August 12, 2026 • 42 mins
More on why the Lakers are being sold again
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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 3 (00:27):
Here we go our number two.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
The Los Angeles Lakers were purchased by Mark Walter fourteen
months ago, Dodger owner. He has now flipped this magnificent
condo to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. One owns a
big capital firm East Coast, and Bob Iger very well known,
(00:57):
has been running Disney for a long time and successfully.
Luka Dontich the centerpiece of this organization. We've said this
many times over the last year. The centerpiece is Luca
and JJ Reddick. I like the star, I like the coach.
I may like the coach better than the star. Durability issues.
(01:17):
Not much of a defensive player. Is he a great leader?
Maybe he gets there. He'll never be Lebron, He'll never
be MJ. I'll tell you that. Never going to be
like Bill Russell or Jerry West in terms of leadership.
But he's a heck of an offensive weapon, he said.
Being a Laker means everything to me. I'm excited, gotten
used to big changes over the last few years, no
matter what, no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise.
(01:39):
Look forward to meeting Josh and Bob. We can get
will work building something special in La together. In fact,
the last time I saw Adam Silver in person, he's
been on my show, was at a Laker game with
Bob Iger. I was sitting down and they walked up
and I was like, hey, but this is kind of
the relationship that has endured the test to time. I'm
(02:00):
Adam Silver, David Stern and the late David std Bob
Iger all did a lot of business together. So I
would imagine Adam Silver is very, very comfortable with this
potential ownership group with that Darren Revel sports business analyst,
and been doing this. I've known Darren fort ever and
I this morning, when this story break, we said, get Revel,
(02:20):
get him, let's go, let's talk.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Okay, let's start with this.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I cannot believe Mark Walter saw the Lakers as a flip,
as a short term investment right like this. This has
to do with the investigation, doesn't.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
It, Darren?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, I mean, this was not the way that Mark
Walter makes money. Certainly, someone who owns a Premier League team,
owns the Lakers the Dodgers, This could not have been
a flip from the start. You know, the idea of
owning the Lakers and Dodgers and you know, putting them
together and owning LA is amazing. But now there's an
(02:56):
investigation against Guggenheim and his company.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
I don't know where that is.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I don't think people really know, but I will tell
you that this was not a natural move. Just a
couple of weeks ago, Kushner and Iiger were lining up
for Vegas and sniffing around. And to me, this at
least appears to look like the NBA being Adam Silver pulling.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
The Marionette and going like this.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And obviously with the pressure of Ishbia, the pressure of Balmer,
certainly the NBA makes moves before Major League Baseball does.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Listen. There's a lot of billionaires out there. Iger's got
a pretty clean reputation, Disney Iiger. He's liked in the
arts community. To your point, could this be the perfect
owner in an unsettled, turbulent situation which could get really
ugly pr wise, for Mark Walter, Iiger does feel. I mean,
(03:57):
he's about as a septic has cleaned the image, is he?
I mean, I he's Disney. Yeah, he's Disney.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And for fans, fans want someone who one they know.
Most people know Bob Iger. He's been sniffing to be
a majority owner for a while here.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
And and what's interesting about Iger to me is he
would be the type of guy because he literally knows everyone,
He's met with everyone as the CEO of Disney.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Over the years.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
He'd be the guy who would hire some crazy people
outside the sport you've never heard of, and that would
make people nervous, right, Like, I'm not talking obviously, you
know JJ's where he is, but people behind the scenes
to make moves in a business sense that perhaps have
not been in sports before. That's what I think Iger
(04:49):
could do, just generally smart people.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And and so the Lakers need this, you know, they
need to They need to get back, and certainly at
twelve billion, you need to get back quick.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I could see honestly, I could see Eiger calling Steven
Spielberg or George Lucas and saying he to.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
What to do, one thing to do, one cool, amazing
thing that is never Sometimes it's in name, but sometimes
it's going to be someone who potentially you've never heard
of but never been in sports, but is going to
make some crazy, smart move that will make them different.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, people always think the numbers are outrageous, but
the richest people in the world, you know, Liverpool, Manchester United,
the Yankees, the Lakers, the Rams are going to be here.
You don't know what's happening to Navidia in the next decade.
You don't know in the next year.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Apple.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Apple's had big swings. My take is the number sounds
outrageous to many, but the Seahawks sold for almost ten billion,
and I'm like, great GM, great stadium, great revenue, great league.
Do you look at twelve and a half billion and think, whoa,
whoa whoa Mark Walter took these guys to the cleaners.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I mean, I've been I've been looking at franchise valuations
Collins since nineteen ninety seven, and I've been pretty wrong.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
To be honest with you. If you look at.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Twenty eleven, you can pull a video of me on
CNBC saying the Warriors four hundred and fifty million dollars,
this has gotta be the top, and then a year
later the Bucks at five twenty five and then Bomber.
I mean, I was on ESPN in twenty fourteen saying, man,
he is paying twelve times revenues here that is absurd,
(06:31):
and this deal is twenty three times revenue. So you know,
I would say, listen, we're in a degenerate nation where
we have people going from millionaires to billionaires. Look at Austin,
the City of Austin is going to have all these
billionaires who literally are at two hundred and fifty million,
and then after they're selling on SpaceX, they'll be wore
(06:52):
two point eight billion. Listen, I think you're going to
have guys come out of nowhere where the leagues are
going to have to.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Watch it is. Are they going to go from everywhere?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Right, so they're gonna be worth ten billion to all
of a sudden they're gonna be worth a billion. Again,
these the fluctuation and the going from rich to poor
porter rich. Yes, it's happened, We've seen it. Aubrey McClendon, Oklahoma,
City thunder. He went up and down. We're going to
see more ups and downs because that's really the energy
of the country right now.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
So that's what the leagues have to protect.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
They will be able to get the asset values and
the numbers up, but are they going to be able
to have the right people who will stay being billionaires
versus obviously Jack Kent, Cook and Jerry Buss are not
going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I tend to think with streamers Amazon and Netflix now
in the sports business driving up television contracts, CBS, Fox,
they have to keep the NFL. I tend to think,
why these rich guys always buy in it. It's like, listen,
we got an eleven year window here of you know,
thirty billion dollars in guaranteed revenue. I watch games like
(08:04):
you do all day. The stadiums are packed. Ticket price
is more expensive. America has decided sports and our kids
we're going to spend on it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I mean, I.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Experience experiences win.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Experiences win, and the experience and being there.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
Is more important than ever before.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Even if you have to go to an NFL game
and then watch it after to see what really happened,
at least.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You were there.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, here's what's interesting. The Dodgers are old, expensive and
increasingly brittle. They got six years left on the monkey
bets Deeal. There's been a sharp decline deferred payments to Otani.
Their pitchers can't stay healthy. Does this affect Mark Walter?
Does this affect the Dodgers in any way?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I think it depends on the investigation.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
You know, Googenheim, their insurance business is buckets and buckets
of insurers, which sometimes they're hard to figure out and
their time hard to unwind, and sometimes it's, hey, this this,
we don't understand this well because at its surface it's
not understandable and potential. So I don't want to say
(09:11):
because of the what they don't understand right now, that
is why there's a negative impact. I'm not saying Mark
Walter is going to be able to you know, won't
be able to keep the Dodgers, but you know this
has to If you're a Dodgers fan, you're going to
want this investigation to end as soon as possible because
you have to know, you know what's next, and Mark
(09:32):
Walter has to know what's next. You don't want someone
who is the owner to have this in the back
of their mind and say I'm going to hold on.
And then you know, part of their strategy has been
spend to the hilt and actually win versus the Mets,
which is spend to the hilt and not win. So
you know, I think it's going to depend on the investigation,
but I do think that the NBA definitely pulled the
(09:54):
strings here, given even in LA what was going on
with Bomber and how on comfortable that still is?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay, I got to ask you this, Northwestern University got
a thirty five million dollar gift. A couple of kids
play on the football team. Their parents are Chicago Whites,
and they put in thirty five million. They have an
eight hundred and ninety million dollar brand new, privately funded
football stadium. Several years ago, they built waterfront facilities. My
son and I just happened to be on Northwestern's campus
(10:22):
earlier this later, earlier this spring. It's absolutely unbelieved. I
tell my wife all the time. There's a lot of
names on buildings. I don't know who those people are,
but they got a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Well, unfortunately, unfortunately Mark Walter's name is on one of them.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
But we'll hold that one out. You know.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
So there's the new stadium, Ryan Field, I got to
ask you this. I am pro nil kids are staying
in college longer. It gives Indiana, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame a
chance to compete at the highest level. It's more inclusive.
It's a broader base of teams. You know, a lot
of these academic powers like Vandy, Indiana's business school, they
(10:59):
were not and the running for five star recruits. They
couldn't pay staffs like Baman and Georgia. I look at Northwestern,
you went there. I'm not sure if they'll become Indiana.
But what I mean, I've the last two years Big
Ten Bowl and College Football Playoff records against the SEC.
It's not a small margin. They're winning. They're blowing them out.
(11:23):
There is a gap that's growing. Are you surprised by it?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
No, I think they've become the SEC of what happened
fifteen years ago.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
In the run obviously we've had three in a row.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I do think there is a if you can get
to the point of all else is equal, and you
look at I always thought that if Northwestern could get
to hey, we'll match the number that everyone else is matching.
And if you don't make the NFL. You know, your
earning potential is six hundred thousand dollars more or whatever
it is. You know, we've always this school has always
(11:57):
said it's not a four year decision, it's a forty
year decision. The issue has been the issue has been
that once ANIL came, at least initially, Northwestern would get
beat out by the guys. Now there's still an academic requirement,
but they would get beat out by those guys.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
And you know, so now if it's.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
All else is equal for Northwestern again, I'm not saying
they're winning the national title.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
I'm just saying the game is definitely on.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I was a little worried as a fan, as an
alum that we were going to build this, you know,
eight hundred and seventy five million dollars stadium and you know,
have no one to play in it.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But this it's nice.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
It's nice to get this thirty five million dollar gift,
you know, to see that.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, I'm going to see it next week.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
And I just saw the athletic director last night and listen,
Indiana was arguably the worst program in the country for
about a twenty year stretch, and now they have the coach,
they have the revenue, They've got Mark Cuban, They've got
that business school which is top seven eight in the country.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So all right, if you just joined us.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Darren Ravel, a sports business analyst, been doing this a
long time. Also is the founder of Click, the sports
memorabilia company. Some of that's probably behind him. The reality
is the Dodger owner Mark Walter his group Guggenheim bought
the Lakers. Fourteen months later they flipped it for the record.
How long does it take to unwind ownership? Is this something?
(13:17):
Is Eiger? I mean by the start of the season
here in October?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is it? I mean? How long does it take?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Not not long, because Walter didn't come with fifty other
owners that now need to get out. That's part that
The hardest thing to do is unwind a sponsorship deal
that you've put in every stadium and we know that,
you know, the Lakers have done that, you know, so
we have that, and then we have you know, tons
(13:44):
of owners and minority owners and whether they want to
get in and out, and that's pretty much been cleared,
so this will be an easy transaction to move on.
And Iger, of course is married to Will obey. So
shout out to.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
The older people like you and me, NBA inside Edition,
what a break.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Show, Darren, good seeing you, Thanks for late notice coming
on the show all right, thanks to Yeah. Like I
know for a lot of you that's wonky and it's
behind the curtain stuff. But I mean, we just had
the Lake her Sell and there's a federal investigation with
the current person involved, Mark Walter, who I think actually
(14:22):
lives in Chicago, and it's the Northwestern thing just came
down today where somebody gave him thirty five million dollars
for maybe the thirteenth I mean, I don't know, is
it the twelfth best football program in the conference?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I know academically it's the number one school in the
conference that I know, And.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
That's what I've said.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
It used to be academics almost felt like it got
in the way of football success. Now it's an additive
in many instances, and it is called college football. I
do think the college part should matter one more.
Speaker 7 (14:53):
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Speaker 3 (16:07):
Bob Iger Josh Kushner are going to be the new.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Laker owners fourteen months after Dodger owner Mark Walter purchased
the team, but he's now under an investigation. Certainly possible.
He would need to be a little more liquid going forward.
And what doesn't change is the future in the short
term of the Lakers is Luca Austin Reeves, Walker Kessler,
(16:34):
and a very very strong young head coach JJ Reddick.
So there's a lot of things, a lot of volleyballs
in the air. Is it shocking? Absolutely? I think big picture,
iigers about as strong. Darren Ravel mentioned was Adam Silver
kind of playing Marionette here, kind of pulling the strings.
(16:55):
I absolutely believe the Lakers are too big of a
brand not for this to have been an emergency. Ramona
Shelburn saying, like Sunday night calls were made, and I'm
sure Silver on Someday sometimes Sunday was on some of
those calls. So that's a very good landing by somebody
that's well known in Los Angeles, good record work with
(17:18):
a lot of artists and athletes. Disney's not a perfect company, certainly,
but they're a centerpiece company in the California and Los
Angeles economy.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Here's John Middlcoff with the news.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
This is the headline news. Okay. One of our favorites,
Fernando Mendoza.
Speaker 10 (17:38):
He's set to make his preseason debut tomorrow night against
the Cards. He's currently the quarterback two on the Raiders'
depth chart. Clearly they want Cousins to kind of give
a little runway to start the season. Mendoza will get
plenty of experience tomorrow. And here's Kubiak on his rookie quarterback.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
You get plenty of experience in the game. Look forward
to to seeing him out there with his with his teammates.
A lot of a lot of guys that we need
to evaluate.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
But he'll get plenty of reps.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
It's been a really impressive training camp as far as
how he's prepared, and then he goes out there to
practice and you know, things don't happen on the drawing
on the paper in the playbook exactly how they do
on the field. So I think he's done a good
job of adjusting. And you know, with all of our players,
we just we just asked that as they gain experience
and they make mistakes, they don't make the same mistake twice.
(18:28):
I think that he's done a good job of that.
And now it comes to live bullets, you know, with
a live pass rush, and that'll be a whole other animal.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well, you know, very rarely over the last decade that
I said Arizona's taken on the Raiders. Must watch this. This,
this qualifies or classifies is the most interested I've been
in a.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Raider game in a long time.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
And I know it's the first, you know, preseason game,
But I I tend to think he's better than people think.
I think he's He's a bigger, stronger, more mobile version
of Matt Ryan, who I think is very good. I
think it'll be Rocky Kirk Cousins is going to start.
He'd never played under center much at Indiana or at
cal so it's a new world for him offensively. But
I think the Raiders offensive pieces are pretty darn good.
Speaker 10 (19:15):
Because I think the pushback on him would be like
there are a lot of parallels with him and JJ
McCarthy in the sense that they played on run first teams,
well rounded teams, great coaching. It's like I watch Fernanda
Mendoza win them games constantly with this arm. Yes, and
unlike JJ, he didn't just start with Signetti winning fifteen
(19:35):
games a year. He was a cow when they were
really struggling, and you know, hit adversity, which is something
clearly that translates for young players in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I just saw Kurt Signetti say this the other day.
He said, you know, listen, we would diagram two to
three running plays a game for him. Nobody was doing
that for Jared Goff And he said, you know, and
he would run two to three or four times on
his own per game. So this is not like a statue.
This is a big, strong kid. Go to the Miami
game that run for a touchdown, he took a beating.
(20:07):
It's a little like c J. Stroud against Georgia. Like
in college, justin Herbert against Wisconsin. Guys don't run a
ton in college. But then later you know, the Miami games,
the final game of the year, justin Herbert's final game,
c J. Stroud taken on Georgia. Then you get to
your last college game and it's like, oh now the coaches.
The coach is like, okay, all gas, no breaks. Run
(20:30):
if you have to run during regular seasons, you don't
want Fernando or gomf or c J. Stroud or Herbert
getting hurt. But on the last you know that Rose Bowl.
I had my friend Tom Telesco with the Chargers GM
He's like Herbert's a little mechanical. I don't know if
he can run. And against Wisconsin's best defense in a decade,
they let him run. It's like, Oh, he's really an athlete.
(20:51):
So I think he's really good.
Speaker 10 (20:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's comp I mean, I
think there are a lot of parallels with goff as
a thrower, but athletically he's much more athletic than the
Goffs and the Matt Ryans.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I think he's going to be a really good pro.
Speaker 10 (21:05):
Well, I know this type story that makes guys like
Colin Coward smile.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
The forty nine ers injury woes continue. Not only is.
Speaker 10 (21:13):
Bosa dealing with some tendonitis in that acl me, now
it's Christian McCaffrey who has some tightness. This is concerning
because of mccalf McCaffrey had calf tightness during the twenty
four training camp. He obviously ended up only playing four games.
Here's Kyle Shanahan when asked if he's worried about his.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Star running back.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
My concern would be him tough and through tightness like
a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad
and pulling something which and then it could be a month,
so that would be our concern. So once we hear
him talking in a certain way, Christian's a guy who
needs to get prepared for Week one. But also we're
pretty confident what he's done before those We're confident what
he's done in these two weeks, and we just want
(21:55):
to make sure that we don't make it something to
be concerned about.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Well, they don't get an easy entry into the season.
They opened with the Rams defensive front.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
My god, I think the NFL is lucky that the
forty nine ers were always injured because they just win
the Super.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Bowl every year. But luckily for the Pooka Nakool left
practice yesterday.
Speaker 10 (22:16):
The BOSA thing to me is more, you know, Christian McCaffrey,
from what I've been told, has been practicing every day,
working hard. To me, the BOSA he's had multiple ACL
injuries and tendonitis went from day to day to now
week to week. You know, McCaffrey definitely showed some signs
of slowing down last year. The other elephant in the
(22:37):
room is you know, George Kittle is not practicing because
he's recovering from that Achilles injury. Now, a lot of
people think that you know there's a pretty good chance
he could play Week one.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
But there are currently as we sit here a little.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Less than a month away from that game, and really
the Niners take off, I think they're going like seven
or eight days before Australia, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and
Nick Bosa. Christian McCaffrey, I feel pretty confident, but I
do think it's fair to say Nick Bos and George
Kittle are It's up in the air.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Okay, name they're eight best players, McCaffrey, Kittle, Trent Fred Warner, Bosa,
those are arguably the five best players. Mike DAWs Okay,
Mike evans Is six, Purty seven and then Dbo eight
all have an injury history. Eight for eight have an
(23:27):
injury hit. Now go to the Seahawks, same division's best players, Nicki, Menmora, JSN,
Byron Murphy, Charles Cross, Sam Darnold, Devin Weatherspoon. You don't
see a lot of injuries like they're younger players. Leonard
Williams is an old guy. But Leonard, I don't have
the numbers in front of me. He doesn't. He seems
(23:48):
to be a pretty healthy big guy. DeMarcus Lawrence I
swear to God, he's in better shape and he's better
today than he was four years ago.
Speaker 10 (23:54):
The forty nine ers the last two years, remember, because
they were coming off a bad year in twenty four.
The twenty five draft, they had high picks in every round. Well,
the guy they drafted eleventh, mikeel Williams towards acl last year.
So he's he's also on pup returning. You know, he's
a blue chip guy. They're gonna need him to become
a guy. Yeah, they's got a lot of question marks
with this team. They're very, very lucky. If they just
(24:17):
had a random bad coach, this would be a franchise
win in four games a year right now. But luckily
Kyle can keep them afloat and they just I don't know,
I got to figure out a way to get away
from the substations.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Practicing.
Speaker 10 (24:28):
Sliding is something that we usually associate with baseball. Obviously,
some quarterbacks over the years. You know, Russell Wilson with
the baseball background, pretty smooth slider.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I'd say Rogers was a smooth slider.
Speaker 10 (24:41):
Yeah, Well, Jackson Dart, his teammates have been imploring him
to slide, and yesterday Dart slid in bounds to end
a situational drill, and his head coach John Harbaugh was
asked if he liked the slide.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
I thought it did. It was great critical situation drill.
We're trying to get now a third, a third or
fourth down, but mostly third down, like anywhere from three
to five in a driving a game where the offense
can win the game in the fourth quarter with a conversion,
and so play calls and execution to get that first down.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That was what that was.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
So we had a great play. It came open, he
ran around the corner, got the first down, slid in bounds,
kept the clock running. All those things were well done.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, if I don't, I feel like there's not an
offense in the league that could be more interesting. But
it's more dependent on health than the Giants. Neighbors has
been injured, Andrew Thomas has been injured, Skataboo, Jackson Dart's
been bagged up. Like I really really think they're very
interesting offensively, but again it's like San Francisco. They've got
(25:52):
young guys, Niners guys. They have old guys who have
been banged up. Giants have young players who had who
have chronic health issues. If the Giants to me, if
you can give me thirteen to fourteen games out of
their best offensive players, I don't even need seventeen. Give
me thirteen, and I'm like, Okay, that team's gonna buy
for the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (26:13):
I do think there are certain skills that even pro
athletes developed just kind of naturally when they're in like
elementary school, in junior high. You know, Lamar Jackson's never
been a big slider. It's why when he kind of
just dives. You know, Michael Vick had never remember when
they tried to get Bobby Cox way back in the
day to teach him how to slide. Russell Wilson he
was always just Aaron Rodgers. They'd been doing that probably
(26:36):
since you know, high school.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
It just came down.
Speaker 10 (26:39):
I don't think or I think it's very difficult to
just randomly implement that into your brain to slide. I mean,
last year Jackson Dart was doing the opposite of sliding.
He thought he was like Earl Campbell. He's like lowering
his shoulder on contact, and it was a disaster. So
you can hammer that home, you can talk about it,
and obviously in certain situations, but he just naturally scrambling around.
(27:01):
I do think that's a tough transition for any athlete
when that hasn't been part of his repertoire his entire life.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I mean, Kyler and russell baseball backgrounds were very good
at it, and you'd have to I remember Russell Wilson's
prime years in Seattle. I can't remember one time he
took a shot Cam Newton.
Speaker 10 (27:23):
His first four years, he was a pillar, not a slider,
a diver Russell's. You could argue Russell is the greatest slider.
And remember he'd slide and he would like get back
up as they would blow the whistle. He would like
never even touch the ground. But it came natural to
him because he was used to wearing sliders and bat and.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Second John Middlecoff with the news.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping that the
herd line news.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So I'm looking up more stories on the.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
More stories on this.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Dodgers owner Mark Walter buys the fourteen months later he's out.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Bob Eiger and Kushner are in really interesting. It's a soft.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Landing for the Lakers, and you know, I nobody cares
about you know what you do. If you're Eiger, you
have so many connections you go call. You could call
Denzel hey can we have this? And Steven Spielberg. I mean,
I mean you could get all sorts of people that
would be like, oh yeah, I'd love to put in,
you know, twenty thirty forty million dollars into the Lakers
and make it even a softer blow. Listen, you got
(28:28):
the coach, you got your star, you got complimentary pieces.
I don't think money's ever going to be a problem
for the Lakers. I think that that arena. Listen to
the Lakers even in lean years. I mean, they draw
very very well. And do I think they overpaid for
Austin Reeves and Walker Kestler.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, but I defended both.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You couldn't let Austin Reeves walk and get nothing and everybody.
Now with Wemby's emergence, you got to have bigs. Walker
Castler's a very good shot blocking, rebounding, rim protecting big.
So I don't have a problem with that. To me.
The issue is Lucas not quite what you thought, right,
Like the closer you get, you see some dents in
that car, just just a little bit here and there
(29:13):
in Chicago, It's the Herd.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Easter nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
App in DC.
Speaker 10 (29:27):
In a once in a lifetime spectacle celebrating America's two fifty,
The Freedom two fifty Live Sunday, August twenty third, only.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
On Fox for Ben Johnson, Bears coach. You know, for
years and years, I mean it felt like one hundred years.
You're like, why can't the Bears get the offense right,
the quarterback right? And there was all sorts of excuses. Well,
Soldier Field, it's run by the city, it's a bad surface.
Well yeah it's cold. Well the Packers have great offenses.
(29:58):
It's you know, a couple of miles north. There was
always excuses, and it just came down. It's like a
political party. It just came down as they found their president.
They got Ben Johnson, and then he took Caleb Williams,
refined him, and now you have I think there's six
teams in the NFL that I would call very dynamic offense.
(30:18):
Tight end, wide receiver, quarterback capable of line speed, and
some coach coordinator or head coach is, you know, pulling
the trigger. I think Detroit is stacked. Chicago. I think
Buffalo's tight end group, Dj Moore now James Cook, great
left tackle, Hall of Fame level quarterback. I think Buffalo's
(30:40):
dynamic and a very good slot receiver. I think Philadelphia
is with all the misgivings about Jalen Hurts throwing the
ball down the middle of the field. I think the
Rams are and I think Dallas is. I think those
six Lions, Bears, Bills, Eagles, Rams, Cowboys, those are dynamic offenses. Now,
you could say Cincinnati, but we don't trust their offense
(31:00):
line and protection. You could say Minnesota, but we don't
really know how Kider Murray, how it's going to work.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
I think it's going to be very good.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
You could say Seattle, but in my opinion, Seattle is
more about power, controlling the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Take a fewer risks.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
They have a great receiver, and I love Darnold, but
you know, I don't look at their back Zach Charbonney
as a dominant back. They're kind of a power football team.
I look at San Francisco as could be so much
though as Kittle's health, McCaffrey's health. But when I look
at Chicago, there's always excuses. It's like political parties. The
Democrats were lost and then Bill Clinton arrived and he
(31:37):
just kind of synthesized the Democratic Party, and I mean
the Republicans were kind of lost and they found Trump.
And it's just always everybody always is trying to, oh,
what do you do with all these socialists?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
The Democrats? You don't know what's going to happen. In
a year.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
They could find their president Obama. You just don't know
whoa why aren't the Bears good at quarterback? Well and
talented history at quarterback? And then they get a really
good one in Caleb as I is still not great
and then they find there, you know, their president, their
guy Ben Johnson. And so I never forget what Jared
(32:13):
Goff was. The year before Sean McVay arrived, it was
bussed to they got a guy. So you can have
all sorts of talent. But I think we all say
this fairly, is that Sean McDermott was a good coach.
Was he a great fit for Josh Allen? Joe Brady
(32:33):
could very well be a better fit. Yet overall, is
he as good a coach as McDermott. I don't know,
but Ben Johnson earlier this week I went to practice
Sunday on his ongoing communication with Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12 (32:47):
I tried to get him to play as fast as
I possibly can so that it gives him the maximum
amount of time to communicate to his guys. Recall the
coaching points that we've already talked about. There's not a
whole lot of extra dialogue. For the most part, all
of our conversations have taken place over the course of
the week or the night before the game, to where
it's just a matter of how quickly can I get
(33:08):
him the personnel and the play call so that he
can go out there and cut it loose like we
talked about.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You know, it's interesting earlier this week, and I know
most our average audience doesn't watch or listen to every show.
So I'm going to show you something I did earlier
this week, and we had graphics for it, and I
love the graphics we made. That's kind of you know,
inside TV talk. But we were talking about every division
and making predictions. I do think the NBA has always
(33:36):
been fairly predictable. Do you have the coach. Do you
have the culture? Do you have you know, do you
have one to two superstars? Now, who's gonna win the championship?
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Eight years? Eight champs? That's not easy. The Nick shocked.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Everybody, including believe it or not, even Nick fans didn't
think they'd become the greatest postseason team.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Since Kevin Durant and the Warriors.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Right like middle of the Atlanta Series, you're like, I
don't know, I don't know what I got here, and
then they got red hot. And in baseball it's very
hard to predict. Obviously, if you have big payrolls, it helps.
But the Mets are offal and the Brewers and the
Rays and the Guardians are very good. So we're the
White Sox with lower payrolls. So I do think the NFL, though,
(34:18):
is becoming a little bit more predictable over the last decade.
And you know this, we're changing all the rules to
protect and benefit the quarterback. I also think quarterback coaching
in the NFL in college is much smarter.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Than it was years ago.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I think the quality of fan knowledge, the quality of analytics,
general managers, college and pro coaches. I think coaches are
just smarter today. And I think outdated guys. You know,
it used to be you could kind of be a
B plus coach and you could just kind of ham
an egg your way to like, you know, five hundred
or above, you get run out of the league. Now,
(34:54):
if you're not ready to go, you get run out
of the league quickly. You're seeing guys now don't last
the first year. So I kind of look, if we
go division to division, I think this year, I don't
think it's that difficult. Like New England and Buffalo are
finishing one and two, I'll take the better quarterback to
this point, I think Dj Moore gives them an element,
(35:15):
and the Dolphins and the Jets are rebuilding. I don't
think that's that tough of a call. I will take
Baltimore the best roster in their division. Now, it's a
lot of new stuff, which I don't like, but they've
really drafted well. They've secured Save Flowers, the O lines,
got new starters. I don't like losing Linderbaum. This is
one of the tougher calls in the league. I'm gonna
(35:36):
go with Cincinnati based on best peer quarterback in the league,
with an offensive coach, excellent weapons and The schedule is
by AFC standards. It's a pretty easy schedule for Cincinnati.
That could go either way. You could talk me into Pittsburgh,
but I think Cincinnati Burrow younger. I'm gonna go with that.
(35:57):
Now you go to the AFC South again, not easy.
But the Texans, as long as Demko's been there, their
defense has gotten better every year.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Do I worry about c J.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Stroud, Yes, but they have three new offensive linemen, wide receiver,
running back talent is there. They went and got Montgomery
from the Lions, a guy I like as one of
the best number two or one backs in the league.
I think he's really good. This is a tough call
it too. I like the Colts roster. They were very
good when Daniel Jones was healthy. You could absolutely talk
(36:29):
me into the Jags here. I love Liam Cohen. This
is one of the tougher calls. But I have no
qualms picking the Texans defense, and again this one looks tough.
I'll take the Chargers in Kansas City as the one
and two. Flip them if you want, But the Chargers
last year, with a slew of offensive line injuries, made
(36:50):
the playoffs. In a receiving Corp. That was young, growing,
but not nearly as good as they should be. Now
Trey Harris showed real talent. Again, It's not a knock
on the Raiders, but they're not there yet. And Denver
trailed fifteen games and one fourteen. No reasonable statistician or
(37:10):
historian thinks that's close to possible. They probably won't trail
fifteen times. Let's say it's nine or ten. But at
best you win. At best you win forty percent of
those games. Bo Nicks is not who DENI. I think
they regress and finally in the No, that's it.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
For the AFC.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Right now we go to the NFC. Philadelphia has got
the best GM and the best roster. All my misgivings
with Nick Siriani, he's won a Super Bowl. All my
misgivings about Jalen Hurts. He's a pro, he's in his
athletic prime. I don't think the AJ Brown loss. I'll
be honest with you. It feels like des Bryant to
(37:49):
the Cowboys. I think Jalen Hurts now won't feel the
pressure to throw the ball to him again. One of
the tougher calls. I'll take the Giants if they're healthy
offensively over Dallas. You could absolutely talk me out of
the Giants and into Dallas. That just like Cincinnati Pittsburgh,
I got no problem with moving through the NFC. I
(38:11):
think this is the kind of an easy one. Detroit
best roster upgraded, oc solved their offensive tackle position, incredibly
explosive offensive personnel. They dealt with a slew of injuries
last year that won't happen again. And it's nothing against
Minnesota and it's nothing against Green Bay. But I think
Ben Johnson's the best coach, Caleb's the most talented quarterback.
(38:34):
This is an offensive league, and I think they're one
of the top five most dynamic offenses. I think when
you move now to the AFC South, I think the
Saints will be one of my surprising teams if Tyler
Shuck continues to play at the level he did. I
think they're kind of interesting. They spent a lot of
(38:56):
draft capital on tight end and wide receiver. They like
their defense. They played well late Carolina. I love their GM,
Dan Morgan. I like the coach. I think Bryce Young
I'm not sure if I'd extend him, but this front
office has given Bryce Young a couple of really big
wide receiver targets that I like. I think the division
(39:18):
is up for grabs, and I also think they've given
Bryce Young every opportunity to succeed. They played the Rams
tough twice last year. There's something there. There's a little
bit of juice in the franchise I like. And finally
in the NFC West, Arizona's not there yet. San Francisco's
already having injury issues. We haven't gotten to the preseason
(39:41):
games yet. I think this is an easy one. You
could talk me into Seattle one, Rams two. But again,
as we go over them front to back, I took
a lot of elite coaches. I took a lot of
elite quarterbacks. I mean, look at the coaches I take.
You know, I'm taking a Rabel. I'm taking a Demico Ryans,
(40:03):
A Shane Steiken, a Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid. I'm
taking a John Harbaugh, a Dan Campbell of Ben Johnson.
I'm taking a Sean McVay and a Mike McDonald. I'm
taking a lot of elite coaches. And if I don't
have an elite coach, I'll take a Joe Burrow. And again,
I think Zach Taylor's more than capable. He got to
a super Bowl. But I think with all the rule changes,
(40:26):
and I don't you know, I mean, I mean Jared
goff in year two with Ben Johnson, this is year
two for Caleb Williams with Ben Johnson. Jared goff in Detroit.
Year two with Ben Johnson, his completion percent centage went up,
his passing yards went up, his touchdowns went up. So
we all know Caleb had to get out of the
(40:47):
sack business. He did. Now he's got to get into
the more efficient business, and I think he will, so
I this. You know again, you can talk me out
of the Bengals, the Colts, New York Giants. Could be
very wrong on those, but I don't you know, I mean,
I like the Saints and the New York Giants, I
(41:09):
think better than most people outside of that. How much pushback,
john What's the one you totally disagree with?
Speaker 10 (41:20):
Probably the Bengals and the Ravens. I mean, I got
that going Bengals, Steelers, Ravens. I like the Texans and
the Colts. I think the Jags fall back. You know,
the NFL is getting much more predictable. I mean, I
think there aren't going to be that.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I know you were on for a minute.
Speaker 10 (41:38):
You pivoted the Browns thing, But there's not The Arizona
Cardinals aren't going.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
To be the two seed, you know what I mean,
it's not happening. No one's coming out of left fields.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Jets, Titans, Cardinals. We know they're going to be the
bottom three in the league or close to it really,
barring injuries. Arizona Titans, Jets, and I like the Titans staff,
but they just don't have the players.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Our three minutes, six
Thanks for listening to 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 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Here we go our number two.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
The Los Angeles Lakers were purchased by Mark Walter fourteen
months ago, Dodger owner. He has now flipped this magnificent
condo to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. One owns a
big capital firm East Coast, and Bob Iger very well known,
(00:57):
has been running Disney for a long time and successfully.
Luka Dontich the centerpiece of this organization. We've said this
many times over the last year. The centerpiece is Luca
and JJ Reddick. I like the star, I like the coach.
I may like the coach better than the star. Durability issues.
(01:17):
Not much of a defensive player. Is he a great leader?
Maybe he gets there. He'll never be Lebron, He'll never
be MJ. I'll tell you that. Never going to be
like Bill Russell or Jerry West in terms of leadership.
But he's a heck of an offensive weapon, he said.
Being a Laker means everything to me. I'm excited, gotten
used to big changes over the last few years, no
matter what, no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise.
(01:39):
Look forward to meeting Josh and Bob. We can get
will work building something special in La together. In fact,
the last time I saw Adam Silver in person, he's
been on my show, was at a Laker game with
Bob Iger. I was sitting down and they walked up
and I was like, hey, but this is kind of
the relationship that has endured the test to time. I'm
(02:00):
Adam Silver, David Stern and the late David std Bob
Iger all did a lot of business together. So I
would imagine Adam Silver is very, very comfortable with this
potential ownership group with that Darren Revel sports business analyst,
and been doing this. I've known Darren fort ever and
I this morning, when this story break, we said, get Revel,
(02:20):
get him, let's go, let's talk.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Okay, let's start with this.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I cannot believe Mark Walter saw the Lakers as a flip,
as a short term investment right like this. This has
to do with the investigation, doesn't.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
It, Darren?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, I mean, this was not the way that Mark
Walter makes money. Certainly, someone who owns a Premier League team,
owns the Lakers the Dodgers, This could not have been
a flip from the start. You know, the idea of
owning the Lakers and Dodgers and you know, putting them
together and owning LA is amazing. But now there's an
(02:56):
investigation against Guggenheim and his company.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
I don't know where that is.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I don't think people really know, but I will tell
you that this was not a natural move. Just a
couple of weeks ago, Kushner and Iiger were lining up
for Vegas and sniffing around. And to me, this at
least appears to look like the NBA being Adam Silver pulling.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
The Marionette and going like this.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And obviously with the pressure of Ishbia, the pressure of Balmer,
certainly the NBA makes moves before Major League Baseball does.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Listen. There's a lot of billionaires out there. Iger's got
a pretty clean reputation, Disney Iiger. He's liked in the
arts community. To your point, could this be the perfect
owner in an unsettled, turbulent situation which could get really
ugly pr wise, for Mark Walter, Iiger does feel. I mean,
(03:57):
he's about as a septic has cleaned the image, is he?
I mean, I he's Disney. Yeah, he's Disney.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And for fans, fans want someone who one they know.
Most people know Bob Iger. He's been sniffing to be
a majority owner for a while here.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
And and what's interesting about Iger to me is he
would be the type of guy because he literally knows everyone,
He's met with everyone as the CEO of Disney.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Over the years.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
He'd be the guy who would hire some crazy people
outside the sport you've never heard of, and that would
make people nervous, right, Like, I'm not talking obviously, you
know JJ's where he is, but people behind the scenes
to make moves in a business sense that perhaps have
not been in sports before. That's what I think Iger
(04:49):
could do, just generally smart people.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And and so the Lakers need this, you know, they
need to They need to get back, and certainly at
twelve billion, you need to get back quick.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I could see honestly, I could see Eiger calling Steven
Spielberg or George Lucas and saying he to.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
What to do, one thing to do, one cool, amazing
thing that is never Sometimes it's in name, but sometimes
it's going to be someone who potentially you've never heard
of but never been in sports, but is going to
make some crazy, smart move that will make them different.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, people always think the numbers are outrageous, but
the richest people in the world, you know, Liverpool, Manchester United,
the Yankees, the Lakers, the Rams are going to be here.
You don't know what's happening to Navidia in the next decade.
You don't know in the next year.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Apple.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Apple's had big swings. My take is the number sounds
outrageous to many, but the Seahawks sold for almost ten billion,
and I'm like, great GM, great stadium, great revenue, great league.
Do you look at twelve and a half billion and think, whoa,
whoa whoa Mark Walter took these guys to the cleaners.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I mean, I've been I've been looking at franchise valuations
Collins since nineteen ninety seven, and I've been pretty wrong.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
To be honest with you. If you look at.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Twenty eleven, you can pull a video of me on
CNBC saying the Warriors four hundred and fifty million dollars,
this has gotta be the top, and then a year
later the Bucks at five twenty five and then Bomber.
I mean, I was on ESPN in twenty fourteen saying, man,
he is paying twelve times revenues here that is absurd,
(06:31):
and this deal is twenty three times revenue. So you know,
I would say, listen, we're in a degenerate nation where
we have people going from millionaires to billionaires. Look at Austin,
the City of Austin is going to have all these
billionaires who literally are at two hundred and fifty million,
and then after they're selling on SpaceX, they'll be wore
(06:52):
two point eight billion. Listen, I think you're going to
have guys come out of nowhere where the leagues are
going to have to.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Watch it is. Are they going to go from everywhere?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Right, so they're gonna be worth ten billion to all
of a sudden they're gonna be worth a billion. Again,
these the fluctuation and the going from rich to poor
porter rich. Yes, it's happened, We've seen it. Aubrey McClendon, Oklahoma,
City thunder. He went up and down. We're going to
see more ups and downs because that's really the energy
of the country right now.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
So that's what the leagues have to protect.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
They will be able to get the asset values and
the numbers up, but are they going to be able
to have the right people who will stay being billionaires
versus obviously Jack Kent, Cook and Jerry Buss are not
going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I tend to think with streamers Amazon and Netflix now
in the sports business driving up television contracts, CBS, Fox,
they have to keep the NFL. I tend to think,
why these rich guys always buy in it. It's like, listen,
we got an eleven year window here of you know,
thirty billion dollars in guaranteed revenue. I watch games like
(08:04):
you do all day. The stadiums are packed. Ticket price
is more expensive. America has decided sports and our kids
we're going to spend on it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I mean, I.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Experience experiences win.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Experiences win, and the experience and being there.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
Is more important than ever before.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Even if you have to go to an NFL game
and then watch it after to see what really happened,
at least.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You were there.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, here's what's interesting. The Dodgers are old, expensive and
increasingly brittle. They got six years left on the monkey
bets Deeal. There's been a sharp decline deferred payments to Otani.
Their pitchers can't stay healthy. Does this affect Mark Walter?
Does this affect the Dodgers in any way?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I think it depends on the investigation.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
You know, Googenheim, their insurance business is buckets and buckets
of insurers, which sometimes they're hard to figure out and
their time hard to unwind, and sometimes it's, hey, this this,
we don't understand this well because at its surface it's
not understandable and potential. So I don't want to say
(09:11):
because of the what they don't understand right now, that
is why there's a negative impact. I'm not saying Mark
Walter is going to be able to you know, won't
be able to keep the Dodgers, but you know this
has to If you're a Dodgers fan, you're going to
want this investigation to end as soon as possible because
you have to know, you know what's next, and Mark
(09:32):
Walter has to know what's next. You don't want someone
who is the owner to have this in the back
of their mind and say I'm going to hold on.
And then you know, part of their strategy has been
spend to the hilt and actually win versus the Mets,
which is spend to the hilt and not win. So
you know, I think it's going to depend on the investigation,
but I do think that the NBA definitely pulled the
(09:54):
strings here, given even in LA what was going on
with Bomber and how on comfortable that still is?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay, I got to ask you this, Northwestern University got
a thirty five million dollar gift. A couple of kids
play on the football team. Their parents are Chicago Whites,
and they put in thirty five million. They have an
eight hundred and ninety million dollar brand new, privately funded
football stadium. Several years ago, they built waterfront facilities. My
son and I just happened to be on Northwestern's campus
(10:22):
earlier this later, earlier this spring. It's absolutely unbelieved. I
tell my wife all the time. There's a lot of
names on buildings. I don't know who those people are,
but they got a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Well, unfortunately, unfortunately Mark Walter's name is on one of them.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
But we'll hold that one out. You know.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
So there's the new stadium, Ryan Field, I got to
ask you this. I am pro nil kids are staying
in college longer. It gives Indiana, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame a
chance to compete at the highest level. It's more inclusive.
It's a broader base of teams. You know, a lot
of these academic powers like Vandy, Indiana's business school, they
(10:59):
were not and the running for five star recruits. They
couldn't pay staffs like Baman and Georgia. I look at Northwestern,
you went there. I'm not sure if they'll become Indiana.
But what I mean, I've the last two years Big
Ten Bowl and College Football Playoff records against the SEC.
It's not a small margin. They're winning. They're blowing them out.
(11:23):
There is a gap that's growing. Are you surprised by it?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
No, I think they've become the SEC of what happened
fifteen years ago.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
In the run obviously we've had three in a row.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I do think there is a if you can get
to the point of all else is equal, and you
look at I always thought that if Northwestern could get
to hey, we'll match the number that everyone else is matching.
And if you don't make the NFL. You know, your
earning potential is six hundred thousand dollars more or whatever
it is. You know, we've always this school has always
(11:57):
said it's not a four year decision, it's a forty
year decision. The issue has been the issue has been
that once ANIL came, at least initially, Northwestern would get
beat out by the guys. Now there's still an academic requirement,
but they would get beat out by those guys.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
And you know, so now if it's.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
All else is equal for Northwestern again, I'm not saying
they're winning the national title.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
I'm just saying the game is definitely on.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I was a little worried as a fan, as an
alum that we were going to build this, you know,
eight hundred and seventy five million dollars stadium and you know,
have no one to play in it.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But this it's nice.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
It's nice to get this thirty five million dollar gift,
you know, to see that.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, I'm going to see it next week.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
And I just saw the athletic director last night and listen,
Indiana was arguably the worst program in the country for
about a twenty year stretch, and now they have the coach,
they have the revenue, They've got Mark Cuban, They've got
that business school which is top seven eight in the country.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So all right, if you just joined us.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Darren Ravel, a sports business analyst, been doing this a
long time. Also is the founder of Click, the sports
memorabilia company. Some of that's probably behind him. The reality
is the Dodger owner Mark Walter his group Guggenheim bought
the Lakers. Fourteen months later they flipped it for the record.
How long does it take to unwind ownership? Is this something?
(13:17):
Is Eiger? I mean by the start of the season
here in October?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is it? I mean? How long does it take?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Not not long, because Walter didn't come with fifty other
owners that now need to get out. That's part that
The hardest thing to do is unwind a sponsorship deal
that you've put in every stadium and we know that,
you know, the Lakers have done that, you know, so
we have that, and then we have you know, tons
(13:44):
of owners and minority owners and whether they want to
get in and out, and that's pretty much been cleared,
so this will be an easy transaction to move on.
And Iger, of course is married to Will obey. So
shout out to.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
The older people like you and me, NBA inside Edition,
what a break.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Show, Darren, good seeing you, Thanks for late notice coming
on the show all right, thanks to Yeah. Like I
know for a lot of you that's wonky and it's
behind the curtain stuff. But I mean, we just had
the Lake her Sell and there's a federal investigation with
the current person involved, Mark Walter, who I think actually
(14:22):
lives in Chicago, and it's the Northwestern thing just came
down today where somebody gave him thirty five million dollars
for maybe the thirteenth I mean, I don't know, is
it the twelfth best football program in the conference?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I know academically it's the number one school in the
conference that I know, And.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
That's what I've said.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
It used to be academics almost felt like it got
in the way of football success. Now it's an additive
in many instances, and it is called college football. I
do think the college part should matter one more.
Speaker 7 (14:53):
Heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to
listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
Stu Gott's here. I have a podcast empire. It continues
to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart.
I'm also doing a live radio show from three to
five pm Eastern because.
Speaker 9 (15:15):
My wife wanted to kick me out of the house.
Speaker 8 (15:17):
It's called Stegots and Company Live, which is available in
podcast form right when the show finishes every single day.
Some of the biggest names in sports. A lot of
phone calls.
Speaker 10 (15:29):
I love you on your show.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It's one of my favorites.
Speaker 8 (15:31):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you can
expect from Stu Gottson Company and Steve Gotson Company Live.
So listen to Stu Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and review Stu Gotson Company and God
Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today
(15:54):
and you can check all of those out on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Bob Iger Josh Kushner are going to be the new.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Laker owners fourteen months after Dodger owner Mark Walter purchased
the team, but he's now under an investigation. Certainly possible.
He would need to be a little more liquid going forward.
And what doesn't change is the future in the short
term of the Lakers is Luca Austin Reeves, Walker Kessler,
(16:34):
and a very very strong young head coach JJ Reddick.
So there's a lot of things, a lot of volleyballs
in the air. Is it shocking? Absolutely? I think big picture,
iigers about as strong. Darren Ravel mentioned was Adam Silver
kind of playing Marionette here, kind of pulling the strings.
(16:55):
I absolutely believe the Lakers are too big of a
brand not for this to have been an emergency. Ramona
Shelburn saying, like Sunday night calls were made, and I'm
sure Silver on Someday sometimes Sunday was on some of
those calls. So that's a very good landing by somebody
that's well known in Los Angeles, good record work with
(17:18):
a lot of artists and athletes. Disney's not a perfect company, certainly,
but they're a centerpiece company in the California and Los
Angeles economy.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Here's John Middlcoff with the news.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
This is the headline news. Okay. One of our favorites,
Fernando Mendoza.
Speaker 10 (17:38):
He's set to make his preseason debut tomorrow night against
the Cards. He's currently the quarterback two on the Raiders'
depth chart. Clearly they want Cousins to kind of give
a little runway to start the season. Mendoza will get
plenty of experience tomorrow. And here's Kubiak on his rookie quarterback.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
You get plenty of experience in the game. Look forward
to to seeing him out there with his with his teammates.
A lot of a lot of guys that we need
to evaluate.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
But he'll get plenty of reps.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
It's been a really impressive training camp as far as
how he's prepared, and then he goes out there to
practice and you know, things don't happen on the drawing
on the paper in the playbook exactly how they do
on the field. So I think he's done a good
job of adjusting. And you know, with all of our players,
we just we just asked that as they gain experience
and they make mistakes, they don't make the same mistake twice.
(18:28):
I think that he's done a good job of that.
And now it comes to live bullets, you know, with
a live pass rush, and that'll be a whole other animal.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well, you know, very rarely over the last decade that
I said Arizona's taken on the Raiders. Must watch this. This,
this qualifies or classifies is the most interested I've been
in a.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Raider game in a long time.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
And I know it's the first, you know, preseason game,
But I I tend to think he's better than people think.
I think he's He's a bigger, stronger, more mobile version
of Matt Ryan, who I think is very good. I
think it'll be Rocky Kirk Cousins is going to start.
He'd never played under center much at Indiana or at
cal so it's a new world for him offensively. But
I think the Raiders offensive pieces are pretty darn good.
Speaker 10 (19:15):
Because I think the pushback on him would be like
there are a lot of parallels with him and JJ
McCarthy in the sense that they played on run first teams,
well rounded teams, great coaching. It's like I watch Fernanda
Mendoza win them games constantly with this arm. Yes, and
unlike JJ, he didn't just start with Signetti winning fifteen
(19:35):
games a year. He was a cow when they were
really struggling, and you know, hit adversity, which is something
clearly that translates for young players in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I just saw Kurt Signetti say this the other day.
He said, you know, listen, we would diagram two to
three running plays a game for him. Nobody was doing
that for Jared Goff And he said, you know, and
he would run two to three or four times on
his own per game. So this is not like a statue.
This is a big, strong kid. Go to the Miami
game that run for a touchdown, he took a beating.
(20:07):
It's a little like c J. Stroud against Georgia. Like
in college, justin Herbert against Wisconsin. Guys don't run a
ton in college. But then later you know, the Miami games,
the final game of the year, justin Herbert's final game,
c J. Stroud taken on Georgia. Then you get to
your last college game and it's like, oh now the coaches.
The coach is like, okay, all gas, no breaks. Run
(20:30):
if you have to run during regular seasons, you don't
want Fernando or gomf or c J. Stroud or Herbert
getting hurt. But on the last you know that Rose Bowl.
I had my friend Tom Telesco with the Chargers GM
He's like Herbert's a little mechanical. I don't know if
he can run. And against Wisconsin's best defense in a decade,
they let him run. It's like, Oh, he's really an athlete.
(20:51):
So I think he's really good.
Speaker 10 (20:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's comp I mean, I
think there are a lot of parallels with goff as
a thrower, but athletically he's much more athletic than the
Goffs and the Matt Ryans.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I think he's going to be a really good pro.
Speaker 10 (21:05):
Well, I know this type story that makes guys like
Colin Coward smile.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
The forty nine ers injury woes continue. Not only is.
Speaker 10 (21:13):
Bosa dealing with some tendonitis in that acl me, now
it's Christian McCaffrey who has some tightness. This is concerning
because of mccalf McCaffrey had calf tightness during the twenty
four training camp. He obviously ended up only playing four games.
Here's Kyle Shanahan when asked if he's worried about his.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Star running back.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
My concern would be him tough and through tightness like
a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad
and pulling something which and then it could be a month,
so that would be our concern. So once we hear
him talking in a certain way, Christian's a guy who
needs to get prepared for Week one. But also we're
pretty confident what he's done before those We're confident what
he's done in these two weeks, and we just want
(21:55):
to make sure that we don't make it something to
be concerned about.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Well, they don't get an easy entry into the season.
They opened with the Rams defensive front.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
My god, I think the NFL is lucky that the
forty nine ers were always injured because they just win
the Super.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Bowl every year. But luckily for the Pooka Nakool left
practice yesterday.
Speaker 10 (22:16):
The BOSA thing to me is more, you know, Christian McCaffrey,
from what I've been told, has been practicing every day,
working hard. To me, the BOSA he's had multiple ACL
injuries and tendonitis went from day to day to now
week to week. You know, McCaffrey definitely showed some signs
of slowing down last year. The other elephant in the
(22:37):
room is you know, George Kittle is not practicing because
he's recovering from that Achilles injury. Now, a lot of
people think that you know there's a pretty good chance
he could play Week one.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
But there are currently as we sit here a little.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Less than a month away from that game, and really
the Niners take off, I think they're going like seven
or eight days before Australia, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and
Nick Bosa. Christian McCaffrey, I feel pretty confident, but I
do think it's fair to say Nick Bos and George
Kittle are It's up in the air.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Okay, name they're eight best players, McCaffrey, Kittle, Trent Fred Warner, Bosa,
those are arguably the five best players. Mike DAWs Okay,
Mike evans Is six, Purty seven and then Dbo eight
all have an injury history. Eight for eight have an
(23:27):
injury hit. Now go to the Seahawks, same division's best players, Nicki, Menmora, JSN,
Byron Murphy, Charles Cross, Sam Darnold, Devin Weatherspoon. You don't
see a lot of injuries like they're younger players. Leonard
Williams is an old guy. But Leonard, I don't have
the numbers in front of me. He doesn't. He seems
(23:48):
to be a pretty healthy big guy. DeMarcus Lawrence I
swear to God, he's in better shape and he's better
today than he was four years ago.
Speaker 10 (23:54):
The forty nine ers the last two years, remember, because
they were coming off a bad year in twenty four.
The twenty five draft, they had high picks in every round. Well,
the guy they drafted eleventh, mikeel Williams towards acl last year.
So he's he's also on pup returning. You know, he's
a blue chip guy. They're gonna need him to become
a guy. Yeah, they's got a lot of question marks
with this team. They're very, very lucky. If they just
(24:17):
had a random bad coach, this would be a franchise
win in four games a year right now. But luckily
Kyle can keep them afloat and they just I don't know,
I got to figure out a way to get away
from the substations.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Practicing.
Speaker 10 (24:28):
Sliding is something that we usually associate with baseball. Obviously,
some quarterbacks over the years. You know, Russell Wilson with
the baseball background, pretty smooth slider.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I'd say Rogers was a smooth slider.
Speaker 10 (24:41):
Yeah, Well, Jackson Dart, his teammates have been imploring him
to slide, and yesterday Dart slid in bounds to end
a situational drill, and his head coach John Harbaugh was
asked if he liked the slide.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
I thought it did. It was great critical situation drill.
We're trying to get now a third, a third or
fourth down, but mostly third down, like anywhere from three
to five in a driving a game where the offense
can win the game in the fourth quarter with a conversion,
and so play calls and execution to get that first down.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That was what that was.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
So we had a great play. It came open, he
ran around the corner, got the first down, slid in bounds,
kept the clock running. All those things were well done.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, if I don't, I feel like there's not an
offense in the league that could be more interesting. But
it's more dependent on health than the Giants. Neighbors has
been injured, Andrew Thomas has been injured, Skataboo, Jackson Dart's
been bagged up. Like I really really think they're very
interesting offensively, but again it's like San Francisco. They've got
(25:52):
young guys, Niners guys. They have old guys who have
been banged up. Giants have young players who had who
have chronic health issues. If the Giants to me, if
you can give me thirteen to fourteen games out of
their best offensive players, I don't even need seventeen. Give
me thirteen, and I'm like, Okay, that team's gonna buy
for the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (26:13):
I do think there are certain skills that even pro
athletes developed just kind of naturally when they're in like
elementary school, in junior high. You know, Lamar Jackson's never
been a big slider. It's why when he kind of
just dives. You know, Michael Vick had never remember when
they tried to get Bobby Cox way back in the
day to teach him how to slide. Russell Wilson he
was always just Aaron Rodgers. They'd been doing that probably
(26:36):
since you know, high school.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
It just came down.
Speaker 10 (26:39):
I don't think or I think it's very difficult to
just randomly implement that into your brain to slide. I mean,
last year Jackson Dart was doing the opposite of sliding.
He thought he was like Earl Campbell. He's like lowering
his shoulder on contact, and it was a disaster. So
you can hammer that home, you can talk about it,
and obviously in certain situations, but he just naturally scrambling around.
(27:01):
I do think that's a tough transition for any athlete
when that hasn't been part of his repertoire his entire life.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I mean, Kyler and russell baseball backgrounds were very good
at it, and you'd have to I remember Russell Wilson's
prime years in Seattle. I can't remember one time he
took a shot Cam Newton.
Speaker 10 (27:23):
His first four years, he was a pillar, not a slider,
a diver Russell's. You could argue Russell is the greatest slider.
And remember he'd slide and he would like get back
up as they would blow the whistle. He would like
never even touch the ground. But it came natural to
him because he was used to wearing sliders and bat and.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Second John Middlecoff with the news.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping that the
herd line news.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So I'm looking up more stories on the.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
More stories on this.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Dodgers owner Mark Walter buys the fourteen months later he's out.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Bob Eiger and Kushner are in really interesting. It's a soft.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Landing for the Lakers, and you know, I nobody cares
about you know what you do. If you're Eiger, you
have so many connections you go call. You could call
Denzel hey can we have this? And Steven Spielberg. I mean,
I mean you could get all sorts of people that
would be like, oh yeah, I'd love to put in,
you know, twenty thirty forty million dollars into the Lakers
and make it even a softer blow. Listen, you got
(28:28):
the coach, you got your star, you got complimentary pieces.
I don't think money's ever going to be a problem
for the Lakers. I think that that arena. Listen to
the Lakers even in lean years. I mean, they draw
very very well. And do I think they overpaid for
Austin Reeves and Walker Kestler.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, but I defended both.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You couldn't let Austin Reeves walk and get nothing and everybody.
Now with Wemby's emergence, you got to have bigs. Walker
Castler's a very good shot blocking, rebounding, rim protecting big.
So I don't have a problem with that. To me.
The issue is Lucas not quite what you thought, right,
Like the closer you get, you see some dents in
that car, just just a little bit here and there
(29:13):
in Chicago, It's the Herd.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Easter nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
App in DC.
Speaker 10 (29:27):
In a once in a lifetime spectacle celebrating America's two fifty,
The Freedom two fifty Live Sunday, August twenty third, only.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
On Fox for Ben Johnson, Bears coach. You know, for
years and years, I mean it felt like one hundred years.
You're like, why can't the Bears get the offense right,
the quarterback right? And there was all sorts of excuses. Well,
Soldier Field, it's run by the city, it's a bad surface.
Well yeah it's cold. Well the Packers have great offenses.
(29:58):
It's you know, a couple of miles north. There was
always excuses, and it just came down. It's like a
political party. It just came down as they found their president.
They got Ben Johnson, and then he took Caleb Williams,
refined him, and now you have I think there's six
teams in the NFL that I would call very dynamic offense.
(30:18):
Tight end, wide receiver, quarterback capable of line speed, and
some coach coordinator or head coach is, you know, pulling
the trigger. I think Detroit is stacked. Chicago. I think
Buffalo's tight end group, Dj Moore now James Cook, great
left tackle, Hall of Fame level quarterback. I think Buffalo's
(30:40):
dynamic and a very good slot receiver. I think Philadelphia
is with all the misgivings about Jalen Hurts throwing the
ball down the middle of the field. I think the
Rams are and I think Dallas is. I think those
six Lions, Bears, Bills, Eagles, Rams, Cowboys, those are dynamic offenses. Now,
you could say Cincinnati, but we don't trust their offense
(31:00):
line and protection. You could say Minnesota, but we don't
really know how Kider Murray, how it's going to work.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
I think it's going to be very good.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
You could say Seattle, but in my opinion, Seattle is
more about power, controlling the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Take a fewer risks.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
They have a great receiver, and I love Darnold, but
you know, I don't look at their back Zach Charbonney
as a dominant back. They're kind of a power football team.
I look at San Francisco as could be so much
though as Kittle's health, McCaffrey's health. But when I look
at Chicago, there's always excuses. It's like political parties. The
Democrats were lost and then Bill Clinton arrived and he
(31:37):
just kind of synthesized the Democratic Party, and I mean
the Republicans were kind of lost and they found Trump.
And it's just always everybody always is trying to, oh,
what do you do with all these socialists?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
The Democrats? You don't know what's going to happen. In
a year.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
They could find their president Obama. You just don't know
whoa why aren't the Bears good at quarterback? Well and
talented history at quarterback? And then they get a really
good one in Caleb as I is still not great
and then they find there, you know, their president, their
guy Ben Johnson. And so I never forget what Jared
(32:13):
Goff was. The year before Sean McVay arrived, it was
bussed to they got a guy. So you can have
all sorts of talent. But I think we all say
this fairly, is that Sean McDermott was a good coach.
Was he a great fit for Josh Allen? Joe Brady
(32:33):
could very well be a better fit. Yet overall, is
he as good a coach as McDermott. I don't know,
but Ben Johnson earlier this week I went to practice
Sunday on his ongoing communication with Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12 (32:47):
I tried to get him to play as fast as
I possibly can so that it gives him the maximum
amount of time to communicate to his guys. Recall the
coaching points that we've already talked about. There's not a
whole lot of extra dialogue. For the most part, all
of our conversations have taken place over the course of
the week or the night before the game, to where
it's just a matter of how quickly can I get
(33:08):
him the personnel and the play call so that he
can go out there and cut it loose like we
talked about.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You know, it's interesting earlier this week, and I know
most our average audience doesn't watch or listen to every show.
So I'm going to show you something I did earlier
this week, and we had graphics for it, and I
love the graphics we made. That's kind of you know,
inside TV talk. But we were talking about every division
and making predictions. I do think the NBA has always
(33:36):
been fairly predictable. Do you have the coach. Do you
have the culture? Do you have you know, do you
have one to two superstars? Now, who's gonna win the championship?
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Eight years? Eight champs? That's not easy. The Nick shocked.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Everybody, including believe it or not, even Nick fans didn't
think they'd become the greatest postseason team.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Since Kevin Durant and the Warriors.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Right like middle of the Atlanta Series, you're like, I
don't know, I don't know what I got here, and
then they got red hot. And in baseball it's very
hard to predict. Obviously, if you have big payrolls, it helps.
But the Mets are offal and the Brewers and the
Rays and the Guardians are very good. So we're the
White Sox with lower payrolls. So I do think the NFL, though,
(34:18):
is becoming a little bit more predictable over the last decade.
And you know this, we're changing all the rules to
protect and benefit the quarterback. I also think quarterback coaching
in the NFL in college is much smarter.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Than it was years ago.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I think the quality of fan knowledge, the quality of analytics,
general managers, college and pro coaches. I think coaches are
just smarter today. And I think outdated guys. You know,
it used to be you could kind of be a
B plus coach and you could just kind of ham
an egg your way to like, you know, five hundred
or above, you get run out of the league. Now,
(34:54):
if you're not ready to go, you get run out
of the league quickly. You're seeing guys now don't last
the first year. So I kind of look, if we
go division to division, I think this year, I don't
think it's that difficult. Like New England and Buffalo are
finishing one and two, I'll take the better quarterback to
this point, I think Dj Moore gives them an element,
(35:15):
and the Dolphins and the Jets are rebuilding. I don't
think that's that tough of a call. I will take
Baltimore the best roster in their division. Now, it's a
lot of new stuff, which I don't like, but they've
really drafted well. They've secured Save Flowers, the O lines,
got new starters. I don't like losing Linderbaum. This is
one of the tougher calls in the league. I'm gonna
(35:36):
go with Cincinnati based on best peer quarterback in the league,
with an offensive coach, excellent weapons and The schedule is
by AFC standards. It's a pretty easy schedule for Cincinnati.
That could go either way. You could talk me into Pittsburgh,
but I think Cincinnati Burrow younger. I'm gonna go with that.
(35:57):
Now you go to the AFC South again, not easy.
But the Texans, as long as Demko's been there, their
defense has gotten better every year.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Do I worry about c J.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Stroud, Yes, but they have three new offensive linemen, wide receiver,
running back talent is there. They went and got Montgomery
from the Lions, a guy I like as one of
the best number two or one backs in the league.
I think he's really good. This is a tough call
it too. I like the Colts roster. They were very
good when Daniel Jones was healthy. You could absolutely talk
(36:29):
me into the Jags here. I love Liam Cohen. This
is one of the tougher calls. But I have no
qualms picking the Texans defense, and again this one looks tough.
I'll take the Chargers in Kansas City as the one
and two. Flip them if you want, But the Chargers
last year, with a slew of offensive line injuries, made
(36:50):
the playoffs. In a receiving Corp. That was young, growing,
but not nearly as good as they should be. Now
Trey Harris showed real talent. Again, It's not a knock
on the Raiders, but they're not there yet. And Denver
trailed fifteen games and one fourteen. No reasonable statistician or
(37:10):
historian thinks that's close to possible. They probably won't trail
fifteen times. Let's say it's nine or ten. But at
best you win. At best you win forty percent of
those games. Bo Nicks is not who DENI. I think
they regress and finally in the No, that's it.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
For the AFC.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Right now we go to the NFC. Philadelphia has got
the best GM and the best roster. All my misgivings
with Nick Siriani, he's won a Super Bowl. All my
misgivings about Jalen Hurts. He's a pro, he's in his
athletic prime. I don't think the AJ Brown loss. I'll
be honest with you. It feels like des Bryant to
(37:49):
the Cowboys. I think Jalen Hurts now won't feel the
pressure to throw the ball to him again. One of
the tougher calls. I'll take the Giants if they're healthy
offensively over Dallas. You could absolutely talk me out of
the Giants and into Dallas. That just like Cincinnati Pittsburgh,
I got no problem with moving through the NFC. I
(38:11):
think this is the kind of an easy one. Detroit
best roster upgraded, oc solved their offensive tackle position, incredibly
explosive offensive personnel. They dealt with a slew of injuries
last year that won't happen again. And it's nothing against
Minnesota and it's nothing against Green Bay. But I think
Ben Johnson's the best coach, Caleb's the most talented quarterback.
(38:34):
This is an offensive league, and I think they're one
of the top five most dynamic offenses. I think when
you move now to the AFC South, I think the
Saints will be one of my surprising teams if Tyler
Shuck continues to play at the level he did. I
think they're kind of interesting. They spent a lot of
(38:56):
draft capital on tight end and wide receiver. They like
their defense. They played well late Carolina. I love their GM,
Dan Morgan. I like the coach. I think Bryce Young
I'm not sure if I'd extend him, but this front
office has given Bryce Young a couple of really big
wide receiver targets that I like. I think the division
(39:18):
is up for grabs, and I also think they've given
Bryce Young every opportunity to succeed. They played the Rams
tough twice last year. There's something there. There's a little
bit of juice in the franchise I like. And finally
in the NFC West, Arizona's not there yet. San Francisco's
already having injury issues. We haven't gotten to the preseason
(39:41):
games yet. I think this is an easy one. You
could talk me into Seattle one, Rams two. But again,
as we go over them front to back, I took
a lot of elite coaches. I took a lot of
elite quarterbacks. I mean, look at the coaches I take.
You know, I'm taking a Rabel. I'm taking a Demico Ryans,
(40:03):
A Shane Steiken, a Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid. I'm
taking a John Harbaugh, a Dan Campbell of Ben Johnson.
I'm taking a Sean McVay and a Mike McDonald. I'm
taking a lot of elite coaches. And if I don't
have an elite coach, I'll take a Joe Burrow. And again,
I think Zach Taylor's more than capable. He got to
a super Bowl. But I think with all the rule changes,
(40:26):
and I don't you know, I mean, I mean Jared
goff in year two with Ben Johnson, this is year
two for Caleb Williams with Ben Johnson. Jared goff in Detroit.
Year two with Ben Johnson, his completion percent centage went up,
his passing yards went up, his touchdowns went up. So
we all know Caleb had to get out of the
(40:47):
sack business. He did. Now he's got to get into
the more efficient business, and I think he will, so
I this. You know again, you can talk me out
of the Bengals, the Colts, New York Giants. Could be
very wrong on those, but I don't you know, I mean,
I like the Saints and the New York Giants, I
(41:09):
think better than most people outside of that. How much pushback,
john What's the one you totally disagree with?
Speaker 10 (41:20):
Probably the Bengals and the Ravens. I mean, I got
that going Bengals, Steelers, Ravens. I like the Texans and
the Colts. I think the Jags fall back. You know,
the NFL is getting much more predictable. I mean, I
think there aren't going to be that.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I know you were on for a minute.
Speaker 10 (41:38):
You pivoted the Browns thing, But there's not The Arizona
Cardinals aren't going.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
To be the two seed, you know what I mean,
it's not happening. No one's coming out of left fields.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Jets, Titans, Cardinals. We know they're going to be the
bottom three in the league or close to it really,
barring injuries. Arizona Titans, Jets, and I like the Titans staff,
but they just don't have the players.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Our three minutes, six
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