January 29, 2023 • 21 mins
John empties out the Middlekauff Mailbag and responds to listener questions on AFC/Championship Weekend.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. The Three and Out Podcast with me John
Middlecoff is presented by FanDuel Sports Book. It's the NFL
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(00:23):
it enough. Love gambling with FanDuel. If you are a
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in Ohio. What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff Three
(00:50):
and Out Podcast, Little Weekend Middlecoff Mailbag, not a rattle off,
a couple of questions. Just keep it short, keep it
short and sweet at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire
in those d MS Championship weekend nighters at the Eagles,
the Bengals at the Chiefs. So I'm taking the Niners
(01:10):
and I'm taking the Chiefs. We have Colin Coward coming
on with me after the second game, which is the
Chiefs Bengals game, so we will discuss everything that happened
throughout the day and we will keep the content flowing,
so subscribe to the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed.
You guys know the drill very very easy to do.
And hope everyone's having a good weekend because we only
(01:31):
got If you're listening to this Sunday morning before the games,
we have three more games, so you better take it in. Okay,
let's answer some questions. We'll start with Aaron from Instagram.
Question for the three and out big time Dolphins fan,
what avenue do you think the Finns will look at
for quarterback contend to sees next season. I don't think
there's any reason to cut to agree while he's on
(01:52):
his rookie deal and his trade value has little to
no value, plus his injury history. That being said, the
front office would have to be insane to go into
the season without better option if two of goes down
bringing competition. I wanted him to see never way possible,
but last season was extremely hard to watch after going
eight and three. Lastly, just a message and not for
the pod three years later, sending my first DM for
(02:12):
the pods. Love the content, really change the way look.
Hope you bring back the golf pods soon it's coming
back in a couple of weeks. I know it's early
the season, but I love your takes on the PGA.
We got the golf podcast starting after Super Bowl. I
think I'm also gonna do some golf stuff non pod,
probably on my YouTube channel. Just my name John Middlecoff
(02:35):
reactions if I'm watching for that given day, but appreciate
the kind of words. I wasn't supposed to read that
on the pod, but you know, when you're live, you
just gotta do it. I would say, Tom Brady, you
know the owner. They've tried to get him before it.
You know he was I saw a internet clip of
him looking at schools in Miami, which isn't I mean,
(02:56):
it's where rich people would probably want to live, so
it's not even that crazy. You'd rather live in Miami
than Tampa, no shade if anyone's listening from Tampa. Probably
a cool place too, only been once for about twenty
four hours, but Miami. I would imagine if you have
unlimited money like Brady does, well unlimited be strong because
he got a divorce but still has a lot of money,
even though not as much as he probably once had.
Because Gazelle and FTX, but that's a whole nother story.
(03:18):
I'm kind of guessing that he's going to be the
quarterback for the Miami Dolphins or the New York Jets,
but probably the Miami Dolphins now that Aaron Rodgers is
gonna go to the New York Jets. Hey, John, just
wanted to see what you think the Cowboys should do
this offseason regarding the running back. With Tony Pollard becoming
a free agent, do you pay him knowing that a
running back second contract usually does not work out due
to injury wear down and seeing the exact situation. Was
Zeke playing out right now? Or do you try a
(03:39):
big swing and try to draft be Jean Robinson overall,
just want your opinion on what to do with Pollard
and Zeke and if the Cowboys should stick with the
guys we have through the draft. Well, I think you
had a big day the other day when Dan Quinn,
who might ended up of guiding a job, getting a
job is why he'd officially reach turns. I would guess
(04:01):
Jerry Jones, he's making four or five million dollars, so
he's probably one of the highest paid assistant coaches in
the league. Dan Quinn has resurrected his career. I would
guess Jerry Jones loves stan Quinn. I mean that has
been the bright spot of the last couple of years, right,
Dak's been solid, CD has been okay. Tony Pollard Sholtz,
like you guys have had some moments your rookie, some
of your rookies, obviously Micah and Diggs last year and
(04:23):
Micah this year. But I just mean from a coaching standpoint,
dan Quinn has been a home run. To go from
Nolan to to dan Quinn coaching the defense feels like
going from me to Vince Lombardi. I was talking about
an upgrade. You're probably gonna have to franchise Tony Pollard,
you know, I mean, I would imagine that's what you'd
have to do. Now you're franchising guy who just shattered
(04:44):
his leg freak tackle. But still I think he's a
lot different player than Zeke. You know, Zeke war down
just because he took so many hits. Tony Pollard is
like avoiding guys in theory unless the forty nine ers
tackle you from behind. But you know, I'm not fo
signing between the tackle running backs. But if you give
me a versatile player Kamara McCaffrey. Now, injuries are always
(05:07):
part of the position part of the league, So I
would keep Tony Pollard and just reading people that tweet
and follow I guess they follow the Cowboys for a
living and they tweet this information out. It feels like
a lot of people are saying that Zeke will take
a pay cut because he doesn't want to get cut.
So that would be a good thing for you guys,
because you probably need to get a second receiver, you know,
(05:31):
to go along with Ceedee Lamb. You had it a
couple of years ago when you had a Mari and CD.
I guess Gallup and he's coming off the injury. Maybe
he'll be healthier next year. I'd be pretty bullish on
the Cowboys, like it does feel like part of Like
I was thinking about this the other day, I'm hard
on Dak's contract because I don't view him as an
elite player. But if you just view it as you know,
every single year he's healthy, you guys are gonna go
(05:51):
to the playoffs, win a game, be in the mix,
win ten to thirteen games, be very relevant, not just
because you're the Cowboys, because you're winning games. That's worth something,
you know now, ideally, would you like to play DAK
twenty eight million? Yeah, and be able to sign some
other guys, But you know these agents and players, they
don't really do that, so you're stuck with paying forty
million dollars a year. Hi, John, I follow from Bill Bao, Spain,
(06:18):
and I've been a Patriot fan since twenty eleven. I
had a couple of questions for you. Do you think
it's time for the Patriots to move on from mac
Jones or should they base their near future around him?
And how do you see Bill Belichick? Do you think
his time is over or does he have more to
give to the Patriots organization? Thanks? Guy looks like a
(06:40):
soccer player. Well, I think the signing or the hiring
of Bill O'Brien signals that, you know, Bill's coach in
a couple more years. Because Bill O'Brien and Mack have
a close relationship. I think they're bringing this guy in
to kind of resurrect the offense. Obviously it was anemic.
Feels like too positive of a take on the page
three offense. I didn't read the article, but I've seen
(07:03):
some clips and I've heard people talk about it. I
guess there was a pretty damning article about the Patriots
in the Boston Globe. I don't even think I could
read it if I tried, because it's behind a paywall,
and the Boston Globes not getting my money, but just
crushing Bill and basically crushing him around the offense players
saying they don't have enough plays. Joe Judge, you got
kicked out of the offensive meeting rooms. Patricia was just
(07:27):
a joke. Well, no shit, like you. How do you
put Joe Judge? You remember Joe Judge. They were in
a quarterback sneak when he was with the Giants at
his own, like five yard line on third night. I
don't get it. He's a special teams guy. Put him
back coaching the punters and kickers. Patricia, dude's a lifetime
defensive coach. He's calling offensive plays. We have seen now
(07:49):
it happened twice, and it's happened two of the best coaches.
Because they're very loyal and sometimes loyalty to your people.
I'm not against that, that there is a value to
that in society, but I think he had a bun
in business. I was with the Eagles when Andy was
very loyal to one cast deal and made him as
defensive coordinator. Obviously Bill did it with Patricia made him
as offensive coordinator. It had very very problematic ramifications. So listen,
(08:16):
I come from people that were very loyal, that had
the same friends in my entire life talking about my parents,
people I was grown up around. I do think in business, though,
it's very very difficult. It's why it is hard to
be the head hancho because everyone wants you to be cutthroat,
like you know Michael Douglas in Wall Street. But there
is a balancing act of the people you respect. But
(08:37):
you gotta put your people in the best position to succeed.
And anytime you have a young quarterback making Matt Patricia
the offensive coordinator was always going to blow up in
everyone's face that were behind that. And there was one
person behind that, and that was Belichick. So I think
the crafts. I think Belichick's kind of got to make
the playoffs next year. I don't think they'll ever quote
unquote fire him, but I do think there'll be some
(08:57):
parting of the waist. Like seventy two years old, he's
not just gonna get to coach till he's eighty five
years old. That's just not the way it ever works ever,
and Bill, let's face it, can I you know, it's
not rumors, It's been well reported. It's not the nicest
to those guys, you know, the guys that owned the team.
So when you win, shit, no one cares. And he
(09:17):
could be the biggest asshole ever. When he was printing
everyone cash and they were kicking everyone's ass at foxbro
it was like, Boom, super Bowl, Boom, super Bowl. Even
if you lose the Super Bowl, if you're going the
Super Bowl and the AFC Championship every year, ideally, would
I want Andy Reid, a nice guy going to the
a FC Championship in the Super Bowl at the time,
of course, But you win six super Bowls in eighteen years,
(09:40):
like and go to three other super Bowls, They're gonna
let you do whatever the hell you want. You stop
doing the Super Bowls. It becomes a problem. Nick Saban
can do what ever he wants because he always wins.
Kirby Smart now untouchable at Georgia. Why he's got back
to back Natty's See Kirby Smart win seven games two
years in a row. See see what happens. That's not
(10:00):
gonna happen. But you know what I mean, It's about winning,
and Bill's just not winning at the clip that he
needs to win to act like he's gonna act. So
I think the pressure is on him. And like I said,
I think I think Bill O'Brien has a very very
good chance to be the next head coach of the
New England Patriots. And things get weird. I've thought that
maybe a bit of a hot take, but Cam Newton
(10:20):
was better than Josh Allen, and right now it's not close.
Cam's teams went as he did and Josh's teams do
the same. Here's my argument. Cam willed a team to
a Super Bowl MVP and was All Pro, none of
which Josh has done, and really close to it. Obviously
it's subject to change. However, as of now, Allen is
just a poor man's camp. Here's why I will push back.
(10:41):
When Cam Newton had one individual season better than Josh Allen,
I will not dispute that Cam Newton, in whatever that
year was, twenty sixteen, was had a better season than
Josh Allen has ever had. Super Bowl First Team All
Pro star, let his team to the Super Bowl, totally agree.
(11:03):
I would say, beside that season when he was the MVP,
Josh Allen has consistently been better. Like you want to
hear some Pro Bowl seasons of Cam Newton twenty four touchdowns,
thirteen picks, Like, it's not like Cam Newton was throwing
twenty four twenty two, nineteen eighteen. Honestly, go to a
stat page beside that one season, and I'm a Cam
Newton guy in terms of high end talents. But he
(11:28):
I don't think he was quite as good as you thought.
He had impactful games, but season end season out. Also,
Cam Newton never went to the playoffs back to back years.
If you take out one year where Cam Newton I
think went to the playoffs as a seven and eight team,
he had Kim Newton had three winning seasons starting quarterback.
(11:50):
Now his one season, like I said, twenty fifteen, better
than Josh Allen three winning seasons as a quarterback. Last
time I checked. Josh Allen's fucking rattling those things off.
So there is not a general manager in the NFL
that would have taken Cam Newton over a period of time.
You would take the one season, But if I had
to take a five year period, you would take Josh
(12:11):
Allen over Cam Newton. Not even debatable school Cam Newton's
Pro Football reference And I'm someone that has a lot
of respect for Cam as a competitor in big games,
like he scares you, but game end game out, season
in seasonality was not the most consistent player. I was
listening today's podcast about Sean Payton. Do you think it's
realistic option that he coaches the Saints again? If Brady
(12:32):
decides to go there. I think that would be pretty
bizarre if he retires from the Saints and then goes
back a year later. It does feel like that is
not happening if you went back to the Saints after
interviewing around the league, like it feels like him and
the Saints are done, which I would say if I
was a Saints fan, I'd be like, well, Sean, do
you just not want to coach or do you not
(12:54):
want to coach us anymore? Did you just need a break?
And honestly, sometimes it's sometimes you just need a change.
He had coached the Saints for what since six so
fifteen years you just want to go somewhere else. So
Andy Reid fifteen years, fourteen years in Philly. Now he's
ten plus years in Kansas City like that change served
him well. Maybe Sean Payton kind of used that and
it is jealous. I just want to start from scratch,
(13:16):
which I understand. I've started from scratch a couple of times.
Very healthy, inspiring, it actually creates I think some of
your It gets the best out of you as an individual.
But if I was a Saints fan, I'd be like,
what the hell, man, you just left us? Can you
just admit like you were over us? Because I don't
like he interviewing, like you want to coach, but you
just don't want to coach us our teams as a
quarterback away. Everyone talked about Dallas being at a disadvantage
(13:40):
against the Niners because of lack of prep. Would Dallas
not of the advantage because they could have had their
scout team get as much info on the Niners for
the two extra days Sunday and Monday. The Niners would
have to split their scout team prep for either the
Bucks of the Cowboys. I understand the body healing was
an advantage. These front officers are smart enough to prep beforehand,
are they not. It's more about the body. It's more
(14:01):
about the travel. It's more about the quick turnaround than
the like it's not like the players are doing any
studying that Sunday or excuse me, Yeah, the Niners played
on Saturday and then they know the Cowboys played Monday. Honestly,
the players are not doing shit for a couple of days.
Maybe on Monday they review the game tape of that
would have been the Seattle game, But it was much
(14:21):
more about the body healing, which in January means a lot.
And it shows you how talented the Cowboys defense was.
Because their defense showed up to kick ass. Dak didn't.
And I think Dak is just kind of a roller
coaster of a player and it was kind of proven
out in that situation which you're gonna pay forty million,
like I need a little more. I just do. Hey,
(14:46):
John loved the pod. What do you think about this take?
Josh Allen? Josh Allen's a very very polarizing player now,
and this you know, the cool part about sports is
when we anoint you and I'm guilty, and then you
just can't quite get it done right, Like even if
Joe Burrow never wins a Super Bowl, even if Kyle
Shanahan now doesn't win a Super Bowl. I think we
have to respect, like Joe Burrow's pretty big time, Kyle
(15:09):
Shanahan's pretty big time, right, it might not be Belichick,
you know. It's it took Andy Reid a long time
to win a super Bowl. Last night check start coaching
head coach ninety nine didn't win a Super Bowl till
February of what was that, twenty twenty, So it's it's hard,
but you know, Burrow boom immediately passes Josh Allen. Josh
(15:31):
Allen is a Philip Rivers two point though both really talented,
had talent all around them, but never could get over
the playoff hump. I think there are some similarities between
the outcomes as players, though they're dramatically different. And what
I was taught when you do player comps, they have
to have similarities physically. Now they're both tall, but Philip
(15:52):
was an old school pocket quarterback who didn't have a
great arm. Philip Rivers hung his hat on being a
time aiming, rhythm accurate passer when he was good. Josh
Allen's really more of like a Boomer bust, you know,
and I don't mean obviously Far's more accomplished MVPs. But
he's like a poor man's version of that kind of
(16:13):
run around, sling it, throw bombs. Cam Newton, you know,
he's physical freak, far better than both of them. Obviously.
My point is, like physically, what separates Josh Allen is
his ability to run, which is elite, and just throw bombs.
You know, Philip Rivers was not throwing bombs. I mean
(16:34):
he could throw deep, but it was I've always been
fascinating by guys in baseball that are like six four
but they can only throw ninety one. And then there's
like a guy six feet they can throw ninety eight.
No different than a small quarterback like Mike Vick had
a huge arm. But then there's these tall quarterbacks like
(16:54):
a Philip Rivers, like an Alex Smith that don't have
great arm. Peyton Manning didn't have a great arm. It
just it's kind of crazy. You know, Aaron Rodgers six
foot two, big arm, Drew Brees tiny, no arm, right
Mahomes mid size, huge arm. They just think around the league,
Kyler Murray tiny slings it. So I've always been fascinated
(17:15):
by that dynamic. Clearly it has to do with like
muscles and wrist flection, But I like your comp in
terms of outcome. I don't love the comp in terms
of the player talent because no different than Herbert. Right,
Herbert early on his career is kind of his teams
(17:36):
are underachieving, They're not getting it done. But Herbert is
way more gifted than Philip strictly because he can move
and he's got a strong arm. It honestly speaks volumes
to how good Rivers was with an average arm and
no lakes. I mean, Rivers was, for NFL standards, a
pretty awful athlete by like the last five six years
(17:58):
of his career awful. And that's I mean, just relative
to NFL players. Okay, last question, big Titans fan here,
what are your thoughts on the Titans bringing Ran Carthon
as their new GM. Do you believe that rand will
be a good fit with Rabel and the other Titans
in the organization? Lastly, do you have any new insight
into wife Rabel and Jay Rob's relationship quickly deteriorated given
(18:19):
that they both got contract extensions. I was appreciative of
all the work that Jay Rob did for the Titans,
but he did have a lot of misses recently in
the draft and free agency caught up with him. I
don't all, you know, that's a weird situation, kind of
letting everything simber before I not. We don't have the
type of relationship where I'd ask him what happened necessarily,
But he was always really cool to me, and I
(18:41):
thought he did a pretty good job last night. Checked
teams were always in the playoffs, and wasn't he the
driving force to hire Mike Vrabel? But you know, these owners, man,
they get and who knows, maybe it was a power play.
There haven't been any crazy articles that have come out there,
like Mike Variable backstabbed him. Maybe that's you know, Jay
Rob being kind of an old school Belichick guy didn't
look to kind of you know, air his grievances. Bizarre
(19:04):
deal for sure. I don't know Rand personally. I've shot
him dms on Twitter before and just very you know,
complimentary stuff over the years, and I've heard from people
inside the organization big time leader, high character guy, very
very good. People really really liked him in San Francisco.
But in terms of evaluations and his pull, you know,
(19:28):
I think it's pretty clear like Mike Vrabel runs the
show now and Mike Vrabel's the head acho, Mike Vrabel's
the big boss man, and how much juice does Rand
get to have? Does Rand get to balance him out?
You would think for a big personality former player in Mike,
it probably helps to have, you know, like Rand played
at Florida and played in the NFL, not for long,
(19:49):
but was an NFL player. I wonder if that helps
a little bit, Like I'm not just some scout here
banging the tape, which is obviously his profession, but like Bro,
I've been in the trenches too. My man took handoffs
from Peyton fucking Manning from the Colts we played you.
Maybe that's why Mike liked him. So if he has
the poll and the balance to not just letting Mike
(20:11):
now pick all the players, which I don't blame Mike
for wanting to do, you probably have a really healthy relationship.
I would say the Titans organization has always been well
respected from scouting, so probably got a lot of good
people within the organization. It should be a fun kind
of fun thing to watch moving forward. Okay, enjoy the
(20:31):
games and I will see everybody after the AFC Championship
game with Coward Audios. The volume
The volume. The Three and Out Podcast with me John
Middlecoff is presented by FanDuel Sports Book. It's the NFL
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(00:23):
it enough. Love gambling with FanDuel. If you are a
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in Ohio. What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff Three
(00:50):
and Out Podcast, Little Weekend Middlecoff Mailbag, not a rattle off,
a couple of questions. Just keep it short, keep it
short and sweet at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire
in those d MS Championship weekend nighters at the Eagles,
the Bengals at the Chiefs. So I'm taking the Niners
(01:10):
and I'm taking the Chiefs. We have Colin Coward coming
on with me after the second game, which is the
Chiefs Bengals game, so we will discuss everything that happened
throughout the day and we will keep the content flowing,
so subscribe to the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed.
You guys know the drill very very easy to do.
And hope everyone's having a good weekend because we only
(01:31):
got If you're listening to this Sunday morning before the games,
we have three more games, so you better take it in. Okay,
let's answer some questions. We'll start with Aaron from Instagram.
Question for the three and out big time Dolphins fan,
what avenue do you think the Finns will look at
for quarterback contend to sees next season. I don't think
there's any reason to cut to agree while he's on
(01:52):
his rookie deal and his trade value has little to
no value, plus his injury history. That being said, the
front office would have to be insane to go into
the season without better option if two of goes down
bringing competition. I wanted him to see never way possible,
but last season was extremely hard to watch after going
eight and three. Lastly, just a message and not for
the pod three years later, sending my first DM for
(02:12):
the pods. Love the content, really change the way look.
Hope you bring back the golf pods soon it's coming
back in a couple of weeks. I know it's early
the season, but I love your takes on the PGA.
We got the golf podcast starting after Super Bowl. I
think I'm also gonna do some golf stuff non pod,
probably on my YouTube channel. Just my name John Middlecoff
(02:35):
reactions if I'm watching for that given day, but appreciate
the kind of words. I wasn't supposed to read that
on the pod, but you know, when you're live, you
just gotta do it. I would say, Tom Brady, you
know the owner. They've tried to get him before it.
You know he was I saw a internet clip of
him looking at schools in Miami, which isn't I mean,
(02:56):
it's where rich people would probably want to live, so
it's not even that crazy. You'd rather live in Miami
than Tampa, no shade if anyone's listening from Tampa. Probably
a cool place too, only been once for about twenty
four hours, but Miami. I would imagine if you have
unlimited money like Brady does, well unlimited be strong because
he got a divorce but still has a lot of money,
even though not as much as he probably once had.
Because Gazelle and FTX, but that's a whole nother story.
(03:18):
I'm kind of guessing that he's going to be the
quarterback for the Miami Dolphins or the New York Jets,
but probably the Miami Dolphins now that Aaron Rodgers is
gonna go to the New York Jets. Hey, John, just
wanted to see what you think the Cowboys should do
this offseason regarding the running back. With Tony Pollard becoming
a free agent, do you pay him knowing that a
running back second contract usually does not work out due
to injury wear down and seeing the exact situation. Was
Zeke playing out right now? Or do you try a
(03:39):
big swing and try to draft be Jean Robinson overall,
just want your opinion on what to do with Pollard
and Zeke and if the Cowboys should stick with the
guys we have through the draft. Well, I think you
had a big day the other day when Dan Quinn,
who might ended up of guiding a job, getting a
job is why he'd officially reach turns. I would guess
(04:01):
Jerry Jones, he's making four or five million dollars, so
he's probably one of the highest paid assistant coaches in
the league. Dan Quinn has resurrected his career. I would
guess Jerry Jones loves stan Quinn. I mean that has
been the bright spot of the last couple of years, right,
Dak's been solid, CD has been okay. Tony Pollard Sholtz,
like you guys have had some moments your rookie, some
of your rookies, obviously Micah and Diggs last year and
(04:23):
Micah this year. But I just mean from a coaching standpoint,
dan Quinn has been a home run. To go from
Nolan to to dan Quinn coaching the defense feels like
going from me to Vince Lombardi. I was talking about
an upgrade. You're probably gonna have to franchise Tony Pollard,
you know, I mean, I would imagine that's what you'd
have to do. Now you're franchising guy who just shattered
(04:44):
his leg freak tackle. But still I think he's a
lot different player than Zeke. You know, Zeke war down
just because he took so many hits. Tony Pollard is
like avoiding guys in theory unless the forty nine ers
tackle you from behind. But you know, I'm not fo
signing between the tackle running backs. But if you give
me a versatile player Kamara McCaffrey. Now, injuries are always
(05:07):
part of the position part of the league, So I
would keep Tony Pollard and just reading people that tweet
and follow I guess they follow the Cowboys for a
living and they tweet this information out. It feels like
a lot of people are saying that Zeke will take
a pay cut because he doesn't want to get cut.
So that would be a good thing for you guys,
because you probably need to get a second receiver, you know,
(05:31):
to go along with Ceedee Lamb. You had it a
couple of years ago when you had a Mari and CD.
I guess Gallup and he's coming off the injury. Maybe
he'll be healthier next year. I'd be pretty bullish on
the Cowboys, like it does feel like part of Like
I was thinking about this the other day, I'm hard
on Dak's contract because I don't view him as an
elite player. But if you just view it as you know,
every single year he's healthy, you guys are gonna go
(05:51):
to the playoffs, win a game, be in the mix,
win ten to thirteen games, be very relevant, not just
because you're the Cowboys, because you're winning games. That's worth something,
you know now, ideally, would you like to play DAK
twenty eight million? Yeah, and be able to sign some
other guys, But you know these agents and players, they
don't really do that, so you're stuck with paying forty
million dollars a year. Hi, John, I follow from Bill Bao, Spain,
(06:18):
and I've been a Patriot fan since twenty eleven. I
had a couple of questions for you. Do you think
it's time for the Patriots to move on from mac
Jones or should they base their near future around him?
And how do you see Bill Belichick? Do you think
his time is over or does he have more to
give to the Patriots organization? Thanks? Guy looks like a
(06:40):
soccer player. Well, I think the signing or the hiring
of Bill O'Brien signals that, you know, Bill's coach in
a couple more years. Because Bill O'Brien and Mack have
a close relationship. I think they're bringing this guy in
to kind of resurrect the offense. Obviously it was anemic.
Feels like too positive of a take on the page
three offense. I didn't read the article, but I've seen
(07:03):
some clips and I've heard people talk about it. I
guess there was a pretty damning article about the Patriots
in the Boston Globe. I don't even think I could
read it if I tried, because it's behind a paywall,
and the Boston Globes not getting my money, but just
crushing Bill and basically crushing him around the offense players
saying they don't have enough plays. Joe Judge, you got
kicked out of the offensive meeting rooms. Patricia was just
(07:27):
a joke. Well, no shit, like you. How do you
put Joe Judge? You remember Joe Judge. They were in
a quarterback sneak when he was with the Giants at
his own, like five yard line on third night. I
don't get it. He's a special teams guy. Put him
back coaching the punters and kickers. Patricia, dude's a lifetime
defensive coach. He's calling offensive plays. We have seen now
(07:49):
it happened twice, and it's happened two of the best coaches.
Because they're very loyal and sometimes loyalty to your people.
I'm not against that, that there is a value to
that in society, but I think he had a bun
in business. I was with the Eagles when Andy was
very loyal to one cast deal and made him as
defensive coordinator. Obviously Bill did it with Patricia made him
as offensive coordinator. It had very very problematic ramifications. So listen,
(08:16):
I come from people that were very loyal, that had
the same friends in my entire life talking about my parents,
people I was grown up around. I do think in business, though,
it's very very difficult. It's why it is hard to
be the head hancho because everyone wants you to be cutthroat,
like you know Michael Douglas in Wall Street. But there
is a balancing act of the people you respect. But
(08:37):
you gotta put your people in the best position to succeed.
And anytime you have a young quarterback making Matt Patricia
the offensive coordinator was always going to blow up in
everyone's face that were behind that. And there was one
person behind that, and that was Belichick. So I think
the crafts. I think Belichick's kind of got to make
the playoffs next year. I don't think they'll ever quote
unquote fire him, but I do think there'll be some
(08:57):
parting of the waist. Like seventy two years old, he's
not just gonna get to coach till he's eighty five
years old. That's just not the way it ever works ever,
and Bill, let's face it, can I you know, it's
not rumors, It's been well reported. It's not the nicest
to those guys, you know, the guys that owned the team.
So when you win, shit, no one cares. And he
(09:17):
could be the biggest asshole ever. When he was printing
everyone cash and they were kicking everyone's ass at foxbro
it was like, Boom, super Bowl, Boom, super Bowl. Even
if you lose the Super Bowl, if you're going the
Super Bowl and the AFC Championship every year, ideally, would
I want Andy Reid, a nice guy going to the
a FC Championship in the Super Bowl at the time,
of course, But you win six super Bowls in eighteen years,
(09:40):
like and go to three other super Bowls, They're gonna
let you do whatever the hell you want. You stop
doing the Super Bowls. It becomes a problem. Nick Saban
can do what ever he wants because he always wins.
Kirby Smart now untouchable at Georgia. Why he's got back
to back Natty's See Kirby Smart win seven games two
years in a row. See see what happens. That's not
(10:00):
gonna happen. But you know what I mean, It's about winning,
and Bill's just not winning at the clip that he
needs to win to act like he's gonna act. So
I think the pressure is on him. And like I said,
I think I think Bill O'Brien has a very very
good chance to be the next head coach of the
New England Patriots. And things get weird. I've thought that
maybe a bit of a hot take, but Cam Newton
(10:20):
was better than Josh Allen, and right now it's not close.
Cam's teams went as he did and Josh's teams do
the same. Here's my argument. Cam willed a team to
a Super Bowl MVP and was All Pro, none of
which Josh has done, and really close to it. Obviously
it's subject to change. However, as of now, Allen is
just a poor man's camp. Here's why I will push back.
(10:41):
When Cam Newton had one individual season better than Josh Allen,
I will not dispute that Cam Newton, in whatever that
year was, twenty sixteen, was had a better season than
Josh Allen has ever had. Super Bowl First Team All
Pro star, let his team to the Super Bowl, totally agree.
(11:03):
I would say, beside that season when he was the MVP,
Josh Allen has consistently been better. Like you want to
hear some Pro Bowl seasons of Cam Newton twenty four touchdowns,
thirteen picks, Like, it's not like Cam Newton was throwing
twenty four twenty two, nineteen eighteen. Honestly, go to a
stat page beside that one season, and I'm a Cam
Newton guy in terms of high end talents. But he
(11:28):
I don't think he was quite as good as you thought.
He had impactful games, but season end season out. Also,
Cam Newton never went to the playoffs back to back years.
If you take out one year where Cam Newton I
think went to the playoffs as a seven and eight team,
he had Kim Newton had three winning seasons starting quarterback.
(11:50):
Now his one season, like I said, twenty fifteen, better
than Josh Allen three winning seasons as a quarterback. Last
time I checked. Josh Allen's fucking rattling those things off.
So there is not a general manager in the NFL
that would have taken Cam Newton over a period of time.
You would take the one season, But if I had
to take a five year period, you would take Josh
(12:11):
Allen over Cam Newton. Not even debatable school Cam Newton's
Pro Football reference And I'm someone that has a lot
of respect for Cam as a competitor in big games,
like he scares you, but game end game out, season
in seasonality was not the most consistent player. I was
listening today's podcast about Sean Payton. Do you think it's
realistic option that he coaches the Saints again? If Brady
(12:32):
decides to go there. I think that would be pretty
bizarre if he retires from the Saints and then goes
back a year later. It does feel like that is
not happening if you went back to the Saints after
interviewing around the league, like it feels like him and
the Saints are done, which I would say if I
was a Saints fan, I'd be like, well, Sean, do
you just not want to coach or do you not
(12:54):
want to coach us anymore? Did you just need a break?
And honestly, sometimes it's sometimes you just need a change.
He had coached the Saints for what since six so
fifteen years you just want to go somewhere else. So
Andy Reid fifteen years, fourteen years in Philly. Now he's
ten plus years in Kansas City like that change served
him well. Maybe Sean Payton kind of used that and
it is jealous. I just want to start from scratch,
(13:16):
which I understand. I've started from scratch a couple of times.
Very healthy, inspiring, it actually creates I think some of
your It gets the best out of you as an individual.
But if I was a Saints fan, I'd be like,
what the hell, man, you just left us? Can you
just admit like you were over us? Because I don't
like he interviewing, like you want to coach, but you
just don't want to coach us our teams as a
quarterback away. Everyone talked about Dallas being at a disadvantage
(13:40):
against the Niners because of lack of prep. Would Dallas
not of the advantage because they could have had their
scout team get as much info on the Niners for
the two extra days Sunday and Monday. The Niners would
have to split their scout team prep for either the
Bucks of the Cowboys. I understand the body healing was
an advantage. These front officers are smart enough to prep beforehand,
are they not. It's more about the body. It's more
(14:01):
about the travel. It's more about the quick turnaround than
the like it's not like the players are doing any
studying that Sunday or excuse me, Yeah, the Niners played
on Saturday and then they know the Cowboys played Monday. Honestly,
the players are not doing shit for a couple of days.
Maybe on Monday they review the game tape of that
would have been the Seattle game, But it was much
(14:21):
more about the body healing, which in January means a lot.
And it shows you how talented the Cowboys defense was.
Because their defense showed up to kick ass. Dak didn't.
And I think Dak is just kind of a roller
coaster of a player and it was kind of proven
out in that situation which you're gonna pay forty million,
like I need a little more. I just do. Hey,
(14:46):
John loved the pod. What do you think about this take?
Josh Allen? Josh Allen's a very very polarizing player now,
and this you know, the cool part about sports is
when we anoint you and I'm guilty, and then you
just can't quite get it done right, Like even if
Joe Burrow never wins a Super Bowl, even if Kyle
Shanahan now doesn't win a Super Bowl. I think we
have to respect, like Joe Burrow's pretty big time, Kyle
(15:09):
Shanahan's pretty big time, right, it might not be Belichick,
you know. It's it took Andy Reid a long time
to win a super Bowl. Last night check start coaching
head coach ninety nine didn't win a Super Bowl till
February of what was that, twenty twenty, So it's it's hard,
but you know, Burrow boom immediately passes Josh Allen. Josh
(15:31):
Allen is a Philip Rivers two point though both really talented,
had talent all around them, but never could get over
the playoff hump. I think there are some similarities between
the outcomes as players, though they're dramatically different. And what
I was taught when you do player comps, they have
to have similarities physically. Now they're both tall, but Philip
(15:52):
was an old school pocket quarterback who didn't have a
great arm. Philip Rivers hung his hat on being a
time aiming, rhythm accurate passer when he was good. Josh
Allen's really more of like a Boomer bust, you know,
and I don't mean obviously Far's more accomplished MVPs. But
he's like a poor man's version of that kind of
(16:13):
run around, sling it, throw bombs. Cam Newton, you know,
he's physical freak, far better than both of them. Obviously.
My point is, like physically, what separates Josh Allen is
his ability to run, which is elite, and just throw bombs.
You know, Philip Rivers was not throwing bombs. I mean
(16:34):
he could throw deep, but it was I've always been
fascinating by guys in baseball that are like six four
but they can only throw ninety one. And then there's
like a guy six feet they can throw ninety eight.
No different than a small quarterback like Mike Vick had
a huge arm. But then there's these tall quarterbacks like
(16:54):
a Philip Rivers, like an Alex Smith that don't have
great arm. Peyton Manning didn't have a great arm. It
just it's kind of crazy. You know, Aaron Rodgers six
foot two, big arm, Drew Brees tiny, no arm, right
Mahomes mid size, huge arm. They just think around the league,
Kyler Murray tiny slings it. So I've always been fascinated
(17:15):
by that dynamic. Clearly it has to do with like
muscles and wrist flection, But I like your comp in
terms of outcome. I don't love the comp in terms
of the player talent because no different than Herbert. Right,
Herbert early on his career is kind of his teams
(17:36):
are underachieving, They're not getting it done. But Herbert is
way more gifted than Philip strictly because he can move
and he's got a strong arm. It honestly speaks volumes
to how good Rivers was with an average arm and
no lakes. I mean, Rivers was, for NFL standards, a
pretty awful athlete by like the last five six years
(17:58):
of his career awful. And that's I mean, just relative
to NFL players. Okay, last question, big Titans fan here,
what are your thoughts on the Titans bringing Ran Carthon
as their new GM. Do you believe that rand will
be a good fit with Rabel and the other Titans
in the organization? Lastly, do you have any new insight
into wife Rabel and Jay Rob's relationship quickly deteriorated given
(18:19):
that they both got contract extensions. I was appreciative of
all the work that Jay Rob did for the Titans,
but he did have a lot of misses recently in
the draft and free agency caught up with him. I
don't all, you know, that's a weird situation, kind of
letting everything simber before I not. We don't have the
type of relationship where I'd ask him what happened necessarily,
But he was always really cool to me, and I
(18:41):
thought he did a pretty good job last night. Checked
teams were always in the playoffs, and wasn't he the
driving force to hire Mike Vrabel? But you know, these owners, man,
they get and who knows, maybe it was a power play.
There haven't been any crazy articles that have come out there,
like Mike Variable backstabbed him. Maybe that's you know, Jay
Rob being kind of an old school Belichick guy didn't
look to kind of you know, air his grievances. Bizarre
(19:04):
deal for sure. I don't know Rand personally. I've shot
him dms on Twitter before and just very you know,
complimentary stuff over the years, and I've heard from people
inside the organization big time leader, high character guy, very
very good. People really really liked him in San Francisco.
But in terms of evaluations and his pull, you know,
(19:28):
I think it's pretty clear like Mike Vrabel runs the
show now and Mike Vrabel's the head acho, Mike Vrabel's
the big boss man, and how much juice does Rand
get to have? Does Rand get to balance him out?
You would think for a big personality former player in Mike,
it probably helps to have, you know, like Rand played
at Florida and played in the NFL, not for long,
(19:49):
but was an NFL player. I wonder if that helps
a little bit, Like I'm not just some scout here
banging the tape, which is obviously his profession, but like Bro,
I've been in the trenches too. My man took handoffs
from Peyton fucking Manning from the Colts we played you.
Maybe that's why Mike liked him. So if he has
the poll and the balance to not just letting Mike
(20:11):
now pick all the players, which I don't blame Mike
for wanting to do, you probably have a really healthy relationship.
I would say the Titans organization has always been well
respected from scouting, so probably got a lot of good
people within the organization. It should be a fun kind
of fun thing to watch moving forward. Okay, enjoy the
(20:31):
games and I will see everybody after the AFC Championship
game with Coward Audios. The volume
Host
John Middlekauff
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