September 12, 2024 • 35 mins
Colin tells you why Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson are the 2 most UNDERRATED quarterbacks in the NFL right now. He discusses Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins as they prepare to take on the Bills and why this game is more than just another regular match up. Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to breakdown the film on Caleb Williams and why he struggled in his NFL debut
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Thursday. Bill's Dolphins Tonight,
Greg co selling one hour live in LA. It's the
Herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Our first
full big week NFL this is week two of the league.
It feels like a little bit our first big full
week back Labor Day a couple of weeks ago. Jamac
(00:52):
I just saw the day twenty. The NFL averaged twenty
one million viewers per game for the opening week. It's
the highest done record. Wonderful. That's awesome. Yeah, years ago
people were protesting it because of Colin Kaepernick. Apparently they've
come back. Look you doing politics two days in a row. Whew,
(01:14):
that's not politics, that's Colin Kaepernick. So they're blowing through records.
Everybody's back, everybody loves it. It's been such a popular
league that you know, I can remember NBA guys have
been making money and shoes and endorsements forever, and now
NFL guys are all over commercials. Travis Kelsey's on everything,
but quarterback remains the glamour position in easily the most
(01:38):
popular sport in America. You can be an average quarterback
to below average. If you're athletic, like justin fields, you
still have fans. Most quarterbacks actually get more publicity outside
of the mahomes than they're probably deserving of. I was
thinking about this this morning. There's only two quarterbacks in
this league, twenty one million viewers per game, easily the
(02:00):
most popular sport in America. It is separated from everything else.
It is the English Premier League in the UK, it's
separated from all the other sports. They're tennis there, cricket.
It's not close. There's only two quarterbacks I would say
that are underrated. The first, and he won't be by
the end of the year, is Justin Herbert as a
rookie with a bad line, a bad defense, and an
(02:23):
overwhelmed coach. Thirty one touchdowns, ten picks, and a passer
rating of ninety eight. It was very Andrew Luck. They
didn't have much around him, the coach wasn't right, the
on line was bad. He could only win by a shootout.
Five rushing touchdowns, sixty seven percent completion percentage, thirty one touchdowns,
ten picks, ninety eight passer rating. It was very Andrew Luck.
(02:47):
A shaky protection, Bryce Young can't play, shaky protection, bad
up front, Zach Wilson's a disaster. Caleb Williams is overwhelmed.
Justin Herbert's first game goes to overtime with Patrick Mahomes.
His first game, he was fifth in passing yards that year.
I looked it up this morning. Fifth in passing yards.
(03:09):
He was ahead of Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford. Justin
Herbert is a rookie, so he's underrated, and a lot
of it is he hadn't the support until Jim Harbaugh
and now he's got two great tackles. The other quarterback
that I truly believe is underrated and I cannot, for
the life of me figure it out, is Lamar Jackson.
(03:31):
So he's twenty and one against the NFC, meaning if
you don't face him regularly, he's even better than Mahomes.
If you don't face him regularly, there's nothing in the
league like him. You can't prepare for him. Good teams.
Last year Detroit got blown out by him. San Francisco
nobody knows what to do with him. San Francisco controlled
(03:52):
Aaron Rodgers. San Francisco against Lamar, they don't know what
to do with him. Detroit couldn't figure him out. Lamar
jack and is one in five against Patrick Mahomes, who
nobody beats. And that's my guess is because he can't
beat the King. People don't think he's good. Mvpople's first
year as a starter. He's good in division, good against
(04:13):
his rivals, toughest division in football sixteen and seven. But
outside of Baltimore and NFL locker rooms players love him,
he didn't get any respect. I mean, good God, folks.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
C J.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Stroude really good. He is already universally accepted and loved.
He's ten and six or eleven and six?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
What is he?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I mean, mccollin, he's a runner. You guys love cam Newton.
Cam Newton never had back to back winning seasons. People
defended Cam Newton until the day you retired. Michael Vick
was loved, People loved watching Michael Vick. People defended Michael Vick.
They don't with Lamar Jackson. Well, he's not very good
(04:55):
in the pocket. I looked that up this morning. As
a pocket passer last year one h two passer rating,
completed sixty eight and a half percent of his throws.
That's right up there with Matt Stafford. He's pretty good
in the bucket. So I can't explain it. You defended
Cam Newton. C. J. Stroud's already baked in. I mean,
we love burrow By about his fourth start. Kyler Murray
(05:17):
was accepted by many until the video game stories came out.
But Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson are doing things that
are virtually impossible in the NFL. They're underrated at the
glamour position. So speaking of quarterbacks, tonight is really interesting
because it's Tua, who's a good player, against Josh Allen,
(05:37):
who's a great player, And it really does show not
all games are the same. Now, we know the super
Bowl is bigger than regular season games, but even in
the regular season, it shows you the power of division rivalry.
Games Buffalo and Miami.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That's a rivalry.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
The cold weather, the warmest weather, the coldest weather, the
warmest weather northern down by the Keys. So Tua against
the Bills has been bad. One in six passer rating.
That's like t bo Ish seventy seven. And it shows
you the power of rivals. Jim Harbaugh was winning ten
games a year at Michigan, but he couldn't meet Ohio
(06:18):
State and literally media people irresponsibly, in my opinion, media
people were like, get him out of Michigan, can't coach.
He'd won everywhere San Diego, forty nine ers, Stanford, he
was winning at Michigan. He could not beat Ohio State,
and people, journalists lost their mind. Ryan Day now has
(06:40):
the highest winning percentage in college football. He can't beat
Michigan and people are all over him. Jared Goff with
Sean McVay was forty two and twenty as a starter
and got to a Super Bowl. But do you know
why Sean McVay bailed on him? You remember that game,
(07:01):
don't you? Up North? He couldn't beat the Niners, and
McVeigh and Shanahan have a very intense rivalry. He just
couldn't beat the Niners. He was forty two and twenty,
he'd outdueled Mahomes on a Monday night football game. He
could go toe to toe with anybody. Forty two and
twenty Super Bowl couldn't beat his ridal. So the Tua's
(07:23):
issue and why this is a big game tonight for two.
I know it's weak two, but it's a big game.
Not only could he not beat Buffalo, he's bad against Buffalo,
and Josh Allen is unbelievable against Miami. So when you
juxtaposed the two on the same game, one sideline one
the other, Josh Allen looks bigger than ever and to
a look smaller. And as a head coach, you have
(07:44):
to beat your rival. Go back to the Harball early days.
It was insane watching the media bail on Harball, and
then what happened last year made this all worse and
tonight so important for Tua. Do you remember last year
it was the final game, which which is Week eighteen
two is at home, division title on the line. In
(08:05):
the second half, Tua got five possessions with that receiving
core in that coach and those running backs zero points. Tua,
who's already small for a quarterback looked even smaller. A
standalone game tonight against Buffalo is not another game. I
don't care that he dropped seventy against Denver. I don't
care that he led the NFL in passing yards against
(08:27):
MVP votes. He's got to win tonight. A small guy
that looks smaller every time he faces his division rival.
And here's Tua.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
When you know that another team has beaten you so often,
has had so much success, does that you know you?
Is it something you think about as you prepped for
that team, knowing the success they've had.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, that's that's going to be what's written out there.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
Until we do something about that, that's going to be
the narrative that we can't beat the Bills. And until
we do beat them, and we beat them consistently, like,
none of that's going to change.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Can't wait for tonight. I do like Miami to win.
I'm going against recent trending in history. I'm gonna take
Miami to win. Twenty seven to twenty could also turn
the hat around. That would probably help a little. That's
worth half a point in my opinion, but I'm not
going to get into it. It's is only Thursday. It's
only week two. I'm not going to get into it.
(09:22):
I do think that's worth at least half a point,
but no big deal. So it's interesting. It's too early
in the season. Would you agree, j Mac to have
a definitive opinion on almost anything, but but you can
see red flags after the first week, you can see
(09:45):
red flags.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I mean, it's tough to say, come out, Daniel Jones
is the worst quarterback, and you can't say something like that.
But we have four years of data, right or five
years maybe on JOm is there.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I You've got a red flag based on what I've
seen and what I heard last night about Joe Burrow,
No about Caleb Williams. Oh so you loaded loading up
on the Texans this week. I just again, it's not
a definitive opinion, little red flag, just something to worry about.
(10:22):
Anybody listening to my show that owns a business, small business,
You don't have a definitive opinion on an employee. But
if you see a couple of things happen two or
three times in a row over the course of two
or three months, it's a little bit of a red flag.
The employee maybe can't handle that. Not good around this person,
not good on those assignments, A little red flag way,
(10:45):
it's small.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Well, remember his opener was buried at one o'clock with
like a billion games. He's going to be on an
island game now if he has a sixteen for day ninety.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Three yards and it's like this guy is terrible. Yeah, yeah,
of next hour, Greg Cosel.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in New Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great rates none of the Bowl. So this is not
good news. Bears who were out played by Tennessee. But
due to Will Levis an egregious interception, the Bears beat Tennessee.
They were outplayed, totally outplayed. I'll watched every snap, totally outplayed.
(11:33):
That's bigger than you think. And I'll tell you why.
So Roma Dunze and Keenan Allen didn't practice yesterday. Not great.
A Dunze has a sprain MCL, not torn sprained. So
I'll say this again, and I said this, everybody is
our witness. I think bow Nicks is going to have
(11:54):
the best rookie season of all the quarterbacks. Why because
Caleb has a defensive coat. Jayden Daniels has a defensive coach,
Drake May has a defensive coach. JJ McCarthy's not going
to play, he's injured rehabbing, and Michael Pennix, if he
does play, I think he will eventually has a defensive coach.
Bo Nicks has an offensive coach and a brilliant one.
(12:14):
And it matters for young quarterbacks in this league. No
worth doing it, not worth doing a segment. You know it,
I know it, We all know it. It mattered Jared Goff,
Jeff Fisher, Jared gov Sean McVay. It helped. Bo Nicks
is also arguably the most accurate of all these quarterbacks,
with a brilliant offensive coach. And Sean Payton has relayed
(12:34):
to me, kid can read a defense cognitively, he can
read a defense. So he's going to be the best
most productive rookie quarterback. Have no idea year two, three, four, five, six,
But this year, and I know it's only Week two,
this is a little bit of a red flag out
of Chicago. Caleb Williams has taken seventy seven total snaps.
(12:54):
I am counting preseason, when you face virtually no starters,
no starters and certainly no exotic blitz packages. Seventy seven
total snaps preseason, first game, forty nine passes. He's completed
twenty four forty nine percent completion percentage, And yeah, that's
(13:22):
not good. Passer rating at sixty five. Not good. I
was also told last night, had in the conversation with
somebody that a practice before the Tennessee game pretty rough,
like the Friday practices. That's the easy stuff, repetition, pretty rough,
(13:42):
ball in the ground a lot. So my concern this
is not a definitive statement for a little bit of
a red flag. And this is what I worried about
going into Chicago. Who's there to fix it? I can
remember Mahomes didn't even have to play until week seventeen
first year, but even the year two, as he was flourishing,
(14:04):
he'd get off into the weeds mechanically, and he pulled
it back. If bo Nick struggles, Sean Payton pulls it back,
McVeigh pulls golf back, Shanahan pulls brought pretty in who
in Chicago, Shane Waldron, I don't know, so you start
looking at that schedule. Beating Tennessee despite the fact at
(14:24):
home they were outplayed and overwhelmed offensively overwhelmed. They're not
beating Houston, Indy or the Rams. My prediction right now
three game losing streak and by Halloween, Matt Eberflu's head
coach is dead, coach walking. He's in big trouble. So
I do not think it's too early to see red flags.
(14:46):
Anybody watching or listening to this show. That's what coaches do.
You don't think Kaylin de board Alabama. You don't think
sark is not looking at his team and going, you
know what, we're not very good at our second corner
and we got a team coming up Oklahoma in a
few weeks. That's what coaches do. It's what CEOs do.
You're looking for issues before they become controversies in major flaws.
(15:10):
It's a little bit of a red flag. I mean,
we don't think Tennessee's elite. You're at home, you have
excellent weapons, They've got Chicago's got good weapons. This is
top eight nine weapon packages in the league. Tight end
running back, I think their tackles are good. Just saying
forty nine percent. I'm counting all the snaps when you
(15:31):
add that to some of his struggles completing balls in
USC last year, and then you watch Miller Moss come in,
who's this other quarterback under Lincoln Riley and literally the
ball never hits the ground unless it's dropped. It's just stuff.
Here's Caleb about adjusting to the NFL.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
I was looking at the NFL this past weekend, and
I'm looking at all all the teams and things like
that and realizing that, like I've said in many other interviews,
that you know, the job is hard. NFL is hard,
you know that, and the defense are gonna make it
tough on you. So now that's what they're gonna do.
(16:14):
Or weekend and week out.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Beating Tennessee shouldn't have but beating Tennessee was huge. Good
look at that schedule, Houston Indie almost beat Houston road games,
and then the Rams McVeigh Stafford, who went toe to
toe and they'll be healthy by then. By the way,
then you start watching the Rams in week four, that
old line will be healthy again. Just thoughts, not not
(16:37):
definitive statements, a little bit of a red flag. The
phone call I got the preseason stuff, forty looked overwhelmed
not getting the ball room and Dunzee got one look
just stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Hey gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of Breaking a
Mental Wealth.
Speaker 8 (17:01):
Podcast, and every week we will have on leaders from
sports entertainment like Sean McVay, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelp, David Spade,
got Fiemmi, and also those who can help us in
between the ears, anyone from a therapist to someone.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Like Ed Milett for John Gordon.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
We've all been through some sort of adversity to get
to the top. We've all used different tools. Listen to
Unbreakable with Jay Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Greg Cosel forty five years NFL films, This is what
he does, all right. So they had one really really
good drive. The play calling was good. San Francisco scored
on eighth straight. So you know, the juxtaposition of the
Niners and Jets offense, it was ugly. What did the
films say? What did you like? What worried you? What
did the films say about Aaron and the Jets.
Speaker 9 (17:53):
Well, it's funny you talk about the protection, because we
talked about their old line leading into the season being better, Colin.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
But they struggled.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
But keep in mind that they were playing against arguably
as good a front six as there is in the
National Football League. And I thought that both tackles new
tackles this year, Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses struggled in
pass pro. And again they were going against Nick Bosa.
Maybe you know, he's certainly a top three pass rusher
in the league, and Leonard Floyd, who is a good player.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
So I think they struggled a bit there.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
Don't forget Aaron Rodgers has not really played in a
regular season game in really two years, and he has
not played with these players other than Alan Lazard in
a regular season game.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Now.
Speaker 9 (18:34):
I think Garrett Wilson is terrific and it's evident he
will become a movable chess piece that'll line him up
all over the formation. He's a great player. They need
Mike Williams to become a factor at the boundary X receiver,
but it was a game where I thought he just
had a work off kind of the mental and physical rust,
and I expect him to be significantly better as the
season progresses. You're talking about a quarterback that number one,
(18:57):
you could say he throws the ball better than any
core we've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
And number two, he's so exceptionally smart.
Speaker 9 (19:04):
I remember one of his former quarterback coaches telling me
that he came off the field after a series and
Rogers could tell you what seven defenders were doing on
every play.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
That is unheard of.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Yeah, yeah, Brady had some of those qualities where people
Tom could see the entire field as he dropped back
to pass offensive guys defenders. Yeah, there are very few
guys in the planet. He's always been a thoughtful, bright guy.
I've said before sometimes he's a bit quirky, but you know,
we need more quirky people. He's more artists than accountant.
I'm okay with that. We need more artists. I mean,
we need fewer accountants. Okay. I want to go back
(19:35):
to Thursday, Chiefs and and Lamar Jackson. I feel like
I defend Lamar Jackson at every turn. He was an
inch from potentially winning the game. So when I watched
the Chiefs, now, Andy Reid's very good in September brings
out the tricks. But I got to tell you, Rashid
Rice looked like a one worthies. I don't know if
he's a volume receiver, he's a valuable weapon, a gadget.
(19:56):
They have two tight ends now that I trust, and
then guys like Watson, who can you know, make plays
Juju Smith, Schuster's coming, He'll grow Hollywood, Brown's coming back.
I think Kansas City looks like a better version of
last year. What did the film say?
Speaker 9 (20:13):
Well, I think they're now in a situation where they
can really get the best out of their players in
how they deploy them. Because look what they did with
Rachie Rice, And some of that's a function now with
having Xavier Worthy. Because Rice worked between the numbers, they
got him matched up on linebackers on a lot of
those quick routes, option routes, what we call jerk routes,
(20:33):
and that's where he's at his best.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Because he's a big, physical receiver.
Speaker 9 (20:36):
He's not truly a burner on the perimeter. But Worthy
is now that guy Brown can work on the outside.
So now you have Rice, who, in a sense with Kelsey,
works the same area of the field, and you get
the matchups that really favor what your players do best.
And I mean, look, you saw Rice beating Rokwan Smith
on those little option routes.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Inside choice routes, whatever teams call them.
Speaker 9 (21:00):
But you know, so they're able now to really deploy
their players the way they can best be deployed, and
they'll be a really difficult offense to defend.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So I want to you know, I said about Lamar Jackson,
he had like sixteen rushes and he took some real hits.
I said, I think in his mind that he plays
different against Kansas City than everybody else because it means more.
And I don't think he'll take those hits. I don't
think he'll put his body in that situation. I think
it's sort of the way he plays Kansas City. It
feels like he needs to win this game. Were you
(21:31):
disturbed by how many hits he took. He was like
a running back out there.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
And they said that he lost weight, so I know
he missed practice time this week. They said he was sore.
That's not good after the first week of the season.
You know, Jackson is a player, and I think you
would agree it's very difficult to evaluate him the way
you would evaluate, you know, sort of traditional quarterbacks, right,
because when you watch their tape, and I've watched him
for years as you have. I've probably seen almost every
(21:57):
game he's played in the NFL from the coaching tape.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
And he's not really a timing rhythm player. That's not
really his game.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
You don't see a lot of throws where he drops back,
hits his back foot, throws the ball, particularly in the
middle of the field where there are a lot of bodies.
He's more of an instinct player. He's got unbelievable instincts.
That's the strength of his game. So obviously the running
is a major part. You know, he's missed not last year,
(22:25):
but the previous two years. He missed what the last
five or six games each season. You wonder, now, if
he's lost weight and he's going to run that much,
if that's going to be a factor. Everybody starts to
get older and the body just doesn't react the same way.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okay, I want to do Bills Miami here because I
watched Buffalo struggle early and I was kind of critical
on my podcast after the game. I said, can they
ever be more than just? Hey, Josh put on the
Superman Cape, and he's unbelievable. He's really an unbelievable player,
probably the best overall talent in the sport. Are you working?
(22:59):
I like I like their tight ends, but you know
at receiver it's a rookie. When you watch the film,
do you again believe it's another year of Superman Josh
Allen or bust.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
Well, look, I think they're trying not to be that way.
Cook had nineteen carries. Keep that in mind. Davis only
had three. The rookie Ray Davis out of Kentucky, they'd
like to get him involved as well.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I think they're trying to be more than Josh Allen.
Speaker 9 (23:26):
And by the way, with the nature of their past
game as well, they're trying to get him a lot
more rhythmic type throws so he doesn't have deeper drops.
And then because at his best and Allen is a
great player, as you said, but he's not a true
progression reader the way you think of you know, a
Drew Brees or a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. You
know he can do that, but that's not the best
(23:47):
part of his game. He's another player that's very instinctive
in how he plays. But they're clearly trying to develop
a run game. They're very multiple, Colin with their run
game concepts, so I would expect that they'll continue to
do that. They did not run a lot of plays
this past week, so you may not have seen exactly
how they want their offense to look. And again, you know,
and I know there's all overreactions to week one, but
(24:10):
the thing is with Josh Allen, when you get into
those sort of critical, high level, high leverage down in
distant situations, he's the best player on the field and
you want the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
So two in Miami's offense couldn't do anything for a
big chunks of the game early, and then Holland had
that brilliant punch out tackle of the goal line, Miami
recovers gets possession that really changed the game. That was
the play of the game. Why were you know, we
think of McDaniel, two of the receivers. Why were they
so choppy offensively early?
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Why?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
What did Jacksonville do? What was wrong with their offense?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
You know what?
Speaker 9 (24:45):
This is why I love watching tape Colin, because I
put that tape on and I'm seeing what Ryan Nielson,
the DC for Jacksonville did.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
And it was really really good.
Speaker 9 (24:55):
Now people might think, okay, well every team should do
the same thing, and we know it never works like that.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
But what he he did is two things.
Speaker 9 (25:01):
Number One, he had safeties become a robber defenders, because
where is the Miami pass game at its best between
the numbers, all those timing and rhythm throws between the numbers.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So he had a safety be a robber.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
And also what he did is he showed pressure fronts
and then had a linebacker drop out, essentially in a
similar position. When a linebacker drops out, we tend to
call it lurk, but he would definitely have an extra
defender sitting in the middle of the field. And he
played a lot of man coverage because what's to his game.
He's the best windows thrower in the NFL. Those timing
(25:37):
throws against zone coverage into windows. So he played man
and he put a defender in the middle of the field.
Now I give Mike McDaniel a ton of credit because
in the second half he started to.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Counter that and did a really really good job.
Speaker 9 (25:50):
But I thought Ryan Nielson, the DC for Jacksonville, did
a tremendous job in game planning against that offense.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
So I talked about this earlier. It's a bit of
a red flag. I'm not making a definitive opinion, but
Caleb Williams, if you count preseason and the which is
all vanilla defense, is very few starters and the first
week is completing forty nine percent of his throws in
a passer rating. That's regrettable. And at USC he had
(26:18):
three games last year where he was completing under sixty
percent of his throws. Now I'm not making again. I'm
not saying it's over, but I'm saying that was what
gms in the league told me. They're like, we love him.
Mahomes is the comp but he can be erratic with
his with his accuracy. And by the way, when Mahomes
(26:39):
was early in his career, Andy Reid brings him back
on the fairway. Stafford can get bad, he can get
a little reckless, or his mechanics McVeigh brings him back.
They don't have. That's why I owe It's why I've
predicted that bo Nicks will have the best rookie season.
He's got an offensive coach to get, you know, edit
the bad stuff out. So the halib stuff, I'm saying
(27:01):
it's a bit of a red flag. I know it's
one week, but he missed twice. He missopen people. What
does the film say, Greg.
Speaker 9 (27:10):
Well, I think the issue for him at this point
is twofold number one, because this is all new. He
was very focused on just executing the play call, whether
that receiver was open or not. That's very common for
rookie quarterbacks in their first start, So he made a
lot of throws that he probably shouldn't have made.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
The ball comes out of his hand beautifully. We all
know that.
Speaker 9 (27:31):
The other thing that he really needs to work on,
it showed up at USC, it showed up in the preseason,
and it showed up Week one against the Titans, is
he needs to really get a better innate understanding of
the pocket and how to play from the pocket. He
tends to move and create his own pressure. He tends
to climb the pocket and step up when he doesn't
(27:52):
need to. Now, in college, maybe you can get away
with that at times, but in the NFL you're not
going to get away with that. So what happens is
he steps up. Now he's closer to the bodies, and
all of a sudden, he feels like he has to
speed up or get out of the pocket. So he
just needs to develop a better feel to have to
play from the pocket. Keep in mind, he got sacked
in his two years at USC over eighty times. I
(28:15):
saw all those plays, Colin. Sure, the O line wasn't great,
as you know you live out there, but a lot
of those sacks were on him. And that's a lot
of sacks for a really good college quarterback in two years.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, you're so good at this. Okay, I'm gonna be
a little prideful here as I asked you this question,
Sam Darnold, Sammy darn there you go.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I knew that was coming.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
I think, let me, I think it was twelve of
twelve to start. I can't remember. Okay, look pretty good.
Now the schedule gets brutal. It maybe the last great moment.
But let's talk about what you saw.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Well, there's a couple of things here that really stood
out to me. Number one, keep in mind where he
was last year, even though he wasn't the starter, he
was in San Francisco. Now he's with Kevin O'Connell. You're
talking about high level coaching. One thing that really stood
out to me. Yes, it's one game, and I'm not
going to sit here and say, man, is he gonna
have a great year. But I just thought the way
(29:11):
he dropped back, his footwork, his balance, the way his
lower body and upper body were coordinated, the way he
was coordinated in sync with the routes by the receivers.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
I just thought he looked really comfortable.
Speaker 9 (29:25):
And again, it's one game, so we're not going to
act like this guy's going to have an All Pro season,
but he looked like a different quarterback. He threw a
steam ball, I believe, to the tight end early in
the game, and it just looked exactly the way it's
supposed to look. That forty four yarder to Jefferson on
the sail route or the deep corner route. That was
just absolutely beautiful, and not because he placed it perfectly,
(29:47):
which of course was great, but because of the way
he dropped back and hitched up in the pocket. Everything
was right about his footwork, the coordination with his lower
and upper body. That's what I look for very often
when I watch quarterbacks, and he just look like a
far more comfortable player from a technique and fundamental standpoint.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
So now everybody has film on CJ. Stroud and yet
I watch him against the Colts and they've given him
Joe Mixon, who I've always thought deserves more appreciation. He's
had off field stuff, maybe he's not as likable. Whatever,
He's a really good running back, functional, physical, and now
(30:26):
Stefan Diggs. Everybody got film on c J. Stroud. I
like the coaching staff in Indie and he's out there dealing.
Are we looking at are we looking at with c J?
Stroud the Texans offense? Are we looking at a kid
that we're going to say in a year is right
behind Mahomes? I mean, but what's the film say?
Speaker 9 (30:46):
The film really shows that this kid's a really terrific player.
He's got a really innate understanding of timing anticipation because
of the kinds of throws he can make.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
He's a playmaker from the pocket.
Speaker 9 (30:56):
We think of quarterbacks being playmakers when they get outside
of the but he makes anticipation throws that are just phenomenal,
and that's innate. You can't really teach that. You can
talk about it, but you can't really teach it. He's
really really good at that. It's high level.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
But keep one thing in mind, Bobby Slowitz, there oc
where did he come from? The Niners. So Joe Mixon
had thirty carries last year, and I know he's not
getting thirty.
Speaker 9 (31:21):
Carries every week, but they're going to try to run
the ball. The zone run game last week, particularly to
the left behind Laramie Tunsel, was really really good, and
that is going to be foundationally how they play offense.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, so I bring up Sam Darnold and people think
I'm tough on Baker, but I've said before I love
redemption stories, and I think that game last week was
as good as I've seen him play. He's a very
unique player. Greg I always felt with like Brady, I
got the same quarterback every week, Mahomes, I get Baker
can be emotional and when he's feeling good about himself,
(31:59):
he's really good. Was that as good as he's ever
been on tape?
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Well, i'll tell you what. On third down he was
ridiculously good.
Speaker 9 (32:08):
He was I think eight for ten for over one
hundred yards, and it just looked easy for him. So
much of third downs is a function as well of
the coaching staff and the play call, and that's true
no matter how good the quarterback is. But Baker was
extremely decisive last week. He saw things really clearly. I mean,
he's been good Colin for a good part of his career.
(32:30):
There's no question he's had moments and games where, for
whatever reason, he's been reckless and undisciplined. And maybe that's
just because he's an emotional guy. We don't know that.
We're not in his brain, but you're talking about a
guy that throws the ball really well. At his core,
he's a pocket quarterback if the scheme can really help him,
and now he's got Liam Cohen who's got a RAMS background.
(32:52):
I would expect him to have a really fine season.
Whatever that means number wise, I don't know, but third
down was where he really excelled last week.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, as you said, he saw things, and that is
so hard for certain quarterback. I was saying this week
Derek Carr and Baker Mayfield could have the two best
games I've ever seen them play in their lives. And
we think of them as sort of mid quarterbacks. But
when you watch these rookies being overwhelmed, you realize how
lucky you are as a franchise to have Baker Mayfield
because he's just slinging it. So the big play of
(33:22):
the Week is Baker.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Yeah, and it's a third down play and it was
a thirty two yard touchdown. He threw to Jalen McMillan, who,
by the way, I really really like. So let's go
take a look at that play now, the touchdown to McMillan,
because this was just a really good play and a
really good throw.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
And we'll get to the specifics of it here.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
First, we're just going to see the play and it
just looks so easy because McMillan is open.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
But they did a really good job.
Speaker 9 (33:46):
And it's where I talked about concepts and play calling
and how you help. So you're going to see here
mayfield in the gun and it's what we call three
by one set. You're gonna have three receivers to the
field side and Mike Evans at the top of the
screen at the boundary. Now, what the commanders do here
is they're actually gonna play man to man on the
two outside receivers because right now that's Evans and McMillan, okay,
(34:09):
And then what they're going to do is they're going
to match the releases of the two inside receivers. So
what do they do here the bucks They're going to
put Jalen McMillan, who's number one, at the bottom of
the screen.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
He's going to go in motion inside of Godwin.
Speaker 9 (34:25):
So he goes from number one now to being number
two because we count receivers from the outside in. So
now what happens is you're going to see the defense
now try to match the releases of two different receiver,
one different receiver in particular, and they get confused. So
now it's gonna happen. McMillan runs that deep corner out.
(34:45):
But Baker sees this beautifully. Look at the two defenders.
He sees Colin, he sees these two guys not in
position to turn and run with McMillan, and the anticipation
is beautiful.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
He sees it. He delivers the ball and it's a touchdown.
Speaker 9 (35:00):
But again, this is a great example of the marriage
between scheme and quarterback, and you're gonna see from this
angle how beautiful it is. How they kind of lost
the coverage and it was just it just broke down
the coverage. But Baker has played really, really well. I
think you would agree he played well last year for
the most part too.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, No, I thought he deserved a new contract. I
think he's absolutely Listen, Brady Lee casts a shadow, Brady
wins a super Bowl, he leaves. You got to have
somebody with some confidence replace him, because that's the reality is.
Brady comes in, greatest quarterback ever. You can't limp into
the next franchise quarterback. And Baker plays. You know, he's
a swashbuckling gunslinger and I think he works in Tampa.
(35:42):
I think it works. Greg. As always, you were magnificent.
Thanks again. We'll see you next Thursday.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Thanks, Conor, appreciate it.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Thursday. Bill's Dolphins Tonight,
Greg co selling one hour live in LA. It's the
Herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Our first
full big week NFL this is week two of the league.
It feels like a little bit our first big full
week back Labor Day a couple of weeks ago. Jamac
(00:52):
I just saw the day twenty. The NFL averaged twenty
one million viewers per game for the opening week. It's
the highest done record. Wonderful. That's awesome. Yeah, years ago
people were protesting it because of Colin Kaepernick. Apparently they've
come back. Look you doing politics two days in a row. Whew,
(01:14):
that's not politics, that's Colin Kaepernick. So they're blowing through records.
Everybody's back, everybody loves it. It's been such a popular
league that you know, I can remember NBA guys have
been making money and shoes and endorsements forever, and now
NFL guys are all over commercials. Travis Kelsey's on everything,
but quarterback remains the glamour position in easily the most
(01:38):
popular sport in America. You can be an average quarterback
to below average. If you're athletic, like justin fields, you
still have fans. Most quarterbacks actually get more publicity outside
of the mahomes than they're probably deserving of. I was
thinking about this this morning. There's only two quarterbacks in
this league, twenty one million viewers per game, easily the
(02:00):
most popular sport in America. It is separated from everything else.
It is the English Premier League in the UK, it's
separated from all the other sports. They're tennis there, cricket.
It's not close. There's only two quarterbacks I would say
that are underrated. The first, and he won't be by
the end of the year, is Justin Herbert as a
rookie with a bad line, a bad defense, and an
(02:23):
overwhelmed coach. Thirty one touchdowns, ten picks, and a passer
rating of ninety eight. It was very Andrew Luck. They
didn't have much around him, the coach wasn't right, the
on line was bad. He could only win by a shootout.
Five rushing touchdowns, sixty seven percent completion percentage, thirty one touchdowns,
ten picks, ninety eight passer rating. It was very Andrew Luck.
(02:47):
A shaky protection, Bryce Young can't play, shaky protection, bad
up front, Zach Wilson's a disaster. Caleb Williams is overwhelmed.
Justin Herbert's first game goes to overtime with Patrick Mahomes.
His first game, he was fifth in passing yards that year.
I looked it up this morning. Fifth in passing yards.
(03:09):
He was ahead of Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford. Justin
Herbert is a rookie, so he's underrated, and a lot
of it is he hadn't the support until Jim Harbaugh
and now he's got two great tackles. The other quarterback
that I truly believe is underrated and I cannot, for
the life of me figure it out, is Lamar Jackson.
(03:31):
So he's twenty and one against the NFC, meaning if
you don't face him regularly, he's even better than Mahomes.
If you don't face him regularly, there's nothing in the
league like him. You can't prepare for him. Good teams.
Last year Detroit got blown out by him. San Francisco
nobody knows what to do with him. San Francisco controlled
(03:52):
Aaron Rodgers. San Francisco against Lamar, they don't know what
to do with him. Detroit couldn't figure him out. Lamar
jack and is one in five against Patrick Mahomes, who
nobody beats. And that's my guess is because he can't
beat the King. People don't think he's good. Mvpople's first
year as a starter. He's good in division, good against
(04:13):
his rivals, toughest division in football sixteen and seven. But
outside of Baltimore and NFL locker rooms players love him,
he didn't get any respect. I mean, good God, folks.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
C J.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Stroude really good. He is already universally accepted and loved.
He's ten and six or eleven and six?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
What is he?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I mean, mccollin, he's a runner. You guys love cam Newton.
Cam Newton never had back to back winning seasons. People
defended Cam Newton until the day you retired. Michael Vick
was loved, People loved watching Michael Vick. People defended Michael Vick.
They don't with Lamar Jackson. Well, he's not very good
(04:55):
in the pocket. I looked that up this morning. As
a pocket passer last year one h two passer rating,
completed sixty eight and a half percent of his throws.
That's right up there with Matt Stafford. He's pretty good
in the bucket. So I can't explain it. You defended
Cam Newton. C. J. Stroud's already baked in. I mean,
we love burrow By about his fourth start. Kyler Murray
(05:17):
was accepted by many until the video game stories came out.
But Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson are doing things that
are virtually impossible in the NFL. They're underrated at the
glamour position. So speaking of quarterbacks, tonight is really interesting
because it's Tua, who's a good player, against Josh Allen,
(05:37):
who's a great player, And it really does show not
all games are the same. Now, we know the super
Bowl is bigger than regular season games, but even in
the regular season, it shows you the power of division rivalry.
Games Buffalo and Miami.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That's a rivalry.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
The cold weather, the warmest weather, the coldest weather, the
warmest weather northern down by the Keys. So Tua against
the Bills has been bad. One in six passer rating.
That's like t bo Ish seventy seven. And it shows
you the power of rivals. Jim Harbaugh was winning ten
games a year at Michigan, but he couldn't meet Ohio
(06:18):
State and literally media people irresponsibly, in my opinion, media
people were like, get him out of Michigan, can't coach.
He'd won everywhere San Diego, forty nine ers, Stanford, he
was winning at Michigan. He could not beat Ohio State,
and people, journalists lost their mind. Ryan Day now has
(06:40):
the highest winning percentage in college football. He can't beat
Michigan and people are all over him. Jared Goff with
Sean McVay was forty two and twenty as a starter
and got to a Super Bowl. But do you know
why Sean McVay bailed on him? You remember that game,
(07:01):
don't you? Up North? He couldn't beat the Niners, and
McVeigh and Shanahan have a very intense rivalry. He just
couldn't beat the Niners. He was forty two and twenty,
he'd outdueled Mahomes on a Monday night football game. He
could go toe to toe with anybody. Forty two and
twenty Super Bowl couldn't beat his ridal. So the Tua's
(07:23):
issue and why this is a big game tonight for two.
I know it's weak two, but it's a big game.
Not only could he not beat Buffalo, he's bad against Buffalo,
and Josh Allen is unbelievable against Miami. So when you
juxtaposed the two on the same game, one sideline one
the other, Josh Allen looks bigger than ever and to
a look smaller. And as a head coach, you have
(07:44):
to beat your rival. Go back to the Harball early days.
It was insane watching the media bail on Harball, and
then what happened last year made this all worse and
tonight so important for Tua. Do you remember last year
it was the final game, which which is Week eighteen
two is at home, division title on the line. In
(08:05):
the second half, Tua got five possessions with that receiving
core in that coach and those running backs zero points. Tua,
who's already small for a quarterback looked even smaller. A
standalone game tonight against Buffalo is not another game. I
don't care that he dropped seventy against Denver. I don't
care that he led the NFL in passing yards against
(08:27):
MVP votes. He's got to win tonight. A small guy
that looks smaller every time he faces his division rival.
And here's Tua.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
When you know that another team has beaten you so often,
has had so much success, does that you know you?
Is it something you think about as you prepped for
that team, knowing the success they've had.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, that's that's going to be what's written out there.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
Until we do something about that, that's going to be
the narrative that we can't beat the Bills. And until
we do beat them, and we beat them consistently, like,
none of that's going to change.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Can't wait for tonight. I do like Miami to win.
I'm going against recent trending in history. I'm gonna take
Miami to win. Twenty seven to twenty could also turn
the hat around. That would probably help a little. That's
worth half a point in my opinion, but I'm not
going to get into it. It's is only Thursday. It's
only week two. I'm not going to get into it.
(09:22):
I do think that's worth at least half a point,
but no big deal. So it's interesting. It's too early
in the season. Would you agree, j Mac to have
a definitive opinion on almost anything, but but you can
see red flags after the first week, you can see
(09:45):
red flags.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I mean, it's tough to say, come out, Daniel Jones
is the worst quarterback, and you can't say something like that.
But we have four years of data, right or five
years maybe on JOm is there.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I You've got a red flag based on what I've
seen and what I heard last night about Joe Burrow,
No about Caleb Williams. Oh so you loaded loading up
on the Texans this week. I just again, it's not
a definitive opinion, little red flag, just something to worry about.
(10:22):
Anybody listening to my show that owns a business, small business,
You don't have a definitive opinion on an employee. But
if you see a couple of things happen two or
three times in a row over the course of two
or three months, it's a little bit of a red flag.
The employee maybe can't handle that. Not good around this person,
not good on those assignments, A little red flag way,
(10:45):
it's small.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Well, remember his opener was buried at one o'clock with
like a billion games. He's going to be on an
island game now if he has a sixteen for day ninety.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Three yards and it's like this guy is terrible. Yeah, yeah,
of next hour, Greg Cosel.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in New Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great rates none of the Bowl. So this is not
good news. Bears who were out played by Tennessee. But
due to Will Levis an egregious interception, the Bears beat Tennessee.
They were outplayed, totally outplayed. I'll watched every snap, totally outplayed.
(11:33):
That's bigger than you think. And I'll tell you why.
So Roma Dunze and Keenan Allen didn't practice yesterday. Not great.
A Dunze has a sprain MCL, not torn sprained. So
I'll say this again, and I said this, everybody is
our witness. I think bow Nicks is going to have
(11:54):
the best rookie season of all the quarterbacks. Why because
Caleb has a defensive coat. Jayden Daniels has a defensive coach,
Drake May has a defensive coach. JJ McCarthy's not going
to play, he's injured rehabbing, and Michael Pennix, if he
does play, I think he will eventually has a defensive coach.
Bo Nicks has an offensive coach and a brilliant one.
(12:14):
And it matters for young quarterbacks in this league. No
worth doing it, not worth doing a segment. You know it,
I know it, We all know it. It mattered Jared Goff,
Jeff Fisher, Jared gov Sean McVay. It helped. Bo Nicks
is also arguably the most accurate of all these quarterbacks,
with a brilliant offensive coach. And Sean Payton has relayed
(12:34):
to me, kid can read a defense cognitively, he can
read a defense. So he's going to be the best
most productive rookie quarterback. Have no idea year two, three, four, five, six,
But this year, and I know it's only Week two,
this is a little bit of a red flag out
of Chicago. Caleb Williams has taken seventy seven total snaps.
(12:54):
I am counting preseason, when you face virtually no starters,
no starters and certainly no exotic blitz packages. Seventy seven
total snaps preseason, first game, forty nine passes. He's completed
twenty four forty nine percent completion percentage, And yeah, that's
(13:22):
not good. Passer rating at sixty five. Not good. I
was also told last night, had in the conversation with
somebody that a practice before the Tennessee game pretty rough,
like the Friday practices. That's the easy stuff, repetition, pretty rough,
(13:42):
ball in the ground a lot. So my concern this
is not a definitive statement for a little bit of
a red flag. And this is what I worried about
going into Chicago. Who's there to fix it? I can
remember Mahomes didn't even have to play until week seventeen
first year, but even the year two, as he was flourishing,
(14:04):
he'd get off into the weeds mechanically, and he pulled
it back. If bo Nick struggles, Sean Payton pulls it back,
McVeigh pulls golf back, Shanahan pulls brought pretty in who
in Chicago, Shane Waldron, I don't know, so you start
looking at that schedule. Beating Tennessee despite the fact at
(14:24):
home they were outplayed and overwhelmed offensively overwhelmed. They're not
beating Houston, Indy or the Rams. My prediction right now
three game losing streak and by Halloween, Matt Eberflu's head
coach is dead, coach walking. He's in big trouble. So
I do not think it's too early to see red flags.
(14:46):
Anybody watching or listening to this show. That's what coaches do.
You don't think Kaylin de board Alabama. You don't think
sark is not looking at his team and going, you
know what, we're not very good at our second corner
and we got a team coming up Oklahoma in a
few weeks. That's what coaches do. It's what CEOs do.
You're looking for issues before they become controversies in major flaws.
(15:10):
It's a little bit of a red flag. I mean,
we don't think Tennessee's elite. You're at home, you have
excellent weapons, They've got Chicago's got good weapons. This is
top eight nine weapon packages in the league. Tight end
running back, I think their tackles are good. Just saying
forty nine percent. I'm counting all the snaps when you
(15:31):
add that to some of his struggles completing balls in
USC last year, and then you watch Miller Moss come in,
who's this other quarterback under Lincoln Riley and literally the
ball never hits the ground unless it's dropped. It's just stuff.
Here's Caleb about adjusting to the NFL.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
I was looking at the NFL this past weekend, and
I'm looking at all all the teams and things like
that and realizing that, like I've said in many other interviews,
that you know, the job is hard. NFL is hard,
you know that, and the defense are gonna make it
tough on you. So now that's what they're gonna do.
(16:14):
Or weekend and week out.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Beating Tennessee shouldn't have but beating Tennessee was huge. Good
look at that schedule, Houston Indie almost beat Houston road games,
and then the Rams McVeigh Stafford, who went toe to
toe and they'll be healthy by then. By the way,
then you start watching the Rams in week four, that
old line will be healthy again. Just thoughts, not not
(16:37):
definitive statements, a little bit of a red flag. The
phone call I got the preseason stuff, forty looked overwhelmed
not getting the ball room and Dunzee got one look
just stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Hey gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of Breaking a
Mental Wealth.
Speaker 8 (17:01):
Podcast, and every week we will have on leaders from
sports entertainment like Sean McVay, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelp, David Spade,
got Fiemmi, and also those who can help us in
between the ears, anyone from a therapist to someone.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Like Ed Milett for John Gordon.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
We've all been through some sort of adversity to get
to the top. We've all used different tools. Listen to
Unbreakable with Jay Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Greg Cosel forty five years NFL films, This is what
he does, all right. So they had one really really
good drive. The play calling was good. San Francisco scored
on eighth straight. So you know, the juxtaposition of the
Niners and Jets offense, it was ugly. What did the
films say? What did you like? What worried you? What
did the films say about Aaron and the Jets.
Speaker 9 (17:53):
Well, it's funny you talk about the protection, because we
talked about their old line leading into the season being better, Colin.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
But they struggled.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
But keep in mind that they were playing against arguably
as good a front six as there is in the
National Football League. And I thought that both tackles new
tackles this year, Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses struggled in
pass pro. And again they were going against Nick Bosa.
Maybe you know, he's certainly a top three pass rusher
in the league, and Leonard Floyd, who is a good player.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
So I think they struggled a bit there.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
Don't forget Aaron Rodgers has not really played in a
regular season game in really two years, and he has
not played with these players other than Alan Lazard in
a regular season game.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Now.
Speaker 9 (18:34):
I think Garrett Wilson is terrific and it's evident he
will become a movable chess piece that'll line him up
all over the formation. He's a great player. They need
Mike Williams to become a factor at the boundary X receiver,
but it was a game where I thought he just
had a work off kind of the mental and physical rust,
and I expect him to be significantly better as the
season progresses. You're talking about a quarterback that number one,
(18:57):
you could say he throws the ball better than any
core we've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
And number two, he's so exceptionally smart.
Speaker 9 (19:04):
I remember one of his former quarterback coaches telling me
that he came off the field after a series and
Rogers could tell you what seven defenders were doing on
every play.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
That is unheard of.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Yeah, yeah, Brady had some of those qualities where people
Tom could see the entire field as he dropped back
to pass offensive guys defenders. Yeah, there are very few
guys in the planet. He's always been a thoughtful, bright guy.
I've said before sometimes he's a bit quirky, but you know,
we need more quirky people. He's more artists than accountant.
I'm okay with that. We need more artists. I mean,
we need fewer accountants. Okay. I want to go back
(19:35):
to Thursday, Chiefs and and Lamar Jackson. I feel like
I defend Lamar Jackson at every turn. He was an
inch from potentially winning the game. So when I watched
the Chiefs, now, Andy Reid's very good in September brings
out the tricks. But I got to tell you, Rashid
Rice looked like a one worthies. I don't know if
he's a volume receiver, he's a valuable weapon, a gadget.
(19:56):
They have two tight ends now that I trust, and
then guys like Watson, who can you know, make plays
Juju Smith, Schuster's coming, He'll grow Hollywood, Brown's coming back.
I think Kansas City looks like a better version of
last year. What did the film say?
Speaker 9 (20:13):
Well, I think they're now in a situation where they
can really get the best out of their players in
how they deploy them. Because look what they did with
Rachie Rice, And some of that's a function now with
having Xavier Worthy. Because Rice worked between the numbers, they
got him matched up on linebackers on a lot of
those quick routes, option routes, what we call jerk routes,
(20:33):
and that's where he's at his best.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Because he's a big, physical receiver.
Speaker 9 (20:36):
He's not truly a burner on the perimeter. But Worthy
is now that guy Brown can work on the outside.
So now you have Rice, who, in a sense with Kelsey,
works the same area of the field, and you get
the matchups that really favor what your players do best.
And I mean, look, you saw Rice beating Rokwan Smith
on those little option routes.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Inside choice routes, whatever teams call them.
Speaker 9 (21:00):
But you know, so they're able now to really deploy
their players the way they can best be deployed, and
they'll be a really difficult offense to defend.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So I want to you know, I said about Lamar Jackson,
he had like sixteen rushes and he took some real hits.
I said, I think in his mind that he plays
different against Kansas City than everybody else because it means more.
And I don't think he'll take those hits. I don't
think he'll put his body in that situation. I think
it's sort of the way he plays Kansas City. It
feels like he needs to win this game. Were you
(21:31):
disturbed by how many hits he took. He was like
a running back out there.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
And they said that he lost weight, so I know
he missed practice time this week. They said he was sore.
That's not good after the first week of the season.
You know, Jackson is a player, and I think you
would agree it's very difficult to evaluate him the way
you would evaluate, you know, sort of traditional quarterbacks, right,
because when you watch their tape, and I've watched him
for years as you have. I've probably seen almost every
(21:57):
game he's played in the NFL from the coaching tape.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
And he's not really a timing rhythm player. That's not
really his game.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
You don't see a lot of throws where he drops back,
hits his back foot, throws the ball, particularly in the
middle of the field where there are a lot of bodies.
He's more of an instinct player. He's got unbelievable instincts.
That's the strength of his game. So obviously the running
is a major part. You know, he's missed not last year,
(22:25):
but the previous two years. He missed what the last
five or six games each season. You wonder, now, if
he's lost weight and he's going to run that much,
if that's going to be a factor. Everybody starts to
get older and the body just doesn't react the same way.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okay, I want to do Bills Miami here because I
watched Buffalo struggle early and I was kind of critical
on my podcast after the game. I said, can they
ever be more than just? Hey, Josh put on the
Superman Cape, and he's unbelievable. He's really an unbelievable player,
probably the best overall talent in the sport. Are you working?
(22:59):
I like I like their tight ends, but you know
at receiver it's a rookie. When you watch the film,
do you again believe it's another year of Superman Josh
Allen or bust.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
Well, look, I think they're trying not to be that way.
Cook had nineteen carries. Keep that in mind. Davis only
had three. The rookie Ray Davis out of Kentucky, they'd
like to get him involved as well.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I think they're trying to be more than Josh Allen.
Speaker 9 (23:26):
And by the way, with the nature of their past
game as well, they're trying to get him a lot
more rhythmic type throws so he doesn't have deeper drops.
And then because at his best and Allen is a
great player, as you said, but he's not a true
progression reader the way you think of you know, a
Drew Brees or a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. You
know he can do that, but that's not the best
(23:47):
part of his game. He's another player that's very instinctive
in how he plays. But they're clearly trying to develop
a run game. They're very multiple, Colin with their run
game concepts, so I would expect that they'll continue to
do that. They did not run a lot of plays
this past week, so you may not have seen exactly
how they want their offense to look. And again, you know,
and I know there's all overreactions to week one, but
(24:10):
the thing is with Josh Allen, when you get into
those sort of critical, high level, high leverage down in
distant situations, he's the best player on the field and
you want the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
So two in Miami's offense couldn't do anything for a
big chunks of the game early, and then Holland had
that brilliant punch out tackle of the goal line, Miami
recovers gets possession that really changed the game. That was
the play of the game. Why were you know, we
think of McDaniel, two of the receivers. Why were they
so choppy offensively early?
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Why?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
What did Jacksonville do? What was wrong with their offense?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
You know what?
Speaker 9 (24:45):
This is why I love watching tape Colin, because I
put that tape on and I'm seeing what Ryan Nielson,
the DC for Jacksonville did.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
And it was really really good.
Speaker 9 (24:55):
Now people might think, okay, well every team should do
the same thing, and we know it never works like that.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
But what he he did is two things.
Speaker 9 (25:01):
Number One, he had safeties become a robber defenders, because
where is the Miami pass game at its best between
the numbers, all those timing and rhythm throws between the numbers.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So he had a safety be a robber.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
And also what he did is he showed pressure fronts
and then had a linebacker drop out, essentially in a
similar position. When a linebacker drops out, we tend to
call it lurk, but he would definitely have an extra
defender sitting in the middle of the field. And he
played a lot of man coverage because what's to his game.
He's the best windows thrower in the NFL. Those timing
(25:37):
throws against zone coverage into windows. So he played man
and he put a defender in the middle of the field.
Now I give Mike McDaniel a ton of credit because
in the second half he started to.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Counter that and did a really really good job.
Speaker 9 (25:50):
But I thought Ryan Nielson, the DC for Jacksonville, did
a tremendous job in game planning against that offense.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
So I talked about this earlier. It's a bit of
a red flag. I'm not making a definitive opinion, but
Caleb Williams, if you count preseason and the which is
all vanilla defense, is very few starters and the first
week is completing forty nine percent of his throws in
a passer rating. That's regrettable. And at USC he had
(26:18):
three games last year where he was completing under sixty
percent of his throws. Now I'm not making again. I'm
not saying it's over, but I'm saying that was what
gms in the league told me. They're like, we love him.
Mahomes is the comp but he can be erratic with
his with his accuracy. And by the way, when Mahomes
(26:39):
was early in his career, Andy Reid brings him back
on the fairway. Stafford can get bad, he can get
a little reckless, or his mechanics McVeigh brings him back.
They don't have. That's why I owe It's why I've
predicted that bo Nicks will have the best rookie season.
He's got an offensive coach to get, you know, edit
the bad stuff out. So the halib stuff, I'm saying
(27:01):
it's a bit of a red flag. I know it's
one week, but he missed twice. He missopen people. What
does the film say, Greg.
Speaker 9 (27:10):
Well, I think the issue for him at this point
is twofold number one, because this is all new. He
was very focused on just executing the play call, whether
that receiver was open or not. That's very common for
rookie quarterbacks in their first start, So he made a
lot of throws that he probably shouldn't have made.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
The ball comes out of his hand beautifully. We all
know that.
Speaker 9 (27:31):
The other thing that he really needs to work on,
it showed up at USC, it showed up in the preseason,
and it showed up Week one against the Titans, is
he needs to really get a better innate understanding of
the pocket and how to play from the pocket. He
tends to move and create his own pressure. He tends
to climb the pocket and step up when he doesn't
(27:52):
need to. Now, in college, maybe you can get away
with that at times, but in the NFL you're not
going to get away with that. So what happens is
he steps up. Now he's closer to the bodies, and
all of a sudden, he feels like he has to
speed up or get out of the pocket. So he
just needs to develop a better feel to have to
play from the pocket. Keep in mind, he got sacked
in his two years at USC over eighty times. I
(28:15):
saw all those plays, Colin. Sure, the O line wasn't great,
as you know you live out there, but a lot
of those sacks were on him. And that's a lot
of sacks for a really good college quarterback in two years.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, you're so good at this. Okay, I'm gonna be
a little prideful here as I asked you this question,
Sam Darnold, Sammy darn there you go.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I knew that was coming.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
I think, let me, I think it was twelve of
twelve to start. I can't remember. Okay, look pretty good.
Now the schedule gets brutal. It maybe the last great moment.
But let's talk about what you saw.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Well, there's a couple of things here that really stood
out to me. Number one, keep in mind where he
was last year, even though he wasn't the starter, he
was in San Francisco. Now he's with Kevin O'Connell. You're
talking about high level coaching. One thing that really stood
out to me. Yes, it's one game, and I'm not
going to sit here and say, man, is he gonna
have a great year. But I just thought the way
(29:11):
he dropped back, his footwork, his balance, the way his
lower body and upper body were coordinated, the way he
was coordinated in sync with the routes by the receivers.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
I just thought he looked really comfortable.
Speaker 9 (29:25):
And again, it's one game, so we're not going to
act like this guy's going to have an All Pro season,
but he looked like a different quarterback. He threw a
steam ball, I believe, to the tight end early in
the game, and it just looked exactly the way it's
supposed to look. That forty four yarder to Jefferson on
the sail route or the deep corner route. That was
just absolutely beautiful, and not because he placed it perfectly,
(29:47):
which of course was great, but because of the way
he dropped back and hitched up in the pocket. Everything
was right about his footwork, the coordination with his lower
and upper body. That's what I look for very often
when I watch quarterbacks, and he just look like a
far more comfortable player from a technique and fundamental standpoint.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
So now everybody has film on CJ. Stroud and yet
I watch him against the Colts and they've given him
Joe Mixon, who I've always thought deserves more appreciation. He's
had off field stuff, maybe he's not as likable. Whatever,
He's a really good running back, functional, physical, and now
(30:26):
Stefan Diggs. Everybody got film on c J. Stroud. I
like the coaching staff in Indie and he's out there dealing.
Are we looking at are we looking at with c J?
Stroud the Texans offense? Are we looking at a kid
that we're going to say in a year is right
behind Mahomes? I mean, but what's the film say?
Speaker 9 (30:46):
The film really shows that this kid's a really terrific player.
He's got a really innate understanding of timing anticipation because
of the kinds of throws he can make.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
He's a playmaker from the pocket.
Speaker 9 (30:56):
We think of quarterbacks being playmakers when they get outside
of the but he makes anticipation throws that are just phenomenal,
and that's innate. You can't really teach that. You can
talk about it, but you can't really teach it. He's
really really good at that. It's high level.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
But keep one thing in mind, Bobby Slowitz, there oc
where did he come from? The Niners. So Joe Mixon
had thirty carries last year, and I know he's not
getting thirty.
Speaker 9 (31:21):
Carries every week, but they're going to try to run
the ball. The zone run game last week, particularly to
the left behind Laramie Tunsel, was really really good, and
that is going to be foundationally how they play offense.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, so I bring up Sam Darnold and people think
I'm tough on Baker, but I've said before I love
redemption stories, and I think that game last week was
as good as I've seen him play. He's a very
unique player. Greg I always felt with like Brady, I
got the same quarterback every week, Mahomes, I get Baker
can be emotional and when he's feeling good about himself,
(31:59):
he's really good. Was that as good as he's ever
been on tape?
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Well, i'll tell you what. On third down he was
ridiculously good.
Speaker 9 (32:08):
He was I think eight for ten for over one
hundred yards, and it just looked easy for him. So
much of third downs is a function as well of
the coaching staff and the play call, and that's true
no matter how good the quarterback is. But Baker was
extremely decisive last week. He saw things really clearly. I mean,
he's been good Colin for a good part of his career.
(32:30):
There's no question he's had moments and games where, for
whatever reason, he's been reckless and undisciplined. And maybe that's
just because he's an emotional guy. We don't know that.
We're not in his brain, but you're talking about a
guy that throws the ball really well. At his core,
he's a pocket quarterback if the scheme can really help him,
and now he's got Liam Cohen who's got a RAMS background.
(32:52):
I would expect him to have a really fine season.
Whatever that means number wise, I don't know, but third
down was where he really excelled last week.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, as you said, he saw things, and that is
so hard for certain quarterback. I was saying this week
Derek Carr and Baker Mayfield could have the two best
games I've ever seen them play in their lives. And
we think of them as sort of mid quarterbacks. But
when you watch these rookies being overwhelmed, you realize how
lucky you are as a franchise to have Baker Mayfield
because he's just slinging it. So the big play of
(33:22):
the Week is Baker.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Yeah, and it's a third down play and it was
a thirty two yard touchdown. He threw to Jalen McMillan, who,
by the way, I really really like. So let's go
take a look at that play now, the touchdown to McMillan,
because this was just a really good play and a
really good throw.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
And we'll get to the specifics of it here.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
First, we're just going to see the play and it
just looks so easy because McMillan is open.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
But they did a really good job.
Speaker 9 (33:46):
And it's where I talked about concepts and play calling
and how you help. So you're going to see here
mayfield in the gun and it's what we call three
by one set. You're gonna have three receivers to the
field side and Mike Evans at the top of the
screen at the boundary. Now, what the commanders do here
is they're actually gonna play man to man on the
two outside receivers because right now that's Evans and McMillan, okay,
(34:09):
And then what they're going to do is they're going
to match the releases of the two inside receivers. So
what do they do here the bucks They're going to
put Jalen McMillan, who's number one, at the bottom of
the screen.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
He's going to go in motion inside of Godwin.
Speaker 9 (34:25):
So he goes from number one now to being number
two because we count receivers from the outside in. So
now what happens is you're going to see the defense
now try to match the releases of two different receiver,
one different receiver in particular, and they get confused. So
now it's gonna happen. McMillan runs that deep corner out.
(34:45):
But Baker sees this beautifully. Look at the two defenders.
He sees Colin, he sees these two guys not in
position to turn and run with McMillan, and the anticipation
is beautiful.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
He sees it. He delivers the ball and it's a touchdown.
Speaker 9 (35:00):
But again, this is a great example of the marriage
between scheme and quarterback, and you're gonna see from this
angle how beautiful it is. How they kind of lost
the coverage and it was just it just broke down
the coverage. But Baker has played really, really well. I
think you would agree he played well last year for
the most part too.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, No, I thought he deserved a new contract. I
think he's absolutely Listen, Brady Lee casts a shadow, Brady
wins a super Bowl, he leaves. You got to have
somebody with some confidence replace him, because that's the reality is.
Brady comes in, greatest quarterback ever. You can't limp into
the next franchise quarterback. And Baker plays. You know, he's
a swashbuckling gunslinger and I think he works in Tampa.
(35:42):
I think it works. Greg. As always, you were magnificent.
Thanks again. We'll see you next Thursday.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Thanks, Conor, appreciate it.
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Colin Cowherd
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