January 3, 2026 • 37 mins
John answers all of your questions from around the NFL. Is Sean McVay the best coach in the NFL, should the Packers look for a new DC and could you see the Ravens trading Lamar? John dives into all that and more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on? Everybody? Happy New Year
twenty twenty six? Pretty nuts. I was born in nineteen
(00:24):
eighty four, so life is flying by. We got to
try to enjoy it. But make sure before we talk
any football, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe,
leave a comment. You guys can even argue below in
the comments section. Share with your friends, like the video.
I appreciate all you guys, thanks for being a part
of this ride the last couple of years here on
(00:46):
the video portion of the podcast, because that's what we
do here. And you know, when you get older, you realize,
like New Year's Eve is probably you know, Sean Payton
said he didn't even know it was New Year's Eve.
Like that's classic, Like a little too much, coach. We
understand you're working and the day of the week you're
not going out, you're not partying, you're grinding, you're getting ready.
(01:08):
We get it. That comment's a little stupid, but where
it is relatable, it's like New Year's Eve is no
different than like a random Wednesday. For me, I'm up
pacing around to like six thirty in the morning, throwing
game day savings, getting rained on. I'm like you know what.
I'm not gonna have much time during the day on Thursday.
This is gonna come out Friday. Let's record a mailbag
and that's what we did so at John Middlecoff. At
(01:29):
John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get
your questions answered right here on the show. It's just
my Instagram dms are open. We will start here with
Nick Big Bears fan. I want to know what your
take is on Kleb this year and what you think
is ceiling and floor is in the upcoming seasons of
(01:50):
his career with Ben Johnson. Also just want to say
we need desperately, we desperately need another pass rusher. So
before we talk about Kleb, I do think it was
pretty clear watching that Niner game, like you guys have
an abundance of skill guys, right, you just draft Luthor
in the second round. Clearly the head coach likes him
(02:10):
the previous you know year, you draft Rome in the
top ten, so you got multiple wide receivers with DJ
already under contract, You draft Loveland, you already have Cobat,
like you can trade to me one of the white
You're not gonna trade Luthor Burdon but between Rome and DJ,
I think you can flip one of those guys for
defensive help, and to me, that's what I would imagine
(02:31):
they do this offseason, so they use one of those
offensive pieces. Again, I don't know Ben Johnson, it would
be whoever he likes more. And clearly he likes Luthor
Burdon a lot because you were at Collinsworth on that
Sunday night game. Like, obviously it sounds like Chris likes him,
but pretty clearly he's getting it from the Bears, which
(02:52):
I would imagine the offensive coaching staff like, we like
this guy, and honestly in that game it looks like
Antonio Brown or something. I think what Caleb is simple.
The high end plays are elite. There is no better
highlight guy in the league. He made a couple throws
even in that Niner game. One of the touchdowns on
the penalty I think it would have been to Loveland
(03:15):
in the front of the end zone was like a
forty plus yard throw. There was no arc on it.
That reminded me of far Of in his prime. Reminded
me like Michael Vick. His playmaking is elite and his
athleticism he I don't think people quite realized how fast
he was when he was coming out of college, and
it clearly like scrambling ability, scrambled to run. All that
(03:35):
stuff's elete. But my buddy guy who actually I want
to say narrate, I always forget the word, but he
wed me and my wife right. He was the the MC.
But that's the wrong word. Early in the morning, mine's
not pistons aren't firing upstairs. And he's an elite play
(03:56):
by play guy and he's been doing forty Niner games
this year, and he did the Bears game because you know,
Greg Papa, legendary bearry guy, has been sick. He's a
good buddy ours. I fucking love Greg Papa, longtime Raider guy.
Him and Mark Davis like myself, you know, butting heads
a little bit and went their separate ways. And he's
on the greener pastures. And Greg's been sick this year,
(04:18):
battling leukemia, fighting like you know, the tough SB that
he is, and guys filling in for him calling the
play by play. The voice of the forty nine is
called the game. And we were texting the next day
and he was like, we did a radio show. I mean,
he's the guy that got me in this business. Without him,
who knows, maybe I'd be digging ditches right now. He's like,
(04:38):
do you know how many incompletions he had on that
final drive? I was like, well, there are fifteen plays
three two three not if you count the last play
of the game. He's like eight, So I think part
of it. And there were some plays in that game
where collins Worth is like, it's kind of crazy. There
was a roll out to his right where Loveland. I
(05:00):
don't know if it was quite a broken play, but
it was wide open, and it's a play that good
quarterbacks just just kind of lobby to him. And I
do think right now it's pretty clear, which is crazy,
because he's had these crazy comebacks. He's made I mean
huge plays in big moments, which is always key. There's
a touch element to his like layup throws that do
(05:20):
not exist right now. And to become an elite player,
you gotta be able to do the layups with your
eyes closed or else. If it's just gonna be the
high end, which is fine, you become a roller coaster ride, which,
let's face if he can be now, I think the
number one thing. However, this season ends, and I'm recording
this obviously before the Lions game, which I don't think
is gonna be easy because you know the Lions are
(05:41):
gonna try and then whatever happens to the playoffs. To me,
the number one goal and I would imagine for Ben
Johnson and you know what, he's gonna harp on over
the next like six seven months in the offseason, we
got to work on the touch throws in terms of
just like wheel routes, boom, you know, just touch balls,
because so every once in a while he has it,
but he's very consistent with it. If he ever got that,
(06:01):
he'd be a borderline, you know, top five six player
in the league at his position. You know, right now
he has top five plays, but over the course of
the game he can be really inaccurate, which is which
is crazy. And I think part of that gets to
he's like a pitcher. He's throwing fastball, fastball, fastball, and
he doesn't have an off speed dialed in yet if
(06:22):
he's able to dial into that, ind there's no guarantee,
right he can be, you know, on a high end player,
and you know he can be right now because when
he's on, he's unstoppable to me, Like, if he just
stayed like this, he'd kind of be like Cam Newton,
He's awesome, would be awesome. His down would be a
lot of inaccuracies. But I think it's gone way better
(06:48):
than I thought. You know, I was like, I don't
think it's going to work. But his high end is
that good, so it can mask, you know, the plays
that just don't get made when guys wide open. Now
they've had drops. But there's gonna be no disputing his
offensive coaching and his skill talent around him and his
(07:08):
run game. The defense needs to improve. What is one
non quarterback position the Chargers must over invest in to
maximize Herbert the O line, the pass rush, or secondary.
Also for someone starting a football oriented podcast at twenty
eight with no media background, what's the biggest mistake you
see people make early? What's the best way to stand
(07:30):
out in an oversaturated sports podcast media background? I'd larduse
irrelevant Now. I mean it's never mattered less, so your
background in twenty twenty six in terms of if you
want to get in the space on YouTube, social media,
it's irrelevant. It really is. I'm probably a bad guy
(07:50):
to ask for, like how to quote unquote stand out
like I'm not a big gimmick guy, which I again,
I just kind of talk, you know. I just I'm
a big believer like people that I like, I can
just use like and I'm a consumer first. I've always
said this before I ever got into football, before I
ever got into talking, I loved football and I loved
(08:14):
sports radio. I remember listening to Jim Rome when I
was in junior high. I remember having a yellow Walkman
with Navine Daftari, who I played high school football with.
You went on to play at UC Davis. I think
he's a really successful guy now, smart guy. Remember listening
to this, we both had Walkman's listen to Rome, and
it's like, I just I loved the medium of sports talk,
(08:37):
and obviously that's changed dramatically. You couldn't pay me to
listen to sports radio anymore though I loved it growing up,
because now I'm more of a podcast YouTube, you know,
content creator guy. But I personality sell me like I
don't need like I don't even know what when we're
talking sports. But I like people that just big personalities. Also,
(08:58):
like don't be afraid to say some crazy shit. And
I don't mean, like just say it to say it,
but like we all have thoughts like, oh, this might
piss some people off, like who gives a fly? And
you know what, none of those people care about you.
So it's like you and what I'm talking about is
like comments, reaction online. None of that stuff matters. I
promise you it is irrelevant. It's never been more irrelevant.
(09:22):
And I believe that to my course, some people might
push back. But whenever I see, well what about the comments,
I know you don't know what you do, so you
can't worry about the way people are gonna react. Also,
for a while, no one's probably gonna watch, so it's
gonna take a while. You gotta be in it for
the long haul. It's a big picture project. I just
think the Chargers I'm having got a lot of good players.
(09:45):
I mean, they've drafted offensive lineman, they drafted a running
back in the first round, they got their quarterback. They
probably need, you know, Khalil max Old pretty sure. He's
on a one year contract. You know, Derwin James is
a lot of trade on the tires. I would say,
defensive help. We'll just I just keep building. I mean,
we know how Harvball's gonna play, They're gonna be good
on defense, They're gonna want to run the ball. They've
(10:06):
definitely become more of a passing offense because I think
he realizes he has this quarterback. But I would just
be like in Harbaugh, we trust. That would be my mindset,
because you know what, I say this all the time.
I get he beat him in the Super Bowl, and
he did. And listen, you beat him in the Super Bowl.
What are you gonna say? Would anyone argue that Jim
(10:26):
Harbaugh's better than John Harball? I mean seriously, and this
is not a shot at John Harpe. I think John
Harbor is a good coach, but Jim's an all timer.
Like no one goes back and forth between college and
the pros and kicks ass. It doesn't happen. It's like
a small lists. Guys have tried and they get embarrassed.
So I mean, Urban Meyer are one of the greatest
(10:47):
college coaches of all time. If it wasn't for Nick Saban,
he'd be known as the best college coach of his generation.
Did not last a year, did not last a year.
Jeff Lurry had big Dom grab all Chip and Chip
Kelly was, you know, probably a top two or three
coach at the time, besides Sabin and Urban in college,
(11:07):
Big Dam had to pack all a shit and escort
him out of the building. So it's like, no one
wins it both. If Nick Sirianni were to get fired
and another team hire him to be there, would another
team hire him to be their head coach? We all
know the answer to that. I mean, we just do
(11:27):
His record's awesome, he's been good. I think the reality
is most people give his GM the majority of the credit.
He has a stacked roster and his owner is willing
to open the checkbook and buy, like Vic Fangio just
didn't randomly come. You know, Vic Fangio ain't working for
the for the minimum. Would Nick Sirianni be hired as
(11:47):
a head coach? I see no chance. He'd probably get
an interview, I'm sure based on the agent. But I
don't see him becoming a head coach. I mean he's
he's like, organization doesn't allow him to call plays. It's like,
well they're offense, sucks. Well, he's an offensive guy, so yeah,
we just don't let him do that. I'm like, well,
and again I'm not trying to like do I say
(12:09):
it all the time, bottom line business, he wins a
lot more than he loses. But just a unique situation.
I mean, I don't know how else to say it.
It's just a unique situation. We're gonna have to have
some serious conversations about Sirianni versus Sean McVeigh. After the
Eagles beat the Rams in the playoffs this year. Again,
(12:32):
that will be Sirianni's four straight victory over McVeigh, including
two playoff eliminations. I mean, there's a chance they played
each other in the first round. Both have two Super
Bowl appearances with one victory, and Sirianni has owned him
head to head, yet McVeigh gets his ass kicked kissed.
This is again, if you gave the GMS thirty two
of them, if you gave owners thirty two of them
(12:55):
the opportunity, if you gave fan bases the opportunity, would
you draft show Ian mcvayh or would you hire Sean
mcvah nixt to your right, if you could only hire
one of the two guys, what would it be? What
would it be? It'd be thirty two to nothing. I
don't know what else to say. Like this. One guy
(13:15):
can be successful in his situation and go. No one
would choose him over Sean McVay. Not a fucking soul.
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(15:07):
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennis Steve, Virginia. My wife is pregnant
with my second kid. We're looking to take a trip
to Scottsdale, debating between staying at the Four Seasons or
the Phoenician. My man, that's living well, what would you recommend? Also,
(15:27):
I'm almost positive Petulu Patolo, the the Eagles OC. I
know how to say it when I don't look at it,
and when I look at it, it froze me off.
Kevin Petola will be fired at the end of the year.
Who do you think would be the best to replace him.
I think a Josh McDaniels type, someone who never wants
to be a head coach again. We actually had lunch,
(15:50):
you know when you I got married into Four Seasons
in Nashville, and it's incredible. It's like one of the
nicer hotels I've ever been at, but a lot of
Four Seasons, like aren't the one in Scottsdale. It's probably
fifteen minutes away from me. I think it's one of
the original ones ever built. It's kind of an old
it's not your typical like glitz and glamour. It's kind
of old school. If it said just Marriott in front
(16:13):
of it, you would not notice. So it's it's kind
of up in the in the rocks, in the mountains.
It's cool, but I don't think it's quite you know
when you say the four Seasons in that brand, the Phoenician.
If you like golf, there's a cool golf course there.
I think Phoenicians pretty cool, so I probably it just
depends what you want. Phoenicians a little more closer to
(16:34):
the action, like downtown Scottsdale old town as the kids
would call it. You know, North Scottsdale's more for us
old folks, a little quieter up here. So I don't
think you do wrong by either ones. But again, if
you're I don't know what the prices are for the
four seasons, if they are normal four seasons prices, you
might be a little underwhelmed what you're typically getting when
(16:57):
you stay at one of those properties. I don't even
know who that offensive coach would be. It's pretty rare
that you find a Josh McDaniels, like, yeah, I'm one
of the best offensive coordinators in the league, but no
one will ever hire me to be a head coach. Again,
I think this gets back to Sirianni. He's it's just
a unique situation. I just like, let's say Mike McDaniel,
(17:22):
who I don't think is gonna get fired, But let's
say he got fired. If he was unreal, he would
get another shot. Right. Let's say Kevin Stefanski was fired,
and everyone's like he's an automatic to get another job,
Like I don't know, Like the media likes Kevin Stefanski
a lot more than us. When we're watching him play,
You know because like, oh, the Browns have no players. No,
(17:44):
actually they got a lot of good players. It's like,
why is coaching year? It's like, I don't know. He's fine.
And again I feel like I'm shitting on these guys.
I got no issue with him. I met Kevin Stefanski
wants to bullshit with me. It's cool. I just think
sometimes when we annoint that like Kevin Stefanski gets talked
about sometimes, like listen, I've earned some respect for Kevin O'Connell.
I really have their season. You know what a good coach.
(18:06):
The difference between like high end coaches and just the
middle of the road, it's when your season can get derailed,
right like listen, obviously the chief season got derailed. But
Andy's resume speak for yourself. Kevin O'Connell's never won a
playoff game, and he gets put along with Kyle and
Sean whose resumes a lot longer and won some playoff games.
(18:27):
And this year it felt like, I mean a couple
months ago, it's like they're gonna win like four or
five games, and you look up, if they win this weekend,
they will be nine and eight. Like that's with with
Bosmer and JJ fucking Carson Wentz. I'm pretty impressed. Now
we'll see with the Brian Flores situation. I like Brian's
agent right now. It's like, listen, I'm trying to get paid,
(18:50):
and I got the Cowboys who would throw eber Fluse,
you know, in one of those oil rigs tomorrow. So
it's like the Wolves will spend, but the going rate
for a guy like if I'm Flores and I'm clearly
one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. I
just saw Chip Kelly scam the Raiders for six million
dollars a year, Like I know the other top defensive coordinators,
(19:11):
Spags and Fangio are making that ballpark like minimum. I want,
you know, three year deal. I don't know, eighteen twenty
million dollars it's going right or else I'll just go
somewhere else someone will pay me. This is all monopoly
money to these owners, Like twenty million dollars of them
is like, you know, a rotational linebacker. My question is,
(19:35):
do you think Caleb Williams is this generation's Russell Wilson.
I heard Colin compare him to Josh Allen, and they
share they share some similarities, but I think Russ would
fit Caleb's comp better. They both have polarizing personalities. Both
are undersize, have strong arms, and aren't the most accurate
throwers of the ball. Both can command a systematic offense.
(19:56):
Caleb with Chicago and Russ with the lob Seahawks. Neither
is seemingly a prototypical pocket passer. What makes them special
is more their ability to avoid sacks, extend plays with
their legs, and throw the deep ball. I feel like
in his peak Russell Wilson and again I mean Caleb's
in his second year had much more touch, and on
(20:16):
the flip side, Caleb's better in the pocket than Russell was.
So I think there are some similarities that They're playmaking
is pretty elite, but I think one like I felt
like Russell like would hit wheel routes with his eyes closed.
So and I think Caleb, you know, Russell thrown over
the middle field not great. I think Caleb's actually not
bad at that. So I there are some similarities, but
(20:39):
there are also some differences. I do think his comp
is closer to Josh in the sense of like crazy playmaking.
He just the touch is something like that pass Josh
missed to win the game against the Eagles, like you
can see Caleb, you know, it's like there's some balls
that you're like, how did you just miss that? But
(21:01):
I can live with some of the inaccuracies when you're
making sweet plays, right like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady
or Aaron Rodgers would make that play with one arm
tie behind their back, on their knees with their eyes closed.
But they have to make that like that's especially Peyton
and Tom or Philip Rivers, Like those throwers are their
bread and butter. They can't do the miraculous shit. So
(21:24):
there's always kind of a give and take with anything
you could argue in life, let alone a quarterback. Do
you think the Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has ruined
his chances of getting a head coaching job after Saturday
Nights to Bockle First King Henry the guy ran for
two hundred yards and four touchdowns. I mean, what are
we doing without Parsons? The defense feels inept. It usually
(21:47):
doesn't work that way. It just doesn't, you know. I
think sometimes when you're sitting on your couch or you're
reacting and you witness that game, you're like, this is
an embarrassment, but it's like you don't break up after
one weird fight, right, there is a body of work,
(22:07):
and I just think that he's gonna get a little
bit of a pass. He was highly thought of before
their players were dropping like flies. Obviously pretty embarrassing night
to do it on. You know, some of these nights
on national television feel worse, like my guy Ryan Day
against Mario because everyone's watching, right, So I don't think
(22:32):
it has much impact at all, to be honest with you,
if he interviews well people like him. It's also like
some guys go number three in the draft, not because
you know there's some all time great prospect because the
draft sucks, or in some great drafts they might have
gone twelve, which is still not bad. But like sometimes
(22:53):
you know, Micah Parsons doesn't crack the top ten. You know,
sometimes these guys, it's just based on supply and demand.
So part of the supply this year doesn't look great.
You know, Marcus Freeman, a lot of people thought he
was gonna get one of the jobs. Well he just
announced I'm staying at Notre Dame. So you look around,
you're like Robert Sala, you know, Clint Kubiak. I mean,
(23:17):
I don't know, just not a great crew. Brandon Staley
question for the back, do you think the Ravens would
trade Lamar? You don't think the Ravens would trade Lamar?
But what if the Raiders offered the number one pick
and Max Crosby. Would that be enough or would it
(23:40):
have to be multiple ones and twos plus a high
level player? Well, think about it like this. If there's
a quarterback that is viewed as, you know, a top
ten potential starting quarterback, right, let's think of the last
ten years Caleb was viewed that way. Cam was not.
I would say ra May and Jayden Daniels were very,
(24:02):
very highly thought of. Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence. That pick
is worth multiple ones because so if I traded you
the number one overall pick with the opportunity to get
Caleb Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Fernando Mendoza. Again, I'm recording
this before the Indiana game, so maybe who knows how
(24:24):
he looks. I'm excited to watch, but that pick or
Dante Moore, I'm doing it before the Oregon game as well. Whoever,
an elite quarterback prospect is because a team would trade
from four to one and give you pick four in
next year's one. So that pick in itself is not
just one first round pick, right like the team with
(24:46):
the twentieth first round the pick twenty and I have
picked one. It's the value chart. My pick at one
is worth way more than pick twenty. I live in
a house here. Some people up the road also live
in homes. Their homes are worth a little bit more.
So I think part of it is the value of
that pick. Now, here's the thing with Lamar, I don't buddy,
(25:11):
I used to know coach there is not there when
he was there, and he was part of the good
team a couple of years ago, I'd never heard a
bad word like they love the guy. Now. Part of
it is like when things are going well, me to dude,
you know this just started dating some girl in the
honeymoon phase, like life's great chime in after a couple
of years, tell me how it's going Things change, right,
(25:32):
And anytime in football you lose and things don't go
well and I pay you a lot of money, things
get weird and then you factor in injuries, which again
are no one's fault, but people start blaming people, and
clearly something's going on there. Again, I have no inside information,
but there's enough smoke, like there's got to be a
little fire in there. My issue would be this, if
(25:55):
you trade Lamar Jackson and he maintains being a high
end player for the next five years, you're not replacing that.
The chance is that for Nando Mendoza is ever seventy
five percent as good as the high end Lamar Jackson,
would you'd bet against it now. If he is good,
it's a no brainer cause you get back to Crosby,
(26:18):
who's an elite player, fits right in with the Ravens culture.
You get Fernando Mendoza, who is way cheaper, and within
a couple of years you can rebuild your team because
you have all this extra money. And if you're the Raiders,
it's definitely a no brainer if you need like, the
Raiders got nothing. They're an unwatchable product, so you get
(26:39):
Lamar Jackson boom. Since city people are paying attention now,
I also think if you're the Raiders, you better be
sure if you were gonna make that move, like how
much you like for Nando Mendoza or Dante more whoever
you're gonna draft. It's it's type conversation where no one
hangs up on each other. Or again, assuming they would
trade Lamar Jackson. If you're not in the business trading Jackson,
(27:00):
you're not interested. But again, sometimes like people are ready
to pivot, right, John Schneider is ready to pivot Russell
Wilson for Josh Allen. Whatever year that was twenty eighteen,
wanted to trade Russell Wilson the Cleveland Browns, and Russell
rightfully so said I'm not going to Cleveland, not doing it.
It was a smart move, But John was also on
the right guy. What do you think of a bijon
(27:35):
trade or him just not re upping with the Falcons.
He's more athletic than Tomlinson. Put him on the Texans,
Commanders and Bengals, and that would be a number one
offense after I mean that, that was as good of
an offensive game that's been played this year any position, quarterback, wide, receiver,
left tackle, that's as good as it gets. His high
end talent is so good. You just I said earlier
(27:58):
when they were so shitty, I was like, what's the
point of this? But now that I mean, all of
a sudden, they're eight nine. I think the question mark
is healthy. Kirk Cousins is better than what we saw
with Pennix. Now, the problem is, is Cousins a forty
plus million dollar quarterback. That's contract he's on. They're in
a weird spot. But running back's my favorite position. I
(28:23):
think that and linebacker encompassed the most right. It asked
you to literally do everything on the field. You got
to run between the tackles, run outside the tackles, catch
the ball, block break tackles. You're you know, a guy
like that can become the entire offense. But I don't
think they can trade him. He's not a tradable player
(28:47):
if you're a serious organization, especially it'd be one thing
if he was doing that and they were a two
win team, they were eight wins, and you look back
on it, they just I mean, they beat a lot
of good teams. He's lost to some terrible teams. You
just can't trade him. Yet they can't do it. I
(29:07):
brought that up a while ago, but it just can't happen.
Question would it be crazy for the Colts to hire
Rivers as the head coach, Let him pick a GM
and roll the dice. He definitely has knowledge and leadership.
Stiking is a good OC, but not a head coach.
He's five and thirteen in one score games against teams
with better than five hundred records and has had a
(29:28):
lot of games when the Colts haven't shown up, like
the Steeler games this year, in Giants game last year. Uh.
I don't think it would be crazy at all. Would
I rather have Shane Stikeen as my head coach of
Philip Rivers. I'd rather Philip Rivers. I think the culture
in a weird position because you could always make excuses
like well, this quarterback got hurt and this thing happened.
(29:52):
It's like, I don't know. We have a long track
record now, Chris Ballard. I read this article the other night.
I couldn't sleep, Like four in the morning, I roll over,
grab my phone. Not a great habit. But when I
do that, I try not to scroll. I just try
to go to like Wall Street Journal or the Athletic
and read something. So I go to the Athletic and
I see this article about Carly or say Gordon, the owner,
(30:13):
who clearly these people like a lot, and she an'even
like a cool girl or lady or woman or owner
whateverever you wanna call her. And she's impressive, like she's
she's trying really hard, even if you want to make
fun of her a little bit for the sideline stuff,
which Shane Syke and Chris Ballard went out of their
way to say they love it. Of course they do.
She signs her chicks, But is she just gonna be
(30:36):
cool just because she likes them? And one thing she
mentioned in They're like, you can't be afraid of change.
Sometimes it is exciting, like they don't win ever important games,
and now this year the Jags immediately turned it around
like that, So now you could argue, well they were
eating too with Daniel Jones. Okay, so what are you
gonna do? Danie Jones got a broken leg and a
torn achilles. You're gonna give him a big extension? Is
(30:57):
he just gonna sign like one year ten million dollars? Again?
He signed one year fourteen last year and then had
a great season before he got injured. So what are
you gonna do. You're gonna let him one year thirty
five million dollars. You're gonna do that for him? What
are your options? Anthey Rigidson was a miss you're clearly
gonna get rid of him this offseason. They're kind of
at a crossroads. And you know, her dad was nuts.
(31:20):
Her grandpa was even crazier. I mean, you watched that
Lway Doc jack Elway was right, We're not sending my
son to the Colts, and you're like, DH, no, that's
a little And it turns out Ursay's dad was like
taking headsets from offensive coordinators in the middle of the game, which,
honestly sometimes I miss you know, as this sport and
sports in general, becomes more and more corporate and just
(31:43):
there's so much money line once. I was thinking about
this the other day, like whenever Jerry Jones passes away,
most of these owners don't say shit. They got way
too much to lose. Like I kind of missed the
days of just you know, Papa Ersay or George Steinbrenner
or Eddie de Bartelow brown bag and a governor like
we just had, Like there were just some wild cards.
(32:05):
Like the wild cards are kind of done. It's like,
what's the craziest Steve Balmer made some fake company about
planting trees to give Kawhi money. It's like, oh, like
I'd rather have some guys that would say something, and
those days just feel over, which kind of makes me sad. Okay,
what on this? I thought Raheem was gone until I
(32:26):
heard Achemin contradict that tonight. He seems like a great
locker room guy, but struggles on the sideline clock management
made little changes to stop the backslide out of the playoffs.
I think with the talent, we have an insane it's
insane to get eliminated from the playoff race on week fourteen,
I would agree, what's your opinion? Run it back with
(32:48):
hopefully Mattie Ice playing some role. I think the hard
part I would argue about business in any industry, whether
you're talking billion dollar business or whether you're talking to
mom and pop shop, is if you go, I'm not
sure this guy is good enough, but you really like
them or you know. Part of it is like they
always say, and Colin used to say this, like remove emotion,
(33:10):
separate the emotion, Right, that's what you have to do
to make a good decision. That can be easier said
than done. Like it's easier for me to throw away
some you know, like material things don't mean that much
to me. It's like I'm done with this couch. Couch
means see, you don't with this pair of shoes, right,
I'm done with whatever. Not a car guy, but like
the car means nothing to me, Like get a new car,
(33:31):
get rid of this car again. They're way too expensive
right now. But you know what I mean. I do
think when you're talking people, it's easy to get rid
of Brian Kelly. Why he was an asshole. They couldn't
stand him, They couldn't get rid of him fast enough.
Lincoln Riley has the same record as Lane Kiffing and
Clay Helton through four years. But you know what, he's
more likable. Not that he's a big personality, but you know,
(33:54):
people have no issue with him clearly inside the building.
And he's expensive to get rid of. Matt Rule. Matt
Rules going that well in Nebraska given the hype, right,
given a guy like this, guy's gonna go to Penn State.
People like him. So Raheem Morris, that Shanahan crew, he
is like the leader of the crew. They love him.
He is universally loved by that crew. It's like Sean
(34:17):
mcvay's best friend, Kyle Shanahan's been saying for years, I've
been trying to hire him, but it's never really like
that they love that guy. So that's a positive thing, right,
Like part of the reason the Belichick thing ended so
just ugly for a guy with his resume, no one
could stand him. He wasn't a likable guy. When Andy
(34:38):
Reid got fired from the Philadelphia Eagles, he did like
a goodbye in the cafeteria to the entire organization. So
part of being a human being is like try to
be a good person, Like we're gonna have some core
tenets with my young son whenever he becomes like able
to talk, communicate and like treating people well is gonna
(34:59):
be at the top of list, because I think it's easy.
You know, once some people are just dicks, but especially
once you start having success, like well, I'm untouchable, and
then you can just become an asshole because your true
colors come out. Like Belichick's never ran from it, like
he's a dick. Like it's well established and Raheem Morris
like one thing that is saving him and put him
(35:20):
in a position where it's like, hey, he can people
really like him, players like him, other coaches like him. Obviously,
ownership and fro an office likes him, but he's in
a business where is he good enough? And you start
looking around his division, you go, well, Dave Canalis, you know,
Kellen Moore might have a little something with Tyler Shuck
Todd Bowles, you know he ain't exactly you know, going
(35:43):
up against you know, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells here. So
my guess would be this late surge, with how well
they're and hard they're playing, probably survive another year, would
be my guests. Again, don't have any inside information, don't
even know the guy, but I've just I've never heard
bad thing about it. People really really like them, clearly solid,
(36:03):
but I'm with you, just feels like they weren't buttoned up.
It's also, you know some of their games the Rams
on Monday Night Football or the Bills they play the
Bills on Monday Night Football or is that Sunday night football.
It's easy to get up for those games, right it.
Part of being a coach is like, can you get
up for the four win team? Can you get up
(36:24):
for the team the ten am kickoff West Coast time
against some crappy opponent. It's a little more difficult to
do that, and they've struggled with that because when you
have a guy as good as Bijon with some of
their other offensive weapons, and they listen James Pierce, I
forget the guy's name, the Oregon defensive lineman who got
hurt in the game, their safety play, their physical team.
(36:47):
But you watch them, you go, how did this team
not win ten games? How did this team not win
the division? It's like, well, look at some of the
previous shitty games against nobody's so I don't know. My
guests would say he survives, but maybe you know, if
he beats the Saints, all of a sudden, you're eight
(37:07):
nine and the season doesn't look that bad. The volume
The volume. What is going on? Everybody? Happy New Year
twenty twenty six? Pretty nuts. I was born in nineteen
(00:24):
eighty four, so life is flying by. We got to
try to enjoy it. But make sure before we talk
any football, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe,
leave a comment. You guys can even argue below in
the comments section. Share with your friends, like the video.
I appreciate all you guys, thanks for being a part
of this ride the last couple of years here on
(00:46):
the video portion of the podcast, because that's what we
do here. And you know, when you get older, you realize,
like New Year's Eve is probably you know, Sean Payton
said he didn't even know it was New Year's Eve.
Like that's classic, Like a little too much, coach. We
understand you're working and the day of the week you're
not going out, you're not partying, you're grinding, you're getting ready.
(01:08):
We get it. That comment's a little stupid, but where
it is relatable, it's like New Year's Eve is no
different than like a random Wednesday. For me, I'm up
pacing around to like six thirty in the morning, throwing
game day savings, getting rained on. I'm like you know what.
I'm not gonna have much time during the day on Thursday.
This is gonna come out Friday. Let's record a mailbag
and that's what we did so at John Middlecoff. At
(01:29):
John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get
your questions answered right here on the show. It's just
my Instagram dms are open. We will start here with
Nick Big Bears fan. I want to know what your
take is on Kleb this year and what you think
is ceiling and floor is in the upcoming seasons of
(01:50):
his career with Ben Johnson. Also just want to say
we need desperately, we desperately need another pass rusher. So
before we talk about Kleb, I do think it was
pretty clear watching that Niner game, like you guys have
an abundance of skill guys, right, you just draft Luthor
in the second round. Clearly the head coach likes him
(02:10):
the previous you know year, you draft Rome in the
top ten, so you got multiple wide receivers with DJ
already under contract, You draft Loveland, you already have Cobat,
like you can trade to me one of the white
You're not gonna trade Luthor Burdon but between Rome and DJ,
I think you can flip one of those guys for
defensive help, and to me, that's what I would imagine
(02:31):
they do this offseason, so they use one of those
offensive pieces. Again, I don't know Ben Johnson, it would
be whoever he likes more. And clearly he likes Luthor
Burdon a lot because you were at Collinsworth on that
Sunday night game. Like, obviously it sounds like Chris likes him,
but pretty clearly he's getting it from the Bears, which
(02:52):
I would imagine the offensive coaching staff like, we like
this guy, and honestly in that game it looks like
Antonio Brown or something. I think what Caleb is simple.
The high end plays are elite. There is no better
highlight guy in the league. He made a couple throws
even in that Niner game. One of the touchdowns on
the penalty I think it would have been to Loveland
(03:15):
in the front of the end zone was like a
forty plus yard throw. There was no arc on it.
That reminded me of far Of in his prime. Reminded
me like Michael Vick. His playmaking is elite and his
athleticism he I don't think people quite realized how fast
he was when he was coming out of college, and
it clearly like scrambling ability, scrambled to run. All that
(03:35):
stuff's elete. But my buddy guy who actually I want
to say narrate, I always forget the word, but he
wed me and my wife right. He was the the MC.
But that's the wrong word. Early in the morning, mine's
not pistons aren't firing upstairs. And he's an elite play
(03:56):
by play guy and he's been doing forty Niner games
this year, and he did the Bears game because you know,
Greg Papa, legendary bearry guy, has been sick. He's a
good buddy ours. I fucking love Greg Papa, longtime Raider guy.
Him and Mark Davis like myself, you know, butting heads
a little bit and went their separate ways. And he's
on the greener pastures. And Greg's been sick this year,
(04:18):
battling leukemia, fighting like you know, the tough SB that
he is, and guys filling in for him calling the
play by play. The voice of the forty nine is
called the game. And we were texting the next day
and he was like, we did a radio show. I mean,
he's the guy that got me in this business. Without him,
who knows, maybe I'd be digging ditches right now. He's like,
(04:38):
do you know how many incompletions he had on that
final drive? I was like, well, there are fifteen plays
three two three not if you count the last play
of the game. He's like eight, So I think part
of it. And there were some plays in that game
where collins Worth is like, it's kind of crazy. There
was a roll out to his right where Loveland. I
(05:00):
don't know if it was quite a broken play, but
it was wide open, and it's a play that good
quarterbacks just just kind of lobby to him. And I
do think right now it's pretty clear, which is crazy,
because he's had these crazy comebacks. He's made I mean
huge plays in big moments, which is always key. There's
a touch element to his like layup throws that do
(05:20):
not exist right now. And to become an elite player,
you gotta be able to do the layups with your
eyes closed or else. If it's just gonna be the
high end, which is fine, you become a roller coaster ride, which,
let's face if he can be now, I think the
number one thing. However, this season ends, and I'm recording
this obviously before the Lions game, which I don't think
is gonna be easy because you know the Lions are
(05:41):
gonna try and then whatever happens to the playoffs. To me,
the number one goal and I would imagine for Ben
Johnson and you know what, he's gonna harp on over
the next like six seven months in the offseason, we
got to work on the touch throws in terms of
just like wheel routes, boom, you know, just touch balls,
because so every once in a while he has it,
but he's very consistent with it. If he ever got that,
(06:01):
he'd be a borderline, you know, top five six player
in the league at his position. You know, right now
he has top five plays, but over the course of
the game he can be really inaccurate, which is which
is crazy. And I think part of that gets to
he's like a pitcher. He's throwing fastball, fastball, fastball, and
he doesn't have an off speed dialed in yet if
(06:22):
he's able to dial into that, ind there's no guarantee,
right he can be, you know, on a high end player,
and you know he can be right now because when
he's on, he's unstoppable to me, Like, if he just
stayed like this, he'd kind of be like Cam Newton,
He's awesome, would be awesome. His down would be a
lot of inaccuracies. But I think it's gone way better
(06:48):
than I thought. You know, I was like, I don't
think it's going to work. But his high end is
that good, so it can mask, you know, the plays
that just don't get made when guys wide open. Now
they've had drops. But there's gonna be no disputing his
offensive coaching and his skill talent around him and his
(07:08):
run game. The defense needs to improve. What is one
non quarterback position the Chargers must over invest in to
maximize Herbert the O line, the pass rush, or secondary.
Also for someone starting a football oriented podcast at twenty
eight with no media background, what's the biggest mistake you
see people make early? What's the best way to stand
(07:30):
out in an oversaturated sports podcast media background? I'd larduse
irrelevant Now. I mean it's never mattered less, so your
background in twenty twenty six in terms of if you
want to get in the space on YouTube, social media,
it's irrelevant. It really is. I'm probably a bad guy
(07:50):
to ask for, like how to quote unquote stand out
like I'm not a big gimmick guy, which I again,
I just kind of talk, you know. I just I'm
a big believer like people that I like, I can
just use like and I'm a consumer first. I've always
said this before I ever got into football, before I
ever got into talking, I loved football and I loved
(08:14):
sports radio. I remember listening to Jim Rome when I
was in junior high. I remember having a yellow Walkman
with Navine Daftari, who I played high school football with.
You went on to play at UC Davis. I think
he's a really successful guy now, smart guy. Remember listening
to this, we both had Walkman's listen to Rome, and
it's like, I just I loved the medium of sports talk,
(08:37):
and obviously that's changed dramatically. You couldn't pay me to
listen to sports radio anymore though I loved it growing up,
because now I'm more of a podcast YouTube, you know,
content creator guy. But I personality sell me like I
don't need like I don't even know what when we're
talking sports. But I like people that just big personalities. Also,
(08:58):
like don't be afraid to say some crazy shit. And
I don't mean, like just say it to say it,
but like we all have thoughts like, oh, this might
piss some people off, like who gives a fly? And
you know what, none of those people care about you.
So it's like you and what I'm talking about is
like comments, reaction online. None of that stuff matters. I
promise you it is irrelevant. It's never been more irrelevant.
(09:22):
And I believe that to my course, some people might
push back. But whenever I see, well what about the comments,
I know you don't know what you do, so you
can't worry about the way people are gonna react. Also,
for a while, no one's probably gonna watch, so it's
gonna take a while. You gotta be in it for
the long haul. It's a big picture project. I just
think the Chargers I'm having got a lot of good players.
(09:45):
I mean, they've drafted offensive lineman, they drafted a running
back in the first round, they got their quarterback. They
probably need, you know, Khalil max Old pretty sure. He's
on a one year contract. You know, Derwin James is
a lot of trade on the tires. I would say,
defensive help. We'll just I just keep building. I mean,
we know how Harvball's gonna play, They're gonna be good
on defense, They're gonna want to run the ball. They've
(10:06):
definitely become more of a passing offense because I think
he realizes he has this quarterback. But I would just
be like in Harbaugh, we trust. That would be my mindset,
because you know what, I say this all the time.
I get he beat him in the Super Bowl, and
he did. And listen, you beat him in the Super Bowl.
What are you gonna say? Would anyone argue that Jim
(10:26):
Harbaugh's better than John Harball? I mean seriously, and this
is not a shot at John Harpe. I think John
Harbor is a good coach, but Jim's an all timer.
Like no one goes back and forth between college and
the pros and kicks ass. It doesn't happen. It's like
a small lists. Guys have tried and they get embarrassed.
So I mean, Urban Meyer are one of the greatest
(10:47):
college coaches of all time. If it wasn't for Nick Saban,
he'd be known as the best college coach of his generation.
Did not last a year, did not last a year.
Jeff Lurry had big Dom grab all Chip and Chip
Kelly was, you know, probably a top two or three
coach at the time, besides Sabin and Urban in college,
(11:07):
Big Dam had to pack all a shit and escort
him out of the building. So it's like, no one
wins it both. If Nick Sirianni were to get fired
and another team hire him to be there, would another
team hire him to be their head coach? We all
know the answer to that. I mean, we just do
(11:27):
His record's awesome, he's been good. I think the reality
is most people give his GM the majority of the credit.
He has a stacked roster and his owner is willing
to open the checkbook and buy, like Vic Fangio just
didn't randomly come. You know, Vic Fangio ain't working for
the for the minimum. Would Nick Sirianni be hired as
(11:47):
a head coach? I see no chance. He'd probably get
an interview, I'm sure based on the agent. But I
don't see him becoming a head coach. I mean he's
he's like, organization doesn't allow him to call plays. It's like,
well they're offense, sucks. Well, he's an offensive guy, so yeah,
we just don't let him do that. I'm like, well,
and again I'm not trying to like do I say
(12:09):
it all the time, bottom line business, he wins a
lot more than he loses. But just a unique situation.
I mean, I don't know how else to say it.
It's just a unique situation. We're gonna have to have
some serious conversations about Sirianni versus Sean McVeigh. After the
Eagles beat the Rams in the playoffs this year. Again,
(12:32):
that will be Sirianni's four straight victory over McVeigh, including
two playoff eliminations. I mean, there's a chance they played
each other in the first round. Both have two Super
Bowl appearances with one victory, and Sirianni has owned him
head to head, yet McVeigh gets his ass kicked kissed.
This is again, if you gave the GMS thirty two
of them, if you gave owners thirty two of them
(12:55):
the opportunity, if you gave fan bases the opportunity, would
you draft show Ian mcvayh or would you hire Sean
mcvah nixt to your right, if you could only hire
one of the two guys, what would it be? What
would it be? It'd be thirty two to nothing. I
don't know what else to say. Like this. One guy
(13:15):
can be successful in his situation and go. No one
would choose him over Sean McVay. Not a fucking soul.
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New Jersey, Ohio, Tennis Steve, Virginia. My wife is pregnant
with my second kid. We're looking to take a trip
to Scottsdale, debating between staying at the Four Seasons or
the Phoenician. My man, that's living well, what would you recommend? Also,
(15:27):
I'm almost positive Petulu Patolo, the the Eagles OC. I
know how to say it when I don't look at it,
and when I look at it, it froze me off.
Kevin Petola will be fired at the end of the year.
Who do you think would be the best to replace him.
I think a Josh McDaniels type, someone who never wants
to be a head coach again. We actually had lunch,
(15:50):
you know when you I got married into Four Seasons
in Nashville, and it's incredible. It's like one of the
nicer hotels I've ever been at, but a lot of
Four Seasons, like aren't the one in Scottsdale. It's probably
fifteen minutes away from me. I think it's one of
the original ones ever built. It's kind of an old
it's not your typical like glitz and glamour. It's kind
of old school. If it said just Marriott in front
(16:13):
of it, you would not notice. So it's it's kind
of up in the in the rocks, in the mountains.
It's cool, but I don't think it's quite you know
when you say the four Seasons in that brand, the Phoenician.
If you like golf, there's a cool golf course there.
I think Phoenicians pretty cool, so I probably it just
depends what you want. Phoenicians a little more closer to
(16:34):
the action, like downtown Scottsdale old town as the kids
would call it. You know, North Scottsdale's more for us
old folks, a little quieter up here. So I don't
think you do wrong by either ones. But again, if
you're I don't know what the prices are for the
four seasons, if they are normal four seasons prices, you
might be a little underwhelmed what you're typically getting when
(16:57):
you stay at one of those properties. I don't even
know who that offensive coach would be. It's pretty rare
that you find a Josh McDaniels, like, yeah, I'm one
of the best offensive coordinators in the league, but no
one will ever hire me to be a head coach. Again,
I think this gets back to Sirianni. He's it's just
a unique situation. I just like, let's say Mike McDaniel,
(17:22):
who I don't think is gonna get fired, But let's
say he got fired. If he was unreal, he would
get another shot. Right. Let's say Kevin Stefanski was fired,
and everyone's like he's an automatic to get another job,
Like I don't know, Like the media likes Kevin Stefanski
a lot more than us. When we're watching him play,
You know because like, oh, the Browns have no players. No,
(17:44):
actually they got a lot of good players. It's like,
why is coaching year? It's like, I don't know. He's fine.
And again I feel like I'm shitting on these guys.
I got no issue with him. I met Kevin Stefanski
wants to bullshit with me. It's cool. I just think
sometimes when we annoint that like Kevin Stefanski gets talked
about sometimes, like listen, I've earned some respect for Kevin O'Connell.
I really have their season. You know what a good coach.
(18:06):
The difference between like high end coaches and just the
middle of the road, it's when your season can get derailed,
right like listen, obviously the chief season got derailed. But
Andy's resume speak for yourself. Kevin O'Connell's never won a
playoff game, and he gets put along with Kyle and
Sean whose resumes a lot longer and won some playoff games.
(18:27):
And this year it felt like, I mean a couple
months ago, it's like they're gonna win like four or
five games, and you look up, if they win this weekend,
they will be nine and eight. Like that's with with
Bosmer and JJ fucking Carson Wentz. I'm pretty impressed. Now
we'll see with the Brian Flores situation. I like Brian's
agent right now. It's like, listen, I'm trying to get paid,
(18:50):
and I got the Cowboys who would throw eber Fluse,
you know, in one of those oil rigs tomorrow. So
it's like the Wolves will spend, but the going rate
for a guy like if I'm Flores and I'm clearly
one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. I
just saw Chip Kelly scam the Raiders for six million
dollars a year, Like I know the other top defensive coordinators,
(19:11):
Spags and Fangio are making that ballpark like minimum. I want,
you know, three year deal. I don't know, eighteen twenty
million dollars it's going right or else I'll just go
somewhere else someone will pay me. This is all monopoly
money to these owners, Like twenty million dollars of them
is like, you know, a rotational linebacker. My question is,
(19:35):
do you think Caleb Williams is this generation's Russell Wilson.
I heard Colin compare him to Josh Allen, and they
share they share some similarities, but I think Russ would
fit Caleb's comp better. They both have polarizing personalities. Both
are undersize, have strong arms, and aren't the most accurate
throwers of the ball. Both can command a systematic offense.
(19:56):
Caleb with Chicago and Russ with the lob Seahawks. Neither
is seemingly a prototypical pocket passer. What makes them special
is more their ability to avoid sacks, extend plays with
their legs, and throw the deep ball. I feel like
in his peak Russell Wilson and again I mean Caleb's
in his second year had much more touch, and on
(20:16):
the flip side, Caleb's better in the pocket than Russell was.
So I think there are some similarities that They're playmaking
is pretty elite, but I think one like I felt
like Russell like would hit wheel routes with his eyes closed.
So and I think Caleb, you know, Russell thrown over
the middle field not great. I think Caleb's actually not
bad at that. So I there are some similarities, but
(20:39):
there are also some differences. I do think his comp
is closer to Josh in the sense of like crazy playmaking.
He just the touch is something like that pass Josh
missed to win the game against the Eagles, like you
can see Caleb, you know, it's like there's some balls
that you're like, how did you just miss that? But
(21:01):
I can live with some of the inaccuracies when you're
making sweet plays, right like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady
or Aaron Rodgers would make that play with one arm
tie behind their back, on their knees with their eyes closed.
But they have to make that like that's especially Peyton
and Tom or Philip Rivers, Like those throwers are their
bread and butter. They can't do the miraculous shit. So
(21:24):
there's always kind of a give and take with anything
you could argue in life, let alone a quarterback. Do
you think the Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has ruined
his chances of getting a head coaching job after Saturday
Nights to Bockle First King Henry the guy ran for
two hundred yards and four touchdowns. I mean, what are
we doing without Parsons? The defense feels inept. It usually
(21:47):
doesn't work that way. It just doesn't, you know. I
think sometimes when you're sitting on your couch or you're
reacting and you witness that game, you're like, this is
an embarrassment, but it's like you don't break up after
one weird fight, right, there is a body of work,
(22:07):
and I just think that he's gonna get a little
bit of a pass. He was highly thought of before
their players were dropping like flies. Obviously pretty embarrassing night
to do it on. You know, some of these nights
on national television feel worse, like my guy Ryan Day
against Mario because everyone's watching, right, So I don't think
(22:32):
it has much impact at all, to be honest with you,
if he interviews well people like him. It's also like
some guys go number three in the draft, not because
you know there's some all time great prospect because the
draft sucks, or in some great drafts they might have
gone twelve, which is still not bad. But like sometimes
(22:53):
you know, Micah Parsons doesn't crack the top ten. You know,
sometimes these guys, it's just based on supply and demand.
So part of the supply this year doesn't look great.
You know, Marcus Freeman, a lot of people thought he
was gonna get one of the jobs. Well he just
announced I'm staying at Notre Dame. So you look around,
you're like Robert Sala, you know, Clint Kubiak. I mean,
(23:17):
I don't know, just not a great crew. Brandon Staley
question for the back, do you think the Ravens would
trade Lamar? You don't think the Ravens would trade Lamar?
But what if the Raiders offered the number one pick
and Max Crosby. Would that be enough or would it
(23:40):
have to be multiple ones and twos plus a high
level player? Well, think about it like this. If there's
a quarterback that is viewed as, you know, a top
ten potential starting quarterback, right, let's think of the last
ten years Caleb was viewed that way. Cam was not.
I would say ra May and Jayden Daniels were very,
(24:02):
very highly thought of. Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence. That pick
is worth multiple ones because so if I traded you
the number one overall pick with the opportunity to get
Caleb Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Fernando Mendoza. Again, I'm recording
this before the Indiana game, so maybe who knows how
(24:24):
he looks. I'm excited to watch, but that pick or
Dante Moore, I'm doing it before the Oregon game as well. Whoever,
an elite quarterback prospect is because a team would trade
from four to one and give you pick four in
next year's one. So that pick in itself is not
just one first round pick, right like the team with
(24:46):
the twentieth first round the pick twenty and I have
picked one. It's the value chart. My pick at one
is worth way more than pick twenty. I live in
a house here. Some people up the road also live
in homes. Their homes are worth a little bit more.
So I think part of it is the value of
that pick. Now, here's the thing with Lamar, I don't buddy,
(25:11):
I used to know coach there is not there when
he was there, and he was part of the good
team a couple of years ago, I'd never heard a
bad word like they love the guy. Now. Part of
it is like when things are going well, me to dude,
you know this just started dating some girl in the
honeymoon phase, like life's great chime in after a couple
of years, tell me how it's going Things change, right,
(25:32):
And anytime in football you lose and things don't go
well and I pay you a lot of money, things
get weird and then you factor in injuries, which again
are no one's fault, but people start blaming people, and
clearly something's going on there. Again, I have no inside information,
but there's enough smoke, like there's got to be a
little fire in there. My issue would be this, if
(25:55):
you trade Lamar Jackson and he maintains being a high
end player for the next five years, you're not replacing that.
The chance is that for Nando Mendoza is ever seventy
five percent as good as the high end Lamar Jackson,
would you'd bet against it now. If he is good,
it's a no brainer cause you get back to Crosby,
(26:18):
who's an elite player, fits right in with the Ravens culture.
You get Fernando Mendoza, who is way cheaper, and within
a couple of years you can rebuild your team because
you have all this extra money. And if you're the Raiders,
it's definitely a no brainer if you need like, the
Raiders got nothing. They're an unwatchable product, so you get
(26:39):
Lamar Jackson boom. Since city people are paying attention now,
I also think if you're the Raiders, you better be
sure if you were gonna make that move, like how
much you like for Nando Mendoza or Dante more whoever
you're gonna draft. It's it's type conversation where no one
hangs up on each other. Or again, assuming they would
trade Lamar Jackson. If you're not in the business trading Jackson,
(27:00):
you're not interested. But again, sometimes like people are ready
to pivot, right, John Schneider is ready to pivot Russell
Wilson for Josh Allen. Whatever year that was twenty eighteen,
wanted to trade Russell Wilson the Cleveland Browns, and Russell
rightfully so said I'm not going to Cleveland, not doing it.
It was a smart move, But John was also on
the right guy. What do you think of a bijon
(27:35):
trade or him just not re upping with the Falcons.
He's more athletic than Tomlinson. Put him on the Texans,
Commanders and Bengals, and that would be a number one
offense after I mean that, that was as good of
an offensive game that's been played this year any position, quarterback, wide, receiver,
left tackle, that's as good as it gets. His high
end talent is so good. You just I said earlier
(27:58):
when they were so shitty, I was like, what's the
point of this? But now that I mean, all of
a sudden, they're eight nine. I think the question mark
is healthy. Kirk Cousins is better than what we saw
with Pennix. Now, the problem is, is Cousins a forty
plus million dollar quarterback. That's contract he's on. They're in
a weird spot. But running back's my favorite position. I
(28:23):
think that and linebacker encompassed the most right. It asked
you to literally do everything on the field. You got
to run between the tackles, run outside the tackles, catch
the ball, block break tackles. You're you know, a guy
like that can become the entire offense. But I don't
think they can trade him. He's not a tradable player
(28:47):
if you're a serious organization, especially it'd be one thing
if he was doing that and they were a two
win team, they were eight wins, and you look back
on it, they just I mean, they beat a lot
of good teams. He's lost to some terrible teams. You
just can't trade him. Yet they can't do it. I
(29:07):
brought that up a while ago, but it just can't happen.
Question would it be crazy for the Colts to hire
Rivers as the head coach, Let him pick a GM
and roll the dice. He definitely has knowledge and leadership.
Stiking is a good OC, but not a head coach.
He's five and thirteen in one score games against teams
with better than five hundred records and has had a
(29:28):
lot of games when the Colts haven't shown up, like
the Steeler games this year, in Giants game last year. Uh.
I don't think it would be crazy at all. Would
I rather have Shane Stikeen as my head coach of
Philip Rivers. I'd rather Philip Rivers. I think the culture
in a weird position because you could always make excuses
like well, this quarterback got hurt and this thing happened.
(29:52):
It's like, I don't know. We have a long track
record now, Chris Ballard. I read this article the other night.
I couldn't sleep, Like four in the morning, I roll over,
grab my phone. Not a great habit. But when I
do that, I try not to scroll. I just try
to go to like Wall Street Journal or the Athletic
and read something. So I go to the Athletic and
I see this article about Carly or say Gordon, the owner,
(30:13):
who clearly these people like a lot, and she an'even
like a cool girl or lady or woman or owner
whateverever you wanna call her. And she's impressive, like she's
she's trying really hard, even if you want to make
fun of her a little bit for the sideline stuff,
which Shane Syke and Chris Ballard went out of their
way to say they love it. Of course they do.
She signs her chicks, But is she just gonna be
(30:36):
cool just because she likes them? And one thing she
mentioned in They're like, you can't be afraid of change.
Sometimes it is exciting, like they don't win ever important games,
and now this year the Jags immediately turned it around
like that, So now you could argue, well they were
eating too with Daniel Jones. Okay, so what are you
gonna do? Danie Jones got a broken leg and a
torn achilles. You're gonna give him a big extension? Is
(30:57):
he just gonna sign like one year ten million dollars? Again?
He signed one year fourteen last year and then had
a great season before he got injured. So what are
you gonna do. You're gonna let him one year thirty
five million dollars. You're gonna do that for him? What
are your options? Anthey Rigidson was a miss you're clearly
gonna get rid of him this offseason. They're kind of
at a crossroads. And you know, her dad was nuts.
(31:20):
Her grandpa was even crazier. I mean, you watched that
Lway Doc jack Elway was right, We're not sending my
son to the Colts, and you're like, DH, no, that's
a little And it turns out Ursay's dad was like
taking headsets from offensive coordinators in the middle of the game, which,
honestly sometimes I miss you know, as this sport and
sports in general, becomes more and more corporate and just
(31:43):
there's so much money line once. I was thinking about
this the other day, like whenever Jerry Jones passes away,
most of these owners don't say shit. They got way
too much to lose. Like I kind of missed the
days of just you know, Papa Ersay or George Steinbrenner
or Eddie de Bartelow brown bag and a governor like
we just had, Like there were just some wild cards.
(32:05):
Like the wild cards are kind of done. It's like,
what's the craziest Steve Balmer made some fake company about
planting trees to give Kawhi money. It's like, oh, like
I'd rather have some guys that would say something, and
those days just feel over, which kind of makes me sad. Okay,
what on this? I thought Raheem was gone until I
(32:26):
heard Achemin contradict that tonight. He seems like a great
locker room guy, but struggles on the sideline clock management
made little changes to stop the backslide out of the playoffs.
I think with the talent, we have an insane it's
insane to get eliminated from the playoff race on week fourteen,
I would agree, what's your opinion? Run it back with
(32:48):
hopefully Mattie Ice playing some role. I think the hard
part I would argue about business in any industry, whether
you're talking billion dollar business or whether you're talking to
mom and pop shop, is if you go, I'm not
sure this guy is good enough, but you really like
them or you know. Part of it is like they
always say, and Colin used to say this, like remove emotion,
(33:10):
separate the emotion, Right, that's what you have to do
to make a good decision. That can be easier said
than done. Like it's easier for me to throw away
some you know, like material things don't mean that much
to me. It's like I'm done with this couch. Couch
means see, you don't with this pair of shoes, right,
I'm done with whatever. Not a car guy, but like
the car means nothing to me, Like get a new car,
(33:31):
get rid of this car again. They're way too expensive
right now. But you know what I mean. I do
think when you're talking people, it's easy to get rid
of Brian Kelly. Why he was an asshole. They couldn't
stand him, They couldn't get rid of him fast enough.
Lincoln Riley has the same record as Lane Kiffing and
Clay Helton through four years. But you know what, he's
more likable. Not that he's a big personality, but you know,
(33:54):
people have no issue with him clearly inside the building.
And he's expensive to get rid of. Matt Rule. Matt
Rules going that well in Nebraska given the hype, right,
given a guy like this, guy's gonna go to Penn State.
People like him. So Raheem Morris, that Shanahan crew, he
is like the leader of the crew. They love him.
He is universally loved by that crew. It's like Sean
(34:17):
mcvay's best friend, Kyle Shanahan's been saying for years, I've
been trying to hire him, but it's never really like
that they love that guy. So that's a positive thing, right,
Like part of the reason the Belichick thing ended so
just ugly for a guy with his resume, no one
could stand him. He wasn't a likable guy. When Andy
(34:38):
Reid got fired from the Philadelphia Eagles, he did like
a goodbye in the cafeteria to the entire organization. So
part of being a human being is like try to
be a good person, Like we're gonna have some core
tenets with my young son whenever he becomes like able
to talk, communicate and like treating people well is gonna
(34:59):
be at the top of list, because I think it's easy.
You know, once some people are just dicks, but especially
once you start having success, like well, I'm untouchable, and
then you can just become an asshole because your true
colors come out. Like Belichick's never ran from it, like
he's a dick. Like it's well established and Raheem Morris
like one thing that is saving him and put him
(35:20):
in a position where it's like, hey, he can people
really like him, players like him, other coaches like him. Obviously,
ownership and fro an office likes him, but he's in
a business where is he good enough? And you start
looking around his division, you go, well, Dave Canalis, you know,
Kellen Moore might have a little something with Tyler Shuck
Todd Bowles, you know he ain't exactly you know, going
(35:43):
up against you know, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells here. So
my guess would be this late surge, with how well
they're and hard they're playing, probably survive another year, would
be my guests. Again, don't have any inside information, don't
even know the guy, but I've just I've never heard
bad thing about it. People really really like them, clearly solid,
(36:03):
but I'm with you, just feels like they weren't buttoned up.
It's also, you know some of their games the Rams
on Monday Night Football or the Bills they play the
Bills on Monday Night Football or is that Sunday night football.
It's easy to get up for those games, right it.
Part of being a coach is like, can you get
up for the four win team? Can you get up
(36:24):
for the team the ten am kickoff West Coast time
against some crappy opponent. It's a little more difficult to
do that, and they've struggled with that because when you
have a guy as good as Bijon with some of
their other offensive weapons, and they listen James Pierce, I
forget the guy's name, the Oregon defensive lineman who got
hurt in the game, their safety play, their physical team.
(36:47):
But you watch them, you go, how did this team
not win ten games? How did this team not win
the division? It's like, well, look at some of the
previous shitty games against nobody's so I don't know. My
guests would say he survives, but maybe you know, if
he beats the Saints, all of a sudden, you're eight
(37:07):
nine and the season doesn't look that bad. The volume
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