August 12, 2024 • 44 mins
John opens the show by diving into his first impressions after watching the top rookie QB's in their first pre-season games. He talks about how Caleb showed us all the things he did well at USC that had gotten him drafted number 1, and how the hype that's been surrounding Jayden Daniels is real. Later, he dives into the mystery around why Atlanta has both Cousin and Penix because Penix looks like he should be the starter, should J.J. start in Minnesota, and did Bo Nix give Denver something to think about when it comes to the starter role.
8:13 - Caleb Williams first impressions
19:03 - Jayden's hype is real
23:36 - Not enough to judge on Drake Maye
28:13 - Michael Penix doesn't surprise
36:14 - J.J. McCarthy looks good
41:50 - Bo Nix is the real deal
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 3 (01:31):
Is going on? Everybody? How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
John middlecop here three and out podcasts I got. I
went out with Colin like I do every Sunday, talking
a lot of football. What I did on this I
recorded this before I went on, so might be some carryover,
but I just went over all the rookie quarterbacks. I
watched all watch some of them live like Boon, Nicks
(01:55):
and Caleb, but I went before I recorded in. Just
watched all their throws and watched all their play some
of them runs as well. So basically watched their debuts
as NFL players and just gave my thoughts on what
I saw. And obviously overall, I would say this rookie
class has.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
A chance to be pretty darn good.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So last time we saw a bunch of quarterbacks get
drafted high, it clearly did not work out right. Four
of the five guys are on different teams. That's the
twenty twenty one draft. I'm not gonna go out and
act like this is gonna be four of these guys
who can go to Hall of Fame. But these guys
resumes in college speak for themselves, and it looks like
(02:38):
they all got a chance. Definitely some of them got
a chance to be really, really good. So it was
exciting debut for you know, the first rounders, and that's
there were other rookies like Spencer Rattler I didn't watch,
but all the guys drafted, Caleb Jayden Drake who didn't
really play or make many you only threw the ball
(02:58):
three times, Pennix JJ, and Bo Nicks who all played
a lot. So it was really exciting to watch. Honestly,
it was the highlight of the weekend watching the rookie
quarterbacks by a mile. I mean, I don't think there
was a close second, because the pre season can't be difficult,
but it is exciting to watch this crew of guys,
and that's for sure. So that's what today's podcast will be.
(03:19):
No mail bag. I'll do a huge mail bag for
Tuesday show. I got a ton of questions from you guys,
So we will hit on that throughout the week. So
keep firing in the mail bag at John Middlecoff is
the Instagram fire in those dms. And the Olympics is over,
so we got to really lock in on the preseason
now because football is right.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Around the corner.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Less than a month for week one, so it's exciting.
Subscribe to the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed
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Speaker 3 (05:14):
I think an.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Overall theme of this quarterback class to me that jumped
out watching all these rookies really from Thursday and Friday
on was athleticism meets arm strength. You know we saw
a couple of years ago just because a bunch of
guys get drafted high does not mean they're gonna be good. Right,
Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Mac Jones, justin fields, all on
(05:36):
different teams, going into their fourth season, all on different teams,
and the highest draft pick that any of them got
traded for was Trey Lance because the Cowboys. One, Jerry's
a little crazy, and two they got two years of
them on his rookie contract and he's a third string quarterback.
So just because you're drafted high, we've seen forever in football,
(05:57):
it does not mean you're gonna be good. For every
time there's an Andrew Luck or a Peyton Manning that
immediately starts in as good. I guess Peyton wasn't immediately,
but you know what I mean, there are a lot
of guys that are disasters and it's just a train wreck.
And then we see all the time guys drafted after
the first round, in the third round, in the fourth round,
the Cousins, the Russell Wilson's, the Dak Prescott's. A couple
(06:18):
of years ago we saw Brock Perdy, last pick in
the draft, become a starter who's winning playoff games. So
you never know until the true live bullets start flying.
But this matters for building confidence and really evaluating your skills, Right,
how do you move? How's your arm strength? How's your accuracy?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And I watching this class, and obviously this class based
on resume alone was dramatically better than the class that
I mentioned that all failed. But they got a chance
to be pretty impressive. I mean they really do. Obviously
there's a headliner, right, you go to the best concert ever,
there's still an opening act. They're still an act playing
(07:01):
like when you show up at four o'clock when the
place has got a quarter of the people in the venue.
Doesn't mean they're not good, and it doesn't mean one
day they won't be headlining. So clearly the headliner is
Caleb Williams. And as we talked about last week, this
building hype on Jaden Daniels like he's in a different class.
He would be a headliner of his own. And then
(07:24):
there's a bunch of other guys that are hard not
to be excited about. So I'm not trying to overreact,
but watching these guys, it's hard not to be bullish
on the group. Not saying three of the six of
them are going to the Hall of Fame, but they
all got skills that translate to playing in the NFL. Now,
the thing that we will not be able to know
until the games start is how you handle game plans.
(07:48):
Right when you go into a specific team and they
have game plan looks, and then the longer you play,
they pick your weaknesses and they force you into those weaknesses.
That's not happening right now. Most of these teams are
just even if they're running blitzes or different looks, it's
just stuff that they want to be comfortable doing, not
because they think you're gonna struggle with it. Maybe there's
(08:09):
a coach here or there that's like truly doing some
sneaky game planning. But for the most part, especially this
first preseason game, it's much more focused on all the
stuff we've installed in spring and these first I don't
know day's training camp has been going can my guys,
the second and third stringers handle that information and then
execute that information and then when shit goes wrong, figure
(08:32):
it out on the fly. So it's basically you're judging
more on the skill set than like how you are
against different defenses. Obviously, like I said, the headliner Caleb Williams,
there was no disputing coming into the league the skill
set he had like his I would say his only knock,
I'd say had two knocks. Hero Ball was one. But
(08:54):
it's like, guys that Lincoln Riley did one of the
worst coaching jobs in roster building you'll ever see last year.
That team that he rolled out was an embarrassment and
that offensive line for a school like USC they should
be ashamed, and trust me, they were. It's why Colin
brings up a lot. They've had rumblings like is he
on the hot seat? And listen, he's on the hot
set because they're giving him a hundred and twenty million dollars.
(09:15):
But you keep winning seven games when you got guys
like Caleb Williams, like, we got a fucking problem.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
There's no way around it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And part of the reason the dude was running around
for his life is because they couldn't block a soul.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I mean, they were atrocious.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So he felt extra pressure to try to make a
bunch of stuff happen. And he actually has the skill
set to do that. When you watch them in the
game yesterday, his arm strength is I mean elite, I
mean it is top notch NFL level, and when you
have a top notch and listen, a lot of people
push back like arm strengths not everything, and that's true.
(09:48):
But when you are a good player and you have
a great arm, like the sky's the limit. Patrick Mahomes,
Brett Fahr, Tom Brady had a big time arm right,
So that translates the other thing to inclement weather. Well,
where does he play the Windy City? Last time I checked,
it can be awful weather late in the year in Chicago. Also,
(10:11):
who's gonna be one of his big rivalries? Green Bay?
Last time I checked, pretty cold there in November and December.
So his arm strength is pretty special. His playmaking ability
and when I say playmaking, I don't necessarily mean running
down the field, though he can run. I mean running
behind the line of scrimmage to throw. That's what obviously
(10:32):
Patrick Mahomes early on in his career was as big
as Wow, what Josh Allen has turned into.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Holy hell.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Justin Herbert had a throw either last year or a
couple of years ago that I think Daniel Jeremiah said
the best throw he's ever seen in person, throwing on
the move, whether that's bombs or fifteen to twenty yards
to first down on THIRDDAP. It's what Russell Wilson in
his heyday did all the time. Scramble to throw. That
means move out of the pocket, keep your eyes up
(10:59):
to make a play, and sometimes you do that. The
play that he threw to Comet, which is just elite
NFL stuff, clearly the first read on that play was
not there and there was someone in his face, so
he kind of had to add lib. And when you
have to add lib, it's the knock on guys like
Cousins and golf like they don't have that capability because
(11:19):
they can't move. Rogers built a Hall of Fame career
off moving right and moving left and making elite throats.
And the throw that he made to Comet was just
I was watching on the couch live. It was jaw dropping,
it really was. But like I got news for you,
we kind of knew he had that, so it's not
really shocking. It's eye opening because NFL, and he's wearing
(11:43):
a Bears jersey, not USC or Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
But I've seen him do that before.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So I would expect him to have those capabilities. But
part of being a playmaker isn't just throwing a hundred
mile an hour strikes. It's also doing what he did
on the little dump off, like almost like a little
layup or a push shot in the NBA to DeAndre
Swift that led to a huge game. And one thing
we don't talk about enough when we discuss quarterbacks that
(12:09):
we do this all the time with DB's instincts, Like
do you have the instincts to feel the ball when
you're not looking? Because the wide receivers looking back at
the quarterback and the ball you are chasing him and
ideally you turn your head around at the last second,
either to make a pick or to break up the ball.
I was actually in the car on Saturday driving to
(12:31):
the golf course and I had on Sirious and I
was flipping the channels and Dan Patrick that they were
just replaying interviews and he had on JJ Watt and
you know, Dan, great interview. They're bullshitting and JJ's like,
you know, the position that I have the most respect
for in football and is the hardest to play is
defensive back, because one, you need to have elite athleticism
(12:51):
and two of these like god given instincts maybe you've
built in your younger career, but you don't develop them
once you get to the pros. I think there's an
element to that with playing quarterback. It's why a lot
of guys get overwhelmed, right because their quarterback instincts aren't natural.
And there's something when you watch Caleb player, you're like, God,
he's kind of born to do this. And he's not
(13:14):
the tallest guy, so ad libbing is gonna be part
of his game. I mean, he can throw within the
pocket no problem, and he did. I think his first
throw of the game, or maybe it was a third
down throw on the first series, just was a strike from.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Within the pocket.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But like, he's gonna make a lot of plays moving
around and he's pretty natural at it, and that's going
to be a huge plus. Like, obviously I can imagine
the overreaction in Chicago, but here's a fact, this guy.
Like the jump they're gonna have from the last couple
of years to this guy when it comes to throwing
the football is a grand Canyon wide gap. It really is,
(13:52):
and it's not hard to be really excited. And then
there are little things like when he's scrambling for a
first down. They showed it on hard knocks, got the
slip and slide out and he slid, like it's kind
of gonna be important because he's gonna have the chance
probably every game two or three times, third and night,
second and nine scramble get a first down. But when
(14:13):
you're not able to get out of bounds and it's
inside the numbers, they're gonna be defenders around there. And
let's face it, this isn't Creig Williams bounties, but defenders
are never able to hit quarterbacks ever, beside preseason games
where a lot of starters don't play, so it's only
the regular season. And because of the hype around this guy,
I don't care what business you're in. When there's a
(14:33):
young guy with a bunch of hype, there's resentment. There's
people coming after you. That's part of the deal. And
people are gonna be out to hit this guy and
hit him hard, so especially because I mean, if you
hit this guy and ko them out of the game,
they're backup quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
The dude went to Shepherd College, So you gotta get down.
These guys are gonna be gunning for you. And he slid,
and that's gonna be something like they joked about in
The Hard Knocks. But that's gonna be important because I
don't think it's hyperbolic to say that if they do
a good enough job building around this guy the next.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Two or three years.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I mean their team's pretty good right now, but like,
truly nail some stuff like this can be a Super
Bowl contender. Like he has that type physical gifts right,
and he's much more ready to play. And I'm not
saying he's gonna become Patrick Mahomes. He's got a long
way to go. And I saw they ask him it's
quarterbacks and he didn't even name Mahomes as one of
the best two quarterbacks. So Shady McCoy was saying, there's
(15:30):
something I don't know, but like, this guy's got a.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
He's oozing with ability.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I mean, it's it's eye opening to watch. So Chicago
fans be excited, because you should be. Now I would
temper it. This year I saw, you know, some Beeple
are picking up like it. I still think ten wins
is probably a little bit of a stretch.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
I mean, you get a guy with this much look
at Andrew Luck his rookie season, what he did. Do
you know the Colts got him in the playoffs had
him in the first round. The else Jayden Daniels. We
talked about this earlier last week. The hype on this
guy is growing by the day. It is I don't remember.
I guess Joe Burrow, probably since Joe Burrow such a
(16:14):
quick rise to just to a status, right, and Burrow
did it.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Burroll accomplished more in college in the sense of his
team won the whole thing and they really kind of
beat the crap out of everyone. Jaden had a national
championship level offense. His defense was a joke and Brian
Kelly had to fire him. But I'm always I get
nervous sometimes, Like if you watch Caleb last year, I
don't even know who he's really playing with. Jerry Rice's kid,
(16:42):
who's like a mid round guy who's gonna be like
a fourth or fifth wide receiver for the Chargers. Jade's
playing with Molik Neighbors, who, if he stays healthy, is
going to be a star in the NFL. Playing with
another wide receiver against draft in the top twenty five
of the NFL draft, and you're just like, you know,
sometimes we've seen that happen to Mac Jones, right gets
to start for the year Boom, and it was like,
obviously Jaden has a lot more talent than Mac Jones.
(17:05):
But the one thing you saw in college, whether it's
Malie Neighbors or me or you, his deep ball accuracy
is elite, Like he puts it right on guy's hands
on that go rap, and he did it in this game,
just right on the guy's hands while he's being draped
by a corner. So that ability to push the ball
down the field accurately is something really really important because
(17:28):
I think a lot of quarterbacks, whether they have a
good arm or an average arm, regardless, just get it.
It's a lower percentage throw, so they are much more
inclined like, ah, should I try to fit this in.
I don't hit this fifty percent of the time, I'll
take the checkdown or whatever. Well, his confidence level on
that throw is really high because he's been hitting it
pretty consistently. Now hit it in this game, in the
(17:51):
preseason game, but he hit it all last year. So
in his mind he thinks he's completing that ball, and
most of the time it is hitting the guy, not
like where he has to go up and high point.
He's like hitting the guy in strip. So it's a weapon.
It's a major weapon. Now, the one thing you see
when you watch him play is he's thin. He looks
(18:12):
really thin out there. But his his accuracy, his poise.
He scored an easy running touchdown that that's gonna translate.
But back to Caleb, and we've talked about this just
over and over. When it comes to Jaden, the question
is gonna be in these regular season games when he
scrambles and can't get out of bounds, can he slide?
(18:34):
Can he avoid hits?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Because we'll get to J. J. McCarthy JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Trying to take on a couple of defenders like that
cannot happen. We're not trying to prove toughness here. If
you're playing in the NFL, we assume you're gonna be
tough and you don't need to prove it by trying
to run over defenders at.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
The quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Because your classical breaks, you bruise an elbow or break
a hand, you get concussed, you are a problem for
your team. Your liability is you running and not being
able to avoid contact because the NFL has protected you
as long as you slide. But if you do not,
because even if that penalty happens, who gives a shit
(19:11):
if you're in the blue tent. So that that's just
something that he has to be very conscious of because
they're gonna run him.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
As they should.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Now he had a walk in touchdown, but like they're
gonna have running plays where it's not in the red zone.
But from a passing standpoint, I wouldn't put his physical
gifts quite with Caleb, but holy moly, he's He's a
very very intriguing player. And I've been saying this over
and over. If you tell me right now, like he's
(19:39):
competing to be the offensive Rookie of Year. Yeah, this
team can win eight nine games.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
It's just that simple.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
A long way to go.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
I'm not acting.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I wouldn't put my money on that yet, but he
definitely has the physical capabilities to do it. I truly
they'll think that that questioning like will he slide, which
we won't really know to the Bulltzer flying come September.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Because he will get injured. He just just look.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
At his body frame. I mean, even when you watch Caleb,
while he's shorter, he just feels much thicker. And that's
a big deal. Like Kyler has that Kyler's built like
a little tank. Russell had that when he got kind
of fatter in Denver, but I'm talking about peak Russell.
Early on, Russell was just kind of a little chiseled guy.
And you know, Jaden looks like what I dream about,
(20:28):
being just slim, just just thin. Drake May honestly not
even sure what to say. He had three pass attempts.
Hard to even judge him. They played Bailey Zappi a lot,
and I was thinking, maybe they obviously they're Drake May
made the team, Jacoby's making the team. They seem pretty
(20:49):
high on Joe Milton from Tennessee. Maybe what they're hoping
to do is make Bailey Zappi look decent in preseason.
Someone has an injury and maybe you can trade him
for like a seventh round pick for the team that
needs a backup. But I don't quite understand not playing
him more.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I just I went back to watch the plays and
I saw that he played three snaps or I mean
three pass attempts. So I don't know what to say there. Listen,
I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy. I don't
know Belichick, so I'm not up here, you know, trying
to cover up for everything that happened with him over
the last couple of years. But I don't know anyone
(21:25):
in the NFL who is not shortening.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
This franchise right now.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
And it's not because brand and I. You didn't want
to go there. Of course, Brandon I, you didn't want
to go there.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
The team sucks, So.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Even if he got you know, a ton of money,
his production would be terrible.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Everyone would talk shit. It would be a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I don't even judge him for that, right, Like part
of the reason that they weren't just randomly getting guys
to take discounts forever, it was because of Tom Brady
and winning Super Bowls. So when you suck, people are
less inclined.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
To go there if they have options.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Now, technically you could argue brand you doesn't have that
many options because the forty nine ers only read to
trade him two places.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
He said no to both.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
But I'm not as critical of that. He's from Reno,
Sacramento play today issue. I wouldn't want to play in
New England either. Michael Pennix, I will I think we
(22:22):
can do two things. One go glass half full and
one go glass half empty on just the overall situation,
I will reiterate what I said. It doesn't make sense
to draft him if you plan on having Cousins be your.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Quarterback for the next two or three years.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
He's a twenty four year old, ready made player. Doesn't
mean he's gonna be perfect, but he's ready to start
right now. He is not a guy that you know.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
This isn't j J. McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
This isn't Drake May, who just is some project Mahomes
years ago, Like we Jordan Love. There are projects, dude,
Like if they had to start right away, you never
know what Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
I doubt he would have been that bad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But Jordan Love clearly needed some time, needed some work.
Drake May everyone viewed like, ideally, just give the guy
a here. Pennix is ready to roll. I mean, he's
been in college for six years. His game immediately translates.
So it doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The way it all played out.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I think if you could have a redo of everything,
the Raiders would have signed Kirk Cousins, the Falcons would
have signed Christian Wilkins, and the Raiders would now have
a quarterback. Michael Pennix would now be their starter with
an improved defensive line. But that's not the way it happened.
So if you wanted to go glass half full and
just live in the short term, you could argue they have,
(23:42):
if not the best backup quarterback, one of the best
backup quarterbacks in the NFL. There is probably not a
backup quarterback just I mean, I watched a lot of
preseason like who I would take over Michael Pennix, So
that's a good spot to be. And the problem is
not like Cousins under a one year contract, it could
get complicated, and it could get complic fast. If Pennix ends
up playing, that means Cousins either got injured or he's
(24:04):
not playing well, and then his contract is not.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Easy to trade.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
You could argue it's always somewhat easy to trade because
teams need quarterbacks. But let's just live in the present
because he's not gonna be to start.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Kirk Cousins is.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I watched Michael Penix, and to me, he looks exactly
like the guy he did at Washington, Unlike Jaden and Caleb,
who used their athleticism more, who kind of liked to scramble,
liked to move, Penix while his forty time at the
Combine was excellent. He's really more like plays like a
Jared Goff, you know, plays.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Like a true pocket quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
And he wants to sit in there. He wants to
go one, two to three and just fucking get rid
of the ball. He missed a couple passes which I
was watching on mute, so I don't even know who
was in the game, how much timing and rhythm, Like
I'm not judging him on like overthrowing a sideline route,
which he has proven time and time again to be
(24:59):
accurate with. But to me, like, I think what he
does well, throw within the pocket, get rid of the
ball fast. He's got a good arm, He's accurate. He's
a very rhythm based guy. Like once he gets a
couple of completions, you just feel him rolling because he's
not looking to scramble around. He wants to sit there,
three four wide, let me pick you apart. And there
(25:20):
are some throws like this is what the kid look
like in Washington.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And I the thing that pisses me.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Off because I like him so much as a player,
I just wish he could start. I just wish he
could play, but he can't because kirk Cousins. They gave
him all that money, but yeah, man, he's just a
very comfortable guy sitting in the pocket and some of
these scramblers just naturally if you're Jaden or Caleb, Like,
if something's not there right away, I'm kind of looking
to move because I'm so comfortable throwing on the move.
(25:49):
That's just not Pennis's deal. Like he wants to sit
there and he wants to find an open guy and
get rid of the ball within that little two three
yard radius of his tackles. That's the way he plays.
And he's really kind of old school, Like you don't
see that many quarterbacks. I mean, look at all these guys.
Caleb Mover, Jaden Mover, J J. McCarthy can move around
(26:10):
bo Nicks obviously an athletic move around guy.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
That's just not Pennix's deal.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Despite the times, So like I don't nitpick guys in
the first preseason action for a misthrow an air mail,
It's like, is this what it's supposed to look like?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Are you calm?
Speaker 1 (26:27):
You have a good pocket presence? Like, obviously if a
guy's wide open, can you hit him? Like the first
throw I think from Jaden was a screen pass and
he just airmailed them.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's like, yeah, this first ever time.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Playing an NFL game, he's amped up.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
It's like a golfer.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
You actually gotta be calm, but you got to balance
like being excited but being under control. So it's like, yeah,
it happens, Like what am I sposed to do? Negative
I'm not running the quarterback meeting.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
It's like, yeah, I like what I see. It's on
the coaches to figure this thing out.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
And like I said, I I think if you do,
if Cousins struggles gets injured, they will be able to
be like, see see what we did we had this
guy backing him up. I would say, yeah, see that
all that money you invested in the guy, you could
have just gone with this guy who no one was
gonna draft in the top eight beside you, which I'll
give you credit for, and utilize that money other spots.
(27:20):
I don't know, on your defensive line.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Which doesn't scare a soul, So.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I'd be excited the guy can sling it. There's something
just puts you at ease watching the lefty who can
just throw darts. I just like Michael Pennix, I have
a lot of friends in the NFL. They have Super
Bowl rings that you know are on playoff level teams
that aren't that big of fans. Maybe I'm biased because
I've watched him play so much the last couple of years,
but I saw nothing in his preseason action that would
(27:50):
make me change my approach thinking. I don't know if
he's best case scenario, Like, I don't see him being
a top five quarterback, but I saw Kirk Cousins become
a guy who became really good in the NFL. So
Jared Goff become a guy became really good in the NFL.
Dak Prescott, all these guys games are a little different
than each other, but let's just use Cousins in Goff,
(28:10):
who are pocket quarterbacks. Well, this guy has more athleticism
than them, and it's just as comfortable throwing the football.
So if Jared Goff can be a high level player
in the NFL, Michael Pennis canto, I mean, Jared Goff
is JJ McCarthy. I think the shitty thing about a
spot like this is you have this team that is
(28:32):
kind of going through a transition, right, but they're still
like the GM and the head coach expect to win.
So you signed Sam Darnold, who I didn't watch the game,
but it' saw on Twitter or whatever people say he
played well. Kevin O'Connell's already announced he's going to be
the starter. It's like JJ's this big project. Well, to me,
Drake may is a much bigger project than JJ McCarthy
(28:56):
because the knock on JJ's it didn't have to do much.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yeah, the running game work. I saw when he had
to make big throws against a team called Alabama down
late in the game. He came through and you watch
this game, he threw a terrible pick and like I said,
with a misthrow, like throw.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
A pick in preseason, what do I just do? Fucking
cut the guy? It was awful. Can't do it.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But the only way to get better, and this is
what's hard once the regular season starts and you're not
the starting quarterback is through playing and through reps. And
when you're the backup quarterback, you don't rep it out
in practice. You run the scout team. Typically the team
can I guess manipulate it a little bit with a
(29:37):
you know, if now they have the third string quarterback
who's eligible, he can be on a practice squad, but
still your starting quarterback is getting the reps with the
ones during practice. You don't have enough reps to go round.
Michael Lombardi says this all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's a math equation.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
You only have so much time to divvy up, and
your starter is gonna get it all and early on
in this season, let's face.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
It, this team is going to try to be competitive now.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I think when you watch this guy play one a
lot is what you saw in Michigan athleticism, arm strength.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Honestly, he showed.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Some really good pocket presence, moving up in the pocket,
throwing accurately, Like clearly his first Reid wasn't open, getting
some heat on the corners, kind of steps up, made
a great throw through a touchdown pass. Guy was kind
of wide open, but still like he's got the arm.
There was a reason Harbaugh loved this guy three years
ago when he showed up to campus. There is a
lot to work with there, and I think if I
(30:31):
was a Vikings fan, I always kind of hate Like
at the time they drafted Mahomes and he was gonna
red shirt the year. Alex had been there a long time,
Like he was an entrench player, so even if he
thought he was flawed. At least if you're a Chiefs
fan like Listen, we've been winning double digit games. This
guy's been leading us to the playoffs. We were a
joke before him and Andy showed up. I respect him.
(30:54):
I do understand if you're a Vikings fan like Sam Donald,
and listen, even if you are bullsh on Sam Donald's like,
I gotta watch a one year bridge quarterback. Can't we
just start this guy? It's never been easier in the
sense of your quarterback is more protected than ever, your
wide receivers are more protected than ever. So if he
doesn't know the playbook or something like that, I get it.
Not throwing him out to the wolves, But I've never
(31:16):
heard that football acumen and understanding, you know, in taking
in knowledge and taking it to the field, has ever
been an issue with this guy. So you see enough
his athleticism on full display a lot like the first
two guys. Throwing on the move something he's very comfortable doing.
Just running around and keeping plays alive is something that
he also is comfortable doing. I would imagine if you
(31:39):
started him, he would probably throw some picks, clearly, maybe
more than some of these other guys because he's not
used to just the offense, like Okay, we're gonna throw
it thirty three times.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
This week for three straight weeks.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
It's not something that just the way he's had to play,
but the strength of their team with you know, having
the best wide receiver in the league, Jordan Addison. I'm
sure gets suspended, but when he comes back, I mean,
that's pretty damn good one two combination. I don't know
why you can't just seize him in, but they're not
gonna do that.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
And that's just I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I just I'm never a believer, like I get the
Penix thing. The Penix thing is he's playing. He's simply
not playing because we gave another guy one hundred million dollars.
I have a harder time when it's like, well, we
gave this guy ten million dollars, And I'm bullish on
Sam Donald. I like Sam Donald on my team, probably
as a backup, but ten million dollars, like he can't
(32:32):
start over the first round quarterback and listen, he's gonna
need work.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You saw.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I would say he made the worst throw of all
these guys on the pick, I mean, hit the dude
on the raiders kind of in stride who undercut the route.
But man, there's a lot to like. This is how
calm he is.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
That's the other thing.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Like you watch Penix, he's just very calm sitting there,
He's not. You can always tell a guy in the
NFL in preseason some of these younger.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Guys who just get really fidgety.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It definitely happens in the regular season when guys get
injured and you got to bring in backup quarterbacks, they
just freak out. And this is why we always say
it's the hardest position in the world to play, because
you got four dudes who now are all two hundred
and fifty to three hundred and fifty pounds. All of
them are athletes. They're all pretty good pass rushers, some
are elite pass rushers. Some of them are all time
pass rushers trying to fuck you up. And the moment
(33:24):
you start kind of as Sam Darnold wants say, seeing
ghosts or question your confidence or feeling overwhelmed, I can't
even imagine that feeling of looking.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
These guys are huge, and you freak out.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
And some guys just have the natural ability to not
freak out and are very calm in the pocket and
maybe it's obviously a different level from the preseason to
the regular season, but.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I'd say JJ McCarthy's.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Debut was was more than positive, even with an awful interception.
Another guy whose debut was really eye opening in a
good way was bo Nix, who I think we can
confidently say Caleb's the starter. Obviously, Jaden's the starter. Obviously
Drake may backup, Pennix backup because of cousins, JJ backup
(34:12):
because the organization wants to.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Take it slow.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Bow Knicks he refused to kind of like, I mean, honestly,
he had him like third on the depth chart. Some
of the stuff Sean Payton's doing little Parcelsian old school like,
which is where Sean Payton got a start. I think
that stuff's kind of stupid. Just named the starter, unless
where I can roll. I give eb Reflues a lot
of credit because the moment Ota starts like this.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Guy's a starter, what's the point.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Hit the ground, run and pedal to the metal. Let's go,
And that's the way it should be with bo Nicks,
and maybe it will be moving forward. Jared Sitdham seems
like a nice guy, have no problem if he's on
my roster.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
But he can't be my starter. And to me, the
thing with bo.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Nicks, everyone questions like, oh, he he just throws quick screens.
He just throws quick streams. I think when you say
that sometimes, especially forever in like the Mike Leech offense
or whatever you do, or even Hawaii's offense, which were
all these hybrid you know, spread it out, a lot
of you know, stuff around the line of scrimmage, a
(35:13):
lot of quick stuff around the uh uh you know.
I would say within the ten yards of the line
of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
It was easy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
It's why a lot of quarterbacks that had below average
arm strength and we're never gonna play in the NFL
could dominate in college football. And then he played I
don't know if you'd consider that the Mike Leech offense,
but in an offense that was very quarterback friendly, and
it kind of hurt him. A lot of people knocked
him on it. And then I'm watching him play going
(35:43):
he's got a really good arm like he has legitimate
arm strength. Like it's I'm not saying he's Josh Allen
or Brett Favre, but he's definitely not. I don't know
Dak Prescott or an Alex Smith, like he has a
strong arm in all all, Sean Payton has reiterated over
and over and everyone that knows him or has followed
(36:04):
his career like he wants a quarterback to get rid
of the ball really quickly. And on the touchdown pass,
that ball hit bo Nicks's hands and was in the
wide receivers, you know, basically right in the corner of
the front of the end zone. Before you could even
snap a finger.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
It was like whoa.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
And it was the ball placement to get rid of
the ball. The arms strength, obviously, he made other throws
on the move. His athleticism like Jayden, like Caleb, like
JJ McCarthy, enormous plus I mean they schemed just a
run play for him that picked up a first down.
They had another kind of busted pass that he scrambled around.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
You just go, holy shit.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
This guy has a lot of talent and there are
a lot of naysayers. It feels like a lot of
people want to hate this guy. I don't know why.
I'm kind of indifferent. I wasn't pro the guy, wasn't
anti the guy I watched him at Oregon thought he
was a solid player. Watched him for the for the
Denver Broncos. I thought his arm strength was even more
eye opening that I ever thought in college. And what
(37:08):
Sean Payton's gonna want them to do? They got all
these big body wide receivers. He can also run a
natural at it, like it's something that comes instinctive to him.
He's not gonna play hero ball. I don't know how
it could have gone much better. I really don't. I mean,
this is what I'm saying this class. I think if
we look back on the class of twenty one, which
(37:29):
is another embarrassment, it really is also understandable. The vid
happened BYU schedule was a joke. Trey Lance didn't play
Mac Jones. Turns out Alabama was like I'll tell the
story one day, but it wasn't a fair fight. And
justin fields and this, you know, the Big Ten wanted
to cancel football. Kevin Warren that loser. So I don't
(37:51):
know what to say. It's not comparable class. This one's
way better. But these guys resumes are a lot longer
in those guys, right, I mean, we got multiple HIGHS
Trophy winners. We got Michael Penicks who dominated college football
for two years. JJ mccarthury, two year starter on one
of the best teams in college football, National Championship, beats
Beats Bam at the Rose Bowl and an incredible come
from behind victory, and Bo Knicks resurrected his career these
(38:14):
last two years on Oregon, who was a top ten program.
You know, I mean, these all these guys were playing
the best of the best and thriving. So you see
their skills, especially Nix McCarthy, Penix, Jaden and Caleb just
on full display like what they did in college. Their
strengths are going to translate. And the only way you
(38:36):
can get comfortable, and some of these guys are gonna
have the capability is to me by playing. The only
people ask me, I'm gonna start a podcast, what can
I do? Start podcasting, Start figuring it out, start doing it.
You're gonna go into sales, start making sales calls, start
making some cold calls, start figuring out how to close
the deal.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Because you can.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You can watch as many Ted talks and YouTube videos,
and you can study in the quarterback room for our
upon hours watching film. But until you're out on the
field against other teams. There's no way to get better
consistently and make big improvements. You can tell me the
mental game, and coaches will push back on this. In
practice bullshit, these practices, no one gets fucking touched. They
(39:16):
know they cannot get touched. Even these uh, even these
joint practices. The defensive lineman is not tackling the quarterback.
There is nothing to replicate that. I saw Sean McVay,
who I gotta give the Rams a lot of credit.
These preseason games, depending on who's playing quarterback, can be
(39:36):
a really tough watch. You don't know half the players,
It's sloppy football penalties. It can be just like why.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Am I doing this?
Speaker 1 (39:43):
And then you go, well, there's nothing really else on
watch and it's football, and I love it, And it's
like you end up watching most of the game. Sean
MCVAYH and I remember them doing this last year. They
might have been doing this for years. They mike him
up during the game, and they miked him up today
and he was awesome, and you go, yeah, I understand
why Amazon offered him fifteen sixteen million dollars a year,
because he would have been very, very entertaining. And the
(40:06):
one thing you have to do in these preseason games
is to try to entertain us through the broadcast. You
could argue it's less important in the regular season because
the game speaks for itself, but in these pre like
you want to keep me, it's easier to keep me,
but you want to keep the average consumer, you better
entertain them. And that was That's something every team in
(40:27):
the league should be doing. Should be micing up their
head coach. And if he's like Sean McVay, and if
he's the offensive play caller when they're on defense, have
him join the broadcast. Who are literally team employees. Who
are team employees, so there's nothing like nothing tough is
gonna be asked. It's going to be a very easy atmosphere.
(40:48):
Sean's cracking jokes, he's talking with that Andrew Whitworth, it
was fantastic. Cannot recommend. I would YouTube type in. Sean
McVay miked up.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
We make fun of Sirianni a lot. Simply what does
he do well on the forty nine ers broadcast with
Greg Papa, I guess he mentioned I didn't have access
to it. I watched the Titans broadcast, which was actually
pretty good, and Greg said, Kyle Shanahan's not calling place.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Clint.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
I think Clint Kubiak's with the Saints. I don't know
what Kubiak. There's a bunch of Kubiaks, but one of
the Kubiaks that's still in the forty nine ers was
Klay Kubiak, I think was calling place. They asked Kyle
after the game, they said, what was it like not
calling plays? And he said He'd never been more bored
in his life. Didn't know what to do with his hands.
(41:41):
Through a challenge flag that he said was like kind
of kept him in the game. And I say it
all the time and listen. Obviously there are CEO head
coaches that thrive at it. John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Dan
Campbell has been very successful. But I can't understand.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Young Cooch that don't do either.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Solid did this immediately when he got to the Jets.
Siriani's incapable. I guess of calling plays they are doing
beside a challenge play and a timeout. No different than
you or me, No different They're just sitting there watching
the game.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Now, you could.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Argue they have the juice to run the ball here,
or let's get Billy out of there. He can't cover
eighty six. Obviously they can do that. But other than that,
they're saying the same things we are.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
What the hell's going on? How can we not make
a tackle? That's all they're doing. Those days are just done.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
And football used to be a ton of CEO head coaches,
and obviously the sport the financial ramifications were different. If
I'm an owner, and the going rate for these coaches,
I mean the Andes, the Kyle's, the mcveigh's, you know,
Belichick and Pete forever, I mean, you're talking fifteen to
twenty million dollars. Unless you have a resume a mile long,
(43:04):
I'm gonna need you dictating one of the sides of
the ball, Like Mike Vrabel's a good example. Mike, if
I'm gonna hire you, I would like you to call defense.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
I want you to be my defensive coordinator as well
as the head coach.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And if we can graduate out of that eventually, okay,
once you prove.
Speaker 3 (43:20):
But if I'm gonna pay you.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
What the going rate and what you're gonna want twelve thirteen,
fourteen to fifteen million dollars, I don't want you just
doing the same thing literally.
Speaker 3 (43:29):
As me up in the box on game day. I
don't think that's too much to ask. I really don't.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
And I think Kyle tongue in cheek by saying he
was bored, he can kind of shed some light, like
at least you know what John Harbaugh does his leadership
and his works. Same with Jim Right and Bill for
a long period of time. It works most of these guys.
When it's not working, it's like.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? I
don't know, man, So fun times in the preseason
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Slash MMA, What.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Is going on? Everybody? How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
John middlecop here three and out podcasts I got. I
went out with Colin like I do every Sunday, talking
a lot of football. What I did on this I
recorded this before I went on, so might be some carryover,
but I just went over all the rookie quarterbacks. I
watched all watch some of them live like Boon, Nicks
(01:55):
and Caleb, but I went before I recorded in. Just
watched all their throws and watched all their play some
of them runs as well. So basically watched their debuts
as NFL players and just gave my thoughts on what
I saw. And obviously overall, I would say this rookie
class has.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
A chance to be pretty darn good.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So last time we saw a bunch of quarterbacks get
drafted high, it clearly did not work out right. Four
of the five guys are on different teams. That's the
twenty twenty one draft. I'm not gonna go out and
act like this is gonna be four of these guys
who can go to Hall of Fame. But these guys
resumes in college speak for themselves, and it looks like
(02:38):
they all got a chance. Definitely some of them got
a chance to be really, really good. So it was
exciting debut for you know, the first rounders, and that's
there were other rookies like Spencer Rattler I didn't watch,
but all the guys drafted, Caleb Jayden Drake who didn't
really play or make many you only threw the ball
(02:58):
three times, Pennix JJ, and Bo Nicks who all played
a lot. So it was really exciting to watch. Honestly,
it was the highlight of the weekend watching the rookie
quarterbacks by a mile. I mean, I don't think there
was a close second, because the pre season can't be difficult,
but it is exciting to watch this crew of guys,
and that's for sure. So that's what today's podcast will be.
(03:19):
No mail bag. I'll do a huge mail bag for
Tuesday show. I got a ton of questions from you guys,
So we will hit on that throughout the week. So
keep firing in the mail bag at John Middlecoff is
the Instagram fire in those dms. And the Olympics is over,
so we got to really lock in on the preseason
now because football is right.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Around the corner.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Less than a month for week one, so it's exciting.
Subscribe to the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed
three and out. Appreciate everyone that has YouTube channel all
of our contents up and let's rock and roll. But
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Speaker 3 (05:14):
I think an.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Overall theme of this quarterback class to me that jumped
out watching all these rookies really from Thursday and Friday
on was athleticism meets arm strength. You know we saw
a couple of years ago just because a bunch of
guys get drafted high does not mean they're gonna be good. Right,
Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Mac Jones, justin fields, all on
(05:36):
different teams, going into their fourth season, all on different teams,
and the highest draft pick that any of them got
traded for was Trey Lance because the Cowboys. One, Jerry's
a little crazy, and two they got two years of
them on his rookie contract and he's a third string quarterback.
So just because you're drafted high, we've seen forever in football,
(05:57):
it does not mean you're gonna be good. For every
time there's an Andrew Luck or a Peyton Manning that
immediately starts in as good. I guess Peyton wasn't immediately,
but you know what I mean, there are a lot
of guys that are disasters and it's just a train wreck.
And then we see all the time guys drafted after
the first round, in the third round, in the fourth round,
the Cousins, the Russell Wilson's, the Dak Prescott's. A couple
(06:18):
of years ago we saw Brock Perdy, last pick in
the draft, become a starter who's winning playoff games. So
you never know until the true live bullets start flying.
But this matters for building confidence and really evaluating your skills, Right,
how do you move? How's your arm strength? How's your accuracy?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And I watching this class, and obviously this class based
on resume alone was dramatically better than the class that
I mentioned that all failed. But they got a chance
to be pretty impressive. I mean they really do. Obviously
there's a headliner, right, you go to the best concert ever,
there's still an opening act. They're still an act playing
(07:01):
like when you show up at four o'clock when the
place has got a quarter of the people in the venue.
Doesn't mean they're not good, and it doesn't mean one
day they won't be headlining. So clearly the headliner is
Caleb Williams. And as we talked about last week, this
building hype on Jaden Daniels like he's in a different class.
He would be a headliner of his own. And then
(07:24):
there's a bunch of other guys that are hard not
to be excited about. So I'm not trying to overreact,
but watching these guys, it's hard not to be bullish
on the group. Not saying three of the six of
them are going to the Hall of Fame, but they
all got skills that translate to playing in the NFL. Now,
the thing that we will not be able to know
until the games start is how you handle game plans.
(07:48):
Right when you go into a specific team and they
have game plan looks, and then the longer you play,
they pick your weaknesses and they force you into those weaknesses.
That's not happening right now. Most of these teams are
just even if they're running blitzes or different looks, it's
just stuff that they want to be comfortable doing, not
because they think you're gonna struggle with it. Maybe there's
(08:09):
a coach here or there that's like truly doing some
sneaky game planning. But for the most part, especially this
first preseason game, it's much more focused on all the
stuff we've installed in spring and these first I don't
know day's training camp has been going can my guys,
the second and third stringers handle that information and then
execute that information and then when shit goes wrong, figure
(08:32):
it out on the fly. So it's basically you're judging
more on the skill set than like how you are
against different defenses. Obviously, like I said, the headliner Caleb Williams,
there was no disputing coming into the league the skill
set he had like his I would say his only knock,
I'd say had two knocks. Hero Ball was one. But
(08:54):
it's like, guys that Lincoln Riley did one of the
worst coaching jobs in roster building you'll ever see last year.
That team that he rolled out was an embarrassment and
that offensive line for a school like USC they should
be ashamed, and trust me, they were. It's why Colin
brings up a lot. They've had rumblings like is he
on the hot seat? And listen, he's on the hot
set because they're giving him a hundred and twenty million dollars.
(09:15):
But you keep winning seven games when you got guys
like Caleb Williams, like, we got a fucking problem.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
There's no way around it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And part of the reason the dude was running around
for his life is because they couldn't block a soul.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I mean, they were atrocious.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So he felt extra pressure to try to make a
bunch of stuff happen. And he actually has the skill
set to do that. When you watch them in the
game yesterday, his arm strength is I mean elite, I
mean it is top notch NFL level, and when you
have a top notch and listen, a lot of people
push back like arm strengths not everything, and that's true.
(09:48):
But when you are a good player and you have
a great arm, like the sky's the limit. Patrick Mahomes,
Brett Fahr, Tom Brady had a big time arm right,
So that translates the other thing to inclement weather. Well,
where does he play the Windy City? Last time I checked,
it can be awful weather late in the year in Chicago. Also,
(10:11):
who's gonna be one of his big rivalries? Green Bay?
Last time I checked, pretty cold there in November and December.
So his arm strength is pretty special. His playmaking ability
and when I say playmaking, I don't necessarily mean running
down the field, though he can run. I mean running
behind the line of scrimmage to throw. That's what obviously
(10:32):
Patrick Mahomes early on in his career was as big
as Wow, what Josh Allen has turned into.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Holy hell.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Justin Herbert had a throw either last year or a
couple of years ago that I think Daniel Jeremiah said
the best throw he's ever seen in person, throwing on
the move, whether that's bombs or fifteen to twenty yards
to first down on THIRDDAP. It's what Russell Wilson in
his heyday did all the time. Scramble to throw. That
means move out of the pocket, keep your eyes up
(10:59):
to make a play, and sometimes you do that. The
play that he threw to Comet, which is just elite
NFL stuff, clearly the first read on that play was
not there and there was someone in his face, so
he kind of had to add lib. And when you
have to add lib, it's the knock on guys like
Cousins and golf like they don't have that capability because
(11:19):
they can't move. Rogers built a Hall of Fame career
off moving right and moving left and making elite throats.
And the throw that he made to Comet was just
I was watching on the couch live. It was jaw dropping,
it really was. But like I got news for you,
we kind of knew he had that, so it's not
really shocking. It's eye opening because NFL, and he's wearing
(11:43):
a Bears jersey, not USC or Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
But I've seen him do that before.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So I would expect him to have those capabilities. But
part of being a playmaker isn't just throwing a hundred
mile an hour strikes. It's also doing what he did
on the little dump off, like almost like a little
layup or a push shot in the NBA to DeAndre
Swift that led to a huge game. And one thing
we don't talk about enough when we discuss quarterbacks that
(12:09):
we do this all the time with DB's instincts, Like
do you have the instincts to feel the ball when
you're not looking? Because the wide receivers looking back at
the quarterback and the ball you are chasing him and
ideally you turn your head around at the last second,
either to make a pick or to break up the ball.
I was actually in the car on Saturday driving to
(12:31):
the golf course and I had on Sirious and I
was flipping the channels and Dan Patrick that they were
just replaying interviews and he had on JJ Watt and
you know, Dan, great interview. They're bullshitting and JJ's like,
you know, the position that I have the most respect
for in football and is the hardest to play is
defensive back, because one, you need to have elite athleticism
(12:51):
and two of these like god given instincts maybe you've
built in your younger career, but you don't develop them
once you get to the pros. I think there's an
element to that with playing quarterback. It's why a lot
of guys get overwhelmed, right because their quarterback instincts aren't natural.
And there's something when you watch Caleb player, you're like, God,
he's kind of born to do this. And he's not
(13:14):
the tallest guy, so ad libbing is gonna be part
of his game. I mean, he can throw within the
pocket no problem, and he did. I think his first
throw of the game, or maybe it was a third
down throw on the first series, just was a strike from.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Within the pocket.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But like, he's gonna make a lot of plays moving
around and he's pretty natural at it, and that's going
to be a huge plus. Like, obviously I can imagine
the overreaction in Chicago, but here's a fact, this guy.
Like the jump they're gonna have from the last couple
of years to this guy when it comes to throwing
the football is a grand Canyon wide gap. It really is,
(13:52):
and it's not hard to be really excited. And then
there are little things like when he's scrambling for a
first down. They showed it on hard knocks, got the
slip and slide out and he slid, like it's kind
of gonna be important because he's gonna have the chance
probably every game two or three times, third and night,
second and nine scramble get a first down. But when
(14:13):
you're not able to get out of bounds and it's
inside the numbers, they're gonna be defenders around there. And
let's face it, this isn't Creig Williams bounties, but defenders
are never able to hit quarterbacks ever, beside preseason games
where a lot of starters don't play, so it's only
the regular season. And because of the hype around this guy,
I don't care what business you're in. When there's a
(14:33):
young guy with a bunch of hype, there's resentment. There's
people coming after you. That's part of the deal. And
people are gonna be out to hit this guy and
hit him hard, so especially because I mean, if you
hit this guy and ko them out of the game,
they're backup quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
The dude went to Shepherd College, So you gotta get down.
These guys are gonna be gunning for you. And he slid,
and that's gonna be something like they joked about in
The Hard Knocks. But that's gonna be important because I
don't think it's hyperbolic to say that if they do
a good enough job building around this guy the next.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Two or three years.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I mean their team's pretty good right now, but like,
truly nail some stuff like this can be a Super
Bowl contender. Like he has that type physical gifts right,
and he's much more ready to play. And I'm not
saying he's gonna become Patrick Mahomes. He's got a long
way to go. And I saw they ask him it's
quarterbacks and he didn't even name Mahomes as one of
the best two quarterbacks. So Shady McCoy was saying, there's
(15:30):
something I don't know, but like, this guy's got a.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
He's oozing with ability.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I mean, it's it's eye opening to watch. So Chicago
fans be excited, because you should be. Now I would
temper it. This year I saw, you know, some Beeple
are picking up like it. I still think ten wins
is probably a little bit of a stretch.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
I mean, you get a guy with this much look
at Andrew Luck his rookie season, what he did. Do
you know the Colts got him in the playoffs had
him in the first round. The else Jayden Daniels. We
talked about this earlier last week. The hype on this
guy is growing by the day. It is I don't remember.
I guess Joe Burrow, probably since Joe Burrow such a
(16:14):
quick rise to just to a status, right, and Burrow
did it.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Burroll accomplished more in college in the sense of his
team won the whole thing and they really kind of
beat the crap out of everyone. Jaden had a national
championship level offense. His defense was a joke and Brian
Kelly had to fire him. But I'm always I get
nervous sometimes, Like if you watch Caleb last year, I
don't even know who he's really playing with. Jerry Rice's kid,
(16:42):
who's like a mid round guy who's gonna be like
a fourth or fifth wide receiver for the Chargers. Jade's
playing with Molik Neighbors, who, if he stays healthy, is
going to be a star in the NFL. Playing with
another wide receiver against draft in the top twenty five
of the NFL draft, and you're just like, you know,
sometimes we've seen that happen to Mac Jones, right gets
to start for the year Boom, and it was like,
obviously Jaden has a lot more talent than Mac Jones.
(17:05):
But the one thing you saw in college, whether it's
Malie Neighbors or me or you, his deep ball accuracy
is elite, Like he puts it right on guy's hands
on that go rap, and he did it in this game,
just right on the guy's hands while he's being draped
by a corner. So that ability to push the ball
down the field accurately is something really really important because
(17:28):
I think a lot of quarterbacks, whether they have a
good arm or an average arm, regardless, just get it.
It's a lower percentage throw, so they are much more
inclined like, ah, should I try to fit this in.
I don't hit this fifty percent of the time, I'll
take the checkdown or whatever. Well, his confidence level on
that throw is really high because he's been hitting it
pretty consistently. Now hit it in this game, in the
(17:51):
preseason game, but he hit it all last year. So
in his mind he thinks he's completing that ball, and
most of the time it is hitting the guy, not
like where he has to go up and high point.
He's like hitting the guy in strip. So it's a weapon.
It's a major weapon. Now, the one thing you see
when you watch him play is he's thin. He looks
(18:12):
really thin out there. But his his accuracy, his poise.
He scored an easy running touchdown that that's gonna translate.
But back to Caleb, and we've talked about this just
over and over. When it comes to Jaden, the question
is gonna be in these regular season games when he
scrambles and can't get out of bounds, can he slide?
(18:34):
Can he avoid hits?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Because we'll get to J. J. McCarthy JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Trying to take on a couple of defenders like that
cannot happen. We're not trying to prove toughness here. If
you're playing in the NFL, we assume you're gonna be
tough and you don't need to prove it by trying
to run over defenders at.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
The quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Because your classical breaks, you bruise an elbow or break
a hand, you get concussed, you are a problem for
your team. Your liability is you running and not being
able to avoid contact because the NFL has protected you
as long as you slide. But if you do not,
because even if that penalty happens, who gives a shit
(19:11):
if you're in the blue tent. So that that's just
something that he has to be very conscious of because
they're gonna run him.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
As they should.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Now he had a walk in touchdown, but like they're
gonna have running plays where it's not in the red zone.
But from a passing standpoint, I wouldn't put his physical
gifts quite with Caleb, but holy moly, he's He's a
very very intriguing player. And I've been saying this over
and over. If you tell me right now, like he's
(19:39):
competing to be the offensive Rookie of Year. Yeah, this
team can win eight nine games.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
It's just that simple.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
A long way to go.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
I'm not acting.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I wouldn't put my money on that yet, but he
definitely has the physical capabilities to do it. I truly
they'll think that that questioning like will he slide, which
we won't really know to the Bulltzer flying come September.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Because he will get injured. He just just look.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
At his body frame. I mean, even when you watch Caleb,
while he's shorter, he just feels much thicker. And that's
a big deal. Like Kyler has that Kyler's built like
a little tank. Russell had that when he got kind
of fatter in Denver, but I'm talking about peak Russell.
Early on, Russell was just kind of a little chiseled guy.
And you know, Jaden looks like what I dream about,
(20:28):
being just slim, just just thin. Drake May honestly not
even sure what to say. He had three pass attempts.
Hard to even judge him. They played Bailey Zappi a lot,
and I was thinking, maybe they obviously they're Drake May
made the team, Jacoby's making the team. They seem pretty
(20:49):
high on Joe Milton from Tennessee. Maybe what they're hoping
to do is make Bailey Zappi look decent in preseason.
Someone has an injury and maybe you can trade him
for like a seventh round pick for the team that
needs a backup. But I don't quite understand not playing
him more.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I just I went back to watch the plays and
I saw that he played three snaps or I mean
three pass attempts. So I don't know what to say there. Listen,
I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy. I don't
know Belichick, so I'm not up here, you know, trying
to cover up for everything that happened with him over
the last couple of years. But I don't know anyone
(21:25):
in the NFL who is not shortening.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
This franchise right now.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
And it's not because brand and I. You didn't want
to go there. Of course, Brandon I, you didn't want
to go there.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
The team sucks, So.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Even if he got you know, a ton of money,
his production would be terrible.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Everyone would talk shit. It would be a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I don't even judge him for that, right, Like part
of the reason that they weren't just randomly getting guys
to take discounts forever, it was because of Tom Brady
and winning Super Bowls. So when you suck, people are
less inclined.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
To go there if they have options.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Now, technically you could argue brand you doesn't have that
many options because the forty nine ers only read to
trade him two places.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
He said no to both.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
But I'm not as critical of that. He's from Reno,
Sacramento play today issue. I wouldn't want to play in
New England either. Michael Pennix, I will I think we
(22:22):
can do two things. One go glass half full and
one go glass half empty on just the overall situation,
I will reiterate what I said. It doesn't make sense
to draft him if you plan on having Cousins be your.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Quarterback for the next two or three years.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
He's a twenty four year old, ready made player. Doesn't
mean he's gonna be perfect, but he's ready to start
right now. He is not a guy that you know.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
This isn't j J. McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
This isn't Drake May, who just is some project Mahomes
years ago, Like we Jordan Love. There are projects, dude,
Like if they had to start right away, you never
know what Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
I doubt he would have been that bad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But Jordan Love clearly needed some time, needed some work.
Drake May everyone viewed like, ideally, just give the guy
a here. Pennix is ready to roll. I mean, he's
been in college for six years. His game immediately translates.
So it doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The way it all played out.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I think if you could have a redo of everything,
the Raiders would have signed Kirk Cousins, the Falcons would
have signed Christian Wilkins, and the Raiders would now have
a quarterback. Michael Pennix would now be their starter with
an improved defensive line. But that's not the way it happened.
So if you wanted to go glass half full and
just live in the short term, you could argue they have,
(23:42):
if not the best backup quarterback, one of the best
backup quarterbacks in the NFL. There is probably not a
backup quarterback just I mean, I watched a lot of
preseason like who I would take over Michael Pennix, So
that's a good spot to be. And the problem is
not like Cousins under a one year contract, it could
get complicated, and it could get complic fast. If Pennix ends
up playing, that means Cousins either got injured or he's
(24:04):
not playing well, and then his contract is not.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Easy to trade.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
You could argue it's always somewhat easy to trade because
teams need quarterbacks. But let's just live in the present
because he's not gonna be to start.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Kirk Cousins is.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I watched Michael Penix, and to me, he looks exactly
like the guy he did at Washington, Unlike Jaden and Caleb,
who used their athleticism more, who kind of liked to scramble,
liked to move, Penix while his forty time at the
Combine was excellent. He's really more like plays like a
Jared Goff, you know, plays.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Like a true pocket quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
And he wants to sit in there. He wants to
go one, two to three and just fucking get rid
of the ball. He missed a couple passes which I
was watching on mute, so I don't even know who
was in the game, how much timing and rhythm, Like
I'm not judging him on like overthrowing a sideline route,
which he has proven time and time again to be
(24:59):
accurate with. But to me, like, I think what he
does well, throw within the pocket, get rid of the
ball fast. He's got a good arm, He's accurate. He's
a very rhythm based guy. Like once he gets a
couple of completions, you just feel him rolling because he's
not looking to scramble around. He wants to sit there,
three four wide, let me pick you apart. And there
(25:20):
are some throws like this is what the kid look
like in Washington.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And I the thing that pisses me.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Off because I like him so much as a player,
I just wish he could start. I just wish he
could play, but he can't because kirk Cousins. They gave
him all that money, but yeah, man, he's just a
very comfortable guy sitting in the pocket and some of
these scramblers just naturally if you're Jaden or Caleb, Like,
if something's not there right away, I'm kind of looking
to move because I'm so comfortable throwing on the move.
(25:49):
That's just not Pennis's deal. Like he wants to sit
there and he wants to find an open guy and
get rid of the ball within that little two three
yard radius of his tackles. That's the way he plays.
And he's really kind of old school, Like you don't
see that many quarterbacks. I mean, look at all these guys.
Caleb Mover, Jaden Mover, J J. McCarthy can move around
(26:10):
bo Nicks obviously an athletic move around guy.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
That's just not Pennix's deal.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Despite the times, So like I don't nitpick guys in
the first preseason action for a misthrow an air mail,
It's like, is this what it's supposed to look like?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Are you calm?
Speaker 1 (26:27):
You have a good pocket presence? Like, obviously if a
guy's wide open, can you hit him? Like the first
throw I think from Jaden was a screen pass and
he just airmailed them.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's like, yeah, this first ever time.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Playing an NFL game, he's amped up.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
It's like a golfer.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
You actually gotta be calm, but you got to balance
like being excited but being under control. So it's like, yeah,
it happens, Like what am I sposed to do? Negative
I'm not running the quarterback meeting.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
It's like, yeah, I like what I see. It's on
the coaches to figure this thing out.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
And like I said, I I think if you do,
if Cousins struggles gets injured, they will be able to
be like, see see what we did we had this
guy backing him up. I would say, yeah, see that
all that money you invested in the guy, you could
have just gone with this guy who no one was
gonna draft in the top eight beside you, which I'll
give you credit for, and utilize that money other spots.
(27:20):
I don't know, on your defensive line.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Which doesn't scare a soul, So.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I'd be excited the guy can sling it. There's something
just puts you at ease watching the lefty who can
just throw darts. I just like Michael Pennix, I have
a lot of friends in the NFL. They have Super
Bowl rings that you know are on playoff level teams
that aren't that big of fans. Maybe I'm biased because
I've watched him play so much the last couple of years,
but I saw nothing in his preseason action that would
(27:50):
make me change my approach thinking. I don't know if
he's best case scenario, Like, I don't see him being
a top five quarterback, but I saw Kirk Cousins become
a guy who became really good in the NFL. So
Jared Goff become a guy became really good in the NFL.
Dak Prescott, all these guys games are a little different
than each other, but let's just use Cousins in Goff,
(28:10):
who are pocket quarterbacks. Well, this guy has more athleticism
than them, and it's just as comfortable throwing the football.
So if Jared Goff can be a high level player
in the NFL, Michael Pennis canto, I mean, Jared Goff
is JJ McCarthy. I think the shitty thing about a
spot like this is you have this team that is
(28:32):
kind of going through a transition, right, but they're still
like the GM and the head coach expect to win.
So you signed Sam Darnold, who I didn't watch the game,
but it' saw on Twitter or whatever people say he
played well. Kevin O'Connell's already announced he's going to be
the starter. It's like JJ's this big project. Well, to me,
Drake may is a much bigger project than JJ McCarthy
(28:56):
because the knock on JJ's it didn't have to do much.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yeah, the running game work. I saw when he had
to make big throws against a team called Alabama down
late in the game. He came through and you watch
this game, he threw a terrible pick and like I said,
with a misthrow, like throw.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
A pick in preseason, what do I just do? Fucking
cut the guy? It was awful. Can't do it.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But the only way to get better, and this is
what's hard once the regular season starts and you're not
the starting quarterback is through playing and through reps. And
when you're the backup quarterback, you don't rep it out
in practice. You run the scout team. Typically the team
can I guess manipulate it a little bit with a
(29:37):
you know, if now they have the third string quarterback
who's eligible, he can be on a practice squad, but
still your starting quarterback is getting the reps with the
ones during practice. You don't have enough reps to go round.
Michael Lombardi says this all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's a math equation.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
You only have so much time to divvy up, and
your starter is gonna get it all and early on
in this season, let's face.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
It, this team is going to try to be competitive now.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I think when you watch this guy play one a
lot is what you saw in Michigan athleticism, arm strength.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Honestly, he showed.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Some really good pocket presence, moving up in the pocket,
throwing accurately, Like clearly his first Reid wasn't open, getting
some heat on the corners, kind of steps up, made
a great throw through a touchdown pass. Guy was kind
of wide open, but still like he's got the arm.
There was a reason Harbaugh loved this guy three years
ago when he showed up to campus. There is a
lot to work with there, and I think if I
(30:31):
was a Vikings fan, I always kind of hate Like
at the time they drafted Mahomes and he was gonna
red shirt the year. Alex had been there a long time,
Like he was an entrench player, so even if he
thought he was flawed. At least if you're a Chiefs
fan like Listen, we've been winning double digit games. This
guy's been leading us to the playoffs. We were a
joke before him and Andy showed up. I respect him.
(30:54):
I do understand if you're a Vikings fan like Sam Donald,
and listen, even if you are bullsh on Sam Donald's like,
I gotta watch a one year bridge quarterback. Can't we
just start this guy? It's never been easier in the
sense of your quarterback is more protected than ever, your
wide receivers are more protected than ever. So if he
doesn't know the playbook or something like that, I get it.
Not throwing him out to the wolves, But I've never
(31:16):
heard that football acumen and understanding, you know, in taking
in knowledge and taking it to the field, has ever
been an issue with this guy. So you see enough
his athleticism on full display a lot like the first
two guys. Throwing on the move something he's very comfortable doing.
Just running around and keeping plays alive is something that
he also is comfortable doing. I would imagine if you
(31:39):
started him, he would probably throw some picks, clearly, maybe
more than some of these other guys because he's not
used to just the offense, like Okay, we're gonna throw
it thirty three times.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
This week for three straight weeks.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
It's not something that just the way he's had to play,
but the strength of their team with you know, having
the best wide receiver in the league, Jordan Addison. I'm
sure gets suspended, but when he comes back, I mean,
that's pretty damn good one two combination. I don't know
why you can't just seize him in, but they're not
gonna do that.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
And that's just I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I just I'm never a believer, like I get the
Penix thing. The Penix thing is he's playing. He's simply
not playing because we gave another guy one hundred million dollars.
I have a harder time when it's like, well, we
gave this guy ten million dollars, And I'm bullish on
Sam Donald. I like Sam Donald on my team, probably
as a backup, but ten million dollars, like he can't
(32:32):
start over the first round quarterback and listen, he's gonna
need work.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You saw.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I would say he made the worst throw of all
these guys on the pick, I mean, hit the dude
on the raiders kind of in stride who undercut the route.
But man, there's a lot to like. This is how
calm he is.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
That's the other thing.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Like you watch Penix, he's just very calm sitting there,
He's not. You can always tell a guy in the
NFL in preseason some of these younger.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Guys who just get really fidgety.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It definitely happens in the regular season when guys get
injured and you got to bring in backup quarterbacks, they
just freak out. And this is why we always say
it's the hardest position in the world to play, because
you got four dudes who now are all two hundred
and fifty to three hundred and fifty pounds. All of
them are athletes. They're all pretty good pass rushers, some
are elite pass rushers. Some of them are all time
pass rushers trying to fuck you up. And the moment
(33:24):
you start kind of as Sam Darnold wants say, seeing
ghosts or question your confidence or feeling overwhelmed, I can't
even imagine that feeling of looking.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
These guys are huge, and you freak out.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
And some guys just have the natural ability to not
freak out and are very calm in the pocket and
maybe it's obviously a different level from the preseason to
the regular season, but.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I'd say JJ McCarthy's.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Debut was was more than positive, even with an awful interception.
Another guy whose debut was really eye opening in a
good way was bo Nix, who I think we can
confidently say Caleb's the starter. Obviously, Jaden's the starter. Obviously
Drake may backup, Pennix backup because of cousins, JJ backup
(34:12):
because the organization wants to.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Take it slow.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Bow Knicks he refused to kind of like, I mean, honestly,
he had him like third on the depth chart. Some
of the stuff Sean Payton's doing little Parcelsian old school like,
which is where Sean Payton got a start. I think
that stuff's kind of stupid. Just named the starter, unless
where I can roll. I give eb Reflues a lot
of credit because the moment Ota starts like this.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Guy's a starter, what's the point.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Hit the ground, run and pedal to the metal. Let's go,
And that's the way it should be with bo Nicks,
and maybe it will be moving forward. Jared Sitdham seems
like a nice guy, have no problem if he's on
my roster.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
But he can't be my starter. And to me, the
thing with bo.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Nicks, everyone questions like, oh, he he just throws quick screens.
He just throws quick streams. I think when you say
that sometimes, especially forever in like the Mike Leech offense
or whatever you do, or even Hawaii's offense, which were
all these hybrid you know, spread it out, a lot
of you know, stuff around the line of scrimmage, a
(35:13):
lot of quick stuff around the uh uh you know.
I would say within the ten yards of the line
of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
It was easy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
It's why a lot of quarterbacks that had below average
arm strength and we're never gonna play in the NFL
could dominate in college football. And then he played I
don't know if you'd consider that the Mike Leech offense,
but in an offense that was very quarterback friendly, and
it kind of hurt him. A lot of people knocked
him on it. And then I'm watching him play going
(35:43):
he's got a really good arm like he has legitimate
arm strength. Like it's I'm not saying he's Josh Allen
or Brett Favre, but he's definitely not. I don't know
Dak Prescott or an Alex Smith, like he has a
strong arm in all all, Sean Payton has reiterated over
and over and everyone that knows him or has followed
(36:04):
his career like he wants a quarterback to get rid
of the ball really quickly. And on the touchdown pass,
that ball hit bo Nicks's hands and was in the
wide receivers, you know, basically right in the corner of
the front of the end zone. Before you could even
snap a finger.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
It was like whoa.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
And it was the ball placement to get rid of
the ball. The arms strength, obviously, he made other throws
on the move. His athleticism like Jayden, like Caleb, like
JJ McCarthy, enormous plus I mean they schemed just a
run play for him that picked up a first down.
They had another kind of busted pass that he scrambled around.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
You just go, holy shit.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
This guy has a lot of talent and there are
a lot of naysayers. It feels like a lot of
people want to hate this guy. I don't know why.
I'm kind of indifferent. I wasn't pro the guy, wasn't
anti the guy I watched him at Oregon thought he
was a solid player. Watched him for the for the
Denver Broncos. I thought his arm strength was even more
eye opening that I ever thought in college. And what
(37:08):
Sean Payton's gonna want them to do? They got all
these big body wide receivers. He can also run a
natural at it, like it's something that comes instinctive to him.
He's not gonna play hero ball. I don't know how
it could have gone much better. I really don't. I mean,
this is what I'm saying this class. I think if
we look back on the class of twenty one, which
(37:29):
is another embarrassment, it really is also understandable. The vid
happened BYU schedule was a joke. Trey Lance didn't play
Mac Jones. Turns out Alabama was like I'll tell the
story one day, but it wasn't a fair fight. And
justin fields and this, you know, the Big Ten wanted
to cancel football. Kevin Warren that loser. So I don't
(37:51):
know what to say. It's not comparable class. This one's
way better. But these guys resumes are a lot longer
in those guys, right, I mean, we got multiple HIGHS
Trophy winners. We got Michael Penicks who dominated college football
for two years. JJ mccarthury, two year starter on one
of the best teams in college football, National Championship, beats
Beats Bam at the Rose Bowl and an incredible come
from behind victory, and Bo Knicks resurrected his career these
(38:14):
last two years on Oregon, who was a top ten program.
You know, I mean, these all these guys were playing
the best of the best and thriving. So you see
their skills, especially Nix McCarthy, Penix, Jaden and Caleb just
on full display like what they did in college. Their
strengths are going to translate. And the only way you
(38:36):
can get comfortable, and some of these guys are gonna
have the capability is to me by playing. The only
people ask me, I'm gonna start a podcast, what can
I do? Start podcasting, Start figuring it out, start doing it.
You're gonna go into sales, start making sales calls, start
making some cold calls, start figuring out how to close
the deal.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Because you can.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
You can watch as many Ted talks and YouTube videos,
and you can study in the quarterback room for our
upon hours watching film. But until you're out on the
field against other teams. There's no way to get better
consistently and make big improvements. You can tell me the
mental game, and coaches will push back on this. In
practice bullshit, these practices, no one gets fucking touched. They
(39:16):
know they cannot get touched. Even these uh, even these
joint practices. The defensive lineman is not tackling the quarterback.
There is nothing to replicate that. I saw Sean McVay,
who I gotta give the Rams a lot of credit.
These preseason games, depending on who's playing quarterback, can be
(39:36):
a really tough watch. You don't know half the players,
It's sloppy football penalties. It can be just like why.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Am I doing this?
Speaker 1 (39:43):
And then you go, well, there's nothing really else on
watch and it's football, and I love it, And it's
like you end up watching most of the game. Sean
MCVAYH and I remember them doing this last year. They
might have been doing this for years. They mike him
up during the game, and they miked him up today
and he was awesome, and you go, yeah, I understand
why Amazon offered him fifteen sixteen million dollars a year,
because he would have been very, very entertaining. And the
(40:06):
one thing you have to do in these preseason games
is to try to entertain us through the broadcast. You
could argue it's less important in the regular season because
the game speaks for itself, but in these pre like
you want to keep me, it's easier to keep me,
but you want to keep the average consumer, you better
entertain them. And that was That's something every team in
(40:27):
the league should be doing. Should be micing up their
head coach. And if he's like Sean McVay, and if
he's the offensive play caller when they're on defense, have
him join the broadcast. Who are literally team employees. Who
are team employees, so there's nothing like nothing tough is
gonna be asked. It's going to be a very easy atmosphere.
(40:48):
Sean's cracking jokes, he's talking with that Andrew Whitworth, it
was fantastic. Cannot recommend. I would YouTube type in. Sean
McVay miked up.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
We make fun of Sirianni a lot. Simply what does
he do well on the forty nine ers broadcast with
Greg Papa, I guess he mentioned I didn't have access
to it. I watched the Titans broadcast, which was actually
pretty good, and Greg said, Kyle Shanahan's not calling place.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Clint.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
I think Clint Kubiak's with the Saints. I don't know
what Kubiak. There's a bunch of Kubiaks, but one of
the Kubiaks that's still in the forty nine ers was
Klay Kubiak, I think was calling place. They asked Kyle
after the game, they said, what was it like not
calling plays? And he said He'd never been more bored
in his life. Didn't know what to do with his hands.
(41:41):
Through a challenge flag that he said was like kind
of kept him in the game. And I say it
all the time and listen. Obviously there are CEO head
coaches that thrive at it. John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Dan
Campbell has been very successful. But I can't understand.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Young Cooch that don't do either.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Solid did this immediately when he got to the Jets.
Siriani's incapable. I guess of calling plays they are doing
beside a challenge play and a timeout. No different than
you or me, No different They're just sitting there watching
the game.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Now, you could.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Argue they have the juice to run the ball here,
or let's get Billy out of there. He can't cover
eighty six. Obviously they can do that. But other than that,
they're saying the same things we are.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
What the hell's going on? How can we not make
a tackle? That's all they're doing. Those days are just done.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
And football used to be a ton of CEO head coaches,
and obviously the sport the financial ramifications were different. If
I'm an owner, and the going rate for these coaches,
I mean the Andes, the Kyle's, the mcveigh's, you know,
Belichick and Pete forever, I mean, you're talking fifteen to
twenty million dollars. Unless you have a resume a mile long,
(43:04):
I'm gonna need you dictating one of the sides of
the ball, Like Mike Vrabel's a good example. Mike, if
I'm gonna hire you, I would like you to call defense.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
I want you to be my defensive coordinator as well
as the head coach.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And if we can graduate out of that eventually, okay,
once you prove.
Speaker 3 (43:20):
But if I'm gonna pay you.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
What the going rate and what you're gonna want twelve thirteen,
fourteen to fifteen million dollars, I don't want you just
doing the same thing literally.
Speaker 3 (43:29):
As me up in the box on game day. I
don't think that's too much to ask. I really don't.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
And I think Kyle tongue in cheek by saying he
was bored, he can kind of shed some light, like
at least you know what John Harbaugh does his leadership
and his works. Same with Jim Right and Bill for
a long period of time. It works most of these guys.
When it's not working, it's like.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? I
don't know, man, So fun times in the preseason
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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