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December 17, 2024 • 41 mins

Colin ranks the top 10 teams in the NFL after week 15 with one NFC team making a surprise appearance in the top 5

It's strange the Eagles keep winning while dealing with so much drama

 

Guest: Nick Wright

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, Here we go at tour two live in
Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be and
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day if you're driving around anywhere on the contry,
Thanks for stopping by. For people who have not seen this,
our studio, our tree department, I think that's who does it?
Chop down a couple of furs on redwoods in the

(00:48):
neighborhood and they're all over our set. It is beautiful.
It didn't it make you feel warm and cozy? Jmac
is the sweetest guy, So join the break. Basically, it's
weird year for me and the family. I'm by myself
on Christmas and Jmax like you could stop by, and
I said, I said, do you do you want me
to bring something over? Do you are you really going

(01:09):
to reveal well I was. I said, I'll cater dinner
and he goes, oh, really, do you think your chef
friend would do it? And I said, I was thinking
Buffalo Wild Wings.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
I did not even get a chance to text the
family that we have a family text chat, and I
was gonna put Buffalo Wild Wings.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
I had their, I had their boneless chicken wings. This weekend,
I'm going to go to New bondless chicken wings diet.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
That's all.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I'm for Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
It was all right, we do it every Tuesday. Nick
right around the corner. It's the herd hierarchy. Here we go,
heard hierarchy. I'm no go.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
The top ten NFL teams according to College number ten.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Okay, I gotta admit I'm kind of proud. Denver Broncos
tied for number one scoring defense in the entire league,
lead the NFL in sacks. They did not play well
and won. They got out played by the Colts. They've
won four straight games. Bow Knicks is still in the
growth period. But I said before the season, I did
not buy they were a bad team. Sean Payton's one

(02:08):
of the best coaches of my life. Bow Knicks had
sixty one college starts Mims, Courtland, Sutton, Patrick Sirtan. They
got real dudes, Denver at ten, number nine, the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers. I may have them low. I'm telling you
I wouldn't want to play this team. The Chargers hadn't
allowed over thirty points in the game. Tampa went in

(02:29):
scored forty easy and I'm telling you Baker Mayfield now
third in the NFL with thirty two touchdown passes. Be
Veries concerned about facing a team that can win by
shootouts or win ugly, and that's what they can do.
You can't run on them. Yet this roster can run
on you. This is a weird team. Todd Bowles, who's

(02:51):
a really wonderful guy and an excellent defensive coach, is
proving he can get out of the way and let
the offense be the I got Tampa nine, number eight
Minnesota seven game winning streak. They are seven to one
in one score games. I think a lot of the
story here beyond Darnold is Kevin O'Connell, who they call
the Tonnell Sean McVay. I think Kevin O'Connell is superb.

(03:14):
And their defense Brian Flores number two against the run,
number three in takeaways. Brian Flores deserves another job. He
does because I don't think their defensive personnel is nearly
as good is their defensive production. I think it's fine.
The production is great. I think Flores deserves another gig.

(03:37):
Minnesota D eight, number seven, the Ravens. Listen. They have
five losses by a combined twenty two points. A lot
of it's been special teams. It's the best run offense
in the league. I am rooting so hard for Lamar
to do something in the playoffs because I don't buy
this thing that he that he's not a great pocket quarterback.
He is now. I do think Jmax touched on something yesterday.
Derek Henry's productions come down a bit. These are law

(04:00):
seasons running backs. You're seeing JK. Dobbins, Dereck Henry, Montgomery
with the Lions. This is a rough sport. They're the
last unprotected offensive player. I have the Ravens at seventh.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Number six.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
I'm gonna move Detroit down to six, and I'm not
sure they are six. They've given up seventy nine points
in two weeks, and it's not because the coaching's bad.
They're running out of players. The defense has one takeaway
in the last four games. Everybody moves the ball on them.
They have eighteen players on the ir again. They can
only win now in shootouts. I think green Bay this

(04:35):
morning is the better team, and I obviously Detroit has
beaten green Bay, but I have the Lions at six.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Number five, you do not want to play the Rams.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
They are now healthy, no turnovers, no sacks allowed in
two games. This offensive line is winning games seven and
two since the bye. Okay, and when Stafford's got a
healthy Puka Nakua seventeen touchdowns, four Kyron Williams, Stafford haven Stein,
Cooper Cupp, Poka Nakua, Sean McVay. You don't want to

(05:08):
face them. They are hot and feeling it. Number four, Buffalo, listen,
their defense is an issue. I know you're phoning in
love with Josh Allen, Folks. Detroit went up and down
the field. The Rams went up and down the field.
Their defense ranks twenty second. Now they're fifth in takeaways,
so they'll take the ball away. And I love Josh

(05:28):
Allen two, but he's had like nine hundred yards in
two games and they lost one of them. You're not
winning in February. With this defense, they had got to
get healthier. I think they're getting wrapped back. They're getting
some of their back end back, but they are not
good enough defensively.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Number three the Packers.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
They're hot, they're healthy, and they are now a power
run team. That game in Seattle, they turned the lights
out on that thing after two drives. Eight and two
since the start of October. Now, both losses were to
the Lions, because the Lions have a better team, but
they don't today. I love Green Bay when they hold
opponents under twenty five. They're nine to one, and I

(06:11):
think Matt Lafleur is on a short list of one
of the most underrated coaches in the league. Remember when
he was at Tennessee, his reputation was he likes to
lead with the run. He had Derrick Henry in Green Bay.
This is his offense and his team. This is what
Matt Lafleur knows. He is a run first. He's got
a lot of Sean mcvah and Shanahan. He likes the

(06:31):
run game Green Bay. At three. Number two, Listen, Mahomes
is banged up. This team is still ten to zero
in games decided by a touchdown or less. They still
have the best coach arguably ever. Mahomes probably sits this
weekend against Houston, and then he'll be fine. I do
worry about offensive tackle. I just they're not going to

(06:54):
be great at it. Just keep your eye on this team.
They're getting Hollywood brown back. I think the best of
Kansas City will be the version in about you know,
ten days when Patrick Mahomes returns.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Number one.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
The most dysfunctional great team in sports, Philadelphia a ten
game winning streak, with their coach getting in fights with
assistant coaches. I mean, everything they do screams bad organization,
and yet all they do is win. They fire super
Bowl winning coaches. I Philadelphia's wild is Nick Sirianni a
good coach. Did you see that defensive line coach getting

(07:33):
in his way? Would you do that with like Andy Reid?
Would you do that with Sean Payton? I mean, like
Philadelphia breaks every rule in pro football. They fire winning coaches,
They let go of Andy Reid, the coaches screaming at fans,
draw in the locker room, players calling out the team

(07:53):
on radio, and they win and they're loaded. This roster
is stacked. There's the herd high archy. I like Green
Bay a lot. I know you're shaking your head at
Green Bay, aren't you.

Speaker 5 (08:06):
Didn't Buffalo beat case Like, I don't know three weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
And Buffalo's defense now is worse.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
I think you're right on Green Bay. I actually like
this except for Casey at two.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
There's no shot. I don't even know if i'd have
them top seven.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Oh that's interesting. Our next guest, mavin.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
Do you think you care about that?

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Nick Wright is joining his live co host First things, like,
I'm to a point like Kansas City's just a legacy vote, Like,
I don't know what they're gonna look like. I think
they'll beat Houston with Carson Wentz frankly because I think
Carson's one of the more talented backups.

Speaker 6 (08:42):
Does everyone have access to a different set of standings
than me?

Speaker 1 (08:46):
I love the legacy vote.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
Another way is they have the best record, They have
the best coach, the best player, they're the two time
defending champ, and they have the best record. The Chiefs
are being discussed this year like they're nine to five,
but oh well, you've gotta give them credit. They have
the best record and no j Mack the Bills didn't
beat the Chiefs three weeks ago. They did beat the

(09:08):
Chiefs five weeks ago, and fifty seven weeks ago and
one hundred and four weeks ago, as we beat them
every regular season, and the Chiefs dog walk them in
the playoffs. But if we're doing the head to head thing,
then I guess Baltimore should be out of Buffalo because
Baltimore beat Buffalo by twenty five, and the Raiders should
be super high because they beat so they beat the Ravens.
They of course didn't beat the Chiefs because only one

(09:28):
team did. So let's talk about this for a second,
because this is now the second straight week, Colin, that
you have left the Chiefs at two and have ahead
of them a team who's coaching quarterback you don't trust.
I told you if they played Detroit in the Super Bowl,
you you wouldn't take Detroit. Detroit's now down to six.
All the Chiefs do is win Philly. If it is
Sirianni and Hurts against Reid and Mahomes and the Super

(09:50):
Bowl again, there is no chance you're going with Philly.
There's none whatsoever. Like I feel like I'm living in
this alternate universe where everyone your wonderful co host included,
who was as wrong as anyone's ever been about anything
about the Chiefs last year, and then in February was like,

(10:11):
I will not make that mistake again.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
Has now seen the Chiefs win thirteen of fourteen games,
and they're like, I don't know how good they are.
I got a pretty good idea how good they are?
Pretty damn good. So that's my takeaway. And you got
the Broncos a little too high, but you love Sean Payton.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
So fine, I do.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Okay. So I was saying this about Detroit is that
if you look, I mean, the NFL is not the NBA.
You play hurt, you yell at players. It's kind of
an Alpha league. And I think a lot of that
is because you play outdoors. Everybody's hurt, you gotta play hurt.
And the truth is the power is in the coach

(10:49):
and the GM, not the players. And so when I
look at Dan Campbell, I understand we love the reckless
in the wild and the crazy side kicks. Now you
have to announce you're doing it, so the surprise of
the onside kick is done. I watched that and I thought,
I'm hoping he did that because he didn't trust his defense,

(11:14):
because otherwise that was an egregiously reckless coaching move. I
can think two things. I love the coach, but it
is now time to pivot away from Hey, we're the
little guy on the block. No, you're closer to IBM
than the garage band, right.

Speaker 6 (11:31):
So that's an important distinction. An important distinction is the
underdog needs to play the variants game, the favorite needs
to avoid it. And so what can be the right
decision if it's like, man, if this game goes to overtime,
Not that this was the concern there. You know, if

(11:51):
you're a big underdog and you score a touchdown in
the waning moments and extra point ties it to point
wins it there's a good art go for the win
because the more football that's played, the bigger your you know,
the other team's edge increases. But the Lions are now
the favorite in a bunch of spots and still have
an underdog mentality. Underdog mentality can be good, underdog strategy

(12:16):
not so much. But my concern for the Lions is
two weeks in a row, Dan Campbell on the fourth
down decision against Green Bay and then the on side
kick with twelve minutes left. Forget the strategy elements of
it which I thought were flawed, and even the most
aggressive analytical models say that's even too aggressive for our taste.

(12:39):
Dan Campbell told not just the outside world, but his team. Yes, yeah,
I don't trust the defense.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yes at all. Actually yep.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
And that's the defense that they are now going to
have to try to win a Super Bowl with. And
I feel terribly for the Lions. I do think it's injuries.
And again, not every team's Kansas city that can lose
their running back, top three receivers, top corner, left tackle,
defensive end and just keep chugging along. Most teams a
derails them. And that might have been what happened to

(13:11):
the or is happening to the Detroit Lions. But Colin,
there are a lot of, you know ways for this
Lions team to go from the Super Bowl favorites for
the first time in franchise history too out in the
wildcard round. They are not locked into the one seed,
They are not even locked into winning that division. If

(13:34):
Minnesota passes them, then Detroit is going on the road
to Tampa, who beat them, or to the Rams who
played them to overtime earlier. If they fall to the two,
they could be playing Green Bay, who just played them
down to the final seconds a few weeks ago. Like,
I think Detroit's an excellent offensive team that unfortunately the

(13:59):
defense doesn't have the horses right now to make them
a real contender.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
So it's I was saying this. There was a moment
in that Eagles game where Nick Sirianni went to talk
to a player and a defensive line not even a coordinator,
a defensive line coach stepped in his way, and I thought, whoa, whoa,
that's not the way it works, Like this moment tells me,

(14:25):
and you would never do that to an elite coach.
You wouldn't do that to Vrabel, Tomlin, Peyton Reid. Isn't
that a sign that if they lose early, regardless of
his past wins, Sirianni's in trouble.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
Well, so it's so interesting. Also, poor big Dom. Big
Dom's like, ah, you put me in a tough spot here,
Like the one guy on the sideline bigger than me,
that's not a player, the one that got an issue
with I don't know what I'm supposed to do here.
So the Sirianni stuff is so fast Colin, Because I
am a I know it is not in vogue these

(15:06):
days to you know, care about things like wins and
losses and your actual record. But those of us that
do wins are a coaching stat and his win loss
record is spectacular, so I have to give him credit
for that. The flip side is I don't know what

(15:26):
he does. Kellen Moore calls the plays, Vic Fangio does
the defense. It seems like AJ Brown via press conference
dictates what style of offense they're going to play.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
His game management is.

Speaker 6 (15:40):
Shaky and he doesn't put out fires.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
He sends to set them.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
So I want to be fair to Sirianni because the
results aside from the end of last season, have been
exemplary when he's there. But it is true that Philadelphia,
it's been reported, considered replace.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Him after last year. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (16:02):
Right now, the team has the number one scoring and
number one yard yardage defense in football, the best running
game in football, and two of the best wide receivers
in football. If they and I don't think they will,
by the way, I think this is a deserved right
now NFC favorite, given what's happened with Detroit. But if

(16:23):
they fall short, I just don't see a lot of
scenarios where it's not either because of something ridiculous Sirianni
did or because Jalen Hurts, who's out here scolding the
media saying, oh, is that what you guys wanted to see?
As if it were the media that started that conversation,
not his star wide receiver and the longest tenured player

(16:44):
on the team in Brian and Graham, but sent that aside.
I think will either because Sirianni screws it up or
Hurts comes up short.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah. So I watched the Bears last night, and I
think there are three. So I'm going to ask you
the question I asked jamac and just let's just play along.
There are three broken teams to me in the league. Bears, Jets, Giants,
broken Chargers were a little broken last year, but they

(17:11):
had a quarterback. And to be honest, in my lifetime, Fouts, Breeze, Rivers, Herbert,
They're always fun to watch. They always get the offense right.
They were never broken, they just chargered a lot of
wins in the losses.

Speaker 6 (17:23):
Browns fans are like, we can't even get on the
broken team list.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Like jeez, but gohead. Sorry, So I'm gonna ask you this.
You're Mike Vrabel, who is clearly now that Belichick's in college,
the number one, I would argue, of the three, the
Jets have the best roster, excellent corners, pass rush, now
two receivers start back, and they found their left tackle
out of Penn State. Don't love Aaron, but I think
it's the best roster. We'll play along. The Giants have

(17:50):
the best game day revenue in the best history when
they're rolling. That is, they are second to the Yankees
in that city. They are a big deal. The Caleb Williams,
you were, Mike Rabel, what do you tell your agent,
star quarterback, best roster or the blue blood franchise having

(18:11):
a rough decade?

Speaker 6 (18:13):
Yeah, the easy one is this last place is the Jets.
And I you know, if one does believe in cursed franchises,
the single most tortuous thing and cruel thing to Jets
fans is exactly what has happened, which is the moment

(18:34):
they're eliminated from playoff contention, they see the version of
Aaron Rodgers. They thought they were gonna get the whole time,
and it might just be enough to fool that dopey
franchise to bringing him back at age forty two and
running this whole thing back for more disasters. So the
Jets are a clear last place. Okay, I think the
Bears must go with an offensive coach, but that's not

(18:58):
your question. Your question is essentially, if Rabel were offered
all three jobs, which one would he take. I if
I were Mike Brabel, I would take the Bear. I
would take the Bears, okay, because I still believe Caleb
Williams is a going to be a great player. I
think Caleb is having one of the oddest rookie seasons ever,
Like he refuses to throw interceptions, and I actually think

(19:22):
that's a bad thing. I'd feel better if he had
been throwing some interceptions. Also, the dysfunction of the firing,
the OC, firing the head coach, all of that has
worked against him. But I think they are going to
go offense, which then means, if I'm Brabel, I think
the Giants are exciting. He's injured right now, but they
have a franchise. Left tackle Malik Nabors is a great player,

(19:44):
even if he's already kind of, you know, graduated to
diva receiver a dozen games into his career. But Frabel
get his arms around that. They have an excellent defensive
line and they're going to be able to draft the
quarterback in the top two or three, which is where
they're going to be draft. So I think that for
Rabel is what fits. I think the Bears are the

(20:06):
most attractive job. But I think that they are have
to go offense to try to pair Caleb with someone
who can grow together.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
By the way, I you know, I let you sit
here and take shots at me. You know I did
get the Denver Broncos, right, be honest.

Speaker 6 (20:20):
Okay, So here's the thing. I wouldn't listen. You did
get the Denver Broncos.

Speaker 7 (20:25):
Right.

Speaker 6 (20:26):
I also listen their preseason total was five and a half. Yeah,
I thought that was insane. I And but I would
just I would pump my bow Knicks Victory Laps, Sean Payton, Victory.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
Lap's fine, Okay, the bow Nick stuff.

Speaker 6 (20:41):
I mean, I think Bo Nicks is, you know, turned
thirty this year, and I just saw him throw three
picks and need Jonathan Taylor to drop the ball in
the one and you know, the terrible Ady Mitchell play.
But listen, Nick, Benito's an excellent player. Yeah, Broncos are
going to be in the playoffs and gonna you know,
good job by Sean Payton, Good job by you. Maybe

(21:04):
just one day. Let me ask you this real quick,
all right, next year, if the Chiefs are the three
time defending Super Bowl champions and have the best record
in the NFL, do you think you can find it
within your heart to keep them at number one on
the hierarchy?

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Is that fair?

Speaker 6 (21:22):
I know, two time defending champs, best record. Need to
see more. If they pull off the three beat and
have the best record, can they be number one?

Speaker 1 (21:29):
No promises? You know, it's just new information. Yeah, of course,
see it buddy, Nick? Right, yeah, the bo Nicks. Okay,
so he's thirty four years old out of college. I mean,
you guys are so picky on stuff. If you if
you called your wife and asked about my suggestion.

Speaker 5 (21:50):
For Chris, I don't I don't have to check in
on that.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Come on one more. Heard the Herd streams twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Speaker 8 (22:05):
Hey, Steve Covino, and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of

(22:26):
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right, So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
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(22:47):
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Speaker 1 (22:59):
That's and Rich. This holiday air and cash back savable
offers in the PayPal app PayPal check out online, so
we see don't just pay PayPal sponsored by PayPal. J
Mack with the news, this.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
Is the herd Line News.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Wouldn't be it Tuesday if we didn't guess up bo
Nicks your favorite quarterback in the NFL Colin I mean, listen,
got to give the guy props.

Speaker 5 (23:26):
They are the sixth seed in the AFC.

Speaker 3 (23:28):
I was just looking into dead cap money and I
saw the Broncos have fifty three million in dead cap
money according to us.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Still very still a playoff. You get to come be done.
It can be done. Get a coach and a quarterback
right you're going to.

Speaker 5 (23:41):
The Atlanta Falcons.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
It can be done.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Anyways, Nicks did throw three interceptions against the Cold Sunday,
but Sean Payton knows he would have come through in
the clutch.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
Anyway later in that game when we needed it. You know,
he didn't flint. There's there's a maturity and a mockty
about him, which I love and I think it's contagious
to the team. And when you have that at the
quarterback position, your team knows you're in every game. And

(24:09):
when you don't have it. It's pretty difficult because deep
down in their belly they know that that's not the case.
And that's something I mean you notice with him this
year especially and with this team.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah, there's a handful of teams I think are a
year away from being really interesting. And I think the
Chargers in Denver in the same division, need one more draft.
The Chargers have to get more weapons, and I would say,
you know, Denver probably, I would say, has to keep
building their front seven. I mean, Sirtan is so good

(24:46):
at corner.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
You think Denver has enough weapons because there's been games
where there under two hundred fifty yards.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
So Franklin's a rookie receiver, he'll be fine. I like
their tight ends and running back like don't love. I've
always been a huge Courtland Sutton fan. I think Mims
is now becoming a star. He had that return, which
was really one of the stories.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
Again.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, so I think they're fine. Again. The stuff I
think is you got your rush end, keep building that
defensive front so you can go toe to toe with
a better you know, because listen, the AFC is about quarterbacks,
so you got to get guys that make their quarterback uncomfortable. So,
I mean, I think that's the way to win. In

(25:24):
the NFC, it's different. It's about rosters like Detroit's roster,
Philadelphia's roster, Green Bay's roster. So I think when you
build in the AFC, it's about, Okay, we're gonna have
to face Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert Patrick, Mahomes, Joe Burrow.
How do we make their life less comfortable?

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, you also got to keep up scoring with them.
And my mock draft was I haven't sent to foxha,
it's not done. I have the tight end from Penn State,
Tyler Warren.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Oh yeah, how good would he do?

Speaker 2 (25:51):
That's a great call me.

Speaker 5 (25:52):
Now, I don't know if you'll fall.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
Currently Denver's at twenty three, Well Warren fall that for
I just love that guy.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Tight Ends are I mean even brock Bowers did go
top five. He's one of the great He maybe the
best tight end out of college ever. Ever.

Speaker 5 (26:07):
He's up there, certainly, and tight ends is a huge weapon.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
I mean, Titans generally struggle as rookies because it's the
first time they're asked to block. I mean even Ken
Cave year two of Buffalo, and he was great You're like, Okay,
brock power second game as a pro, You're like, what
am I watching? Kyle Pitt still hasn't popped.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
If you watch that Tyler Warren game against USC seventeen catch,
I mean I watched like I need that guy, Like that.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Was the one I was.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
Yeah, that was not a tough, tough one for the Trojans.
Next up.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
Ahead of last week's Niners Rams game, Deebo Samuel posted
on social media how frustrated he was about not getting
the ball doubled down when talking to the media. Of course,
he had a huge drop in that Thursday night lost
to the Rams, and Jerry Rice has called him out.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
I would have been pitted at my felt I would
have been pitted at the whole.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
You know, thenar that ball That means dropped.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
After you complain about not getting that many cuts, you
cannot drop the football because.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
Everybody is going to get down on you and they
going to come afting.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
It's almost the rule of football. If a wide receiver complains,
he almost always the next week has a bad game
or a bad drop. It is almost the golden rule
of football. And it's interesting. It's the only position in
football on a regular basis where players, even if you're
in a winning streak, complain about touches. Running Backs don't,

(27:34):
tight ends don't. Quarterbacks don't. I mean Justin Herbert's never
thrown a tizzy fit because they ran the football more
than passed early in the year. Receivers that is the
only position now in some cases, like AJ Brown and
George Pickens, they are so influential that they do matter
more than you got. I mean, Pittsburgh's offense without George
Pickens is pretty pedestrian.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
So deebo our staff came up with a six drop
since Week eight type for second most in the league.
That's suboptimal. I'm just what, Like, I admit I was
wrong on debo. I said there's no way you can
get rid of him.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
They kept him.

Speaker 5 (28:05):
It's been a rough season.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
I don't think he'll be on the roster next year
if you especially if you look at the party stuff.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
But he's gonna have a really good fit somewhere. I
would assume someone from the Shanahan tree.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, I can see Deebo's fascinat that's a fascinating conversation
because I can see an offensive coach. Now, I don't
think McVeigh would go there. But I could see a
McVeigh saying, oh, I could use Debo. I think it's
the right coach. Like I could see Cliff Kingsbury saying, oh,
in Washing, yeah, Like we're not paying Jayden Daniels for

(28:36):
three years, I could absolutely get Deebo seven touchdows. So
you got Terry McLaurin on the outside. I got Deebo
as a kind of a chess piece, so I could see.
I could see when you're not paying your quarterback and
you've got your star receiver, and you've got a couple
edge rushers, It's like Deebo's a fun chess piece after.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
T Higgins, Deebo's probably gonna be the best guy on
the market.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Right from a hold on, hold on, hold on well
sefon Digg's coming off the injury.

Speaker 5 (29:03):
He's gonna have some.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Value on Higgins is the best guy. It's a weird
I don't know if you feel this way. I don't
like free agent receivers because college football furnishes the NFL
with twenty guys a year the young, but I think
Deebo is a very unique player, and I could see
I think Washington and Cliff Kingsbury with Deebo is the fifth.

Speaker 5 (29:22):
I think that's great. It's better than mine.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
But if the Dolphins move off of Tyreek Hill, you
get Mike McDaniel, Deebo, Samuel.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
He's a tough player.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
He translates well to cold weather, which Miami doesn't have
a lot of.

Speaker 5 (29:36):
So in those.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Games at the Patriots, at the Jets, at Buffalo, you've
got some a tough guy in Diebo who can do
running and receiving.

Speaker 5 (29:42):
Souff I like that, but near Washington's really damn good.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Next up is Travis Hunter, is fresh off the Heisman
Trophy win. I know you love him and everybody's excited
for him the draft. Yesterday on Speak, Michael Irvin talked
about how Hunter should not I only demand the opportunity
to play both ways, but he should be paid for
playing both ways too.

Speaker 7 (30:07):
Fon Travis Hunter, all jokes aside. I'm putting it out
right now. If you're not letting me pray both ways,
don't draft. I'm telling you no, I'm playing both ways,
and in three years from now, y'all will show.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Hay Own Tonday my Monday to me.

Speaker 7 (30:30):
You see what I'm saying. I won't play both sides.
I'm playing receiver in dB show. Hey own Tonday, my
Monday to me. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (30:43):
He's a national treasure.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, I listen, I get it. He's gonna go to
a bad team. I'm gonna say, he goes to New England,
I get a lockdown corner. They have Gonzalez already, who's good.
So I got two lockdown corners. And I would say, listen,
I'm gonna use your return game and I'm gonna try
to get you six touches offensively. But I think it's
really hard because I understand what Michael's saying. I mean,

(31:08):
quarterbacks vacation with their wide receivers in the offseason to
get the timing down, the idea that you can have
a part time star receiver. It's a tough ask. I
think some quarterbacks can do it, but I think it's
a tough ask.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Well, it's tough for him because he wants to be
a wide receiver, right, that's where the huge money is. Sure,
quarterbacks get paid, but not as much. I just again,
I'll go back to what I said yesterday. Like, let's
say they're playing the Jets and he's on the Patriots.

Speaker 5 (31:35):
You got to tackle.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
Breeze Hall in space, you got to keep up with
DeVante Adam Garrett Wilson, and then oh, by the way,
go help get open against Sauce Gardner.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
I just it just seems like way too tall of
a order. I don't see it happening. But man, the
kid is talented. Look at him as a receiver there.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Oh no, he is.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
He's really good. So our draft. And by the way,
j Mack does this on your digital you're very good
at this. I'm gonna throw this out there. If the Raiders,
if they sit there, the Raiders are the Giants go,
We're gonna roll the dice and go with Donald. You
could get a.

Speaker 5 (32:14):
One of them would go Darnald over Schadure. I mean,
all signs right now, point to the right now you're.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Talking the second one. What if Shador is gonna go
number one? What if you're not into the Camard backyard
football stuff? You can get a lot for that. Giants
jump into it.

Speaker 3 (32:31):
Sam Darnald Tour of duty number two in the Big
Apple over cam Ward.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
By the way, Brian Dable, what he doesn't want is
limited talent. He took a reckless Josh Allen cleaned him up.
If you were to say Donald's best version of darnl
in the NFL, isn't he kind of a poor man's
Josh Allen?

Speaker 3 (32:51):
He has so many games indoors, now he's got to
go outside.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
That's a good call. It's a fair And.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Again, like if Donald flops or is it what he
was in Minnesota? I think you're if you get cam Ward, Hey,
we're gonna build something.

Speaker 5 (33:03):
It's gonna take a couple of years.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
You got to give me some time here self preservation, right,
you know, that's a good call.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
That's good. That was gooding for you. I got you
on the Washington once. Actually it was a good one
by you. J Mack with a news.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line News.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
I do think I'll talk about it coming up next.
But it is. It is so weird when you have
an NFL franchise that goes against everything you want from
a winning franchise and they may be the best team
in the league, the Eagles. That it just so every
time I watched that video of Nick Sirianni and the
guy in the sidelines that usually means somebody's getting fired

(33:44):
and the team has a number three draft pick, and
instead Philadelphia could be the best team in the league.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
He looks to close in on this Ingles season rushing
record as he leads the Eagles against the Commanders or
the Vikings take on the Seahawks or other regional action.
Check local listings for the game in your area, only
on Fox.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
So it should be noted that sports dominates television. The
only little blip when it doesn't is like election time
every four years. Then elections for you know, a month
or two or three do very very well. But sports
still dominates. So Major League Baseball ratings up, NFL ratings up.
I mean, that's with Brady Manning and Breeze retiring, up,

(34:35):
College football up, WNBA exploding, Everything's up, Everything's upccept the
NBA and the floor has fallen out of the ratings.
Why tonight is the Emirates NBA Championship Cup. Jannis SGA

(34:59):
zero Buzz even put it in Vegas. The court trawl,
bright colors, no buzz. I'll watch it, but it's interesting
David Stern. People forget this. The NBA was in big
trouble back in the late seventies. That's when I was
a kid watching it. They used to put the NBA
Finals on tape delay after the eleven o'clock news I'm

(35:19):
not joking, tape delay. And then David Stern came in,
a brilliant marketer, and he made it about the stars,
the name in the back of the jersey and the
name of the front, and it exploded. And the question
is what has Adam Silver done to spin it forward?
Beyond kind of pampering the players, always taking their side.

(35:44):
This is something that's spoken about in the NBA. Adam Silver.
They made the referees young and hungry, and it's poorly officiated,
and we keep waiting for tweaks to the three point
shot because it's a hard game to watch. This is
where management comes in. I like Adam Silver. I think
he's smart. All commissioners are smart. They all went to
Cornell or an IVY League school. That's not it. The

(36:06):
question is this league. Last year, the Championship Cup was
big because Lebron was in it and the Lakers won it.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
This year.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
They have not figured out what to do post Lebron.
So when Michael Jordan was huge and then left, they
lost fifty percent of their ratings. Look it up because
they embraced guys mar Berry Iverson the public didn't really like. Well,
the guys now to embrace are unbelievable talents Wemby Jokic.

(36:38):
They don't really want to be faces of the league.
They don't really have any interest. They're international guys. I
mean tonight, the two stars are from Greece and Canada.
Our domestic product because Adam Silver has marginalized college basketball
bad college basketball. Well, that's how you introduce American consumers
to your players. That's why we all love the NFL

(36:58):
because we watched Baker Mayfield, we watched Sam Darnold, Aiden Hutchison,
we watched all these guys in college on our favorite
college programs. So by the time they get to the NFL,
we're like fans. We love them or we hate him.
Because the NFL Roger Goodell puts his arms around college football.
It's free marketing. For some reason. The NBA resents college basketball,

(37:20):
and so talented guys now come from international or a
g league that virtually nobody watches, so it takes you
forever to get introduced to him. So I just I
think this is it's very interesting the league in the
NBA's David's delay, David's durn the commissioner used to tell
people privately, nobody watches us until the playoffs. And the

(37:40):
NBA has not been like the NFL, this steady growth,
and it's never been baseball where it was the national pastime.
If you take out Magic Bird, mj, Lebron, Steph and Shack,
I'm not sure if you've ever has the has the
league ever been close to baseball or football. It's had five,
six or seven incredibly dynamic, often very personable players that

(38:05):
we couldn't take our eyes off of. There's the Magic
Bird rivalry. There's Kobe, there's Michael, there's Shacks, huge personality,
there's crazy Steph Curry like we've never seen guys. Shoot,
there's Lebron James. So it's just it's very interesting. You
have the NBA Elimination Cup tonight and I you know,
the championship game in Vegas. You've got stars and there's
absolutely no buzz, and so I think this is the

(38:28):
job I want to give Rob Manford a lot of
credit in baseball. He got massive pushback from the purists
on the defensive shift change and the pitch clock, and
now he's considering another golden at bat. People say it's
a shtick. I say it's innovation. And you know what,

(38:50):
the first two moves paid off ratings up at tenant.
I found myself last year watching more baseball than I
have in a decade. So you got to do something here.
I've argued for a long time. I would make the
three point shot. I would have the arc go into
the bench. I would eliminate the corner three. I'd move
it out of foot. I think it's too easy. There's
too many threes. I don't want to watch forty four threes.

(39:14):
I want to see Jahn Morant driver the basket and dunk.
I want to see Zion dunk and Edwards dunk. I
want to see the athleticism. I don't want my most
athletic guys pulling up from twenty eight feet. That's the
move I would make. Have that arc that goes all
the way around, have it go into the benches about
ten feet from the corner. Eliminate. You can't defend. You

(39:35):
can't defend anybody. There's just too many guys can shoot threes.
So I mean, listen, golf had to tiger proof courses.
I mean, why do you think baseball got rid of
the defensive shift because they wanted guys like Otani and
Bryce Harper on basemore. They were hitting smoking line drives
to right field and the second basement was out there.
So we've done this time and time again. I'm not

(39:56):
asking you to raise the rim to twelve feet, but
people tiger proof courses. Baseball wanted their stars on base more,
so they said, you can't have your infielders playing in
the outfield. This stuff happens if the NFL changes their
catch rule during a Super Bowl, It's okay to do that.
J Mack, your thoughts. I'll be watching tonight.

Speaker 5 (40:18):
I'm a big NBA guy, so I'll be watching.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
This take probably won't be very popular, but I would
argue that Inside the NBA, the show that everybody loves,
has done more damage to the NBA in the last
decade than anything.

Speaker 5 (40:30):
Forget about this woke and left and right.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
Inside the NBA goes on every week and just trashes players,
trashes the style, of play, Colin, you look at any
other show MLB network, NFL network, these shows that are network,
we're all positive, we're excited. We're talking about the games.
Inside the NBA, they just hammer the players. Charles Barkley's
on TV. The Rockets are in the final four for
that NBA Cup. Oh, the Rockets don't know how to

(40:53):
play basketball. They stink, they don't know what they're doing.

Speaker 5 (40:56):
What are you doing? You're damaging your product on a
nightly basis.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
I'm bring it, Colin. Globally, the NBA is fine, much
bigger sport globally than the NFL in America.

Speaker 5 (41:05):
How ratings aren't great?

Speaker 1 (41:06):
That's how's it doing in like Iowa?

Speaker 3 (41:09):
I might argue, who cares? We're big in China
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