Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
What is going on everybody? John Middlecop three in out podcast.
I hope everyone had a good weekend as well as possible.
I know, depending on what we've got people that live
all over the country, hell over the world didn't listen
to this. I didn't realize Coward is a big fan base,
and I know many of you have reached out said
(00:31):
you've listened to me or found me through him. Appreciate
everyone listening. Hopefully you guys are keeping your head up
during this quarantine. It kind of feels like, I know, California,
it was announced today we're gonna start phasing things in
starting Friday, uh May seven, I think seventh, eighth, maybe
the eighth, maybe the ninth. I don't even know the
exact day, but this Friday. I know a lot of
the southern states are already getting phased in. Uh. New
(00:54):
York obviously is not in great shape, but you know
a lot of other states are coming back. So hopefully,
if you know, work in a business, you know you furloughed,
you know you run a small business, whatever, Uh, hopefully
we can get this thing rolling and at least get
gets try to attempt to get the train back on
the tracks. Uh. And you know, luckily we'll dive into
(01:16):
this right off the top. With the NFL schedule is
coming out, there's just a lot of unknown A lot
of stories are flying back or around about. I know,
I know the UFC, it's coming back. Are they fighting
this week? What's weird is like I went when I
went to cal Poly, Chuck Lydell was at cal Poly
alum and when I was there in the early two thousands,
(01:37):
the UFC was huge because Chuck was a rock star,
Tito Rampage. But I just I don't really like it
that much. And I'm I'm pro violence, but I just
never really got into the UFC. Though I love Dana White,
I like what the UFC stands for. I just the fighting,
you know, I don't know a little barbaric for it.
I don't even know, Like I I have nothing but respect,
(01:59):
you know. I remember first time I ever met wrestlers
was at cal Poly and these dudes, this guy named
Chad Mendez, then ended up going to the m A.
If you guys are UFC fans, you've probably seen this
guy fight. Dude. It's like a hundred fifty pounds and
people would pick on them and you'd kick the ship
out of them. So it's just like I had nothing
to respect for the wrestlers. It's just I don't know,
just not my cup of tea. Uh, they're coming back,
(02:19):
some stories about baseball and basketball obviously, golf, golf courses
around the country opening up, and then golf is eventually
coming back, I think in early June, the PGA Tour.
But in the NFL, we'll dive into the schedule and
just at the end of the day that timing has
been on their side. A bunch of NFL stories this weekend.
No international games, the virtual off season programs in full swing.
(02:41):
Some thoughts on the fifth year option. I kind of
dove into some number. It's kind of crazy how many
guys didn't get their fifth year options picked up in
this two thousand seventeen NFL draft. Andy Dalton Nowadallas Cowboy.
Who who would have thought that? Honestly, that was pretty
shocking news this weekend. And then the Middlecoff mailbag, like
always at John Middlecoff is my Instagram same as my
(03:01):
Twitter handle. You can slide right in and leave a question,
leave a comment, leave whatever, and I read them. I'm
gonna need you. You know as these virtual programs going,
it might slow down. So we're gonna do a lot,
let me repeat, a lot of interacting with the people,
because it's, like I say, it's the people show. Also,
I know a lot of you guys have and if
(03:21):
you haven't had a chance to do it and you
like the show, go to iTunes at or not at
but the three and out the podcast page. Go leave
a review five stars, you know, if you like it.
If you don't leave any review you want, but I
appreciate a five star and um and uh that's kind
of had the way the podcast business work. So go
(03:41):
there and and interact and leave a little review. But
the NFL schedules is supposed to come out in the
next five or six days. I think the preseason schedule
is going to be out by the end of this
week and then by early next week. I think May
ninth or May ten was a date, uh that I
saw that the NFL ideally maybe it was the eleventh.
(04:02):
I wanted to release the schedule. And there's so many unknowns.
Like any good business in weird, weird pandemic times, you
have to have a bunch of contingency plans. But you
hear this all the time from anyone that's a little successful.
Sometimes there's just a randomness or a luck factor, or
a timing factor that's just on your side. You know,
(04:22):
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were all in on computers
in the Internet in the mid eighties. The timing was right.
Jobs went all in on Internet distribution, Bata bang, Bata boom. Hell,
look at Peloton right now. Remember Peloton like two months ago.
Everyone was crushing them for that ad, even though it
was so stupid, the ad was cool. Well, Pelton's crushing
(04:44):
right now because gyms are closed. So there was a
timing element to everything. Hell, I know this is a
media guy. I worked in radio for a while then
I got let go. Luckily the podcast world was taken off. Boom,
I run a podcast. Well, if this is would happened
twenty years ago and I was a radio show, would
I have moved somewhere else and did a radio show,
I don't know. My options would have been limited. So
(05:05):
the game's just kind of changed sometimes in a lot
of different businesses. But there was just a timing element
on the NFL side, right. The Corona really hit strong
in early March, which their next two big events before
the O T a S were free agency and the draft,
and we've talked a lot about this. They were able
to do them both virtually, and I think the draft,
(05:27):
now about a couple of weeks removed, went off as
well as it possibly could have. Was really cool. It
resonated with people, did huge numbers. But it's kind of
easy to you cancel the off season. I mean, it's
not ideal. If you gave coaches and general managers the option,
would you want to cancel O T S or not
cancel O TIS, they would clearly choose not cancel ot
as they want us to get their rookies mixed in.
(05:49):
They want to see their new free agents, they want
their coaches to put together the game plan, they want
to develop their young players. It's not an ideal situation,
but sty hand their dealt, so they're playing the hand
they've been dealt and they're going through virtual offseason programs.
Teams are allowed two hours a day, four days a week.
But as I said, this is not a vacation, it's
an interruption. I saw Tom Rady today working out by
(06:10):
himself with pads on. So the high level players and
just like most of the NFL is getting side workouts
in some way, somehow, but the NFL schedule, however it
comes out the seventeen week deal, they're gonna get some pushback.
And that's what social media does. You can't do that,
this will never happen. You can't listen to the doom
(06:30):
and gloomers because if you listen to the doom and
gloomers just in general, you would never do a damn
thing because the doom and gloomers don't really want anything
to happen. And then when weird times like this, everyone
on the doom and gloom side wants to say quarantine forever.
They don't want basketball to come back, they don't want
baseball to come back. They want UFC to be canceled,
they want golf to be canceled. They would like to
just stay inside. It feels like forever. Most normal humans
(06:53):
want to get back to real life, even though the
real life moving forward probably gonna be a little weird, right.
I saw a picture going viral last night that the casinos,
you know, like a blackjack table. You know, before, at
least in my you know, since I was eighteen, I
was able to go to the Indian casinos that we
have in California, and you go to a black jack
table give or take what do they have five or
(07:15):
six seats right, you're just sitting right next to either
your buddy some random Ideally you get an empty table,
you play a couple of hands, whatever. But now they're
gonna have kind of walled off with like see through
glass or see through rubber or whatever it is. Like, Yeah,
whenever the restaurants open in the next month or two,
I would imagine it's gonna look a lot different. So
(07:37):
the NFL, their schedule is gonna look pretty normal on paper,
but I would imagine they're gonna be very forward in
saying that. Listen, we got multiple options. If we got
to move the season back, if we got to move
the season forward, whatever we gotta do, we're gonna be
ready because unlike basketball, that didn't really have a choice.
And I'm not a big Adam Silver guy. I think
(07:58):
he's the most overrated commisi you're in my lifetime. People
act like he's just the NBA media acts like he's
just some hero. I mean, he's done one, he's written
this kicking out Donald Sterling, one of the biggest loser
scumbags in the history of team ownership out of the league,
like he's some Saint Adam. Under your watch, the league
(08:19):
has tanked. The NFL is flown by you and people
my age in there. You know, born in the mid eighties.
Your sport was bigger than anyone during my life, when
Michael Jordan's and then under your watch once David Stern
left you. The ratings are in the tank and football.
The irony is Roger Goodell. Everyone acts like he's some
village idiot. They've laughed everybody. It's not even a fair
(08:39):
fight anymore now. Football the nature of the sport. We've
also talked a lot about this benefits from just being
once a week. It's the perfect podcast, radio media sport.
We gamble on it. It's just set up for society
in two thousand twenty. The opposite baseball not really set
up for the youth. The youth, more than ever, has
(09:00):
zero attention span. You know, back when I was growing up,
you had to be like, you know, I think I
got a d D. Two feels like everyone technically qualifies
for a d D. We have no attention spans. That's
what the iPhone has done for so baseball. Well, I
still enjoy it. I know a lot of people that
enjoy it, you know, a lot of younger people. Is
hard to focus for that long, and you could argue
maybe no one ever focused on baseball that seriously all game,
(09:22):
every game anyway, just the nature of the sport they
play every day, kind of like a background noise you
listen to on the radio. You don't have to be
super locked in like you do for a football game.
But with the schedule that's gonna come out, Actually look
at it, like, get positive, it'll be a cool moment.
The NFL has been able to have three cool moments
in arguably the shittiest time of recent memory, probably since
(09:46):
the crazy housing crisis in two thou Because this has sucked,
We've been quarantined. It has not been fun. Now have
we dealt with it? And have we tried to, at
least for the most part, you know, keep a smile
on our face and be positive. I think most people have.
But this has not been ideal. No one would choose this.
No one wants to see thirty million people be unemployed.
No one wants to see all your local businesses be
(10:07):
closed down. But I get the NFL a lot of credit.
They've just kept rolling and they've been like, Okay, here's
what we're here's the hand would healt, here's what we'll do,
here are options, we'll try this. And again, the timing
has been on their side. They haven't had to do
you know, they haven't had to have people present. They
had to cancel the draft because you couldn't have anyone
in an actual location because Vegas was actually canceled. They
(10:29):
went virtual. It worked, free agency and a lot of pushback. Hell,
even I thought, you know, is this ideal? And looking
back it was ideal, and I think this is a
great life lesson. You can't always worry. And he saw
this in the Michael Jordan document. Everyone wants you to
do what they want you to do, even though how
can you do and make everyone happy? News for you,
it is impossible. And I say this to my mom
(10:51):
all the time. I say this to anyone who listens.
I don't care what others think. Now is that, of
course I care what some people think. But the faster
you can get to the point of not worrying of
just what the noise thinks. You of course care what
your consumer thinks, but when they become loyal and when
they can trust you, as NFL fans trust the NFL
(11:13):
to provide them with entertainment, not you know, the media
freaks out, like, how could you left this guy who's
been arrested twice day in your league because there's a
private sector job he can cover a wide receiver. And
we truly don't care. You know why we don't care
because the fans have shown they don't care. That's like
the white noise. Twitter becomes the white noise. And I
like Twitter a lot. It's been a huge, you know,
(11:35):
a springboard in my media career. Without Twitter, who knows
if I would even got a start in the media.
But I think over the last several years it's become
a negative area. We're just misery thrives and what's the
famous statement, misery needs company. And I give the NFL
a lot of credit they've avoided that. They have just
you know what schedule release. Yeah, we can't do offseason,
(11:57):
so no offseason. We're going just virtual. But we're not
like Dooming Loom, no football. You know what I like
about the SEC? Multiple eighties in the SEC we're playing,
we're playing Do you know what I know sitting here
recording May fourth. The SEC is gonna have football? Is
the pact Twaves gonna have football? I don't know, you know,
I would say they will be the last of the
Power five to have football. Will Oklahoma play football this year? Yes?
(12:21):
Will Austin, Will the University of Texas and Texas Tech
and Texas and m play Yes. Will Ohio State do
everything humanly possible play football? Yes? Because that's just the
way they operate. And if you in college is gonna
be a little different than the pros. There's a ton
of money on the line in terms of players getting paid.
(12:41):
You know, clearly, as we found out through any of
these documentaries, the players get paid also in college under
the table, but we could argue they deserve more, especially
the high end guys. I'm not some anti paying players
or anti likeness, but I've just always thought it was
kind of fraudulent to pretend like, no, what j billis know?
This is such a screw job. It really a screwd job.
I mean I just watched the documentary on the on
(13:04):
the you know, the guys that got arrested in college basketball,
everyone was getting six Craton was paying guys six figures
let alone Arizona and Duke and some of the big
schools given huge amounts of money. So do we always
have to cry poor for everyone when actually these guys
are getting paid. Should this be above board and not
make this so complicated? Of course? But can we not
stop being naive and pretending this is going on. It's
(13:25):
like whenever I read a story that these athletes have
been quarantined, haven't been listen if you have, like I've
said over and over, whatever your job is, whether it's athletics,
whether it's sales, if you have not been attempting to
do things and just binge watching shows and getting stoned
on your couch for the last forty five days, you're
getting lapped. In the real world. Tom Brady's running you know,
(13:45):
stairs and running footwork drills and throw into who knows
who at his house right now, Tom Brady the go.
You think, Michael Jordan, anyone that's watched the Last Dance
over the last you know what episode? Are we on?
Six or three weeks? In two episodes? You know a
Sunday would have if Michael Jordan was in his prime
right now, you think you'd just be sitting at home,
(14:06):
just just staring at the wall, or you think he'd
be at a gym somewhere, whether you had to go
solo or whatever, and working on his game, staying sharp,
iron sharpens iron. Hell, even getting a guy to come
with him and work him out. You'd be naive to
think that he would he wouldn't do that, or that
the high end athletes right now aren't staying locked in,
just like the high end people in business. Again, you
can only do so much. There's a limit to what
(14:26):
you can do. You know, you're only gonna be able
to get hold of so many people. But you better
be trying because if you're not, you're gonna get just
because eventually things are gonna start, whether that's next week,
whether that's in a month. And the NFL has realized this,
and they haven't let the public pressure because it's easy
to get on social media and think everyone shut it
down no more. Hell, And I regret because I even thought, like,
(14:48):
you know, I kind of agreed with Schefter about the
draft and the carnage in the streets, and you just
realize it's so easy to overreact in these times. These
are times are serious. No one is just futing that
this we shut it down for the right reasons, but
we also eventually what you get fifty sixty seventy days,
you got a siphon back to reality and the NFL,
who for some reason, they got thrown in the mix
(15:10):
on this, like their season isn't four months away, Like, yeah,
we plan on playing. It's also May four early May,
even early June, early July. We're still months away. And yeah,
we'll have contingency plans because we're a multibillion dollar business.
But that they've been full throttle ahead. And again, you
can crush Roger Goodell for things in the past, but
(15:31):
he has his leagues running on all cylinders right now. Okay,
let's dive into some stories from I guess the last
like forty eight hours, Peter King wrote, I've seen a
couple of different places that the NFL will not do
any international games. It's kind of a big deal because
clearly this London game has not just taken off of
(15:52):
become a big part of the league, has become a
big part of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has become a kind
of a big part of the television pack. Right they
have some of those early morning kickoffs a couple of
times a year for us on the West Coast sixty
kickoff time almost at tea time, thinking like Michael Jordan's
the East Coast nine kickoff time, I think that was
a game James through like five picks in those games
(16:14):
aren't gonna happen. And I've theorized for a while that
the Jacksonville Jaguars are eventually gonna live in London though,
you know, will anyone remember this in ten years that
we didn't have international games? Also, Mexico City has been
a place that that hosts a game. Last year, I
think it did. It's definitely hosted games over the last
several years. So no international games at the end of
(16:36):
the day, I gets for fans and for me talking
doesn't mean that much. But you know what by no
means hate the lending games. Uh, the fifth year options.
I did a little study the last you know, three
or four years, on average, thirteen players had not had
their fifth year options picked up. So there are six,
(16:57):
you know, thirty two picks. Six team would be fourteen
was two thousand seventeen, which would be if you round
up on average, right around So think about that. Put
that in context of this year's draft, because everyone that
hit me happy with our pick. Oh we got becked In,
Oh we got Judy, Oh we got raagor maybe not happy.
(17:20):
Oh we got Justin Jefferson. Oh we got this guy.
Oh we got this guy. On average, those picks will
not have their fifth year option picked up. As I
talked about on Friday, if you're not picking up the
fifth year option on the player, it's a disaster. Now,
there have been some examples, right Fuller with the Jet
with the Bears, did not have his fifth year option
(17:41):
picked up, had a big fourth year, and then got
extended by the Bears. Brandon Cooks, who the Saints did
not use, you know, pick up his fifth year option,
traded him to New England for a first round pick,
so that wasn't a whiff. But for the most part,
those are outlier situations. Most of them are Solomon Thomas
Mr tru A s Key. Leonard Fournett is a weird
(18:02):
case because Leonard Fournette, if you look at his stats
last year at over seventy catches, he ran for over
a thousand yards. To me from what I've heard, attitude,
character not great, not like a bad guy. He's not
getting arrested or anything. Just not the ideal guy you
want in your locker room, does not have a good
reputation right now in the NFL at all, but he
his talent is deserving of a fifth year option. Though
(18:22):
looking back, disastrous pick because if you are going to
take a running back in the top five, they passed
on Christian McCaffrey for Leonard Fournette. Christian McCaffrey now, per
year wise, is the highest paid running back in NFL
history and a star. But I think what makes the
two thousand and seventeen draft such a head scratcher is
when I look back to the fifteen draft, the fourteen draft,
(18:43):
the sixteen draft. Most of the time, a large percentage
of the players not getting their fifth year options picked
up are passed about pick sixteen and are in the twenties.
In the twenties, it's like over fifty of the players
are gonna get their fifth year option picked up. In
this draft. Five of the top nine players Trubisky, Solomon Thomas, Leonard,
(19:08):
four Nette, Corey Davis, and John Ross. Five players in
the top nine no fifth options. It's pretty nuts. And
think about three players in the top twelve or really
four Miles Garrett, you know, I know he swung a
helmet at at Mason Rudolph, big time talent, Christian McCaffrey
on pace to be one of the great versatile running
(19:29):
backs we've ever seen, Mahomes borderline already Hall of Famer,
and Deshaun Watson well on his way to superstar him.
So it was just Jamal Adams really really good player.
It was either you're hitting basically a home run or
you were striking out. I mean, trading up for Mr
Bisky is a disaster. Now. Luckily Ryan Pace admitted it.
(19:52):
And this gets back to remember Ryan Pace was like,
he's our starting quarterback, elied Mr Bisky. They don't believe
in Mr Bisky and I not like I asked Matt
and Aggie told me he did. But I mean, I'm
not gonna put him in a weird situation that the
really I don't need his you know, Ryan pays their
quotes on this. They told me they don't pick up
the fifth year option. They trade for Nick Foles. It's
It's what I always say, even with my friends, I
(20:14):
don't I don't judge anyone on words. Words are meaningless.
It's what I say about Twitter. Everyone freaks out about
tweets tweets? Who cares? Did you on actions? Because your actions?
You know the forty Niners. John Lynch has been singing
Solomon Thomas praises for years. He doesn't start. They just
drafted another defensive tackle in the first round. They didn't
(20:34):
pick up a fie your option. I know they think
he stinks. I just watch what they do. I don't
know if the Jaguars necessarily think Leonard stinks, but they
don't like him that much. They tried to trade him
and they didn't pick up the figure option. So just
try to do this in real life, but definitely do
this in sports. When a manager, when a general manager,
and whatever sports, they're telling you, like, we really like
this guy. We think he's just starting pitcher. Why do
(20:56):
you always bring them out of the bullpen? Well, we're
just we're just easing them in. Well why have you
never two years later, why is he still not starting?
Stop telling me that because you don't believe it. I
just judge people on what they do. And if you
just judge people and what they do, you realize how
hollow words are. What's the saying sticks and sells me
break my bones. Words will never hurt me honestly, if
(21:16):
you if you, people take words way too seriously, and
obviously there aren't words that are very hurtful, and we
all know the thing to say to someone, a family member,
someone a wife, a brother that can really hurt. I'm
not saying like all words, but when I'm talking professionally,
you can blow a lot of smoke up people's ass.
But if you just look at what they're actually doing,
(21:38):
be like, yeah, I don't believe you, because that's not true.
Uh Andy Dalton to the Cowboys. I'll be honest, I
didn't see this coming. It was is shocking as a
backup quarterback edition can be. And there are a lot
of different elements to this, but I would say you
could look at it one angle. You always want to
have a good backup quarterback. And as I talked about
(21:59):
last week, I said parted the Jalen Hurts draft pick,
I supported going to pay Marcus Mariota. I I support
anything with backup quarterbacks because we've seen situations where look
at the Jets last year, Sam Donald gets mono season over.
They end up going seven and nine. Can you imagine
if they just would have had a good backup quarterback
like Ryan Fitzpatrick. Maybe they're nine and seven. Can you
(22:22):
imagine last year if the Eagles would have had a
competent backup quarterback in the playoffs and you could argue
Josh might have been a backup quarterback. But he's forty,
you know, he's thirty eight, forty years old, hamstring terrors.
They got no chance when he got a good backups
like whatever, Teddy Bridgewater will win some games. Any Dalton's
proven he could win games. Was he good last year? No?
He was atrocious. But two years ago Ryan Tannehill was
(22:44):
a trocious too. Then all of a sudden, Ryan tanney
Hill led the Titans to the a f C Championship Game.
And I think the numbers I saw. They guaranteed him
three million with the opportunity to make seven. What if
tax doesn't show up? Because what if you're Jerry Jones?
You got you know what I can't do with the
straight face. I can't guarantee this guy thirty five million
dollars a year. I can't do it. Here's my final offer, doc,
I'll give you a four year deal at per and
(23:06):
I'll guarantee like ninety million. Take your leave it. What
if he says no and the one leverage Dock does have, fine,
I'm not showing up. Okay, we'll just play with Andy Dalton.
Could the Cowboys make the playoffs with Andy Dalton? I
don't think it's crazy. He's got Amari Cooper, He's got
Ceedee Lamb. I like Gallops, pretty good player, he's got
a dominant running back, got a good defense. McCarthy's a
(23:27):
solid coach. Should be pretty good. The NFC East kind
of stinks. I mean, the Eagles are solid, the Giants
are disaster, and the Redskins in year one have a
long way to go. They got Dwayne asking to starting quarterback,
so yeah, sure, I mean they could compete to make
the playoffs Andy Dalton. And Dalton made playoffs countless times
his career starting quarterback, and when he had I thought
(23:48):
one year, trying to think of the year, the year
he broke his hand, but he was playing. I think
Jake Gruden was offensive coordinator was awesome. No, it's Hugh Jackson.
The team was stacked. You giving any Dalton the really
a good team. He's not one of those guys like
Deshaun Watson. You can give him an average team and
expect him to win eleven twelve games. That's not Andy Dalton.
But if you give him a top six seven roster,
(24:09):
you make the playoffs when he had good coaches Hugh Jackson,
Marvin Lewis, Jacob There fine. When you give you know,
quarterbacks like Andy Dalton, like Derek Carr. You give Derek
Carr stack team, you'll be okay. You give Derek Carr
an average team, like Andy Dalton an averason, You're not
gonna go to the playoffs. You know. You you give
Russell Wilson anything, it doesn't matter. Give him Filet Mignon.
(24:30):
You'll have dinner. You give him, you know, some just
some eggs and some ham. He'll whip up a five
star meal. He'll figure it out. There are only a
small handful of quarterbacks like that. Most guys are kind
of like Andy Dalton. Somewhere in the middle. Say this,
Andy Dalton's had better moments that Kirk cousins career. Kirk
Cousins been guaranteed I think for the last like six years,
(24:53):
forty five million in Washington on those franchise tags. Another
eighty five do this up top of my head. So
we're about one thirty and then another six. I mean
cousins like a hundred eighty million. I've seen Alton play
better than Kirk Cousins. I have no cousins. This year
was had moments where he's probably better or as good
as the best Andy Dalton. But you know, one guy
(25:13):
has made an eighty million, the other guys made like
forty if that. I like the move by Dallas and
I think it puts in some questions like what is
the deal with Dak? Because Dak clearly as his you know,
like this line drawn in the sand, there's some number.
It's like, Dak, I don't know what to tell you,
Like I no one's crying for you because you think
you're worth thirty four million dollars. I think if you're
(25:35):
signed for like twenty six, every been like, okay, that's good.
And I think Dak is pretty well respecting the football community,
people think he's good. Is that great? And if signing
for that much money, we've seen what it look at
what it did to the Ramps makes you get rid
of all your good players. So in like a year,
as the Cowboys have to cut a bunch of players,
am I okay with cutting a bunch of players for
Dak Prescott because you know, when Dak Prescott was really
(25:56):
valuable when he was cheap. Do you know when he
stops becoming valuable potentially when he starts getting expensive. I
think the Dak Prescott thing the more I thought about it,
and I am not anti Dak, just like I'm not
anti Jared Goff. I'm anti Jared Goff. At thirty plus
million dollars a year, I wouldn't have any problem with
Jared Goff making twenty two. I can stomach taking the
(26:19):
risk on Carson Wentz because I know he can carry
my franchise. I saw last year Carson Wentz half Philadelphia injured.
No Biggie, get on my back now. He ended up
getting hurt. But I don't think anyone with any football
knowledge would go, yeah, Carson Wentz freaked talent, big big time.
Is Daker freaked out? No talent? Did? Does Jared Goff
(26:39):
freaked out? No talent? Did you know that? There's I
like paying premiums for premium players. That's why I don't
mind paying Aaron Donald. I don't mind paying Khalil Mack.
You know, I don't mind paying those type guys in
their prime George Kittle, Julio Jones. I don't love hell.
I don't love paying a MARII Cooper million year, right, don't,
(27:01):
But I don't mind paying Amari Cooper twenty million dollars
a year for my quarterbacks making ten or hell, like
Dak last year was making a million. That's the NFL.
I means the economics play a huge role in If
you're having a conversation in basketball or football and you're
not having like, the economics aren't playing a part in, like,
(27:24):
I mean, a legitimate discussion, like we can't why can't
we acquire these seventeen players? Well, because there's a salary cap.
So what you make factors into a conversation. If you
want to have a fifth grade conversation, yeah, just talk
about the players like they're all even. But if you
want to have a grown up conversation, you have to
factor in how much money they make, how much money
you are going to guarantee him, who else on your
(27:46):
team you're paying. So these are real grown up conversations.
And anyone playing fantasy football should know this, right, if
you play an auction draft, you don't get unlimited amounts
of money. This is not baseball. You can't be be
the Yankees and just buy who whoever you want. It
doesn't work that way. You know, that's not the way
the sport works. So what he makes that's part of
(28:06):
the conversation. And I also love why are you counting
his pennies? Worry about your own bank account because again
I'm talking about quarterback whose contract will impact how you
build the team. So if you want to have a
little conference, the little kid conversation, go talk about stop
counting their pennies and just talk about the player, because
that's what the seventh graders do. If you want to
(28:27):
come with the grown ups, you know, it's like a bar,
you gotta be twenty one enter this conversation, or a mature,
younger person who can have a real conversation about professional sports.
The Colts did a draft show, and they've done this
the last two years, you know, where they give you
intimate video of their scouts talking, interacting, Frank Wright talking
(28:50):
with Chris Bowl or Jim ur Say. It's fantastic. I
can't recommend it enough. I tipped my hat to the
Colts for doing it. It's if I was a Colts
fan and I'd be like you know what, this is
freaking cool. Gives me an inside look at my GM,
my head coach, the staffs, what they think of players. Now,
it doesn't get too negative, so it's not totally real.
(29:11):
But I don't think it's fair to have your West
Coast scout or your pro player personnel guy just shipping
on draft picks that you don't pick or you don't want,
Like that's just not realistic. But the guys that you
actually picked, it's cool to see what they thought of him,
and the talk about Michael Pittman and how much the
head coach love Michael Pittman, and how he grew on Ballard,
(29:31):
how the West Coast scout had been to USC countless times,
saw him never lost a rep, how he only improved,
how he was good on special teams, the stuff on
Jonathan Taylor was fantastic, how good he would translate to
the scheme, how much everyone just loved the guy, the character.
And then Chris Ballard made up a great point about
his play speed on the turf. You know, he ran
(29:52):
a four four one at the Combine, which is in Indie.
He had the big run against Ohio State in the
Big Ten Championship, it's just really awesome. I can't just
go to their Twitter account or go to the website,
I your YouTube page. I can't recommend it enough. And
I know we got a lot of draft nerds. It's uh,
you don't even need to be a Cults fan. It's
just a it's it's a cool inside look. Okay, let's
(30:15):
dive into the Middlecoff mail bag. Add John Middlecoff my Instagram.
So where my d ms wide open? Baby, slide right
in them. Get your get your question read right like
this guy? Hey, John, what are your thoughts on Jared
sent him? I read that some people believe he would
have been a top five quarterback in this draft, and
that is why Belichick chose him over any quarterback in
(30:36):
the draft. Could that be legit? Or you think the
Pats are just eyeing Lawrence or field Fields next year?
I think it'd be difficult to say that the Patriots,
given how elite their coaches, given how good their defense
still is, and given how good Josh McDaniels is, did
they end up in the Fields or Lawrence sweepstakes at
least in terms of draft position? Now? Could they mortgage
(30:57):
a lot and get there? I think that's potentially possible.
But Jared Stidham kind of had a crazy career. Starts
out of Baylor Art Briles, everything falls apart. Actually has
a really good freshman year, plays in ten games, throws
for almost twelve touchdowns, kind of in limited action. Then
he goes to Auburn, which I don't know if it
(31:19):
was an ideal fit for him though being a spread
quarterback and made sense. I mean, Auburn is a really
good program. Sophomore in junior year, he's basically six throws
for thirty six touchdowns and eleven picks at Auburn. But
when you talk to people in the league, people thought
he had a big arm. He's big and athletic, Like
(31:40):
he's six three plus. He has an above average NFL
arm in terms of arm strength, so there's a lot
to work with and he could move. Like with Tom Brady,
they were just plays you couldn't do. Now, the flip
side of that is you still have Tom Brady, so
you can do a lot of things that work. I'm
not trying to act in any by any means. It's
like it's a good thing to go from Brady to Stidham,
(32:02):
but I do think they there's a lot there that
they want to work with. The last two quarterbacks they've
drafted one, Jimmy Garoppolo turned out to be pretty good.
Jacoby Brissette had some moments, not quite as good as Jimmy,
but also could be functional. Like they've they've showed the
last you know, five six years, they're pretty good at
drafting the right guys. So that being said, you know,
(32:22):
I think he could be an interesting player. Now, is
he gonna be some pro bowler? Probably not, But I
just I feel I'm hesitant to make any bold statement
when it comes to Belichick, and as long as Josh
is they're working with them, I think they got a
pretty good infrastructure to put him in position to succeed.
I'm a big Kansas City fan. I'm curious what your
(32:43):
opinion on the Homes and the Chiefs making Kansas City
a more exciting city to the rest of the country.
Watching the MJ documentary and his effect on Chicago, I'm
curious you think Mahomes has that kind of star power
to attract more influential people in businesses of the city.
I'm not from or living Casey, but I have visited
several times. Instead still growing Brett what if this is
Brett Beach. Probably not, Actually no it's not. But I
(33:06):
think he could have a huge impact on it now.
I think when you compare the two, Jordan's still got
drafted to Chicago, you know, a top four or five
city population wise in America. Now, the basketball team had
been a disaster, so he, you know, changed that. Did
he change Chicago that much? I mean, the Bears were
(33:27):
a powerhouse in the mid eighties, they won a Super Bowl.
The Cubs, while they were the lovable losers, were a
big time franchise, had their own network dedicated to plan
all their games. Did Jordan help on I think Jordan
did more for basketball than he didn't necessarily for the
city of Chicago. Like the city, Chicago has thrived, whether
the teams are good or bad. Now it helps. And
(33:50):
I think Mahomes will have a huge impact. But the
Chiefs have been pretty good, like I mean under Andy
Reid the first six years they were making the playoffs
every year. So influential businesses maybe people sponsor Mahomes. I
don't know if they're gonna move their headquarters there. If
that's what you're asking, that's a that's a good question.
(34:11):
I never really thought of it like that. He can't hurt.
He can't hurt. But I is he gonna change the
economic landscape of Kansas City, Missouri? I would lean no, though.
Everyone you talk to that goes to the power in
Light district loves it like it's it's a cool place,
like I think most people with knowledge of the working region,
(34:31):
I know people that live there obviously love it. Downtown
is cool. Lawrence, Kansas isn't that far away. Overland Park
in the suburb area is really nice. It's kind of
a gem of a sit. Food is great, people are nice, affordable.
What's your post draft evaluation of the Chargers. Many have
them ranked in the lower third of the league, but
I think they're stacked roster will prove many people wrong.
(34:53):
What's your take, Well, let me just give a little
thumbs up there. Let pull up their draft. As I
said over and over, I love their first two picks.
I am not an anti Uh it's crazy. I've already
forgot the guy's name, Justin Herbert. I think to getting
(35:14):
Justin Herbert with the six overall pick given their team,
given how talented he is, is a great draft selection.
I think an even better draft selection is getting Kenneth
Murray at the end of the first round. I think
Kenneth Murray is going to be a stud in the NFL.
I will be floored. If you gave me like five
guys that will not bust in the first round, he
(35:35):
would be in my five. Kenneth Murray is gonna play
in this modern day NFL and be a really, really
good player. So I love their first two picks because
I got their future quarterback, who even if he's just solid,
if he's like josh Allen, the roster is so good,
he'll be fine. And Kenneth Murray you get an immediate
plug and play starter to go with Derwin, James and Bosa.
So you have a laite player on every level of
(35:56):
your defense. And their corner is already good. The King
kid from Iowa. They got Hayward, who's still good, like
they're just talented. Joshua Kelly, you know he's solid. Uh
UC Davis transfer. They went to u C. L A
for Chip. I don't know anything about their fifth or
sixth round picks, but they're not gonna depend on those guys.
To me, if they can just block for Herbert, they'll
(36:19):
be in good shape. What are your thoughts on the
Pats what they did in the first two rounds? Get
this nice little draft tracker up from NFL dot com.
So let's bring up the New England Patriots. Uh. Well,
their first pick is from a school that I like myself.
I think most of you would agree. I've never heard
of Lenora Rhyan. I don't even know what that means.
(36:43):
Josh Oush, I don't even know if I'm saying his
name right from Michigan. I'll be honest. I don't know
much about a lot of their picks. Anthony Jettings, the
edge rush from Alabama Devon Aside, the tight end from
u c L a interesting prospect tight end for Virginia Tech.
So in their first they had five picks in the
top one hundred, they took two tight ends. They took
(37:04):
an edge rusher to take a linebacker in the safety.
So they think their defense is getting old and they
obviously need tight ends. Then they took a kicker in
the fifth round. You know, I I think the Patriots
their defense is already gonna be good now they got depth.
I think it's gonna come down. Is still him just
a middle of the road starter. They could win eight games.
If he's terrible, they might be kind of screwed. What
(37:28):
do you think of the Giants draft and off season? Okay,
let's pull up the Giants draft. I love this little
draft uh ticker here on NFL dot com Andrew Thomas.
I think most people in the league dott he was
the best the tackle prospect. Good pick. Davier McKenney early pick,
second round. Love it. They need a safety. He has
(37:50):
some range coming from Alabama, smart plug and play player.
They went tackle in the third round. Kid from Connecticut.
Don't know anything about darn A Holmes, the corner from
u C. L A. He's really interesting. He's a long guy,
still pretty raw. What is he actually? A little shorter?
Five ten? When do you run for for eight? Can
(38:12):
run a little? Don't don't hate the pick. I've been
hearing about his name. Who else did they signed? Brad Berry?
Don't love paying at free agent that much, but Gettleman
knows him. I don't think they would have signed him
if Joe Judge didn't like him. So yeah, I think
the Giants, if they can protect Daniel Jones, you still
got se Kwan Barkley. You got Evan Ingram, you got
(38:34):
golden tatee, you got a new offensive line. You know
I don't hate it. Okay, big time Jets fan writing
you from Singapore. I'm an American from Jersey, moved out
here years ago. Okay, my question is this? Okay? Long
one one second, talked a lot today, voices going. It
(38:55):
seems like the Jets finally got their hands on a
GM worth his salt. The moves he's made since picking
up mcagnets two thousand nineteen, panic signings, Bell Moseley and
the shitty draft Jackson Polite must have been relatively smooth.
The free agent approach has been this is good, this
is a good, question has been commendable in the draft
looks pretty solid. Don't think anyone expects superstars here, but
solid foundation building and contributors and some backs. The reality
(39:20):
is it's a long question. Well, the Jets have enough
time to let this guy right the ship before we
reenter are never ending cycle, strip it down and rebuild again.
Management has to be uptight about a decade of no playoffs.
Sam only has two more years on his reasonable salary.
Who knows if gays is any good? His only endorsement
has been paytent and our only premium player. Jamal is
likely had patience and scheming his exit. I need to
(39:43):
see this team becomes something consistent and half decent for once.
Stay safe, my man. So basically just given us wasn't
even question just his thoughts. Here's the thing with the Jets.
They have a young quarterback who is really really talented.
Levian Belt is a really good player. Jamal Adams is
a really good player. They've added just some core people.
They got a bunch of the random offensive line free
(40:03):
agent signings. They drafted what should be their starting left
tackle for the next decade in the first round. They
added a wide receiver early in the draft. Sam should
just be an as sending player who is really good.
They went seven and nine last year. If Adam Gaze
is who Peyton Manning's always told us he is, they
should compete for the playoffs, because that's what the Bills did.
Kind of immediately, now, mcagnal was terrible. People I knew
(40:25):
in the NFL laughed at him. Some of the stories
I've heard about him just sitting in his dark office
by himself is pretty embarrassing. He kind of did Todd
Bowle's dirty I think mccagnant stinks. Just shows you in
the NFL and having been there, you think it's the
highest level. And I was lucky. I got to work
around a lot of high level people. But when I
(40:45):
was on the road, I heard so many stories about
other organizations. It's just it's just like any business, right.
People that have no business getting a general manager job
or have no business getting a manager job in a
in a corporation get one because they have the right
people singing their praise is And I think Joe Douglas,
I know a lot of people in Philly that work
form loved him. He's good. Now the problem is this
(41:08):
is not baseball or basketball. The gm W and they
control so much. Lots on his head coach. He didn't
hire the head coach. Now he knows the head coach
and he seems like the head coach. But what if
they go six and ten next year? Does he fire
Adam Gaze? Does he have the juice to do that?
I don't know. I'm a Raider fan and have a question.
Given the Packers taken love, I'd imagine there has to
be a plan to get him in by year three
(41:30):
or four. Given Rogers contract, and the Packers have it
out by two thou two or they trade him. Could
you see the Raiders making a push for him? Car
probably isn't the guy, and we have Mariota for a year.
Or do we shoot for two thous draft or get
a replacement? Your thoughts. I think the hypotheticals on Aaron
Rodgers are just so far in the future it's hard
to even tell because he's still Aaron freaking Rodgers and
(41:53):
they owe him so much money and they can't get
rid of him. What if Aaron Rodgers went to Super
Bowl in the next couple of years, they ain't cutting him,
And if he sucks, is anyone gonna want to trade
for him with a huge salary? Even Gruten Probably not.
So there's not much middle ground. Now. The middle ground
would be he's solid, they're making the playoffs, but they're
like first round exits and they think Jordan's love looks
(42:14):
unreal and practice and they are willing to trade Aaron
Rodgers in two years. What if the Raiders draft a
quarterback next year or they signed a trade for a
guy in two years, Like, there's just we're just so
far away from him becoming available that it's just it's
and don't get me wrong, I'm not anti hypotheticals, it's
just so much unknown. We're not even like at least
(42:35):
this year when Brady was gonna be a free agent,
we're like, well, seeing with the Chargers scene with the Raiders,
Tampa started sniffing around about the Niners, like you can
start adding it up in about October. This one, we're
two years away from even what if Rogers still good?
What if they're winning? It's there's just there's so much
gray area in the hypotheticals with Rogers. I saw maybe
(42:59):
co did this, but I saw it a lot on
social media, like what if Rogers goes to the Niners. Well,
one of the reasons that the that the Packers don't
like Rogers. He's not a great scheme fit. He doesn't
like turning his back to the defense. He likes more
of a spread offense where he's in control. Part of
the Shanahan offenses hand the ball off a lot and
(43:20):
the coach is in full control of the play. Gollie,
why why would Coyle Shanahan want him part of that?
The great part about the the Kyle Shanahan, what's really
Mike Shannahan's offense, the Kubiak offense, to the floor offense,
the McVeigh. You don't hype that you don't need John
Elway and they they want when John Elway was the
end of his career. You don't need a forty million
dollar quarterback. You don't necessarily meet Mahomes. You can win
(43:43):
with Jimmy Garoppolo. You can win. I don't you know
in theory, but Kirk Cousins. Look, they ran that scheme
in Minnesota this year. I won a playoff game. That's
to me the most powerful. It's the scheme is a
very quarterback friendly. Matt Ryan best year of his career.
Matt job was making the playoffs all the time. Scheme works.
You don't need to meet a guy like Rogers. He
(44:05):
just it's better for him just to control it. How
do you get all college football film? I don't. I
just watch YouTube on guys, or I watch them on television.
But I'm not even I'm not doing like Mike Mayock,
Daniel Jeremiah Liss. I know like Mayok and DJ have
(44:28):
Lewis Ridicu or the guy's ESPN. They have access to it.
Now I can get access to certain conferences, but it's
much more difficult. It's why you got to give the
NFL some credit, right They they put all their All
twenty two out. That's why you can't evaluate the defensive backs,
the safeties, the wide receivers. If you don't have the
(44:48):
All twenty two. You can watch a highlight tape, but
everyone can look pretty good in highlight tape. My question
is about the recent Dallas Cowboys quarterback situation. Deck is
been great with so much talent around him, but do
you think Andy Dalton and an experienced quarterback and probably
a better pastor could be the answer for a loaded
Cowboys team? Yeah? I mean that's kind of what I
(45:10):
was saying earlier. What would you rather have about Andy
Dalton for three million? Or would you rather have Dak
Prescott for thirty five? No, Dak Prescott's a better player
than Andy Dalton, But couldn't the Cowboys wouldn't Andy Dalton
and Mike McCarthy and all their offenses. Their defense is solid. Now,
one thing I don't love about the Cowboys, and I
get it, McCarthy loves Mike Nolan. Mike Nolan made McCarthy
(45:32):
an offensive coordinator, which led to him becoming the Packers
head coach. I could not hire Mike Nolan to be
my defensive coordinator. Couldn't. As as Mike Singletary would say,
can't do it, I can't win with him. I don't
love that higher at all. There's a question for the
podcast show. Why do you think that everyone has the
Jags of the pick number one in their way too
(45:52):
early mock drafts when they have a coach and GM
who are literally fighting for their jobs this season. Ps,
the Jaguars have never had the number one overall pick.
Kind of a crazy stat given how often they drafted
high in the draft. You know, I think it's just
the easy, crappy team you know who are the no brainer?
That team sucks right now? I think the Jags. No
(46:16):
teams in the NFC West, no teams in the a
f C West, uh, no teams in the the NFC North,
I mean the Lions. But even the Lions stuff Stafford
like they could win five or six games the a
f C North. The Bengals could suck, But what if
Burrows like Rookie of the year, maybe they could win
four or five games. I think I saw a stat
(46:37):
they were in like twelve one score games where they
had the lead in the second half for some crazy stats.
So maybe they weren't quite as bad as we thought,
even though in my limited viewing when I watched the Bengals,
they always look terrible. So I'd say the Bengals would
be in the mix. I'd say the Jags would be
in the mix. I'd say the Lions would be in
the mix. The Dolphins could still stink. They gotta waste
(46:59):
to go, but they're they've gotten a lot better this offseason. Yeah,
I don't know. I just I don't think there are
that many teams where you go, oh, that team is terrible,
you know. And the reality is in the NFL is
this is not basketball like in the NBA. You know
exactly who's gonna suck. Oh yeah, that's the team sucks.
They're gonna be in the lottery. You can list about
(47:20):
seven of the you know, twelve thirteen lottery teams in
the NFL. It's like whoa, you get some curveballs fast.
The Jets could suck, but they just want seven and nine.
Why couldn't they go eight and Nate? Maybe there aren't
as many teams this year winning like thirteen, fourteen, games
given the up, maybe there's just a lot of like
ten eleven win teams. If that's the case, maybe there
are a lot of five and six win teams. So
(47:41):
maybe the number one overall pick next year wins four games.
I'm just I'm just spitball and I don't know, but
I'd say everything's on the table right now. Appreciate everyone listening. Again,
if you like the show, go to the apples, uh
where you listen to your podcasts three and out podcast
with me and leave a little five star with you.
I'd greatly appreciate it. Tipped my hat to everyone, and UH,
(48:04):
hopefully everyone staying safe and UH enjoy the week, keep
your head up, stay positive and uh and we'll get
through this. Audios godspeed, talk to you soon. M