The McShay Show - Scouting Cam Ward, an Alabama–LSU Elimination Game, and McShay’s Guys for Week 11

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

Todd and Steve are back with a Week 11 college football preview! The guys kick off the show by talking Cam Ward tape and how the scouting community views the 2025 quarterback draft class. Then, they preview Alabama-LSU and handicap potential BYU and Boise State playoff matchups. To wrap the show, Todd and Steve reveal their “guys” for the week, talk about where the scouts will be, and give a foodie’s guide to Baton Rouge. (0:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (01:40) Evaluating Cam Ward (26:50) Cam Ward's Draft Stock (32:25) 2025 QB Draft Class Comparisons (37:25) Week 11 Preview: (11) Alabama [-2.5] vs. (14) LSU (55:20) Hypothetical Matchup Odds (59:14) "That's Muh-Guy!" Week 11 Picks (1:02:25) Muench’s Guy: JJ Pegues (DT - Ole Miss) (1:04:05) Todd’s Guy: Aeneas Peebles (IDL - Virginia Tech) (1:05:45) Muench’s Guy: Mikail Kamara (DE - Indiana) (1:07:25) Todd’s Guy: Elic Ayomanor (WR - Stanford) (1:11:10) Where are the Scouts this week? (1:11:30) Week 11 Matchup: (11) Alabama [-2.5] vs. (14) LSU (1:13:10) Week 11 Matchup: (2) Georgia [-2.5] at (16) Ole Miss (1:19:30) Week 11 Matchup: (21) Colorado [-3.5] at Texas Tech (1:22:50) Where would Todd Scout this week? (1:23:45) Scouting Baton Rouge, Louisiana! (1:39:40) Thanks For Watching! Saturday Live Show! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, Daniel Comer, and Mark Panik Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've got a jam-packed Thursday show today. I'm excited. Listen, Munch, we've had some amazing guests, right? Like from David Pollock to Joel Clatt to Jim Nagy, Stanford, Steve, Pete Thammell. There's just too much to get to today. So we're going to have to ride solo. I hope you're good with that. We're going to kick things off.

We've been kind of previewing this the last few weeks. We've got to get to Cam Ward. We had a great conversation with Jim Nagy about how NFL teams maybe don't see that first round grade. That it's the fastest rising player in the draft, but maybe he's not round. one. Maybe it's more round two. Well, I did a deep dive into Cam Ward's tape. I know mentioned it as well. We're going to get into that. Then we've got the biggest game of the weekend. Alabama, LSU, we're going to break that game down, both sides of the ball. NFL prospects in that game. Got a lot of help from Fanduel, too. Thank goodness. A fan duel is with us here.

We're going to talk about winners there potentially. Also get into the spreads in different ways to play that game. Then our favorite segment of a week, that's my guy, followed by wear a scouts this week. we've got a special Baton Rouge edition of where would Todd be this week. I promise you, of all the segments we've done, I'm most excited about this one. We're going to lay it all out for you. It's some public service. You've got to tune into that. It's week 11 in college football, week 10 in the NFL in just 170 days until the NFL.

You good, Munch? I'm good, man. All right, let's roll that music. Munch, we've been talking about Cam Ward, right? I mean, I don't want to call it breaking news. but like we had you and I were kind of sitting here and it was a three bar naggy in the middle and he comes on and we're we've been talking all around

all along like cam ward what a great year Cam Ward with Shador Sanders right right top two quarterbacks and maybe Nussmeyer Garrett Nussmeyer from LSU right Cam Ward this cam Ward that he kind of came in and said pump the brakes and I'm kind of I'm looking at you up in the screen and I'm like hmm you're right

okay let's go back to work Because at that point, and I told you from the start, we're going to be transparent. The show is going to be about peeling back the curtain, okay? I'm not here to like, well, you know, if I've watched every single throw and every single, you can't. I can't stand when I hear people say, I've watched every throw from every quote. There's not enough time in the week. There's not enough.

So like, it's a process. It's a 15 month process with these guys. Right. You get to certain players before you get to other players. It's not, it's not all equal. I've watched, I watch Cam War. versus Florida. Tape was awesome. Right. I hadn't studied the rest of the tape so far this year. Hadn't gone back and revisited our report from previous years. So I just felt like it was time, right?

Nine and O Miami, Cam Ward's playing the, you know, the Heisman Trophy Talk. He's playing great ball. Let's see where he is in our opinions. Then I also got on my phone. I texted a bunch of guys in the league. Got calls up to this morning. Got back from working out as I'm walking at, as I'm walking at, I'm breathing heavy. One of our good friends that you and I know, I'm not going to mention names, got on the phone with him. Had to apologize for breathing heavy.

It was kind of awkward. But anyway, we went through a lot of sources, and most importantly, I wanted to dive in and give my opinion on what I saw. And, you know, when you look at Cam Ward, the best way I can present it to you, right, Munch? And I'll see if you can agree. You ever seen an electrical storm?

I mean, I know you have, right? No point of you're saying this. Go ahead. Yeah, I have. An electrical storm in the summer, right? We have not talked about this, by the way. Go ahead. Okay. When you watch an electrical storm, it's kind of different. It's exciting. You know, like you're used to the vertical flashes of lightning, right? And now all of a sudden there's like these horizontal flashes.

They're up in the clouds. They're like left, right. And all of a sudden you're watching. It's like, wow, this is wild. This is exciting. This is something new and different. the like the typical cool right it's a and then you're kind of your neck's getting sore because you're looking looking and this and that right when i'm watching cam ward on tape that's the experience it's like watching an electrical storm because when you're done with it you're like wow

that was a lot to see right some exciting stuff in there but what the hell i'm not the poet you are but that was the word i wrote down was electric so it's funny that that's the direction you went in But when you're done watching an electrical storm, your neck hurts a little bit. And you're like, this is exciting. This is different. This is new. But then you're done watching it. And you go back to your day to day.

And I've always walked away being like, what the hell did I just see? Right. I've got a lot to unpack. To me, that's the Cam Ward experience. He's like, it's like watching an electrical storm. And it's also a little dangerous, right? It's a little dangerous. You don't want to get people.

Yeah. Like, are we okay? Are we okay? Yeah, right. They're not, they're not striking down. So like, I think we're safe. But like, right. And so it's not about tempo.

Some guys you get done watching and you're exhausted because it's like play. You know, and like they're running and there's not a lot of pre-snap reads. And there's and it's more about getting off a number of plays rather than running the most effective plays. Cam Ward's tape, like occasionally they'll throw in some tempo. They get to the line. Like when you're watching tape, coach's copy, right? Right. You get, you know, some teams, it's like right away, ball snapped.

And so there's not much like there's not that three, four, five second. window in the beginning. With Cam Ward's tape, yeah, they're spread out, like against Duke this past week. They're three by two, a lot of empty sets, three receivers one side, two to the other, sometimes diamond four by one, four receiver sets. I saw a diamond set early in the game versus one receiver on the opposite side. Right. They get to the line of scrimmage and it's measured. So you're like, so as an evaluator, when you're watching tape, you get the clicker in your hand and you kind of fast forwarding that first four or five seconds, see Cam Ward. He's calling out the mic and getting the protection set and barking out orders and signals and stuff.

So that's not the wild ride of the experience. It's from snap. It's from snap to whistle, right? Right. And it's like, wow. It puts on a show. We've already talked about this throw, but that throw in the Louisville game where he's drifting to,

or was it the Louisville game where he's drifting to his left and he hit the guy in the back of the end zone coming across, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, we've talked about that throw, but. 40-something. Yeah. So with that is the backdrop, the electrical storm is the Cam Ward tape studying experience, in my opinion. I want to get into what I loved and I want to get into what scares me.

And I think that's a, those are a quote words. You get wowed. There's a whole column here of like the things that wowed me with Cam Ward. And then I got another column and it's not like negatives or weaknesses. It's what scares you. Where can you better? Yeah. Yeah.

And I'm scared like, oh, you can't do it. It's not a can't do it. It's like, what do we have to work on? I got news for you. One of the biggest split columns I've ever had in scouting with things that like most people can't do, exciting, love. And then the right side being like, I'm really scared about this. Patrick Mahomes. Right.

And everyone relax. I'm not comparing them to Patrick. You got to be careful with that, man. You keep doing it. Well, I always have to preface it. But I'm just saying, like, even the great. Josh Allen. right oh yeah same thing long list of what you love long list coming out of Wyoming of what scared

you so cam war right right let's start with the stuff that really stands up okay let's just drill in a little bit here okay human laser show is what i wrote down his ability to just like it's a laser show right his ability to just snap his wrist and so you know sometimes is to get the ball back here he's a little dangling a little bit but when he goes like and flicks that wrist Oh, yeah. It just snaps off his hand. It comes out different, right. Right.

And then the different arm angles, the ability to adjust his arm angles, and throwing off platform, throwing off balance, and just, I probably wrote down, drilled it like 90, like 90 times, you know, because I went through all these tapes, just drilling the ball wherever he wants to. Right. Okay. Yeah. That's, and you look for all these prospects, what's the special sauce?

What makes him unique? I'm not saying he's the best army, isn't it? of Josh Allen's arm. I'm not saying that he has the, you know, an elite elite arm, but he's got a damn good arm. And the way he snaps the ball off and it makes throws where you don't think he's going to be able, he's going to be able to fit it in and he fits it in. That's special, okay? Right. Second thing to me that stands out, that's special, elite elite, elite, he's not an elite athlete. He's mobile. No. He extent, right, but he's not as mobile as Lamar Jackson. and he's not as mobile as a guy in the same class,

Jalen Milrow, potentially. In terms of a runner, right? Because I love his pocket mobility. That's what I'm, sorry. He's not as good correction. He's not as dangerous as a runner as Lamar,

as Milro in potentially this upcoming class, as even Josh Allen. And, you know, some of the guys in the league that really scare you with their feet and what they can do. He's not Jalen hurts. You know what I mean?

Like, he's a notch below maybe two notch. is below Lamar, nots below some of those other guys, okay? Mm-hmm. But I love his football instincts. Yeah. He doesn't get panicky. He knows, he kind of feels where pressure comes from.

He, for the most part, not always, for the most part, knows where to kind of move in the pocket to extend place. He feels it. And then part of his instincts is not just creating and extending. It's also like that last second. There's like six cents, you know, you. here like eyes in the back of his head whatever you want to call it he's got it cam ward has got it when it comes to just i agree feeling a receiver and and i wrote specifically

knowing when a receiver's going to be open not seeing him open knowing and and where to throw the ball to help that right throw into the five yard to get okay so we saw all the same things there also and this is where it's important man like if you don't have connections if you haven't developed relationships and you don't have the people that you trust in the league to call and make these have these conversations, you're not going to get who he is as a guy. Right. What does he bring? Right.

And thankfully, we got a couple decades plus of just developing relationships and being able to call. And the, the conversations I had were really impressive about his football character, football intelligence. Some of the quotes I got, he's a grinder. love the way he leads because he demands from his teammates. Not expects, not watch demands from his teammates. So that's in the quarterback position, there's no more,

there's no position where it's more important than to have those qualities. So check that box off. Right. And then improvement. Okay, this is a big one. And I'll preface this. I stumbled upon this. I haven't even looked in our exos catapult.

I haven't even looked in our exos and catapult system to see if there's Incarnate Word tape yet. Oh, yeah. But I was sitting around yesterday and for some reason, like it was like a blessing from the football gods above. I'm scrolling through YouTube and this thing comes up like 10 touchdown passes from Cam Ward in the FCS playoffs at Incarnate Word. I was like, yeah, I got nine minutes. The hell else am I going to do for the next nine minutes that's more important than watching. I hadn't even thought, I was like, I'm just focusing on this year. It was fascinating to watch, man.

I don't know if you've done it. Take a look at. I haven't seen it now. Okay, let me, I'll just give you. So it is pure air raid. Okay. Going back to incarnate words. Remember, two years of incarnate word, two years at Washington State,

makes the announcement he's going in the NFL draft, doesn't get the grade he wants, day three grade, and calls up Mario Cristobal and says, you know what, that offer you gave that I turned out because I'm going the draft, I want that offer. comes to Miami. So it starts at incarnate word, not a highly recruited player. And to be honest with you, I don't know the high school ball he played.

I can kind of see why. It was like watching like Graham Harrell at Texas Tech, Kingsbury, you know, remember those quarterbacks where it's like right. Yeah. Watching shortstop, middle infielders. The snap is the toss from the other middle infielder. It's like, you know, like this side of get it out.

Like not even the laces, doesn't matter. Get it out. A lot of RPO's, quick game, just stuff that didn't translate to the NFL. And as I'm watching it, I'm like, my God, this guy has come a long way. I'm not saying he wasn't a special talent, but it wasn't translatable. Right. It wasn't. So when you talk to NFL scouts, I do wonder, some stuff's hard to unsee.

Oh, right, right, right. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, he's that guy who was just like, catch the ball, sidearm, you know, get it out. And so the good news is like the first tape I well is Washington State, which was a lot of air raid as well. But this has some air raid principles now in Miami. But it's a lot more, a lot more translatable pro style stuff. And so it was just interesting watching that because the guy I was watching on YouTube yesterday for nine minutes is not the guy today. And so why does that factor in?

I just love his improvement. I love that he's played a lot of ball. I love that the system he played in was remedial. And then it became a little more advanced at Washington State. And now it's a lot more advanced at Miami, okay? And then two more things that are showing up. He's not there yet by any stretch. And we'll get to the things that scare you.

But he has made improvement in terms of like the interception worthy throws and the facts. They're down from what we saw at Washington State. Okay. So that is the backdrop. Can I give you one more positive? Please, please. Let's continue the, let's go with the storm theme, right? So this guy, you call him an electric storm. To me, this year, think about this. He's always been the eye of the storm. He's always the calmest guy. Virginia Tech, game winning touchdown, less than two minutes. Cal down 35 to 10, midway through the third quarter, I think. So it was the game winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds on the road. They're playing Louisville. Probably their toughest test at that time because Florida just wasn't Florida at the beginning of the year. They play Louisville. They're up third. 31 17. They look like they're running away with this game. 100-yard kickoff return.

Next series, they fumble. Louisville goes in. It's 30-31. 31. 31. You're on the road. And what does he do? Next drive, he throws a touchdown. They're down 2817, third quarter against two. No problem. We're going to come back and win this game. I mean, I think his, when you're looking at the big picture and how poised he's been in within game situations, to me, that's a real positive for what he's done this year. Those are great points. Yeah.

the eye of the storm. We do advance it. No, but seriously, he has, right, because it's been a bleeping storm around him. Right. And it really hasn't always been the offense fault. There's been some mistakes. He's put himself in, in some bad situations, but let's face, the defense has put them in a lot more bad situations than the, then the offense or Cam Ward himself. And you're right, the dude is unflappable. Yeah. It kind of drives you crazy at times because you, and we'll get to all that, but, but yeah, no, that's a, those are great points. And I, like, there's something, you talked about the throw rolling to his left into the back, back corner of the end zone. The other throw that went viral this week against Duke, the 48 yard, it was play 40, no, play eight.

It was play eight, sorry, in the Duke tape. I was just looking down in my notes. It was play eight on the Duke offensive tape. It was a 47 yards approximately. He was what I, he threw it from the exact 40 and it was about five, seven yards deep. He got tipped her at the end. would love to see a little bit more trajectory, layer that a little bit more, right? But like beggars can't be a critic, right? Beggers can't be choosers.

But if you're just purely scouting, like, what's this guy's arm? That thing was on a freaking rope. Yeah. I love a rope. A rope. Yeah. It's like, you know what I mean? Like, it's what a lot of guys can get it there with velocity and energy at the end,

but to get it like not flying off the ground very much, it's like watching a fighter jet. And you know? And not to keep piling on with the positives, but one of the other things about his pocket mobility is he's got one of those guys that's got that core strength to shake guys off to. He can make plays with guys at his feet. Yeah, he's like six one and a half, 223, 225 pounds.

He's well-built dude. I think he's strong. He's at that strong base, you know, again, not to pile on with all the positives. But there's a lot. The bottom line for me is there's a lot to be excited about with this player. And I hear you. Let's get into the, this is a good time to transition. Let's throw up that graphic we have Cam Moore that we built.

We do this with every player. We have position-specific traits. So these are the quarterback traits. We also have, you know, some other overall traits like, you know, height-weight speed, you know, intangibles, all the different stuff for every player. Those are we call universal traits. But this is the position-specific traits, and we always color-coded. Pocket mobility, I gave him a one even though he.

He's not, he's not very, I don't think he's going to be very fast if he, if he ever run, right. I don't think he's not a threat. But if we're just judging pocket mobility because of his instincts, and he is athletic. And like you said, the lower body strength to kind of extend plays, I'm, again, I'm not, we give him a one, which, let's state this too. A one is an is an elite grade, or very, you know, the highest end grade. Number, number, number two is above average to good. three is average four and you don't see any fours or fives here fours is below average and five is marginal if we get to a player we're going to throw these up for players between all the time between

now and the NFL draft okay and if you're just listening to the podcast now I'm trying to explain it to you the four QB traits for cam ward for every quarterback are mental makeup accuracy the third one is release slash arm strength and the fourth one is pocket mobility for cam ward the mental makeup is a three that's a purple average accuracy blue above average release arm strength one we just talked about it green pocket mobility one green so that's as the backdrop as you see their fifth year player six two two twenty three i'm guessing it you know the combine he's going to be like 601 four which means six one and a half and probably in that 220 two 25 range right all right So that is kind of the profile for Cam Ward.

Let's flip over to the stuff that's concerning at this point. Okay. There are never get, I wrote this down. Never go broke, taking a profit, you know, and I kind of, it's like an old phrase and you hear a lot in scouting. And it just feels, it feels old and stuffy. And I think, and it's like all of us, like some, like some of my greatest strengths are what's going to either kill. me or get me into a lot of trouble and has it over the years. Same for you. Same for everybody. I'm a true believer in that. In order to be great, in order to like chant to do the special

things that we can do, there comes some consequences with it. And so we're not going to see all those special plays. And we're not going to see some of the greatness and the brilliance from Cam Ward if he's always looking to check down. But there are times. And this is when he gets in, when he gets into the NFL, I promise you, there's going to be a lot of conversations. stations between the offensive coordinator, the quarterback's coach, and Cam Ward about, listen, five, seven yards is okay. Right. And so you see times where it's like, all right, he took a shot.

He took a chance. That was worth the chance, even if it didn't work out. There are other times where it's like, dude, you see double coverage down the field. And you got a guy who's crossed on a drag route or an outlet throw. Just dump it off. Let's get seven here. And let's get to second and three. How many games have you seen Mahomes and Brady, the two greatest, right?

Mahomes and Brady win by methodically moving down the field. Right. And that wasn't always Mahomes thing, but Mahomes returned into that, right? Exactly. Just take what the defense gives you, get what you need, and, you know, don't press it when it's not there. So I mentioned before, really improved from earlier in his career on the turnover worthy plays, interception worthy throws and sacks. But there's still too many. Yeah.

There's still too many. Right. Other notes, you ready? I'll just rip him off. Sloppy feet. Sloppy feet needs it drilled in. What you love about him is he's so casual. He's the eye of the storm.

Nothing bothers him. He's got this like this poise about him and this confidence about him plays loose. And that that looseness and that calm allows him to do special things. But there's a difference between having that mentality and having those football instincts and being able to handle the moment and just being sloppy with your feet. and Mahomes, Mahomes was the best example. His feet were disgusting at Texas Tech. I mean, how many throw,

if they were, and I've talked to Patrick. Don't hold back, man. I know I've talked to him about it. He readily agrees. Like, it was just whatever. I'm out here playing ball. And like,

some throws like 15-yard throws where his feet were parallel with the line of scrimmage. We're working towards perpendicular. And so you see kind of some of that same thing. It's got to be drilled in. Josh Allen, Same deal, man.

He didn't just get accurate because he woke up one morning. It was like, I feel more accurate. It was drilled in, marrying your feet with your eyes. He's got some, he's got a lot of work to do in that regard. But you saw with the accuracy, you still give him a two above average. Right. With what he, with the footwork he's working. Yeah.

So that's exciting. And those other guys fixed it. It's a fixable. It's a fixable flaw. It's a fixable flaw. You can't, can't coach height, can't coach speed, can't coach arm strength. There are things that you can fix. That's a fixable flaw.

But it's probably going to take a minute, took a minute with Josh Allen, took a minute with Patrick Mahomes, although it didn't take that. But he had a full year where we didn't see. Right. You know what I mean? We saw Josh Allen year one. We saw him on the field and it wasn't always pretty. And it was like, yeah, that's the guy I studied at Wyoming. But then with Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith, he was working on it in the backdrop, in the background.

So we saw it with Lamar. We saw it with Josh Allen. And we saw it with Mahomes and we hope we see it with Cam Ward. You get into the league, you start drilling it. It's a full-time job. Everything you're focusing on. I'm not saying necessarily you're going to get better coaching. I'm not convinced to that.

But there's going to be more focus on it. So the sloppy feet, he's got to improve. I read, here's the thing. He leaves too many throws on the field. You see the brilliant throw after brilliant throw. You see that back at the end zone throw. You see the throw against Duke play. but then you but then there's like some in-between stuff where yeah you can skip over it deep out missed

it throw through it into the sideline you know crossing route it's just he's higher behind the receiver so and it's nothing consistent where it's like he really has got to work on his transfer of balance and it's not that it's just drilling in the same mechanics but i i read somewhere 14% missed target um his mist target rate is a pastor 14% this year year actually a regression. Really? In the state. Wow.

I know. But when you study the tape, see, if I read that. I see the miss throws. I'm just surprised because I've watched the Washington State tape and I see a better player this year in almost every regard. I do too, but I, but. It's interesting that that's the analytics. I think it goes back to that electrical storm.

You kind of get blown. You kind of, you get lost in all the, the great plays. and the unbelievable moments and the handling of pressure, the magic show. It's kind of, yeah, like, magician's always like, right, look at this and talk to me about this and tell me a story. But don't worry about my left hand, my right hand. Look at my right hand.

I've got all this stuff going up with bells and muscles, fireworks. Don't look at my left hand because that's where I'm, that's where I'm sliding it in. So I think that that's an interesting part. And then the defensive competition, let's just be honest, has not been great. I want to leave it with this.

I can't wait. And I truly hope it happens because just for the evaluation process of nothing else. I can't wait for him to play in an ACC game. Maybe it's against Clemson. It's probably going to be against SMU. But then more so, get into the college football. Let's go. Get into the playoff.

Play a Georgia. Play a Penn State. Play in Notre Dame. Play in Ohio State. Like I want to see two games against a top-tier competition because he's going to have to refine some. shit. He's going to have to be more efficient. He can't get away with some of these things. Can he adjust his game? That's what I want to. And if it does finally, does he start to revert back

to bad habits in that kind of an environment? Because, you know, one of the things that I get concerned about was every once in a while he drifts. That's part of the sloppy footwork, you know, but he'll drift when he doesn't have to. We can just stay in the cup, the pocket. I think his feet have been a little calmer this year. But when you get it, when you have a front like Penn State's front coming at you or george's front coming at you and you know things don't go well early this is the you know it's the biggest stage do you revert or do you stay the course and got you know and play the way you've played all year so we don't know we don't know yet i can't wait to find that out the conversations i had were interesting yeah okay um naggy not a first rounder yet right rounder um other i talked to

a couple gms couple and ex gm who's still working doing the work and then the third third scout today so that's like what six seven conversations i got any no one was lower than second round no the difference when you but there are there are a couple guys that were like this class isn't that good right everyone's overrating shadore he's good he doesn't have any special elite quality like these are just things i heard i'm these are not things i'm saying but the conversation right not smeyer just now the next negative that like some of the negative things nussmeyer needs to go back first round talent would really like to see him go back needs more ball needs to be ready when he comes when he gets up to our

level um chador where's best and i i i always give my opinion we have conversations they're not it's not a q and a session right conversations and i always say listen first of all i love shadr's tape this year and everyone agrees second thing i say always is he's the best peer pastor in this class everyone for the most part agree i got a couple of Nussmeyer could be, you know, but I think he needs more ball. With Cam, it was interesting because it was all over the place. I talked to one scout who's like, I have Cam ahead of Shador. I talked to another scout where it's like Cam and Shador are at the top for me.

And then another one was had Nussmeier ahead of camp. And some other guys were like second round. I don't trust them. I just don't, can he break all these habits? And so they were a fascinating. conversations, but generally speaking, just to summarize it all, everyone agrees that, like, whether you love Chador or not, whether you love Cam or not, this is not, this is not last year's class. No, we understand that. We completely, I mean, Caleb Williams, elite special

talent, Jaden Daniels, elite special talent in his final year was the best tape of any of the quarterbacks, any year, to be honest with you. His last year, 2020, 23, at, at LSU was the best tape of all the quarterback class, all the quarterbacks in the class. Drake May, really great tools. 22 tape was a lot better than 23 that made it a heart, made it a hard evaluation. Right.

Is that regression? Is that the system? Is it a lack of weapons? But everyone would agree those three guys are ahead. And some people would argue, maybe it's Pennix, who went eight overall. Maybe it's JJ who went 10 overall to Minnesota. Maybe it was Bo, Knicks.

who went 12 overall to Denver. Some guys would say, but I think the conversation, and we laughed about this, and Bill Simmons got his little, you know, just not his late. Bill Simmons got his jab in on me, how I'm here for one show and I'm already making his life miserable with his friends back home in Boston. Right.

But, and I had to preff, I had to circle back and explain my comment. My comment was I'm not, I haven't done enough Cam Ward or Shador Tate to, to like, really state whether the conversation starts at Drake May or if it starts at Pennix, JJ, and Beau and Beau. Right. And I will state this very clearly now that I have done the work.

The conversation conversation starts at Pennix, JJ, and Bo. It does not start Drake May, okay? Right. I agree. So with that, again, is another backdrop. Let's pull up the graphic. I know our top six quarterbacks right now. Here's how I see it.

And just for everyone's knowledge, there's kind of, from the people I talk to in the league, there's different there's differing opinions in terms of like how high the level whether they have a chance to be great stop i heard shadr sanders one of the conversations i had i don't know that he's ever going to be better than a stopgap starter i was like really i don't see that so there's just different opinions it's what makes this thing beautiful it is not a science it is more an art i get it but um shedor sanders to me as the best tape so far this year but i don't think there's a big gap between shedore and garrott nussmeyer and can Ward, okay? I think in talking to the league, there's differing opinions, and I think everyone has them

one, two, three, in whatever order. Some guys would go Nussmeyer one. Some guys would go Sanders one. One guy I talked to had Cam Ward one, okay? Everyone agrees that I talked to in the league. Everyone agrees. Garrett Nussmeier has a chance to be the guy next year and would love to see and go back to school.

We got a great game coming up against Alabama this week. so excited to see what he does in that game and we'll get to it in a minute but jalen milrow the other thing everyone agrees on go back to school get another year be ready and then the thing that everyone can agree on at this point the season ain't over and both teams are going to be playing in postseason ball but quen ewers since the injury has shown some regression carson beck the entire season has been a regression okay so that's where we are shader sanders won garratt nussmeyer two cam ward three but talking NFL teams, you can kind of jumble those up. Nobody views this as last year's class where it's three guys that belong one, two, three, by any stretch of the imagination. Right. Nobody also,

but the more people I talk to, it's also not the 2022 class where it's like they just don't belong. Kenny Pickett was overdrafted. Pittsburgh had a need and they reached for Pickett. He was a local guy. Then Ritter, Willis and Matt Corral going. in the third. It's not that class. I think honestly, it's a little bit more like 2023. You know, Bryce Young, C.J. Straff. Yeah. We don't have, they're one, two, but there were a lot of quite, so to me, if I had to classify this class in recent drafts and compare, it's not 2024. I think it's better than 2022 with Pickett and Malik Willis and those guys. Yeah. It's 2023 light. Right. This year's class is,

like is the is the light you know like you got bud wiser and bud light you've got you got pepsie and and in diet peps or whatever you know like so to me it's the the light version the reason it's light is everyone agreed that bryce and stroud belonged nearer at the top of the draft and strouds turned out to be phenomenal and and bryce young unfortunately terrible circumstances but it doesn't look good right now right but after that remember it was richardson getting drafted way too high. Right. And maybe that becomes like the Jalen Milrow spot. Right. You're, betting on the athleticism, the big time arm. Yeah. But he doesn't have enough game experience. He's got he's got big games and playing in the SEC and for Alabama and all the pressure.

And certainly more than than Anthony Richardson had with 12, 13 starts coming out of Florida. But you'd like to see more game experience from him and for him to develop. And then the second, third round, we had Will Levis and Hendon Hooker in that class. And I think that this class is a little bit more representative of that. You got a couple guys at the top. You know, we'll see him Nussmeyer if he comes out. And then after that, there are guys that really belong in the second, third, fourth round at this point. So listen, I think we say this a fair amount, but this is the snapshot on November 7th.

So if somehow Colorado sneaks into that big 12 championship game and you know, it gets in the playoffs and he plays his ass off and, you know, it, it, could change. Game Ward gets in the playoffs and all of a sudden he's, you know, all those concerns we had and they knock off, you know, a Georgia or something like that. I think the guy that has, and we'll cap off the Cam Ward and you're saying it right now, but I just want to put a punctuation on it. The quarterback in this class that stands to gain the most by having a good eye-opening postseason performance as Cam Ward. Right. Cam Ward right now, the questions are the level of competition in terms of defense. is played. Can he get it done? We know he will in the moment, as you talked about,

the eye of the storm, pressure, no problem, carrying that team, but against a defense that's flying around, the pressure's on him more, doesn't have the ability to extend plays and kind of run around, drop his head and look up. When he's playing in a Georgia, an Ohio state, a Notre Dame, a Penn State, one of those top defensive, Texas, how does he react? Does he refine his game? Is he more efficient? Is he more decisive? You know, does he, he cut out some of the fat from his game. So to me, Cam Ward, like, getting him in the postseason is what we need to see. Hoo, all right, man.

That was a lot. But I- That's a tight, tight 35 on Cam Ward. It's been, you know, like certain things eat at you in the back of your mind? Oh, it's been coming. Ever since that naggy conversation, I'm like, shit. Yeah. We got to revisit this.

And we just did. And I feel good about it. And the beauty is, like you said, it's November 7th. We have so much more time, so much more to see. But I think it's a good, for this show, it's a good jumping off point with the quarterbacks. We've talked about Beck specifically at times. We've talked about Nussmeyer, talked about Quinn Yu, we've talked about all the,

we haven't done a deep dive into Cam Ward. And I'm glad we were able to just do that. The McShay show is presented by Fanduel. Get out your game day gear this college football season on Fandul. Because right now, all customers get a profit boost every college football Saturday, every single Saturday. Listen, there's no better place than a Saturday night

in Baton Rouge in college football. And that's what we have this week. Alabama at LSU. Talk about the quarterbacks, too. Garrett Nussmeyer, some ups and downs. Jalen Milro, some ups and downs. Both guys being considered as first rounders, which quarterback, which team is going to show up

in this big spot. You know that's a game that we're all going to be keeping our eyes on this Saturday. Boost your winnings on bets like spreads, over unders, method of first touchdown, and so much more. Just visit fendool.com slash McShay. That's fanduil.com slash McShay to download America's number one sportsbook and kick off every college football Saturday with a boost. Must be 21 and older in present in select states or 18 and older in present in D.C.

Opt-in required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration. See terms at sportsbook. com. Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. All right, let's transition. Huge weekend.

Oh, is it a big weekend? Huge weekend. Alabama LSU. We'll get into some of the other big games later. We'll talk about where the scouts are going to be. But Alabama LSU is always a huge game. Always, right? this time it feels like an elimination game.

That's exciting. We talked about the ranking show. You look up and you're like, oh, Texas A&M, they just had their second loss. They're out of the picture. LSU, two losses. Out of the picture. Ole Miss, two losses. Lost to Kentucky out of the picture.

Alabama, they've got the one loss. They're hanging in there. But now you look at it and you're like, if LSU wins this game, back in the mix. Alabama wins. What's great about this playoff structure, man. You were coming into this game and I told you Alabama is going to have two losses and LSU's going to have two losses.

Ten years ago you'd be like, what a letdown. But this playoff structure, you're like, man, everything's on the line. It's going to be, it's incredible. It is. And also for Alabama, when here could get them, could bump them up from 11. Right, right. And like as a fan, I love that Alabama. We're looking at the graphic now, the week 11, 12 team college football playoff bracket,

projection. I love that Alabama, Texas matchup, but if I'm Alabama, I'm like, can we play Indiana, please? Right. Right, right, right. Can we play Penn State? Can we, you know, so, so winning this game is, you're, you lose your most likely out. I don't, I don't really see a great path for Alabama if they lose this game. If you win, things get really excited. So let's, let's pull up, I know we just have that graphic, but let's look at the, there we go. Our producers are amazing. Alabama minus two and a half at Baton Rouge. I saw a projection like one of those, you know, the statistical projection had Alabama winning by seven, seven and a half points. Over under 58 and a half.

I thought I was going to sneak on in here, Munch, but Vegas ain't stupid. Fan duel ain't stupid either, you know, and we appreciate Fanduel for getting this ready for us. 58 and a half. Well, we'll get to in a minute. All right. What jumps out to me? And we know a ton of prospects in this game, both sides of the ball. Right.

Alabama, let's start with Alabama. Both teams coming off a buy. I love when you have a big game. Yeah, that's great. Right. It's like no excuses. Right. And both quarterbacks, my goodness, do they need some time to like reset?

Nussmeyer coming up that A&M second half in the three interceptions. Jalen Milro, everyone says there's, there's some kind of injury there, but no one wants to report it. All I know is he's not, he didn't since the, since the first half of the Georgia game, I haven't seen Mill Row. The same guy with the decisive, aggressive running approach. I saw him run a couple times in the last game and I saw he looked good, looked better.

Missouri took off, had that big long run down the right side. It doesn't look slow, but there's something going on. So the week off helps. hopefully if there is something that knocking against him, you know, injury-wise, hopefully that he's 100% now. You see the schedule here. The ugly loss to Vanderbilt, the loss to Tennessee. And now you got LSU, the biggest game.

And after that, you got Mercer at Oklahoma and Auburn. Like, this is the game for Alabama, the game. So, Milro, remember last year? There was the benching. there was the buy week. Yeah. Came back after the by week and he was a different dude. Right.

My job now. Footwork looked more impressive. He just, he looked like he had drilled it in for two weeks. And he was striking fear in other teams. What is he going to do this week? Right. You know,

how are we going to handle him? How are we going to contain him? So I'm excited to see that as a runner, more decisiveness and aggressiveness and as a passer. And for me, like you look at this, LSU defense. So impressed.

I even tweeted it out and I looked like an ass. Because I've treated out. Right. What happened, right? Blake Baker, first half, I was like, this is the LSU defense.

You kind of came to expect to see, go back 2019 in years previous, that national championship year and years previous. Like, just a bunch of dogs flying around, angry. Like you give, like,

I'm a backup. I get 10 snaps in this game. I'm going to give you my life. I'm going to lay, like they just LSU, a lot of these SEC teams, but LSU just like, flying around, feisty, no questions in their brain just reacting, no where they have to go.

And I saw that. I saw that in the first half. First half. Right. Against Connor Wigman. And that's what they were prepared for. But then it was like a buzzsaw hit him. You got this mobile quarterback, Marcel Reed gets inserted in the game after the interception

from Nussmeyer that shouldn't, he should have never thrown. And the defense, it was like, ooh, on their heels. Right. No, no gap discipline. You know, like defense ends are crashing. down. Linebacker slower to react because they're getting, they're getting held by different looks. Blockers getting bodies on them all of a sudden.

I saw the same thing, man. I know you're going to tie it in right now, but it's, you know, that mobile quarterback. You know, they had to, they had so much to worry about the guys were just no longer as aggressive, one, flowing to the ball at the second level and two getting off blocks. So, you know, that's going to have to change for them to be competitive. And I look at LSU, right? two games against two games against mobile quarterbacks that second half against marcel reed was an absolute disaster nightmare right and then here you see the schedule being pulled up too the second half versus

ls you're lucky to get a win in that game by the way south carolina 3633 they win that game they gave up 33 points right i think that was a most most points they'd given up yeah 30 33 points allowed in that game otherwise they've been good like 10 points against Arkansas 26 against a really talented old miss offense south albam 10 points UCLA 17 points 21 nickel state who cares 20 against usc but so the defense has played well but the two times that they have struggled mobile quarterback second half against a and m he came in it was like 12 plays three touchdowns and then south carolina lenora sellers quarterback 88 rushing yards two touchdowns so what so what so what did do they have in store what do they have in store what is blake baker have in store for this

defense you've had two weeks now to prepare what's the game plan right what's the game plan two hundred and four i didn't even mention i just look at my notes 245 rushing yards against a and then the 88 against sellers with two touchdown so i think they're going to be much more prepared against milrope but i also think milrode's going to be if he wasn't 100 percent he's going to be 100 they're going to go back and self so study a couple things jump out and i'll let you you give me what you're thinking but on Alabama on when they're on offense they need to stay ahead of the chains one of the worst in the country surprise me a third and six third and long third and six plus near but they're near the top of the country third and short that's third and three and

fewer yeah which makes sense with the mobile quarterback like it's easier to to pick up the three yards we can put in kind of that short yardage package and it makes it like that's always the case but to see that discrepancy they're like in the hundred like hundred plus right yeah and third and six, and then third in the nation and third and three. So they've got to stay ahead of the chains. They can't make big mistakes on first and second down. That's going to be critical of this game. And then Milrose got to be more committed to running the ball until LSU proves that they can

play with the discipline. You need as an offense, Caitlin DeBore, I'm sure of it is preaching. Make them prove to us that they can be disciplined, that they can stay in their gaps, that they can contain on the outside, that the linebackers, as you talked about, can get off of blocks, can shed. make them prove that. And if they do, fine, we'll adjust. But until they do, we're going to show a commitment to this. I couldn't agree more. That is the top priority right there is how well they can run the ball.

But I will say this really quickly and how well Milro runs the ball and whether or not they can say discipline and stop that. I agree on all of that. I will say this, that 34-0 win over Missouri is a little misleading to me when you're looking at that Alabama offense. And even watching that game yesterday, his defensive line. This offensive line for Alabama, I think is talented. I think they have a talented group up front. They have not played well. They just have not played well as a unit. And I think that that LSU, you know, if you look at that first half,

they have some guys like that defensive tackle Suggs was unblockable at times in the first half of the Texas A&M game. I think Braden Swinson, the defensive end for LSU is starting to come on. And that Alabama offensive line, you know, you're coming off a buy. It should help them too. They should be cleaning up everything in the team. need to clean up, but they've just been inconsistent for a group that I think has the potential to be a lot better than they've shown so far. So we'll see what offense Vaughn's going to show up for Alabama?

All right. The other side of the ball, right? Right. Can LSU run the football? Right. I don't know. You know, I don't know, because it's like 76% to 24%, whatever the breakdown is, that they're throwing the football.

And I get it. I love Garrett Nussmeyer, too. But I promise you, Brian Kelly is self-scouting and saying we've got to be able to run the football. We can't live and die by the past. We've got to be more balanced. They're 113th and rushing offense. LSU. Think about all the great running backs from LSU.

Right. I think about the history of LSU lining up and running the football. Right. That's it. Alabama's defensive strength is stopping the ball, I think, more than anything else. So they have those two great linebackers. It's a great question. Can they run the football?

ahead, sorry. No, and it's more of a commitment. And so they're not throwing the ball all the time because they want to. They clearly, like, they're, they don't believe that they can run the ball as well, but, but you got to create, even if it's not, even if you're not ripping off four or five yards and carry, you got to, the defense has got to fear that, you know, it will change the game. And I think they'll come out and run. I mean, you think about like Clyde Edwards-Ail or Leonard. Oh, yeah. that like this is a you're you cannot tell me there's not talent at running back and this offensive line is pretty good so i got a but much better in past protection our guy sanford steve was texting me this morning about these lSU offensive tackles and he expects them to

have a big game you know if they're as good as we all think that they are they should have a big game because again this al like flipping the script a little bit this alabama defense we've talked about it it's a good defense it is not the dominant playmakers that we've seen up front, I think they're better against them run than they are rushing the passer. And if these offensive tackles are the guys that we think they are, they should have a strong, strong game.

I will say this. The game plan for LSU cannot be to get into third and five and longer and have Nussmeyer find, can consistently find Kyron Lacey downfield like they were doing in the first half of the Texas A&M game. That this can't be the game plan. There's got to be better balance. You mentioned the offensive line.

Yeah. Here's something that's interesting. I'm surprised you haven't brought it up yet. I like when I get it. I like that you got it. It almost looks like you feel like you got one up on me. Let's go. I wouldn't say one up, but I was waiting to see if you're going to beat me to the punch on this,

Mr. offensive line guy. Dellinger's out. Starting left guard. Delinger is out. The center is inexperience. I forget. I don't know if you have the depth.

C. Jester? Chester. Yes. Chester's inexperienced. First year starter, I believe, been a little bit up and down from what I've seen. Yeah. Okay.

He's a richer freshman. So, yeah, your tackles are going to, you trust your tackles. They should play at a pretty high level, right? And, you know, Emery Jones has been a little bit more up and down than Will Campbell. Will Campbell hasn't been perfect. But for college level, man, they're damn good starting. And the talent, listen. They play up to their level.

They can dominate games. But the interior is intriguing. If I'm Alabama, now understand this, Alabama does not, has not. blitzed a whole lot. Okay. Interesting. Yeah. But I'm looking at a left tackle, I mean, a left guard starter,

reliable guys out playing right next to the center, who's the first year starter has been a little bit up and down. What am I doing? I'm mugging. Yeah. A gap, B gap blitzes, right? Yeah. So keep it, if you're just watching,

fan just watching the game on Saturday, Saturday night, keep an eye on that. I think if Alabama is going to get more aggressive than they have on tape this year, I think it's going to be attacking the interior of that offensive line. Yeah, they could also do some simulated pressures where they show pressure. Confused. Right. You're not saying this new left guard isn't talented and maybe he can hold up.

But I am betting on. And that's what essentially you're playing the odds, playing the trends and playing what you expect. I'm betting on. There's going to be some communication stuff. It's not an offensive line that's flowing together like a Russian ballet, you know, like there's going to be some issues there. And so let's force the issue. It's like any great quarterback or offense coordinator sees the number one corner go down. And this guy come on the field, you're going right at the guy that just came on the field.

You're going to say, all right, let's see what you got, kid. I mean, we're not going to not take advantage of maybe a drop in level of talent or depth. So it's the same thing. We'll see how LSU reacts. Maybe they handle it well, but you at least have to test it. So I'll say this. We want them to run the ball more. I think that's going to be the plan.

at least they'll provide a little bit more balance. But at the end of the day, we all know what's going to happen. It's going to come down to, is Jalen Milrow taking off and exploiting this defense when they get out of position when Alabama has the football? And does he hit when he throws the ball downfield with that beautiful deep ball that Jalen Miller throws, does he connect? Is it Ryan Williams on that end? Is there another receiver that steps up and makes a big player too? On the other side of the ball, LSU, it's going to come down to Garrett Nussmeyer, throwing. to Lacey, throwing to Anderson, throwing to Mason Taylor, and most importantly, bud,

knowing when not to. Right. He got full. He made a, he made a more decision, poor decision against A&M on that first interception. You got fooled on the other two. So if there's got to be alarm bells and he's a son of a quarterback and he loves the game. And like, you know he's grinded this past two weeks. The game plans in.

He feels confident about it. he's he's preaching to himself go out and be great go be go be go be nussmeyer right but also let's like i can't make the two or three mistakes against a against alabama that i did against a and m yeah he's got to control the he's got to handle the emotion of playing at home against alabama the abc game at night don't get too amped up coming out now i think it helps that you just went to texas an m and i know that it you know it obviously unraveled on him in the second half, but he's, he's had some experience playing in these, like,

loud, big time games, environments. I think that might help him a little bit, but how, especially early, I want to see how he does, because, you know, he's, he's, he's amped to get out there in a race everything that happened in his last game, you know, show people that he's, you know, what kind of quarterback he is when he's playing at his best. So to me, how does he control emotions early?

Don't press early. Don't, don't make a mistake early. I don't have any, like, Fandul read here or anything, but we had a great conversation with Fandul the other day. And we both have their app. We're both going to get involved. I'm never going to sit here and tell you and Mench isn't going to mention sure hope he's not going to start giving out picks and plays. No, no, no. But at FD Sportsbook, go check it out. Their game of the week for Fanduel is this game, Alabama, LSU. Of course it is. Saturday night, Baton Rouge. You kidding me? What's a better place in

the world to be this Saturday night? And I'm not going to be there and I'm pissed. But like all week, I'm looking at this game, like shootout, shoot out, LSU undiscipline versus the run. Jalen Milrow is going to take off. That 58 and a half is high. Yeah. They're just begging you to take the under, but I'm not, I'm riding with Nussmeyer and Milrow in this game.

I think they're going to, I think it's going to be a battle. Like to me, this is not your dad's version of the rivalry. This isn't that nine, six game in 2011. This isn't 2016 when it was 10-0. grinding it out great deep like this is this is more like last year what was it um i forget 42 i mean there were 42 28 final right last year so that's what i expect to see on saturday they do have a great offer i'll say this and again i'm not reading from something but they have a 50% profit boost token i learned about this this past week you can boost that thing 50% man like

why the hell wouldn't you want to you got to play you got to play this game play some some you know same game parlays, right? Yeah. Boost that stuff. 50%. So this is with you though. Life's too short to bet the underman. Isn't it?

Who likes to watch a game in hoping the teams don't score? You can't do it. All right. A couple quick things before we get into all the stuff that we normally do on a Thursday. One quick thing. You brought up some great hypotheticals on Tuesday night

after the college football playoff reveal. And I was dying. And I love my new my new best friend is this fan dual group like right it's not just like the picks and the parleyes and all this stuff like it's a resource man it's how awesome is that? You know like I love like databases or you know all the different outlets less than 48 hours later they get enough into this thick skull of mine and fan duel now is all of a sudden this like new it's a new toy that I'm playing with and I love it. So they they came back to us. We we threw it out there. We weren't live. So it's not like we could call them.

right away but we did and by the way by the end of the show they'd already given us the answer so now on yeah now on saturday nights we're going to be live on youtube the mcshay show live reaction show every saturday night and keep you up nice and late 12 30 1 in the morning but we're going to do a reaction show every saturday night starting this saturday so please like we appreciate everyone listening watching i think i'm most excited about these saturday night shows like if you if you when you're done watching that game when herbie and fowler sign off and you're like, I need a little bit more. My juices are flowing.

Come hang out with us. We'd love to have you. We're going to be on YouTube live Saturday night. But coming off of the reveal show, our instant reaction show on Tuesday night, you asked a couple questions. And I'm going to give you answers, but I'm doing it through our friends at Fandual Sportsbook. Guys, smarter than us.

Way smart. BYU, because we were saying like, okay, who would BYU be favorite? Because I was making the argument, like you can look at the strength of record, look who they've beaten. look at what they've done so far, who would BYU be favored against? Let's look at some of the other teams that they are ranked, ranked below or ahead. And to me, the first question was BYU versus Indiana. Right.

Guess that spread? You haven't in front of you? Now, I have it in front of me, but I'll be honest. Going in, I would have had, you know, I would say 10. I would have said 10. So it's actually a little closer than I thought. Indiana minus eight against BYU.

Not a lot of love here for BYU. I'm just going to go down the road. Tennessee minus 11 and a half. These are all on neutral sites, mind you. Right. What the spread would be, neutral site. And remember, round one of the new 12 team

college football playoff, you have home games. So BYU, could it be even worse if you're playing at Indiana? Or BYU. And they have that second, BYU right now has the buy. Well, that's right. BYU and this, you're right, you're right.

But they don't play at home. So even though they have that buy. A neutral site. That's why we ask for neutral site. Yeah, that's why you're here. You make us smarter and you correct my mistakes. All right. So BYU versus Indiana.

Indiana is minus eight. Tennessee against BYU. Tennessee is minus 11. and a half. Penn State minus 10. I found that interesting. I think B.I. would put up a freaking fight against Penn State.

And then there was one other game. This is the one that I asked for. And I said 15 and a half, Boise State, Ohio State, neutral site. What did you say? I think I said 10. 10. Or maybe it was a little higher, but it was like in that 10 range. Ohio State minus 17 against Boise State.

Give me the points. I think Thandu likes Ohio State. I think, like I said, I thought I was taking Ohio State in that in the championship game against Oregon. I think if you, Ohio State's a team that might be, you know, on the rise. But yeah. That game, that game would be in Columbus, though. Right. Game would be in Columbus, but 17.

I don't know. I just, I think, I think Boise State, just the tradition of being a. Yeah. I'm not saying they'd win by any stretch. I'm not saying, no, no, no, no. I think they would be a total handful in the pain in the ass for a while. Yeah, they'd give them a fight. All right.

Here we go. All right. What everyone's been waiting for all week long, Minch, anxiously awaiting. That's my guy. It's our, come on. It's our favorite set every week. my guy we got to focus on who are our guys who are the guys we want to feature who we watched on tape that's that have been exciting for us and i will i'll let you kick it off this week two guys

each that have stood out to you on tape that you want to kind of it feels weird like i'll give you a funny story rest here on saturday saturdays is total gong show at the nfl draft right you get the first night yeah oh yeah 13 million people watching everything's buttoned up you've got all these executives around, you know, hyper-focused and all the, make sure you get with, you know, everything's got to run right on schedule. We got all these, the highlights, clips, and we've got to time everything out perfectly, and we've got all these sponsors and featured. You get to Saturday, it's like rounds four through seven, all the executives flown home. You're sitting outside on a set. You have to beg like a manager to bring over, you know, a studio, the studio got to bring over a table

for all your frigging notes. And so you get kind of sloppy, you know, you're, you're, you're kind of there six round and and and kiper and i would always and even louis riddick would always be up there and like oh that's my guy that's my guy no no right right and so reese just got so and i get it but he'd be like oh that's my guy i like him more than you that's my guy and and i would like aha i get it rice i get it but but but he's that's my guy right you know so there's like this i don't know there's something about scouting where you're always um you're always attached to you got to understand you put four or five hours of your life into watching a player,

whether it's a guard from Weber State or a quarterback from Alabama at the end of that process. And you make calls and you do the backgrounds and you look at their combine workouts and the pro day workouts. You've created this. Like you've gone down the road with them. You have like an attachment to some of these guys and a lot of these guys. There's a story with everyone. And so, so yeah, sorry, Reese, but he is my.

my God. I spent five hours of my life. Sorry, not so. Away from my kids and away from my hobbies and everything, away from eating great meals, studying this guy. So yeah, I have an attachment to some of them. So with that is a ridiculous backdrop. What do you got? That's my guy. Do you remember Eric King from the University of Richmond? I do. Yeah. Quarterback, University of Richmond. He was a guard, but yeah. So listen. Yeah. That's funny that you bring that up, but that's true.

So Eric King shows up at Richmond. He's a quarterback and gets on that Richmond meal plan and that Richmond strength and conditioning plan. And Eric, a year or two later is a tight end. And then Eric just keeps growing. And all of a sudden, he's a guard. And the next thing you know, the chiefs are drafting him in the seventh round in 1999. When you look at him and how his body changed in college, he getting bigger, but he never lost the athletic ability, right? Why am I telling you this story?

We're all trying to know. My guy. Ole Miss defensive tackle, JJ, and I, this is, you know I like him because this name, I hope I'm getting his name right, but I just have to feature him. J.J. Pekis. Yep. Defensive tackle, Ole Miss, he's 6'2, 325 pounds. He started his college of career as a tight end at Auburn.

This dude has six rushing touchdowns this year. They line him up at Wildcat quarterback. Who cares, man? She plays defensive tackle. Well, why do we care when a guy could jump out of the pool from a standstill? Why do we care what a guy, why do we care what a guy could dunk, right? Because it shows how athletic he is. And then you watch him on defense.

And you're seeing a dude that big move like he does. And he flashes with his hands a little bit, comes off the edge, plays inside. I mean, I was, it's easy to lose track of him because Walter Nolan is playing defensive tackle at Ole Miss 2. And he's a guy that could go real early. And then you got Jared Ivy on the outside. You know, you might lose focus on this guy, but when you start honing in and watching him, there's a lot to be excited about. I love that. And by the way, for all of those people that are, you know, historians of Richmond football and studying guards.

Yeah, right. Drapped in the seventh round. I did see Eric King like a year after. No, he played in the, we scouted him at the NFL Europe. NFL Europe. Yeah. Yeah. Look great there.

But then I saw him like two years later when he was done with football. it's like a pin with like popped a balloon right he's run a triathlon yeah yeah yeah now that's his body dude shows what football can do to your body uh all right i'm gonna switch it over i don't have a great backstory on this aeneas people's defensive tackle inside defensive lineman from virginia tech duke transfer right comes to virginia tech this year he's been quietly dominant for the hokey right you know like this team they lost a couple games early no one's watching there's still they're We're a pretty good football team. And he has been a difference maker.

I was watching tape the other day. And he just kept popping up hands, quickness, three technique, getting up field. His past, you know, I looked up some stats. Pass rush win rate was like up there with some of the top, like, you know, past, like edge guys and guys, you know, like he's just, he's winning. And so you look for players that aren't going to be in your top 10 interior defensive linemen that don't have that first second. round grade that maybe can surprise that you can get a steal on, like maybe third round that you can

get a jump on a guy and pluck them away. I think Peebles is someone to watch. Only 6-1-2-90, but like so like Grady Jarrett, you know, like we've seen a bunch of dudes. I like those defensive tackles that are 6-1, 6-2. They get that low center of gravity. I kind of like that frame. I know people are like, that's a little short, but you get under guys. Yeah. So he's a guy that I was really intrigued by and I'm going to keep an eye on moving forward. Who else you got? Second week in a row, we've done a Virginia Tech defensive lineman. We did the edge rusher Powell Rylind last week.

Oh, yeah? I don't listen when you're talking. I know. You just check out. I get it. I'm joking. You and my wife. I remember.

I remember. We both had edges last week. Anyways. Indiana. Defensive air. Yep. Kyle camera. Kamara.

Say his name again. McHile. Am I saying that right? Michael Kamara. It's definitely Kamara. I think it's Mikhail. JMU transfer, one of the Signetti's guys that comes over with him, right?

Last year at JMU, 18 and a half tackles for loss, seven and a half sacks, right? That's nice. There was a good team. Now you're in the Big Ten. What are you going to do in the Big Ten? Well, in nine games,

he has 14 and a half tackles for loss and nine and a half sacks. And I throw on the tape, and it is hands, hands, hands. He's one of the best hand fighters I've watched in this class. It's impossible to get your hands on him and lock him out. He's a little shorter at 6-1, but he's solid at 265.

He could beat you. When you look at edge rushers, you're like, okay, how do you win? We'll speed off the edge. Is there other elements to your pass rush? He wins in a number of different ways. He's got that low center of gravity. He's not the most explosive guy, but he's got that low center of gravity to dip inside. And when he gets to the top of his rush, he can win to the inside.

he's got a little bit of power to him. But again, it's when you're watching it, and he's got also a really good feel of how to split blocking schemes. Like just how he steps in, his timing of it, very disruptive dude. But to me, it's his hands. It's just if you can't get your hands on a guy, it's real tough to block him. So another guy that obviously excited about.

Yeah, I'm fired up to see that defense. We'll get into that game a little bit against Georgia. But that defensive line, right? Yeah. All right, my final, that's my guy. Stanford wide receiver, Elylech Eio Menor. And I nailed the dismount on that. Iommonor.

I omenor. It's tough, man. Number 13, I love watching him play. He's one of the seven or eight best wide receivers in this class. And have you heard his name all season? Very little. Yeah. Okay.

Maybe a little preseason hype. Right. I heard a word from him. Well, that's because Stanford's two and seven right now, and they've lost six straight games. And to be honest, to be fair, didn't get off to a great start. Who's the quarterback throwing to him?

What kind of protection is there? How's the offense working? Didn't get off to a great start production-wise. But I've seen the last couple weeks, a couple flashes. So I threw on a little bit of tape. He's playing at a high level. The last two weeks,

15 catches for 204 yards, Wake Forest and NC State, okay? He's a bigger receiver, right? Right. I think like 6-2, I don't have the number six to two, two, ten is what I guess, like somewhere in that range. He's definitely a big body guy like that. Canadian born.

Interesting backstory. Canadian born. Okay. I don't know. I haven't, I didn't got plenty of other stuff, including like the best trip in your life to Baton Rouge for a big time game. I've been really focused on and calls I've been making.

Forget NFL GMs. I'm like, I've been feet on the ground with Baton Rouge. But I did do a little skimming of this story. Canadian born, grow up playing hockey. didn't start playing like dabbled in football a little bit like middle school but really got into it it in high school uh but like towards the end of middle school like just became obsessed with it

right and i don't know how like if it was a family move or whatever it was but somehow from from um alberta canada i want to say that's up the top of my head i hope i hope i'm right i'd hate to displace him but he he comes down to america and is playing his high school ball first two years in New Jersey and then winds up in the great state of Massachusetts. Right. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and plays his final two years in Massachusetts. And he winds up getting offers from like Notre Dame, a couple other, Tennessee. Right.

We talk about how Tennessee could use another. Tennessee could use him right now, yeah. But family and he's obsessed with, you know, education and football and the combination. And Stanford, obviously, you can't fault him for that decision. Like Stanford, what parent would do a lot worse? Yeah, most beautiful, maybe the most beautiful campus in America, too. So winds up going to Stanford. And listen, we'll find you.

That's the motto of NFL scouts. We'll find you. And Stanford felt like Stanford's like Division III school. Like, yeah, you can just see on tape this guy. Here's what stood out to me. They clocked him in coming out of high school at 4-4-8. It's probably going to be mid-4-4s, good size. Two things that really jump out to me, three, actually.

One, contested catches. using his physical body last second. I agree. That's his greatest strength, yeah. Right? Contested catches. A subplot of that, if you will, like a subcategory is really good adjusting to the ball. And that's not just contested catches,

but it's just like some guys, when the ball's in the air, they track it really well. They can contort their body. They just know how to get their body in the right position to make a tough catch, and he does that. And then he's vertical. Like he can make plays down the field. And he's not a burner.

He's not like a four three guys, not a four, four, one. But with that size speed combination, the ability to get down the field, to me, he's a number two in the NFL. And for a guy that no one's talking about, you know, I-O minor, just like, that's impressive. He's going to be probably one of the top seven, top eight wide receivers taken. So, great.

Those are my guys this week. All right. Where are the scouts going to be this week? I've got a question for you. We'll revisit it on Saturday night because we always get the tweets out. I'm sure I can talk to anyone down at the game. Always get those tweets that come out. Like there were 19 scouts here and two general managers.

There were 23 scouts here. I'm going to set the over under on that tweet that we'll inevitably see, whether it's from LSU's, you know, the SID, Michael Bonnet. My good friend, Michael Bonnet is taking care. You got actually, Michael Bonnet, thank you. the first football game that my son Tate ever went to was LSU with like Justin Jefferson all those I think he was just maybe it was maybe he was a year after anyway on the field LSU he hooked that up and

and yeah I was thankful for LSU for that but when you look at this week LSU Alabama how many scouts are going to be there I'm going to set it at 26 and 3 GMs that which is ridiculous you think about a scout from 26 different NFL teams and 3G yeah but it's not unbelievable it's not I'm not oh it's no you're out of your mind then you know like that's not my reaction to that so you're going over or under oh such a good number I'm gonna go over because I'm an optimist because I'm a positive person I mean you got jalen milro you got nussmeyer two quarterbacks you got on Alabama's defense, Deontay Lawson. You've got, you've got both the linebackers to be on.

Jihad Campbell, yeah. Jihad Campbell. You got the offensive lineman for both sides. You get, you know, Will Campbell for, we talk about Will Campbell, Emery Jones, offensive tackles, first second round. Mason Taylor, top three tight end in this year's class. Kieran Lacey, LSU wide receiver. There's a lot of dudes.

Yeah, a lot of dudes. Guys everywhere. So that typically is a game that's going to be loaded with, with that. other games that scouts will be at and i don't i think the second most visited game by nfl teams will be old miss georgia i want to get into that for a little minute and then you have a third one that i'm going to let you rip with that you you would be intrigued may not have the most third most scouts and all that but but it is certainly an intriguing game for you georgia old miss i want to get into this tons of georgia prospects not as many first rounders and second rounders

maybe as we've seen in years past but then old miss The defensive line, man, that's, that's to me, like the most intriguing thing. So you look at it, like, Old Miss defensive line has 17 sacks in the last two games. Yeah. Nine and eight. 17. That's ridiculous, bud. I mean, the defense has been there.

The offense looked good last week, okay? The offense looked good last really good. But, you know, the last two weeks, I guess, Oklahoma and Arkansas, Arkansas was 61 points they put up. But the defense has been here. They've been lining up all year. I mean, all season long, they lead the nation in sacks with 41 and yards per rush allowed. 2.28. This is going to be fun against Georgia.

I mentioned 17 sacks in the last two games. Listen to these numbers, Mitch. The rebels are first in tackles for loss with 94. Their fifth in red zone defense, sixth in the nation in scoring defense. seventh in the nation in fumbles recovery recovered and ninth in third down defense and then you got a cornerback the offensive line has been outstanding and we'll talk about the the cornerback trey amos is playing some good ball three interceptions yeah three picks we got a we got a quarter we got a quarterback coming in four of his last five games or in it's

yeah i think four of his last five games is thrown double multiple interceptions sounds like a monte given team not a lane and kiffin team and we've got a defensive line with jared ivy number 15 on the edge opposite him is princely uman uman mienleyn me ellen okay princely uman mielan talented player number one so 15 and one are on the edges in the interior watching two and 38 two is walter nolan it's had a great year i was worried is he ever going to quite get to his level playing really good ball this year yep walter nolan check him out in this game really good ball j j jay pegeese that's my guy Yeah, I got.

So, like, how much fun is this going to be? Georgia's offensive line, been a little bit up and down this year. Some people think it's playing better than the credit. They did all of that. But, like, they better be able to run the ball, too. I mean, they got. Ole Miss is 2.28 yards allowed. And Carson back all the interceptions.

This is going to be fun. Ole Miss feels like, and I don't even know if Trey Harris is going to play at wide receiver, but you know what's happened? That's what I was looking up. Trey Harris is doubtful right now. doubtful right now. But Trey Harris, who after missing two games, is still fourth in the nation in receiving yards per game. He's got to be in the mix for wide receiver one when this is all sudden done, I think. I don't disagree. Big physical dude. Great. Yep. The way he runs after the catch. Yeah, he can run. He's at that big frame. I was hoping he was going to be back. He's so much fun to watch. It wouldn't shock me if he's back. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, we'll see. But if they're saying Delph, I saw questionable earlier,

I was told that there was a chance he was going to play last week. But my guess, not talking to anyone, my guess was they sat him out to get him ready for this game. But if he's doubtful, but my point on this, if he's doubtful, okay, I think their offense has been more balanced without him the last two weeks. Right. Last two weeks have been their best outings. You can say, well, the defenses haven't been great yet. But like, I think Jackson Dart, the quarterback, who's, we can talk about him another day.

but I don't see, I think a day three, you bring him in, try to develop him. But certainly, very talented, great competitor. Operates that offense at a very, very high level. Love watching him. I know what Lane's looking for out of that quarterback. I know what Jackson Dart is providing him. It's a beautiful thing when it's revving. I think early in the season, we got one dude.

We got one dude with Trey, so we've got to get him the ball. and it kind of becomes a security blanket. And anyone who's played the position, like, it always tugs at you. It's in your mind, like, got to get the ball to him. And I think now he's been forced the last two weeks to maybe go through his reeds and to trust the offense and to run the system. And it's looked really good. So with or without Trey Harris, this is a fascinating matchup.

I agree. You know, Georgia's going to come out and just throat stomp them. And I don't, you shouldn't say you know. But like, I can see Georgia coming out and be like, yeah, yeah. It's cute. Carson back through some interceptions. Yeah, yeah. Like everyone said this, you know, earlier in the year. But I don't know.

This is going to be a fun one. Think about the defensive line talent that's going to be on the field the next two weeks in those Georgia games. You got Georgia Ole Miss this week. We just said on that. Michael, Michael Williams at Edge. Jalen Walker at Edge and off, yeah. And then you got Tennessee next week.

If you're a defensive line coach, those at the end of the year, like, show me some tape. You're getting the, you know, you want. to look at those you're going to look at those guys it's just unbelievable amount of talent on the field all right that's that's a 3 30 i'm not here to promote like broadcast or anything that's a 330 on a bc you don't even have to change the channel 7 30 730 is you know herbie and follower come on i think it's um oh it's it's it's my it's yeah that's mackleroy right i think so i'm not sure yeah so but you might want to change a channel no that yeah that's no that's my that's my that's my

That's my guy, McDonough. I traveled with him for like seven years. That's McDonough, McElroy, and Molly, who's the greatest. Molly McGrath is absolutely the greatest. Best sideline. Yeah. No, the best. The best.

And an even better human being. Anyway, 3.30 there. Don't change the channel. 730, you might. Alabama, LSU. And then change the channel. Get on YouTube. No, no.

Get on YouTube. Get on YouTube and watch our live show right after. Yes, exactly. Okay. All right. So what's the third, what's the third game? you think scout should be at this week? Colorado, Texas Tech is kind of sneaky.

I mean, you obviously have, you have Chador, and you have Travis Hunter in Colorado. Two guys are going to go early. Two guys, you know, you're definitely going to watch. And, you know, you got some other guys there. There's, you know, in Arizona State transfer at Edge, DJ Green, pretty good frame. They got some undersized receivers. These guys are like probably day three prospects you're looking at. They have two undersized receivers in La Jante Western and Jimmy Horn Jr.

they have a liberty transfer at corner Preston Hodges you want to keep an eye on him so even though you have those two headliners up top and you really should just tune in for them Travis Hunter's must watch TV they have some guys a little bit farther down that if you're looking

for someone your team might get on on day three of the draft you can keep an eye on and you know we've talked about all these running backs I don't think we've mentioned Texas Tech's uh... Taj Brooks yet I can't believe that but it just speaks

it's not against Brooks, man. It speaks to all the talent in this class. And then you throw on Tosh Brooks, big back, good feet, good burst, competitive, tough to tackle. He's a guy that you're going to want to watch. I also like, there's a tight end for Texas Tech who doesn't have great numbers. He's from, he transferred from Arizona State. Conyers? Yeah.

12, right? Yeah, after the catch, man. If you're looking at a guy, a tight end that can really make plays after the catch, he's flashed. Now, I haven't seen a lot of it this year. but the talent is there, the potential is there. It'd be nice to see him have a breakout and have a big game. And then they have a big safety, C.J. Baskerville, good frame. He's a guy to keep on two.

He's got three picks this year. He's a guy, you know, a little farther down the board to keep an eye on. I like that. In Colorado, like, come on. How good for college football would it be if coach cry? Come on. Yeah. Or Travis can sneak into the, and it wouldn't be sneaking in.

it would be a train barreling down the tracks. Yeah. You know, after a slow start, everyone wrote them off to get in that Big 12 championship, to knock off BYU, enter in as whatever, the 11th seed 12thers. Don't care. Any team, anywhere, any time. Right. I mean, you know everyone, especially television executives and all the moneymakers

in college football. That would be an awesome story. And to be honest, all the sizzle, all the noise. all the commercials, all the BS, right? Shador and Travis alone, what they've done, their level of performance, the way they've played this year. I mean, you could argue the best quarterback in the entire country in terms of the tape he's putting out there every week.

And it's not even arguable the best, like the most impactful best college football player is Travis Hunter. Can we get? Would there any way to get odds on two Colorado, players being Heisman finalists? Of course we can. Could they both get in? We're in bed with Fandol now, bud.

We can, yeah, yeah, they think I'm just challenging. Just throwing out things. Shadour's going to get hurt a lot. I mean, they would have to make a run and all that, but it still would be Travis. It would be Travis. Yeah. I don't see that happening, but I will say this. Okay.

He's played at a level that he's deserving of being recognized or considered for any award, in my opinion. He's played that good. All right, Mench. Let me clear my voice for this. I almost forgot. So here's how I view this, right? Here's how I view our responsibility.

We're here to enlighten people about the NFL draft. We're here to talk about college football. We're here to talk about the NFL. But if I'm being honest, there's nothing more special to me than providing the people with the service. And this week, where would talk? This is a special edition, a special Baton Rouge edition. Let's roll the, I know we've got some. I mean, nothing gets you more fired up than that.

Where would Todd be, Baton Rouge? This segment is all about servicing the people. We're a public service. It's something we're thrilled to provide. Okay. I ask this question all the time, right? All the time. I mean, for the last of 20 years.

You're out at college games every weekend. especially living up in the Northeast, like where it's all NFL, and people just don't, truly, like, can't grasp the, the experience that going to a college football game is. I was lucky enough. My grandfather worked with Bo Schembeckler. I was able to go to college games, like at Michigan, some Ohio State growing up. So I had a feel for it. But I'll be honest, like growing up, Michigan, Ohio State was the rivalry.

Like, that was the epicenter of college football, okay? Marshall Brown, my grandfather, like, he put that burning fire. and love for college football in me. Such a great story, yeah. So, but then I'll never forget, like, I'm traveling my first year, first year traveling with Mike Godfrey, Ron Franklin. I'm just like, I'm a spotter who's like writing notes to Mike,

cover two, check out this receiver, one-on-one matchups, stuff like that. But it's my first taste of SEC football, and I'd never seen anything like it. And I've been an absolute addict ever since. There's nothing like it. Clemson's a wonderful place to go. USC's proud traditions. Touchdown Jesus, Notre Dame, like the big house, the shoe, love all the, but there's something

magical about a Saturday night in the SEC. So my answer to the question every time, people ask, I swear, more than any question about quarterback, who's drafted, this, that? The most consistent question over the last 25 years is if you could one guy's trip, one family weekend, one, like, where in college football would you go? if it's like a bucket list trip and my answer is always this anywhere in the SEC on a Saturday night but if you're going to hold me to one place it's Baton Rouge on a Saturday night. There's no place like it.

It never rains and Baton Rouge on a Saturday like all of it. And the reason is the passion, the excitement, like living and dying by it, but also when you get there. And listen, old Miss fans, it's a total different experience in the Grove. And that's a wonderful place. And they're beautiful people. And they welcome you with open arms. And you sit down at a tailgate with a white cloth over a table. And you'll be fed the coolest whiskey drinks and bourbons and just like.

And they'll love you there. And they'll love you up at Auburn. Right. They will. They'll love you up in Tennessee and Knoxville. It's a different environment, a little more rowdy. But in Baton Rouge, they are wild. They're only a 90-minute drive down, right down, what is it, I-10 or whatever it is,

right down the road to New Orleans. It's like, it's the perfect, it's the perfect, like, blend of absolute party insanity that, like, kind of trickles down from New Orleans and what an SEC Saturday night should be. Okay. So this segment every week from now on, we did it, we did acre last week for Auburn, great restaurant. This Saturday night is always going to be about how would you plan. your Saturday night. I mean, sorry, your weekend, your perfect weekend. You're grabbing a bunch of

friends. You want to go down for a weekend. You've got family, whatever it is. So I reached out. This is, I told you NFL GM scouts, all that stuff. The most important conversation I had all week was with Brandon Landry, founder of walk-ons. He and Jack Warner, for a little history lesson, he and Jack Warner were walk-on basketball players for LSU Tigers years and years ago. They absolute love for LSU. all things tigers, right? They decided, what can we do this fun? Let's not go get a corporate job. Let's not go work in accounting or be a, you know, whatever it is. Let's do something with our school that we love and have passion about. So they started this, this sports bar called walk-ons. It was just a local, local joint. And it's become, it's all over the south now. It's exploded.

Brandon's gone on and he's now has the supper club and all. And really, like, he's an institution down there. And let me tell you like, Brand. Like, Brand. to me is a microcosm of what you get in the experience in the southern host like true southern hospitality and i know old miss people will say that a bunch of assholes in at ls u and ls u people say they're soft at old miss i get it everyone's got their rivalry but if you're just a guy from the north from boston who's going down to experience a game somewhere a guy from anywhere who doesn't understand the fabric of an cc saturday night or an ls u baton ruse saturday night like to one of my first trips down there i met brandon landry right

And it's like, come on in, bud, you know. And, and just showed me everything. Show me where to go. Show, like introduce me to the people. We're going from one place to the next. It's like a caravan of, you know, suburbans. And it's not like car services and all this rich stuff because you're traveling with the ESPN. Now it's like, like, people who just like want to show you a good time.

They're proud of what they have in Baton Rouge. So Brandon Landry has been a friend of mine for 20 plus years. I want you to understand this. I shot him a quick text the other day and said, hey, trying to plan the bed, doing the, you know, where would Todd be this weekend? Trying to turn it into something fun where I want people to come here and be like, all right, we've got to on Thursday afternoons, we've got to check this out. Because one day I want to plan a trip to Auburn. I want to plan a trip to LSU, to Georgia, to Tennessee, to USC, to Michigan, to Notre Dame, to Ohio State. And we're going to provide what we think could be the coolest trip.

If you're going to make that one bucket list college football weekend trip, we're going to try to provide. I didn't even give him that backdrop. I just said trying to put together like a great weekend in Baton Rouge for people listening and watching the show. This is, I'm going to paraphrase some, but this is a lot of what he said. All right.

This is in text. I showed you the other day. The text goes on and on and on. So he says, give me 30 minutes. I'll get back to you. 30 minutes later, I get this long text. It starts with the hotel you should stay at. Stay at the Lobears Hotel and Casino.

okay Brandon was working in his text that the the off the assumption we're coming on coming in on Friday but when I started reading through his text I decided like there's no choice we got to go in on a Thursday night you get in get into Baton Rouge you got to coat your stomach you got a car blow it a little bit so we're going to go to Gino's on Thursday night brandon has no affiliation with Gino's Gino Marino has become a friend of mine Gino's to me is a special place and and you don't get much great Italian in the south being I mean we're northeast people right it's like it's it's the real stuff I don't let's pull up uh let's pull up the menu here the gino's menu I mean you look at you look at some of the things that they have on there and what I love about it is you you get the

Italian experience but also with some baton ruse in there like to me you got to get you got to get the mama's special salad of course but then how about how about the angel hair pasta with crab meat just to like warm things up You know? And then I'm a Veal Parm lover. So I've always gotten the Veal Parm there. But from the grill, like the, oh. So this is Thursday night.

We can move on from from Genos. But go in there, say hello to Gino, Gino, Marino. I actually had a wild night there one night, Munch. I'm with like my, like an agent and some other people. All of a sudden, um, uh, Britney Spears dad is there. Big LSU fans. All that. Yeah.

And listen, I don't, I'm not trying to get into a Spears controversy here and the family and all that. Yeah, you are. All I can tell you is in about 2002, it's now, it's now like one in the morning and I'm in some, I'm at some place, you know, after's hour after hours joint with Jamie Spears, the dad of Brittany, it was a wild night. It was a wild night. It was a wild day on Friday. You just never know what you're going to, you never know what you're going to get into in Baton Rouge. That's kind of why I love it. So we're going to come in on Thursday. We're going to come in on Thursday. It doesn't have to be the wildest night on Thursday. So this is where we pick back up with Brandon. He says, depending on when you get into town, this is him working off the assumption on Friday, you're flying, Friday flying in. But he says, you got if it's a trip with your buds, you got to get a round of golf and go to the university club. Great track. It's LSU's home course. All right.

So that's where you start. So Thursday morning, you get up. You got a full belly. You didn't party too hard on Thursday night. Friday, you get up, you play a round of golf. Then when you're done with your round of golf, this is what he says. You got to go to lunch at Phil's oyster bar. Great seafood.

You have to try. I've eaten there before. Trust me on this, okay? Go to lunch, Phil's oyster bar on Friday and get the char-grilled oysters. Wow. I love oysters. I know you do. I know you do.

You've had oysters and orange juice before in a hotel room. It was disgusting. I was wondering how long I was going to say. Go ahead. So, and he also on a Friday afternoon, like everyone's coming in town. That's where everyone goes. So like people are driving in from all over the south. People are flying in.

There's a lot of people, you know, he said that's where the, I don't care, but that's where the who's who of Baton Rouge will be. Everyone goes there on a Friday afternoon. So then you kind of nurse it down. You know, see the sites, go around campus a little bit. Friday night. If you want a higher end meal, tell everyone to come into the supper club is what he said. That's his new place.

He opened up a few years ago. They sourced the food from all over the world. And like, listen, You think, well, this guy is a former walk-on basketball player. He has a sports bar. The hell does he know about food? Trust me when I tell you. Like, they had to set up mentioned the senior bowl a couple years ago.

Oh. The food, they're walking around like like shrimp wrapped and bacon, but like special stuff, like all the southern stuff. Here's the menu. So here's what I know you got to do. The temporacy. This is not the typical South, right? This is like you're in New York City, like in Manhattan. But I'm telling you, it's like from the best place.

in the world flies us in this place is unbelievably popular stuff to even get in so this the temporese bass is phenomenal the wago negri sushi phenomenal the short rib burnt end we're just on the on the hot appetizers right now okay then you make your way over to the to the the i mean they get caviar i'm not a caviar guy but the prime cuts the butcher's house the sagera cut i mean from from louisiana 35 day dry age from Ethel, Louisiana. And then you've got your wagos, you get all, but you've got to, they call it arm candy.

I love it with your steak, the arm candy. This is where they bring in the Baton Rouge, the southern seafood, king crab Oscar, sauteed lobster and sea scallops as the arm candy. How beautiful was that? Sounds great.

Okay. So now like, now we've eaten like kings, right? like it's Friday night we've had a good meal here's the thing you've played around the golf at the university club right then you've had lunch you go out to lunch you have the great lunch it fills then you go into the supper club and you have a wonderful dinner class like all class right right but but it's SEC Saturday night game Friday night before like this is where it gets fun

and he writes to me all right back to Friday night Friday night late night No other place than Fred's and Tigerland. So you're going to probably have a three-hour dinner at supper club. Then you go over to Fred, Fred's and Tigerland. And he said, when you're done it, Fred's and Tiger. It's going to be a wild scene. I mean, you're talking about the Louisiana, the beads, you know, everyone's running around.

Everyone's chanting stuff for LSU. Everyone's getting all lubricated up for the next day. Okay. When you're done, listen to the detail he goes into. This is why I love Brandon. He's beautiful. On the way to late night after late night, you got to hit up small sliders or canes for just a little snack because you got to keep it going.

Then the late late night. I love snacks. Go to the Lobears Casino all night long you can go. And they spots inside there. And the best is right. Then you got a short commute up to your hotel room. Then you got to then he writes, you got to peel yourself out of bed in the morning. You got to get over to game day.

Assuming your game day is going to be there if that's the case. And listen, if you're going to do one weekend a year or, or, you know, one time in your life and go down to experience this. Game day there, you got to go do it. So you hit up game day in the morning. And then you go ahead right over. He said right after game day, go over there for a little bit and then head right over to Louis Cafe.

That's where you're going to get your breakfast. Then the pregame at the original walk-ons. So like you don't stop eating and you probably don't stop drinking the entire time that you're in Baton Rouge. So you're going from Louis Cafe and then you're just walking over to walk on to have a couple, you know, bloody marries, whatever you do. and you're looking on to Tiger Stadium. Huge party outside.

You get like a bracelet. It's not just inside. They have a huge party outside. Drinks are flowing. Atmospheric is everything that you'd think of for an SEC game. Then you just, he said this is critical. You got to walk through all the tailgates on the way.

This is exactly, quote unquote, the sights, the smells, the sounds, the taste. It'll just all blow you away. He goes, it'll just all blow you away,

Todd, because this is what I haven't done. I've always been working on the Saturdays. I promise you you will not go hungry. Everyone will open arms, welcome you in. Everyone will want to know your story. They'll gladly tell you their story. Everyone will offer you food and drinks.

The tailgate party outside the stadium is just as good as the game itself. He said, but then you've got to get down to the hill to see the team and the band walking in the stadium. So cool. Then he says, get in the stadium early. Big game. The hype is real. nothing more special than being inside Tiger Stadium right before kickoff.

The bands are playing. He's like goosebumps everywhere. Then he says, all right, back to after the game. Got to hit up walk-ons and then Fred's again, especially if the Tigers win. So it seems like if they lose, like go to walk-ons, you know, have a couple of cocktails, talk to your friends and then go home. But like if they win, it's walk-ons and then late night at Fred's again. The two nights late night at Fred's.

and then Sunday, this I love, I love, catch superior grill before leaving town, grab a margarita to go. These people are beautiful, man. Like, it's not, it's like not, it's not, it's not, like, drive through margarita places down there. They used to when I was down there, they did. It's not reality down there. So that's it, like, for everyone who's asked me over the 25 years, where would you go?

One bucket list trip. I think we just outlined the best you can possibly do. And thanks again to Brandon, like walk-ons, you got to visit. It's an institution down there. And the supper club now has become the elite of the elite. If you can afford to do that, if not, you got Freds, you got the tailgates, you got game day. I'm telling you, like, I literally, like, there's like a special place in my heart. I get, like, goosebumps thinking about what the weekend is.

Talk to Rosillo and Stanford, Steve. Steve was texting me this morning, too, about, like, he's on the plane down there. it is such an experience it's like it's hard to explain it's like a religious experience that you have like if you love college football or even if you're just a sports fan you got to make a trip like this once in your lifetime yeah that's all i'm starving i hope you're happy oh yeah what's for lunch yeah not that all right this has been fun man this is this is what it's all about this is what i love um we're back on back on saturday night again youtube live please come check it out we appreciate everyone who's who's checked it out we're here for all your criticism we're here for

all your comments please let us know i'm at mickshay 13 munch is at scout sink minch scouts out scouts inc munch and um yeah let us know what you think you know hopefully you're here to stick around and listen the show but we'd love for you to join saturday night it's going to be a lot of fun right after this game you know ls u and in the 330 game of old miss georgia see what chador sanders and Travis Hunter do against Texas Tech. Talk about this Alabama LSU game, elimination game. We'll be on right after the game.

Like right when Herbie and Fowler are done, we're going to jump on here. We'll be on for an hour plus, however long it takes to unpack everything that we saw on Saturday. So that's it for today. Love it, Munch. It's great, man. All right. I'll talk to you soon.

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