Colin Cowherd explains why he has no problem with NFL players voting Lamar Jackson the 69th best player in the league and why it’s time we adjusted our view of the 2-time MVP.
Colin also shares his top 10 QBs in the NFL right now arguing for Josh Allen to claim the top spot and Caleb Williams at third.
Plus, Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to discuss Colin’s QB rankings and offer his thoughts on where LeBron James will play next season including a scenario where he teams up with Draymond Green.
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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 cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Tuesday. We are live,
and it is the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Wherever you may be, and however you may be watching
or listening, whatever the platform.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So this is considered the slowest week of sports, maybe
in the calendar year, right, Like I don't think so
now because the World Cup matches. But this is one
of those weeks. All Star Games tonight, look forward to that.
Don't watch the home run Derby, have no opinion, but
don't watch the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Never have an opinion.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
But this is a week where you know, from time
to time you'll get an interesting list, and it does usually.
In June, I talked to NFL. I did not this June, right,
And I'm kind of thankful for it because you're kind
of stretching it and trying to find stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
But they do have. There's an NFL.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Network list of the top one hundred players, and I
always kind of roll my eyes. We know the good ones,
we know the guys you know that are pretty good,
but there's always a player or two in the list
that either explodes or drops, and I think this year
it's really fascinating. It's Lamar Jackson. He drops sixty seven spots. Now,
remember this is voted on by players. Those are his peers.
(01:39):
That's always been his number one support group. Anytime there
was criticism about him, and I defended him forever. It
was always his peers, his teammates. Oh he's a guy,
there's peers. He's falling off a cliff. He's in the
Bryce Young quarterback territory.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Look it up. So we were joking this.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
About as a staff, like franchise quarterbacks are a little
bit like airlines, Like you're introduced to him and you
become a fan, and then over the course of time,
there's multiple options. Right, you don't have to stick with
the airline, and you may be a fan, but they
keep losing your luggage and then after a while you're like.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I'm over it, like I'm done.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I've had too many canceled flights, too many d boardings,
too many lost luggages. That's sort of where the NFL
players are, I think, and that's where I am with
Lamar Jackson. There's other franchise quarterbacks. I like Drake Mayin
now and Caleb Williams and Bo Nixon. There's just more
good young quarterbacks coming into the league. I mean about
the only quarterback who I think is like declining and
(02:47):
it's hard to say Matt Stafford is declining, but he's old.
That's about it. There's just too many good young quarterbacks.
So I mean Lamar Jackson as a starter used to
average ten rushes a game.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Last year it was five.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
He used to give you sixty five yards rushing a game.
Last year was twenty six. His sack percentage has gone
through the roof. Only one quarterback in the league had
a higher sack percentage Gino Smith, then it was Lamar,
then it was JJ McCarthy. He is a declining player
and his rush attempts have gone down since twenty twenty one.
The old saying, I trust somebody until I don't trust somebody,
(03:26):
I no longer trust Lamar Jackson in a big spot.
I'm selling my stock. That doesn't mean he's a bad
quarterback or even average. He's better than average, way better
than average. But I probably held my stock for a
year too long. For years and years, you guys kept
telling me you got to get out of the Lamar business.
And I'm like, I know, I know. He's not good
in the playoffs. Eighty four passer rating in the playoffs,
(03:48):
lower than Ryan Tannehill. There's nothing I can say about it.
I think he gets nervous. I don't always love his
offensive coordinators in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
But you got to remember this too.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
He has missed at least four games and three of
the last five years. So now I got the playoffs.
I got these missing games. He's very expensive, whole new
coaching staff, a declining player who's taking far more sacks.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I'm selling my stock.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And I always think, listen, you can criticize me or
not like me. That's fine. I totally understand that. I
always think the silliest criticism of me is, well, you
flip flop, bro, you clinged old opinions. I'm always seeking
new information and watched last year not the same quarterback.
I mean, he'd been slightly declining, fell off a cliff.
Maybe he gets better, But Caleb Williams, to me now,
(04:35):
is a much better quarterback. Caleb Williams last year had
seven seven winning drives or fourth quarter comebacks. Seven Lamar
Jackson had won. And you can argue, well, it was
hurt last year. Yeah, he's hurt a lot now. And secondly,
he's only had five of those kind of games in
the last four seasons. He's not a great come from
(04:56):
behind quarterback. Caleb Williams when everybody in thea knows he
has to throw, is great. Lamar Jackson, when everybody in
the stadium knows he's got to throw, does not deliver.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
That's who he is. I'm selling my stock.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I take bone Knicks today in a fourth quarter come
from behind situation, bow Knicks over Lamar Jackson. Why because
the analytics and data tell you he's better. I watched
bow Knicks go toe to toe with Josh Allen in
a Division round playoff game with a broken ankle, a
kid against the best.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Player in the league.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So I'm probably selling my stock A year late. I
should have taken the advisement. I should have listened to
the fans, but when his peers, that was always his
strongest support group, drop him sixty seven spots and put
him in the Brice Young League. It's like, I mean,
(05:51):
if I ask you, you're a general manager, Lamar Drake
May today, who would you take? Well, Drake May's ascending,
Drake May's just going into his prime. Jake May's Drake
May inexpensive. I can surround Drake May with more. Drake
May looks like he's a better quarterback Layton Games. I mean,
you tell me you cling the old opinions. I'm gonna
seek new information and new data. And yeah, I think
(06:14):
he's still good. But I held him top five or
six in the lead when everybody was telling me he
was overrated. I think you were right on that one.
Here's Lamar Jackson talking about the year he had and
a little bit about the injuries from the past season.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Hill up, No, hill up, because it starts there. You know,
like you said, I was banged up a lot last year.
Hill up and just looking you know, go go back
to I don't look at it as if I did
something wrong with my off season program last year. You
know I've been doing the same things you never year
nflt like I've gotten better in some aspect of certain things.
So I'm gonna keep you doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
According to Front Office Sports Alex Schiffer, Lebron will make
a decision very soon and it's down to two teams,
Golden State and Cleveland, and both offer a level of comfort.
For Golden State it's his friendship with Draymond Green. With Cleveland,
it's home. And so you e read one of those
(07:15):
decisions in life of big decisions.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Coming and you have a dull moment.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I got oh, I should have figured that out when
you get older. And remember what rich Paul said was
the number one priority for Lebron James. It was not
winning championships, It was not money, he said, it was.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Fun and happiness.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is this going to be a decision to the Warriors
and we go, oh duh.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Number one, Flying a.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Golf stream from San Francisco to La and Lebron adores
his family, loves his family, doesn't want to live far
from his family. Is a fifty minute flight and there's
an airport in Van Eyes right by Lebron's house fifty minutes. Secondly,
Warriors go to La Lakers, Clippers. They go to Phoenix,
(08:06):
they play in the region, our hour and a half
flight all the time, can see his family, and you know,
golf of Draymond. They can now matching medical bracelets. It
all works out. But if you really look at this decision,
when Tom Brady chose Tampa, the other place he considered
(08:29):
was the Chargers. The other place he considered was Miami.
What do they have in common?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Warm weather?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Brady later came out after his first year in Tampa
and said, you know, I always thought I was a
cold weather quarterback. You can look up the quote I
always thought I was a cold weather quarterback. No, that's
a bunch of bs. I'm never going to play in
cold weather again. It was real simple. Tom was seeking
comfort of the weather variety. He wanted an offensive coach,
no state taxes maybe, and warm weather, and that's what
(08:58):
he chose. It was like, of course, and a team
with good wide receivers.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
If you look at choosing Tampa, it's like, oh, Bruce Arians,
Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Miami weather, he's tired of New
England winners.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, that makes a ton
of sense.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So I just looked at this decision. And he's close
with Draymond. He vacations with Draymond. It's an old smart team.
He's never liked playing with young guys. It's a fifty
minute golf stream. I still think Philadelphia by far and
away as the best roster. I don't think Golden State's
a championship roster. But proximity friendships, golf by his kids,
(09:37):
by his family. Is this going to be a duh?
Of course he chose. Of course he chose his fun
and happiness is Draymond. When you think of Lebron with
James Harden, is that fun and happiness? Because that's what
Rich Paul told us was the most important thing, fun
and happiness. You ever seen him around Draymon. He's laughing
(09:59):
every time, and he's laughing. They're dancing, they're partying. They're
obviously tight. And as you age, you know, I've talked
about this on the show. When you're young, you want
to join groups. You know, you're a little kid, you're
in the boy Scouts, you're on teams, then you're in frats,
in college boys, trip to Vegas. When you get old,
you prune your tree. You're trying to get rid of people.
(10:21):
You don't care about being popular. You hang out with
your wife, maybe you have two couples, you vacation with,
maybe three really good friends. You prune the tree. Lebron's
pruning that tree. I don't think he wants James Harden
in the social circle. I think he wants Draymond Green,
Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, funny guy's older guys. I think
he likes those guys the social circle. Here's Draymond Green
on his pitch recently when the two were together.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
I'd be remissed if I don't take the opportunity to
throw my pitch in there. You know, I'd be crazy
if we're together for X amount of days and at
no point in my like, yo, we need to chop
it up, like what the hell going on us? What
we're doing, the things that I shared in it. I
(11:04):
believe it definitely is gonna make the brain work a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
It's like semi retirement. Like Jupiter, Florida is one of
the best places to retire. They don't have an NBA franchise,
Golden State the Golden Year Warriors. Golden State's the best
semi retirement community, play a little golf, hang out with friends,
don't have to play every day close to home.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Is it going to be a of course he chose
the Warriors. I'm getting the vibe.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
FOS Sports says it's down to the Warriors and the Calves.
We expect that his decision made this week. I mean,
it's even funny. Steve Kerr he was going to retire
right and Steve Kerr said, remember that it was like
two months ago or a month ago. Steve Kurer said,
I'm gonna come back for two more years. Steve Kerr
doesn't think he's gonna win a championship, but he's like,
it's just too much fun. It's just too much fun.
(12:00):
As you age, you prune your tree. You want to
hang out with the same people over and over. And
who you vacation with, Draymont, that's who you really want.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
To hang out with. That's who you really want to
hang out with in life. Who you vacation with?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Okay, all sorts of stuff today, All Star Game tonight,
I'm gonna give you my top ten quarterbacks going into
the season. And there's so many good young quarterbacks. I
think it's harder and harder to.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Make that list. I can tell you who's at the top.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
It gets real hard about five to ten, it gets
really tough.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller,
with mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name
is the Fifth Hour. I'll tell you it's a spin
off of it. Ben Maler Show, a cult hit overnights
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will a world will? We chat with captains of industry,
sports and more every week explore some amazing facts about
(13:04):
human nature and more. Listen to The Fifth Hour with
Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And Lamar Jackson dropped sixty seven spots and those were
his peers. He's always been beloved as a by the players,
not my all coaches, not by all analysts, not by
all analytic people. He's loved by players. They dropped him
down to the Bryce Young area and I said this before.
He is a declining player if you look at since
twenty twenty one, rush attempts, rushing yards, getting hurt more often,
(13:33):
and he's not a very.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Good playoff quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
So I said, looking at that list, I said, if
you told me all things considered, age, size, production, I've
always sort of judged quarterbacks not just on Super Bowls
or playoff wins. I mean, Eli Manning in the playoffs
was unbelievable. Peyton Manning was hit and miss, but Peyton's
a better quarterback I think overall by a distance over
(13:55):
Eli Manning. And they're both great. They're both deserving of
Hall of Fame accolades. But I do think, you know,
regular seasons matter, But I kind of look at quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Are you good?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
There's three to five minutes left. You got two drives left?
Can you score on both of them? I may need
a field goal in a touchdown, or a touchdown and
a touchdown. Do I trust you late? That's a big
deal for me. So, all things considered, going into this season,
with all the new coordinators in place, Jared Goff's got
a great one, Justin Herbert's got a great one. All
(14:27):
things considered, who's your offensive coordinator? How is your health?
Are you as sending? I don't have a lot of
old guys on this list. These are the ten guys
I think. And it's close. When you get to seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,
it's close yards, you know, not miles, inches, not feet.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Here we go top ten. Number one.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think Josh Allen has his health. He's a force
of nature. Six straight years with at least one playoff win.
He's in his prime, and he's done remarkable things with
a coach from and the defensive side that got fired.
I think his organization, in my opinion, has let him down.
(15:07):
I don't think he's had Patrick Mahomes infrastructure. That is
not saying he'd have as many trophies as Mahomes, but
I think his size, his arm, he's healthy, he's in
his prime. Josh Allen's the best quarterback.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
In this sport.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Number two.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Coming off an injury, Mahomes is two. He now has
a run game and upgraded O line. I think he
will be Patrick Mahomes again, but I'm gonna wait to
see it. I think the most remarkable stat about Patrick
Mahomes actually is this. He has won half the games
in his career twenty and twenty where he's trailed by
at least ten plus points.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
He is the great Alway.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He is the great come from behind quarterback of my life.
Brady didn't trail that much. It feels like Elway trailed
a lot in big games. Mahomes is the greatest come
from behind quarterback of my life. Some think he in
a short list of greatest quarterback, he would be by
number two, number three. I don't know why people will
(16:05):
push back on this. I would have Caleb Williams, folks.
He made two plays in the playoffs last year, one
against Green Bay and one against the Graham Rams that
broke football physics. It was early Mahomes. They just didn't
make any sense. They didn't make any sense. To throw
up the left sideline against Green Bay. This makes no
damn sense. I'd never seen that before. The throw in
the back of the end zone against the Rams, What
(16:27):
in God's name is happening. That's early Mahomes, by the way,
lowest interception percentage of any quarterback in league history with
eleven hundred at tenths. He never gets hurt. He had
seven fourth quarter comebacks. I am buying the stock here.
I'm not saying he's going.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
To be Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
I'm not saying he's Mahomes yet. But for all the
people in year two and three that kept pushing back
on Patrick, it was a football physics thing. Throwing left handed?
Why is he so good? Trailing twenty four to seven,
Caleb was.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
My three, number four, my one old guy.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Matt Stafford highest credit passer in the league. Is his
back going to hold up? Is he going to have
a left tackle?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I just know when he lets go of the football,
it is a thing of beauty. I mean pre snap,
post snap. I don't get a lot of movement, you know,
if it's just pure throwing the football and reading the defense.
He is near the top, so I don't get a
lot of plays with the feet. But I would put
Matt Stafford at four number five. Okay, justin Herbert has
(17:32):
a new coordinator. He finally has a head coach and
a big time OC Mike McDaniel. By the way, the
remarkable thing about Herbert he made the playoffs with the
thirtieth ranked offensive line. I've seen Mahomes get buried in
a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
When he had a bad old line.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
This kid made the playoffs, and he was getting hammered
for seventeen regular season weeks. I have Justin Herbert tackles
are backed coordinator, head.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Coach at number five, number six. I love Joe Burrell, but.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
In two of the last three seasons he gets banged up,
only played eight games last year. I also think he
doesn't have the support system of a Herbert or a
Patrick Mahomes or now with Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams. I
love Burle all time leader in completion percentage. I think
he's one of the great third down quarterbacks, fourth down quarterbacks.
I think he's in Brady's category and Mahomes category. I
(18:26):
think he's unbelievable. But I have to consider everything, and
durability and offensive line, which is yet to even be mediocre,
have to be considered.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I have him at six, number seven. I don't know
what there is to argue.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Last four seasons, four different teams, He's twenty eight and six.
He's now going to trophy Sam Darnell. He's one of
two quarterbacks in the whole league with four thousand plus
passing yards and back to back seasons he led the
Seahawks with a defensive coach having lost d Metcalf in
a running back room that couldn't stay healthy to the
(19:03):
number one offense in probably the second best division in football.
In his prime arm athletic ability. I said when he
came out, I see a lot of Andrew Luck. The
difference is Darnold has taken a beating. He is one
of the younger great quarterbacks in the league. He's now
just really if you look at his age, he's got
six years of prime left slinging Sammy d at seven
(19:27):
number eight. He's more mobile than Golf, so he gets
that advantage. I think Goff is better from the pocket
he's led. Goff is actually one of these guys where
he got a new coordinator. Again, we're considering everything he
doesn't misstarts. He's unbelievable from the pocket. He does need
O line protection to flourish, but he's got Drew Petzig.
(19:47):
Last year OC situation not ideal, wasn't quite the same,
but he leads the NFL in passing yards, passing, touchdowns,
and wins over the last three seasons. That accounts for
a lot. Number nine most underrated player in the league
is Jordan Loves. I'm pretty sure Jordan Love is underrated.
(20:07):
Now he gets off the bad Septembers inexplicable, cannot explain.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
September he's bad.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
He completed sixty percent of his throws since he's been
a pro quarterback. In September he's four to five and one.
I think it's Lafleure's offense. I think Matt experiments early.
Maybe they don't have their running game up to snuff.
He has struggled, but in terms of arm whip size, smarts, toughness.
He'll get banged up, but he doesn't miss a lot
of starts. I think he's a huge talent, and I
(20:35):
was a real doubter for years. I think he's huge.
I think he's a great talent. Christian Watson can't stay healthy.
They've had some immaturity at wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I like him. I like him a lot. He's my
number nine, Number ten.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Drake may edges out Lamar Jackson listen, first quarterback in
league history ever, league history, seventy percent completion percentage, four
thousand passing yards before turning twenty five. He feels like
he's in his prime, a kid, and he did it
last year with a battle line in an average running game.
So nobody thought they would get to the Super Bowl.
He is the most accurate quarterback in the NFL last
(21:10):
season for a kid big stroke. He reminds me a
little bit of Herbert with a little better accuracy. Now
Herbert finally getting a head coach, finally getting everything right,
Vrabel and Josh McDaniels is a pretty good place to
be in year two. Lamar Jackson is eleven, dak is twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter. The not a em Pacific, but there
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Let's bring in Nick right. You know he's going to
push back. I just get ready for it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Ten minutes of me getting crushed. We look at that.
Look you're not even supportive. That's just your angst I
see in your face.
Speaker 7 (21:47):
Well, listen, I actually don't have Patrick Torres acl that
he didn't have a good year.
Speaker 8 (21:54):
If he needs to drop, it's.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Fine, I do.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
Josh Allen being the number moving up after a year
where for the first time in a half decade he
didn't win the division. He had four turnovers to lose
a playoff game. He you know, twenty five touchdowns, ten picks,
thirty six hundred yards in the regular season. That feels
a little odd, but I also understand feeling like Patrick
(22:20):
coming off the acls to drop it just it.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
It seems to me like.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
We are in the one of the golden age is
of quarterback play and having the guy atop the league
be a guy who's never sniffed a Super Bowl feels
weird to me, but I get it. And we also
we judged Josh Allen differently than we judge other quarterbacks.
Josh Allen's judged like a slugger in baseball, like, don't
(22:47):
care if he.
Speaker 8 (22:47):
Hits two thirty hit forty bombs.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
That's not typically how we've done quarterbacks with the Pats,
But with Josh it's fine. The Herbert thing, I mean,
they he just got hardball. This year he finally has
a head coach. You said, this is third year with him, right,
his third year. He's going into year seven, Colin.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
But he's still he's still in his athletic prime. Something's
always been missing, O line coach coordinator.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
This is the year.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
We cannot playing your worst game of your season in
the playoffs. That hasn't been missing, that's been it's three,
it's three for three. That he was got awful in
the playoff game, but it's fine. His fifth best quarterback
in the league. I Lamar out of listen. I'm not
as high on Lamar as some people. Lamar out of
the top ten feels a little harsh. I don't like that,
(23:43):
unless are you very con My concern about Lamar is
was last year and again I wouldn't bet this, but
it's a concern the beginning of a fall for him athletically,
an injury wise, like, is that why.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
He's out of the top ten?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Okay, I considered everything number one. He's missed four games
minimum three of the last five years. Rushing attempts have
declined every year since twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
His sack percentage.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Only two of the quarterbacks were close, JJ McCarthy and
Gino Smith. He's not as explosive. He's taken too many hits,
and I've always given him a pass for having a
lower passer rating than Ryan Tannehill in the playoffs. I've
always supported him, but I said earlier it's like airlines.
You love them, you use them, they lose your luggage
so many times, and you finally bail on him. I
(24:31):
feel like at some point dude, eight years of this.
You just I watch Caleb come from behind and bow
Nicks come from behind, and Drake may come from.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Behind him like I can't. I can't.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
I got to sell the stock. No, that's listen. I
think all that's fair. I mean to continue the airline analogy.
I think Justin Herbert might be twa in the playoffs
bro like it's gone defunct, doesn't exist anymore. And Caleb
at three and I and.
Speaker 8 (25:00):
I really like Cale.
Speaker 7 (25:02):
It feels like FS one between you, me and Danny.
It's just a competition to see who could be the
most outlandish on Caleb Williams. Caleb at three feels a
little rich for my blood. You know, I gotta say
I'm gonna make a pitch to you, okay, because I don't.
And then I know we have other things we have
to get to. I don't know that you know this,
(25:23):
but there is a real bubbling friction on first things
first because of you. Because I have been on this
show every Tuesday for basically nine years. Brew comes on
with somewhat regularity. Old k W is O for life
(25:46):
on appearances on this show, and I think it's hurt him.
I think if there was ever a time for you
to finally have National Treasure Kevin Wilds on the show.
It would be just to show him Drake may ten,
Caleb Williams three and see how that lands at his desk. Again,
I'm not your guest booker. I'm just throwing it out there.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well yeah, I mean, listen, this is anexact like. I'll
give you an example. I think if there's a quarterback
in the league right now and Mahomes is off an
injury that I trust on fourth and seven, it's probably
Joe Burrow. But he doesn't have a great online this year.
We don't love his coach necessarily he keeps getting hurt.
(26:30):
I've got to contextualize everything. Joe Burrow is one injury
away from we got to draft a new quarterback. That
has to be concerned and I love Burrow.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
So that, listen, Burrow is tough because of all the
guys on the list, he's the biggest injury concern, like
Lamar is an injury concern, but he's not on your list,
and I think that part is fair. I also, I'm
going to say one other thing about Josh.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Allen Number one.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
I think it's worth just taking a game and are
at you don't even have to put it on the shows.
Speaker 8 (27:01):
Have your producers printed out, put it.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
On a sheet.
Speaker 7 (27:04):
Josh Allen's playoff numbers in the Wildcard round and then
every other game other than that, he's now, including last.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
Year where he had the four turnover.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
Divisional round game, He's two and the wildcard rounds. The
greatest quarterback of all time, the greatest Wildcard round quarterback.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Of all time.
Speaker 7 (27:22):
But as you know Brady Manning those guys, the buy
system was different. They didn't play many wildcard round games.
He's two to six post Wildcard round. The two wins
he combined in those two games for three hundred and
thirty yards passing and one passing touchdown, and his greatest
moment of his career after the Wildcard round was a
(27:42):
game he lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs. So I
just I it doesn't feel. It doesn't sit right with
me that Josh is the best quarterback in the league
right now, But I think most people feel that way,
and I guess it's because their cable went out when
he had the single worst turnover of the season last
year before halftime of that Broncos player.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
It was a stinker.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I acknowledged that, So you know, I was saying earlier
that when Tiger Woods entered golf, it spiked. But the
truth is not that many people golf in America because
although it's great fun, it's really hard. Even when you're good,
you can get bad very quickly. And when Tiger during
(28:23):
his kind of this renaissance of golf didn't play or
aged out like like there was a space like you
didn't get the same ratings. So was golf popular or
was Tiger popular? We see this in the WNBA with
Caitlin Clark. She plays a million watch, she doesn't three
hundred and fifty watch. The United States loses in the
(28:44):
World Cup, the numbers are still outrageous. And so my
take is people keep talking about soccer growth. The growth
of soccer is we're out and the ratings today will
be huge, and England Norway was huge, and that the
growth isn't necess necessarily viewed from our prism. But what
(29:04):
where you can see the unbelievable growth is like the NFL.
The World Cup is you give us some big brands,
it doesn't really matter who the quarterback is. I think
this World Cup does change going ahead I think ten
thousand young people minimum will play soccer that wouldn't have
and I think out of that five hundred will be
(29:25):
really really good, two or three will be great. Can
we find an earling Holland? I think the growth is
yet to be seen outside of ratings. But I look
at the numbers post USA exit, it tells me soccer's
officially bigger than hockey in this country. Bigger than WNBA,
is bigger than golf.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It is oh.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Bigger than men's college basketball. I think you can certainly
make that case. And so I think it's two separate conversations,
the pop hilarity of soccer in the US and how
sticky that will be post World Cup and does that
translate to our team actually becoming awesome one day? So
(30:11):
I first conversation, I think this World Cup is a
reminder that even in as you know, people's the attention
economy gets more crowded and ratings are down for a
lot of things across the board, Americans love huge events,
and where I will give this company huge credit, they
(30:32):
have treated this World Cup like there's like what it
is the biggest event in.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
The sports world.
Speaker 7 (30:39):
The teams and the stars have more than held up
their bargain where it's your idealized version of the NCAA tournament. No,
Cinderella's the four best teams there at the end with
the superstars, all scoring goals, all looking great, to the
point to where I do think people have now won
(31:00):
much enough of these games for the full ninety and recognized, oh,
two to one can be a wildly exciting game one
nothing can.
Speaker 8 (31:11):
Be edge of my seat.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
So I do think there will be more people in
America that either start, you know, caring about their local
MLS team or maybe more likely being in being like, hey,
I'm following Jude Bellingham, Earling Holland and Man City.
Speaker 8 (31:27):
I like, I'm going to root for them and watch
those games.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
So there's that American soccer growth.
Speaker 8 (31:33):
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 7 (31:35):
As far as what the path is, our path, I
do not think is ever going to be we have
twenty awesome players the way Spain or France or Argentina do.
Speaker 8 (31:46):
Our path has to be. Can we have our version.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
Of Earling Holland and Norway goes on this run. Morocco's
not a huge country. Hakimi has carried them to a
semi final in a quarterfinal Croat with Luca Madris taking
them to back to back semi finals, including an actual final.
I think that would be the hope. And it's not
Christian Polistic flatly. And it's as much as I like
(32:12):
Flow Balligan or Malik Tillman, it's probably not them either.
It's got to be somebody who can be one of
the fifteen best players in the world that's going to
wear our jersey.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, hey, I want to ask you about the Warriors thing.
I said, so there's a story. Front Office Sports Today said,
it's down to Cleveland, down to Golden State, and you've
moved around the country. You've had different jobs. I have
had different jobs and a lot of times as you age,
it really comes down to I want to work with
my friends. It's quality of life. Where do I live?
(32:44):
For you, you live in a great place. You've got
great quality of life as you age. When you're a
young person, you join clubs, frats, boy scouts teams. When
you're old, you prune your tree like you hang out
with fewer people. But it's a more deeply embedded relationship.
I'm sure you have two or three.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
We do.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Ann and I have people we just travel with we're
very very close to over and over and over again.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
We don't have a wide net of friends. The ones
we're with, we're with.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
And I look at Lebron and I'm like, he vacations
with Draymond.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
He loves Curry.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
It's a fifty minute golf stream to his home in
Los Angeles. The Warriors play the Clippers and the Lakers
in LA. Is this gonna be one of those? Ye
of course he chose the Warriors, Rich Paul said two
weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
It's not about titles or money. He wants to have fun.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Every time I see him with Draymond, he's laughing, drinking, dancing, golfing.
Is this gonna be like, ye, of course he chose
the Warriors. I don't know if it will be, of course.
I certainly think it's on the board. It felt like
they were.
Speaker 7 (33:41):
The favorite, then it felt like they fell out of contention.
Now it feels like they're like right in the mix again.
I'm just gonna add one little anecdote for to rustle
around in people's brain. You're talking about Lebron with Draymond.
(34:02):
I am not certain. The only place he can do
that is Golden State I'm not certain of that. Raymond's
a free agent the Warriors Draymond. I think it's fair
to say Draymond and Steve Kerr have always had a love, respect, adoration,
(34:22):
but tough relationship. I think the Warriors just moved on
from one of the assistant coaches that Draymond was closest with.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
That raised my eyebrows a bit.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And the Warriors and Lebron likes Frank, doesn't he and
say it again, No, Frank Vogel just signed with the Warriors,
and I think Lebron always liked Frank well.
Speaker 7 (34:44):
I mean, they won a title together, So I guess
the point. I think it is certainly on the board
Lebron joins the Warriors. I think it would be done
if they had found a way or could find a
way to trade for Anthony Davis. But I also I
think it is not a big chance, but a non
zero chance that Lebron joins a different team and Draymond's
(35:06):
his teammate anyway, I think a non zero chance.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
I'm just putting that. I'm putting a little.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
Small take chip on that piece of the roulette wheel,
like small chance, and until Draymond, you know, agrees to
an extension. I think we have to recognize it's certainly
a possibility.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Do you like Spain or France today?
Speaker 7 (35:27):
You know, I think the game is as close as
the odds makers suggest. I think France is a slight favorite.
I picked a France Argentina final. I picked I think France.
I think it's two to two after ninety France wins
an extra time. With that said, I am not betting
(35:48):
it because I want.
Speaker 8 (35:50):
To be able to root for Spain.
Speaker 7 (35:52):
Because to mention him for the second time, my co
host Kevin Wilds has been so obnoxious with his French fandom,
all of us sudden saying, we talking about how he's
always been a nimbape guy. I just want him in pain,
so I will be rooted. I am picking France. I
will be rooting for Spain. But either way, I think
Argentine Argentine. I will be betting tomorrow's game. I think
(36:14):
Argentina being an underdog to England is absurd. I think
they have been the best off. They've scored the most
goals in this tournament. They haven't lost a knockout round
game of a major tournament this decade, won two Copa's
won the World Cup. They're obviously still in this one,
and they have the greatest player of all time. So
I think Argentina is in the final, and I think
they're gonna win the whole thing. But that's also I
(36:36):
thought Brazil's gonna win the whole thing. They lost, so
I just had to stick with South America. I'm a
South American loyalist, Collins. That's what they always say about me.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
That's what they always say about you.
Speaker 7 (36:46):
What you know what, it's not even South America. I'm
big into hemispheric loyalty. You have a Western hemispheric guy
like Europe in a I'm a Western hemisphere guy.
Speaker 8 (36:56):
I've always been that. Everyone knows that about it.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Absolutely yeah, West, big Western imistry.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
First things first, could see anybody, see ya
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Tuesday. We are live,
and it is the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Wherever you may be, and however you may be watching
or listening, whatever the platform.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So this is considered the slowest week of sports, maybe
in the calendar year, right, Like I don't think so
now because the World Cup matches. But this is one
of those weeks. All Star Games tonight, look forward to that.
Don't watch the home run Derby, have no opinion, but
don't watch the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Never have an opinion.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
But this is a week where you know, from time
to time you'll get an interesting list, and it does usually.
In June, I talked to NFL. I did not this June, right,
And I'm kind of thankful for it because you're kind
of stretching it and trying to find stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
But they do have. There's an NFL.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Network list of the top one hundred players, and I
always kind of roll my eyes. We know the good ones,
we know the guys you know that are pretty good,
but there's always a player or two in the list
that either explodes or drops, and I think this year
it's really fascinating. It's Lamar Jackson. He drops sixty seven spots. Now,
remember this is voted on by players. Those are his peers.
(01:39):
That's always been his number one support group. Anytime there
was criticism about him, and I defended him forever. It
was always his peers, his teammates. Oh he's a guy,
there's peers. He's falling off a cliff. He's in the
Bryce Young quarterback territory.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Look it up. So we were joking this.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
About as a staff, like franchise quarterbacks are a little
bit like airlines, Like you're introduced to him and you
become a fan, and then over the course of time,
there's multiple options. Right, you don't have to stick with
the airline, and you may be a fan, but they
keep losing your luggage and then after a while you're like.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I'm over it, like I'm done.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I've had too many canceled flights, too many d boardings,
too many lost luggages. That's sort of where the NFL
players are, I think, and that's where I am with
Lamar Jackson. There's other franchise quarterbacks. I like Drake Mayin
now and Caleb Williams and Bo Nixon. There's just more
good young quarterbacks coming into the league. I mean about
the only quarterback who I think is like declining and
(02:47):
it's hard to say Matt Stafford is declining, but he's old.
That's about it. There's just too many good young quarterbacks.
So I mean Lamar Jackson as a starter used to
average ten rushes a game.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Last year it was five.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
He used to give you sixty five yards rushing a game.
Last year was twenty six. His sack percentage has gone
through the roof. Only one quarterback in the league had
a higher sack percentage Gino Smith, then it was Lamar,
then it was JJ McCarthy. He is a declining player
and his rush attempts have gone down since twenty twenty one.
The old saying, I trust somebody until I don't trust somebody,
(03:26):
I no longer trust Lamar Jackson in a big spot.
I'm selling my stock. That doesn't mean he's a bad
quarterback or even average. He's better than average, way better
than average. But I probably held my stock for a
year too long. For years and years, you guys kept
telling me you got to get out of the Lamar business.
And I'm like, I know, I know. He's not good
in the playoffs. Eighty four passer rating in the playoffs,
(03:48):
lower than Ryan Tannehill. There's nothing I can say about it.
I think he gets nervous. I don't always love his
offensive coordinators in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
But you got to remember this too.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
He has missed at least four games and three of
the last five years. So now I got the playoffs.
I got these missing games. He's very expensive, whole new
coaching staff, a declining player who's taking far more sacks.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I'm selling my stock.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And I always think, listen, you can criticize me or
not like me. That's fine. I totally understand that. I
always think the silliest criticism of me is, well, you
flip flop, bro, you clinged old opinions. I'm always seeking
new information and watched last year not the same quarterback.
I mean, he'd been slightly declining, fell off a cliff.
Maybe he gets better, But Caleb Williams, to me now,
(04:35):
is a much better quarterback. Caleb Williams last year had
seven seven winning drives or fourth quarter comebacks. Seven Lamar
Jackson had won. And you can argue, well, it was
hurt last year. Yeah, he's hurt a lot now. And secondly,
he's only had five of those kind of games in
the last four seasons. He's not a great come from
(04:56):
behind quarterback. Caleb Williams when everybody in thea knows he
has to throw, is great. Lamar Jackson, when everybody in
the stadium knows he's got to throw, does not deliver.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
That's who he is. I'm selling my stock.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I take bone Knicks today in a fourth quarter come
from behind situation, bow Knicks over Lamar Jackson. Why because
the analytics and data tell you he's better. I watched
bow Knicks go toe to toe with Josh Allen in
a Division round playoff game with a broken ankle, a
kid against the best.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Player in the league.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So I'm probably selling my stock A year late. I
should have taken the advisement. I should have listened to
the fans, but when his peers, that was always his
strongest support group, drop him sixty seven spots and put
him in the Brice Young League. It's like, I mean,
(05:51):
if I ask you, you're a general manager, Lamar Drake
May today, who would you take? Well, Drake May's ascending,
Drake May's just going into his prime. Jake May's Drake
May inexpensive. I can surround Drake May with more. Drake
May looks like he's a better quarterback Layton Games. I mean,
you tell me you cling the old opinions. I'm gonna
seek new information and new data. And yeah, I think
(06:14):
he's still good. But I held him top five or
six in the lead when everybody was telling me he
was overrated. I think you were right on that one.
Here's Lamar Jackson talking about the year he had and
a little bit about the injuries from the past season.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Hill up, No, hill up, because it starts there. You know,
like you said, I was banged up a lot last year.
Hill up and just looking you know, go go back
to I don't look at it as if I did
something wrong with my off season program last year. You
know I've been doing the same things you never year
nflt like I've gotten better in some aspect of certain things.
So I'm gonna keep you doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
According to Front Office Sports Alex Schiffer, Lebron will make
a decision very soon and it's down to two teams,
Golden State and Cleveland, and both offer a level of comfort.
For Golden State it's his friendship with Draymond Green. With Cleveland,
it's home. And so you e read one of those
(07:15):
decisions in life of big decisions.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Coming and you have a dull moment.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I got oh, I should have figured that out when
you get older. And remember what rich Paul said was
the number one priority for Lebron James. It was not
winning championships, It was not money, he said, it was.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Fun and happiness.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is this going to be a decision to the Warriors
and we go, oh duh.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Number one, Flying a.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Golf stream from San Francisco to La and Lebron adores
his family, loves his family, doesn't want to live far
from his family. Is a fifty minute flight and there's
an airport in Van Eyes right by Lebron's house fifty minutes. Secondly,
Warriors go to La Lakers, Clippers. They go to Phoenix,
(08:06):
they play in the region, our hour and a half
flight all the time, can see his family, and you know,
golf of Draymond. They can now matching medical bracelets. It
all works out. But if you really look at this decision,
when Tom Brady chose Tampa, the other place he considered
(08:29):
was the Chargers. The other place he considered was Miami.
What do they have in common?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Warm weather?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Brady later came out after his first year in Tampa
and said, you know, I always thought I was a
cold weather quarterback. You can look up the quote I
always thought I was a cold weather quarterback. No, that's
a bunch of bs. I'm never going to play in
cold weather again. It was real simple. Tom was seeking
comfort of the weather variety. He wanted an offensive coach,
no state taxes maybe, and warm weather, and that's what
(08:58):
he chose. It was like, of course, and a team
with good wide receivers.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
If you look at choosing Tampa, it's like, oh, Bruce Arians,
Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Miami weather, he's tired of New
England winners.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, that makes a ton
of sense.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So I just looked at this decision. And he's close
with Draymond. He vacations with Draymond. It's an old smart team.
He's never liked playing with young guys. It's a fifty
minute golf stream. I still think Philadelphia by far and
away as the best roster. I don't think Golden State's
a championship roster. But proximity friendships, golf by his kids,
(09:37):
by his family. Is this going to be a duh?
Of course he chose. Of course he chose his fun
and happiness is Draymond. When you think of Lebron with
James Harden, is that fun and happiness? Because that's what
Rich Paul told us was the most important thing, fun
and happiness. You ever seen him around Draymon. He's laughing
(09:59):
every time, and he's laughing. They're dancing, they're partying. They're
obviously tight. And as you age, you know, I've talked
about this on the show. When you're young, you want
to join groups. You know, you're a little kid, you're
in the boy Scouts, you're on teams, then you're in frats,
in college boys, trip to Vegas. When you get old,
you prune your tree. You're trying to get rid of people.
(10:21):
You don't care about being popular. You hang out with
your wife, maybe you have two couples, you vacation with,
maybe three really good friends. You prune the tree. Lebron's
pruning that tree. I don't think he wants James Harden
in the social circle. I think he wants Draymond Green,
Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, funny guy's older guys. I think
he likes those guys the social circle. Here's Draymond Green
on his pitch recently when the two were together.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
I'd be remissed if I don't take the opportunity to
throw my pitch in there. You know, I'd be crazy
if we're together for X amount of days and at
no point in my like, yo, we need to chop
it up, like what the hell going on us? What
we're doing, the things that I shared in it. I
(11:04):
believe it definitely is gonna make the brain work a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
It's like semi retirement. Like Jupiter, Florida is one of
the best places to retire. They don't have an NBA franchise,
Golden State the Golden Year Warriors. Golden State's the best
semi retirement community, play a little golf, hang out with friends,
don't have to play every day close to home.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Is it going to be a of course he chose
the Warriors. I'm getting the vibe.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
FOS Sports says it's down to the Warriors and the Calves.
We expect that his decision made this week. I mean,
it's even funny. Steve Kerr he was going to retire
right and Steve Kerr said, remember that it was like
two months ago or a month ago. Steve Kurer said,
I'm gonna come back for two more years. Steve Kerr
doesn't think he's gonna win a championship, but he's like,
it's just too much fun. It's just too much fun.
(12:00):
As you age, you prune your tree. You want to
hang out with the same people over and over. And
who you vacation with, Draymont, that's who you really want.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
To hang out with. That's who you really want to
hang out with in life. Who you vacation with?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Okay, all sorts of stuff today, All Star Game tonight,
I'm gonna give you my top ten quarterbacks going into
the season. And there's so many good young quarterbacks. I
think it's harder and harder to.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Make that list. I can tell you who's at the top.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
It gets real hard about five to ten, it gets
really tough.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller,
with mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name
is the Fifth Hour. I'll tell you it's a spin
off of it. Ben Maler Show, a cult hit overnights
on fs are Why should you listen? Picture if you
will a world will? We chat with captains of industry,
sports and more every week explore some amazing facts about
(13:04):
human nature and more. Listen to The Fifth Hour with
Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And Lamar Jackson dropped sixty seven spots and those were
his peers. He's always been beloved as a by the players,
not my all coaches, not by all analysts, not by
all analytic people. He's loved by players. They dropped him
down to the Bryce Young area and I said this before.
He is a declining player if you look at since
twenty twenty one, rush attempts, rushing yards, getting hurt more often,
(13:33):
and he's not a very.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Good playoff quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
So I said, looking at that list, I said, if
you told me all things considered, age, size, production, I've
always sort of judged quarterbacks not just on Super Bowls
or playoff wins. I mean, Eli Manning in the playoffs
was unbelievable. Peyton Manning was hit and miss, but Peyton's
a better quarterback I think overall by a distance over
(13:55):
Eli Manning. And they're both great. They're both deserving of
Hall of Fame accolades. But I do think, you know,
regular seasons matter, But I kind of look at quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Are you good?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
There's three to five minutes left. You got two drives left?
Can you score on both of them? I may need
a field goal in a touchdown, or a touchdown and
a touchdown. Do I trust you late? That's a big
deal for me. So, all things considered, going into this season,
with all the new coordinators in place, Jared Goff's got
a great one, Justin Herbert's got a great one. All
(14:27):
things considered, who's your offensive coordinator? How is your health?
Are you as sending? I don't have a lot of
old guys on this list. These are the ten guys
I think. And it's close. When you get to seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,
it's close yards, you know, not miles, inches, not feet.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Here we go top ten. Number one.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think Josh Allen has his health. He's a force
of nature. Six straight years with at least one playoff win.
He's in his prime, and he's done remarkable things with
a coach from and the defensive side that got fired.
I think his organization, in my opinion, has let him down.
(15:07):
I don't think he's had Patrick Mahomes infrastructure. That is
not saying he'd have as many trophies as Mahomes, but
I think his size, his arm, he's healthy, he's in
his prime. Josh Allen's the best quarterback.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
In this sport.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Number two.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Coming off an injury, Mahomes is two. He now has
a run game and upgraded O line. I think he
will be Patrick Mahomes again, but I'm gonna wait to
see it. I think the most remarkable stat about Patrick
Mahomes actually is this. He has won half the games
in his career twenty and twenty where he's trailed by
at least ten plus points.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
He is the great Alway.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He is the great come from behind quarterback of my life.
Brady didn't trail that much. It feels like Elway trailed
a lot in big games. Mahomes is the greatest come
from behind quarterback of my life. Some think he in
a short list of greatest quarterback, he would be by
number two, number three. I don't know why people will
(16:05):
push back on this. I would have Caleb Williams, folks.
He made two plays in the playoffs last year, one
against Green Bay and one against the Graham Rams that
broke football physics. It was early Mahomes. They just didn't
make any sense. They didn't make any sense. To throw
up the left sideline against Green Bay. This makes no
damn sense. I'd never seen that before. The throw in
the back of the end zone against the Rams, What
(16:27):
in God's name is happening. That's early Mahomes, by the way,
lowest interception percentage of any quarterback in league history with
eleven hundred at tenths. He never gets hurt. He had
seven fourth quarter comebacks. I am buying the stock here.
I'm not saying he's going.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
To be Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
I'm not saying he's Mahomes yet. But for all the
people in year two and three that kept pushing back
on Patrick, it was a football physics thing. Throwing left handed?
Why is he so good? Trailing twenty four to seven,
Caleb was.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
My three, number four, my one old guy.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Matt Stafford highest credit passer in the league. Is his
back going to hold up? Is he going to have
a left tackle?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I just know when he lets go of the football,
it is a thing of beauty. I mean pre snap,
post snap. I don't get a lot of movement, you know,
if it's just pure throwing the football and reading the defense.
He is near the top, so I don't get a
lot of plays with the feet. But I would put
Matt Stafford at four number five. Okay, justin Herbert has
(17:32):
a new coordinator. He finally has a head coach and
a big time OC Mike McDaniel. By the way, the
remarkable thing about Herbert he made the playoffs with the
thirtieth ranked offensive line. I've seen Mahomes get buried in
a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
When he had a bad old line.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
This kid made the playoffs, and he was getting hammered
for seventeen regular season weeks. I have Justin Herbert tackles
are backed coordinator, head.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Coach at number five, number six. I love Joe Burrell, but.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
In two of the last three seasons he gets banged up,
only played eight games last year. I also think he
doesn't have the support system of a Herbert or a
Patrick Mahomes or now with Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams. I
love Burle all time leader in completion percentage. I think
he's one of the great third down quarterbacks, fourth down quarterbacks.
I think he's in Brady's category and Mahomes category. I
(18:26):
think he's unbelievable. But I have to consider everything, and
durability and offensive line, which is yet to even be mediocre,
have to be considered.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I have him at six, number seven. I don't know
what there is to argue.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Last four seasons, four different teams, He's twenty eight and six.
He's now going to trophy Sam Darnell. He's one of
two quarterbacks in the whole league with four thousand plus
passing yards and back to back seasons he led the
Seahawks with a defensive coach having lost d Metcalf in
a running back room that couldn't stay healthy to the
(19:03):
number one offense in probably the second best division in football.
In his prime arm athletic ability. I said when he
came out, I see a lot of Andrew Luck. The
difference is Darnold has taken a beating. He is one
of the younger great quarterbacks in the league. He's now
just really if you look at his age, he's got
six years of prime left slinging Sammy d at seven
(19:27):
number eight. He's more mobile than Golf, so he gets
that advantage. I think Goff is better from the pocket
he's led. Goff is actually one of these guys where
he got a new coordinator. Again, we're considering everything he
doesn't misstarts. He's unbelievable from the pocket. He does need
O line protection to flourish, but he's got Drew Petzig.
(19:47):
Last year OC situation not ideal, wasn't quite the same,
but he leads the NFL in passing yards, passing, touchdowns,
and wins over the last three seasons. That accounts for
a lot. Number nine most underrated player in the league
is Jordan Loves. I'm pretty sure Jordan Love is underrated.
(20:07):
Now he gets off the bad Septembers inexplicable, cannot explain.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
September he's bad.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
He completed sixty percent of his throws since he's been
a pro quarterback. In September he's four to five and one.
I think it's Lafleure's offense. I think Matt experiments early.
Maybe they don't have their running game up to snuff.
He has struggled, but in terms of arm whip size, smarts, toughness.
He'll get banged up, but he doesn't miss a lot
of starts. I think he's a huge talent, and I
(20:35):
was a real doubter for years. I think he's huge.
I think he's a great talent. Christian Watson can't stay healthy.
They've had some immaturity at wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I like him. I like him a lot. He's my
number nine, Number ten.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Drake may edges out Lamar Jackson listen, first quarterback in
league history ever, league history, seventy percent completion percentage, four
thousand passing yards before turning twenty five. He feels like
he's in his prime, a kid, and he did it
last year with a battle line in an average running game.
So nobody thought they would get to the Super Bowl.
He is the most accurate quarterback in the NFL last
(21:10):
season for a kid big stroke. He reminds me a
little bit of Herbert with a little better accuracy. Now
Herbert finally getting a head coach, finally getting everything right,
Vrabel and Josh McDaniels is a pretty good place to
be in year two. Lamar Jackson is eleven, dak is twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter. The not a em Pacific, but there
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Let's bring in Nick right. You know he's going to
push back. I just get ready for it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Ten minutes of me getting crushed. We look at that.
Look you're not even supportive. That's just your angst I
see in your face.
Speaker 7 (21:47):
Well, listen, I actually don't have Patrick Torres acl that
he didn't have a good year.
Speaker 8 (21:54):
If he needs to drop, it's.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Fine, I do.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
Josh Allen being the number moving up after a year
where for the first time in a half decade he
didn't win the division. He had four turnovers to lose
a playoff game. He you know, twenty five touchdowns, ten picks,
thirty six hundred yards in the regular season. That feels
a little odd, but I also understand feeling like Patrick
(22:20):
coming off the acls to drop it just it.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
It seems to me like.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
We are in the one of the golden age is
of quarterback play and having the guy atop the league
be a guy who's never sniffed a Super Bowl feels
weird to me, but I get it. And we also
we judged Josh Allen differently than we judge other quarterbacks.
Josh Allen's judged like a slugger in baseball, like, don't
(22:47):
care if he.
Speaker 8 (22:47):
Hits two thirty hit forty bombs.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
That's not typically how we've done quarterbacks with the Pats,
But with Josh it's fine. The Herbert thing, I mean,
they he just got hardball. This year he finally has
a head coach. You said, this is third year with him, right,
his third year. He's going into year seven, Colin.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
But he's still he's still in his athletic prime. Something's
always been missing, O line coach coordinator.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
This is the year.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
We cannot playing your worst game of your season in
the playoffs. That hasn't been missing, that's been it's three,
it's three for three. That he was got awful in
the playoff game, but it's fine. His fifth best quarterback
in the league. I Lamar out of listen. I'm not
as high on Lamar as some people. Lamar out of
the top ten feels a little harsh. I don't like that,
(23:43):
unless are you very con My concern about Lamar is
was last year and again I wouldn't bet this, but
it's a concern the beginning of a fall for him athletically,
an injury wise, like, is that why.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
He's out of the top ten?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Okay, I considered everything number one. He's missed four games
minimum three of the last five years. Rushing attempts have
declined every year since twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
His sack percentage.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Only two of the quarterbacks were close, JJ McCarthy and
Gino Smith. He's not as explosive. He's taken too many hits,
and I've always given him a pass for having a
lower passer rating than Ryan Tannehill in the playoffs. I've
always supported him, but I said earlier it's like airlines.
You love them, you use them, they lose your luggage
so many times, and you finally bail on him. I
(24:31):
feel like at some point dude, eight years of this.
You just I watch Caleb come from behind and bow
Nicks come from behind, and Drake may come from.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Behind him like I can't. I can't.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
I got to sell the stock. No, that's listen. I
think all that's fair. I mean to continue the airline analogy.
I think Justin Herbert might be twa in the playoffs
bro like it's gone defunct, doesn't exist anymore. And Caleb
at three and I and.
Speaker 8 (25:00):
I really like Cale.
Speaker 7 (25:02):
It feels like FS one between you, me and Danny.
It's just a competition to see who could be the
most outlandish on Caleb Williams. Caleb at three feels a
little rich for my blood. You know, I gotta say
I'm gonna make a pitch to you, okay, because I don't.
And then I know we have other things we have
to get to. I don't know that you know this,
(25:23):
but there is a real bubbling friction on first things
first because of you. Because I have been on this
show every Tuesday for basically nine years. Brew comes on
with somewhat regularity. Old k W is O for life
(25:46):
on appearances on this show, and I think it's hurt him.
I think if there was ever a time for you
to finally have National Treasure Kevin Wilds on the show.
It would be just to show him Drake may ten,
Caleb Williams three and see how that lands at his desk. Again,
I'm not your guest booker. I'm just throwing it out there.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well yeah, I mean, listen, this is anexact like. I'll
give you an example. I think if there's a quarterback
in the league right now and Mahomes is off an
injury that I trust on fourth and seven, it's probably
Joe Burrow. But he doesn't have a great online this year.
We don't love his coach necessarily he keeps getting hurt.
(26:30):
I've got to contextualize everything. Joe Burrow is one injury
away from we got to draft a new quarterback. That
has to be concerned and I love Burrow.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
So that, listen, Burrow is tough because of all the
guys on the list, he's the biggest injury concern, like
Lamar is an injury concern, but he's not on your list,
and I think that part is fair. I also, I'm
going to say one other thing about Josh.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Allen Number one.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
I think it's worth just taking a game and are
at you don't even have to put it on the shows.
Speaker 8 (27:01):
Have your producers printed out, put it.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
On a sheet.
Speaker 7 (27:04):
Josh Allen's playoff numbers in the Wildcard round and then
every other game other than that, he's now, including last.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
Year where he had the four turnover.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
Divisional round game, He's two and the wildcard rounds. The
greatest quarterback of all time, the greatest Wildcard round quarterback.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Of all time.
Speaker 7 (27:22):
But as you know Brady Manning those guys, the buy
system was different. They didn't play many wildcard round games.
He's two to six post Wildcard round. The two wins
he combined in those two games for three hundred and
thirty yards passing and one passing touchdown, and his greatest
moment of his career after the Wildcard round was a
(27:42):
game he lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs. So I
just I it doesn't feel. It doesn't sit right with
me that Josh is the best quarterback in the league
right now, But I think most people feel that way,
and I guess it's because their cable went out when
he had the single worst turnover of the season last
year before halftime of that Broncos player.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
It was a stinker.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I acknowledged that, So you know, I was saying earlier
that when Tiger Woods entered golf, it spiked. But the
truth is not that many people golf in America because
although it's great fun, it's really hard. Even when you're good,
you can get bad very quickly. And when Tiger during
(28:23):
his kind of this renaissance of golf didn't play or
aged out like like there was a space like you
didn't get the same ratings. So was golf popular or
was Tiger popular? We see this in the WNBA with
Caitlin Clark. She plays a million watch, she doesn't three
hundred and fifty watch. The United States loses in the
(28:44):
World Cup, the numbers are still outrageous. And so my
take is people keep talking about soccer growth. The growth
of soccer is we're out and the ratings today will
be huge, and England Norway was huge, and that the
growth isn't necess necessarily viewed from our prism. But what
(29:04):
where you can see the unbelievable growth is like the NFL.
The World Cup is you give us some big brands,
it doesn't really matter who the quarterback is. I think
this World Cup does change going ahead I think ten
thousand young people minimum will play soccer that wouldn't have
and I think out of that five hundred will be
(29:25):
really really good, two or three will be great. Can
we find an earling Holland? I think the growth is
yet to be seen outside of ratings. But I look
at the numbers post USA exit, it tells me soccer's
officially bigger than hockey in this country. Bigger than WNBA,
is bigger than golf.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It is oh.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Bigger than men's college basketball. I think you can certainly
make that case. And so I think it's two separate conversations,
the pop hilarity of soccer in the US and how
sticky that will be post World Cup and does that
translate to our team actually becoming awesome one day? So
(30:11):
I first conversation, I think this World Cup is a
reminder that even in as you know, people's the attention
economy gets more crowded and ratings are down for a
lot of things across the board, Americans love huge events,
and where I will give this company huge credit, they
(30:32):
have treated this World Cup like there's like what it
is the biggest event in.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
The sports world.
Speaker 7 (30:39):
The teams and the stars have more than held up
their bargain where it's your idealized version of the NCAA tournament. No,
Cinderella's the four best teams there at the end with
the superstars, all scoring goals, all looking great, to the
point to where I do think people have now won
(31:00):
much enough of these games for the full ninety and recognized, oh,
two to one can be a wildly exciting game one
nothing can.
Speaker 8 (31:11):
Be edge of my seat.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
So I do think there will be more people in
America that either start, you know, caring about their local
MLS team or maybe more likely being in being like, hey,
I'm following Jude Bellingham, Earling Holland and Man City.
Speaker 8 (31:27):
I like, I'm going to root for them and watch
those games.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
So there's that American soccer growth.
Speaker 8 (31:33):
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 7 (31:35):
As far as what the path is, our path, I
do not think is ever going to be we have
twenty awesome players the way Spain or France or Argentina do.
Speaker 8 (31:46):
Our path has to be. Can we have our version.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
Of Earling Holland and Norway goes on this run. Morocco's
not a huge country. Hakimi has carried them to a
semi final in a quarterfinal Croat with Luca Madris taking
them to back to back semi finals, including an actual final.
I think that would be the hope. And it's not
Christian Polistic flatly. And it's as much as I like
(32:12):
Flow Balligan or Malik Tillman, it's probably not them either.
It's got to be somebody who can be one of
the fifteen best players in the world that's going to
wear our jersey.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, hey, I want to ask you about the Warriors thing.
I said, so there's a story. Front Office Sports Today said,
it's down to Cleveland, down to Golden State, and you've
moved around the country. You've had different jobs. I have
had different jobs and a lot of times as you age,
it really comes down to I want to work with
my friends. It's quality of life. Where do I live?
(32:44):
For you, you live in a great place. You've got
great quality of life as you age. When you're a
young person, you join clubs, frats, boy scouts teams. When
you're old, you prune your tree like you hang out
with fewer people. But it's a more deeply embedded relationship.
I'm sure you have two or three.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
We do.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Ann and I have people we just travel with we're
very very close to over and over and over again.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
We don't have a wide net of friends. The ones
we're with, we're with.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
And I look at Lebron and I'm like, he vacations
with Draymond.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
He loves Curry.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
It's a fifty minute golf stream to his home in
Los Angeles. The Warriors play the Clippers and the Lakers
in LA. Is this gonna be one of those? Ye
of course he chose the Warriors, Rich Paul said two
weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
It's not about titles or money. He wants to have fun.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Every time I see him with Draymond, he's laughing, drinking, dancing, golfing.
Is this gonna be like, ye, of course he chose
the Warriors. I don't know if it will be, of course.
I certainly think it's on the board. It felt like
they were.
Speaker 7 (33:41):
The favorite, then it felt like they fell out of contention.
Now it feels like they're like right in the mix again.
I'm just gonna add one little anecdote for to rustle
around in people's brain. You're talking about Lebron with Draymond.
(34:02):
I am not certain. The only place he can do
that is Golden State I'm not certain of that. Raymond's
a free agent the Warriors Draymond. I think it's fair
to say Draymond and Steve Kerr have always had a love, respect, adoration,
(34:22):
but tough relationship. I think the Warriors just moved on
from one of the assistant coaches that Draymond was closest with.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
That raised my eyebrows a bit.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And the Warriors and Lebron likes Frank, doesn't he and
say it again, No, Frank Vogel just signed with the Warriors,
and I think Lebron always liked Frank well.
Speaker 7 (34:44):
I mean, they won a title together, So I guess
the point. I think it is certainly on the board
Lebron joins the Warriors. I think it would be done
if they had found a way or could find a
way to trade for Anthony Davis. But I also I
think it is not a big chance, but a non
zero chance that Lebron joins a different team and Draymond's
(35:06):
his teammate anyway, I think a non zero chance.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
I'm just putting that. I'm putting a little.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
Small take chip on that piece of the roulette wheel,
like small chance, and until Draymond, you know, agrees to
an extension. I think we have to recognize it's certainly
a possibility.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Do you like Spain or France today?
Speaker 7 (35:27):
You know, I think the game is as close as
the odds makers suggest. I think France is a slight favorite.
I picked a France Argentina final. I picked I think France.
I think it's two to two after ninety France wins
an extra time. With that said, I am not betting
(35:48):
it because I want.
Speaker 8 (35:50):
To be able to root for Spain.
Speaker 7 (35:52):
Because to mention him for the second time, my co
host Kevin Wilds has been so obnoxious with his French fandom,
all of us sudden saying, we talking about how he's
always been a nimbape guy. I just want him in pain,
so I will be rooted. I am picking France. I
will be rooting for Spain. But either way, I think
Argentine Argentine. I will be betting tomorrow's game. I think
(36:14):
Argentina being an underdog to England is absurd. I think
they have been the best off. They've scored the most
goals in this tournament. They haven't lost a knockout round
game of a major tournament this decade, won two Copa's
won the World Cup. They're obviously still in this one,
and they have the greatest player of all time. So
I think Argentina is in the final, and I think
they're gonna win the whole thing. But that's also I
(36:36):
thought Brazil's gonna win the whole thing. They lost, so
I just had to stick with South America. I'm a
South American loyalist, Collins. That's what they always say about me.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
That's what they always say about you.
Speaker 7 (36:46):
What you know what, it's not even South America. I'm
big into hemispheric loyalty. You have a Western hemispheric guy
like Europe in a I'm a Western hemisphere guy.
Speaker 8 (36:56):
I've always been that. Everyone knows that about it.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Absolutely yeah, West, big Western imistry.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
First things first, could see anybody, see ya
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