September 8, 2025 • 30 mins
More one week 1 of the NFL and Colin previews Vikings-Bears tonight!
NFL reporter Tyler Dunne stops by The Herd to talk about the Bears and the choas between Caleb Williams and former HC Matt Eberflus.
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Episode Transcript
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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 and
noon to three Eastern nine am to noone 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. Thanks
for listening to the Herd Podcast. Yeah, it's hard to
(00:25):
deny how good the Packers look yesterday. Now the Packers
have continuity. Jeff Hafley the defensive coordinator in year two,
I mean they just kind of plugged in Micah Parsons.
But you know, these young receivers now have been there
two and three years. Craft I think the tight ends
on his second year, So I mean like there's a
(00:46):
lot of continuity in Green Bay. That was an advantage
over Detroit, traveling new coordinators, breaking in new interior offensive linemen.
So there was a lot of movement by the Lions.
But I think Hikah Parsons only played forty percent of
the snaps. But I don't think there's any denying the
energy and the bravado and the confidence he brought to
(01:10):
the Packers.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And here's Micah after.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
The last six months was super draining, super toxic for everyone.
I mean it's something that you know, I don't think
no players should have to go through. I could have
done with these guys getting better and better, and we
could have had you probably more dominant start, you know,
if that was the decision we was gonna make. So
I'm just happy that's behind. These guys embraced me. They
believe in my talents, they believed in me, and I'm
(01:35):
just gonna get these guys everything I have because I
know what's at stake.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And the other thing is because of Micah is sort
of see the quarterback, Go get the quarterback. It does
force you. He'll be double teamed a lot that is clear,
and he'll open up Rashaun Gary. He's going to open
up lanes and space for other Packer defenders. And this
(02:00):
is an organization that does offense staggeringly well. But outside
of the Charles Woodson acquisition or Reggie White, you know,
you always feel like they're missing the big star, and
Mike is that. Here's Matt Hasselback earlier on what he provides.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
The unknown for an offense.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
When you're growing up, when you're going up again against
a great pass rusher, and you don't know where he's
gonna line up. You don't know what down he's gonna
play on you. You don't know like our whole you know,
before you drop any pass plays, you drop your projection schemes,
and a lot of times you'll say, Okay, we're gonna
slide the line to him. Well what if he's not
even on the field.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Now what it's like?
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Kevin a great closer in baseball, Like we hey, we
got a closer. You know, like if it's third and long,
we got it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
You know, we're we're.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Gonna have a game changing play.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
We're gonna close the door.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
We're gonna we're gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yeah, it was just a pretty impressive to watch. He
had his first sack. You could feel the energy from
the crowd, uh, the anticipation and and like it's not
like this roster had a big hole. But in a
division Kevin O'Connell offensive coach, Ben Johnson offensive coach, you
start looking around the division. Dan Campbell offensive coach. They
(03:13):
need to get offenses off the field. They needed an
edge playmaker. And it looks again he not in perfect shape.
He only played forty five percent of the snaps. So
they had a top five scoring defense last year, or
excuse me, they had a top five scoring defense one
time during Aaron Rodgers prime and they got to the
(03:34):
super Bowl. So they've never you know, it's not like
they don't draft well. They've spent a lot of first
round picks on defensive players, but they've never had a
lot of swagger. They've never played defensively with a lot
of attitude. And it felt like you saw a little
bit now again. Detroit rebuilt o line, new offensive coordinator,
some of that, and nobody plays starters a lot of
(03:56):
snaps in the preseason, so some of it is it
looked like Detroit did not have its footing, but it
was still impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
J Mack with the news, Turn on the news.
Speaker 7 (04:07):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
So we can't get to every game, but we haven't
really touched on Atlanta Tampa. It was a thriller and
the young fella out of Ohio State and Mecca and
Buca had an unbelievable game. I have him on my
fantasy team. Four catches, sixty seven yards, two tundies, including
the game winner late in the fourth. Here's Baker Mayfield
on his budding rookie star.
Speaker 8 (04:33):
I think the way he carries himself. I've told you
guys that it wasn't a front. You guys saw it
live today in person. He's he's the real deal, true professional,
doesn't play like a rookie, doesn't act like a rookie.
His head's never spinning. So he made some unbelievable catches
and plays today for us, and obviously going to continue
to lean on him.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
You know, did you notice what he said?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Adult doesn't play like a rookie, doesn't act like a rookie.
Baker acted like a rookie, and now he doesn't like
Baker's now a leader, Baker's now an adult. So there
is So this is what I had predicted before the season.
I talked to a couple of general managers and they
were like, this kid is ready to be a seventy
(05:13):
five catch, ten touchdown guy with Baker Mayfield this year.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
And if you watch the replay, Baker did an amazing
job looking off the safety, perfect placement. I was on
the falul because my one loss on Friday night that
was a go either way game, it was, but you know,
Pendi's put up some good numbers that's a great route.
By the way, by a Meca, I mean, that's just
awesome everything. And by the way, when Godwin comes back
and Tristan Wurf's comes back, maybe Tampa's little frisky. I
(05:40):
didn't see a great run game out of them yesterday.
I'm gonna still say Atlanta is slightly better. Who did
you come away like, think he's a better team here.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, I think Baker has found a star receiver. And
I guess I wasn't looking for better as I watched
this game. I was looking for validation that they made
the right pick. Remember when they brought in Kirk Cousins
of Michael Pennix. And my take was, I think it's
great that Penix doesn't have to start, and he's probably
(06:11):
not as good as Kirk Cousins, but he's gonna get
great value sitting and watching. And I thought Pennix, I mean,
that's a intense division rival opener, and I thought Pennix
was unphased.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I don't think we have video, but on the final drive,
Drake London was out, did not play, and Pennix threw
a dime to a wide receiver who like locked it
in the lights of the Dome. I don't know what happened,
but he just didn't make the play. Anyways, nice win.
By the way, the kicker on Atlanta usually make I'm
not gonna savage a guy right now, but he usually
makes those kids, you're in a dome make a forty
four yard field goal. Next up, college football, colin the
(06:48):
AP Top twenty five was released. Here we go Florida
the biggest loser. Oh my gosh, they lost to us.
After they're done, however, the sec Are you ready? Eleven
teams in the top twenty five? What eleven? They just?
You see? Auburn and Missouri kicked in there at the
bottom as we get it on the screen, Ohio state
number one, Penn State number two, LSU three, Oregon sorry
(07:12):
Oregon four, the Hurricanes five. Any deep thoughts here? Texas
did not look great early, but they rebounded USC's nowhere
should they be?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I was there?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Pretty interesting, They're pretty interesting Offensively, they're pretty good.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Are who you booting here? Are they better than any?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I told you I'm not blown away by Michigan replacing
Jim Harbaugh. Go look at the coaches that have tried.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yeah, by the way, what is Clemson doing at twelve.
They were trailing Troy for most of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think wasn't that like sixteen to and.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
I'm sure they came back, but Clemson should night to.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oklahoma is probably a little better than thirteen. We had
said on this show. I liked Oklahoma to win that
game comfortably. I think they found their quarterback, Okay tis
the good player. I think Florida State is probably a
little better than ten.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah, they scored like seventy seven points or something like that.
I mean, FSU is making some early statements here, Colin,
all right, let's get to the final story. It's a
special one. Today is a historic day. Coward. Ten years
ago September eight, twenty fifteen, the Herd launch on FS one,
twenty four hundred plus shows on Fox, Colin, how many
(08:25):
twenty four hundred shows? More than twenty four hundred on
here on Fox. Everybody's happy for your run, and they
put together a real of your funniest moments. I know
you love this.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
When I'm seventy doing this show and do this, don't
call me crazy old man. I'm crazy, middle aged man.
I am dressed as Aaron Rodgers. I used to coach
Stanford I'm Jim Harlock. I beat USC so bad. I
made Pete Carroll cry impressionist paint.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
God, give me a.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Brunch, jill me your boy.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, b is that Uncle Colin brings big Jay journalism
right there? Hook them. You don't want that smoke. We
don't do drugs on Christmas. I as a kill, was
your pilot.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I think we landed that thing, sekrest Out, I had
no idea were that many costumes?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, I didn't either.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I didn't know you were good aviators. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 8 (09:15):
Well.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I think the hair is really well. You've got a
great job with your hair. It just looks sharper.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's literally what you took from all that. I really
like your receding hairline.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
No, no, it looks good.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
You got the silver fox thing going on?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, yeah whatever, No, it's been amazing. It is a
gratitude across the board is I've been doing this for
a long time. Easily the best crew, best partner I've
ever had. We have total support for management. We never
see them. We'll see our management today because we have
a cake, and management shows up like seagulls whenever we
have a free cake.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
In the break room so that you know, damn, listen,
you kid, because you care.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
That's the only reason I said, so, no, don't you
feel lucky here?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Of course, of course didn't say it with a lot
of comp We have the most fun.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
You know, we have a lie. I will say, you
did ghost me this weekend rare Sunday with no texts
from Calvert. I was like, well, I'm just have a
lot going on, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Labor intensive Sunday. I don't have time.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'm out there, you know, puffing cigar masonry, working the
work in the notepad.
Speaker 7 (10:17):
J Mack of the news, Well that's the news, and
thanks for stopping by the herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Tyler Dunn's going to join us before the end of
the show. So I was thinking, do we have the
do we have week two schedule? Because tonight caps off
week one? And I always have a rule is that
in the NFL, unlike college, if a team gets blown
out in college, they may just be bad.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But if a team gets blown out.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And humiliated in the NFL, take them the following week.
Like I think Detroit, and I have some misgivings about
the Lions, I would probably lean Detroit I think I think, well,
Giants lost, but they weren't, they weren't humiliated.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I would here's my here's my issue.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Generally I would bet Miami because they were so humiliated.
But I don't know if there's anything left in the tank.
I really don't. I was if you didn't watch Miami
and Colts. There was no effort defensively, like this is
(11:27):
not a shot at Daniel Jones. But you know, we
don't look at Daniel Jones as kind of you know,
elite or even top second tier. He did whatever he
wanted to. I guess the three biggest storylines starting on Thursday.
Let three biggest storylines we have the schedule here. Number one,
Dallas and Dak looked way better than people thought. I
(11:54):
thought they had a lottery feel to him. Dallas on
Thursday looked better Friday. The story is the regression is
beginning for Kansas City. You're not gonna win all these
one score games. And then on in the early window yesterday,
I think the story is justin Fields played his best
game as a pro, and the Jets have a quarterback,
(12:16):
and Miami is cooked and looked like defensively they quit.
In the late window, I think the story is green
Bay looked like the most complete team I saw all weekend.
Starting on Thursday. I think Bill's Ravens was what we
(12:37):
thought two heavyweights exchanging blows. Yeah, so I would say
my story Thursday Cowboys in a loss looked excellent. Friday
story Chiefs regression started early window, have the Jets found
a quarterback and the Dolphins are toast. And then late
window I would say brought pretty pretty impressive. But more
(13:04):
than that, Green Bay housed Detroit. Those feel like the
stories again, Buffalo came back to beat Baltimore heavyweights. They're
gonna be around in January. I don't know what to
take about. Matt Hasselback talked about this about Justin Fields,
who I always saw as a guy that people liked.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
He could move, he had a big arm, but.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Seeing the field going through progressions, he he just kind
of felt like when he went to the Jets, he's
gonna become kind of a bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Here was Hasselback on what he saw with Justin Fields.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It was like a high school reunion. You're trying to
impress your old flame kind of a game. Like the
both quarterbacks were like, man, I got to be my best.
I got to show out my best for you know,
I'm the one that got away. I thought Justin Fields
was I think he was good, not great, but like
I think he can be great.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I really do.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
And and you know, obviously he's a great runner, but
it's not about that. It's about it's about being a
passer first and then being a threat as a runner.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Which he has always been. Yeah, he didn't statistically have
one off target throw and that was always his issue.
Didn't see the field particularly well and would miss open guys.
So if you don't think coaching matters, the Jets hired
Aaron Glenn, hired the Lions passing coordinator GoF struggled, and
Justin Fields looked pretty damn good. So that was impressive,
(14:28):
all right. The story, if you're a Bears fan, that
is almost traumatizing. Tyler Dunn, who won the first ever
Big Jay Journalism Award and the last ever on this show,
broke a story that painted dysfunction and discord within the Bears,
who are hosting the Vikings tonight in one of the
(14:49):
most anticipated Bears games.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
In a decade.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I mean, honestly, the city on pins and needles Tyler
Dunn joins his next We're live in LA.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's the Herb.
Speaker 9 (15:07):
Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler
LeVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called Up on Game?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
What is Up on Game?
Speaker 9 (15:16):
You ass along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Huschman
Zada and Super Bowl champion Yup, that's right, Plexico Burds.
You can only name a show with that type of
talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be
sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen
to Up on Game with Me LeVar Arrington, TJ. Hutschman Zada,
(15:38):
and Plexico Burrs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcast from.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
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 1 (15:59):
Well, He's published a three part series called House of
Dysfunction about the calamity of Caleb Williams, the Bears quarterback
who opens his season tonight at home against Minnesota. Deep
rooted problems, day to day issues and fissures within the organization.
Tyler Dunn, an NFL writer the founder of golongtd dot com.
(16:23):
It's long form journalism if you've got thirty or forty minutes.
I read it yesterday. I had two friends in Chicago,
just journalists in that city, saying, man, what do you
make of this? So let's start with Caleb Williams. He
was the first nil star USC in LA is a flashy,
(16:45):
high profile program. It was fairly obvious, and you can
talk in some detail here that once he got on,
once Eber fluses out. Now he's on his second head
coach and his third head coach. He didn't either respect
his third coach. Is that it or was it just
(17:07):
he came with attitude day one, Well.
Speaker 10 (17:10):
Thanks for having me, Colin, and I think he nailed it.
I think that roles were really reversed in this case.
The Chicago Bears were not interviewing Caleb Williams to be
their quarterback, to be their selection number one overall, after
talking to coaches and scouts and personnel men and gms
across the NFL. They paid a picture in our series
where really the Bears were in full Fledge's recruiting mode.
(17:33):
They're trying to convince the first NIL superstar to play
for them.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
And look justifiably.
Speaker 10 (17:39):
So as we get into the dysfunction there in Chicago
was very deep rooted, like you said, but I think
that it really did sift onto the football field. Early
OTA's training camp. You've got a guy like John Jackson third,
who I was told really has no business feed in
the NFL by GMS. But that's Caleb Williams's best friend.
So he's on the practice squad. He wants to change
to the cadence. So they go to a basic ready
(18:01):
set go. They eliminate checks, they eliminate audibles. They kind
of try to make this thing as Caleb friendly as possible.
And it is a tough middle ground because you got
a Taylor in offense to your talented quarterback. But at
the same time, there has to be some type of coaching,
some type of authority. And I talked to several coaches
who basically said, like the moment that we were around
(18:22):
Caleb Williams, there was an entitlement, there was a disrespect.
There was you know, you try to tell him something,
coach him up, offer some constructive criticism.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
He would turn around and walk the other direction.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
It happened early, and it continued right on through that
Seattle Thursday night game that we lead the entire series with.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So it was bad.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
You know, they'd be in meetings.
Speaker 10 (18:42):
I had coached tell me that he'd ask Caleb Williams
a question in a meeting and he would just look
at him and not say anything like why are you
asking me a question?
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Many, many specific examples cited.
Speaker 10 (18:53):
And you know what, the Bears coaches are not completely
innocent in this regard, and they'd be the first to
tell you they really did twist and and try to
change everything they were offensively for Caleb Williams. So by
the time they wanted to get tough with him, by
the time they wanted to hold him accountable. And yes, there
were players that wanted Tyson Bage to be their starter
last year, and Ryan Pole said absolutely not by that time.
(19:16):
And when Thomas Brown becomes the interim head coach and
he's being old school, he's being hard nosed, it was
too late.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
So maybe Ben Jonson, with a full off season is
exactly what Caate Williams needs.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So Ryan Poles does not come off well. Essentially, according
to Tyler Dunn's story, a three part series House of Dysfunction.
Ryan Poles decided, for reasons you describe, were taking Caleb,
whereas it's well documented Adam Peters, the new Washington GM,
invited all the quarterbacks to Washington. He wanted to see
(19:47):
all the alphas and all the relationships when he took
him to Top Golf. From your story, it sounds like
Chicago made no serious overtures to any other of the
rookie quarterbacks, right Oh, I mean.
Speaker 10 (20:01):
I had scouts in the room tell me it was
unlike anything they've seen in their entire lives. Just to
total farce, a quote unquote rigged trial, a rigged process.
There was no process. It was Caleb Williams all the way.
I mean. And look, if Caleb Williams is a Hall
of Famer, then that conviction for Ryan Poles will win
the day. Right then he gets the last laugh here.
(20:22):
But we're talking as early as Kayleb Williams winning that
Heisman Trophy when he's ineligible to even be drafted. I
was told that Ryan Poles would have taken him then
with that first pick if.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
He could have. So, yeah, they make the.
Speaker 10 (20:34):
Trade, they have the AMMO, they get the first pick
and December of twenty three, really as early.
Speaker 6 (20:40):
As they had draft meetings.
Speaker 10 (20:42):
By the time all the scouts got in the room together,
it wasn't a serious conversation there. There were no negatives discussed.
When it came to Calebilliams. Remember the Notre Dame game,
he was discussed, but kind of through rose colored glasses, like, look,
he might he struggled in this game, but this is
stuff that mahoone saw in the NFL. Caleb already saw it.
(21:02):
He was compared to mahomes often by Ryan Poles.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So yeah, the.
Speaker 10 (21:06):
Day they put Drake Mays footage up on the screen
and it's some of his worst moments to make that
the first impression, and you've got the GM and others
in the room openly laughing at Drake mate. Jane Daniels
never a serious consideration. I do think that they wanted
to have Jane Daniels in on a visit, a Top
thirty visit, and.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I talked to somebody in Jane Daniels's camp about this.
Speaker 10 (21:29):
It was it was so insincere by that point that
Jaden said, go thanks, absolutely not, Caleb is your guy,
and it's look, this is maybe the most consequential decision
in the history of the Chicago Bears a century plus
to not seriously discuss and debate the other quarterbacks. Is
it's malpractice and some very very real red flags slipped
(21:51):
right through the cracks.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Now, of course, Ben Johnson has power. I also think
Caleb is smart enough to look at him and realize
this is the real dal and I cannot struggle with this.
Coach iber Flutz was on a hot seat the minute
Caleb showed up, and he probably had more power. Like
you said, they were recruiting him to be interested in
the Bears. But what about Caleb's personality among players? You know,
(22:13):
we often talk about alpha and is he the guy?
Is he authentic? From your article it details that that
may still be an issue.
Speaker 10 (22:24):
I think the fact that there were several players that
wanted Tyson Basion to be the starter last year is
that that tells you a lot, because I know, on
the outside looking in, it would have shocked all of
us if all of a sudden, Tyson Beasis the quarterback.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
When you've got number one over, I'll pick Caleb Williams.
Speaker 10 (22:38):
But yeah, I heard that his leadership style is he's introverted, right,
there's an introverted nature to Caleb Williams where he would
break down the team after practice and didn't really know
what to say, didn't really know how to say it.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
So they kind of stopped doing it. He was named
a captain.
Speaker 10 (22:53):
The coaches themselves told me that, yeah, we named him
a captain, but he really wasn't voted to be a captain.
You know, there weren't really much There wasn't much route
running after practice, little things like that.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
They set up these meetings to.
Speaker 10 (23:07):
Get together with the lineman go over some pass protection stuff.
A meeting like that was optional. It matters most to
Caleb Williams. He didn't show up to show up to those.
I think by the time, like some of these veterans
heard about the video games being played at night instead
of maybe looking at film, that did eventually irritate players
in that locker room.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Look, he's not just hated by everyone.
Speaker 10 (23:28):
A locker room has full of different players, different personalities,
and there are players in there I'm sure that would
go to war for Caleb Williams, But there's also players
in there that say his leadership style is something very
very different than the than they've ever seen.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
So is that something that you just kind of turn
on right.
Speaker 10 (23:45):
Maybe with experience, maybe with being around these guys, he
can develop. But I think number one Colin this is
what the coaches say, the scouts, people in Cabiliams pass.
He's got to kind of look in the mirror and
realize it's on me. I've got to take accountability here
because football, frankly, has always come easy to Caleb Bullings.
There's a GM who kind of broke down this scene
(24:06):
at USC pregame. Caleboys is out there pre pregame early
and it's the most dynamite workout.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
This GM had seen lasers, daggers.
Speaker 10 (24:16):
He's all into it, but by the time the whole
team was there for a pregame routine, he's screwing around.
He's throwing it left handed, he's not taking it serious.
I mean, that's kind of Cambilliams in a nutshelling. He's
got all the talent in the world, and all the
talent in the world has led to Heisman trophies, being
the first overall pick, being annoyed at the Chicago Bear Savior,
but being a successful starting quarterback.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
This is a theme. It takes more than talent. It
takes more than tail.
Speaker 10 (24:41):
It takes all of these little things that go on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Finally, is his relationship with Ben Johnson. What does your
intel tell you on Because I would think we've all
had an average boss. Then we get a great boss
and it doesn't take long to figure out as an employee.
I got to get my stuff in order with this boss.
I mean, what's the Ben Johnson Caleb dynamic?
Speaker 10 (25:04):
Now, Matt, everybody that I talk to is fascinated by
this relationship between Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Because think
back to last year when Thomas Brown, an old school
head coach, is trying to tell Caleb Williams something during
that Seattle game and Caleb.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Williams just walks away. Right, Okay, Ben Johnson is old
school too. Ben Johnson has an office and he wants
to run.
Speaker 10 (25:28):
He's not going to bend and twist and contor and
change everything. This is an opportunity that he has worked
his entire life for. You know, one of his former
colleagues said, Ben is the kind of guy that will
lock himself into an office and search for every answer
to every.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Question that his team could possibly face on game day.
Speaker 10 (25:45):
So he is going to give Caleb Williams e the
perfect scenario starting.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
Tonight against the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 10 (25:50):
I've got no doubt about it that Ben Johnson has
the answers. I mean, you saw it Therevic Detroit. But
also it takes to the tango. When that clay clock
hit hits fifteen seconds, that headset shut off. It's all
on the quarterback to maybe check to a different play,
to see that safety coming down and know, all right,
I got to send the run the other direction, or
I got to send some protection and do all of
(26:12):
those little things that go into being a successful quarterback.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
Maybe Caleb Williams is there right like maybe everything that
happened last year, he knows the truth. He knows he
has to evolve.
Speaker 10 (26:21):
Last year, I mean, coaches described the worst Friday walkers
they've ever seen in their lives.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I heard that choice, I heard that my two sources
that were at Bears games on Friday that the walkthroughs
on Friday were horrible.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (26:35):
Absolutely, So you know Ben Johnson will He's not going
to dumb down the offense and tailor it to Caleb.
He's going to run his stuff. He has set himself
at a podium. They loaded his plate up with everything,
so now we see if he can handle it.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
Maybe he can.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Tyler don it is golongtd dot com. I mean last
year the Bears allowed the most sacks, worst total offense,
FEUs yards per play it all. They reboot it tonight
and Tyler Isolah's great work and thank you.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Thanks so much for hav McCollum.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You bet it just makes it fasten.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
We don't know JJ McCarthy either, and there's been reports
about JJ McCarthy's a little bit unsettled.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
We'll find out. It makes them.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
We're not going to get Bill's Ravens offensively tonight. I
think that's realistic. I think the story of the game
is Caleb Williams against Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator for
the Vikings. That to me feels like the story of
the game. So you know, you watch football and you
know you think, oh, this guy played well, this guy
did not play well. So PFF graded. They take every pass,
(27:41):
every decision by quarterbacks, every single one. This is what
they do. PFF grated the top ten passers starting Thursday night.
Cowboys Eagles. Do we have the order?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
First?
Speaker 1 (27:58):
One's a little bit of a surprise is Matt Stafford.
Although he played really, really well, he didn't score a
lot of points, but it shows you it's not just
about throwing touchdowns. You're talking about high grade throws, not
missing open targets and reads.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
So Matt Stafford won. I am not surprised.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Justin Fields was two, Dak Prescott three, the great Samy
Darnold number four. Josh Allen only falls to five. I
know it's funny. I know it's there should be there
should be like a Josh Allen grade because just the
PFF should come up with another grade. Could anybody in
the world make this throw that Josh just made six?
(28:36):
Justin Herbert seven, Gino Smith, Gino played well against New England,
Jaden Daniels eight, Joe Burrow nine, who was under attack,
Jordan Love ten, So I think we were. I would
have guessed Josh Allen was like two or three, one,
two or three.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
One data point Colin, that's all this is for the
Come on, Josh Allen only number five? Well, well, I
mean Justin Herbert six. I thought of the ball. Justin
Herbert was eight for eight on the go ahead drive
to get the touchdown against Chee's like, come on against Bagnolo,
like Herbert was amazing. Don't tell me that Dak Prescott,
by the way, is throwing some awesome passes. Don't tell
(29:14):
me Dak and Darnold were better than Herbert and Allen.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Come on, I did the PFF.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
You how is Joe Burrow ninety through FO one hundred
and fourteen yards? Well that's like.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
They're yeah, I understand they're they're grading every drop back
decisions like Justin Fields, by the way, one of his
things is he had no off target throws, meaning if
a guy was open, Justin Fields hit him every time.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
The way.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
I don't see Lamar Jackson on there. They hung a
forty burger on the bills.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Well, that goes back to.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
It goes back to what you you know, you're a fan,
You see something, you think, how are they graded?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
So I'm looking on PFF right now and there's this
thing called big time throws. Now, I don't know who's
grading those, but Matt Stafford had five led the league.
Dak Prescott had four, as did Josh Allen. So that is,
you know, something that goes into the auffage.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
That's quite a show. It flew bottled move Baby, we'll
see tomorrow.
Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to three Eastern nine am to noone Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to the Herd Podcast. Yeah, it's hard to
(00:25):
deny how good the Packers look yesterday. Now the Packers
have continuity. Jeff Hafley the defensive coordinator in year two,
I mean they just kind of plugged in Micah Parsons.
But you know, these young receivers now have been there
two and three years. Craft I think the tight ends
on his second year, So I mean like there's a
(00:46):
lot of continuity in Green Bay. That was an advantage
over Detroit, traveling new coordinators, breaking in new interior offensive linemen.
So there was a lot of movement by the Lions.
But I think Hikah Parsons only played forty percent of
the snaps. But I don't think there's any denying the
energy and the bravado and the confidence he brought to
(01:10):
the Packers.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And here's Micah after.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
The last six months was super draining, super toxic for everyone.
I mean it's something that you know, I don't think
no players should have to go through. I could have
done with these guys getting better and better, and we
could have had you probably more dominant start, you know,
if that was the decision we was gonna make. So
I'm just happy that's behind. These guys embraced me. They
believe in my talents, they believed in me, and I'm
(01:35):
just gonna get these guys everything I have because I
know what's at stake.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And the other thing is because of Micah is sort
of see the quarterback, Go get the quarterback. It does
force you. He'll be double teamed a lot that is clear,
and he'll open up Rashaun Gary. He's going to open
up lanes and space for other Packer defenders. And this
(02:00):
is an organization that does offense staggeringly well. But outside
of the Charles Woodson acquisition or Reggie White, you know,
you always feel like they're missing the big star, and
Mike is that. Here's Matt Hasselback earlier on what he provides.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
The unknown for an offense.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
When you're growing up, when you're going up again against
a great pass rusher, and you don't know where he's
gonna line up. You don't know what down he's gonna
play on you. You don't know like our whole you know,
before you drop any pass plays, you drop your projection schemes,
and a lot of times you'll say, Okay, we're gonna
slide the line to him. Well what if he's not
even on the field.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Now what it's like?
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Kevin a great closer in baseball, Like we hey, we
got a closer. You know, like if it's third and long,
we got it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
You know, we're we're.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Gonna have a game changing play.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
We're gonna close the door.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
We're gonna we're gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yeah, it was just a pretty impressive to watch. He
had his first sack. You could feel the energy from
the crowd, uh, the anticipation and and like it's not
like this roster had a big hole. But in a
division Kevin O'Connell offensive coach, Ben Johnson offensive coach, you
start looking around the division. Dan Campbell offensive coach. They
(03:13):
need to get offenses off the field. They needed an
edge playmaker. And it looks again he not in perfect shape.
He only played forty five percent of the snaps. So
they had a top five scoring defense last year, or
excuse me, they had a top five scoring defense one
time during Aaron Rodgers prime and they got to the
(03:34):
super Bowl. So they've never you know, it's not like
they don't draft well. They've spent a lot of first
round picks on defensive players, but they've never had a
lot of swagger. They've never played defensively with a lot
of attitude. And it felt like you saw a little
bit now again. Detroit rebuilt o line, new offensive coordinator,
some of that, and nobody plays starters a lot of
(03:56):
snaps in the preseason, so some of it is it
looked like Detroit did not have its footing, but it
was still impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
J Mack with the news, Turn on the news.
Speaker 7 (04:07):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
So we can't get to every game, but we haven't
really touched on Atlanta Tampa. It was a thriller and
the young fella out of Ohio State and Mecca and
Buca had an unbelievable game. I have him on my
fantasy team. Four catches, sixty seven yards, two tundies, including
the game winner late in the fourth. Here's Baker Mayfield
on his budding rookie star.
Speaker 8 (04:33):
I think the way he carries himself. I've told you
guys that it wasn't a front. You guys saw it
live today in person. He's he's the real deal, true professional,
doesn't play like a rookie, doesn't act like a rookie.
His head's never spinning. So he made some unbelievable catches
and plays today for us, and obviously going to continue
to lean on him.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
You know, did you notice what he said?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Adult doesn't play like a rookie, doesn't act like a rookie.
Baker acted like a rookie, and now he doesn't like
Baker's now a leader, Baker's now an adult. So there
is So this is what I had predicted before the season.
I talked to a couple of general managers and they
were like, this kid is ready to be a seventy
(05:13):
five catch, ten touchdown guy with Baker Mayfield this year.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
And if you watch the replay, Baker did an amazing
job looking off the safety, perfect placement. I was on
the falul because my one loss on Friday night that
was a go either way game, it was, but you know,
Pendi's put up some good numbers that's a great route.
By the way, by a Meca, I mean, that's just
awesome everything. And by the way, when Godwin comes back
and Tristan Wurf's comes back, maybe Tampa's little frisky. I
(05:40):
didn't see a great run game out of them yesterday.
I'm gonna still say Atlanta is slightly better. Who did
you come away like, think he's a better team here.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, I think Baker has found a star receiver. And
I guess I wasn't looking for better as I watched
this game. I was looking for validation that they made
the right pick. Remember when they brought in Kirk Cousins
of Michael Pennix. And my take was, I think it's
great that Penix doesn't have to start, and he's probably
(06:11):
not as good as Kirk Cousins, but he's gonna get
great value sitting and watching. And I thought Pennix, I mean,
that's a intense division rival opener, and I thought Pennix
was unphased.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I don't think we have video, but on the final drive,
Drake London was out, did not play, and Pennix threw
a dime to a wide receiver who like locked it
in the lights of the Dome. I don't know what happened,
but he just didn't make the play. Anyways, nice win.
By the way, the kicker on Atlanta usually make I'm
not gonna savage a guy right now, but he usually
makes those kids, you're in a dome make a forty
four yard field goal. Next up, college football, colin the
(06:48):
AP Top twenty five was released. Here we go Florida
the biggest loser. Oh my gosh, they lost to us.
After they're done, however, the sec Are you ready? Eleven
teams in the top twenty five? What eleven? They just?
You see? Auburn and Missouri kicked in there at the
bottom as we get it on the screen, Ohio state
number one, Penn State number two, LSU three, Oregon sorry
(07:12):
Oregon four, the Hurricanes five. Any deep thoughts here? Texas
did not look great early, but they rebounded USC's nowhere
should they be?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I was there?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Pretty interesting, They're pretty interesting Offensively, they're pretty good.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Are who you booting here? Are they better than any?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I told you I'm not blown away by Michigan replacing
Jim Harbaugh. Go look at the coaches that have tried.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yeah, by the way, what is Clemson doing at twelve.
They were trailing Troy for most of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think wasn't that like sixteen to and.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
I'm sure they came back, but Clemson should night to.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oklahoma is probably a little better than thirteen. We had
said on this show. I liked Oklahoma to win that
game comfortably. I think they found their quarterback, Okay tis
the good player. I think Florida State is probably a
little better than ten.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah, they scored like seventy seven points or something like that.
I mean, FSU is making some early statements here, Colin,
all right, let's get to the final story. It's a
special one. Today is a historic day. Coward. Ten years
ago September eight, twenty fifteen, the Herd launch on FS one,
twenty four hundred plus shows on Fox, Colin, how many
(08:25):
twenty four hundred shows? More than twenty four hundred on
here on Fox. Everybody's happy for your run, and they
put together a real of your funniest moments. I know
you love this.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
When I'm seventy doing this show and do this, don't
call me crazy old man. I'm crazy, middle aged man.
I am dressed as Aaron Rodgers. I used to coach
Stanford I'm Jim Harlock. I beat USC so bad. I
made Pete Carroll cry impressionist paint.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
God, give me a.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Brunch, jill me your boy.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, b is that Uncle Colin brings big Jay journalism
right there? Hook them. You don't want that smoke. We
don't do drugs on Christmas. I as a kill, was
your pilot.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I think we landed that thing, sekrest Out, I had
no idea were that many costumes?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, I didn't either.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I didn't know you were good aviators. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 8 (09:15):
Well.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I think the hair is really well. You've got a
great job with your hair. It just looks sharper.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's literally what you took from all that. I really
like your receding hairline.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
No, no, it looks good.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
You got the silver fox thing going on?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, yeah whatever, No, it's been amazing. It is a
gratitude across the board is I've been doing this for
a long time. Easily the best crew, best partner I've
ever had. We have total support for management. We never
see them. We'll see our management today because we have
a cake, and management shows up like seagulls whenever we
have a free cake.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
In the break room so that you know, damn, listen,
you kid, because you care.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
That's the only reason I said, so, no, don't you
feel lucky here?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Of course, of course didn't say it with a lot
of comp We have the most fun.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
You know, we have a lie. I will say, you
did ghost me this weekend rare Sunday with no texts
from Calvert. I was like, well, I'm just have a
lot going on, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Labor intensive Sunday. I don't have time.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'm out there, you know, puffing cigar masonry, working the
work in the notepad.
Speaker 7 (10:17):
J Mack of the news, Well that's the news, and
thanks for stopping by the herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Tyler Dunn's going to join us before the end of
the show. So I was thinking, do we have the
do we have week two schedule? Because tonight caps off
week one? And I always have a rule is that
in the NFL, unlike college, if a team gets blown
out in college, they may just be bad.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But if a team gets blown out.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And humiliated in the NFL, take them the following week.
Like I think Detroit, and I have some misgivings about
the Lions, I would probably lean Detroit I think I think, well,
Giants lost, but they weren't, they weren't humiliated.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I would here's my here's my issue.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Generally I would bet Miami because they were so humiliated.
But I don't know if there's anything left in the tank.
I really don't. I was if you didn't watch Miami
and Colts. There was no effort defensively, like this is
(11:27):
not a shot at Daniel Jones. But you know, we
don't look at Daniel Jones as kind of you know,
elite or even top second tier. He did whatever he
wanted to. I guess the three biggest storylines starting on Thursday.
Let three biggest storylines we have the schedule here. Number one,
Dallas and Dak looked way better than people thought. I
(11:54):
thought they had a lottery feel to him. Dallas on
Thursday looked better Friday. The story is the regression is
beginning for Kansas City. You're not gonna win all these
one score games. And then on in the early window yesterday,
I think the story is justin Fields played his best
game as a pro, and the Jets have a quarterback,
(12:16):
and Miami is cooked and looked like defensively they quit.
In the late window, I think the story is green
Bay looked like the most complete team I saw all weekend.
Starting on Thursday. I think Bill's Ravens was what we
(12:37):
thought two heavyweights exchanging blows. Yeah, so I would say
my story Thursday Cowboys in a loss looked excellent. Friday
story Chiefs regression started early window, have the Jets found
a quarterback and the Dolphins are toast. And then late
window I would say brought pretty pretty impressive. But more
(13:04):
than that, Green Bay housed Detroit. Those feel like the
stories again, Buffalo came back to beat Baltimore heavyweights. They're
gonna be around in January. I don't know what to
take about. Matt Hasselback talked about this about Justin Fields,
who I always saw as a guy that people liked.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
He could move, he had a big arm, but.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Seeing the field going through progressions, he he just kind
of felt like when he went to the Jets, he's
gonna become kind of a bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Here was Hasselback on what he saw with Justin Fields.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It was like a high school reunion. You're trying to
impress your old flame kind of a game. Like the
both quarterbacks were like, man, I got to be my best.
I got to show out my best for you know,
I'm the one that got away. I thought Justin Fields
was I think he was good, not great, but like
I think he can be great.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I really do.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
And and you know, obviously he's a great runner, but
it's not about that. It's about it's about being a
passer first and then being a threat as a runner.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Which he has always been. Yeah, he didn't statistically have
one off target throw and that was always his issue.
Didn't see the field particularly well and would miss open guys.
So if you don't think coaching matters, the Jets hired
Aaron Glenn, hired the Lions passing coordinator GoF struggled, and
Justin Fields looked pretty damn good. So that was impressive,
(14:28):
all right. The story, if you're a Bears fan, that
is almost traumatizing. Tyler Dunn, who won the first ever
Big Jay Journalism Award and the last ever on this show,
broke a story that painted dysfunction and discord within the Bears,
who are hosting the Vikings tonight in one of the
(14:49):
most anticipated Bears games.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
In a decade.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I mean, honestly, the city on pins and needles Tyler
Dunn joins his next We're live in LA.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's the Herb.
Speaker 9 (15:07):
Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler
LeVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called Up on Game?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
What is Up on Game?
Speaker 9 (15:16):
You ass along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Huschman
Zada and Super Bowl champion Yup, that's right, Plexico Burds.
You can only name a show with that type of
talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be
sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen
to Up on Game with Me LeVar Arrington, TJ. Hutschman Zada,
(15:38):
and Plexico Burrs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcast from.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
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 1 (15:59):
Well, He's published a three part series called House of
Dysfunction about the calamity of Caleb Williams, the Bears quarterback
who opens his season tonight at home against Minnesota. Deep
rooted problems, day to day issues and fissures within the organization.
Tyler Dunn, an NFL writer the founder of golongtd dot com.
(16:23):
It's long form journalism if you've got thirty or forty minutes.
I read it yesterday. I had two friends in Chicago,
just journalists in that city, saying, man, what do you
make of this? So let's start with Caleb Williams. He
was the first nil star USC in LA is a flashy,
(16:45):
high profile program. It was fairly obvious, and you can
talk in some detail here that once he got on,
once Eber fluses out. Now he's on his second head
coach and his third head coach. He didn't either respect
his third coach. Is that it or was it just
(17:07):
he came with attitude day one, Well.
Speaker 10 (17:10):
Thanks for having me, Colin, and I think he nailed it.
I think that roles were really reversed in this case.
The Chicago Bears were not interviewing Caleb Williams to be
their quarterback, to be their selection number one overall, after
talking to coaches and scouts and personnel men and gms
across the NFL. They paid a picture in our series
where really the Bears were in full Fledge's recruiting mode.
(17:33):
They're trying to convince the first NIL superstar to play
for them.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
And look justifiably.
Speaker 10 (17:39):
So as we get into the dysfunction there in Chicago
was very deep rooted, like you said, but I think
that it really did sift onto the football field. Early
OTA's training camp. You've got a guy like John Jackson third,
who I was told really has no business feed in
the NFL by GMS. But that's Caleb Williams's best friend.
So he's on the practice squad. He wants to change
to the cadence. So they go to a basic ready
(18:01):
set go. They eliminate checks, they eliminate audibles. They kind
of try to make this thing as Caleb friendly as possible.
And it is a tough middle ground because you got
a Taylor in offense to your talented quarterback. But at
the same time, there has to be some type of coaching,
some type of authority. And I talked to several coaches
who basically said, like the moment that we were around
(18:22):
Caleb Williams, there was an entitlement, there was a disrespect.
There was you know, you try to tell him something,
coach him up, offer some constructive criticism.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
He would turn around and walk the other direction.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
It happened early, and it continued right on through that
Seattle Thursday night game that we lead the entire series with.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So it was bad.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
You know, they'd be in meetings.
Speaker 10 (18:42):
I had coached tell me that he'd ask Caleb Williams
a question in a meeting and he would just look
at him and not say anything like why are you
asking me a question?
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Many, many specific examples cited.
Speaker 10 (18:53):
And you know what, the Bears coaches are not completely
innocent in this regard, and they'd be the first to
tell you they really did twist and and try to
change everything they were offensively for Caleb Williams. So by
the time they wanted to get tough with him, by
the time they wanted to hold him accountable. And yes, there
were players that wanted Tyson Bage to be their starter
last year, and Ryan Pole said absolutely not by that time.
(19:16):
And when Thomas Brown becomes the interim head coach and
he's being old school, he's being hard nosed, it was
too late.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
So maybe Ben Jonson, with a full off season is
exactly what Caate Williams needs.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So Ryan Poles does not come off well. Essentially, according
to Tyler Dunn's story, a three part series House of Dysfunction.
Ryan Poles decided, for reasons you describe, were taking Caleb,
whereas it's well documented Adam Peters, the new Washington GM,
invited all the quarterbacks to Washington. He wanted to see
(19:47):
all the alphas and all the relationships when he took
him to Top Golf. From your story, it sounds like
Chicago made no serious overtures to any other of the
rookie quarterbacks, right Oh, I mean.
Speaker 10 (20:01):
I had scouts in the room tell me it was
unlike anything they've seen in their entire lives. Just to
total farce, a quote unquote rigged trial, a rigged process.
There was no process. It was Caleb Williams all the way.
I mean. And look, if Caleb Williams is a Hall
of Famer, then that conviction for Ryan Poles will win
the day. Right then he gets the last laugh here.
(20:22):
But we're talking as early as Kayleb Williams winning that
Heisman Trophy when he's ineligible to even be drafted. I
was told that Ryan Poles would have taken him then
with that first pick if.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
He could have. So, yeah, they make the.
Speaker 10 (20:34):
Trade, they have the AMMO, they get the first pick
and December of twenty three, really as early.
Speaker 6 (20:40):
As they had draft meetings.
Speaker 10 (20:42):
By the time all the scouts got in the room together,
it wasn't a serious conversation there. There were no negatives discussed.
When it came to Calebilliams. Remember the Notre Dame game,
he was discussed, but kind of through rose colored glasses, like, look,
he might he struggled in this game, but this is
stuff that mahoone saw in the NFL. Caleb already saw it.
(21:02):
He was compared to mahomes often by Ryan Poles.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So yeah, the.
Speaker 10 (21:06):
Day they put Drake Mays footage up on the screen
and it's some of his worst moments to make that
the first impression, and you've got the GM and others
in the room openly laughing at Drake mate. Jane Daniels
never a serious consideration. I do think that they wanted
to have Jane Daniels in on a visit, a Top
thirty visit, and.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I talked to somebody in Jane Daniels's camp about this.
Speaker 10 (21:29):
It was it was so insincere by that point that
Jaden said, go thanks, absolutely not, Caleb is your guy,
and it's look, this is maybe the most consequential decision
in the history of the Chicago Bears a century plus
to not seriously discuss and debate the other quarterbacks. Is
it's malpractice and some very very real red flags slipped
(21:51):
right through the cracks.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Now, of course, Ben Johnson has power. I also think
Caleb is smart enough to look at him and realize
this is the real dal and I cannot struggle with this.
Coach iber Flutz was on a hot seat the minute
Caleb showed up, and he probably had more power. Like
you said, they were recruiting him to be interested in
the Bears. But what about Caleb's personality among players? You know,
(22:13):
we often talk about alpha and is he the guy?
Is he authentic? From your article it details that that
may still be an issue.
Speaker 10 (22:24):
I think the fact that there were several players that
wanted Tyson Basion to be the starter last year is
that that tells you a lot, because I know, on
the outside looking in, it would have shocked all of
us if all of a sudden, Tyson Beasis the quarterback.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
When you've got number one over, I'll pick Caleb Williams.
Speaker 10 (22:38):
But yeah, I heard that his leadership style is he's introverted, right,
there's an introverted nature to Caleb Williams where he would
break down the team after practice and didn't really know
what to say, didn't really know how to say it.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
So they kind of stopped doing it. He was named
a captain.
Speaker 10 (22:53):
The coaches themselves told me that, yeah, we named him
a captain, but he really wasn't voted to be a captain.
You know, there weren't really much There wasn't much route
running after practice, little things like that.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
They set up these meetings to.
Speaker 10 (23:07):
Get together with the lineman go over some pass protection stuff.
A meeting like that was optional. It matters most to
Caleb Williams. He didn't show up to show up to those.
I think by the time, like some of these veterans
heard about the video games being played at night instead
of maybe looking at film, that did eventually irritate players
in that locker room.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Look, he's not just hated by everyone.
Speaker 10 (23:28):
A locker room has full of different players, different personalities,
and there are players in there I'm sure that would
go to war for Caleb Williams, But there's also players
in there that say his leadership style is something very
very different than the than they've ever seen.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
So is that something that you just kind of turn
on right.
Speaker 10 (23:45):
Maybe with experience, maybe with being around these guys, he
can develop. But I think number one Colin this is
what the coaches say, the scouts, people in Cabiliams pass.
He's got to kind of look in the mirror and
realize it's on me. I've got to take accountability here
because football, frankly, has always come easy to Caleb Bullings.
There's a GM who kind of broke down this scene
(24:06):
at USC pregame. Caleboys is out there pre pregame early
and it's the most dynamite workout.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
This GM had seen lasers, daggers.
Speaker 10 (24:16):
He's all into it, but by the time the whole
team was there for a pregame routine, he's screwing around.
He's throwing it left handed, he's not taking it serious.
I mean, that's kind of Cambilliams in a nutshelling. He's
got all the talent in the world, and all the
talent in the world has led to Heisman trophies, being
the first overall pick, being annoyed at the Chicago Bear Savior,
but being a successful starting quarterback.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
This is a theme. It takes more than talent. It
takes more than tail.
Speaker 10 (24:41):
It takes all of these little things that go on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Finally, is his relationship with Ben Johnson. What does your
intel tell you on Because I would think we've all
had an average boss. Then we get a great boss
and it doesn't take long to figure out as an employee.
I got to get my stuff in order with this boss.
I mean, what's the Ben Johnson Caleb dynamic?
Speaker 10 (25:04):
Now, Matt, everybody that I talk to is fascinated by
this relationship between Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Because think
back to last year when Thomas Brown, an old school
head coach, is trying to tell Caleb Williams something during
that Seattle game and Caleb.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Williams just walks away. Right, Okay, Ben Johnson is old
school too. Ben Johnson has an office and he wants
to run.
Speaker 10 (25:28):
He's not going to bend and twist and contor and
change everything. This is an opportunity that he has worked
his entire life for. You know, one of his former
colleagues said, Ben is the kind of guy that will
lock himself into an office and search for every answer
to every.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Question that his team could possibly face on game day.
Speaker 10 (25:45):
So he is going to give Caleb Williams e the
perfect scenario starting.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
Tonight against the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 10 (25:50):
I've got no doubt about it that Ben Johnson has
the answers. I mean, you saw it Therevic Detroit. But
also it takes to the tango. When that clay clock
hit hits fifteen seconds, that headset shut off. It's all
on the quarterback to maybe check to a different play,
to see that safety coming down and know, all right,
I got to send the run the other direction, or
I got to send some protection and do all of
(26:12):
those little things that go into being a successful quarterback.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
Maybe Caleb Williams is there right like maybe everything that
happened last year, he knows the truth. He knows he
has to evolve.
Speaker 10 (26:21):
Last year, I mean, coaches described the worst Friday walkers
they've ever seen in their lives.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I heard that choice, I heard that my two sources
that were at Bears games on Friday that the walkthroughs
on Friday were horrible.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (26:35):
Absolutely, So you know Ben Johnson will He's not going
to dumb down the offense and tailor it to Caleb.
He's going to run his stuff. He has set himself
at a podium. They loaded his plate up with everything,
so now we see if he can handle it.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
Maybe he can.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Tyler don it is golongtd dot com. I mean last
year the Bears allowed the most sacks, worst total offense,
FEUs yards per play it all. They reboot it tonight
and Tyler Isolah's great work and thank you.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Thanks so much for hav McCollum.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You bet it just makes it fasten.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
We don't know JJ McCarthy either, and there's been reports
about JJ McCarthy's a little bit unsettled.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
We'll find out. It makes them.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
We're not going to get Bill's Ravens offensively tonight. I
think that's realistic. I think the story of the game
is Caleb Williams against Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator for
the Vikings. That to me feels like the story of
the game. So you know, you watch football and you
know you think, oh, this guy played well, this guy
did not play well. So PFF graded. They take every pass,
(27:41):
every decision by quarterbacks, every single one. This is what
they do. PFF grated the top ten passers starting Thursday night.
Cowboys Eagles. Do we have the order?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
First?
Speaker 1 (27:58):
One's a little bit of a surprise is Matt Stafford.
Although he played really, really well, he didn't score a
lot of points, but it shows you it's not just
about throwing touchdowns. You're talking about high grade throws, not
missing open targets and reads.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
So Matt Stafford won. I am not surprised.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Justin Fields was two, Dak Prescott three, the great Samy
Darnold number four. Josh Allen only falls to five. I
know it's funny. I know it's there should be there
should be like a Josh Allen grade because just the
PFF should come up with another grade. Could anybody in
the world make this throw that Josh just made six?
(28:36):
Justin Herbert seven, Gino Smith, Gino played well against New England,
Jaden Daniels eight, Joe Burrow nine, who was under attack,
Jordan Love ten, So I think we were. I would
have guessed Josh Allen was like two or three, one,
two or three.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
One data point Colin, that's all this is for the
Come on, Josh Allen only number five? Well, well, I
mean Justin Herbert six. I thought of the ball. Justin
Herbert was eight for eight on the go ahead drive
to get the touchdown against Chee's like, come on against Bagnolo,
like Herbert was amazing. Don't tell me that Dak Prescott,
by the way, is throwing some awesome passes. Don't tell
(29:14):
me Dak and Darnold were better than Herbert and Allen.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Come on, I did the PFF.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
You how is Joe Burrow ninety through FO one hundred
and fourteen yards? Well that's like.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
They're yeah, I understand they're they're grading every drop back
decisions like Justin Fields, by the way, one of his
things is he had no off target throws, meaning if
a guy was open, Justin Fields hit him every time.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
The way.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
I don't see Lamar Jackson on there. They hung a
forty burger on the bills.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Well, that goes back to.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
It goes back to what you you know, you're a fan,
You see something, you think, how are they graded?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
So I'm looking on PFF right now and there's this
thing called big time throws. Now, I don't know who's
grading those, but Matt Stafford had five led the league.
Dak Prescott had four, as did Josh Allen. So that is,
you know, something that goes into the auffage.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
That's quite a show. It flew bottled move Baby, we'll
see tomorrow.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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