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September 17, 2025 65 mins

John answers all of your questions from the issues with the Chicago Bear that have nothing to do with Caleb Williams, how the NFL should be handling Tom Brady and the Raiders, should there be concern in KC, will the Eagles add more before the deadline, and much more in this episode's massive mailbag segment. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
What is going on everybody? How are we doing? It's Tuesday,
and I said, you know what, We've been reacting to
the games, giving our thoughts and takes on everything that's
going on. I looked at my dms at John middlecoff
as my Instagram and they were packed. We have a
lot of questions. I'm like, it'd be a good time
to just do a massive, massive mailbag. Probably cut this

(00:37):
into two videos, but gonna try to answer a bunch
of your questions. It's how we like to interact with
the people here because this season, you know, it's not
that long ago. I remember being in Lake Tahoe for
a little summer vacation and think, of god, the football
season is still pretty far away. Even in training camp
it kind of drags. Then all of a sudden you
blink and I mean, we're forty eight hours away from

(00:59):
the probably being three and oh and here's just weak
threes here college football. Some of these teams have already
gone to play four games, and it just flies by.
So we got to try to enjoy it. Sometimes I'm
just onto the next one. We just we got to embrace,
enjoy and and just bs about football because that's what
we do here. So you guys know, the drill fire

(01:20):
in those DM is gonna be a big mail bag.
But first, you know, I gotta tell you about my friends,
my partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast,
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(01:41):
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(02:26):
to the mailbag and we're gonna start with Cooper here.
Question slash hot take for the mailbag. Caleb isn't the
main problem for the Bears. It's the run game. Yes,
he has some accuracy issues, but he's vastly improved from
last year with getting the ball out of his hands
on time. However, he's always trying to make the big

(02:47):
play because he has no run game. DeAndre DeAndre Swift
can't find the fucking gap and stutter steps like a
ballerina before making a decision. Look at any quarterback that
has success, they have a good run game, Love and Jacobs,
Panics and Bijon Jayden Daniels. Year one, he had Brian
Robinson and Eckler, even McCarthy look good Week one by

(03:08):
the second half because of the running backs. My question
is why does nobody bring it up how bad the
run game is for Chicago and instantly blames Caleb for
missing passes. Every quarterback will miss passes, but it seems
that his get exaggerated. Do you see the Bears trading
for a running back this year or are they just
opting for the draft. I would agree that the Week

(03:32):
two loss was way less on him than Week one. Right,
the week two loss, the defense just clearly ran out
of gas. Slash might not be good. I mean they're
missing DB's Jalen Johnson's Now it looks like I see
report Yesterday's out for the year. Obviously he played in
that game and then got banged up. You miss him.
I mean, he's a high level corner when he's healthy,

(03:53):
So that's gonna be a major blow. Listen, the Bears
have a lot of issues, and I said this the
other day. You know, Caleb is such a lightning rod.
Anytime that you're the number one pick, you're in this
huge market, you know you have some controversy that follows
in terms of the way you got there. You're like,
I don't want to go to Chicago, then I want

(04:13):
a piece of equity. There's a lot of things that
sometimes the number one picks like that doesn't happen. Right,
There's just not much to the story. Either good or bad.
I do think this situation is going to turn more
to Ryan Poles, like how is the general manager going
to survive? You know, they drafted Roma Dunes a ninth overall,
and I think looking back, clearly they should have taken

(04:36):
an offensive lineman. But this guy is obsessed with wide receivers,
which is kind of ironic because he's a former offensive lineman.
I think it's fair to assume he has no clue
what he's doing, which is crazy, Like decent amount of
gms feel like overwhelmed, like they have no clue because
a lot of gms, and we've talked a lot about
it on this show, like talk the talk that go.

(04:58):
You know, I love the trenches. I care about the
line of scrimmage. And it's like pick eight, You're like,
give me that slot wide receiver who runs fast. You're like,
that's exactly what we didn't talk about, Like we gotta
follow the board. It's like, I'm not in the business
of taking a wide receiver really high unless I think
the guy is gonna be a superstore Like he better

(05:20):
be Molik neighbors. I mean, look at the wide receiver
draft just in that group. Marvin Harrison Molik neighbors in Roma.
Doonsay like it's Malik's in a different universe than those two.
I mean, it's not even. It's not even. They have
nothing in common Malik. It's clear his physical attributes, his
his skill, his overall like playing demeanor. I mean that

(05:43):
dude's a badass. The other guys are replaceable players. And
you take one four, you take one ninth. You just
can't do that. Now, Listen, You're not always gonna hit
on offensive lineman either. But I will never have an
issue with someone taking an offensive or defensive lineman high.
I won't. So I might not agree with the pick
with the player. But I said this about genty and

(06:04):
you know I'm a John Spytech fan, but I was like,
I don't know, man, a running back number six overall,
aren't you better off? Like? Could we take an offensive
or defensive lineman here? Is there someone that can impact
the line of scrimmage? We tak a running back and
you know, through two games he has eighty yards And

(06:25):
people think I hate the player. I do not. I'm
an aston gent fan. I just think when you're drafted
six overall, especially coming from a small school, It's just difficult, man,
it is. It's pretty rare that guys like you watch
Bijon Robinson like he has Hall of Fame talent. Right,
Saquon Barkley has Hall of Fame talent. Christian McCaffrey has

(06:48):
hall of fame talent. If I'm gonna take a running
back in the top ten, he better be that. If
I'm gonna take a wide receiver, like, it doesn't have
to be that. If I take a lineman that high,
can the lineman just start for me and be an
above average player? I feel okay. Ideally i'd want Lane
Johnson or Tristan Wurst or Pine Sewell, right, But if
I just get a good starter for a long time,

(07:08):
I feel pretty good about it. We nitpick these skill
guys because the difference between a high end guy and
an average guy. It's like Ash could have found that
guy in the third round. But overall the Caleb thing,
this is a big week for green not Green Bay.
I'm looking at a question about Green Bay about the
Bears play the Cowboys, who are pretty bad on defense.

(07:33):
I mean, clearly, they made Russell Wilson look like the
greatest quarterback we've ever seen, and he still can throw
a deep ball, give them that. But I just think
that if the Bears can't win this week, when are
they winning? And we're gonna get Tom? You know, Tom's
be interesting some of Tom's comments about Caleb. What's up?
John Tyler from West Virginia. As a Packer fan, I

(07:54):
always notice how much we prioritize the offensive line. Other
than the Eagle the Lions, I haven't heard much about
other teams doing the same. Am I wrong in thinking
it's not a big deal around the league? Could the
Bengals cough? Or do other teams also try and stack
the offensive line and it doesn't make headlines as often.

(08:15):
Here's the thing, when you take at pick ten or
pick six or pick twenty the offensive tackle or offensive guard,
it is not a sexy pick. When you draft. Oh
my god, they just drafted whatever wide receiver or whatever
cornerback or a tight end. That is a much sexier

(08:36):
pick for the fan base cause their highlight package is
them scoring touchdowns, right, them making plays with a football
in their hand. It's like, hey, we just got Zack
Martin in the draft from Notre Dame. Like, how many
pancake blocks can you play? An offensive lineman draft pick
on Thursday night or even Friday night is just not

(08:58):
as sexy as some of these other pisis. So that
is a huge reason, Like I go out of business
if I broke down offensive line play. Right, it's not
a safe but it is. You can't operate without it.
And having good offensive lines is equal success. Right, Having
good offensive linemen changes your team. I just think skill guys.

(09:22):
There's never been more functional skill guys all around the
league and all over college like you can find. You
can get guys no problem in the twenties, the thirties,
the forties, the fifties that become all pros at wide receiver.
I mean the forty nine Ers drafted Ricky Piersall at
the end of the first round, and there's a decent
chance that he's going to be better than Brandon Ayuk
who just got seventy five million dollars. It's like you

(09:45):
didn't need to give him that money. What you should
have done is use those resources that money, like buy
some offensive linemen. What hell, No one listens to me
once you tell us about your friends, your partners, and
the official ticketing app is Kirk Cousins the most so
after quarterback at the moment, could the Falcons look brilliant
by being able to parlay him into a third round

(10:06):
pick and maybe offload, if not all the contract on
a team like the Vikings or the Commanders. What about
Cousins in Sinsey. I think he would be an upgrade
over Browning, and he is a Midwest guy. I would
think he'd loved the opportunity to throw to Chase into Higgins. Well,
the Bengals are cheap, so they would have no interest

(10:27):
on taking his You know, twenty seven million dollars pro
rated over the next fifteen weeks is not happening. And
they believe in Jake brown so they're not doing that move.
You would have to have a devastating injury to Jaden
Daniels to get them to contemplate that move. And the
other team you mentioned was the Vikings. I'll be honest,

(10:50):
something's a little fishy about the JJ McCarthy injury. Now,
we just saw it with Purdy where a guy finishes
a game and then after he's out, So it's happened.
It's not like it's never happened before either, but clearly
pretty just for a game winning touchdown like they would
not want him to not play. McCarthy was a train wreck,
I mean a complete disaster for seven out of the

(11:11):
eight quarters. So if you told me it's like, hey,
he's kind of banged up, but it's like, we need
to give this guy a breather. See, you just get
Carson Wentz in there because this guy has lost his confidence.
So conspiracy middle cooff here has just got that situation
red flagged. I'm not saying he's not injured. I do
wonder if there's more at play, something to keep an
eye on, at least Wednesday. When Kevin O'Connell talks, I'll

(11:34):
just be interested the way he kind of verbalizes his
thoughts on the entire situation. But they're not going to
trade because part of also trading for Kirk Cousins. If
you're them like McCarthy's not playing the rest of the year,
Cousins is not really a tradable asset. He's just not

(11:56):
unless you would need a season ending injury to a
team that is just desperate to make the playoffs. See,
I'm getting asked the same question. Is there a chance
the Bengals tried to go after Cousins or a guy
like Dalton or that they are gonna roll with Jake
Browning for the foreseeable future. He would have to be

(12:19):
a train wreck for them to pivot. He just won
them a game, said the game winning touchdown. He made
a bunch of plays. He's actually five and three in
his career as a starting quarterback for them. Like they're
not They're not in the business of these other guys.
Look at what they did today, like they're bottom feeding.
They're taking guys off practice squads. They're all in on

(12:39):
Jake Browning. They would need a devastating injury to him,
which you could say with their offensive line is possible.
Now I could be wrong here, I mean because I'm
basing this a little bit when he was younger, But
I do feel like Jake's a better athlete than Joe Burrow.
So maybe he's got a little more mobility, But as

(13:01):
long as he's able to play like, I don't see
them going with another quarterback. They're not the Eagles, you know.
They don't think in desperation mode. If anything, they're opposite.
They're like slow, steady, try to save some money. I'd
be stunned, I really would, But I mean I was stunned.

(13:24):
I think I put this out on the Everything app
about halftime, like I'll be stunned if the Atlanta Falcons
win this game and they won the game twenty two
to nine or whatever. So it's not like I'm always right.
I don't know, but I would not expect the Bengals
to trade for Kirk Cousins. It's kind of sad, you know,
it shows you in fairness. He definitely probably didn't see

(13:49):
the Penix thing coming. But like, once you become mercenary
guy doing everything for money, and I guess it could
happen in some of our industries, but clearly pro sports
toward the end of your career because unlike most of us,
our careers can go like it's not like, hey, I
only peaked as an architect for two years, Like you

(14:10):
can do things for a long period of time, even
if your industry changes a little bit, like you can
kind of pivot, But you should have fifty year plus
career if you want. Professionally, these guys got to strike
where the iron's hot. But Cousins already did and him
and his agent, which I respect, I mean, I'm a capitalist.
They are obsessed with getting every penny and when you

(14:30):
do that, like sometimes you're just gonna get fucked in life.
And I have little to no sympathy for seeing him
just kinda he kind of feels like he's just standing
there pouting a little bit. I mean, the last year
of his career or two years of his career just
kind of come on the bench. Sucks, But this is
what he wanted. I mean, he's getting paid. He's the

(14:51):
highest paid backup that didn't start the years and starter
that got benched in the history of the league by
a wide margin. I mean, who are the highest pay
backups currently? Because backups have never made more money than
they make now. And like, what's minch You make ten
million dollars for Kansas City? You know Daniel Jones got fourteen,
Well he immediately started. You just go around the league

(15:14):
like find me, you know mac Jones. The backups like
two years, eight million dollars. I mean, Cousins is making
twenty seven million dollars to be the backup. Now they
would tell you, well, Pennix is only making six or seven,
so our total quarterback room is thirty five. Well, imagine
if you didn't have Cousins, you'd have other room, but

(15:35):
in fairness, they probably would have traded him. He had
no trade market. As a commander's fan, how concerned should
I be about Tom Brady being involved with the Raiders?
Tom Brady called our game week one and now we
play the Raiders this week? Do you think this is
something Dan Quinn Adam Peters would think about when they
were meeting with Tom in the week one production meetings.

(15:56):
Thanks I clicked on Bruce Arians, who was with McAfee,
and he said that he thought those meetings could be
a little overblown how much information gets shared. He said.
The thing that would be very, very glaring if he
had access to and he doesn't, is the Friday practice,

(16:20):
Saturday walk through, any sort of the last forty eight
thirty six, twenty four hours, anything on the field with players.
I do think as Tom Brady, people are gonna want
to talk to him. Like one advantage Tom and Peyton,
who does the banning cast really have is offensive coordinators.

(16:41):
You know, whether if the GM doesn't want to talk
to him, the assistant GM. These guys are gonna want
to be friends with those two guys so they can
gather information Like I have no and I remember if
you talk to any coach. I remember Coach Reid telling
me stories about how he used to like Al Davis
used to call him all the time, like when he

(17:03):
first got the Philly job or early on in his career.
Like these guys are constantly on the phone with each other.
Howie Roseman's on the phone with other teams NonStop talking. Now,
what information you give back and forth, you know, depends
on the relationship. But like think about like John spy
Tech and Jason light Right, that they work together forever.
It was his right hand man. They're like best friends.

(17:25):
You don't think they share information. So it's less about
quote unquote sharing information and it's more just throwing it
in your face. Now, dan Quinn has been around long enough,
but we're human beings. If you're just saying stuff, it's
one thing. If I'm just talking to Greg Olsen. I'm
sure Greg Olsen has a couple of people that he
would consider very close in his life in the NFL,

(17:47):
whether they're coordinators, whether they're gms. And he came on
this podcast and he didn't specifically say names, but clearly
he's got some people since doing this job and probably
when he was playing as well. Guys that were positioning
coaches that have now moved on to be coordinators throughout
the league, that he texts all the time, and they
what do you think you talk about? Just like what
the weather is. Of course they're talking different ideas. But

(18:10):
when gregil Olsen walks into your building, if you're the Eagles,
Sirianni and Howie, your guard isn't necessarily up. You're not
worried about him giving all your information to the Dallas
Cowboys or the Washington Commanders. Even though he's gonna talk
to those teams. It's inevitable because he's gonna call their games.
But there's just like a it's like a scout. When
a scout walked into Nick Saban's practice, Saban wasn't petrified

(18:35):
of him sharing the information, though he could. He could
easily walk right into Georgia, Florida, Tennessee if they're playing
him in a week or two and tell him what
they saw, right, But like that's kind of no, that's
not really what you do, and not that it's it
couldn't happen. I just think the optics of Brady sitting
in that coaching box, even if nothing actually changed, we

(18:59):
already knew exactly what his role was is something that's
gonna be hard for teams to shake, and specifically the Chiefs,
the Broncos and the Almost called him the Clippers, the Chargers.
I just I that one would be tough for me.
And it does feel, and I could be wrong, that
there is more crossover than ever of AFC and NFC

(19:21):
games on Fox and CBS. So it's like Brady's not
just gonna have like Bears Cowboys, right, He's going to
have some AFC games and it's just going to be
interesting to see how this thing plays out. I do
think the story is not gonna go away. Once he
was in the booth, I mean that was that was crazy.

(19:42):
I mean he was not just there to, you know,
have a cocktail and eat some chicken fingers, which he
probably wouldn't need anyway, but like a lettuce rap or
whatever Tom would would actually eat. I give Tom credit
I as someone that's really trying to work on my
diet and my caloric intake. He is not doesn't feel
like he's budged at all from the diet situation from

(20:02):
what he played to now. I mean that chisel jaw
line like he is not eating cheeseburgers and onion rings.
But you know, sometimes it's like, hey, you can let
your guard down a little bit. It feels like he's
as dialed on the diet as ever. But I guess
I didn't answer a question. I just wonder if teams,
especially after on Monday night, are going to be really
really guarded with because it's not just him, if he's

(20:25):
not allowed in the meeting or whatever his restrictions are,
whatever you tell his crew. And I'm a huge Kevin
Burkhart fan. How is Kevin not going to relay stuff
or Tom asking Kevin to ask them specific stuff? So
it's kind of complicated, and I understand, like I'm not
hating him the fact if I was Tom Brady, I'd
want to own the Raiders too. Mark Davis gave me

(20:47):
an opportunity to own a team when I'm not nearly
as rich as these guys. To get into the country club, right,
there are certain country clubs, guess what, I would love
to freaking join, and I probably can't afford slash get
invited to. But if I did get invited and they'd
also kind of cut me a deal, I would join
in a heartbeat, right, and so he got involved in

(21:08):
a country club that most rich people would love to
get in on, especially at the price point in which
he got in, which became controversial. The other thing that
every single person, that former player that wants to get
into talking about football, whether it's on podcasts, whether it's
on TV or calling games. There is not a player
alive that would have turned down the three hundred and
seventy five million dollars. Even if you like, I don't

(21:29):
want to travel on them three or seventy five million dollars,
I'm doing it. So I would have taken, if I
was him, both those two opportunities. But it's it's it's
kind of made everything a little more complicated. You know.
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Could this be the simple rule that helps teams counter

(23:18):
the toush push. This is the new rule. All offensive
players and defensive ones two to make it even are
only allowed to place one hand on the ground instead
of two, would this be enough to remove the leverage
advantage the offense has. Uh I think it's less about
that and more about uhould not be able to push

(23:41):
a guy from behind, which you are now, which is
a huge advantage for a player as strong as Jalen.
And I just think it's impossible whether you put one
hand or two on the ground, which I do think
would be unfair for defense. Why that's not my problem.
If I'm a defensive player, if I want to put
two hands on the ground, especially in goal line defense,
it's no one can see like we're just taking a

(24:05):
We take some educated guesses in football, and we should.
It's sports like I do appreciate every once in a
while a little bit of unknown. Did he catch her,
didn't he? I don't know. It's it's hard to tell, right,
but I think on this play you have no clue
when he stopped where the ball is? Did someone fumble?
So I I'm trying not to be a prisoner of

(24:27):
the moment because there is a lot of momentum and
a lot of people are talking about this, but it
does feel like the beginning of the end for this thing.
Like truly, that was a moment that I think this
play gets acts at the end of the year. I
also think it helps. It's just a boring play to watch,
even if technically right now it's fair. I mean it's

(24:48):
fair game. I'm a big Chiefs fan, obviously, I'm not
quote unquote out on the season. Yet with two close
losses against two good teams while playing subpar team football,
and given the current wide receiver room without right and
worthy that said, do we need to start having a
conversation about the offense and by proxy Andy. Ever since

(25:08):
Naggie took over his oc the offense has been largely
awful compared to the rest of the league, let alone
the first few years of Pat. Obviously, nobody cares and
notices when you're winning Super Bowls twenty two to twenty three.
Even though the teams were stellar on defense and did
just enough on offense, there is absolutely no juice in

(25:29):
the running back room, and a few wide receiver absences
absolutely absolutely derail any explosiveness. It's hard to not feel
frustrated about Veitch seemingly quote giving up on finding a
running back. Ever since the Edwards Hilaire pick busted. Is
there anything they can do personnel wise now to fill

(25:50):
the holes that seem so obvious? How do you think
they can make a trade? You know, could they add
like an Alvin Kamara or something this offseason who's under
contract and could be on their team. I also think
they have tried. You know, when you are winning super
Bowls and going to the Super Bowl, your picks every
round suck. They literally, if you win, it can't be
any worse. They're thirty two every round. And if you

(26:14):
don't win it, but you get there, they're thirty one.
And they have used They drafted Clyde, who fits Andy's mold,
Like Andy's never gonna be Kyle Shanahan and try to
run it thirty times a game, but he will get
the ball in the hand of the running back. And
I got Clyde like he did would be a good
pass catching running back. It obviously didn't work well. They

(26:35):
need more explosion and playmaking at wide receivers. So what
do they do. They drafted Rice and then they drafted
Worthy like they have invested picks into those spots. And
when you're paying two guys afraid of money, Chris Jones
and Mahomes. They pay their center a lot of money,
They pay their guard a lot of money, like the
Obviously Travis doesn't make nothing like they have some core

(26:57):
guys making a lot of cash. You have a lot
of pressure on the draft and I think, you know,
the jury's out unworthy. But he's injured and Rice looked
like he was going to be a stud fucking ran
his Lamborghini into the back of you know, a car.
I saw the picture almost couldn't believe it. Of like

(27:18):
some of the players on the Chief, especially Travis Kelce
saying free four, It's like, guys, didn't he run into
a car with little kids and took off like I
was born at night but not last night? Like we
understand why he did that, right, drunk high whatever in
a random Lamborghini? What are we talking about. Some people
over the years have had questionable suspensions. This is not

(27:40):
one of those. And if there would have been any
sort of law enforcement on the scene, this suspension could
have been way longer. So by fleeing the scene, it's
safe to say the guy avoided a disaster. But let's
you know, be lucky. No one was No kid died
or something. Like, what are we free for? That one

(28:04):
was like, come on, let's use some common sense here, guys.
But I would say, by proxy Andy Reid, the best
thing that's ever happened to your organization was Andy Reid,
because without Andy Reid there's no Patrick Mahomes, and without
Veets there's probably no Patrick Mahomes. So I just think, listen,

(28:26):
not everything's perfect all the time. He gets credit for
bringing spacks and having an awesome defense. Guys are gonna
be okay. Guys have had a pretty good life. You know,
Saban didn't win the national championship every year. You could argue,
best case scenario, would you rather be ten and seven
and just get bounced in the first round or be
like seven to ten it have been and restock a

(28:47):
little bit in the draft. Chargers look really good through
two weeks, and as a Raider fan, I give them
all the credit. They look like a legit contender, although
I know it's early. My problem is they only scored
a field goal on the opening drive of the second half,
and they were shut out and also had two turnovers
within the last six or seven minutes. If Gino didn't
play like a seventh grader and played, I don't know,

(29:09):
half as good as he did last week. I can
see the Raiders pulling out a win. What was the
Chargers problem or was it a mix of the Raiders
d is better than we anticipated. Well, they're pass rush.
I mean Max is a problem the fumble Max cause,
like Max is one of the best players in the NFL.
Max is a complete badass. So anytime you got that

(29:31):
guy on your team who is going to play till
the game is hit zero zero and he's told to
go to the locker room it's over, he can make
something happen. Listen, the Chargers don't like they're a good
team and their physical nature, but they are going to
win a lot of games ugly. They are gonna play
like the Chiefs have the last several years and are
playing right now, except they're winning him They're not gonna

(29:54):
win a lot of games forty to ten. I think
the concerning part for Gino, and I mentioned this last night,
he doesn't play great against the better competition. But like
that's why is Gino Smith. This isn't Joe Burrow, this
isn't Lamar Jackson, you know, I mean, this is a
guy who's a placeholder and can win you some games
and just kind of keep you afloat as you move

(30:16):
in the right direction. But the Chargers are way ahead
of you guys in terms of they have way more
talent on their roster, and Jim has a year under
his belt coaching the squad. So I think the as
of recording this now, I haven't seen any breaking news
on Khalil Mack. If Khalil's out for the year, that's
a huge blow. That's not replaceable. If he's gonna miss

(30:38):
some time and come back, then they'll be able. They'll
be okay. The Saints ruin my boys. Jamal Williams career.
Before going to the Saints, Williams broke Barry Sanders record
for TDS with the Lions. I might sound biased, dude,
that's my best friend, but I don't see a lot
of running back to better than him in the league
right now. Would like to hear your thoughts trying to

(31:00):
think of the best number two running backs. It's probably
some Najie Harrison number two running back. Technically he's pretty good. Yeah,
Jamal Williams was a good number two running back. He's
kind of banged up last year. Yeah, Jamal Williams A
good player. Always liked a very physical back. I had
good years in Detroit. They kind of you replaced with Gibbs,

(31:21):
and once they got Gibbs and Montgomery, they didn't really
need him anymore. He's had a long career, He's been
a league since seventeen. He's gonna play ten year NFL
career playing running back. Good player. You addressed the first
half of this one already, so all shorten the question.
My personal biggest gripe on the rules is what has
become of the tackle position. There are certain tackles that

(31:42):
look like they're lined up in the backfield in false
start on every snap. I have heard a BS explanation
that this is actually legal, but it seems like a
big stretch when they are right next to a receiver
who is quote off and moved before the ball is snapped.
I don't know. This seems very silly. I tend to agree.

(32:03):
I wonder if we did like a research project talking
to different O line coaches. I do wonder if they
are a faster defensive linemen just throughout the entire league. Right,
there's always been a Reggie Wide, a Lawrence Taylor, you know,
Terrell Suggs, Dwight Freeny, like there have been sweet pass

(32:26):
rushers throughout the league every Jared Allen. It feels like
most teams look at last night, like all four teams.
The Texans have multiple the the Bucks had one, The
Raiders have an All Pro the before Mac got hurt,
they got a Pro bowler, potential Hall of Famer. So

(32:47):
it's like every team has one, and I think the
right tackle. I could be wrong, but it does feel
like it's more often the right tackle who's typically not
as athletic or as explosive. Though you would say that
Juwan Taylor in theory is a good athlete, and so
is Lane Johnson. So I don't know. Maybe they're just
trying to time guys that they know are just gonna

(33:08):
do speed rushes. I don't have a great explanation for it,
but I'm with you throughout the history of football, and
maybe because we pass way more so they're less worried
about like, yeah, we're gonna pass, everyone knows and who
even cares. So I'm just gonna get, you know, back
pedal as fast as I can as an offensive lineman.
But I don't know, doesn't seem like it's slowing down

(33:33):
doesn't bother me as much, even though I'm with you.
It is stupid and there should be penalties for it,
but people are it's legal. How long does Daniel Jones
have to play like this before he gets Brian dayball fired.
It's a great question, I I thought a couple of

(33:53):
weeks ago, I think this question was brought up. Maybe
it was after week one. I thought, like, I don't
know if there's much core. I know he used to
play in the Giants, but he had caught in the
middle of the season. He's been on another team since,
and then he went to another team, right he got
picked up by Minnesota. Now he's on the Colts. But
if he has a season where it's like he's not
gonna be a pro bowler because there are other guys

(34:14):
like Herbert Lamar and Josh Like I'd put my money
on those three guys being the AFC Pro bowlers. But like,
if he has a pro ball level season and the
Giants win five games, it won't help. Like no one
was surprised and or he shouldn't have been. When Saquon
who was healthy, went to the team with the best

(34:35):
offensive line and a run first mentality had an incredible year, right.
No one disputed when they let Saquon go. He'd been
banged up at times, but no one argued like his talent,
his speed, his vision, his ability to run between the
tackles and just bust long runs. Obviously it went better

(34:57):
than anyone could have thought. But those people would have
been like Dann Jones singing and being a good This
isn't gonna work. What if he throws thirty eight touchdowns
and they win twelve games and they win the division.
They have a lot of good players. I heard Albert
Breer say this. You got to give him some credit

(35:18):
because he's making some of their random guys that you know,
I don't think are viewed as higher end skill guys
look really good. We think Pittman's good, but the other
wide receivers, every time you look up, they're making place.
Jonathan Taylor looks invigorated. Pretty wild. How Baker Mayfield once
was playing defensive lineman for the Panthers during practice, a

(35:42):
backup for the Rams, and now he's one of the
best in the league. What a story, dude, is legit.
I think it's a great example, and I'm a huge
believer as the cream always rises. But all of our
paths are not the same, are our roads to where
we're trying to get some people. We have these people

(36:02):
in our life that have immediate early success, do very
well financially. At a young age, maybe you personally meet someone,
fall in love, have babies like ay, they just got
the world by the balls, and other people kind of
bounce around and then you look twenty years later, it's like,
got that guy really figured it out. It took him
a little while, but it all happened. And let's face it,

(36:23):
a lot of stuff in our lives are out of
our control. Right. We control some of it, but there
is stuff that is one hundred percent out of our control.
And Baker was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Now he
didn't help his situation there. But think of like Hugh Jackson,
Freddie Kitchens, John Dorsey, like they had a pretty crazy situation.

(36:45):
Odell Beckham junior. Now clearly humility, you know, came with failure,
which is a something that's very important. I think when
you're young and you're really cocky and arrogant, life will
humble you, football will humble you, just business will humble you.
And he got humbled hard, and I do think he

(37:08):
was able to reset. No one ever questioned his arm, right,
He's always had a big arm. One thing that's clear.
He got married, he had a kid, and he looks
dramatically skinnier, slimmer. He's much more explosive as a mover.
Like he's no one's going to compare him to like Kyler,
but his legs are a threat. I mean literally just
you could argue the game was one on that fourth

(37:30):
and ten where he juked the guy and ran for
fifteen plus yards, kept the game alive, continue to write
down the field for the game when he touchdown a
defense that's probably one of the faster in the league.
So I've loved Baker since he was at Oklahoma. He's
one of my favorite college players of last couple decades.
I don't know if I would have saw this coming

(37:51):
a couple of years ago. And listen, Jason Light probably
be the first to tell you when we gave him
four million dollars, we were hoping I like him coming out,
but a couple years later, I never believe that we'd
have like one of the MVP candidates. Try to give
that out twenty five to one. It's cool to watch.
It's fun to watch guys we mature late. Most of

(38:12):
us are not Andrew Luck at twenty two years old.
Most of us are slappies. Most of us are idiots.
So I just think that he follows the path of
a lot of young men. That it takes a couple
of years, it takes some bumps in the road to
kind of mature. And if you do have the talent,
once you figure it out, watch out. And he figured
it out in the right place, and it's it's fun

(38:32):
to watch. I enjoy watching Tampa Bay. A lot of
questions on do you think the Chiefs offen sustainable with
Mahomes having to be superman every game, Worthy and Rice
will be rusty when they come back, and with time
it'll take them to get up to speed. Shouldn't Veach
look to get Mahomes instant help at running back? Kamara

(38:54):
might be available for late pick. Well, if you get
him for late pick, it's I do think the Chiefs
have to be pretty careful if this is not gonna
be their year to value the draft picks, because they're
gonna need to restock the cupboard with some talent like
They're gonna need a tight end. This Travis is not
gonna be on the team next year. I doubt he's

(39:16):
gonna keep playing, But like they're gonna have to move on.
This is honestly kind of a sentimental year for him,
right and they took care of him. He kind of
got the NBA treatment and he deserved it. They had
won a bunch of Super Bowls. He's one of the
most important people in the history of the franchise. But like,
this thing's coming to an end and they're gonna have
to traj transition for Patty that it's worthy or she Rice.

(39:41):
I mean, those guys are gonna have to prove they're dependable.
They're gonna need a running back. It looks like they
found their left tackle. One thing that's kind of glaring
right now is is McDuffie looks like he's kind of
come back to earth a little bit. What's the deal

(40:08):
with genty thirty carries for eighty yards. Not only that,
but he has been awful in pass pro and a
total non factor as a receiving bag. Last night, the
Raiders handed to Zamir White on third and one and
got stuffed. Why the hell is Genty not getting that carry.
Zamir is simply terrible and still getting a fair amount

(40:30):
of run. That feels concerning. I know it's way too
early to panic, and he has looked explosive on a
few carries, but hard not to be extremely disappointed with
what we have seen so far. What's your take. I
don't think their offensive line is great, so they don't know.
This guy's not Barry Sanders, so he can't just make

(40:52):
something out of nothing. In part of his game early on,
it's like he's not mister Djukia. He kind of wants
to run you over. Well, if you're Adrian Peterson in
six foot two and two hundred and eighteen pounds and
run a four to three, okay, I'll truck your ass.
But is Aston Genty gonna make a career in the

(41:13):
NFL running guys over? To me? His game has to
be like I don't know, Frank Gore, different body type
like Jonathan Taylor, like shifty, make guys miss, get on
guy's edges, and it feels like he's trying to go
forward as a powerback, like he's Cam Skataboo, which he

(41:33):
did a lot in college. Broke a bunch of tackles,
but it's a lot different breaking Washington State and Oregon
State and New Mexico's tackles than it is Jesse Mentor
and the Chargers defense. Right in the Denver Bronco defense
and the Kansay Chiefs defense, it's gonna be much more difficult.
So I'm with you, you can't panic yet. He does

(41:53):
have like some natural instincts as a runner, but clearly
it's just off to a little bit of a rocky start.
And I do think in general in the draft one
reason I think in the NFL, you see a lot
of guys that are like third, fourth, fifth rounders become
Pro bowlers because they early on in their career get

(42:17):
to fly under the radar a little bit. Anything they
do positively gets propped up. It's like, holy shit, look
at this third rounder making plays. Did you see that
that pass rush by the dude we drafted in the fourth.
But when you're the seventh overall pick, it's like, God,
this guy can't get off a block. Why is this

(42:38):
guy so slow? Look at Quintin Johnson, He's like three
games into his careers. I can't catch a cold. Sucks.
What an awful pick. But the dude drafted in like
the sixth rounds, Like, God, did you see that route
he just ran? He just he just got open on
uh On Sas Gardner. It's like, are we sure we
don't have the next steal of the draft? That conversation

(43:01):
is real because it's not just us on podcasts or fans.
It's like the media people asking these guys listen and
watch and read stuff. So that pressure when you're the
sixth overall pick is immense, Like it is intense. It's like, hey,
are you gonna be like the other top ten picks
in the last decade? The guys I just listen, Saquon

(43:23):
Bijon McCaffrey. These are the type guys we're talking about,
Like are you going to be that good? It's like, well,
I'm maybe not, which is a problem because if you're
just a solid running back, I can find solid running
backs all over the draft, and I think that pressure.
This guy's not coming from Alabama. This guy's not coming

(43:47):
from Oregon or Penn State, where it was like national
championship busy play at Bois State where in a lot
of games. I'm sure a lot of people listening to this,
like you watch some highlights, but you won't watching Boys
State play games. You play at Georgia and you're a
multi year starter, like your team thought you were going
to win every game. Now, whether a guy lives up

(44:08):
to it once they get to the league. You know,
naj Harris, should he have been a first round picker
or not? I think it's fair to say probably should
gone the second day of the draft. But when Naji
Harris got to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the lights came
on Week one or at training camp, like the dude
had just played for Nick Saban for four years. He
had walked out as the Alabama starting running back with

(44:29):
a bunch of other pros expected to win every game.
So the pressure he was used to it. Not saying
there's not pressure at Boise State, but it just ain't
the same. My question would be, what do you see
the Eagles potentially adding to this roster throughout the season.
Zadarius Smith was interesting, but in my opinion, they need

(44:51):
to find another corner. Would love to hear your thoughts
on what how he might have cooking. I think the
reason they signed him is because obviously they have you know,
they had pass rushers. Huff didn't do anything for him,
but he's just gone. Sweat who's been a key guy
for them is on the Cardinals. They lost edge guys
and they just were hoping that some of these guys

(45:13):
they've drafted over the last couple of years emerge. And
obviously Jalen and Jordan Davis dominate, but you can find
the older like Zadarias Smith exists every single year finding
a corner. You could find the equivalent of Zadarias Smith
at corner. But most of the time that guy's not good.
And every once in a while a team that's in

(45:34):
free fall, can you trade for one of their corners.
Here's what I know about the Eagles. They are in
championship or bus mode like their only goal this year
is to win the division, have the number one seed,
and win the NFC and being the Super Bowl like.
I don't think they have any other like, there are
no other agendas when it comes to this team. So

(45:57):
to me, Howie, who is by far the most aggressive league,
will do anything humanly possible for anyone available and if
their number one need, like offensively, they don't have any needs.
I know their passing game hasn't worked through two games.
But they have two sweet wide receivers, they have a
good tight end. Sakwan can't really catch, but they have

(46:17):
the weapons in terms of the pass game right defensively
pass rushers. There's a reason that they they offered the
Cowboys two ones and a third round pick and probably
Mike one hundred and ninety million dollars because they know
how important that position is. Right. You know, if they
presents itself a superstar corner, but I don't know if

(46:39):
that guy really exists now, would how he have no
problem trading for a good corner like a fourth round pick? Yeah?
I mean, I think they are gonna be in the
mix for any good player that would start for them,
And honestly, if the guy would start for them, I'd
be stunned if the Eagles don't trade for him. All
I've heard recently is how foolish the Browns were for
letting Baker Mayfield go. Yet just the other day, after

(47:03):
only two games in the second season, the media is
really crucifying. Caleb Williams. It may be the right play,
as you and Colin both claimed, along with many others
as well. What's the right approach? How much time should
a young quarterback get to prove himself. If Ben Johnson
can't turn him around, is there any hope? Ryan Poles

(47:23):
might be one of the worst gms in NFL history.
Four years in he's that drafted, a Pro Bowl, a
dismal fifteen and thirty eight record, and it's tough to
find a GM this ineffective who's been given so much
time plus an extension. It feels like the bears efforts
are useless at this point, four years into a rebuild.
For another rebuild, I think it's very, very difficult if

(47:45):
the Bears are going to be bad, right, best case
scenario for Caleb is obviously got to be better on defense,
but they just find a way to win some games
because if you look up in the team's four and four,
even if they're three and four, it's like, okay, right,
it's not as negative. But if you look up and

(48:06):
they're two and seven, it is really really difficult for
things to not point at the key figures. You go, okay,
fire Ryan Poles, You're not gonna fire Ben Johnson. It's like,
what's up with the quarterback? Fire the defensive coordinator. We're
not breaking down their wide receiver rotations when you're really bad.

(48:28):
So it's impossible to know what should be done until
we see them play a couple more games, because if
they start losing, every single person is going to be
available on this team. A lot of guys like is
DJ More gonna be on this team in a couple months.
I would not feel confident about that. If they lose

(48:49):
this week to the Cowboys, it's just gonna be like
if Caleb starts playing well and they keep losing, then
that's another conversation. But I have a hard time, like
if they lose to the Cowboys, like, how would he
play well and they lose? The Cowboys defense is atrocious,
so you would think that they played well, they should

(49:12):
be able to score thirty ish points and win the game,
especially at home. I think it's very difficult. You have
to be prepared when you break up with a girl
or she breaks up with you that in a year,
in two years and five years, your life or her life,

(49:34):
someone's gonna win that transaction. Right. If you're dating someone
beautiful and you're like, you know what, she's gorgeous by
all accounts, this should be unreal. I just don't really
like her. I don't want to date her anymore. You
have to be prepared if she's a babe for someone
that has more money than you and a cooler life

(49:55):
than you than in like a year or two, she's
posted on Instagram, you know, at the Four Seasons in Hawaii,
flying there in a private jet, like living life, and
then all of a sudden she's pregnant and it's like, God,
I'm single, my life's not and then all of a
sudden you get depressed. You can't live like that. So
the Browns, they made their decision. It was not working
with Baker. So just because someone else goes on to

(50:18):
find a better situation does not mean that it would
have worked there with you. And I do think the
negative cloud and the dark cloud of the Bears in
this Caleb situation, if it were to get a lot worse,
if he went on somewhere else and had some success,
it doesn't mean that he would have had success in Chicago.
So I think I'm sure, like you hired the offensive

(50:39):
coach who just actually gave him some credit. He's like,
I actually thought he'd played Okay. I saw Ted Nwinn,
who writes for The Athletic, who's a big film guy,
say that he only found like four or five times
where Caleb really played off script. The problem was one
of those was an interception that led to seven points
and kind of the floodgates opened after that. But Colin said,

(51:01):
one more game. I disagree with that, Like he's getting
months this month, next month. But it is like this
is a very urgent sport, and like these teams and
these coaches, like it's hard for them to think about
twenty twenty eight when you're living in the moment and

(51:23):
it's not going well. The other thing is, these are
human beings, right, So if I don't get along, and
I don't know, I have no knowledge, never met Ben Johnson,
But like, however their relationship is, he knows what a
good quarterback, offensive coordinator relationship is, right, play caller relationship is.
He just had one with Goff. Now, every person's different,

(51:46):
so you got to you're not gonna interact with me
the same as you'd interact with someone else as your dad,
as your brother, or as your cousin, as your other buddy.
Like we're all different, different personalities, different wiring way we
communicate changes. But if you don't see eyed eye with

(52:06):
the person, schematically, skill set wise, just communication wise, it's
hard to work, so it's just to me something to
keep an eye. I don't have the answer. I wouldn't
just say that it's over, but it's definitely something worth monitoring.
It's got off to a weird start. The NFL said

(52:27):
they were looking for data to remove the tushbush, but
didn't have any data to back it up. So I
think the out will be they can't officiate the play.
There is just one big pile and they have no
idea where the ball is. Also side note, Jordan Love
is the best quarterback in the NFC. Go pack go.

(52:51):
I would say that Jordan Loves having a really good season.
Best quarterback in the NFC through a couple games. I mean,
it's definitely not could be Russell Wilson after that performance.
Dak's played pretty well. It's not Jalen Hurst, Perdy's hurt Kyler, no,
sam Donold's little Rocky. NFC's a little more wide open.

(53:15):
Goff kind of got a swag back at home. Speaking
of the Alliance mailbag, the Jameson Williams experience as a
Lions fan has been quite the ride. The night before
the season opener for Detroit, he received an extension. To me,
he earned it. Not only did he mature as a person,
but he's become more of a complete wide receiver who
has the ability to score anytime he touches the football.

(53:39):
I believe Brad Holmes made the right decision to extend
him early rather than wait. His number would be much
higher if he matched his numbers from last year. Do
you think Brad Holmes made a smart decision in locking
him up? Clearly? I saw an interview with Dan Campbell
this offseason, and I didn't put that much into it,

(54:01):
but where he was speaking about how much Jamison Williams
has really grown on him. I think Randallll early on
in his career was probably the right type coach. And
I bet if we went around the league, a lot
of former wide receivers are wide receiver coaches that can
be a pretty probably electric room of personalities all over

(54:24):
the map. But you know, last year he had fifty
eight catches and seven touchdowns. They gave him a picked
up his fIF year option, gave him a three year
contract extension. I think that they've done a really good
job when they were kind of bad and they were
building this thing of just nailing some picks. And the
one thing Jamison does is having Saint Brown. It's basically

(54:50):
like a Jekyll and Hyde. It's like a Yin and
a yang. Right. You have this guy that runs all
these quick routes over the middle of the field, quick
out routes, breaking tackles, like does the dirty work. And
then this other guy that's like it's like having a
truck in a Ferrari. Right. If you want to drive
on the ranch, you're not gonna take the Porsche of
the Ferrari. Right. And if you want to drive downtown

(55:11):
or to a nice dinner, you're gonna go to the steakhouse,
take your wife or your girlfriend. You know, you probably
take the sports car. And you know, if you can
afford it, you get both of them. Right. So it's
I think that's what it is. They kind of balance
each other out for their offense. Uh golf has a
good connection with them. Hit them on the play and

(55:32):
I think anytime that you can get that guy on
your roster that's not just a speed guy, but like
a good player that can keep the defense honest. And
then they have they don't just have Sat Brown. I
mean they have a Laporta too, who's excellent. I mean
the Tesla guy. The offensive line is still a question mark.
Will say they come together as they played better teams.
I mean this week they play the Ravens. But skill

(55:53):
wise they they have elite talent, So yeah, I'd give them.
It's kind of very Philadelphia Eagles.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
Ish for the mail bag. Not an Eagles fan, so
I'm not biased.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
But as a competitor, a youth coach, and purely a
fan of the game, I can't get behind banning any
play in competition sport. In a competition sport, I watch
countless teams try to do some form in college or
the NFL, and nobody can execute the same play. Yes,
it has to do with the players, but I promise

(56:35):
you the Eagles just do it better than everyone else,
from the coaching to the execution on the field, the technique.
In all the hours spend spent scheming, I notice differences
in the way each team runs this play versus how
the Eagles run it, which is why they fail. I
would bet money the Eagles can run this play better

(56:57):
with a backup quarterback than any of the other thirty
one teams with their starting quarterback. Yes, Jalen hurts a
special but it's scheming, technique, execution, and hours of game planning.
I hope they win the Super Bowl and with this
play just to piss everyone off. Lol. I think at
this point in time that they don't You don't practice

(57:20):
this play. There's no way at this point they practice
this play at all live against their own team. Where
I would tend to agree with you on the backup
quarterback is their offensive line, their leverage, how low they get,
they feel more consistently like a defensive line in a

(57:43):
goal line situation. Now, you could argue they're cheating because
they're jumping before the balls even snapped, but then most
teams now the backup quarterback thing. I do think the
power of Jalen. I mean, some of these are getting
closer because these teams are selling out. I think factor
in if you put Tanner McKee. There was the play

(58:04):
one of the touch pushes, felt like they ran it
ten times against the Chiefs. Chris Jones leaped over him
and grabbed him, but he's in the air and Jalen
is so powerful kind of took him for a yard ride,
which I forget it was a touchdown or a first
down to me, if that's Tanner McKee, Chris might be
powerful enough for He's not taking Chris Jones for a ride.
So I do believe that the power of Jalen in

(58:29):
his legs factor into the just to the execution of
the play. But at this point in time, like are
they game planning anything? They deserve credit for doing that
whenever they originally created it. But like all the guys
like Landon, Dickerson, Jordan Mylota, Lane Johnson, these guys Jurgensen

(58:51):
got her Saquon, like, these guys have been running play
long enough. They there's no they just know what to do. Okay,
A couple more questions. Another great show. I like Positive reinforcement.
Great segment on Baker today, who I wasn't a fan
of originally but have come to respect and cheer four,
especially that the episode he went undercover with the fans.

(59:14):
They got me thinking this weekend. Baker and Darnold, both
on the fourth team, are better than any quarterback on
the three teams that let them walk. My question for
the mailbag is we put down bus quarterback a lot,
but what about bus gms. I mean, Carolina had both
of them on their team at one point. Well, everyone

(59:37):
in Carolina got fired, the GM fired, the coach fired.
So I think Carolina blew out everyone there. I do
think for both guys. I think Sam would be the
first to tell you that year where he got out
of Carolina went to the forty nine ers, just got

(59:58):
to be the backup ch the course of his career.
For Baker, I think he was a better player than Sam.
He is a better player than Sam. He just needed
to go to a place that was a little quieter,
kind of had a little renegade rebel to it, and
good talent around him, and he got to flourish, like
let's face at Tampa, kind of like Oklahoma. When he

(01:00:19):
was kicking ass in Oklahoma. Guess what he had Mark Andrews,
he had Hollywood Brown, he had Ceedee Lamb, pretty sure,
he had p Ryan and Joe Mixon. He had Orlando Brown,
like Google. Some of the guys Baker Mayfield played with
at Oklahoma, they were fucking good. They were stacked, they
were loaded. That's why they were really good. I mean
they were top five to ten team his entire career there,

(01:00:41):
and he goes to Tampa. It's kind of got an
Oklahoma vibe, you know, here's the thing. As a GM,
do you get credit for drafting Sam Darnold third overall?
Because once you draft him, like, you don't coach him.
It's I think sometimes when a guy's a bust, it's
more in the coaching staff than the GM, though. I
think the G has a lot of control over the

(01:01:04):
type guys that are in that locker room. So it's
probably a combination of everyone, but not everyone just flourishes
from day one. You know, some guys take some time.
Some guys are major works in progress. Some guys need
some time. Look at Tom Brady was the six round pick.

(01:01:25):
It wasn't until like his like third Super bowlhe people like, yeah,
he's pretty good quarterback. I got a lot of questions
about Baker. We'll end on this in your opinion, had
the Brown stuck with Baker, do you think they'd be
Super Bowl contenders? They seem to have every piece but
a quarterback. And how amazing is it that Baker was
playing on the scout team defense. That picture I saw

(01:01:46):
Jason light on Twitter reposted it of Baker Bayfield lining
up what looks like is a nose tackle on the
scout team. It's a pretty embarrassing look for Carolina. Now,
granted this is not the Canalists or Dan Morgan like
other people running the show rule, but it's just it's

(01:02:07):
a rough it's a rough visual. I'm gonna stick with
my thought on this. I do not think they would
because I just don't think. I don't think he'd be
on the team. I mean I think he Sometimes people
are meant to break up. It just sometimes not everything's

(01:02:27):
meant to work. Things can flourish for a minute and
then things end like not every place is just like
this inevitable no matter what, Like Peyton Manning and the Colts,
like it was just gonna work, and Peyton was gonna
drag that organization to not just relevancy but a super Bowl.
It was inevitable, even at times where it's like, I
don't know if you could beat the Patriots, Like looking back,

(01:02:48):
Peyton Manning, they were gonna win a super Bowl. In hell,
they probably should have won two. But I think the
Baker situation for him personally, the organization, I don't think
it would have worked. It didn't so and I don't
think we get this guy. You have to wonder if
the belief when Sean McVay signed him on a Tuesday,

(01:03:10):
and he started on a Thursday, and he won that game.
Just breathe a little life into the guy. I don't
care who you are. You lose confidence, you get in
a bad mental spot as a young person. You can
put on a facade and this like tough guy exterior.
Inside we all question ourselves are we good enough? Do

(01:03:33):
we got it? Is this gonna work out? You can
be scared. It's much easier. It's much easier for me
at forty to battle through insecurities or battle through a
bad day. It's like I've seen a lot in the
last twenty years. It's a lot more difficult at twenty
five when I was having a shitty dad. Way less
experience being a grown up. Just like at sixty years old,

(01:03:56):
I'm gonna have way more experience in life with children
than I do right now. So the Baker Mayfield that
you see now conduct himself and carry himself around Tampa
like he's seen a lot of shit. You can be like, well,
Johnny had to walk on at Texas Tech. Yeah, then
he went to Oklahoma and became a starter and kicked
everyone's ass and all he did was have success. And
then he came in a draft with Josh Allen and

(01:04:17):
Lamar Jackson went number one overall. I do think the
Humble Pie changed the course of his life and off
the field, and I see it with myself, like getting married,
having a child like that tends to have a positive
impact on people, and it clearly did on him. And
then obviously is losing weight as well. He looks slimmer,
and he just looks good. I mean, he looks like

(01:04:38):
he did at Oklahoma. He's a baller. He's also the
type player. You know, Mahomes has this too. They're just
kind of gamers. They just got like this is the
analytic guys hate this, but like what do you mean
by it? I don't know. I can't really quantify it.
But whatever that is, Baker's got some of that shit
deep in his veins and you see it when you

(01:05:00):
watch him play. And it's come back out in Tampa
because he had it at Oklahoma. Then it disappeared for
a couple of years in Cleveland. What's back now because
you see it when you watch it. I mentioned this
the other night, like he has the Farvan quality. That's Mahomes.
You know, Curry who was compared to Mahomes, Like there's
just something, like I some h factor that these guys

(01:05:21):
have that they're just they got Like we're playing at
recess to them, except they're playing the Houston Texans, who
have one of the best defenses on the road. And uh,
he's one of my favorite players in the league and
I'm glad that he resurrected his career.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
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John Middlekauff

John Middlekauff

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