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August 4, 2026 41 mins

Colin Cowherd breaks down The Athletic’s QB Tiers according to 50 NFL executives and coaches across the league. Colin makes the case for Caleb Williams to be above 2-time MVP Lamar Jackson after Caleb’s meteoric rise under new head coach Ben Johnson last season.

Colin continues to defend the Dodgers by saying they are not ruining the league 

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh it is Tuesday. We got a lot Nick right
in an hour. Mike Sando's quarterback tier list is out
fifty executives, polled anonymously wherever you may be, however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
John Middlecoff, like Guessforday, he'll be in for the next

(00:47):
two weeks filling in for jmac. So every year Mike
Sando at the Other Place interviews anonymously fifty execs and
it's called his quarterback Tiers. And Tier one is you
carry your team every week. Tier two is you're really

(01:09):
really good, but you got a hole in your game.
Tier three is you need a lot of help, but
if you have it, you can win. And tier four
you're kind of a guy. So I looked at all
the tiers this morning, and I'm pretty good with everything
with one exception. Yeah, Tier one's kind of obvious. Alan Mahomes,

(01:34):
Stafford Burrough. Here's the only move I would make. The
NFL execs have Lamar Jackson is the first quarterback in
Tier two, and they have Caleb Williams in the middle
of Tier two.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
I'd flip them.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
I think Caleb Williams Justin Herbert are the top of
Tier two. It's nothing against Lamar Jackson. I got eight years.
This sport is not about history, it's about playoffs. His
quarterback rating plummets in the playoffs. He plays with anxiety,
and I don't trust him when he falls behind late

(02:11):
eight years. I gave him a run by year two.
Cayleb Williams of the Bears stronger arm, better arm, talent,
healthier and appears to play much better from behind consistently
than Lamar Jackson ever has.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Here's the other thing to think about.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
I'm gonna view a kid who comes from a tough
background differently than a trust fund kid in life and
in football. Lamar Jackson inherited John Harbaugh, maybe the best
owner five Top ten defenses. Derrick Henry thirty six rushing
touchdowns last two years. Generally had above average to excellent

(02:49):
offensive lines, no chaos.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
Kayleb.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Williams entered a hazmat spill, a disaster of a coaching staff.
Didn't they have a parking attendant by the end of
year one coaching, I mean, poor owners, bad offensive lines,
and he had to win by outscoring people. Chaos, I'm sorry.

(03:15):
And yet by year two I get the bigger, healthier,
better arm talent, who's really good latent games. In fact,
Lamar Jackson's been in the NFL eight years, I don't
have one really redeeming playoff memory. In the first football
game in the playoffs that Caleb Williams ever played, Green Bay,

(03:38):
a double digit fourth quarter come from a hind win
and this throw, which I still contend, it's an illusion.
There's nobody open, and it's one of the great throws
against your body that I've ever seen in pro football.
The numbers don't lie stack him up. Lamar was not explosive,

(04:01):
had more turnovers, fewer yards per game, and again Lamar
entered this league to a gold standard franchise. Everything Caleb
Williams has done to this point is overcoming stuff. Even
Ben Johnson. Last year they had.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
To clean up the sacks.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
They had so much to clean up, a lot of
finger crossing on the offensive line in the better conference,
in my opinion, the NFC so And I again, I
like Lamar, but in Mike Sando's anonymous fifty executive anonymous poll,
I would just flip Lamar to middle like number eleven,

(04:41):
number ten, number back, and I'd put Caleb at number five.
And am I projecting what I expect to be a
very good year three year two with Ben Johnson. Absolutely,
But to this point, Ryan Tannehill in eight years, here
is three playoff wins. He beat Ryan Tannehill, Russell Wilson

(05:01):
with the Steelers, and rookie CJ.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Stroud. You got to get me more than that.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
I mean, Mike Tomlin lost his job as a head
coach of Pittsburgh one of the reasons couldn't beat the
good teams and the good quarterbacks in the playoffs. So
Caleb now too. And I think Caleb's got some real
leadership skills. I said that when he came into the NFL,
I thought he was a little bit moody. I saw
that at USC a lot, not a lot, but occasionally
a little bit moody. Okay, a little older now didn't

(05:27):
see any of that last year he takes to coaching
the fact that he eliminated Sacks tells you he's a
totally coachable quarterback now that Lamar isn't. But I feel
like with Lamar eight years in, we got a plateau.
I feel with Caleb Williams. By November, am I going
to be saying? Is he the best quarterback in the NFL?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Here's Caleb.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Been in this league for two years, but also playing
I've played. I played a bunch of games now, and
so I know what losing looks like. I know what
winning looks like in this league. We haven't won the
big one yet, but you know, we won a bunch
of games last year. We lost a lot of games
my first year and then and then now having year
two in the offense, a lot more confidence in what.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
I'm saying to the guys out there.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
It's starting to sound more like the coaches, the steps,
alignments and things like that. So just just finding ways
to be more on top of that, you know, day
in and day out.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
I don't know, you know, I always love a guy
when he's good at the podium. That dude is good
at the podium. That matters. It's the first thing I
noticed about Dak Prescott. Didn't even like his arm, didn't
think he was a great athlete. I'm like, that guy's
good at the podium. Caleb Williams, all the stuff I
worried about moodiness, don't see it. Sacks eliminated. I would
just flip him and lamar. Okay. So I've been hearing

(06:44):
for the last two to three years that the Dodgers
are ruining baseball. Well, I watched every pitch of the
Cubs dominating the Dodgers last night at Wrigley. I'm going
tonight and uh four game losing streak for the Dodger
And let me tell you, they're doing a terrible job
at ruining baseball because they can't get anybody out. And

(07:06):
if you watch the Dodgers last night, between walks and
giving up bombs, this is why they went and got
Tarik's Google from the Tigers, the Red Sox, and the
Cubs in the last four games are eating their pitching alive. Incidentally,
all the good teams that the trade deadline made moves good. God,
how many pitchers did the Cubs acquire? The Phillies improved,

(07:28):
the Rays improved. The Dodgers, the Yankees, the Red Sox,
all the teams made multiple moves. But when you're watching
the Dodgers, a lot of you think they're hoarding players.
Know they have a losing record in July. Now we're
in August. And by the way, their last sixteen games
at home, they're bad at Dodger Stadium. So they're old,

(07:51):
they're brittle. They are tied to a lot of contracts
with old, brittle players, and their young hot shot pitcher
Justin Robleski last two starts.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
It's gotten shelled. It's given up eight home runs.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
So the Dodgers during the four game losing streak have
the second worst starting staff in Major League Baseball. And
as we said yesterday, the Yankees have the same level
of payroll and revenue. They just don't have a first
class front office. So people fear the Dodgers. But I
will tell you this, what baseball has done over the
last three to four years has really rob Manfred has

(08:28):
hit a bunch of doubles, triples, and home runs. What
has baseball done the last four years? They've leaned into
two things, urgency, pitchclock and more action universal DH bigger
bases defensive shift was banned. Urgency and action, Well, isn't
that what the Dodgers have done to become the most

(08:50):
popular Major League Baseball team. Urgency, win now whatever it costs,
and action, be hyper aggressive in trades in the free
agent market. So you don't, let's be honest. You don't
hate the Dodgers. You wish you were the Dodgers, right,
same with MJ's Bulls, Katie Warriors. You don't hate them

(09:11):
Big ten teams. You don't hate Ohio State. You wish
you were Ohio State. Just got to be honest about
that stuff. Since twenty thirteen, the Dodgers have led Major
League Baseball and tenants every year, outdrawing the Yankees, the Phillies,
the Braves, everybody. So they are scuffing and last night
was the fourth game in a row that it was

(09:32):
a pretty clear indication they're not hoarding players. They need
starting pitching badly. Here is Tariq s Google, the newest
Dodger in Bryce Harper on their move.

Speaker 5 (09:47):
The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships,
and that's my entire focus with playing baseball. Every team
could trade for me, you know, every team could make
that acquisition. Yeah, I don't really sympathize with people that
blame the Dodgers for for anything they've done. You know,
they've developed a really good organization. They draft well, they
acquired talent really well, they retain talent. It's a winning organization.

(10:07):
And now the complaints seem to be because they've won
the last two World Series, you know that. I don't
think it was like that three years ago. So I
don't really sympathize with people that are complaining because the Dodgers,
you know, do all the right things.

Speaker 6 (10:17):
They're a great team, they're area organization, they know what,
you know, what it takes to win. A lot of
teams could have done what they did. That's out of
money move. That's a prospect move, right, and there's a
lot of teams in baseball had the prospects to move them.
So yeah, I mean I don't Obviously they're they were
good before them, and they're they're even better.

Speaker 7 (10:37):
You know, let's just say it.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Is what it is.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
So we vilify. We do this.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
We build you up, we tear you down. We vilify
ultra successful people. Billionaires now are bad. They're all bad people.
Elon Musk Company's all dangerous Dodgers Katie Warriors. Hey, if
I had Christopher Nolan's budget, I could make Odyssey too skippy.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
I'd sit this one out.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
The reality is the Dodgers are brilliant, but they are
scuffing badly. This is a sub five hundred team since
July first, and it was on display last night. And
you know, I mean the idea that they get Two
of the prospects they gave up to Detroit were like
mid round picks that they developed into guys they could

(11:25):
trade to get. Scooble tells you everything you know need
to know about the Dodgers. Okay, John Middlecoff joining us today, Nick,
right top of next hour.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
You know, I it's been great.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
So I'm in the Big ten building and Big ten
football media today or yesterday, it was like Big ten
Volleyball media day.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Didn't know that existed. I do now.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
They were everywhere in the building. Mascots two weeks ago
were in the building. But I got to tell you something,
the complainers about Nil. I thought about something this morning
because I saw Mario Christobal at Miami signed a new
massive contract, and I love when Miami's good.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
In college football, that and pork.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Caitlin Clark Now she gets ripped when she doesn't talk.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
That's coming up.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Hey, It's Rob Parker and Calvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 8 (12:24):
And in addition to hearing us live week nights from
seven to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we
are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.

Speaker 7 (12:33):
That's right.

Speaker 9 (12:35):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
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All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube
again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Sophie Cunningham kind of a rock star, polarizing for a
lot of reasons. The finger point, she's physical. She plays
on a team with Caitlyn Clark. So Sophie Cunningham had
an opinion about trans athletes last week, and you know, predictably,
that's a hot button topic, got a lot of pushback.

(13:11):
By the way, her opinion is one according to polls
that over fifty percent of Americans agree with but be
that as it may. Caitlin Clark had no interest diving
in when asked about the same topic.

Speaker 6 (13:25):
I don't really discussion we really have in our locker room.
I think it's for leagues and the governing bodies to
work with their athletes to find solutions. But our focus
is on basketball and that's what we talk about and
how we can get wins, and obviously we didn't do
that tonight.

Speaker 7 (13:36):
So in to find an area to improve in that way.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Because you have any reaction to the unders answered flee.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
I'm good with that, and I'm good with Sophie. I'm
good with both. It's a free country.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Megan Kelly's a very popular provocateur podcaster, and she called
her a coward for not having an opinion. So I
don't know exactly what courage looks like. I can't necessarily
define it. I've always thought cops, firemen, and military personnel
that put their life on the line to protect me
and my family. That probably cracks the top one or two.

(14:11):
I don't think political opinions crack.

Speaker 3 (14:13):
My top ten.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
I think believing that political comments are courageous is a
misdiagnosis of expertise. Listen I don't ask my general contractor
to fix my cavities, and I don't ask my dentist
to tile my bathroom. I don't know why we demand
that are athletes. We don't do this with Bobby Flay.

(14:36):
We don't do it with Gordon Ramsay. Could you have
an opinion on tariffs? We don't ask Bill maher Ben Shapiro,
could you dissect a zone defense? But there's something about athletes.
And by the way, if you're an athlete, you can't win.
Lebron and Aaron Rodgers dip their toe in the pool
with politics.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
They get crushed.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Michael Jordan and Tiger Wood said, nah, pass, they get crushed.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
So where's the win.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
My take is Caitlin Owes nobody in the media and
assist for a game she didn't choose to play. Politics
is divisive. It is a shark tank. I've often warned
people in my industry. Sports is fun. Politics is awful,
and it's interesting for about three days during the mid

(15:32):
terms and about three days during our election for a president.
You can have it. You can have it after that.
So I don't know making Kelly's definition of courage. Cops, fireman, military,
probably my top three leaning in. I mean, let's be
honest about politics. People always say keep politics out of sports.

(15:54):
That's not true. You like politics when you agree with it, right.
I don't think that's courage to be provocative and get
people to say things that I can feed my audience,
whether it's left leaning or a right leaning audience. But
what is it about athletes who are obsessed, who have

(16:15):
these incredibly refined skills where they've gone a mile deep
on specific traits shooting a ball, throwing a football, using
a six iron, serving a tennis ball. They're great at it.
It's taken hours of focus. Sometimes athletes not a criticism
or reality or a bit lobsided. I don't look for

(16:36):
athletes for political acumen. I really don't, and I don't
believe in shut up and dribble. But I also don't
believe in speak up and dribble for everybody. If you
choose sportscaster or athlete er chef to have a strong
political opinion, it is up to you. I'd warn you

(16:56):
it's divisive. People now debate when they lose elections, if
they're rigged when it appears they're not. So it's it's
where's the win for an athlete. Michael Jordan and Tiger
respectfully pass Republicans by sneakers, attacked, Lebron and Aaron Rodgers

(17:20):
have an opinion attacked. I got no problem with Sophie
Cunningham's opinion and no problem at all Caitlin Clark passing
up on a shop. John Middlecoff with the.

Speaker 7 (17:32):
News turned on the news.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
This is the herdline news, you know.

Speaker 9 (17:38):
Speaking of politics, calling, maybe Congress should look into the
running back market because that is a group of men
that has got the short end of the stick for
a while. B Jon Robinson, who I think is considered
one of the best players in the NFL. Yeah, he
just had twenty three all purpose yards carried the Falcons.

Speaker 7 (17:54):
Actually they won eight games after a slow start.

Speaker 9 (17:57):
Just sign a new contract for three year, seven seventy
five million dollars and reportedly fifty million dollars guaranteed. To
put this into some perspective, his teammate Drake London, who's
never been a pro bowler, never been an All Pro selection,
got double that and guaranteed money. Obviously, the running backs
have been scorned over the years, despite especially in this

(18:18):
day and age, right, you have a lot of all
purpose backs McCaffrey, Jamiir Gibbs. You know, Dereck Henry's been
extremely productive. He's probably less of a threat in the
in the past game. What do you make of the
overall running back market? Is it a huge inefficiency in
the national football Well, I.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
Think I mean the fact that Derrick Henry is still
productive and still getting paid. You know, it is the
last position in football that you can hit from any angle, anytime, anywhere.
And so I think I started hearing this about seven
or eight years ago from executives in the league. Is
boy be very careful about the second contract of the
running back. But like any other industry, if you're great,

(18:55):
you'll get paid. Christian McCaffrey's had injuries multiple he's pay
It's like anything else. Like there are certain positions you
could argue were getting overpaid. There's a little bit of
a wide receiver, bubble running back. Probably. I think safeties
and tight ends are a little underpaid. But even interior
offensive linemen, if you're great, guards get paid. So I mean,

(19:19):
I just I Bjeon's never been a guy that was
going to struggle to find work or get high compensation.
He's just an elite player.

Speaker 9 (19:27):
You could make the argument that unless you're Jamar Cha
Ceede Lamb some of the top wide receivers, the price
in which you have to pay for those guys. You know,
I like Drake London at a one hundred million dollars guaranteed.
I like Bijon a lot more. The other thing is Bijeon,
Jamier Gibbs, McCaffrey over the course of his career. These
guys are really hybrid players. I think Bjon last year

(19:49):
at seventy nine catches. Yes, if you told Bjeon Tomorrow
or Jamier Gibbs you can no longer play running back,
just play slot receiver, they.

Speaker 7 (19:57):
Would be fine.

Speaker 9 (19:58):
Making So to me, those players are extremely valuable, and
you know Stefanski big part of his offense.

Speaker 7 (20:04):
I would imagine it's going to feature Bijon this year.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Also running backs that should be noted. A wide receiver,
especially a deep threats not going to do much for
you in bad weather. A running back in winter playoff
weather can absolutely control the temple and the clock. I
also think when you lead late in playoff games, the
last two drives, who's more valuable, the deep threat or
the running back. So I think if you look at

(20:28):
kind of the ideology of football, really good teams tend
to lead in the fourth quarter. Really good teams, especially
on the road, want to get out of town with
a win and eat the clock. That's where running backs
are essential.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Totally.

Speaker 9 (20:42):
Well, I know you love quarterback tiers and our man
in Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes is obviously, coming off the
ACL injury, is still rated number one overall in the list,
but for the first time since twenty twenty two voters
placed him in one of the voters placed in the
second tier. Obviously before the ACL injury, I think it's

(21:03):
fair to say relative to his standards, he had a
down season. Yes, and if you're putting him number one
on the list, it's not based on last year because
he was not the best quarterback in the league, but
his resume, like Manning, got to this point. Obviously, Brady
is better than everyone else's na Well.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
If you take Allen and Mahomes, since both have gotten
paid at the top of the class, two things are true.
Allen's defense in Buffalo has not been as good they
had to move off defensive players, but his offensive guys
are still good. Left tackle, running back, tight end, receiver
Kansas City.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
It's different.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
They've had to move off like offensive linemen, right, Like
they had to move off Joe Tooney, they moved off
Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelsey's gotten old running back.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
They've had some misses.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
So the reality is Mahomes doesn't have the offensive support
he did when he was inexpensive. Allen doesn't have the
defensive support. It's just teams make choices, and I think
a lot of the inefficiency of Mahomes the last two
years is no running game, which is hurts even the
best quarterbacks, and left tackle. It's been a little hit
and miss for them. So I do think they've solved

(22:14):
both those issues in Kansas City this year.

Speaker 9 (22:16):
I think one way to get him back rolling a
little bit that they became they played so many games
because of the Super Bowl run, right, they went to
five or six Super Bowls in the year they missed it.
They were in the AFC Championship game. Is to take
a little pressure off him. That's why I think they
bought Kenneth Walker on the open market. They've invested still
heavily in their offensive line. Andy Reid's never going to

(22:37):
be Kyle Shanahan when it calls to calling run plays.

Speaker 7 (22:40):
He likes to call passes.

Speaker 9 (22:41):
I would expect them though, to be much more run
heavy and try to slow down the game a little bit.

Speaker 7 (22:46):
This year. One of your favorite guys, Sean Payton.

Speaker 9 (22:50):
Obviously, this offseason added a big time wide receiver in
Jalen Waddle and his quarterback Bo Nicks, which had he
struggled with them down the field passes over the course
of his short career. He's been really impressed with his
new wide receiver.

Speaker 7 (23:07):
Here's what he had to say.

Speaker 10 (23:09):
He's an explosive playmaker. Guy's really good at what he does.
He gets open, he makes plays, He's fast, he's really explosive.
He's great ball in hand, he's great going to getting
the ball deep. He's great, you know in screen game.
He can do just a lot of things. He's very versatile.
So he adds an extra element to our offense and
it's exciting.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, I mean Cartland.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Sutton's always been a big, tall, rangy guy, good catching radius,
good in the red zone. Wattle's sort of a explosive
dynamic Get the ball to him quick, let him do
some stuff postcatch. So between Mims Franklin, Sutton and Waddle
that is an elite to me, that's a really strong
receiving core.

Speaker 9 (23:51):
These are different players, but years ago when Debo was
really in his heyday, they did everything to get the
ball in his hands. And Sean Payton has made a
career when he was in New Orleans with different hybrid
type players. Yeah, obviously, Jalen Wattle has been very productive
on teams that were pretty average to below and now
you put them on this I mean you could argue
the Broncos top thirty forty players best roster.

Speaker 7 (24:14):
In the league.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yep.

Speaker 9 (24:15):
So I mean the high expectations and you know, in
a bad draft, give your first round pick for this player.

Speaker 7 (24:21):
I would expect Jalen Watta would be.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
Very, very productive this year yep.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
And also Peyton has always been great at designing plays
to get to us guys big time.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
John Middlecoff with the news, Well.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
That's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herd
Line News.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
So one of the things John and I are going
to do next segment before the end of the hour,
thirty six straight seasons in the NFL, thirty six three
and a half decades, there's been at least four new
playoff teams that's minimum, minimum four, sometimes eight. The last decade,
the average has been six, so it's come down slightly,

(24:58):
and I think that's because the league is quarterback centric
much more than thirty years ago. So if you have
a quarterback he's really elite and you give him a
capable coach, you kind of feel like they're going to
be a playoff team or close to it. So when
we come back, I'm going to do that. We are
both going to pick our five new playoff teams. So
in the last thirty six years, at least four new

(25:20):
playoff teams. In the last decade six is the average.
Will each give you five five new playoff teams before
we get there. So Mario Cristibaal and I've always said
there's three programs in college football that are kind of flashy.
They almost feel like thirty percent Pro Texas Longhorns, USC
in Miami. I think the sport's better when they're viable.

(25:42):
I think it makes college football feel less rural and
more big city. And Mario Christibal, who will be on
our show in the next few weeks, has signed a
new contract with Miami. So I was waiting for twenty
years for Miami to get good again because they just
feel big. They kind of feel like a flashy noted.
I know they're kind of in a conference, but they

(26:02):
kind of feel like their own brand, and I love
them for it. So this is one of the things
about the NIL. I've been waiting twenty years for Miami
to be good, and the NIL has clearly helped them.
And so the two things in the two groups. The
NIL has really helped academic schools like Indiana Top seven

(26:23):
or eight business school, Vanderbilt now totally viable, just beat
Georgia for some recruits Notre Dame. It can help academic
schools that have richer graduates, and you hope some of
those rich graduates at Vanderbilt. They're clearly doing it. Send
money to your athletic programs. So that used to not

(26:43):
be the case, Like Vanderbilt could not compete with Georgia.
Now they still recruit from them.

Speaker 6 (26:48):
You know.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Notre Dame had years where they weren't very good.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
Now they got the best talent arguably in the country
this year outside of maybe Ohio State. And the other
group it's helped are schools like Miami and Texas which
are flat. They got big money and they got egos
and they like to compete. But ask yourself, was college
sports really better? Think about this? It got really repetitive

(27:15):
right five year stretch? Were the only teams that played
for the national championship in a five year stretch were LSU, Bama, Clemson,
and Georgia. In the last three years, these teams have
played for national championships in college football Michigan, Washington, Miami, Indiana, Ohio.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
State, Notre Dame. I like that better. I like that better.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
It used to be in college football specifically, I mean,
can we be honest about this? It was a race
to the bottom. It was like, we'll sign gigantic classes.
Who can we get into school? It was a race
to the bottom. Often, not all was, but often now Actually,
it's a race at the Miami strong academically. Look at

(28:02):
the Big Ten last year, Look at the champions last year.
Michigan won a national championship in basketball. It's an elite
academic institution. UCLA won the women's national championship. That's the
number one public institution in North America.

Speaker 3 (28:20):
I mean, you're telling me that's a bad thing.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Indiana football sixteen to oh one of the top seven
eight Business schools in America. So it's rewarding academics. If
you have a high a great business school. Miami's a
very good institution. Notre Dame's good. If you have high
academic standards and affluent graduates. Mark Cuban gives back to
the school. You have a chance now, you didn't have

(28:47):
a chance. Before Indiana was sixteen to oh, they were
more likely to go oh and eleven ten years ago.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Then go sixteen to O.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Vandy can win, Vandy can have Heisman's, Indiana can win,
and the big Dogs still do fine. But we got
to a point where it was just like you won
in college football because of geography and proximity you had
more great high school football teams around your area. But

(29:15):
I mean, how many schools have that eight ten in
the country?

Speaker 3 (29:21):
And it was often a race to the bottom, you know.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
It was like, you know, you just figured out ways
to kind of you know, in all these conferences, who
could you get in school? Now we're rewarding academic standing
kind of matters. The Vanderbilts, Indiana, UCLA. This is called
college basketball college football.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Like, so I kind of like where we're at on
this stuff.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
You know, I mean, I don't think it's a I mean, again,
Clemson dominated for a period, that's great, but now Miami
and Notre Dame in the conference have leapfrog them considered,
you know, better academic institutions. It's nothing against CLEMS. I
got nothing against Clems and I got nothing against LSU.
They're still good, they're still viable, they have great coaches.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
But I really kind of like where we're at now, where.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
I know it's going to be the end of college football,
and the transfer portal is still a little wonky for
my taste. It's a little wild wild West. I think
there should be like can you transfer how about three times?

Speaker 3 (30:27):
Not seven? You know, nil. We probably should have some ceiling.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
I mean even even the NFL's got caps on stuff, right.
I don't want to have one team spending eighty million
in the other spending two. But I feel like college
sports players are staying.

Speaker 3 (30:46):
I mean, there's an earth thing with the nil.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
These young people, men and women, they're staying college longer.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
It's called college sports.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
They're staying at these great universities longer, going to more classes,
getting more degrees, Academic standing, affluent boosters matter.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Now, I'm gonna tell you I think.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
It to win for the sport, all the sports, all right,
coming up, John and I ten new playoff teams.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
I don't know his five. I don't think he knows mine.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Next, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
Weekdays and Neon Easter nine AM Pacific.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
All right, thirty six straight years in the NFL at
least four new playoff teams each year minimum in the
last decade. The averages six last year's playoff teams AFC Broncos, Patriots,
jag Steelers, Texans, Bill's Chargers, NFC Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Panthers, Rams,

(31:49):
forty nine Ers, Packers slide in minimum four averages six,
So I thought i'd slice it in the middle. John,
and I will give you five. They have new playoff
teams for this year. That's one more than the minimum
over the last thirty six years. Could be more. I'll
start Kansas City Chiefs. Here's why Andy Reid twenty seven

(32:13):
seasons never had back to back losing seasons. They had
two huge needs, corner and running back. They have addressed
both with elite players. They were one in nine in
one score games. Okay, that stuff always turns and I
do believe when Mahomes has had protection and a semi
solid run game, he's a playoff quarterback. Kansas City is

(32:35):
back in.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
You're up.

Speaker 7 (32:37):
I'm in agreement there.

Speaker 9 (32:38):
Andy Reid in twenty seven seasons has missed the playoffs
back to back years one time in his career. Under Spags,
they have had a top ten defense now scoring defense
for three straight years. When they scored last year above
twenty two points, which was a struggle, they went six
and two. So if they could just find ways to
score some points with their defense, which they just loaded

(33:00):
in the draft, three high end defensive players in the
top forty, multiple defensive lineman with an elite corner, this
is a double digit win team.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
Collin all right.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Next up for me, NFC, I'm gonna go Detroit. Lions
face the easiest schedule in the NFL. New England did
last year how that workout for him, ended up in
the Super Bowl. Detroit has upgraded. Drew Pensig now is
coming from Arizona to Detroit, and they're already good at
running back, wide receiver, quarterback, O line. They've shuffled in

(33:31):
some players. Pine Sewel now goes to left tackle. Blake Miller,
the rookie. Their top pick goes to the right tackle.
This is a winning team. They've had the most injured
defense in the league the last two years. Yes, more
than the forty nine ers. They've had bad injury luck.
I think with a new OC, I think it's the
kind of offense in a mediocre defensive division where they'll eat.

(33:54):
I think the Lions are back into the playoffs.

Speaker 9 (33:56):
As the Hall of Famer one said, how about them Cowboys?
As Cowboys, they had a top two offense in the
league last year. The problem was defense. It was horrendous,
led the league in penalties. Matt eberflus to a place
for Parker from the Philadelphia Eagles, who now has some
pieces to work with. They draft Caleb Downs, they draft

(34:18):
another defensive end, They trade for multiple defensive linemen. Again,
offense is not going to be their problem. Their defense
doesn't need to be the Pee Carroll Seattle Seahawks. They
just need to be serviceable. I like the Cowboys this year.

Speaker 3 (34:31):
All right.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
I'm standing in the NFC New York Giants. The last
two years they've been two to fifteen in one score games.
Nobody's close to that. Bad last year they were one
and seven. They also lost five games last year with
a lead in the fourth quarter, so they were the
worst team in the league at holding leads. Now I

(34:53):
get Jackson Dart, who was pretty good as a rookie.
Scataboo is back. They've added pieces on the offensive line
that was already top twelve in the league last year,
rvel Reese Mile and kaih Fields Notre Dame wide receiver
Francis Mauioga the offensive lineman which was solid from Miami.
So I love their draft class. I also think bringing

(35:16):
in Isaiah Likely really nice pickup from Baltimore. Again, I
don't think this is an eleven twelve win team. I
think they squeak in as a wild card, but the
New York Giants are in.

Speaker 9 (35:28):
I'm going Cincinnati Bengals here, Colin the Bengals. They have
one of the easiest schedules in the league. We never
have questions when Burrow's on the field because they have
elite playmakers. Jamar Chase is one of the better wide
receivers we've ever seen. T Higgins probably one of, if
not the best number two in the league. Question his defense, well,
what do they do they trade the tenth pick for
Dexter Lawrence, who Jason Kelsey has said is the hardest

(35:49):
guy to block in the NFL when he's right. They
also add multiple defensive ends, one in free agency, one
high in the draft in Casius Howell from Texas A
and m a speed pass rusher all their defense.

Speaker 7 (36:02):
Remember couple of years ago they went nine to eight.

Speaker 9 (36:04):
They were one of the hottest teams in the league,
but they start slow under Zach Taylor. If they could
just be serviceable in September and early October, I think
you're looking at an eleven twelve win team, especially when
you factor in the division, which is wide open.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
I go back to the AFC Baltimore Ravens get back in.
Not only do they have an easy schedule the first
seven weeks with a rookie head coach, first time play
called a lot of moving parts. First seven weeks, they
faced teams that didn't make the playoffs, so it's a
kind of a soft opening for the Baltimore Ravens. Also,

(36:39):
they've never missed back to back seasons the playoffs since
Lamar Jackson was there. They're a team last year again
lost a lot of close games. Lamar wasn't healthy, appears
to be now three new starters on the offensive line.
I don't know if Jesse Mentor is going to be
a great head coach, but the NFL did amost solid.
It's a very opening that ensures a little even if

(37:04):
they don't quite have everything buttoned up. I think they
make their way. In Vegas has them as the top
over under team in the league. That's a little lofty
to me, but I think Baltimore's back in.

Speaker 9 (37:16):
You know, it's hard when you start eight and two
and somehow you end up missing the playoffs. But when
you have a grandfather at the end of the year
as you're starting quarterback in Philip Rivers told you everything
you need to know. The Colts got desperate last year
when Daniel Jones got injured, but when he played, they
were one of the most dominant offenses we had ever seen.
Jonathan Taylor returns, they have one of the best offensive

(37:39):
lines in the league. I read this morning that Alex
Peerce is trending to get back on the field. He's
battled some offseason surgery, and it comes down to the
defense and the quarterback's health. We know Shane Stiken when
he has a functional quarterback, is one of the better
offensive play callers in the league.

Speaker 7 (37:57):
I think the Colts battle back in our wildcard team
this year.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
And finally for me, the New Orleans Saints very winnable division.
It's noisy in Tampa. Tyler Shuck four of the last
five games last year. They love him in New Orleans,
big tall kid with an arm. They won for their
last five games. They went heavy wide receiver, tight end,
and running back in the offseason, so they are building

(38:21):
an offense around him, and they got money to spend
Travis ATM. We'll shore up that running game, which was
lousy last year. Their defense was top ten and again
this is not a high firepower offensive division. So Tyler
Shuck played well late.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
I mean, if you look at his numbers.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
If you look at his numbers last year led all
rookies in completion percentage, passing yards, and passer ray, Tyler
Shuck's passerready was ninety six. That's higher than Matt Stafford's
career passer rating. Like Tyler Shuck was kind of the
surprise quarterback in the league. Winnable division. The Saints are
my fifth new team.

Speaker 9 (38:57):
I think you stole my list Colin. I'm in agreement here.
I love this pick. This is one of my sleeper
teams of the year. The knock on shuck was he's
too old. Well, they needed a grown up in the
building because of that position at you know, since Drew
Brees retired, it was a revolving door five and four
as a starting quarterback. They add Jordan Tyson, who was
one of the best athletes you know in this draft,

(39:18):
to go with the Lobb, the ad Travis Etn who
was a huge, huge catalyst for Liam Cohen in that
offense in Jacksonville last year.

Speaker 7 (39:26):
Kellen Moore has been a really good offensive coordinator. Obviously
won the Super Bowl with Philadelphia.

Speaker 9 (39:30):
Him and McCarthy butted heads at the end in Dallas,
but a lot of pretty high powered offenses when he
was calling the play, So division like the Bengals wide open.

Speaker 7 (39:40):
I like the Saints a lot.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Yeah, it's I went and it was funny because I
was making these picks last night and I had the
Bengals in, but I pulled him out and I text Ryan,
I went back and they got the delp, the tight end,
the blocking tight end from Georgia. Who will see if
he's a receiver, but he can block. He's an elite blocker.
They went and got a running back. They went heavy
into Jordan Tyson and wide receivers. And you start, and

(40:03):
I went to YouTube. You start watching Shuck. You start
watching some of its highlights last year without much of
a receiving corps outside of a Laves Chris Olave from
Ohio State, so outside of him, they didn't have a
lot of weapons on the outside.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
They went heavy into help.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
For Tyler Shuck and I start looking at that division,
and Tampa's noisy. We don't know what Atlanta is at quarterback.
Carolina is good, Matt's fult well with the Rams, but
still feels like a little roster light. So my takeaway
is Chiefs Saints we agree with. And I got to
tell you, if Joe Burrow and the Cowboys make the playoffs,

(40:40):
the NFL will be very happy. Your list would make
the NFL very happy.

Speaker 9 (40:44):
To me, the Bengals really have no excuse. I mean,
Joe Burrow said it. It's the best roster he's played with.
Zach Taylor takes I would say a lot of heat,
but once upon a time he did beat Andy Reid
in a conference Championship game, and that team went to
the Super Bowl and they had a lead late in
that game.

Speaker 7 (41:01):
I mean, he's had success as a head coach, all right.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
Nick Wright is around the corner. Mike Sando, the athletic,
the tears, the quarterback tears is in.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
I just flipped Caleb and Lamar hour two neck
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