 90, McQueen-Humfrey Grace, okay? Yep.

Then they get 91, who's Jaden Williams? You got to get these numbers and names right. That's why I'm looking down. They're not the most explosive pass rushers, and sometimes they go to four-man fronts, and they'll bring a linebacker off the edge. They'll bring in different personnel. 15 will come screaming off of one edge.

They'll bring a safety down and rush him off the edge or through the A, B, or C gap. They have all sorts of speed and athleticism and play. and guys that run into the football. But what they have is this three-man front, when they go three-man front or even in a four-man front, and they kick 90 out, Humphrey Grace out, to like a left defensive end type role.

But versus the run, they're just locking you up to gaping, and they are letting those eight other guys fly to the football. And my gosh, do they fly to the football? And then in the past game, yeah, they're not going to be like speed rushers, but they're going to rush with discipline. they're going to start to slowly push the pocket back, and they're going to force a speed guy like Marcel Reed

to stay in the pocket and throw accurately on long drives versus tight windows with an eight men dropping. Brush three, drop eight, right? And they do it with such discipline. And then they get this Jordan Castel guy, who's this safety linebacker hybrid number five all over the field, six two and change, two 10, runs a four, six. They got Ty Bryant, who's a free safety.

who's got like a day three grade as well, just about six foot, 196, runs a four, five. He's got a pass breakup. Costel's got, he's got two interception, team high in the year, 29 tackles, team high. And then even this Grant Godfrey, number 22, they're flying all over the place. But they're playing within this scheme that works because of that defensive front three that's exceptional. So you look at this schedule, you look at the confidence on the offensive side, the confidence at the quarterback position. I'm buying Kentucky. I think Kentucky is going to wind up being one of the big stories of college football this year.

I get it. And I love the pitch. But how many losses can they get in with? I mean, like the like in that conference two, two, max. All right. So they've already lost Alabama. And I'm just going to go through this with you at Tennessee, which I think is a really good team. Florida at home.

When? at Missouri Win Louisville at home win I haven't mentioned that they also have LSU at home

gonna be a tough one but we get four four guys season ending injuries that might be their second one also these little trap games in here right like I think I could I'm comfortable with calling them wins

but you're going to South Carolina you're going to Oklahoma to me there's enough pitfall it's a brutal schedule It would have to be magical. How that strength of schedule is remaining schedule is 12th or 17th or whatever I said. I'm here for the magical ride.

I'm here for that to happen. Would love to see it happen. I get the path. It's too much for me to be like, yeah, that's what's going to happen. I'm a Stein disciple. Great. Talk to me in two years, maybe next year, but probably two years, I think it's going to be something to watch. All right.

Fine. But I hope everyone gets the point that this is. And they, that Alabama team is better than people think, by the way. Oh, do we talk? Can we just briefly hit on that? Go. I love what's happening in Tuscaloosa. I can't even tell you, like the whole thing.

I love that they got punched in the face by the team that beat them last year in Florida State. And they just kept coming. And Ryan Grab has been, he's been a punching bag in Alabama. What he's doing with a red shirt freshman quarterback and Grant, He's super talented. Can we give the guy a little bit of credit? They're almost averaging 45 points per game. Can we make the running the ball now?

Like that Alabama team at eight, I am all in, man. I am convinced. And they've had slow starts to their last two games. You kind of want to knock it off. But I also love that they've had some adversity and pulled away in those games late. So to me, sorry, I'm excited about that Alabama team. All right. If you, Steve, are starting a program today.

I'm going to offer you up two true freshman quarterbacks. Are you taking Phazon Brandon from Tennessee, which apparently you love that team? Or Jared Curtis, the five-star sensation at Vanderbilt. Who you taken? First of all, what is happening in the SEC with these kids? I mean, we just talked about Keel and Russell. We touched on him. Camaro Taylor, we talked about the other night at Mississippi State.

He's a sophomore. Keelan Russell is a registered freshman, and both of these guys are true freshman. talent, the talent in these frames and the mobility on these kids and the SEC. I tried to tell, I was a year too early. I was ahead of the curve. I tried to tell you, we are, we are, we are in. We were entering last year. You might be right.

I'm sorry to come around. I've been around too many camps. I've got a son who's now around. I go to the Manning Passing Academy. I'm watching and talking to people all around the country about the way these quarterbacks are being developed. I am telling you, it's not even a transformation. It's just an enhancement.

of. And we have so many more options than ever before. And it's awesome to see. Yeah. As far as Brandon and Curtis go, I mean, it's, you're, I mean, we're splitting hairs. Give me either one of them. I'll say this. Both are you taking, mensch. I'm taking, I'm taking Brandon. Both have looked like a freshman at times. I mean, Curtis through that late pick. I mean, it gets kind of lost in how wild the end of that North Carolina State game was. But Vanderbilt actually had a chance to win that in, you know, in a more conventional manner. And Curtis threw an ill-advised pick late in that game.

But he also threw a touchdown. He got him in that position. What's that? He also threw a really nice touchdown that got him in that position. I'm going to get into it. I'm going to get into it. But Brandon didn't look as great against Georgia Tech as he is against the lower level of competitions.

Both of these guys. I mean, one of them's a brand in 6-4-2-25, Curtis 6-3-2-20. They're both. I mean, you see their base, how they stand in the pocket. You see their throwing motion. You see them, not only can they thread the ball into tight windows, which is, you know, you want to see that with the arm talent and all that,

they're making some layered throws. I mean, they're making some touch throws like the one you just referenced with Curtis. He had two nice touch throws for touchdowns in this game. They are impressive what they can develop into as pocket passers. I think Brandon is a little more developed in that sense. And then you add the mobility. You add their ability to extend plays, to buy time, to threaten as runners when they want to take off.

It's, I mean, I can't wait to watch these two and how they develop. I will say that Brandon, like one of the main reasons I'm going to give him a little bit of an edge is he hasn't thrown an interception yet. I think he's done a better job of taking care of the football. So, I mean, again, we're splitting hairs, but I'm taking Brandon right now. I think I'm going to say Curtis. I think Brandon, Brandon could have a better career, like production-wise,

wins and losses. But Curtis, yeah, he's a pup, he's still, but there's something about, I mean, he's got,

I mean, the way he played, there's the up and down, right? He threw the late pick, and I should say this also, though, the way he came on

in the fourth quarter of that game was like, oh, there's a little something to this guy, too. It's not just the talent. He's got a little bit of that, that dog.

and a little bit of the when I have a chance to step up. We haven't seen Brandon really be able to do that yet. He's got Texas this week. Good luck. We'll see how that goes. So we'll check back in on these guys and later on down the road.

Did I mention just before we move on in the next side, did I mention that Kentucky was a 16-point dog at Kyle Field and one by 10? Okay. Next portion. We're going to call this, how far has he actually? moved.

Because I feel like we come on here a lot and we're like, oh my God, like, what a performance. Have you seen this guy? Oh, my, like, what a monster Saturday? Or the first three weeks, he's been unbelievable. But no one puts, no one contextualizes it. And sometimes we fail to contextualize it as well. We get excited about what we see.

But then the follow-up has to be there of, okay, let's actually go in and dive into the tape. Let's figure out this young man's background. let's like really or or we know the background but let's dive in the tape what's different from a year ago whatever the circumstances may be so this is a segment i want to do every monday where we're talking about a player glowingly or or maybe even negatively where we like actually contextualize it watch the tape and say this is even though it's three games at this point this is how much the movement has been or this is where i think he like he stands in this class because of what i've seen

recently. So I'll start with you. How far has he actually moved? Who are you going with, Munch? I'm going with the LSU edge. And just because I don't like myself, I'm going to make myself try to pronounce a name, it's Prince Will Uman Mielan. Um, good job. It's been a, it's been an interesting year so far. He's tied for the FBS lead with six sacks. He's also getting served by Ole Miss and the parking lot. It's been, been kind of an interesting year for this guy. But I think when you look at the production, you're going to say to yourself, all right, does this match what I see on tape? And the reality is he's not on that elite level.

If you watch Dylan Stewart from South Carolina and you watch Colin Simmons from Texas, you're going to see that there is a drop off of this player. He's not, he doesn't bend or explode like Stewart. And if you guys do, but he's not quite on that level. What I really have liked about his game is that I think he's using his length well, that he's got a really mixing in a nice inside move. He's gotten better with his hands. I also think there's room for improvement in terms of getting off blocks as a run defender,

but he's bigger and stronger than he was at Ole Miss. He's bolted up some. He looks good in that range. The motor's been really good. Everything is pointing in the right direction for him. And I think he's gone from a guy that maybe was a day three, potential day three guy who's talking, who's playing himself into the second round conversation because edge rushers just don't last that long. And when you look at the production plus the tape plus the.

skills, I think he could be a second round pick. Yeah, he's apparently some good genes in that family too. Yeah. I got another, I get another defensive lineman for you, and I get another one from the SEC. Here we go. The two for the McShay, the Todd Toofer. I don't even know what that means. No, no, no.

I'm not, I'm only doing one guy because this guy. Really? Sometimes you see stuff on social media and you're like, okay, yeah, I see, I see. it, oh, that's a good clip. Oh, it seems like you used to call you and, you and Kevin Whittal used to call it, you dubbed it the Twitter Mafia. Where it's like one guy on Twitter,

these draft analysts, has a player, and then all of a sudden, like 50 of them. And now your whole feed is this one player. And then they shift to the next guy. They're like, like, bees swarming, you know, T-T-C flies. But every once in a while, I watch one of those clips, and I'm like, shit, shoot.

Sorry, Deborah McChay. Shoot. I'm like, shoot. And this was one of those shoot moments. 99 on Florida. Emmanuel Oyeba Dejo. Oyeba Dejo is a dude, man. And this hearken back, too.

I've got to go, it's 20, so the 2012 season, I get a call from Rod Gilmore early in the year, former colleague one of my favorite human beings i've ever worked with okay to like the two great analysts but also like best human beings of all time rod gilmore and charles davis just gonna throw it out out there totally aside um but just like charles davis like rod would just send me some text everyone so hey we just met with he's like have you have you watched this ziggi ansa and he gives me a quick like on text a little background he's like call me so and then i got on the He's like, yeah, like he, it was like Nigeria came here.

Like they had to show him how to tie his shoulder pads. You know, like he went out to practice, didn't know how, like his uniform wasn't right. He had no idea. And now like, I'm watching them, Todd in practice. And like, this guy's just tearing people apart one year to the next. He's like, keep an eye on it. So I dig in the tape and he gets better and better. He winds up being the fifth overall pick, man, but the Detroit Lions in 2013.

I was just looking down to make sure the fifth overall pick by the Lions. And you know how much I love Ziggy Ansa, right? I found me my next Ziggy Ansah. And his name is Emmanuel Oye Badajo. Emmanuel Oye Badejo. I'm going to get that right where it's like second nature. Number 99 on Florida. You ready?

Yeah. Power rusher first. His versatility, like scheme diverse, defensive linemen can play. Three technique can play four. I can play five, can play. He rushed out wide, and he did it a lot. I went back to Florida Atlantic. There are plays on three technique, okay?

Explosive, one side, arm over. Sack. Then we got plays where he's like jacking up the offensive line with 36-inch arms, they're saying. I don't care if they're 35 and a half. They're long. You'll take 35 and a half. Good for you.

He's got 99's got this power and pop to him. And so in the run game, he's doing that. that and it's just a quick swipe or a violent, violent, powerful hands. And then as a pass rusher, I told you the arm over, but he's able to get off of blocks, but also as a run stopper, I'm watching him do this and he needs to get the eye location. I'm expecting, because here's his background, man, sure, okay? Fifth year defensive linemen, technically, right? but he's from Manchester, England.

He transferred here from Jacksonville State. Prior to that, he hadn't, he didn't play football until the age of 18. He dipped his toes into the sport at the University of Exeter, the University of Exeter. And then comes to Jacksonville State. Has four and a half sacks last year. That's nice.

But now he's tearing apart the SEC. It started with Florida Atlantic. three technique five four eye rushing out wide then he gets to auburn and that Auburn right tackle I don't know if he's trash or or he's going to be a first rounder but I know this he's an SEC starting offensive tackle he gets into his pads and he runs over him then later in the game for sack then later in the game they realize we got we got to help the right tackle out so we got a little check and now he's working through two guys rushing half a man and so I'm looking at this background. I read the background in the bio

before and I'm like, oh, this is going to be raw. Go easy, Todd. Can we develop him? Maybe, you know, day three guy. And then I'm watching. And then it's eyes up, batting a ball down late in the first half against FAAU. Then it's controlling the line of scrimmage, getting off the

blocks. You ready? This team has jarring power. I'm talking about power where it's going to translate to the NFL. Oye Badejo is 6 foot 6, 296 pounds, estimated 4,7 by NFL scouts in the preseason, verified 6-26, 298 pounds preseason. Given a trash.

And I got to watch them. Given a trash grade. You ready for my grade? Yeah. 90. Wow. Wow. You can't.

And he's much more advanced than I thought. I thought it was going to be like, oh, he's going to, I want to see this thing progress. I haven't watched him. You said the name, and I was like, oh, McShay's going to talk about a guy he kind of likes on day two. Like, you know, we, no, man, huh? You think you found him.

I think we found another Zigianza. Wow. And his name is Emmanuel Oye Badejo, and he's number 99 on Florida. and this week we get to see him in another tussle against even better competition when Ole Miss comes to town in the swamp. That's awesome.

I love it. I can't wait to watch it. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Okay, last one. Receipts. Receipts.

Yeah. This is so much fun. Explain it because I won't explain it as well as you, but I am so excited to do this going forward and just going back in looking at before it's been good in the past. Yeah, instead of coming in every week and be like these three guys

and doing dudes with names and all that stuff, like, I think this is a good way for us. And receipts could be painful too. Trust me, I've got a lot of receipts that are painful. I've gotten rounds for the bar too many times, man.

I get a checkered history of punishing. We'll take our medicine. Yep. We had that Chicago live show. That was a, that was a, that was a painful receipt nice state dinner had a lot of painful receipts

but these I think these two are going to be we're going to start off on a good note so I'm going to ask you going back instead of doing rookie reports and all that and we'll we're going to do that throughout the year we're going to touch on the rookies all year long because we're like you know there are little ones we're passing on to the NFL

and we've had a lot of great performance how about Caleb Downs with the performance he had this week I mean he just he's exactly what Christian Parker and that Dallas team thought that they were going to get and that Parker defense finally looked good.

How about Jayshan Barnum? I borrow him, sorry, from Michigan. Yeah. I might have to pull that receipt pretty soon. Everywhere for the Cowboys. Eight tackles, four stops, force fumble, good in coverage.

But receipts, is there a player you want to go back and revisit their scouting report and compare what we're seeing now just two weeks into the NFL season, or it could be a previous player from years earlier. That's what I'm going to do today. What stands out to you? What receipt do you want to pull today?

I mean, I got to go Denzel Boston. Yeah, you do. Washington receiver, current Cleveland Brown went five for 95 in a touchdown against Tampa. Look, I'm going to quote, everyone, if you've watched the show, you know that I was a big fan of Boston's coming out of Washington, And she actually ended up writing the report. Here's how it went, though. Let's just give everyone the history in case they didn't.

Mench was a, like, loved Denzel Boston. Then I got to his tape and really broke it down. And I had a moment where I was like, I'm stealing Denzel Boston because I love them so much. But then other receivers started to climb and started to play better, Carnal Tate, with being one of them, a handful of them. And then I became like, you can have them back. I still like, I still like him a lot, but you can have them back. And then very late, I tried to like rip them away from Mench.

Sounds so ridiculous. But at the end of the day, it was Mench's guy with me kind of grabbing onto the coattails of it because I loved him too, but not as much as Munch. There you go. I mean, you broke him. I mean, I think this is a really good way of breaking him down in one sentence. And it was he's big and strong with an outstanding combination of length, physicality movement skills,

route running savvy and enhanced. And I mean, we saw this, we've seen this in the first two weeks. Obviously he wasn't as productive against Jacksonville, but he still had a 46-yard touchdown catching that game where he did a great job

of tracking the ball downfield and making that play. Tampa's obviously a better example. I mean, you look, he had a 55-yard touchdown catching that game where he, it was more of a running catch play where he finds the soft spot in his own.

That's that savvy route running you were talking about. And then afterwards, he breaks a couple tackles and takes it to the house. And that's kind of the size and strength that you were talking about. Not only as in 50-50 situations, we're not set up in another time. I'll mention a second, but the ability to break tackles and produce after the catch. So right there, you saw some of that. He had a really nice back shoulder catch in the Tampa game where it was, I mean, it was well covered.

But because he has a big frame in those hands, he was able to make the play. he dropped, look, he dropped a potential touchdown catch. It was a tough play. I still see elite ball skills. I'm not, like, that's not really going to concern me. This is a player that, you know, if you're going to nitpick about the report and you're going to look at the chart or the spider graph, whatever it's called, you're going to say,

why it wasn't big playability a little bit better, ranked a little higher. I think it's important to put that in context, that, yeah, he had a 46-yard touchdown catch in the first game and a 55-yard touchdown catch in the next game, he did not run a 40. And I think it is a evaluator that's tough to give a guy a really high grade without having a time, top speed. Overall, the report is, I would say a home run.

It's dead on. We both really liked him. And he went 39th. We had him as a 20th best player on our board. We had a first round grade on him. And I know it's 11 targets over two games. And we're catching hell for it, by the way. Yeah.

But I feel really good about it right now, obviously. He just looks like an. And not from, we don't care about what others in the media. The mafia? No, they don't care about the mafia. The mafia can be entertaining. We're laughing at you, not with you, scumbags. But people in the league were like, nah, I'm good on him.

You know? Yeah. There's a construct that I wanted to include in this, and I forgot to mention it off the top. There are three things, as we continue to do. This is the first time we're doing it. tape trues Monday and we restructure the whole thing. But I love this construct that I said to you.

From now on, and actually starting now, moving on, you get three responses, right? Yeah. Nailed it. Needs an amendment or throw it out. I think you nailed it. We nailed it. Like, don't even dare. You nailed it with an assist.

So I wrote the report up. But I appreciate you giving credit. here's one that you actually wrote up the report on and I wind up giving them let's call it identical I think one point higher grade but we were both in that same spot and that was the year we weren't even working together in 2024 and technically I wasn't even working um but I went back to my notes today and checked it and I had a 91 you had a 92 you had a 91 I think is what you landed on it may have gone higher bottom line first round grades on this guy. This is a guy, I won't mention his name yet, this is a guy who started just eight

games during his college career at Georgia, very inconsistent tape, had an ankle injury his last year and after in game three and didn't play the rest of the year. You know who it is? I do, but keep going. Okay. All right. And was not, and was not, And as this, I'll read you the first line of the report. Player X started just eight games at right tackle at Georgia, and his tape was inconsistent for an elite tackle prospect. But he's dominant at times and has the tools to develop into an all-pro caliber player. Meanwhile, after two years of not playing to the level of a first round pick, which he was,

I'll give you more details in a second, this guy has come out, the NFL this year. And from my understanding, and I did not go and chart every play, but according to multiple sources, he has had 70 plus pass pro snaps in two games this year, including last week, I'm giving all sorts of hints if you don't have it by now. Sorry. Last week against the Texans, Will Anderson and DeNeil Hunter, the majority of those snaps, pretty good pass rushers.

zero pressures allowed. Who is it, Munch? Amaris Mims. Number 18 overall picked by the Cincinnati Bengals and there was all sorts of concern about this guy. But all sorts of talent. He was one of the more talented guys that honestly to come out in the last decade,

raw talent, but also was one of the scariest dudes to think about a top 20 pick in the NFL draft and yet eight starts. You know how talented you have to be to have eight starts. And be eight. Yeah. And you know, and I was just reading through the report today and it moves unbelievably well for a player with his size, quick, long, takes the edge away from speed rushes, changes directions beautifully, mirrors, hand placement, footwork, all sound, range reached the second level, anchors well, recognizes line games, passing off defenders, especially considered.

his experience. Run block and size, Ben, strength, elite run blocker he can develop into. Flashes, but scary. Yeah. Now the first two games,

the Bengals have been trying to find their offensive line forever. And honestly, it was to the point, like it might have shortened or ruined Joe Burroughs' career. Yeah. And I think the whole league and the whole country, Bengals fan are not.

they want to see the best Joe Burrow. Like, who doesn't? Any competitor wants the best of everyone. And this feels like they're finally, and Dexter Lawrence on the defensive side, isn't it? But like, this is one player that is going kind of overlooked. 2024, 18th overall draft pick didn't feel like he was going to ever quite reach his potential. And this year, it's finally starting to click.

And I think you nailed it with this report, sir. It's kind of a, it's almost cliche. to say this, but the game is slowing down for him because you can see the efficiency of motion for him and his past sets right now. It's not, it has all these tools and his toolbox. You didn't mention the 36 and 1 eighth inch arms, by the way. He's 340 pounds, 340 pounds. He ran up. Yeah, should have mentioned. 6.0. This is what is 6070. Well, I don't know if this is Combine. I went off of the report during the C's 60703. 340 was estimated. Yeah, 607.3. 340 was what he was. He has 11 and a quarter inch arms.

Yeah. He's a monster. But the efficiency of motion, like it's one thing to have the tools and you can see the athletic ability and the way these guys move, he's now honing his craft. And that's what's going to take him to the next level. And it's fun to watch, man. And for all the reasons you said, but just for the player as well,

though, you love it when guys are able to reach their potential. Bengals are scary right now, man. And the Steelers, I mean, it's two weeks in. Let's everyone calm down. Yeah. The Steelers, like, don't look good. They, like, Aaron Rogers, it looks like maybe we should have done the farewell tour.

You're already starting to see cracks. So, like, this is why they got divorced the first time. Maybe we shouldn't have, you know, drops from Metcab, all that. Cleveland, like, awesome win. Going down to Tampa Bay, I get it. We'll see. Yeah. But we're two years away with Cleveland.

One, if everything clicks perfectly. from really like feeling like a playoff contender let's put it that way um Baltimore's really talented Baltimore had a bad loss this past week but Baltimore I shouldn't say bad loss it's Tyler Chuck your guy you guy I loved it I love it you're guy um but my sit my point is it's kind of nice to see because I I want the best of Joe Burrow and this but I think the the emergence of Mims and the addition of Dexter Lawrence makes this team feel like it's not just Burrow freaking out in the fourth quarter

running around, going crazy, trying to keep them in the game, late in the season, they need one more win, and then they're in a three-way tie, and if two teams of these three win, one has a tie or a lot, it feels like every year it's this like frantic debacle

or Burroughs been out for half the season. This year feels like there's the making of a real legitimate, mid play at like a deep playoff run contender there and i'm i'm here for that it does it does feel it feels different yeah so much to get into the nfl too but all right this has been this i like this monday i don't only get better i some of the stuff like it better the mechanics i'm not really executing yet but we'll get there we will but at the end of the day we're watching a bunch of opinions and we get what about this guy playing hurt i mean a lesser man wouldn't have been

here today. I wouldn't even been here today, but I'm playing her. I'm willing to step up and work through it. I cut my, I cut my thumb and had like 12 stitches in it and almost lost it. The report from Iris, the report from Iris last night was that you got, you got like two and a half stitches. Yeah, but this is a typing finger. Like you, the thumb you don't type with. It was like a butter knife. It was, listen, it was, it was pretty serious. You on the other hand, though if you cut yourself, it's like all hands on deck because you're a bleeder. I am a bleeder. Yeah.

I've run deep. All right. Let's get out of here before we ruin it. Mench. Five stars, brother. Thanks, man. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C.

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