Colin Cowherd discusses Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza making his NFL preseason debut and why he checks all the boxes as a can’t miss prospect.
Colin shares his 5 Bold Predictions for the NFL season: Find out why he has the Broncos missing the playoffs and Caleb Williams winning the MVP.
Plus, Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show and shocks Colin when he says Brock Purdy is an elite QB and what he does better than anyone else in the league right now.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here we go. It is Thursday.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Six NFL preseason games tonight, and one more than all
the others is going to be very, very interesting. It's
the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be
listening and whatever platform.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thanks for choosing us. A lot of options out there.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Fernando Mendoza six and ohe Indiana sixteen and O at
Indiana debuts tonight. Probably plays against Carson Beck for Eras,
so it'll be a National Championship game rematch in pro football.
But the way these guys get paid, that's kind of
semipro in college now. NFL execs the ones I talk
(01:12):
to are very split on Fernando Mendoza. I am absolutely not.
Here are three really important traits where he's a plus. Humility, intelligence,
and work ethic that takes a B to a B
plus prospect. In my opinion, do an a prospect smart
(01:32):
work ethic, no ego good kid if you look. Let's
talk about a couple of guys that have busted. Ego
becomes a problem. Johnny Manziel, will Levis. You know, I
thought Zach Wilson kind of cocky. Okay, Anthony Richardson didn't
(01:53):
have enough college starts just to raw justin fields. He's
just not good in the pocket. Trey Lance really bad mechanically,
and then Kenny Pickett wildly overdrafted bad draft class at quarterback,
and the Steelers needed somebody. So let's acknowledge now that
he doesn't fit. Fernando Mendoza does not fit any of
(02:16):
those categories. Ego doesn't really have one maturity IQ off
the charts, pocket passer, actually that's his strength. Mechanically fantastic,
pushes the ball down the field. And he's not wildly overdrafted.
Some may have him as amid to a late first rounder,
(02:38):
but people see his size, his intelligence, and his ability
to move a little bit. He is a first round prospect.
I think he's Matt Ryan thirty thirty percent Justin Herbert, big, strong, smart, humble,
nice arm got little Andrew luck, no dink and dunk.
He pushes the ball down the field. This is not
(03:01):
It's interesting that Kirk Cousins is going to start probably
week one, and you know Kirk can do stuff underneath.
You know the other thing I love about Fernando Mendoza,
and this is gigantic, is he played at Cal and
got the you know what kicked out of him. So
did Jared Goff. When you go to Cal, Aaron Rodgers too.
(03:25):
You don't play with five star recruits. Academic power not.
I mean, the rugby programs better than the football program historically,
so you got to carry your offense. You don't have
five star receivers. Why is it so many cow guys
end up in the NFL. Part of it is that
Cal Jared Goff got tossed like a rag doll in college.
(03:47):
He learned to be tough. Then this kid goes to Indiana.
They had very good talent. They didn't have Ohio State talent.
I don't think they had Miami talent. They had Fernando Mendoza,
but he had to end initiate the offense. JJ McCarthy
didn't have to at Michigan. He got beat up at
cal Yeah. JJ McCarthy did not get beat up at Michigan,
(04:11):
So I think he's totally prepared. You don't have the
ego which gets guys in trouble. He is good in
the pocket, humble, smart, work ethic.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I think there's a.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Little Justin Herbert, big, humble, strong, smart. I think there's
some Matt Ryan where he's better in the pocket than
running around. But I think he's more athletic than people
give him credit for. I think CJ. Stroud, Justin Herbert
and Fernando Manzelo is a don't run a ton. But
when later in the season they need you to win
big games and the coaches unleash them, they are clearly
(04:43):
capable of stepping on it and picking up yards. I
think the only thing that worries me is the Raiders.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I'm not worry about the kid. I worry about the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
If it goes sideways, and it won't be as bad
as Darnold and the Jets, But if it goes sideways,
it will be a combination of they got impatient, they
couldn't protect him, They ran through coaches, that worries me.
Now some people are saying, you know, he went out
of the shotgun in college. Now he's got to figure
out how to be under center. Yeah, I mean, nobody
(05:17):
comes in a polished product. Even Peyton Manning had stuff
to work on. Here's Fernando Mendoza plays tonight against Arizona
NFL debut, gonna get snaps. He's here's what he's worked on.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I'd say my biggest level of growth has to be
my under center play. And also I believe that my
footwork has evolved, not only with you know, my passing
forward from shotgun, but my run tracks, making sure I'm
getting the ball to the running back deep and on
their landmarks, making sure my play action passed footwork and
my ball action is where it needs to be in
order to give my guys the best chance of getting open.
(05:52):
So I'd say footwork because that also plays into the
timing where, hey, this route that got to hit is
a one hitch throw. It's not a two. Hey, it's
not a one and a half inch, it is a
one hitch throw. So time that all in with the
footwork and the understand play has really.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Evolved my game.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Perfect answer, can't wait to watch the night six NFL
preseason games. Carson Beck Fernando Mendoz is the one I
really care about. When the last time you said Raiders
Cardinals can't wait to watch by week six, I may
be bored to tears with both tonight I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
The Lakers have a new owner, so made calls yesterday.
Here's what I found out about Bob Iiger, mid seventies
chairman forever running Disney, is that the NBA and Adam
Silver starting Sunday, had to find a new owner for
the Lakers, and things ramped up very quickly. Bob Iger
(06:48):
was very very well paid, very well compensated at Disney,
not twelve point five billion buy an NBA team compensated.
He and Kushner were the leaders that the clubhouse for
the expansion Las Vegas franchise that was seven point five billion.
This is twelve point five billion. That's out of Eigers range.
(07:10):
This is like going from buying the Rays in Tampa
to buying the Yankees. It is a whole different ballpark,
even for rich guys. But here's the key to it.
The Lakers matter to the NBA and Adam Silver. Doesn't
want him tossed around and flipped like a nineteen ninety
three Honda Civic. So he had to get somebody who
(07:33):
understands television, who's negotiated for the league, who understands the sport.
I mean, Eyer was always kind of known as a
Clipper fan more than a Laker fan. But Kushner money
very much tied to Trump, at least in the NBA.
(07:53):
Trump is not beloved. Kids always use the word sketch.
There's a little bit of that or maybe a lot,
depending on your perspective on Kushner money from the top
down in the family.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
And Bob Eiger is perfect.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You know, a lot of times you'll see these tequila brands.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
You know, you'll see a movie star.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Put some money down for a tequila brand, but he's
really there to market and sell it. A lot of
other people are making the agave. Okay, that's not really
what Iiger is doing. Iiger is the face of Laker ownership,
because it's one thing to own an expansion team. Most
of you can't name fifty percent of the owners in
this league, but everybody knows who owns the Yankees or
(08:34):
the Dodgers or the Cubs or the Eagles, or the
forty nine ers or the Cowboys. That's what you have here.
And Iiger is a great front man. He's putting money down,
Don't get me wrong, He's put a lot of money down.
But Kushner's the big money. This is a massive brand
for the NBA. And again, Bob Iger's made a lot
(08:55):
of money. He's a very smart guy. But he'll be
the face of Laker ownership. So the league got into
a very rough spot. Darren Ravel yesterday on the shocking sale.
Basically fourteen months after Mark Walter purchased it, he flipped it.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
This was not a natural move.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Just a couple of weeks ago, Kushner and Eiger were
lining up for Vegas and sniffing around. And to me,
this at least appears to look like the NBA being
Adam Silver pulling the Marionette and going like this. And obviously,
with the pressure of Ishbia, the pressure of Balmer, certainly
(09:36):
the NBA makes moves before Major League Baseball does.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, Adam Silver badly needed Bob Eiger to be part
of this ownership group. They can find other nondescript, not
well publicized people to invest Eiger is the key in
this thing.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
All right. We got a lot going on today.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Greg Cosel, he now starts his appearances on this show
for about twenty weeks. We got six games tonight, Mendoza
Carson Beck is a really, really good one. And coming
up next, there was a moment yesterday there was a
social media post that is now up to fifteen million views.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
It may have.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Seemed harmless, but not in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
That's coming up.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 7 (10:35):
App so that gots here. I have a podcast empire.
It continues to grow, and I have brought it here
to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from
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kick me out of the house. It's called Stagatzi Company Live,
which is available in podcast form right when the show
(10:55):
finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports.
A lot of phone.
Speaker 8 (11:01):
Calls I love you guys, your show, it's one of
my favorite.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you could
expect from Stu Gottson Company and Steve Gotson Company Live.
So listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and review Stuve Gotson Company and God
Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. You do it
(11:26):
today and you can check all of those out on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Tonight, Fernando Mendoza NFL debut Raiders against the Arizona Cardinals.
Mendoza against Carson Beck, a rematch of Miami and Indiana
for the National Championship.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Can't wait.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
So the show is dark tomorrow. So this is our
Friday show. And John and I thought we'd go back
and forth on this. We would each have five bold predictions. Now,
we're not putting the Browns in the AFC Championship. Let's
not go crazy here. Even though I think Cleveland's going
to be viable and interesting at this point, I don't
(12:16):
even have him as a playoff team, and I think
the second spot in that division is arguably wide open.
But we're going to go five predictions, five bold predictions.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
You ready to go?
Speaker 4 (12:25):
John? Ready? All right?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Number one Jalen Hurts Eagles quarterback is better without AJ Brown.
If you go back to last season, when he didn't
target AJ Brown, he completed seventy one percent of his throws,
eighteen touchdowns and three picks. Over the last two years
when he targeted AJ Brown, when AJ Brown had eight
(12:49):
or more targets, the Eagles were nine and six. When
he wasn't a focus of the game plan, and he
had fewer than seven or fewer targets last two years
thirteen to zero. This is des Bryant to Dak. Jalen
Hurts will flourish despite losing a great number one receiver.
Speaker 8 (13:12):
I know he's currently on the Raiders after getting traded
this offseason, but I think the Raiders are in a
position with a young quarterback to kind of do what
Jimmy Johnson and a lot of teams have done historically,
is trade a veteran player whose timeline is off where
their young core is going to be. I think Max
Crosby ends up on the Browns and or excuse me,
(13:34):
the Bears in the middle of the season, Ryan Poles
already admitted they were interested in him in the first place.
Their pass rush was I think seventh bottom bottom seventh
in the league in sacks, so they are not a
great pass rush team. The other thing is Kobe Bryant
already injured. I think the Bears get very aggressive. Ben
Johnson wants to win Max Crosby to the Bears.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
This may not seem bold, but because this is probably
the most criticized franchise that's good in the league. I
have Justin Herbert winning multiple playoff games. Okay, the last
two years in the playoffs he went in with the
thirtieth offensive line and the twenty first. This appears to
(14:18):
be the first offensive line. Remember, he has been hit, sacked,
and rushed more than any quarterback in the sport since
he entered the league in twenty twenty. They have three
new features, both tackles, back. This will be his best
offensive line in my opinion, his best offensive coordinator, at
(14:40):
least two playoff wins, and I right now this morning
think they could be a co favorite to get to
the AFC Championship.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
I have the Niners winning the NFC West. Wow.
Speaker 8 (14:54):
I know we think the Rams are the I know
we think the Rams are the twenty seven Yankees. Seattle
is just gonna cruise the back to back championships. Football
doesn't work like that. It never has. This is not baseball.
You don't just plug and play players. Things can get weird. Obviously,
Stafford's injury history is a thing of concern. Mike McDonald
(15:14):
keeping these guys motivated. Kubiak was a huge, huge reason
for Seattle's success. He's now gone. They replaced him with
a first time play caller. They were seven and two
last year. When party starts. Here's the other thing.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
You know who.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
The forty nine ers beat a lot, the Rams. Kyle
Shanahan's record against Sean McVay speaks for itself.
Speaker 9 (15:34):
Oh yes, Seattle. That won fourteen games and lost three.
You know where.
Speaker 8 (15:38):
One of those losses came in Seattle against the forty
nine ers. So it's not like the forty nine ers
are intimidated by Fred Warner coming back, Christian McCaffrey another
season healthy, Nick Bosa, mikel Williams, they got defensive reinforcements.
Speaker 9 (15:51):
So I got the forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
My third bold prediction.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Packers finished last in the NFC North, first of all.
Ben Johnson year two, Kyler Murray I think is going
to be a hit and Detroit to me easily has
the best entire roster. This is not the same NFC North.
The Packers dominated. All four teams had winning records last year,
(16:16):
and the Packers without Micah last year zero and five
and allowed twenty nine points a game. He's not going
to be playing, we presume until October. Packers maybe the
best fourth place team in the NFL by a long shot.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
They finish last.
Speaker 8 (16:34):
Well, I got a team finishing first, and they're the
Cincinnati Bengals. I got him as the number one seed
in the AFC. I know everyone thinks Mike Brown in
the front office and everything about this franchise disaster, and
they're cheap specifically, well, I've seen them invest in multiple
wide receivers pay a premium.
Speaker 9 (16:54):
I saw this offseason they had the tenth pick. What
did they do?
Speaker 8 (16:56):
They went and traded for an all pro, just a
three hundred and eighty pounds man that can't be moved,
to solidify their defensive line. Fair We saw a couple
of years, you know, Joe Burrow missed basically the entire
season last year with turf though the year before, after
the slow start, there was not a hotter team.
Speaker 9 (17:11):
You know, towards the end of the year.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
Of the year they went nine and eight, they just
missed the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (17:14):
By game. They were killing everybody down the stretch.
Speaker 8 (17:17):
So if he can stay healthy, their defenses is dramatically improved.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Should everyone acts.
Speaker 8 (17:22):
Like their coach stinks, He's got five playoff wins in
his career. That's why I'm telling you, if Joe Burrow's healthy,
the thirty easiest schedule in the NFL and the division.
John Harbaugh's gone, Tomlin's gone, forty two year old quarterback Lamar,
a bunch of new players. The Browns stink. I like
the Bengals big time this year.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh that's I like that, Okay, Denver Broncos, and you
know I love Sean Payton miss the playoffs. Listen, NFL
best eleven and two and one score games. I mean,
that's not gonna happen again. They also trailed in fifteen games.
Bownicks is coming off two surge on his right ankle.
They have a new play caller. And remember the Ravens,
(18:04):
the Bengals, the Chiefs, the Chargers are all going to
be better in the AFC. I think that we all
know that if Burrow's upright, Cincinnati's going to be a
better team. I mean, Herbert's got his best offensive line
in his best offensive coordinator. You can't go eleven and
two in one score games and not regress. I think
(18:26):
Denver's good. I think they have a special coach and
special players. I think they're going to narrowly miss the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (18:35):
This one.
Speaker 8 (18:36):
I watched this team for a long time, win a
lot of games, and last year Vrabel resurrected him. They
went to the super Bowl. But I got the Patriots
missing the playoffs. If you remember, back in two thousand
and one, Tom Brady Belichick, they won the Super Bowl.
You know what happened the next year? They missed the playoffs.
Last year historically easy season. Yeah, I mean every single
week they were playing a god awful opponent.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (18:58):
And then the way the playoffs broke.
Speaker 8 (18:59):
You know that crazy snowstorm came into the AFC Championship
game against the backup quarterback. Drake May was running for
his life. He was getting sacked every play in these playoffs.
A lot of question marks with the offensive line, some
tabloid stuff off the field with Vrabel. You know, Aj Brown,
It's not like he was thriving last year. Drop not
even just the dram off to you, he's dropping balls
(19:20):
on the field, kind of a weathered twenty eight to
twenty nine year old wide receiver. I just think the
AFC is going to be difficult. Their schedules way more difficult.
You go nine to eight, miss the playoffs. I don't
think they're gonna be a disaster, but I think these
your classic You lose in.
Speaker 9 (19:34):
The super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Next year you miss, yeah at Hangovers real. Finally, for me,
Caleb Williams wins MVP. First of all, he's got currently
the seventh best odds second year in Ben Johnson's offense.
Goal look at Jared Goff's second year in Ben Johnson's offense,
and he's not nearly the athlete Jared Goff popped in
year two. He literally has the lowest interception percentage in
(19:59):
league his thirteen and thirty four career starts, and this
is the beginning of it. He'll probably throw fewer as
a as a veteran quarterback second in the NFL in
big plays. He also has tremendous offensive weapons. A lot
of people thought they should draft an edge they want
and got another good tight end they've got three receivers.
(20:21):
I like they've got two running backs. I worry a
little bit about left tackle. But Caleb also has the ability.
As you're watching, he doesn't just make plays. He makes
spectacular plays, a little bit of a Westbrook quality. When
he won MVP, it'll be easy to root for a
guy who's not a stat patter, who's in a great division.
He's winning close games, He's winning them with dramatic plays late.
(20:44):
That's the kind of story the media likes. Caleb Williams MVP.
Speaker 8 (20:49):
I also have an NFC quarterback winning the MVP, but
his name is Dakota Prescott, and I think it sounds
a lot crazier than it is. I mean, I mean
the last over the course of the last three or
four years, he has clearly been one of the best
quarterbacks in the league. The problem is to win the MVP,
your team has to be good, right Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
(21:09):
Patrick Mahomes, Brady Rogers, all these guys manning that if
one MVP is typically they're the one or two seed
in their conference. So I think the Cowboys are gonna
be good this year. I have picking them to win
the East if they win the East. I think Dak
Prescott's putting up huge numbers. He has one of, if
not the best, one to two combination of wide receivers.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Tight ends good.
Speaker 8 (21:30):
His offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's proven to be pretty dynamic.
To me, his numbers are gonna they speak for themselves
over the course of the twenty twenties. If the defense
is good, I think he's right up there in the mix.
And if they're the one or two seed, I think
Dak wins the MVP.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
You know what's already interesting John thinking about this. It
was last year actually a little bit of a down year.
Mahomes got hurt, Burrow got hurt. You know, like Buffalo
had a coach on the hot seat. You know, Dallas
had a new coach and they made the Mica tred
so it deteriorated their very mediocre defense. I mean, I
can make an argument the Charges will be noticeably better. Yeah,
(22:08):
the Bengals will be absolutely better. I actually think New
England will be better. But to your point, we'll have
a worse record in the NFC. Detroit finds the righte
oh seat, they'll be better. If brock Perty's upright, San
Francisco's record will be solid. I think it's really interesting.
Chicago should be better again because second year. Last year
(22:29):
was a weird year where we all acknowledged New England
really wasn't a top four or five team, yet they
got to a Super Bowl. I think the fight is
going to be mighty. Here are NFL predictions of note.
You know, the Packers finishing last sounds dramatic, but if
Kyler Murray is as good member the one time he
(22:52):
had a Pro Bowl offensive line and he had a
passer rating over one hundred. Also, he's not making any money,
so he's planned for a contract. Is there one of
mine that you actually think you agree with?
Speaker 9 (23:05):
I definitely think Caleb Williams.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
You know, the MVP is a momentum award, right, Josh
Allen a couple of years ago had had a lot
of momentum for that award.
Speaker 9 (23:15):
I think Caleb. That's why I like Dak or Caleb.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
I mean, if either one of those teams wins twelve
plus games, I think there's gonna be a lot of
momentum for those two players. I do think the Broncos roster,
like their roster, is a top three or four rosters NFL,
it would basically just have to be some injuries, some
weird things going on. Like to Sean Payton, yank the
play calling he's claimed. I read an article recently. You
(23:41):
know that happened to him way back in the day.
I think with Jim Fossil when he was a young,
young coach. He claimed that that is not an option here.
So even if like things are rocky, he's this guy's
got the play calling. It's one thing to say it.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
To live it.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
So the Broncos won, I mean, put the Jets making
the playoffs, but I felt that was a little bit
of a you know.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
The Jets.
Speaker 8 (24:05):
There's just there's gonna be something that crazy happens in
the NFL this year, right, I mean, and.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I'll tell you if the Niners win the NFC West,
that's actually crazier than it.
Speaker 8 (24:15):
That's a big game. They won twelve games last year.
I mean, that's you know, they beat the Eagles.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I know in Philly. Yeah, so that's really you took
you took some swing. But I'll tay when you look
at the Bengals defensive front. I was doing it last night,
as I often do because I have no social life.
I was looking at the depth chart for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They're D line. Now it's a thing like it's big
and it'll be much tougher because you could run on
(24:41):
the ball the last several years, which meant you took
the ball out of Joe Burrow's hands. You could dominate
time of possession. You're not going to do that to
the Bengals this year. That D line is stout on
the interior a right. Greg co sales around the corner
on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
One More Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours into
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her
to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Here
we go, it's our two.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
It is a Thursday, Greg Co sell in two minutes,
three minutes. It's in Chicago and we're live Bears tomorrow
night in the stadium against the Cleveland Browns here in
the city. Great to have you, and I got to
mention this. Russell Westbrook eighteen years in the NBA, nine
times all NBA, led the NBA in scoring and multiple
(25:30):
times and assists multiple times, most triple doubles ever in
league history. Russell Westbrook. He was the classic, all gas,
no breaks. He feels a little bit to me like
the action star in Hollywood. You're not getting a lot
of nuance and subtlety. Nobody thinks Vin Diesel and the
Rock or Jeremy Irons or Russell Crow or John Malcovit
(25:52):
or Christian Bale. We know what they are, highly productive,
give you everything they got Again, not a lot of subtlety,
not a lot of nuance. But Westbrook is not only
an action star. He wanted to do his own stunts.
He never cheated the fans, He never cheated himself. In
an era of load management seven times eighty plus games,
(26:18):
nobody played harder, Nobody cared more. Legendary practice and game intensity.
Westbrook could drive me nuts one gear head down, one
hundred miles an hour. But later in his career, I
went and looked it up this morning. Later in his career,
(26:38):
he had a sound bite he was coming off the
bench for the Nuggets, and I said, I love this Westbrook.
He is unbelievable energy to the very end. Nobody played harder.
He would drive teammates and coaches crazy. Michael Jordanoah has
loved him because they had the same kind of raw intensity.
But he had this bite after a game and it
(26:58):
just I really really appreciated his self awareness.
Speaker 10 (27:03):
My ability to be able to be a force in
nature on the floor is what I pride myself. Phone.
So whatever that looks like, it may be a turnover,
it may be a misshot, but it may be a steal,
maybe a dunk, maybe a mystery, maybe a may three,
it's gonna be all of that.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's gonna be everything.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Absolutely, But again, effort, desire, passion, work, ethic, unbelievable. First
ballot Hall of Fame guy again, Ask him to hit
an open eighteen foot in a.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Big playoff spot. He drive me nuts.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And again people like this head down one hundred miles
an hour, not a lot of nuance, but just in
terms of desire and intensity, I mean, there's just very
few players in league history that, I mean, he'd even
get after fans.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
That dude cared.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
And when he retired, he released like a three and
a half minute video, no words. He didn't need any
his game and his desire and intensity always spoke for himself.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
What do you go?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Russ's first ballot absolute Hall of Famer guy went to
UCLA was like a two to three star recruit. Nobody
ever thought he could be a point guard. Everybody's like, well,
he's a great athlete, but he can't be a point guard.
Let the NBA assists three times. Just proved a lot
of people wrong. All time unique player, and I mean
(28:25):
you talk about energy and intensity and strength for his weight.
He's in that MJ class Like there's not a lot
of guys bill like Westbrook. He is just to the
last sit up ripped all right. Greg Cosel forty seven
years NFL films. Well, you must like what you do
(28:47):
and you're good at it, so I know you think
so I do.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
So.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I said this yesterday. His people often want guys like me,
just give me facts. I don't need all the strong opinions.
And I said, well, are you okay with Tyler Murray
having the fifth highest completion percentage ever the only time
he had a Pro bowler on the offensive line, the
one year he had a passer rating over one hundred.
His coach was Cliff's Kingsbury overwhelmingly who got fired by
his alma mater. But it should be noted he got
(29:14):
him to the playoffs. It's not a great ownership situation
in his division, the Rams won a Super Bowl, the
Niners got to two, and Seattle won a Super Bowl,
so it's arguably at the top the toughest division. I
think he's not perfect, but I think it's gonna work.
His cap hit is less than Dylan Gabriel. It's a
proven year. Greg. I don't know Kevin O'Connell and Kyler Murray.
(29:39):
Does it feel like the film tell you it could work?
Speaker 11 (29:44):
Well, It's funny because I spent the last week I
watched every one of his dropbacks from last year over again,
and of course I seen him every year. He's a
very interesting player because he's not truly a sequential progression
reader in the way we think of that. I think
he's going to be a function of the play caller,
and Kevin O'Connell is very very good by that. I mean,
(30:06):
the most important thing I think for Kyler Murray is
for the play caller to present him as much as
possible within the context of the NFL, with the primary
read being there, so he can play within timing and rhythm.
Because there are strong examples, particularly in the three step
and five step drop game Colin, where he plays very
effectively with.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Timing and rhythm.
Speaker 11 (30:28):
The issue for him is the longer he's in the pocket,
because he's small, he becomes very, very unsettled. Now, obviously
he's got tremendous ability to make plays outside of structure,
and he is so quick. So that's the balance that
Kevin O'Connell has to deal with. But I think with
Kevin O'Connell, I would expect there'll be more positives than negatives.
(30:51):
But there's no question that just when you watch him play,
and you watch snap after snap after snap consistently, he's
not what you'd call a true sequential progression. That's not
really the way he plays. But I think he's capable
of it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I've said in my life, I always feel by about
midway or late in the second chapter of a quarterback's book,
I kind of know what he is. A bust, solid,
excellent or a star Dak Prescott. It took me until
about the eighth chapter. I never loved his arm. I
thought he was pretty athletic. He's one of those players
that is iq EQ and maturity go a long way
(31:27):
to handle the noise with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
A lot of people think this is one of his
better rosters. The old line is young but getting better.
Tight end, receiver, defensive front. Where have you always been
on deck? Once again, when he's upright with three different coaches,
we don't think Schottenheimer's Andy Reid. He's highly productive. Where
(31:50):
are you on deck today?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (31:52):
You know, you have to separate the quarterback from the team,
and people don't do that because they assume if a
team wins, that means the quarterback's great. And loses, well,
then it's the quarterback's fall. But again, Prescott was another
guy that every summer I rewatched Dak Prescott and he
is really a refined pocket player. He knows how to
play the position. There's tremendous efficiency to his game. He
(32:15):
doesn't move the way he used to. Obviously, this team
theoretically is better than he's had in recent years, and
it probably starts with the defensive side of the ball.
He's been on a team the last couple of years
where the defense was just not very good. But when
you watch him play, you come away and Colin, I'm
sure you probably saw some of the Hall of Fame speeches.
(32:35):
The reason I mentioned that is the way Drew Brees
spoke about the quarterback position and all the detail and
nuance that's demanded to be consistent snap after snap, quarter
after quarter, game after game, season after season. That's the
way Dak Prescott plays the position. And obviously people point to, well,
she's not in the super Bowl. That's irrelevant. Just look
(32:57):
at him play the position. He plays it from the
pocket the right way.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Last year Caleb Williams eliminated to a large degree the sacks. Now,
the O line was better, but as you know, the
old line isn't always the answer. There are quarterbacks behind
average O lines that get rid of the ball quickly.
I don't know if Brady ever had the best O
line in football, but you didn't get to him when
(33:26):
you looked at Caleb and Ben in the first year.
It's a kind of a two part question. What was
the mechanism used to eliminate the sacks? And did you
see September to January growth? Was there something that stood out?
Speaker 4 (33:40):
Yeah, Caleb Williams is a fascinating study.
Speaker 11 (33:43):
I watched all of his first down plays and all
of his third down plays this summer, and I came away.
Obviously we know that the throwing talent and the movement
ability is just really high level where I think that
the things that I'm sure Ben Johnson is working with
him with is his internal clock tends to be a
beat fast, and the reason it's a beat fast is
(34:04):
because he knows that he can make plays outside the
structure of the play. He's done that his whole life,
and he does it extremely well. Throwing the ball on
the run, He's as good as anybody in the league.
But I think he needs a little more patience in
the pocket. And I guarantee Ben Johnson, and you know,
was talking with him about this, he needs a little
better clarity from the pocket and what he sees. And
(34:25):
the one thing that is a little concerning and I
want to see what happens this year, is he missed
too many routine throws with poor ball location last year.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
And that's something that you know.
Speaker 11 (34:38):
That normally people say that can't improve, but then people
point to what happened with Josh Allen in his career.
So I'm not going to sit here and say that
Caleb Williams can't do that. But that's something that definitely
has to improve. But he's just so physically gifted.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
We always believe that first impressions really are hard to shake.
And the Sam Darnold first three years in this league
with the Jets is I'm seeing ghosts very reckless. Now.
You know, I loved him out of college. I thought
he had to clean up. He had a little bit
of a slow delivery, but I like, I mean, I
comped him with Andrew Luck Andrew Luck far they're reckless too.
(35:14):
I think Sam's big, strong, coachable, tough leadership qualities now
that you go back and look at it, and he
has some stinkers. He'll give you one every couple of
weeks he'll throw a ball and you're like, whoa. But
then you watch him in the playoffs. He's clearly coachable
because he got rid of those. Where are you today?
It is Darnald back to back years, fourteen game winner.
(35:38):
Do you look at him now and think, boy, he's
cleaned up the issues or is it just like better environments?
Speaker 11 (35:44):
You know, it comes back to a point, and I
know you and I have talked about this. There's very
few transcending quarterbacks that are going to be great no
matter what. Think about who he's been coached by the
last two years, Kevin O'Connell and then last year Kubiak,
which is sort of a Shanahan mcviiy A you know combination.
And I think that's so critical because what those guys
(36:05):
do as well as anybody, you know, McVeigh and Shanahan
might be the best. Ben Johnson has become very good
at it as well. Is they present the primary read
as a clean, defined throw against the specific coverages better
than anybody in the league. And I think the coaching
element has made Sam Darnold really really good.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
And I agree with you.
Speaker 11 (36:25):
You look at a guy that's six four two twenty five,
big arm, mobile, smart aware, you know, it just took
some time until he was really coached. Well, I mean,
just to throw another name out, think about Baker Mayfield,
how he's spoken about just the short time he spent
with Sean McVeigh and how that reinvigorated his entire career.
So coaching is so important when it comes to the
(36:47):
quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Listen, I'm almost done talking about Aaron Rodgers. But the
McCarthy Rodgers thing, we think of it as bad, but
they had many, many excellent years. And I've said Mike
McCarthy's resume is Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh but yet it
was viewed as well. The Steelers settled for him, And
my take was, everybody McCarthy has it can be far
(37:12):
of It could be Rogers, it could be Cooper Roush,
it could be Dak. His offense works, it's productive. I mean,
I mean, do you where are you on? You know,
I know it's the end of the line. I kind
of think Aaron's combative nature. I think he'll I think
he'll let you know. He's married, he knows it's his
(37:32):
last year. How do you think they work the offense?
What Aaron can do now and what McCarthy does historically, it's.
Speaker 11 (37:40):
Going to be interesting to see how that works out
because one of the things I've noticed with Aaron Rodgers
over the last couple of years is he hasn't really
thrown a lot of balls in the middle of the field.
He works outside the numbers. Now they've got receivers, there's
no question. But I'll be curious to see if McCarthy,
with his scheme, his past game scheme, pretty much demands
(38:01):
that he worked the middle of the field between the
numbers more than he has the last couple of years,
because he's certainly capable of making those throws physically, that's
not the point. And I can't tell you why he's
he's sort of been unseemingly unwilling to do that. But
he's going to have to do more of that, I
think this year in order to really have a good season.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Yeah, the when you go in the offseason and you
look at all the film that's pros against pros. But
then then now Fernando Mendoza takes on Carson Beck tonight. Now,
both of those guys had a lot of college starts.
They met in their final college games. I thought Carson
(38:41):
Beck looked very poised in the Hall of Fame game.
He's got six years in college football. The NIL is
keeping these quarterbacks Haines King in another year or two,
and it pays off. They come in more prepared and
more developed. Fernando Mendoza is not what you would call
an A plus prospect, but he's got Herbert's side eyes,
(39:01):
Matt Ryan kind of pocket awareness, humble, big smart. I
mean Yale accepted him, went to cal. When you look
at Fernando now you go to the NFL, Greg everything
gets sped up. He doesn't have an elite offensive line.
What is realistic with Clint Kubiak the offense, you know, well,
(39:23):
what is realistic as a rookie.
Speaker 11 (39:26):
Well, the number one thing for him, I think will
be how he handles the balls that have to be
thrown between the numbers.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
You did not see a.
Speaker 11 (39:33):
Lot of that at Indiana simply because that was not
foundationally how they played offense. And also it was an RPO,
which is a very quick game. But I'm talking about
the intermediate throws, let's say, from twelve to twenty two
yards between the numbers, because one of the things that
is is a transition for college quarterbacks to the NFL
is the game has played much more in the middle
(39:54):
of the field.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Not outside.
Speaker 11 (39:57):
And he was a great back shoulder threw in college,
and those are really important throws. But he didn't throw
a lot of balls twelve to twenty two yards between
the numbers. And very often when you make that transition,
it seems like there's fifteen defenders on the field because
it's just a much more condensed look because of where
the hash marks are. So that would be the number
(40:17):
one thing I would look at. You may not get
a sense of that, you know, tonight, in this first
game at all, Just like I mean, I thought Carson
Beck was obviously very good, but I would say that game,
the Hall of Fame game. There's almost zero correlation between
that game and playing in an NFL game. But what
coaches are looking for is good execution, and he executed
(40:37):
at a very high level.
Speaker 4 (40:39):
But that's to me with Mendoza.
Speaker 11 (40:40):
The thing I would look for if he gets a
chance to play early my senses and might be cousins
being the starter week one.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Okay, I want to end with this because.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
For years and years I loved Russell Wilson, and you said,
he said he it's almost like he it's a plan
and ad lib. You were always a bit confounded. You
were never as high as I was. And you know
the truth was he aged very quickly. And I said
earlier today, Jalen Hurtz is a little like Russell Wilson.
(41:13):
They had great running backs, they had great general managers.
They were smaller than you'd like. They had a very
unique style where at times they struggled to see over
the middle of the field. Both throw a very nice
deep ball, and both went to the podium and always
said the right thing. They were very mature, some would
(41:33):
say cringey and predictable. But I do see sometimes with
Hurts a little bit of Russell Wilson, whereas like maybe
a better leader than he is necessarily a pocket quarterback.
When by bud both got to a couple of Super Bowls,
both capable of winning a Super Bowl. It's not that,
but they deviate from the classic big, tall, great in
(41:56):
the pocket. That's not what they are. Do you see
any comments when you think of old Russell in his
prime and Jalen now.
Speaker 11 (42:04):
Well, I think you would probably agree that the Eagles
and their new pass offense is one of the most
intriguing narratives, so to speak, because we don't know the
answer to this in this season's NFL. Because that new
offense is a one hundred and eighty degree turn. He's
going to be under center more. There's going to be
a lot more play action passing where you turn your
back to the defense, which is a learned trade, by
(42:25):
the way, when you turn your back, there's going to
be a lot more reduced splits. There's going to be
a lot more shifts and motions. These are new things
for Jalen Hurts. Now, Jalen Hurts is a veteran quarterback
who's had a lot of success in the league. So
I'm not going to sit here today, Colin and say
he can't do it.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
The guy's had a lot of success.
Speaker 11 (42:43):
So but the bottom line is it's new, so it's
going to be a work in progress.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
That would be the case with.
Speaker 11 (42:49):
Anybody, any quarterback, unless you're you know, thirty five years
old and you're you've been in the league forever and ever.
It's just a work in progress. But you know it's
going to be different because there's a real precise, choreographed
timing element to this offense, and you can't be off.
It's a game of milliseconds. The quarterback position in the
(43:10):
NFL is a game of milliseconds, and if you're off
by the slightest bit, you're off. And that's something that
he'll have to learn and work at through this offense.
Speaker 4 (43:21):
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
You know, you you watch so much film. It's just
it's a fascinating year where at least four new teams
make the playoffs averages six seven coaches will get fired,
fourteen teams will make the playoffs. There's always a there's
always a wild card.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Yep, there's always a wild card.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
The let me throw this at you. John Middlcoff and
I just did our five Bowl choices, and one of
John's was, everybody's watching the Rams, but Stafford's getting old.
Everybody's watching the Seahawks, but they bring back mostly the
same Super Bowl team. That can be problematic. He said, go,
(44:08):
look when Brock Purdy was upright, They're winning games. They
beat last year Seattle, they beat Philadelphia and Philadelphia. Perty's
fascinating because I've had two NFL players tell me to
my face that have played with him like that. Dude
sees the field so quickly, is so scared, degnitively, just
(44:30):
unbelievable ability to see it.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Let it rip go.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
They're an old, old team, and you're not in the
business of predicting wins, But would you be shocked if
in a division where the world thinks the Rams in
Seattle are the two best teams, if San Francisco won
it based on their age, based on you know, there's
Mike Evans and Christian Kirker interesting pieces.
Speaker 11 (44:56):
Yeah, well I'll say this. Look, you know me, I'm
not in the prediction business, but I love what you
said about Purdy because more and more at the larger
point about Purty. More and more in this league, with
the way defenses are playing, changing the picture pre snap
to post snap, you have to be what we call
a post snap operator. And Purdy is as good a
(45:17):
post snap operator as any quarterback in the league. Is
innate feel for seeing defensive movement after the snap of
the ball and coverage rotation is really high level. And
now quarterbacks have to be able to do that because,
like I said, the picture you get pre snap, you
know everybody's pointing to things and all that. That's great,
(45:37):
but that's not what it's going to be after the
ball is snapped, particularly in pure pass and third down situations,
and that's where Brock Purdy absolutely excels. He is an
elite processor in the post snap phase.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Yeah, that's what Sam Darnold said.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
He processes faster than anybody he's ever played with. Oh,
I got one more question, listen, sure I was. I
thought Jackson Dart was a top of the second, middle
of the second quarterback. I did think having Lane Kiffen
multiple years really helped. And then he got Brian Dables,
so we had good offensive coaches. He's got to stay
(46:12):
out of the blue tent. It'd be nice if Malik
Neighbors and Andrew Thomason Scattaboo could stay healthy. When you
look at all the snaps of Jackson Dart, if you
didn't know his college career, if you didn't know anything,
did you go he's better than I thought, or he's
what I thought. What were your interpretations when you went
back and looked at him.
Speaker 11 (46:33):
I thought he threw the ball better than I thought.
I think the next step for him, and it's not
a surprise to me at all, particularly with quarterbacks that
have good athletic ability, is the next step for him
is better patience in the pocket, allowing plays to develop,
not breaking down prematurely. And some of that comes with
seeing it better and seeing it quicker. As I said,
(46:56):
it's a game of milliseconds because the quarterbacks that don't
see it exactly right, particularly when they have that movement
ability Colin, they end up breaking the pocket prematurely. That's
the next step for him. But I thought he threw
it better than I thought. I thought watching his tape
this summer, he made some very good throws. He just
needs to be a little more settled in the pocket
(47:17):
and let the offense work.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Yeah, no, he I fully admit I said, I think
he's a little bit of a reach in the first round.
But you know, like you said earlier, coaching matters. Lane
Kiffin's a pretty good college coach here, Sarker Lincoln Riley
have proven that if you get them in college, you
go to the pro.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's a little bit of us, it's a head start
and that helps.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
All right.
Speaker 11 (47:42):
Yeah, No, I'm anxious to see Darth this year again.
Hopefully all those guys are healthy and they can play
with a full compliment.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
You know, forty seven years. This is sort of our
Week one. There's a bunch of games tonight. I'll be
watching all of them. I love Carson Beck and Fernando Mendoza.
That song much fun. Greg is always great seeing you.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
Thanks can look forward to it every week.
Speaker 3 (48:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
The you know, listen where you land matters. Who was
your college coach? You know at Ole Miss with Lane Kiffen.
You know, they had good players, very good. They didn't
have Georgia players. They didn't have Ohio State or Texas
players or maybe Notre Dame players. So it's like Jackson
Dart had to initiate some of the offense and had
to be clever and creative, and I thought it's kind
(48:26):
of a second round guy.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
Wrong, He's a first rounder, no question about it. To
stay out of that blue tent.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio and noon to three Eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
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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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here we go. It is Thursday.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Six NFL preseason games tonight, and one more than all
the others is going to be very, very interesting. It's
the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be
listening and whatever platform.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thanks for choosing us. A lot of options out there.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Fernando Mendoza six and ohe Indiana sixteen and O at
Indiana debuts tonight. Probably plays against Carson Beck for Eras,
so it'll be a National Championship game rematch in pro football.
But the way these guys get paid, that's kind of
semipro in college now. NFL execs the ones I talk
(01:12):
to are very split on Fernando Mendoza. I am absolutely not.
Here are three really important traits where he's a plus. Humility, intelligence,
and work ethic that takes a B to a B
plus prospect. In my opinion, do an a prospect smart
(01:32):
work ethic, no ego good kid if you look. Let's
talk about a couple of guys that have busted. Ego
becomes a problem. Johnny Manziel, will Levis. You know, I
thought Zach Wilson kind of cocky. Okay, Anthony Richardson didn't
(01:53):
have enough college starts just to raw justin fields. He's
just not good in the pocket. Trey Lance really bad mechanically,
and then Kenny Pickett wildly overdrafted bad draft class at quarterback,
and the Steelers needed somebody. So let's acknowledge now that
he doesn't fit. Fernando Mendoza does not fit any of
(02:16):
those categories. Ego doesn't really have one maturity IQ off
the charts, pocket passer, actually that's his strength. Mechanically fantastic,
pushes the ball down the field. And he's not wildly overdrafted.
Some may have him as amid to a late first rounder,
(02:38):
but people see his size, his intelligence, and his ability
to move a little bit. He is a first round prospect.
I think he's Matt Ryan thirty thirty percent Justin Herbert, big, strong, smart, humble,
nice arm got little Andrew luck, no dink and dunk.
He pushes the ball down the field. This is not
(03:01):
It's interesting that Kirk Cousins is going to start probably
week one, and you know Kirk can do stuff underneath.
You know the other thing I love about Fernando Mendoza,
and this is gigantic, is he played at Cal and
got the you know what kicked out of him. So
did Jared Goff. When you go to Cal, Aaron Rodgers too.
(03:25):
You don't play with five star recruits. Academic power not.
I mean, the rugby programs better than the football program historically,
so you got to carry your offense. You don't have
five star receivers. Why is it so many cow guys
end up in the NFL. Part of it is that
Cal Jared Goff got tossed like a rag doll in college.
(03:47):
He learned to be tough. Then this kid goes to Indiana.
They had very good talent. They didn't have Ohio State talent.
I don't think they had Miami talent. They had Fernando Mendoza,
but he had to end initiate the offense. JJ McCarthy
didn't have to at Michigan. He got beat up at
cal Yeah. JJ McCarthy did not get beat up at Michigan,
(04:11):
So I think he's totally prepared. You don't have the
ego which gets guys in trouble. He is good in
the pocket, humble, smart, work ethic.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I think there's a.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Little Justin Herbert, big, humble, strong, smart. I think there's
some Matt Ryan where he's better in the pocket than
running around. But I think he's more athletic than people
give him credit for. I think CJ. Stroud, Justin Herbert
and Fernando Manzelo is a don't run a ton. But
when later in the season they need you to win
big games and the coaches unleash them, they are clearly
(04:43):
capable of stepping on it and picking up yards. I
think the only thing that worries me is the Raiders.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I'm not worry about the kid. I worry about the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
If it goes sideways, and it won't be as bad
as Darnold and the Jets, But if it goes sideways,
it will be a combination of they got impatient, they
couldn't protect him, They ran through coaches, that worries me.
Now some people are saying, you know, he went out
of the shotgun in college. Now he's got to figure
out how to be under center. Yeah, I mean, nobody
(05:17):
comes in a polished product. Even Peyton Manning had stuff
to work on. Here's Fernando Mendoza plays tonight against Arizona
NFL debut, gonna get snaps. He's here's what he's worked on.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I'd say my biggest level of growth has to be
my under center play. And also I believe that my
footwork has evolved, not only with you know, my passing
forward from shotgun, but my run tracks, making sure I'm
getting the ball to the running back deep and on
their landmarks, making sure my play action passed footwork and
my ball action is where it needs to be in
order to give my guys the best chance of getting open.
(05:52):
So I'd say footwork because that also plays into the
timing where, hey, this route that got to hit is
a one hitch throw. It's not a two. Hey, it's
not a one and a half inch, it is a
one hitch throw. So time that all in with the
footwork and the understand play has really.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Evolved my game.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Perfect answer, can't wait to watch the night six NFL
preseason games. Carson Beck Fernando Mendoz is the one I
really care about. When the last time you said Raiders
Cardinals can't wait to watch by week six, I may
be bored to tears with both tonight I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
The Lakers have a new owner, so made calls yesterday.
Here's what I found out about Bob Iiger, mid seventies
chairman forever running Disney, is that the NBA and Adam
Silver starting Sunday, had to find a new owner for
the Lakers, and things ramped up very quickly. Bob Iger
(06:48):
was very very well paid, very well compensated at Disney,
not twelve point five billion buy an NBA team compensated.
He and Kushner were the leaders that the clubhouse for
the expansion Las Vegas franchise that was seven point five billion.
This is twelve point five billion. That's out of Eigers range.
(07:10):
This is like going from buying the Rays in Tampa
to buying the Yankees. It is a whole different ballpark,
even for rich guys. But here's the key to it.
The Lakers matter to the NBA and Adam Silver. Doesn't
want him tossed around and flipped like a nineteen ninety
three Honda Civic. So he had to get somebody who
(07:33):
understands television, who's negotiated for the league, who understands the sport.
I mean, Eyer was always kind of known as a
Clipper fan more than a Laker fan. But Kushner money
very much tied to Trump, at least in the NBA.
(07:53):
Trump is not beloved. Kids always use the word sketch.
There's a little bit of that or maybe a lot,
depending on your perspective on Kushner money from the top
down in the family.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
And Bob Eiger is perfect.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You know, a lot of times you'll see these tequila brands.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
You know, you'll see a movie star.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Put some money down for a tequila brand, but he's
really there to market and sell it. A lot of
other people are making the agave. Okay, that's not really
what Iiger is doing. Iiger is the face of Laker ownership,
because it's one thing to own an expansion team. Most
of you can't name fifty percent of the owners in
this league, but everybody knows who owns the Yankees or
(08:34):
the Dodgers or the Cubs or the Eagles, or the
forty nine ers or the Cowboys. That's what you have here.
And Iiger is a great front man. He's putting money down,
Don't get me wrong, He's put a lot of money down.
But Kushner's the big money. This is a massive brand
for the NBA. And again, Bob Iger's made a lot
(08:55):
of money. He's a very smart guy. But he'll be
the face of Laker ownership. So the league got into
a very rough spot. Darren Ravel yesterday on the shocking sale.
Basically fourteen months after Mark Walter purchased it, he flipped it.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
This was not a natural move.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Just a couple of weeks ago, Kushner and Eiger were
lining up for Vegas and sniffing around. And to me,
this at least appears to look like the NBA being
Adam Silver pulling the Marionette and going like this. And obviously,
with the pressure of Ishbia, the pressure of Balmer, certainly
(09:36):
the NBA makes moves before Major League Baseball does.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, Adam Silver badly needed Bob Eiger to be part
of this ownership group. They can find other nondescript, not
well publicized people to invest Eiger is the key in
this thing.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
All right. We got a lot going on today.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Greg Cosel, he now starts his appearances on this show
for about twenty weeks. We got six games tonight, Mendoza
Carson Beck is a really, really good one. And coming
up next, there was a moment yesterday there was a
social media post that is now up to fifteen million views.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
It may have.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Seemed harmless, but not in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
That's coming up.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 7 (10:35):
App so that gots here. I have a podcast empire.
It continues to grow, and I have brought it here
to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from
three to five pm Eastern because my wife wanted to
kick me out of the house. It's called Stagatzi Company Live,
which is available in podcast form right when the show
(10:55):
finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports.
A lot of phone.
Speaker 8 (11:01):
Calls I love you guys, your show, it's one of
my favorite.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you could
expect from Stu Gottson Company and Steve Gotson Company Live.
So listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and review Stuve Gotson Company and God
Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. You do it
(11:26):
today and you can check all of those out on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Tonight, Fernando Mendoza NFL debut Raiders against the Arizona Cardinals.
Mendoza against Carson Beck, a rematch of Miami and Indiana
for the National Championship.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Can't wait.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
So the show is dark tomorrow. So this is our
Friday show. And John and I thought we'd go back
and forth on this. We would each have five bold predictions. Now,
we're not putting the Browns in the AFC Championship. Let's
not go crazy here. Even though I think Cleveland's going
to be viable and interesting at this point, I don't
(12:16):
even have him as a playoff team, and I think
the second spot in that division is arguably wide open.
But we're going to go five predictions, five bold predictions.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
You ready to go?
Speaker 4 (12:25):
John? Ready? All right?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Number one Jalen Hurts Eagles quarterback is better without AJ Brown.
If you go back to last season, when he didn't
target AJ Brown, he completed seventy one percent of his throws,
eighteen touchdowns and three picks. Over the last two years
when he targeted AJ Brown, when AJ Brown had eight
(12:49):
or more targets, the Eagles were nine and six. When
he wasn't a focus of the game plan, and he
had fewer than seven or fewer targets last two years
thirteen to zero. This is des Bryant to Dak. Jalen
Hurts will flourish despite losing a great number one receiver.
Speaker 8 (13:12):
I know he's currently on the Raiders after getting traded
this offseason, but I think the Raiders are in a
position with a young quarterback to kind of do what
Jimmy Johnson and a lot of teams have done historically,
is trade a veteran player whose timeline is off where
their young core is going to be. I think Max
Crosby ends up on the Browns and or excuse me,
(13:34):
the Bears in the middle of the season, Ryan Poles
already admitted they were interested in him in the first place.
Their pass rush was I think seventh bottom bottom seventh
in the league in sacks, so they are not a
great pass rush team. The other thing is Kobe Bryant
already injured. I think the Bears get very aggressive. Ben
Johnson wants to win Max Crosby to the Bears.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
This may not seem bold, but because this is probably
the most criticized franchise that's good in the league. I
have Justin Herbert winning multiple playoff games. Okay, the last
two years in the playoffs he went in with the
thirtieth offensive line and the twenty first. This appears to
(14:18):
be the first offensive line. Remember, he has been hit, sacked,
and rushed more than any quarterback in the sport since
he entered the league in twenty twenty. They have three
new features, both tackles, back. This will be his best
offensive line in my opinion, his best offensive coordinator, at
(14:40):
least two playoff wins, and I right now this morning
think they could be a co favorite to get to
the AFC Championship.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
I have the Niners winning the NFC West. Wow.
Speaker 8 (14:54):
I know we think the Rams are the I know
we think the Rams are the twenty seven Yankees. Seattle
is just gonna cruise the back to back championships. Football
doesn't work like that. It never has. This is not baseball.
You don't just plug and play players. Things can get weird. Obviously,
Stafford's injury history is a thing of concern. Mike McDonald
(15:14):
keeping these guys motivated. Kubiak was a huge, huge reason
for Seattle's success. He's now gone. They replaced him with
a first time play caller. They were seven and two
last year. When party starts. Here's the other thing.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
You know who.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
The forty nine ers beat a lot, the Rams. Kyle
Shanahan's record against Sean McVay speaks for itself.
Speaker 9 (15:34):
Oh yes, Seattle. That won fourteen games and lost three.
You know where.
Speaker 8 (15:38):
One of those losses came in Seattle against the forty
nine ers. So it's not like the forty nine ers
are intimidated by Fred Warner coming back, Christian McCaffrey another
season healthy, Nick Bosa, mikel Williams, they got defensive reinforcements.
Speaker 9 (15:51):
So I got the forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
My third bold prediction.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Packers finished last in the NFC North, first of all.
Ben Johnson year two, Kyler Murray I think is going
to be a hit and Detroit to me easily has
the best entire roster. This is not the same NFC North.
The Packers dominated. All four teams had winning records last year,
(16:16):
and the Packers without Micah last year zero and five
and allowed twenty nine points a game. He's not going
to be playing, we presume until October. Packers maybe the
best fourth place team in the NFL by a long shot.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
They finish last.
Speaker 8 (16:34):
Well, I got a team finishing first, and they're the
Cincinnati Bengals. I got him as the number one seed
in the AFC. I know everyone thinks Mike Brown in
the front office and everything about this franchise disaster, and
they're cheap specifically, well, I've seen them invest in multiple
wide receivers pay a premium.
Speaker 9 (16:54):
I saw this offseason they had the tenth pick. What
did they do?
Speaker 8 (16:56):
They went and traded for an all pro, just a
three hundred and eighty pounds man that can't be moved,
to solidify their defensive line. Fair We saw a couple
of years, you know, Joe Burrow missed basically the entire
season last year with turf though the year before, after
the slow start, there was not a hotter team.
Speaker 9 (17:11):
You know, towards the end of the year.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
Of the year they went nine and eight, they just
missed the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (17:14):
By game. They were killing everybody down the stretch.
Speaker 8 (17:17):
So if he can stay healthy, their defenses is dramatically improved.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Should everyone acts.
Speaker 8 (17:22):
Like their coach stinks, He's got five playoff wins in
his career. That's why I'm telling you, if Joe Burrow's healthy,
the thirty easiest schedule in the NFL and the division.
John Harbaugh's gone, Tomlin's gone, forty two year old quarterback Lamar,
a bunch of new players. The Browns stink. I like
the Bengals big time this year.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh that's I like that, Okay, Denver Broncos, and you
know I love Sean Payton miss the playoffs. Listen, NFL
best eleven and two and one score games. I mean,
that's not gonna happen again. They also trailed in fifteen games.
Bownicks is coming off two surge on his right ankle.
They have a new play caller. And remember the Ravens,
(18:04):
the Bengals, the Chiefs, the Chargers are all going to
be better in the AFC. I think that we all
know that if Burrow's upright, Cincinnati's going to be a
better team. I mean, Herbert's got his best offensive line
in his best offensive coordinator. You can't go eleven and
two in one score games and not regress. I think
(18:26):
Denver's good. I think they have a special coach and
special players. I think they're going to narrowly miss the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (18:35):
This one.
Speaker 8 (18:36):
I watched this team for a long time, win a
lot of games, and last year Vrabel resurrected him. They
went to the super Bowl. But I got the Patriots
missing the playoffs. If you remember, back in two thousand
and one, Tom Brady Belichick, they won the Super Bowl.
You know what happened the next year? They missed the playoffs.
Last year historically easy season. Yeah, I mean every single
week they were playing a god awful opponent.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (18:58):
And then the way the playoffs broke.
Speaker 8 (18:59):
You know that crazy snowstorm came into the AFC Championship
game against the backup quarterback. Drake May was running for
his life. He was getting sacked every play in these playoffs.
A lot of question marks with the offensive line, some
tabloid stuff off the field with Vrabel. You know, Aj Brown,
It's not like he was thriving last year. Drop not
even just the dram off to you, he's dropping balls
(19:20):
on the field, kind of a weathered twenty eight to
twenty nine year old wide receiver. I just think the
AFC is going to be difficult. Their schedules way more difficult.
You go nine to eight, miss the playoffs. I don't
think they're gonna be a disaster, but I think these
your classic You lose in.
Speaker 9 (19:34):
The super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Next year you miss, yeah at Hangovers real. Finally, for me,
Caleb Williams wins MVP. First of all, he's got currently
the seventh best odds second year in Ben Johnson's offense.
Goal look at Jared Goff's second year in Ben Johnson's offense,
and he's not nearly the athlete Jared Goff popped in
year two. He literally has the lowest interception percentage in
(19:59):
league his thirteen and thirty four career starts, and this
is the beginning of it. He'll probably throw fewer as
a as a veteran quarterback second in the NFL in
big plays. He also has tremendous offensive weapons. A lot
of people thought they should draft an edge they want
and got another good tight end they've got three receivers.
(20:21):
I like they've got two running backs. I worry a
little bit about left tackle. But Caleb also has the ability.
As you're watching, he doesn't just make plays. He makes
spectacular plays, a little bit of a Westbrook quality. When
he won MVP, it'll be easy to root for a
guy who's not a stat patter, who's in a great division.
He's winning close games, He's winning them with dramatic plays late.
(20:44):
That's the kind of story the media likes. Caleb Williams MVP.
Speaker 8 (20:49):
I also have an NFC quarterback winning the MVP, but
his name is Dakota Prescott, and I think it sounds
a lot crazier than it is. I mean, I mean
the last over the course of the last three or
four years, he has clearly been one of the best
quarterbacks in the league. The problem is to win the MVP,
your team has to be good, right Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
(21:09):
Patrick Mahomes, Brady Rogers, all these guys manning that if
one MVP is typically they're the one or two seed
in their conference. So I think the Cowboys are gonna
be good this year. I have picking them to win
the East if they win the East. I think Dak
Prescott's putting up huge numbers. He has one of, if
not the best, one to two combination of wide receivers.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Tight ends good.
Speaker 8 (21:30):
His offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's proven to be pretty dynamic.
To me, his numbers are gonna they speak for themselves
over the course of the twenty twenties. If the defense
is good, I think he's right up there in the mix.
And if they're the one or two seed, I think
Dak wins the MVP.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
You know what's already interesting John thinking about this. It
was last year actually a little bit of a down year.
Mahomes got hurt, Burrow got hurt. You know, like Buffalo
had a coach on the hot seat. You know, Dallas
had a new coach and they made the Mica tred
so it deteriorated their very mediocre defense. I mean, I
can make an argument the Charges will be noticeably better. Yeah,
(22:08):
the Bengals will be absolutely better. I actually think New
England will be better. But to your point, we'll have
a worse record in the NFC. Detroit finds the righte
oh seat, they'll be better. If brock Perty's upright, San
Francisco's record will be solid. I think it's really interesting.
Chicago should be better again because second year. Last year
(22:29):
was a weird year where we all acknowledged New England
really wasn't a top four or five team, yet they
got to a Super Bowl. I think the fight is
going to be mighty. Here are NFL predictions of note.
You know, the Packers finishing last sounds dramatic, but if
Kyler Murray is as good member the one time he
(22:52):
had a Pro Bowl offensive line and he had a
passer rating over one hundred. Also, he's not making any money,
so he's planned for a contract. Is there one of
mine that you actually think you agree with?
Speaker 9 (23:05):
I definitely think Caleb Williams.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
You know, the MVP is a momentum award, right, Josh
Allen a couple of years ago had had a lot
of momentum for that award.
Speaker 9 (23:15):
I think Caleb. That's why I like Dak or Caleb.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
I mean, if either one of those teams wins twelve
plus games, I think there's gonna be a lot of
momentum for those two players. I do think the Broncos roster,
like their roster, is a top three or four rosters NFL,
it would basically just have to be some injuries, some
weird things going on. Like to Sean Payton, yank the
play calling he's claimed. I read an article recently. You
(23:41):
know that happened to him way back in the day.
I think with Jim Fossil when he was a young,
young coach. He claimed that that is not an option here.
So even if like things are rocky, he's this guy's
got the play calling. It's one thing to say it.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
To live it.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
So the Broncos won, I mean, put the Jets making
the playoffs, but I felt that was a little bit
of a you know.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
The Jets.
Speaker 8 (24:05):
There's just there's gonna be something that crazy happens in
the NFL this year, right, I mean, and.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I'll tell you if the Niners win the NFC West,
that's actually crazier than it.
Speaker 8 (24:15):
That's a big game. They won twelve games last year.
I mean, that's you know, they beat the Eagles.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I know in Philly. Yeah, so that's really you took
you took some swing. But I'll tay when you look
at the Bengals defensive front. I was doing it last night,
as I often do because I have no social life.
I was looking at the depth chart for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They're D line. Now it's a thing like it's big
and it'll be much tougher because you could run on
(24:41):
the ball the last several years, which meant you took
the ball out of Joe Burrow's hands. You could dominate
time of possession. You're not going to do that to
the Bengals this year. That D line is stout on
the interior a right. Greg co sales around the corner
on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
One More Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours into
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her
to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Here
we go, it's our two.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
It is a Thursday, Greg Co sell in two minutes,
three minutes. It's in Chicago and we're live Bears tomorrow
night in the stadium against the Cleveland Browns here in
the city. Great to have you, and I got to
mention this. Russell Westbrook eighteen years in the NBA, nine
times all NBA, led the NBA in scoring and multiple
(25:30):
times and assists multiple times, most triple doubles ever in
league history. Russell Westbrook. He was the classic, all gas,
no breaks. He feels a little bit to me like
the action star in Hollywood. You're not getting a lot
of nuance and subtlety. Nobody thinks Vin Diesel and the
Rock or Jeremy Irons or Russell Crow or John Malcovit
(25:52):
or Christian Bale. We know what they are, highly productive,
give you everything they got Again, not a lot of subtlety,
not a lot of nuance. But Westbrook is not only
an action star. He wanted to do his own stunts.
He never cheated the fans, He never cheated himself. In
an era of load management seven times eighty plus games,
(26:18):
nobody played harder, Nobody cared more. Legendary practice and game intensity.
Westbrook could drive me nuts one gear head down, one
hundred miles an hour. But later in his career, I
went and looked it up this morning. Later in his career,
(26:38):
he had a sound bite he was coming off the
bench for the Nuggets, and I said, I love this Westbrook.
He is unbelievable energy to the very end. Nobody played harder.
He would drive teammates and coaches crazy. Michael Jordanoah has
loved him because they had the same kind of raw intensity.
But he had this bite after a game and it
(26:58):
just I really really appreciated his self awareness.
Speaker 10 (27:03):
My ability to be able to be a force in
nature on the floor is what I pride myself. Phone.
So whatever that looks like, it may be a turnover,
it may be a misshot, but it may be a steal,
maybe a dunk, maybe a mystery, maybe a may three,
it's gonna be all of that.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's gonna be everything.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Absolutely, But again, effort, desire, passion, work, ethic, unbelievable. First
ballot Hall of Fame guy again, Ask him to hit
an open eighteen foot in a.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Big playoff spot. He drive me nuts.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And again people like this head down one hundred miles
an hour, not a lot of nuance, but just in
terms of desire and intensity, I mean, there's just very
few players in league history that, I mean, he'd even
get after fans.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
That dude cared.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
And when he retired, he released like a three and
a half minute video, no words. He didn't need any
his game and his desire and intensity always spoke for himself.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
What do you go?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Russ's first ballot absolute Hall of Famer guy went to
UCLA was like a two to three star recruit. Nobody
ever thought he could be a point guard. Everybody's like, well,
he's a great athlete, but he can't be a point guard.
Let the NBA assists three times. Just proved a lot
of people wrong. All time unique player, and I mean
(28:25):
you talk about energy and intensity and strength for his weight.
He's in that MJ class Like there's not a lot
of guys bill like Westbrook. He is just to the
last sit up ripped all right. Greg Cosel forty seven
years NFL films. Well, you must like what you do
(28:47):
and you're good at it, so I know you think
so I do.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
So.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I said this yesterday. His people often want guys like me,
just give me facts. I don't need all the strong opinions.
And I said, well, are you okay with Tyler Murray
having the fifth highest completion percentage ever the only time
he had a Pro bowler on the offensive line, the
one year he had a passer rating over one hundred.
His coach was Cliff's Kingsbury overwhelmingly who got fired by
his alma mater. But it should be noted he got
(29:14):
him to the playoffs. It's not a great ownership situation
in his division, the Rams won a Super Bowl, the
Niners got to two, and Seattle won a Super Bowl,
so it's arguably at the top the toughest division. I
think he's not perfect, but I think it's gonna work.
His cap hit is less than Dylan Gabriel. It's a
proven year. Greg. I don't know Kevin O'Connell and Kyler Murray.
(29:39):
Does it feel like the film tell you it could work?
Speaker 11 (29:44):
Well, It's funny because I spent the last week I
watched every one of his dropbacks from last year over again,
and of course I seen him every year. He's a
very interesting player because he's not truly a sequential progression
reader in the way we think of that. I think
he's going to be a function of the play caller,
and Kevin O'Connell is very very good by that. I mean,
(30:06):
the most important thing I think for Kyler Murray is
for the play caller to present him as much as
possible within the context of the NFL, with the primary
read being there, so he can play within timing and rhythm.
Because there are strong examples, particularly in the three step
and five step drop game Colin, where he plays very
effectively with.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Timing and rhythm.
Speaker 11 (30:28):
The issue for him is the longer he's in the pocket,
because he's small, he becomes very, very unsettled. Now, obviously
he's got tremendous ability to make plays outside of structure,
and he is so quick. So that's the balance that
Kevin O'Connell has to deal with. But I think with
Kevin O'Connell, I would expect there'll be more positives than negatives.
(30:51):
But there's no question that just when you watch him play,
and you watch snap after snap after snap consistently, he's
not what you'd call a true sequential progression. That's not
really the way he plays. But I think he's capable
of it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I've said in my life, I always feel by about
midway or late in the second chapter of a quarterback's book,
I kind of know what he is. A bust, solid,
excellent or a star Dak Prescott. It took me until
about the eighth chapter. I never loved his arm. I
thought he was pretty athletic. He's one of those players
that is iq EQ and maturity go a long way
(31:27):
to handle the noise with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
A lot of people think this is one of his
better rosters. The old line is young but getting better.
Tight end, receiver, defensive front. Where have you always been
on deck? Once again, when he's upright with three different coaches,
we don't think Schottenheimer's Andy Reid. He's highly productive. Where
(31:50):
are you on deck today?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (31:52):
You know, you have to separate the quarterback from the team,
and people don't do that because they assume if a
team wins, that means the quarterback's great. And loses, well,
then it's the quarterback's fall. But again, Prescott was another
guy that every summer I rewatched Dak Prescott and he
is really a refined pocket player. He knows how to
play the position. There's tremendous efficiency to his game. He
(32:15):
doesn't move the way he used to. Obviously, this team
theoretically is better than he's had in recent years, and
it probably starts with the defensive side of the ball.
He's been on a team the last couple of years
where the defense was just not very good. But when
you watch him play, you come away and Colin, I'm
sure you probably saw some of the Hall of Fame speeches.
(32:35):
The reason I mentioned that is the way Drew Brees
spoke about the quarterback position and all the detail and
nuance that's demanded to be consistent snap after snap, quarter
after quarter, game after game, season after season. That's the
way Dak Prescott plays the position. And obviously people point to, well,
she's not in the super Bowl. That's irrelevant. Just look
(32:57):
at him play the position. He plays it from the
pocket the right way.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Last year Caleb Williams eliminated to a large degree the sacks. Now,
the O line was better, but as you know, the
old line isn't always the answer. There are quarterbacks behind
average O lines that get rid of the ball quickly.
I don't know if Brady ever had the best O
line in football, but you didn't get to him when
(33:26):
you looked at Caleb and Ben in the first year.
It's a kind of a two part question. What was
the mechanism used to eliminate the sacks? And did you
see September to January growth? Was there something that stood out?
Speaker 4 (33:40):
Yeah, Caleb Williams is a fascinating study.
Speaker 11 (33:43):
I watched all of his first down plays and all
of his third down plays this summer, and I came away.
Obviously we know that the throwing talent and the movement
ability is just really high level where I think that
the things that I'm sure Ben Johnson is working with
him with is his internal clock tends to be a
beat fast, and the reason it's a beat fast is
(34:04):
because he knows that he can make plays outside the
structure of the play. He's done that his whole life,
and he does it extremely well. Throwing the ball on
the run, He's as good as anybody in the league.
But I think he needs a little more patience in
the pocket. And I guarantee Ben Johnson, and you know,
was talking with him about this, he needs a little
better clarity from the pocket and what he sees. And
(34:25):
the one thing that is a little concerning and I
want to see what happens this year, is he missed
too many routine throws with poor ball location last year.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
And that's something that you know.
Speaker 11 (34:38):
That normally people say that can't improve, but then people
point to what happened with Josh Allen in his career.
So I'm not going to sit here and say that
Caleb Williams can't do that. But that's something that definitely
has to improve. But he's just so physically gifted.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
We always believe that first impressions really are hard to shake.
And the Sam Darnold first three years in this league
with the Jets is I'm seeing ghosts very reckless. Now.
You know, I loved him out of college. I thought
he had to clean up. He had a little bit
of a slow delivery, but I like, I mean, I
comped him with Andrew Luck Andrew Luck far they're reckless too.
(35:14):
I think Sam's big, strong, coachable, tough leadership qualities now
that you go back and look at it, and he
has some stinkers. He'll give you one every couple of
weeks he'll throw a ball and you're like, whoa. But
then you watch him in the playoffs. He's clearly coachable
because he got rid of those. Where are you today?
It is Darnald back to back years, fourteen game winner.
(35:38):
Do you look at him now and think, boy, he's
cleaned up the issues or is it just like better environments?
Speaker 11 (35:44):
You know, it comes back to a point, and I
know you and I have talked about this. There's very
few transcending quarterbacks that are going to be great no
matter what. Think about who he's been coached by the
last two years, Kevin O'Connell and then last year Kubiak,
which is sort of a Shanahan mcviiy A you know combination.
And I think that's so critical because what those guys
(36:05):
do as well as anybody, you know, McVeigh and Shanahan
might be the best. Ben Johnson has become very good
at it as well. Is they present the primary read
as a clean, defined throw against the specific coverages better
than anybody in the league. And I think the coaching
element has made Sam Darnold really really good.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
And I agree with you.
Speaker 11 (36:25):
You look at a guy that's six four two twenty five,
big arm, mobile, smart aware, you know, it just took
some time until he was really coached. Well, I mean,
just to throw another name out, think about Baker Mayfield,
how he's spoken about just the short time he spent
with Sean McVeigh and how that reinvigorated his entire career.
So coaching is so important when it comes to the
(36:47):
quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Listen, I'm almost done talking about Aaron Rodgers. But the
McCarthy Rodgers thing, we think of it as bad, but
they had many, many excellent years. And I've said Mike
McCarthy's resume is Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh but yet it
was viewed as well. The Steelers settled for him, And
my take was, everybody McCarthy has it can be far
(37:12):
of It could be Rogers, it could be Cooper Roush,
it could be Dak. His offense works, it's productive. I mean,
I mean, do you where are you on? You know,
I know it's the end of the line. I kind
of think Aaron's combative nature. I think he'll I think
he'll let you know. He's married, he knows it's his
(37:32):
last year. How do you think they work the offense?
What Aaron can do now and what McCarthy does historically, it's.
Speaker 11 (37:40):
Going to be interesting to see how that works out
because one of the things I've noticed with Aaron Rodgers
over the last couple of years is he hasn't really
thrown a lot of balls in the middle of the field.
He works outside the numbers. Now they've got receivers, there's
no question. But I'll be curious to see if McCarthy,
with his scheme, his past game scheme, pretty much demands
(38:01):
that he worked the middle of the field between the
numbers more than he has the last couple of years,
because he's certainly capable of making those throws physically, that's
not the point. And I can't tell you why he's
he's sort of been unseemingly unwilling to do that. But
he's going to have to do more of that, I
think this year in order to really have a good season.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Yeah, the when you go in the offseason and you
look at all the film that's pros against pros. But
then then now Fernando Mendoza takes on Carson Beck tonight. Now,
both of those guys had a lot of college starts.
They met in their final college games. I thought Carson
(38:41):
Beck looked very poised in the Hall of Fame game.
He's got six years in college football. The NIL is
keeping these quarterbacks Haines King in another year or two,
and it pays off. They come in more prepared and
more developed. Fernando Mendoza is not what you would call
an A plus prospect, but he's got Herbert's side eyes,
(39:01):
Matt Ryan kind of pocket awareness, humble, big smart. I
mean Yale accepted him, went to cal. When you look
at Fernando now you go to the NFL, Greg everything
gets sped up. He doesn't have an elite offensive line.
What is realistic with Clint Kubiak the offense, you know, well,
(39:23):
what is realistic as a rookie.
Speaker 11 (39:26):
Well, the number one thing for him, I think will
be how he handles the balls that have to be
thrown between the numbers.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
You did not see a.
Speaker 11 (39:33):
Lot of that at Indiana simply because that was not
foundationally how they played offense. And also it was an RPO,
which is a very quick game. But I'm talking about
the intermediate throws, let's say, from twelve to twenty two
yards between the numbers, because one of the things that
is is a transition for college quarterbacks to the NFL
is the game has played much more in the middle
(39:54):
of the field.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Not outside.
Speaker 11 (39:57):
And he was a great back shoulder threw in college,
and those are really important throws. But he didn't throw
a lot of balls twelve to twenty two yards between
the numbers. And very often when you make that transition,
it seems like there's fifteen defenders on the field because
it's just a much more condensed look because of where
the hash marks are. So that would be the number
(40:17):
one thing I would look at. You may not get
a sense of that, you know, tonight, in this first
game at all, Just like I mean, I thought Carson
Beck was obviously very good, but I would say that game,
the Hall of Fame game. There's almost zero correlation between
that game and playing in an NFL game. But what
coaches are looking for is good execution, and he executed
(40:37):
at a very high level.
Speaker 4 (40:39):
But that's to me with Mendoza.
Speaker 11 (40:40):
The thing I would look for if he gets a
chance to play early my senses and might be cousins
being the starter week one.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Okay, I want to end with this because.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
For years and years I loved Russell Wilson, and you said,
he said he it's almost like he it's a plan
and ad lib. You were always a bit confounded. You
were never as high as I was. And you know
the truth was he aged very quickly. And I said
earlier today, Jalen Hurtz is a little like Russell Wilson.
(41:13):
They had great running backs, they had great general managers.
They were smaller than you'd like. They had a very
unique style where at times they struggled to see over
the middle of the field. Both throw a very nice
deep ball, and both went to the podium and always
said the right thing. They were very mature, some would
(41:33):
say cringey and predictable. But I do see sometimes with
Hurts a little bit of Russell Wilson, whereas like maybe
a better leader than he is necessarily a pocket quarterback.
When by bud both got to a couple of Super Bowls,
both capable of winning a Super Bowl. It's not that,
but they deviate from the classic big, tall, great in
(41:56):
the pocket. That's not what they are. Do you see
any comments when you think of old Russell in his
prime and Jalen now.
Speaker 11 (42:04):
Well, I think you would probably agree that the Eagles
and their new pass offense is one of the most
intriguing narratives, so to speak, because we don't know the
answer to this in this season's NFL. Because that new
offense is a one hundred and eighty degree turn. He's
going to be under center more. There's going to be
a lot more play action passing where you turn your
back to the defense, which is a learned trade, by
(42:25):
the way, when you turn your back, there's going to
be a lot more reduced splits. There's going to be
a lot more shifts and motions. These are new things
for Jalen Hurts. Now, Jalen Hurts is a veteran quarterback
who's had a lot of success in the league. So
I'm not going to sit here today, Colin and say
he can't do it.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
The guy's had a lot of success.
Speaker 11 (42:43):
So but the bottom line is it's new, so it's
going to be a work in progress.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
That would be the case with.
Speaker 11 (42:49):
Anybody, any quarterback, unless you're you know, thirty five years
old and you're you've been in the league forever and ever.
It's just a work in progress. But you know it's
going to be different because there's a real precise, choreographed
timing element to this offense, and you can't be off.
It's a game of milliseconds. The quarterback position in the
(43:10):
NFL is a game of milliseconds, and if you're off
by the slightest bit, you're off. And that's something that
he'll have to learn and work at through this offense.
Speaker 4 (43:21):
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
You know, you you watch so much film. It's just
it's a fascinating year where at least four new teams
make the playoffs averages six seven coaches will get fired,
fourteen teams will make the playoffs. There's always a there's
always a wild card.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Yep, there's always a wild card.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
The let me throw this at you. John Middlcoff and
I just did our five Bowl choices, and one of
John's was, everybody's watching the Rams, but Stafford's getting old.
Everybody's watching the Seahawks, but they bring back mostly the
same Super Bowl team. That can be problematic. He said, go,
(44:08):
look when Brock Purdy was upright, They're winning games. They
beat last year Seattle, they beat Philadelphia and Philadelphia. Perty's
fascinating because I've had two NFL players tell me to
my face that have played with him like that. Dude
sees the field so quickly, is so scared, degnitively, just
(44:30):
unbelievable ability to see it.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Let it rip go.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
They're an old, old team, and you're not in the
business of predicting wins, But would you be shocked if
in a division where the world thinks the Rams in
Seattle are the two best teams, if San Francisco won
it based on their age, based on you know, there's
Mike Evans and Christian Kirker interesting pieces.
Speaker 11 (44:56):
Yeah, well I'll say this. Look, you know me, I'm
not in the prediction business, but I love what you
said about Purdy because more and more at the larger
point about Purty. More and more in this league, with
the way defenses are playing, changing the picture pre snap
to post snap, you have to be what we call
a post snap operator. And Purdy is as good a
(45:17):
post snap operator as any quarterback in the league. Is
innate feel for seeing defensive movement after the snap of
the ball and coverage rotation is really high level. And
now quarterbacks have to be able to do that because,
like I said, the picture you get pre snap, you
know everybody's pointing to things and all that. That's great,
(45:37):
but that's not what it's going to be after the
ball is snapped, particularly in pure pass and third down situations,
and that's where Brock Purdy absolutely excels. He is an
elite processor in the post snap phase.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Yeah, that's what Sam Darnold said.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
He processes faster than anybody he's ever played with. Oh,
I got one more question, listen, sure I was. I
thought Jackson Dart was a top of the second, middle
of the second quarterback. I did think having Lane Kiffen
multiple years really helped. And then he got Brian Dables,
so we had good offensive coaches. He's got to stay
(46:12):
out of the blue tent. It'd be nice if Malik
Neighbors and Andrew Thomason Scattaboo could stay healthy. When you
look at all the snaps of Jackson Dart, if you
didn't know his college career, if you didn't know anything,
did you go he's better than I thought, or he's
what I thought. What were your interpretations when you went
back and looked at him.
Speaker 11 (46:33):
I thought he threw the ball better than I thought.
I think the next step for him, and it's not
a surprise to me at all, particularly with quarterbacks that
have good athletic ability, is the next step for him
is better patience in the pocket, allowing plays to develop,
not breaking down prematurely. And some of that comes with
seeing it better and seeing it quicker. As I said,
(46:56):
it's a game of milliseconds because the quarterbacks that don't
see it exactly right, particularly when they have that movement
ability Colin, they end up breaking the pocket prematurely. That's
the next step for him. But I thought he threw
it better than I thought. I thought watching his tape
this summer, he made some very good throws. He just
needs to be a little more settled in the pocket
(47:17):
and let the offense work.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Yeah, no, he I fully admit I said, I think
he's a little bit of a reach in the first round.
But you know, like you said earlier, coaching matters. Lane
Kiffin's a pretty good college coach here, Sarker Lincoln Riley
have proven that if you get them in college, you
go to the pro.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's a little bit of us, it's a head start
and that helps.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
All right.
Speaker 11 (47:42):
Yeah, No, I'm anxious to see Darth this year again.
Hopefully all those guys are healthy and they can play
with a full compliment.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
You know, forty seven years. This is sort of our
Week one. There's a bunch of games tonight. I'll be
watching all of them. I love Carson Beck and Fernando Mendoza.
That song much fun. Greg is always great seeing you.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
Thanks can look forward to it every week.
Speaker 3 (48:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
The you know, listen where you land matters. Who was
your college coach? You know at Ole Miss with Lane Kiffen.
You know, they had good players, very good. They didn't
have Georgia players. They didn't have Ohio State or Texas
players or maybe Notre Dame players. So it's like Jackson
Dart had to initiate some of the offense and had
to be clever and creative, and I thought it's kind
(48:26):
of a second round guy.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
Wrong, He's a first rounder, no question about it. To
stay out of that blue tent.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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